The Women's March Aftermath: Political Will Reemerges

Women's March, DC, Saturday, January 21, 2017

Can marches make a difference?  They can just ignore us and continue on, right?  Is it pointless?

The answer is a resounding THEY MAKE A HUGE DIFFERENCE.

The Women’s Marches of January 21 is a perfect example of how such demonstrations can spark political engagement. The March’s organizers are really on top of their game.  They have created follow up actions-one every 10 days over the next 100 days. 

The first is seemingly small.  Many might dismiss the action as too small to bother.  It is to meet up and talk about the march and write printed post cards to our legislators.  Surely, in the face of all of the other actions out there, like the Daily Action, this is just another action. 

BUT IT ISN’T.

My best friend said, “Hey, the first action is to meetup and write postcards.”  Then she listed the five or six people we knew that had either been at the march or supported it and said, “let’s text them and see if they want to do it.”  Before ten minutes had gone by, she’d texted or emailed six women with an invitation for coffee after work and a quick post card writing.   Within a half hour, all had RSVP’d “yes,” with several more to join.  The group practically formed itself.  By the time we met, we had eleven.

It was made up of roughly 1/3 Bernie supporters, 1/3 women who have not been particularly politically vocal and 1/3 people who likely supported Clinton. Out of the group, perhaps only 1 or 2 have written legislators before. Not everyone there actually marched.  Our ages range from the twenties to the sixties, we have a wide array of focuses, and we have varied life experiences. We represent a broad spectrum. We met at a restaurant; one stranger came up to thank us for our work. He left with cards in hand to write. Another man that we know came up and became part of the group.  It looks like our number will grow.

These are folks that are ratcheting up action level beyond previous actions. Grouping together across political divides. Angry, concerned, frustrated and worried but looking to become very practical.  We all seem willing to learn.

This is unprecedented among this group; it represents a new level of political engagement. I imagine that our group is not alone.  People are becoming politically active—from the left to the center…and maybe even center right—in new and exciting ways.

The question is not whether this is what needs to happen. It is. The question is, did we wait so long to get to this point that we may not be able to preserve democratic process?  Will we act in time to save the institutions that have girded us through tumultuous times before?

Here's the thing. Over the past few decades, the US became an oligarchy. People were abdicating their right and duty to vote and stay informed.  Apathy allowed corporations to govern.  And, now, that's mutated into something even more sinister. 

But up until recently, we had at least kept most of the democratic PROCESS. Then, last spring, that was thrown into chaos with the GOP’s refusal to advise and consent on Merrick Garland.  Obama’s nominee for Supreme Court Justice languished as the Congress refused to respect the authority of the presidency.

Here we were, an oligarchy that had lost even the procedures that could bring us back to democracy if we tried.  We had neither democratic political will nor democratic process.  A situation that allowed for an autocratic corrupt narcissist to take over.

But we find ourselves right now at an interesting moment.  A crucial moment. 

We have lost much of our needed democratic process.  On the other hand, democratic power is showing signs of reestablishing itself. These marches are awakening people’s political will.  Not just the left, like the Occupy marches. A broad coalition that includes people like those in my coffee group who could potentially unify behind someone like an Obama, a Bloomberg or a Cuomo.  What would be different in following these kinds of people now as compared to before?  The polity would have the newly developed skills to engage in government that they are mastering now.  Skills to reestablish and preserve democratic power rather than oligarchic power.  Decisions made in the interests of people, not corporations.

If this continues, we will have an engaged polity representing BROAD political interests.  We can potentially see coalitions that don't cater to the values of one segment of the polity, like the far left or far right, but represent the pragmatic compromises we MUST have to represent all peoples in a true democracy.  If we act quickly, we may be able to use that political will to reestablish the not yet forgotten democratic process.

We need government to be representative. That could happen if we put together these two pieces--the true political will of the people and established political process.  Right here, right now, we may have our chance.

Climate is a feminist issue. Women's rights are a climate issue.

We managed a photo at the big Earth.

The Women's March.

The Great Women's March of January 21, 2017.

