Energy (and Other) Events Monthly - May 2024

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday April 29, 2024 · 8:34 PM PDT

2024/04/29 · 20:34

Energy (and Other) Events Monthly - May 2024

A more comprehensive global listing service could be developed if there were enough people interested in doing it, if it hasn’t already been done.

If anyone knows of such a global listing of open energy, climate, and other events is available, please put me in contact.

Thanks for reading,
Solar IS Civil Defense,
George Mokray
gmoke@world.std.com

http://hubeventsnotes.blogspot.com - notes on lectures and books
http://solarray.blogspot.com - renewable energy and efficiency

https://zeronetenrg.blogspot.com - zero net energy links list

http://cityag.blogspot.com - city agriculture links list
http://geometrylinks.blogspot.com - geometry links list
http://hubevents.blogspot.com - Energy (and Other) Events
http://www.dailykos.com/user/gmoke/history - articles, ideas, and screeds

More details on each event available at https://hubevents.blogspot.com/2024/04/energy-and-other-events-monthly-may-2024.html

which is also available as a free listserv.

———
Index
———

A Looming Famine: Starvation in Gaza Date & Time

Tuesday, April 30

11:00 AM in Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Online

RSVP at https://harvard.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_iunXWSKOSGySlZVJWMOn-w#/registration

----------

National Climate Resilience Framework: Food, Land and Water

Tuesday, April 30

3pm - 4pm ET [12pm to 1pm PT]

Online

RSVP at https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_ZoB3jvk8S7CRgmnoxnmhww#/registration

-----------

From Data to Action: Leveraging Data Science for Effective Health Policy and Surveillance Against Emerging Infectious Disease Threats.

Tuesday, April 30

3:00 – 5:00 PM EST

BU, 72 East Concord St, Room L-403, Boston, MA

RSVP in person at https://www.bu.edu/ceid/2024/04/10/from-data-to-action-leveraging-data-science-for-effective-health-policy-and-surveillance-against-emerging-infectious-disease-threats/

And online

RSVP at https://bostonu.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_nPA7uS8ORMGx2dbJTWCj3Q#/

-----------

'True False, Hot Cold': Film Screening & Discussion

Tuesday, April 30

4:30pm to 6:30pm

MIT, Building 55, Atrium 21 Ames Street, Cambridge, MA, 02139

------------

ISO-NE Public Forum on the 2050 Transmission Study

Wednesday, May 1

10:00 a.m. (running for approximately 90 minutes)

Online

RSVP at https://www.iso-ne.com/event-details?eventId=154784

-----------

De-poisoning Catalysts for Sustainable Chemical Processing

Wednesday, May 1

12 – 1 p.m.

Online

RSVP at https://www.radcliffe.harvard.edu/event/2024-jane-p-chang-fellow-presentation-virtual

----------

The Human Disease: How We Create Pandemics, from Our Bodies to Our Beliefs

Wednesday, May 1

7:00 PM ET

Harvard Book Store, 1256 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138

RSVP at https://www.harvard.com/event/sabrina_sholts/

-----------

Food Waste: Whose responsibility is it?

Thursday, May 2

9:00 - 10:30 ED [GMT-4]

Online

RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/food-waste-whose-responsibility-is-it-tickets-853808573427

----------

Meeting Investor Expectations: Introducing the Nature Action 100 Company Benchmark

Thursday, May 2

10:00 AM in Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Online

RSVP at https://ceres-org.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_aTxpuCB7Qi2AM_1YXsuR3w#/registration

----------

Future of Energy and Power Grids by 2050 Webinar-ICWS North America Chapter

Thursday, May 2

10 - 11:30am EDT

Online

RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/future-of-energy-and-power-grids-by-2050-webinar-icws-north-america-chapter-tickets-814182129667

Cost: $45

----------

World Press Freedom Day - The Intersections of Press Freedom and the Environment

Thursday, May 2

12:00 PM in Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Online

RSVP at https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_yuNtVb5ZSjGybsi9N2lstQ#/registration

------------

Exploring Mars and the moon

Thursday, May 2

2:00 PM - 3:00 PM EDT

Online

RSVP at https://www.brookings.edu/events/exploring-mars-and-the-moon/

-----------

Water for All: Global Solutions for a Changing Climate

Thursday, May 2

4:30 pm – 5:45 pm

Princeton, McCosh Hall, Room 50, Princeton, NJ

And online

RSVP at https://princeton.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_RvMbWbIRSqiM6pkPhIxrhg#/registration

----------

American Precariat: Parables of Exclusion

Thursday, May 2

8:00PM ET

Online

RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/virtual-an-evening-with-american-precariat-tickets-872754521267

----------

Processes of Dispossession, the Imminent Collapse of Tunisian Oases (and what can we do about it)

Friday, May 3

2 – 3:30 p.m.

Harvard, CMES, Room 102, 38 Kirkland Street, Cambridge

RSVP at https://cmes.fas.harvard.edu/event/processes-dispossession-imminent-collapse-tunisian-oases-and-what-can-we-do-about-it

----------

Beyond the Forecast: The Interplay of Climate Change and Health

Saturday, May 4

12pm EDT [9am MST]

Online

RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/beyond-the-forecast-the-interplay-of-climate-change-and-health-tickets-881067024187

----------

The Spring 2024 Mid-Cambridge PLANT SWAP

Saturday, May 4

NOON to 2 pm

Rain date—in case of DOWNPOUR—is Sunday May 5, 12-2

at Fayette Park (near the corner of Broadway and Fayette Street)

----------

Scientist Rebellion Turtle Island Welcome Meeting

Sunday, May 5

3:00 PM

RSVP at https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0kfuGurTkpHtCocGTXeF0iIQqvxXJgxMtc#/registration

----------

Carbon and Biodiversity Consequences of Increasing Tree Cover in Savannas

Monday, May 6

12:30 PM - 1:30 PM

Princeton, Guyot Hall, Room 10, Princeton, NJ

And online

RSVP at https://princeton.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_ZdneMRMCQkq_mwSQzJ8g4w#/registration

----------

Farming the Future: Livestock's Leap to Net Zero

Monday, May 6

4 PM ET

Online

RSVP at https://www.radcliffe.harvard.edu/event/2024-ermias-kebreab-lecture-virtual

----------

Reducing GHG for Buildings and Industry Essential to Meeting 2030 and 2050 Targets

Monday, May 6

7:30pm to 8:20pm ET [4:30pm to 5:20pm PT]

Stanford, Skilling Building, Skilling Auditorium, 494 Lomita Mall, Stanford, CA 94305

And online

RSVP at https://events.stanford.edu/event/the_energy_seminar_8787

----------

Bridging the Humanitarian, Peacebuilding, and Development Nexus: Building systems for Mental Health & Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) for Populations Affected by War, Forced Displacement, and Resettlement through an Implementation Science Lens

Tuesday, May 7 and Wednesday, May 8

6:00am to 1:00pm

Dial-In Information at https://vimeo.com/event/4064273/0c130e98b9

----------

Power & People Symposium: Mapping Community Exposure to Energy Infrastructure

Tuesday, May 7

9:00 am to 4:00 pm

BU, Building Center for Computing & Data Sciences (CDS), 665 Commonwealth Avenue, Room 1750, Boston, MA

RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/power-people-symposium-tickets-877370247027

----------

Get Smart Quickly on Climate Change from MIT

Tuesday, May 7

12:00 PM in Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Online

RSVP at https://mit.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_L9wfetErRc6eZZd5D4S-Jg#/registration

----------

Bridging the Climate Science-Practice Divide through Community Engaged Research: Insights from the Caribbean

Tuesday, May 7

12:30 PM - 1:30 PM

Princeton, 10 Guyot Hall, Princeton, NJ

And online

RSVP at https://princeton.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_im0lHoLvTfyYW_9aTu8wtQ#/registration

-----------

Forum on The Boston Foundation's Food, Fuel and Shelter Fund

Wednesday, May 8

9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.

RSVP at https://www.tbf.org/Events/2024/May/Food-Fuel-and-Shelter-Fund-Forum

----------

Making Climate Tech Work: Policies that Drive Innovation

Wednesday, May 8

2:30pm to 3:20pm ET [11:30am to 12:20pm PT]

Stanford, Mitchell Earth Sciences, Room 350, 397 Panama Mall, Stanford, CA 94305

And online

RSVP at https://events.stanford.edu/event/may-8th-speaker-series-event-alon-tal

----------

How Might Genetic Technologies Contribute to Addressing Climate Change?

Wednesday, May 8

5-7 PM ET

BU Computing and Data Science (CDS) Conference Center17th floor, room CDS 1750, 665 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215

RSVP at https://hms.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_cD6jfyNet7PM5WC

----------

Climate LIVE K12: Disasters and Climate Change in the Caribbean

Wednesday, May 8

4:00 PM - 4:30 PM

Online

RSVP at https://events.columbia.edu/cal/event/eventView.do?b=de&calPath=/public/cals/MainCal&guid=CAL-00bbdb7c-8b1dcd5f-018b-200ea6a9-00005636events%40columbia.edu&recurrenceId=

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Tropical Forest Resilience Under Global Change

Thursday, May 9

11am - 12pm EDT

Online

RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/tropical-forest-resilience-under-global-change-tickets-875311619617

-----------

Webinar – States in Sync: The Western Win-Win Transmission Opportunity

Thursday, May 9

2 p.m. ET

Online

RSVP at https://rmi.org/event/webinar-states-in-sync-the-western-win-win-transmission-opportunity/

----------

MIT D-Lab End-of-Semster Student Showcase

Thursday, May 9

7:00pm to 9:00pm

MIT D-Lab, 310 Building N51, 265 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139

-----------

Autonomous Vehicles and the City 2024

Friday, May 10

4:30pm Et [1:30 PM PDT]

The Commonwealth Club of California, 110 The Embarcadero, Taube Family Auditorium, San Francisco, CA 94105

And online

RSVP at https://www.commonwealthclub.org/events/2024-05-10/autonomous-vehicles-and-city-2024

