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Marin CCL Newsletter

December 3, 2024

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Positioning for Progress


You are invited to

CCL's fall virtual conference

December 6-7, 2024




Join us at our fall virtual conference for an insider’s look at what Congress is expected to tackle next on climate change. We’ll cover the key opportunities during the lame duck session at the end of this Congress, as well as exciting possibilities emerging for 2025. Regardless of the election outcome, CCL remains positioned and ready for action as a trusted partner in Congress.


Starting on Friday, Dec. 6th at 5 p.m. PT, meet with Action Team members to learn more about their projects, then attend our reception to socialize with fellow conference goers before we officially kick off the conference on Saturday, Dec. 7th.


Here's the program.


Please join us. You might be pleasantly surprised by the insiders' views of what's possible going forward. Global warming hasn't paused, nor shall we.  


Following the fall conference, CCL members will be meeting with their members of Congress. Our primary ask of both Democrats and Republicans will be to pass the Energy Permitting Reform Act.




Holiday Party time!


Saturday, December 14, 3-5 PM.


The Sonoma Chapter will host a holiday party in Santa Rosa, and Marin folks are invited.


RSVP to Kris at kristeenabrahamson@gmail.com. Questions: Call or text Barbara at 707-321-0064


A Warning From a California Marine Heat Wave



NYT, December 2, 2024


An extreme heat wave off California’s coast seemed like an anomaly 10 years ago. But as the ocean warms, the catastrophe may be a glimpse of the future.


A decade ago, sea surface temperatures in the Pacific shot up to 11 degrees Fahrenheit hotter than normal. A high pressure system parked over the ocean, and winds that churn cold, nutrient-rich water from the depths to the surface died down. Stagnant, warm water spread across the Northeast Pacific, in a marine heat wave that lasted for three years.


Under the surface, the food web broke down and ecosystems convulsed, at first unseen to humans on shore. But soon, clues washed up.


Dead Cassin’s auklets — small, dark gray seabirds — piled up on West Coast beaches. The auklets were followed by common murres, a slightly bigger black-and-white seabird. The carcasses were knee-deep in places, impossible to miss.


Researchers are still untangling the threads of what happened, and they caution against drawing universal conclusions from a single regional event. But "the Blob" fundamentally changed many scientists’ understanding of what climate change could do to life in the ocean; 10 years later, the disaster is one of our richest sources of information on what happens to marine life as the temperature rises.


And it is more relevant than ever. Last year, multiple “super-marine heat waves” blanketed parts of the ocean. Averaged together, global sea surface temperatures broke records, often by wide margins, for months in 2023 and 2024. As the climate warms, scientists expect extreme marine heat waves to become more frequent.


Read more of this detailed reporting:


NYT, December 2, 2024


And then read the comments. They reveal utter despair, but none suggest harnessing the global economy to reduce fossil fuel burning, which is the single most urgent and effective tool there is, according to the entire US economics profession. Clearly we have much work yet to do.

Support for carbon pricing higher than expected, German study finds


Viewed by many experts as one of the most effective tools of climate policy, carbon pricing seeks to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Currently, however, only 23% of global greenhouse gas emissions are subject to this climate tax, as it is seen as unpopular.


A study featuring a representative sample of 1,100 German citizens shows that a majority of the German population would be willing to accept higher carbon prices. The key factor determining acceptance is how the corresponding revenues are used.


"Carbon pricing is the sharpest blade in our economic toolkit against climate change," says Professor Klaus M. Schmidt. "Our study shows that a clear majority would approve a model where the expected revenues are paid out equally and directly to citizens."


Sound familiar?


Read more here

Elon Musk explains why

delaying the transition to renewable energy is "the dumbest experiment in history" and why a revenue neutral carbon tax is essential.


It was 9 years ago, in Paris during COP 21, when Musk was perceived as a hero by many. He pulls together the physics and economics into an airtight case for eliminating the massive subsidies for unpriced carbon emissions with a carbon tax. The transition to clean energy being inevitable, he advocates doing it immediately, before catastrophes whose damages and suffering will surpass that of all the wars in human history.


Let's hope he continues to influence the incoming administration in this direction.


Here's his (somewhat unusual) 12 minute talk,

and the subsequent interesting Q&A

Ladies and Gentlemen, the Northeast Is Burning


NYT, November 18, 2024


"The smoke around New York City is back. But don’t blame Canada.


Red flag warnings in New England indicating fire weather — that is, hot, dry, windy conditions — have been issued repeatedly since late October. These warnings are common in the West, but they are extremely rare in the Northeast, where I grew up and where my base line was established, my notion of what normal weather is. And I can tell you: This isn’t normal. Back in the 1970s, the idea of wildfires along the I-95 corridor in November was simply inconceivable.


This fall, more than 500 wildfires have ignited in New Jersey alone. And in the past two weeks, in parts of Connecticut and Pennsylvania where developments end and wild lands begin, known as the wildland-urban interface, fires have been threatening homes, too. New York City’s fire department responded to 271 brush fires across the five boroughs just in the first two weeks of November. A 5,000-acre fire has been burning for more than a week on the New York-New Jersey border, prompting voluntary evacuation orders on Saturday, after the fire broke through containment lines."


We are no longer unique out here in the dry, hot West. Global warming is everywhere:


NYT, November 18, 2024


The Tipping Points of Climate Change — and Where We Stand | Johan Rockström | TED


Should your climate anxiety level need to be further jolted into the stratosphere, tolerate 18 minutes with this world renowned scientist, who explains why earth scientists are "getting nervous" to say the least.


He demonstrates that climate and other environmental tipping points are already here, that the changes are accelerating, buffering systems are weakening, we are way behind and about to lose control....


But there is still hope that if we act really fast we might be able to stabilize Earth's climate in a habitable zone, a great reason to finally harness the enormous power of the global energy economy using CCL's proposed carbon fee, dividend and border carbon policy to forcibly apply the brakes on fossil fuel demand -- thus supply and emissions -- before it's too late. It's not the only thing we must do, but it's essential. Focus on demand reduction by raising the price in a way people will tolerate (by governments not keeping the revenue) -- rather than supply, which may be inexhaustible if we dig and drill deep enough.


Watch it here

Do Not Miss This Series! 

If you've already seen it, watch it again. You'll then understand how we got into this mess -- Denial, Doubt and Delay -- and what it will take to get us out: Massive popular political pressure supporting robust solutions that this industry and their agents will inevitably oppose.

Deepwater Horizon

You're invited, but...

This is how one behaves inside The Capitol:

Make an appointment. Business attire recommended. Bring nothing that even looks like a weapon.

Long live Democracy.

Visit CCL's website
Visit Marin CCL




Prepared by Peter G. Joseph, M.D. 

Peter.Joseph@cclvolunteer.org

Apologies for cross postings.

If you know someone who would like to be added to this distribution list, please suggest they join CCL.