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"title": "The Bay Is Rising. Newark Residents Wonder Why The City Plans to Develop Its Shoreline",
"headTitle": "The Bay Is Rising. Newark Residents Wonder Why The City Plans to Develop Its Shoreline | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>Newark Vice Mayor Mike Bucci sat behind a wood-paneled council dais, a sinking feeling growing in his gut as he scribbled notes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The council was discussing \u003ca href=\"https://www.newark.org/departments/community-development/specific-plans-master-plans/area-3-and-4-specific-plan-project\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sanctuary West\u003c/a>, a nearly three-decade-old plan from Mountain View-based The Sobrato Organization to bring badly needed housing to the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size='medium' align='right' citation='Jana Sokale, Citizens Committee to Complete the Refuge']“You build here now, and I’m not sure you’ll have a house to leave to your kids. I’m not sure you’ll be able to get flood insurance because it’s going to be the front-line property at risk.” [/pullquote]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newark — a Bay Area enclave of fewer than 50,000 people — is located on the east side of the Dumbarton Bridge near Fremont in Alameda County, a place that has \u003ca href=\"https://www.vitalsigns.mtc.ca.gov/housing-production#chart-1\">struggled\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.vitalsigns.mtc.ca.gov/housing-production#chart-1\">mightily\u003c/a> to build new housing even as costs have skyrocketed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sanctuary West could help by adding hundreds of new tract homes, but the project is controversial because they would be built within a federal flood zone along fragile wetlands on the city’s western shore. Climate models show this area underwater in just a few decades as warming temperatures push bay water higher.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bucci supported the project in the past, but at this City Council meeting late in 2019, dozens of residents pressed him to reconsider, saying the land should be preserved.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I have concerns about houses being out there and what may happen to them thirty, forty or fifty years down the road,” Bucci said in a recent interview with KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1977896\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-1977896\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/Newark-Council-2019-1020x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"428\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/Newark-Council-2019-1020x682.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/Newark-Council-2019-800x535.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/Newark-Council-2019-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/Newark-Council-2019-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/Newark-Council-2019-1536x1027.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/Newark-Council-2019.jpg 1616w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">In Dec. 2019 Newark residents and environmental advocates asked the city council to further review the potential housing. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Citizens Committee to Complete the Refuge Spokesperson Josh Sonnenfeld)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://opc.ca.gov/webmaster/ftp/pdf/agenda_items/20180314/Item3_Exhibit-A_OPC_SLR_Guidance-rd3.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Scientists project \u003c/a>seas could rise by at least 1 foot by 2030 and as much as 7 feet by 2100 because global emissions are still increasing — the higher level could overwhelm the homes with water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You have a unique opportunity here to become a beacon, a shining light to show how local planning can adapt to the new, very real, and very dangerous threat of global warming,” longtime resident Mari Miller said during the standing-room-only winter public meeting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the gathering, Bucci urged the city to further examine the new climate projections (his fellow council members argued the issue had already been reviewed and litigated, and the city \u003ca href=\"https://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/news/2019/11/15/newark-approves-469-homes.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">approved\u003c/a> the project).\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>‘There’s nothing that we could do’\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Usually, the state oversees development along the San Francisco Bay shoreline. But Larry Goldzband, executive director of the Bay Conservation and Development Commission, or BCDC, says the developers found a loophole to avoid these regulations, strategically moving the project outside the agency’s purview: 100 feet from the water’s edge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The developer looked at BCDC and said, ‘I’m going to move the project out of your jurisdiction.’ There’s nothing that [we] can do with regard to that development project,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After the city approved the project, the \u003ca href=\"https://savenewarkwetlands.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Citizens Committee to Complete the Refuge\u003c/a> and other environmentalists sued, arguing the sea level rise protections weren’t strong enough; the lawsuit created the latest wrinkle in the circuitous planning process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You build here now, and I’m not sure you’ll have a house to leave to your kids,” said Jana Sokale, a committee member. “I’m not sure you’ll be able to get flood insurance because it’s going to be the frontline property at risk.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s 1st District Court of Appeal heard arguments on Dec. 7 and will make a determination within the next 90 days.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Newark’s plan\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>If built, Sanctuary West will add 469 single-family market-rate homes on four elevated peninsulas adjacent to a wetland near the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Each house would range between 3,600 to 5,000 square feet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Developers plan to drive in around 100,000 truckloads of dirt to raise the homes above potential stormwaters. Then line the banks with rocks to protect houses from waves, said \u003ca href=\"https://www.sobrato.com/people/tim-steele/\">Tim\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.sobrato.com/people/tim-steele/\">Steele\u003c/a>, senior vice president for real estate for The Sobrato Organization.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sanctuary West will be “higher than a lot of homes that are currently built in the city” and “not be the first ones that will be impacted by any kind of sea level rise,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1977933\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1977933 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/SLR2100_Newark_V05.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"1067\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Flood estimates are approximations — 2050/1.6 ft rise plus a 20-year storm; 2100/4.9 ft rise plus a 20-year storm. More information about the flood data is found in this \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1973624/maps-see-which-bay-area-locations-are-at-risk-from-rising-seas\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">post\u003c/a>. Development layout derived from city planning \u003ca href=\"https://www.newark.org/home/showpublisheddocument/5267/637037295441930000\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">documents\u003c/a> and doesn’t show potential future elevation changes.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The city declined an interview on the proposal because of the active lawsuit. In an emailed statement, Newark Mayor Alan L. Nagy said the city is committed to protecting its shoreline from sea level rise. Their planning documents consider a 50-year life for Sanctuary West, and say it will have “sufficient protection from 100-year flood events” within that time frame.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sanctuary West “will not be adversely impacted by predicted global climate change and sea level rise,” Nagy said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>City staff examined the project several times. A 2014 \u003ca href=\"https://www.newark.org/home/showpublisheddocument/4773/636863371395100000\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">draft environmental review\u003c/a> shows the entire development flooding with a foot of water in high sea level rise scenarios that assume global emissions continue increasing. Another \u003ca href=\"https://www.newark.org/home/showpublisheddocument/182/636502333562270000\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">review\u003c/a> in 2015 mined multiple state and global climate modeling surveys.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2019, the city reexamined the project again, running it through a state \u003ca href=\"https://www.newark.org/home/showpublisheddocument/5267/637037295441930000\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">checklist\u003c/a> to considered flooding and a range of sea level rise projections.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After all that, the city settled on what its \u003ca href=\"https://www.newark.org/home/showpublisheddocument/5281/637037297707300000\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">documents\u003c/a> describe as a “low risk aversion” and “adaptive” strategy to protect the homes from rising tides. Newark assumes emissions will continue climbing and the bay will rise up to 1.9 feet by the year 2070 and plans to elevate the homes above this level.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city will wait and see how to protect the homes beyond then, or if bay waters rise higher, faster — while statistically less likely, model scenarios show sea level rise could be more than twice as much by then.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Its documents do suggest punting the protective work onto the region, noting that an “earthen levee or structural floodwall” could be “more appropriate” as part of a “area-wide” solution, although it doesn’t say who’d pay for this.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Steele, with the developer, says he’s confident in a plan that raises the homes up — protecting them for now — and that leaves a door open to future engineering work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m not suggesting sea level rise is not going to happen, or it’s not going to impact the way we live,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Studies warn of extreme flooding and the danger of poor planning\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"font-size: small\">\u003cem>Use your mouse to move different directions on the map. Use the + and – signs to zoom in and out. Click on the magnifying glass at the bottom to search for a specific address. Click on the down arrow top right of the legend to remove it. Sources: USGS, OCOF, Pacific Institute\u003c/em>\u003c/span>\u003cbr>\n\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://kqed.carto.com/u/kqednews/builder/f31503f8-3f13-48ef-bcff-2c2db612ae2c/embed\" width=\"100%\" height=\"500\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\" frameborder=\"0\">\u003c/iframe>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s Legislative Analyst’s Office’s \u003ca href=\"https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4261\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">2020 analysis\u003c/a> of sea level rise studies explained that cities like Newark need to consider storms, king tides, or El Niño events pushing water levels even higher than rising tides alone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the most recent United Nations climate report published last summer, scientists \u003ca href=\"https://www.ipcc.ch/2021/08/09/ar6-wg1-20210809-pr/\">noted\u003c/a> that low-lying cities like Newark will see “more frequent and severe flooding.” Plus, bad storms that used to occur occasionally could happen every year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.nature.com/articles/nature08471\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Model studies\u003c/a> show a more extreme scenario: ice sheets collapsing at the poles. That could mean “the California coast could experience over 10 feet of SLR by 2100,” according to the state’s analysis. These extreme scenarios are uncertain, but scientists say they are possible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This goes beyond the scope of what we’ve thought about in planning horizons in terms of the magnitude of change that we’d be facing as a region,” said \u003ca href=\"https://ce.berkeley.edu/people/faculty/stacey\">Mark Stacey\u003c/a>, a UC Berkeley environmental engineer. He says such a large increase would require a “complete rethinking” of life along the San Francisco Bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sanctuary West could help fill in the gap for much-needed housing in the Bay Area, but scientists like\u003ca href=\"http://www.des.ucdavis.edu/faculty/lubell/\"> Mark Lubell\u003c/a>, who studies sea level rise and governance at UC Davis, say the proposed site “is a terrible place to put a development.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think we should definitely be looking at alternative locations for regional economic development that are not in hazard areas, wetland areas or watersheds,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Marshes aren’t static\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Sanctuary West could harm one of the only natural flood protections left in the Bay Area: wetlands.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Only about \u003ca href=\"https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0027388\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">10% of the original marsh\u003c/a> area remains in San Francisco Bay. \u003ca href=\"https://www.spur.org/about/staff/laura-feinstein\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Laura Feinstein\u003c/a>, sustainability and resilience policy director for the urban think tank SPUR, says upland areas are even more rare. That’s because cities like Newark have built right up to the border of sensitive marsh ecosystems.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1977918\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1977918 size-large\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS51303_IMG_8912_Edit-qut-1020x680.jpg\" alt=\"Green marsh in the distance, foregrounded by water and yellowing marshland. A white bird sits on a fence post. \" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS51303_IMG_8912_Edit-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS51303_IMG_8912_Edit-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS51303_IMG_8912_Edit-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS51303_IMG_8912_Edit-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS51303_IMG_8912_Edit-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS51303_IMG_8912_Edit-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The wetlands near Newark, photographed in the afternoon on August 13, 2021. (Joyce Tsai/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Feinstein says cities should preserve upland areas because these spaces will become the wetlands of the future.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If we let marshes do their thing, and they have the right conditions and enough sediment available, as sea level rises, they will gradually move uphill,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a recent \u003ca href=\"https://www.spur.org/publications/spur-report/2021-10-21/water-growing-bay-area\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">study\u003c/a>, her group concluded that by maximizing infill, converting homes into duplexes, triplexes and adding accessory dwelling units, the Bay Area could address the housing crisis without building in areas vulnerable to flooding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There is room in Newark and other adjacent cities to add new housing, it’s just that it should be put in the existing urban footprint,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>A regulatory marsh\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The first avenue for people who have reservations about projects like Sanctuary West is to contest projects publicly at City Council meetings and public hearings. Since public outreach by environmental groups hasn’t had the desired effect in Newark, residents and advocates can sue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But if lawsuits prove futile in preventing Sanctuary West from becoming a reality, advocates against the housing development will have to trust the permitting process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1977912\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 540px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1977912 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS51305_IMG_8820_Edit-sfi.jpg\" alt=\"A woman with gray, shoulder-length hair wears a green sweater and silver binoculars around her neck. A wetland and powerlines are in the background against blue skies. \" width=\"540\" height=\"360\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS51305_IMG_8820_Edit-sfi.jpg 540w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS51305_IMG_8820_Edit-sfi-160x107.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 540px) 100vw, 540px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jana Sokale is a Newark resident and leader of the Citizens Committee to Complete the Refuge. (Joyce Tsai/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>While BCDC no longer has jurisdiction over Sanctuary West, officials at the \u003ca href=\"https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/sanfranciscobay/\">San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board\u003c/a> say they will make it difficult for developers to build on the wetlands in Newark.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a letter to the developer from May 2020, the board said the 1.6 million cubic yards of dirt needed to raise the potential homes out of the floodplain will impact the wetlands and “alter the existing wetland hydrology.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The board is also concerned over “repeated claims the project does not have the potential to impact water quality or to result in discharges” of everything from fill to heavy metals to oil, and says the city used “out of date or inadequate information to minimize” Sanctuary West’s environmental impact. In the letter to the developer, board officials said the project would have direct and indirect water impacts. They said the project would disrupt endangered species, recreation and wildlife habitat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even though the agency has significant concerns over how the project will alter the ecosystem, it can’t altogether reject it, said \u003ca href=\"https://agency.calepa.ca.gov/StaffDirectory/detail.asp?UID=63534&BDO=7&VW=DET\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Xavier Fernandez\u003c/a>, planning manager for the board. He says the agency can make permitting very costly from a developer’s point of view.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What we would like them to do is to move it back as far as possible or not build it at all, and coordinate with adjacent communities in order to collectively come up with a plan for protecting that region,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Grappling with climate change in real time\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelle-hummel-531a2458/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Michelle Hummel,\u003c/a> an assistant professor at the University of Texas at Arlington who studies the impact of sea level rise on the bay extensively, says cities, agencies, and developers are paying mind to the outcome of the Newark debate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There needs to be clear guidelines about how we want to move forward locally and regionally,” she said, especially for development in vulnerable coastal margins between the bay and existing development.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s not really a clear understanding of whether or not this project can go through, and people are kind of just stalling right now,” she added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[pullquote size='medium' align='right' citation='Mike Bucci']“It’s scary to think that a small town like ours is on the frontline of that battle.”” [/pullquote]\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hummel says if the region’s piecemeal approach to addressing sea level rise continues on a development by development basis, eventually, the bay could see cumulative impacts as water floods neighborhoods, businesses and infrastructure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She says what happens in Newark could “set the stage for how these types of projects are visualized and approved in the future.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1977913\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1977913\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/Newark-Second-Aerial-Photo-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/Newark-Second-Aerial-Photo-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/Newark-Second-Aerial-Photo-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/Newark-Second-Aerial-Photo-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/Newark-Second-Aerial-Photo-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/Newark-Second-Aerial-Photo-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/Newark-Second-Aerial-Photo-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/Newark-Second-Aerial-Photo-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/Newark-Second-Aerial-Photo-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The area Sanctuary West would sit within is a mosaic of wetlands and upland habitat. A slough runs through the area connecting it to the bay. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Citizens Committee to Complete the Refuge's Derell Licht/Creative Commons)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The state wants to close regulatory gaps, like the one Sanctuary West exposed. BCDC’s new regional sea level rise adaptation plan, \u003ca href=\"https://www.bayadapt.org/\">Bay Adapt,\u003c/a> includes a potential fix and is a \u003ca href=\"https://www.bayadapt.org/jointplatform/\">road map\u003c/a> for agencies and cities to create new policies to interpret the effects of climate change better. This could include expanding BCDC’s jurisdiction beyond 100 feet from the shoreline. But that requires regional collaboration and legislation, which could take years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s part of a bigger conversation; it’s assessing sort of the whole web of regulation and then seeing what the solutions are for filling that in,” said \u003ca href=\"http://www.adaptingtorisingtides.org/help-desk/\">Dana Brechwald\u003c/a>, BCDC’s Adapting to Rising Tides Program manager.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And among all the regulatory confusion is a question: Should the Bay Area further develop its shoreline when climate models show the water will continually rise?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Newark’s youngest City Council member, the answer is simple.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s no,” Bucci said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He is apprehensive a catastrophic flood could happen in Newark because he lived through a flood in the ’90s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My entire street flooded up to the lawns,” he remembered. “What happens when those events come around again, and how bad is it going to be? It’s scary to think that a small town like ours is on the frontline of that battle.”\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "The city of Newark is clashing with environmentalists over a housing plan that would develop along its wetlands, a natural protection from rising seas. ",
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"description": "The city of Newark is clashing with environmentalists over a housing plan that would develop along its wetlands, a natural protection from rising seas. ",
"title": "The Bay Is Rising. Newark Residents Wonder Why The City Plans to Develop Its Shoreline | KQED",
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"headline": "The Bay Is Rising. Newark Residents Wonder Why The City Plans to Develop Its Shoreline",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Newark Vice Mayor Mike Bucci sat behind a wood-paneled council dais, a sinking feeling growing in his gut as he scribbled notes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The council was discussing \u003ca href=\"https://www.newark.org/departments/community-development/specific-plans-master-plans/area-3-and-4-specific-plan-project\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sanctuary West\u003c/a>, a nearly three-decade-old plan from Mountain View-based The Sobrato Organization to bring badly needed housing to the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "“You build here now, and I’m not sure you’ll have a house to leave to your kids. I’m not sure you’ll be able to get flood insurance because it’s going to be the front-line property at risk.” ",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newark — a Bay Area enclave of fewer than 50,000 people — is located on the east side of the Dumbarton Bridge near Fremont in Alameda County, a place that has \u003ca href=\"https://www.vitalsigns.mtc.ca.gov/housing-production#chart-1\">struggled\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.vitalsigns.mtc.ca.gov/housing-production#chart-1\">mightily\u003c/a> to build new housing even as costs have skyrocketed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sanctuary West could help by adding hundreds of new tract homes, but the project is controversial because they would be built within a federal flood zone along fragile wetlands on the city’s western shore. Climate models show this area underwater in just a few decades as warming temperatures push bay water higher.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bucci supported the project in the past, but at this City Council meeting late in 2019, dozens of residents pressed him to reconsider, saying the land should be preserved.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I have concerns about houses being out there and what may happen to them thirty, forty or fifty years down the road,” Bucci said in a recent interview with KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1977896\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-1977896\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/Newark-Council-2019-1020x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"428\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/Newark-Council-2019-1020x682.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/Newark-Council-2019-800x535.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/Newark-Council-2019-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/Newark-Council-2019-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/Newark-Council-2019-1536x1027.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/Newark-Council-2019.jpg 1616w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">In Dec. 2019 Newark residents and environmental advocates asked the city council to further review the potential housing. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Citizens Committee to Complete the Refuge Spokesperson Josh Sonnenfeld)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://opc.ca.gov/webmaster/ftp/pdf/agenda_items/20180314/Item3_Exhibit-A_OPC_SLR_Guidance-rd3.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Scientists project \u003c/a>seas could rise by at least 1 foot by 2030 and as much as 7 feet by 2100 because global emissions are still increasing — the higher level could overwhelm the homes with water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You have a unique opportunity here to become a beacon, a shining light to show how local planning can adapt to the new, very real, and very dangerous threat of global warming,” longtime resident Mari Miller said during the standing-room-only winter public meeting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the gathering, Bucci urged the city to further examine the new climate projections (his fellow council members argued the issue had already been reviewed and litigated, and the city \u003ca href=\"https://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/news/2019/11/15/newark-approves-469-homes.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">approved\u003c/a> the project).\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>‘There’s nothing that we could do’\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Usually, the state oversees development along the San Francisco Bay shoreline. But Larry Goldzband, executive director of the Bay Conservation and Development Commission, or BCDC, says the developers found a loophole to avoid these regulations, strategically moving the project outside the agency’s purview: 100 feet from the water’s edge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The developer looked at BCDC and said, ‘I’m going to move the project out of your jurisdiction.’ There’s nothing that [we] can do with regard to that development project,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After the city approved the project, the \u003ca href=\"https://savenewarkwetlands.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Citizens Committee to Complete the Refuge\u003c/a> and other environmentalists sued, arguing the sea level rise protections weren’t strong enough; the lawsuit created the latest wrinkle in the circuitous planning process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You build here now, and I’m not sure you’ll have a house to leave to your kids,” said Jana Sokale, a committee member. “I’m not sure you’ll be able to get flood insurance because it’s going to be the frontline property at risk.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s 1st District Court of Appeal heard arguments on Dec. 7 and will make a determination within the next 90 days.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Newark’s plan\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>If built, Sanctuary West will add 469 single-family market-rate homes on four elevated peninsulas adjacent to a wetland near the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Each house would range between 3,600 to 5,000 square feet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Developers plan to drive in around 100,000 truckloads of dirt to raise the homes above potential stormwaters. Then line the banks with rocks to protect houses from waves, said \u003ca href=\"https://www.sobrato.com/people/tim-steele/\">Tim\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.sobrato.com/people/tim-steele/\">Steele\u003c/a>, senior vice president for real estate for The Sobrato Organization.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sanctuary West will be “higher than a lot of homes that are currently built in the city” and “not be the first ones that will be impacted by any kind of sea level rise,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1977933\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1977933 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/SLR2100_Newark_V05.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"1067\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Flood estimates are approximations — 2050/1.6 ft rise plus a 20-year storm; 2100/4.9 ft rise plus a 20-year storm. More information about the flood data is found in this \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1973624/maps-see-which-bay-area-locations-are-at-risk-from-rising-seas\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">post\u003c/a>. Development layout derived from city planning \u003ca href=\"https://www.newark.org/home/showpublisheddocument/5267/637037295441930000\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">documents\u003c/a> and doesn’t show potential future elevation changes.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The city declined an interview on the proposal because of the active lawsuit. In an emailed statement, Newark Mayor Alan L. Nagy said the city is committed to protecting its shoreline from sea level rise. Their planning documents consider a 50-year life for Sanctuary West, and say it will have “sufficient protection from 100-year flood events” within that time frame.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sanctuary West “will not be adversely impacted by predicted global climate change and sea level rise,” Nagy said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>City staff examined the project several times. A 2014 \u003ca href=\"https://www.newark.org/home/showpublisheddocument/4773/636863371395100000\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">draft environmental review\u003c/a> shows the entire development flooding with a foot of water in high sea level rise scenarios that assume global emissions continue increasing. Another \u003ca href=\"https://www.newark.org/home/showpublisheddocument/182/636502333562270000\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">review\u003c/a> in 2015 mined multiple state and global climate modeling surveys.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2019, the city reexamined the project again, running it through a state \u003ca href=\"https://www.newark.org/home/showpublisheddocument/5267/637037295441930000\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">checklist\u003c/a> to considered flooding and a range of sea level rise projections.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After all that, the city settled on what its \u003ca href=\"https://www.newark.org/home/showpublisheddocument/5281/637037297707300000\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">documents\u003c/a> describe as a “low risk aversion” and “adaptive” strategy to protect the homes from rising tides. Newark assumes emissions will continue climbing and the bay will rise up to 1.9 feet by the year 2070 and plans to elevate the homes above this level.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city will wait and see how to protect the homes beyond then, or if bay waters rise higher, faster — while statistically less likely, model scenarios show sea level rise could be more than twice as much by then.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Its documents do suggest punting the protective work onto the region, noting that an “earthen levee or structural floodwall” could be “more appropriate” as part of a “area-wide” solution, although it doesn’t say who’d pay for this.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Steele, with the developer, says he’s confident in a plan that raises the homes up — protecting them for now — and that leaves a door open to future engineering work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m not suggesting sea level rise is not going to happen, or it’s not going to impact the way we live,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Studies warn of extreme flooding and the danger of poor planning\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"font-size: small\">\u003cem>Use your mouse to move different directions on the map. Use the + and – signs to zoom in and out. Click on the magnifying glass at the bottom to search for a specific address. Click on the down arrow top right of the legend to remove it. Sources: USGS, OCOF, Pacific Institute\u003c/em>\u003c/span>\u003cbr>\n\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://kqed.carto.com/u/kqednews/builder/f31503f8-3f13-48ef-bcff-2c2db612ae2c/embed\" width=\"100%\" height=\"500\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\" frameborder=\"0\">\u003c/iframe>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s Legislative Analyst’s Office’s \u003ca href=\"https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4261\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">2020 analysis\u003c/a> of sea level rise studies explained that cities like Newark need to consider storms, king tides, or El Niño events pushing water levels even higher than rising tides alone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the most recent United Nations climate report published last summer, scientists \u003ca href=\"https://www.ipcc.ch/2021/08/09/ar6-wg1-20210809-pr/\">noted\u003c/a> that low-lying cities like Newark will see “more frequent and severe flooding.” Plus, bad storms that used to occur occasionally could happen every year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.nature.com/articles/nature08471\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Model studies\u003c/a> show a more extreme scenario: ice sheets collapsing at the poles. That could mean “the California coast could experience over 10 feet of SLR by 2100,” according to the state’s analysis. These extreme scenarios are uncertain, but scientists say they are possible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This goes beyond the scope of what we’ve thought about in planning horizons in terms of the magnitude of change that we’d be facing as a region,” said \u003ca href=\"https://ce.berkeley.edu/people/faculty/stacey\">Mark Stacey\u003c/a>, a UC Berkeley environmental engineer. He says such a large increase would require a “complete rethinking” of life along the San Francisco Bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sanctuary West could help fill in the gap for much-needed housing in the Bay Area, but scientists like\u003ca href=\"http://www.des.ucdavis.edu/faculty/lubell/\"> Mark Lubell\u003c/a>, who studies sea level rise and governance at UC Davis, say the proposed site “is a terrible place to put a development.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think we should definitely be looking at alternative locations for regional economic development that are not in hazard areas, wetland areas or watersheds,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Marshes aren’t static\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Sanctuary West could harm one of the only natural flood protections left in the Bay Area: wetlands.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Only about \u003ca href=\"https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0027388\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">10% of the original marsh\u003c/a> area remains in San Francisco Bay. \u003ca href=\"https://www.spur.org/about/staff/laura-feinstein\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Laura Feinstein\u003c/a>, sustainability and resilience policy director for the urban think tank SPUR, says upland areas are even more rare. That’s because cities like Newark have built right up to the border of sensitive marsh ecosystems.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1977918\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1977918 size-large\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS51303_IMG_8912_Edit-qut-1020x680.jpg\" alt=\"Green marsh in the distance, foregrounded by water and yellowing marshland. A white bird sits on a fence post. \" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS51303_IMG_8912_Edit-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS51303_IMG_8912_Edit-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS51303_IMG_8912_Edit-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS51303_IMG_8912_Edit-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS51303_IMG_8912_Edit-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS51303_IMG_8912_Edit-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The wetlands near Newark, photographed in the afternoon on August 13, 2021. (Joyce Tsai/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Feinstein says cities should preserve upland areas because these spaces will become the wetlands of the future.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If we let marshes do their thing, and they have the right conditions and enough sediment available, as sea level rises, they will gradually move uphill,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a recent \u003ca href=\"https://www.spur.org/publications/spur-report/2021-10-21/water-growing-bay-area\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">study\u003c/a>, her group concluded that by maximizing infill, converting homes into duplexes, triplexes and adding accessory dwelling units, the Bay Area could address the housing crisis without building in areas vulnerable to flooding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There is room in Newark and other adjacent cities to add new housing, it’s just that it should be put in the existing urban footprint,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>A regulatory marsh\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The first avenue for people who have reservations about projects like Sanctuary West is to contest projects publicly at City Council meetings and public hearings. Since public outreach by environmental groups hasn’t had the desired effect in Newark, residents and advocates can sue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But if lawsuits prove futile in preventing Sanctuary West from becoming a reality, advocates against the housing development will have to trust the permitting process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1977912\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 540px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1977912 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS51305_IMG_8820_Edit-sfi.jpg\" alt=\"A woman with gray, shoulder-length hair wears a green sweater and silver binoculars around her neck. A wetland and powerlines are in the background against blue skies. \" width=\"540\" height=\"360\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS51305_IMG_8820_Edit-sfi.jpg 540w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS51305_IMG_8820_Edit-sfi-160x107.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 540px) 100vw, 540px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jana Sokale is a Newark resident and leader of the Citizens Committee to Complete the Refuge. (Joyce Tsai/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>While BCDC no longer has jurisdiction over Sanctuary West, officials at the \u003ca href=\"https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/sanfranciscobay/\">San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board\u003c/a> say they will make it difficult for developers to build on the wetlands in Newark.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a letter to the developer from May 2020, the board said the 1.6 million cubic yards of dirt needed to raise the potential homes out of the floodplain will impact the wetlands and “alter the existing wetland hydrology.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The board is also concerned over “repeated claims the project does not have the potential to impact water quality or to result in discharges” of everything from fill to heavy metals to oil, and says the city used “out of date or inadequate information to minimize” Sanctuary West’s environmental impact. In the letter to the developer, board officials said the project would have direct and indirect water impacts. They said the project would disrupt endangered species, recreation and wildlife habitat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even though the agency has significant concerns over how the project will alter the ecosystem, it can’t altogether reject it, said \u003ca href=\"https://agency.calepa.ca.gov/StaffDirectory/detail.asp?UID=63534&BDO=7&VW=DET\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Xavier Fernandez\u003c/a>, planning manager for the board. He says the agency can make permitting very costly from a developer’s point of view.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What we would like them to do is to move it back as far as possible or not build it at all, and coordinate with adjacent communities in order to collectively come up with a plan for protecting that region,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Grappling with climate change in real time\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelle-hummel-531a2458/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Michelle Hummel,\u003c/a> an assistant professor at the University of Texas at Arlington who studies the impact of sea level rise on the bay extensively, says cities, agencies, and developers are paying mind to the outcome of the Newark debate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There needs to be clear guidelines about how we want to move forward locally and regionally,” she said, especially for development in vulnerable coastal margins between the bay and existing development.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s not really a clear understanding of whether or not this project can go through, and people are kind of just stalling right now,” she added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hummel says if the region’s piecemeal approach to addressing sea level rise continues on a development by development basis, eventually, the bay could see cumulative impacts as water floods neighborhoods, businesses and infrastructure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She says what happens in Newark could “set the stage for how these types of projects are visualized and approved in the future.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1977913\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1977913\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/Newark-Second-Aerial-Photo-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/Newark-Second-Aerial-Photo-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/Newark-Second-Aerial-Photo-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/Newark-Second-Aerial-Photo-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/Newark-Second-Aerial-Photo-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/Newark-Second-Aerial-Photo-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/Newark-Second-Aerial-Photo-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/Newark-Second-Aerial-Photo-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/Newark-Second-Aerial-Photo-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The area Sanctuary West would sit within is a mosaic of wetlands and upland habitat. A slough runs through the area connecting it to the bay. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Citizens Committee to Complete the Refuge's Derell Licht/Creative Commons)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The state wants to close regulatory gaps, like the one Sanctuary West exposed. BCDC’s new regional sea level rise adaptation plan, \u003ca href=\"https://www.bayadapt.org/\">Bay Adapt,\u003c/a> includes a potential fix and is a \u003ca href=\"https://www.bayadapt.org/jointplatform/\">road map\u003c/a> for agencies and cities to create new policies to interpret the effects of climate change better. This could include expanding BCDC’s jurisdiction beyond 100 feet from the shoreline. But that requires regional collaboration and legislation, which could take years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s part of a bigger conversation; it’s assessing sort of the whole web of regulation and then seeing what the solutions are for filling that in,” said \u003ca href=\"http://www.adaptingtorisingtides.org/help-desk/\">Dana Brechwald\u003c/a>, BCDC’s Adapting to Rising Tides Program manager.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And among all the regulatory confusion is a question: Should the Bay Area further develop its shoreline when climate models show the water will continually rise?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Newark’s youngest City Council member, the answer is simple.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s no,” Bucci said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He is apprehensive a catastrophic flood could happen in Newark because he lived through a flood in the ’90s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My entire street flooded up to the lawns,” he remembered. “What happens when those events come around again, and how bad is it going to be? It’s scary to think that a small town like ours is on the frontline of that battle.”\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "I'm Ready to Act on Climate. Do I Start Big or Small?",