Cost: $0 -$25

-----------

Finish What We Started: The MAGA Movement's Ground War to End Democracy

Friday, May 10

7:00 PM ET

Harvard Book Store, 1256 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138

RSVP at https://www.harvard.com/event/isaac_arnsdorf/

----------

The Move To Zero - How To Get To True Carbon Neutrality

Monday, May 13

7:30pm to 8:20pm ET [4:30pm to 5:20pm PT]

Stanford, Skilling Building, Skilling Auditorium, 494 Lomita Mall, Stanford, CA 94305

And online

RSVP at https://events.stanford.edu/event/the_energy_seminar_6772

------------

Soil to Foil: Minerals for Sustainable Infrastructure

Tuesday, May 14

12:30pm to 2:00pm

MIT, Building 9-255, 105 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139

-----------

Living Between Worlds, with Grace, Dignity, and Power

Wednesday, May 15

3:00 PM

Online

RSVP at https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIvf-mvrD8qGNUBS287pVRGQr77bUBhKQF4

-----------

The Green Giants: Industry in 2050

Thursday, May 16

9:00 - 10:30 ET [GMT-4]

Online

RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-green-giants-industry-in-2050-tickets-853821361677

----------

Mind and Matter: Healing and Mental Health in a Conflict-Driven World

Thursday, May 16

1:00 PM EDT TO 2:00 PM EDT

Online

RSVP at https://pulitzercenter-org.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_pPqVOV1UTLytL_OyuczQuw#/registration

-----------

Freeman’s Challenge: The Murder That Shook America’s Original Prison for Profit

Friday, May 17

7:00 PM ET Location

Harvard Book Store, 1256 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138

----------

Climate Mobilities: “Justice, Data, and Governance”

Monday, May 20 - Tuesday, May 21

Princeton, Robertson Hall, Bowl 16, Princeton, NJ

And online

RSVP at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScAzBzxXBPWzylYt8aARwAPDKjWnictaZjxzLcKR07auLb4Pg/viewform

-----------

Simulating Global Climate, Energy, and Land Futures

Monday, May 20

7:30pm to 8:20pm ET [4:30pm to 5:20pm PT]

Stanford, Skilling Building, 494 Lomita Mall, Stanford, CA 94305

And online

RSVP at https://events.stanford.edu/event/the_energy_seminar_8584

------------

Living in a Future City

Tuesday, May 21

9:00 - 11:00 ED [GMT-4]

Online

RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/living-in-a-future-city-tickets-853814491127

-------------

The Light Eaters!

Tuesday, May 21

7pm

Porter Square Books, 25 White Street, Cambridge, MA 02140

RSVP at https://www.portersquarebooks.com/event/zo%C3%AB-schlanger-author-light-eaters-conversation-katherine-j-wu

------------

Undue Burden: Life and Death Decisions in a Post-Roe America

Tuesday, May 21

7:00 PM ET

Harvard Book Store, 1256 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138

RSVP at https://www.harvard.com/event/shefali_luthra/

-----------

Using Technology to Eliminate Hidden Emissions of the Furniture Industry

Wednesday, May 22

12:00 PM in Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Online

RSVP at https://mit.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_RZWASVfgScG4uhUxMPu74A#/registration

----------

Solve at MIT 2024

Wednesday, May 22

2:00pm to 3:30pm

MIT, Building W16: Kresge Auditorium, 48 MASSACHUSETTS AVE, Cambridge, MA 02139

RSVP at https://events.solve.mit.edu/en-us/events/sam-kresge-2024

------------

Scaling Sustainability Innovation: Insights from DOE and Beyond - A Conversation with Dr. Steve Chu

Wednesday, May 22

2:30pm to 3:20pm ET [11:30am to 12:20pm PT]

Stanford, Mitchell Earth Sciences, 350, 397 Panama Mall, Stanford, CA 94305

And online

RSVP at https://events.stanford.edu/event/sustainability-accelerator-speaker-series-a-conversation-with-professor-steve-chu

----------

The Walls Have Eyes!

Wednesday, May 22

7pm

Porter Square Books, 25 White Street, Cambridge, MA 02140

RSVP at https://www.portersquarebooks.com/event/petra-molnar-author-walls-have-eyes

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Transitioning to the Future Grid in MA

Thursday, May 23

9:00 AM - 4:00 PM

Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, 600 Atlantic Ave, Boston, MA 02210

RSVP at https://www.masscec.com/event/transitioning-future-grid-ma-event-series-2

----------

The Last Human Job!

Friday, May 24

7pm

Porter Square Books, 25 White Street, Cambridge, MA 02140

RSVP at https://www.portersquarebooks.com/event/allison-pugh-author-last-human-job-conversation-carolyn-hax

----------

Building Social Capital for Climate Resilient Communities

Thursday, June 6

9:30 am - 12:30 pm

Foley Hoag 155 Seaport Boulevard, Boston, MA 02210

And online

RSVP at https://climateadaptationforum.org/event/building-social-capital-for-climate-resilient-communities/

Cost: $15 - $45

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The History of Technology: Past, Present, and Future

Friday, June 7

9:00am to 5:00pm

Saturday, June 8

9am to 3pm

MIT, Building E51, 115 70 MEMORIAL DR, Cambridge, MA 02142

Poll

5 votes Show Results

More Energy (and Other) Events?

5 votes Vote Now!

More Energy (and Other) Events?

yes

5 votes

0 votes

not yes

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not no

0 votes

neither yes nor no

0 votes

both yes and no

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don't understand the question?

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none of the above

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MAGA Delenda Est!

Yosef 52

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday April 24, 2024 · 2:39 PM PDT

2024/04/24 · 14:39

GET OUT THE VOTE BIG TIME! HERE ARE THE RESOURCES YOU NEED TO DO THAT!

Hope Springs from Field PAC (background in this DKos story).

Voters of Tomorrow (younger voters) led by Santiago Mayer

Leaders We Deserve (younger voters) led by David Hogg

The Hometown Project

Women Get Out the Vote

Vote Blue America

Progressive Turnout Project

Indivisible Team

A Vote for Democracy/NAACP

Black Voters Matter

Voto Latino

Vote Forward (letter writing)

Blue Wave Postcard Movement

Flip the Vote

Northeast Arizona Native Democrats

The Civics Center (registering high school students)

ecoAmerica (Environmental/climate voters)

Environmental Voter Project

Biden-Harris Headquarters (Twitter)

Planned Parenthood

EMILYs List

Queer the Vote (National LGBTQ Task Force)

List of AFL-CIO Unions Endorsing President Biden

And…

REGISTER TO VOTE, CHECK VOTER REGISTRATION STATUS

VOTER ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

VOTER IDENTIFICATION LAWS IN EVERY STATE

EARLY VOTING IN EVERY STATE

ABSENTEE VOTING

FIGHTING VOTER SUPPRESSION (LWV)

FIGHTING VOTER SUPPRESSION (ACLU)

DEMOCRACY DOCKET (Mark Elias)

How To Vote-Easy Instructions. Details, Videos, Information. Democrat, Of Course!

VITALLY IMPORTANT VIDEO HERE! STOP PROJECT 2025!

"This is a plan to transform America into an autocracy."

Donald Trump's allies have already put out their playbook for what he could do with a second term. @ruthbenghiat and @AhmedBaba_ join @SRuhle to pull back the curtain on Project 2025. pic.twitter.com/xRKLmmbXuW
— 11th Hour (@11thHour) April 18, 2024

Swing Left

KnockEveryDoor

Democrats Take Action

The list of state Democratic parties is HERE. (There are links to the LOCAL Democratic organizations as well.)

NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC COUNTY OFFICIALS

VICTOR SHI (Young voters)

MOBILIZATION EVENTS (Updated regularly)

DEMOCRATS ABROAD

500 Leading U.S. Progressive Organizations

If you’re outraged about Ukrainian flags being waved on the floor of the House, wait until I tell you about the time the Jan. 6th terrorists ripped the American flag down at the Capitol and replaced it with a Trump flag. That’ll really blow your mind. pic.twitter.com/OpHIXXWo0W
— Jo (@JoJoFromJerz) April 21, 2024

From Wikipedia:

BRAINWRAP’S OUTSTANDING DAILY DIARY ON RAISING MONEY FOR DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATES!

CHECK OUT MIKEY WEINSTEIN’S F ANTASTIC DIARY ON PROJECT 2025!

And finally, as always:

Breaking: New Oil Drilling Permit Approvals Fall To Zero For First Time Since Newsom Came To Office

Dan Bacher

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday April 19, 2024 · 2:48 PM PDT

2024/04/19 · 14:48

Climate protest in front of the offices of the Western States Petroleum Association earlier this year. Photo by Dan Bacher.

Los Angeles, CA—In a historic first, California oil regulators approved zero new drilling permits in the first quarter of 2024, effectively halting new drilling permit approvals at 5,947 since Governor Newsom came to office in 2019, according to Consumer Watchdog and FracTracker Alliance in a press statement.

Newsom's regulators have issued a total of 15,940 well permits of all types since he took office in 2019.

“At the same time, permits to redrill oil and gas wells plummeted 89% to 99 permits in the first quarter over the same quarter last year,” according to FracTracker Alliance analysis of permit data from the California Geologic Energy Management Division (CalGEM) that approves drilling permits. Permits to plug wells rose 76% to 1, 299. See Table 1.

Table 1.

FracTracker analysis of CalGEM permit data

“CalGEM is diligently requiring environmental reviews under CEQA and assessing the potential impacts of the permits that they are issuing,” said Kyle Ferrar, Western Program Director for FracTracker Alliance. “The reduction in approved permits is a strong indication that CalGEM is taking the risks associated with drilling and drilling activity more seriously when considering their impacts on communities.”

Table 2.

California is home to 101,000 actively producing, idle, and newly permitted wells that have not yet become operational, according to FracTracker Alliance. Out of that number, 26,000 are located within the 3,200-foot health protective zone where millions of people live.

