A regional resource for Cape & Islands climate activists
March 19, 2020 | v. 8
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From the Cape Cod Climate Change Collaborative
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Dear Climate Friend,
Like the rest of the world, we Cape & Islanders are experiencing trying, unprecedented times with COVID-19 forcing adjustments to daily routines and priorities. Not only do we face a grave health threat, many in our communities are experiencing economic hardship and the anxiety and confusion sown by isolation as we "social distance" to mitigate the virus's spread.
It won’t be easy but we will get through this together.
As we navigate these uncertain waters, please know the Climate Collaborative will to be here for you as a trusted source of information. We are moving forward to provide online education, training and digital tools for our members, and continue to provide stories of climate hope, change, and opportunities for activism. For example, we have just scheduled
two online training webinars for climate activists
who continue to prepare for local Climate Emergency Declaration campaigns... despite our changing world.
We’ll close with a promise: in the days and weeks ahead, we at the Cape Cod Climate Change Collaborative will continue to work to fulfill our mission to enhance communication, collaboration, and activism among organizations, programs, and individuals committed to mitigating the climate crisis.
We hope you and yours remain safe and healthy during these difficult times.
Sincerely,
Rich Delaney
Richard Delaney
President, Cape Cod Climate Change Collaborative
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What others are thinking...
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The Coronavirus and the Climate Movement
By Bill McKibben,
The New Yorker
My daughter—full grown and accomplished, but still my daughter—asked me the other day, “Do you think we’re going to go on having crises like this my whole life?” Probably not quite like
the coronavirus
(pandemics are fairly unique among disasters, in that they attack the whole world at the same time), but I’ve long feared that the result of heating the Earth will be an ongoing, accelerating series of disasters, eventually overwhelming our ability to cope. The pace of those events has been increasing in recent years, and our ability to keep them at something like a manageable level depends, above all, on the speed with which we transition off of gas, oil, and coal.
That’s why, for me, one frustration of the coronavirus pandemic is that it’s temporarily interrupting the movement-building that is necessary to beat the fossil-fuel industry. Just as
basketball
and
Broadway
have had to take a break, so have some forms of
protest.
Read more here.
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"The COVID-19 pandemic is an extraordinary public health emergency.
But the very nature of an epidemic means that it will run its course, regardless of the wisdom or effectiveness of federal policies. 'This too shall pass,' and when it does climate change will still be the greatest challenge of this century."
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Planning Your Climate Emergency Campaign in a Time of Uncertainty!
Join MCAN's Carol Oldham for 2 informative webinars
If you have a Climate Emergency Declaration coming before spring town meeting (but are stuck at home right now due to social distancing), fear not! You can take this time to do valuable work to prepare, build the right team, and get the momentum for a win.
Join us for a webinar co-hosted by the Massachusetts Climate Action Network (MCAN), the Cape Cod Climate Change Collaborative, and 350 Cape Cod where we will share information about expanding your activist circle from the comfort of your living room using social media and some local forms of traditional media, and using this time to develop skills that will carry your campaign to victory.
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Thurs., March 26
7:00-8:00pm
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Fri., March 27
12:00-1:00pm
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How a closed-door meeting shows farmers are waking up on climate change
Perdue, Vilsack and leading agricultural groups gathered in a Maryland barn to talk about the farm-country issue that dare not speak its name.
The meeting last June in a wood-beamed barn in Newburg, Md., an hour due south of Washington, had all the makings of a secret conclave. The guest list was confidential. No press accounts were allowed. The topic was how to pivot American agriculture to help combat climate change — an issue so politically toxic that the current administration routinely shies away from promoting crucial government research on the issue.
But this meeting represented a change. It was hosted by the U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance, a group made up of the heavyweights in American agriculture. It brought together three secretaries of agriculture, including the current one, Sonny Perdue, among an A-list of about 100 leaders that included the president of the American Farm Bureau Federation — a longtime, powerful foe of federal action on climate — and CEOs of major food companies, green groups and anti-hunger advocates.
Even a year ago, such a meeting would have been improbable, if not impossible. But the long-held resistance to talking about climate change among largely conservative farmers and ranchers and the lobbying behemoths that represent them is starting to shift. The veil of secrecy attested to just how sensitive the topic remains, but over the course of the two-day gathering, the group coalesced around big ideas like the need to pay farmers to use their land to draw down carbon from the atmosphere.
Read more here.
*****
Farmers are tired of being blamed
Climate change has been a politically fraught topic in farm country for decades.
Rural communities tend to be overwhelmingly Republican, which is one reason why talking about climate change has been politically taboo. It’s seen as a Democrat thing.
