The EPA ruling, Controversial Projects, and Ethical Dilemmas
Hello Climate Conscious fans,
Welcome to the latest edition of The Current Climate newsletter!
In case you’re new to the publication, our goal with this monthly newsletter is to not only highlight the amazing work of our writers, but also to bring you important climate- and environment-related current events from around the world that you may have missed.
We hope that this newsletter serves as an additional resource to ensure the climate crisis remains at the forefront of our minds, rather than an afterthought.
This month we welcomed two new editors to the team: Alan S. Miller and Anthony Signorelli, longtime writers for Climate Conscious.
Alan brings the experience of a career working on climate change and protecting the ozone layer beginning in the 1970s. He has published extensively on global environmental law, policy, and finance and since retiring from the World Bank Group continues to consult for several international organizations.
Anthony has written about climate change since the 1990s and recently served as VP of sales for a rooftop solar developer — a job that provided first hand insights into the challenges and opportunities of solar development. Before that, he ran a writing company and has owned and operated two organic farms.
Top Stories from Climate Conscious
From each prior month, we highlight some of the top stories from the publication based on the number of views/reads, editors’ picks, and relevance to current events.
Palmer Owyoung summarizes the five main reasons why people don’t take climate change seriously, as discovered by author Lisa Bennet. Reasons include, cost concerns, and lack of belief that personal action can make a difference. These are followed by seven potential ways to remedy this problem, including thinking in terms of long-term goals, rather than short term, reconnecting with nature, and adjusting our consumption habits.
Check out the full article here: Why Most People Don’t Care About Climate Change
Dustin T. Cox reviews the complex and controversial prospect of Stratospheric Aerosol Injection, a proposed low cost way to limit global warming by shooting particles into the atmosphere — a process that occurs naturally but usually for very brief periods with volcanic eruptions. Current proposals are for pilot projects to test how well it works and to identify potential adverse consequences. Summarizing compelling arguments for and against, Cox comes down in favor of going forward with a limited scale test project noting “it may be our last hope.”
For the full article: Can Reflecting Sunlight Back into Space Prevent Climate Collapse?
George Dillard writes, “Please accept this invitation into my weary brain as I wrestle with the ethics of buying plane tickets while the world is burning.” George’s article covers an ethical dilemma that many climate conscious (no pun intended) people are dealing with as pandemic restrictions have loosened in many countries and travel demand has dramatically increased.
Read through his thought process here: Why It’s So Hard to Make Decisions in a Climate Crisis
Current Climate News
Important climate-related news from the past month:
Coal investments set to rise 10% this year as nations fret over energy security (CNBC)
The International Energy Agency released its World Energy Investment report on June 22. They found that clean energy investment is set to surpass $1.4 trillion in 2022 which accounts for nearly three-quarters of the growth in total energy investment. They noted that while the average growth rate in clean energy investment has increased to 12%, there is still a lot of work to do to meet international climate goals laid out in the Paris Agreement. The report also found that clean energy investment has been unevenly distributed across the globe with “advanced economies and China accounting for the majority.”
As the headline notes, there has been an increase in coal investments, mainly driven by the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. Europe faces reduced flows of Russian gas. Several countries, including Germany, Italy, Austria, and the Netherlands have all indicated that they may need to compensate for decreased Russian natural gas supply with coal-fired plants.
Canada to ban sale of single use plastics by end of 2023 (PBS)
The Canadian government took a big step to reduce plastic pollution on June 20 by announcing a ban on sale, production, and importing of single use plastic. The importing and creation of plastic bags and Styrofoam containers will be banned by the end of 2022, their sale by the end of 2024, and their export by 2025. The ban will also affect plastic straws, cutlery, stir sticks, and six-pack rings.
Last year, the federal government listed plastics as toxic under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act which has been challenged by plastic producers. This designation has paved the way for the new bans. In 2019, a research study published by Environment and Climate Change Canada found that 3.3 million tons of plastic thrown away and that an estimated 29,000 tons ends up as litter.
Supreme Court Limits EPA’s authority to regulate carbon emissions (NY Times)
In a 6–3 decision on June 30, West Virginia v. EPA, the Supreme Court limited EPA’s authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. The Court read the Clean Air Act as granting the agency the power only to set specific limits for power plants and industrial facilities and not more flexible approaches that would allow for reductions outside plant boundaries — ironically a less costly alternative favored by the regulated companies. Writing for majority, Chief Justice Roberts wrote that “a decision of such magnitude and consequence rests with Congress” or requires a clear delegation of authority. In dissent, Justice Kagan wrote “The court appoints itself — instead of Congress or the expert agency — the decision maker on climate policy. I cannot think of many things more frightening.”
The decision was widely seen as a further indication of the Court’s growing hostility toward the exercise of broad mandates given to administrative agencies. This was explicit in a concurring opinion by Justice Gorsuch and joined by Justice Alito arguing that “the Constitution does not authorize agencies to use pen-and-phone regulations as substitutes for laws passed by the people’s representatives.”
Become an Editor!
Want to join our team and become an editor? We are always looking for people to help us edit our submissions and, if you have the time, promote our stories on our social media accounts. If you are interested, please fill out this form.
Thank you for reading, and we’ll see you next month!
Sincerely,
Sarah Woodams, Editor
Raunaq Nambiar, Editor
Brad Zarnett, Editor
Michael Robert, Editor
Alysha Grace, Editor
Andrea Hoymann, Editor
Eszter Brhlik, Editor
Alan Miller, Editor
Anthony Signorelli, Editor
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