COP21 - Some Images

Much is going on at COP21 as the negotiations enter the final phase and the media is covering much of this.  There is anxiousness as some of the final issues are addressed.  We should know more in the next day or two.  In the meantime, here are some photos I've taken in the last few days.

 

 

 

 

Australian youth with a message for negotiators

From a scientific presentation.  The good news, is it may
take many years to completely melt.  But ...

Dept. of Uh-Oh: some irreversible melting may have started.

COP 21 Executive Secretary Christiana Figueres is presented
with an oar by indigenous representatives from Panama,
urging that we all "paddle in the same direction"

Generations space - the publicly accessible area

Outside the entrance to the restricted COP21 zone:  Apples are
handed to participants on their way in ..
makes up for the item shown further down

The United States Pavilion includes a high-tech globe projecting
a variety of images of climate impacts

Sean Kidney of Climate Bonds Initiative explains state of the
 market at a meeting at OECD headquarters

California State Senator Fran Pavley, author of the landmark
California climate law, AB32

 


 

U S Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz is still smiling!

 

One way to get attention of negotiators:  Advocacy
group hands out chocolate with messages on back

Non-governmental organization representatives
get ready to meet with COP21 leadership




But sadness remains over November events in Paris.  I visited the site
of the Bataclan nightclub where emotions and sadness remain high

This is the bicycle of a young victim
who will never have a chance to ride again

COP21 - Mayors, Governors, Sheiks and Scientists

What's it like to be at COP21?

There's a lot going on and a common complaint is that it is not possible to participate in everything of interest.  The negotiations are being covered by the media.  People continue to be optimistic about a deal in Paris, but there remain issues to negotiate, including enforcement, when and how to update national climate plans, financing for mitigation, adaptation and renewables, and several others.  We got word today that the final agreement may take place a day or two after the final scheduled conference day of December 11.

It's not just negotiations, it's more like the "olympics" of climate change, with many things happening simultaneously and all of it at the highest levels.  The negotiations over the COP21 agreement are just one of many activities.

Here are some examples of perhaps 20 events I've attended in the past few days.

California Governor Jerry Brown seems to be everywhere and appears to have the stamina of a marathon runner.

At an event with US Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, Saudia Arabia Oil Minister, Ali Al-Naimi and others, Brown recited facts and figures about California and world climate issues, including the estimate that there is about 20 years worth of fossil fuels left to burn at current rates before we exhaust the amount that can be burned and avoid cataclysmic climate change.  Brown and jump easily from facts to philosophy.  He said that countries working together on climate will make it possible to address many non-climate issues: "learning to solve this (the climate) problem can teach the world about solving other problems."

Calif Governor Jerry Brown and Saudi Oil Minister 12/8/15

At another event with over 500 local officials, he said states, provinces and localities have a responsibility to push and inspire our nations.  He also went into detail about how we need to "change our carbon intensive way of life" and suggested that friendship, beauty and art need to take the place of the commoditization of our lifestyles.

Mayors are a major presence and are pushing hard for national action by their governments.  Over 400 Mayors are in attendance, including California Mayors from Oakland, Chula Vista, Santa Monica, Richmond and elsewhere.

Mayor Frank Cownie of Des Moines said, "Our region used to be coal country, and now is powered by forty percent wid.  That's the future tat cities and states are creating."

Des Moines Mayor Frank Cownie 12/8/15

Leaders of countries large and small are in attendance and actively participating.  I saw Henry Puna, Prime Minister of the Cook Islands describe how his country is already being ravaged by extreme weather and rising seas.  He lamented that it is hard to convey a message that his country is facing life or death.  "We are very, very fragile," he said and are being impacted by pollution his people did not cause.  Other Pacific island nations are looking for funds to relocate their populations as seas rise.

Cook Island Prime Minister Henry Puna 12/7/15

At an event about climate science, one of the leading world scientists looking at climate change, Valerie Masson-Delmotte, lamented that it is challenging to convey the gravity of the issues in ways that are understood by policymakers.  "Scientists are not poets" she said.

Scientist Valerie Masson-Delmotte 12/7/15.