"headTitle": "I’m Ready to Act on Climate. Do I Start Big or Small? | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>It’s an all-hands-on-deck decade for the climate. But before you roll up your sleeves, you may be wondering just where to start.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Do you begin at home, by reducing your personal contributions to global warming, like flying less, driving less or eating less meat? Or do you start on the larger, systems level, by pushing for better public transit options, electric vehicle charging infrastructure and other policy changes?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The debate is active in the climate community, too, so let’s go through the arguments on both sides.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>The argument for systems change: Climate change is a math problem\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Many of the causes of greenhouse gases are outside of individual control, like where your energy comes from, how good public transit is where you live or how much housing is available near where you work, potentially forcing you into a car for a long commute.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Let’s say you want to bike to work instead of driving, but your city has unsafe streets for bikes, and no bike lanes. You’ll make the safe choice and drive. The work is to push the city to create more bike accessibility — a change at a systems level — so you can then make a change individually.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As climate writer and activist Bill McKibben said on the podcast \u003ca href=\"https://www.degreespod.com/episodes/episode-01\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">A Matter of Degrees\u003c/a>, “Climate change is a math problem, and the numbers are very large.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The U.S. emitted the equivalent of \u003ca href=\"https://cfpub.epa.gov/ghgdata/inventoryexplorer/#allsectors/allsectors/allgas/gas/all\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">6.6 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide in 2019\u003c/a>, roughly 11% of global emissions, and equal to the annual output of \u003ca href=\"https://www.epa.gov/energy/greenhouse-gas-equivalencies-calculator\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">1,653 coal-fired power plants\u003c/a>. The average American \u003ca href=\"https://essd.copernicus.org/articles/11/1783/2019/essd-11-1783-2019.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">emits about 16 metric tons a year\u003c/a>. Changing your behavior, even if done perfectly, is just a drop in the bucket.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s also the question of time. Gradual, individual behavior change would have been helpful if we had decades, advocates say, but our timeline to avert the worst impacts of climate change is short. Organizations like the World Resources Institute argue that the U.S. \u003ca href=\"https://www.wri.org/insights/5-reasons-us-should-cut-its-ghg-emissions-half-2030\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">must reduce emissions by half by 2030\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So job one is to organize, job two is to organize your friends and neighbors and job three is to organize. And if you have some energy left over after that, by all means, check out every light bulb in your house,” McKibben said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Keep big polluters on the hook, activists say\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Climate activists argue that a fixation on individual actions alone lets major polluters, \u003ca href=\"https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/09644016.2020.1863703\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">who obscured the threat of warming for decades\u003c/a>, off the hook.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An investigation from \u003ca href=\"https://insideclimatenews.org/project/exxon-the-road-not-taken/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Inside Climate News\u003c/a> found that the Exxon Mobil Corp. pioneered climate change research and warned top executives of possible catastrophe from global warming, but that the company later funded climate change denial groups that led efforts to block solutions (\u003ca href=\"http://www.exxonmobilperspectives.com/2015/10/21/when-it-comes-to-climate-change-read-the-documents/\">the company pushed back on the investigation\u003c/a>, saying the reporters “cherry-picked” statements from documents).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oil and gas company \u003ca href=\"https://mashable.com/feature/carbon-footprint-pr-campaign-sham\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">BP circulated the phrase “carbon footprint” in the 2000s\u003c/a>, according to reporting from Mark Kaufman in Mashable. He writes that the company “popularized the term” with a calculator that could “assess how their normal daily life — going to work, buying food, and (gasp) traveling — is largely responsible for heating the globe.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Science historian \u003ca href=\"https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2021/09/oil-companies-discourage-climate-action-study-says/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Geoffrey Supran\u003c/a> argues this was a strategy to turn the blame away from the company, and onto individuals (the company disagrees; spokesperson Josh Hicks told KQED in a statement that BP takes responsibility for their emissions and plans to hit a net zero emissions target by 2050).\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>This is not a game of who’s more righteous\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Focusing on individual actions can quickly turn into a holier-than-thou competition with others, and who wants to feel judged?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And as Michael Mann argues in his book “\u003ca href=\"https://www.publicaffairsbooks.com/titles/michael-e-mann/the-new-climate-war/9781541758223/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The New Climate War\u003c/a>,” the idea of what some see as personal sacrifice may further push moderates and conservatives away from climate action.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>The argument for individual changes\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>“If you live in a rich country, and especially the richer you are, your individual actions really matter,” climate scientist Kimberly Nicholas writes in her book “\u003ca href=\"https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/665274/under-the-sky-we-make-by-kimberly-nicholas-phd/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Under the Sky We Make\u003c/a>.” They matter both in reducing carbon, and in changing the perception of the good life from one that uses excessive carbon to one that does not.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More than \u003ca href=\"https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/es803496a\">70% of global greenhouse gas pollution can be traced\u003c/a> to how people get around, their diet, and the heating and cooling of homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The richest 10% of Americans, who have annual household incomes of above $201,000, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kch.tul.cz/sedlbauer/clanek15.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">emitted 50 metric tons of carbon in 2015, according to a study from European economists\u003c/a>; that’s roughly equivalent to the energy needed to power nine standard homes for a year. Much of these planet-warming gases came from travel by plane.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To keep warming in check at 1.5 degrees Celsius, each person’s carbon emissions would need to fall to \u003ca href=\"https://www.aalto.fi/en/department-of-design/15-degree-lifestyles\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">2.5 metric tons\u003c/a> by 2030. And research shows \u003ca href=\"https://www.sitra.fi/en/publications/pathways-to-1-5-degree-lifestyles-by-2030/#towards-1-5-degree-lifestyles\">this is an achievable goal\u003c/a> with a \u003ca href=\"https://theconversation.com/how-10-billion-people-could-live-well-by-2050-using-as-much-energy-as-we-did-60-years-ago-146896\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">good standard of living \u003c/a>for people (meaning decently sized homes with heating and cooling, hot water, washing machines, refrigerators and access to health care and public transit).\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Aligning your actions and values\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Environmental psychologist Renée Lertzman says most people participate in a system that worsens climate change, and are aware of the impact of those changes, and that can create stress, or “psychological pain” (even if your contribution to the problem is far less than an executive at a fossil fuel company, for example). That pain, she says, can lead a person to step away from taking action on climate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Aligning your actions with your climate values can help to reduce that pain, and build momentum to catalyze you into larger actions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When you couple individual action with \u003cem>talking \u003c/em>about why you’re doing what you’re doing, you have the potential to create a change larger than yourself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Research from Yale’s climate change and communication program shows that the majority of people who care about climate change \u003ca href=\"https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/climate-spiral-silence-america/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">rarely or never talk about it with family and friends\u003c/a>, often assuming there are more people who deny climate change than there actually are.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When changes become a social norm, it becomes more attractive for politicians and companies to take action.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Research shows \u003ca href=\"https://www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1126/science.aas8827\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">just 25% of a population is needed to create a “tipping point”\u003c/a> change in popular opinion. \u003ca href=\"https://www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1126/science.aas8827\"> \u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>So which side wins? Well, both\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Larger greenhouse gas emission reductions are possible through changing systems, but it’s valuable for individuals to make personal changes, too, especially in wealthy countries like the U.S.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And it matters which actions you take, as research shows that some actions, like calling your representative and cutting down on driving, are far more effective than others, like fretting about your plastic straw. Read more about\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1977314/climate-change-is-here-its-bad-heres-what-you-can-do\"> how to take the most effective actions to address climate change\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Climate scientist Mann writes in his book that the debate between systems vs. individual change is being exploited by companies to create a rift among those with a common goal: reducing greenhouse gas emissions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What’s important is to remember that everyone who is working to make a change is on the same team, regardless of where they start.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[hearken src=\"https://modules.wearehearken.com/kqed/embed/8818.js\"]\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>It’s an all-hands-on-deck decade for the climate. But before you roll up your sleeves, you may be wondering just where to start.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Do you begin at home, by reducing your personal contributions to global warming, like flying less, driving less or eating less meat? Or do you start on the larger, systems level, by pushing for better public transit options, electric vehicle charging infrastructure and other policy changes?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The debate is active in the climate community, too, so let’s go through the arguments on both sides.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>The argument for systems change: Climate change is a math problem\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Many of the causes of greenhouse gases are outside of individual control, like where your energy comes from, how good public transit is where you live or how much housing is available near where you work, potentially forcing you into a car for a long commute.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Let’s say you want to bike to work instead of driving, but your city has unsafe streets for bikes, and no bike lanes. You’ll make the safe choice and drive. The work is to push the city to create more bike accessibility — a change at a systems level — so you can then make a change individually.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As climate writer and activist Bill McKibben said on the podcast \u003ca href=\"https://www.degreespod.com/episodes/episode-01\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">A Matter of Degrees\u003c/a>, “Climate change is a math problem, and the numbers are very large.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The U.S. emitted the equivalent of \u003ca href=\"https://cfpub.epa.gov/ghgdata/inventoryexplorer/#allsectors/allsectors/allgas/gas/all\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">6.6 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide in 2019\u003c/a>, roughly 11% of global emissions, and equal to the annual output of \u003ca href=\"https://www.epa.gov/energy/greenhouse-gas-equivalencies-calculator\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">1,653 coal-fired power plants\u003c/a>. The average American \u003ca href=\"https://essd.copernicus.org/articles/11/1783/2019/essd-11-1783-2019.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">emits about 16 metric tons a year\u003c/a>. Changing your behavior, even if done perfectly, is just a drop in the bucket.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s also the question of time. Gradual, individual behavior change would have been helpful if we had decades, advocates say, but our timeline to avert the worst impacts of climate change is short. Organizations like the World Resources Institute argue that the U.S. \u003ca href=\"https://www.wri.org/insights/5-reasons-us-should-cut-its-ghg-emissions-half-2030\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">must reduce emissions by half by 2030\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So job one is to organize, job two is to organize your friends and neighbors and job three is to organize. And if you have some energy left over after that, by all means, check out every light bulb in your house,” McKibben said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Keep big polluters on the hook, activists say\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Climate activists argue that a fixation on individual actions alone lets major polluters, \u003ca href=\"https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/09644016.2020.1863703\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">who obscured the threat of warming for decades\u003c/a>, off the hook.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An investigation from \u003ca href=\"https://insideclimatenews.org/project/exxon-the-road-not-taken/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Inside Climate News\u003c/a> found that the Exxon Mobil Corp. pioneered climate change research and warned top executives of possible catastrophe from global warming, but that the company later funded climate change denial groups that led efforts to block solutions (\u003ca href=\"http://www.exxonmobilperspectives.com/2015/10/21/when-it-comes-to-climate-change-read-the-documents/\">the company pushed back on the investigation\u003c/a>, saying the reporters “cherry-picked” statements from documents).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oil and gas company \u003ca href=\"https://mashable.com/feature/carbon-footprint-pr-campaign-sham\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">BP circulated the phrase “carbon footprint” in the 2000s\u003c/a>, according to reporting from Mark Kaufman in Mashable. He writes that the company “popularized the term” with a calculator that could “assess how their normal daily life — going to work, buying food, and (gasp) traveling — is largely responsible for heating the globe.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Science historian \u003ca href=\"https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2021/09/oil-companies-discourage-climate-action-study-says/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Geoffrey Supran\u003c/a> argues this was a strategy to turn the blame away from the company, and onto individuals (the company disagrees; spokesperson Josh Hicks told KQED in a statement that BP takes responsibility for their emissions and plans to hit a net zero emissions target by 2050).\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>This is not a game of who’s more righteous\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Focusing on individual actions can quickly turn into a holier-than-thou competition with others, and who wants to feel judged?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And as Michael Mann argues in his book “\u003ca href=\"https://www.publicaffairsbooks.com/titles/michael-e-mann/the-new-climate-war/9781541758223/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The New Climate War\u003c/a>,” the idea of what some see as personal sacrifice may further push moderates and conservatives away from climate action.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>The argument for individual changes\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>“If you live in a rich country, and especially the richer you are, your individual actions really matter,” climate scientist Kimberly Nicholas writes in her book “\u003ca href=\"https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/665274/under-the-sky-we-make-by-kimberly-nicholas-phd/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Under the Sky We Make\u003c/a>.” They matter both in reducing carbon, and in changing the perception of the good life from one that uses excessive carbon to one that does not.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More than \u003ca href=\"https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/es803496a\">70% of global greenhouse gas pollution can be traced\u003c/a> to how people get around, their diet, and the heating and cooling of homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The richest 10% of Americans, who have annual household incomes of above $201,000, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kch.tul.cz/sedlbauer/clanek15.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">emitted 50 metric tons of carbon in 2015, according to a study from European economists\u003c/a>; that’s roughly equivalent to the energy needed to power nine standard homes for a year. Much of these planet-warming gases came from travel by plane.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To keep warming in check at 1.5 degrees Celsius, each person’s carbon emissions would need to fall to \u003ca href=\"https://www.aalto.fi/en/department-of-design/15-degree-lifestyles\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">2.5 metric tons\u003c/a> by 2030. And research shows \u003ca href=\"https://www.sitra.fi/en/publications/pathways-to-1-5-degree-lifestyles-by-2030/#towards-1-5-degree-lifestyles\">this is an achievable goal\u003c/a> with a \u003ca href=\"https://theconversation.com/how-10-billion-people-could-live-well-by-2050-using-as-much-energy-as-we-did-60-years-ago-146896\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">good standard of living \u003c/a>for people (meaning decently sized homes with heating and cooling, hot water, washing machines, refrigerators and access to health care and public transit).\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Aligning your actions and values\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Environmental psychologist Renée Lertzman says most people participate in a system that worsens climate change, and are aware of the impact of those changes, and that can create stress, or “psychological pain” (even if your contribution to the problem is far less than an executive at a fossil fuel company, for example). That pain, she says, can lead a person to step away from taking action on climate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Aligning your actions with your climate values can help to reduce that pain, and build momentum to catalyze you into larger actions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When you couple individual action with \u003cem>talking \u003c/em>about why you’re doing what you’re doing, you have the potential to create a change larger than yourself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Research from Yale’s climate change and communication program shows that the majority of people who care about climate change \u003ca href=\"https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/climate-spiral-silence-america/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">rarely or never talk about it with family and friends\u003c/a>, often assuming there are more people who deny climate change than there actually are.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When changes become a social norm, it becomes more attractive for politicians and companies to take action.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Research shows \u003ca href=\"https://www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1126/science.aas8827\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">just 25% of a population is needed to create a “tipping point”\u003c/a> change in popular opinion. \u003ca href=\"https://www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1126/science.aas8827\"> \u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>So which side wins? Well, both\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Larger greenhouse gas emission reductions are possible through changing systems, but it’s valuable for individuals to make personal changes, too, especially in wealthy countries like the U.S.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And it matters which actions you take, as research shows that some actions, like calling your representative and cutting down on driving, are far more effective than others, like fretting about your plastic straw. Read more about\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1977314/climate-change-is-here-its-bad-heres-what-you-can-do\"> how to take the most effective actions to address climate change\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Climate scientist Mann writes in his book that the debate between systems vs. individual change is being exploited by companies to create a rift among those with a common goal: reducing greenhouse gas emissions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What’s important is to remember that everyone who is working to make a change is on the same team, regardless of where they start.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "'Rolling Deep': Here's How Latinos Are Reshaping California Environmentalism",
"headTitle": "‘Rolling Deep’: Here’s How Latinos Are Reshaping California Environmentalism | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>Latino power players stacked the California delegation at this month’s \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/climate-business-europe-united-kingdom-scotland-459b7ca49f7a55736db4ff0206c42d60\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">U.N. climate meeting in Glasgow\u003c/a>, which concluded last week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“California is rolling deep, as they say,” said Assemblyman Eddie Garcia, who represents the Coachella Valley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He was one of the state’s Latino elected officials high on the state’s delegate list, along with Lauren Sanchez, the governor’s senior climate adviser and Senate Majority Whip Lena Gonzalez; many Latino researchers like Michael Méndez, an environmental planner from UC Irvine, attended, as well as, activists, organizers and protesters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is not your abuelita’s environmental movement, attendees of the conference told KQED. Young Latino climate activists demand swift action, while leaders of organizations embrace a broader definition of environmentalism.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The focus of this movement, they say, is on how the planet impacts people — especially health, opportunities and environmental justice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As an immigrant and a person of Mexican heritage, I felt really proud,” said Alvaro Sanchez, vice president of policy at the Greenlining Institute.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Rings of power\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The setup at the U.N.’s annual Conference of the Parties is organized around concentric circles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the center of this year’s gathering, countries hashed out details of a new climate change agreement. While some countries committed to more ambitious cuts to heat-trapping pollution, others did not agree to rein in emissions fast enough for the world to avoid the worst damage from climate-driven disasters, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/11/13/1055542738/cop26-climate-summit-final-decision\">NPR reported\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>States like California were not involved in those negotiations. But credentialed insiders were allowed access to an inner circle, what attendees call the “blue zone.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The next circle is the “green zone.” It’s designed to provide limited access and is where experts and advocates lobby and network.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beyond the official conference and outside the secure area, protesters demonstrate to be heard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The idea is that when people are coming in through the blue zone, they see all this advocacy,” said Marce Gutiérrez-Graudiņš, COP veteran and founder of the San Francisco-based ocean conservation group \u003ca href=\"https://azul.org/en/who-are-we/\">Azul.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>The view from the blue zone\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Legislators, scientists and big names in the climate world are in the blue zone — as are thousands of people who want to get close to them for some face time. State policymakers are always much in demand by their counterparts from municipal and regional governments at these meetings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Garcia had access to the blue zone as a member of the state’s official delegation. He said California is an international model for climate policy, adding that the state’s “role at this conference is to continue to be a global leader in climate change.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon makes the case that California is where new ideas get tested in the real world, proof positive that cutting emissions won’t destroy the economy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state generates climate solutions, like electric vehicles, regulations on power plant emissions and original research into the consequences of a warming climate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But, Rendon said, the California model is not perfect and needs improvement. Millions of Californians drive cars and run air conditioners, producing planet-warming emissions just like other industrialized economies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We need to tell the story of what we’ve done,” Rendon said. “But I think we need to do more. [California’s emissions reductions] have not been as as aggressive as I would like them to be.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>The view from the green zone\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Sure, California has lots of ideas to share, the Greenlining Institute’s Sanchez said, but it’s also an oil-producing state where some residents — especially working-class people of color — suffer from extreme heat and air pollution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We see over and over again that people of color are very concerned about climate, that people of color want government to take action on climate,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sanchez attended previous COPs as a guest of the state delegation, but watched this one from home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He and other environmental groups are working with a new generation of climate activists who value rules to protect public health and equal access to nature over traditional conversation priorities, like \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1956446/state-park-plan-is-conservationists-dream-but-reformers-want-focus-on-park-poor-neighborhoods\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">expanded wilderness protections.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When we talk about climate, we’re also talking about access to technology and economic opportunity,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sanchez emigrated from Mexico City as a child. He and Gutiérrez-Graudiņš both described being shaped by the experience of coming up as the only person of color in the room in California’s traditional environmental organizations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s so frustrating when I’m in environmental spaces where it’s mostly dominated by white people,” Sanchez said. “It feels isolating to me as a Latino. Often still to this day I’m one of very few people of color in the space.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gutiérrez-Graudiņš said the environmental movement will have failed if Latinos, who are 40% of the state’s population, continue to feel this way. But some movement organizers just don’t get it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Folks would have meetings in a yacht club in Orange County and wonder why no more people came in,” she said. “There was a lot of like, Hey Marcela, can you bring some like Latinos for this? As if I had baskets of people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>The view outside the rings from the streets\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Marco Lemus, a food justice organizer with Richmond’s \u003ca href=\"https://urbantilth.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Urban Tilth\u003c/a>, attended a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11894453/youth-environmental-activists-call-out-funders-of-climate-chaos\"> recent climate protest\u003c/a> in San Francisco. He also attended the Glasgow meeting, demonstrating in the streets\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His goal was to “highlight that the climate crisis is a product of our systems” and to make a point that “it’s not something that we can just grow our way out of.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lemus grew up in the shadow of Richmond’s refineries. He said he doesn’t trust that anyone at COP had his interests in mind. That’s why he preferred to get involved in climate justice through direct action.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To Lemus, California is not the model. It’s where city kids get asthma and farmworkers die of heat exhaustion. He worries that his generation will spend their whole lives dealing with climate-driven disasters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s why Lemus got on his first international plane trip to protest at COP26.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Violeta Vasquez, 24, has no interest in international climate conferences. She said the diplomats, politicians and experts at COP should go back to their hometowns and look at what helps the communities, including Latinos most affected by climate change and the fossil fuel industries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Her activism lives closer to her San Francisco home, at \u003ca href=\"https://www.podersf.org/event/crocker-farm-collective-gardening/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Hummingbird Farm\u003c/a>, a project of \u003ca href=\"https://www.podersf.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">PODER\u003c/a> in the Crocker-Amazon neighborhood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last week, she and a friend moved mulch there, bundling stalks of \u003ca href=\"https://www.britannica.com/plant/teosinte\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">teosinte\u003c/a>, a wild ancestor of maize that native peoples of Southern Mexico \u003ca href=\"https://www.nature.com/subjects/plant-domestication\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">domesticated\u003c/a> many years ago. She looks to Indigenous peoples who built civilizations around corn, and whose traditions are still celebrated by Mexican Americans,\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Indigenous peoples since before colonization have always been very acutely aware of our relationship between humans and Earth, of needing to live in a harmonious way,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She says whether it’s through direct action or community gardening, the most effective strategy is one that builds a constituency and demands urgent action.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sanchez agrees: “At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter whether you’re in Sacramento or at COP. It’s the political capital that you have behind your advocacy that’s going to make a difference,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He appreciates the energy of young organizers because it keeps the pressure on the decision-makers. And that’s the goal that Latino climate activists all share.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Latino power players stacked the California delegation at this month’s \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/climate-business-europe-united-kingdom-scotland-459b7ca49f7a55736db4ff0206c42d60\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">U.N. climate meeting in Glasgow\u003c/a>, which concluded last week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“California is rolling deep, as they say,” said Assemblyman Eddie Garcia, who represents the Coachella Valley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He was one of the state’s Latino elected officials high on the state’s delegate list, along with Lauren Sanchez, the governor’s senior climate adviser and Senate Majority Whip Lena Gonzalez; many Latino researchers like Michael Méndez, an environmental planner from UC Irvine, attended, as well as, activists, organizers and protesters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is not your abuelita’s environmental movement, attendees of the conference told KQED. Young Latino climate activists demand swift action, while leaders of organizations embrace a broader definition of environmentalism.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The focus of this movement, they say, is on how the planet impacts people — especially health, opportunities and environmental justice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As an immigrant and a person of Mexican heritage, I felt really proud,” said Alvaro Sanchez, vice president of policy at the Greenlining Institute.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Rings of power\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The setup at the U.N.’s annual Conference of the Parties is organized around concentric circles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the center of this year’s gathering, countries hashed out details of a new climate change agreement. While some countries committed to more ambitious cuts to heat-trapping pollution, others did not agree to rein in emissions fast enough for the world to avoid the worst damage from climate-driven disasters, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/11/13/1055542738/cop26-climate-summit-final-decision\">NPR reported\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>States like California were not involved in those negotiations. But credentialed insiders were allowed access to an inner circle, what attendees call the “blue zone.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The next circle is the “green zone.” It’s designed to provide limited access and is where experts and advocates lobby and network.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beyond the official conference and outside the secure area, protesters demonstrate to be heard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The idea is that when people are coming in through the blue zone, they see all this advocacy,” said Marce Gutiérrez-Graudiņš, COP veteran and founder of the San Francisco-based ocean conservation group \u003ca href=\"https://azul.org/en/who-are-we/\">Azul.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>The view from the blue zone\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Legislators, scientists and big names in the climate world are in the blue zone — as are thousands of people who want to get close to them for some face time. State policymakers are always much in demand by their counterparts from municipal and regional governments at these meetings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Garcia had access to the blue zone as a member of the state’s official delegation. He said California is an international model for climate policy, adding that the state’s “role at this conference is to continue to be a global leader in climate change.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon makes the case that California is where new ideas get tested in the real world, proof positive that cutting emissions won’t destroy the economy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state generates climate solutions, like electric vehicles, regulations on power plant emissions and original research into the consequences of a warming climate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But, Rendon said, the California model is not perfect and needs improvement. Millions of Californians drive cars and run air conditioners, producing planet-warming emissions just like other industrialized economies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We need to tell the story of what we’ve done,” Rendon said. “But I think we need to do more. [California’s emissions reductions] have not been as as aggressive as I would like them to be.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>The view from the green zone\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Sure, California has lots of ideas to share, the Greenlining Institute’s Sanchez said, but it’s also an oil-producing state where some residents — especially working-class people of color — suffer from extreme heat and air pollution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We see over and over again that people of color are very concerned about climate, that people of color want government to take action on climate,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sanchez attended previous COPs as a guest of the state delegation, but watched this one from home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He and other environmental groups are working with a new generation of climate activists who value rules to protect public health and equal access to nature over traditional conversation priorities, like \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1956446/state-park-plan-is-conservationists-dream-but-reformers-want-focus-on-park-poor-neighborhoods\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">expanded wilderness protections.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When we talk about climate, we’re also talking about access to technology and economic opportunity,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sanchez emigrated from Mexico City as a child. He and Gutiérrez-Graudiņš both described being shaped by the experience of coming up as the only person of color in the room in California’s traditional environmental organizations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s so frustrating when I’m in environmental spaces where it’s mostly dominated by white people,” Sanchez said. “It feels isolating to me as a Latino. Often still to this day I’m one of very few people of color in the space.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gutiérrez-Graudiņš said the environmental movement will have failed if Latinos, who are 40% of the state’s population, continue to feel this way. But some movement organizers just don’t get it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Folks would have meetings in a yacht club in Orange County and wonder why no more people came in,” she said. “There was a lot of like, Hey Marcela, can you bring some like Latinos for this? As if I had baskets of people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>The view outside the rings from the streets\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Marco Lemus, a food justice organizer with Richmond’s \u003ca href=\"https://urbantilth.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Urban Tilth\u003c/a>, attended a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11894453/youth-environmental-activists-call-out-funders-of-climate-chaos\"> recent climate protest\u003c/a> in San Francisco. He also attended the Glasgow meeting, demonstrating in the streets\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His goal was to “highlight that the climate crisis is a product of our systems” and to make a point that “it’s not something that we can just grow our way out of.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lemus grew up in the shadow of Richmond’s refineries. He said he doesn’t trust that anyone at COP had his interests in mind. That’s why he preferred to get involved in climate justice through direct action.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To Lemus, California is not the model. It’s where city kids get asthma and farmworkers die of heat exhaustion. He worries that his generation will spend their whole lives dealing with climate-driven disasters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s why Lemus got on his first international plane trip to protest at COP26.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Violeta Vasquez, 24, has no interest in international climate conferences. She said the diplomats, politicians and experts at COP should go back to their hometowns and look at what helps the communities, including Latinos most affected by climate change and the fossil fuel industries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Her activism lives closer to her San Francisco home, at \u003ca href=\"https://www.podersf.org/event/crocker-farm-collective-gardening/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Hummingbird Farm\u003c/a>, a project of \u003ca href=\"https://www.podersf.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">PODER\u003c/a> in the Crocker-Amazon neighborhood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last week, she and a friend moved mulch there, bundling stalks of \u003ca href=\"https://www.britannica.com/plant/teosinte\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">teosinte\u003c/a>, a wild ancestor of maize that native peoples of Southern Mexico \u003ca href=\"https://www.nature.com/subjects/plant-domestication\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">domesticated\u003c/a> many years ago. She looks to Indigenous peoples who built civilizations around corn, and whose traditions are still celebrated by Mexican Americans,\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Indigenous peoples since before colonization have always been very acutely aware of our relationship between humans and Earth, of needing to live in a harmonious way,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She says whether it’s through direct action or community gardening, the most effective strategy is one that builds a constituency and demands urgent action.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sanchez agrees: “At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter whether you’re in Sacramento or at COP. It’s the political capital that you have behind your advocacy that’s going to make a difference,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He appreciates the energy of young organizers because it keeps the pressure on the decision-makers. And that’s the goal that Latino climate activists all share.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "COP26 Negotiators Debating Agreement Calling For an End to Coal and Fossil Fuel Subsidies",