Dig a little further, though, and the resistance runs much deeper than party politics. In many ways, climate change denial has become a proxy for rural Americans to push back against out-of-touch urbanites, meddlesome environmentalists, and alarmist liberals who are seen as trying to impose their will on small towns and farming communities they do not understand
.
Read more here.
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‘Within their circle, there is no change agent’
A few weeks after the meeting on Bowling’s farm, Martha Shulski, Nebraska’s state climatologist, was excited to give a presentation on climate science to an influential policy committee within the Nebraska Farm Bureau.
It was surprising that she had even been invited. As is still true in many states, the Nebraska Farm Bureau is simply not comfortable talking about climate change, and it’s gotten even more prickly after this year’s catastrophic flooding, which prompted a deluge of questions from the press.
Thousands of acres along the Missouri River remain underwater after record-breaking flooding last spring and the region is bracing for another wet winter and spring. Thousands more acres were simply too wet to be planted, leaving farmers with significantly less income after years of struggling with low prices.
Still, climate change is a politically toxic issue in the Cornhusker State. The Nebraska Legislature has repeatedly killed a bill to require the state to come up with a climate plan — something Shulski has supported.
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Fort Collins, Colorado, cuts carbon footprint of city operations by over 20%
Carbon pollution from residents and businesses is falling at a similar pace.
Fort Collins, Colorado, recently celebrated 20 years of climate action. Over time, the city has become increasingly ambitious. Its climate action plan now calls for the entire community to be carbon neutral by mid-century.
That includes residents and businesses. But the city is improving its own operations, too.
“We’re trying to model all the things that we’re trying to ask for across the community,” says Michelle Finchum, the city’s sustainability specialist. She says the city has prioritized energy efficiency.
Source: Yale Climate Connections
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How municipalities are playing a part in solving the climate crisis
As federal climate action continues to lag, states are taking the lead in proposing and championing comprehensive climate policy. But sometimes passing strong bills at the state level can be equally difficult, and we don’t have any time to waste. The overwhelming scientific consensus is that we need to drastically reduce emissions in order to reduce and prevent the worsening effects of the climate crisis, including economic decline, severe public health crises, and increased global conflict and resource scarcity.
Municipalities, understanding local threats and risks, have taken the opportunity to lead on climate action, and do their part in reducing emissions.
Climate policy at the city level is not inconsequential. ... and even smaller cities still have an incentive to reduce their emissions. The average American produces about
21.8 tons of carbon each year
, meaning ... any sort of policy to decrease that number can have a very large impact.
Read more here.
Source:
ClimateXChange
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View
this map
to learn how 8 municipalities across the U.S. are enacting climate policies
As federal climate action continues to lag, states are taking the lead in proposing and championing comprehensive climate policy. But sometimes passing strong bills at the state level can be equally difficult, and we don’t have any time to waste. The overwhelming scientific consensus is that we need to drastically reduce emissions in order to reduce and prevent the worsening effects of the climate crisis, including economic decline, severe public health crises, and increased global conflict and resource scarcity.
Municipalities, understanding local threats and risks, have taken the opportunity to lead on climate action, and do their part in reducing emissions.
Climate policy at the city level is not inconsequential. ... and even smaller cities still have an incentive to reduce their emissions. The average American produces about
21.8 tons of carbon each year
, meaning ... any sort of policy to decrease that number can have a very large impact.
Read more here.
Source:
ClimateXChange
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Legislative news & actions
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Tell Uber & Lyft to Be Part of a Clean Transportation Future
Let's use our voices to push these companies to make smart choices for the planet
Where transportation is the biggest source of heat-trapping emissions, it's essential that the
ride-hailing industry
contribute to a lower carbon, more sustainable transportation system. Uber and Lyft need to step up to make sure increased ride pooling and electric vehicle options are more widely available.
Take action
Write to the CEOs of Uber and Lyft
and urge them to take decisive action to reduce global warming emissions from ride-hailing services and accelerate company efforts to electrify vehicles, dramatically increase ride pooling, complement and connect to public transit, and steer ride-hailing toward a clean transportation future.
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'Coronavirus Isn't Stopping Us!': Youth Activists Adapt to Global Pandemic With Digital #ClimateStrikeOnline
"In the face of a crisis we act according to science and fact."
Fridays for Future strikers around the world shared their demands for bold climate action online Friday as many youth activists heeded public health experts' recommendations in the face of the coronavirus pandemic by eschewing public protests in favor of digital demonstrations.