Wells within the setback zone produce an average of only two barrels of oil per day, adding almost no economic benefit. Drillers prefer to keep them running rather than pay the cost of plugging them.

“Scientific evidence shows a direct link between drilling, pre-term births, respiratory illnesses and cancer among people who live in close proximity to oil drilling,” said Liza Tucker, consumer advocate with Consumer Watchdog. “It’s also not profitable for oil companies to drill for oil inside the health protective zone. So, it makes no sense to continue to poison people for the sake of pennies. These findings make the case for passage of new laws to protect vulnerable California communities by holding drillers accountable.”

Assembly Bill 3155 (Friedman) creates a new financial liability presumption for a respiratory ailment, a pre-natal defect, and a person’s cancer diagnosis if they lived for two years within 3,200 feet of an oil and gas production facility that failed to use the most effective pollution control technology. The bill passed out of the Assembly Judiciary Committee earlier this week and heads to a hearing before the Assembly Natural Resources Committee on Monday, April 22^nd.

AB 2716 (Bryan), the Low-Producing Well Accountability Act, takes aim at wells eking out less than 15 barrels of oil per day in health protection zones by levying a $10,000 per day fine on each of these wells known as “stripper wells.”

“Stripper wells are at the end of their economically productive lives. Drillers keep them open because it costs less than spending $100,000 or more per well to plug them. Stripper wells inside health protection zones pollute, endangering the health of residents for little economic gain,” according to the groups. “83% of the active wells in the setback zone operate as stripper wells. AB 2716 passed out of the Assembly Natural Resources Committee and awaits action in the Appropriations Committee.”

To see the number of drilling permits approved in the first quarter of 2024 and locations, visit Consumer Watchdog and FracTrackerAlliance’s joint site: https://newsomwellwatch.com

Chevron and Western States Petroleum Association top 2023 California lobbying with $18.1 million

Why has Big Oil been able to get away with what it does in California for decades? It’s because of the inordinate influence of Big Oil on California politicians and regulators.

Big Oil spent more money on lobbying in California in 2023 than any other year on record besides 2017. Big Oil spent $25,445,606 on lobbying in California in 2023 and $25,445,606 in 2017, according to the research team at Sunstone Strategies in their “Crude Truth” newsletter.

The group analyzed the California lobbying filings of every registered oil company in California, in putting 2023 trends into the context of industry lobbying for the past 20 years dating back to 2004. While in an earlier report on oil spending I used the raw data on fossil fuel spending from the filings on the California Secretary of State’s website, the newsletter used a slightly different methodology.

“Topping the lobbying spending charts in 2023 was Chevron, the second biggest oil producer in the state and the leading crude oil refiner. Trailing at number two: its trade association, the Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA),” wrote Sunstone Strategies.

“The two combined spent $18.1 million in 2023 — more than 71% of the industry’s total $25.4 in expenditures for 2023. Aera Energy, California’s top oil producer and a former joint venture of Exxon Mobil and Shell, placed in a distant third for 2023 lobbying spending,” they said.

However, in the fourth quarter, “WSPA and Chevron exchanged the number one and number two spots as the top lobbying spenders. Their expenditures totaled $2.8 million, accounting for over 60% of Big Oil’s quarterly spending total. Trailing in third was ExxonMobil, spending over $243,000 in lobbying for the quarter.”

The report also revealed that the state’s five major refiners, including Valero, PBF Energy, Marathon Petroleum, and Phillips 66, spent over $2.5 million on 2023 lobbying and influence activities.

Since 2009 I have documented how WSPA and the oil companies wield their power in 8 major ways: through (1) lobbying; (2) campaign spending; (3) serving on and putting shills on regulatory panels; (4) creating Astroturf groups; (5) working in collaboration with media; (6) sponsoring awards ceremonies and dinners, including those for legislators and journalists; (7) contributing to non profit organizations; and (8) creating alliances with labor unions, mainly construction trades.

For more information, go to: www.dailykos.com/...

The 6th largest economy in the world is hitting 100% solar periods on a daily basis

umbra

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday April 17, 2024 · 11:30 PM PDT

2024/04/17 · 23:30

From Electrek (Industry blog) : In a major clean energy benchmark, wind, solar, and hydro exceeded 100% of demand on California's main grid for 30 of the past 38 days. Stanford University professor of civil and environmental engineering Mark Z. Jacobson has been tracking California's renewables performance. Jacobson notes that supply exceeds demand for "0.25-6 h per day," and that's an important fact. The continuity lies not in renewables running the grid for the entire day but in the fact that it's happening on a consistent daily basis, which has never been achieved before.

At the two-week record mark, Ian Magruder at Rewiring America made this great point.

"And what makes it even better is that California has the largest grid-connected battery storage facility in the world (came online in January ...), meaning those batteries were filling up with excess energy from the sun all afternoon today and are now deploying as we speak to offset a good chunk of the methane gas generation that California still uses overnight." On April 2, the California Independent System Operator (ISO) recommended 26 new transmission projects worth $6.1 billion, with a big number being devoted to offshore wind. In response, Jacobson predicted that California will entirely be on renewables and battery storage 24/7 by 2035.”

Yes I know its Feb-Apr the months with the least amount of load on the California system, but it’s a start.

Yes I know the cost of electricity is high in California (only compared to the rest of the coast line – don’t know how you folks in the rest of the country can afford your electricity), but that is mostly due to insurance cost and payouts due to the fires, caused by poor maintenance and stupidity. Some of the cost of the new battery systems. Not because of renewables, because the per kwh cost is still lower than non-renewables.

Yes I know it wasn’t for 24 hour periods, but only for parts of the day, but the batteries extended the time, and as more renewables come on line it will get better…..baby steps!

This rural PA school will save $4 million dollars thanks to solar

jamiewertz

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday April 17, 2024 · 11:27 PM PDT

2024/04/17 · 23:27

Superintendent Mick Iskric, Steelton-Highspire School District — Mick Iskric, Steelton-Highspire School District, speaks at a Solar for Schools PA Tour

Underfunded Pennsylvania school district shines as a clean energy leader through solar power

Near the state capital of Harrisburg lies the town of Steelton, Pennsylvania, the home of America’s first steel company and the birthplace of an industry that has long relied upon burning fossil fuels. Down the street from the 150-year-old steel mill is the campus of Steelton-Highspire School District (SHSD), which is forging ahead as one of the first Pennsylvania school districts to power its buildings and its buses with onsite renewable energy.

The school district found its way to renewable energy out of financial necessity. Steelton-Highspire School District (SHSD) sought creative solutions to overcome its annual budget gap of $10 million per year and provide the best educational experience for its diverse and predominantly low-income population of less than 1,500 students. SHSD found that energy efficiency and solar energy could provide significant operational cost savings to help the district balance its budget. The district’s 1.7 MW solar array powers 100% of the district’s electricity needs and is expected to provide $4 million in energy savings over the next two decades.

Energy efficiency leads to solar savings

Over the last two decades, the district has been lowering its energy bills with energy efficiency upgrades. The district worked with the energy service company, McClure Company, to upgrade its facilities without any upfront costs through a guaranteed energy savings agreement. In this arrangement, McClure Company invests in the capital improvements for the energy upgrades and guarantees an amount of energy savings. The district uses its energy savings over time to help pay for the project over the life of the contract.

The success of these efficiency projects led the district to explore more ways to save on energy costs and position themselves as a leader in energy independence. In the process of exploring onsite solar energy options, the district was able to find a beneficial use for a 4.7-acre landfill on school district property that was built in the aftermath of Hurricane Agnes in 1972. This area could not be used for future buildings or athletic fields, but it was suitable for installing a solar array that could meet 100% of the district’s electricity needs. Starting with energy efficiency helped the district to reduce its energy demand and optimize the size of the solar array it needed. SHSD entered into a power purchase agreement (PPA) with McClure Company to finance the project without any upfront costs. SHSD purchases the electricity produced by the array from McClure Company at a lower rate than it would pay the utility, resulting in immediate energy cost savings. Since the solar energy system went live in late 2021, the district was able to avoid two utility rate hikes and it is now saving $200,000 per year in energy costs.

Do you want to bring the benefits of solar to your community? Learn how you can be the spark for solar here.

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Where Are These Young Voters' Aunties?

BlackGrannyRising

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday April 11, 2024 · 2:11 PM PDT

2024/04/11 · 14:11

SELMA, ALABAMA - MARCH 09: Marchers chant during the Black Voters Matter's 57th Selma to Montgomery march on March 09, 2022 in Selma, Alabama. People gathered alongside organizations: Black Voters Matter, Rainbow PUSH Coalition, and the Transformative Justice Network to march the 11-mile original route that the late U.S. Rep. John Lewis and other civil rights leaders marched on March 7, 1965. In 1965, the march began at the Edmund Pettus Bridge and was met with brutal beatings of civil rights marchers at the hands of law enforcement. The march would later become known as "Bloody Sunday". The televised attacks were seen all over the nation, prompting public support for the civil rights activists in Selma and for the voting rights campaign. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images) — Damn right!!

So, according to this USA TODAY article, some young voters are “willing to see a trump win, if ‘Dems ‘learn-a-lesson’ from it :

Young voters aren't warming up to Biden. They know it means Trump could win again.

Don’t these young voters have “Aunties” who they could turn to for some well-earned, lived experience and some hard-fought-for wisdom?

I’m one of those ‘women of a certain age’, but I still remember being young, idealistic and sometimes foolish too. Wanted everything “my way,” feeling that I was the smartest person in the room and these “old fogeys” needed to get out of the way and let us young, brilliant minds solve the world’s problems.

Fortunately for me (and for other young people at the time, like the late Representative and Civil Rights icon, John Lewis-who listened to A. Phillip Randolph’s advice during that era), we had “Aunties” and “Uncles”, older, wiser, seasoned warriors to disabuse us of our fanciful notions of our own superior grasps of the situation.

In my view, that is what’s needed today. So young people don’t like their choices of Presidential candidates. So they don’t like having to choose between the lesser of the two evils. So they’re “just not into Joe Biden,” (as one young person in the article was quoted as saying).

