DAY 3: What happened at COP26 – day three at a glance (The Guardian), 5 takeaways from the first days of the climate summit (New York Times $)
BIG QUESTIONS: What is COP26? many people have no idea (CHECK OUTLET, Ellen Sciales op-ed), 3 big questions looming over the Glasgow climate talks (New York Times, Spencer Bokat-Lindell op-ed $)
INDIGENOUS RIGHTS: Tom Goldtooth at COP26: absolute carbon reduction is 'issue of life and death' for Indigenous Peoples (Democracy Now), if Australia wants to be a green energy superpower, it needs to include its Aboriginal communities (TIME), Filipina Activist Mitzi Tan on how capitalism & colonialism fuel climate crisis (Democracy Now, interview)
PARIS AMBITIONS (AND PROGRESS?): The Glasgow climate summit has already achieved success. but time is running short. (Washington Post, John Kerry op-ed $), after a gloomy summit start, hints of progress (New York Times $), COP26 emission pledges may limit global heating to below 2C (The Guardian), experts say pledges at COP26 won't be enough to stop extreme climate change (NPR), French drama can’t hide real story from COP26: Scott Morrison’s promise to do hardly anything (The Guardian), leaders confess climate sins at COP26 (Politico EU), pledge to protect oceans to fight climate change is 'weak' - NGO (Reuters), secretive court system poses threat to Paris climate deal, says whistleblower (The Guardian)
STRATEGY FOR GLOBAL SURVIVAL?: 'Peer pressure' and 'humiliation' is key at COP26 (Axios), governments must create millions of new green jobs, Ban Ki-moon says. (New York Times $), least developed countries call for large emitters to step up (The Hill), UN climate conference urges sports bodies to hit green goals (AP)
PAYING THEIR FAIR SHARE: World leaders to haggle over climate finance at COP26 (Washington Post $), small island nations suffer under broken and ‘cruel’ climate finance system (Canary Media), Kerry teases coming announcements to finance climate change policy in developing nations (MSN), Janet Yellen, the Treasury Secretary, says the U.S. will help raise $500 million for green bonds (New York Times $), Swiss National Bank repeats climate change pledge (Reuters), climate summit president: developed countries will 'likely' commit more than $500 billion in climate finance (The Hill), for nations on the front lines of climate change, a fight for money -- and how to spend it (Washington Post $)
RICH GUYS: Carney’s $130tn climate pledge is too big to be credible (FT, commentary $, Politico), Mark Carney is key-man risk for bank net-zero club (Reuters, George Hay op-ed), Bill Gates pushes for green industrial revolution and U.S. climate leadership (NBC)
FINANCE: Where does all the climate finance money go? (FT $), more than 20 countries promise to end financing for international fossil fuel projects at COP26 (Washington Post $, Reuters), Britain sets out how finance can help meet net-zero goals (Reuters), Treasury Secretary Yellen is confident U.S. climate goals will move forward (NPR), investors bet big on climate fight but motives questioned (AP)
BIDEN: Behind Biden's China scolding at COP26 (Axios), Kremlin dismisses Biden criticism at climate summit (The Hill), doing the math on Biden’s climate pledge (E&E News and Scientific American)
CHINA: China targets 1.8% cut in average coal use at power plants by 2025 (Reuters), China’s climate goals hinge on a $440 billion nuclear buildout (Bloomberg $)
INDIA: Fears for farming and trade stopped India signing COP26 forest, methane pledges (Reuters), India pledges net-zero emissions by 2070 — but also wants to expand coal mining (NPR), India’s huge solar uptake has boosted climate goals, says minister (The Guardian), India says it will reach net-zero emissions by 2070. Can renewables meet the growing demand of more than 1 billion people? (Washington Post $)
AUSTRALIA: Australia’s climate pledges fall short, again, critics say (New York Times $), Australian fossil fuel projects given $36.7bn in foreign public financing over a decade (The Guardian), three-quarters of Australia’s ‘significant’ climate aid projects in Pacific don’t mention climate change, Greenpeace says (The Guardian)
