Climate Change is definitely real and it's already here.

[Ahmir7]

America is burning, parts of germany, austria, Belgium and other countries are drowning in masses of water. And there's still people who deny that climate change is real. Do you think we can go back now? It almost looks like it's too late.....I was shocked about the situation in america but just days later hell broke lose here in germany.....just ten minutes from where I live people are drowning in floods, 150 dead already, people are missing. It's been raining for weeks almost non stop. This is not the usual summer at all. Temperatures drop and rise inconsistently, I knew something would go wrong at the begging of this year when within a week we had a snowstorm and then summer temperatures.

 

[maplenpg]

America is burning, parts of germany, austria, Belgium and other countries are drowning in masses of water. And there's still people who deny that climate change is real. Do you think we can go back now? It almost looks like it's too late.....I was shocked about the situation in america but just days later hell broke lose here in germany.....just ten minutes from where I live people are drowning in floods, 150 dead already, people are missing. It's been raining for weeks almost non stop. This is not the usual summer at all. Temperatures drop and rise inconsistently, I knew something would go wrong at the begging of this year when within a week we had a snowstorm and then summer temperatures.

I've been banging the climate change drum for some time. We need change, real change - and we need it sooner rather than later. Sadly people don't like change, esp the sort of change we really need to do to make a difference. The media doesn't help, we only hear about these crisis' when they are in Europe, or America, or Australia, yet Africa has been having a hell of a time for many years now. It's a problem with how we treat our planet as a whole.

The situation in Germany is dire, and I do hope it is the wake up call that many need. It's truly dreadful that so many have lost their lives. If you do start campaigning around climate change expect a lot of pushback. I've got to the stage where I do everything I can that is in my power (not always easy or financially viable) and I also write many letters to others that hold more power than me, I'm a member of a number of groups too even though I'm fairly passive - yet it still doesn't seem like enough. There's a part of me thinks humans have already destroyed this earth too far, that they're not willing to row back enough, but that's the pessimist in me. I just hope that the future generations manage to get on top of the major changes that my generation has failed to grasp.

 

[barnswallow]

hi Ahmir7. What's happening near you is absolutely tragic. Seeing the pictures and video of the flooding this past week in Germany and some neighboring countries and hearing of the death toll has been shocking and sad. I'm sorry.

Doesn't it seem like year after year, when catastrophes happen that point, yet again, to human-caused climate change being responsible for these extremes, reporters quote scientists saying, yet again, the situation is dire? We must immediately take drastic measures. And then, nothing much is done at the nation-state level. Or, worse, we have backsliding, like the last 4 years in this country, when government agencies were forbidden from using the words and government websites were scrubbed of any reference to 'climate change'. Now, with Biden as president and democratic majorities in our legislature, we have an opportunity to pass a dramatic infrastructure bill that has lots in it addressing carbon pollution but, in order for it to pass, we need to have votes from republican senators. To get those, a bipartisan agreement was obtained and when the deal was revealed, it had stripped much of the measures addressing climate.

From The Atlantic, The Infrastructure Bill Won't Cut It on Climate

They aren’t the only things keeping me up at night. Negotiations over federal climate policy have held me in anxious suspense for months. With 50 Democratic votes in the Senate, Congress has a narrow opportunity this summer to pass the bold climate-investment package that the president proposed at the end of March. His American Jobs Plan lays out a vision to cut carbon pollution by 50 to 52 percent by 2030 through significant investments in climate action. His proposal is extremely encouraging, and I expected Congress to act on a climate bill quickly. Yet the months have dragged on, and Congress has not made progress.

When Biden announced a bipartisan infrastructure bill on June 24, many expected that it would include significant climate investments. As the details trickled out, though, it became clear that very little climate policy was in the bill. Sure, there was spending for public transit, clean water, and transmission lines—all worthy allocations. But the bill would hardly cut carbon pollution, ultimately doing little to stop climate change from accelerating each year.