NEWS FLASH, darlings: I’m not crazy about the choices either (I wanted Elizabeth Warren in 2020 and if I had gooten what I wanted, she’d be running for re-election right now).

I don’t like choosing between the lesser of two either. Welcome to Black peoples’ world, guys. We have had to choose between the lesser of two evils in every Presidential election-except 2008 and 2012. And you know who was running in those two elections. (And also, too, Joe Biden is not evil. He’s a President who has to, as all Presidents have to, deal with a Congress and a Supreme Court. Learn your civics and learn how the three braches of our government work and stop thinking that Joe Biden or any other President has dictatorial power. That’s NOT the form of government we have here-), at least not yet!!

Oh, and you’re “just not into” President Biden? Good Lord, are you marrying the guy?!!?

So allow me to be a surrogate “Auntie” right here. You cannot allow your “feelings” to cloud your logic in this most important election. The future of our Democracy is at stake and the choice is as stark as it gets. Democracy vs fascism. Reproductive rights vs forced birthing and not being able to exercise our rights to make health decisions for ourselves. Working families- friendly policies vs policies that favor the 1%. The death and chaos of the first trump administration vs the professionalism and concrete accomplishments of the first Biden administration. Let’s help President Biden finish the job.

I could go on, but young people (and truth be told, some of y’all older ones too), please don’t make the mistake of letting your idealism override your common sense. Your vote counts! And if you want a chance to make YOUR vision of the world you want to see a reality, a non-vote or a vote for trump and the rethuglicans will cause that vision to not be realized.

Finally, to Black young people talking this nonsense: I have the last original poll tax receipt from 1965 that my late Mother had to pay just in order to vote. That was the LAW-just 60 short years ago. Fannie Lou Hamer, who was beaten almost to death just for registering Mississippians to vote, was my Mom’s contemporary. How DARE y’all even contemplate not voting!! Or even THINK about voting for that orange menace who called our ancestors’ countries “shithole countries?” What the HELL are y’all thinking!!?

Whew! I’d better end this now, because I feel an even worse rant coming on!! Just vote. When we vote, we win.

Earth Matters: Kim Stanley Robinson & Michael Mann on doom; 33 green transition myths zapped

Meteor Blades for Daily Kos

Daily Kos Staff Emeritus

Monday April 08, 2024 · 2:50 AM PDT

2024/04/08 · 02:50

When Arnaud de Borchgrave and Robert Moss introduced the word “disinformation” to readers of their 1980 roman à clef spy novel “The Spike”—deriving the term from the Russian dezinformatsiya, the title of a KGB black propaganda department—it didn’t make a big splash in people’s personal lexicons, though It did make it into dictionaries starting in 1985. Disinformation, of course, has existed for millennia. Deception via disinformation has been the province of military leaders since there have been military leaders. Spies and double-agents, kings and corporations, scammers and other seducers disinformed not for casual amusement but to mislead and to militarily, economically, or politically cripple their target, be that an individual or a society of millions.

These days we’re practically marinated in disinformation, a daily deluge of fabrications and concoctions, delivered crudely or with nuanced sophistication, but lies either way. I can hear the chorus, “Meteor, are you talking about advertising?” No. Much of it certainly qualifies as disinformation, but it’s political not economic manipulation I’m talking about, though they are both accomplished from perches of marketing power. You can read hundreds of scientific papers exploring modern political disinformation from scores of angles. Here’s one.

Over the past four decades, in an example with seriously malign consequences, some rich and powerful agents of disinformation have brought us to the precipice on climate with ominous potential for our species and millions of others, all for profit. And now that the cruder denial elements of that scheme have collided with climate reality on the ground, there’s been a shift from outright denial to an aggressive fight against the transition to a greener, decarbonized future. Disinformation now rife will soon be made worse by robot propagandists, one of AI’s inconveniences.

Some of the lies are old, some new, but all are designed to delay the day when fossil fuels are actually left in the ground where scientists say they must remain if we’re to have any chance of keeping at least parts of the planet humanly habitable.

To help combat anti-green disinformation, Jacob Elkin, Matthew Eisenson and other researchers at the Climate Law blog of Columbia Law School’s Sabin Center have put together a helpful aid for when you’re arguing with somebody who’s been stuffed with what President Joe Biden might charitably call “malarkey.” It’s a data-rich report Rebutting 33 False Claims About Solar, Wind, and Electric Vehicles.

In a prefatory note the authors write:

Many of these false claims center on three categories of impacts commonly attributed to renewable energy development: impacts to the environment, impacts to human health, and impacts to the economy. For example, our report examines the common misconceptions that electric vehicles have a net harmful effect on climate change (they do not); that electromagnetic radiation from wind turbines poses a threat to human health (it does not); and that solar energy development negatively impacts U.S. jobs (it does not). Some of the misconceptions examined in the report, such as the notion that whale deaths stem from noise related to wind farm surveys, are entirely unsubstantiated. Others have some factual basis but are commonly repeated without necessary context: for instance, the notion that solar panels produce significant waste, without the context that fossil fuel energy generates far more.

To identify the most common false claims regarding wind, solar, and electric vehicles, the authors of the Sabin Center’s new report first reviewed social-media groups and websites created to oppose renewable energy projects or policies, as well as existing coverage about misinformation. The authors then developed transparent, fact-based responses to these false claims, relying to the greatest extent possible on peer reviewed academic literature and government publications. The authors designed the report so that members of the public can cultivate balanced and informed opinions on frequently-contested topics related to renewable energy and electric vehicle deployment.

Facts. Not falsehoods. Now it’s no doubt true that many people cannot be persuaded by facts, whatever the subject. Anyone who believes vaccines, much less decarbonization, are tools of Lucifer will be hard cases. For them, it’s all about ideology and emotion.

But open-minded people have been swamped with the same disinformation as the rest of the country. And it takes its toll. The purpose, as we know, is to create FUD, fear, uncertainty, and doubt. Thus do even people who count themselves very much in favor of the green transition wind up wondering if maybe some items in the flood of disinformation has it right. Since the transition is having and will continue to have burps, hiccups, and farts as it unfolds, giving aid, comfort, and fodder to the disinformer brigade, the potential for buying into the lies will also continue. So then must updating reports like the Sabin Center’s. Here’s just one example from it:

False Claim #3: Solar panels generate too much waste and will overwhelm our landfills. “Solar panels pose a huge risk for overfilling the landfills.” The amount of waste that solar panels are expected to generate over the next few decades is trivial compared to theamount of waste that will be generated by fossil fuels. A study published in Nature Physics in October 2023 found that “35 years of cumulative PV module waste (2016-2050) is dwarfed by the waste generated by fossil fuel energy and othercommon waste streams.” Specifically, the study found that “if we do not decarbonize and transition to renewable energy sources, coal ash and oily sludge waste generated by fossil fuel energy would be 300-800 times and 2-5 times larger [in mass], respectively, than PV module waste.”

In addition, although only about 10% to 15% of solar panels are recycled in the United States, the U.S. Department of Energy has awarded funding under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act for additional research and development for solar technology recycling. A 2024 study on solar PV recycling concluded that “PV recycling will reduce waste, and CO2 emissions, while contributing to a sustainable environment,” and that “[i]t is expected that the research for efficient PV recycling strategies will accelerate as the PV industry grows and as many more organizations and government work towards a sustainable future.”

Already, some companies have been able to recover 90% of solar panels’ mass in their recycling processes.

Missing from this well-researched and helpful report are the bumpersticker versions of its fact-checks. And the Tik-Tok and Facebook versions. Succinct stuff with emotion as well as facts. We desperately need people tasked with that.

RELATED:

You can find other sources knocking down the false claims about renewable energy, EVs and the like at these links: EPA, RMI, Carbon Brief, the Center for American Progress, the Annenberg Public Policy Center’s website FactCheck.org, the Brown Climate and Development Lab, and Heated.

gmoke

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday April 01, 2024 · 1:57 AM PDT

2024/04/01 · 01:57

These kinds of events below are happening all over the world every day and most of them, now, are webcast and archived, sometimes even with accurate transcripts. Would be good to have a place that helped people access them. This is a more global version of the local listings I did for about a decade (what I did and why I did it at http://hubeventsnotes.blogspot.com/2013/11/what-i-do-and-why-i-do-it.html) until September 2020 and earlier for a few years in the 1990s (https://theworld.com/~gmoke/AList.index.html).
A more comprehensive global listing service could be developed if there were enough people interested in doing it, if it hasn’t already been done.
If anyone knows of such a global listing of open energy, climate, and other events is available, please put me in contact.
Thanks for reading,
Solar IS Civil Defense,
George Mokray
gmoke@world.std.com
http://hubeventsnotes.blogspot.com - notes on lectures and books
http://solarray.blogspot.com - renewable energy and efficiency - zero net energy links list
http://cityag.blogspot.com - city agriculture links list
http://geometrylinks.blogspot.com - geometry links list
http://hubevents.blogspot.com - Energy (and Other) Events
http://www.dailykos.com/user/gmoke/history - articles, ideas, and screeds

———
Index
———

More information on each event at http://hubevents.blogspot.com, which is also a free listserv.

