Arguments
2020 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #38
Posted on 19 September 2020 by John Hartz
A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Sep 13, 2020 through Sat, Sep 19, 2020
Editor's Choice
Get to Net-Zero by Mid-Century? Even Some Global Oil and Gas Giants Think it Can Be Done
A report by a think tank whose members include the oil giants BP and Shell, as well as some environmental groups, suggests how it could be done and at what cost.
Aerial view of a wind-solar hybrid photovoltaic power station on September 12, 2020 in Zaozhuang, Shandong Province of China. Credit: Li Zongxian/VCG via Getty Images
The world must get to net-zero carbon emissions by mid-century, and can make it happen for a cost that is relatively small in global terms, $1 trillion to $2 trillion per year, a new report has concluded.
The report was released this week by the Energy Transitions Commission, a think tank whose members include global industry giants like BP.
The report said that electricity should replace fossil fuels across the economy, rather than setting up systems that allow for some emissions that would need to be offset by carbon-removal technologies. Researchers and environmental groups have been saying similar things for years, but the message may be more influential coming from an organization tied to big businesses.
"An exercise like this, done with this group of people, has more political heft than if it was a bunch of academics in the basement," said David Victor, an international relations professor at the University of California San Diego and co-chair of the Brookings Institution's energy and climate initiative.
Click here to access the entire article originally publshed on the InsideClimate News website.
Get to Net-Zero by Mid-Century? Even Some Global Oil and Gas Giants Think it Can Be Done by Dan Gearino, InsideClimate News, Sep 17, 2020
Articles Linked to on Facebook
Sun, Sep 13, 2020
- What’s causing climate change, in 10 charts by David Roberts, Energy & Environment, Vox, Sep 11, 2020
- With a New Pipeline in East Africa, an Oil Company Flouts France’s Leadership on Climate by Bill McKibben, Annals of a Warming Planet, The New Yorker Magazine, Sep 10, 2020
- In Oregon, a New Climate Menace: Fires Raging Where They Don’t Usually Burn by Christopher Flavelle & Henry Fountain, Climate, New York Times, Sep 12, 2020
- Western wildfires: An ‘unprecedented,’ climate change-fueled event, experts say by Diana Leonard & Andrew Freedman, Capital Weather Gang, Washington Post, Sep 11, 2020
- A Secret Recording Reveals Oil Executives’ Private Views on Climate Change by Hiroko Tabuchi, Climate & Environment, New Yorl Times, Sep 12, 2020
- Senate 2020: In South Carolina, a Political Newcomer Gives Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham a Run for His Money by James Bruggers, InsideClimate News, Sep 13, 2020
- Humans exploiting and destroying nature on unprecedented scale – report by Patrick Greenfield, Environment, Guardian, Sep 9, 2020
Mon, Sep 14, 2020
- California Can’t Afford to Wait for Climate Action by David Wallace-Wells, Intelligencer, New York Magazine, Sep 11, 2020
- Scientists Find New Way Climate Change Can Ruin Life as We Know It by Ruth Schuster, Science & Health, Haaertz, sep 13, 2020
- Tropical Storm Sally takes aim at Louisiana, still recovering weeks after Hurricane Laura by Raja Razek & Hollie Silverman, CNN, Sep 14, 2020
- Trump reignites climate fight in visit to fire-ravaged West Coast, Analysis by Maeve Reston, Politics, CNN, Sep 14, 2020
- The Forgotten History of the Radical ‘Elders of the Tribe’, Opinion by Susan J Douglas, Sunday Review, New York Times, Sep 8, 2020
- In Visiting a Charred California, Trump Confronts a Scientific Reality He Denies by Michael D. Shear & Coral Davenport, New York Times, Sep 13, 2020
- 5 tropical cyclones are in the Atlantic at the same time for only the second time in history by Allison Chinchar & Haley Brink, CNN, Sep 14, 2020
Tue, Sep 15, 2020
- Two major Antarctic glaciers are tearing loose from their restraints, scientists say, Chris Mooney, Climate & Environment, Washington Post, Sep 14, 2020
- Huge ice block breaks off Arctic’s largest remaining ice shelf, Reuters/Arctic Today, Sep 14, 2020
- Northern hemisphere breaks record for hottest ever summer by Emily Holden, Climate Countdown, Guardian, Sep 14, 2020
- Column: There’s actually a word for the climate change-induced despair you’ve been feeling by Julia Wick, California, Los Angeles Times, Sep 13, 2020
- A crawling Hurricane Sally is threatening a 'historic rainfall event' in parts of the Gulf Coast by Jason Hanna, Hollie Silverman & Ed Lavandera, CNN, Sep 15, 2020
- Drought, plague, fire: the apocalypse feels nigh. Yet we have tools to stop it, Opinion by Art Cullen, Comment is Free Guardian, Sep 15, 2020