We cannot address a small sliver of our carbon pollution and call it a victory. We have to tackle this problem at scale. The last chance we had for a federal climate bill was 12 years ago. I’m afraid that Congress will again fail to pass climate legislation that invests at the necessary level. I’m worried that we’ll keep burning time we no longer have.

But we must not abandon hope. “Despair is paralysis,” the ecologist Robin Wall Kimmerer writes in Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants. “It robs us of agency. It blinds us to our own power and the power of the earth. Environmental despair is a poison.”

The end of the article:

All of these federal investments will pay us back—in cheaper technology, cleaner air, good-paying jobs, greater equality, and the stable climate we so desperately need. I’ve been working on climate for the past 16 years, and I’ve never seen a summer like the one we’re experiencing now. If Congress spends too little, or passes only the bipartisan infrastructure package, we will continue to head in the wrong direction, and there will be worse summers ahead.

 

[maplenpg]

hi Ahmir7. What's happening near you is absolutely tragic. Seeing the pictures and video of the flooding this past week in Germany and some neighboring countries and hearing of the death toll has been shocking and sad. I'm sorry.

Doesn't it seem like year after year, when catastrophes happen that point, yet again, to human-caused climate change being responsible for these extremes, reporters quote scientists saying, yet again, the situation is dire? We must immediately take drastic measures. And then, nothing much is done at the nation-state level. Or, worse, we have backsliding, like the last 4 years in this country, when government agencies were forbidden from using the words and government websites were scrubbed of any reference to 'climate change'. Now, with Biden as president and democratic majorities in our legislature, we have an opportunity to pass a dramatic infrastructure bill that has lots in it addressing carbon pollution but, in order for it to pass, we need to have votes from republican senators. To get those, a bipartisan agreement was obtained and when the deal was revealed, it had stripped much of the measures addressing climate.

From The Atlantic, The Infrastructure Bill Won't Cut It on Climate

The end of the article:

I'm very short on time and so didn't read the full article, just the end bit you quoted, but I think it sums it up for me. Leaders are so reluctant to make changes because of the costs involved. Therefore many articles talk about the 'balance' between the cost of making change and the reward for it. The way I say it, it's not a balance. It's real, it's happening, and we have to make changes, at whatever cost.

 

[Lili]

I've given up hope.

I'm going to do what I can, I know the younger generation are going to fight this tooth and nail, but i've given up hope on saving the planet and humanity. I think it's all over, the people with all the power will watch everyone die before they give an inch, they're hoping to jet off to a bolthole in New Zealand and then another planet and there's little we can do about it.

Maybe things will change but right now I don't see it.

 

[GemInEye]

I was wondering how close you were to the flooding. Glad you are safe. The pics I've been seeing on the news are devastating.

I don't see things changing much in my lifetime, but I hope it does for my kids and grandchildren.

 

[DiminutiveRocker]

Al Gore is whispering "I toldja so" in our collective ear

 

[DiminutiveRocker]

I'm very short on time and so didn't read the full article, just the end bit you quoted, but I think it sums it up for me. Leaders are so reluctant to make changes because of the costs involved. Therefore many articles talk about the 'balance' between the cost of making change and the reward for it. The way I say it, it's not a balance. It's real, it's happening, and we have to make changes, at whatever cost.

Agreed - but isn't it also the $$$ lost by fossil fuel and plastic industries?

 

[maplenpg]

I've given up hope.

I'm going to do what I can, I know the younger generation are going to fight this tooth and nail, but i've given up hope on saving the planet and humanity. I think it's all over, the people with all the power will watch everyone die before they give an inch, they're hoping to jet off to a bolthole in New Zealand and then another planet and there's little we can do about it.

Maybe things will change but right now I don't see it.

I tend to agree. The only good feeling I get from it is that I think it'll be humans that go. I do think some animals and fauna will outlive us and earth will enter a new phase. I think it'll be gradual though, and that is why I think people are slow to act.

 

[maplenpg]

Agreed - but isn't it also the $$$ lost by fossil fuel and plastic industries?