The online displays followed the
call
earlier this week from school strike for climate pioneer Greta Thunberg to
#ClimateStrikeOnline
. In a Friday tweet as Thunberg marked her 82nd week of school strikes, she reiterated the basis for her call.
Read more here.
Source: CommonDreams
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Events, education, etcetera
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Tool-sharing to help activists continue climate action work online
This two-part webinar series will focus on online tools such as Google Suite, video conferencing websites, and other technology that will allow us to better connect with each other and
continue doing climate action work during this era of social distancing.
The first webinar will focus on how to use Google Suite Tools (Docs, Slides, Calendar, and Hangouts). The second webinar will focus on video conferencing and taking a deeper dive using Google Hangouts, Zoom, and Freeconferencecall.com so we may continue having meetings (almost) as usual.
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Webinar 1
Tuesday, March 24
12:00-1:00PM
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Webinar 2
Wednesday, March 25
12:00-1:00PM
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Reminder: State carbon pricing national network call
Learn from states that have passed carbon pricing
March 25
3:00 - 4:00 PM
Join the monthly State Carbon Pricing Network national call to learn about different legislation and movements going on in states across the US. Legislators, advocates, and experts will share developments in their states, and how you might help.
Source: Climate XChange
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DYK? Scientists are already working on engineering trees to generate electricity and the technical reality is theoretically not that far away.
Read on.
DYK? NASA has created an interactive climate time machine through a series of visualizations showing how some of Earth's key climate indicators are changing over time.
Read on.
DYK?
Seven of the best new documentaries about global warming were screened at the recent Wild &
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DYK?
Writing about the intersection of psychology and politics, a business school professor of ethical leadership thinks moral psychology can inform climate advocacy.
Read on.
DYK?
For the first time, environmental protection rivals the economy among the public’s top policy priorities.
Read on.
DYK?
About the 50 phenom "Fixers" who are shaking up environmental policy, the food system, the clean-energy sector, art, commerce, and more.
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Coronavirus impacts on climate crisis: Two views
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There's an unlikely beneficiary of coronavirus: The planet
Hong Kong Factories were shuttered and streets were cleared across China's Hubei province as authorities ordered residents to stay home to stop the spread of
the coronavirus
.
It seems the lockdown had an unintended benefit -- blue skies.
The average number of "good quality air days" increased 21.5% in February, compared to the same period last year, according to China's Ministry of Ecology and Environment.
And Hubei wasn't alone.
Satellite images released by NASA and the European Space Agency show a dramatic reduction in nitrogen dioxide emissions -- those released by vehicles, power plants and industrial facilities -- in major Chinese cities between January and February. The visible cloud of toxic gas hanging over industrial powerhouses almost disappeared.
Watch video here.
Source: CNN
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Coronavirus could weaken climate change action and hit clean energy investment
The coronavirus pandemic has stoked concerns of a global economic recession as it
spreads across the world
,
igniting one of the sharpest oil price plummets in the last 30 years and causing the
biggest stock plunge
on Wall Street since the stock market crash in 1987.
While the crisis has led to a temporary decline in global carbon dioxide emissions, experts are warning it poses a serious threat to long-term climate change action by compromising global investments in clean energy and weakening industry environmental goals to reduce emissions.
The International Energy Agency, or IEA, has warned the virus outbreak will likely undermine clean energy investment...
Read more here.
Source: cnbc.com
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Should the public buy Columbia Gas?
by Craig Altemose, CommonWealth Magazine
The recently proposed $1.1 billion
sale of Columbia Gas to Eversource
provides an important opportunity to consider how we, the people of Massachusetts, want our public utilities to be governed and structured – and whether to pull them more firmly into the public domain.
Public utilities are entities entrusted to provide critical public services to the public. That trust means that they are supposed to receive heightened regulation by the government while being given the gift of a government-sanctioned monopoly (i.e. if you live in their territory, they are your exclusive provider). This arrangement is meant to serve the public good, and yet in just the past two years, our public utilities failed us in virtually every way imaginable.
Read more here.
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Massachusetts Legislative Resources
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The Climate Action Alerts newsletter is curated and compiled by
Fran Schofield.
How are we doing? We'd love your feedback. Got a great local climate story? Let us know.
And send this action alert to your friends, and ask them to
subscribe here
.
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The Cape Cod Climate Change Collaborative is a 501(c)(3) organization whose mission is to reach carbon neutrality
—
or net zero
—
on Cape Cod and the Islands of Massachusetts by enhancing communication, collaboration, and activism among organizations, programs, and individuals committed to mitigating the climate crisis.
All donations are tax deductible as allowed by law.
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CAPE COD CLIMATE CHANGE COLLABORATIVE
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