[GWSG] Fossil development; Dems on climate; water use; Ireland's new trees; Argentina's beefeaters; reducing meat; vegan anxiety

[Tilley, Al]

1. The major oil and gas companies are investing heavily in projects which would make it impossible to avoid a great risk of uncontrollable global heat in spite of a near-quadrupling of renewable power to 12.9% of total electricity over the past decade. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/sep/06/oil-and-gas-companies-undermining-climate-goals-says-report

2. The ten Democratic candidates who participated in CNN’s seven-hour series of town halls gave us a chance to experience their degree of climate literacy and to glimpse what their presidencies would mean to us. A debate could not have been nearly so valuable. Grist provides some capsule reactions. https://grist.org/article/how-did-democrats-fare-at-cnns-climate-town-hall-we-asked-the-experts/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=daily

CNN provides highlights. https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2019/09/05/climate-crisis-town-halls-best-moments-llr-orig.cnn

3. Variations in residential water use are largely explained by only five factors in the built environment: “housing density, tax assessed value, lot size, vegetative cover and the age of housing.” The usage associated with these factors can vary among cities.  https://phys.org/news/2019-09-water-efficient-cities.html

4. Every year until 2040 Ireland will be planting 22 million trees on almost 20,000 acres of repurposed agricultural land as a part of their climate program. “The ambitious plan would mean a significant shift in the use of farming land in Ireland.” Thanks to Ed Brock for the news. https://www.irishtimes.com/news/environment/climate-change-ireland-plans-to-plant-440m-trees-by-2040-1.4003940

To repurpose significant agricultural land for forests means cutting down on meat and dairy consumption, as we must if we are to avoid uncontrollable heating. We are risking that now; at 2C the chances will be 50-50.

5. A private online poll in Argentina found that 60% of the respondents are “disposed to stop eating beef.”  https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2019/09/04/world/americas/ap-lt-argentina-vegetarians-vs-meat-eaters.html

6. A third to a half of people in the US are interested in cutting down on meat consumption. It is something a lot of us wrestle with. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/eat-less-meat-environmental-effect_l_5d39d84fe4b020cd99501f2d

7. First Dog on the Moon faces projections on vegans. Why won’t they leave us alone to consume the flesh of tortured animals in peace? https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/sep/06/vegans-why-wont-they-leave-us-alone-to-consume-the-flesh-of-tortured-animals-in-peace

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