A regional resource for climate advocates
January 13, 2022
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Ocean warmth sets record high in 2021 as a result of greenhouse gas emissions
Since the late 1980s, Earth’s oceans warmed at a rate eight times faster than in the preceding decades
By Kasha Patel, The Washington Post, January 11, 2022 (photo credit: Alexis Huguet/AFP/Getty Images)
The warmth of the world’s oceans hit a record. Again.
A new analysis, published Tuesday in the journal Advances in Atmospheric Sciences, showed that oceans contained the most heat energy in 2021 since measurements began six decades ago — accelerating at a rate only possible because of human-emitted greenhouse gases.
Since the late 1980s, Earth’s oceans warmed at a rate eight times faster than in the preceding decades.
“When you have this long-term upward trend, you’re getting records broken almost every year, and it’s this monotonous increase,” said John Abraham, a co-author of the study and a professor at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota. “We’ve built up so much greenhouse gas that the oceans have begun to take in an increasing amount of heat, compared to what they previously were.” Read more.
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Earth Emergency
Now streaming on PBS, narrated by Richard Gere
This revealing film examines how human activity is setting off dangerous warming loops that are pushing the climate to a point of no return - and what we need to do to stop them. With captivating illustrations, stunning footage and interviews with leading climate scientists as well as support from Greta Thunberg, "Earth Emergency" adds the missing piece of the climate puzzle.
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A Climate Resilient Community In Newburyport Rises From Toxic Ashes
By Bruce Gellerman, WBUR, May 14, 2021 (photo credit: Robin Lubbock, WBUR)
Just off Route 1 in Newburyport, a bit of the future is under construction. A huge orange crane hoists a three-story concrete slab and flips it precisely in place, forming the wall of a home. The crane accomplished in five days what would have taken weeks using standard building techniques.
"The construction system has not been done before in this scale for residential," says Boston developer David Hall, who with his partner, architect Keith Moskow, modified the commercial building method known as "tilt-up construction" to create the Hillside Center for Sustainable Living. They're building the village on a remediated brownfield, after removing 3,000 tons of toxic ash. "There were places where it was 8 feet deep," Hall says with a laugh. "It was a dump."
Hall and Moskow had decades of experience building on urban brownfields and saw the possibilities in this hazardous waste site. "We jumped on it," said Hall, "and created this vision of what could be." Listen and read more.
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France says car ads must come with a caveat: Walk, bike or take public transit instead
By Claire Parker, The Washington Post, January 5, 2021,
In France, advertisements urging people to buy the latest Peugeots or Renaults will soon come with a caveat urging viewers or listeners to walk or bike instead.
Under a new regulation slated to take effect in March, French automakers will be required to include messages on car advertisements that encourage viewers to seek more environmentally friendly travel alternatives.
Automakers will be able to choose between three messages, according to the rule published in France’s official journal: “Consider carpooling,” “For short trips, opt for walking or cycling" or “Use public transportation for everyday trips.” At the end of the message, advertisers must affix the hashtag “#SeDéplacerMoinsPolluer” — or #MovePolluteLess. Read more.
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In the Spotlight: Association to Preserve Cape Cod, Compact of
Cape Cod Conservation Trusts, Sheriff's Meadow Foundation
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World’s Largest Floating Solar Array Comes Online In Shandong Province
Huaneng Power International has switched on a 320 MW floating PV array in China’s Shandong province. It deployed the plant in two phases on a reservoir near its 2.65 GW Dezhou thermal power station.
By Emiliano Bellini, PV Magazine, January 3, 2022
The world’s largest floating solar power array is now online in China’s Shandong province. The 320 MW facility built by Huaneng Power International is expected to generate around 550 GWh per year, according to the company. The panels float atop a reservoir near a much larger thermal power station, and the array is integrated with energy storage capacity and a nearby wind farm. Beyond cutting greenhouse gas pollution, floating solar arrays can produce co-benefits like reducing evaporation and boosting solar efficiency. HPI is currently building an experimental floating array more than six times larger in Jiangxi province that will include agrivoltaics and solar parks above fish ponds. Read more.
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In the "Huzzahs" Department |
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Solect Energy — a major Net Zero 21 sponsor — receives 2021 Sustainable Business of the Year Award for Energy Solutions
We keep good company!
The Sustainable Business Network of Massachusetts has awarded the coveted Sustainable Business of the Year Award to Solect Energy, a leading sponsor of our Net Zero 2021 conference. The award was created to recognize and celebrate outstanding work of local businesses that embody the mission of building strong economies that are local, green, and fair.
