“The planting of a tree shows faith in the future”
Stopping Methane is Critical to stopping Climate Change
A study, published in the journal Environmental Research Letters, calculated that a full-scale push using existing technologies could cut methane emissions in half by 2030. Such reductions could have a crucial impact in the global effort to limit warming below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) compared to preindustrial levels — a central aim of the Paris climate accord.
It follows new data that showed that both carbon dioxide and methane levels in the atmosphere reached record highs last year, even as the coronavirus pandemic brought much of the global economy to a halt. The report also comes as a growing body of scientific evidence has shown that releases of methane from oil and gas production, one of the biggest sources of methane linked to human activity, may be larger than earlier estimates.
While cutting back on carbon dioxide emissions will remain urgent, “it’s going to be next to impossible to remove enough carbon dioxide to get any real benefits for the climate in the first half of the century,” said Drew Shindell, the study’s lead author and a professor of earth science at Duke University. “But if we can make a big enough cut in methane in the next decade, we’ll see public health benefits within the decade, and climate benefits within two decades,” he said.
Read more about it:
Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2021/04/27/cut-methane-emissions-30-percent/
New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/24/climate/methane-leaks-united-nations.html
NASA – Exploring our Home Planet on Earth Day
NASA spends much of its time studying our home planet. In 2014 they produced a series of very short videos explaining climate change. Watch these fun whiteboard animations below.
What can I do to stop climate change?
Certainly, there are things you can do personally to help stop climate change: plant trees, waste less, drive an electric vehicle, power your home or business with wind and solar.
Project Drawdown has many solutions that are ready now. Read more at https://drawdown.org/ They offer a free video series on climate solutions at https://drawdown.org/climate-solutions-101
Unfortunately at the current rate of emissions, just changing your personal habits will not be enough to avoid a crisis. We need global change.
The most important tool you have is your voice. Talk to your friends and family. Talk to your local, state, and federal representatives about the importance of fighting climate change. Ask them to support laws that limit greenhouse gas emissions. Vote for candidates that support efforts to address the threat of climate change, ensuring that they are part of our nation’s energy and environmental policy.
Do you want more tools? Sign up for the free Climate Reality Leadership Corps training.
Learn more about training here: https://www.climaterealityproject.org/training/
If we all act together we can stop this crisis.
Earth Day 2021
Earth Day is April 22. Thousands of events are planned around the world including a global climate summit hosted by President Biden.
The Summit will reconvene the U.S.-led Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate, which brings together 17 countries responsible for approximately 80 percent of global emissions and global GDP. The President also invited the heads of other countries that are demonstrating strong climate leadership, are especially vulnerable to climate impacts, or are charting innovative pathways to a net-zero economy. A small number of business and civil society leaders will also participate in the Summit.
Key themes of the Summit will include:
- Galvanizing efforts by the world’s major economies to reduce emissions during this critical decade to keep a limit to warming of 1.5 degree Celsius within reach.
- Mobilizing public and private sector finance to drive the net-zero transition and to help vulnerable countries cope with climate impacts.
- The economic benefits of climate action, with a strong emphasis on job creation, and the importance of ensuring all communities and workers benefit from the transition to a new clean energy economy.
- Spurring transformational technologies that can help reduce emissions and adapt to climate change, while also creating enormous new economic opportunities and building the industries of the future.
- Showcasing subnational and non-state actors that are committed to green recovery and an equitable vision for limiting warming to 1.5 degree Celsius, and are working closely with national governments to advance ambition and resilience.
- Discussing opportunities to strengthen capacity to protect lives and livelihoods from the impacts of climate change, address the global security challenges posed by climate change and the impact on readiness, and address the role of nature-based solutions in achieving net zero by 2050 goals.
Further details on the Summit agenda, additional participants, media access, and public viewing will be provided in the coming weeks.
The President invited the following leaders to participate in the Summit:
- Prime Minister Gaston Browne, Antigua and Barbuda
- President Alberto Fernandez, Argentina
- Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Australia
- Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh
- Prime Minister Lotay Tshering, Bhutan
- President Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil
- Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Canada
- President Sebastián Piñera, Chile
- President Xi Jinping, People’s Republic of China
- President Iván Duque Márquez, Colombia
- President Félix Tshisekedi, Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, Denmark
- President Ursula von der Leyen, European Commission
- President Charles Michel, European Council
- President Emmanuel Macron, France
- President Ali Bongo Ondimba, Gabon
- Chancellor Angela Merkel, Germany
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India
- President Joko Widodo, Indonesia
- Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel
- Prime Minister Mario Draghi, Italy
- Prime Minister Andrew Holness, Jamaica
- Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, Japan
- President Uhuru Kenyatta, Kenya
- President David Kabua, Republic of the Marshall Islands
- President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, Mexico
- Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand
- President Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria
- Prime Minister Erna Solberg, Norway
- President Andrzej Duda, Poland
- President Moon Jae-in, Republic of Korea
- President Vladimir Putin, The Russian Federation
- King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
- Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Singapore
- President Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa, South Africa
- Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, Spain
- President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Turkey
- President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, United Arab Emirates
- Prime Minister Boris Johnson, United Kingdom
- President Nguyễn Phú Trọng, Vietnam
To participate in a live or virtual event visit https://www.earthday.org/earth-day-2021/ to find an event near you.
