Author: caaver

Climate and Climate Science

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a body of more than 100 scientists convened by the United Nations, warns that a hotter future is certain. The planet has already heated by roughly 1.1 degrees Celsius since the 19th century. This additional heat created by carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels is essentially locked in. Even if we started sharply cutting emissions today, total global warming is likely to rise to around 1.5 degrees Celsius within the next two decades. How serious we become about cutting future emissions will determine how much hotter our planet becomes.

Extreme weather events this summer have unrelentingly brought the stark, real life consequences of climate change and global warming to our attention. The heat dome over Canada and the United States Northwest in July brought unprecedented hot weather in many localities, including places like Oregon, which are not prepared to deal with such extreme heat. The dry, hot conditions spread wildfires across 12 western states.

I personally experienced this heatwave as we traveled to visit our children in California in July. As we drove across the Mojave Desert to the city of Barstow, our car thermometer registered 118 degrees Fahrenheit. We then headed north through the California Central Valley, one of the most lucrative agricultural regions of the world. It is a $50 billion enterprise that supplies two-thirds of our country’s fruits and nuts and more than a third of our vegetables. The temperature was 110 degrees when we stopped near Fresno. The heat was oppressively suffocating as my wife Ruth and I walked several blocks from our motel to get dinner at a nearby restaurant.

As a Virginia gardener, I know how quickly soil moisture evaporates during sun-drenched 90 degree days. I can only imagine what it would be like in 110 degree temperatures. The main source of water for agriculture in the California Central Valley comes from reservoirs on rivers and streams supplied by snowpack in the Sierra Nevada mountains and released through a system of aqueducts and canals. Another water source is drilling wells that tap into the rapidly diminishing aquifer underneath the valley.

As we drove through the valley, I saw some abandoned fields and orchards. The situation has become even more desperate in the several weeks since we were there. With the extended drought, state regulators recently took the unprecedented step of imposing an emergency curtailment order forbidding farmers from drawing water from their primary source, the rivers of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta watershed.

Farmers are consequently abandoning water hungry crops like tomatoes. The state produces 90% of the tomatoes in our country. Shortages and escalating prices for tomatoes and tomato products are anticipated. Further north in Napa Valley wine country, vineyards surrounded by burned-out landscapes and dwindling water supplies, are now facing the added challenge of no longer being able to buy insurance for their operations. This could be the end of the road for some for them.

The heatwave this summer is global. A heatwave in Russian Siberia is fueling enormous wildfires that are thawing the permafrost. Last year, 60,000 square miles of forest and tundra (an area the size of Florida) were scorched by wildfires. This year, more than 30,000 square miles have already burned with only two weeks into peak fire season. People who live there are able to take sub-zero weather in stride but 100 degree temperatures are another matter. Many fear that the region will become uninhabitable.

In the Amazon rainforest, a combination of rising temperatures and ongoing land clearing for cattle ranching and crops has extended the dry season and created conditions for more crippling wildfires. As a result, the Amazon, one of the Earth’s biggest carbon sinks, is now releasing more carbon than it is absorbing. Scientists see this is as a disturbing new tipping point in climate change.

There is a growing recognition that nobody is safe as extreme weather is battering the world, including wealthy countries. This includes devastating floods in Germany, Belgium, China, and India. The Mediterranean world is experiencing unprecedented heatwaves and wildfires in Greece, Turkey, Italy, Spain, and Lebanon. Even Hawaii, one of the wettest places on the planet, is fighting a surge of wildfires on the island of Maui due to the unfettered growth of invasive grass species and dry, hot summers that make them highly flammable.

Stephen Nash, an environmental journalist and researcher, studies the effects of climate change in Virginia. In his book Virginia Climate Fever, he notes that the wildfires in Canada and the American West are exacerbated by ecologically stressed and dying forests. Intense droughts and hotter temperatures have generated both wide-scale insect infestations and fires. While it is difficult to predict the effect of climate change on our regional rainfall, scientists postulate that advancing heat will dry out the landscape due to evaporation, even if we have more rainfall. This will lead to wildfires, which could transform our forests into open savannahs with occasional trees (Nash 2014, 58-59). 

Politics and Policy

The $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill taken up by the Senate is a hopeful first step in achieving some of our climate and renewable energy goals. It includes more than $150 billion to boost clean energy and promote “climate resilience.” It contains a huge infusion for Amtrak and public transportation and includes $73 billion to upgrade our nation’s electric power grid. The bill, however, still falls short of meeting the Biden Administration’s climate goals. For instance, the $7.5 billion to create a national network of electric vehicle charging stations is only half of what the administration had requested. Even so, President Biden is making a big push to phase out gas cars and trucks and signed an executive order that calls for the government to ensure that half of all vehicles sold in the United States will be electric by 2030.

