Knowledge for Responsible EarthiansGreen Mission News – September, 2023
4 factors driving 2023’s extreme heat and climate disasters
https://theconversation.com/4-factors-driving-2023s-extreme-heat-and-climate-disasters-209975
True regenerative economies help everyone prosper
The Tragedy of Misunderstanding the Commons
Twelfth-century peasants developed commons practices to survive domination. We could use them to reclaim our lives from capitalism.
Big Oil’s War Against ‘Woke Capitalism’
The fossil fuel industry and right-wing activists are increasingly targeting investors that consider environmental and social issues — but is it working?
https://capitalandmain.com/big-oils-war-against-woke-capitalism
Amid Maui Fire Devastation, Big Oil Tries to Kill Hawaii Climate Lawsuit
“The people of Honolulu and Maui deserve their day to put Big Oil on trial,” said the Center for Climate Integrity.
https://www.commondreams.org/news/hawaii-fire-climate-change
‘I want to be disruptive’: Mark Bittman sees profit-less restaurants as a win
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/aug/02/mark-bittman-community-kitchen-restaurants
On Technology and Degrowth
Some prominent commentators seem to assume that the debate here is primarily about the question of technology, with green growth promoting technological solutions to the ecological crisis while degrowth promotes only economic and social solutions (and in the most egregious misrepresentations is cast as “anti-technology”). This narrative is inaccurate.
https://monthlyreview.org/2023/07/01/on-technology-and-degrowth/
Income-based U.S. household carbon footprints (1990–2019) offer new insights on emissions inequality and climate finance
Wealthiest 10% of US Households Responsible for 40% of Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Study
“Without policies such as regulations or taxes on very polluting investments, it’s unlikely that wealthy individuals making a lot of money from fossil fuel investments will stop investing in them,” says one economist.
https://journals.plos.org/climate/article?id=10.1371/journal.pclm.0000190#sec015
On-Site Food Scraps Composting Facility Opens In White Plains
The facility is located at the Gedney Recycling Yard.
https://patch.com/new-york/whiteplains/site-food-scraps-composting-facility-opens-white-plains
Fossil Fuel Exec Is Slated to Lead COP28. We Must Decolonize Climate Governance.
Current climate governance is rooted in the same colonial mindsets that led us to this very crisis.
Congress Puts Federal Support for Urban Farming on the Chopping Block
Since the last farm bill, the USDA has spent more than $50 million to support food production in cities and suburbs, but the programs might not last.
Survey finds more composters are accepting food waste, but challenges remain
However, more than a third have a zero tolerance policy for contamination. Compostable packaging, meanwhile, is becoming more commonly accepted.
https://www.wastedive.com/news/biocycle-2023-composting-survey-closed-loop/689945
No civilisation without agriculture’: David Pocock says gas fields show environmental laws are broken
Landowners invited the independent senator and environmental and legal experts to the Darling Downs as they fight large-scale gas expansion eastwards across the Condamine River
Tropical forests face ‘massive leaf death’ from global heating, study finds
Some kinds of tree leaf could become too hot to be able to conduct photosynthesis, researchers warn
The case for compost
https://www.wasterecyclingmag.ca/blog/the-case-for-compost/
Composting 101: Everything You Need to Know
https://www.ecowatch.com/composting-facts-ecowatch.html
After Maui fires, human health risks linger in the air, water and even surviving buildings.
https://theconversation.com/after-maui-fires-human-health-risks-linger-in-the-air-water-and-even-surviving-buildings-211404
“This Is the Climate Crisis”: Michael Mann on Maui Wildfires & Why Disasters Are Becoming Deadlier (video)
https://www.democracynow.org/2023/8/14/maui_wildfires_climate_crisis_michael_mann
Pennsylvania explores the relationship between unconventional natural gas development and three health issues:
asthma, childhood cancer, and birth outcomes.
https://paenv.pitt.edu/results.html
Ecuadorians Vote on ‘Monumental Referendum’ to End Oil Drilling in Yasuní National Park.
The vote comes after a decade of campaigning by organizers who want to protect the park’s biodiversity and the tribes who live there.
https://www.commondreams.org/news/ecuador-yasuni-drilling-referendum
Milwaukee residents fear more flooding due to planned I-94 expansion
Two extra highway lanes will add 29 acres of asphalt next to Near West Side Milwaukee neighborhoods that already face flood risks.
https://wisconsinwatch.org/2023/08/milwaukee-residents-fear-more-flooding-due-to-planned-i-94-expansion/
Survival of wild rice threatened by climate change, increased rainfall in northern Minnesota
Wild rice is an aquatic grass that thrives in shallow waters, and serves as a sacred “mashkiki,” or medicine, to the Ojibwe.
Study: Tall trees and shade boost bat diversity on Africa’s cocoa farms.