The paparazzi would have a field day around COP21.  Rock stars, movie stars, world leaders and seemingly just about everyone his here.  Fitting two categories is former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger who has been quite blunt about the need for bold action on climate.

What's it like Inside COP21?

It is really several events in one.  There is a secure "blue zone" where the negotiations take place, the media congregates, organizations and countries display their materials, and many gatherings and events take place.  The adjacent "green zone" is open to the public and also has many events and and displays from organizations and governments.

There are a limited number of groups who could get accredited to be in the blue zone.  In total, according to COP Executive Secretary of COP21, there are over 20,000 accredited government representatives and 10,000 accredited non-government representatives.  In additon there are several thousand media, businesses and others with access to the Blue Zone.

COP21 Executive Secretary Christiana Figueres

At any given time, there may be a dozen or more events in the Green Zone and several dozen or more in the Blue Zone.  These events are in addition to the actual negotiations and side meetings.  As an example, today there events such as Toward a low CO2 Steel Industry in Europe, Human Rights and Climate Change, Climate Smart Agriculture, and many more.

To get into either venue, you have to pass through airport-style security.  There are plenty of lanes, so the wait to get in is minimal.  The presence of armed security is notable everywhere and there is limited vehicle access.  Most participants arrive by the local train or subway and are met by dedicated buses to the facility.  Photo badges are regularly checked inside the Blue Zone.  The badges are also color coded to indicate country representative, media, observer or several other categories.

Example of Security Badge

The COP21 site isn't the only venue for climate activity in Paris.  There are quite a few related events happening elsewhere, including a gathering of local officials from around the world, a landscapes forum and others.  I attending a briefing at UNESCO headquarters from the leaders of the scientific group looking into climate issues (the IPCC).  I'll be attending another off-site meeting later in the week at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

My waste and recycling friends will be glad to know that this is a zero-waste event.  There is a 1 Euro (about a dollar) deposit on coffee and drink cups that are to be reused or recycled.

I've also been tweeting @climatedispatch.

(all photos by Michael Paparian)

COP21 - Midway Point

COP21 in Paris reached the halfway point of the two week session.

An initial text has been moved up for consideration by all the represented countries.  The text has hundreds of bracketed letters, words and extended language.  As Canadian delegate and elected House of Commons member Elizabeth May said on Sunday, the text is now "suitable for political negotiations."  Those negotiations have started in earnest.

Canadian MP Elizabeth May 12/6/15

Expectations remain very high for a decent deal by the end of the week.

The outstanding issues include how the agreement will be enforced, when it will be updated, whether there will be acknowledgement of aggressive oil phase out goals, how explicit the recognition will be for indigenous peoples, how the financing of projects in developing country will work, and many others.

There are many constituencies in Paris putting pressure on governments to be strong.  Over 400 mayors are attending and have been especially vocal in pushing for action.  The California mayors in attendance include mayors from Chula Vista, Richmond, Santa Monica and Oakland, among others.

Mayor Libby Schaaf of Oakland recognized the role and clout of mayors in a forum on local solutions, saying "If we could only power the grid with the energy of mayors, we could solve the climate problem."  She was especially blunt when asked in another forum when asked what her message to negotiators would be, saying it is "not time to be wimpy ... grow a pair."

Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf

Youth are present and hoping their voices will be heard.  Timothy Damon of the youth group SustainUS said, "It's our future we should be more than observers."  Some youth showed their support for a goal of zero carbon emissions by painting zeroes on their faces.

Timothy Damon of SustanUS

Yann Lesestre and Leslie Tourneville of French youth group CliMates

Religious leaders are pushing for as strong as possible an agreement.  I had the opportunity to hear Katharine Hayoe speak and met her briefly.  She is an Evangelical Christian, climate scientist, professor and was named by Time magazine in 2014 as one of the 100 most influential people in the world. She said when we engage others on climate, we need to offer tangible, viable, acceptable & inspirational solutions.