There was a lot to digest from yesterday.  Of course, this was a woman's march.  There were many, many people letting the world know that we would not tolerate a world that normalizes sexual assault, that demeans women by equating us with pussies, that disempowers us by taking away reproductive rights.  There were many that were letting the world know that LGBTQ rights were not going away without a fight.  There were breast cancer survivors walking shirtless to demonstrate that mastectomies are not all pink ribbons.  Left wing identity politics, as they say, were on full display AS THEY SHOULD HAVE BEEN.  November 9 was a day we woke to find that we must continue to demand our rights are respected.  They are imperiled and it comes down to us to demand our rightful place in this world.

Environmentalsim=Patriotism

Not all was so-called left identity politics, though.  There were people reminding us all of the Russian problems and that Trump is compromised.  There were Christians simply letting the world know that they wanted a world that loved their neighbor.  People demanding educational opportunities, healthcare, and more.  Most notably to me, I saw people picking up the mantle of patriot, wearing the flag, carrying signs that called themselves patriots.  I was particularly excited when I saw someone that equated environmentalism with patriotism, given  my own push to reclaim the word patriot for those that act to protect our natural resources and strengthen our nation through cutting carbon emissions.

But there is another thing that became apparent yesterday on which I want to focus.  Outside of the focused climate movement, perhaps for one of the first times, in the greater, broad coalition of people that might attend a march, emerged a clear and resounding demand for action on climate.  It turns out people are beginning to fully recognize climate change is a central issue.  Look at just a small sampling of the signs:

You can't merge women's rights and climate better than this!

Scientists and Science Show Up
At the March

Look carefully! Three unrelated
climate signs caught in one moment.

Turns out people can
care about science and
human beings all at once.  ;)

There is nothing more feminist than
recognizing women are scientists and
need funding.

We managed to pop into this one :)

It is a beautiful thing to see science, science funding and scientists represented at a woman's march.  More, it is a powerful thing to see that demands for climate science and action are now merging with demands for democracy, for equality, for empowerment of all of our citizens.

And well it should be.  Women have demonstrated time and again that when we are empowered, we make good decisions for our families and our homes.  Scientists have demonstrated time and again that we need to make good decisions to cut emissions in order to build a clean energy economy, to preserve a strong nation, to preserve the natural resources necessary to a strong economy and a livable world in which our children can thrive.

At the end of the day, perhaps this was a march for human beings, where it was recognized that women are human beings.  That is profound, as profound as Clinton's famous words to the same effect.  More, it is essential that we are beginning to recognize that empowered human beings protect healthy climates and that healthy climates protect us all.

Post Script:

One of the first blog notes I ever wrote was an entreaty to feminists to recognize that climate change was a feminist issue.  Climate change impacts the disempowered first and most fiercely.  Too, I entreated the climate activists to recognize that feminism was a climate issue.  Empowering women meant empowering those that make many of the decisions that impact climate, including reproduction and consumption.

I wondered then if it was the Kochs, as common enemy, that would unite these two forces.  It appears to have been the case.

Who Really Won the 2016 Election

There is a difference between winning an election campaign “fair and square” and carrying the legitimate democratic power that comes with representing the interests of the people.

Hillary Clinton lost the election.  There seems to be no evidence to contradict this, just conjecture and wishful thinking.  Donald Trump won the election.  It seems that the use of psychological profiling developed from Facebook “likes” and “loves” was used to great effect.  Steve Bannon and Cambridge Analytica very efficiently targeted individuals in swing states that fit the profile of someone that voted for Obama but could be swayed to vote for Trump.  They tailored messages to those individuals and with a small amount of money and very little organizing, managed 80,000 votes in key places that swung the election.

We should understand these tactics.  We should understand why the Clinton campaign dismissed this type of strategy.  And we should be sure to win at this game next time.

However, we must be very careful not to confuse strategic and tactical failures with failures of message.  At the end of the day, nearly 3 million more voters voted for Hillary Clinton.  At the end of the day, voters clearly decided that Clinton’s message and the Democrats’ progressive party platform represent their interests.