Planning the Mid-transition for Just and Sustainable Decarbonization
Monday, April 1
12:00 PM - 1:15 PM ET
R-414ab David T. Ellwood Democracy Lab
And online
RSVP at https://harvard.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_TtOizKkuTca5mRZA9-gJwA#/registration
—————
Designs to Help Climate Refugees
Tuesday, April 2
12:30 - 1:30pm EDT
Online
RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/inttalk-designs-to-help-climate-refugees-with-tetsu-ohara-tickets-858316757527
—————
Lessons Learned for Nature Conservation: A Perspective from 15 Years of Research and Practice at a Global Conservation Organization
Monday, April 1
2pm EST [11:00am - 12:00pm PT]
UCSB, PT1414 Bren Hall, Santa Barbara, CA 93106-5131
And online
RSVP at https://bren.ucsb.edu/events/lessons-learned-nature-conservation-perspective-15-years-research-and-practice-global
Dr. Reddy will be presenting in person at Bren. Join us in Bren Hall 1414 or watch online using this link and passcode nature
—————
Realizing the Potential of Nature-based Solutions for Biodiversity and Carbon Conservation
Monday, April 1
4:30 PM - 5:30 PM
Princeton, 10 Guyot Hall, Princeton, NJ
And online
RSVP at https://princeton.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_C1bzbYxESFeBbLcb41aNGw#/registration
—————
When youth sue to protect the planet and their health: Inside a bold legal strategy to fight climate change
Monday, April 1
6 – 6:50 p.m.
The Studio, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, 677 Huntington Avenue, Boston
And online
RSVP at https://harvard.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_a2HvW19jrxHq5pQ
—————
Reproductive Justice: Global Movements and Wins
Tuesday, April 2
11:00am to 1:00pm
Online
RSVP at https://mit.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_x_COW6cARQKTofBJt0cmyg#/registration
—————
Climate Populism: The anti-elite backlash against the green transition
Tuesday, April 2
12 – 1:15 p.m.
Harvard, Rubenstein 414AB, 79 John F. Kennedy Street, Cambridge
And online
RSVP at https://hksexeced.tfaforms.net/f/event-registration?c=701Pp00000G8RRdIAN
—————
European Politics Seminar — Energy and Power: Germany in the Age of Oil, Atoms, and Climate Change
Tuesday, April 2
4:30 – 6 p.m.
Harvard, Goldman Room, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Adolphus Bush Hall at Cabot Way, 27 Kirkland Street, Cambridge
RSVP at https://ces.fas.harvard.edu/events/2024/04/energy-and-power-germany-in-the-age-of-oil-atoms-and-climate-change-2
—————
A Renegades’ History of the Revolutionary Frontier: Contesting Race & Nation on the Borderlands of the New United States
Tuesday, April 2
5:00 PM - 6:15 PM EST
Online
RSVP at https://18308a.blackbaudhosting.com/18308a/A-Renegades-History-of-the-Revolutionary-Frontier
—————
Honorable Harvest: Indigenous Knowledge for Sustainability
Tuesday, April 2
6:00 PM - 7:30 PM
Princeton, McCosh Hall, Room 50, Princeton, NJ
And online
RSVP at https://mediacentrallive.princeton.edu/events/2024/dr-robin-wall-kimmerer-honorable-harvest-indigenous-knowledge-sustainability
—————
Innovation for strong sustainability trajectories
Wednesday, April 3
8:30 to 10 a.m. EST [2:30 to 4 p.m. CET]
Online
RSVP at https://www.afd.fr/en/actualites/agenda/innovation-strong-sustainability-trajectories
—————
Decarbonize Existing Buildings Alliance
Wednesday, April 3
3:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Online
RSVP at https://builtenvironmentplus.org/event/decarbonize-existing-buildings-alliance-4-3/
—————
The Environment Forum with Hiʻilei Hobart | What Returns, What Remains: A Story about Hawaiian Landscape and Dis/Possession
Wednesday, April 3
6 – 7:30 p.m.
Harvard, Emerson Hall, Room 105, 29 Quincy Street, Cambridge
RSVP at https://mahindrahumanities.fas.harvard.edu/event/environment-forum-hi%E2%80%99ilei-hobart-what-returns-what-remains-story-about-hawaiian
—————
Forest Loss in 2023: Regional Contexts and Global Trends
Thursday, April 4
9 - 10am EDT
Online
RSVP at https://wri.zoom.us/webinar/register/6317111325303/WN_6d4vqS1QQRCljVzgTLs0Ew#/registration
—————
Experiments in Utopia: Community Composting and Alternatives to Neoliberal Sustainability
Thursday, April 4
12 – 1PM
Tufts, Curtis Hall, 474 Boston Avenue, Medford, MA 02155
RSVP at https://tufts.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_zKCwxFFxQZWJDy_j7Rvv1A#/registration
—————
Next in Science: James Webb Space Telescope
Thursday, April 4
2 – 4 p.m.
Harvard, Knafel Center, 10 Garden Street, Cambridge
And online
RSVP at https://www.radcliffe.harvard.edu/event/2024-next-in-science-program
—————
Jonathan Vigliotti: Stories from the Front Lines of Climate Change in Small-town America
Thursday, April 4
3pm EST [12:00 PM PDT]
Online
RSVP at https://commonwealthclub.my.salesforce-sites.com/ticket/#/instances/a0F8Z00000lUr9TUAS
Cost: $10
—————
MC Escher: Amazing Images
Sunday, April 7
1:00pm to 2:30pm
MIT Museum , 314 Main Street, Gambrill Center, Cambridge MA 02142
—————
The New Era of Transparency: A Briefing on the SEC’s Climate Disclosure Rule
Monday, April 8
12:00 PM in Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Online
RSVP at https://ceres-org.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_SKyEzlTWSVmtQ6MlgAKmfQ#/registration
—————
Energy Policy Seminar: "Reflections on Global Climate Change Policy"
Monday, April 8
12 – 1:15 p.m.
Harvard Kennedy School, Rubenstein Building, Room 414AB, 79 John F. Kennedy Street, Cambridge
RSVP at https://www.belfercenter.org/event/energy-policy-seminar-reflections-global-climate-change-policy
—————
Developing a Climate Vulnerability Index for Advancing Community Level Climate Resilience
Monday, April 8
12:15 PM - 1:15 PM
Princeton, 300 Wallace Hall, Princeton, NJ
And online
RSVP at https://mediacentrallive.princeton.edu/
—————
Creative Climate Action: Can Art Protect Us from Rising Seas?
Monday, April 8
4 – 5 p.m.
Radcliffe, Knafel Center, 10 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138
And online
RSVP at https://www.radcliffe.harvard.edu/event/2024-xavier-cortada-lecture
—————
The Environment Forum | A Conversation with Margaret Renkl
Monday, April 8
6 – 7:30 p.m.
Harvard, Sever Hall, Room 113, Cambridge
RSVP at https://mahindrahumanities.fas.harvard.edu/event/environment-forum-conversation-margaret-renkl
—————
The Stanford Energy Seminar: "Enhanced Geothermal Systems: Are We There Yet?"
Monday, April 8
4:30pm to 5:20pm PT
Stanford, Skilling Building, Skilling Auditorium, 494 Lomita Mall, Stanford, CA 94305
And online
RSVP at https://events.stanford.edu/event/the_energy_seminar_1976
—————
Locked in a Hotbox: The Impact of Climate Change on the Incarcerated
Tuesday, April 9
12:30 pm - 1:30 pm
Online
RSVP at https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/ev/reg/yr2p2vp/lp/efe421ce-ef85-4e76-8dad-24582f4f479f
—————
Book Talk with Jason De Léon "Soldiers and Kings: Survival and Hope in the World of Human Smuggling"
Tuesday, April 9
4:00pm to 5:30pm
MIT, Building 56-114, 21 Ames Street, Cambridge, MA 02139
—————
The Ritual Effect: From Habit to Ritual, Harness the Surprising Power of Everyday Actions
Tuesday, April 9
6:00 PM ET (Doors at 5:30)
Cambridge Public Library, 449 Broadway, Cambridge, MA 02138
RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/michael-norton-at-the-cambridge-public-library-tickets-859760485757
—————
MIT Architecture Lecture Series: Lesley Lokko
Tuesday, April 9
6:00pm to 8:00pm
MIT, Building 10-250, 222 Memorial Drive, Cambridge, MA 02139
And online
RSVP at https://www.tickettailor.com/events/mitarchitecture/1174134
And streamed on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCF0b_PC-cvPzv6Us56S6rtA
—————
Electric Transmission and the Energy Transition: Perspectives from Africa, Europe, and North America
Wednesday, April 10
11am - 12:30pm EST [4:00 PM - 5:30 PM CEST]
Online
RSVP at https://fsr.eui.eu/event/electric-transmission-and-the-energy-transition-perspectives-from-africa-europe-and-north-america/
—————
The Theory of the Nuclear Revolution Revisited
Wednesday, April 10
12:00pm to 1:30pm
MIT, E40-496, in-person limited to the MIT Community
And online
RSVP at https://mit.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_x_COW6cARQKTofBJt0cmyg#/registration
—————
Beyond Content: Teaching for Civic Participation and Engagement
Wednesday, April 10
2:00pm to 3:00pm
Online
RSVP at https://mit.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJUuce6pqTgjE9G4i62rbXSTxM13YZJdjAIg#/registration
—————
How Can Businesses Secure a More Sustainable, Equitable and Resilient Future for the Food Sector?
Thursday, April 11
10 - 11:15am EDT
Online
RSVP at https://wri.zoom.us/webinar/register/2817110478556/WN_LVyJXccsRvuLvThjj88yVw#/registration
—————
Webinar – Local Strategies to Curb Waste Sector Methane Emissions & Benefit Communities
Thursday, April 11
1-2:15 p.m. ET
Online
RSVP at https://rmi.org/event/webinar-how-local-governments-can-reduce-landfill-pollution/
—————
Water and climate change: Adaptation at the margins
Thursday, April 11
2pm - 3pm EST [18:00 BST -19:00 BST]
Oxford University Museum of Natural History, Parks Road Oxford OX1 3PW
And online
RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.se/e/hybrid-event-water-and-climate-change-adaptation-at-the-margins-tickets-868253548737
—————
MIT Architecture Lecture Series: How to reduce carbon emission in construction and operation of buildings?
Thursday, April 11
6:00pm to 8:00pm
MIT, Long Lounge, 7-429 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139
And online
RSVP at https://www.tickettailor.com/events/mitarchitecture/1174135
Livestream on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCF0b_PC-cvPzv6Us56S6rtA
—————
Making Democracy Count: How Mathematics Improves Voting, Electoral Maps, and Representation
Thursday, April 11
7:00 PM ET
Harvard Book Store, 1256 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138
RSVP at https://www.harvard.com/event/ismar_volic/
—————
Climate Emergency Preparedness: Developing a Response Capability for Polar Tipping Points
Monday, April 15
12 – 1:15 p.m.
Harvard Kennedy School, Rubenstein Building, Room 414AB, 79 John F. Kennedy Street, Cambridge