Recent editorials in the Houston Chronicle and the Washington Post call on Congress and the Biden administration to include carbon pricing in upcoming legislation to address climate change. A carbon tax would impose a fee on coal, natural gas, and petroleum based on how much carbon dioxide is released when they are consumed. The editorials argue that “pricing carbon dioxide is the cheapest, most efficient way to cut emissions, because it harnesses the ingenuity of individuals and businesses to find the best path to decarbonization.”

Climate scientists and marine advocates are calling on governments worldwide to recognize the important role that oceans have in limiting climate change. They argue that more than half of the world’s carbon is captured by animals and plants living in or around the oceans. Mangrove forests store up to four times more carbon per hectare than tropical rainforests. If policies are enacted to restore and protect marine ecosystems, oceans could soak up large quantities of atmospheric carbon.

Energy

A Princeton University research team report says it is possible for the US to reach the goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 but it will require building clean power infrastructure on a huge scale and at breakneck speed. To get there we will have to build far more wind and solar farms, battery storage facilities, transmission lines and still-unproven energy systems than we have ever built before.

An Energy Information Administration report notes that, for the first time ever last year, we generated more electricity from renewable sources than from coal. Natural gas was used to generate 40 percent of our country’s electricity, followed by renewables at 21 percent; nuclear at 20 percent; and coal at 19 percent. Texas and California stand out as the leaders in generating electricity from wind and solar and the next three leading states, somewhat surprisingly, are Iowa, Oklahoma, and Kansas. This spread across our national partisan divide is hopeful for the development of future renewable energy policies. 

A relatively simple experiment in providing renewable energy for trucking is being tested in Germany. It involves an overhead electrical grid similar to what has been used for decades to drive trains and urban street cars. This promises to be more efficient than relying on batteries to power trucks. A perhaps insurmountable detriment would be the sheer cost of stringing thousands of miles of high voltage electrical cable above the world’s major highways.

Virginia City Hybrid Energy Center, the last coal power plant in Virginia, was built in 2008. It now costs more to generate electricity there than all other power sources, which is reflected in higher electric bills for consumers. That, plus increasingly stringent environmental regulations, make it increasingly unprofitable. Continuing to operate it has become a matter of “throwing good money after bad.” Dominion Energy is accordingly projecting retiring the plant in 2025 but no concrete plans have been set.

Potpourri

As the world warms because of human-induced climate change, we can expect to see more days when temperatures hit 90 degrees Fahrenheit or higher. For instance, Harrisonburg, Virginia, on average, could have expected 8 days that would reach 90 degrees or more in 1960. Today we can expect 18 days, on average, to reach 90 degrees or more.

Central Valley Habitat for Humanity sees going green not only as a way to help save the planet but also as a way to make the houses they build more affordable. Low-income households face an energy burden that is about three times higher than other households. Building to green standards increases quality of life through improved air quality, and conservation of energy, water, and natural resources. Through partnering with the local nonprofit Give Solar, Central Valley Habitat for Humanity has been able to install solar panels on their newly built houses to significantly reduce energy costs for residents as well as help protect the environment.

Earl Zimmerman
CAAV Steering Committee

First edition of a new Climate Action Alliance of the Valley Roundup of environmental and energy news! It follows the Weekly Roundup that Les Grady provided for many years; CAAV is so grateful for his efforts.

We plan to publish monthly and will try different approaches. We’d appreciate your feedback. Write us at contactcaav@gmail.com.

Find this July 2021 edition and future monthlies here. Read our monthly summary of Virginia Energy and Environmental news that the Harrisonburg Citizen publishes on its Perspectives page. CAAV is grateful to the Citizen’s editors for providing this community service and also to the Augusta Free Press editor for publishing our weekly Roundup and this new monthly.