AFRICA: Climate activist Vanessa Nakate: ‘I was ready for anything’ (FT $), a bigger picture (Comedy Central, Vanessa Nakate interview), South Africa gets help moving away from coal (Axios), South Africa reaches deal to move away from coal at COP26 (Yahoo)
SUBNATIONAL ACTION: World can learn from U.S. states who defied Donald Trump over climate change (The Scotsman, Nicola Sturgeon And Mike Bloomberg)
NUCLEAR WASTE: Is it green, or forever toxic? Nuclear rift at climate talks (AP)
FOSSIL FUELS: COP26 has to be about keeping fossil fuels in the ground. All else is distraction (The Guardian, George Monbiot op-ed), COP26 coal deals take aim at dirtiest fossil fuel (Reuters), coal money shrivels as climate talks turn to finance (E&E News), Poland and 17 other countries to announce a major deal to end coal (New York Times $, AP), Indonesia could phase out coal by 2040 with financial help, fin min says (Reuters), why activists fear little-known treaty could slow fossil fuel phase-out (The Guardian), new funding for poor nations' coal exit needs better planning for workers (Thomson Reuters Foundation)
CARBON: Mmeet the small-nation, carbon-negative club (Thomson Reuters Foundation), COP26 negotiators make progress on carbon-trading rules (Wall Street Journal $), COP26’s worst outcome would be giving the green light to carbon offsetting (The Guardian, Jennifer Morgan op-ed), can carbon trading reduce global emissions? (The Guardian), global pollution price could cut greenhouse gases by 12%, says report (The Guardian), the latest: coalition formed to build low-carbon tech market (AP)
METHANE: A methane pledge is the first good news out of COP26. nothing else will be as easy (TIME), there’s one tiny problem with the world’s new methane pledge (Gizmodo), world leaders vow to cut methane emissions (Wall Street Journal $)
LOSS & DAMAGE: Scotland breaks loss and damage 'taboo', raising hopes others will follow (Climate Home)
DEFORESTATION: Donor nations commit $1.7bn to help indigenous people protect forests (Climate Home), more than 100 countries agree: it’s time to end deforestation (Grist), there is no reason to trust Brazil’s climate, deforestation pledges (HuffPost)
(INEQUITABLE) ACCESS: Glasgow climate change conference lacks access for the disabled and others, critics say (Yahoo), with no tickets to COP26 talks, climate activists take to Glasgow streets (Thomson Reuters Foundation)
GREENWASHING: Are financiers greenwashing COP26? (Quartz), a protest outside the main summit venue calls out ‘greenwashing’ by big companies (New York Times $), global standards body takes aim at company 'greenwashing' claims (Reuters)
COVID: LA mayor Garcetti tests positive for virus at climate summit (AP), as logistical frustrations grow at the UN climate conference, organizers blame the pandemic (New York Times $)
FAITH: As COP26 gathers, faith-based environmentalists fight 'eco-grief' (National Catholic Reporter)
OUTSIDE THE CENTER: Sharma’s claim bankers are ‘new Swampys’ is appropriation, says activist (The Guardian), Scottish police discover the loch ness monster at COP26 — and ‘arrest’ her (Washington Post $)
MEDIA: Climate change reporters share the challenges of covering Argentina, South Africa, the Philippines (WBUR) |
ENVIRONMENTAL (IN)JUSTICE: Climate change is a justice issue – these 6 charts show why (The Conversation), 5 ways climate change directly affects Black people (NewsOne)
DENIAL: Greenwashing on Facebook: how the world's biggest polluters use social media to obfuscate on climate change (TIME)
NET ZERO: How industry is depending on carbon capture technology for climate goals (Reuters explainer)
POST-PANDEMIC EMISSIONS: Carbon dioxide emissions rebounded sharply after pandemic dip (New York Times $, The Guardian, USA Today, AP)
😔 : Goodbye 1.5 degrees? Here’s how hot scientists believe the world will get (Grist), the world will burn through its ‘carbon budget’ in 11 years without big emissions cuts, scientists say (Washington Post $)
COLONIAL HANGOVERS: Hurricane LUMA: Puerto Ricans fight big coal & privatized energy amid climate disasters, blackouts (Democracy Now), report: $12B in hurricane home damage pending in Puerto Rico (AP)
NEED A REFRESHER?: Stephen Colbert perfectly explains the climate crisis using Jim Carrey movies (HuffPost, CBS)
