Peter Kalmus, a climate scientist, is in constant freak out mode, as he is plagued by the increasing certainty that, “if we continue burning fossil fuels at this pace, that will render large parts of the planet uninhabitable.” He further went on to say that “policymakers in general are not responding appropriately to the science that we’ve been giving them.” At the 2023 American Geophysical Union Conference in San Francisco, Rose Abramoff, an earth scientist and Peter Kalmus leapt onto the stage and unfurled a banner for Scientist Rebellion. Kalmus yelled, “As scientists we have tremendous leverage, but we need to use it.” Rose Abramoff pleaded, “Please. Please. Find a way to take action.” They were both taken offstage and banned from the conference. Another climate scientist, Dr. Michael Mann, has been in court for over ten years fighting  to clear his name after the Competitive Enterprise Institute, which has said that it “questions global warming alarmism,” and compared Dr. Mann on a blog hosted by the institute, to a convicted sex offender “Instead of molesting children,” the post read, “he has molested and tortured data in the service of politicized science.” Then a conservative writer republished parts of that post on a blog hosted by National Review and added that Dr. Mann was “behind the fraudulent climate-change ‘hockey stick’ graph.” After ten years in court, a jury in Washington DC recently found both writers were liable for defamation and Dr. Mann was awarded one million dollars in punitive damages. We all know that the climate is warming, polar ice is melting, glaciers are receding, the chemistry of the ocean is becoming dangerously acidic and sea levels are rising. Yet the scientists researching the fallout from those facts which were established more than 100 years ago, continue to face attacks that threaten their research, reputations and livelihoods. Science, yes science, and facts, yes, facts must be used to determine how climate affects the environment. We must support scientists and facts over lies and conspiracy theories. Dr. Mann fought for his right to not be harassed, and Peter Kalmus and Rose Abramoff will not let extremism replace the research that clearly points to the fact that the extraction and burning of fossil fuels by the oil and gas industries, is one of the leading causes of climate change. Our resident environmentalist, political analyst and curmudgeon George Polisner, founder of Civ.works, gives us some insight into climate science, and we discuss how Climate Scientists are fighting back in court. We also touch on the latest blow to women’s reproductive rights, as a controversial Alabama Supreme Court decision stopped IVF treatments, stating that frozen embryos, whether they are within or outside a uterus, are considered children.

For past shows go to HudsonRiverRadio.com, Malcolmpresents.com and themanyshadesofgreen.com. Follow TMSOG on Facebook, Instagram and Threads @tmshadesofgreen and tune into TMSOG podcast on Apple, Amazon, Spreaker.com, Spotify and more. #RaiseYourEcoConsciousness.

The Many Shades of Green is proud to be on Feedspot’s list of the 50 Best Environmental podcasts to follow in 2024 (at number 8). https://podcasts.feedspot.com/environmental_podcasts/

According to Earth Justice, pipeline spills can cause irreversible environmental destruction. Since 2001, there have been almost 700 reported incidents of serious pipeline failures. Over 2.6 million miles of oil and gas pipelines crisscross the country. Pipelines run through lakes, rivers, aquifers, and waterways, endangering the ecosystems and communities in their paths and fueling the climate crisis. Communities have the right to clean air, safe drinking water, and unspoiled lands, and they are being denied those rights by the harmful excesses of the fossil fuel industry. Our guest on this episode is Dayna Reggero who is an environmentalist, award winning documentarian, art activist and a guardian of Mother Earth. Her latest film project is called Gulf Coast Love Story, a collaborative Climate Listening Project which takes place in the Gulf Coast (Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida). Dayna has collaborated with artist activist Roishetta Ozane, photographer Rev. Michael Malcom, poet Ebony Stewart, and many Gulf Coast artists to produce a collaborative artistic endeavor visioning a better future grounded in the Gulf Coast Love. Artists involved with GulfCoastMurals.com take part in the project. It is a movement comprised of artists taking action to stop LNG exports, who envision a better future for the Gulf Coast. For more info go to DaynaReggero.com, https://gulfcoastlovestory.com/ For past shows on TMSOG go to HudsonRiverRadio.com and MalcolmPresents.com. Subscribe to our podcast on all major podcast apps.