Political, Legal, Policy

International

• The EU proposed a sweeping new climate plan to reduce fossil fuel use. The proposal is both more ambitious and more specific than similar goals of other countries. It has significant implications for business and trade.
• The UN has a plan to help retain biodiversity. Related stories: BBC, Thompson Reuters)

Legislation and Litigation

• Hampton Roads’ vulnerability to sea level rise and its need for greater resilience to help address, among other matters, its traffic problems helped shape part of the bi‑partisan infrastructure bill. This Senate bill is far-reaching but not assured of passage.
• The House passed its infrastructure bill covering transportation and water; not all members are on board. A New York Times climate reporter says Biden’s climate agenda is facing a critical test. Researchers conclude his plan would substantially reduce emissions and save lives. A respected climate journalist, worried about inaction, argues we can’t afford for politicians to continue dithering. The projects, and the jobs they can produce, are waiting. A Houston Chronicle business reporter believes, and explains, “Conservatives deserve chance to show they’re sincere in fight against climate change.” They have their own take on solutions, says this opinion writer.

Administration, regulations, analyses, solutions

Wonk alert!

• The CA public utility commission (PUC) recently changed its methods for calculating the value of distributed solar, effectively devaluing it. OH’s legislature also wants to discourage “rooftop” solar. KY’s PUC may be piling on. Many utilities have solar‑unfriendly policies and charges, including AL; SELC represented rooftop solar advocates before FERC and received a favorable outcome.
• RMI pays attention to the implications of the changing climate for many sectors and many worldwide locations. A recent report offers proposals for “Creating an Equitable and Durable US Climate Policy” in five major areas.
• Concentrated solar power might be “hot enough to serve a range of industrial processes that otherwise would be very challenging to carry out without copious carbon emissions.” A start‑up is working on financing to pursue R&D. Read on….
• What about carbon capture? Can farmers store CO₂ in soil or by planting trees, get paid for doing so, and actually reduce (or offset) emissions? How do we measure results of efforts underway or being considered?
• Ditto for “vacuuming carbon from the sky”. “No joke”, per the headline.
• What if there was “a way to tie every ton of CO2 emitted, starting now, to a party responsible for cleaning it up later”? Under the “Carbon Removal Obligation” proposal, companies would accrue a carbon debt for their emissions and would have to clear that debt by removing each ton. A somewhat analogous approach could also apply to the shipping industry.
• The Fed’s Janet Yellen says she wants to assess the risks of the climate crisis on the financial sector. A study reports “Financial Markets Ignore Environmental Damage.”

Visions (Realities?) of the future

• Many climate-related events and results are leading people to re-evaluate whether and how they can remain in their homes and communities. Affected groups include Native Americans.
• Some cities are examining what and how they’ll be in 2040 (Harrisonburg); others are thinking about 2121.

Our Changing Climate

Heat and fires

• Temperatures are soaring in many places in the US (West Coast), Canada, Nordic Countries (90 ^o+). The numbers are staggering—130^o in NV and Death Valley, 111 ^o in Phoenix, and over 120 ^o in British Columbia. And the near-term outlook in CA isn’t promising. Some of many stories of death and devastation from the past few weeks, including what a “heat dome” is and experts’ reactions: Washington Post, The Guardian, The Guardian, The Guardian, Washington Post, Washington Post, Washington Post, The Guardian, New York Times, New York Times). And the destructive cycle may continue into the weekend and beyond. A freelance journalist says no one was prepared, especially animals. Not just land creatures. Young salmon may be in trouble. Agricultural communities in CA’s interior struggle mightily to produce food despite punishing temperatures.
• As if the searing heat isn’t enough, firefighters have to battle huge wildfires in the West. And they may run out of fuel for their fire-fighting equipment.
• Planting more trees can help low-income communities reduce local heat levels. This can matter a lot, as a report quantifying such levels in large cities, shows.

Drought, flooding, hurricanes, sea ice loss, sea level rise

• What does the long CA drought mean for agriculture?
• Harbinger of what’s to come? Flooding in NY subways after tropical storm Elsa dumped a bunch of rain. Remember Hurricane Sandy?
• What connection might there be between the tragic building collapse in the Miami area and sinking land/sea level rise? Can “natural solutions” help if so?
• Chicago is reckoning with climate change and its great lake is forcing the issue, especially for people of color. So is Detroit. Las Vegas has water shortages to contend with. Reservoirs in the US West are drying up, including in NM; the Hoover Dam may be in trouble. And TX is also affected. Despite the heat and water issues in the US West, NM continues its longstanding and cozy relationship with Big Oil.

Plastics, chemicals, and waste

• Ever wonder what’s in the water you drink from plastic water bottles and other plastic food and drink containers? You might prefer not to know.
• EPA is considering regulating “forever chemicals”. It declined to do so previously. The House is weighing legislative solutions.
• Maine decided companies should pay for recycling costs rather than customers.

