Tag: Global Warming

LTE Under Consideration: COP28 – Progress, Yes! But We Need More

On By Kalpana SutariaIn CCLATXLeave a comment

Re: December 14, 2023, Statesman article, “Nations across globe agree to transition away from fossil fuels”

Nearly 200 nations agree for the first time to transition away from fossil fuels. A step in the right direction with spirit of cooperation but it is a small step. In 2015, nations agreed to limit global warming to 1.5 degree Celsius above pre-industrial times. Despite ramping up of renewable power and energy efficiency to reduce emissions, warming has reached 1.2 degrees Celsius above the mid 1800s. Temperatures are trending up, not stabilizing due to large amounts of CO2 that has collected in the atmosphere that would continue to warm even if we stop burning fossil fuels today.

Like the Paris Accord, these agreements by nations are non-binding and aspirational. The COP28 agreement allows loopholes to powerful oil producing countries.

What can citizens of these countries do?  Reach out to your lawmakers, demand investments and policies to lower use of fossil fuels for improvement to health and well-being of people.

Kalpana Sutaria

Project Manager, City of Austin and Austin Metro Chapter, Citizens’ Climate Lobby

Submitted to the Austin American-Statesman

December 14, 2023

LTE Under Consideration: Thanksgiving for Our Planet

On By Kalpana SutariaIn MethaneLeave a comment

Thanksgiving is a great holiday for enjoyment of food, family and friends. Variety and quantity of foods make this holiday a perfect time to think about leftovers and food waste. Bloomberg reports that some 312 million pounds of food will end up in U.S. trash cans this week – worth $600 million.

In the U.S., nearly 40% of all food is wasted and half of it by households. Food in trash cans goes to landfill that produces methane that is 80 times more potent than carbon in the atmosphere. The EPA reports that 58% of methane emissions come from food waste in U.S. landfills. It is on par with combined annual emissions of 15 coal-fired power plants.

Giving leftover foods to friends and freezing it for future use saves you money and reduces planet warming emissions not just on the Thanksgiving Day but every day by reducing food waste.

Kalpana Sutaria

Project Manager, City of Austin and Member, Austin Metro Chapter, Citizens’ Climate Lobby

Submitted to the Austin American-Statesman

November 24, 2023

Reading

LTE Under Consideration: Inflation Reduction Act’s First Anniversary

On By Kalpana SutariaIn Inflation Reduction ActLeave a comment

This summer, we have experienced record breaking heat with drought conditions affecting all lives including the trees. It is particularly trying for children’s activities. We can do something about it now so that the children can enjoy a better environment.

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) was signed into law by President Biden last year. It has encouraged investments in clean energy manufacturing projects creating upward of 170,000 jobs. There are rebates and tax credit available for homeowners to take advantage of solar panels, energy efficiency and electric appliances.  We need to tell our state leaders to get this benefits for Texans since federal dollars must pass through the state. Other “red” and “purple” states are already taking advantage of federal dollars.

With massive clean energy investment possibilities in the IRA, we can lower harmful emissions, improve air quality and health, have respite from the heat and benefit of new jobs for workers.

Kalpana Sutaria

Project Manager, City of Austin and Member, Austin Metro Chapter, Citizens’ Climate Lobby

Submitted to the Austin American-Statesman

August 2023

@CCLATX in Washington, D.C., a Recap and Thanks!

On By CCLATXIn CCLATXLeave a comment

Enthusiastic and motivated members of Citizens’ Climate Lobby from across the nation met with members of Congress. The final numbers are in! During last week’s lobby day on Capitol Hill, our volunteers held an incredible 436 lobby meetings on Capitol Hill. That’s 160 House Republicans, 182 House Democrats, 45 Senate Republicans, 46 Senate Democrats, and 3 Senate Independents.

The photographs above are courtesy of Citizens’ Climate Lobby.

Austin Metro Chapter volunteers and other Texas volunteers met with elected officials from all districts of Texas. Our primary ask was to get permitting reform done to expedite renewable energy projects through required process. The Inflation Reduction Act that passed in 2022 provides federal funds to invest in renewable energy, which will provide hundreds of thousands of new jobs, reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and thereby lower global warming emissions. This is the first time large investments are allocated for clean energy projects in a bill to address climate change.