Environmental, social and governance issues are affecting the way companies do business. The topic of ESG has become engulfed in a  political seesaw, and is a new battlefront in American politics. Are companies prepared for the climate transition that’s coming, and will they have to shift their investment strategies? Climate change is impacting many industries and operations, and companies must adjust to the changing planet. Droughts, floods, fires, tornadoes are now more extreme and can knock out facilities on short notice. Companies must adapt quickly and have plans in effect to deal with the weather extremes brought on by a changing climate. Both political parties in the US have differing views on ESG, as their approach to investors regarding the need to create policies that will reduce green house gases, create better working conditions and fair treatment of employees, as well as better governance policies has widened. There is once again a great divide on this issue, and one side is using the phrase “wokeness” to brush aside ESG practices. We will ever reach over the aisle again and work together for the greater good?? Our monthly civic and political analyst, George Polisner helps us understand what ESG’s are and how they are important in helping reduce carbon emissions and bring better conditions and pay to workers. George is the founder of Civ.works, who works to bring civic engagement, activism, citizen participation and political communication to the forefront.

For more info go to Civ.works. Find past shows on HudsonRiverRadio.com and Malcolmpresents.com. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram @tmshadesofgreen. Subscribe to TMSOG on all major podcast apps. #RaiseYourEcoConsciousness

 For more info go to: JoelSolomon.org, thegreendivas.com and themanyshadesofgreen.com. #RaiseYourEcoConsciousness

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With the agreement of a landmark accord reached between 196 nations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and commit to truly working towards change, the planet has a chance to survive. We have a shot at making it.

Something happened when I heard the news of the accord. I didn’t rush to look up all the details of the agreement. Instead of wondering about the facts, I felt a sense of peace. It was as if what we do on the local level and in our homes really does matter. When nations all over the globe decided to finally get to work on these issues, get our priorities straightened out, and look the problem in the eye, it made the daily tasks I do in my home actually feel like they make a difference.

If the nations had fought to no avail, looked the other way, or ignored the problem, and gone home without an agreement, I think all of us would have felt a little differently. Perhaps in a subtle way, we might have stopped working so hard. We might have lost hope. It is hard to fight such a large battle without the unity of nations and without leadership at the highest levels.

Now, I can look again at my habits that help curb waste, lower greenhouse gases, and bring stability and life into our existence. Sorting out trash and recycling, and using that glass bottle over and over again, doesn’t seem like wasted effort. Taking the bus or carpooling feels like a good choice. Buying less stuff finally feels like it adds up to a real solution.

With acknowledgement at the highest levels, we can now look optimistically towards our future. It’s time to look into new ways to lower my impact on the planet. None of this change is easy, but we’ve spent too much time taking the easy way out. There’s something we can do every day to change things for the better.

Now that the big players are part of the game, we have a chance at winning.

]]> https://themanyshadesofgreen.com/wecan-womens-earth-climate-action-network/ Wed, 09 Dec 2015 19:00:14 +0000 https://themanyshadesofgreen.com/?p=134695 Continue reading "WECAN: Women’s Earth & Climate Action Network"]]> This weeks episode takes us to the Global Women’s Climate Justice Day of Action at the UN, sponsored by the Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN). This event was attended by women from over 50 countries. To have such a collection of amazing women in one place, who presented stories of courage and resilience in combating climate change was deeply touching. Women play a key role in adapting solutions to climate change, and it was an honor to speak with WECAN founder Osprey Lake, environmentalist visionary Sally Ranney, as well as Neha Misra founder of Solar Sister, Harriet Shugarman Executive Director of ClimateMama, Executive Director of CELF Katie Ginsberg and student Coreena, and Patricia Gualinga-Montalvo, Indigenous Leader of Ecuador, whose interview was translated by Amazon Watch’s Executive Director Leila Salazar-López. For more information visit wecaninternational.org

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There is no time to waste on Climate Change, so I will dive right into this week’s post! According to this United Nations Press Release, the COP 20 climate talks held in Lima, Peru earlier this December were intended to “Build on New York City’s UN Climate Summit of September of 2014” after the #PeoplesClimateMarch. The talks that center around the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, or SDG’s, seem simple enough when you take a look (Please check them out!). However, they are ideals that run into real world complications from corporate and political interests which often compete with environmental and humanitarian needs. My goal in blogging to you, dear reader, is to summarize how some of these complications relate to 2014’s COP 20 results and the future of international climate negotiation.