- Fives States Have Filed Climate Change Lawsuits, Seeking Damages From Big Oil and Gas by David Hasemyer, InsideClimate News, Sep 15, 2020
- Earth Hasn’t Warmed This Fast in Tens of Millions of Years by Chelsea Harvey, E&E News/Scientific American, Sep 13, 2020
Wed, Sep 16, 2020
- ‘Nothing to Do With Climate Change’: Conservative Media and Trump Align on Fires by Michael M. Grynbaum & Tiffany Hsu, Media, New York Times, Sep 15, 2020
- Senate 2020: In Storm-Torn North Carolina, an Embattled Republican Tries a Climate-Friendly Image by Marianne Lavelle, InsideClimate News, Sep 14, 2020
- Berkeley study: 90% carbon-free electricity achievable by 2035, YouTube Video by Peter Sinclair, Yale Climate Connections, Sep 11, 2020
- Hurricane Sally slams into Alabama and Florida, and its crawling pace threatens catastrophic flooding by Jason Hanna & Hollie Silverman, CNN, Sep 16, 2020
- Longtime Climate Science Denier Hired At NOAA by Rebecca Hersher & Joe Placa, Science, NPR News, Sep 12, 2020
- The Most Important Number for the West’s Hideous Fire Season by Robinson Meyer, Science, The Atlantic Magazine, Sep 15, 2020
- Hurricane Sally, mutant sloth by Emily Atkin, Heated, Sep 16, 2020
- Sally is leaving widespread flooding in parts of Alabama and Florida, and rescues are underway by Nicole Chavez, Jason Hanna & Tina Burnside, CNN, Sep 16, 2020
Thu, Sep 17, 2020
- Skeptical Science New Research for Week #37, 2020 by Doug Bostrom, Skeptical Science, Sep 16, 2020
- World fails to meet a single target to stop destruction of nature – UN report by Patrick Greenfild, enviornment, Guardian, Sep 15, 2020
- It’s Not Just the West. These Places Are Also on Fire. by Veronica Penney, Climate, New York Times, Sep 16, 2020
- Trump’s plan for managing forests won’t save us in a more flammable world, experts say by Sarah Kaplan & Juliet Eilperin, Climate & Environment, Washington Post, Sep 16, 2020
- Alabama and Florida residents struggle with Sally's flooding as remnants threaten more misery in Georgia and the Carolinas by Jason Hanna & Faith Karimi, CNN, Sep 17, 2020
- What Trump’s Environmental Rollbacks Mean for Global Warming by Nadja Popovich & Brad Plumer, Climate & Environment, New York Times, Sept. 17, 2020
- As Sally’s remnants soak Southeast, Hurricane Teddy and new storm in Gulf of Mexico pose new threats by Jason Samenow, Capital Weather Gang, Washington Post, Sep 17, 2020
- The Age of Megafires: The World Hits a Climate Tipping Point by Ed Struzik, Yale Environment 360, Sep 17, 2020
Fri, Sep 18, 2020
- Evironmentalists pan Facebook's new climate change hub by Irina Ivanova, CBS News, Sep 16, 2020
- August 2020: The warmest summer on record for the Northern Hemisphere comes to an end by Tom Di Liberto, NOAA's Climate.gov, Sep 15, 2020
- This marine biologist wants to use the world's toughest corals to save dying reefs by Jane Sit, CNN, Sep 16, 2020
- The U.S. drought vulnerability rankings are in: How does your state compare? Alison Stevens, NOAA's Climate.gov, Sep 17, 2020
- Live coverage of Sally: Nearly 400K remain without power across Deep South; flooding, rains roll north into Carolinas, Virginia by John Bacon & Annie Blanks, USA TODAY, Sep 18, 2020
- Key messages about climate change: an introduction to a series by Gary Yohe, Benjamin Santer, Henry Jacoby & Richard Richels, Article, Yale Climate Connections, Sep 11, 2020
- Senate 2020: In Kansas, a Democratic Climate Hawk Closes in on a Republican Climate Skeptic by Georgina Gustin, InsideClimate News, Sep 16, 2020
- Evidence shows troubling warming of the planet by Henry Jacoby, Gary Yohe & Richard Richels, Yale Climate Connections, InsideClimate News, Sep 18, 2020
Sat, Sep 19, 2020
- Why Republicans Still Don’t Care About Climate Change by Ronald Brownstein, Politics, The Atlantic Magazine, Sep 17, 2020
- The science connecting wildfires to climate change by Alejandra Borunda, Science, National Geographic, Sep 17, 2020
- ‘Inverse Opec’: Kamala Harris plan to wind down oil production awaits its moment by Megan Darby, Climate Home News, Sep 18, 2020
- Get to Net-Zero by Mid-Century? Even Some Global Oil and Gas Giants Think it Can Be Done by Dan Gearino, InsideClimate News, Sep 17, 2020
- We have to accelerate clean energy innovation to curb the climate crisis. Here’s how. by David Roberts, Energy & Environment, Vox, Sep 16, 2020
- Too late to stop it': California's future hinges on managing megafires by Oliver Milman, Environment, Guardian, Sep 19, 2020
The editors choice article is really good but one nit pick. It starts out by saying "The world must get to net-zero carbon emissions by mid-century, and can make it happen for a cost that is relatively small in global terms, $1 trillion to $2 trillion per year, a new report has concluded."