The photographs above are courtesy of Kalpana Sutaria and Austin Metro volunteers.

In order to combat climate change and reduce emissions, it is essential we speed up the rate at which we build electricity transmission to ensure we can connect new wind and solar to the grid. If we do not build clean energy infrastructure faster, we will only achieve about 20% of the potential carbon pollution reduction from the climate policy that is already in place.

Lawmakers recently reached a deal on the debt limit, which included some permitting reform measures, but it is just a small piece of what is needed. We still need to speed up approval of additional power lines to transmit clean energy if we are going to meet our climate targets. Austin Metro Chapter volunteers also believe strongly that communities should have their voices heard on the environmental and other impacts of proposed energy projects.

Before the lobby meetings in Washington, D.C., our volunteers attended the international 2023 Climate Lobbying Reboot June Conference, where they heard from inspirational speakers such as Dream.org Green for All National Campaign Director Jameka Hodnett; Dean of The Fletcher School at Tufts University Rachel Kyte; Democratic Representative Scott Peters (CA-50); and Ambassador Francis Rooney III, who was the Republican representative for Florida’s 19th Congressional district from 2017 to 2021.

Citizens’ Climate Lobby is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that brings together volunteers from across the political spectrum to advocate for legislation to help solve the climate crisis. Volunteers meet regularly with their members of Congress to ask them to support federal policy to lower the heat-trapping emissions altering and polluting our climate. Learn how to join by following this link.

Thank You

The Austin Metro Chapter would like to thank the following elected officials and their dedicated staff members for taking the time to meet with us. We deeply appreciate your time and attention.

  • Congresswoman Kay Granger | TX12
  • Congressman Randy Weber | TX14
  • Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee | TX18
  • Congressman Michael C. Burgess | TX26
  • Congressman Colin Allred | TX32

And:

Why We Do This

Citizens’ Climate Lobby volunteers from both sides of the aisle consistently contact their Representatives and Congressmen and Congresswomen to ask for climate action. Texas already sees dramatic impacts from a warming climate. Our leaders must support policy to reduce carbon emissions with the speed needed, and we deeply appreciate their efforts.

Although the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reported an increase in atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide in 2022, a clean energy transition is swiftly happening in the United States. Just three months after the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, 100,000 climate-friendly jobs were created and families that take advantage of clean energy and electric vehicle tax credits from the bill are set to save more than $1,000 per year.

RISEE Act

In addition, during their meetings in Washington, D.C. the Austin Metro Chapter shared information about the RISEE Act. The Reinvesting in Shoreline Economies and Ecosystems Act, introduced in the 118th Congress by Senators Whitehouse (D-RI), Cassidy (R-LA), Representatives Fletcher (D-TX) and Weber (R-TX), would develop dedicated funding streams for coastal infrastructure and resilience efforts to safeguard vulnerable communities and businesses most threatened by sea level rise and coastal erosion. This bipartisan legislation would establish a new revenue sharing model between the federal government and coastal and Great Lakes states for federal offshore wind money generated beyond six nautical miles from a state’s coastline. To read more about RISEE, see the downloadable document below.

risee-actDownload

Kalpana Sutaria

Project Manager, City of Austin and Member, Austin Metro Chapter

and

Susan Adams

CCL Regional Coordinator for the Third Coast

Earth Day 2023

On By Kalpana SutariaIn Earth DayLeave a comment

We all deserve to breathe clean air and drink clean water. There is nothing partisan about it. It was because of concerns about clean air and clean water that the Earth Day tradition began. Thousands of students and other groups fought against oil spills, pollution from factories and power plants, raw sewage, toxic dumps, pesticides, species extinction and loss of wilderness. The first Earth Day was celebrated on April 22, 1970. Republicans and Democrats, rich and poor, urban and rural dwellers, farmers, business and labor leaders came together demanding better environment.

By the end of 1970, the United States Environmental Protection Agency was created and the U.S. Congress passed environmental laws including the National Environmental Education Act, the Occupational Safety and Health Act and the Clean Air Act and in 1972 it passed the Clean Water Act. These laws have saved lives, improved air quality and health.

