A regional resource for Cape & Islands climate activists
April 11, 2021
|
|
BlackRock’s Larry Fink to CEOs: Get serious on net-zero targets, or else
By Katherine Dunn, Fortune, January 26, 2021
Larry Fink, the chief executive of the world's largest asset manager, is doubling down on a strategy of integrating climate risks into investing, telling his fellow CEOs he expects companies in which BlackRock invests to make clear how they will achieve their net zero emissions goals.
In his annual letter... , Fink also said that the companies would need to lay out how exactly such a target is incorporated within their long-term strategies, and how it will be reviewed and measured by individual boards.
In an accompanying letter to clients, BlackRock warned it would take action against those companies that have a high carbon intensity, and which do not align with its own net zero goals. In such a case, what's the proverbial stick BlackRock would be wielding? It would use its shareholder clout to vote against the management of those laggard firms in its index portfolio-held shares, or it would drop the companies entirely from its actively managed portfolios. Read more.
|
|
BlackRock is laying out how it expects companies to target net-zero
By Akshat Rathi, Bloomberg, February 17, 2021
BlackRock Inc. gave company directors more specifics on what it’s looking for in their plans to slow global warming, warning that it could vote against those who don't meet its standards.
The world’s largest shareholder published a five-page document on Wednesday laying out its expectations for how companies should address climate risk. It’s the first look at the details following Chief Executive Officer Larry Fink’s letter in January calling on firms to align with global efforts to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Read more.
|
|
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“People seem to think that I am depressed, or angry, or worried, but
that’s not true...It was like I got meaning in my life.”
|
|
Down to the wire: Biden's green goals face a power grid reckoning
The U.S. will need new electric transmission lines to meet the president's aim of eliminating the power sector's net carbon pollution. But public opposition has doomed many such projects.
By Eric Wolff, Politico, April 8, 2021
President Joe Biden's dream of a climate-friendly electric grid hangs on a slender wire: his administration's ability to speed the construction of thousands of miles of power lines.
But he’ll have to contend with a major obstacle: Americans who hate seeing these kinds of projects anywhere near their backyards. Power companies’ efforts to build long-range transmission lines have failed repeatedly in recent decades, mired in legal and political fights from Maine to Arkansas, because of opposition from states and communities along the projects' paths. Read more.
|
|
Biden Wants $10 Billion for a Climate Army. It's Not Enough
The Civilian Climate Corps would put people to work preparing the nation for hotter heat waves and fiercer storms. They'll need a lot more money to succeed.
By Matt Simon, Wired, April 2, 2021
YESTERDAY PRESIDENT JOE Biden unveiled his long-awaited American Jobs Plan, a sweeping wishlist for fixing the country’s crumbling infrastructure, revitalizing manufacturing and research, and tackling the climate crisis. The United States would make the biggest jobs investment in itself (self-care—so hot right now) since the postwar era—$2 trillion—creating millions of positions to rebuild the post-pandemic economy.
Hidden deep in the American Jobs Plan is a single sentence that calls for mobilizing an army of a uniquely American kind of laborer: “This $10 billion investment will put a new, diverse generation of Americans to work conserving our public lands and waters, bolstering community resilience, and advancing environmental justice through a new Civilian Climate Corps, all while placing good-paying union jobs within reach for more Americans.” Read more.
|
|
After passing a landmark climate law, Mass. officials now face the hard part: how to wean the state off fossil fuels
By David Abel, The Boston Globe, April 6, 2021
Over the coming decades, the state’s largest utilities have plans to spend billions of dollars upgrading a vast network of aging pipes and mains that distribute natural gas, after billions they’ve already spent in recent years.
But much of those plans clash with a landmark bill that Governor Charlie Baker signed last month that requires the state to effectively eliminate its carbon emissions by 2050.
Some environmental advocates and lawmakers fear that continued investments in gas infrastructure could hinder the transition to renewable energy and leave ratepayers covering the costs of an obsolete energy system for decades. They support repairing leaky pipes and those that pose a danger to the public, but they’re pressing the utilities to spend far more on zero-emissions technologies. Read more.
|
|
Cape Cod Commission staff develops solar screening tool
Web-based application designed to assist in appropriate siting of large-scale solar photovoltaic projects
Cape Cod Commission staff has developed a solar screening tool that will help guide large-scale solar photovoltaic projects toward appropriate areas and away from important conservation areas. The tool considers both built and natural environments to identify areas more or less appropriate for solar development. It is designed for use by anyone interested in developing or reviewing large-scale solar facilities.
|
|
Climate change is a key challenge facing Cape Cod. It contributes to sea level rise, increased frequency and intensity of storms, and longer periods of warmer weather. Greenhouse gases (GHGs) contribute to climate change by trapping heat in the atmosphere and causing global temperatures to rise. Massachusetts has a goal to reduce GHG emissions from all sectors by at least 80% below a 1990 emissions baseline by 2050. Read more. View the Large Scale Solar Screening Tool here. |
|
Join the Falmouth Climate Action Network for its premier "Friday's at 5" event
All are welcome!
Grab a hot or cold beverage and join fellow climate activists for a webinar supporting ‘net zero by 2050’ goals*. As Massachusetts moves forward on climate, hear from these leaders at the forefront:
- Sarah Dooling, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Climate Action Network (MCAN), will give an overview of the Next Generation Climate Roadmap Bill recently signed into law by Governor Baker. Learn what the bill means for our state and for Falmouth.
- Jillian Wilson-Martin, Sustainability Coordinator, Town of Natick, will describe the journey Natick and neighboring towns have taken to draft and implement net zero policies.
- Megan Amsler, Executive Director of Self-Reliance Corp. and Chair of the Falmouth Energy Committee will update on Falmouth's Green Community status and describe various pathways to achieving net zero.