Katharine Hayhoe and Michael Paparian

Green Bonds are getting noticed as part of the basket of financial solutions.  I like to characterize green bonds as the "flip side" of divestment.  Once entities divest from fossil fuels, they need to put their money somewhere. Putting their money to work supporting climate beneficial projects makes sense and green bonds offer one avenue for such investments. Frederic Samana of the top European asset management group Amundi said the green bond market is surging everywhere.

Frederic Samana of Amundi

The many people and constituencies gathered at COP21 have a common purpose.  As Al Gore told the assembled delegates on Saturday, "young people are looking to us to do what's right."

COP21: Quacky & Climate

When I was a child, we briefly had a pet duck named Quacky.  Quacky wasn't really meant for an urban back yard.  I remember the outing to Reseda Park near Los Angeles to free Quacky to swim among her fellow ducks.

Ducks were in abundance at COP21 today, but these weren't real. 300 paper maché ducks, hand painted by children, ages 8 to 10, were given to delegates inside the COP21 venue.  They were intended to remind delegates not to "duck" the issue of adaptation.  Delegates from the U.S., Costa Rica, Germany, France and others accepted them.

When I saw the ducks, I had to stop and find out what was going on.  The ducks were gathered by CARE France.  CARE works on helping impoverished people in areas that are now seeing the impacts of climate change such as Bangladesh.

“In Bangladesh, floods are becoming more frequent; they destroy houses and threaten communities’ income," said Philippe Lévêque, CEO of CARE France.  "In order to adapt, chicken livestock may be replaced by ducks. Equally nutritious, ducks are able to swim and therefore to survive floods. This initiative has given families a better ability to face climate hazards,” 

As droughts, floods and rainfall variability increase, adaptation is a matter of survival for many communities impacted by climate change.

“States seem to be reaching a compromise on a global goal for adaptation" said Fanny Petitbon, Advocacy Officer for CARE France.  "Acknowledging the need for adaptation would be a big step forward in the climate negotiations – it would prove there is a true will to improve populations’ resilience. However, funding is a tricky question which, so far, remains unanswered,”

CARE describes adaptation as "the poor cousin of climate funding," with only 16% of climate funding is dedicated to adaptation."

Adaptation is an increasingly important issue to impacted countries.  While at COP21, I've had conversations with folks from the Philippines, Cambodia, India and elsewhere, all of whom are concerned about how to address impacts today.  There have been a lot of numbers thrown around about acres affected, the number of intense storms, the number of homes destroyed, or the dollar value of losses.  But as Raymund Liboro of the Science and Technology Information Institute of the Philippines reminded me, "Behind numbers are actual people affected."

I'll keep the duck CARE gave to me as my reminder to think about adaptation.  I'll also think about the written by the child who made it, "life is precious - treasure it."  And I'll name my little duck "quacky."

Duck given to me by CARE:  "Life is precious, treasure it"

COP21 - What About China?

What about China?  What about India?  These questions are often raised when talking about whether the world can meet climate emission targets.

Like all of the 150 or so leaders who spoke, Chinese President Xi Jinping gave a very strong speech at the opening of COP21.

He urged a strong agreement and cited major changes in Chinese energy policies.  He promised China would build a nationwide carbon emission trading, invest in energy efficiency and alternatives and seek a "better harmony between man and nature."  He said China would reduce CO2 emissions per unit of GDP by over 60% by 2030 compared to 2005 levels.  He promised major reforestation programs and said "we have confidence and resolve to fulfill our commitments."

Chinese President Xi Jinping 11/30/15

The Presidents of the United States and China issued a joint statement as the COP21 talks started: "The Presidents recognize that the Paris conference presents a crucial opportunity to enhance action to meet this fundamental climate change challenge."  This is a continuation of the cooperation on climate shown by the well-received US-China joint announcement of a year ago (details here).

How real is the China commitment to addressing climate issues and reducing carbon emissions?  This is one of the most important questions to those looking at how we can slow down climate change.  We know China continues to be a major coal user and their demand for energy is escalating at a very rapid pace.

Greenpeace has a China presence and energy is one of their top issues of concern there.  They recently issued a report complaining about the continued permitting of new coal power plants (report here).

