The physical condition of the planet – as this summer’s unprecedented extreme heat and flooding and Canada’s and Greece’s colossal fires demonstrate – has continued to get worse; the solutions have continued to get better; the public is far more engaged; the climate movement has grown, though of course it needs to grow far more. – Rebecca Solnit
Our Climate Crisis
Climate scientists say that recent events indicate Earth’s climate has entered uncharted territory. As worrisome as recent record breaking heat is, it’s just one way the planet is telling us something is gravely wrong. Other indicators that climate change has entered uncharted territory include warming oceans and shrinking Antarctic sea ice. Even so, we can help avert the worst of warming by cutting back on coal, oil, and gas, ramping up development of renewables, and helping farmers store carbon in agricultural soils.
The recent destructive flooding in New York and Vermont hit the news cycle. Most of us are, however, unaware of similar flooding in India, China, Japan and Turkey. While these might seem like unrelated distant events, atmospheric scientists say they have this in common: Storms are forming in a warmer atmosphere, making extreme rainfall a more frequent reality now. Any predicted additional global warming will only make it worse.
Florida is in the midst of a home insurance crisis. Hurricane Ian slammed into the city of Fort Myers as a Category 4 storm last year and caused at least $60 billion in insured losses. Even with premiums about four times the national average, most insurers still can’t turn a profit. Eight carriers went bankrupt in the past two years and two large national carriers announced that they are pulling back their coverage in risky areas. Even if the market recovers from these recent catastrophes climate change will likely keep prices high.
A new analysis of 150 years of temperature data shows that the Atlantic Ocean’s sensitive water circulation system has become slower and less resilient. Scientists are becoming increasingly concerned that this crucial element of the climate system could collapse within the next few decades. Increasing Arctic ice melting could create a “tipping point” around the middle of this century. That would cause an abrupt and irreversible change, like turning off a light switch, and it could lead to dramatic changes in weather on either side of the Atlantic.
Politics and Policy
The Southern Environmental Law Center filed a legal challenge against Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s proposed regulation to withdraw Virginia from the regional carbon market known as the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. The notice of appeal was filed on behalf of Appalachian Voices, the Association of Energy Conservation Professionals, Faith Alliance for Climate Solutions, and Virginia Interfaith Power and Light.
One year in, the Inflation Reduction Act is working to reduce global warming but not fast enough to meet the U.S. Paris Climate Agreement goals. An independent study shows that it is helping to slash U.S. greenhouse gas emissions and is a meaningful improvement over previous years. While the goals are still within reach, getting there won’t be easy. It will require additional national, state, and local policies and legislative initiatives.
Billions of new federal dollars in grants and tax credits are available for churches and nonprofits to go green. The funding for these initiatives is facilitated by the Office of State and Community Energy Programs in the Department of Energy, which partners with state, local and tribal governments and community organizations.
John Kerry, President Biden’s climate envoy, says the U.S. and China must set aside their political differences to jointly tackle climate change. He said the rest of the world is looking to the two economic powers and major polluters to urgently reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that are dangerously warming the planet.
The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a stay of construction on the Mountain Valley Pipeline while it considers arguments that Congress violated the separation of powers doctrine when it passed a law expediting completion of the controversial project. The Mountain Valley Pipeline, in turn, appealed the stay to the U.S. Supreme Court, which promptly lifted the stay blocking construction. Opponents of the pipeline, nevertheless vow to continue the fight.
Dominion Energy and Clean Virginia were the biggest spenders in donations to candidates in the Virginia state legislative primaries this year. Dominion Energy poured in $7 million and the anti-Dominion Clean Virginia Fund came second with $5.2 million. This has led to new calls for campaign finance reforms in the Commonwealth.
House Republicans are proposing planting a trillion trees as they move away from climate change denial. While they are no longer denying that global warming exists, this is their response to sweltering heat, other weather disasters and rising sea levels. They still refuse to abandon their support for American-produced energy from burning oil, coal and gas.
Energy
A huge challenge in our transition to clean energy is upgrading our electrical grid which was built piecemeal over the last one hundred years. Our transmission lines were built for an era of connecting big coal, gas and nuclear power plants to cities and towns. Today, those power plants are more expensive for bill payers than wind, solar and battery storage. They are also proving unreliable in the face of ever more extreme weather.
Our obsession with EV range is all wrong according to some analysts. Only 5 percent of trips in the U.S. are longer than 30 miles and smaller batteries can satisfy well over 90 percent of our driving needs. The trend toward large EVs with massive battery packs is unnecessary and wasteful. Those big batteries will rarely be used, especially if the owner has a place to plug in their car every day.
Regional gas stations are facing a monumental shift in business and customer experience with the rise of electric vehicles. Many are at an inflection point as they face increased electric vehicle sales and declining gasoline demand. While some are trying to electrify, the process is hard and full of red tape—and some still have a foot in the past as they continue to advocate for fossil fuel usage.
