The Environmental Defense Fund posted on "Vital Signs" about the latest political ploy which will endanger the environment as well as many people.
Endangerment Finding repeal ignores decades of evidence,
would harm millions of people.
"...under the Trump administration, the EPA promised fossil fuel companies “concierge, white-glove service” and offered some of the nation’s worst polluters opportunities to evade clean air safeguards.
Here are three key points from that newsletter.
Climate pollution worsens asthma and other health issues
Without the Endangerment Finding, the air we breathe is about to get a lot dirtier and more dangerous. That’s because it is foundational to a host of vital clean air protections that limit pollution from power plants, oil and gas operations and vehicles.
(as an Asthma sufferer with Bronchiectasis (a COPD) I will not be able to go for walks safely.)
Climate pollution fuels hurricanes, heat waves and more dangerous weather
A mountain of scientific evidence shows that climate pollution is warming the planet and driving more frequent and intense heat waves, storms, floods and wildfires.
As a survivor of the floods of Hurricane Helene, and having relatives in Florida who frequently have hurricanes, this is obvious to all of us!
Asheville NC Sept 29, 2024
Climate pollution makes gas, insurance more expensive
Rising home insurance premiums, driven in part by climate-fueled extreme weather events, are placing severe financial burdens on Americans.
Home insurance costs have doubled in parts of many states, including in California, Florida, Colorado and Louisiana over the last several years, making it impossible for some Americans to purchase insurance at all. In many of these disaster-prone regions home values have, at the same time, dropped by tens of thousands of dollars.
Driving a gas-powered car is about to get more expensive too. The Trump administration’s own analysis shows that getting rid of the Endangerment Finding will raise the price you pay at the pump, increasing gas prices by 25 cents per gallon by 2035.
Without the Endangerment Finding, there will also be fewer jobs to help people pay for all these rising costs. Repealing the Endangerment Finding and vehicle standards is projected to cost 450,000 jobs across the country over the next decade. Those job losses have already begun: since the start of the year, the administration has cancelled $25 billion in clean energy manufacturing investments — a move that’s cost 34,000 American jobs.
---------------------
Katharine Hayhoe also gives some environmental notes:
With the Winter Olympics in full swing, athletes are using their platforms to encourage action on the climate crisis. As the Associated Press reports, a coalition of Winter Olympians and other athletes delivered a petition with 21,000 signatures to the International Olympic Committee, urging the IOC to consider ending fossil fuel sponsorships.
and
Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime showdrew attention to Puerto Rico’s ailing power grid, which has been battered by climate-fueled hurricanes.
and
Entertainment companies, sports franchises, media outlets and other cultural institutions won’t prioritize climate unless consumers demand it. So, demand it.
--------------
Small acts, when multiplied by millions of people, can transform the world.
- Howard Zinn
--------------
Sorry Canadian friends. I didn't watch the game. I was watching the US win gold in Women's Single Figure Skating.
——————
Well, the doctors found another bug in my lungs – so I’m on antibiotics again. There were two recommended to treat this rare bug, but one of them makes me so dizzy I cannot walk. The other was one which I thought I was allergic to for the last 60 years. But I am giving it a try. My sense is that it wasn’t the antibiotic, sulfa, which perhaps made me throw up, but that it was the disease process which I already had. Anyway, I’ve now had 3 doses and I’m hoping that my tummy can accept it.
Before Trump took office on Monday Jan. 20, The Environmental Defense Fund in 'Vital Signs' shared this:
We dug into the details of Project 2025 and found that its proposals would expose you to unchecked pollution, greater risks when extreme weather strikes, and potentially higher electricity bills.
1. It proposes weakening current air pollution protections, especially from power plants, refineries and cars, while making sweeping cuts to the EPA’s expert staff.
2. Weather: Project 2025 proposes privatizing the National Weather Service, whose scientists offer life-saving information for those in the path of dangerous storms. And... it proposes breaking up the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, where much of the country’s research on climate change is conducted.
3. Personal Energy cost: Project 2025’s proposals to gut federal policies encouraging green electricity generation and electric cars would increase U.S. household spending on fuel and utilities by about $240 per year over the next five years.
4. It ...seeks to gut the Toxic Substances Control Act,” explains Sarah Vogel, who leads Environmental Defense Fund’s health work. “This is the law that gives the EPA the responsibility for ensuring the safety of chemicals that end up in our environment and our bodies. ... a radical call for severely restricting the role of government in protecting our air, our water, and our communities,”"
5. Central to Project 2025 is a continued dependence on fossil fuels, even if it means drilling in America’s most pristine areas and beloved national monuments. Plus, doubling down on fossil fuels is poised to hurt American competitiveness in a world economy that’s increasingly moving toward renewables. “This agenda would make America weaker by undoing clean energy investments, surrendering jobs to other countries, and increasing pollution,” says EDF Executive Director Amanda Leland.