"headTitle": "COP26 Negotiators Debating Agreement Calling For an End to Coal and Fossil Fuel Subsidies | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>As the United Nations climate summit enters its last hours, there is modest progress on reducing reliance on fossil fuels and giving aid to countries most at risk from extreme weather. But stubborn divisions over the details of key issues remain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In what would be a first in decades of such negotiations, nations could call for an end to using coal and subsidizing fossil fuels. Despite some weaker language, those two elements remain in the most recent draft being circulated for consensus agreement among the more than 100 participating countries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The summit in Glasgow, Scotland, is scheduled to end Friday, but could extend into the weekend as negotiators try to nail down agreement on a range of thorny issues for their final statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, it appears that the conference, known as COP26, is set to fall far short of its overall goal of keeping global warming from rising more than 1.5 degrees Celsius, or 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit. In an \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/11/11/1054772983/antonio-guterres-cop26-climate-change\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">interview with the Associated Press\u003c/a>, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says that goal is “on life support.” Beyond 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming, scientists say the world faces catastrophic and potentially irreversible damage from extreme heat, drought, and flooding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>No COP agreement until now has even mentioned fossil fuels, the main source of climate-warming emissions. Having that in the final text would be a breakthrough. But negotiators have struggled to find language acceptable to all countries, especially those with significant fossil fuel reserves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An earlier version of the agreement called on countries to “accelerate the phasing out of coal and subsidies for fossil fuel.” The new language calls for “the phaseout of unabated coal power and of inefficient subsidies for fossil fuels.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The term “unabated” would make room for carbon capture systems on coal-fired power plants, like \u003ca href=\"https://gizmodo.com/the-only-carbon-capture-plant-in-the-u-s-just-closed-1846177778\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">one in Texas\u003c/a>. While that one technically worked, it shut down because it was unprofitable. And “inefficient subsidies” leaves room for countries that subsidize energy for low-income residents, but also countries that want to continue subsidizing fossil fuel companies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The fact that we’ve got the phaseout of fossil fuel subsidies and the phaseout of coal in the text is really new and important,” says Helen Mountford with World Resources Institute.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But other environmental groups that want to see more dramatic action, including a \u003ca href=\"https://fossilfueltreaty.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty\u003c/a>, are upset by the change. “The credibility of these talks is in question if landmark language around fossil fuels gives them a lifeline through carbon capture technologies and continued subsidies,” says Jean Su with the Center for Biological Diversity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Activists from developing countries also are critical of how negotiations among the nearly 200 nations are shaping up.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>\u003cstrong>“Humanity will not be saved by promises”\u003c/strong>\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>An activist from Uganda gave voice Thursday to the fears many have that the Glasgow summit will amount to just another series of pledges, without urgent action driving them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Humanity will not be saved by promises,” Vanessa Nakate \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuuOts3jL3I&ab_channel=Rappler\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">told\u003c/a> political and business leaders gathered at the summit. “We must reduce global CO2 emissions by somewhere between 7% to 11% this year, and next year, and every year after year, until we get to zero.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nakate said if countries fail to meet goals set in the 2015 Paris climate agreement, heat stress will hurt people where she lives because temperatures will be too hot and extreme, reaching temperatures that “the human body cannot cool itself by sweating,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Secretary-General Guterres also put pressure on countries Thursday, urging them “to pick up the pace.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Guterres did praise an \u003ca href=\"https://www.state.gov/u-s-china-joint-glasgow-declaration-on-enhancing-climate-action-in-the-2020s/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">agreement\u003c/a> between the U.S. and China to work together on cutting emissions, reaffirming their commitments to keep global warming well below 2 degrees Celsius and aiming for 1.5 degrees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That agreement focused on methane, which is a much more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, though it does not stay in the atmosphere as long. \u003ca href=\"https://www.epa.gov/gmi/importance-methane\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Scientists say\u003c/a> reducing methane pollution now could quickly rein in some global warming.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last week the Biden administration \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/11/02/1051302469/biden-proposes-new-rules-to-cut-climate-warming-methane-emissions\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">proposed stricter regulations\u003c/a> on oil and gas companies to reduce methane emissions. Under the new agreement with the US, China says it intends to develop a “National Action Plan on methane, aiming to achieve a significant effect on methane emissions control and reductions in the 2020s.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Both countries say they’ll meet in the first half of next year to nail down specifics. Guterres called this an important step. But he warned that “promises ring hollow when the fossil fuels industry still receives \u003ca href=\"https://www.imf.org/en/Topics/climate-change/energy-subsidies\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">trillions in subsidies\u003c/a>, as measured by the IMF [International Monetary Fund]. Or when countries are still building coal plants,” said Guterres.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry defended the agreement in an \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/11/11/1054648598/u-s-and-china-announce-surprise-climate-agreement-at-cop26-summit\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">interview with NPR\u003c/a>, saying it’s “bigger than some people think.” If the U.S. and China reach their goal of reducing methane emissions 30% by 2030, Kerry says “that is the equivalent of taking all the cars in the world, all of the trucks in the world, all of the airplanes in the world, all ships in the world, down to zero.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>\u003cstrong>Calls for wealthier nations to take more responsibility\u003c/strong>\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The high stakes if countries fail to act boldly was on display in dramatic ways during this summit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The foreign minister of Tuvalu, a Pacific island nation, \u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/9EkSrtlapZQ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">delivered his speech\u003c/a> knee-deep in water to show how the rising ocean already affects his country. “Climate change and sea level rise are deadly and existential threats to Tuvalu,” said Simon Kofe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the final days of negotiations, nations still aren’t seeing eye to eye on the issue of climate finance, a $100 billion fund for developing countries. Wealthier countries promised to deliver that amount annually by 2020, an acknowledgment that they are responsible for the bulk of climate-warming emissions over the past century and a half.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The funds help vulnerable countries reduce their emissions with renewable energy and cleaner transportation, as well as help them prepare communities for climate impacts, like extreme storms and floods. The latest draft agreement expresses “deep regret” that richer countries \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2021/11/10/1052926511/this-kenyan-family-got-solar-power-high-level-climate-talks-determine-who-else-w\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">so far have fallen short of that goal\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Several new funding commitments were announced in Glasgow, and wealthier countries say they’ll reach the $100 billion mark in 2022 or 2023. But developing countries say much of that has been in the form of loans instead of grants, putting an added burden on nations to pay it back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Developing countries estimate climate-related damage will hit $5-to-9 trillion dollars by 2030 and are pushing for more details about what the next funding goal will be. They want to see more transparency about where climate finance is coming from, as well as assurances that much of it will be offered as grants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The level of ambition on climate finance required is simply not there yet,” says Fekadu Beyene of Ethiopia, representing a group of the 46 poorest countries at the talks. “Vulnerable countries are already experiencing devastating impacts at 1.1 degrees Celsius of warming and are struggling to recover. We cannot expect to build resilience to the impacts we will feel at 1.5 degrees Celsius without additional resources.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Developing countries are also pushing for compensation for the increasing damage that climate change is already causing. They’re seeking a dedicated “loss and damage” fund, which could be used by countries struggling to rebuild after disasters. \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.scot/news/scotland-to-boost-climate-funding/\">Scotland announced the first contribution\u003c/a>, 2 million pounds, at the Glasgow summit. But other wealthier countries, including the U.S., are wary of being held liable for climate change damages and oppose creating a separate fund.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>\u003cstrong>Countries are headed toward “catastrophic climate change”\u003c/strong>\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The modest progress made so far may be the best that can be expected from an international negotiation process where every country must agree on a final statement. But the scientific reality of a warming climate is unforgiving, and demands swifter action.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The group Climate Action Tracker \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/11/09/1053875461/glasgow-climate-pledges-are-lip-service-without-far-more-aggressive-plans\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">earlier this week\u003c/a> factored in new pledges countries had made so far to cut heat-trapping emissions. It found that even if everyone kept their most ambitious promises, warming would still be 1.8 degrees Celsius, which is above the 1.5 degree goal. When analysts mapped out what countries are actually doing now, the picture was bleaker.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“With all the policies that are currently implemented, our temperature estimate is 2.7 degrees” of warming, said Niklas Höhne, founding partner of NewClimate Institute. “That is catastrophic climate change. It’s a situation that we simply cannot handle.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Höhne was among those in Glasgow who said leaders must go back home and put practices in place to meet the promises they’ve made to each other.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the U.S. President Biden has proposed an aggressive climate plan that aims to meet the goals of the Paris agreement, but much of the legislation needed to implement it is \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/11/05/1052206451/house-is-poised-for-a-vote-on-its-spending-plan-but-hurdles-remain\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">stalled in Congress\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=In+a+first%2C+U.N.+climate+agreement+could+include+the+words+%27coal%27+and+%27fossil+fuels%27&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>As the United Nations climate summit enters its last hours, there is modest progress on reducing reliance on fossil fuels and giving aid to countries most at risk from extreme weather. But stubborn divisions over the details of key issues remain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In what would be a first in decades of such negotiations, nations could call for an end to using coal and subsidizing fossil fuels. Despite some weaker language, those two elements remain in the most recent draft being circulated for consensus agreement among the more than 100 participating countries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The summit in Glasgow, Scotland, is scheduled to end Friday, but could extend into the weekend as negotiators try to nail down agreement on a range of thorny issues for their final statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, it appears that the conference, known as COP26, is set to fall far short of its overall goal of keeping global warming from rising more than 1.5 degrees Celsius, or 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit. In an \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/11/11/1054772983/antonio-guterres-cop26-climate-change\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">interview with the Associated Press\u003c/a>, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says that goal is “on life support.” Beyond 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming, scientists say the world faces catastrophic and potentially irreversible damage from extreme heat, drought, and flooding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>No COP agreement until now has even mentioned fossil fuels, the main source of climate-warming emissions. Having that in the final text would be a breakthrough. But negotiators have struggled to find language acceptable to all countries, especially those with significant fossil fuel reserves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An earlier version of the agreement called on countries to “accelerate the phasing out of coal and subsidies for fossil fuel.” The new language calls for “the phaseout of unabated coal power and of inefficient subsidies for fossil fuels.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The term “unabated” would make room for carbon capture systems on coal-fired power plants, like \u003ca href=\"https://gizmodo.com/the-only-carbon-capture-plant-in-the-u-s-just-closed-1846177778\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">one in Texas\u003c/a>. While that one technically worked, it shut down because it was unprofitable. And “inefficient subsidies” leaves room for countries that subsidize energy for low-income residents, but also countries that want to continue subsidizing fossil fuel companies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The fact that we’ve got the phaseout of fossil fuel subsidies and the phaseout of coal in the text is really new and important,” says Helen Mountford with World Resources Institute.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But other environmental groups that want to see more dramatic action, including a \u003ca href=\"https://fossilfueltreaty.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty\u003c/a>, are upset by the change. “The credibility of these talks is in question if landmark language around fossil fuels gives them a lifeline through carbon capture technologies and continued subsidies,” says Jean Su with the Center for Biological Diversity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Activists from developing countries also are critical of how negotiations among the nearly 200 nations are shaping up.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>\u003cstrong>“Humanity will not be saved by promises”\u003c/strong>\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>An activist from Uganda gave voice Thursday to the fears many have that the Glasgow summit will amount to just another series of pledges, without urgent action driving them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Humanity will not be saved by promises,” Vanessa Nakate \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuuOts3jL3I&ab_channel=Rappler\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">told\u003c/a> political and business leaders gathered at the summit. “We must reduce global CO2 emissions by somewhere between 7% to 11% this year, and next year, and every year after year, until we get to zero.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nakate said if countries fail to meet goals set in the 2015 Paris climate agreement, heat stress will hurt people where she lives because temperatures will be too hot and extreme, reaching temperatures that “the human body cannot cool itself by sweating,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Secretary-General Guterres also put pressure on countries Thursday, urging them “to pick up the pace.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Guterres did praise an \u003ca href=\"https://www.state.gov/u-s-china-joint-glasgow-declaration-on-enhancing-climate-action-in-the-2020s/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">agreement\u003c/a> between the U.S. and China to work together on cutting emissions, reaffirming their commitments to keep global warming well below 2 degrees Celsius and aiming for 1.5 degrees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That agreement focused on methane, which is a much more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, though it does not stay in the atmosphere as long. \u003ca href=\"https://www.epa.gov/gmi/importance-methane\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Scientists say\u003c/a> reducing methane pollution now could quickly rein in some global warming.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last week the Biden administration \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/11/02/1051302469/biden-proposes-new-rules-to-cut-climate-warming-methane-emissions\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">proposed stricter regulations\u003c/a> on oil and gas companies to reduce methane emissions. Under the new agreement with the US, China says it intends to develop a “National Action Plan on methane, aiming to achieve a significant effect on methane emissions control and reductions in the 2020s.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Both countries say they’ll meet in the first half of next year to nail down specifics. Guterres called this an important step. But he warned that “promises ring hollow when the fossil fuels industry still receives \u003ca href=\"https://www.imf.org/en/Topics/climate-change/energy-subsidies\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">trillions in subsidies\u003c/a>, as measured by the IMF [International Monetary Fund]. Or when countries are still building coal plants,” said Guterres.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry defended the agreement in an \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/11/11/1054648598/u-s-and-china-announce-surprise-climate-agreement-at-cop26-summit\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">interview with NPR\u003c/a>, saying it’s “bigger than some people think.” If the U.S. and China reach their goal of reducing methane emissions 30% by 2030, Kerry says “that is the equivalent of taking all the cars in the world, all of the trucks in the world, all of the airplanes in the world, all ships in the world, down to zero.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>\u003cstrong>Calls for wealthier nations to take more responsibility\u003c/strong>\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The high stakes if countries fail to act boldly was on display in dramatic ways during this summit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The foreign minister of Tuvalu, a Pacific island nation, \u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/9EkSrtlapZQ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">delivered his speech\u003c/a> knee-deep in water to show how the rising ocean already affects his country. “Climate change and sea level rise are deadly and existential threats to Tuvalu,” said Simon Kofe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the final days of negotiations, nations still aren’t seeing eye to eye on the issue of climate finance, a $100 billion fund for developing countries. Wealthier countries promised to deliver that amount annually by 2020, an acknowledgment that they are responsible for the bulk of climate-warming emissions over the past century and a half.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The funds help vulnerable countries reduce their emissions with renewable energy and cleaner transportation, as well as help them prepare communities for climate impacts, like extreme storms and floods. The latest draft agreement expresses “deep regret” that richer countries \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2021/11/10/1052926511/this-kenyan-family-got-solar-power-high-level-climate-talks-determine-who-else-w\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">so far have fallen short of that goal\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Several new funding commitments were announced in Glasgow, and wealthier countries say they’ll reach the $100 billion mark in 2022 or 2023. But developing countries say much of that has been in the form of loans instead of grants, putting an added burden on nations to pay it back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Developing countries estimate climate-related damage will hit $5-to-9 trillion dollars by 2030 and are pushing for more details about what the next funding goal will be. They want to see more transparency about where climate finance is coming from, as well as assurances that much of it will be offered as grants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The level of ambition on climate finance required is simply not there yet,” says Fekadu Beyene of Ethiopia, representing a group of the 46 poorest countries at the talks. “Vulnerable countries are already experiencing devastating impacts at 1.1 degrees Celsius of warming and are struggling to recover. We cannot expect to build resilience to the impacts we will feel at 1.5 degrees Celsius without additional resources.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Developing countries are also pushing for compensation for the increasing damage that climate change is already causing. They’re seeking a dedicated “loss and damage” fund, which could be used by countries struggling to rebuild after disasters. \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.scot/news/scotland-to-boost-climate-funding/\">Scotland announced the first contribution\u003c/a>, 2 million pounds, at the Glasgow summit. But other wealthier countries, including the U.S., are wary of being held liable for climate change damages and oppose creating a separate fund.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>\u003cstrong>Countries are headed toward “catastrophic climate change”\u003c/strong>\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The modest progress made so far may be the best that can be expected from an international negotiation process where every country must agree on a final statement. But the scientific reality of a warming climate is unforgiving, and demands swifter action.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The group Climate Action Tracker \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/11/09/1053875461/glasgow-climate-pledges-are-lip-service-without-far-more-aggressive-plans\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">earlier this week\u003c/a> factored in new pledges countries had made so far to cut heat-trapping emissions. It found that even if everyone kept their most ambitious promises, warming would still be 1.8 degrees Celsius, which is above the 1.5 degree goal. When analysts mapped out what countries are actually doing now, the picture was bleaker.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“With all the policies that are currently implemented, our temperature estimate is 2.7 degrees” of warming, said Niklas Höhne, founding partner of NewClimate Institute. “That is catastrophic climate change. It’s a situation that we simply cannot handle.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Höhne was among those in Glasgow who said leaders must go back home and put practices in place to meet the promises they’ve made to each other.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the U.S. President Biden has proposed an aggressive climate plan that aims to meet the goals of the Paris agreement, but much of the legislation needed to implement it is \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/11/05/1052206451/house-is-poised-for-a-vote-on-its-spending-plan-but-hurdles-remain\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">stalled in Congress\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=In+a+first%2C+U.N.+climate+agreement+could+include+the+words+%27coal%27+and+%27fossil+fuels%27&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "'Everyone Belongs in This Movement': Youth vs. Apocalypse's Lizbeth Ibarra on COP26 and Climate Activism",
"headTitle": "‘Everyone Belongs in This Movement’: Youth vs. Apocalypse’s Lizbeth Ibarra on COP26 and Climate Activism | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>The COP26 climate conference is underway in Glasgow, Scotland. Here in the Bay Area, KQED’s climate reporters are talking with locals who are working on solutions.\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lizbeth Ibarra says the climate change movement needs to embrace the energy of young people of color who’ve experienced pollution, heat and other impacts of climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ibarra is a leader with \u003ca href=\"https://www.youthvsapocalypse.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">Youth vs. Apocalypse\u003c/span>\u003c/a>, a Bay Area group founded to fight environmental racism and climate change. She says the environmental movement needs to be more inclusive, and put the needs of vulnerable communities first.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The 17-year-old learned about the group at school and joined immediately.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For the first time, I felt seen, like this was a movement for me,” she said at a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11894453/youth-environmental-activists-call-out-funders-of-climate-chaos\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">recent protest\u003c/span>\u003c/a> in front of the San Francisco headquarters of investment management company BlackRock.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KQED climate reporter Raquel Maria Dillon interviewed Ibarra about how she sees the climate change activists shifting their focus to health and people, and scrutinizing the systems of power that allow the exploitation of nature for profit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Why did you get involved in climate activism?\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Growing up, any time I heard about climate change and climate justice on news, social media or any kind of outlet, I never really saw people that looked like me — [people who are] poor, low income, Black, indigenous or people of color.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I saw upper-middle class people. I saw white people who were talking about the planet and the animals, but they weren’t necessarily talking about the people being impacted, like my community of Richmond.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Climate justice is not just about the planet, it’s about all of the people living on the planet. Everything is intersected and interconnected, so you can’t be talking about one issue without talking about all of the others.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>How has fossil fuel production affected you personally?\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>I live in Richmond, where we have the Chevron refinery right in our backyards, and I’ve lived with this refinery my entire life, and I’m used to consistent flaring, oil spills, explosions, terrible air quality and all of this. It affects me personally.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Are you hopeful about the big conference in Scotland?\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>These people are in huge positions of power. They can make the decision on whether people in my community deserve the right to breathe clean air and the right to a better quality of life. They have the power to make a lot of changes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Climate justice is forever a part of my life, and it should be part of everyone’s life. Everyone has a moral obligation to be a part of the movement. [Climate change] is something that impacts everyone and will impact everyone, in one way or another.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When thinking about climate justice, you can’t speak on it without speaking on racial justice, economic justice, gender justice and all of these other systems of oppression that have [helped create] the issues that we’re facing, including climate change. Everyone belongs in this movement. Even if you feel like you don’t know [the right] terms, or you feel like you don’t belong. Just know, that you do and it needs to include everyone.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>The COP26 climate conference is underway in Glasgow, Scotland. Here in the Bay Area, KQED’s climate reporters are talking with locals who are working on solutions.\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lizbeth Ibarra says the climate change movement needs to embrace the energy of young people of color who’ve experienced pollution, heat and other impacts of climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ibarra is a leader with \u003ca href=\"https://www.youthvsapocalypse.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">Youth vs. Apocalypse\u003c/span>\u003c/a>, a Bay Area group founded to fight environmental racism and climate change. She says the environmental movement needs to be more inclusive, and put the needs of vulnerable communities first.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The 17-year-old learned about the group at school and joined immediately.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For the first time, I felt seen, like this was a movement for me,” she said at a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11894453/youth-environmental-activists-call-out-funders-of-climate-chaos\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">recent protest\u003c/span>\u003c/a> in front of the San Francisco headquarters of investment management company BlackRock.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KQED climate reporter Raquel Maria Dillon interviewed Ibarra about how she sees the climate change activists shifting their focus to health and people, and scrutinizing the systems of power that allow the exploitation of nature for profit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Why did you get involved in climate activism?\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Growing up, any time I heard about climate change and climate justice on news, social media or any kind of outlet, I never really saw people that looked like me — [people who are] poor, low income, Black, indigenous or people of color.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I saw upper-middle class people. I saw white people who were talking about the planet and the animals, but they weren’t necessarily talking about the people being impacted, like my community of Richmond.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Climate justice is not just about the planet, it’s about all of the people living on the planet. Everything is intersected and interconnected, so you can’t be talking about one issue without talking about all of the others.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>How has fossil fuel production affected you personally?\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>I live in Richmond, where we have the Chevron refinery right in our backyards, and I’ve lived with this refinery my entire life, and I’m used to consistent flaring, oil spills, explosions, terrible air quality and all of this. It affects me personally.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Are you hopeful about the big conference in Scotland?\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>These people are in huge positions of power. They can make the decision on whether people in my community deserve the right to breathe clean air and the right to a better quality of life. They have the power to make a lot of changes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Climate justice is forever a part of my life, and it should be part of everyone’s life. Everyone has a moral obligation to be a part of the movement. [Climate change] is something that impacts everyone and will impact everyone, in one way or another.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When thinking about climate justice, you can’t speak on it without speaking on racial justice, economic justice, gender justice and all of these other systems of oppression that have [helped create] the issues that we’re facing, including climate change. Everyone belongs in this movement. Even if you feel like you don’t know [the right] terms, or you feel like you don’t belong. Just know, that you do and it needs to include everyone.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "California Deserts Could Hold The Key to a Future With Less Fossil Fuel (Hint: It's Lithium)",
"headTitle": "California Deserts Could Hold The Key to a Future With Less Fossil Fuel (Hint: It’s Lithium) | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>The COP26 climate conference is underway in Glasgow, Scotland. Here in the Bay Area, KQED’s climate reporters are talking with locals who are working on solutions.\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There could be enough lithium stored across California and the West to supply all the batteries the U.S. demands, researchers \u003ca href=\"https://eesa.lbl.gov/event/media-roundtable-powering-a-sustainable-future-through-lithium-extraction-from-unconventional-sources/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">estimate\u003c/a>, plus more to export.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And that demand for lithium — a crucial part of the batteries that power electric cars and store extra energy from solar and wind — is heading in one direction: \u003ca href=\"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/jiec.12949\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">up\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The problem is that California’s lithium is trapped in desert sediments, ocean water and deep underground, in natural deposits of saltwater called brine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state has a trove of the stuff beneath the Salton Sea in Southern California, but \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2021/02/california-desert-lithium-valley/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">efforts to extract it are fledgling\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oakland-based \u003ca href=\"https://lilacsolutions.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Lilac Solutions\u003c/a> is one of the companies trying to use domestic lithium to make batteries that could power the U.S. toward a future without fossil fuels.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dave Snydacker, the company’s CEO, says a tricky part is to capture the lithium without damaging the environment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The environmental challenges associated with lithium production today relate to land use and water consumption,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lithium extraction in South America and Australia has \u003ca href=\"https://www.wired.co.uk/article/lithium-batteries-environment-impact\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">created serious environmental issues\u003c/a>. Advocates around the Salton Sea have \u003ca href=\"https://holtvilletribune.com/2021/08/06/guest-column-lithium-boom-needs-public-input/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">raised concerns\u003c/a> about harmful impacts and extra waste from extracting and processing lithium.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lilac’s solution is vastly limiting the physical footprint of its lithium plant from “10,000 acres down to tens of acres, and that’s limited the surface impacts associated with lithium production,” Snydacker said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He spoke with KQED climate reporter Laura Klivans during a tour of his manufacturing space in West Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The following has been lightly edited for length and clarity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What climate problem are you trying to solve?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The big environmental problem that we’re addressing is gasoline. And to replace gasoline, we need to increase production of batteries, and lithium is now the critical bottleneck to battery production.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There is no way to meet climate targets without lithium, it’s essential.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What would success of your company mean for California’s economy?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Salton Sea is a very large lithium resource capable of producing billions of dollars per year of lithium. That means hundreds of permanent jobs in the Salton Sea and permanent jobs here in Oakland as we scale up the technology.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What initially inspired you to get into this kind of work?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I grew up in Rhode Island, near the beach, where the ocean was a really important part of the community. Looking at forecasts for sea level rise as we lose the Greenland ice sheet was fairly shocking and horrifying. You think, OK, my entire community will be completely underwater by the time my children or my grandchildren are able to enjoy this place. And that’s just an unacceptable outcome.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>How will what happens at COP affect your work?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If COP is successful, this will mean more demand for electric vehicles. But meeting that demand will only be possible with more lithium.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Even if things go south at COP, how’s that going to impact your company?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’ve lost a lot of faith in the ability of the government to deliver solutions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We’ve seen the private sector really step up, make big commitments to innovate toward electric vehicles, to finance the supply chain and to start new companies capable of making all that happen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’m confident we will solve climate change and decarbonize the economy, the question in my mind is how fast does that happen? It needs to happen soon.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>The COP26 climate conference is underway in Glasgow, Scotland. Here in the Bay Area, KQED’s climate reporters are talking with locals who are working on solutions.\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There could be enough lithium stored across California and the West to supply all the batteries the U.S. demands, researchers \u003ca href=\"https://eesa.lbl.gov/event/media-roundtable-powering-a-sustainable-future-through-lithium-extraction-from-unconventional-sources/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">estimate\u003c/a>, plus more to export.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And that demand for lithium — a crucial part of the batteries that power electric cars and store extra energy from solar and wind — is heading in one direction: \u003ca href=\"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/jiec.12949\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">up\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The problem is that California’s lithium is trapped in desert sediments, ocean water and deep underground, in natural deposits of saltwater called brine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state has a trove of the stuff beneath the Salton Sea in Southern California, but \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2021/02/california-desert-lithium-valley/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">efforts to extract it are fledgling\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oakland-based \u003ca href=\"https://lilacsolutions.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Lilac Solutions\u003c/a> is one of the companies trying to use domestic lithium to make batteries that could power the U.S. toward a future without fossil fuels.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dave Snydacker, the company’s CEO, says a tricky part is to capture the lithium without damaging the environment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The environmental challenges associated with lithium production today relate to land use and water consumption,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lithium extraction in South America and Australia has \u003ca href=\"https://www.wired.co.uk/article/lithium-batteries-environment-impact\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">created serious environmental issues\u003c/a>. Advocates around the Salton Sea have \u003ca href=\"https://holtvilletribune.com/2021/08/06/guest-column-lithium-boom-needs-public-input/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">raised concerns\u003c/a> about harmful impacts and extra waste from extracting and processing lithium.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lilac’s solution is vastly limiting the physical footprint of its lithium plant from “10,000 acres down to tens of acres, and that’s limited the surface impacts associated with lithium production,” Snydacker said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He spoke with KQED climate reporter Laura Klivans during a tour of his manufacturing space in West Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The following has been lightly edited for length and clarity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What climate problem are you trying to solve?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The big environmental problem that we’re addressing is gasoline. And to replace gasoline, we need to increase production of batteries, and lithium is now the critical bottleneck to battery production.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There is no way to meet climate targets without lithium, it’s essential.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What would success of your company mean for California’s economy?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Salton Sea is a very large lithium resource capable of producing billions of dollars per year of lithium. That means hundreds of permanent jobs in the Salton Sea and permanent jobs here in Oakland as we scale up the technology.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What initially inspired you to get into this kind of work?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I grew up in Rhode Island, near the beach, where the ocean was a really important part of the community. Looking at forecasts for sea level rise as we lose the Greenland ice sheet was fairly shocking and horrifying. You think, OK, my entire community will be completely underwater by the time my children or my grandchildren are able to enjoy this place. And that’s just an unacceptable outcome.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>How will what happens at COP affect your work?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If COP is successful, this will mean more demand for electric vehicles. But meeting that demand will only be possible with more lithium.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Even if things go south at COP, how’s that going to impact your company?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’ve lost a lot of faith in the ability of the government to deliver solutions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We’ve seen the private sector really step up, make big commitments to innovate toward electric vehicles, to finance the supply chain and to start new companies capable of making all that happen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’m confident we will solve climate change and decarbonize the economy, the question in my mind is how fast does that happen? It needs to happen soon.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>If nations honor their latest pledges to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the rise in average global temperatures by the end of the century could be held to 1.8 degrees Celsius, a new analysis by International Energy Agency says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s short of a goal set by world leaders six years ago, but far less than the trajectory that the planet is on today, says the agency, part of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.iea.org/commentaries/cop26-climate-pledges-could-help-limit-global-warming-to-1-8-c-but-implementing-them-will-be-the-key\">IEA’s new analysis\u003c/a> includes promises made just this week at the COP26 \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/series/1048515317/cop26\">U.N. climate conference\u003c/a> in Glasgow, Scotland. Many countries at the ongoing conference have pledged to eliminate carbon emissions by 2050 and dozens have said they \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/11/02/1051302469/biden-proposes-new-rules-to-cut-climate-warming-methane-emissions\">will cut releases of methane\u003c/a> — an even more potent greenhouse gas — by nearly a third.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An independent group called Climate Action Tracker \u003ca href=\"https://climateactiontracker.org/global/temperatures/\">estimates\u003c/a> that under current policies, the planet is likely to warm by between 2.7 and 3.1 degrees Celsius (4.8 to 5.6 degrees Fahrenheit), compared to pre-industrial times. That’s higher than the aim of 1.5 degrees C (2.7 degrees F) rise agreed to in the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement and seen as necessary to avoid the most catastrophic consequences of climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ahead of the summit in Scotland, known as the Conference of Parties, or COP26, the International Energy Agency had forecast that if countries were able to fulfill their pledges on climate action made up to that point, average global temperatures by the end of the century would rise by 2.1 degrees Celsius (3.8 Fahrenheit) from preindustrial times.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Since mid-October, however, more countries have been raising their ambitions,” the IEA report says. “Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi strengthened the country’s 2030 targets, and pledged to hit net zero emissions by 2070. Several other large economies have also announced pledges to reach net zero emissions.