The Climate Collaborative sends kudos to Solect Energy for this achievement and gratitude for its generous support of the Net Zero conference and ongoing work of our organization.
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Biden's Energy Department to announce Clean Energy Corps, will hire 1,000 staffers to work on climate change
By Maxine Joselow with research by Alexandra Ellerbeck, The Washington Post, January 13, 2022
The Energy Department is creating a Clean Energy Corps and launching a hiring portal to attract 1,000 additional workers focused on climate change and clean energy...
People who join the Clean Energy Corps will pursue projects aimed at accelerating the deployment of clean energy and cutting planet-warming emissions. For example, participants will jump-start an initiative to build thousands of miles of electric transmission lines to carry wind and solar power to communities nationwide.
The effort marks the latest sign that President Biden is harnessing the powers of the federal government to meet his ambitious climate goals, as Democrats' Build Back Better Act remains stalled in Congress. Read more.
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Environmental justice in spotlight as WH official departs
BY Drew Costley, AP News, January 6, 2022 (photo credit, Cecilia Martinez,AP)
The White House’s top official on environmental justice is stepping down a year after President Joe Biden took office with an ambitious plan to help disadvantaged communities and overhaul policies that have historically hurt them.
The departure Friday of Cecilia Martinez, senior director for environmental justice at the Council for Environmental Quality, puts a spotlight on both the administration’s successes and promises yet to be fulfilled....“Her credibility in terms of environmental issues — in particular environmental justice issues — is going to be missed,” said Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz, said.
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More than 40 percent of Americans live in counties hit by climate disasters in 2021
As climate-fueled extreme weather intensified last year, more than 80% of Americans experienced a heat wave.The impacts of fires and severe storms also spread.
By Sarah Kaplan and Andrew Ba Tran, The Washington Post, January 5, 2022
2021 ended as it began: with disaster. Twelve months after an atmospheric river deluged California, triggering mudslides in burned landscapes and leaving a half-million people without power, a late-season wildfire destroyed hundreds of homes in the suburbs of Boulder, Colo. In between, Americans suffered blistering heat waves, merciless droughts and monstrous hurricanes. People collapsed in farm fields and drowned in basement apartments; entire communities were obliterated by surging seas and encroaching flames.
More than 4 in 10 Americans live in a county that was struck by climate-related extreme weather last year, according to a new Washington Post analysis of federal disaster declarations, and more than 80 percent experienced a heat wave. In the country that has generated more greenhouse gases than any other nation in history, global warming is expanding its reach and exacting an escalating toll. Read more.
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Reduce Waste, Don’t Bury It at Bourne Landfill
By Rosemary Dreger Carey, January 12, 2022
Despite a trend toward landfill closures in the state, a 25-acre expansion of the Bourne landfill is working its way through the approval process. The expansion would provide additional capacity for solid waste from Falmouth and Bourne, as well as allow for continued importation of incinerator ash from SEMASS in Rochester, Massachusetts. Eighty five percent of the new landfill capacity would be reserved for toxicant-laden ash, to be buried in perpetuity atop the Cape’s sole-source aquifer.
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Three Ways
To Take Action On The Bourne Landfill
Cape Codders — especially residents of Bourne and neighboring commun- ities — interested in participating in the Board of Health process are encouraged to:
Call Kirstie Pecci,
director of the Conservation Law Foundation's Zero Waste Project:
617-850-1717
Send your public comment
by hard copy to:
Town of Bourne, Board of Health
24 Perry Avenue
Buzzards Bay, MA 02532
__________________________
Note: comments must be received no later than January 26, 2022.
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Events, Webinars & Trainings |
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Reminder: AmeriCorps Cape Cod's 2022 MLK Day of Service Event!
Join AmeriCorps Cape Cod, CARE for the Cape & Islands and the Center for Coastal Studies for Cape-wide beach cleanup!
Monday, January 17, 2022
Multiple Times & Locations!
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Teach Climate Network Workshop: Dismantling Systemic Racism and Injustice
Wednesday, January 19, 2022
Time: 12:00pm CT/1:00pm ET
Zakhia Grant from EcoRise will present strategies and tools to support teachers, students, and community members in using EcoRise’s Environmental Justice lessons to create a foundation for understanding Environmental Justice history and concepts. The group will also explore how leadership, community action, and policy change can bring long-overdue justice to communities of color who are disproportionately affected by climate change.
