EARTH ACTION IN THE NEWS - April 23, 2020

[Emerald]

​EARTH ACTION IN THE NEWS  

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BREAKTHROUGH!

Columbus Takes Bold Steps to Cut Greenhouse Gas Emissions

https://www.nrdc.org/experts/stefan-schaffer/columbus-takes-bold-steps-cut-greenhouse-gas-emissions

The last coal-fired plant in Austria shuts down.

https://eutoday.net/news/energy/2020/the-last-coal-mine

Judge Tosses Major Keystone XL Permit
https://www.ecowatch.com/keystone-xl-pipeline-permit-2645731994.html?rebelltitem=2#rebelltitem2

Renewable Sources Made up 72% of New Energy Added in 2019
https://www.ecowatch.com/renewable-energy-sources-2019-2645656941.html?rebelltitem=1#rebelltitem1

"Renewable energy is a cost-effective source of new power that insulates power markets and consumers from volatility, supports economic stability and stimulates sustainable growth... With renewable additions providing the majority of new capacity last year, it is clear that many countries and regions recognise the degree to which the energy transition can deliver positive outcomes."

BAYER/MONSANTO

Revealed: Monsanto’s secret funding for weedkiller studies
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/mar/12/revealed-monsantos-secret-funding-for-weedkiller-studies-roundup

GMOs, GLYPHOSATE & TOXINS

More than 2,000 farmers are expected to file dicamba-damage lawsuits, says law firm

https://www.agriculture.com/news/business/more-than-2000-farmers-are-expected-to-file-dicamba-damage-lawsuits-says-law-firm

In 2020, ag community has ‘to prove to society’ it can safely spray dicamba
https://investigatemidwest.org/2020/03/11/in-2020-ag-community-has-to-prove-to-society-it-can-safely-spray-dicamba/

"Decisions made in the next year will be critical for the future use of the herbicide dicamba, a weed killer that has skyrocketed in use in recent years but has been blamed for extensive crop damage. This fall, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will decide whether the benefits of having the herbicide available to farmers for combatting weed resistance issues outweighs the harm to other farmers whose crops are damaged and to the environment."

FOSSIL FUELS

‘We Need Water Before Oil’: Kenyan Communities Scarred by Chinese Oil Exploration
https://www.desmogblog.com/2020/04/16/we-need-water-oil-abandoned-kenyan-communities-suffer-impacts-chinese-oil-exploration

PLASTIC & POLLUTION
Clean Air Is Helping People Consider Electric Cars
https://cleantechnica.com/2020/04/17/clean-air-is-helping-people-consider-electric-cars/

GREEN NEW DEAL

We Need a Green New Deal for Farmland

https://www.ecowatch.com/green-new-deal-farmland-2645649043.html?rebelltitem=1#rebelltitem1

A Big Oil Bailout Would Be the Opposite of the Green New Deal We Need
https://truthout.org/articles/a-big-oil-bailout-would-be-the-opposite-of-the-green-new-deal-we-need/?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=4ea3e81c-bedd-4d16-bcf2-8a17c64df7d4

European Commission’s Agricultural Policy Clashes with Its ‘Green Deal’ Plan
https://beyondpesticides.org/dailynewsblog/2020/03/european-commissions-agricultural-policy-clashes-with-its-green-deal-plan/

WAKE UP CALL

Inside the Fossil-Fuel Industry’s Plan to Profit From Climate Change

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/03/shell-climate-change.html

Six-fold jump in polar ice loss lifts global oceans

https://phys.org/news/2020-03-six-fold-polar-ice-loss-global.html

'I'm profoundly sad, I feel guilty': scientists reveal personal fears about the climate crisis

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/mar/08/im-profoundly-sad-i-feel-guilty-scientists-reveal-personal-fears-about-the-climate-crisis?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

“We are talking here about world-leading scientists, people who built their career on facts and data, who are spending their lives questioning every result they find, over and over again. People who are continuously challenging the status quo. People who are trained to be objective. When these people start to speak up about their feelings, about being frustrated, desperate, worried, angry or scared, then we really should listen very carefully.”

THINK TANK & STRATEGY

Would you ditch your car if public transport was free? Here’s what researchers have found

https://theconversation.com/would-you-ditch-your-car-if-public-transport-was-free-heres-what-researchers-have-found-133001

City declares climate emergency, actually means it and does something

https://www.treehugger.com/aviation/city-declares-climate-emergency-actually-means-it-and-does-something.html

Addressing the Climate Crisis Strengthens Economies, New Research Finds
https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-crisis-economic-growth-2645724784.html?rebelltitem=3#rebelltitem3

To avoid climate catastrophe, it’s going to take a revolution of the mind

https://www.fastcompany.com/90475368/to-avoid-climate-catastrophe-its-going-to-take-a-revolution-of-the-mind

Tackling Climate Change Key to Unlocking Agricultural Potential: An Abstract Case of Zimbabwe

https://ccat.news.blog/2020/04/17/tackling-climate-change-key-to-unlocking-agricultural-potential-an-abstract-case-of-zimbabwe/

New geochemical tool reveals origin of Earth's nitrogen.
https://www.tiredearth.com/articles/new-geochemical-tool-reveals-origin-earths-nitrogen

DIRECT ACTIONS

Experience: I’ve been protesting for seven decades

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2020/mar/06/experience-ive-been-protesting-for-seven-decades

The Bristolian 17-year-old campaigning for racial justice in climate change movement
https://thebristolcable.org/2020/03/the-bristolian-17-year-old-campaigning-for-racial-justice-in-climate-change-movement/