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The analysis also factored in commitments from China — which in recent years has surpassed the U.S. as the world’s largest polluter — as well as the commitment by more than 100 countries to cut their emissions of methane by 30%.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/fbirol/status/1456186835097501698\">tweet\u003c/a>, IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said the results signal a “big step forward,” but cautioned that much more is needed.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Carrying out the climate pledges is key\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The announcement was met with substantial skepticism, though, because for this optimistic scenario to occur, countries would actually have to carry out their pledges. Many of the world’s biggest polluters have failed to honor their past pledges, and carrying out these promises will be a huge challenge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Several big countries, such as Australia and Russia, have yet to say how they will go about cutting their emissions and the Biden administration’s proposals to reduce U.S. output still need approval from a deeply divided Congress.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>John Kerry, the U.S. presidential special envoy for climate, said he was “surprised” by the IEA estimate. He said it’s encouraging, but shows how important it will be for countries to fulfill their promises. “Implementation, that is the key,” he said at a news conference.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The World Resources Institute, a nonprofit climate policy think tank, cautions that holding temperature rise to 1.8 C is possible if everything falls into place. But it also suggested that a number of the net-zero carbon emission targets recently pledged lack credibility.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, a separate analysis by Australian scientists which has not yet been peer reviewed, predicts warming of 1.9 degrees C (3.4 degrees Fahrenheit) if current commitments are kept.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are now in a slightly more positive outlook for the future,” said University of Melbourne climate scientist Malte Meinshausen, according to \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/climate-science-paris-scotland-glasgow-f981ede6c751f319176267f0123f9602\">The Associated Press.\u003c/a> He said that the more optimistic assessment comes mostly as a result of new long-term pledges made by India and China.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s still a long way away from 1.5 degrees,” Meinshausen acknowledged, adding, “We know that some of the ecosystems are going to suffer.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is just scraping below 2 degrees. So therefore there’s a lot more to be done,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Latest+climate+pledges+could+limit+global+temperature+rise%2C+a+new+report+says&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>If nations honor their latest pledges to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the rise in average global temperatures by the end of the century could be held to 1.8 degrees Celsius, a new analysis by International Energy Agency says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s short of a goal set by world leaders six years ago, but far less than the trajectory that the planet is on today, says the agency, part of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.iea.org/commentaries/cop26-climate-pledges-could-help-limit-global-warming-to-1-8-c-but-implementing-them-will-be-the-key\">IEA’s new analysis\u003c/a> includes promises made just this week at the COP26 \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/series/1048515317/cop26\">U.N. climate conference\u003c/a> in Glasgow, Scotland. Many countries at the ongoing conference have pledged to eliminate carbon emissions by 2050 and dozens have said they \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/11/02/1051302469/biden-proposes-new-rules-to-cut-climate-warming-methane-emissions\">will cut releases of methane\u003c/a> — an even more potent greenhouse gas — by nearly a third.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An independent group called Climate Action Tracker \u003ca href=\"https://climateactiontracker.org/global/temperatures/\">estimates\u003c/a> that under current policies, the planet is likely to warm by between 2.7 and 3.1 degrees Celsius (4.8 to 5.6 degrees Fahrenheit), compared to pre-industrial times. That’s higher than the aim of 1.5 degrees C (2.7 degrees F) rise agreed to in the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement and seen as necessary to avoid the most catastrophic consequences of climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ahead of the summit in Scotland, known as the Conference of Parties, or COP26, the International Energy Agency had forecast that if countries were able to fulfill their pledges on climate action made up to that point, average global temperatures by the end of the century would rise by 2.1 degrees Celsius (3.8 Fahrenheit) from preindustrial times.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Since mid-October, however, more countries have been raising their ambitions,” the IEA report says. “Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi strengthened the country’s 2030 targets, and pledged to hit net zero emissions by 2070. Several other large economies have also announced pledges to reach net zero emissions.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The analysis also factored in commitments from China — which in recent years has surpassed the U.S. as the world’s largest polluter — as well as the commitment by more than 100 countries to cut their emissions of methane by 30%.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/fbirol/status/1456186835097501698\">tweet\u003c/a>, IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said the results signal a “big step forward,” but cautioned that much more is needed.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Carrying out the climate pledges is key\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The announcement was met with substantial skepticism, though, because for this optimistic scenario to occur, countries would actually have to carry out their pledges. Many of the world’s biggest polluters have failed to honor their past pledges, and carrying out these promises will be a huge challenge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Several big countries, such as Australia and Russia, have yet to say how they will go about cutting their emissions and the Biden administration’s proposals to reduce U.S. output still need approval from a deeply divided Congress.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>John Kerry, the U.S. presidential special envoy for climate, said he was “surprised” by the IEA estimate. He said it’s encouraging, but shows how important it will be for countries to fulfill their promises. “Implementation, that is the key,” he said at a news conference.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The World Resources Institute, a nonprofit climate policy think tank, cautions that holding temperature rise to 1.8 C is possible if everything falls into place. But it also suggested that a number of the net-zero carbon emission targets recently pledged lack credibility.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, a separate analysis by Australian scientists which has not yet been peer reviewed, predicts warming of 1.9 degrees C (3.4 degrees Fahrenheit) if current commitments are kept.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are now in a slightly more positive outlook for the future,” said University of Melbourne climate scientist Malte Meinshausen, according to \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/climate-science-paris-scotland-glasgow-f981ede6c751f319176267f0123f9602\">The Associated Press.\u003c/a> He said that the more optimistic assessment comes mostly as a result of new long-term pledges made by India and China.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s still a long way away from 1.5 degrees,” Meinshausen acknowledged, adding, “We know that some of the ecosystems are going to suffer.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is just scraping below 2 degrees. So therefore there’s a lot more to be done,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Latest+climate+pledges+could+limit+global+temperature+rise%2C+a+new+report+says&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>This story is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/ccnow_logo.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/ccnow_logo-160x160.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"160\" height=\"160\" class=\"alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-1977443\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/ccnow_logo-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/ccnow_logo-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/ccnow_logo-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/ccnow_logo-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/ccnow_logo.jpg 1069w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 160px) 100vw, 160px\">\u003c/a>We are 1.1 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels now. Capping average global temperature at 1.5 degrees C (equivalent to 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) is within our grasp, but it will be hard, and the window is closing. As journalists we must get this story right for our audiences. They need to understand that global temperature rise can still be stopped before it reaches a catastrophic level — that doing or not doing so is a choice governments are making. This explainer covers the importance of 1.5 degrees C, the forces standing in the way of achieving it, and what it means to live in a 1.5 degrees C, or even warmer, world. It also includes some questions to prompt story ideas and short resource lists for your reference.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Why is 1.5 degrees C such an important target?\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>[aside label='Resources' link1='https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/,IPCC: The Latest Science on Climate Change' link2='https://www.ucsusa.org/climate/solutions,Climate Solutions (from the Union of Concerned Scientists, a nonprofit advocating for science in public policy)']Since the Paris Agreement was signed at COP21 in 2015, scientists have become more certain that 2 degrees C of average global temperature rise above pre-industrial levels would be cataclysmic — and that even 1.5 degrees C will be no walk in the park. The record heat that scorched the Pacific Northwest in 2021? Such heat waves are now happening \u003ca href=\"https://www.eenews.net/articles/ipcc-window-closing-to-stop-worst-effects-of-climate-change/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">five times more often\u003c/a> after “only” 1.1 degrees C of temperature rise than they did historically, according to the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s “Sixth Assessment Report,” released in August 2021.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At 2 degrees C, similar heatwaves would occur 14 times more often and the historic ‘Black Summer’ fires that ravaged Australia in 2019 to 2020 would happen four times as often. Hitting 2 degrees C would also mean the loss of 99% of coral reefs — the base of the marine food chain — and assure the irreversible loss of the West Antarctic ice sheet, eventually causing 5 meters (roughly 16 feet) of sea level rise, enough to inundate large portions of many coastal cities around the world.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='forum_2010101886270']So 1.5 degrees C is the essential target. That said, 1.5 degrees C is not a cliff; civilization does not automatically expire if temperatures exceed that threshold. Rather, every tenth of a degree beyond 1.5 degrees C makes climate damages that much greater and the overall crisis harder to contain. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When you get above about a degree-and-a-half, these effects start to go non-linear,” said Michael Oppenheimer, the Albert G. Milbank professor of Geosciences and International Affairs at Princeton University. “It becomes very, very difficult for humans to catch up, to adjust. And basically, there’s a risk that the climate spins out of control, beyond our ability to adjust and adapt to it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label='Resources' link1='https://interactive-atlas.ipcc.ch/,IPCC: Explore Possible Climate Futures at +1.5 C, +2.0 C, and More' link2='https://drawdown.org/solutions/,Climate Solutions (from Project Drawdown, non-profit dedicated to cutting carbon emissions)']\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>What will it take to limit average global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees C?\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The good news is that IPCC scientists and most experts say humanity has nearly all the knowledge and tools needed to limit temperature rise to 1.5 degrees C. The challenges are not primarily technological; they are political and economic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To cap global temperature rise there are two chief imperatives, experts have concluded: First, the global economy must quit oil, gas, and coal rapidly and shift to solar, wind, and other non-carbon energy sources. Second, humans must end deforestation, much of which is driven by industrial agriculture’s desire to expand beef, soy, and palm oil production.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Imperative 1: Energy\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='science_1976869' label='Here's What's Inside Newsom's Whopping $15 Billion Climate Plan']Coal has been the main driver of global warming since it began fueling the Industrial Revolution in Great Britain 250 years ago. Today, coal must be phased out, starting immediately and around the world, to keep the 1.5 degrees C target within reach. Scientists estimate that 90% of today’s coal reserves must be left in the ground, according to a 2021 study in Nature. The International Energy Agency (IEA) has declared that the 1.5 degrees C temperature limit also requires that no new coal-fired power plants be built. Existing plants should quickly shift to solar and wind, augmented by reducing electricity demand through better energy efficiency in buildings and machinery (which also saves money and produces more jobs). The benefits of energy efficiency are an essential tool for slashing emissions while boosting the economy — and should be explained to the public in more depth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oil and gas must follow the same script as coal, though in their case 60% of reserves must be left in the ground. The IEA further emphasizes that point, stating in 2021 that meeting the 1.5 degrees C goal requires that no new fossil fuel infrastructure be built anywhere on Earth. That means no exploring for additional reserves, no new oil fields, no pipelines, no liquid gas export terminals, etc.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To prevent the world economy, which currently relies on fossil fuels for 80% of its energy, from collapsing in the process, demand for these fuels must be radically reduced. Transportation in particular must transform: Vehicles must be powered by electricity, not gasoline, and driving needs to become less necessary by redesigning cities and suburbs so residents can meet their needs with mass transit, biking, walking, etc.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another way of describing the stages of this energy transition comes from the nonpartisan research agency, Carbon Tracker: “The world needs to decarbonize electricity, electrify everything it can, and use some variant of hydrogen for the rest.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Imperative 2: Deforestation\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The link between the food and forestry sectors is critical: A major reason the world’s forests are felled at such catastrophic rates is to grow more food products, especially beef, soy, and palm oil. Forests must be left intact so they continue to extract CO2 from the atmosphere via photosynthesis and store it in trees and soil. Alas, so much of the Amazon rainforest has been leveled that much has flipped from being a carbon sink that stores CO2 to a carbon source that emits it. Because deforestation is largely driven by a push to raise cattle and other foods, some scientists suggest that people change their diets to consume less meat. But as with calls to take the bus rather than drive a car, such individual lifestyle changes cannot fix the underlying problem as long as the global economic system demands endless growth and government policies make destroying the climate more profitable than protecting it.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Be cautious about “net zero” pledges\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>[aside label='Resources' link1='https://www.iea.org/reports/net-zero-by-2050,Net Zero By 2050: A Roadmap for the Global Energy Sector (from the International Energy Agency, an autonomous intergovernmental agency)' link2='https://www.zerotracker.net/,Net Zero Tracker (a collaboration of research institutes and think tanks)']Beware of climate greenwashing about both energy and forests — that is, rhetorical promises by governments, corporations, or banks that claim to solve the crisis but may or may not measure up in practice. The concept of “net zero emissions” demands special attention.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Net zero” means that a given country or company will reduce emissions but not to absolute zero; rather, some emissions will continue, but they will be “offset” by countervailing measures that extract carbon from the atmosphere so the net result is zero emissions. Examples of these countervailing measures include planting trees and restoring wetlands; both draw CO2 out of the air through photosynthesis. With CO2 atmospheric concentrations currently at 414 parts per million and rising, some CO2 extraction will be needed to return concentrations to the 350 ppm or lower needed to stabilize earth’s climate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Net zero” is not necessarily a dodge, but offsets have a spotty record of achievement. For example: Were the promised trees actually planted? Did they survive and for how long? Were those wetlands truly restored, or only slated to be restored? Offsets also raise environmental justice concerns, for even authentic offsets in one part of the world can enable factories to keep operating in another part of the world, polluting the local environment of residents who often are poor or people of color.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many net-zero commitments by governments and businesses cite 2050 as the year when net zero will be reached. Indeed, roughly 80% of the world economy is now covered by commitments of net zero by 2050. It’s important to report those commitments with a degree of skepticism: 2050 is far enough off that bold claims might seem possible, but those claims are only credible if they include real (i.e., non-offsets) and substantial emissions reductions during the next 10 years. To test the validity of net-zero 2050 pledges, journalists should check whether such commitments carry an action plan that credibly cuts emissions in half by 2030. That’s essential, scientists say, to hitting 1.5 degrees C. Promising that emissions will end by 2050 is easy for today’s politicians and corporate leaders, but that goal is only reachable if actual emissions fall by half in the next decade.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>How did we get here?\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>It will undeniably be difficult to cut emissions as much and as fast as science says is necessary, and the main reason why is that humanity waited so long to start the job. Had we begun 30 years ago, as scientists and advocates were urging, we’d be most of the way there by now. And the main reason we waited so long is that some very rich and powerful economic and political interests knew climate action would interfere with their profits and privilege.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Investigative journalism has documented that Exxon and other fossil fuel companies knew by the late 1970s — because their own scientists were telling them — that climate change was real, caused by burning fossil fuels, and threatened to end civilization as we know it. Nevertheless, the companies chose to lie to the public, policymakers, and the press to thwart climate action. Recently, the companies have shifted from outright climate denial — no longer tenable in the face of so much extreme weather — to its more presentable cousin, climate delay. But climate delay is just as lethal, precisely because 40 years of failing to act has left zero time for further delay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fossil fuel companies now face dozens of lawsuits from governments and civil society groups demanding compensation for the climate damages the companies’ lying helped cause.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>How do we live with 1.5 degrees C?\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>As the extreme weather in recent years has shown, climate impacts are punishing even after “only” 1.1 degrees C of temperature rise. This is especially so for the roughly two billion people who live in the (usually poorer) countries most vulnerable to climate change. Temperatures and impacts are bound to increase in the years ahead, if only because humanity can’t halt emissions overnight.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hence, the need for what climate experts call “adaptation”: actions to reduce one’s vulnerability to the impacts of climate change. Examples of adaptation include when a community builds sea walls to protect against hurricanes, when a homeowner plants trees around the house to shade it from extra heat, and when a farmer shifts from growing almonds and alfalfa to less thirsty crops. By contrast, “mitigation” refers to actions to limit global temperature rise, such as replacing a coal-fired power plant with a wind turbine or installing more efficient appliances, windows, and insulation to reduce the amount of energy a household uses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Adaptation has never gotten the attention mitigation gets, perhaps because it was assumed, wrongly, that the rich could adapt relatively easily to rising temperatures. For example, the British government spent roughly $3 billion dollars to build the Thames Barrier, a set of massive floodgates downriver from central London, to protect the city from North Sea storm surges. But in fact, adaptation and mitigation are twin imperatives: Mitigation is essential to limit temperature rise to an amount humans can survive, but adaptation is no less essential; because we’ve waited so long, stronger climate impacts are now unavoidable, and the only way to survive them is to prepare.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some of the best climate adaptation research and practice happens to be found in two of the most vulnerable countries on earth: The Netherlands and Bangladesh. The former is rich, the latter not, illustrating that wealth alone is not decisive. More important is that a country starts adapting now, rather than waiting until climate impacts engulf it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Examples of successful adaptation abound (see CCNow executive director Mark Hertsgaard’s book “HOT: Living Through the Next Fifty Years on Earth” for specifics), but they all cost money, which is where the contrast between rich and poor does have meaning. A low-income country such as Bangladesh simply does not have the financial means as the wealthy Netherlands to adapt to a changing climate and its worsening impacts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Which is why the issue of climate adaptation will arise at COP26 mainly in regards to the $100 billion in annual aid that rich countries have pledged to provide to poor countries. This pledge, enshrined in the 2015 Paris Agreement, is supposed to subsidize both mitigation and adaptation efforts in poor countries. Independent experts calculate that poor countries need much more than that; meanwhile, rich countries have not provided even that much. \u003ca href=\"https://oxfamilibrary.openrepository.com/bitstream/handle/10546/621066/bp-climate-finance-shadow-report-2020-201020-en.pdf\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">An analysis\u003c/a> by the anti-poverty NGO Oxfam found that in 2018 (the last year with reliable data), climate aid was roughly $20 to $22 billion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Developing countries \u003ca href=\"https://www.devex.com/news/climate-vulnerable-nations-demand-urgent-boost-for-delayed-funds-100331\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">have warned\u003c/a> in the lead-up to COP26 that there will be no deal if rich countries don’t deliver a credible plan to deliver the $100 billion in annual aid.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label='Resources' link1='https://unfccc.int/topics/climate-finance/the-big-picture/climate-finance-in-the-negotiations,Climate Finance in the Negotiations (from the United Nations)' link2='https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WP/Issues/2021/09/23/Still-Not-Getting-Energy-Prices-Right-A-Global-and-Country-Update-of-Fossil-Fuel-Subsidies-466004,Still Not Getting Energy Prices Right: A Global and Country Update of Fossil Fuel Subsidies (from the International Monetary Fund)']\u003cstrong>How Do We Pay for 1.5C?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Money is at the heart of the climate emergency and its solutions. This is true both of public money (i.e., government) and private money (i.e., banks and investors). For many years, most public and private money incentivized climate-destructive activities. At the moment, the world’s governments provide roughly $5.9 trillion a year in subsidies for fossil fuels, according to the International Monetary Fund. The vast majority of governments’ stimulus spending to revive Covid-battered economies has reinforced the status quo rather than boosted the zero-carbon activities necessary to ensure a climate-safe future. The challenge now is to halt spending that harms the climate and redirect it to things that help it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Judging from the Paris climate summit’s impact, COP26 also could have a profound influence on global money flows. The Paris Agreement’s pledge to transition the global economy to “net zero” emissions by 2050 sent a powerful message that public and private sector leaders have taken to heart. Three quarters of the coal plants planned or being built at the time of the Paris Agreement have been scrapped. That’s partly because solar and other alternative sources were becoming cheaper. But it’s also because government planners and private investors read the writing on the wall after Paris: Coal could only survive with massive state subsidies, and governments facing widespread concerns about climate change were unlikely to keep providing those subsidies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A similar dynamic is playing out around fossil fuels in general. Mark Carney, the UN Special Envoy on Climate Action and Finance, was the head of the Bank of England in 2014 when he began warning about a “carbon bubble” that could crash the global economy. Preventing catastrophic climate change, Carney pointed out, required leaving most of fossil fuel reserves in the ground. But those reserves were (and still are) counted as wealth in the stock holdings of investors; leaving them unburned would render trillions of dollars of invested wealth worthless. That could spark a global financial crisis as destructive as the one unleashed when the housing bubble burst in 2008.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some of the world’s richest investors have accordingly begun distancing themselves from fossil fuels. BlackRock, the largest money-manager on earth, said in 2020 that it would shun fossil fuels and assume the world economy was moving towards alignment with the Paris Agreement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now that smart money is abandoning fossil fuels, two big questions are coming into focus: How much of the market will follow? And will enough money flow to the climate-friendly technologies and practices needed to defuse the climate emergency? Again, much will depend on how strong a message emerges from COP26. Journalists should monitor what governments say they will and won’t spend on climate action — not just in fiscal budgets but also through central banks. Also key is what governments will do to encourage private banks and investors to stop funding climate destruction and instead finance climate solutions.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>This story is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/ccnow_logo.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/ccnow_logo-160x160.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"160\" height=\"160\" class=\"alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-1977443\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/ccnow_logo-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/ccnow_logo-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/ccnow_logo-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/ccnow_logo-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/ccnow_logo.jpg 1069w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 160px) 100vw, 160px\">\u003c/a>We are 1.1 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels now. Capping average global temperature at 1.5 degrees C (equivalent to 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) is within our grasp, but it will be hard, and the window is closing. As journalists we must get this story right for our audiences. They need to understand that global temperature rise can still be stopped before it reaches a catastrophic level — that doing or not doing so is a choice governments are making. This explainer covers the importance of 1.5 degrees C, the forces standing in the way of achieving it, and what it means to live in a 1.5 degrees C, or even warmer, world. It also includes some questions to prompt story ideas and short resource lists for your reference.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Why is 1.5 degrees C such an important target?\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Since the Paris Agreement was signed at COP21 in 2015, scientists have become more certain that 2 degrees C of average global temperature rise above pre-industrial levels would be cataclysmic — and that even 1.5 degrees C will be no walk in the park. The record heat that scorched the Pacific Northwest in 2021? Such heat waves are now happening \u003ca href=\"https://www.eenews.net/articles/ipcc-window-closing-to-stop-worst-effects-of-climate-change/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">five times more often\u003c/a> after “only” 1.1 degrees C of temperature rise than they did historically, according to the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s “Sixth Assessment Report,” released in August 2021.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At 2 degrees C, similar heatwaves would occur 14 times more often and the historic ‘Black Summer’ fires that ravaged Australia in 2019 to 2020 would happen four times as often. Hitting 2 degrees C would also mean the loss of 99% of coral reefs — the base of the marine food chain — and assure the irreversible loss of the West Antarctic ice sheet, eventually causing 5 meters (roughly 16 feet) of sea level rise, enough to inundate large portions of many coastal cities around the world.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>So 1.5 degrees C is the essential target. That said, 1.5 degrees C is not a cliff; civilization does not automatically expire if temperatures exceed that threshold. Rather, every tenth of a degree beyond 1.5 degrees C makes climate damages that much greater and the overall crisis harder to contain. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When you get above about a degree-and-a-half, these effects start to go non-linear,” said Michael Oppenheimer, the Albert G. Milbank professor of Geosciences and International Affairs at Princeton University. “It becomes very, very difficult for humans to catch up, to adjust. And basically, there’s a risk that the climate spins out of control, beyond our ability to adjust and adapt to it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>What will it take to limit average global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees C?\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The good news is that IPCC scientists and most experts say humanity has nearly all the knowledge and tools needed to limit temperature rise to 1.5 degrees C. The challenges are not primarily technological; they are political and economic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To cap global temperature rise there are two chief imperatives, experts have concluded: First, the global economy must quit oil, gas, and coal rapidly and shift to solar, wind, and other non-carbon energy sources. Second, humans must end deforestation, much of which is driven by industrial agriculture’s desire to expand beef, soy, and palm oil production.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Imperative 1: Energy\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Coal has been the main driver of global warming since it began fueling the Industrial Revolution in Great Britain 250 years ago. Today, coal must be phased out, starting immediately and around the world, to keep the 1.5 degrees C target within reach. Scientists estimate that 90% of today’s coal reserves must be left in the ground, according to a 2021 study in Nature. The International Energy Agency (IEA) has declared that the 1.5 degrees C temperature limit also requires that no new coal-fired power plants be built. Existing plants should quickly shift to solar and wind, augmented by reducing electricity demand through better energy efficiency in buildings and machinery (which also saves money and produces more jobs). The benefits of energy efficiency are an essential tool for slashing emissions while boosting the economy — and should be explained to the public in more depth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oil and gas must follow the same script as coal, though in their case 60% of reserves must be left in the ground. The IEA further emphasizes that point, stating in 2021 that meeting the 1.5 degrees C goal requires that no new fossil fuel infrastructure be built anywhere on Earth. That means no exploring for additional reserves, no new oil fields, no pipelines, no liquid gas export terminals, etc.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To prevent the world economy, which currently relies on fossil fuels for 80% of its energy, from collapsing in the process, demand for these fuels must be radically reduced. Transportation in particular must transform: Vehicles must be powered by electricity, not gasoline, and driving needs to become less necessary by redesigning cities and suburbs so residents can meet their needs with mass transit, biking, walking, etc.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another way of describing the stages of this energy transition comes from the nonpartisan research agency, Carbon Tracker: “The world needs to decarbonize electricity, electrify everything it can, and use some variant of hydrogen for the rest.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Imperative 2: Deforestation\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The link between the food and forestry sectors is critical: A major reason the world’s forests are felled at such catastrophic rates is to grow more food products, especially beef, soy, and palm oil. Forests must be left intact so they continue to extract CO2 from the atmosphere via photosynthesis and store it in trees and soil. Alas, so much of the Amazon rainforest has been leveled that much has flipped from being a carbon sink that stores CO2 to a carbon source that emits it. Because deforestation is largely driven by a push to raise cattle and other foods, some scientists suggest that people change their diets to consume less meat. But as with calls to take the bus rather than drive a car, such individual lifestyle changes cannot fix the underlying problem as long as the global economic system demands endless growth and government policies make destroying the climate more profitable than protecting it.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Be cautious about “net zero” pledges\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"link1": "https://www.iea.org/reports/net-zero-by-2050,Net Zero By 2050: A Roadmap for the Global Energy Sector (from the International Energy Agency, an autonomous intergovernmental agency)",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Beware of climate greenwashing about both energy and forests — that is, rhetorical promises by governments, corporations, or banks that claim to solve the crisis but may or may not measure up in practice. The concept of “net zero emissions” demands special attention.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Net zero” means that a given country or company will reduce emissions but not to absolute zero; rather, some emissions will continue, but they will be “offset” by countervailing measures that extract carbon from the atmosphere so the net result is zero emissions. Examples of these countervailing measures include planting trees and restoring wetlands; both draw CO2 out of the air through photosynthesis. With CO2 atmospheric concentrations currently at 414 parts per million and rising, some CO2 extraction will be needed to return concentrations to the 350 ppm or lower needed to stabilize earth’s climate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Net zero” is not necessarily a dodge, but offsets have a spotty record of achievement. For example: Were the promised trees actually planted? Did they survive and for how long? Were those wetlands truly restored, or only slated to be restored? Offsets also raise environmental justice concerns, for even authentic offsets in one part of the world can enable factories to keep operating in another part of the world, polluting the local environment of residents who often are poor or people of color.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many net-zero commitments by governments and businesses cite 2050 as the year when net zero will be reached. Indeed, roughly 80% of the world economy is now covered by commitments of net zero by 2050. It’s important to report those commitments with a degree of skepticism: 2050 is far enough off that bold claims might seem possible, but those claims are only credible if they include real (i.e., non-offsets) and substantial emissions reductions during the next 10 years. To test the validity of net-zero 2050 pledges, journalists should check whether such commitments carry an action plan that credibly cuts emissions in half by 2030. That’s essential, scientists say, to hitting 1.5 degrees C. Promising that emissions will end by 2050 is easy for today’s politicians and corporate leaders, but that goal is only reachable if actual emissions fall by half in the next decade.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>How did we get here?\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>It will undeniably be difficult to cut emissions as much and as fast as science says is necessary, and the main reason why is that humanity waited so long to start the job. Had we begun 30 years ago, as scientists and advocates were urging, we’d be most of the way there by now. And the main reason we waited so long is that some very rich and powerful economic and political interests knew climate action would interfere with their profits and privilege.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Investigative journalism has documented that Exxon and other fossil fuel companies knew by the late 1970s — because their own scientists were telling them — that climate change was real, caused by burning fossil fuels, and threatened to end civilization as we know it. Nevertheless, the companies chose to lie to the public, policymakers, and the press to thwart climate action. Recently, the companies have shifted from outright climate denial — no longer tenable in the face of so much extreme weather — to its more presentable cousin, climate delay. But climate delay is just as lethal, precisely because 40 years of failing to act has left zero time for further delay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fossil fuel companies now face dozens of lawsuits from governments and civil society groups demanding compensation for the climate damages the companies’ lying helped cause.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>How do we live with 1.5 degrees C?\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>As the extreme weather in recent years has shown, climate impacts are punishing even after “only” 1.1 degrees C of temperature rise. This is especially so for the roughly two billion people who live in the (usually poorer) countries most vulnerable to climate change. Temperatures and impacts are bound to increase in the years ahead, if only because humanity can’t halt emissions overnight.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hence, the need for what climate experts call “adaptation”: actions to reduce one’s vulnerability to the impacts of climate change. Examples of adaptation include when a community builds sea walls to protect against hurricanes, when a homeowner plants trees around the house to shade it from extra heat, and when a farmer shifts from growing almonds and alfalfa to less thirsty crops. By contrast, “mitigation” refers to actions to limit global temperature rise, such as replacing a coal-fired power plant with a wind turbine or installing more efficient appliances, windows, and insulation to reduce the amount of energy a household uses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Adaptation has never gotten the attention mitigation gets, perhaps because it was assumed, wrongly, that the rich could adapt relatively easily to rising temperatures. For example, the British government spent roughly $3 billion dollars to build the Thames Barrier, a set of massive floodgates downriver from central London, to protect the city from North Sea storm surges. But in fact, adaptation and mitigation are twin imperatives: Mitigation is essential to limit temperature rise to an amount humans can survive, but adaptation is no less essential; because we’ve waited so long, stronger climate impacts are now unavoidable, and the only way to survive them is to prepare.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some of the best climate adaptation research and practice happens to be found in two of the most vulnerable countries on earth: The Netherlands and Bangladesh. The former is rich, the latter not, illustrating that wealth alone is not decisive. More important is that a country starts adapting now, rather than waiting until climate impacts engulf it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Examples of successful adaptation abound (see CCNow executive director Mark Hertsgaard’s book “HOT: Living Through the Next Fifty Years on Earth” for specifics), but they all cost money, which is where the contrast between rich and poor does have meaning. A low-income country such as Bangladesh simply does not have the financial means as the wealthy Netherlands to adapt to a changing climate and its worsening impacts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Which is why the issue of climate adaptation will arise at COP26 mainly in regards to the $100 billion in annual aid that rich countries have pledged to provide to poor countries. This pledge, enshrined in the 2015 Paris Agreement, is supposed to subsidize both mitigation and adaptation efforts in poor countries. Independent experts calculate that poor countries need much more than that; meanwhile, rich countries have not provided even that much. \u003ca href=\"https://oxfamilibrary.openrepository.com/bitstream/handle/10546/621066/bp-climate-finance-shadow-report-2020-201020-en.pdf\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">An analysis\u003c/a> by the anti-poverty NGO Oxfam found that in 2018 (the last year with reliable data), climate aid was roughly $20 to $22 billion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Developing countries \u003ca href=\"https://www.devex.com/news/climate-vulnerable-nations-demand-urgent-boost-for-delayed-funds-100331\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">have warned\u003c/a> in the lead-up to COP26 that there will be no deal if rich countries don’t deliver a credible plan to deliver the $100 billion in annual aid.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"link1": "https://unfccc.int/topics/climate-finance/the-big-picture/climate-finance-in-the-negotiations,Climate Finance in the Negotiations (from the United Nations)",
"link2": "https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WP/Issues/2021/09/23/Still-Not-Getting-Energy-Prices-Right-A-Global-and-Country-Update-of-Fossil-Fuel-Subsidies-466004,Still Not Getting Energy Prices Right: A Global and Country Update of Fossil Fuel Subsidies (from the International Monetary Fund)"
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cstrong>How Do We Pay for 1.5C?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Money is at the heart of the climate emergency and its solutions. This is true both of public money (i.e., government) and private money (i.e., banks and investors). For many years, most public and private money incentivized climate-destructive activities. At the moment, the world’s governments provide roughly $5.9 trillion a year in subsidies for fossil fuels, according to the International Monetary Fund. The vast majority of governments’ stimulus spending to revive Covid-battered economies has reinforced the status quo rather than boosted the zero-carbon activities necessary to ensure a climate-safe future. The challenge now is to halt spending that harms the climate and redirect it to things that help it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Judging from the Paris climate summit’s impact, COP26 also could have a profound influence on global money flows. The Paris Agreement’s pledge to transition the global economy to “net zero” emissions by 2050 sent a powerful message that public and private sector leaders have taken to heart. Three quarters of the coal plants planned or being built at the time of the Paris Agreement have been scrapped. That’s partly because solar and other alternative sources were becoming cheaper. But it’s also because government planners and private investors read the writing on the wall after Paris: Coal could only survive with massive state subsidies, and governments facing widespread concerns about climate change were unlikely to keep providing those subsidies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A similar dynamic is playing out around fossil fuels in general. Mark Carney, the UN Special Envoy on Climate Action and Finance, was the head of the Bank of England in 2014 when he began warning about a “carbon bubble” that could crash the global economy. Preventing catastrophic climate change, Carney pointed out, required leaving most of fossil fuel reserves in the ground. But those reserves were (and still are) counted as wealth in the stock holdings of investors; leaving them unburned would render trillions of dollars of invested wealth worthless. That could spark a global financial crisis as destructive as the one unleashed when the housing bubble burst in 2008.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some of the world’s richest investors have accordingly begun distancing themselves from fossil fuels. BlackRock, the largest money-manager on earth, said in 2020 that it would shun fossil fuels and assume the world economy was moving towards alignment with the Paris Agreement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now that smart money is abandoning fossil fuels, two big questions are coming into focus: How much of the market will follow? And will enough money flow to the climate-friendly technologies and practices needed to defuse the climate emergency? Again, much will depend on how strong a message emerges from COP26. Journalists should monitor what governments say they will and won’t spend on climate action — not just in fiscal budgets but also through central banks. Also key is what governments will do to encourage private banks and investors to stop funding climate destruction and instead finance climate solutions.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "These 4 Charts Explain Why the Stakes Are So High at the U.N. Climate Summit",
