[GWSG] The Sion; Transition towns; shocks in prospect; FL's economy; Midwest suffers and plans; political will grows; SIPs

Wed May 15 07:00:26 EDT 2019

1. The Sion electric car from Germany’s Sono Motors will be available in Europe this year. It has some features which set it apart from others: it was financed by crowdfunding, it has several solar panels which provide about 21 miles worth of charge a day (with a battery range of 155 miles), its door opens with a phone app so that the car is easily shared, it filters cabin air partly through living moss visible in the dash, its seats fold flat to allow big loads, it can tow light trailers, and, like the old VWs, it is designed for owner maintenance and repair. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLZKdkgB85k
[https://www.bing.com/th?id=OVP.mK-BzgAra8EWpsPko9UgQQEsDh&pid=Api]<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLZKdkgB85k>
Sono Motors Sion | Fully Charged<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLZKdkgB85k>
www.youtube.com
When we heard Sono Motors was going to be in the Netherlands, we jumped at the chance of seeing this German company and their groundbreaking solar panel covered Sion. And Jonny got a test drive. The video was shot last summer. A lot has happened since then. Here is an update: - The motor will be FWD and supplied by Continental - The ...

The video was shot last summer. Here is a site which updates details. https://sonomotors.com/en/sion/
[https://sonomotors.com/site/assets/files/2478/sono-motors-sion-hero-driving-front.1200x627.jpg]<https://sonomotors.com/en/sion/>
Sion Electric Car – Sono Motors<https://sonomotors.com/en/sion/>
sonomotors.com
Flexible Charging. It usually takes 30 minutes to charge up to 80% at a rapid charging station. Additionally, the Sion can be recharged at any public charging station in Europe, including your regular power socket at home – or any other Sion.

2. Stephen Mulkey observes that a healthy tenure on earth will require us to downscale, and that the Transition town movement is a good model of how we might proceed. https://medium.com/@EnvCentury/the-scientific-narrative-about-the-climate-and-biosphere-is-mostly-useless-7daaab3b5a77
The scientific narrative about the climate and biosphere is mostly useless - medium.com<https://medium.com/@EnvCentury/the-scientific-narrative-about-the-climate-and-biosphere-is-mostly-useless-7daaab3b5a77>
medium.com
If we fail to change course, it will take millions of years for Earth to recover an equivalent spectrum of biodiversity. Future generations of people will live in a biologically impoverished world ...

Groups in about 2000 communities in 50 countries are officially involved in the movement (according to the US site). Fiscal localism sometimes distinguishes a Transition town.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transition_town
Transition town - Wikipedia<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transition_town>
en.wikipedia.org
The terms transition town, transition initiative and transition model refer to grassroot community projects that aim to increase self-sufficiency to reduce the potential effects of peak oil, climate destruction, and economic instability. The "Transition Network", founded in 2006, inspired the creation of many of the projects. A number of the groups are officially registered with the Transition ...

3. If we face squarely the challenges of the next decade (and well we should), the financial system is likely to be in for a shock. Florida, for example, depends on property and sales taxes for its revenues. When coastal property falls in value, property tax revenues will fall, and general sales soon after as people experience diminishing wealth. Wildfires, heat waves, and failing water supplies will cause similar economic hardships elsewhere. That will be the context in which we will face the relocation of millions of people and other challenging adaptations to the new world we are calling into being. We need some tough and informed planning. https://ensia.com/features/climate-change-financial-crisis/
[https://ensia.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Feature_FinancialCrisis_Main.jpg]<https://ensia.com/features/climate-change-financial-crisis/>
How to prepare for climate impacts without creating financial chaos | Ensia<https://ensia.com/features/climate-change-financial-crisis/>
ensia.com
Flooding that can deluge low-lying properties and make roads impassable is becoming much more frequent. Of the 549 flood days in Lewes since the 1950s, more than 200 have taken place in the past 15 years. The town has rewritten building codes so homes in flood-prone areas are built higher off the ground.