And Online
RSVP at https://www.belfercenter.org/event/energy-policy-seminar-wake-smith-climate-emergency-preparedness
—————
2024 PHIUS [Passive House] Policy Summit
Tuesday, April 16 - Thursday, April17
5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Virtual
RSVP at https://phius1.zohobackstage.com/PhiusPolicySummit2024
Cost: $30 -$60
—————
2024 Columbia Global Energy Summit
Tuesday, April 16
8:30 AM - 4:30 PM
Lerner Hall, 2920 Broadway, New York, NY 10027
And online
RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2024-columbia-global-energy-summit-tickets-794502547507?discount=CGEPcolumbia24Contact Information
—————
Mindful Actions for Climate Change
Tuesday, April 16
8:45 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Online
RSVP at https://harvard.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_aVFvFF9gcKkDr6K
—————
Exit Wounds: How America’s Guns Fuel Violence Across the Border
Tuesday, April 16
7:00 PM ET
Harvard Book Store, 1256 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138
RSVP at https://www.harvard.com/event/ieva_jusionyte1/
—————
Green Builder Media's 8th annual Sustainability Symposium: Existential Solutions
Wednesday, April 17 - Thursday, April 18
12:00-3:00 Eastern each day
Online
RSVP at https://www.greenbuildermedia.com/sustainability-symposium-2024-existential-solutions
—————
Limitations of autonomous vehicles
Wednesday, April 17
12:00pm to 12:30pm
Online
RSVP at https://mit.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_rPyp-nU8Quehg8MvK-Ov3w#/registration
—————
The Importance of Being Educable: A New Theory of Human Uniqueness
Wednesday, April 17
6:00 PM ET (Doors at 5:30)
Harvard Science Center Hall C, 1 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA
RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/leslie-valiant-at-the-harvard-science-center-tickets-862048258547
—————
What We Can’t Burn: Friendship and Friction in the Fight for Our Energy Future
Thursday, April 18
12 – 1PM
Tufts, Curtis Hall, 474 Boston Avenue, Medford, MA
And online
RSVP at https://tufts.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_r2WJfIU5SQ2UvKYGav4yiw#/registration
—————
USGBC[Green Building Council]-LA Extreme Heat for Construction Professionals
Thursday, April 18
12 - 3pm EDT
Online
RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/usgbc-la-extreme-heat-for-construction-professionals-tickets-852412999227
—————
Unbottling the Environmental & Health Impacts of Nanoplastics
Thrusday, April 18
6:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Online
RSVP at https://columbiauniversity.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_j6V2WSCnTCSPzjLkA6H_dg#/registration
—————
We Are the Leaders We Have Been Looking For
Thursday, April 18
6:00 PM ET (Doors at 5:30)
Brattle Theatre, 40 Brattle St., Cambridge, MA 02138
RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/eddie-s-glaude-jr-at-the-brattle-theatre-tickets-862072200157
Cost: $34.00 (book included)
—————
MIT Architecture Lecture Series: Teddy Cruz and Fonna Forman
Thursday, April 18
6:00pm to 8:00pm
MIT, Building 7-429, 77 MASSACHUSETTS AVE, Cambridge, MA 02139
And online
RSVP at https://www.tickettailor.com/events/mitarchitecture/1174136
Livestream at Youtube at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCF0b_PC-cvPzv6Us56S6rtA
—————
A Gardener at the End of the World!
Thursday, April 18
7pm
Porter Square Books, 25 White Street, Cambridge, MA 02140
RSVP at https://www.portersquarebooks.com/rsvp-attend-our-event-margot-anne-kelley
—————
Post-Katrina Housing Resilience in Greater New Orleans
Friday, April 19
12:00 PM in Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Online
RSVP at https://harvard.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_O0t1XB9CQKqiruKS0dftag#/registration
—————
Swapfest -- The Flea at MIT -- Tech, tools, and gadgets flea market
Sunday, April 21
9:00am to 2:00pm
MIT, Building N4, 32 Albany Street, Cambridge, MA 02139
—————
Earth Day 2024
More information at https://www.earthday.org/earth-day-2024/
—————
Energy Policy Seminar: "Carbon Abatement Costs of Green Hydrogen Across End-Use Sectors”
Monday, April 22
12 – 1:15 p.m.
Harvard Kennedy School, Rubenstein Building, Room 414AB, 79 John F. Kennedy Street, Cambridge
And online
RSVP at https://www.belfercenter.org/event/energy-policy-seminar-carbon-abatement-costs-green-hydrogen-across-end-use-sectors
—————
Markets Won’t Save Us, and the State Probably Won’t Either
Monday, April 22
12:15 PM - 1:15 PM
Princeton, 300 Wallace Hall, Princeton, NJ
And online
RSVP at https://mediacentrallive.princeton.edu/
—————
Exploring Climate TRACE: an Open Science workshop on greenhouse gas emissions tracking
Monday, April 22
1:00pm to 2:30pm
MIT, Building 7-238 GIS & Data Lab, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139
RSVP at https://libcal.mit.edu/calendar/events/climate-trace-ghg-202
—————
SF Climate Week at Climate One: California Attorney General Rob Bonta on Suing Big Oil
Monday, April 22
2pm EST [11:00 AM PDT]
The Commonwealth Club of California, 110 The Embarcadero, Taube Family Auditorium, San Francisco, CA 94105
And online
RSVP at https://www.commonwealthclub.org/events/2024-04-22/sf-climate-week-climate-one-california-attorney-general-rob-bonta-suing-big-oil
Cost: $5 - $30
—————
Who Are the Real Energy (and Carbon) Hogs?
Tuesday, April 23
12 - 1:30pm EDT
Kleinman Center for Energy Policy.220 S. 34th St. University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA 19104
And online
RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/who-are-the-real-energy-and-carbon-hogs-registration-781053149997
—————
Is Globalization Over? (2024 Anthony C. Janetos Memorial Distinguished Lecture)
Tuesday, April 23
4:00 pm to 5:30 pm
BU School of Law, Barristers Hall, 765 Commonwealth Avenue
RSVP at https://www.bu.edu/pardee/2024/02/15/2024-janetos-distinguished-lecture-is-globalization-over-by-ernesto-zedillo/#RSVP
—————
The Challenge of Net Zero at IRA +1 – An EBC Energy Resources Webinar
Wednesday, April 24
9:00 am - 11:30 am EST
Online
RSVP at https://ebcne.org/event/the-challenge-of-net-zero-at-ira-1-an-ebc-energy-resources-webinar/#registration-details
Cost: $30 -$150
—————
Singers as Sentinels: How Whales Can Warn of Changing Ecosystems
Wednesday, April 24
12 – 1 p.m.
Online
RSVP at https://harvard.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_oiaChSGAQ7OebHQGeIlDlA#/registration
—————
The Impact of AI In Driving Sustainability and Addressing Climate Change !
Wednesday April 24
6 - 9pm EDT
CIC Cambridge @ 1 Broadway, Cambridge, MA 02142
RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-impact-of-ai-in-driving-sustainability-and-addressing-climate-change-tickets-871733778197
—————
Saving Ourselves: From Climate Shocks to Climate Action!
Wednesday, April 24
7pm
Porter Square Books, 25 White Street, Cambridge, MA 02140
RSVP at https://www.portersquarebooks.com/rsvp-attend-our-event-dana-s-fisher
—————
Supporting Indigenous-Led Sustainable Wildlife Management
Thursday, April 25
12 – 1PM
Tufts, Curtis Hall, 474 Boston Avenue, Medford, MA 02155
And online
RSVP at https://tufts.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_4iuPW-xwStWI_UkThrteTg#/registration
—————
2024 MIT Sustainability Summit: Systems Change: Systems Change: Accelerating Solutions and Collaborations for Planetary Wellbeing
Friday, April 26
8:30am - 5pm EDT
Boston Marriott Cambridge, 50 Broadway, Cambridge, MA, 02142
RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2024-mit-sustainability-summit-systems-change-tickets-814646839627
Cost: $30 - $225
—————
The Everything War: Amazon’s Ruthless Quest to Own the World and Remake Corporate Power
Friday, April 26
7:00 PM ET
Harvard Book Store, 1256 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138
RSVP at https://www.harvard.com/event/dana_mattioli/
—————
Embracing Our Emergency: "Thriving In Climate Crisis"
Sunday, April 28
1-4pm EDT
Online
RSVP at https://www.liminal.news/embracing-our-emergency
Cost: $300, scholarships available
—————
Managing Water for Combined Mitigation and Adaptation in Agricultural Systems
April 29
11:00am - 12:00pm
UCSB, PT1414 Bren Hall, Santa Barbara, CA 93106-5131
And online
RSVP at https://bren.ucsb.edu/events/managing-water-combined-mitigation-and-adaptation-agricultural-systems
Dr. McDermid will be presenting in person at Bren. Join us in Bren Hall 1414 or watch online (link TBA)
—————
ESG 201 Series Part 1: The Business Case for Sustainability – EBC Climate Change and Air & Ascending Professionals Webinar Series
Tuesday, April 30
12:00 pm - 1:30 pm EDT
Online
RSVP at https://ebcne.org/event/esg-201-series-part-1-the-business-case-for-sustainability/
Cost: $75
—————
'True False, Hot Cold': Film Screening & Discussion
Tuesday, April 30
4:30pm to 6:30pm
MIT, Building 55, Atrium 21 Ames Street, Cambridge, MA, 02139
——————
The Human Disease: How We Create Pandemics, from Our Bodies to Our Beliefs
Wednesday, May 1
7:00 PM ET
Harvard Book Store, 1256 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138
RSVP at https://www.harvard.com/event/sabrina_sholts/
—————
Meeting Investor Expectations: Introducing the Nature Action 100 Company Benchmark
Thursday, May 2
10:00 AM in Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Online
RSVP at https://ceres-org.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_aTxpuCB7Qi2AM_1YXsuR3w#/registration
—————
Farming the Future: Livestock's Leap to Net Zero
Monday, May 6
4 PM ET
Online
RSVP at https://www.radcliffe.harvard.edu/event/2024-ermias-kebreab-lecture-virtual
—————
Climate LIVE K12: Disasters and Climate Change in the Caribbean
May 8, 2024
4:00 PM - 4:30 PM
Online
RSVP at https://events.columbia.edu/cal/event/eventView.do?b=de&calPath=/public/cals/MainCal&guid=CAL-00bbdb7c-8b1dcd5f-018b-200ea6a9-00005636events%40columbia.edu&recurrenceId=
—————
Finish What We Started: The MAGA Movement's Ground War to End Democracy
Friday, May 10
7:00 PM ET
Harvard Book Store, 1256 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138
RSVP at https://www.harvard.com/event/isaac_arnsdorf/