Plants, animals, and wild places

• Yellowstone National Park expects major changes—and threats, even to Old Faithful. Yellowstone isn’t the only NP to be affected. Wildlife corridors are one important way to reduce extinction rates among many species. One old concrete bridge over the Mississippi River between IA and IL may become the world’s largest wildlife bridge—for bison.
• Oceans have natural carbon capture weapons—kelp and sea grasses. Except… kelp’s in danger. Some researchers, however, think we need to focus more on plants to understand how they handle stress (e.g., heat) and then put that knowledge to work. Hopefully we can do this to help save manatees from extinction from starvation as oceans acidify and algae and pollution reduce their food sources, which are largely plants. The food system “carbon footprint has been vastly underestimated.” Farmers are working to reduce it by “putting carbon back into the soil.”
• Sadly, and perhaps disastrously, areas of the Amazon Rain Forest now “release more carbon than can be absorbed.” Whether Russia’s massive forests will help or hurt in carbon reduction is in question.

Energy

Renewables, biomass, and nuclear

• The inevitable intersection of power lines and renewables—what’s the best approach?
• Biden wants to assess the potential for wind energy in the Gulf of Mexico. LA is very interested. What’s the carbon footprint of wind turbines? Better than that for fossil fuels.
• Think using wood as fuel is environmentally friendly? Maybe not, especially for the folks who live near sawmills that cut the downed trees.
• Can hydrogen help wean us off, given how plentiful it is but how expensive it is to produce?
• The Department of Energy is focusing on cheaper battery storage and on facilitating localities’ permitting processes through automation. Will its strategy work?

Transportation

• Another type of hybrid vehicle—the “green” blimp.
• A blogger says VA’s airports need to electrify.
• Volkswagen says it will cease making “combustion engine cars” in Europe by 2035.
• How “green” are EVs, really? It’s complicated.

Fossil fuels

We’re far from done with pipelines and maybe not coal either. This week’s stories told of …

• Supreme Court decision that “pipeline projects with federal approval can seize state‑owned land to build natural gas pipelines.”
• Cancellation of the Byhalia Pipeline in Memphis TN that left unanswered the question of its “right to claim eminent domain.” The Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) represented some of the opponents.
• VA, KY, WV regulators having the ability to weigh in on Appalachian Power’s proposals to upgrade three of its WV coal plants.
• A plan to improve a Great Lakes pipeline (line 5) that will have to include, for the first time, an environmental impact statement.
• A pipeline (in NC) leaks fuel, massively.
• We know pipelines can leak methane gas. Landfills do too.

Utilities and electric grid

• A MI utility wants to meet its carbon reduction goals but plans to replace its coal‑fueled plants with those run on natural gas.
• CA wants to test renewable energy and storage and grid capacity, without natural gas.
• Utilities, the financial sector, and industrial energy customers agree that “transitioning away from coal is good for ratepayers.”
• Wonk alert: RMI provides its “Utility Transition HubTM Insights” that foster understanding of what’s ahead for utilities and their customers.

Ideas, Entertainment and Information

• Want to make your lawn more eco-friendly? Thought about using an electric mower to cut that lawn?
• Can you find a way to conserve water by using greywater?
• Like rainbows? Check out HI’s.
• Test your knowledge of climate changes. Use these six interactive tools to boost it.
• Keep yourself informed about “Climate Crimes”—a new series by The Guardian, reporting on the fossil fuel industry’s efforts at misinformation and other misdeeds. And, find out how much you know about heatwaves and their connection to the climate.
• The Guardian covers “Animals Farmed” to help us keep up with trends.
• A different way of farming in Germany—cows have a say, sorta.

Joy Loving

CAAV Steering Committee

Politics and Policy

President Joe Biden and a bipartisan group of centrist senators reached a deal on Thursday for $1.2 trillion in investments to rebuild the nation’s infrastructure.  Although the details are sparse at this point, the Washington Post provided a good summary of what is included.  One thing that is clear, however, is that it does relatively little to fight climate change.  However, Biden has said that he won’t sign the compromise into law unless there is a companion bill passed through the reconciliation process that includes many of the things left out of the compromise, infuriating Republicans and putting the deal in doubt.  Meanwhile, Rep. John Curtis (R-UT) officially announced the formation of the Conservative Climate Caucus with a membership of 52 Republican House members, so maybe change is coming.