But Greenpeace is very upbeat about the future for fossil fuel reductions in China and acknowledge  much progress as China shifts direction.  Li Shuo of Greenpeace China said earlier this week that since the Copenhagen climate talks of six years ago, "China's wind energy has jumped ten fold and solar energy jumped twenty-eight fold."

Li Shou, Greenpeace China 12/1/15

"What you are observing in the country is something you would never expect a few years ago," said Shuo.  "I think we are entering a very significant and tremendous energy transformation.  Two years ago, you ask anybody in Beijing, 'can you see the coal consumption in the country peak or decline in this decade,' nobody would believe that. Coal consumption in 2014 declined for the first time since 1998 ... You are seeing a decoupling between economic growth and the reliance on fossil fuel.  "

Mr. Shuo thinks China is heading towards a decarbonized future.  "If you look at renewable energy, China is now the number one wind installation country," he said.  "It will become the number one solar installation country by the end of this year.  If this is the progress that we make in four or five year time ... we think decarbonization by 2050 is not only something that is possible, it is happening now."

What about India?  More on that later.

COP21 Snippets from Day One

Today was the official opening of the 21st yearly Conference of the Parties to address climate change, COP21.

Over 150 heads of state attended, marking the largest gathering of world leaders under one roof at one time ever.  So many wanted to speak that after overviews from President Hollande of France, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon and a few others, the leaders were split into two rooms so all leaders could give a short speech before the end of the day.  I listened to presentations from President Obama, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping and others.

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon 11/30/15

Ban Ki Mon told participants that "history is calling" on them to come to an agreement on climate and they should show "courage and vision."

President Obama 11/30/15

President Obama told the leaders it is "time to get to work."  China President Xi Jinping spoke of new Chinese commitments to climate solutions being woven into their 35 year plan for the country.

Chinese President Xi Jinping 11/30/15

German Chancellor Angela Merkel 11/30/15

Russian President Vladimir Putin 11/30/15

Plenty is being written about the conference and world leader comments, so I won't dwell on them here.  However, I will give some quick highlights from other sessions I attended today.  With upwards of 40,000 participants in the secure zone of the conference center, it has become a small city with a post office, electric vehicle rental office, office supply store and many restaurants. At any time there be several dozen events or sessions taking place on anything from negotiations over the text of the expected climate agreement, to discussions of adaptation in island nations, financing climate solutions, and effective communication on climate science.  The government of the United States has it's own small pavilion space where sessions hosted by various government agencies take place.  

Jacqui Patterson, Director of the NAACP Environmental and Climate Justice Program stressed the need to assure that climate solutions don't impact communities that have traditionally borne the health and environmental costs of energy and other technologies.  She cautioned that some "clean" energy may not be so clean.  "We need stringent definitions of clean energy," she said.

Jacqui Patterson, NAACP

Alden Meyer of the Union of Concerned scientists has been to 20 of the 21 COPs.  He said he is more optimistic about an agreement, then he has ever been, but said that we'll all have to work to see that countries reach their goals and improve on them.  "We need a package of measures to address the ambition gap," he said.

Alden Meyer, Union of Concerned Scientists

Many constituencies are holding sessions to brief interested parties on the progress of the negotiations.  Many of the youthful environmental participants are being briefed by an umbrella group, TckTckTck, every morning.  The TckTckTck sessions are being broadcast on their website here.

Environmental Representatives Briefed by TckTckTck

Hoesung Lee is chair of the scientific body advising the United Nations on climate (the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.  He led off a session discussing how to make scientific information more readable and relevant to decisionmakers and the public.  Paul Lussier, Director of the Science Communication with Impact Network at Yale said that it is important to listen to the needs of entities and individuals and relate climate solutions to solving related problems.  "The focus is relevance," he said.  "And, if relevance is there, the issue of simplicity takes care of itself."

Hoesung Lee

Paul Lussier

Finally, the Climate Action Network is presenting a "fossil of the day" award every day of COP21 to highlight those countries that are climate laggards.  The award for the first day of the conference was shared by Belgium and New Zealand.  It will be no surprise when Australia gets the not-so-coveted award on a future day.