LINE 3: Battle over massive oil pipeline snaking through water of Indigenous lands: Part 1 (ABC), despite one remaining tribal lawsuit, the Line 3 pipeline became operational: Part 2 (ABC)
OF COURSE THEY'RE MEETING IN LAKE CHARLES: Amid major industry expansion, fears over climate change, LNG leaders gather in Lake Charles (The Advocate)
AGENCIES: Biden unveils plan to cut methane emissions (CBS), FEMA panel: offer aid automatically after disasters (E&E $), how EPA methane rule hits energy, from pipelines to politics (E&E News), EPA pressed on ‘toxic cocktail’ in tap water (E&E News), Granholm on DOE’s next steps, gas, energy ‘carrots’ (E&E News, The Hill)
SCOTUS: A new Supreme Court case could gut the government’s power to fight climate change (Vox), where Supreme Court justices stand on EPA, climate (E&E News)
THE HILL: Democrats, stung by electoral losses, press forward on Biden agenda (New York Times $), Republicans slam Biden’s methane ‘overregulation’ (E&E News)
HOUSE: Rep. Barbara Lee calls on Pentagon to release delayed emissions report (Axios), Hoyer to introduce $9B bill bolstering Biden's deforestation vow at COP26 (The Hill)
SENATE: Lawmakers introduce bipartisan flood insurance reform bill (E&E $), Cortez Masto pushes mine royalties out of reconciliation bill (E&E News)
WHITE HOUSE: Biden has to make good on pledges he made at the UN climate summit (NPR), Biden plays up positives but frustrations apparent after COP26 talks (The Guardian), European steel plan shows Biden’s bid to merge climate and trade policy (New York Times $), why Biden might be the e-bike president (E&E News)
INFRASTRUCTURE BILL(S): Democrats’ infrastructure bills don’t go far enough on cleaning up the power grid (The Verge)
POLITIC$: US oil giants top list of lobby offenders holding back climate action (The Guardian)
TRIBES: Tribes seek water-management role as Colorado River shrivels (E&E News)
CITIES AND STATES: A Colorado effort helped to spur a new industry centered on hunting methane (NPR), North Carolina wants to pivot to a green energy grid, getting there could be a bumpy ride (Fayetteville Observer)
ELECTIONS: [Ithaca, NY] just voted to decarbonize every single building (Washington Post $), Virginia Beach OKs $568 million bond to fend off rising seas (AP), before Boston’s historic mayoral race between two women of color, a diverse city council helped pave the way (The 19th* News), Black voters in Virginia refuse to be blamed for a major Democratic defeat. (New York Times $), corporate Democrats have only themselves to blame for loss in Virginia, say progressives (The Real News), NY says no to voting reforms, yes to environmental right (AP), Maine voters reject $950 million power line for hydro imports (Wall Street Journal $, Utility Dive, Reuters), [Maine] power line vote challenged in court; no halt to construction (AP)
IMPACTS: California nonprofit Corazón Healdsburg helps Spanish speakers prepare for wildfire emergencies (Yale Climate Connections), Climate change extremes spur UN plan to fund weather forecasting (Reuters), we’re heading straight for a demi-armageddon (The Atlantic)
HEAT: ‘Summers are becoming unbearable’: living on the frontline of global heating (The Guardian), Europe’s record summer ‘impossible’ without global heating (The Guardian)
DROUGHT: As Madagascar faces climate-linked famine, UN flags need to prepare (Thomson Reuters Foundation)
FLOODING: How New York is fighting to protect city from rising flood threats (ABC)
BOOZE: Climate change threatens wine, and a way of life, in Jura (New York Times $)
CAFFEINE: Due to climate change, coffee beans are now growing in California (Today Show)
RENEWABLES: Clean energy could save American lives to tune of $700 billion per year (Yale Climate Connections, CBC, Ars Technica), a 15-year-old girl invented a solar ironing cart that's winning global respect (NPR), Atlantic Cape Community College wind training center about to lift off, opening in fall 2022 (Press of Atlantic City), Engie abandons Hawaii solar+storage project over supply chain, tariff concerns (Utility Dive), Illinois solar industry optimistic again as new state law revives incentives (Energy News Network), Massachusetts to test highway barriers that absorb sound and solar energy (Energy News Network), wind is blowing towards renewable energy in oil-rich Gulf of Mexico (FT $), Wind turbine maker Vestas says renewable energy faces ‘challenging’ times (FT $), bees, sheep, crops: Solar developers tout multiple benefits (AP)