According to the UN Press Release, there have been concrete accomplishments that set the stage for next year’s Climate Summit in Paris. Naturally, the UN is going to say positive things about their own conference, so their boastings need to be taken with a few grains of salt.

One such area of contention that seems to be sugar coated is the global commitment to financing the mitigation of climate change. Apparently for the first time ever, total assets of the Green Climate Fund were measured at around $10.2 billion US dollars. This is in response to the pledge of industrialized nations to raise $100bn by 2020 for “concrete mitigation actions“, which was agreed upon in the Cancun Conferences of 2010. Although this sounds like good news, it is still unclear if these industrialized nations are taking mitigation steps seriously. Are they just an effort to look good in front of the World? Is the money really being promised with a legitimate effort at mitigating climate change?

Ahmed Sareer, negotiator for the Maldives, voices his concern in a Guardian article saying, “There has been a clear commitment of $100bn a year but how are we really being offered? Even when they make those pledges how do we know how much is going to materialise? There is no point of knowing that behind the wall there is a big source of funds available unless we can reach it. We are told it is there in a nice showcase, but we don’t get to meet it. We don’t get to access it. These are difficult issues for us.”

Also, the Environment Minister of India, Prakash Javadekar, expressed his disappointment towards the developed nations pledge of $100 billion by 2020:

“We are upset that 2011, 2012, 2013 – three consecutive years – the developed world provided $10bn each year for climate action support to the developing world, but now they have reduced it. Now they are saying $10bn is for four years, so it is $2.5bn”

Although some aspects of the conference seem to be positive at a first glance, many times with UN Climate Conferences there is more to the story. Another self-proclaimed achievement of the COP 20 in Lima notes that many Latin American countries have submitted their carbon emissions measurements. The UN says this data would encourage funding for UN programs like REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) and allow them to sell off undeveloped forest regions for carbon offsetting. And although REDD is widely supported- even by Jane Goodall, who is seen as one of the world’s leading environmental activists- as a good solution to deforestation, there is serious controversy as to whether the organization helps to reduce deforestation and carbon emissions.

Anne Peterson, from the Global Justice Ecology Project, reveals in a Democracy Now! interview that ,“REDD is really — has been designed as a way for — and is being pushed by the United States — as a way for industries and Northern countries, industrialized nations, to avoid actually reducing their emissions at the source. So, countries and companies can continue polluting by saying that they’re protecting forests somewhere else that will supposedly sequester the carbon that they’re putting out into the atmosphere. Unfortunately, there’s absolutely no credible science behind the notion of offsets. So, in fact, what’s going to happen is, because they’re not reducing their pollution, because they’re not reducing their carbon emissions, global warming will continue, which will inevitably damage, destroy and completely eliminate forests.”

But proponents of REDD’s implementation say that it reduces emissions while respecting indigenous rights. Steve Zwick writes in his article in The AnthropoZine that “Indigenous people have traditionally been the best stewards of the forest, and well-run REDD Projects aim to harness this stewardship by partnering with them.”

Others disagree. Chief Ninawa Huni Kui, president of the Federation of the Huni Kui and an indigenous rights activist in Brazil, traveled to Lima for the COP 20 to voice the opposition of 10,400 indigenous Brazilians in 90 villages. In Amy Goodman’s interview, he says, “We are saying that the climate change proposals that the government is tabling here at the United Nations are false solutions to climate change. Specifically, we are here to denounce REDD—R-E-D-D, Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation.” He states in the same interview that, “The impacts (of REDD) are the following: The community is no longer to fish in their own land, to cultivate food, to practice agriculture. All of these activities are banned and have been declared illegal, and people are jailed if they participate in agriculture or go fishing.”

So basically, the holistic goodness of REDD remains a controversy that is intricately woven with indigenous rights and international policy. Perhaps I will cover this controversy in depth at a later date, so until then, stayed tuned! I hope my words here spark your interest and participation in these climate change debates because they are shaping our future. The climate crisis is dire and needs real action. We at TMSOG want all the good-hearted people in the world to be informed so that hopefully we can have a unified political voice aimed at making the world a slightly better place to live in, if not for us, then for our grandchildren. As Dr. Emanuel Bronner, the magic soap creator, preached, “We are all One, or None!

#1310: 350.org