When we add the stunning fact that Vladimir Putin was also essentially campaigning for Trump, and that the propaganda war waged persuaded voters to vote based on Putin’s interests, we cannot conclude from this election that the Democratic agenda is the weak link in getting elected, but rather tactics and strategy. This election was turned on interests that are not held by the majority of people that voted.  There is no democratic legitimacy to Trump’s power.

What, precisely does Trump’s power spring from?  We can make the case that it stems from bigotry, sexism, homophobia, fear of other religions and ethnicities.  That is valid.  However, we would be wise to look at who will be gaining from this election most.  A clear answer to that can be seen in his appointments.

Secretary of State?  A man who has done nothing but work for oil his entire career, who directed disinformation campaign to discredit science, who has been thwarted from oil profits by sanctions against Russia, Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson.

But that is just the start:

"Trump has also put forward a host of other appointees who are overt climate denialists and generally also have financial ties to industries threatened by the Carbon Bubble. These include Rick Perry, Trump’s choice for Secretary of Energy and a close ally of Big Oil; Scott Pruitt (EPA Administrator — a virulent climate denialist); Nikki Haley (U.N. Ambassador, also known for suppressing climate science as Governor); Steve Bannon (Chief Strategist, and just generally gross); Ryan Zinke (Secretary of Interior — who strongly supports more oil and gas exploration on public lands): Jeff Sessions (Attorney General and climate regulation opponent); Elaine Chao (Secretary of Transportation, who will be tasked with getting a huge fossil fuel infrastructure plan through Congress, working with her husband, Mitch McConnell); James Mattis (Secretary of Defense, who is not a denialist but does have oil industry ties); Michael Flynn (National Security Advisor — and former oil industry lobbyist); Larry Kudlow (Council of Economic Advisors — a climate denialist and frequent defender of the Koch brothers); Wilbur Ross (Commerce Secretary — holds ‘hundreds of millions of dollars’ in oil and gas investments); even Betsy DeVos (Education Secretary) is sister to Blackwater founder Erik Prince, who is investing heavily in African oil and gas fields, ‘places where he thinks his expertise in providing logistics and security can give him a competitive edge.’” (emphasis added) https://medium.com/@AlexSteffen/trump-putin-and-the-pipelines-to-nowhere-742d745ce8fd#.azsbl1vpn

And then there is Putin, authoritarian and aggressive leader of a country highly dependent on oil and gas.

These people have everything to gain by persuading us that we need coal, oil and gas.  They have everything to gain by persuading us that electric cars aren’t actually the totally cool innovation that they are, with awesome torque, minimal maintenance and zero stops at the gas station.  These people have everything to gain from creating a false perception that wind and solar aren’t going to create energy independence.  These people have everything to gain by stopping our innovators and engineers from developing the infrastructure for storage and transmission that would make us a clean energy superpower, competitive against China who now stands to profit hugely from our failure.  These people have everything to gain by convincing coal miners that their only hope for their families is to continue to go into dark caverns and develop black lung instead of working in the sunshine installing solar panels or maintaining wind turbines.  These people have everything to gain by convincing us that wind turbines and solar panels are ugly in our backyards, while gas plants in our backyards are the price we must pay for energy.  These are the people that will con us into buying their oil, coal and gas for as long as we let them.

It is time to recognize that ENERGY is at the crux of our politics.  It is time to get angry at the fossil fuel barons.

As we organize to resist Trump, let us be perfectly clear that our biggest enemy is the fossil fuels that put him in office.

Scientists Are Takin' It To The Streets

Scientists are taking to the streets:

"Scientists aren’t generally known for their political protests. But like so many things, that’s all changing under the shadow of a looming Trump presidency.

Dec. 12 marked the start of the four-day American Geophysical Union conference, a gathering of climate scientists that isn’t typically known for its raucous itinerary. But on Dec. 13, in between sessions on nonlinear geophysics, seismology, and the study of the earth’s deep interior, many attendees also took to the streets of San Francisco to protest the incoming administration’s stance on climate change. The rally drew hundreds of participants."  http://qz.com/862921/trumps-skepticism-about-climate-change-is-turning-scientists-into-activists/

Scientists are copying public data to protect it from future censorship and redaction:

"Alarmed that decades of crucial climate measurements could vanish under a hostile Trump administration, scientists have begun a feverish attempt to copy reams of government data onto independent servers in hopes of safeguarding it from any political interference.