For two decades, concerns about increased use of coal, oil and gas were raised by not only NASA’s climate scientists but by ExxonMobil’s own scientists. Increased use of coal, oil and gas added pollutants including carbon dioxide (CO2) in the air. In 1988, Dr. Hansen testified in the U.S. Congress expressing concerns of global warming. By 1990, Earth Day was globally celebrated by nations for global action. Since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, human activities have produced 40 percent more atmospheric concentration of CO2, from 280 ppm to 414.7 ppm in 2021. Carbon dioxide emissions reached record high in 2022.

Seventeen out of eighteen warmest years have occurred since 2001 according to NASA.

As concentrations of CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions increase in the atmosphere, extreme weather events have intensified, our climate has destabilized and pollutants and pollen counts have gone up. Austin is known for problems of pollen allergies throughout the year. Pollen allergies have become much worse with increase in CO2, warmer temperatures and tail pipe emissions resulting from traffic congestion. Austin had 25 “Ozone Action Days” in 2022 which tops the combined total for past eight years. Short term measures like reduction in use of gasoline powered vehicles, equipment and manufacturing and long term measures like transitioning to cleaner energy sources are needed to reduce warming and ground level ozone. People suffering from pollen allergies feel the effects of ground level ozone along with increase in pollens from ragweed, grass, mold, trees and other pollutants. Sneezing, headaches, post nasal drainage and general sense of tiredness are the symptoms that I suffer from, even after taking appropriate measures.

Texas is a leader in oil and gas production. A non-profit group, Carbon Mapper has detected methane leaks near drilling sites in Texas. Methane has more than 80 times the warming power of CO2 for 20 years after its release. Methane emissions cause 25% of global warming today. Lack of enforcement of permitting rules on oil and gas operations continue to add to global warming by releasing methane into our environment.

Texas faces many water issues including groundwater pollution, aging infrastructure, drought and flooding. Abandoned oil and gas wells are polluting Texas farms, ranches, and underground water. Texas Railroad Commission (TRCC) which oversees orphan wells in Texas, has reported 140,000 inactive wells. Until these wells are plugged, water contamination is likely to get worse affecting health of humans and cattle.

Clean air and clean water are critical and so are reductions in polluting emissions. There are policy proposals introduced in the U.S. Congress to transition towards clean energy sources but we need a political will and bipartisan approach to drive this transition for improved quality of life for all.

Kalpana Sutaria

Project Manager, City of Austin and Member, Citizens’ Climate Lobby Austin

April 20, 2023

Carbon fee and dividend still needed in the climate war 

On By CCLATXIn Inflation Reduction ActLeave a comment

Published as, “Opinion: More legislation needed in the global warming fight”

Climate activists celebrated the August 2022 passage of the Inflation Reduction Act for its many provisions dealing with climate. True, those provisions were watered down in order to secure passage, and they are far less than what is needed. But that it passed at all was a big surprise, after previous hopes for legislative climate action had been dashed.

However, more comprehensive climate legislation is still much needed, as we are badly losing the war on global warming. In the Paris Accords of 2015-16, 196 nations pledged to pursue efforts to limit earth’s temperature increase to no more than 2.7°F (=1.5°C) above pre-industrial levels — with a fallback ‘in case we fail’ goal to limit warming to less than 3.6°F (2°C). Worldwide greenhouse gas emissions (GGE) are at their highest atmospheric concentrations and emissions levels ever recorded, and they are projected to continue rising for at least several years. Virtually no climate science expert believes we will achieve the Paris 2.7°F goal.

There is no question that the U.S. cannot resolve the global warming problem by itself. All nations (especially China) need to take immediate action to slash their greenhouse gas emissions. But this should not dissuade the U.S. from taking responsibility to deal with our own emissions. As leader of the free world and historically the highest emitter of greenhouse gases, we bear a special responsibility to lead by example.

Granted, compared to previous decades, recent U.S. progress in switching away from fossil fuels seems impressive. It is simply not fast enough. U.S. greenhouse gas emissions (all greenhouse gases, not just CO2) decreased by only 2 percent from 1990 to 2021. We need additional federal policy to accelerate reduction of our greenhouse gas emissions.