Interior Secretary Deb Haaland told the House Natural Resources Committee that there is not currently a plan to permanently ban new drilling leases on public lands and waters.  The administration is considering banning imports of polysilicon from China’s Xinjiang region, a move that would assuage bipartisan pressure to crack down on human rights abuses but could undermine the White House’s climate change goals.  Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Jennifer Granholm defended US carbon-neutrality targets in testimony before the Senate Appropriations Committee, saying the US has no choice but to take action, regardless of what China does to reduce its emissions.  The Federal Housing Finance Agency is beginning to formally examine the risks climate change is bringing to the housing market, but it faces a challenge in designing policies that address those risks without unfairly burdening communities of color.  In its 2022 budget request, DOE included funds to create “urban integrated field laboratories” that would gather climate data in cities and build bridges to urban communities.  FERC announced a task force in collaboration with the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners to align federal and state regulators in an effort to identify and navigate barriers to construction of transmission lines.

A Massachusetts state judge rejected Exxon Mobil’s bid to dismiss a lawsuit by the state Attorney General accusing the oil company of misleading consumers and investors about its role in climate change.  Just 11% of the 250 biggest corporate greenhouse gas emitters have plans for major emission cuts by 2030.  The House voted 229-to-191 to restore a rule targeting leaks of methane from oil and gas operations.  The Line 3 fight continued, with the Biden administration urging in a court brief that a challenge brought by local tribes and environmental groups be thrown out; the protestors vowed not to stop.  In a retrospective on the fight over the Keystone XL pipeline, Marianne Lavelle wrote: “The 13-year fight over Keystone XL transformed the US environmental movement, and dramatically shifted the political center of the American debate over energy and climate change. … But the larger issue for the climate action movement is whether the US can enact a comprehensive policy that truly reshapes energy use ….”

The goal of limiting global warming seemed far away last week, as the most recent round of UN climate negotiations ended with concerns about a lack of progress on key issues like climate financing for developing countries and a global framework for a carbon market.  The World Bank agreed to boost its spending on climate change to 35% from 28% and to provide annual progress reports to its board.  The European Parliament approved a landmark law to make the EU’s greenhouse gas emissions targets legally binding.  The UK government set “historic” targets on the climate crisis but failed to come up with the policies needed to reach them, the government’s independent advisers on the climate warned.  Norway awarded four exploration licenses to seven oil companies, but fewer oil companies applied for the permits than in previous licensing rounds.

Climate and Climate Science

Agence-France Presse obtained a draft copy of the upcoming Working Group II report from the IPCC on the impacts of climate change, which says that climate change will fundamentally reshape life on Earth in the coming decades, even if humans can stop greenhouse gas emissions.  A new report detailed global warming’s impact on Yellowstone National Park — changes that have begun to alter its ecosystem and threaten everything from its forests to its geysers.  A new report from the World Resources Institute argued that incremental changes to agriculture in response to climate change will not be sufficient to feed everyone; rather they call for “transformative adaptation”.  UNESCO recommended that the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) be placed on a list of World Heritage sites that are “in danger,” prompting a fierce reaction from the Australian government.  UNESCO appeared to be singling out the GBR because Australia is a laggard in addressing climate change.

Scientists and engineers are proposing ways in which geoengineering could be applied to cause the oceans to take up increased amounts of CO₂ in supposedly benign ways.  Climate change is reducing the supply of water from melting snow to many of the largest rivers in Asia, threatening the water security of millions of people.

The US Southwest has become drier since the mid-20th century, particularly on the hottest days, increasing wildfire risk.  Last week’s record heat wave in the western US led to multiple wildfires.  Scientists found that butterfly observations have declined 1.6% annually over the past four decades in the western US.  Heat waves, such as the one being experienced in the Pacific Northwest, are complex, both in their formation and duration, as explained in this article from Vox.  Furthermore, the health effects of heat waves are made more severe by poor air quality. 

The NOAA/NCEI Climate Extremes Index (CEI) tracks the frequency of extreme weather by combining six indicators and determining the percentage of the contiguous US that is above or below the normal climate conditions; 2020 had the highest CEI on record with a value of 44.63%.

An assumption inherent in the concept of net-zero CO₂ emissions is that the behavior of the climate system in response to CO₂ emissions and removals is symmetrical, but recent research has shown that it is actually asymmetrical.  Consequently, balancing an emission with a removal of the same size will result in higher atmospheric CO₂ levels than avoiding the CO₂ emission in the first place.  A group of climate futurists from the University of Hamburg examined the likelihood of keeping global warming below 1.5°C while reaching deep decarbonization by 2050 and concluded that neither goal is plausible.

