Tag: Global Warming

Climate Action, Climate Change, National Security August 20, 2019September 3, 2019

Recycling Cancelled in Jackson, MS | Climate Action

Washington (Gallant Gold Media Hill Report | Analysis | August 20, 2019)
by Noreen Wise

It’s alarming to learn that Jackson, MS has cancelled it’s curbside recycling program with Waste Management effective September 1, 2019, claiming that there aren’t enough residents recycling to continue paying the cost. Why does Jackson allow residents not to recycle? It seems that most towns and cities would initiate a marketing campaign to lure their residents on board with the importance of recycling. Recycling is typically the very first step we all take to help cut carbon.

It’s imperative that everyone on earth understand that the climate crisis erupted from unrestrained small actions by the global public, particularly Americans as a result of our wealth, and that all it takes to cut carbon is for each of us to focus on these same small actions. We each have to lower our own carbon footprints.to an optimal range from 4-7 million metric tons of carbon per year. Americans currently average 20 million metric tons of carbon annually.

Recycling is a must. So many of our products are now manufactured from recycled material rather than virgin. Using recycled material to manufacture new products creates a substantial energy savings which cuts carbon emissions. Every little bit helps. For a city like Jackson, MS to have a convenient curbside recycling service, there’s no reason for residents to not step up. Many towns have to rely on recycling centers which are drive to sites and can be very annoying, yet these residents establish weekly habits that make it work.

Every single day there’s another alarming headline warning of the perilous climate crisis we now find ourselves embattled in. There’s no time to delay. There’s no excuse for not complying with basics like recycling.

To cut carbon significantly, and lower our carbon footprints to 7 metric tons per year, we only need to focus on 4 areas of concern:

Household energy – go solar!
Transportation – EV cars, walk, public transportation
Food – minimize dairy and red meat
Stuff – buy less stuff, always recycle

Recycling is mandatory. We can do this!

Climate Action, Climate Change, National Security July 17, 2019February 2, 2020

Oceans Are the Heart of the Climate Crisis

Washington (Gallant Gold Media Hill Report | Analysis | July 17, 2019)
by Noreen Wise

The melting glaciers are an urgent wake up call for all of us to pay attention to global warming. The vast mountains of snow and ice that blanket our poles, are what has provided climate stability for 20 million years. Glaciers breaking apart and melting, immediately raises sea levels along the world’s coastlines, particularly the entire East Coast in the United States, flooding many major cities from Maine to Florida.

If anyone is having trouble visualizing the dramatic impact of rising sea levels, please visit Miami ASAP. Scientists have determined, that due Miami being built on to the lime rock, retaining walls can’t save Miami. It literally won’t survive global warming. In fact, it’s projected that if we maintain to current carbon emission trajectory, Southern Florida is guaranteed to disappear, the only question is “when?”

Ocean waters store carbon, which has always been considered a good thing. Scientists refer to this as carbon sink. The positive benefits unraveled however, when the oceans began to store too much carbon, due to the rise in carbon levels in the atmosphere from irresponsible carbon emitting daily habits and lifestyle.

Too much carbon in ocean waters, raises the ocean temperature
Warmer ocean waters, melt the polar glaciers from underneath
Less snow & ice, and more water cause the oceans to heat faster because dark blue ocean waters store the sun’s heat, while white snow and ice reflects it; an increase in water equal an increase in heat
An increase in the amount of water on the globe, also esults in an increase of moisture in the air, causing fiercer storms
This massively shifting balance between ice and water and atmospheric moisture, alters the jet streams
Without the reliable jest stream moving storms along and out of the way, storms & droughts hover for much longer periods resulting in massive flooding and prolonged droughts
Prolonged droughts leads to entire communities having to relocate, often to foreign countries, resulting in a refugee crisis
We’re seeing this right now in Central America… the thin section of land, rising sea levels on both coastlines, sustained drought conditions in the middle, all this created by US carbon emission excesses; citizens fleeing the unlivable land to our southern border and then stuffed into concentration camps
The military and CIA have both asserted that Global Warming is a major nation security threat, particularly when we are blamed for another countr’s economic woes that result from climate woes

It only takes a few of these events to open our eyes. But clearly in the past two years, we’ve seen the deadly weather systems destroy communities, and undermine our security.

