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 Politics

Andrew Yang Rolls Out Climate Plan in New Hampshire

With a healthy dose of both optimism and realism, Andrew Yang rolled out an ambitious plan to spend $5T over 20 years to combat climate change and get to net-zero carbon emissions by 2049 using the slogan "Lower Emissions, Higher Ground" to sum up his approach.

  • The plan begins with the words "It's Worse Than You Think" and "Our Planet Is a Mess," and ends with the call to action "Let's Go, America."
  • While the plan is ambitious and pays homage to the Green New Deal for "sparking a conversation," it also calls for a new wave of nuclear power development, funding to literally move communities that are in harm's way and better prepare others for climate change, as well as a constitutional amendment to ensure environmental sustainability is required by states and the federal government.

Why This Matters:  Yang's plan is an interesting mix of public funding and private incentives to lower emissions and he is not afraid to suggest unconventional approaches like deploying mirrors in space to deflect the sun's rays and controversial ones like developing a new wave of nuclear plants by 2027.  It also reads differently than those that have been offered by career politicians -- there are no references to current environmental laws or programs or even historical ones like the Civilian Conservation Corps -- and thus it is very clear and easy for voters to understand.  And his straight talk about the fact that we are ten years behind in dealing with climate change also gives him some credibility with most Democrats who see climate as a dire emergency.  The question really is whether someone with no experience in government can pull off something this big.  And whether mainstream Democrats are ready to embrace new taxes and nuclear power in a big way.  We can't wait to dig into this deeper with him at our Climate Forum on September 19-20!  The Dems certainly are providing a stark contrast to the President who did not even bother to show up to yesterday's G-7 meeting on climate change.

This Is Yang's Five Prong Approach:  read more...

To Go Deeper:  You can read all the details of the Plan by clicking here.
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 Water
City workers bring Newark residents. Image: Andrew Maclean | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
Newark Fast Tracks Lead Pipe Replacement

We wrote the other week about Newark's ongoing water crisis and the city's plan to distribute bottled water to residents after water filters that were previously made available to the public lacked the ability to filter out lead. Now New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy and Newark Mayor Ras Baraka announced a new $120 million plan yesterday to fast-track the process of replacing all lead service pipes throughout the city. As the New York Times explained, a new financing plan will allow the city to replace the 18,000 buried lead service lines in the next 24 to 30 months, a significant change from what city officials had estimated would take 10 years to complete.

Why This Matters: According to the UN, clean water is a human right, and sadly one that is not being provided consistently across the United States. Last night during the MTV VMAs, protestors descended on the venue to express their anger at the general lack of awareness of Newark's water crisis. In the interim, until Newark's pipes are replaced, residents cannot be guaranteed clean drinking water and it's unclear how this might affect their health.

Read more...
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 Animals   

Julian Castro Reveals Animal Welfare and Biodiversity Plan

Last week, 2020 presidential hopeful and former HUD secretary Julian Castro was the first candidate to release an action plan addressing animal welfare issues. Huffington Post's Yashar Ali broke the story and explained that Castro's plan, called PAW: Protecting Animals and Wildlife,

  • Calls for ending the euthanasia of domestic dogs and cats in shelters and seeks to improve federal housing policy for those with pets. 
  • Would sign into law legislation that would make animal cruelty a federal crime, establish federal minimums for space for farm animals, prohibit the testing of cosmetic products on animals, and ban the unlicensed ownership of large cats like lions and tigers.
Why This Matters: Protecting biodiversity is an important but often unaddressed component of climate action. In the United States specifically, we need to enforce our legacy conservation acts (like the Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act) to ensure that we protect species and the valuable ecosystem services they provide. This is a great step by Secretary Julian Castro that we hope more 2020 contenders emulate in their own climate and environmental action plans.


Extinction Crisis: Earlier this year a landmark report revealed that 1 million speciesare at risk of extinction largely due to human activity and wildlife trafficking. A growing faction of environmental groups through the Campaign for Nature are calling for the conservation of 30 percent of the planet in a natural state by 2030 by creating and expanding protected areas, establishing ambitious international conservation targets, investing in science, and inspiring conservation action around the world. Castro's plan is the first presidential plan to address the extinction crisis in a real way.

Read more...
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 Energy
Map: Inside Climate News

Trump Administration Delays Offshore Wind Farm To Do More Environmental Reviews

Yesterday, in his press conference at the end of the G-7 summit, the President said he would not "lose" our country's "tremendous wealth ... on dreams and windmills, which, frankly, aren't working too well."  It seems that his statement was more than just hot air.  Earlier this month, the Interior Department's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced that it is expanding its review of the environmental impacts of the Vineyard Wind project off the coast of Massachusetts to include a "more robust" analysis of the potential cumulative impact if other offshore wind farms are built.

Why This Matters:  The Vineyard Wind project will be the first large offshore wind project in the U.S. and it was getting close to final approval when the Trump Administration insisted this extra environmental review, even though the entire purpose of the project is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by bringing more renewable power online.  This decision represents a significant double standard -- with fossil fuel drilling, coal mining and pipelines building, for which the Administration has repeatedly loosened the requirements for environmental reviews even though these activities all lead to more greenhouse gas emissions.  

There are legitimate environmental issues to be addressed by the Vineyard Wind developers in order to ensure minimal impacts on the marine environment, but this additional environmental review seems excessive and it is hard to imagine that there will be no political interference by the Trump Administration.

Cumulative Impact Is the Issue.  Read more...

To Go Deeper: Watch this brilliant rebuttal to the President's position on wind power from Ida Auken, a Danish Member of Parliament.
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 Food
One Bird Thing: Fast Food Causes High Cholesterol in Crows

Crows are among the smartest birds and as such, they're very capable of eating discarded human food in urban areas. Now a new study has revealed that crows who munch on fast food have higher cholesterol levels and live a shorter lifespan than crows in rural areas. Scientists believe that munching on so much fatty human food might lead to heart disease in crows later on but more research is needed to better understand the specifics. In the meantime, make sure you properly dispose of your guilty pleasures! 
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