‘…Around 10% of the carbon that does defrost will probably be released as CO2, amounting to 130-150 billion tonnes. That is equivalent to the current rate of total US emissions, every year until 2100. Melting permafrost effectively introduces a new country at number two on the highest emitters list, and one that isn’t accounted for in current IPCC models. “People talk about a carbon bomb,” says Natali. “In geological timescales this is not a slow release. It is a pool of carbon that is locked away and is not accounted for in the carbon budget to keep rises below two degrees (Celsius).”’

Source: The poisons released by melting Arctic ice | BBC

‘…The billionaire Bloomberg’s investment in the Beyond Carbon initiative marks the largest ever philanthropic effort to combat climate change, according to the mayor’s foundation. The organization will bypass the federal government and instead seek to pass climate and clean energy policies, as well as back political candidates, at the state and local level.’

Source: Michael Bloomberg to plunge $500M into clean energy effort | The Washington Post

‘Inslee, who is running his presidential campaign almost entirely on the issue of climate, has released multiple climate plans that address different sectors of climate action. The main component of his plan aims for an energy grid that would be zero emissions and zero carbon use by 2030.’

Source: Ocasio-Cortez calls Jay Inslee’s climate plan the ‘gold standard’ | The Hill

‘…Turns out Castro might want to pick a different issue to stand out from the rest of the 2020 climate leaders. He scored a D+, while Inslee, who has a long history of championing environmental legislation, got the highest score with an A-. Senators Cory Booker and Bernie Sanders ranked close behind Inslee with a B+ each. According to Greenpeace, Castro neglected to set a net-zero greenhouse gas emissions target, concoct a plan to manage the phase-out of fossil fuels, or enact policies to fight environmental racism.’

Source: Greenpeace Graded All the Presidential Candidates’ Climate Policies. They Weren’t Impressed. |Mother Jones

‘TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — Adding a new charge on every electricity bill in Ohio would provide a financial rescue to the state’s two struggling nuclear plants but would come at the expense of wind and solar energy projects.’

Source: Ohio’s nuclear power bailout could come at the expense of wind, solar | elp.com

‘UNITED NATIONS — About 80 countries want to increase their climate pledges ahead of schedule under the Paris climate accord, the United Nations said Tuesday, signaling that some of them would do so at a summit of world leaders in September.’

Source: United Nations Says 80 Countries May Ramp Up Climate Pledges | The New York Times

‘…The administration’s prime target has been the National Climate Assessment, produced by an interagency task force roughly every four years since 2000. Government scientists used computer-generated models in their most recent report to project that if fossil fuel emissions continue unchecked, the earth’s atmosphere could warm by as much as eight degrees Fahrenheit by the end of the century. That would lead to drastically higher sea levels, more devastating storms and droughts, crop failures, food losses and severe health consequences.’

Source: Trump Administration Hardens Its Attack on Climate Science | The New York Times

‘Gov. Jay Inslee signed legislation on Wednesday allowing the practice of “aboveground decomposition,” making Washington the first state in the nation — and likely the first place in the world, legal experts said — to explicitly allow human remains to become compost.’

Source: Ashes to Ashes. Dust to Dust. Or, in Washington State, You Could Now Be Compost. | The New York Times

‘Presidential candidate Joe Biden, 79, seems to have a very different understanding of the climate crisis than the world’s leading climate scientists. Several top advisers to the former vice-president previewed his “middle of the road” plan on the issue for Reuters on Friday. He’ll have the US rejoin the Paris agreement, which Trump has said he will leave exit as soon as that document’s terms allow in early 2021. He’ll preserve existing regulations on emissions and fuel efficiency that the current administration has targeted. Like Obama, he’ll embrace an “all of the above” energy strategy, with plenty of room for new natural gas development and exports as well as carbon capture and storage, to indefinitely extend the life of the coal industry.’

Source: Joe Biden would be a disaster for climate change | The Guardian

‘HAMPTON, N.H. — Former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. defended his record on climate change on Monday in the face of criticism from rivals for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, and called for a “green revolution” that is “rational” and affordable.’

Source: Joe Biden Defends Record on Climate and Calls for ‘Environmental Revolution’  | The New York Times