Blog Post: St. Patrick's Day and Climate Change

Blog Post - St. Patrick's Day and Climate Change

Greetings,

Only 2 days after Super Tuesday, we heard a speech from one of the presidential candidates on an occasion when outright political speeches are normally not given. I speak of course of the State of the Union.

I thought it was a good speech, earning both style and policy points (while wishing that it was only policy points that mattered). But what really made it interesting to me was the multiple mentions of climate change – especially after much of the advance work done by the President’s team indicated it would not be mentioned at all.

I am disappointed, though, that in talking about climate change, he seemed to talk only to those who already understand it and support action on it. He talked about what he had done and will do, but not why it was so important to understand the threat and do something about it.

I think the SOTU is dan incredible opportunity to speak to all Americans about climate change, and to talk about why we are all in the same boat when it comes to its impacts, and thus why we should come together to fight it. He could have said that while we all can have honest differences on all sorts of issues, there is no good reason for us to not be together on climate change.

Hopefully, clean energy and climate change will be a frequent topic on the upcoming campaign trail If this happens, there may yet be a real educational opportunity in the political arena that could help make climate a non-contentious issue instead of a divisive one. More of my thoughts on this are in my Op Ed further below.

Dan

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Links to Past Posts:

C harging My Car in Manhattan

Step Into These Shoes Wearing a Climate and Energy Hat

Resilience Recognition is Rising - But There is That Other Thing

There is no "O" in Climate Change

It was an Instagram COP - And I am Finally OK with That

How to Talk About Climate With Your Crazy Uncle at Thanksgiving

Monty Python and Climate Change

What You Need to Know About NIMBYism

H mm..So How Much Did My Heat Pump Really Cost?

What it Means to Be a Climate Voter

The Climate Conundrum of Air Conditioning

Predictions Made About Utilities Made 10 Years Ago - How Did They Hold up?

My Vote For The Most Under-Appreciated Impact of Climate Change

10 Things I Should Have Written About

So I Went to the COP - Here Are My Top 10 Takeaways.

Efficiency and Clean Energy - Faster vs More

Efficiency & Clean Energy - More vs. Faster

It's Time For A Climate Vote - On the Record

Good COP, Bad COP .....Thoughts Before Glasgow

One of These Things is Not Like the Others

What I Should Have Written About

The Serenity of Being a Climate Voter

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Some Things That Caught My Eye ...

Wrong Tapping Time

It’s Tapping Time in Vermont – but it shouldn’t be based on historical records.

Real Maple syrup comes from boiling down the sap of real Maple trees, and the process of producing it depends on the weather. Optimal sap flow happens when nighttime temps are in the 20’s and daytime temps are in the 40’s. The length of a freeze matters. Exceptionally high temperatures can stop sap flow abruptly.

The University of Vermont, based on reports from sugarbush harvesters from 1960 to the early 2000’s, says that over that span sugaring season was arriving 1-2 weeks earlier and having a duration of 10 less days.

Today, some 20 years later, producers are reporting that they are harvesting earlier than ever, with some tapping trees starting in February, about a month earlier than usual and finishing up two weeks earlier.

https://benningtonbanner-vt.newsmemory.com?selDate=20240308&goTo=B03&artid=0&editionStart=Bennington%20Banner

Hybrids Now Beating Out EVs?

The EV industry and market is do dynamic that it seems like every time I put this newsletter out there is some “dynamic” news. The latest is the comeback of hybrids (although they never went away). I know in discussions with friends and neighbors, their thinking about hybrids vs. EVs has shifted. The (free) link is a good synopsis of what is happening.

https://wapo.st/4bYfYDZ

Suck it There, Suck it Here …

The ocean is a massive sink for carbon. Research shows that It has absorbed more than a quarter of all carbon dioxide pollution that humans have pumped into the sky, and that has helped prevent more serious impacts from climate change to date.

However, scientists have found that even the ocean is reaching its limit and could become only half as efficient at sucking in carbon by 2300 due to extreme warming and acidification. But not only are a growing number of startups focused on air extraction, but some are developing/using technology to suck the greenhouse gas directly from seawater.

https://samueli.ucla.edu/ucla-institute-for-carbon-management-and-equatic-to-build-the-worlds-largest-ocean-based-carbon-removal-plant-in-singapore/

Letting Renters Join the Heat Pump Family

When it comes to energy efficiency, let alone electrification, renters often (if not mostly) must rely on their landlord for any improvements or modifications. Micro Heat Pumps to the rescue?

https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/heat-pumps/renters-you-too-can-get-a-heat-pump-a-micro-one-at-least?utm_medium=email&utm_source=rmi-partner

About Those 2023 Emissions …

Last month I reported that U.S. Power sector emissions had declined in 2023. But now comes the global news, and it is different – a combination of good news and bad news.