Energy

Miami-Dade County has bought 42 Proterra ZX5+ electric transit buses, to be delivered in 2022, as well as 75 Proterra chargers.  D.C. Metro will add electric buses each year starting in 2023, then will phase out purchasing nonelectric buses by 2030 so that its entire fleet will be composed of electric buses by 2045.  Cummins’ Vice President for New Power Engineering, Jonathan Wood, said that hydrogen fuel cell trucks will become competitive with diesel powered vehicles by 2030 in terms of their total cost of ownership.  European auto and truck manufacturers are embracing fossil-free steel and competing to become industry leaders in making the switch.  The Swedish joint venture HYBRIT has succeeded in making sponge iron on a pilot scale entirely with renewable energy.

Despite the decision of automakers to shift production to EVs, high costs and an uncertain return on investment are causing many US gas station owners to delay installing EV charging stations.  Researchers at the Universities of Maryland and California (at Davis) have determined that getting drivers of light-duty trucks to buy electric versions may be a tough sell.  New York City’s taxi regulator voted to stop issuing new for-hire licenses for EVs.  The US Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy found that the estimated scheduled maintenance cost for a light-duty battery-electric vehicle is 6.1 cents/mile, while for a conventional internal combustion engine vehicle it is 10.1 cents/mile.

Janet Mills, Governor of Maine, signed legislation that makes Maine the ninth US state to have adopted a deployment target for energy storage.  British power producer Drax Group said it would seek planning permission to build a new 600 MW underground pumped hydro storage power station in Scotland.

One outcome of the recent G7 meeting was an agreement to work toward a doubling of the efficiency of cooling systems sold worldwide by 2030.  At RMI, John Matson reviewed why this is necessary and how it might be achieved.

Following a recent string of setbacks for big oil companies and the rapid advance of EVs, many are wondering if the time of peak oil has finally been reached.  European countries could be underreporting methane emissions from oil and gas infrastructure, investigators have warned after a study found that leakage was endemic across the industry.

Potpourri

The New York Times Magazine has devoted the current issue to the climate.  The lead article is entitled “What if American Democracy Fails the Climate Crisis” and features Ezra Klein and four environmental thinkers discussing the limits of politics in facing down the threat to the planet.  After conversations with a diverse group of global energy experts, Canary Media provided a list of seven emerging investment opportunities in the clean energy arena.  Weatherization assistance programs help low-income households save energy and reduce utility bills.  Architect Kunle Adeyemi has built his career around the question of how his creations affect the health of the planet.  At her Burning Worlds website, Amy Brady interviewed Irish artist Katie Holten about her Tree Alphabet projects.  The results of a recent study suggest that some Republicans can be persuaded to care about global warming and that microtargeting might be an effective way to reach them.  In an article about evangelical Christians and climate action, Katharine Hayhoe was quoted as saying: “If we really take the Bible seriously, we would be at the front of the line demanding climate action.  For somebody who is, at least, even partially a theological evangelical, who actually takes the Bible seriously, that is a huge point of connection.” 

Closing Thought – A Personal Note

Friday was a significant day for me, being my 83^rd birthday.  It also represented 6.25 years of preparing the Weekly Roundup.  One thing I have noted as I approached this birthday is a real understanding that life is finite — that if I want to accomplish certain things I have been putting off, then I had best get on with them.  I’ve also become aware of how much longer it takes me to get things done.  So long, in fact, that the Roundup has begun to take up much of my time.  Thus, I have reluctantly come to the conclusion that if I want to accomplish some of the things I have been putting off, I need to stop compiling the Roundup and bid you adieu.  So, this is the last Roundup I will assemble (except as an occasional substitute).  A committee chaired by Joy Loving (who has kindly substituted for me on many occasions) is planning what CAAV will provide in place of a weekly Roundup, so you can expect to hear from her in the near future.

I plan to stay involved in climate advocacy and urge you to do so as well.  Getting the policies we need to limit warming will be a battle, as this last week has demonstrated.  So, make your voices heard.  Support political candidates who “get it” and work to educate those who don’t.  Lastly, get involved with CAAV, Give Solar, or any of the other climate-related activities here in the Valley.  And lastly, keep the faith!

These news items have been compiled by Les Grady, member and former chair of the CAAV steering committee. He is a licensed professional engineer (retired) who taught environmental engineering at Purdue and Clemson Universities and engaged in private practice with CH2M Hill, the world’s largest environmental engineering consulting firm. Since his retirement in 2003 he has devoted much of his time to the study of climate science and the question of global warming and makes himself available to speak to groups about this subject. More here.