4. “Florida’s economic crash could begin with banks or home-buyers worrying that annual insurance policies in some places will become prohibitively expensive, or disappear completely . . .. That would shake the housing market and hurt property tax revenue, leaving Florida without an obvious way to pay for infrastructure to replace what’s literally or figuratively under water.” https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-05-13/lenders-scolded-for-climate-ignorance-in-insane-florida-deals?utm_campaign=socialflow-organic%26utm_source=twitter%26utm_content=business%26utm_medium=social%26cmpid=socialflow-twitter-business
[https://assets.bwbx.io/images/users/iqjWHBFdfxIU/i1CHkNQMudLY/v0/1200x800.jpg]<https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-05-13/lenders-scolded-for-climate-ignorance-in-insane-florida-deals?utm_campaign=socialflow-organic%26utm_source=twitter%26utm_content=business%26utm_medium=social%26cmpid=socialflow-twitter-business>
Lenders Scolded for Climate Ignorance in ‘Insane’ Florida Real Estate Deals - Bloomberg<https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-05-13/lenders-scolded-for-climate-ignorance-in-insane-florida-deals?utm_campaign=socialflow-organic%26utm_source=twitter%26utm_content=business%26utm_medium=social%26cmpid=socialflow-twitter-business>
www.bloomberg.com
Hurricane Michael killed seven people and caused more than $6 billion in damage in Florida in October, a toll compounded by warmer, higher seas and wetter air, the signs of climate change ...

5. Some communities in the Midwest, hit by flooding after catastrophic rainfall, are disappearing. Others, such as Davenport, Iowa, are realizing the importance of long-term planning, even among Republicans who would like to ignore climate change. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/may/15/it-has-to-be-dealt-with-what-is-the-future-for-midwest-towns-affected-by-climate-change
[https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/7747f9ba5deaa015459b4c2f3cbe75bdfac5e867/0_194_5021_3012/master/5021.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctZGVmYXVsdC5wbmc&s=f7dda5de76d837a1829bca74d33e7c07]<https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/may/15/it-has-to-be-dealt-with-what-is-the-future-for-midwest-towns-affected-by-climate-change>
'It has to be dealt with': what is the future for midwest towns affected by climate change? | US news | The Guardian<https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/may/15/it-has-to-be-dealt-with-what-is-the-future-for-midwest-towns-affected-by-climate-change>
www.theguardian.com
Larry Turner doesn’t expect to be back. “We’re going to lose our town,” he said as he hosed down what little he was able to rescue from his 95-year-old mother’s house after weeks ...

6. “Last week a small campaign group in the staunchly conservative town of Shrewsbury called a public meeting about climate change. The organisers were delighted when 150 people turned up. Even they were surprised, though, when people unanimously said they were prepared to give up flying, change their boilers and cars, eat less meat and even overthrow capitalism to get a grip on climate change.” It appears that the political will to deal with climate change is forming, no less in Europe than in the US.  https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/may/15/climate-change-politics-environmental-crisis-government
[https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/44de27fa7367d187c12018180330b55cc46aace0/0_325_6000_3600/master/6000.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctb3BpbmlvbnMucG5n&s=689d38264aece7b3882208d81b7e9cdd]<https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/may/15/climate-change-politics-environmental-crisis-government>
Has the politics of climate change finally reached a tipping point? | John Vidal | Opinion | The Guardian<https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/may/15/climate-change-politics-environmental-crisis-government>
www.theguardian.com
L ast week a small campaign group in the staunchly conservative town of Shrewsbury called a public meeting about climate change. The organisers were delighted when 150 people turned up. Even they ...

7. A Science article recommends that to deal with climate we look for Sensitive Intervention Points: small actions which can lead to big changes. One example is requiring fossil fuel companies to reveal their vulnerability to climate policies which would limit use of fossil fuels; another is subsidizing solar panels. https://nexusmedianews.com/how-a-few-small-fixes-could-stop-climate-change-178fdd559b58
[https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1200/1*PzQRiRlmSQrll5-bC5DJ-g.jpeg]<https://nexusmedianews.com/how-a-few-small-fixes-could-stop-climate-change-178fdd559b58>
How a Few Small Fixes Could Stop Climate Change – Nexus Media<https://nexusmedianews.com/how-a-few-small-fixes-could-stop-climate-change-178fdd559b58>
nexusmedianews.com
By Marlene Cimons. W hen thinking about new ways to tackle climate change, University of Oxford researcher Thom Wetzer first points out how a modest rise in temperature could push the Earth to a tipping point that yields dramatic climate change. A little warming, for example, could cause Arctic permafrost to melt, unleashing enough heat-trapping methane to cook the planet.

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