– – Insect-eating bats prefer cocoa farms that retain large, old-growth trees that mimic the natural forest conditions.
https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/study-tall-trees-and-shade-boost-bat-diversity-on-africas-cocoa-farms/
The Beautiful and Disconcerting Climate Art of Luciana Abait
Visual investigations at the intersection of climate change and global migration.
https://www.truthdig.com/articles/the-beautiful-and-disconcerting-climate-art-of-luciana-abait/
The Hubris of Plutocrats: They Can’t Escape the Heat That’s Coming
https://citylights.com/the-hubris-of-plutocrats-they-cant-escape-the-heat-thats-coming/
British Columbia in State of Emergency as Climate Change Fuels Canada’s Worst Wildfire Season Ever (video)
https://www.democracynow.org/2023/8/21/canada_wildfires_bob_gray#transcript
Air pollution is the greatest external threat to human life
expectancy on the planet.
https://aqli.epic.uchicago.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/AQLI_2023_Report-Global.pdf
Compostable Packaging
Starch Added to PLA Biopolymer Increases Compostability
https://www.plasticstoday.com/biopolymers/starch-added-pla-biopolymer-increases-compostability
When Coca-Cola Fails at its Sustainability Goals, That’s Everyone’s Problem
Beneath the veneer of public, seemingly good-faith attempts to clean up its operations and help solve the climate and plastic crisis, lurks a deep and systemic commitment to a take-no-prisoners approach to the bottom line.
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/coca-cola-fails-sustainability-goals
Microplastics infiltrate all systems of body, cause behavioral changes.
Neuroscience, Pharmacy Professor Jaime Ross’ study finds ‘widespread’ infiltration,potential for serious health consequences, including Alzheimer’s.
https://www.uri.edu/news/2023/08/microplastics-infiltrate-all-systems-of-body-cause-behavioral-changes/
Organic Farming Gains Popularity As Consumers Opt For More Nutritive Alternative
Organic farming is a sustainable agricultural practice based on ecologically friendly methods. It involves growing crops naturally, sans chemical pesticides.
Opinion: Climate-friendly food systems start with different values, not technologies
If we want to transform our relationship with food, we need to think about more than just productivity and carbon.
https://ensia.com/voices/climate-friendly-food-systems-biodiversity-agriculture/
A Quarter of New Car Sales in California is now Electric: Take that, Russia, Iran and Saudi Arabia!
https://www.juancole.com/2023/08/quarter-california-electric.html
Plastic Mulch is Problematic—and Everywhere. Can We Do Better?
Plastic is used abundantly in agriculture, but it’s nearly impossible to dispose of sustainably. Researchers and growers are searching for solutions, and they’re using strawberries to do it.
https://modernfarmer.com/2023/08/plastic-mulch-is-problematic/
Kenyan fishers put new twists on an age-old marine conservation system
Over the past two decades Kenyan fishing communities have been setting up no-fishing zones called tengefus, Swahili for “set aside.”
The idea was inspired by the fishing habits of their forebears, who prior to colonization established seasonal fishing closures to ensure plentiful harvests.
https://newsghana.com.gh/agroecology-nurturing-sustainable-farming-for-a-resilient-future/
Videos denying climate science approved by Florida as state curriculum
Prager University Foundation’s animations cast doubt over renewable energy and liken climate activists to Nazis
Climate Denial on Full Display at First Republican Debate
Republicans refuse to acknowledge the most profound threat to America’s future—the climate crisis.
https://www.juancole.com/2023/08/greatest-republican-candidates.html
We’re Not Living in an Era of Global Warming, But a Time of Global Boiling
July will go down as the hottest month in history. But don’t assume that record will stand for long, either.
https://tomdispatch.com/me-first/
A Community-Led Approach to Stopping Flooding in Chicago
In a region where communities of color are most impacted by flooding, RainReady is bringing together community members to create flood mitigation plans.
https://borderlessmag.org/2023/08/10/a-community-led-approach-to-stopping-flooding-expands/
How Big Ag pollutes America’s waters and makes money doing it
Crop production practices that limit nutrients are largely ignored.
Worried About Food Waste? Start Composting: Here’s How
What is composting? And can you do it with vegan food? Let’s dive in.
https://vegnews.com/home-lifestyle/food-waste-composting
Waste not: Recycling helps West Virginia farm diversify
Ross Tabb continues to grow the compost and recycling business started by his father.
https://www.farmprogress.com/farm-business/0807w-3721-slideshow
Action needed to make carbon offsets from forest conservation work for climate change mitigation
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ade3535
Big promises to Indigenous groups from new global nature fund — but will it deliver?
On August 24, 2023, the Global Environment Facility (GEF) ratified and established the new Global Biodiversity Framework Fund to help developing countries meet their targets set up as part of the Global Biodiversity Framework.
The new fund promises to invest 20% of its resources to directly support initiatives led by Indigenous peoples and local communities to protect and conserve biodiversity.
EU’s use of fossil fuels for electricity falls 17% to ‘record low’ in first half of 2023
City and council join in compost study
The City of Grand Junction, Mesa County and Colorado State University have joined in a study of the benefits of adding compost to soil.
https://thebusinesstimes.com/city-and-council-join-in-compost-study/
Congress Puts Federal Support for Urban Farming on the Chopping Block
Since the last farm bill, the USDA has spent more than $50 million to support food production in cities and suburbs, but the programs might not last.
The case for compost
https://www.wasterecyclingmag.ca/blog/the-case-for-compost/
7 Facts That Show the World’s Food Systems Are Broken
It’s no surprise that conflict and climate shocks are to blame.
https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/global-hunger-crisis-facts-food-systems/
Biden’s 5 Biggest Carbon Bombs Threatening Our Livable Future
https://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/2023/08/14/biden-ira-anniversary/