Russia has discovered the world's largest oil reserves off the coast of Antarctica.
The reserves found are massive. 511 billion barrels. Venezuela, which is the country with the largest oil reserves in the world, has 303 billion barrels. Saudi Arabia has 298 billion, and Canada, 160 billion.
The world, especially its politicians, needs to wake up to what is inevitably going to continue to unfold over the next few decades. It's not about having a bit more rain and some uncomfortably warm summers, and a few islands we can't afford to visit disappearing under water. It's about floods, fires, storms, food insecurity, mass migration and in the worst case scenario societal collapse.
Blimey! Is there anywhere left in New York where there isn't a protest?
Yesterday, hundreds of activists with Planet Over Profit blockaded the doors to Citibank, leaving thousands of bankers stranded in the street.
Good morning, here's a video of a wind turbine with what I think are pretty good aesthetics. If they work on the ground that's cool, but I bet they could be nice up on the top of tall buildings along the walls. https://airiva.com/
Anyways try to keep your eye on the ball. Joe Biden and Democrats are trying to transition our huge economy away from fossil fuels.
That should be a good enough reason for everyone that cares about people and our planet to support him. So please don't be one of the too many #FossilFools helping to get him out of office.
WEEK 22 (Climate): East Sussex, yesterday. Activists protest Gatwick expansion. Former pilot Todd Smith said "We’re often told that airport expansion is good for jobs, however, the biggest threat to job security is climate breakdown and enforced regulations leading to a major industry crash" #ClimateCatastrophe#NoPlanetB#KeepItInTheGround
The Rich Are Different: They Have Clean Air https://newrepublic.com/article/178452/clean-air-rich-luxury-good
excerpts:
"The air in each unit isn’t shared with any other. Outside air is brought in, filtered, treated with an ultraviolet-C light that kills 99.9 percent of pathogens, and completely changed out once per hour. Circulation can be boosted or slowed....
"A September 2023 study found that wildfires have erased 25 percent of air-quality improvements made since 2000. By mid-2023, the average American’s smoke exposure was worse than their total cumulative exposure every year since 2006....
"The notion that smoke could be a democratizing force, afflicting everyone equally and perhaps motivating them to take action to mitigate worsening climate conditions, is already colliding with the reality of an emerging luxury air market, yet another example of how, as the environment becomes less habitable, the wealthy will continue to insulate themselves from its worst aspects—even as their lifestyles disproportionately fuel emissions...."
Remember when your climate president approved the ConocoPhillips Willow drilling project in Alaska? Drilling has begun in places, but some activists managed to bring the decision back into court.
"The government’s attorney, Amy Collier, said experts at the agencies did consider that an increase in greenhouse gas emissions would cause the Arctic to lose sea ice, which the region’s polar bears depend on. But, she said, the link wasn’t direct. They didn’t have evidence that the specific emissions resulting from the Willow project would shrink sea ice in this part of the Arctic, hurting this particular population of polar bears."
It's not abortion or trans issues that is making 2024 such a crazy election year with so much influence from corporations and foreign countries.
It's because the fossil fuel industry clearly sees that democracy is heading towards ending the gravy train they've been riding while driving our planet to catastrophe.
Anyways, that's my opinion as I see more and more stories like this.
After decades of seeing climate science denial continue relatively unabated, I don't have confidence that we can affect what these #FossilFools are intent on doing.
I think that our best approach towards reducing the damage they cause would be to spread twice as much positive news on the climate progress that's being made and the benefits from doing it. I certainly don't see how it could cause any harm trying a different approach. I know being cynical is more fun, but does it help? #WeCanDoThis
It's hard to convince many people that we're actually making progress towards transitioning away from fossil fuels, but if you watch the supply and demand for them it's crystal clear.
At least that's what the big fossil fuel companies are seeing and that's why they're attacking democracy so much this year because they know that their industry is on its final legs.
They seem to be forgetting there is no planet B. We are running out of time to end our reliance on burning fossil fuels before reaching climactic tipping points.
The UK Labour Party have reneged on their pledge, should they be elected to govern, to spending £28 billion a year (from the over £1000 billion the UK Government collects in taxation) on a green economy.
A court in Norway, a major oil & gas producer, just invalidated multiple drilling permits on the grounds that climate impacts weren't fully considered. The same assessment process is at the heart of multiple cases in front of UK courts.
My (Tessa Khan is executive director of climate action organisation Uplift) thoughts here:
This week’s community leaders: Alberta Talks is holding door-step conversations about the things that matter to Albertans. They’re currently looking for phone bank volunteers to talk to people about ending the ban on renewable energy. https://albertatalks.ca/volunteer-training-events/
As someone that has been working in climate and energy policies for a long time I'm well aware of how much impact just one more PV system on one more building has in the scheme of things, but I don't think that small positive actions should be dismissed as nothing.
Especially if you are able to appreciate how difficult it's going to be to pry power away from the grid operators and to build new grids in our NIMBY-based federal system of government.
“Here in AZ, variable speed heat pumps are great. Never too cold to need to worry about them failing and they provide all the cooling needed in summer. Have 2 of them on our primary home. Powered by a 12 kw solar panel systems that also powers the rest of the home and a Tesla EV (330 mile range every morning). Great to be energy independent and not support the corrupt utility monopolies,” one user wrote.