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Weekly Spotlight on Climate & Eco-diaries (3/31/2024)

Meteor Blades

Daily Kos Staff Emeritus (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday April 01, 2024 · 1:54 AM PDT

2024/04/01 · 01:54

Runoff stream ripples across a very flat beach — Runoff stream ripples across a very flat Second Beach in Olympic National Park. See more photos in OceanDiver's post below.

The spotlight is a weekly, categorized compilation of links and excerpts from environmentally related posts at Daily Kos. Any posts included in the collection do not necessarily indicate my agreement with or endorsement of them. Because of the interconnectedness of the subject matter, some of these posts can be placed in more than one category.

CLIMATE EMERGENCY & EXTREME WEATHER

The Great Disruption - Part 1 - Climate Migration by Philip S Wenz. This is the first part of a series on what Australian author Paul Gilding, in his 2018 book on the climate catastrophe, has called “The Great Disruption.” Gilding’s thesis, and that of this series, is not that we are necessarily headed toward the end of the world, or even the end of civilization, but toward a significant disruption of our economic and social systems caused by the biosphere’s loss of much of its resilience, and large swaths of the planet becoming unproductive or uninhabitable. In this series, we’ll examine disruption caused by climate migration, flooding, droughts and other environmental shocks to the planetary system, and discuss how these impacts can overlap each other, disrupting many of global civilization’s functions. Climate change this century is going to alter economic geography… — Gaia Vince, “Nomad Century” Can migrating to escape unlivable climate conditions be a good thing? According the book “Nomad Century” by British environmental writer Gaia Vince, the answer is yes — if we view migrations as an economic opportunity, change our definition of nation states and their borders and smoothly relocate most of the world’s population north of the 50th parallel. In her book, Vince tell us, correctly, that coastal lowland flooding, excessive heat, extended drought and so on will push billions of people out of their homes in the coming century. (The U.N. estimates that there will be 1.2 billion climate migrants by 2050, three billion by 2100.)

Kitchen Table Kibitzing: Global Warming Speeding Up Time? by boatsie. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAid) today hosted the Global Summit on Extreme Heat to call attention to the probability of a “mass-fatality heat disaster.” This comes on the heels of 2023’s “record-shattering temperatures, when 3.8 billion people – half the world’s population – sweltered in extreme heat for at least one day,” the Guardian reports. The summit discussed the idea of naming heatwaves to garner them the attention other extreme disasters receive and explored projects such as tree planting and reflective roof coverings which can lower temperatures indoors. It also called for the development of heat action plans by national and local governments as well as corporations, schools, hospitals, and humanitarian groups. Jagan Chapagain, the IFRC secretary general, drew comparisons to Kim Stanley Robinson’s apocalyptic novel Ministry for the Future, which opens with a deadly heatwave in India that kills millions of people, some of whom are poached alive in a lake they hoped to cool off in.

Climate Crisis -- How Will You Deal With Flooding? by birches. This week’s question is: How Will You Deal With Flooding? Where I currently live, there are 4 different possible flood sources, the first two of which I’ve already experienced here. They are 1. flooding from precipitation; 2. flooding from storm drains and sewers overflowing; 3. flooding directly from storms and storm surge; and 4. flooding from sea level rise. 1. Climate chaos is already causing extreme precipitation events — like the floods in China in 2021, in Germany and Belgium in 2021, in Missouri and Kentucky in 2022, the 2022 Pakistan monsoon, the flooding in Death Valley in 2023, the flash flooding in Libya in 2023, and the flooding in Vermont and New York in 2023 — and these types of extreme precipitation events are forecast to increase. The storm that made a lake in Death Valley flooded us here, and did so astoundingly quickly. 2. San Francisco is saddled with a storm drain system that empties into the sewer system. When it rains, the runoff can overwhelm the sewer system and we get releases of mixed untreated sewage and runoff into the bay, into the ocean, and sometimes on the streets. Even “normal” large rains can trigger this, so we’ve had this kind of flooding as well, frequently.

Sponges Tell the Story of Climate Change by Alan Singer. Chemical variations in the spine of Caribbean sclerosponges show that between 1700 and 1790, ocean temperatures were stable. Between 1790 and 1860, there was some cooling, probably because of volcanic eruptions that blocked sunlight and created a worldwide cooler planet. These included major eruptions in modern day Indonesia and periodic, but smaller, eruptions of Mount St. Helens in Oregon. In the mid-1860s, the Caribbean Sea began to grow warmer. By the middle of the 20th century, sponge records suggest that the amount of global warming caused by the burning of fossil fuels was actually about half a degree Celsius (about 1°F) greater than scientists estimated using conventional methods.

Overnight News Digest: Capitalism is burning the planet by Magnifico. Extreme heat drives up food prices. Just how bad will it get? From Grist: Sometimes climate change appears where you least expect it — like the grocery store. Food prices have climbed 25 percent over the past four years, and Americans have been shocked by the growing cost of staples like beef, sugar, and citrus. While many factors, like supply chain disruptions and labor shortages, have contributed to this increase, extreme heat is already raising food prices, and it’s bound to get worse, according to a recent study published in the journal Communications Earth & Environment. The analysis found that heatflation could drive up food prices around the world by as much as 3 percentage points per year in just over a decade and by about 2 percentage points in North America. For overall inflation, extreme weather could lead to anywhere from a 0.3 to 1.2 percentage point increase each year depending on how many carbon emissions countries pump into the atmosphere. Though that might sound small, it’s actually “massive,” according to Gernot Wagner, a climate economist at Columbia Business School. “That’s half of the Fed’s overall goal for inflation,” he said, referencing the Federal Reserve’s long-term aim of limiting it to 2 percent. The Labor Department recently reported that consumer prices climbed 3.2 percent over the past 12 months.

Thunderhead! by Desert Scientist. I have always liked thunderstorms. They make one feel alive and grateful. There is something profoundly exhilarating about them, but they are also quite dangerous. In the Southwest, where I grew up and lived most of my life, summer monsoons would start with a gust of wind, often followed by a layer of blowing dust and then a cloudburst, a toad strangler, which could often kill at a distance through flash floods. The commonest ways to die in the desert is by either thirst or drowning! But the latter is far more likely than the former! See: www.worldatlas.com/... Rattlesnake bite doesn’t even come close! Actually, I grew up in Yuma County, a very dry part of North America, with less than three inches of rainfall a year. We were ecstatic if rain fell and there would be a banner headline in The Yuma Daily Sun if a snowflake fell! Then I moved to Tucson to attend the University of Arizona. I soon became enamored of the majestic cumulonimbus clouds (thunderheads) that arose during the summer monsoons. The smell of the desert after a rain was fabulous- creosote and other desert plants perfumed the air with delicate and stronger scents that would enliven any day.

Still, rain storms in the Southwest could be dangerous. Drainage in Tucson was notoriously inadequate and one underpass was apparently called Lake Alice because a woman drove a car into it and drowned because she could not see the water. Streets could become torrents in minutes. But I reveled in driving over a pass in the mountains to see a gigantic thunderstorm ahead of me, for soon would come the life-giving moisture that the desert needed to bloom.

Dan Bacher

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday March 26, 2024 · 9:01 PM PDT

2024/03/26 · 21:01

Protest in front of the offices of the Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA) in Sacramento on March 18. photo by Dan Bacher.

CalGEM is set to vote today on the plan to formally phase out fracking in California.

Yesterday, over 1000 individuals across the state and country sent comments to Governor Newsom asking him to direct CalGEM to amend the ban to address all fracking methods used across California, particularly steam injection.

“As they currently stand, the proposed rules will prohibit the state from issuing new hydraulic fracking permits. While they are a welcome follow-up on Governor Newsom’s 2021 promise to ban this devastating practice that increases greenhouse gas emissions and puts Californian’s people, animals, air and water at risk of contamination, they cannot be considered a full ban unless all fracking methods are included,” according to a press statement from Food and Water Watch.

“In their comments, Californians and other individuals across the country alike expressed gratitude to Governor Newsom for taking this vital and necessary step to ban some methods of fracking, especially considering the urgency of the climate crisis we’re all facing. However, commenters noted that in order for Governor Newsom to be considered a climate leader, he must direct CalGEM to not only stop all fracking practices, including steam injection, but also begin to end all oil and gas drilling in California,” the group stated.

Said Chirag Bhakta, California Director for Food & Water Watch, “Californians know that fracking is a harmful practice that puts all of us in danger and corrupts our environment. And fracking does not affect all Californian’s equally: much of this infrastructure is located in areas where people are already experiencing the worst of the climate crisis. By supporting a full ban on fracking and starting more aggressively moving toward our future free from fossil fuels, we can ensure that all of our neighbors have access to clean air, fresh water and a livable future.”

CalGEM's is holding a virtual public hearing on this ban today, March 26, at 5:30 pm, while the public comment period closes on Wednesday, March 27.

