Sustainable Arlington

Beyond Harvey and Irma:  Climate Action Will Become Top Military Priority - By Michael Klare

The devastating hurricanes Harvey and Irma saw the U.S. military involved in emergency operations on a massive scale, writes energy expert and author Michael T. Klare.  The future will hold more of the same.  As the planet heats up, the armed forces and the nation will face an existential crisis, according to Klare, which will result in the need for a new, largely non-military strategic posture that puts climate action above other geopolitical priorities. Deployed to the Houston area to assist in Hurricane Harvey relief efforts, U.S. military forces hadn’t even completed their assignments when they were hurriedly dispatched to Florida, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands to face Irma, the fiercest hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic Ocean.  Florida Governor Rick Scott, who had sent members of the state National Guard to devastated Houston, anxiously recalled them while putting in place emergency measures for his own state.  A small flotilla of naval vessels, originally sent to waters off Texas, was similarly redirected to the Caribbean, while specialized combat units drawn from as far afield as Colorado, Illinois, and Rhode Island were rushed to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.  Meanwhile, members of the California National Guard were being mobilized to fight wildfires raging across that state (as across much of the West) during its hottest summer on record. Think of this as the new face of homeland security:  containing the damage to America’s seacoasts, forests, and other vulnerable areas caused by extreme weather events made all the more[…]

Exxon Vows to Cut Methane Leaks from U.S. Shale Oil and Gas Operations

Environmentalists say Exxon's move demonstrates that the entire industry can stop methane emissions that are contributing to climate change. ExxonMobil said on Monday that it would take a series of steps to cut emissions of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, from its U.S. onshore oil and gas production.  The measures will include upgrading equipment and finding and repairing leaks. The announcement comes as the Trump administration is working to postpone and review federal rules that would require similar steps across the industry.  Oil and gas trade groups sued to block those rules, saying they were too costly.  Now, some environmentalists say Exxon's move undermines that argument. "At a time when there are some companies making the argument that the sky is going to fall if they're required to take sensible action to reduce methane emissions, you have the nation's largest oil and gas producer simply moving ahead," said Mark Brownstein, vice president for climate and energy at the Environmental Defense Fund. "It begins to send a signal to both others in industry and frankly the policymakers that these sorts of things are doable," he said. Exxon didn't disclose how many tons of methane emissions its voluntary measures might prevent.  But Brownstein said that based on Exxon's announcement, the steps could go even farther than the federal rules require, because they would apply to both new and existing facilities on private lands as well as public lands....Better Technology, Fewer EmissionsIn its announcement, Exxon said that over three years it would phase[…]

  Monday, Sept 25

Anger at EU Climate Chief’s Suggestion US Can Backtrack on Paris

EU commissioner has signaled that the US can downgrade its pledge to the Paris deal, but poor countries say such an act would “undermine global solidarity” A suggestion by the EU’s climate chief that the US might water down its carbon-cutting pledge to the Paris climate agreement has sparked outrage among veteran negotiators and developing countries. Diplomats from poor nations told Climate Home that it would amount to indefensible “backsliding” and could “open a Pandora’s box”, while Laurence Tubiana, France’s climate change ambassador at COP21, said US backtracking would violate the spirit of the Paris deal. EU commissioner for climate action and energy Miguel Arias Cañete has previously said that the Trump presidency might “chart its own path” within the treaty. Last week, while briefing reporters on a meeting with a senior US official at a summit in Montreal, Cañete said:  “They are willing to re-engage under the Paris Agreement but they want to check some of the terms under which they agreed to participate previously.  We assume that means that the US will revisit at some time the targets put forward by the previous administration.” Read more at Anger at EU Climate Chief’s Suggestion US Can Backtrack on Paris

This Former Coal Miner’s Perspective on Climate Change

The world isn’t too big for us to screw up. I do not subscribe to the labels being thrown out these days.  I do not consider myself an environmentalist, a liberal, nor do I consider myself a conservative either.  I am an Appalachian family man who cares about his kids more than the coal companies do. I’m not naive enough to believe that companies who make a profit extracting and selling coal, oil, or natural gas, are telling us the truth.  Instead, they stretch the truth beyond its limits to protect their investments and bottom lines.  We see it every day, and miner’s face it when they are injured and seek compensation to continue feeding their families. Being Appalachian, I also know that many politicians and charitable organizations who have come to “help” us over the years have used our poverty and suffering to gain votes and donations.  It is a problem that continues to occur, and after nearly a century’s worth of exploitation from outside entities, it is no wonder we have trust issues. People are just trying to survive day to day, and when you are just trying to survive, it is difficult to see issues as more than black and white.  We don’t have time to ask questions and research answers outside of the information we receive from the most influential people in our lives—friends, family, and sadly, employers. When it comes to climate change, people rationalize their opinions based on how it affects them.  For those[…]