Fossil of the Day Award Presentation

(all photos by Michael Paparian)

COP21 Preliminaries

On the day before the opening events at the Paris climate summit, there were some preliminaries for many participants.

United Nations climate head Christiana Figueres gathered "civil society" participants, including environmental groups and non-profit citizen organizations, for a briefing on security and related issues.

Over 150 heads of state are gathering tomorrow (Monday) for the start of the conference.  Figueres said that never before have that many "heads of state ... ever, under any circumstance, under any convening power, come together under one roof in one day."  This created logistical and security issues that have been compounded by recent events in Paris.  With all of the security, Figueres said, "there is no safer place on the face of this planet right now than this venue."

Christiana Figueres speaks to Civil Society groups 11/29//15

Figueres was joined by the United Nations head of security for the conference.  He was introduced simply as "Kevin."  Figueres and Keven stressed that they are open to displays of views by participants buy wanted "no surprises."  They explained why, within the secure section of the venue, anything out of the ordinary, including spontaneous demonstrations of any sort, will lead to quick intervention by security personnel.  They did say, however, that they will work with individuals and organizations on ways to show their views that will not surprise security personnel.

UN COP21 Security Head Kevin 11/29/15

Within the secure venue, upwards of 40,000 or more individuals will be registered, including government representatives and non-government representatives from environmental groups, educational groups and institutions, business organizations, and others.

The security outside the venue is also very visible.  Several peaceful legal protests were held in Paris today, including placing over eight tons of shoe in and around the Place de la Republique to represent individuals who could not gather because of new, temporary restrictions on concentrated public gatherings in France.  That didn't stop some individuals from massing resulting in a police response and some arrests.

Riot police get ready to disperse climate protesters 11/29/15

Back at the COP21 venue, transportation options are stressed.  The registered participants were given passes to ride public transit for free during the conference.  Conference vehicles include electric minibusses.

COP21 participants lining up to get transit passes 11/29/15

Electric minibus at COP21 11/29/15

The conference site includes two "wind trees."  The "leaves" are all mini-windmills.  Each tree can produce 4.3 kw of power.

"Arbre a Vent" Wind Trees 11/29/15

I can't write about my first day in Paris without a note of sadness for the victims of the terrorist bombings earlier this month.  At the Place de la Republique, there are an overwhelming number of makeshift memorials and related offerings, including the one pictured below for 37 year old Thibault Rousse Lacordaire who died at the concert venue.  It was hard for anyone, myself included, to avoid tears as we saw the many hand-made tributes.

Heading to Paris for Climate Action

I’m heading to Paris this weekend for the United Nations climate meeting commonly referred to as COP21 (21st "Conference of the Parties").   

I share the sadness of all decent people over recent events in Paris and elsewhere.  While compassion for those affected by tragedy and heightened security concerns will certainly impact the attendees, the government of France, world leaders and the United Nations feel it is vital for the gathering to take place. 

Nearly 200 nations and their leaders, including President Obama, will be attending for at least some portion of the two week meeting.  The general sense is that the resolve among world leaders is stronger than ever to unify around a common goal of addressing climate change.

COP21 will not be the final resolution of climate issues. Rather, success should be measured by nations unifying around the need to address climate change and the related commitment to hold global warming to an average of about 2 degrees centigrade or less.  

Even at a 2 degree increase, we can expect notable impacts, including sea level rise of up to three feet by the end of this century.  Nations have submitted plans to get on the 2 degree path.  However, their pathways are just the beginning steps.  If they only do what they've committed to so far, the world will do well for a few years, but ultimately temperatures will exceed the 2 degree goal.  Commitments will need to be regularly revisited, deployment of alternative energy accelerated and the phase down of fossil fuel use will have to be very rapid.

Plenty will be written about the proceedings as they begin on November 30 and reach an anticipated conclusion on December 11.  While in Paris, I plan to post a few updates and photos on this blog.  I won't try to duplicate the news stories about the conference, but I will try to pass along some of the items of interest.