The efforts include a 'guerrilla archiving' event in Toronto, where experts will copy irreplaceable public data, meetings at the University of Pennsylvania focused on how to download as much federal data as possible in the coming weeks, and a collaboration of scientists and database experts who are compiling an online site to harbor scientific information.

'Something that seemed a little paranoid to me before all of a sudden seems potentially realistic, or at least something you’d want to hedge against,' said Nick Santos, an environmental researcher at the University of California at Davis."

Scientists are refusing to name names:

“'We will be forthcoming with all publically-available [sic] information with the transition team. We will not be providing any individual names to the transition team.' Burnham-Snyder’s email had the last sentence in boldface for emphasis."

Scientists KNOW the reality of climate change.  And they are refusing to name names, protecting truth and taking it to the streets.

These are climate patriots that deserve our utmost respect.  More importantly, they deserve our total support:  financial, spoken, written and activist.

It is hard, in the wake of this devastating election, to return our thoughts to reason and science.  Those of us that have been steeped in it for years are frustrated and wonder if there is a point.

Let me say this.  OF COURSE THERE IS A POINT.  Reason didn't stop being reasonable.  Science hasn't stopped being valid.  Reality is still reality, though it doesn't feel like it.

These scientists are RIGHT.  They were right and they continue to be right.

All that has changed is that they are now not just right, but they are refusing to name names, protecting truth and taking it to the streets.  We owe it to them to stand right there with them.  We owe it to ourselves.  We owe it to our children.

The Real Energy Voters Are Us

What Clinton was proposing on climate--a strong grid and storage and development of the infrastructure necessary to eliminating gas--is exactly what we need.

Nothing confirms that better than the news out this week that that is precisely what the fossil fuel lackeys are looking at attacking first.

The incoming administration has sent a questionnaire to the Department of Energy, seeking the names of individuals working on specific programs that include the valuation of the social cost of carbon and lending for research and statistics.

One target is particularly telling:  “The document also signals which of the department’s agencies could face the toughest scrutiny under the new administration. Among them: the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy [ARPA-E], a 7-year-old unit that has been a critical instrument for the Obama administration to advance clean-energy technologies.”  

ARPA-E funds projects that are not ready for private investment, but have high potential, in energy storage (battery technology) and transmission (grid technology), among other technologies necessary for solar and wind and other clean energy.

Why would the incoming administration target this program?

Because Obama had it right.  Clinton had it right.  Transmission and storage are essential to transitioning to renewables.  I repeat…Without investment in transmission and storage, we cannot rely predominantly on renewables.

I explored this in full in the past, but here I will quickly summarize.   Wind and solar are intermittent. The sun isn’t always shining everywhere and at all times that electricity is needed, nor is the wind always blowing. There are several potential solutions to this problem. (1) Use electricity only intermittently (not viable or even desired), (2) store the energy for later use (batteries, pumped hydro or other), (3) move the energy from one place to another-transmission (a national grid could move energy from where it is produced to where it is needed) or (4) have another energy source that is “dispatchable,” that is, it can be turned on and off to complement the solar and wind (gas or oil).

Without transmission and storage, any use of solar and wind means continuing dependence on gas or oil.

The work of ARPA-E under Obama, that would have continued under Clinton, is ESSENTIAL to shifting to renewables to any significant extent.

Trump’s team doesn’t necessarily need to focus its attack on solar and wind directly.

They can work on state policies to make solar and wind more difficult. And they can block the grid and storage development that would make solar and wind change from boutique energy to a significant source of energy. That's easy, politically. People have no clue how state utility policies work and no clue why the grid and storage are so important.

And that brings us to the million dollar question.  (Or is it the million parts per million question?)

Where do we go from here?

I proffer this:  double down on science, policy and reason.

