California North Coast CCL Newsletter | | | |
Can you imagine seeing this headline while fossil fuels remain artificially "cheap?"
We can help make it happen.
Tune into CCL's Carbon Pricing series, produced in conjunction with
Resources for the Future.
Climate change is here, and people are feeling the impacts every day. CCL is committed to advancing evidence-based climate solutions to help solve it—like carbon pricing, one of the most powerful policy tools available. See what the nation's professional economists recommend below, and join the lecture series to learn more about the complexities and challenges to its implementation.
Sessions begin Thursday, September 3 at 5 PM PT and will take place on the first Thursday through March, 2027.
Recordings will be available.
More info here.
If you'd like to participate in CCL's Carbon Pricing Action Team, join their next meeting on September 16 at 10 AM PT here.
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California North Coast CCL
invites you to their monthly meeting,
Saturday, September 12 at 9 AM PT here.
We'll discuss what's going on with the climate and what we ought to be doing about it; how you can participate in upcoming midterm elections, and this month's actions. We'll have ample time for open discussion.
Then, at 10 AM PT, join National's monthly meeting here.
This month, hear from CCL leaders across the country who are participating in election engagement work and how you can be active.
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Climate Change Raises Risk of Disasters Like Nepal Floods
NYT, 27 August
"Climate change is heating up the Himalayas and supercharging the risk of disasters like the deadly flash flooding in Nepal and Tibet, though scientists are still determining the exact cause of this week’s catastrophe.
As humans warm the planet by burning fossil fuels, the Himalayas are losing their permafrost, a mixture of soil, rocks and organic matter that has remained frozen for thousands of years. The thawing permafrost is destabilizing the foundation underneath glaciers, raising the risks of precisely these kinds of landslides and glacial collapses."
Who's next? Switzerland? Glacier National Park?
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A review of rescued climate data
"The Trump administration has shut down websites like climate.gov and other climate data projects. Academics, journalists, and nonprofit organizations are working to rebuild what has been lost. Here are some of the best places to find understandable dashboards, maps, and analysis for what can seem like overly complicated information."
Read it here.
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NYT, 20 August, 2026
"The Trump administration has taken a series of extraordinary steps to attack California’s position as a national leader in environmental protection, enlisting at least a half-dozen federal agencies to undermine the state’s efforts to pivot away from fossil fuels.
The stakes are high. Because of its market muscle as the world’s fourth largest economy, California’s environmental regulations have influenced the manufacturers of automobiles and other consumer goods. And its green policies have spread to some other states in what’s known as the “California effect.”
But President Trump has marshaled the full power of the federal government to clamp down on the state’s climate initiatives. He has been vocal in his contempt for Gov. Gavin Newsom of California, a Democrat and possible 2028 presidential contender.”
Full article here.
Find out how California is pushing back.
California files formal response to federal coastal review, urges public to make their voices heard
From the California Natural Resources Agency
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Vast Amazon data center in Indiana, one of 130 planned there.
Hey Siri, how much pushback are data centers facing?
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Data Centers Face Volatile Regulatory Landscape
by Michael Gerrard,
CCL advisory panel member, Professor of Professional Practice at Columbia Law School, founder and Faculty Director of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law.
Prof. Gerrard says, "This article traces what's happening at the federal, state, and local levels and the courts. Bottom line: the Trump administration is aggressively pushing data centers; states are erecting speed bumps but no full roadblocks; many local governments (500+ and counting) are blocking them, but they're increasingly being challenged in court by the tech giants.
These hyperscalers are paying for the construction of astonishingly large arrays of dedicated natural gas power plants (some in the 10 GW range) that will lock in high levels of natural gas use for decades and seriously undercut our efforts to reduce GHG emissions."
"The construction of new data centers for artificial intelligence has become a major engine of the U.S. economy. More than 700 data centers are now under construction across 40 states, with many more to come.These are typically multi-billion-dollar projects.
This boom is facing growing public opposition,
which has led to an extremely volatile regulatory land-
scape, especially at the state and local levels. This volatility has raised the cost of capital for data centers and led to the cancellation of many, and to heightened due diligence by lenders and others."
This is a deep analysis of a very important issue by CCL advisory panel member and legal expert Mike Gerrard.
Dive into the deep end here.
| | Here's what the economic experts have to say about how best to shift the global economy away from fossil fuel dependence. Note that they are not the politicians who have to make it happen. Big difference. | | |
WSJ, January 17, 2019
"Global climate change is a serious problem calling for immediate national action. Guided by sound economic principles, we are united in the following policy recommendations.
I. A carbon tax offers the most cost-effective lever to reduce carbon emissions at the scale and speed that is necessary. By correcting a well-known market failure, a carbon tax will send a powerful price signal that harnesses the invisible hand of the marketplace to steer economic actors towards a low-carbon future.
II. A carbon tax should increase every year until emissions reductions goals are met and be revenue neutral to avoid debates over the size of government. A consistently rising carbon price will encourage technological innovation and large-scale infrastructure development. It will also accelerate the diffusion of carbon-efficient goods and services.
III. A sufficiently robust and gradually rising carbon tax will replace the need for various carbon regulations that are less efficient. Substituting a price signal for cumbersome regulations will promote economic growth and provide the regulatory certainty companies need for long- term investment in clean-energy alternatives.
IV. To prevent carbon leakage and to protect U.S. competitiveness, a border carbon adjustment system should be established. This system would enhance the competitiveness of American firms that are more energy-efficient than their global competitors. It would also create an incentive for other nations to adopt similar carbon pricing.
V. To maximize the fairness and political viability of a rising carbon tax, all the revenue should be returned directly to U.S. citizens through equal lump-sum rebates. The majority of American families, including the most vulnerable, will benefit financially by receiving more in “carbon dividends” than they pay in increased energy prices." [Emphasis added]
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Even if the most extreme scenarios are, thankfully, less plausible, we are not moving nearly fast enough to avert calamity
Take some deep breaths and read this sobering report from Australia
"There is a chasm in outlook between the global climate policy-making elite with their focus on distant goals and slow, non-disruptive change, and activists and key researchers who see the world hurtling towards climate breakdown and social collapse."
Effective carbon pricing is fundamental to veering off the collision course we are presently on. Since money talks, we need the global economy on our side, which presently it is not.
Read it here
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FYI: Upcoming non-CCL events
Wednesday, September 9 at 9 AM: Attribution Science in Climate Litigation presented by The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS). Join for a timely discussion on how attribution science is advancing climate litigation. Register here.
Wednesday, September 16, 10 AM PT: Elders for Sound Democracy, Ensuring Free and Fair Elections, featuring lawyers from the Brennan Center for Justice. Register here.
Wednesday, September 16, 5 PM PT, “Issue 1”: Project “2029," building bipartisan power to strengthen the foundations of American democracy. Tune in here.
Now on YouTube: Rep. Jared Huffman's interview with Peter Coyote at the launch of his new book, No Prophets: The Fight to Save Democracy from Christian Nationalism.
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Do Not Miss This Series!
We post this every month. If you're wondering why so little progress has been made weaning civilization off of fossil fuels despite the evidence of their dangers, watch this series. If you've already done so, watch it again, imagining what it might look like if these energy sources had been paying a pollution fee commensurate with their true costs to society and thus weren't so profitable. Then scroll back up and read the Economists' Statement again to see what an effective, efficient and equitable solution looks like.
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Off the charts!
Better to actually need your wetsuit when swimming in the ocean.
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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.
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Earth
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 Marin or Sonoma CCL, or if not in this area, contact me.
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