There’s bad news and good news in the International Energy Agency’s 2023 Emissions Report. Let’s start with the bad news, so we can end on a positive note. Energy-related carbon emissions are still going up. Emissions increased by 1.1% in 2023, largely due to hydropower shortfalls caused by drought. But last year’s rise was less extreme than the year before even though energy demand growth accelerated, and “without clean energy technologies, the global increase in CO2 emissions in the last five years would have been three times larger.” And the report finds that between 2019 to 2023, clean energy growth was twice as large as fossil fuel growth.

https://www.iea.org/reports/co2-emissions-in-2023

More on that…

https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2024/03/01/global-carbon-emissions-hit-another-record-high-in-2023-despite-strong-renewables-growth/?sh=6a771b7c25dc&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Newsletter%20Weekly%20Roundup:%20Utility%20Dive:%20Daily%20Dive%2003-02-2024&utm_term=Utility%20Dive%20Weekender

Polluters in the U.S. of This Greenhouse Gas Get Fined

Absent a Carbon Tax, there is little in the way of monetary punishment for the release of carbon dioxide by corporations. There are indirect policy mechanisms like Renewable Portfolio Standards, and there are “carrots” in the way of incentives, but no fines. That is now not the case with methane, in a recent policy development in the U.S. that is now going into force.

https://grist.org/regulation/biden-methane-fee-diversified/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=daily

What You Name a Tax and What You Use It For …

One of the crusades I signed on to in Washington in the early twenty-teens was to establish a small tax on electricity transmission, where the funds would be used to fund smart grid technologies. My thought was that while people buy/get their retail electricity in different ways, pretty much everyone uses the transmission system for wholesale electricity and so why not embed a micro-amount in the transmission rate that would raise huge funds to put into the existing Smart Grid Investment Grant program.

Unfortunately, this turned out to something that no one seemed to be ready for and lacking traction, I moved on to other efforts - like a carbon tax, which gained traction but not enough to overcome opposition.

The article linked below has me thinking again. Not about transmission and smart grid but about the problems in trying to get fees in place that go towards climate mitigation. It talks about how the city of Barcelona is using its Tourism Tax to fund state-owned schools.

Most of us whine about all the taxes that we pay as tourists when we travel, especially those on the hotel bill. However, we pay it without too much thinking, with only a few thoughtful payees maybe realizing that the tax is going to pay for the impact that tourism can have on a city.

One of the keys to getting a fee like this in place of course is that it is not a tax on locals, and therefore government officials can easily create it from a political standpoint. It is a tax on visitors.

Hmmm…. what other things are there like this that we can use as revenue raisers for clean energy and climate mitigation or local resilience/adaptation.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-02-19/that-extra-charge-on-your-hotel-bill-may-fund-a-heat-pump?srnd=green&embedded-checkout=true

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St. Patrick’s Day and Climate Change

I had something else teed up to opine on for today’s Post, but since I am my own Editor and Publisher, I can turn on a dime and put out something entirely different than planned if I suddenly come across some info that causes me to write anew. That happened.

For those of you who have interest in genealogy, my last name Delurey is actually an Irish name, with my ancestors along that line (versus my English and German lines) having come to the U.S. from County Cork in the early 1800’s. I also spell my name DeLurie on Bastille Day and Deluri if I need to pretend that I am Italian on some occasion. :)

As signs of the impending green day appear, along comes another piece of fine work by the Yale Center for Climate Communications. And lo and behold it is about the people of Ireland and Climate Change. It happens that the Irish Government hired Yale to do an opinion survey of how its people think about climate change.

Ireland is just one country, and a small one at that. It is a member of the EU but again not one of the larger ones. But if you take the results of the Yale Survey as an example of how another modernized, industrialized country’s citizens look at and think about climate change and contrast it to how Americans answer the same questions, it perhaps helps one better understand how to think about how Americans think about climate.

Here are some of the things that jumped out at me:

80% of the Irish public agree with the statement “most scientists think climate change is happening.” Only 53% of Americans do.
95% of the Irish people think climate change is happening. By contrast, Yale found recently that only 72% of Americans think global warming is happening.
81% of the Irish populace are worried about climate change. 65% of Americans are.
78% of the Irish public discusses climate change occasionally or often with their families and friends. Only 35% of Americans do.
74% of the Irish people say they hear about climate change in the media “at least once a week.” Only 28% of Americans do.
79% of the Irish public says climate change should be a very high or high priority for the national government. 56% of registered U.S. voters say that.

Here are a few other nuggets, without the contrast to the U.S.:

- 74% of Irish people think acting on climate change will improve the quality of life in Ireland.

