Today’s tidbits are about disappointment and commitment. There appears not to be much hope at the moment that the upcoming UN’s COP28 conference in the oil-rich United Arab Emirates will prove at all successful. It is an odd place to talk about peak oil and the need to get the world off the fossil fuel standard. The gathering will take place between November 30 to December 12, 2023.
Although disappointing in terms of outcomes, the meeting is serving to fire up grassroots climate activists from around the world who’ll be doubling and re-doubling their commitment to curtail carbon emissions at a scale and pace necessary to keep the world on the right side of the temperature threshold scientists keep warning us about.
There’s disappointment, too, over the seeming unwillingness of ultra-right House Republicans to accept the compromise that led to raising the nation’s debt ceiling. Their dismissal of the agreement raises the possibility of a government shutdown at the end of the current 2023 federal fiscal year on September 30, 2023.
On the commitment side of things, four of the larger environmental organizations have already endorsed President Biden in the 2024 presidential elections. The groups are taking the line that Biden hasn’t done all he promised—but given four more years, that would change.
It’s a line of thinking that is not finding universal agreement among climate activists.
Another UN-inspiring outcome. As United Nations climate talks came to a disappointing conclusion in Germany on Thursday, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres delivered remarks in New York City targeting "the polluted heart of the climate crisis: the fossil fuel industry."
"The world must phase out fossil fuels in a just and equitable way—moving to leave oil, coal, and gas in the ground where they belong and massively boosting renewable investment in a just transition," António Guterres said.
"Countries are far off track in meeting climate promises and commitments. I see a lack of ambition. A lack of trust. A lack of support. A lack of cooperation. And an abundance of problems around clarity and credibility," he said. "The climate agenda is being undermined. At a time when we should be accelerating action, there is backtracking. At a time when we should be filling gaps, those gaps are growing."" (Common Dreams)
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We’ve waited long enough. A coalition of environmental groups have announced plans for a global mobilization that organizers say will bring millions into the streets to demand an end to planet-wrecking fossil fuel production.
The coalition behind the mass mobilization invited people around the world to register local events and issued a list of straightforward demands that they say political leaders must embrace if there's to be any hope of curbing runaway warming.
"The launch of today's escalation campaign to fight back against fossil fuels builds on the legacy of a diversity of resistance movements from across the world who have been leading the fight against the fossil industry and its pernicious influence," said Tasneem Essop, executive director of the Climate Action Network. "We expect all governments to implement a rapid, just, and equitable phaseout of fossil fuels together with a scaled-up phase-in of renewables." (Common Dreams)
The objectives of the coalition and the campaign are summed up in the graphic below.
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When is a deal not a deal? The decision by House Republicans to write spending bills below the caps established in this month’s bipartisan debt ceiling deal sets the stage for a clash with Democrats in the Senate and White House — and heightens the odds of a government shutdown later in the year. (The Hill)
The possibility that conservatives would move to boot McCarthy from the Speakership if he seeks to send Biden bills that spend more than 2022 toplines is prompting government shutdown fears. (Roll Call).
“At the end of the day, any spending agreement that is arrived at by the end of the year has to be consistent with the resolution of the default process — otherwise, what was it all for?” Jeffries said. “Why did we try avoiding a default to make sure that America pays its bills with a topline spending agreement? What was it all for? Because now all we're engaging in is right-wing theater designed to jam extreme, painful cuts down the throats of the American people. And Democrats will not let it happen.”
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What’s the alternative? Four of the nation’s leading environmental groups — the League of Conservation Voters Action Fund, NRDC Action Fund, Sierra Club and NextGen PAC — yesterday issued an unprecedented joint endorsement of President Biden’s bid for reelection. (Washington Post)
The endorsing groups say it’s true Biden has made some missteps on fossil fuels. But they say the alternative is a Republican who would rubber-stamp even more polluting projects that the planet cannot afford.
The endorsing groups say that while Biden has made significant progress on combating climate change, he needs four more years to finish the job.
Cristina Tzintzun Ramirez, president of NextGen PAC, said Biden must keep fighting for a Civilian Climate Corps, which would put tens of thousands of young people to work installing solar panels, restoring wetlands and pursuing other climate-friendly projects. The program was dropped from Biden’s landmark climate law, dubbed the Inflation Reduction Act, due to opposition from Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.).
Some smaller, more progressive green groups, e.g., Friends of the Earth Action and Center for Biological Diversity Action Fund are withholding their endorsement unless Biden takes a tougher stance on fossil fuels.
Image courtesy of Architect of the Capitol