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"headTitle": "These 4 Charts Explain Why the Stakes Are So High at the U.N. Climate Summit | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>Leaders from around the world are gathering in Glasgow, Scotland, to hammer out new pledges to fight climate change. The stakes are high. Scientists warn that heat-trapping emissions must fall dramatically by 2030. Otherwise, the world faces more extreme hurricanes, floods and droughts, likely displacing millions of people. Still, negotiations at the COP26 meeting are expected to be tough. Here are four reasons why. \u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>#1 The world is not on track to avoid extreme climate change\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Countries have \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/04/19/986973263/faq-americas-new-promise-on-climate\">already made pledges\u003c/a> to cut their greenhouse gas emissions by moving away from burning fossil fuels. But added together, those pledges don’t reduce emissions enough to avoid the worst damage from climate change. Current policies put the world on track for around 4.8 degrees of warming by 2100, compared with global average temperatures in the mid-19th century. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Globally, the goal is to limit warming to 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit, which \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/08/10/1026137992/3-things-to-know-about-what-scientists-say-about-our-future-climate\">scientists say is a crucial difference\u003c/a>. The world would still experience worsening heat waves and storms, but not as intense and dangerous. Coral reefs would have a shot at avoiding a massive die-off. But to achieve that, emissions need to fall about 45% by 2030, compared with 2010 levels. That means countries will need to commit to far more ambitious goals. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/cop26-gap-promo-b26e1e03cdad4b761398d2b226d9c77972e3acb5-1.png\" alt=\"A chart showing the large gap between greenhouse gas emissions under current policies and emissions needed to limit warming to around 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit by 2100.\" width=\"1637\" height=\"1228\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1977411\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/cop26-gap-promo-b26e1e03cdad4b761398d2b226d9c77972e3acb5-1.png 1637w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/cop26-gap-promo-b26e1e03cdad4b761398d2b226d9c77972e3acb5-1-800x600.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/cop26-gap-promo-b26e1e03cdad4b761398d2b226d9c77972e3acb5-1-1020x765.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/cop26-gap-promo-b26e1e03cdad4b761398d2b226d9c77972e3acb5-1-160x120.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/cop26-gap-promo-b26e1e03cdad4b761398d2b226d9c77972e3acb5-1-768x576.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/cop26-gap-promo-b26e1e03cdad4b761398d2b226d9c77972e3acb5-1-1536x1152.png 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1637px) 100vw, 1637px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>#2 Wealthiest nations contribute the most to climate change\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The global goal is to reduce emissions, but questions remain about which countries should enact most of the reductions. Developing countries contribute a small fraction of the emissions from cars and power plants. But they’re enduring some of the worst damage from climate change, like island nations that face being erased by sea level rise. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The United Nations is \u003ca href=\"https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/articles/2020-12-11/carbon-neutrality-2050-the-world%E2%80%99s-most-urgent-mission\">calling on countries to be carbon neutral by 2050\u003c/a>, which means if a country is still emitting greenhouse gas emissions, they’re being absorbed by forests or other means to keep them from entering the atmosphere. The world’s largest climate polluter, China, has committed to \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/09/21/1039486454/china-coal-power-climate-change\">becoming carbon neutral only by 2060\u003c/a>. The country plans to have emissions rise until 2030. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/Screen-Shot-2021-11-02-at-10.38.50-AM.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1850\" height=\"1528\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1977413\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/Screen-Shot-2021-11-02-at-10.38.50-AM.png 1850w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/Screen-Shot-2021-11-02-at-10.38.50-AM-800x661.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/Screen-Shot-2021-11-02-at-10.38.50-AM-1020x842.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/Screen-Shot-2021-11-02-at-10.38.50-AM-160x132.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/Screen-Shot-2021-11-02-at-10.38.50-AM-768x634.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/Screen-Shot-2021-11-02-at-10.38.50-AM-1536x1269.png 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1850px) 100vw, 1850px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>#3 U.S. bears the biggest historic responsibility for climate change \u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>China holds the top spot for highest emissions currently, but history matters. Once emitted, carbon dioxide can \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/04/14/981333730/carbon-emissions-could-plummet-the-atmosphere-will-lag-behind\">last in the atmosphere for hundreds of years\u003c/a>, trapping heat that raises global temperatures. That means emissions from burning fossil fuels over the past 150 years are responsible for the warming happening today. Over that period, the U.S. has cumulatively emitted the most of any country. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The U.S has committed to a \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/04/22/988051091/biden-makes-new-pledge-for-u-s-greenhouse-gas-emissions-a-50-cut\">50% to 52% reduction in emissions\u003c/a> by 2030, which would come about through a significant \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/04/16/987667828/how-the-u-s-could-halve-climate-emissions-by-2030\">shift to renewable energy and electric cars\u003c/a>. Some environmental groups say that \u003ca href=\"https://foe.org/news/civil-society-groups-release-fair-shares-ndc-model-for-revised-u-s-climate-action-pledge-under-the-paris-agreement/\">falls short of the U.S.’s fair share\u003c/a>. Even a 50% cut depends heavily on \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/09/15/1036954961/congress-is-debating-its-biggest-climate-change-bill-ever-heres-whats-at-stake\">policies that Congress is currently hashing out\u003c/a> in a budget deal. If an agreement isn’t reached, the U.S. will arrive at COP26 without a credible path to achieve its emission goals, potentially hurting the negotiations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/Screen-Shot-2021-11-02-at-10.38.56-AM.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1746\" height=\"1228\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1977415\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/Screen-Shot-2021-11-02-at-10.38.56-AM.png 1746w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/Screen-Shot-2021-11-02-at-10.38.56-AM-800x563.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/Screen-Shot-2021-11-02-at-10.38.56-AM-1020x717.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/Screen-Shot-2021-11-02-at-10.38.56-AM-160x113.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/Screen-Shot-2021-11-02-at-10.38.56-AM-768x540.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/Screen-Shot-2021-11-02-at-10.38.56-AM-1536x1080.png 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1746px) 100vw, 1746px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>#4 Wealthier nations are falling short on promises for climate change funding\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>With hundreds of millions of people vulnerable to extreme weather like severe storms and droughts, developing countries secured a promise for $100 billion in climate finance annually from developed nations. The funding goes to projects like sustainable transportation and renewable energy, as well as helping communities prepare for more extreme events. Still, as of 2019, developed countries are still below the goal, which will be a point of contention in the COP26 negotiations. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/Screen-Shot-2021-11-02-at-10.39.04-AM.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1802\" height=\"1466\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1977416\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/Screen-Shot-2021-11-02-at-10.39.04-AM.png 1802w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/Screen-Shot-2021-11-02-at-10.39.04-AM-800x651.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/Screen-Shot-2021-11-02-at-10.39.04-AM-1020x830.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/Screen-Shot-2021-11-02-at-10.39.04-AM-160x130.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/Screen-Shot-2021-11-02-at-10.39.04-AM-768x625.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/Screen-Shot-2021-11-02-at-10.39.04-AM-1536x1250.png 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1802px) 100vw, 1802px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=These+4+charts+explain+why+the+stakes+are+so+high+at+the+U.N.+climate+summit&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "How hot will the planet get? What nations negotiate at the international climate summit will help determine that. Here are 4 things to know about what's being decided. ",
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"headline": "These 4 Charts Explain Why the Stakes Are So High at the U.N. Climate Summit",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Leaders from around the world are gathering in Glasgow, Scotland, to hammer out new pledges to fight climate change. The stakes are high. Scientists warn that heat-trapping emissions must fall dramatically by 2030. Otherwise, the world faces more extreme hurricanes, floods and droughts, likely displacing millions of people. Still, negotiations at the COP26 meeting are expected to be tough. Here are four reasons why. \u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>#1 The world is not on track to avoid extreme climate change\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Countries have \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/04/19/986973263/faq-americas-new-promise-on-climate\">already made pledges\u003c/a> to cut their greenhouse gas emissions by moving away from burning fossil fuels. But added together, those pledges don’t reduce emissions enough to avoid the worst damage from climate change. Current policies put the world on track for around 4.8 degrees of warming by 2100, compared with global average temperatures in the mid-19th century. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Globally, the goal is to limit warming to 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit, which \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/08/10/1026137992/3-things-to-know-about-what-scientists-say-about-our-future-climate\">scientists say is a crucial difference\u003c/a>. The world would still experience worsening heat waves and storms, but not as intense and dangerous. Coral reefs would have a shot at avoiding a massive die-off. But to achieve that, emissions need to fall about 45% by 2030, compared with 2010 levels. That means countries will need to commit to far more ambitious goals. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/cop26-gap-promo-b26e1e03cdad4b761398d2b226d9c77972e3acb5-1.png\" alt=\"A chart showing the large gap between greenhouse gas emissions under current policies and emissions needed to limit warming to around 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit by 2100.\" width=\"1637\" height=\"1228\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1977411\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/cop26-gap-promo-b26e1e03cdad4b761398d2b226d9c77972e3acb5-1.png 1637w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/cop26-gap-promo-b26e1e03cdad4b761398d2b226d9c77972e3acb5-1-800x600.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/cop26-gap-promo-b26e1e03cdad4b761398d2b226d9c77972e3acb5-1-1020x765.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/cop26-gap-promo-b26e1e03cdad4b761398d2b226d9c77972e3acb5-1-160x120.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/cop26-gap-promo-b26e1e03cdad4b761398d2b226d9c77972e3acb5-1-768x576.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/cop26-gap-promo-b26e1e03cdad4b761398d2b226d9c77972e3acb5-1-1536x1152.png 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1637px) 100vw, 1637px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>#2 Wealthiest nations contribute the most to climate change\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The global goal is to reduce emissions, but questions remain about which countries should enact most of the reductions. Developing countries contribute a small fraction of the emissions from cars and power plants. But they’re enduring some of the worst damage from climate change, like island nations that face being erased by sea level rise. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The United Nations is \u003ca href=\"https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/articles/2020-12-11/carbon-neutrality-2050-the-world%E2%80%99s-most-urgent-mission\">calling on countries to be carbon neutral by 2050\u003c/a>, which means if a country is still emitting greenhouse gas emissions, they’re being absorbed by forests or other means to keep them from entering the atmosphere. The world’s largest climate polluter, China, has committed to \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/09/21/1039486454/china-coal-power-climate-change\">becoming carbon neutral only by 2060\u003c/a>. The country plans to have emissions rise until 2030. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/Screen-Shot-2021-11-02-at-10.38.50-AM.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1850\" height=\"1528\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1977413\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/Screen-Shot-2021-11-02-at-10.38.50-AM.png 1850w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/Screen-Shot-2021-11-02-at-10.38.50-AM-800x661.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/Screen-Shot-2021-11-02-at-10.38.50-AM-1020x842.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/Screen-Shot-2021-11-02-at-10.38.50-AM-160x132.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/Screen-Shot-2021-11-02-at-10.38.50-AM-768x634.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/Screen-Shot-2021-11-02-at-10.38.50-AM-1536x1269.png 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1850px) 100vw, 1850px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>#3 U.S. bears the biggest historic responsibility for climate change \u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>China holds the top spot for highest emissions currently, but history matters. Once emitted, carbon dioxide can \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/04/14/981333730/carbon-emissions-could-plummet-the-atmosphere-will-lag-behind\">last in the atmosphere for hundreds of years\u003c/a>, trapping heat that raises global temperatures. That means emissions from burning fossil fuels over the past 150 years are responsible for the warming happening today. Over that period, the U.S. has cumulatively emitted the most of any country. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The U.S has committed to a \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/04/22/988051091/biden-makes-new-pledge-for-u-s-greenhouse-gas-emissions-a-50-cut\">50% to 52% reduction in emissions\u003c/a> by 2030, which would come about through a significant \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/04/16/987667828/how-the-u-s-could-halve-climate-emissions-by-2030\">shift to renewable energy and electric cars\u003c/a>. Some environmental groups say that \u003ca href=\"https://foe.org/news/civil-society-groups-release-fair-shares-ndc-model-for-revised-u-s-climate-action-pledge-under-the-paris-agreement/\">falls short of the U.S.’s fair share\u003c/a>. Even a 50% cut depends heavily on \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/09/15/1036954961/congress-is-debating-its-biggest-climate-change-bill-ever-heres-whats-at-stake\">policies that Congress is currently hashing out\u003c/a> in a budget deal. If an agreement isn’t reached, the U.S. will arrive at COP26 without a credible path to achieve its emission goals, potentially hurting the negotiations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/Screen-Shot-2021-11-02-at-10.38.56-AM.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1746\" height=\"1228\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1977415\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/Screen-Shot-2021-11-02-at-10.38.56-AM.png 1746w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/Screen-Shot-2021-11-02-at-10.38.56-AM-800x563.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/Screen-Shot-2021-11-02-at-10.38.56-AM-1020x717.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/Screen-Shot-2021-11-02-at-10.38.56-AM-160x113.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/Screen-Shot-2021-11-02-at-10.38.56-AM-768x540.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/Screen-Shot-2021-11-02-at-10.38.56-AM-1536x1080.png 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1746px) 100vw, 1746px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>#4 Wealthier nations are falling short on promises for climate change funding\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>With hundreds of millions of people vulnerable to extreme weather like severe storms and droughts, developing countries secured a promise for $100 billion in climate finance annually from developed nations. The funding goes to projects like sustainable transportation and renewable energy, as well as helping communities prepare for more extreme events. Still, as of 2019, developed countries are still below the goal, which will be a point of contention in the COP26 negotiations. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/Screen-Shot-2021-11-02-at-10.39.04-AM.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1802\" height=\"1466\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1977416\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/Screen-Shot-2021-11-02-at-10.39.04-AM.png 1802w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/Screen-Shot-2021-11-02-at-10.39.04-AM-800x651.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/Screen-Shot-2021-11-02-at-10.39.04-AM-1020x830.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/Screen-Shot-2021-11-02-at-10.39.04-AM-160x130.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/Screen-Shot-2021-11-02-at-10.39.04-AM-768x625.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/Screen-Shot-2021-11-02-at-10.39.04-AM-1536x1250.png 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1802px) 100vw, 1802px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=These+4+charts+explain+why+the+stakes+are+so+high+at+the+U.N.+climate+summit&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "whats-at-stake-for-california-and-newsom-at-u-n-climate-conference-cop26",
"title": "What's at Stake for California at U.N. Climate Conference?",
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"headTitle": "What’s at Stake for California at U.N. Climate Conference? | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Updated Nov. 1\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s what some are calling \u003ca href=\"https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-us-canada-55835266\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the last, best chance\u003c/a> for world leaders to agree on how to stop catastrophic climate change, and what others \u003ca href=\"https://www.politico.com/states/california/whiteboard/2021/10/27/schwarzenegger-nothing-is-getting-done-at-un-climate-summits-1392090\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">say could be fruitless.\u003c/a> Either way, California will be well represented.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://ukcop26.org/uk-presidency/what-is-a-cop/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">26th United Nations climate change conference\u003c/a> will draw global leaders to Glasgow, Scotland, next week, including \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2021/10/25/california-governor-newsom-to-attend-united-nations-climate-change-conference-to-call-on-global-community-to-end-reliance-on-oil/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">a 20-plus official delegation\u003c/a> from California led by Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, following Gov. Gavin Newsom’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11894391/gov-newsom-abruptly-cancels-trip-to-un-climate-conference\">abrupt cancellation on Friday\u003c/a>. Newsom now plans to attend the conference virtually.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The meeting comes as the extreme impacts of climate change continue to pummel California, which saw \u003ca href=\"https://www.capradio.org/articles/2021/10/25/sacramento-went-from-record-drought-to-record-rain-climate-change-may-make-that-more-common/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">torrential rains\u003c/a> this week even in the midst of \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/california-drought-water/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">a devastating drought\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The stakes are high. It’s an important issue in California,” said \u003ca href=\"https://www.law.berkeley.edu/research/clee/about/people/ken-alex/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ken Alex\u003c/a>, senior policy adviser on climate and environment under former Gov. Jerry Brown and now director of \u003ca href=\"https://www.law.berkeley.edu/research/clee/research/climate/projectclimate/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Project Climate\u003c/a> at UC Berkeley Law. Rattling off climate impacts such as drought, flooding, sea level rise and wildfires, Alex added, “It’s very real for California. California is going to continue on, but we need to see the world join us.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year’s conference is the first since \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/explainers/biden-presidency-california-environment/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">President Joe Biden took office\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/01/20/paris-climate-agreement/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">rejoined the Paris climate agreement\u003c/a> to cut planet-warming greenhouse gas pollution worldwide, marking a seismic shift in the national approach to tackling climate change. It also marks a fundamental change to California’s role, no longer battling a federal foe in former President Donald Trump.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Brown did a wonderful job with the wicked man from Washington, with saying, ‘We are different from them, and we have our own policy,’” said state \u003ca href=\"https://sd10.senate.ca.gov/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sen. Bob Wieckowski\u003c/a>, who will be attending the climate conference.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, the Fremont Democrat said, Newsom has to go beyond that and show concrete, short-term plans: “He has to write a new chapter on commitment.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Though California \u003ca href=\"https://www.chathamhouse.org/sites/default/files/publications/2019-01-23-Duggan.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">doesn’t have an official seat\u003c/a> at a negotiating table reserved for nations, the conference is a chance for California to burnish its reputation as a climate leader and weigh in on critical issues, such as carbon trading and methane pollution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s also a chance for lawmakers and top state environmental officials to discuss the state’s climate strategy amongst themselves, now that Newsom \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2021/09/california-recall-election-results/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">has survived the Sept. 14 recall election\u003c/a> and is laying the groundwork for his 2022 reelection campaign.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Environmental advocates have \u003ca href=\"https://theclimatecenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/COP26-Gov-Newsom-Climate-Policy-Recs-The-Climate-Center-092121.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">a wish list of action items for Newsom and his team on the ground\u003c/a>, urging the administration to “meet the moment” by announcing more ambitious climate policies, such as stopping permits for all new oil and gas development.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Climate-minded voters showed up by the millions for Newsom,” Ellie Cohen, CEO of The Climate Center, \u003ca href=\"https://www.sacbee.com/opinion/op-ed/article254929682.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">wrote in a Sacramento Bee commentary\u003c/a>. And at the conference, “we’re expecting him to show up for us.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Former Gov. Brown, who has \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2017/11/leaving-europe-brown-says-hes-talked-enough-wants-get-something-done/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">appeared at the annual summits himself\u003c/a>, said Newsom has to persuade other leaders about the need for action.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He’ll get ideas from others, and that’s good. But most importantly is to get others to do what California is doing so we’re not the outlier. We don’t want to have rules that the rest of the world doesn’t have,” Brown told CalMatters. “California’s there in an important way because we’re a carbon polluter, and we’re also a carbon problem solver.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, however, is more skeptical that the conference will lead to meaningful climate action.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label=\"related coverage\" tag=climate-change\"]“What does a promise and a pledge mean in the end? Nothing,” Schwarzenegger \u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/g-nxcqigplI?t=3402\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">said Wednesday at an\u003c/a> environmental justice conference hosted by the South Coast Air Quality Management District. “It’s just over and over, year after year, they make these pledges. And they come out, they declare victory, but then nothing is getting done. And so this is what I’m worried about.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California enters the conference with some clear climate wins. The state reached its 2020 goals \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/news/governor-newsom-announces-climate-pollution-continues-drop-below-2020-target-while-states\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">to cut greenhouse gas pollution\u003c/a> to 1990 levels \u003ca href=\"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0301421519308018\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">four years early\u003c/a>, scrubbed carbon from the electricity sector with \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2020/01/california-renewable-energy-solar-policy-cuts-greenhouse-gases/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">ambitious renewable energy standards\u003c/a> and led the nation \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/explainers/california-auto-emissions-standards-fight-with-donald-trump-explained/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">with clean car rules\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But California is caught in a balancing act. Despite its climate-forward image, it is \u003ca href=\"https://www.eia.gov/state/?sid=CA#tabs-3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the seventh largest producer\u003c/a> of crude oil in the country. And the state’s \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/news/latest-state-greenhouse-gas-inventory-shows-emissions-continue-drop-below-2020-target\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">top clean air regulator\u003c/a> has warned that California will need much greater cuts in greenhouse gas pollution to reach its goals, which the \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2021/02/audit-overstating-greenhouse-gas-cuts/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">state auditor has also said\u003c/a> California will fail to meet if it doesn’t \u003ca href=\"http://auditor.ca.gov/reports/2020-114/introduction.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pick up the pace\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Though hundreds of California local, state and federal candidates and politicians have taken the \u003ca href=\"http://nofossilfuelmoney.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">No Fossil Fuel Money\u003c/a> pledge, the executive board of the California Democratic Party \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/environment/newsletter/2021-10-28/should-california-democrats-take-oil-and-gas-money-the-party-is-torn-boiling-point\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">voted last weekend\u003c/a> to delay a decision and instead study whether to ban contributions from the fossil fuel industry and certain utility companies, including PG&E and Southern California Edison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It certainly sends a message that the party doesn’t care about climate change,” said \u003ca href=\"http://climatehawksvote.com/about/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">RL Miller\u003c/a>, a member of the Democratic National Committee and president of Climate Hawks Vote Political Action, who pushed for the vote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom has \u003ca href=\"https://biologicaldiversity.org/w/news/press-releases/newsom-administration-sued-over-thousands-of-unlawful-oil-gas-projects-2021-02-24/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">drawn criticism\u003c/a> from environmental advocates for not doing more to curb oil and gas production, which disproportionately affects lower-income communities of color. Last week, however, he publicly \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2021/10/newsom-oil-wells-rules/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">backed tougher rules\u003c/a> for oil and gas wells, \u003ca href=\"https://caleja.org/2021/10/vision-coalition-commends-historic-3200-ft-setback-for-public-health-urges-governor-newsom-to-close-loopholes-and-phase-out-neighborhood-drilling/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">a move environmental advocates applauded\u003c/a>, after ordering \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2021/04/newsom-ban-new-oil-fracking/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">a ban on new fracking by 2024\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Newsom does have a habit of overpromising and under delivering. But I think he has a real opportunity at COP26 to be a transformative leader,” Miller said. “People will be listening to the speeches, but equally, listening for action.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3 id=\"h-you-go-because-everybody-else-is-going\">‘You go because everybody else is going’\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://ukcop26.org/uk-presidency/what-is-a-cop/\">Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, or COP26\u003c/a>, is part international negotiation, part political stage and part climate-palooza.\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>Even with COVID-19 limits, about \u003ca href=\"https://www.un.org/en/un-climate-change-conference-cop-26\">190 world leaders and tens of thousands of others\u003c/a> are expected to converge on Glasgow, starting Monday. Britain’s Queen Elizabeth, however, pulled out at the last minute \u003ca href=\"https://www.reuters.com/business/cop/uks-queen-elizabeth-will-not-attend-cop26-following-advice-rest-2021-10-26/\">after a hospital visit\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The program lays out \u003ca href=\"https://unfccc.int/sites/default/files/resource/Overview_schedule_COP26.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">plenary sessions and mandated workshops\u003c/a>, but also “\u003ca href=\"https://ukcop26.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/COP26-Green-Zone-Exhibitors.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">innovative spaces and experiences”\u003c/a> hosted by major corporations including\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>Microsoft, Hitachi and the British grocery chain Sainsbury’s. Attendees can visit creative exhibits from local artists, and a showcase of electric and hydrogen-powered vehicles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s like “a trade association meeting, where most of the people who work on these issues get together and get to see each other and talk to each other and reinforce each other,” \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2020/12/mary-nichols-czar-legacy-skies-controversy/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mary Nichols\u003c/a>, the former California Air Resources Board chair, told CalMatters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She has attended a half-dozen of them. “You go because everybody else is going, because it’s a good place to see people and follow up or create relationships,” Nichols said. “It’s a global problem, after all.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This particular conference comes at a pivotal moment, six years after the landmark COP21 where 196 countries adopted the \u003ca href=\"https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement/the-paris-agreement\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Paris Agreement\u003c/a>. The international treaty is aimed at cutting planet-heating greenhouse gas pollution enough to limit global warming well below 2 degrees Celsius.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Global leaders have been hashing out the playbook for the Paris Agreement ever since, \u003ca href=\"https://theconversation.com/4-key-issues-to-watch-as-world-leaders-prepare-for-the-glasgow-climate-summit-170536?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Science%20Editors%20Picks%20%20October%2027%202021%20-%202098620738&utm_content=Science%20Editors%20Picks%20%20October%2027%202021%20-%202098620738+Version+A+CID_c89472bbcef00598126d6acb2c26d1b1&utm_source=campaign_monitor_us&utm_term=lays%20out%20the%20key%20issues%20on%20the%20table%20at%20the%20Glasgow%20summit\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">negotiating\u003c/a> over the role of carbon markets in curbing climate change, how to spur further greenhouse gas cuts, and ensuring \u003ca href=\"https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/06/1094762\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">funding\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://ukcop26.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Climate-Finance-Delivery-Plan-1.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">for\u003c/a> developing countries to cover the costs of adapting to a warming world. Though developed nations pledged to contribute \u003ca href=\"https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/06/1094762\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">$100 billion per year by 2020\u003c/a>, they \u003ca href=\"https://ukcop26.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Climate-Finance-Delivery-Plan-1.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">appear to have fallen short\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Paris set the destination — limiting warming well below 2 degrees, aiming for 1.5 degrees — Glasgow must make it a reality, ” \u003ca href=\"https://ukcop26.org/uk-presidency/negotiations/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the COP26 organizers wrote.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under the Paris Agreement, governments around the world developed \u003ca href=\"https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement/nationally-determined-contributions-ndcs/nationally-determined-contributions-ndcs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">their own climate action plans to cut emissions\u003c/a>. Many updated their pledges in the lead-up to the summit. But \u003ca href=\"https://unfccc.int/news/updated-ndc-synthesis-report-worrying-trends-confirmed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">a new U.N. report\u003c/a> says that the plans fall woefully short — leading to an increase in global greenhouse gas pollution that could cause temperatures to rise by about 2.7 degrees Celsius by the end of the century.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Overshooting the temperature goals will lead to a destabilised world and endless suffering, especially among those who have contributed the least to the [greenhouse gas] emissions in the atmosphere,” \u003ca href=\"https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/profiles/patricia-espinosa\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Patricia Espinosa\u003c/a>, executive secretary of the U.N. climate change secretariat, \u003ca href=\"https://unfccc.int/news/updated-ndc-synthesis-report-worrying-trends-confirmed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">said in a statement\u003c/a>. “We are nowhere near where science says we should be.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>A changing landscape for the U.S. and California\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Newsom may like to call California a nation-state, but as a subnational government, it doesn’t have an official role in the climate negotiations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state has, however, had an outsized voice in international discussions about global warming — providing a clear example that \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/news/latest-state-greenhouse-gas-inventory-shows-emissions-continue-drop-below-2020-target\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">economic growth and cuts in carbon emissions\u003c/a> can happen at the same time, in the same place. In 2015, Brown joined \u003ca href=\"https://www.ca.gov/archive/gov39/2015/05/19/news18964/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">with the leaders of 11 other states and provinces\u003c/a>, agreeing to limit global temperatures from climbing more than 2 degrees Celsius. The Under2 Coalition says it has since grown \u003ca href=\"https://www.theclimategroup.org/under2-coalition\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">to include 260 governments\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When the Trump administration abandoned the Paris climate accord, Brown stepped in. As a \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2017/11/leaving-europe-brown-says-hes-talked-enough-wants-get-something-done/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">de facto climate leader\u003c/a>, he \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2017/11/gov-jerry-brown-traverses-europe-climate-crusade/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">rallied states and regions\u003c/a> at the international summit in 2017 — warning in an interview that “Trump better get on board or get out of the way.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The stakes for the COP itself are very high, because the U.S. is returning to the fold,” said Alex, \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2018/10/ken-alex-jerry-brown-climate-change-california/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Brown’s climate “concierge.”\u003c/a> “California has been very steady for a long time. But in the four years of Trump, California stuck to its guns, its economy continued. And now, we have a lot of credibility worldwide.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>President Biden \u003ca href=\"https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/01/20/paris-climate-agreement/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">rejoined the Paris Agreement\u003c/a> almost as soon as he took office in January — pivoting the federal government into position as California’s climate ally, rather than its opponent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As Biden prepares to leave for Europe today, he \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-congress-democrats-budget-framework-60a1bc276d0ab8eb3e0347fc54ee8c2c?utm_medium=AP&utm_campaign=SocialFlow&utm_source=Twitter\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">announced the “framework”\u003c/a> for an agreement with fellow Democrats in Congress on a massive climate change and social services spending package that \u003ca href=\"https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/10/28/build-back-better-framework/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">includes $555 billion in clean energy tax credits\u003c/a>, incentives and climate resilience investments. That spending would “turn the climate crisis into an opportunity,” he said at the White House, by significantly reducing carbon emissions by 2030, growing the domestic clean energy industry, putting electric school buses on the road and promoting environmental justice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“California’s leadership has been challenged in the last four years, but those headwinds now are tailwinds with the Biden administration. We’re not sparring partners, we’re working partners as it relates to issues of climate change and dealing with the challenges of wildfires,” \u003ca href=\"https://www.rev.com/blog/transcripts/joe-biden-gavin-newsom-speech-on-wildfires-transcript-september-13\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Newsom said\u003c/a> when Biden visited California in September to \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2021/09/13/governor-newsom-welcomes-president-biden-to-california-for-wildfire-briefing-and-caldor-fire-damage-survey/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">survey fire damage\u003c/a> and show his support before the recall election.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All eyes should be on the U.S. and China, Brown said, calling everything else a “distraction.” \u003ca href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/biden-kerry-sullivan-cop26-china-climate/2021/10/25/8429aa96-3502-11ec-9a5d-93a89c74e76d_story.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tensions\u003c/a> between the two nations could \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2021-10-27/china-united-states-climate-cooperation\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">hinder climate negotiations\u003c/a>. “Without Xi Jinping and Biden being able to work together, then everything else will not succeed,” he said in an interview Wednesday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Although he hasn’t confirmed his attendance, \u003ca href=\"https://www.reuters.com/business/cop/xis-not-there-cop26-hopes-dim-chinese-leaders-likely-absence-2021-10-26/\">Xi is widely expected to be a no-show\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re not doing enough, and the national leaders, particularly China and the U.S., have to exert themselves and become more imaginative and do more,” Brown said. “The rest of the people are more cheerleading from the stands.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said the baton on climate change leadership has been passed from governor to governor, starting with Gray Davis, then Schwarzenegger, himself and now Newsom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Newsom is carrying the ball to the next level,” Brown said. “It’s been a continuous movement in the right direction, although not anywhere near where it needs to be to get the job done.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s lawmakers have plans of their own for the meeting, including a session with members of the Scottish Parliament to discuss the subnational governments’ climate efforts, Wieckowski said. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/commentary/2021/10/two-goals-for-california-at-the-global-climate-conference/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Many in the legislative contingent said\u003c/a> they were eager to bring ideas home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This was not a good year for climate policy legislation in the Legislature, and I’m anxious to go and see what other people are doing, and get energized by their efforts — and see if we can’t bring it back to California,” said \u003ca href=\"https://sd17.senate.ca.gov/biography\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sen. John Laird\u003c/a>, a Democrat from Monterey and former natural resources secretary under Brown.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State \u003ca href=\"https://sd33.senate.ca.gov/biography\">Sen. Lena Gonzalez\u003c/a>, a Democrat from Long Beach and chair of the Senate transportation committee, said her focus will be on clean transportation programs, \u003ca href=\"https://ww3.arb.ca.gov/cc/inventory/pubs/reports/2000_2019/ghg_inventory_trends_00-19.pdf\">the largest source\u003c/a> of greenhouse gases in the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Transportation has become sort of this really sexy topic, but so important as it pertains to reduction of our [greenhouse gas] emissions,” Gonzalez said. “I’m looking forward to going as chair of transportation and as someone who has a lot of impacts back home.