*While the webinar is FalCAN focused, all are welcome!
|
|
Brand New Organizer Toolkit for Climate Emergency Activists
Climate Emergency Declarations continue to spread across the globe, even during a pandemic, now numbering nearly 2,000 official acknowledgements of the climate emergency from national, state and local governments. Activists in these communities now face the task of pushing to turn declarations into real action.
The new Climate Mobilization 2030 Toolkit is a step-by-step blueprint for people and organizations to get their communities involved by passing Climate Emergency Declarations, and follow-up Climate Emergency Programs to enact real policy making mobilization at the local level.
Whether you’re an individual, or part of a local climate group, this new resource is a guide to moving your community into emergency mode. You’ll get:
- Policy tools for what comes after a Climate Emergency Declaration
- Updated organizing toolkit resources
- An updated roadmap for building a powerful campaign beyond passing a Climate Emergency Declaration
|
|
Biden wants to spend billions on transportation infrastructure. What’s in it for Massachusetts?
By Adam Vaccaro, The Boston Globe, April 10, 2021
Maybe this is the chance to get rid of dirty diesel trains and go all-electric on the commuter rail, or extend train service to Springfield? New cars for the Green Line, and how about that long-sought tunnel to connect the Red and Blue lines? Don’t forget those mega-projects in Allston and over the Cape Cod Canal.
With President Biden proposing an infrastructure package featuring hundreds of billions of dollars for transportation, officials and advocates in the industry are hurriedly drawing up plans in anticipation of a gusher of money flowing to their states’ roads and rails. But in a country that has been clamoring for a big infrastructure bill for years, the wish lists are sure to get crowded, and the competition for the money fierce. Read more.
|
|
Financing Net Zero
Tuesday, April 13
12-1:00 pm
|
|
The Massachusetts Climate Action Network (MCAN) and Boston Society for Architecture (BSA) 4-part series connects clean energy advocates with design professionals and affordable housing advocates to center affordable housing and housing stability in the the climate movement. Learn about financing strategies for making buildings operate to net zero standards and other strategies. |
|
|
Declarations of Climate Emergency
Tuesday, April 13
5:00-6:00 PM
|
|
The Massachusetts Climate Action Network (MCAN) is sponsoring a discussion on Climate Emergency Declarations. Representatives from the Cape Cod Climate Change Collaborative will be presenting on Cape Cod's Climate Emergency Declaration Initiative. |
|
|
Electric Vehicles 101
Thursday, April 15
12:00 - 1:00pm
|
|
Join the Green Energy Consumers Alliance for its popular Electric Vehicles webinar. If you're
curious about getting an electric vehicle (EV), but not sure where to start, this webinar covers environmental and consumer benefits, information about batteries and charging, state and federal incentives. Q&A opportunity.
|
|
|
The Impact of Climate Change on Indigenous Women Around the World
Thursday, April 15
12:00 PM ET
|
|
The University of Maine School of Law's 2021 Justice for Women Lecture will present an amazing lineup of global activists to discuss impacts of climate change on indigenous women. The event kicks off with a special message from Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland and a reading by Joan Naviyuk Kane, Inupiaq writer, Harvard, Scripps & Tufts faculty. |
|
|
The Climate Imperative: Meeting the Moment
Wednesday, April 21
6:00 PM – 7:00 PM ET
|
|
Join Columbia University for a special Earth Day conversation about the effects of a changing climate including record numbers of hurricanes and wildfires, and the worst year for polar ice melt. CBS News Meteorologist Jeff Berardelli turns the spotlight on Alex Halliday, Director of Columbia University's Earth Institute; and Maureen Raymo, Interim Director of Columbia's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. |
|
|
Climate Change and Cape Cod
Wednesday, April 21
6:00-7:00 p.m.
|
|
The Outer Cape Democratic Coalition invites you learn about the challenging findings and predictions for Cape Cod’s climate changes, and governmental and non-profit plans to combat them. APCC Executive Director Andrew Gottlieb will share the latest climate information and discuss the proposed machine gun range project on Joint Base Cape Cod. |
|
|
Financing the Race to Zero
April 22 (Earth Day)
8:00 AM - 4:00 PM ET
|
|
Finance is about to undergo a major transformation in the next decade as capital must be reallocated to stabilize Earth’s climate. This second Exponential Climate Action Summit convenes transformers, disruptors and enablers focusing on how to finance The Race to Zero. |
|
|
Falmouth Climate Action Hour
Friday, April 23
5:00 - 6:15 PM
|
|
Grab a hot or cold beverage and join fellow climate activists for a webinar supporting ‘net zero by 2050’ goals. As Massachusetts moves forward on climate, hear from local, regional and state leaders on how Falmouth and all towns can move toward these goals. |
|
|
More than three out of every four board members at seven major U.S. banks have ties to polluting industries, according to an analysis by DeSmog. Read on.
|
|
Climate change is making it harder to grow the potatoes traditionally used for French fries. Read on.
|
|
Forecasters predict an above-average Atlantic hurricane season in 2021.
|
|
Check out the session recordings below.
|
|
Watch 30+ videos and learn from experts around the region, state and country.
Join the conversation and get involved!
|
|
MASSACHUSETTS LEGISLATIVE RESOURCES
|
|
|
|
We are an all-volunteer 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. We depend upon the generosity of our stakeholders to conduct our work. All donations are tax deductible as allowed by law.
|
|
The Climate Action Alerts newsletter is compiled and crafted by Fran Schofield. If you've got a climate story from your home, school, workplace, town or organization, please be in touch!
And don't forget to share this action alert with your friends and suggest they subscribe here.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
