[GWSG] C tax; leaving Paris, or not; Guterres: the threat of inaction; On Tyranny; US at 19.1% renewable; GHG highest for 800k years

[Tilley, Al]

1.  We need a carbon tax of $50 a tonne within three years, doubling by 2030, to meet the Paris climate goals, according to a study by leading economists backed by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.  Poorer nations would be afforded some discount.  https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/may/29/sky-high-carbon-tax-needed-to-avoid-catastrophic-global-warming-say-experts  Clean Technica clarifies the suggested range of the taxes, and reports that the Commission recognized the need for measures in addition to a price on carbon.  https://cleantechnica.com/2017/05/29/leading-economist-conclude-strong-carbon-price-vital-meeting-global-climate-goals/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+IM-cleantechnica+%28CleanTechnica%29



2.  21% of the greenhouse gas reductions expected from the Paris Agreement come from the US.  Trump is already weakening our reductions program.  We could make up part of the shortfall through actions by local and state entities, and part of the rest of our share could be contributed by other governments doing more than theirs, but whether he welches on the Paris Agreement or not Trump is already making it difficult for it to attain its goals.    https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/05/30/whether-or-not-trump-withdraws-from-paris-hes-already-put-the-brakes-on-climate-action/?utm_term=.4b876b92635f



3.  On the other hand, Steven Cohen, Executive Director of Columbia's Earth Institute, argues that even if Trump refuses to honor the Paris Agreement, international and internal solidarity against him, and the economic momentum of the energy transition, will carry the Agreement to success.  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trumps-relevance-on-climate-change_us_592d611ee4b08861ed0ccbd4?ir=Green&utm_hp_ref=green



4.  UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that the threat to a nation's economy comes not from climate action, but from a failure to act.  https://insideclimatenews.org/news/30052017/un-guterres-speech-donald-trump-paris-climate-change-agreement



5.  Even though the Republican Party appears to be the only major political party in the world to propose ignoring climate change, the threat a minority party in power with an authoritarian agenda can pose to democratic government has past examples.  Our successful transition to a sustainable society may depend on how well we cope with our political situation.  Charlie Dudley recommends On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century by Yale historian Timothy Snyder, a little book with a powerful message.  $5.54.  https://smile.amazon.com/Tyranny-Twenty-Lessons-Twentieth-Century/dp/0804190119/ref=sr_1_1_twi_pap_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1496310408&sr=1-1&keywords=on+tyranny   In or out of the Paris Agreement, the Republican administration is hostile to climate action.



6.  The share of US power generated renewably in the first quarter of this year was 19.1%, a figure not expected by the US Energy Information Administration for another forty years.  https://cleantechnica.com/2017/05/31/us-renewable-energy-provides-19-35-us-electricity-first-quarter/



7.  An Australian study finds that greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere are at the highest levels for 800,000 years and rising rapidly.  http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-06-01/greenhouse-gases-database-shows-co2-ch4-n2o-rising-relentlessly/8578918  ?

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