LNG: LNG prices soar to new record in China (OilPrice)
OIL & GAS: Exxon warns some assets may be at risk for impairment due to climate change (Reuters), oil firms face faster timeline on methane reductions under Biden climate plan (Houston Chronicle), OPEC and Russia will decide on oil output under pressure from president Biden. (New York Times $), US-based Comstock Resources commits to responsibly-sourced gas (Natural Gas World)
NUKES: Nuclear energy industry angles for bigger role in Washington and U.S. as climate change accelerates (Seattle Times and InsideClimate News)
PIPELINES: Colonial Pipeline’s year just got a little worse (couldn’t have happened to nicer company) (Gizmodo)
COAL COUNTRY: Wyoming’s Gillette and Campbell County plan for post-coal economy (Energy News Network)
UTILITIES: APS vows legal action after Arizona regulators deny cost recovery for $215.5M coal plant upgrades (Utility Dive), FirstEnergy agrees to $306M refund to Ohio customers (E&E $), PG&E agrees to pay $125 million for 2019 Kincade Fire (Axios)
GRID: Intelligence bulletin reveals potential plot to disrupt US electrical grid (ABC)
EVs: Opposition to union-made EVs grows louder (E&E $), Tesla makes electric cars available to Uber drivers in London (The Hill)
MILITARIES: Demilitarize, decarbonize (Atmos)
FORESTS: Research: protected land status determines a forest's fate (Axios)
AGRICULTURE: Climate change will start impacting global supply of corn and wheat as early as 2030, NASA study finds (CBS)
BUSINESS: With climate clock ticking, companies scramble to set green targets (Reuters, Factbox)
POLLUTION MONITORING: More eyes on polluters: the growth of citizen monitoring (Yale Environment 360), satellite monitoring of emissions from countries and companies ‘changes everything,’ Al Gore says. (New York Times $)
CARBON REMOVAL: Could a small Arab state hold the key to net zero emissions? (Thomson Reuters Foundation)
FINANCE: How the financial sector is addressing climate change—and why it matters (Wall Street Journal $)
GRETA: Greta Thunberg's rise from teen activist to global climate leader (Thomson Reuters Foundation)
WILDLIFE: The enormous hole that whaling left behind (The Atlantic), the curious case of the ancient whale bones (Vox)
INTERNATIONAL: Climate champion’ makes waves in Canada’s Parliament (Indian Country Today), German parties aim to abolish renewable energy surcharge from 2023-sources (Reuters), how much will it cost the UK to reach net zero? (FT $) |
TERF Columnist Says Climate Journalists are Activists Lacking Objectivity, While Directing an Anti-Trans Think Tank
The COP takes are flying fast and furious, with lots of the usual faux-outrage about elites telling people what to do and meeting in-person instead of over Zoom and the like. For example, Spiked, the UK political punditry website, has a piece headlined, “Serfing the planet”, calling climate policy an “anti-middle class jihad,” and another about how “the elites are laughing in our faces.”
But it was a Joanna Williams piece that stood out to us, claiming that “journalists have morphed into climate activists.” She opens by suggesting that journalists, who had to cover, in real time, how people were dying en masse, “had a pleasant pandemic” because Covid drove a demand for news which gave them “a renewed sense of importance of their job.”
It doesn’t get any less ridiculous from there, as Williams pivots to climate, which “provides the same opportunities as Covid for whipping up panic, moral preaching and deference to The Science.” She describes a reporter’s dogged questioning of the British Prime Minister “less an exercise in accountability and more an exercise in advocacy” and goes on to lament that reporters act like the science is settled when reporting on climate. She concludes the column, which started with a subheadline that journalists “have abandoned all pretence of objectivity,” complaining that “too many of today’s journalists are blinded by their own sense of moral certainty.”