20+ Groups In California Call Out Oil Refiners Profits, Seek Penalty By Summer

Dan Bacher

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday March 21, 2024 · 8:38 PM PDT

2024/03/21 · 20:38

Sacramento, CA -- A coalition of over twenty public interest groups exposed new state data showing that California oil refiners averaged more than $1 per gallon in gross profits during 2023 and called on the California Energy Commission to adopt a price gouging penalty by summer.

The data on excess profits was revealed after a year when Big Oil spent more money on lobbying in California than any other year on record besides 2017. Big Oil spent $25,445,606 on lobbying in California in 2023 and $25,445,606 in 2017.

Today, the CEC will hold a Pre-Rulemaking Workshop on a price gouging penalty as directed by SBX1 2, according to a press statement from Consumer Watchdog.

“California’s oil refiners reported to the Energy Commission that their average gross refining margin from selling gasoline in the California gallon in 2023 was $1.01 per gallon,” the groups wrote to the commissioners and Governor Newsom. “A buck per gallon is too much for oil refiners to take for profit and overhead when working people have to choose between paying for food and filling up.

“California oil refiners reported to their investors that their operating and other costs of running their refineries are between 20 and 30 cents per gallon. California oil refiners are keeping between 70 and 80 cents off every gallon of gas sold as pure profit….The buck stops this summer.”

The groups signing the letter include: the Asian Pacific Environmental Network, Center for Biological Diversity, The Center on Race, The Climate Center, Poverty, and the Environment, The Climate Alliance of Santa Cruz County Climate First: Replacing Oil & Gas, Consumer Watchdog, Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety, Elected Officials to Protect America - California, Environmental Working Group, Friends of the Earth, Gemini Energy Solutions, Glendale Environmental Coalition, Long Beach Gray Panthers, Mothers Out Front, Oil and Gas Action Network Oil Change International, RootsAction.Org, San Francisco Bay Physicians for Social Responsibility, Santa Cruz Climate Action Network, Stand.Earth, Sunflower Alliance, and Working Families Party.

“It’s been nearly a year since the Governor signed landmark legislation for a price gouging penalty in a special session, it’s time the California Energy Commission delivered on a rule implementing the law before summer when gas prices are expected to spike again,” said Jamie Court, president of Consumer Watchdog.

The group posted this “Consumer Alert” video as part of its “The Buck Stops This Summer” campaign, calling for the public to reach out to the Energy Commission for action. Consumer Watchdog noted that two oil refineries in Northern California are expected to go off-line this summer, creating potential for a huge gasoline price spike.

“The greed of California oil companies is hitting frontline communities the hardest. Californians are paying with their health, their air, and their wallets,” said Connie Choe, Just Transition Policy Strategist of Asian Pacific Environmental Network. “Meanwhile, oil refiners continue to hike up prices at the pump and slow progress to combat climate change for their own benefit. Implementing a price gouging penalty is integral to ending greedy oil prices, and protecting frontline communities from taking another hit.”

“Big Oil has been dishonestly raising gas prices and gouging billions from everyday Californians to enrich their billionaire CEO’s and shareholders,” said Jane Kim at California Working Families Party. “Meanwhile, working families are feeling the pinch. The California Energy Commission must step in to hold Big Oil accountable and protect Californians from being exploited by enacting a price gouging penalty. Implementing a cap on gas profits is critical to curb oil executives’ profiteering.”

According to the groups, “As summer approaches, Californians brace themselves for the annual uptick in gasoline prices, heightening concerns over affordability. With the cost of fuel climbing, there's a pressing call for safeguards against price gouging to ensure that essential expenses remain manageable. For many, the dilemma of choosing between filling up their tanks and putting food on the table underscores the harsh economic realities faced by households already struggling to make ends meet.”

“Everywhere Californians go, they are seeing inflated prices, but nowhere worse than at the gas pump,” said Bill Allayaud, California Director of Government Affairs for the Environmental Working Group. "And the gas gouging started before the current round of rising prices on other essential consumer goods and electricity costs. We really need the Energy Commission to come through for consumers with a sense of urgency.”

Chevron and Western States Petroleum Association top 2023 California lobbying with $18.1 million

Why has Big Oil been able to get away with what it does in California for decades? It’s because of the inordinate influence of Big Oil on California politicians and regulators.

The report also revealed that the state’s five major refiners, including Valero, PBF Energy, Marathon Petroleum, and Phillips 66, spent over $2.5 million on 2023 lobbying and influence activities.

For more information, go to: www.dailykos.com/...

The United States just had its warmest winter on record.

Pakalolo

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday March 11, 2024 · 6:36 PM PDT

2024/03/11 · 18:36

Copernicus EU - Zooming out... It is not just Europe. Large portions of the Arctic, North America and NW Africa have been much warmer than average. Places like Toronto in Canada recorded warmest February on record.

There is *nothing* you care about that survives a 6-3 Republican court for a generation. Nothing. I don’t know how many times the Court has to prove that to people before liberals unify and act. Elie Mystal.

From NOAA.

Climate by the numbers

February 2024

The average temperature across the contiguous U.S. last month was 41.1 degrees F, 7.2 degrees F above the 20th-century average and ranking as the third-warmest February in NOAA’s 130-year climate record. Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri and Wisconsin each had their warmest February on record. An additional 20 states saw their top-10 warmest February on record.

Persistent winter warmth resulted in a steady decrease in ice coverage across the Great Lakes, which reached a historic low of 2.7% on February 11 — the lowest amount of ice coverage on record during mid-February.

February precipitation for the contiguous U.S. was 1.86 inches, 0.27 of an inch below average, ranking in the driest third of the climate record. Illinois, Maine, New Hampshire, New York and Vermont each saw their second-driest February on record.

Meteorological winter (December 2023 – February 2024) | Year-to-date

Meteorological winter was the warmest winter on record for the contiguous U.S., with an average temperature of 37.6 degrees F — 5.4 degrees above average. Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York, North Dakota, Vermont and Wisconsin each had their warmest winter on record. Twenty-six additional states saw their top-10 warmest winters on record.

Total winter precipitation was 7.71 inches, 0.92 of an inch above average, ranking in the wettest third of the December–February record. Connecticut and Delaware both had their third-wettest winter season on record.

The year-to-date (January – February 2024, YTD) average temperature for the contiguous U.S. was 36.5 degrees F — 4.5 degrees F above average —ranking as the ninth warmest such YTD on record. The YTD precipitation was 5.12 inches — 0.67 of an inch above average — ranking in the wettest third of the historical record.

Other notable climate events

Atmospheric rivers drench the West: A series of atmospheric rivers brought heavy rain and snow to the Western U.S. during February, causing significant flooding, powerful winds, landslides and power outages in parts of California. The city of Los Angeles received more than 12 inches of rain during February, approximately three times the February average, resulting in the wettest February in decades for the city.

A record February tornado: Unseasonably warm temperatures mixed with a vigorous cold front fueled powerful thunderstorms that spawned tornadoes in portions of the Upper Midwest. Wisconsin had its first February tornado on record — an EF-2 near Evansville, Wisconsin.

A wildfire scorched Texas and Oklahoma: The Smokehouse Creek wildfire burned more than a million acres in the Texas Panhandle and western Oklahoma in February 2024. The wildfire, which began on February 26, became the largest wildfire in Texas history.

And summer is coming.

Global mean temperature was record high for last 9 consecutive months. The current El Nino is not super but Jan-Feb temperatures were above 2016's due to the long-term global warming. Extreme warmth in the fall 2023 was probably not by El Nino. Data sources: NASA/GISS & NOAA/CPC. pic.twitter.com/Bp3Yu1zhTz
— Makiko Sato (@MakikoSato6) March 11, 2024

📈 425.45 ppm #CO2 in the air for the planet in the 10th week of 2024 📈 Up from 421.44 one year ago📈 @NOAA Mauna Loa data: https://t.co/CkSjvjkBfQ 🌎 https://t.co/DpFGQoYEwb distribution links: https://t.co/idlRE62qB1 & https://t.co/NnwgaBoCCa 🌎 pic.twitter.com/msq69fzA2E
— CO2_Earth (@CO2_earth) March 11, 2024

RECORD U.S. TEMPERATURE INCREASE 2023-24
Copernicus. 3.25°C
U.S. Winter: 5.4°F/3.0°C above the 20th-century average 3.25°Cabove preindustrial#climatechange #globalwarming pic.twitter.com/Fzbf2euiK8
— Peter D Carter (@PCarterClimate) March 10, 2024

Decades. Ha Ha.

Preparing for climate change requires vast investments over decades, far beyond the confines of Europe’s electoral cycle,

This is what a full year of record North Atlantic sea surface temperatures looks like in 8 seconds.

You can see it all from marine heatwaves to brief 'cooling scars' of hurricanes... pic.twitter.com/WnkWGQGOnj
— Scott Duncan (@ScottDuncanWX) March 10, 2024

Climate lawsuits galore: "A quarter of Americans now live in cities and states taking [Big Oil] to court over lying to the public"https://t.co/D5cEx6cbYq
— Assaad Razzouk (@AssaadRazzouk) March 11, 2024

Hansen & Leon Simons. The removal of sulfur frombshipping fuel decreases arial particles, reducing cloud cover and increasing warming.

This is why we aren't adapting.

People think we have more time.
— XRscout (@XRScout) March 11, 2024

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Energy (and Other) Events Monthly - May 2024

MAGA Delenda Est!

Breaking: New Oil Drilling Permit Approvals Fall To Zero For First Time Since Newsom Came To Office

The 6th largest economy in the world is hitting 100% solar periods on a daily basis

This rural PA school will save $4 million dollars thanks to solar

Where Are These Young Voters' Aunties?

Earth Matters: Kim Stanley Robinson & Michael Mann on doom; 33 green transition myths zapped

Energy (and Other) Events Monthly - April 2024

Weekly Spotlight on Climate & Eco-diaries (3/31/2024)

1000+ Individuals Call on Gov. Newsom for Fracking Ban to Address All Fracking Methods

20+ Groups In California Call Out Oil Refiners Profits, Seek Penalty By Summer

The United States just had its warmest winter on record.