----------
I watch Sunday Morning on CBS usually as a recorded program. This last Sunday was before the inauguration. I'm able to go back and find the interview that was done Jan 20, 2025 with author John Valient, set in the recent California fire zone. His book is "Fire Weather - On the Front Lines of a Burning World." He speaks for nature by saying "I can't take this any more, what you're doing to me." He also believes the fires being experienced now are different than they were 10 years ago, but I wasn't able to understand how he meant that, just hotter and faster.
Valient was clear that all our new natural disasters were a result of climate change. He stressed the cause as being the CO2 that our combustion engines keep pumping into the atmosphere.
Another climatologist, Peter Kalmas was also interviewed after he moved his family from Altadena CA to North Carolina recently. His statement that you can't escape climate change was poignant in his former home in CA having burned in the recent fires, as well as the NC disasters as a result of Hurricane Helene.
------------------
The Good news:
1. Voters in Washington state overwhelmingly supported keeping a 2021 climate program designed to boost public transit, clean school buses, solar energy, forest-fire prevention and more.
2. Internationally, Canada, the U.K., Mexico and Norway, as well as the European Union pledged to reduce climate pollution, and 20% of the new cars sold worldwide were clean, electric vehicles.
3. A new study published in Nature Energy suggests electric vehicle batteries might last longer than previously thought. (As is, clean, electric cars are cheaper to own and operate than gas-powered cars in 48 out of 50 U.S. states.)
5. MethaneSAT, a methane-detecting satellite developed by Environmental Defense Fund and partners, was successfully launched and deployed in March. It’s circling the globe, helping to detect methane leaks that are fueling global warming.
Perhaps most significantly to all human life on the planet, minutes after taking office he withdrew from the Paris climate agreements and ordered an "energy emergency" so his friends at Big Oil can keep polluting, causing cascading changes to our weather.
And...
So what do we make of all of this? It's not the full-throated seizure of government some of us most feared. It's not not that yet, either. But scratch the surface and there are cracks in his plans.
It's not over. It's not the worst. It's bad. It's going to get worse.
If you need some alternative inspiration, we recommend watching the livestream of MLK Day withThe Way We Get Through This is Together: Celebrating Communitywith Rebecca Solnit, Charlie Jane Anders, Anand Giridharadas, Bill McKibben, Liz Ogbu, and Akaya Windwood.
SOURCE: Choose Democracy via Action Network Newsletter "Morning After: Hot Take" Jan 21, 2025
--------------------
Today's philosophical quote:
It is often said that at the end of our lives, we are more likely to regret the things we did not do than the things we did.
----------------
Today's Art:
Toroweap Overlook. 36” wide by 48” high, quilt top by Sandra Mollen
------------------
A flash mob presents Carmina Burana (one of my favorite pieces of music)
And from World News:
Did you notice how little was said about the released Palestinian prisoners from Israel? Finally yesterday's local news at noon gave clips of the 90 women and teens who returned to Gaza from being captured by Israel, in exchange for 3 of the Israeli male hostages released by Hamas. An interesting ratio, I thought.
If you worry about climate change at all, it affects your mental/emotional well being..
"The physical impacts of climate change are easy to see — storms that destroy homes, droughts that cripple farms and heat waves that kill... [and more!]
But what’s less apparent is the toll that climate change is taking on our mental health. More than two-thirds of people in the U.S. say they have experienced eco-anxiety, according to an American Psychological Association poll. Nearly half of young adults (ages 18-34) say the stress they feel about climate change affects their daily lives..."
It’s important to remember that these painful emotions are an entirely reasonable response to what’s happening. They’re a sign that we care and that we’re paying attention, not a sign that something is wrong with us...."
Research shows that collective action — participating in action to make this better, alongside other people who care — can help reduce feelings of depression related to climate anxiety and bolster feelings of hope and solidarity.
Actively participating in climate solutions is a potent reminder that solutions do exist. There’s so much we can do to contribute to the world we want..."
Many people feel like climate change is an existential crisis, and personally meaningful spiritual practices — whether it’s your faith, meditation, spending time in nature — can help ground you in difficult times.
And finally, I would say, be prepared. We all know that extreme weather is here to stay. Having an emergency plan can really help ease anxiety and help us cope more skillfully and calmly in moments of crisis. "
These quotes are from an interview with mental health expert Elizabeth Bechard of Moms Clean Air Force by the Environmental Defense Fund, "Climate Change and your Mental Health," by Shanti Menon, April 4, 2024. It arrives in my inbox from "Vital Signs, the latest climate stories to make you think and give you hope."
RESOURCES
For climate-focused mental health support, join a climate cafe to talk about climate emotions; try the Good Grief Network for structured, step-by-step peer support; or schedule an in-person or virtual visit with a climate-aware therapist.
For emergency planning, see the severe weather checklists at Ready.gov, specific to just about any type of emergency. The book Prepping 101 is full of practical ideas about how families and communities can be more prepared and resilient when emergencies arise (and in spite of its name, it’s not about hoarding beans for the apocalypse).
Moms Clean Air Force has an extensive list of climate and mental health resources and more advice for parents and kids from Elizabeth Bechard.