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv id=\"cm_ld_legislator_card-block_6179fda466bb5\" class=\"cm_ld_legislator-card__container \">\n\u003cp>Tackling methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, is also \u003ca href=\"https://ukcop26.org/cop26-president-designate-6-months-to-go-speech/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">on the agenda\u003c/a> — with the U.S. and 31 other countries \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/11/climate/methane-global-climate.html#:~:text=The%20pledge%2C%20developed%20with%20the,methane%20polluters%20had%20signed%20on.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pledging to cut methane pollution\u003c/a> 30% by 2030. California made its own pledge in 2016, \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160SB1383\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">with a law requiring a 40% cut\u003c/a> to methane pollution by the same deadline.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ve had this target in statute for five years,” said \u003ca href=\"https://www.edf.org/people/katelyn-roedner-sutter\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Katelyn Roedner Sutter\u003c/a>, a senior manager with the Environmental Defense Fund, which is co-hosting a methane pavilion at the conference. “And we can say these are the things that we’re looking at, and this is what’s worked and what hasn’t worked.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So is the annual summit a big deal for California? “It is, and it isn’t,” Alex said. “This is about the U.S. But California really is an example of where we need to head. And California, of course, needs to go faster as well.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Charting a new climate course\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Environmental advocates call this meeting an opportunity to \u003ca href=\"https://www.sacbee.com/opinion/op-ed/article254929682.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">regain California’s climate ambition\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The bloom is no longer on the rose of California’s general reputation as a leader,” said environmental advocate Miller. “California has an opportunity to reclaim its mantle as a leader, but only if Gavin Newsom starts taking seriously the process of winding down the fossil fuel industry.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Part of the conversation at the annual summit will be establishing rules around emissions trading. But \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2018/05/checking-the-math-on-cap-and-trade-some-experts-say-its-not-adding-up/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">independent experts\u003c/a> and state \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2020/06/california-climate-strategy-cap-trade/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">lawmakers\u003c/a> have raised concerns that California’s landmark cap-and-trade program — the first in the nation to create a carbon market for all segments of the economy — might be too weak to reach the state’s greenhouse gas targets. Nearly a decade after its launch, California \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/economy/2019/06/oregon-carbon-cap-trade-bill-california-west/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">has not enticed\u003c/a> any other western states to join its cap-and-trade program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Neena Mohan, climate justice program manager for the California Environmental Justice Alliance, said that climate solutions must prioritize direct reductions in emissions and called on Newsom to champion “California’s bold actions toward an oil and gas phase-out and end to neighborhood drilling, while sharing the lessons learned from the failures of cap and trade.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As for transportation, \u003ca href=\"https://lao.ca.gov/handouts/resources/2020/Assessing-California's-Climate-Policies-03042020.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office\u003c/a> said last year it remains largely unclear how effectively California’s policies are reducing climate-warming pollution from cars and trucks. The state auditor in February slammed the California Air Resources Board for overestimating the greenhouse gas cuts from \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2021/02/audit-overstating-greenhouse-gas-cuts/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">clean car incentive programs\u003c/a>. Newsom \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2020/09/california-ban-gasoline-powered-cars-in-2035/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">ordered the air board to come up with a plan\u003c/a> for phasing out the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035, but the regulations are still in the works.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, in September, Newsom signed a \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2021/09/23/governor-newsom-signs-climate-action-bills-outlines-historic-15-billion-package-to-tackle-the-climate-crisis-and-protect-vulnerable-communities/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">$15 billion climate package\u003c/a>, which The Climate Center’s Cohen \u003ca href=\"https://www.sacbee.com/opinion/op-ed/article254929682.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">wrote\u003c/a> was “a strong start.” And Miller said she was heartened to see Newsom’s backing of health and safety buffer zones around new oil and gas wells.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Newsom did survive this recall handily, and I think he’s now looking at what he wants to do for not just the remainder of this term but for his next term,” Miller said. “And rather than be content with simply implementing the Jerry Brown policies, I think he’s genuinely beginning to grapple with phasing out oil production in California.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-pullquote amp-wp-8d3b884\" data-amp-original-style=\"border-color:#F4BB32\">\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"title": "What's at Stake for California at U.N. Climate Conference? | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Updated Nov. 1\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s what some are calling \u003ca href=\"https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-us-canada-55835266\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the last, best chance\u003c/a> for world leaders to agree on how to stop catastrophic climate change, and what others \u003ca href=\"https://www.politico.com/states/california/whiteboard/2021/10/27/schwarzenegger-nothing-is-getting-done-at-un-climate-summits-1392090\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">say could be fruitless.\u003c/a> Either way, California will be well represented.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://ukcop26.org/uk-presidency/what-is-a-cop/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">26th United Nations climate change conference\u003c/a> will draw global leaders to Glasgow, Scotland, next week, including \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2021/10/25/california-governor-newsom-to-attend-united-nations-climate-change-conference-to-call-on-global-community-to-end-reliance-on-oil/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">a 20-plus official delegation\u003c/a> from California led by Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, following Gov. Gavin Newsom’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11894391/gov-newsom-abruptly-cancels-trip-to-un-climate-conference\">abrupt cancellation on Friday\u003c/a>. Newsom now plans to attend the conference virtually.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The meeting comes as the extreme impacts of climate change continue to pummel California, which saw \u003ca href=\"https://www.capradio.org/articles/2021/10/25/sacramento-went-from-record-drought-to-record-rain-climate-change-may-make-that-more-common/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">torrential rains\u003c/a> this week even in the midst of \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/california-drought-water/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">a devastating drought\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The stakes are high. It’s an important issue in California,” said \u003ca href=\"https://www.law.berkeley.edu/research/clee/about/people/ken-alex/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ken Alex\u003c/a>, senior policy adviser on climate and environment under former Gov. Jerry Brown and now director of \u003ca href=\"https://www.law.berkeley.edu/research/clee/research/climate/projectclimate/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Project Climate\u003c/a> at UC Berkeley Law. Rattling off climate impacts such as drought, flooding, sea level rise and wildfires, Alex added, “It’s very real for California. California is going to continue on, but we need to see the world join us.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year’s conference is the first since \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/explainers/biden-presidency-california-environment/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">President Joe Biden took office\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/01/20/paris-climate-agreement/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">rejoined the Paris climate agreement\u003c/a> to cut planet-warming greenhouse gas pollution worldwide, marking a seismic shift in the national approach to tackling climate change. It also marks a fundamental change to California’s role, no longer battling a federal foe in former President Donald Trump.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Brown did a wonderful job with the wicked man from Washington, with saying, ‘We are different from them, and we have our own policy,’” said state \u003ca href=\"https://sd10.senate.ca.gov/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sen. Bob Wieckowski\u003c/a>, who will be attending the climate conference.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, the Fremont Democrat said, Newsom has to go beyond that and show concrete, short-term plans: “He has to write a new chapter on commitment.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Though California \u003ca href=\"https://www.chathamhouse.org/sites/default/files/publications/2019-01-23-Duggan.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">doesn’t have an official seat\u003c/a> at a negotiating table reserved for nations, the conference is a chance for California to burnish its reputation as a climate leader and weigh in on critical issues, such as carbon trading and methane pollution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s also a chance for lawmakers and top state environmental officials to discuss the state’s climate strategy amongst themselves, now that Newsom \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2021/09/california-recall-election-results/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">has survived the Sept. 14 recall election\u003c/a> and is laying the groundwork for his 2022 reelection campaign.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Environmental advocates have \u003ca href=\"https://theclimatecenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/COP26-Gov-Newsom-Climate-Policy-Recs-The-Climate-Center-092121.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">a wish list of action items for Newsom and his team on the ground\u003c/a>, urging the administration to “meet the moment” by announcing more ambitious climate policies, such as stopping permits for all new oil and gas development.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Climate-minded voters showed up by the millions for Newsom,” Ellie Cohen, CEO of The Climate Center, \u003ca href=\"https://www.sacbee.com/opinion/op-ed/article254929682.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">wrote in a Sacramento Bee commentary\u003c/a>. And at the conference, “we’re expecting him to show up for us.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Former Gov. Brown, who has \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2017/11/leaving-europe-brown-says-hes-talked-enough-wants-get-something-done/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">appeared at the annual summits himself\u003c/a>, said Newsom has to persuade other leaders about the need for action.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He’ll get ideas from others, and that’s good. But most importantly is to get others to do what California is doing so we’re not the outlier. We don’t want to have rules that the rest of the world doesn’t have,” Brown told CalMatters. “California’s there in an important way because we’re a carbon polluter, and we’re also a carbon problem solver.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, however, is more skeptical that the conference will lead to meaningful climate action.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“What does a promise and a pledge mean in the end? Nothing,” Schwarzenegger \u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/g-nxcqigplI?t=3402\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">said Wednesday at an\u003c/a> environmental justice conference hosted by the South Coast Air Quality Management District. “It’s just over and over, year after year, they make these pledges. And they come out, they declare victory, but then nothing is getting done. And so this is what I’m worried about.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California enters the conference with some clear climate wins. The state reached its 2020 goals \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/news/governor-newsom-announces-climate-pollution-continues-drop-below-2020-target-while-states\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">to cut greenhouse gas pollution\u003c/a> to 1990 levels \u003ca href=\"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0301421519308018\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">four years early\u003c/a>, scrubbed carbon from the electricity sector with \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2020/01/california-renewable-energy-solar-policy-cuts-greenhouse-gases/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">ambitious renewable energy standards\u003c/a> and led the nation \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/explainers/california-auto-emissions-standards-fight-with-donald-trump-explained/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">with clean car rules\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But California is caught in a balancing act. Despite its climate-forward image, it is \u003ca href=\"https://www.eia.gov/state/?sid=CA#tabs-3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the seventh largest producer\u003c/a> of crude oil in the country. And the state’s \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/news/latest-state-greenhouse-gas-inventory-shows-emissions-continue-drop-below-2020-target\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">top clean air regulator\u003c/a> has warned that California will need much greater cuts in greenhouse gas pollution to reach its goals, which the \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2021/02/audit-overstating-greenhouse-gas-cuts/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">state auditor has also said\u003c/a> California will fail to meet if it doesn’t \u003ca href=\"http://auditor.ca.gov/reports/2020-114/introduction.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pick up the pace\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Though hundreds of California local, state and federal candidates and politicians have taken the \u003ca href=\"http://nofossilfuelmoney.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">No Fossil Fuel Money\u003c/a> pledge, the executive board of the California Democratic Party \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/environment/newsletter/2021-10-28/should-california-democrats-take-oil-and-gas-money-the-party-is-torn-boiling-point\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">voted last weekend\u003c/a> to delay a decision and instead study whether to ban contributions from the fossil fuel industry and certain utility companies, including PG&E and Southern California Edison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It certainly sends a message that the party doesn’t care about climate change,” said \u003ca href=\"http://climatehawksvote.com/about/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">RL Miller\u003c/a>, a member of the Democratic National Committee and president of Climate Hawks Vote Political Action, who pushed for the vote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom has \u003ca href=\"https://biologicaldiversity.org/w/news/press-releases/newsom-administration-sued-over-thousands-of-unlawful-oil-gas-projects-2021-02-24/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">drawn criticism\u003c/a> from environmental advocates for not doing more to curb oil and gas production, which disproportionately affects lower-income communities of color. Last week, however, he publicly \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2021/10/newsom-oil-wells-rules/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">backed tougher rules\u003c/a> for oil and gas wells, \u003ca href=\"https://caleja.org/2021/10/vision-coalition-commends-historic-3200-ft-setback-for-public-health-urges-governor-newsom-to-close-loopholes-and-phase-out-neighborhood-drilling/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">a move environmental advocates applauded\u003c/a>, after ordering \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2021/04/newsom-ban-new-oil-fracking/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">a ban on new fracking by 2024\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Newsom does have a habit of overpromising and under delivering. But I think he has a real opportunity at COP26 to be a transformative leader,” Miller said. “People will be listening to the speeches, but equally, listening for action.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3 id=\"h-you-go-because-everybody-else-is-going\">‘You go because everybody else is going’\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://ukcop26.org/uk-presidency/what-is-a-cop/\">Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, or COP26\u003c/a>, is part international negotiation, part political stage and part climate-palooza.\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>Even with COVID-19 limits, about \u003ca href=\"https://www.un.org/en/un-climate-change-conference-cop-26\">190 world leaders and tens of thousands of others\u003c/a> are expected to converge on Glasgow, starting Monday. Britain’s Queen Elizabeth, however, pulled out at the last minute \u003ca href=\"https://www.reuters.com/business/cop/uks-queen-elizabeth-will-not-attend-cop26-following-advice-rest-2021-10-26/\">after a hospital visit\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The program lays out \u003ca href=\"https://unfccc.int/sites/default/files/resource/Overview_schedule_COP26.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">plenary sessions and mandated workshops\u003c/a>, but also “\u003ca href=\"https://ukcop26.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/COP26-Green-Zone-Exhibitors.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">innovative spaces and experiences”\u003c/a> hosted by major corporations including\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>Microsoft, Hitachi and the British grocery chain Sainsbury’s. Attendees can visit creative exhibits from local artists, and a showcase of electric and hydrogen-powered vehicles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s like “a trade association meeting, where most of the people who work on these issues get together and get to see each other and talk to each other and reinforce each other,” \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2020/12/mary-nichols-czar-legacy-skies-controversy/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mary Nichols\u003c/a>, the former California Air Resources Board chair, told CalMatters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She has attended a half-dozen of them. “You go because everybody else is going, because it’s a good place to see people and follow up or create relationships,” Nichols said. “It’s a global problem, after all.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This particular conference comes at a pivotal moment, six years after the landmark COP21 where 196 countries adopted the \u003ca href=\"https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement/the-paris-agreement\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Paris Agreement\u003c/a>. The international treaty is aimed at cutting planet-heating greenhouse gas pollution enough to limit global warming well below 2 degrees Celsius.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Global leaders have been hashing out the playbook for the Paris Agreement ever since, \u003ca href=\"https://theconversation.com/4-key-issues-to-watch-as-world-leaders-prepare-for-the-glasgow-climate-summit-170536?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Science%20Editors%20Picks%20%20October%2027%202021%20-%202098620738&utm_content=Science%20Editors%20Picks%20%20October%2027%202021%20-%202098620738+Version+A+CID_c89472bbcef00598126d6acb2c26d1b1&utm_source=campaign_monitor_us&utm_term=lays%20out%20the%20key%20issues%20on%20the%20table%20at%20the%20Glasgow%20summit\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">negotiating\u003c/a> over the role of carbon markets in curbing climate change, how to spur further greenhouse gas cuts, and ensuring \u003ca href=\"https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/06/1094762\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">funding\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://ukcop26.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Climate-Finance-Delivery-Plan-1.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">for\u003c/a> developing countries to cover the costs of adapting to a warming world. Though developed nations pledged to contribute \u003ca href=\"https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/06/1094762\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">$100 billion per year by 2020\u003c/a>, they \u003ca href=\"https://ukcop26.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Climate-Finance-Delivery-Plan-1.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">appear to have fallen short\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Paris set the destination — limiting warming well below 2 degrees, aiming for 1.5 degrees — Glasgow must make it a reality, ” \u003ca href=\"https://ukcop26.org/uk-presidency/negotiations/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the COP26 organizers wrote.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under the Paris Agreement, governments around the world developed \u003ca href=\"https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement/nationally-determined-contributions-ndcs/nationally-determined-contributions-ndcs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">their own climate action plans to cut emissions\u003c/a>. Many updated their pledges in the lead-up to the summit. But \u003ca href=\"https://unfccc.int/news/updated-ndc-synthesis-report-worrying-trends-confirmed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">a new U.N. report\u003c/a> says that the plans fall woefully short — leading to an increase in global greenhouse gas pollution that could cause temperatures to rise by about 2.7 degrees Celsius by the end of the century.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Overshooting the temperature goals will lead to a destabilised world and endless suffering, especially among those who have contributed the least to the [greenhouse gas] emissions in the atmosphere,” \u003ca href=\"https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/profiles/patricia-espinosa\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Patricia Espinosa\u003c/a>, executive secretary of the U.N. climate change secretariat, \u003ca href=\"https://unfccc.int/news/updated-ndc-synthesis-report-worrying-trends-confirmed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">said in a statement\u003c/a>. “We are nowhere near where science says we should be.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>A changing landscape for the U.S. and California\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Newsom may like to call California a nation-state, but as a subnational government, it doesn’t have an official role in the climate negotiations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state has, however, had an outsized voice in international discussions about global warming — providing a clear example that \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/news/latest-state-greenhouse-gas-inventory-shows-emissions-continue-drop-below-2020-target\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">economic growth and cuts in carbon emissions\u003c/a> can happen at the same time, in the same place. In 2015, Brown joined \u003ca href=\"https://www.ca.gov/archive/gov39/2015/05/19/news18964/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">with the leaders of 11 other states and provinces\u003c/a>, agreeing to limit global temperatures from climbing more than 2 degrees Celsius. The Under2 Coalition says it has since grown \u003ca href=\"https://www.theclimategroup.org/under2-coalition\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">to include 260 governments\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When the Trump administration abandoned the Paris climate accord, Brown stepped in. As a \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2017/11/leaving-europe-brown-says-hes-talked-enough-wants-get-something-done/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">de facto climate leader\u003c/a>, he \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2017/11/gov-jerry-brown-traverses-europe-climate-crusade/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">rallied states and regions\u003c/a> at the international summit in 2017 — warning in an interview that “Trump better get on board or get out of the way.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The stakes for the COP itself are very high, because the U.S. is returning to the fold,” said Alex, \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2018/10/ken-alex-jerry-brown-climate-change-california/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Brown’s climate “concierge.”\u003c/a> “California has been very steady for a long time. But in the four years of Trump, California stuck to its guns, its economy continued. And now, we have a lot of credibility worldwide.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>President Biden \u003ca href=\"https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/01/20/paris-climate-agreement/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">rejoined the Paris Agreement\u003c/a> almost as soon as he took office in January — pivoting the federal government into position as California’s climate ally, rather than its opponent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As Biden prepares to leave for Europe today, he \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-congress-democrats-budget-framework-60a1bc276d0ab8eb3e0347fc54ee8c2c?utm_medium=AP&utm_campaign=SocialFlow&utm_source=Twitter\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">announced the “framework”\u003c/a> for an agreement with fellow Democrats in Congress on a massive climate change and social services spending package that \u003ca href=\"https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/10/28/build-back-better-framework/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">includes $555 billion in clean energy tax credits\u003c/a>, incentives and climate resilience investments. That spending would “turn the climate crisis into an opportunity,” he said at the White House, by significantly reducing carbon emissions by 2030, growing the domestic clean energy industry, putting electric school buses on the road and promoting environmental justice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“California’s leadership has been challenged in the last four years, but those headwinds now are tailwinds with the Biden administration. We’re not sparring partners, we’re working partners as it relates to issues of climate change and dealing with the challenges of wildfires,” \u003ca href=\"https://www.rev.com/blog/transcripts/joe-biden-gavin-newsom-speech-on-wildfires-transcript-september-13\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Newsom said\u003c/a> when Biden visited California in September to \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2021/09/13/governor-newsom-welcomes-president-biden-to-california-for-wildfire-briefing-and-caldor-fire-damage-survey/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">survey fire damage\u003c/a> and show his support before the recall election.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All eyes should be on the U.S. and China, Brown said, calling everything else a “distraction.” \u003ca href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/biden-kerry-sullivan-cop26-china-climate/2021/10/25/8429aa96-3502-11ec-9a5d-93a89c74e76d_story.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tensions\u003c/a> between the two nations could \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2021-10-27/china-united-states-climate-cooperation\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">hinder climate negotiations\u003c/a>. “Without Xi Jinping and Biden being able to work together, then everything else will not succeed,” he said in an interview Wednesday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Although he hasn’t confirmed his attendance, \u003ca href=\"https://www.reuters.com/business/cop/xis-not-there-cop26-hopes-dim-chinese-leaders-likely-absence-2021-10-26/\">Xi is widely expected to be a no-show\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re not doing enough, and the national leaders, particularly China and the U.S., have to exert themselves and become more imaginative and do more,” Brown said. “The rest of the people are more cheerleading from the stands.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said the baton on climate change leadership has been passed from governor to governor, starting with Gray Davis, then Schwarzenegger, himself and now Newsom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Newsom is carrying the ball to the next level,” Brown said. “It’s been a continuous movement in the right direction, although not anywhere near where it needs to be to get the job done.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s lawmakers have plans of their own for the meeting, including a session with members of the Scottish Parliament to discuss the subnational governments’ climate efforts, Wieckowski said. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/commentary/2021/10/two-goals-for-california-at-the-global-climate-conference/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Many in the legislative contingent said\u003c/a> they were eager to bring ideas home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This was not a good year for climate policy legislation in the Legislature, and I’m anxious to go and see what other people are doing, and get energized by their efforts — and see if we can’t bring it back to California,” said \u003ca href=\"https://sd17.senate.ca.gov/biography\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sen. John Laird\u003c/a>, a Democrat from Monterey and former natural resources secretary under Brown.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State \u003ca href=\"https://sd33.senate.ca.gov/biography\">Sen. Lena Gonzalez\u003c/a>, a Democrat from Long Beach and chair of the Senate transportation committee, said her focus will be on clean transportation programs, \u003ca href=\"https://ww3.arb.ca.gov/cc/inventory/pubs/reports/2000_2019/ghg_inventory_trends_00-19.pdf\">the largest source\u003c/a> of greenhouse gases in the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Transportation has become sort of this really sexy topic, but so important as it pertains to reduction of our [greenhouse gas] emissions,” Gonzalez said. “I’m looking forward to going as chair of transportation and as someone who has a lot of impacts back home.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv id=\"cm_ld_legislator_card-block_6179fda466bb5\" class=\"cm_ld_legislator-card__container \">\n\u003cp>Tackling methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, is also \u003ca href=\"https://ukcop26.org/cop26-president-designate-6-months-to-go-speech/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">on the agenda\u003c/a> — with the U.S. and 31 other countries \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/11/climate/methane-global-climate.html#:~:text=The%20pledge%2C%20developed%20with%20the,methane%20polluters%20had%20signed%20on.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pledging to cut methane pollution\u003c/a> 30% by 2030. California made its own pledge in 2016, \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160SB1383\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">with a law requiring a 40% cut\u003c/a> to methane pollution by the same deadline.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ve had this target in statute for five years,” said \u003ca href=\"https://www.edf.org/people/katelyn-roedner-sutter\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Katelyn Roedner Sutter\u003c/a>, a senior manager with the Environmental Defense Fund, which is co-hosting a methane pavilion at the conference. “And we can say these are the things that we’re looking at, and this is what’s worked and what hasn’t worked.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So is the annual summit a big deal for California? “It is, and it isn’t,” Alex said. “This is about the U.S. But California really is an example of where we need to head. And California, of course, needs to go faster as well.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Charting a new climate course\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Environmental advocates call this meeting an opportunity to \u003ca href=\"https://www.sacbee.com/opinion/op-ed/article254929682.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">regain California’s climate ambition\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The bloom is no longer on the rose of California’s general reputation as a leader,” said environmental advocate Miller. “California has an opportunity to reclaim its mantle as a leader, but only if Gavin Newsom starts taking seriously the process of winding down the fossil fuel industry.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Part of the conversation at the annual summit will be establishing rules around emissions trading. But \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2018/05/checking-the-math-on-cap-and-trade-some-experts-say-its-not-adding-up/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">independent experts\u003c/a> and state \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2020/06/california-climate-strategy-cap-trade/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">lawmakers\u003c/a> have raised concerns that California’s landmark cap-and-trade program — the first in the nation to create a carbon market for all segments of the economy — might be too weak to reach the state’s greenhouse gas targets. Nearly a decade after its launch, California \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/economy/2019/06/oregon-carbon-cap-trade-bill-california-west/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">has not enticed\u003c/a> any other western states to join its cap-and-trade program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Neena Mohan, climate justice program manager for the California Environmental Justice Alliance, said that climate solutions must prioritize direct reductions in emissions and called on Newsom to champion “California’s bold actions toward an oil and gas phase-out and end to neighborhood drilling, while sharing the lessons learned from the failures of cap and trade.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As for transportation, \u003ca href=\"https://lao.ca.gov/handouts/resources/2020/Assessing-California's-Climate-Policies-03042020.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office\u003c/a> said last year it remains largely unclear how effectively California’s policies are reducing climate-warming pollution from cars and trucks. The state auditor in February slammed the California Air Resources Board for overestimating the greenhouse gas cuts from \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2021/02/audit-overstating-greenhouse-gas-cuts/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">clean car incentive programs\u003c/a>. Newsom \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2020/09/california-ban-gasoline-powered-cars-in-2035/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">ordered the air board to come up with a plan\u003c/a> for phasing out the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035, but the regulations are still in the works.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, in September, Newsom signed a \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2021/09/23/governor-newsom-signs-climate-action-bills-outlines-historic-15-billion-package-to-tackle-the-climate-crisis-and-protect-vulnerable-communities/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">$15 billion climate package\u003c/a>, which The Climate Center’s Cohen \u003ca href=\"https://www.sacbee.com/opinion/op-ed/article254929682.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">wrote\u003c/a> was “a strong start.” And Miller said she was heartened to see Newsom’s backing of health and safety buffer zones around new oil and gas wells.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Newsom did survive this recall handily, and I think he’s now looking at what he wants to do for not just the remainder of this term but for his next term,” Miller said. “And rather than be content with simply implementing the Jerry Brown policies, I think he’s genuinely beginning to grapple with phasing out oil production in California.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-pullquote amp-wp-8d3b884\" data-amp-original-style=\"border-color:#F4BB32\">\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Climate Change Is Here. It’s Bad. Here’s What You Can Do",
"headTitle": "Climate Change Is Here. It’s Bad. Here’s What You Can Do | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>Submit a Bay Area climate change question for KQED’s science reporters at the \u003ca href=\"#question\">bottom of this post\u003c/a>. \u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s getting hotter. It’s getting smokier. It’s getting scarier.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s extreme droughts, heat waves and wildfires \u003ca href=\"https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/downloads/factsheets/IPCC_AR6_WGI_Regional_Fact_Sheet_North_and_Central_America.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">will likely worsen\u003c/a> in the coming decades and longer if we don’t get our act together.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/07/climate/climate-change-emissions.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere\u003c/a> is greater than any time in at least the past \u003ca href=\"https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aav7337\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">three million years\u003c/a>, and the world has already warmed 2 degrees Fahrenheit (1.1 degrees Celsius) since the 1800s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1977323\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1977323 size-large\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/2020Drawdown_TempCO2_en_title_lg-1-1020x574.jpg\" alt=\"A graph shows a red line steadily increasing from the year 1880 to 2019, from around 290 parts per million of carbon dioxide to 410. A jagged black line goes up and down but follows the overall trend of the red line, showing an increase in temperature of about 1.1 degree Celsius.\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/2020Drawdown_TempCO2_en_title_lg-1-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/2020Drawdown_TempCO2_en_title_lg-1-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/2020Drawdown_TempCO2_en_title_lg-1-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/2020Drawdown_TempCO2_en_title_lg-1-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/2020Drawdown_TempCO2_en_title_lg-1-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/2020Drawdown_TempCO2_en_title_lg-1.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">As carbon dioxide concentrations increase in the atmosphere, the temperature does as well. \u003ccite>(Image courtesy Climate Central)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>People of color are and will be \u003ca href=\"https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-report-shows-disproportionate-impacts-climate-change-socially-vulnerable\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">disproportionately affected by the health and environmental impacts of climate change\u003c/a>, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Taking all this in is overwhelming. But here’s something that makes it easier: there is still time to act.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rapid, bold emissions reductions, starting now, \u003ca href=\"https://www.ipcc.ch/2021/08/09/ar6-wg1-20210809-pr/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">would limit climate change \u003c/a>and its effects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-1977324 size-large\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/2021IPCC_TempPathways_en_title_lg-1-1020x574.jpg\" alt=\"A graph shows temperature warming from 1950 to today, with two diverging lines after that. An orange line depicts temperature rise if there are no cuts to current emissions, showing an average increase in temperature of 4 degrees Celsius. A blue line shows what would happen with substantial cuts in emissions, demonstrating warming would level off around 1.5 degrees Celsius.\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/2021IPCC_TempPathways_en_title_lg-1-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/2021IPCC_TempPathways_en_title_lg-1-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/2021IPCC_TempPathways_en_title_lg-1-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/2021IPCC_TempPathways_en_title_lg-1-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/2021IPCC_TempPathways_en_title_lg-1-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/2021IPCC_TempPathways_en_title_lg-1.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" />\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We decide what future we get. The one that will be recognizable to us, with limited warming, would require coordination across communities, states and countries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While limiting warming to 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit (1.5 degrees Celsius) would be “very difficult, requiring immediate, top-level government attention and effort,” said Michael Oppenheimer, a Princeton environmental scientist and editor of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change review, it’s “not impossible.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even if we don’t meet those goals, Oppenheimer said, “there’s no end-of-the-world point where you give up.” Every tenth of a degree matters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s where you come in. Climate scientists made it crystal clear in the U.N.’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.ipcc.ch/2021/08/09/ar6-wg1-20210809-pr/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">most recent report\u003c/a> that warming is a “code red for humanity,” according to U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This piece is for those who want to respond, but don’t know where to begin.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>\u003cstrong>All of us\u003c/strong>\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Maybe you think we’re in two camps here in California: those who believe in climate change and those who don’t. But researchers define us with more nuance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/about/projects/global-warmings-six-americas/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Yale Program on Climate Change Communication\u003c/a> divides Americans into six groups: from those deeply concerned about global warming and supportive of policies (“Alarmed”), to those who view it as a hoax (“Dismissive”).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1977322\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 644px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1977322 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/6-Americas-Cartoons-Slide-1-e1459619373734.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"644\" height=\"401\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/6-Americas-Cartoons-Slide-1-e1459619373734.png 644w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/6-Americas-Cartoons-Slide-1-e1459619373734-160x100.png 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 644px) 100vw, 644px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Yale Program on Climate Change Communication divides Americans into six groups in terms of their perceptions of global warming. \u003ccite>(Artwork by Michael Sloan)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/about/projects/global-warmings-six-americas/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">More than half of people in the U.S.\u003c/a> fall into the “Alarmed” or “Concerned” categories. This means they’re engaged in this issue and ready to act.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most of these folks don’t know what to do with that worry, though, or how to take meaningful action on climate.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>\u003cstrong>Let’s feel some feelings\u003c/strong>\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Longtime Bay Area residents will recall a time when the weather didn’t \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11893922/california-still-deep-in-drought-despite-stormy-weather-capped-by-atmospheric-river\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">whiplash from bone dry to flooded streets\u003c/a>, when skies choked with wildfire smoke were anomalous and average fall temperatures were cooler (\u003ca href=\"https://www.climatecentral.org/graphic/fastest-warming-seasons-2022?location=San%20Francisco&graphicSet=Seasonal+Warming\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">by 3 degrees Fahrenheit in San Francisco\u003c/a>, to be precise). If you’re a recent Bay Area transplant, I imagine you can think of similar changes wherever you hail from.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Facing the climate crisis means grieving the version of the planet we grew up with. That means sitting with painful emotions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The sadness, despair, anger and powerlessness are normal, healthy responses to a serious risk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are biologically wired to respond with anxiety to real threats,” said Robin Cooper, a San Francisco-based therapist and founder of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.climatepsychiatry.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Climate Psychiatry Alliance.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1977352\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1977352 size-large\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/RS52176_GettyImages-1232894145-qut-1020x674.