A lot to be outraged about right now. The UK government is using parliament to pass terrible headline laws just to prove political points. The 'Safety of Rwanda Bill' violates and undermines international humanitarian norms, while the 'Offshore Petroleum Licensing Bill' violates and undermines the Paris Agreement,
It's frustrating that there are still economists and climate advocates that assume that high oil prices are good for our environment. They say that high prices help people decide to switch to renewable energy.
But I think that is old thinking now that the costs for cleaner technologies have come down as low as they have.
I think lower prices for fossil fuels help to #KeepItInTheGround and are a strong signal that we're transitioning away so this is bad news to me
In Marshallese culture, there is a prominent attitude of "Enaaj Emman," which translates loosely to "It will be okay." It is strongly embedded in the culture and people's everyday thinking. If you are ever despondent, somebody is always there to remind you that "enaaj emman." It is a focus on hope and happiness that pervades daily life despite the struggles, setbacks, and disappointments that inevitably happen. People retain this optimism even after being irradiated by nuclear testing by the USGovt throughout the 1950s.
Having lived in the Marshall Islands for eight years, I am acutely aware of the threats and dangers posed by both nuclear waste and fossil fuels.
At this point, I expect to see this country of beautiful coral atolls and generous, gentle people be subsumed by rising sea levels. They are undergoing severe stress at 1.1C and will be completely uninhabitable at 1.5C. We will push past 1.5C by the end of this decade, and I don't think we have enough time, nor are we doing the right things, to reverse the momentum. These islands will be gone, and an entire country and culture will have been displaced or extinguished.
It fills me with profound sadness, especially when I think how it all could have been prevented but for the fraud perpetrated by fossil fuel energy companies and the greed of their executives. And let's not forget about the collusion of our politicians through bribery, nor forget about the perpetuation of the fraud through mass media owned by members of the same bourgeois class.
I understand the need to continue seeking solutions. I hope people create those solutions. Enaaj emman. I appreciate people like @pvonhellermannn who, despite feeling despondent, has provided to us long threads informing us about this crisis. Hope is still alive as Tina Stege, #ClimateEnvoy from the Marshall Islands, impresses upon us in these two posts:
Yet I am despondent. I am also very angry. My reaction is to want to dislodge and remove the parasitical elites of the 1%, punish them harshly, and completely dismantle their capitalist systems. I despair that billions will have to die before we make that happen. Certainly among the first great wave of casualties will the Marshall Islanders. And that fills me with rage.
It also brings back memories of living in the islands. It's as close to an anarchist way of life as I've ever seen in the world. And I'm now reminded of an elder woman who was asked by another Peace Corps Volunteer, "Who do you think is the best US president?" Her response: "I think President Kennedy was the smartest president. He sent all these young people here so they could learn "mantin majel" (Marshallese custom). There is so much wisdom in that statement, that it resonates even more strongly for me 35 years later. The world needs to learn Mantin Majel and enact its inherent values of peace, cooperation, solidarity, and optimism.
Apparently the storm surges also close airports on Ailinglaplap Atoll, the outer atoll where I lived for three years.
Ailinglaplap was the traditional capital of the Marshall Islands and home to the Paramount Chiefs ("Iroojlaplap") because it's islands are the largest/longest, naturally and without landfill, in the entire country.
The storm closed two of the three airports. The airports are small and made by scraping the reef that lies beneath the six inches of topsoil and sand. The planes that land on the outer island (read: not the urban atolls of Majuro--the current capital--and Kwajalein) airports are small 19-seat planes. Pretty exciting take offs and landings if you enjoy short, unpaved runways in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
[Excerpt:]
"MAJURO — Powerful waves, driven by offshore storm surges, hit an important U.S. military installation in the Marshall Islands Saturday night, causing some damage and resulting in evacuation of all 'non-mission personnel' from the island.
"Flooding caused by the waves also hit two airports at Ailinglaplap Atoll, leaving rocks, coral and debris in their wake that will keep those airports closed for weeks. Other islands in this atoll nation were reporting flooding and moderate damage."
...
"Wave swells also seriously flooded islands in Ailinglaplap Atoll, tossing debris onto airfields at Woja and Jeh islands. It likely will take weeks to clear the runways for air service to return. Kili Island, home of the displaced Bikini Islanders, also experienced flooding Saturday-Sunday.
"The elevation of most islands in this atoll nation are in the three-to-six-foot (one-to-two-meter) range. Ocean flooding due to rising sea levels has increased throughout the Marshall Islands in recent years, with dozens of small, “nuisance” inundations on Majuro Atoll, the capital, and other atolls each year. Saturday night’s wave flooding incident at Roi-Namur was a significant escalation over minor ocean inundations seen in the Marshall Islands the past year."
...
"While Kwajalein and Ailinglaplap were dealing with the aftermath of wave-driven ocean flooding, Majuro has been facing an ongoing power crisis for the past two weeks, with numerous extended power outages affecting most parts of the capital atoll. These have resulted from the decline of old generators that constantly break down, leaving the utility company without adequate electrical generating capacity to power the entire atoll."
The Marshall Islands are a harbinger of what's to come from climate change.