Michael Paparian and United Nations Framework Convention on
Climate Change Executive Secretary Christiana Figueres,  June, 2015

In addition to the national government representatives, there will be upwards of 40,000 or more representatives of scientific institutions, environmental groups, businesses, state/local governments, universities and others.  The meeting will include hundreds of workshops and other “side events” discussing everything from the latest scientific research to local government roles, financing and public engagement.  I wil go to many of these.

I’ll be attending as a representative of the InterEnvironment Institute.  I am on the Board of the Institute and have been to a number of international environmental meetings with them.  The Institute has been “accredited” by the U.N., thus allowing us access to the more central U.N. meeting areas.

Since leaving the Treasurer’s office earlier this year, one of my projects has been to help environmental finance efforts, including establishing a network to promote “green bonds” in California.  I’ll be meeting with others who share similar interests, including those who are establishing green bond groups in other countries with assistance from the Climate Bonds Initiative.  I also plan to assist the efforts of the Climate Reality Project (Al Gore’s Group) and reconnect with some old colleagues from the Sierra Club.

Science Fiction Meets Climate Change Reality

Kim Stanley Robinson has been writing science fiction for over three decades.  That's long enough for some of his themes of ecological calamities, weather extremes and climate decay to become strikingly real.

He's thought a lot about climate change and climate solution and.is frequently called on to give his perspective.  Robinson was the keynote speaker recently at the 350 Sacramento town hall on climate change.

Author Kim Stanley Robinson speaking at
350 Sacramento Climate Town Hall Nov. 14, 2015

Successfully addressing climate change is now defined by many environmental and world leaders as limiting the increase in global temperatures to about 2 degrees centigrade (about 3.5 degrees farenheit).  Even if we achieve that cap on warming, we're likely to see many negative impacts, including sea level rise of about 3 feet by the end of this century, more extreme weather events and very high localized temperatures.

Robinson thinks of success as reducing CO2 levels to levels to pre-impact levels.

"It's also true that complete success is not going to come in our lifetimes," he told the audience in Sacramento.  "It's going to be a multi-generational effort and yet here at the start of it we can't let that discourage us. We can't quit just because we're going to have to pass on to the next generation the semi-damaged world where the solutions are not yet fully in place."

"We do what we can in our generation," Robinson said.  "We pass it on in a kind of scaffolding system, build the scaffold as strong as we can and hopefully the next generation will stand on that scaffold and do a little better and we'll get ourselves to sustainability at last."

Participants at 350 Sacramento Town Hall Nov. 14, 2015

How do you avoid becoming overwhelmed?

Robinson spoke of keeping the vision in mind.  "The long term project is a vision so it orients you like you're driving at night and you have something on the horizon.  A vision of what it can be like when it is going well.  That's the utopian mindset.  ... 350 Sacramento?  That's the long term goal.  If you say to a politician you need 350 ppm of CO2 in the atmosphere tomorrow ...  well it's not possible ... but then it's like building a bridge and you put the footing in on your shore and you have a vision of where you're headed."

Kim Stanley Robinson continues to write about climate issues.  He said his next novel will be about massive sea level rise.  He also recently republished the climate "Science in the Capital" trilogy he wrote a decade ago.  He condensed the books into one volume and updated some of the information based on the latest science.  The new volume is "Green Earth."

"I will keep pounding away on these issues," he says.  He is optimistic about the prospects for a better future.  "When you get together in groups like this and you see the people devoting their time to this cause, you realize it can work .. it can be done"

Americans Want Climate Action

Overwhelming Agreement on Climate

Americans not only agree that climate action is needed, they so overwhelmingly see the threat and want action that it is "hard to find this many Americans agreeing about anything."

That's the bottom line conclusion of Dr. Jon Krosnick of Stanford University.  Having studied and surveyed American attitudes about climate change for two decades, he's in a position to know.  Dr. Krosnick spoke recently at the University of California Sacramento Center, presenting his findings from years of survey work.

Dr. Jon Krosnick in Sacramento Nov 12, 2015

Over the years, Dr. Krosnick's surveys have gotten more sophisticated in addressing various misconceptions about public attitudes and opinions on climate.

