EARTH ACTION IN THE NEWS - June 21, 2021 - Happy Solstice

[Emerald]

EARTH ACTION IN THE NEWS  

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BREAKTHROUGH!

Divestment goes Maine-stream

https://grist.org/beacon/divestment-goes-maine-stream/

"Maine just became the first state in the nation to pass an actual law requiring divestment of public funds from oil, gas, and coal companies."

LOCAL REPORTS

Young Activists March From Paradise to SF in 100 Degree Heat to Protest Climate Crisis

https://www.kqed.org/science/1975362/young-activists-march-from-paradise-to-sf-in-100-degree-heat-to-protest-climate-crisis?utm_medium=Email&utm_source=ExactTarget&utm_campaign=20201009_Science_ScienceNewsletter_Newsletter&mc_key=00Q1Y00001xsPQmUAM

SMART gets money for crucial Healdsburg bridge, but lawsuits blocking construction drag on

https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/news/smart-gets-money-for-crucial-healdsburg-bridge-but-lawsuits-blocking-const/?trk_msg=LG951QRTHTG4L3TQ444JM6PCGC&trk_contact=QQQLPEJ4NTMGK1AJ6O84IQKD2K&trk_module=new&trk_sid=USQ8TKTJM738PV6G5VMK9HCGHG&utm_email=94D5D43DA4752562A4E1D47CED&g2i_eui=ltCmFhHaOJlhoc2NDLU8wbswC8RaJYm4G89Z5lDLgjE%3d&g2i_source=newsletter&utm_source=listrak&utm_medium=email&utm_term=https%3a%2f%2fwww.pressdemocrat.com%2farticle%2fnews%2fsmart-gets-money-for-crucial-healdsburg-bridge-but-lawsuits-blocking-const%2f&utm_campaign=pd_daily

Can the US Survive California’s Drought?

https://blog.ucsusa.org/pablo-ortiz/can-the-us-survive-californias-drought/

Wetlands Up in Smoke (video)

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=311191459569994

"What is wood pellet biomass? What happens to the forests and communities where those wood pellets are made? How does burning wood for energy affect our climate? Watch this video to learn more and join the fight against this dirty industry!"

This is happening here.

Weeks-long climate march culminates on the Golden Gate Bridge

https://www.sfexaminer.com/news/weeks-long-climate-march-culminates-on-the-golden-gate-bridge/

GMOs, GLYPHOSATE & TOXINS

Maine Bans Consumer Use of Neonicotinoid Insecticides, with Some Exceptions

https://beyondpesticides.org/dailynewsblog/2021/06/maine-bans-consumer-use-of-neonicotinoid-insecticides-with-some-exceptions/

Toxic 'Forever Chemicals' Found in Mainstream Cosmetics

https://www.ecowatch.com/forever-chemicals-cosmetics-pfas-2653403743.html

FOSSIL FUELS

The Louisiana gas industry’s answer to lax safety enforcement? Loosen it more
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jun/15/louisiana-fossil-fuels-safety-regulations?utm_term=Autofeed&CMP=edit_2221&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1623751283

Shale Oil Fraud Case Reveals Executives Ignore Their Own Engineers and Mislead Investors

https://www.desmog.com/2021/06/11/shale-oil-fraud-alta-vista-investor-lawsuit/

"An increasing number of investor lawsuits shine a light on how oil industry leadership has been demanding optimistic predictions of oil production that turn out to be fraudulent."

Norway not ready to let go of oil, gas in push for greener energy

https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/norway-not-ready-let-go-oil-gas-push-hydrogen-offshore-wind-2021-06-11/

PIPELINES

Indigenous Women Invite Deb Haaland to See Devastation of Line 3 for Herself

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/06/17/indigenous-women-invite-deb-haaland-see-devastation-line-3-herself

PLASTIC & POLLUTION

The Story of Electronics (video)

https://www.storyofstuff.org/movies/story-of-electronics/

"The Story of Electronics, released in November 2011, employs the Story of Stuff style to explore the high-tech revolution’s collateral damage."

NSW moves to cut single-use plastics by 2025

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-13/nsw-will-phase-out-single-use-plastic-by-2025/100211588?utm_campaign=news-article-share-control&utm_content=twitter&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_source=abc_news_web

"NSW contributes one third of Australia's total waste, so the policies we make in NSW will make a difference for the whole country."

WAKE UP CALL

Earth’s Energy Imbalance Doubled in the Last 14 Years, NASA and NOAA Confirm

https://www.ecowatch.com/earths-energy-imbalance-climate-change-2653450576.html

Extreme weather may not lead to increased support for climate action

https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2021/06/study-extreme-weather-may-not-lead-to-increased-support-for-climate-action/

Key Antarctic ice shelf is speeding up its collapse

https://www.axios.com/pine-island-glacier-ice-shelf-breakup-sea-level-fa1d02c3-e9cd-4796-8007-de3878338e17.html?utm_campaign=organic&utm_medium=socialshare&utm_source=twitter

On Climate Crisis and COVID-19, G7 Is Judged a 'Colossal Failure'

https://www.ecowatch.com/g7-climate-crisis-covid-failure-2653371893.html

"Biden's first trip abroad unfortunately can be chalked up as a missed opportunity. Despite strong statements about ending U.S. international support for all fossil fuels in the first few months of his administration, President Biden has yet to turn those statements into true action. The G7 was a key moment to show that the U.S. can be a leader in moving the world forward on bold climate action, and unfortunately that leadership has not yet revealed itself."