We must get educated on why a grid and storage matter and we must educate people on why a grid and storage matter.  We must get educated on what works in climate messaging and educate others on good climate messaging that teach the value of clean energy infrastructure.  We must be open to compromises that work in the right general direction and help others see the value in that.

And this is where Clinton really had it right, once again.  She had the right message; it just wasn't heard.

The oil industry giant American Petroleum Institute has been running an ad campaign about "energy voters" for years. We need to take that away from them.

Climate voters should absolutely be characterized as energy voters. We want carbon free energy.

But our movement is always being hijacked by the "none of the above" crowd. Sorry, no. We are not going back to caves. But we don't have to. That's what Clinton's climate message was about--we can be a clean energy superpower.

That is a powerful message.

But the left hasn't been listening, dismissing it as uncommitted greenwashing focused only on demand and not supply. And the right has been captured by being "energy voters." That single-handedly characterizes us as wanting to take away their energy (we don't), and sends the message that fossil fuels are necessary to living with lights and heat and transport.

That is a message that will kill us.  Fortunately, it also isn’t true.

Clean energy means energy independence.  My Republican Congressman once said “imagine if every time a homeowner replaced their roof, they’d get solar; it would democratize energy”).   It means electric vehicles with awesome torque.  It means less pollution.  It means price stability.  It means a livable planet.  With a grid and storage, it means consistent, reliable energy not subject to the whims of OPEC or other markets.  It means predictability.  It means jobs on our home soil.  It means strength internationally.

And all of that relies on the work of groups like ARPA-E on transmission and storage.

That is the landscape of a clean energy superpower.  And it is more clear than ever before, we need people to see that is the landscape of real climate action.  The fossil fuel lackeys are making it plain that they know it is.  And it scares them.

And that is where the battle lines are now drawn.

We are the voters that want democratic access to energy.  We are the voters that want to drive without dependence on foreign oil or the oil of corrupt politicians.  We are the voters that want to run the meter backwards.  We are the energy voters.

It is time for us to make that our battle cry.

The Liberal Elite Patriot and The Legacy We Have Been Bequeathed

“But if I may even flatter myself that [my words] may be productive of some partial benefit, some occasional good, that they may now and then recur to moderate the fury of party spirit, to warn against the mischiefs of foreign intrigue, to guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism—this hope will be a full recompense for the solicitude for your welfare by which they have been dictated.”–George Washington, Farewell Address, September 19, 1796

It is time to protect our freedoms and our soil with our hearts and spirits, from despoliation.

We must carry the mantle of patriotism without fear. We must take the flag from those who would turn it against us as a weapon.  We must stand for freedom. Stand for democracy. Stand for our nation's beauty. Stand for our home’s great bounty of resources, clean water and soil and a livable climate. Stand for each other. Without fear of embracing each other's weaknesses as well as our strengths. It is time to take the flag from those that use it as a weapon and let it once again stand for true patriotism. It is time for us to recognize that true patriots defend free speech, defend the people who make up our nation, defend our home. True patriots demand an educated electorate.  True patriots sacrifice their labor and sweat to protect our home and our neighbors.  True patriots place honor and compassion above comfort and economic greed.

”The conservation of our natural resources and their proper use constitute the fundamental problem which underlies almost every other problem of our national life. . ..As a nation we not only enjoy a wonderful measure of present prosperity but if this prosperity is used aright it is an earnest of future success such as no other nation will have. The reward of foresight for this nation is great and easily foretold. But there must be the look ahead, there must be a realization of the fact that to waste, to destroy, our natural resources, to skin and exhaust the land instead of using it so as to increase its usefulness, will result in undermining in the days of our children the very prosperity which we ought by right to hand down to them amplified and developed.”—Theodore Roosevelt, Address to the Congress, Dec. 3, 1907

“Remember, remember always, that all of us … are descended from immigrants and revolutionists.”–Franklin D. Roosevelt

“Everywhere immigrants have enriched and strengthened the fabric of American life,”– John F. Kennedy

”Politicians against gay marriage now are the future villains of our American History books.” Natalie Maines, Dixie Chicks, June 28, 2011, Twitter

