[GWSG] Battery delay; old ice; tropical C; Chile cancels; accounting for inequality; useless nukes; vegan pets; heartbreak by climate crisis

[Tilley, Al]

1. Stanford’s Mark Jacobson observes that rather than using MIT’s new battery to remove CO2 from the atmosphere we should simply refrain from using fossil fuel power to run the battery. We would save more atmospheric carbon and put the emphasis where it belongs. Presumably once we have achieved zero emissions it would be the time to think of using spare renewable power to run the battery and remove CO2. https://cleantechnica.com/2019/10/29/carbon-capture-bright-promise-or-senseless-boondoggle/?utm_source=CleanTechnica+News&utm_campaign=1b5d36f2b0-Daily+Email+CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_b9b83ee7eb-1b5d36f2b0-331994013



2. We have measured the CO2 in the atmosphere from a two million year old core of ice recovered in the Antarctic. The previous record for the oldest ice core was 800,000 years. We may find yet older ice. The indication so far is that CO2 and temperature were linked in the ancient period as it is today. https://phys.org/news/2019-10-million-year-old-ice-snapshot-earth-greenhouse.html?utm_source=nwletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=daily-nwletter



3. A study factoring in full carbon accounting, including avoided emissions, indicates that carbon impacts from the loss of intact tropical forests has been under-reported by a factor of six—and that is probably still too low. About 20% of tropical forests remain intact. REDD+ should emphasize preserving existing forests.  https://phys.org/news/2019-10-carbon-climate-impact-loss-intact.html?utm_source=nwletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=daily-nwletter



4. Chile has cancelled the COP 25 climate summit it was scheduled to host in December. If no other nation steps up as host, the meeting will be held in Bonn, Germany. (Spain is in the process of volunteering.) https://www.climatechangenews.com/2019/10/30/chile-pulls-hosting-cop25-climate-talks/



5. Chile has been racked by protests against income inequality and privatization of social services which have left at least 20 dead (as reported on CNN). An important, brief, and readable article in the November issue of Scientific American, The Inescapable Casino by Tufts’ mathematician Bruce Boghosian, demonstrates that inequality of wealth alone, however slight, drives increasing accumulation of wealth by fewer and fewer, unless countered by sufficient measures. Distinctions of talent and industriousness can account for only .33% of wealth disparity. He is able to model precisely the progress of inequality in economies. So much for Ayn Rand; so much for neoliberalism and Mitt Romney’s self-congratulatory tale of an economy of makers and takers. The Scientific American article is on page 70 but is behind a paywall. Here is an article on Boghosian’s general ideas not behind a paywall, though it lacks the specific calculations of the Scientific American article. https://now.tufts.edu/articles/mathematics-inequality

Income inequality is already driving politics in the US and elsewhere, as it is in Chile. Effective climate action must cope with that friction. The Green New Deal promises to cope.



6.  CleanTechnica explains why it does not consider that nuclear technologies have a useful role in the energy transition. Not thorium reactors, and not Generation IV technology, either. https://cleantechnica.com/2019/10/30/why-thorium-nuclear-isnt-featured-on-cleantechnica-redux/?utm_source=CleanTechnica+News&utm_campaign=6f190b620e-Daily+Email+CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_b9b83ee7eb-6f190b620e-331994013



7. A UCLA study found that 25-30% of the environmental impact of meat production in the US comes from providing for pets. Luckily, there are vegan alternatives for your dog and cat, and you won’t have to listen to effusions of rationalization and bitching as you convert them. (You may have a sullen cat, but word is it will come around if you are crafty and patient, mixing in its usual food at first.)  https://cleantechnica.com/2019/10/30/do-you-know-what-your-dog-eats-a-look-at-wild-earths-meat-free-dog-food-mission/?utm_source=CleanTechnica+News&utm_campaign=6f190b620e-Daily+Email+CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_b9b83ee7eb-6f190b620e-331994013



8. Fires are making part of California dangerous to inhabit. Bill McKibben observes that CA is not the only area in that shape, but it is his birthplace and holds a special place in our culture. The heartbreak in CA is coming by fire; elsewhere it is and will be by storm, flood, heat, and sea level rise.  https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/oct/29/has-the-climate-crisis-made-california-too-dangerous-to-live-in

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