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Mayflower Wind to Host Virtual Open House
Thursday, January 27, 2022
6:30-7:30 PM
Mayflower Wind, the developer of an offshore wind project located in deep waters far off the coast of Massachusetts, will host a free virtual open house to share information about the offshore wind energy project and its $42 million in economic development commitments. A live Q&A session will immediately follow the presentation. Discussion topics include:
- Project overview
- Offshore wind education, training and workforce development
- Supply chain opportunities
- Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives
- Applied research and innovation investments
- Ports and supporting infrastructure development
- Low-Income ratepayer support
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Baker administration’s next climate task: curbing heat emissions from buildings
State-appointed commission set to start meeting to discuss statewide efforts to reduce greenhouse gases from heating systems.
By Jon Chesto, The Boston Globe, January 11, 2022 (photo: David L. Ryan)
A state commission this week is set to start working on plans to sharply reduce carbon emissions from buildings in Massachusetts, a key component on Governor Charlie Baker's climate goals.
The Baker administration has pursued ambitious efforts to tap into greener power from offshore wind and solar sources, and took an unsuccessful run at launching a multistate effort to curb car and truck pollution. Now, it’s time for Governor Charlie Baker’s energy and environmental aides to scrutinize another major source of greenhouse gas emissions: building heat. Read more.
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Does the recent spate of Cape Cod tornadoes have a climate change connection?
By Doug Fraser, Cape Cod Times, January 8, 2022
VieBy
HARWICH —By The warning came on a brilliantly sunny July day, displayed in bright red bands across television sets and blasted from cellphones, and it rang false to many Cape Codders.
“You hear of tornadoes happening in different parts of the country and you have empathy and compassion for those who have lost so much, but on Cape Cod (a tornado) was unheard of,” said Lorraine Blute, who lives near Harwich Center, where a tornado touched down around 11 a.m. on July 23, 2019, causing an estimated $3.6 million in property damage.
From 1951 to 1977, the Cape and Islands had only three verified tornadoes. But the frequency has picked up in recent years, with five since 2018. Unlike the hurricanes and nor’easters the region is accustomed to, tornadoes come with little time for disaster preparedness. Read more.
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NZ-21 CONFERENCE
Missed the conference?
Not to worry!
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Energy & The Built Environment |
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Coming Soon to This Coal County: Solar, in a Big Way
In Martin County, Ky., where coal production has flatlined, entrepreneurs are promising that a new solar farm atop a shuttered mine will bring green energy jobs.
By Cara Buckley, The New York Times, January 2, 2022 (Photo: Maddie McGarvey for The New York Times)
MARTIN COUNTY, Ky. — For a mountain that’s had its top blown off, the old Martiki coal mine is looking especially winsome these days. With its vast stretches of emerald grass dotted with hay bales and ringed with blue-tinged peaks, and the wild horses and cattle that roam there, it looks less like a shuttered strip mine and more like an ad for organic milk.
The mountain is poised for another transformation. Hundreds of acres are set to be blanketed with solar panels in the coming year, installed by locals, many of them former miners. The $231 million project, which recently cleared its last regulatory hurdle, may well be the biggest utility-scale coal to solar project in the country.
It would be a desperately needed economic boost drenched in symbolism: Renewable energy generated from a shuttered mine in the heart of Appalachia, where poverty grinds on in the aftermath of the coal industry’s demise. Read more.
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ACEEE 2021 Clean Energy Scorecard
The 2021 City Clean Energy Scorecard analyzes the efforts of 100 major U.S. cities to make buildings and transportation more energy efficient and scale up the use of renewable energy—and do so equitably. It provides a comprehensive national measuring stick for climate progress in cities, from the leaders to those with ample room for progress.
Moving forward, all cities can improve their scores by increasing their commitment to racial and social equity, adopting more mandatory policies designed to improve the energy performance of existing buildings, and setting and tracking progress toward stringent community-wide goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. How does your city score? Read more.
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As U.S. moves toward solar energy, this roofing company hopes ‘solar shingles’ will get home-owners to buy in
One of the largest roofing companies in the U.S. will offer a new solar roofing product, with the aim of driving installation costs down and solar adoption up.
By Tik Root, The Washington Post, January 3, 2022 (Photo credit: GAF Energy)
Thousands of Americans install solar energy systems on their roofs each year. Most commonly, that means solar panels mounted on racks, but another option may become more accessible: solar shingles.
Starting Monday, one of the largest roofing companies in the United States will be selling a new solar shingle product. The aim is to drive the cost of installation down and the rate of solar adoption up.