- Irish people who reported at least some difficulty making ends meet in the last 12 months gave the same levels of support to most climate action policies as those who have not experienced any difficulties making ends meet.

- Four in ten Irish people say they have punished companies that are opposing steps to reduce climate change by not buying their products one or more times in the last 12 months.

- 87% of people in Ireland say the country has a responsibility to act on climate change and should do what it can to reduce its own greenhouse emissions. In contrast, only 12% say Ireland is too small to make a difference on climate change and should let other countries take the lead.

- Nearly nine in ten people in Ireland (88%) think climate change is affecting the weather in Ireland, and 75% think extreme weather poses either a “high” or “moderate” risk to their community over the next 10 years.

- Nearly all Irish people think future generations of people (95%), people in developing countries (93%), and plant and animal species (92%) will be harmed “a great deal” or “a moderate amount” by climate change. 54% think that people in Ireland are being harmed “right now” by climate change, and 21% think that it will start to harm people in Ireland in the next 10 years.

- While still retaining majority backing, the support for prohibitive policies has weakened in 2023 compared to 2021. The overall proportion supporting bans on peat, coal and oil for home heating has decreased by nine percentage points to 59% since 2021, and overall support for higher taxes on cars that use petrol or diesel has decreased by 13 percentage points to 51%.

The first thing I want to say after seeing these numbers is …. Wow. Speaking as a climate communicator and educator, those are numbers I can only dream of us hitting in the U.S. in the foreseeable future.

I will say another thing, while noting that I don't have any intimate knowledge or awareness of current Irish politics. It seems like climate is much less a politically divisive issue in Ireland than here in the U.S. Here it is a political football, and that translates into it being a policy football. Taking both together, a leading Presidential Candidate has promised to repeal the Inflation Reduction Act, which is the biggest single step the U.S. has ever taken towards climate mitigation.

Thirdly, why aren’t American’s discussing climate change with friends and family? Is it because of politics? Is it because of a social worry about bringing it up? It is because they don’t think they know enough to be comfortable raising the topic? It is because they think the people they talk to agree with them and thus it is not an issue?

Fourth, why are many Americans not hearing about climate change in the media they consume? Media coverage/mention of climate change has statistically increased on average, but the increase is far across from across the board. Is it strictly politics? Is it the decline of independent media in general? And what good does it do if the increase in media treatment and the increase in non-profit groups focused on climate education are basically “singing to the choir” type of efforts.

Finally (although I could raise many more) is the question of support for governmental policy. Most of the numbers for answers to climate-related questions in the U.S. are above 50%. This is especially the case on questions of moderate to high recognition at present and/or future impact from climate change. How do people expect climate change to be mitigated if not for government involvement? I believe in market innovation and competition, and I believe it will help solve our climate challenge, but in my opinion that won’t happen fast enough and comprehensively enough to meet the need. I also believe in government policy, and don’t see any way around deploying it if we are to tame the climate beast.

One of the famous stories from the early days on the Western Front in France during World War I is the Christmas Truce. On Christmas even in 1914, British and German soldiers came out of their trenches, exchanged gifts and photos of home, drank wine, and played impromptu soccer games in no-man’s land. This is a true story.

After the game, and as dawn approached, the soldiers bid each other goodbye and went back into their trenches. The generals, who had been caught by surprise by this happening, issued rules that it cannot happen again, or there would be charges of desertion and treason leveled against participants.

In the words of one of my favorite songs*, which I listen to every Christmas, the soldiers’ thoughts when back in their trenches are not kind ones regarding the generals. They had thoughts like “whose family do I now have in my sights?” and “on each end of the rifle we’re the same”.

There are many issues in the U.S. where it is understandable that Americans hold different views on various issues. But it is a shame that climate change is one of them. It is quite easy to understand it when it is explained, and likewise, the threats and impacts are quite easy to grasp when laid out.

Unfortunately, some of the Generals, and I include Corporate CEOs here, continue to mislead, misinform, and issue orders to their troops which are counter to their well-being, not to mention everyone else's.

When it comes to the danger of climate change, we are all the same, and every family will be impacted. We must get out of our trenches and at least talk about it.

Dan

*The song I refer to is Christmas in the Trenches, by John McCutcheon. I listen to it every Christmas Eve while sitting next to the tree sipping my favorite Rye. But don’t wait for Christmas to check it out.

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If you were forwarded this email, click the button below to sign up to receive these Blog Posts.

Join Our Email List

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Links to Past Posts:

Charging My Car in Manhattan

Step Into These Shoes Wearing a Climate and Energy Hat

Resilience Recognition is Rising - But There is That Other Thing

There is no "O" in Climate Change

It was an Instagram COP - And I am Finally OK with That

How to Talk About Climate With Your Crazy Uncle at Thanksgiving

Monty Python and Climate Change