Information Session Thursday July 21, 2022 11 am — 1:30 pm
Defining Old Growth and Mature Forests
The U.S. Departments of Agriculture and the Interior jointly published a Federal Register notice seeking public comment on plans around federal old-growth and mature forests in response to Executive Order 14072: Strengthening the Nation’s Forests, Communities, and Local Economies.
You may view the notice in the Federal Register reading room. A link to the final Federal Register notice will be posted here on Friday, July 14.
An informational session for anyone interested in this subject is from 2-3:30 p.m. EST July 21, 2022. Employees from the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management will provide information about the effort to define, identify and complete an inventory of old-growth and mature forests on federal lands. The session also will provide information on how to submit comments. Read more
Analysis
Analysis: Which countries are historically responsible for climate change?
Historical responsibility for climate change is at the heart of debates over climate justice.
History matters because the cumulative amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted since the start of the industrial revolution is closely tied to the 1.2C of warming that has already occurred.
In total, humans have pumped around 2,500bn tonnes of CO2 (GtCO2) into the atmosphere since 1850, leaving less than 500GtCO2 of remaining carbon budget to stay below 1.5C of warming.
This means that, by the end of 2021, the world will collectively have burned through 86% of the carbon budget for a 50-50 probability of staying below 1.5C, or 89% of the budget for a two-thirds likelihood.
In this article, Carbon Brief looks at national responsibility for historical CO2 emissions from 1850-2021, updating analysis published in 2019.
For the first time, the analysis includes CO2 emissions from land use and forestry, in addition to those from fossil fuels, which significantly alters the top 10. Read more
Local and Regional Newsletters
National Actions
President Biden is seriously considering declaring a national climate emergency
Now is our moment to escalate our demand for real climate action. Call President Biden to tell him how badly we need a climate emergency NOW!
Senator Manchin has taken more money from the fossil fuel industry than any other politician in D.C. – and Big Oil has gotten its money’s worth a thousand times over.
We’re calling on Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to replace Joe Manchin as Chairman of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
Act Now to Support Electric Vehicles and the Climate
Tell EPA Administrator Michael Regan to release the next round of light-duty vehicle emissions rules this year and finalize these standards no later than September 2023.
The Biden administration just took a key step toward approving a huge oil drilling project in the North Slope of Alaska.
we still have time to make our voices heard.
The Interior Department will take comments from the public for 45 days before they decide later this year whether this climate wrecking project can go ahead.
Read about the Willow project in AK
Tell the DOE: Stop propping up the fossil fuel industry!
In December, 300,000 gallons of diesel spilled from a pipeline in New Orleans — wiping out thousands of fish, birds, and other animals. The only way to prevent another spill like this is to end our reliance on fossil fuels. Yet, the Department of Energy is doubling down, and is poised to waste more than $20 billion over the next five years on programs that can further embed fossil fuels.
This is the Week! Tell Biden to declare a climate emergency
It’s getting harder and harder for Trans Mountain to find insurance for its climate-wrecking pipeline – and that’s no accident.
Eighteen insurers and counting have since caved to our collective pressure and dropped Trans Mountain, but there are still some companies (looking at you Liberty Mutual) providing the coverage the project needs to proceed. Read more
Tell insurers to drop Trans Mountain
The U.S. Forest Service approved a plan that would allow oil trains more than a mile and a half long to be routed through a protected roadless area in the Ashley National Forest.
All with the goal of massively increasing oil production in the Uinta Basin of Utah and transporting it to refineries in Gulf Coast communities already suffering from fossil fuel pollution.
Tell Federal Energy Regulatory Commission: Get the Grid Ready for Clean Energy
Right now, there are enough planned clean energy projects to power 84% of the country. But they’re facing an existential threat—our existing power grid isn’t equipped to handle it. That’s bad for our climate and for our economy.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is considering new rules that require utilities to start planning now for a long-term clean energy grid. This change is essential to our clean energy future Read about FERC’s plans.
Sign an official public comment right now, and we’ll deliver it to FERC decision-makers!
National/International News
Climate & Health / Washington 2022
A Special Report on Impacts and Solutions
There will be a 1.5 hour informational session 2-3:30 p.m. EDT July 21, 2022 for the open comment period. Please register here if you are able. Employees from the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management will provide information about the effort to define, identify and complete an inventory of old-growth and mature forests on federal lands. More information about this session will be posted to the Forest Service website.
The U.S. plan to avoid extreme climate change is running out of time
Analysis by Chris Mooney and Harry Stevens
Historical U.S. greenhouse gas emissions
U.S. emissions dropped
because of the pandemic,
but they are projected
to rebound before declining over the next decade.
Read the full story
Tracking Biden’s
environmental actions
As Biden unwinds dozens of Trump’s energy and
environmental policies, he’s forging his own.
10 steps you can take to lower your carbon footprint
Even the smallest of actions will contribute to keeping our planet habitable.
National Newsletters
A daily newsletter by Grist
July 21 — A Native Corporation wants to mine gold on the Kuskokwim River. Alaska Natives say no.
July 18 — Cryptomining uses a ‘disturbing’ amount of energy, lawmakers find
July 18 — A key US energy efficiency program has a major flaw — and Pennsylvania is trying to fix it
July 16 — Sporadic monitoring in California oil country adds to air pollution concerns
Opinion
For the Third Time in Three Decades, Congress Punts on Serious Climate Legislation
Joe Manchin tanks Congress’s big chance to cut the heat. Read more
— by Bill McKibben
An American climate failure
As millions of people on three continents baked in heat waves supercharged by climate change this week, one American politician, an ardent champion of the fossil fuel industry, doused any hopes of immediate climate action in Washington. Read more
— by Somini Sengupta
One Joe Beat the Other. Now What?
The Democratic Party finally got it together for climate action–almost.
It’s as dark a day as there’s been in the long fight over climate: Joe Manchin brought two years of agonizing tease to an end, announcing he wouldn’t support any measures designed to head off the greatest existential threat the world has ever faced.
Read more
— by Bill McKibben
Logging Is Slashing US Forests’ Ability to Absorb Carbon by Over One-Third
trees in the North Maine Woods area in northern Maine on July 21, 2021.
Gregory Rec / Portland Press Herald via Getty Images
U.S. forests need protection, now. We must end government policies shaped by the logging and wood products industries that sound sensible but are actually meant to expand logging, rather than contain it. We are calling out big, influential environmental organizations whose efforts end up furthering the interests of industry. Forests — and people and the planet — are paying too high a price for the wood product sector’s profits. Read the full story
— by Kathy Egland & Leo Woodberry
Olympic Climate Action 