Most people will go WTF $1 trillion is not small. And we know many people only read the title and first couple of paragraphs in articles.
It would have been better to include the text from further into the article that this is only 1.5% - 2% of gdp. Get this right at the top of the article.
Think of your audience!
Nigelj:
Keep in mind that even if we continmued using fossil fuels energy would not be free. It would cost about the same to keep using fossil fuels except there would be all the health and environmental damage from fossil fuels. In addition, fossil fuels are starting to run short and prices would increase by 2050.
Michael Sweet @2, what possible relationship does that have to anything I wrote? Where did I imply continuing fossil fuel use is free?
Nigelj:
In your comment you suggest people will think that 1-2 trillion dollars per year is expensive for a renewable energy system. You do not consider what fossil energy would cost. If fossil energy costs 3 trillion dollars per year and renewable energy costs 2 trillion dollars per year than the renewable energy is a bargain. In the report cited they say that a renewable energy system will cost less than a fossil fuel system. In addition, the reduction in pollution from using renewable energy will save trillions of dollars in costs, especially health costs and climate costs.
You cannot look at just the cost of renewable energy. You have to compare the cost of renewable energy to the cost of fossil energy. This is a common mistake people make when looking at energy systems.
michael sweet @4
"In your comment you suggest people will think that 1-2 trillion dollars per year is expensive for a renewable energy system."
I did. Its obvious because $ 1 trillion dollars sounds a lot to the average person. It needed to be put in context that it is only 1.5% of gdp, and right at the top of the article. However those people who read the whole article would see that it isn't such a large sum, so your comments are not really connected to the point I was making.
"You do not consider what fossil energy would cost....."
Where do I not consider that? I know perfectly well what a fossil fuel system would cost, a great deal as you correctly point out.
Please stop telling me things I already know. Please stop implying Im not aware these things, or that I disagree with these things.
It might help if you had said "people should consider...." Is that what you meant?
"In the report cited they say that a renewable energy system will cost less than a fossil fuel system. "
I have read the report. I said its "a good report". So obviously I agree with the report.
I mean with all due respect, what the hell are you going on about?
Michael Sweet & nigelj: Your recent exchanges remind me of the old-time radio show of my youth, The Bickersons.
Per Wikipedia:
John Hartz ha ha yes perhaps. However M Sweet started the bickering. I am normally a very easy going person and very forgiving, but I dont respond well when people deliberately put words in my mouth or repeatedly accuse me of doing or saying things Im not doing or saying. How about you John?
nigelj: I respectfully choose not to answer a hypothetical question. :)
Nigelj, are you the only person in the universe who doesn't respond well to having other people's words put in your mouth?
[BL] Off-topic snipped.
You have been warned several times. Stick to a topic. avoid throw-away snipes, and at least try to engage in some constructive dialog.
Once again: Please note that posting comments here at SkS is a privilege, not a right. This privilege can and will be rescinded if the posting individual continues to treat adherence to the Comments Policy as optional, rather than the mandatory condition of participating in this online forum.
So, what is net zero emissions?
Keithy @10,
Luckily there are many folk who consider it useful to provide an answer for such a basic question. And if you were to search the wonderous world-wide internet you would quickly encounter the results of their considerations.
This Guardian news article describes a poll where 70% of voters were in favor of climate action. The article claims that this result indicates that in the upcoming election politicians who are climate deniers will suffer from voters who want climate action.
I hope that is true. Even if it is not true this election, this is a much stronger result than polls in the past about climate action. More politicians are discussing renewable energy and other climate actions. Hopefully we will start to see real action with the next presiident.
Vote Climate!