this post was submitted on 11 Sep 2023
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Climate - truthful information about climate, related activism and politics.

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Discussion of climate, how it is changing, activism around that, the politics, and the energy systems change we need in order to stabilize things.

As a starting point, the burning of fossil fuels, and to a lesser extent deforestation and release of methane are responsible for the warming in recent decades: Graph of temperature as observed with significant warming, and simulated without added greenhouse gases and other anthropogentic changes, which shows no significant warming

How much each change to the atmosphere has warmed the world: IPCC AR6 Figure 2 - Thee bar charts: first chart: how much each gas has warmed the world. About 1C of total warming. Second chart: about 1.5C of total warming from well-mixed greenhouse gases, offset by 0.4C of cooling from aerosols and negligible influence from changes to solar output, volcanoes, and internal variability. Third chart: about 1.25C of warming from CO2, 0.5C from methane, and a bunch more in small quantities from other gases. About 0.5C of cooling with large error bars from SO2.

Recommended actions to cut greenhouse gas emissions in the near future:

Anti-science, inactivism, and unsupported conspiracy theories are not ok here.

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Biden says global warming topping 1.5 degrees in the next 10 to 20 years is scarier than nuclear war (www.cnbc.com)
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What Biden has done is to cut the issuance of drilling leases to the minimum required by law, pass the Inflation Reduction Act, enact a regulation to force vehicle electrification, and similarly force fossil fuels out of most power plants.

What Biden has not done: stop issuing drilling permits or impose export restrictions on fossil fuels. The former has some serious limits because of how the courts treat the right to drill as a property right once you hold a drilling lease, and the latter is simply untested.

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

meanwhile a third of the people are saying "oh we've got time, we just have to convince the people to come together and unify"

We already have critical mass in the US. We are the elephant leashed with a string:

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-32412-y

We just need to start acting and ensuring our decision makers know that the majority want them to act too if they value getting relected.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

no we don't. we have half the population supporting a party that literally doesn't see a climate crisis and wants to keep pumping more oil.

Tell me how to get sane legislation passed in a two party system when half literally don't see any problem at all.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

In the US, climate policy has more support than people believe:

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-32412-y

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

not enough to pass meaningful legislation.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

From the article:

"While 66–80% Americans support these policies, Americans estimate the prevalence to only be between 37–43% on average."

I'd say 2/3 is more than enough. It doesn't all have to be at the national level. City govs could rezone to reduce car usage. State govs could give tax breaks for employees that telework.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

the vast majority of americans support sane gun regulation but that's not happening either. I guess I have to explain how the GOP runs the house, and set the legislation to be passed up to the senate, and are on the take of the gun and petroleum lobbies?

really?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Again, it doesn't all have to be at the federal level. State and local governments can take action that would be impactful.

What these numbers mean are some of the GOP is going to have to flip or they will lose in the primaries.

What is the alternative other than complain about the state of politics?

The way I see it, we should take the wins that we get, and celebrate them loudly in the hopes that it will drive more wins.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Again, it doesn’t all have to be at the federal level. State and local governments can take action that would be impactful.

this is already happening; see CA. But it's not going to be enough to stop the idiots from driving the bus over the cliff (odds are very good that the wheels on the bus are already going round-and-round in midair).

I'm glad you're optimistic, and not trying to bring anyone down, but from my perspective, we're gonna be arguing with the chuds and luddites until they literally cook.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I love the driving off the cliff comparison! My goal is to try to crash into the side of the mountain at a survivable speed.

I'm optimistic because I have to be. I'm a parent, so I feel it is my responsibility to do what I can so that my kids can have a future. They were born pre-trump. In today's environment, I would probably be child free.

Here is some good news. Chick-fil-A. Chicken production emits about 1/3 of the GHG than beef. I am well aware of their politics. They could have those politics AND serve mostly beef.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

My goal is to try to crash into the side of the mountain at a survivable speed.

finally a metaphor that realistically responds to the crisis.

I want to find optimism. I have a teenager. I want them to have a better quality of life, but everything I'm reading and seeing points in the opposite direction and on a very short timeline. I hope I'm wrong. Genuinely.