It will take thousands of years to rebuild out glaciers, but we can immediately curb the rising ocean temperature by making different choices in 4 key areas for ourselves and our families, as well as speak with community leaders about using solar panels to run street and traffic lights as well as town buildings.

Climate Change Expert Dr. Joseph Romm, an MIT alumni, has organized Climate Action choices into four categories:

Transportation: make the switch to Hybrid or EV autos; public transportation, walk, scooter, ride bikes
Home: go solar, LED lightbulbs, turn out lights when leaving a room
Diet: change our eating habits, red meat & dairy increase our carbon footprint
Stuff: buying, storing and carting around “stuff”

Switching from our current home electricity source to solar, and from current gas guzzling cars to Hybrids & EV’s is as exciting and life-changing as switching from flip phones to iPhones, or from 3G to LTE. Huge game changer that we immediately love and never look back.

We can do this!

Climate Action, Climate Change May 28, 2019August 20, 2019

Will Exxon Shareholders Revolt on May 29? | Climate Action

Washington (Gallant Gold Media Hill Report | Perspective | May 28, 2019)
by Noreen Wise

Several large Exxon shareholders demanded that a climate proposal be included on the ballot for the 2019 annual meeting to be held on Wednesday, May 29, but Exxon failed to comply.

The Church of England, and New York State Common Retirement Fund led by Thomas DiNapoli, the New York State Comptroller, initiated a proxy fight against the Exxon directors on Friday, May 3, claiming that Exxon’s “inadequate response to climate change constitutes a serious failure of corporate governance.”

The band of pro climate action Exxon shareholders, are aligned with Climate Action 100+, a group of investors who command $32 trillion in assets and are using their strength to leverage change amongst resistant companies like Exxon. They asked fellow Exxon shareholders to vote against all existing Exxon directors at Wednesday’s annual meeting.

Of particular concern, is that Exxon competitors are creating effective climate action game plans that curb carbon emissions for this notoriously irresponsible industry. For example:

BP Plc
Chevron
Royal Dutch Shell Inc
Total SA

Will the dawning of Wednesday May 29, 2019, when Exxon finds itself with their back against the wall in Houston, TX, prove to be the much needed turning point for the US fossil fuel mega corporations, who have been the main drivers in global warming across the globe for more than three decades? We’ll soon find out.

Climate Change March 12, 2019August 20, 2019

Climate Strike | Young Voices That Haunt

Washington (Gallant Gold Media Hill Report | Perspective | March 12, 2019)
by Noreen Wise

Children are often far more intuitive than adults. They have natural child’s intuition, similar to our pet’s intuition. Children are excellent at reading body language, with an uncanny ability to accurately deduce what kind of day we’re having without us saying a word.

Further, children are observant, typically hyper observant. When walking along a sidewalk, or driving the familiar route to school, a child will notice if the Lopez’s tulips have suddenly blossomed, or if the Wilsons’ painted their front door, whereas we adults may not. Young children are that much closer to the ground and thus silently absorb any number of signals from nature about its well being. Their memories are extremely sharp, recollecting with great accuracy if the water level along the river bank is higher this year than it was several years ago.

Children are idealists. We teach them what’s right. Provide for them a strong moral code to live by. They trust it. They believe that we live by the same code. They expect adults to practice what we preach.

The Climate Strike, led by alarmed children reaching out to adults and demanding that we please “panic” about their Climate Change plight, the same way they are, intuitively projects that the point of no return will land squarely on their shoulders. Doomsday will arrive when they’re graduating from college, launching into their young adult lives. Do we remember our blissful 20’s? Instead, these terrified Americans will have to suffer the consequences of our indifference, of our blind eye. They’re profound Climate Strike message arrives at the right time and in the tone. An urgent plea for help. If only our president could stand up with the rest of us and do something noble.