Support the REPLANT Act
Trees are one of nature’s best solutions to climate change, as powerful sinks for atmospheric carbon. Yet today, our national forests are underfunded and increasingly threatened by climate-driven wildfires, drought, and pests.
The REPLANT Act will modernize the Reforestation Trust Fund to triple reforestation rates in our national forests, in turn creating thousands of forestry-related jobs and spurring economic recovery in rural communities across the country. By planting 1.2 billion trees over the next decade, the REPLANT Act will help U.S. forests capture 75 million metric tons of carbon – essentially erasing the use of 85.3 billion gallons of gasoline.
The REPLANT Act is a powerful, bipartisan solution that:
- creates jobs in rural America,
- supports our public lands and waters, and
- invests in natural climate solutions.
Read about the Bill here: https://www.agriculture.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/REPLANT%20Factsheet.pdf
Contact your Congressional representatives using the REI cooperative action network: https://www.rei.com/action/network/campaign/replant-america
Executives Call for Deep Emissions Cuts to Combat Climate Change
More than 300 corporate leaders have asked the Biden administration to nearly double the emission reduction targets set by the Obama administration.
The letter reads:
Dear President Biden,
We, the undersigned businesses and investors with a major presence in the U.S., applaud your administration’s demonstrated commitment to address climate change head-on, and we stand in support of your efforts.
Millions of Americans are already feeling the impacts of climate change. From recent extreme weather to deadly wildfires and record-breaking hurricanes, the human and economic losses of the past 12 months alone are profound. Tragically, these devastating climate impacts also disproportionately hit marginalized and low-income communities who are least able to withstand them. We must act now to slow and turn the tide.
As business leaders, we care deeply about the future of the U.S. and the health of its people and economy. Collectively, our businesses employ nearly 6 million American workers across all 50 states, representing over $3 trillion in annual revenue, and for those of us who are investors, we represent more than $1 trillion in assets under management. We join the majority of Americans in thanking you for re-entering the U.S into the Paris Agreement and for making climate action a vital pillar of your presidency. To restore the standing of the U.S. as a global leader, we need to address the climate crisis at the pace and scale it demands. Specifically, the U.S. must adopt an emissions reduction target that will place the country on a credible pathway to reach net-zero emissions by 2050.
We, therefore, call on you to adopt the ambitious and attainable target of cutting GHG emissions by at least 50% below 2005 levels by 2030.
A bold 2030 target is needed to catalyze a zero-emissions future, spur a robust economic recovery, create millions of well-paying jobs, and allow the U.S. to “build back better” from the pandemic. New investment in clean energy, energy efficiency, and clean transportation can build a strong, more equitable, and more inclusive American economy. A 2030 target will also guide the U.S. government’s approach to more sustainable and resilient infrastructure, zero-emissions vehicles and buildings, improved agricultural practices, and durable carbon removal. Finally, the commitment would inspire other industrialized nations to set bold targets of their own.
Many of us have set or are setting emissions reduction goals in line with climate science since the establishment of the Paris Agreement. The private sector has purchased renewable energy at record rates and along with countless cities across the country, many have committed themselves to a net zero-emissions future.
If you raise the bar on our national ambition, we will raise our own ambition to move the U.S. forward on this journey. While an effective national climate strategy will require all of us, you alone can set the course by swiftly establishing a bold U.S. 2030 target.
Mr. President, we ask that you invest in a resilient, economically sound, net zero-emissions future for all. You can count on our support.
Read the full letter and the signatories at https://www.wemeanbusinesscoalition.org/ambitious-u-s-2030-ndc/
Record High CO2 levels measured
Even though we have a pandemic and people are less active and traveling less, a new record CO2 level was measured this week.
Read more about it at the Washington Post: Carbon dioxide is halfway to doubling pre-industrial levels – The Washington Post
Plant trees, sure. But to save the climate, we should also cut them down
Learn more about the need for sustainable logging in this opinion piece by Jonah Bader: https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/10/opinions/climate-plant-and-cut-trees-down-bader/index.html
Yes, America, There Is (Some) Hope for the Environment
Wildlife bridges, plastic-eating bacteria and drones that plant trees remind us that we are as good at repairing as we are at destroying.
Read about some climate hope in this New York Times Opinion piece https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/15/opinion/environment-climate-technology.html