News Roundup
‘Global warming is a looming catastrophe for California, the nation and the world, but few people — politicians and the general public alike — want to talk about it, Gov. Jerry Brown told a San Francisco conference on climate change Thursday.’
Source: Climate change is looming catastrophe for California, Brown says – SFGate
‘A three-foot rise in sea level would submerge almost 20 percent of the country and displace more than 30 million people—and the actual rise by 2100 could be significantly more’
Source:Â Scientific American – The Unfolding Tragedy of Climate Change in Bangladesh
‘Temperatures across northern India, including the capital New Delhi, are set to soar well above 100°F (37.8°C) through the weekend and into next week thanks to a pre-monsoon heat wave that has set in somewhat earlier than normal.’
Source: Early Heat Wave Bakes India, Sign of What’s to Come | Climate Central
‘The solution Hansen believes will work best is one recently advocated by a group of Republican statesmen: a “carbon fee and dividend.†Although it is not a tax, the approach would put a price on carbon—a step Hansen thinks is absolutely essential for cutting back greenhouse gas emissions.’
Source: Legendary Climate Scientist Likes a GOP Proposal on Global Warming – Scientific American
‘APRIL 7, 2017 MUMBAI—A nine-year-old girl has filed a legal case against the Indian government for failing to take action on climate change, highlighting the growing concern over pollution and environmental degradation in the country.’
Source: Why a 9-year-old girl is suing India’s government over climate change – CSMonitor.com
‘The Chinese government recently canceled construction of more than 100 new coal-fired power plants and plans to invest at least $360 billion in green energy projects by 2020. It is a building boom expected to create an estimated 13 million jobs. China already leads the world in total installed solar and wind capacity.’
Source: Trump boosts coal as China takes lead on climate change
‘Taylor has joined a small but growing cohort of Republicans, conservatives, and libertarians who are bucking Republican Party orthodoxy on climate — even as President Trump has moved briskly to roll back the Obama administration’s major climate initiatives.’
Source: Climate Converts: The Conservatives Who Are Switching Sides on Warming – Yale E360
‘Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee could help decide the fate of his moves to undo climate-related U.S. regulations, but legal experts said Neil Gorsuch’s judicial record makes it hard to predict whether as a justice he would back a sweeping rollback.’
Source: High court pick could help decide fate of Trump’s climate policy | Reuters
‘Coal’s use in U.S. power plants has been falling for years in the face of stiff competition from natural gas. Former President Barack Obama’s initiatives to rein in the impacts of climate change have hastened the retirement of old, inefficient coal-fired plants and the switch to cleaner-burning natural gas.’
Source: Trump climate change action won’t change coal’s fortunes: Shell chair
‘As President Trump rolls back Obama’s environmental legacy, it isn’t just green groups who say they’ll resist America’s reversal on clean electricity. Billion-dollar corporations told BuzzFeed News that because climate change is a significant concern for their business, they’ll keep on battling carbon pollution regardless of what the government says.’