Summary
In today’s edition, the focus is on the numerous side effects of climate change, in particular health. Indeed, climate change has the potential to reverse the health gains that have been made in recent decades, a report states. No wonder doctors are joining the fight against pollution from coal power, adding a significant new dimension to the effort to rein in global warming (in the Natural gas / coal section). Finally, the Obama administration said that cutting U.S. carbon emissions would even boost labor productivity.
Quote of the day
“Climate change has the potential to reverse the health gains from economic development that have been made in recent decades – not just through the direct effects on health from a changing and more unstable climate, but through indirect means such as increased migration and reduced social stability.”
Anthony Costello, co-chair of the commission that produced the report and director of the University College London (UCL) Institute for Global Health, in the BusinessGreen’s story Fifty years of global health improvements could be undermined by climate change, says The Lancet
Lead stories
Fifty years of global health improvements could be undermined by climate change, says The Lancet
By James Phillips – BusinessGreen
The effects of climate change could undermine fifty years of global health advancements, an article published in influential medical journal The Lancet will today argue.
http://jlne.ws/1ddb2wc
E.P.A. Warns of High Cost of Climate Change
By Coral Davenport – The New York Times
In the absence of global action to curb greenhouse gas emissions, the United States by the end of the century may face up to $180 billion in economic losses because of drought and water shortages, according to a report released Monday by the White House andEnvironmental Protection Agency.
http://jlne.ws/1Iw4di5
Cutting Carbon Would Aid Labor Productivity, Economy Report Says
By Mark Drajem – Bloomberg News
The Obama administration said cutting U.S. carbon emissions would benefit the economy in coming decades by boosting labor productivity, avoiding damages from coastal storms or wildfires and lowering electricity demand.
http://jlne.ws/1QNgfgF
EPA report touts big benefits to US from global climate policies
By Timothy Cama – The Hill
The Obama administration unveiled a new weapon Monday in its fight against climate change, with a report showing billions of dollars in domestic benefits from aggressive international climate policies.
http://jlne.ws/1SFpfC9
Risk of Extreme Weather From Climate Change to Rise Over Next Century, Report Says
By Sabrina Tavernise – The New York Times
More people will be exposed to floods, droughts, heat waves and other extreme weather associated with climate change over the next century than previously thought, according to a new report in the British medical journal The Lancet.
http://jlne.ws/1e0P1RR
Norway Supports The Governors’ Task Force To The Tune Of $25 Million
By Kelli Barrett and Ciro Calderon – Ecosystem Marketplace
During this week’s annual Governors’ Climate and Forests Task Force (GCF) meeting here, Hanne Bjurstrom emphasized the importance of markets as well as on-the-ground activities that require subnational support.
http://jlne.ws/1K7LFsB
Climate change: Prime Minister Tony Abbott warming to bigger greenhouse cuts
By Mark Kenny and Lisa Cox – Sydney Morning Herald
The Abbott government is weighing tougher emissions reduction targets for the post-2020 period than conservatives in cabinet had wanted in a move that would restore Australia to the international mainstream on climate change policy and challenge the Prime Minister’s reputation as a global warming denier.
http://jlne.ws/1SFpLjm
A beginner’s guide to fossil fuel divestment
By Emma Howard – The Guardian
What is fossil fuel divestment? Divestment is the opposite of investment – it is the removal of your investment capital from stocks, bonds or funds.
http://jlne.ws/1e0OrDH
Events
Climate Strategies Forum
ACCO
Washington Marriott Hotel at Metro Center
Washington, DC
June 24-26, 2015
http://jlne.ws/1J3aeGO
EMA Annual Meeting
October 28-30, 2015
Omni Parker House Hotel
Boston, MA
http://bit.ly/192w3CR
Carbon
Dem governors call for strong ozone rule
By Devin Henry – The Hill
Regulators should write a stringent new surface-level ozone rule that follows “sound science and settled law,” five Democratic governors said in a letter to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Gina McCarthy.
http://jlne.ws/1LyeEol
House GOP leader sees gas tax as politically unfeasible
By Keith Laing – The Hill
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said Monday that a gas tax hike is unlikely to be approved by Congress this year.
http://jlne.ws/1Haurfk
Natural gas/coal
Doctors Fight Coal Like Tobacco, Widening Climate Debate
By Reed Landberg and Stefan Nicola – Bloomberg News
Doctors are joining the fight against pollution from coal power, adding a significant new dimension to the effort to rein in global warming.
http://jlne.ws/1ddevuJ
Power
Save Money, Help the Environment with a Solar Power Purchase Agreement
By Marty Niland – C2ES (Center for Climate and Energy Solutions)
We’re going solar! Our middle-class, suburban family of five, with two children in college, two mortgages and a pile of other consumer debt, is getting a brand new, 7 kilowatt photovoltaic rooftop system worth roughly $31,000 – without us paying a penny out of pocket.
http://jlne.ws/1N3i8Q2
Clean tech
UK solar start-up powers up to take on Tesla’s home battery
By Andrew Bounds – Financial Times
It is the British answer to electric carmaker Tesla’s graceful wall-mounted home battery: a chunky power storage unit that slides under the kitchen worktop next to the washing machine.
http://jlne.ws/1K8Whcu
‘Tesla Effect’ Clearly Visible In Reno
By Aman Jain – Value Walk
Tesla still has a year before beginning to manufacture batteries at its new Reno facility, but the ‘Tesla effect’ has already become the talk of the town.
http://jlne.ws/1Fy0I8P
Water
As its water dwindled, Fresno cracked down hard
By Rosanna Xia – Los Angeles Times
Don Wells spotted a trail of pooling water and slowed his van. Runoff from a sprinkler gone rogue streamed down a long block of thirsty brown lawns, watering the sidewalk.
http://jlne.ws/1RsawYL
Water wars in California’s coastal wine country
By Lisa Baertlein – Reuters
By most measures, California’s Central Coast wine industry is thriving.
http://jlne.ws/1e0SArk
Miscellaneous
Eat less red meat and cycle more for your and the planet’s health
By Sarah Boseley – The Guardian
High-carbon lifestyles are desperately unhealthy, according to Hugh Montgomery, director of the UCL Institute for human health and performance and co-chair of the Lancet commission.
http://jlne.ws/1QNevEk