”Enlighten the people generally, and tyranny and oppressions of body & mind will vanish like evil spirits at the dawn of day.”—Thomas Jefferson, April 24, 1816

”That Men ought to speak well of their Governours is true, while their Governours, deserve to be well spoken of, but to do publick Mischief, without hearing of it , is only the Prerogative and Felicity of Tyranny: A free People will be shewing that they are so, by their Freedom of Speech.”—Benjamin Franklin, July 9. 1722

“To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.”― Theodore Roosevelt, May 18, 1918

 Rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will, within the limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others.”—Thomas Jefferson, April 4, 1819  

“Among the natural rights of the Colonists are these: First, a right to life; Secondly, to liberty; Thirdly, to property; together with the right to support and defend them in the best manner they can. These are evident branches of, rather than deductions from, the duty of self-preservation, commonly called the first law of nature.”—Samuel Adams, Nov. 20, 1772

“Science is the attempt, largely successful, to understand the world, to get a grip on things, to get hold of ourselves, to steer a safe course. Microbiology and meteorology now explain what only a few centuries ago was considered sufficient cause to burn women to death.” —Carl Sagan

The battle for the country has never been complete; it has never yet been finished. We will continue to fight for our freedoms and our democracy and our home as our forebears have. And we will tell our children that we will never give up that fight.

Before the election, I had a conversation with a Trump supporter.  A civil conversation.  She continually spoke of the need to take care of “our” people.  I agreed.  It is time to take care of OUR people.  But who, exactly, is that?  Yes, out of work coal miners count in that.  President Obama certainly included them when he promulgated the Power Plus Plan, meant to use funds to help coal communities recover as gas kills coal.  Yes, it includes union workers whose jobs have evaporated, replaced by mechanization and cheap foreign labor.  But, too, doesn’t it include LGBTQ, Black, Hispanic and Muslim Americans?  I had the distinct sense that is not what she meant by “our people.”

Since the election, I have driven by the local gas plant under construction with a US flag hanging from a crane.  I follow trucks with the flag on their bumpers.  I see the flag wrapped around hate filled rhetoric.

And I am angry.  Why do they own the flag?  Why do they have ownership of patriotism?

I am proud to be a citizen bequeathed the US Constitution.   I am proud to be a denizen of beautiful mountains and rivers.  I am proud to live where you can eat tacos and sushi and potato knishes.  I am proud to live where you can protest under the protection of the First Amendment and expect due process of law in all matters.  I am proud to live where slavery was ended and Civil Rights are held up as the best part of us.  I am proud to have lived the day to see gay marriage recognized across our land.  I am proud to inherit all that our forebears have given us.

But those things of which we should be most proud are imperiled.

And they are under attack by people waving the flag.  Gas power plants that will despoil the rivers and mountains we love.  Truck owners that “roll coal” and refuse to defend the stability of a livable planet.  Gun owners that cannot permit sensible restrictions to prevent terrorist attacks, domestic or otherwise.  Bigots and racists that only want to protect heterosexual white people.

Our wisest predecessors are speaking to us across the centuries:  “guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism.” 

Those words were meant for our ears.  True patriots will listen.

Galvanized in Desperate Times

"Only in the darkness can you see the stars."--Martin Luther King, Jr.

Let’s start with the good news.  It appears that the world has been shaken out of complacency about climate change.

In fact, home and abroad, people seem to be galvanized by the threat of climate denial taking hold of the US government.  Here is a list:

1. China reaffirms its commitment to action:   "We have to wait and see whether the new U.S. government will withdraw from the Paris Agreement, but no matter what happens in the new government of the United States, I think China will continue our action and will continue participating in the global multilateral process."

2. Former French President Sarkozy calls for a carbon tax against the US if it pulls out of the Paris Agreement.

3. Former Irish President Mary Robinson says “It would be a tragedy for the United States and the people of the United States if the U.S. becomes a kind of rogue country, the only country in the world that is somehow not going to go ahead with the Paris Agreement."

4. A petition seeking to bar fossil fuel companies from taking part in UN negotiations on climate is delivered and accepted by the US at Marrakech.

