Happy Nice Mall

Senator Joe Manchin III may have single-handedly torpedoed President Biden’s climate change and social spending bill this week when he announced he would not support the measure.

This is because the Senate is evenly divided and Mr Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat with strong ties to the coal industry, holds the vote.

Aspect I wrote with Coral Davenport this weekWithout legislation and the estimated $555 billion in clean energy incentives it includes, the United States would likely miss the president’s emissions reduction target. In the chart above by my colleagues Nadja Popovich and Brad Plumer, you can see the estimated US greenhouse gas trajectories with and without Build Back Better. And you can read all articles here.

The consequences for the planet are high. Unless the United States, historically the largest emitter, acts decisively to reduce its emissions from burning fossil fuels, it will be difficult to persuade other countries to cut. This sharply increases the chances of crossing a dangerous temperature threshold: 1.5 degrees Celsius warming compared to pre-industrial levels.

quotation: “I don’t think we can deal with the climate crisis at scale without passing this law,” said Leah Stokes, a professor of environmental policy at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Despite legal setbacks, the Biden administration is moving forward with other climate measures that don’t require Congressional approval. Here are two from last week:

Tired of Ralphie, Kevin and the Grinch?

Maybe you don’t want to watch that holiday show you watched 900 times again. If so, you’re in luck because we’ve updated our list of climate and nature documentaries. And don’t worry about spoiling the festive mood: Most end on an inspirational note.

Political turmoil in natural gas

The question of whether to restrict natural gas use has become part of America’s culture wars.

This month, New York City took action to ban gas hookups in new buildings, joining cities in blue states like California, Massachusetts, and Washington that want to steer homes away from burning natural gas as it releases carbon dioxide that causes global warming. Instead, developers in New York City will have to install series of electric heat pumps and electric kitchens in newly built buildings.

But growing pressure to electrify homes has triggered a political backlash: At least 20 mostly red states, including Arizona, Georgia, Florida, Ohio and Texas, have passed laws banning their cities from restricting gas use. Most of these bills were passed last year with support from the natural gas industry and local gas utilities.

quotation: “The message was: ‘You don’t want these California liberals telling you you can’t have a gas stove,'” said Oklahoma state senator Mary Boren, describing the reaction to the proposed restrictions in her state.

You can do read full article here.

wild air blast in the USA

The extreme weather conditions that swept the Midwest last week were extraordinary on many levels, with 100 million Americans on some sort of weather alert.

Some of these warnings were triggered by hurricane-force winds and the first December hurricanes observed in Minnesota and western Iowa.

“It was very unusual for December,” said Grady Dixon, who teaches geosciences. Fort Hays State University in Kansas. “It should force you to ask questions.”

A key question is what role global warming may have played in fueling such extreme weather events. Deciphering the precise links between storms and climate change may be difficult, scientists say, but there is evidence that the United States can wait. more unusually severe weather as the planet warmsstunning, potentially in new places or at unexpected times of the year.

quotation: “We expect an increase in conditions favorable for severe storms,” ​​said John Allen, associate professor of meteorology at Central Michigan University. “And that means we need to be aware that we can experience these extreme events in places or times we’ve never thought of before.”

New research shows that Google’s last word to stop placing ads on climate-denying sites has so far had limited impact.

Ads placed by Google, including those on major right-wing sites like Breitbart, include articles that falsely describe and describe global warming as a hoax, according to the Center for Digital Hate, a London-based non-profit group. continued to be published in numerous articles last week. He described the United Nations climate conference last month as “a giant eco-fascist gaslighting operation.”

It’s worrisome, as the ad revenue these denial sites generate by running Google ads is helping to fund more denial content, said Imran Ahmed, the center’s managing director. “The more ad revenue they get, the more articles they can publish and get as many eye-catchers as possible,” he said.

The findings highlight how Google has struggled to rein in even blatant instances of climate denial. You can do read full article here.

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