What is needed is a ‘carbon fee and dividend’ policy, which places a fee on greenhouse gas emissions and returns those fees to taxpayers. This approach has been endorsed by a large number of businesses (including Exxon-Mobil), prominent individuals and organizations (e.g., the Climate Leadership Council, whose members include 27 Nobel Laureate economists, and over 3,000 U.S. economists). Carbon fee and dividend has the benefits of being the climate policy that involves least government intrusion in the affairs of business and brings a positive cash flow to most taxpayers (both of which should make it the least objectionable option to members of Congress), and it will have a net positive long-term impact on the economy and jobs creation. The most important benefit is that, if crafted properly, it can be effective enough to achieve U.S. climate goals.

The wise man Yogi Berra purportedly said ‘It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future.’ It is indeed tough to determine precisely how hot earth will end up getting because the answer depends almost entirely upon decisions we humans might or might not make: take immediate drastic action; do little or nothing; do something lukewarm in between. It is still possible we could limit warming to 2.7°F – but extremely improbable. All nations would have to take the immediate drastic action path; it won’t happen. The world is now on the ‘lukewarm’ path, one expected to lead to a 4.5-7.2°F rise by century’s end.

Yes, this is a wide range of uncertainty. But even if warming ends up at the low end of this range, it will be disastrous for humans and many other of earth’s plant and animal residents. There is zero uncertainty that we need to take more powerful action now to halt the warming. A carbon fee and dividend policy is the best option for the U.S. to address our greenhouse gas emissions problem.

Mark Warren

Member, Citizens Climate Lobby Austin Chapter

Austin American-Statesman

March 2023

LTE: Methane Has More Than 80 Times the Warming Power of Carbon Dioxide

On By CCLATXIn MethaneLeave a comment

Re: February 5, 2023 article, “How can we best measure Methane?”

Methane has more than 80 times the warming power of carbon dioxide for twenty years after its release. Under the Inflation Reduction Act, the EPA is preparing to charge a fee, the first ever to reduce global warming, on the amount of methane released.  How to measure the amount is a major dilemma.

Oil and gas companies have equipment to measure methane but they are not deploying them fully. Currently, they can pollute our environment without any consequences. They even burn excess hydrocarbons or use “flaring” which is allowed only for safety.  This practice is widely prevalent in the Permian Basin which TCEQ could stop by enforcement of the current permitting rules.

If these companies don’t want to pay fees, they could follow the permitting rules and seal methane leaks and start a transition plan to clean energy methods to become a part of the solution to stabilize our climate.

Kalpana Sutaria

Project Manager, City of Austin and Member, Citizens Climate Lobby Austin Chapter

Submitted to the Austin American Statesman and to the Times-Picayune in Louisiana

February 2023

LTE Under Consideration: The Year 2022 and Climate

On By CCLATXIn Clean EnergyLeave a comment

The year 2022 was a remarkable year for the climate.

  • The U.S. emissions went up by 1.3%
  • It was the 6th warmest year according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. It should have been cooler being a Le Nina year.
  • According to Dr. Hansen, 2022 was 0.04 degree Celsius warmer than 2021 likely because more energy is coming in than going out.
  • The 10-warmest years on record have occurred since year 2010.
  • The US had 18 one billion plus dollar climate disasters.

We had news to celebrate 2022. Inflation Reduction Act was the largest ever climate bill that was passed by the U.S. Congress. Volunteers of Citizens Climate Lobby have work to do by reaching out to the state and city governments and ensure that allocated federal dollars are invested in clean energy sources to bring the emissions down.

This will improve our health and quality of life.

Kalpana Sutaria

Project Manager, City of Austin and Member, Citizens Climate Lobby Austin Chapter

Submitted to the San Antonio Express News

January 2023

Wake-Up Calls for Our Fossil Fuel Addiction Kicking our fossil fuel addiction is good for the climate, our health, our economy, and geopolitical stability

On By CCLATXIn Fossil FuelsLeave a comment

Nations fight wars over resources and use them as cudgels to influence and control the policies of other nations. We have seen this dynamic at play with energy resources for decades, including now with Ukraine and Western Europe.