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United Completes First Commercial Flight with 100% Sustainable Fuel
By Jessica Reed, Aviation Today, December 8, 2021
United Airlines has invested heavily in new technology in 2021 while also focusing on sustainability. In June, the company committed to purchasing 15 Overture supersonic aircraft from Boom Supersonic, which will have the capacity to fly on 100% sustainable aviation fuel. United also announced in February that they were partnering with Archer Aviation to purchase 200 electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, demonstrating a strong interest in investing in clean technologies. Additionally, a release in September reported a huge purchase agreement between United and Honeywell, who have committed to purchasing 1.5 billion gallons of sustainable aviation fuel from Alder Fuels—a clean-tech company converting forest and crop waste into drop-in replacement crude oil. Read more.
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Bank Fees for Green Debt Surpass Fossil-Fuel Financing
With money pouring into the less-than-transparent ESG market, it was bound to happen. The question now is how long it will last.
ByTim Quinson, Bloomberg News, January 5, 2022 (Photo credit: Andrew Harrer)
It’s official. For the first time since the unveiling of the Paris climate agreement in 2015, banks earned more fees arranging green-related bond sales and loans than they did helping fossil-fuel companies raise money in the debt markets.
To be sure, the final tally for 2021 was incredibly close. Overall, banks pocketed an estimated $3.4 billion from green-labeled debt deals, compared with $3.3 billion from their work with oil, gas and coal companies, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. For context, in 2020, the split was $1.9 billion for green and $3.7 billion for fossil fuels. Read more.
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Quotes of Note
“It’s truly a remarkable time to be at the Department of Energy as we set
off to implement the historic $62 billion in clean energy investments from the
President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The launch of our Clean Energy Corps is the latest definitive step along our path to making transformational changes
to America’s energy sector and ensuring a clean energy future for all."
—U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm
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Climate Education & Communication |
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Global Warming’s Six Americas, September 2021
By Anthony Leiserowitz, Edward Maibach, Seth Rosenthal, John Kotcher, Liz Neyens, Jennifer Marlon, Jennifer Carman, Karine Lacrois and Matthew Goldberg, Yale Program on Climate Change Communications, January 12, 2022
Our prior research has found that Americans can be categorized into six distinct groups—Global Warming’s Six Americas—based on their beliefs, attitudes, policy support, and behavior about climate change.
The Alarmed are the most engaged, are very worried about global warming, and strongly support climate action. The Concerned think global warming is a significant threat but prioritize it less and are less likely to be taking action. The Cautious are aware of climate change but are uncertain about its causes and are not very worried about it. Read more.
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3 Environmental Habits Worth
Your Time
NRDC, Top of Mind, January 4, 2022
Happy New Year! If, like a lot of people, you’re thinking about how you want to show up for the planet and your community in 2022, we have a suggestion: Work on the foundational stuff.
By expanding your own environmental knowledge and supporting collective efforts that are more likely to spark systemic change, you will be able to build stronger climate habits over time. (No burnout required.)
1 - Vote on climate
One of the single most important things you can do for the planet is vote, because it can set off seismic shifts at every level of government. Just look at Illinois. After voters elected dozens of pro-climate legislators and put a clean energy advocate in the governor’s office, the midwestern state with a long affinity for fossil fuels passed the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act, one of the most ambitious pieces of climate legislation in the country.
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How Bad Are Plastics, Really?
Plastic production just keeps expanding, and now is becoming a driving cause of climate change.
By Rebecca Altman, The Atlantic, January 3, 2022 (photo credit: Matthew Porter for The Atlantic)
This is hardly the time to talk about plastics is what I think when Dad, hovering over the waste bin at a post-funeral potluck, waves me over, his gesture discreet but emphatic. He has retrieved from the trash a crystalline plastic cup, with fluted, rigid sides. “Polystyrene,” he grins, inverting the cup to reveal its resin code (a 6 stamped inside the recycling symbol). “But not my kind.”
Dad, back in the 1960s, had manufactured a more resilient variety of polystyrene for Union Carbide, one of the 20th century’s major plastics manufacturers, since acquired by Dow Chemical Company. Now, in the parish hall, I recognize he is seconds from crushing the cup. As if on cue, he closes his grip. Being a certain type of polystyrene — and this is his point — the cup splinters into a strange bloom of shards arrayed about the cup’s circular bottom. Read more.
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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.
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The Climate Action Alerts newsletter is curated and crafted by Fran Schofield. If you have 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.
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