SUSTAINABLE LIVING

New Study Shows Veganism is up by 300% in US With 9.7 Million Americans Now Plant-Based

https://vegconomist.com/studies-and-numbers/new-study-shows-veganism-is-up-by-300-in-us-with-9-7-million-americans-now-plant-based/

How to Plant a Tree From Home on Arbor Day
https://www.ecowatch.com/arbor-day-home-tree-planting-2645738593.html?rebelltitem=2#rebelltitem2

Plant a tree on April 24th for Arbor Day.  If you can't plant a tree you can grow a tree and give it away in the fall, or support tree planting efforts.  Grow a tree from an acorn, a seed, a pit or a cutting.  When you pull up "weeds" watch for tree seedlings that you can grow in a pot until it's ready to find a permanent home. 

The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago.  The second best time is right now.

CATCHING UP

Soil-Based Organic Agriculture Takes on the Climate Crisis, Economic Insecurity, and Health Inequity
https://beyondpesticides.org/dailynewsblog/2020/03/soil-based-organic-agriculture-takes-on-the-climate-crisis-economic-insecurity-and-health-inequity/

Is the U.S. Fracking Boom Based on Fraud?

https://www.desmogblog.com/2020/03/05/us-shale-fracking-boom-fraud-alta-mesa-enron

Emissions: world has four times the work or one-third of the time

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-00571-x

Tropical forests losing their ability to absorb carbon, study finds

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/mar/04/tropical-forests-losing-their-ability-to-absorb-carbon-study-finds

World’s intact tropical forests reached ‘peak carbon uptake’ in 1990s

https://www.carbonbrief.org/guest-post-worlds-intact-tropical-forests-reached-peak-carbon-uptake-in-1990s

"In the 1990s, the average undisturbed tropical forest removed 0.57 tonnes of carbon per hectare per year from the atmosphere. But this figure declined to an estimated 0.38 tonnes of carbon by the 2010s. This is a one-third reduction in the carbon sink strength of intact tropical forests in just two decades."

These are the 76 climate solutions we need to scale up right now to have a chance

https://www.fastcompany.com/90470151/these-are-the-76-climate-solutions-we-need-to-scale-up-right-now-to-have-a-chance

UC San Diego, a leader in climate research, under pressure to slash its greenhouse gases

https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2020-03-02/ucsd-faculty-scold-the-university-over-its-climate-change-response

Climate change: how do I cope with our planet’s inevitable decline?

https://theconversation.com/climate-change-how-do-i-cope-with-our-planets-inevitable-decline-128593

Let’s enjoy some good climate news: the block on UK onshore wind farms is no more

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/mar/03/climate-uk-wind-farms-onshore-wind-clean-energy

Bad River Band issues demands to settle Enbridge lawsuit

https://cbs3duluth.com/2020/03/02/bad-river-band-issues-demands-to-settle-enbridge-lawsuit/

After Week Long Student Sit-In, Pitt Commits To Carbon Neutrality By 2037

https://www.wesa.fm/post/after-week-long-student-sit-pitt-commits-carbon-neutrality-2037#stream/0

Leading investor group tells companies to set out climate crisis plans

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/mar/05/leading-investor-group-tells-companies-to-set-out-climate-crisis-plans

NT Fracking Worse Than All Australian Coal Power Stations Combined

https://www.tai.org.au/node/5630

Mark Carney, named UN Special Envoy on Climate Change, says the smart money is on transition from fossil fuels
https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thesundayedition/the-sunday-edition-for-february-16-2020-1.5459411/mark-carney-named-un-special-envoy-on-climate-change-says-the-smart-money-is-on-transition-from-fossil-fuels-1.5462453?__vfz=medium%3Dsharebar

ENDING ON A POSITIVE

The largest wind power plant in Africa has opened in Kenya
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/07/wind-power-project-opens-in-kenya

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Call To Action! 
We urge all groups including schools, neighborhood associations, organizations, clubs and groups of any kind to adopt a Climate Declaration.  Adopt ours or write your own.  Share your Climate Declaration with local governments, the media, write articles, and share information. 
Occupy Sonoma County Climate Declaration

Occupy Sonoma County, along with concerned, forward thinking people all over the world, declares that climate change has reached catastrophic proportions as evidenced by the current level of CO2 in the atmosphere, the melting of polar ice caps, and the continual rising of global temperatures.  This is a global emergency, and we must act immediately.​  We invite all forces of life to join together for our survival.  We stand up for life.

We recognize that the root of climate change is a capitalist system run by money greedy corporations and the governments that they control.  We actively oppose greenhouse gas producers, nuclear power investors, and fossil fuel companies by boycotting their products, developing alternatives, divesting from corporations that endorse them and insisting that governments at all levels take action.  We call on all governments and corporations to adopt life-sustaining practices immediately.

The people must act now to stop this destruction from continuing and reverse the damage this has caused​.  The future is in our hands.  We are the 99%!

What Earth Actions are you taking?

707-877-6650
http://OccupySonomaCounty.org
http://OccupySonomaCounty.org/es ​ (en español)
http://www.facebook.com/OccupySonomaCounty
https://twitter.com/OcSoCo
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmJoCP-ePUTPWNgHZwtBelg

Occupy Sonoma County embraces the egalitarian, deep democracy principles of the Occupy Movement with a regional strategy for effectively organizing countywide social justice campaigns that are globally relevant.