DTE Energy, one of Michigan’s largest utilities, announced a 20-year plan to spend $11 billion on clean energy construction. This strategy will also shutter their last large coal plant in 2032, three years ahead of schedule. That move will bring an end to their use of coal power, which supplied 77% of its electricity as of 2005.
Natural gas can be just as bad for the climate as coal because it’s largely made up of methane—a more potent greenhouse gas than carbon emitted from coal. Methane is especially prone to leaking. A new peer-reviewed study shows that about .66% of natural gas leaks during the production process. It can have as big of an emissions impact as coal even if its leakage rate is as low as .2%. This refutes the claim that it’s the readily available, climate-friendly, bridge fossil fuel we should be relying on.
Dominion Energy is partnering with RWE, a renewable energy company, to build utility-scale solar projects throughout Virginia. It includes a 15 MW project located in Rockingham County, which is in development. Together, these projects will create enough electricity to power 70,000 homes.
Climate Justice
Climate Action Alliance of the Valley (CAAV) received a $35,000 grant from Clean Virginia to promote weatherization and energy efficiency programs for low-income households. This grant will allow CAAV to continue an innovative partnership with Community Housing Partners (CHP) and other local partner organizations. CHP connects qualified homeowners and renters to free weatherization and home energy programs funded by federal and state governments, as well as from area utilities.
Billions of snow crabs have disappeared from the Bering Sea. The crab population crash is linked to record-warm ocean temperatures and less ice formation, both associated with climate change. The Indigenous people of St. Paul Island, west of Anchorage, Alaska, depend on them for survival. Their culture and language, which has existed for 10,000 years, is now struggling to survive.
Even before the global average temperature set a new record high in July, extreme heat was already killing more Americans annually than any other natural disaster. The homeless are especially vulnerable in Phoenix, America’s hottest large city. The daily struggle to survive is particularly real in “the Zone,” a large encampment of between 600 and 1,000 unsheltered people on a long stretch of mostly shadeless streets and parking lots west of downtown.
Rising heat deaths are about more than high temperatures. The poor and vulnerable among us suffer the most. As a society—the government, businesses, the church, and individuals alike — have failed to ensure that those most at risk are kept safe. Anglican priest Tish Harrison Warren writes, “So, as heat deaths rise, when we speak of those who die, don’t just say they died of heat. Say they died of poverty, of neglect, of a world that values the wealthy more than those who are not, of a society that looks away from the preventable suffering of the vulnerable.”
Climate Action
The US Department of Transportation awarded the City of Harrisonburg $14,368,180 to convert one driving lane of Liberty Street to a two-way separated bicycle and pedestrian facility. This will support the city’s environmental sustainability, mobility, community connectivity, and economic development goals.
U.S. truck makers have reached a deal to accept a California plan to ban sales of new diesel big rigs by 2036. It’s a major step toward reducing planet warming greenhouse gas emissions. It’s also a big plus for eliminating the pollution affecting people living near ports, warehouses and other facilities involved in the shipment of goods.
Using better farming techniques to store 1% more carbon in about half of the world’s agricultural soils would be enough to absorb the amount of carbon that must be cut by 2030 to stay within 1.5C of global warming. Farmers using regenerative farming techniques could face short-term increased costs while they changed their methods, away from the overuse of artificial fertilizer. After a transition period of two to three years their yields would improve and their soils would be much healthier.
China, the world’s top carbon emitter and greatest user of coal, is rolling out wind and solar renewables at breakneck speed. This year alone, it could add more solar power than the cumulative total in place in the United States. Coal remains the elephant in the room. China’s coal consumption is still increasing and it keeps adding new coal electrical power plants.
An Oxford University study has shown that having big meat-eaters in the U.K cut some of it out of their diet would be like taking 8 million cars off the road. A big meat-eater’s diet produces an average of 23 pounds of planet-warming greenhouse gases each day. A low meat-eater or vegetarian diet produces almost half that per day. And for vegan diets, it’s halved again.
Customers love free returns on online purchases but they’re killing the planet. Returned merchandise cost retailers more than $800 billion in lost sales last year. It also increased greenhouse gas emissions and waste in landfills, where many returned products end up. Changing customer behavior such as taking returns to a local store can make a difference. Such items are more likely to be restocked compared to those that are mailed back.
Action Alert
A Wetlands Watch expert will speak on “Climate Change and Resiliency” at the Harrisonburg Planning Commission Meeting September 19, 6pm, in Council Chambers, 409 South Main Street. There will be an opportunity for Q & A with the public. Please put this on your calendar; plan to participate.
Earl Zimmerman
CAAV Steering Committee
Climate Action Alliance of the Valley 