Since 1997, Dr. Krosnick has seen a consistently high belief that global warming is or probably will happen, with between 82% and 88% of those surveyed recognizing the problem.

Support for Government Action Widespread

Fully 78% of Americans support government action on climate, according to the surveys.  "You only get up to these numbers at this level if there is endorsement of this policy not only be people who are comfortable with government action but a considerable number of americans who say, as a general rule, they prefer for government to stay out of the activity," said Dr. Krosnick.  "So this is remarkable issue in the sense that this is a place where people who are in general skeptical about government involvement support government activity."

One of the issues Dr. Krosnick says he hears is that there are geographic differences of opinion regarding global warming.  When he tested for this, he found that strong majority belief that global warming is happening in every area of the country.  "There is not a single state that is majority skeptic on this issue, said Dr. Krosnick.  The lowest number in any state is 75%.  Interestingly, some of the highest numbers are in Oklahoma, home of climate denier Senator Jim Inhofe.

Parakeets and Science

Dr. Krosnick got a laugh from the audience in Sacramento when he recounted getting a call from the New York Times asking for his response to the assertion by politicians that they have nothing to say about climate change because they are not scientists.  He said, "For a politician to say I am not a scientist is like saying I'm not a parakeet."  His polling shows that the not-a-scientist statement resonates better that absolute climate denial among very conservative voters.

Summary of Climate Polling:  Americans Green & Want Action

Dr. Krosnick gave the Sacramento audience a summary of his findings:

"A majority of Americans are green on this issue, There seems to be no regions of skepticism as far as we can tell ... It is in fact a priority for people .. They want their government to address it. People do appear willing to pay to reduce emissions. Taking green positions seems to help candidates win an election. A not-green position can hurt a candidate."

More on Dr. Krosnick's most recent national polling can be found at the New York Times site here and Resources for the Future here.

Climate Dispatch: 5 Most Viewed Posts

I started Climate Dispatch earlier this year with the hope of providing information and viewpoints of interest.  There have been 24 posts so far.  I'm working on more and plan to provide updates when I attend the United Nations climate meeting in Paris early next month.

What's been most interesting to Climate Dispatch readers?  The five most viewed posts to date are:

1.  Traitors to Humanity

The most viewed post, Traitors to Humanity, offers some thoughts on how climate deniers will be remembered in the future, concluding:

For a bit of political self-gratification now, the climate denial leaders are condemning themselves to be forever remembered as betraying humans and the planet.

2.  Some Recent Climate Change Videos I Liked - August 2015

Never underestimate the power of visual media.  I enjoy learning about issue through a variety of sources, including videos and video clips.  I guess I shouldn't be surprised that the second most viewed post was a compilation of six videos ranging from an overview of cap and trade to an analysis of the Pope's encyclical to climate impacts on the wine industry. The post is linked here.

3.  California Coast:  Get Ready for Sea Level Rise

The California coastline is already seeing the impacts of rising tides and warmer waters.  What is not generally known is that our best efforts to address climate change will likely lead to a sea level increase of about 3 feet in the next 85 years.  Without aggressive efforts, the rise could be 6 feet.  Even a few inches causes dramatic impacts, so we better get ready.  The third most viewed post relates to climate impacts on our coast and is linked here.

Source:  PG&E presentation to CEC/PUC Adaptation Workshop 7/27/15

4.  Clean Coal:  This Hydra Needs to Die

Promoting "Clean Coal" has become a favorite energy source for many of the Republican presidential candidates and some are even distancing themselves from cleaner energy like solar and wind.  The fourth most viewed post compares "clean coal" to the many-headed hydra that sprouts more heads each time you cut one off.  The post is linked here.

Hydra: Digital image courtesy of the Getty's Open Content Program

5.  California 2030 Climate Goals: Renewable Energy

The fifth most viewed post was part of a series covering summertime workshops to assess progress towards California climate goals for 2030.  The renewable energy post is the only one of the series in the top five list.  The other posts covered transportation (#8) and energy efficiency (#11).

Source:  E3 Dr. Nancy Ryan presentation

4.