[GWSG] Two takes on violent protest; nature-based solutions; heat waves equally likely; alarmed but comfortable; EV materials attack

[Tilley, Al]

1. George Monbiot explains why he has no confidence in the effectiveness of blowing up a pipeline (or any other violent climate action) and would not recommend it. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/apr/28/saboteurs-how-to-blow-up-a-pipeline-climate-crisis-direct-action

2. Natasha Walker takes on the same topic from another point of view. The occasion is the film How To Blow Up A Pipeline. (I am persuaded by the Taoist argument for nonviolent resistance—basically, violence evokes answering violence and solidifies opposition. I don’t think either Monbiot or Walker would disagree, and they have more to say.)  https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/apr/21/climate-despair-violence-film-how-to-blow-up-a-pipeline

3. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine has provided a 1 hour and 13 minute video conversation on nature-based approaches to climate adaptation, mitigation, and restoration. This is a basic presentation by Todd Bridges, a U of GA professor with a 30-year background in the US Army Corps of Engineers, and LaKesha Hart, an administrator in charge of natural solutions with the state of LA. Natural solutions emphasize understanding how pre-engineered natural settings work, and attend to the achieved knowledge of indigenous people. You may be a bit surprised to hear the attention now being given to such things by the Corps in the last 10 years; they have not been known for these perspectives before. LA, for its part, is undertaking such projects as putting swales into golf courses. 42 minutes of presentations, and the balance Q&A. One discussion concerned planning for the changes brought by climate disruption versus returning to past conditions through nature-based engineering. Paraphrasing Todd Bridges:  That’s the hard problem. If you are Miami or Charleston, for example, you are on the edge. You are going to have to make way for the water. There is going to be pain.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11QE9LmIpDs

4. A study of extraordinarily strong heat waves indicates that they are equally likely in all parts of the world. An implication is that regions which have not experienced one should pay attention to the possibility that they will. https://phys.org/news/2023-04-statistically-impossible-extremes-regions.html

5. A survey of Europeans found that large majorities express concern about the climate but that surprisingly few are ready to be inconvenienced by climate actions. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/may/02/many-europeans-want-climate-action-but-less-so-if-it-changes-their-lifestyle-shows-poll

6. The WA Post published a long, scary story with fancy graphics about the exotic materials which go to make Li-ion batteries. CleanTechnica’s Steve Hanley takes it apart. He doesn’t even mention the non-exotic batteries in the works using sodium and water. (The “exotic materials” attacks on EVs are quite common. I have seen none which mention the effects of constructing and feeding internal combustion vehicles. Similar stories are appearing about the dreadful effects of renewable energy.) https://cleantechnica.com/2023/05/01/electric-car-haters-go-on-the-attack/

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