Her byline then notes that in addition to being a columnist, she’s “the director of Cieo.” What’s that? Its About page claims it’s just a nonprofit organization that provides “new ideas, new analysis and new thinking” to advocate for “people to be allowed to exercise ever greater influence over their own lives and communities,” against the “woke cultural elite” that embraces experts and stands against the “regular citizens” that Cieo is “firmly on the side of.”
In other words, the writer who claimed reporters are activists is the head of an activist group that seeks to “celebrate humanity’s potential” as opposed to those who would push expert-approved policies like sugar taxes, parenting classes, racial bias training, and hate crimes legislation — all examples Cieo gives of the sorts of things that are bad. Its fundraising materials claim it wants to go “beyond simply reflecting public opinion and seeks to change the political conversation entirely.”
But it’s the climate reporters who are doing advocacy!
And make no mistake, Williams is a vicious campaigner — just not for anything good. Instead, among other garden-variety rightwing pseudo-populist nonsense, she’s spent years formenting hatred and violence against trans people as part of the UK’s dangerous Trans-Exlusionary Radical Feminist movement. These TERFs use the veneer of feminism to cover for what is otherwise relatively obvious violent anti-trans hate speech and bigotry, and unfortunately, it’s an issue that is spreading in disinformation spheres back to the US.
For example — and bear with us through this not-very-smooth transition — but in the weeks before Virginians voted for Republican Glenn Youngkin for governor, anti-trans fake news was proliferating across social media and the rightwing disinformation machine, thanks to Ben Shapiro’s fracker-backed Daily Wire.
It’s an ugly story, made uglier by how liars exploited it, but the short version is that a high school girl in Northern Virginia was sexually assaulted in a bathroom by someone she knew, had fooled around with in that bathroom before and just wanted to talk to this time. The assailant wore a skirt that day and her father later described them as gender-fluid. (Unclear how the assailant self-identifies.) The right seized on this as an example of why trans people shouldn’t be allowed to use bathrooms, (and therefore not exist in public), as two months after the assault had already taken place, the school county was considering a more inclusive bathroom policy, meaning it happened before the policy took place, undercutting their argument that letting trans people use bathrooms is what opens the door to assaults.
The reality, explained by the Koch-funded Reason, and otherwise TERF-y NYTimes columnist Michelle Goldberg, of all people, (also, HuffPost) is that the girl was a victim of an unfortunately all-too-common assault by someone she already had a relationship (of sorts) with. But it was portrayed by the climate-denying, covid-loving, vaccine-hating conservative media echo chamber as an example of how male rapists will pretend to be trans women in order to go into women’s bathrooms. (An obvious lie that never made sense, not least because it’s not like a rapist is going to let a sign stop them from going into a bathroom in order to commit a rape! If they respected boundries, they wouldn’t be raping!)
But this manufactured controversy preying on transphobia was a constant feature of conservative news in the weeks before the election. And it combined with Covid-related school issues and the racist backlash against teaching about racism in school to play into the decades-old “school choice” rhetoric developed by the right as a way to give white parents an option to avoid sending their children to school with Black kids after desegregation (as detailed in Nancy MacLean’s Democracy in Chains).
There is both a deep history of using (white) girls as an excuse to scapegoat marginalized populations (see also: Tulsa massacre and lynchings) and a deep injustice in how trans people are treated now, and the sort of TERF rhetoric that anti-trans activists like Joanne Williams peddle and Republicans embrace only further incites violence against the already marginalized.
In fact, half of transgender people are sexually abused or assaulted at some point, as are many in the LGBTQ community, and are four times as likely to be on the receiving end of violence, so if assult were the real concern, that’d be the focus of discussion.
Instead, trans people are used as scapegoats to enrage and engage, radicalizing white women into embracing oppressive patriarchal (climate-denying) political movements.
If any of the COP attendees and reporters take anything back from the UK, let’s just hope it's not Joanne Williams’ advice. |
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