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"423\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/RS52176_GettyImages-1232894145-qut-1020x674.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/RS52176_GettyImages-1232894145-qut-800x528.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/RS52176_GettyImages-1232894145-qut-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/RS52176_GettyImages-1232894145-qut-768x507.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/RS52176_GettyImages-1232894145-qut-1536x1014.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/RS52176_GettyImages-1232894145-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A woman sits among a group of dead trees at an installation by artist Maya Lin, titled “Ghost Forest,” in Madison Square Park, New York, on May 14, 2021. Maya Lin installed 49 dead Atlantic white cedar trees in a park in New York City to warn of climate change. \u003ccite>(TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Resisting these feelings is normal too — it’s a means of protecting ourselves. But burying our heads in the sand ultimately leads to the same outcomes as denying the crisis. Take breaks, but face what is happening. At some point it becomes easier to look at the issue than hide from it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Finally, let yourself feel things. There are losses we cannot reverse. There will be more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Feeling the hard emotions lets you move through them and forward. That doesn’t mean you’re free of them — you aren’t, but pushing them down won’t help you move into action.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here are some ways to process your emotions, since a lot of us are out of practice:\u003c/p>\n\u003col>\n\u003cli>\u003cb>Connect with people. \u003c/b>Talk informally with family or friends, or more formally with a therapist (there are growing networks of \u003ca href=\"https://www.climatepsychiatry.org/climate-aware-therapist\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">psychiatrists\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.climatepsychology.us/climate-therapists\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">psychologists\u003c/a> with specific training on climate change), or \u003ca href=\"https://www.goodgriefnetwork.org/\">grief\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.goodgriefnetwork.org/\">groups\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Connect with your body \u003c/strong>through walking, running, yoga, or any exercise you enjoy.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Connect with nature. \u003c/strong>Environmental psychologist Renee Lertzman said getting out in nature is both calming and “reminds me of why we’re doing this. I’m continually amazed by how incredible life is.”\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ol>\n\u003cp>There are plenty of other \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/04/22/808853706/this-earth-day-is-like-no-other-heres-how-to-grieve-and-stay-engaged\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">articles\u003c/a>, books, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101885372/climate-anxiety-and-how-it-can-lead-to-hopefulness\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">podcasts\u003c/a> about processing these heavy emotions, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>\u003cstrong>Imagine the future you want\u003c/strong>\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>It’s inspiring to envision a Bay Area less dependent on fossil fuels, with cleaner air, more predictable weather cycles, and a booming green jobs industry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Air pollution from fossil fuels affects low-income communities and communities of color far more than others, in places close to freeways and industry, like East and West Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Studies from Oxfam show the poorest 50% of Americans are responsible for far less carbon pollution \u003ca class=\"c-link\" href=\"https://policy-practice.oxfam.org/resources/extreme-carbon-inequality-why-the-paris-climate-deal-must-put-the-poorest-lowes-582545/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-stringify-link=\"https://policy-practice.oxfam.org/resources/extreme-carbon-inequality-why-the-paris-climate-deal-must-put-the-poorest-lowes-582545/\" data-sk=\"tooltip_parent\">than the average American — about half.\u003c/a> Cleaning up our climate is an act of equity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cutting down fossil fuels would save lives. California’s air regulator estimated that \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/resources/health-air-pollution\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">we see 7,200 premature deaths each year from air pollution\u003c/a>, particularly from pollution related to diesel exhaust.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Globally, air pollution from burning fossil fuels is \u003ca href=\"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0013935121000487\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">responsible for 8.7 million deaths annually,\u003c/a> shaking out to more than a tenth of U.S. deaths (deaths from COVID-19 stand at \u003ca href=\"https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">nearly 5 million people\u003c/a> globally since the start of the pandemic).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The average life expectancy would increase by \u003ca href=\"https://academic.oup.com/cardiovascres/article/116/11/1910/5770885#207231589\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">more than a year\u003c/a> across a world without fossil fuel emissions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Switching out gas appliances like stoves for electric ones significantly \u003ca href=\"https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2020/5/7/21247602/gas-stove-cooking-indoor-air-pollution-health-risks\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">improves indoor air quality\u003c/a>, which could lead to lower risk for cardiovascular disease in adults and asthma in children.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As many of us experienced during the pandemic, converting streets into places for communities to gather brought a lot of joy, with “slow streets” and increased outdoor dining. San Francisco voters decided\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/election/article/JFK-Drive-will-remain-car-free-after-S-F-voters-17570182.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> to make some of these car-free streets permanent\u003c/a>. Should our cities build out a more walkable and bikeable infrastructure, this could be our norm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1977345\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1977345 size-large\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/RS52164_41586088481_efaa2a3126_o-qut-1020x680.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/RS52164_41586088481_efaa2a3126_o-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/RS52164_41586088481_efaa2a3126_o-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/RS52164_41586088481_efaa2a3126_o-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/RS52164_41586088481_efaa2a3126_o-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/RS52164_41586088481_efaa2a3126_o-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/RS52164_41586088481_efaa2a3126_o-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A man walks with his two kids along a street during the San Francisco Bike & Roll to School Day in 2018. \u003ccite>(San Francisco Bicycle Coalition)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Climate action could be a boon for green jobs, like those installing solar panels and restoring wetlands.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And climate progress could significantly impact our mental health. That’s because the antidote to climate anxiety is action.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Act\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>You do not need to become anything you are not to take action on climate change. The issue is big, and the good part about that is there are endless ways to plug in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Climate scientist Kim Nicholas says consider where you spend most of your time and where you get the most energy right now. Start there. Ask yourself, “how is it that we as a family, as a business, [or] as a neighborhood, are impacting the climate? What is it that we can do?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While climate activists debate whether to push people to organize for systemic change or focus on individual actuals, they tend to agree that both are needed. Systems need transforming and the largest reductions in emissions will be found there. But individual changes — especially in rich countries like the U.S. — are important, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Action at the systems level\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Find a group that works for you:\u003c/strong> Climate journalist and organizer Bill McKibben says the most powerful thing an individual can do is \u003ca href=\"https://climate-xchange.org/2020/09/16/be-a-little-less-of-an-individual-author-and-activist-bill-mckibben/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">be less of an individual.\u003c/a> Your voice will be more powerful with others, and it’s more fun and hopeful to tackle this challenge together. There’s no shortage of groups of people concerned about the climate and taking meaningful action.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are groups for \u003ca href=\"https://protectourwinters.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">skiers\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://envirn.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">nurses\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://artistsandclimatechange.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">artists\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://republicen.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">political conservatives\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.eldersclimateaction.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">grandmothers\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.conservationhawks.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">hunters\u003c/a>, and \u003ca href=\"https://climateandsecurity.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">people concerned with national security\u003c/a>. See the range? Groups such as these can help guide you to advocate for more change at the systems level.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1977351\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1977351 size-large\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/RS52175_GettyImages-1168690967-qut-1020x647.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"406\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/RS52175_GettyImages-1168690967-qut-1020x647.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/RS52175_GettyImages-1168690967-qut-800x507.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/RS52175_GettyImages-1168690967-qut-160x101.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/RS52175_GettyImages-1168690967-qut-768x487.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/RS52175_GettyImages-1168690967-qut-1536x974.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/RS52175_GettyImages-1168690967-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Children paint waves on paper as they take part in an event to make art for the youth climate strike on September 20, 2019. \u003ccite>(JOHANNES EISELE/AFP via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Vote for climate candidates: \u003c/strong>The rapid policy reform needed to address the climate crisis requires politicians to enact bolder, faster changes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/socf.12422\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Research\u003c/a> shows electing representatives that ranked high on the \u003ca href=\"https://scorecard.lcv.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">League of Conservation Voters National Environmental Scorecard\u003c/a> significantly reduced a state’s carbon dioxide emissions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0176268017304500\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Voting female politicians into office\u003c/a> is linked with stronger climate policies and lower emissions, and could be an underutilized tool.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Contact your representatives: \u003c/strong>Call your local, state or federal representative to share your concerns. Sure, there are other ways to get in touch too, like email and snail mail, but activists and lawmakers say the best way to grab a staffer’s attention is to call and not email, \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/22/us/politics/heres-why-you-should-call-not-email-your-legislators.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The New York Times reports\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If your representatives already share your beliefs, thank them for their efforts and ask them to move further or faster.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Action at the individual level\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>While the numbers show that minimizing your carbon footprint won’t get us where we need to go on greenhouse gas reductions alone, “If you live in a rich country, and especially the richer you are, your individual actions really matter,” sustainability scientist Kimberly Nicholas writes in her book “\u003ca href=\"https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/665274/under-the-sky-we-make-by-kimberly-nicholas-phd/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Under the Sky We Make.”\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Personal climate actions like skipping drives and flights matter in both reducing carbon, and in changing the perception of a wealthy American ideal — using excessive carbon — that’s quickly getting exported.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When changes become a social norm, it becomes more attractive for politicians and companies to take action. Research shows\u003ca href=\"https://www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1126/science.aas8827\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> just 25% of a population is needed to create a norm change\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Our suggestions reflect actions shown to have the biggest impact, so you can spend your limited time and brain capacity judiciously, though there are plenty of other worthwhile things to do.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Talk about climate change:\u003c/strong> While the majority of Americans are worried about climate change, most people don’t talk about it, even if they’d like to, says Anthony Leiserowitz, director of Yale’s climate communication program. He says by avoiding talking about the topic, we fail to signal how much it matters to us.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe has had thousands of conversations about climate change. She recommends a helpful formula for your discussion: start with what you both care about (like your kids, the beach, birds, etc.), connect that passion with climate change (climate change affects everything, so luckily that’s not hard), and then discuss what’s at stake for what you love, and some solutions that are at work locally.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You can also talk about what you’re doing about climate change (no self-righteousness please though, that won’t help your cause). Lots of folks are changing their behavior based on the climate crisis, and sharing that could contribute to societal shifts. There are \u003ca href=\"https://brightaction.app/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">tools to help\u003c/a> your community, company, or place of worship collaborate, or even compete with one another.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yale’s climate change communication program has tips on \u003ca href=\"https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/news-events/attaining-meaningful-outcomes-from-conversations-on-climate/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">how to achieve meaningful conversation outcomes\u003c/a>, and you can hear how conversations between a son and his Republican U.S. representative father converted the latter into a \u003ca href=\"https://gimletmedia.com/shows/howtosaveaplanet/j4hk928/trying-to-talk-to-family-about-climate\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">conservative climate champion\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Drive less: \u003c/strong>The majority of California’s greenhouse gas emissions \u003ca href=\"https://ww3.arb.ca.gov/cc/inventory/pubs/reports/2000_2019/ghg_inventory_trends_00-19.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">come from transportation\u003c/a>, and for the average U.S. household, gasoline for personal cars \u003ca href=\"https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/es102221h\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">is the the biggest source of emissions\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most emissions come from long car trips.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1977321\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1977321 size-large\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/figure_4_GHG_emissions_by_scoping_plan_subsector-1-1020x573.png\" alt=\"The largest sector is transportation, followed by industrial, electricity, commercial & residential, agriculture, high GWP, and recycling & waste\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/figure_4_GHG_emissions_by_scoping_plan_subsector-1-1020x573.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/figure_4_GHG_emissions_by_scoping_plan_subsector-1-800x450.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/figure_4_GHG_emissions_by_scoping_plan_subsector-1-160x90.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/figure_4_GHG_emissions_by_scoping_plan_subsector-1-768x432.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/figure_4_GHG_emissions_by_scoping_plan_subsector-1-1536x863.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/figure_4_GHG_emissions_by_scoping_plan_subsector-1-2048x1151.png 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/figure_4_GHG_emissions_by_scoping_plan_subsector-1-1920x1079.png 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">2019 greenhouse gas emissions in California, broken down into sector and subsector. \u003ccite>(Courtesy California Air Resources Board)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Reducing travel in gas cars is one of the biggest things you can do, but can be challenging depending where you live. (This is one place where changing the system comes into play — working for better bus, train, biking and walking routes would make our cities and towns more friendly to ditching cars.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Regardless, reductions in emissions from car trips help, whether that means having no car, taking public transit more, or switching to an electric or hybrid vehicle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Plus, there are plenty of physical and mental benefits to other, familiar options like walking and biking.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Fly less: \u003c/strong>Only 1% of people cause \u003ca href=\"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959378020307779\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">half of the emissions from air travel\u003c/a>. While carbon dioxide emissions from flights are roughly \u003ca href=\"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1352231020305689\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">2.4% of total greenhouse gas emissions globally\u003c/a>, if you’re in that select group of people flying, and flying a lot, cutting down on flights will have an outsized impact on reducing carbon emissions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Eliminate flights that aren’t essential, and if you’re a frequent flyer, set a goal to cut flights in half, or down to a few per year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The shift away from air travel during the COVID-19 pandemic modeled what less flying can look like.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>Eat a plant-based diet: \u003c/strong>Growing food for us and food to feed animals (that become food for us), plus deforestation (primarily to grow food) accounts for roughly \u003ca href=\"https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/global-greenhouse-gas-emissions-data\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">24% of global emissions\u003c/a>. Methane comes from cow, sheep, and goat burps and their manure, and nitrous oxide from using fertilizers. Some carbon dioxide is also released from plowing and razing forests. Globally, deforestation is also \u003ca href=\"https://ipbes.net/sites/default/files/2020-02/ipbes_global_assessment_report_summary_for_policymakers_en.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the main driver of the biodiversity crisis.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1977346\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1977346 size-large\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/RS52166_2543-qut-1020x681.jpg\" alt=\"Four men smile and inspect lettuce in a greenhouse\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/RS52166_2543-qut-1020x681.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/RS52166_2543-qut-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/RS52166_2543-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/RS52166_2543-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/RS52166_2543-qut-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/RS52166_2543-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A team of veterans inspects organic produce on their farm in San Jose. The Farmer Veteran Coalition is a national nonprofit non-governmental organization in the United States that mobilizes veterans to feed America and transition from military service to a career in agriculture. \u003ccite>(Meg Haywood Sullivan/Climate Visuals Countdown)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Beef is more resource intensive than other foods. Producing it requires\u003ca href=\"https://josephpoore.com/Science%20360%206392%20987%20-%20Accepted%20Manuscript.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> 22 times more land and emits 62 times more greenhouse gases\u003c/a> per gram of protein than plant proteins like beans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For meat eaters worldwide, cutting back to 1.5 burgers a week would nearly eliminate the need for agricultural expansion, \u003ca href=\"https://www.wri.org/insights/how-sustainably-feed-10-billion-people-2050-21-charts\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">even with a global population of 10 billion.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The average American \u003ca href=\"https://www.wri.org/insights/how-sustainably-feed-10-billion-people-2050-21-charts\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">eats three burgers a week.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Green your home: \u003c/strong>Energy we use in our homes is the \u003ca href=\"https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/es102221h\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">second-biggest source of emissions for the average American\u003c/a>. You can change that by installing solar panels and efficient windows, and improving insulation. And when some of the biggest home energy hogs need replacement, choose a more efficient alternative: swap your natural gas furnace and water heater for electric heat pumps, replace your gas stove with an induction one.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many of these changes aren’t achievable as a renter, but you can \u003ca href=\"https://www.energy.gov/energysaver/tips-renters-and-rental-property-owners\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">bring this up with your property owner\u003c/a>, and depending on where you are, there are \u003ca href=\"https://www.csd.ca.gov/Pages/Low-Income-Weatherization-Program.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">programs\u003c/a> that help with incentives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Your climate Venn diagram: \u003c/strong>In the podcast “How to Save a Planet,” host and marine biologist \u003ca href=\"https://www.ayanaelizabeth.com/bio\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ayana Elizabeth Johnson\u003c/a> suggests one way to find your space in climate action: a Venn diagram.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Get out your paper.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1977319\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1977319 size-large\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/Square-1020x1020.png\" alt=\"A Venn diagram with three circles: one says "what brings you joy?", another says "What are you good at?" and the third says "What is the work that needs doing?" The convergence of the circles reads "What you should do."\" width=\"640\" height=\"640\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/Square-1020x1020.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/Square-800x800.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/Square-160x160.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/Square-768x768.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/Square-1536x1536.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/Square-2048x2048.png 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/Square-1920x1920.png 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Marine biologist Ayana Elizabeth Johnson has created this Venn diagram to help people find their place in climate action. \u003ccite>(Courtesy The All We Can Save Project)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>What are you good at? “What skills, resources, networks, reach, influence are you bringing to the table?” she asked.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What work needs doing? The crisis is so huge that there are many options.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What brings you joy? “What gets you out of bed in the morning? Because this is the work of our lifetime,” Johnson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Your job is to move forward on what you identify at the center of those circles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Active hope: \u003c/strong>Hope for the climate is not about crossing your fingers and going about your daily routine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a practice, say climate activist Joanna Macy and psychologist Dr. Chris Johnstone in their book “Active Hope.” This kind of hope involves taking stock of our painful reality, identifying what changes you want to see, and beginning to make them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Doing these things brings us closer to others doing the same. The hope and action beget more of the same.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yes, climate change is here. Yes, it’s bad.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And there’s hope — contingent on all of us, acting.\u003cbr />\n\u003ca id=\"question\">\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[hearken src=\"https://modules.wearehearken.com/kqed/embed/8818.js\"]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>Submit a Bay Area climate change question for KQED’s science reporters at the \u003ca href=\"#question\">bottom of this post\u003c/a>. \u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s getting hotter. It’s getting smokier. It’s getting scarier.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s extreme droughts, heat waves and wildfires \u003ca href=\"https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/downloads/factsheets/IPCC_AR6_WGI_Regional_Fact_Sheet_North_and_Central_America.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">will likely worsen\u003c/a> in the coming decades and longer if we don’t get our act together.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/07/climate/climate-change-emissions.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere\u003c/a> is greater than any time in at least the past \u003ca href=\"https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aav7337\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">three million years\u003c/a>, and the world has already warmed 2 degrees Fahrenheit (1.1 degrees Celsius) since the 1800s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1977323\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1977323 size-large\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/2020Drawdown_TempCO2_en_title_lg-1-1020x574.jpg\" alt=\"A graph shows a red line steadily increasing from the year 1880 to 2019, from around 290 parts per million of carbon dioxide to 410. A jagged black line goes up and down but follows the overall trend of the red line, showing an increase in temperature of about 1.1 degree Celsius.\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/2020Drawdown_TempCO2_en_title_lg-1-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/2020Drawdown_TempCO2_en_title_lg-1-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/2020Drawdown_TempCO2_en_title_lg-1-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/2020Drawdown_TempCO2_en_title_lg-1-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/2020Drawdown_TempCO2_en_title_lg-1-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/2020Drawdown_TempCO2_en_title_lg-1.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">As carbon dioxide concentrations increase in the atmosphere, the temperature does as well. \u003ccite>(Image courtesy Climate Central)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>People of color are and will be \u003ca href=\"https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-report-shows-disproportionate-impacts-climate-change-socially-vulnerable\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">disproportionately affected by the health and environmental impacts of climate change\u003c/a>, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Taking all this in is overwhelming. But here’s something that makes it easier: there is still time to act.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rapid, bold emissions reductions, starting now, \u003ca href=\"https://www.ipcc.ch/2021/08/09/ar6-wg1-20210809-pr/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">would limit climate change \u003c/a>and its effects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-1977324 size-large\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/2021IPCC_TempPathways_en_title_lg-1-1020x574.jpg\" alt=\"A graph shows temperature warming from 1950 to today, with two diverging lines after that. An orange line depicts temperature rise if there are no cuts to current emissions, showing an average increase in temperature of 4 degrees Celsius. A blue line shows what would happen with substantial cuts in emissions, demonstrating warming would level off around 1.5 degrees Celsius.\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/2021IPCC_TempPathways_en_title_lg-1-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/2021IPCC_TempPathways_en_title_lg-1-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/2021IPCC_TempPathways_en_title_lg-1-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/2021IPCC_TempPathways_en_title_lg-1-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/2021IPCC_TempPathways_en_title_lg-1-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/2021IPCC_TempPathways_en_title_lg-1.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" />\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We decide what future we get. The one that will be recognizable to us, with limited warming, would require coordination across communities, states and countries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While limiting warming to 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit (1.5 degrees Celsius) would be “very difficult, requiring immediate, top-level government attention and effort,” said Michael Oppenheimer, a Princeton environmental scientist and editor of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change review, it’s “not impossible.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even if we don’t meet those goals, Oppenheimer said, “there’s no end-of-the-world point where you give up.” Every tenth of a degree matters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s where you come in. Climate scientists made it crystal clear in the U.N.’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.ipcc.ch/2021/08/09/ar6-wg1-20210809-pr/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">most recent report\u003c/a> that warming is a “code red for humanity,” according to U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This piece is for those who want to respond, but don’t know where to begin.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>\u003cstrong>All of us\u003c/strong>\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Maybe you think we’re in two camps here in California: those who believe in climate change and those who don’t. But researchers define us with more nuance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/about/projects/global-warmings-six-americas/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Yale Program on Climate Change Communication\u003c/a> divides Americans into six groups: from those deeply concerned about global warming and supportive of policies (“Alarmed”), to those who view it as a hoax (“Dismissive”).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1977322\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 644px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1977322 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/6-Americas-Cartoons-Slide-1-e1459619373734.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"644\" height=\"401\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/6-Americas-Cartoons-Slide-1-e1459619373734.png 644w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/6-Americas-Cartoons-Slide-1-e1459619373734-160x100.png 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 644px) 100vw, 644px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Yale Program on Climate Change Communication divides Americans into six groups in terms of their perceptions of global warming. \u003ccite>(Artwork by Michael Sloan)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/about/projects/global-warmings-six-americas/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">More than half of people in the U.S.\u003c/a> fall into the “Alarmed” or “Concerned” categories. This means they’re engaged in this issue and ready to act.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most of these folks don’t know what to do with that worry, though, or how to take meaningful action on climate.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>\u003cstrong>Let’s feel some feelings\u003c/strong>\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Longtime Bay Area residents will recall a time when the weather didn’t \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11893922/california-still-deep-in-drought-despite-stormy-weather-capped-by-atmospheric-river\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">whiplash from bone dry to flooded streets\u003c/a>, when skies choked with wildfire smoke were anomalous and average fall temperatures were cooler (\u003ca href=\"https://www.climatecentral.org/graphic/fastest-warming-seasons-2022?location=San%20Francisco&graphicSet=Seasonal+Warming\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">by 3 degrees Fahrenheit in San Francisco\u003c/a>, to be precise). If you’re a recent Bay Area transplant, I imagine you can think of similar changes wherever you hail from.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Facing the climate crisis means grieving the version of the planet we grew up with. That means sitting with painful emotions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The sadness, despair, anger and powerlessness are normal, healthy responses to a serious risk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are biologically wired to respond with anxiety to real threats,” said Robin Cooper, a San Francisco-based therapist and founder of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.climatepsychiatry.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Climate Psychiatry Alliance.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1977352\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1977352 size-large\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/RS52176_GettyImages-1232894145-qut-1020x674.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"423\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/RS52176_GettyImages-1232894145-qut-1020x674.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/RS52176_GettyImages-1232894145-qut-800x528.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/RS52176_GettyImages-1232894145-qut-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/RS52176_GettyImages-1232894145-qut-768x507.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/RS52176_GettyImages-1232894145-qut-1536x1014.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/RS52176_GettyImages-1232894145-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A woman sits among a group of dead trees at an installation by artist Maya Lin, titled “Ghost Forest,” in Madison Square Park, New York, on May 14, 2021. Maya Lin installed 49 dead Atlantic white cedar trees in a park in New York City to warn of climate change. \u003ccite>(TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Resisting these feelings is normal too — it’s a means of protecting ourselves. But burying our heads in the sand ultimately leads to the same outcomes as denying the crisis. Take breaks, but face what is happening. At some point it becomes easier to look at the issue than hide from it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Finally, let yourself feel things. There are losses we cannot reverse. There will be more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Feeling the hard emotions lets you move through them and forward. That doesn’t mean you’re free of them — you aren’t, but pushing them down won’t help you move into action.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here are some ways to process your emotions, since a lot of us are out of practice:\u003c/p>\n\u003col>\n\u003cli>\u003cb>Connect with people. \u003c/b>Talk informally with family or friends, or more formally with a therapist (there are growing networks of \u003ca href=\"https://www.climatepsychiatry.org/climate-aware-therapist\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">psychiatrists\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.climatepsychology.us/climate-therapists\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">psychologists\u003c/a> with specific training on climate change), or \u003ca href=\"https://www.goodgriefnetwork.org/\">grief\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.goodgriefnetwork.org/\">groups\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Connect with your body \u003c/strong>through walking, running, yoga, or any exercise you enjoy.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Connect with nature. \u003c/strong>Environmental psychologist Renee Lertzman said getting out in nature is both calming and “reminds me of why we’re doing this. I’m continually amazed by how incredible life is.”\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ol>\n\u003cp>There are plenty of other \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/04/22/808853706/this-earth-day-is-like-no-other-heres-how-to-grieve-and-stay-engaged\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">articles\u003c/a>, books, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101885372/climate-anxiety-and-how-it-can-lead-to-hopefulness\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">podcasts\u003c/a> about processing these heavy emotions, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>\u003cstrong>Imagine the future you want\u003c/strong>\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>It’s inspiring to envision a Bay Area less dependent on fossil fuels, with cleaner air, more predictable weather cycles, and a booming green jobs industry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Air pollution from fossil fuels affects low-income communities and communities of color far more than others, in places close to freeways and industry, like East and West Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Studies from Oxfam show the poorest 50% of Americans are responsible for far less carbon pollution \u003ca class=\"c-link\" href=\"https://policy-practice.oxfam.org/resources/extreme-carbon-inequality-why-the-paris-climate-deal-must-put-the-poorest-lowes-582545/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-stringify-link=\"https://policy-practice.oxfam.org/resources/extreme-carbon-inequality-why-the-paris-climate-deal-must-put-the-poorest-lowes-582545/\" data-sk=\"tooltip_parent\">than the average American — about half.\u003c/a> Cleaning up our climate is an act of equity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cutting down fossil fuels would save lives. California’s air regulator estimated that \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/resources/health-air-pollution\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">we see 7,200 premature deaths each year from air pollution\u003c/a>, particularly from pollution related to diesel exhaust.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Globally, air pollution from burning fossil fuels is \u003ca href=\"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0013935121000487\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">responsible for 8.7 million deaths annually,\u003c/a> shaking out to more than a tenth of U.S. deaths (deaths from COVID-19 stand at \u003ca href=\"https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">nearly 5 million people\u003c/a> globally since the start of the pandemic).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The average life expectancy would increase by \u003ca href=\"https://academic.oup.com/cardiovascres/article/116/11/1910/5770885#207231589\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">more than a year\u003c/a> across a world without fossil fuel emissions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Switching out gas appliances like stoves for electric ones significantly \u003ca href=\"https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2020/5/7/21247602/gas-stove-cooking-indoor-air-pollution-health-risks\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">improves indoor air quality\u003c/a>, which could lead to lower risk for cardiovascular disease in adults and asthma in children.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As many of us experienced during the pandemic, converting streets into places for communities to gather brought a lot of joy, with “slow streets” and increased outdoor dining. San Francisco voters decided\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/election/article/JFK-Drive-will-remain-car-free-after-S-F-voters-17570182.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> to make some of these car-free streets permanent\u003c/a>. Should our cities build out a more walkable and bikeable infrastructure, this could be our norm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1977345\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1977345 size-large\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/RS52164_41586088481_efaa2a3126_o-qut-1020x680.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/RS52164_41586088481_efaa2a3126_o-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/RS52164_41586088481_efaa2a3126_o-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/RS52164_41586088481_efaa2a3126_o-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/RS52164_41586088481_efaa2a3126_o-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/RS52164_41586088481_efaa2a3126_o-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/RS52164_41586088481_efaa2a3126_o-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A man walks with his two kids along a street during the San Francisco Bike & Roll to School Day in 2018. \u003ccite>(San Francisco Bicycle Coalition)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Climate action could be a boon for green jobs, like those installing solar panels and restoring wetlands.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And climate progress could significantly impact our mental health. That’s because the antidote to climate anxiety is action.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Act\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>You do not need to become anything you are not to take action on climate change. The issue is big, and the good part about that is there are endless ways to plug in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Climate scientist Kim Nicholas says consider where you spend most of your time and where you get the most energy right now. Start there. Ask yourself, “how is it that we as a family, as a business, [or] as a neighborhood, are impacting the climate? What is it that we can do?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While climate activists debate whether to push people to organize for systemic change or focus on individual actuals, they tend to agree that both are needed. Systems need transforming and the largest reductions in emissions will be found there. But individual changes — especially in rich countries like the U.S. — are important, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Action at the systems level\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Find a group that works for you:\u003c/strong> Climate journalist and organizer Bill McKibben says the most powerful thing an individual can do is \u003ca href=\"https://climate-xchange.org/2020/09/16/be-a-little-less-of-an-individual-author-and-activist-bill-mckibben/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">be less of an individual.\u003c/a> Your voice will be more powerful with others, and it’s more fun and hopeful to tackle this challenge together. There’s no shortage of groups of people concerned about the climate and taking meaningful action.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are groups for \u003ca href=\"https://protectourwinters.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">skiers\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://envirn.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">nurses\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://artistsandclimatechange.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">artists\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://republicen.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">political conservatives\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.eldersclimateaction.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">grandmothers\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.conservationhawks.