Solutions
Keep your pumpkins out of the landfill
Of the 2 billion pumpkins produced in the USA each year, it’s estimated that 1.3 billion end up in landfills. For each 100 pounds of pumpkins wasted, 8.3 pounds of methane — a potent greenhouse gas — is released. Read more. Peninsula Daily News.
How to transform your climate concern into action
Actor and activist Jane Fonda discusses her frontline work fighting for climate action, including recent efforts to support climate-minded candidates running for office in the US and to break the fossil fuel industry’s stranglehold on the country’s government. Hear why she decided to bring her climate activism into the electoral arena after decades of marching, protesting, and civil disobedience — and how anybody can join in and stand up for change.
Local/Regional News
Has this iconic Northwest tree reached a tipping point?
A dead Western red cedar tree stands among other living trees at Cedar Creek Park near Maple Valley, WA. Ellen M. Banner /The Seattle Times
The inexplicable deaths of Western red cedars are being studied to learn more about the causes. Read more. By Nicholas Turner — The Seattle Times
CSE & STOP vs. DNR – Hearing and Judge Harper’s Decision
National Actions
Tell Biden to support a Big Oil Windfall Profits Tax now
President Biden says it’s time for oil companies to stop war profiteering, meet their responsibilities to this country, and give the American people a break on oil prices.
For months, a growing number of members of Congress have also called for a Big Oil Windfall Profits Tax that would hold Big Oil accountable for profiteering and provide immediate relief by redirecting that money into the pockets of hard-working Americans.
Keep Climate talks free of corporate sponsorship
It’s just been announced that Coca-Cola will sponsor the United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP27) to be held next month in Egypt. Coke’s sponsorship of international climate talks undermines the very objective of the event.
Stop the Willow Climate Disaster
ConocoPhillips’ Willow project proposed in America’s western Arctic is a disaster for this fragile Arctic region, home to Indigenous communities and bountiful wildlife including caribou, fish and migratory birds.
National/International News
Bolsonaro Loses Presidency in Win for the Amazon!
Brazilians celebrate Lula’s victory in São Paula. Image/Media NINJA
In the most important election for the planet, which defined the future of the Amazon and therefore of all humanity, almost 51% of Brazilians chose democracy and elected Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, putting an end to the nightmare lived for the last four years under Bolsonaro. Read more. By Camila Rossi — Eye on the Amazon
What’s next for the Amazon
Image: Bruno Kelly/Reuters
Environmentalists in Brazil are breathing a bit more easily after Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who made climate a cornerstone of his campaign, won the country’s presidential election on Sunday. Read more. By Manuela Andreoni — Climate Forward
The Cochise County Groundwater Wars
A thirsty megafarm is driving a libertarian enclave in Arizona to embrace a radical solution: government regulation. Read more
By Jake Bittle — Grist
Some good news on energy
A new report from the agency, which helps governments to move away from fossil fuels, shows renewable energy dominating new power production worldwide. And solar power is leading the way, despite its critics. Read more. By Ivan Penn — Climate Forward
Trees Help Protect the Planet From Climate Change. But The World Isn’t Doing Enough to Protect Forests
Aerial view of a burnt area of the Amazon rainforest near Porto Velho, Rondonia state, Brazil, on Sept. 15, 2021. The Amazon, the world’s biggest rainforest, is known as the “lungs of the Earth.” But it is now emitting more carbon than it absorbs. Mauro Pimentel/AFP—Getty Images
“Whether it’s in Amazonia or the Tongass Rainforest in Alaska … those are all the lungs of our planet,” says Dominick DellaSala, chief scientist at Wild Heritage, an environmental organization based in Berkeley, California. “The logging and development that takes place in those forests, that forever changes their ability to absorb and hang onto carbon.” DellaSala says that businesses can avoid being part of the problem by avoiding wood and fiber sourced from old-growth forests. Read more. By Jennifer Fergesen — Time
National Newsletters
A daily newsletter by Grist
Thursday, November 3 — New funding is on the way for home heating and efficiency upgrades.
Wednesday, November 2 — Xcel accelerates exit from coal
Tuesday, November 1 — Brazil has elected an environmental champion as president.
Monday, October 31 — European negotiators have agreed to phase out gasoline-powered cars by 2035.
Opinion
Bird On a Clock
A Modest Proposal: What if Twitter Only Worked Two Hours a Day?
The planet’s information environment seems almost as poisoned as its environment, and that poisoning seems almost as dangerous. Read more
By Bill McKibben — The Crucial Years
Going Beyond Charity: Can Businesses Achieve Permanent Sustainability
Yvon Chouinard, founder of Patagonia, and family announced they will be giving away the ownership of their company which is worth about $3 billion. Read more. By Marjorie Kelly — Yes! Magazine
What was once the worst-case scenario for climate change seems much less likely.
While 5 degrees of warming once seemed possible, scientists now estimate that the Earth is on track to warm by 2 to 3 degrees. That difference might not seem huge, but it translates to fewer record-breaking floods, storms, droughts, and heat waves and potentially thousands or millions of lives saved in the coming decades. Read more. By German Lopez — The Morning
John Kerry Is Looking for Money (to Help Save the Climate)
As the United States’ special climate envoy, John Kerry’s mission is to encourage nations to move more quickly away from fossil fuels and toward clean energy. Read more. By Bill McKibben — The New Yorker
Olympic Climate Action 