[GWSG] Dutch trains; Hansen blog on C; aeroponics; the social cost of C; Russian oil vs. climate action

[Tilley, Al]

1.  Dutch trains now run entirely on wind power.  One windmill running for one hour powers a train for 120 miles.  https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/10/dutch-trains-100-percent-wind-powered-ns?utm_source=Inside+Climate+News&utm_campaign=382f46c77b-Clean_Economy_Wire12_10_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_29c928ffb5-382f46c77b-326454481



2.  On Dec. 22 Rolling Stone printed Jeff Goodell's interview with Jim Hansen on the tasks of reducing emissions and sequestering carbon which lie immediately ahead for us.  The article was linked in the GWSG news list of Dec. 25.  In his blog Hansen provides further analysis of the amount of carbon we will need to sequester and of two ways to calculate the emissions reduction necessary to cut 80% by 2050.  http://csas.ei.columbia.edu/2017/01/11/rolling-stones/  If you missed the interview, it is linked at the beginning of the blog entry.



3.  A vertical urban farm in Newark, NJ, is raising tons of baby greens in no soil at all.  Aeroponics sprays the crops with water and fertilizer, saving a lot of water over both standard agriculture and aquaculture.  More food using less water and no arable land, producing no agricultural runoff, and growing cheaply, is a combination we need.  The method is already spreading widely.  Dick Bizot sends the article.  http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/01/09/the-vertical-farm



4.  The social cost of carbon is used to guide climate policy.  The National Academy of Sciences has recommended changes to the way that is calculated, and the social cost figure is likely to rise if the recommendations are followed. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/01/12/scientists-have-a-new-way-to-calculate-what-global-warming-costs-trumps-team-isnt-going-to-like-it/?utm_term=.d3abd7414311



5.  A battle is looming between the future cost of emitting carbon and the future profits from Russian oil, in which Exxon Mobil (a Private Enterprise Council Member of the monstrous ALEC) is heavily involved.  http://www.cnbc.com/2016/12/13/exxon-mobil-could-tap-huge-arctic-assets-if-us-russian-relations-thaw.html  Tillerson has made himself plain on his antagonism to sanctions which block access to the Russian oil. http://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2016/12/14/13940866/trump-rex-tillerson-sanctions-russia   In his confirmation hearing Tillerson denied knowledge of his corporation's lobbying against the sanctions on Russia.   https://thinkprogress.org/tillerson-pleads-ignorance-on-exxons-russian-sanctions-lobbying-ef089e4232f8#.nma3p3fxx   Greatly increased sea level rise projections could tip the government policy balance away from oil profits and toward climate action.  Not that there is a rational choice in the matter.  ?

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