5. Over 360 businesses urge Trump to stay in the Paris Agreement, including DuPont, Gap Inc., General Mills, Hewlett Packard Enterprises, Hilton, HP Inc., Kellogg Company, Levi Strauss & Co., L'Oreal USA, NIKE, Mars Incorporated, Schneider Electric, Starbucks, VF Corporation, and Unilever, as well as multi-billion dollar investors and small businesses.

6. "[A] bipartisan group of defense experts and former military leaders sent Donald Trump’s transition team a briefing book urging the president-elect to consider climate change as a grave threat to national security."

7. “Canada, China, France, Japan, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom (and the United States of America) pledged to increase the share of electric vehicles in their government fleets and calling for other governments to join them.

8. California and New York both affirm committment to work to cut emissions.

9. Climate advocacy groups get a huge bump in donations and volunteers.

10. France commits to shutting ALL coal plants by 2023.

11. Delegates to the Marrakech COP 22 from over 190 countries make a Proclamation that the “momentum [to act on climate] is irreversible,” signaling a refusal to back down or pull out.

12. Even Saudi Arabia was among the 190+ nations that affirmed its commitments to diversify away from fossil fuels.

Add to that, the GOP and Trump appear to be recognizing that their campaign promises may be tough to keep.  Here is one example:  “A government spending program is not likely to solve the fundamental problem of growth,” McConnell said. “…I support the effort to help these coal counties wherever we can but that isn’t going to replace whatever was there when we had a vibrant coal industry.”

On top of that, Obama and Kerry have vowed to do all they can in the remaining days to protect future generations.  It appears their goal is to commit the US to every good decision they can.  While it can all be undone January 21, these decisions force the GOP to assertively destroy our climate, against the political will of a majority of Americans.  This will force them to have to ACT to destroy rather than allowing them to destroy by default.  Here are some examples:

1. Obama rescinds Arctic offshore drilling proposal, taking Arctic drilling of any kind off the table for five years.

2. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell announces a settlement with an energy company, dismissing their lease for oil in Montana.

3. US commits to ongoing assorted agreements at COP22 in Marrakech.


The political good news is lengthy.  And there is more.  We are in the midst of the third year in a row without accelerating global emissions. Cities are ahead of schedule on cutting emissions.  Coal is dying even without the Clean Power Plan.   We are seeing a clean energy market boom.

With all of this good news, it is easy to be reassured.

DON’T BE.

Those Paris Agreements that everyone is valiantly reaffirming?  They get us to about 3C warming, instead of the 4C we are currently headed toward.    The world has agreed we must stay under 2C and folks like James Hansen have said we must stay under 1.5C.  We are currently at about 1.1C, with 1.5C locked in, even without further emissions.

That clean energy market boom?  It is fantastic to building the renewables we need.  But without a grid, we don’t have the necessary storage built up to complement the intermittency of the renewables.  Moreover, we aren’t adding renewables fast enough to outpace NUCLEAR closures in many places, never mind replace coal, oil and gas.  Quite simply, our current boom is not fast enough to avoid cruising past 2C warming.

Cities are ahead of schedule?  While cities represent 75% of the world’s emissions, their cuts are just slightly ahead of the commitments of the Paris Agreements, which aren't vigorous enough.

We have stopped accelerating emissions for almost three years.  That doesn’t mean we aren’t accumulating more carbon in the atmosphere.  That means we are not increasing the rate at which we accumulate more carbon in the atmosphere.

And politics?  The world may be woken out of complacency, but the US contributes about 16%   of the world’s emissions and it is about to be led by a political party that has declared climate change a hoax and fossil fuels the savior of the American people.  To see the dreadful list of plans of destruction on their platform go to here. Trump’s appointments so far are made of deniers.  He has reaffirmed his intention to pull out of the Paris Agreement and he intends to gut the Clean Power Plan.  His Supreme Court appointments, if they survive a split Senate, will destroy judicial attempts at action.

In fact, things are dire.

It appears the world may finally recognize that.

Wouldn't it be ironic if we finally united in action now?  It is an irony I could live with.  We all could.