It's the money made by those industries that prevents change yes, but it's unsustainable. They have the money to put into alternatives, yet they choose not to, because of profit. I'd like their hand forced. I buy a number of items now (toilet rolls for example) because the brand uses compostable plastic wrapping. It needs consumers en masse to be turning to these products over plastic that doesn't biodegrade for 200 years. The companies will follow the profit. Sadly people choose cheap over eco.

 

[maplenpg]

This article is worth a read. It's about how governments just keep setting targets & not hitting them.

Britain has promised net zero – but it’s on track to achieve absolutely nothing | George Monbiot

Despite producing ambitious targets, governments have failed to tackle the big environmental issues over the past 15 years, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot

www.theguardian.com

 

[Ahmir7]

I've been banging the climate change drum for some time. We need change, real change - and we need it sooner rather than later. Sadly people don't like change, esp the sort of change we really need to do to make a difference. The media doesn't help, we only hear about these crisis' when they are in Europe, or America, or Australia, yet Africa has been having a hell of a time for many years now. It's a problem with how we treat our planet as a whole.

The situation in Germany is dire, and I do hope it is the wake up call that many need. It's truly dreadful that so many have lost their lives. If you do start campaigning around climate change expect a lot of pushback. I've got to the stage where I do everything I can that is in my power (not always easy or financially viable) and I also write many letters to others that hold more power than me, I'm a member of a number of groups too even though I'm fairly passive - yet it still doesn't seem like enough. There's a part of me thinks humans have already destroyed this earth too far, that they're not willing to row back enough, but that's the pessimist in me. I just hope that the future generations manage to get on top of the major changes that my generation has failed to grasp.

the sad truth is, there's still a lot of people who don't see what's happening right now. Even though it's happening right infront of their eyes....

 

[Ahmir7]

I'm very short on time and so didn't read the full article, just the end bit you quoted, but I think it sums it up for me. Leaders are so reluctant to make changes because of the costs involved. Therefore many articles talk about the 'balance' between the cost of making change and the reward for it. The way I say it, it's not a balance. It's real, it's happening, and we have to make changes, at whatever cost.

there's always a debate on fb that people in my town don't really need cars, we've got trains and you can reach your destinations with them very easy. People still insist to have their cars. We've got more cars than places to park them too. It seems like every person has atleast 2 cars in their possession. It's ridiculess. There grocery store in my area is 3 minutes away if you walk there. 3 minutes. And people drive there with their cars just to buy a handfull of stuff.

 

[Ahmir7]

I was wondering how close you were to the flooding. Glad you are safe. The pics I've been seeing on the news are devastating.

I don't see things changing much in my lifetime, but I hope it does for my kids and grandchildren.

I'm lucky I live where I live. The weather is starting to get better and I hope it won't rain again in the next few weeks. So the people in that area can take a breath and start to rebuild what's left of their homes. There's also a bunch of people who lost their whole house.

I don't see things changing too. If the germans vote this laschet this year, we're in trouble. Because he won't change anything. The green party is going to get my vote for sure.

 

[maplenpg]

there's always a debate on fb that people in my town don't really need cars, we've got trains and you can reach your destinations with them very easy. People still insist to have their cars. We've got more cars than places to park them too. It seems like every person has atleast 2 cars in their possession. It's ridiculess. There grocery store in my area is 3 minutes away if you walk there. 3 minutes. And people drive there with their cars just to buy a handfull of stuff.

The school bus stop my kids go to is less than 200 metres away and a couple of mums take their kids in the car. If it's raining, there are a number of cars there and none of them live more than half a mile from the bus stop. Really gets my goat. I thought this was a good tweet (parody).

 

[barnswallow]

I'm very short on time and so didn't read the full article, just the end bit you quoted, but I think it sums it up for me. Leaders are so reluctant to make changes because of the costs involved. Therefore many articles talk about the 'balance' between the cost of making change and the reward for it. The way I say it, it's not a balance. It's real, it's happening, and we have to make changes, at whatever cost.