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">hunters\u003c/a>, and \u003ca href=\"https://climateandsecurity.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">people concerned with national security\u003c/a>. See the range? Groups such as these can help guide you to advocate for more change at the systems level.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1977351\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1977351 size-large\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/RS52175_GettyImages-1168690967-qut-1020x647.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"406\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/RS52175_GettyImages-1168690967-qut-1020x647.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/RS52175_GettyImages-1168690967-qut-800x507.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/RS52175_GettyImages-1168690967-qut-160x101.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/RS52175_GettyImages-1168690967-qut-768x487.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/RS52175_GettyImages-1168690967-qut-1536x974.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/RS52175_GettyImages-1168690967-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Children paint waves on paper as they take part in an event to make art for the youth climate strike on September 20, 2019. \u003ccite>(JOHANNES EISELE/AFP via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Vote for climate candidates: \u003c/strong>The rapid policy reform needed to address the climate crisis requires politicians to enact bolder, faster changes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/socf.12422\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Research\u003c/a> shows electing representatives that ranked high on the \u003ca href=\"https://scorecard.lcv.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">League of Conservation Voters National Environmental Scorecard\u003c/a> significantly reduced a state’s carbon dioxide emissions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0176268017304500\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Voting female politicians into office\u003c/a> is linked with stronger climate policies and lower emissions, and could be an underutilized tool.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Contact your representatives: \u003c/strong>Call your local, state or federal representative to share your concerns. Sure, there are other ways to get in touch too, like email and snail mail, but activists and lawmakers say the best way to grab a staffer’s attention is to call and not email, \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/22/us/politics/heres-why-you-should-call-not-email-your-legislators.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The New York Times reports\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If your representatives already share your beliefs, thank them for their efforts and ask them to move further or faster.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Action at the individual level\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>While the numbers show that minimizing your carbon footprint won’t get us where we need to go on greenhouse gas reductions alone, “If you live in a rich country, and especially the richer you are, your individual actions really matter,” sustainability scientist Kimberly Nicholas writes in her book “\u003ca href=\"https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/665274/under-the-sky-we-make-by-kimberly-nicholas-phd/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Under the Sky We Make.”\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Personal climate actions like skipping drives and flights matter in both reducing carbon, and in changing the perception of a wealthy American ideal — using excessive carbon — that’s quickly getting exported.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When changes become a social norm, it becomes more attractive for politicians and companies to take action. Research shows\u003ca href=\"https://www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1126/science.aas8827\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> just 25% of a population is needed to create a norm change\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Our suggestions reflect actions shown to have the biggest impact, so you can spend your limited time and brain capacity judiciously, though there are plenty of other worthwhile things to do.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Talk about climate change:\u003c/strong> While the majority of Americans are worried about climate change, most people don’t talk about it, even if they’d like to, says Anthony Leiserowitz, director of Yale’s climate communication program. He says by avoiding talking about the topic, we fail to signal how much it matters to us.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe has had thousands of conversations about climate change. She recommends a helpful formula for your discussion: start with what you both care about (like your kids, the beach, birds, etc.), connect that passion with climate change (climate change affects everything, so luckily that’s not hard), and then discuss what’s at stake for what you love, and some solutions that are at work locally.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You can also talk about what you’re doing about climate change (no self-righteousness please though, that won’t help your cause). Lots of folks are changing their behavior based on the climate crisis, and sharing that could contribute to societal shifts. There are \u003ca href=\"https://brightaction.app/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">tools to help\u003c/a> your community, company, or place of worship collaborate, or even compete with one another.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yale’s climate change communication program has tips on \u003ca href=\"https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/news-events/attaining-meaningful-outcomes-from-conversations-on-climate/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">how to achieve meaningful conversation outcomes\u003c/a>, and you can hear how conversations between a son and his Republican U.S. representative father converted the latter into a \u003ca href=\"https://gimletmedia.com/shows/howtosaveaplanet/j4hk928/trying-to-talk-to-family-about-climate\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">conservative climate champion\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Drive less: \u003c/strong>The majority of California’s greenhouse gas emissions \u003ca href=\"https://ww3.arb.ca.gov/cc/inventory/pubs/reports/2000_2019/ghg_inventory_trends_00-19.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">come from transportation\u003c/a>, and for the average U.S. household, gasoline for personal cars \u003ca href=\"https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/es102221h\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">is the the biggest source of emissions\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most emissions come from long car trips.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1977321\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1977321 size-large\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/figure_4_GHG_emissions_by_scoping_plan_subsector-1-1020x573.png\" alt=\"The largest sector is transportation, followed by industrial, electricity, commercial & residential, agriculture, high GWP, and recycling & waste\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/figure_4_GHG_emissions_by_scoping_plan_subsector-1-1020x573.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/figure_4_GHG_emissions_by_scoping_plan_subsector-1-800x450.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/figure_4_GHG_emissions_by_scoping_plan_subsector-1-160x90.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/figure_4_GHG_emissions_by_scoping_plan_subsector-1-768x432.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/figure_4_GHG_emissions_by_scoping_plan_subsector-1-1536x863.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/figure_4_GHG_emissions_by_scoping_plan_subsector-1-2048x1151.png 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/figure_4_GHG_emissions_by_scoping_plan_subsector-1-1920x1079.png 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">2019 greenhouse gas emissions in California, broken down into sector and subsector. \u003ccite>(Courtesy California Air Resources Board)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Reducing travel in gas cars is one of the biggest things you can do, but can be challenging depending where you live. (This is one place where changing the system comes into play — working for better bus, train, biking and walking routes would make our cities and towns more friendly to ditching cars.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Regardless, reductions in emissions from car trips help, whether that means having no car, taking public transit more, or switching to an electric or hybrid vehicle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Plus, there are plenty of physical and mental benefits to other, familiar options like walking and biking.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Fly less: \u003c/strong>Only 1% of people cause \u003ca href=\"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959378020307779\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">half of the emissions from air travel\u003c/a>. While carbon dioxide emissions from flights are roughly \u003ca href=\"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1352231020305689\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">2.4% of total greenhouse gas emissions globally\u003c/a>, if you’re in that select group of people flying, and flying a lot, cutting down on flights will have an outsized impact on reducing carbon emissions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Eliminate flights that aren’t essential, and if you’re a frequent flyer, set a goal to cut flights in half, or down to a few per year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The shift away from air travel during the COVID-19 pandemic modeled what less flying can look like.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>Eat a plant-based diet: \u003c/strong>Growing food for us and food to feed animals (that become food for us), plus deforestation (primarily to grow food) accounts for roughly \u003ca href=\"https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/global-greenhouse-gas-emissions-data\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">24% of global emissions\u003c/a>. Methane comes from cow, sheep, and goat burps and their manure, and nitrous oxide from using fertilizers. Some carbon dioxide is also released from plowing and razing forests. Globally, deforestation is also \u003ca href=\"https://ipbes.net/sites/default/files/2020-02/ipbes_global_assessment_report_summary_for_policymakers_en.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the main driver of the biodiversity crisis.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1977346\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1977346 size-large\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/RS52166_2543-qut-1020x681.jpg\" alt=\"Four men smile and inspect lettuce in a greenhouse\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/RS52166_2543-qut-1020x681.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/RS52166_2543-qut-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/RS52166_2543-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/RS52166_2543-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/RS52166_2543-qut-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/RS52166_2543-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A team of veterans inspects organic produce on their farm in San Jose. The Farmer Veteran Coalition is a national nonprofit non-governmental organization in the United States that mobilizes veterans to feed America and transition from military service to a career in agriculture. \u003ccite>(Meg Haywood Sullivan/Climate Visuals Countdown)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Beef is more resource intensive than other foods. Producing it requires\u003ca href=\"https://josephpoore.com/Science%20360%206392%20987%20-%20Accepted%20Manuscript.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> 22 times more land and emits 62 times more greenhouse gases\u003c/a> per gram of protein than plant proteins like beans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For meat eaters worldwide, cutting back to 1.5 burgers a week would nearly eliminate the need for agricultural expansion, \u003ca href=\"https://www.wri.org/insights/how-sustainably-feed-10-billion-people-2050-21-charts\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">even with a global population of 10 billion.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The average American \u003ca href=\"https://www.wri.org/insights/how-sustainably-feed-10-billion-people-2050-21-charts\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">eats three burgers a week.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Green your home: \u003c/strong>Energy we use in our homes is the \u003ca href=\"https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/es102221h\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">second-biggest source of emissions for the average American\u003c/a>. You can change that by installing solar panels and efficient windows, and improving insulation. And when some of the biggest home energy hogs need replacement, choose a more efficient alternative: swap your natural gas furnace and water heater for electric heat pumps, replace your gas stove with an induction one.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many of these changes aren’t achievable as a renter, but you can \u003ca href=\"https://www.energy.gov/energysaver/tips-renters-and-rental-property-owners\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">bring this up with your property owner\u003c/a>, and depending on where you are, there are \u003ca href=\"https://www.csd.ca.gov/Pages/Low-Income-Weatherization-Program.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">programs\u003c/a> that help with incentives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Your climate Venn diagram: \u003c/strong>In the podcast “How to Save a Planet,” host and marine biologist \u003ca href=\"https://www.ayanaelizabeth.com/bio\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ayana Elizabeth Johnson\u003c/a> suggests one way to find your space in climate action: a Venn diagram.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Get out your paper.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1977319\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1977319 size-large\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/Square-1020x1020.png\" alt=\"A Venn diagram with three circles: one says "what brings you joy?", another says "What are you good at?" and the third says "What is the work that needs doing?" The convergence of the circles reads "What you should do."\" width=\"640\" height=\"640\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/Square-1020x1020.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/Square-800x800.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/Square-160x160.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/Square-768x768.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/Square-1536x1536.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/Square-2048x2048.png 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/Square-1920x1920.png 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Marine biologist Ayana Elizabeth Johnson has created this Venn diagram to help people find their place in climate action. \u003ccite>(Courtesy The All We Can Save Project)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>What are you good at? “What skills, resources, networks, reach, influence are you bringing to the table?” she asked.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What work needs doing? The crisis is so huge that there are many options.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What brings you joy? “What gets you out of bed in the morning? Because this is the work of our lifetime,” Johnson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Your job is to move forward on what you identify at the center of those circles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Active hope: \u003c/strong>Hope for the climate is not about crossing your fingers and going about your daily routine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a practice, say climate activist Joanna Macy and psychologist Dr. Chris Johnstone in their book “Active Hope.” This kind of hope involves taking stock of our painful reality, identifying what changes you want to see, and beginning to make them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Doing these things brings us closer to others doing the same. The hope and action beget more of the same.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yes, climate change is here. Yes, it’s bad.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And there’s hope — contingent on all of us, acting.\u003cbr />\n\u003ca id=\"question\">\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "The COP26 Summit to Fight Climate Change Has Started. Here's What to Expect",
"headTitle": "The COP26 Summit to Fight Climate Change Has Started. Here’s What to Expect | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>A climate extravaganza got underway in Glasgow, Scotland, on Sunday. President Biden showed up. So have other world leaders and a small city’s worth of diplomats, business executives and activists. It’s billed as a potential turning point in the struggle to avert the worst effects of climate change, and it has a curious name: COP26.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Is it worth the hype? What might it accomplish? Here’s what you need to know.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Q. What’s a COP?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These climate meetings began in 1992, when countries signed a treaty promising to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere and prevent dangerous changes to the climate. Almost every year since then, the parties to this agreement have met to talk about what still needs to be done. It’s called a Conference of Parties, or COP. This is the 26th such meeting. So, COP26.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Q. Who is showing up?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An astonishing collection of people. \u003ca href=\"https://www.icccad.net/our-team/saleemul-huq/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Saleemul Huq\u003c/a>, from the International Centre for Climate Change and Development in Bangladesh, has been to every single COP. He calls the meeting, which will last for two weeks, a “multi-ring circus.” In the innermost ring, blue-badged diplomats from almost 200 countries will debate the wording of a statement that’s released at the meeting’s conclusion, which contains any actual decisions. Other venues in Glasgow will be flooded by celebrities, industry groups, climate activists and academic researchers, all with their own priorities. Protests are expected. It looks to be like a session of Congress, a trade show and a political demonstration all rolled into one.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"backstage-sponsor-language \">\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Q. What is COP26 supposed to accomplish?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s one main goal: get closer to fulfilling promises that nations made six years ago at COP21 in Paris. Under the Paris Agreement, countries pledged to collectively cut their greenhouse emissions enough to keep the planet from heating up more than 1.5 degrees C (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit), compared with pre-industrial times. Wealthy countries also promised large amounts of aid to poorer nations to help them cope with climate change and to reduce their own greenhouse emissions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Progress toward those goals has been halting, at best. But pressure is growing for bolder action, because \u003ca href=\"https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">scientists say\u003c/a> that planetary warming is accelerating , leading to more frequent and intense heat waves and storms and destruction of ecosystems. The planet already has warmed by about one degree Celsius. Keeping warming below 1.5 degrees C will require quick, drastic cuts in global greenhouse emissions, bringing them practically to zero within about 30 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m optimistic, not in a naive sense, because the conditions for this are extraordinarily difficult,” says \u003ca href=\"http://christianafigueres.com/#/\">Christiana Figueres\u003c/a>, formerly the United Nations’ climate chief. “This is incredibly difficult. [But] do we need a success out of this? Absolutely. We don’t have the option or the luxury of failure.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Q. Will diplomats sit around a table and negotiate limits on their countries’ greenhouse emissions?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not exactly. The Paris Agreement created a novel method for getting to this goal. It works like a GoFundMe, except for the planet. Countries offer their individual “contributions” — their specific plans to cut heat-trapping emissions. The U.N. then adds them all up and calculates if that sum is enough — or, as now, if a gap remains between those plans and what climate scientists say is needed to avoid the most catastrophic effects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Glasgow meeting is forcing countries to declare their plans to cut emissions, and maybe go bigger. “This is arguably the most important COP since 2015” when the Paris Agreement was signed, Figueres says. “We’re going to [go] around the table, we’re going to be transparent with each other. We’re going to say what we did. And above all, what more we are going to do.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://fletcher.tufts.edu/people/rachel-kyte\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Rachel Kyte\u003c/a>, dean of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, says private companies and philanthropists feel the same pressure. “Having the event has an effect,” says Kyte, who is also advising the United Kingdom on aspects of the climate talks. “There is huge pressure from civil society, from the public, from investors, from politicians, to go to Glasgow with something [to offer.] People want to be seen to be doing the right thing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Q. How is this global GoFundMe going so far?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Poorly. Greenhouse gases continue to pour into the atmosphere at a high rate. Even the plans that countries have submitted since Paris would allow global emissions to \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/09/17/1038294582/countries-are-breaking-their-climate-promises-the-united-nations-says\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">continue increasing\u003c/a>. According to the nonprofit \u003ca href=\"https://climateactiontracker.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Climate Action Tracker\u003c/a>, major polluting countries have submitted plans that are either “critically insufficient” or “highly insufficient.” They include \u003ca href=\"https://climateactiontracker.org/countries/russian-federation/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Russia\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://climateactiontracker.org/countries/china/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">China\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://climateactiontracker.org/countries/brazil/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Brazil\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://climateactiontracker.org/countries/india/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">India\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://climateactiontracker.org/countries/australia/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Australia\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The U.S. recently improved its rating to merely “insufficient.” Earlier this year, it \u003ca href=\"https://www4.unfccc.int/sites/ndcstaging/PublishedDocuments/United%20States%20of%20America%20First/United%20States%20NDC%20April%2021%202021%20Final.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">promised\u003c/a> to cut its greenhouse gas emissions in half (compared with 2005 levels) by 2030 and to deliver $10 billion a year in climate-focused economic aid to lower-income countries. But those are just promises right now. Congress hasn’t passed legislation that would accomplish this so far, although the Biden administration has offered a new plan that calls for large investments in climate initiatives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nations also have not delivered on their promises regarding “climate finance” — the stream of money that will help poorer countries deal with the consequences of a warming climate. Developing nations emit small quantities of heat-trapping pollution but suffer disproportionately from its effects and have fewer resources available to cope with it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re not on track. It’s not happening. Why isn’t it happening? That’s the story,” says Saleemul Huq.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There is some mildly good news, though. According to the latest \u003ca href=\"https://www.iea.org/reports/world-energy-outlook-2021/executive-summary\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">estimate\u003c/a> from the International Energy Agency, if all countries fully carry out their current climate pledges, the global curve of greenhouse emissions eventually will start to bend downward. Under this scenario, average global temperatures would increase by 3.7 degrees Fahrenheit compared with pre-industrial levels by the end of the century. (Those average temperatures have already risen by about two degrees Fahrenheit.) “We are making progress,” Figueres says. “We’re not at the level that we should be, but we’re moving in the right direction.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Q. After all the countries put their plans on the table, what remains to be decided?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Negotiators will argue over the wording of the meeting’s final statement. Climate experts are hoping that it will “send a signal” that nations understand the need for deeper emissions cuts to reach that elusive target of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Poorer countries, many from Africa, will push hard for specific commitments on financial aid to help them deal with climate-linked disasters. “Poor countries are not responsible for this problem,” says \u003ca href=\"https://cccd.funai.edu.ng/team-member/professor-chukwumerije-okereke/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Chukwumerije Okereke\u003c/a>, director of the Centre for Climate Change and Development in Nigeria. “It’s been shipped to them by developed countries, and they’re having to deal with it with little or no help.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These countries say that previous commitments for $100 billion a year in “climate finance” — even though still unmet — are woefully inadequate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition, negotiators will be trying to work out final details of what’s called “The Paris Rulebook.” These include rules for how countries shall report their emissions targets and how a system of “carbon markets” might work, in which one country can effectively purchase emissions reductions from another country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rachel Kyte says that one thing is already clear. There will be plenty of work still to do when COP26 is over. “People think that the COP is sort of like the World Series, right? And that there’s going to be some, you know, walk-off home run from China or the U.S. And it’s not,” she says. “It’s like an Iditarod, right? Lots of huskies, long and arduous, and maybe it never ends.”\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "A major climate meeting is underway in Glasgow, Scotland. It's a pivotal moment in the struggle against climate change. But it's taking place in the midst of political tensions.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>A climate extravaganza got underway in Glasgow, Scotland, on Sunday. President Biden showed up. So have other world leaders and a small city’s worth of diplomats, business executives and activists. It’s billed as a potential turning point in the struggle to avert the worst effects of climate change, and it has a curious name: COP26.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Is it worth the hype? What might it accomplish? Here’s what you need to know.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Q. What’s a COP?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These climate meetings began in 1992, when countries signed a treaty promising to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere and prevent dangerous changes to the climate. Almost every year since then, the parties to this agreement have met to talk about what still needs to be done. It’s called a Conference of Parties, or COP. This is the 26th such meeting. So, COP26.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Q. Who is showing up?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An astonishing collection of people. \u003ca href=\"https://www.icccad.net/our-team/saleemul-huq/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Saleemul Huq\u003c/a>, from the International Centre for Climate Change and Development in Bangladesh, has been to every single COP. He calls the meeting, which will last for two weeks, a “multi-ring circus.” In the innermost ring, blue-badged diplomats from almost 200 countries will debate the wording of a statement that’s released at the meeting’s conclusion, which contains any actual decisions. Other venues in Glasgow will be flooded by celebrities, industry groups, climate activists and academic researchers, all with their own priorities. Protests are expected. It looks to be like a session of Congress, a trade show and a political demonstration all rolled into one.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"backstage-sponsor-language \">\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Q. What is COP26 supposed to accomplish?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s one main goal: get closer to fulfilling promises that nations made six years ago at COP21 in Paris. Under the Paris Agreement, countries pledged to collectively cut their greenhouse emissions enough to keep the planet from heating up more than 1.5 degrees C (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit), compared with pre-industrial times. Wealthy countries also promised large amounts of aid to poorer nations to help them cope with climate change and to reduce their own greenhouse emissions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Progress toward those goals has been halting, at best. But pressure is growing for bolder action, because \u003ca href=\"https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">scientists say\u003c/a> that planetary warming is accelerating , leading to more frequent and intense heat waves and storms and destruction of ecosystems. The planet already has warmed by about one degree Celsius. Keeping warming below 1.5 degrees C will require quick, drastic cuts in global greenhouse emissions, bringing them practically to zero within about 30 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m optimistic, not in a naive sense, because the conditions for this are extraordinarily difficult,” says \u003ca href=\"http://christianafigueres.com/#/\">Christiana Figueres\u003c/a>, formerly the United Nations’ climate chief. “This is incredibly difficult. [But] do we need a success out of this? Absolutely. We don’t have the option or the luxury of failure.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Q. Will diplomats sit around a table and negotiate limits on their countries’ greenhouse emissions?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not exactly. The Paris Agreement created a novel method for getting to this goal. It works like a GoFundMe, except for the planet. Countries offer their individual “contributions” — their specific plans to cut heat-trapping emissions. The U.N. then adds them all up and calculates if that sum is enough — or, as now, if a gap remains between those plans and what climate scientists say is needed to avoid the most catastrophic effects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Glasgow meeting is forcing countries to declare their plans to cut emissions, and maybe go bigger. “This is arguably the most important COP since 2015” when the Paris Agreement was signed, Figueres says. “We’re going to [go] around the table, we’re going to be transparent with each other. We’re going to say what we did. And above all, what more we are going to do.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://fletcher.tufts.edu/people/rachel-kyte\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Rachel Kyte\u003c/a>, dean of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, says private companies and philanthropists feel the same pressure. “Having the event has an effect,” says Kyte, who is also advising the United Kingdom on aspects of the climate talks. “There is huge pressure from civil society, from the public, from investors, from politicians, to go to Glasgow with something [to offer.] People want to be seen to be doing the right thing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Q. How is this global GoFundMe going so far?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Poorly. Greenhouse gases continue to pour into the atmosphere at a high rate. Even the plans that countries have submitted since Paris would allow global emissions to \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/09/17/1038294582/countries-are-breaking-their-climate-promises-the-united-nations-says\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">continue increasing\u003c/a>. According to the nonprofit \u003ca href=\"https://climateactiontracker.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Climate Action Tracker\u003c/a>, major polluting countries have submitted plans that are either “critically insufficient” or “highly insufficient.” They include \u003ca href=\"https://climateactiontracker.org/countries/russian-federation/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Russia\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://climateactiontracker.org/countries/china/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">China\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://climateactiontracker.org/countries/brazil/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Brazil\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://climateactiontracker.org/countries/india/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">India\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://climateactiontracker.org/countries/australia/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Australia\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The U.S. recently improved its rating to merely “insufficient.” Earlier this year, it \u003ca href=\"https://www4.unfccc.int/sites/ndcstaging/PublishedDocuments/United%20States%20of%20America%20First/United%20States%20NDC%20April%2021%202021%20Final.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">promised\u003c/a> to cut its greenhouse gas emissions in half (compared with 2005 levels) by 2030 and to deliver $10 billion a year in climate-focused economic aid to lower-income countries. But those are just promises right now. Congress hasn’t passed legislation that would accomplish this so far, although the Biden administration has offered a new plan that calls for large investments in climate initiatives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nations also have not delivered on their promises regarding “climate finance” — the stream of money that will help poorer countries deal with the consequences of a warming climate. Developing nations emit small quantities of heat-trapping pollution but suffer disproportionately from its effects and have fewer resources available to cope with it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re not on track. It’s not happening. Why isn’t it happening? That’s the story,” says Saleemul Huq.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There is some mildly good news, though. According to the latest \u003ca href=\"https://www.iea.org/reports/world-energy-outlook-2021/executive-summary\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">estimate\u003c/a> from the International Energy Agency, if all countries fully carry out their current climate pledges, the global curve of greenhouse emissions eventually will start to bend downward. Under this scenario, average global temperatures would increase by 3.7 degrees Fahrenheit compared with pre-industrial levels by the end of the century. (Those average temperatures have already risen by about two degrees Fahrenheit.) “We are making progress,” Figueres says. “We’re not at the level that we should be, but we’re moving in the right direction.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Q. After all the countries put their plans on the table, what remains to be decided?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Negotiators will argue over the wording of the meeting’s final statement. Climate experts are hoping that it will “send a signal” that nations understand the need for deeper emissions cuts to reach that elusive target of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Poorer countries, many from Africa, will push hard for specific commitments on financial aid to help them deal with climate-linked disasters. “Poor countries are not responsible for this problem,” says \u003ca href=\"https://cccd.funai.edu.ng/team-member/professor-chukwumerije-okereke/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Chukwumerije Okereke\u003c/a>, director of the Centre for Climate Change and Development in Nigeria. “It’s been shipped to them by developed countries, and they’re having to deal with it with little or no help.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These countries say that previous commitments for $100 billion a year in “climate finance” — even though still unmet — are woefully inadequate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition, negotiators will be trying to work out final details of what’s called “The Paris Rulebook.” These include rules for how countries shall report their emissions targets and how a system of “carbon markets” might work, in which one country can effectively purchase emissions reductions from another country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rachel Kyte says that one thing is already clear. There will be plenty of work still to do when COP26 is over. “People think that the COP is sort of like the World Series, right? And that there’s going to be some, you know, walk-off home run from China or the U.S. And it’s not,” she says. “It’s like an Iditarod, right? Lots of huskies, long and arduous, and maybe it never ends.”\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"info": "The Commonwealth Club of California is the nation's oldest and largest public affairs forum. As a non-partisan forum, The Club brings to the public airwaves diverse viewpoints on important topics. The Club's weekly radio broadcast - the oldest in the U.S., dating back to 1924 - is carried across the nation on public radio stations and is now podcasting. Our website archive features audio of our recent programs, as well as selected speeches from our long and distinguished history. This podcast feed is usually updated twice a week and is always un-edited.",
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"order": 9
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"id": "fresh-air",
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"airtime": "SUN 7:30pm-8pm",
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"tagline": "Where conversation and cultura meet",
"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
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"order": 15
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"title": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown",
"tagline": "Lessons from a lifetime in politics",
"info": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown brings listeners the wisdom of the former Governor, Mayor, and presidential candidate. Scott Shafer interviewed Brown for more than 40 hours, covering the former governor's life and half-century in the political game – and Brown has some lessons he'd like to share. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Political-Mind-of-Jerry-Brown-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"order": 18
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"info": "Latino USA, the radio journal of news and culture, is the only national, English-language radio program produced from a Latino perspective.",
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"marketplace": {
"id": "marketplace",
"title": "Marketplace",
"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 4pm-4:30pm, MON-WED 6:30pm-7pm",
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"source": "American Public Media"
},
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"masters-of-scale": {
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"title": "Masters of Scale",
"info": "Masters of Scale is an original podcast in which LinkedIn co-founder and Greylock Partner Reid Hoffman sets out to describe and prove theories that explain how great entrepreneurs take their companies from zero to a gazillion in ingenious fashion.",
"airtime": "Every other Wednesday June 12 through October 16 at 8pm (repeats Thursdays at 2am)",
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},
"mindshift": {
"id": "mindshift",
"title": "MindShift",
"tagline": "A podcast about the future of learning and how we raise our kids",
"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mindshift-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED MindShift: How We Will Learn",
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"meta": {
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"order": 12
},
"link": "/podcasts/mindshift",
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM1NzY0NjAwNDI5",
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"morning-edition": {
"id": "morning-edition",
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"info": "\u003cem>Morning Edition\u003c/em> takes listeners around the country and the world with multi-faceted stories and commentaries every weekday. Hosts Steve Inskeep, David Greene and Rachel Martin bring you the latest breaking news and features to prepare you for the day.",
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"onourwatch": {
"id": "onourwatch",
"title": "On Our Watch",
"tagline": "Deeply-reported investigative journalism",
"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/On-Our-Watch-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"order": 11
},
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"on-the-media": {
"id": "on-the-media",
"title": "On The Media",
"info": "Our weekly podcast explores how the media 'sausage' is made, casts an incisive eye on fluctuations in the marketplace of ideas, and examines threats to the freedom of information and expression in America and abroad. For one hour a week, the show tries to lift the veil from the process of \"making media,\" especially news media, because it's through that lens that we see the world and the world sees us",
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},
"link": "/radio/program/on-the-media",
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},
"pbs-newshour": {
"id": "pbs-newshour",
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"info": "Analysis, background reports and updates from the PBS NewsHour putting today's news in context.",
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"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/PBS-News-Hour-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/pbs-newshour-full-show/id394432287?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/PBS-NewsHour---Full-Show-p425698/",
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},
"perspectives": {
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"order": 14
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"planet-money": {
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"info": "The economy explained. Imagine you could call up a friend and say, Meet me at the bar and tell me what's going on with the economy. Now imagine that's actually a fun evening.",
"airtime": "SUN 3pm-4pm",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/planetmoney.jpg",
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},
"link": "/radio/program/planet-money",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/planet-money/id290783428?mt=2",
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},
"politicalbreakdown": {
"id": "politicalbreakdown",
"title": "Political Breakdown",
"tagline": "Politics from a personal perspective",
"info": "Political Breakdown is a new series that explores the political intersection of California and the nation. Each week hosts Scott Shafer and Marisa Lagos are joined with a new special guest to unpack politics -- with personality — and offer an insider’s glimpse at how politics happens.",
"airtime": "THU 6:30pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Political-Breakdown-2024-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"order": 5
},
"link": "/podcasts/politicalbreakdown",
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"possible": {
"id": "possible",
"title": "Possible",
"info": "Possible is hosted by entrepreneur Reid Hoffman and writer Aria Finger. Together in Possible, Hoffman and Finger lead enlightening discussions about building a brighter collective future. The show features interviews with visionary guests like Trevor Noah, Sam Altman and Janette Sadik-Khan. Possible paints an optimistic portrait of the world we can create through science, policy, business, art and our shared humanity. It asks: What if everything goes right for once? How can we get there? Each episode also includes a short fiction story generated by advanced AI GPT-4, serving as a thought-provoking springboard to speculate how humanity could leverage technology for good.",
"airtime": "SUN 2pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Possible-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.possible.fm/",
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"source": "Possible"
},
"link": "/radio/program/possible",
"subscribe": {
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"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/730YpdUSNlMyPQwNnyjp4k"
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},
"pri-the-world": {
"id": "pri-the-world",
"title": "PRI's The World: Latest Edition",
"info": "Each weekday, host Marco Werman and his team of producers bring you the world's most interesting stories in an hour of radio that reminds us just how small our planet really is.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 2pm-3pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-World-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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},
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