Summary
In today’s edition, investors have the power to change climate change and scientists should take part in their necessary evangelization, a story says. In any case, clean energy investment is set to surge as oil is left ‘in limbo’, the Chatham House stated. Finally, dealing with climate change will require more than technical solutions: it implies reshaping economic and political incentives that are driving global warming.
Quote of the day
“We’re all trying to do what we can. It’s all about consciousness.”
Andrea Nguyen, cookbooks author, in the New York Times’ story California’s Drought Changes Habits in the Kitchen (in the Water section)
Lead stories
Scientists should tell investors about climate, carbon and divestment
By Myles Allen – The Guardian
If the Guardian’s aim with its Keep it in the Ground campaign is to draw attention to the issue of fossil fuel divestment, then they have already succeeded.
http://jlne.ws/1HjBxb3
***LB: Also in this story “The Paris financial community is turning out in force on Thursday to talk about the merits of selling shares in oil, coal and gas companies ahead of UN climate talks in December – versus the alternative of keeping the shares and engaging with directors.”
Clean energy investment set to surge as oil left ‘in limbo’, Chatham House finds
By James Phillips – BusinessGreen
“Strong” climate change policies will cause investments in energy efficiency, renewable energy, and biofuels to climb while fossil fuel supply will dwindle, according to new research from Chatham House.
http://jlne.ws/1HdlRHt
Technical solutions alone can’t fix climate change: scientists
By Laurie Goering – Thomson Reuters Foundation
Dealing with climate change and its risks will require not only technical responses like drought-resilient crops and higher sea walls but also reshaping economic and political incentives that are driving global warming, scientists said on Wednesday.
http://jlne.ws/1CqMMTr
Republicans assail DHS officials for focusing on climate change
By Timothy Cama – The Hill
House Republicans lambasted the Obama administration Wednesday for making climate change a high priority at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
http://jlne.ws/1D2uPFu
Senators question Obama ability to implement climate plans
By Devin Henry – The Hill
Senators sparred Wednesday over the effectiveness and legality of President Obama’s plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as part of an international climate agreement later this year.
http://jlne.ws/1CqzaY7
GOP subpoenas Kerry for Keystone documents
By Timothy Cama and Devin Henry – The Hill
Republicans Push Kerry On Keystone: Republicans on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee subpoenaed Secretary of State John Kerry for documents related to the Obama administration’s review of the Keystone XL pipeline on Wednesday.
http://jlne.ws/1G8M3kB
Exxon knew of climate change in 1981, email says – but it funded deniers for 27 more years
By Suzanne Goldenberg – The Guardian
ExxonMobil, the world’s biggest oil company, knew as early as 1981 of climate change – seven years before it became a public issue, according to a newly discovered email from one of the firm’s own scientists.
http://jlne.ws/1LXOuP9
Events
EMA Annual Meeting
October 28-30, 2015
Omni Parker House Hotel
Boston, MA
http://bit.ly/192w3CR
2015 Rising Seas Summit
Association of Climate Change Officers
November 12-13, 2015, Cambridge, MA
http://jlne.ws/1Uxkext
Carbon
House Dem wants to nearly double gas tax
By Keith Laing – The Hill
Rep. Rick Larsen (D-Wash.) is co-sponsoring a bill to increase the federal gas tax to help pay for transportation projects across the nation.
http://jlne.ws/1HjFvjX
Feds to decide whether state’s last nuclear plant stays or goes (California)
By David R. Baker – SFGate
Federal regulators have restarted the process of deciding whether California’s last nuclear power plant, Diablo Canyon, will remain open for decades.
http://jlne.ws/1MgZPH2
‘Walkie Talkie’ named one of London’s most sustainable buildings
By James Phillips – BusinessGreen
London’s iconic 20 Fenchurch Street, nicknamed “Walkie Talkie”, has been recognised as one of London’s most sustainable buildings by assessors of the Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Methodology (BREEAM).
http://jlne.ws/1JVy5rj
End of climate levy relief undermines Drax shares
By Pilita Clark – Financial Times
Shares in Drax, the power utility switching from burning coal to wood pellets, tumbled on Wednesday after a climate change tax exemption was abruptly scrapped.
http://jlne.ws/1SanqLq
Natural gas/coal
A Colorado Coal Mining Town Struggles to Define Its Future
The global coal renaissance is the most important climate story today
By Brad Plumer – Vox
If you only focused on the United States, you might think coal’s days were numbered.
http://jlne.ws/1CqLPuy
Peabody Coal Mine Sale Shows Tumbling Asset Prices
By Tim Loh – Bloomberg News
Peabody Energy Corp., the largest U.S. coal producer, sold an Australian mine 10 months after a previous deal for the complex collapsed.
http://jlne.ws/1RlRAjx
Power
Harvesting the Wind
By Gabriel Kahn – East Bay Express
In 2006, Bill Miller was about to sell his boss’ cattle ranch, a 500-square-mile high desert expanse in south-central Wyoming.
http://jlne.ws/1fpI12r
Cyber attack on U.S. power grid could cost economy $1 trillion: report
Reuters
A cyber attack which shuts down parts of the United States’ power grid could cost as much as $1 trillion to the U.S. economy, according to a report published on Wednesday.
http://jlne.ws/1UDpWOk
Clean tech
Fuel cell coalition focuses on growing market
Fuel cell technology in Ohio is already moving from research and development into commercialization, according to industry experts at the 2015 Ohio Fuel Cell Symposium.
http://jlne.ws/1JQUAjZ
Water
California’s Drought Changes Habits in the Kitchen
By Kim Severson – The New York Times
Andrea Nguyen, who writes cookbooks for a living, knows that making pho in a pressure cooker is not the solution to California’s drought.
http://jlne.ws/1J5Lt9u
Lima Citizens Shoulder the Financial Burden of Water Insecurity
Circle of Blue
Households in Lima, Peru, that are not connected to city water supplies are paying up to six times as much for water as households with a connection, according to a survey released in May by the National Superintendence of Sanitation Services (SUNASS).
http://jlne.ws/1SamsyN
Mining Heads Into The Deep Sea, Raising Environmental Concerns
By Kate Sheppard – Huffington Post
Mining in the deep sea for minerals is uncharted territory, but one company is well on its way to making it a reality. Now, the company is trying to convince skeptical audiences it’s a good idea.
http://jlne.ws/1dNGQb6
Miscellaneous
In Andes, Pope’s Ecological Line Faces Resistance
By John Otis and Francis X. Rocca – Wall Street Journal
Pope Francis faced a delicate mission in his first major speech on global warming on Tuesday: how to balance his advocacy for a new model of development with a poor region’s yearning to exploit its natural resources.
http://jlne.ws/1fpIdi1