‘…While McConnell and other critics seem to think that they can defeat the Green New Deal by repeating a tired mantra – “we can’t afford to do it” – the real question is: how can we afford not to? Without bold action to tackle climate change, toxic pollution and economic and racial inequity, our society will only see rising fiscal burdens. A Green New Deal would not only help us avoid mounting costs – it also would stimulate broad-based demand in the economy by investing in real drivers of economic prosperity: workers and communities. That’s in stark contrast to the GOP’s expensive recent policy priority – the nearly $2tn tax cuts of 2018 – which did little more than enrich stateless mega-corporations and the wealthiest investors.’

Source: A Green New Deal is fiscally responsible. Climate inaction is not | The Guardian

‘…The chilling report, detailed in Quanta Magazine, explains that stratocumulus clouds (those are the big, fluffy, pretty ones) serve an important role in reflecting sunlight back into space and keeping the temperature on Earth stable. But scientists have found that there is a point of no return as more of the clouds break up due to rising temperatures, and the planet steadily becomes hotter as a result.’

Source: Terrifying new climate study finds clouds could vanish from Earth within a generation | The Week

‘…Mark Z. Jacobson, a Stanford professor of civil and environmental engineering, was more optimistic. His research influenced a California law last year requiring the state to use 100 percent carbon-free energy by 2045. Mr. Jacobson said that 80 percent of the Green New Deal’s target of net-zero greenhouse emissions across the economy could be achieved by 2030, and 100 percent between 2040 and 2050.’

Source: A Green New Deal Is Technologically Possible. Its Political Prospects Are Another Question. | The New York Times

‘…Sanders will in the next few months also introduce a proposal to fight climate change through a “Green New Deal,” which will similarly aim to slash emissions with an enormous public works program that would create tens of millions of jobs. The effort is moving on a parallel track to that announced earlier this month by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and a number of 2020 presidential candidates in the Senate, including Sanders, Booker, and Sens. Kamala D. Harris (D-Calif.) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.).’

Source: Bernie Sanders’s 2020 policy agenda: Medicare for All; action on climate change; $15-an-hour minimum wage | Washington Post

‘…We believe that climate change is an existential crisis for the planet, and the evidence supports that. But if it’s really that big a crisis, why don’t we act like it?’

Source: Do You Believe in Climate Change? Really? | Mother Jones

‘…We would have places in the world that could be dealing with six climate natural disasters simultaneously. And as soon as 2050, it’s likely that many of the biggest cities in the Middle East and India will be unlivably (ph) hot in the summer. So it will be a lethal risk to set foot outside in the summer in places like Kolkata and Delhi. And U.N. estimates for the number of climate refugees that could be produced just by 2050 – on the conservative end of their estimates, we’re dealing with 100 million climate refugees by 2050.’

Source: ‘Uninhabitable Earth’ Spotlights 3 Climate Change Misunderstandings | NPR

‘Dr. Wallace S. Broecker, one of the first scientists to sound the alarm about climate change and the researcher who popularized the term “global warming,” died on Monday in Manhattan. He was 87.’

Source: Wallace Broecker, 87, Dies; Sounded Early Warning on Climate Change | The New York Times

‘A bipartisan group of House lawmakers introduced a bill on Monday would block oil and gas drilling in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).’

Source: Bipartisan Bill Seeks to Ban Drilling in Arctic National Wildlife Refuge | Ecowatch

‘…The planet is at the start of a sixth mass extinction in its history, with huge losses already reported in larger animals that are easier to study. But insects are by far the most varied and abundant animals, outweighing humanity by 17 times. They are “essential” for the proper functioning of all ecosystems, the researchers say, as food for other creatures, pollinators and recyclers of nutrients.’

Source: Plummeting insect numbers ‘threaten collapse of nature’  | The Guardian

‘Germany, one of the world’s biggest consumers of coal, will shut down all 84 of its coal-fired power plants over the next 19 years to meet its international commitments in the fight against climate change, a government commission said Saturday.’

Source: Germany to close all 84 of its coal-fired power plants, will rely primarily on renewable energy | Los Angeles Times