A long-time favorite blogger of mine, Kevin Drum, on the infrastructure bill:
Republicans just need a few more days [7.19.21]

The Washington Post reports that Republicans are really and truly committed to a bipartisan infrastructure bill but have one itsy bitsy little problem still to solve: how to pay for it. What's their answer? To reduce funding by insisting that Democrats remove a provision that increases IRS auditing and forces rich people to pay all the taxes they owe. Can't have that!

Yes, it's about the money. No, it's not about their concerns for a balanced budget. It's about their own perceived-measly pocketbooks. Yeah, and probably a few late night phone calls from fossil fuel-involved friends who, coincidentally, pour big bucks into election campaigns, republican and democrat.

republicans trot out the very, very old budget deficit horse whenever the dems are in control. They wring their hands. They won't have any spending. What about spending in the t---- years? Here's a reminder of what went on then, with an article from 2019, so prior to the economic effects caused by the pandemic.
Trump, Republicans Ridiculed As Federal Deficit, $3.7 Trillion Spending Hit Record Highs

The massive 27 percent deficit increase from last year is only expected to worsen as Trump's $1.5 trillion tax plan from a year-and-a-half ago fails to "pay for itself" as the White House previously claimed.

Refusing to acknowledge climate change (or whatever name you call it) is a fundamental tenet of republican strategy. As with most things, they grab hold of a divisive meme and hold on for dear life, simply because it divides. So, climate change does not exist, no matter that it's coming at us like a runaway train. And, another meme: block all legislation democrats propose in order to portray them as failures when the next election comes along.

 

[DiminutiveRocker]

It's the money made by those industries that prevents change yes, but it's unsustainable. They have the money to put into alternatives, yet they choose not to, because of profit. I'd like their hand forced. I buy a number of items now (toilet rolls for example) because the brand uses compostable plastic wrapping. It needs consumers en masse to be turning to these products over plastic that doesn't biodegrade for 200 years. The companies will follow the profit. Sadly people choose cheap over eco.

Money.... greed... temporary power... Mary breaks it down

 

[maplenpg]

A long-time favorite blogger of mine, Kevin Drum, on the infrastructure bill:
Republicans just need a few more days [7.19.21]


Yes, it's about the money. No, it's not about their concerns for a balanced budget. It's about their own perceived-measly pocketbooks. Yeah, and probably a few late night phone calls from fossil fuel-involved friends who, coincidentally, pour big bucks into election campaigns, republican and democrat.

republicans trot out the very, very old budget deficit horse whenever the dems are in control. They wring their hands. They won't have any spending. What about spending in the t---- years? Here's a reminder of what went on then, with an article from 2019, so prior to the economic effects caused by the pandemic.
Trump, Republicans Ridiculed As Federal Deficit, $3.7 Trillion Spending Hit Record Highs

Refusing to acknowledge climate change (or whatever name you call it) is a fundamental tenet of republican strategy. As with most things, they grab hold of a divisive meme and hold on for dear life, simply because it divides. So, climate change does not exist, no matter that it's coming at us like a runaway train. And, another meme: block all legislation democrats propose in order to portray them as failures when the next election comes along.

Yes, climate change (much like Covid) shouldn't be politicised, it is fact, undeniable fact. Now political parties can argue about how best to tackle it, but to deny its existence is just wrong. And you're right, it's all about the money. And the super wealthy will kill the earth with its greed.

 

[maplenpg]

Money.... greed... temporary power... Mary breaks it down

View attachment 904

I wouldn't even mind so much if they gave billions to even one of those things AND wanted to be at the forefront of space travel (which they could afford to do easily), but Branson was begging for money from the UK taxpayers last year to help his company through Covid and Bezos has made his money through well-publicised slave labour. I don't know a lot about Musk TBH, but certainly Branson and Bezos are devoid of morals.

 

[barnswallow]

The Bootleg Fire in northern CA/southern OR is so large that the smoke is visibly blowing across the country, but that was being talked about a while ago, and I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. Today, here in the northeast, was weird. It was strangely hazy, extremely so. Everyone I came across was talking about the fire. Right now the air quality index is 161.