Disaster Capitalism: Puerto Rico Plunged into Darkness After Privatization of Electric Utility (video)

https://www.democracynow.org/2021/6/15/puerto_rico_power_outages?utm_source=Democracy+Now%21&utm_campaign=e0d425f83c-Daily_Digest_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_fa2346a853-e0d425f83c-191276697

António Guterres on the climate crisis: ‘We are coming to a point of no return’

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jun/11/antonio-guterres-interview-climate-crisis-pandemic-g7

"UN secretary general says he’s concerned that the richest nations have pumped billions more into fossil fuels than clean energy since the pandemic."

Most people unaware of the dangers of our shrinking natural world, new survey says

https://thehill.com/changing-america/sustainability/environment/552413-most-people-unaware-of-the-dangers-of-our

THINK TANK & STRATEGY

CBI boss says world is ‘way off track’ in fight against climate crisis

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/jun/14/cbi-boss-says-world-is-way-off-track-in-fight-against-climate-change

"The head of the UK’s biggest business lobby group has warned that the corporate world is “way off track” in tackling the climate crisis."

How Returning Lands to Native Tribes Is Helping Protect Nature

https://e360.yale.edu/features/how-returning-lands-to-native-tribes-is-helping-protect-nature

Let's turn over the care of our forests and wilderness areas to the local tribes.

DIRECT ACTIONS

Treaty People Gathering action at the Headwaters of the Mississippi River (video)

https://vimeo.com/563453960

Journalist Alan Weisman arrested, strip-searched while covering anti-pipeline protest in Minnesota

https://cpj.org/2021/06/journalist-alan-weisman-arrested-strip-searched-while-covering-anti-pipeline-protest-in-minnesota/amp/?__twitter_impression=true

Student-Led Coalition Calls on Corporations to Quit U.S. Chamber Over Climate Inaction

https://www.citizen.org/news/student-led-coalition-calls-on-corporations-to-quit-u-s-chamber-over-climate-inaction/

Sunrise Movement’s Gulf Coast Trek Highlights Need for a Civilian Climate Corps
https://www.teenvogue.com/story/sunrise-movement-trek-new-orleans-houston?fbclid=IwAR0CvtPavGWSKK2DWbH74Ryp47MzUFvSEGM3k_4rjKdykEmJINVHSS5ieSc

SUSTAINABLE LIVING

Recycling Your Dead Batteries

https://bohemian.com/recycling-your-dead-batteries/

Epicurious drops beef recipes in "pro-planet" shift

https://www.axios.com/epicurious-beef-recipes-climate-change-a811d269-3b74-4576-a618-8829eff90cb8.html?utm_campaign=organic&utm_medium=socialshare&utm_source=twitter

8 Cities Rewilding Their Urban Spaces

https://www.ecowatch.com/cities-rewilding-2653383263.html

Harnessing the wind: Five things you don’t know about wind energy

https://www.getrevue.co/profile/pauledawson/issues/harnessing-the-wind-five-things-you-don-t-know-about-wind-energy-522876

"Over the last 30 years, a doubling of turbine size has led to a 14% drop in CO2 equivalent emissions per kilowatt-hour of electricity produced. Larger turbines are able to harness higher, faster moving wind, but they have a bigger footprint on the ground. This has led to increased interest in offshore wind farms, where space is more available and there are fewer regulations governing the height of built structures."

As electric vehicles take off, we'll need to recycle their batteries

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/electric-vehicles-take-off-recycling-ev-batteries?cmpid=org=ngp::mc=crm-email::src=ngp::cmp=editorial::add=Planet_Possible_20210615&rid=2A83A1679DA3D00B06D379678BB5845B

"The lithium, nickel, cobalt, and copper inside those batteries were all, at one point, mined from the earth... With the number of EVs on the roads expected to rise from 10 million in 2020 to upwards of 145 million by 2030, demand for battery minerals is poised to surge. Some industry watchdogs warn that the clean transit boom could fuel a dirty mining boom."

Will charging electric cars ever be as fast as pumping gas?

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/will-charging-electric-cars-ever-be-as-fast-as-pumping-gas?cmpid=org=ngp::mc=crm-email::src=ngp::cmp=editorial::add=Planet_Possible_20210615&rid=2A83A1679DA3D00B06D379678BB5845B

ENDING ON A POSITIVE

Watch These Hermit Crabs Shop for the Perfect Shell (video)

https://www.kqed.org/science/1975024/watch-these-hermit-crabs-shop-for-the-perfect-shell?utm_medium=Email&utm_source=ExactTarget&utm_campaign=20201009_Science_ScienceNewsletter_Newsletter&mc_key=00Q1Y00001xsPQmUAM

First Wolf Litter in 80 Years Born in Colorado

https://www.ecowatch.com/wolf-litter-born-colorado-2653329162.html

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?

Love,

Emerald

“I don’t understand why I’m being looked at as a criminal when a corporation is proposing to destroy my water. I am not a criminal, I am a water protector.” - Winona LaDuke
"If wars can be started by lies, peace can be started by truth." - Julian Assange

I prefer female or gender neutral pronouns: she, her, they

Never ma'am or you guys

Name pronounced Em-er-uh ld Mey-trah

[Emerald]

I am having problems sending mail using the OSC email address so I used my personal email.  I didn't intend for my personal signature to stay on the newsletter.  That's a typo.  :)  Love, Emerald