Why didn’t all nations stop buying Russian oil and gas, or even condemn Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine? Because they are addicted to Russian oil and gas. Like drug addicts, many nations would experience extreme withdrawal symptoms, both economic and political, if Russia stopped the flow. And even though the U.S. is effectively energy independent, disruptions in the global oil/gas market impact energy prices here, in turn impacting our jobs, economy, and politics.

Those are the geopolitical facts of life of oil and gas addiction. We have received many wake-up calls since at least the early Seventies: Ukraine is just the latest. Yet we remain as addicted as ever.

And our addiction impacts more than just geopolitics. Alarms are also ringing for Earth’s warming climate, as they have for over 30 years. The latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report just gave its most dire warnings yet. We are urgently in need of waking up, as it is now clear there will be seriously harmful social, economic, and environmental consequences to continuing our fossil fuels addiction.

Fossil fuels have been the main catalyst for advances in human welfare over the past few centuries, and we will need to continue burning them to some degree for many decades to come. But there is no doubt that the time has come to wean ourselves from them – and quickly.

The transition away from fossil fuels will entail disruptions to business as usual. All transitions do – like the Industrial Revolution, the switch from horses to cars, or the digital revolution. All change generates resistance, but most people would agree these disruptions were worth it, that humanity ultimately ended up healthier and more prosperous.

Likewise, our transition away from fossil fuels is generating resistance, but the benefits of conquering our fossil fuel addiction will be enormous, far outweighing any disadvantages. Within a few decades, we can generate huge numbers of new jobs, save trillions of dollars in energy costs and trillions in GDP, and another trillion in health care costs due to a reduction in things like strokes, heart attacks, asthma attacks, and other air quality-related maladies. We can reduce our vulnerability to energy-related geopolitical storms. Russia or OPEC will no longer hold democratic nations hostage by threatening to cut off their gas or oil. We can live in a nation where the cost of energy doesn’t go up and down at the whims of other nations who do not have our best interests at heart. We can halt the trends of deadlier storms, more intense heat waves, droughts and water scarcity, wildfires, floods, rising seas, reduced agricultural output, biodiversity loss, and the death of coral reefs, the incubators for so much ocean life.

To achieve all this, we have to dedicate ourselves to kicking our habit.

Step 1 of recovery from our addiction is to end denial and admit a problem exists. We are finally entering that stage with climate. Polling data indicates a large majority of U.S. citizens now agree the climate is warming, worry about it, and agree humans are the cause. Now for our next step to recovery: Forge plans of action to change our unhealthy behaviors and follow through on them. Put a price on greenhouse gas emissions, convert to clean energy sources, remake our transportation system, and redouble our energy efficiency efforts. It’s time we stop hitting the snooze button on our fossil fuel addiction.

Bob Hendricks is a Citizens’ Climate Lobby congressional liaison and Texas state coordinator and a longtime political and environmental activist in Austin. Mark Warren is a Citizens’ Climate Lobby Austin member, Business Climate Lobby member, a longtime environmentalist, and a native Austinite born here in 1950.

The Austin Chronicle

May 13, 2022

These are the results of humans heating the Earth

On By CCLATXIn Global WarmingLeave a comment

Re: Dec. 29 article, “Five things worth remembering about Austin’s weather in 2020”

An interesting article about Austin’s 2020 weather. I couldn’t help notice the words “climate change” and “global warming” never appeared – interesting because record-setting heat waves and droughts, permanently escalating “average” temperatures, increasing number of hurricanes and severe weather events, and the general “weirder” weather you mentioned, are all results of humans heating the earth.

One might be tempted to think this isn’t so bad, it’s just the weather; and indeed, if the warming stopped dead in its tracks right now, we could live with the results, albeit at high cost. The problem is, the warming is still escalating rapidly, and will continue to do so unless we take immediate, vigorous measures to stop emitting greenhouse gases.

We have the technology and resources, and even the proposed legislation (HR763), to slow and ultimately stop the toasting of our planet. Let your government representatives know you want it done, now.

Mark Warren

Austin American-Statesman

January 4, 2022