In a New York Times article, the founder of Climate Strike, 16 year old Greta Thunberg of Sweden, had a very poignant message for adults:

“‘Adults keep saying, “We owe it to the young people to give them hope,’ she said. ‘But I don’t want your hope. I don’t want you to be hopeful. I want you to panic. I want you to feel the fear I feel every day. And then I want you to act.’”

No adult with a conscience wants children to endure this type of fear, and yet so many do. In the United States, children and teens already feel terrified with Active Shooter Lock Down Drills in their schools. If our action will help alleviate their young troubled minds, then let’s get to it. This forward path should be a very simple daily roadmap that will become a powerful force for curbing global warming and brightening the future outlook of today’s youth.

Find a Climate Strike event near you…

Climate Change, Environment, Legislative Branch, Mitch McConnell, Senate December 22, 2018July 11, 2019

McConnell Most Responsible for Climate Change

Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell was first elected to the United States Senate in 1984. After serving five terms, he was re-elected to a sixth in 2014. He steadily rose the ranks to various leadership positions:

National Republican Senatorial Committee | 1998 – 2000
Majority Whip | 2003 – 2005, 108th Congress
Minority Leader | 2006 – 2014
Majority Leader | 2014 – present

The global temperature in 1984, when McConnell was first elected, was 14.10 Celsius / 57.38 Fahrenheit. During the thirty-four years since then, the global temperature has risen to approximately 14.8 Celsius / 58.64 Fahrenheit, more than half of one full degree. Numerous urgent international global warming warnings have spanned the past three plus decades; McConnell was present for every single one of these. In his leadership capacity, McConnell had the unmistakable, repeated opportunity to rally support and Legislative action to curb the rise in global temperature, but he chose to shun responsibility, bury his head in the sand and aggressively promote the fossil fuel industry. His campaigns have received a stunning $2,151,444 from Oil & Gas industries.

Timeline of Global Warming Warnings During McConnell’s Tenure in the Senate:

1985 – Villach Conference | Consensus amongst experts, global warming inevitable, calls on governments to “consider international agreements to take action to restrict emissions”
1987 – Montreal Protocol of the Vienna Convention | “imposes international restrictions on emissions of ozone-destroying gases”
1988 – Toronto Conference | “calls for strict, specific limits on greenhouse gas emissions; UK Prime Minister Thatcher is first major leader to call for action”
1989 – Global Climate Coalition established | created by “fossil-fuel and other U.S. industries to tell politicians and the public that climate science is too uncertain to justify action”
1990 – First IPCC Report | “world has been warming and future warming is likely”
1992 – Rio de Janeiro Conference | “produces UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, but U.S. blocks calls for serious action”
1995 – Second IPCC Report | “detects ‘signature’ of human-caused greenhouse effect warming”
1997 – Kyoto Protocol | “setting targets for industrialized nations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (rejected by U.S. senate in advance)”
2000 – Global Climate Coalition dissolves | “as many corporations grapple with threat of warming, but Oil lobby convinces U.S. administration to deny problem”
2001 – Third IPCC Report | “global warming, unprecedented since the end of the last ice age, is ‘very likely,’ with highly damaging future impacts”
2004 – “First major books, movie, and art work featuring global warming appear”
2005 – Kyoto Treaty | “signed by major industrial nations except U.S.”
2006 – “An Inconvenient Truth” documentary | “persuades many but sharpens polarization”
2007 – Fourth IPCC Report | “warns that serious effects of warming have become evident”
2009 – Copenhagen Conference | “fails to negotiate binding agreements,” hopes fade of “avoiding dangerous future climate change”
2015 – Paris Agreement | 196 nations/state parties “pledge to set targets for their own greenhouse gas dust and to report their progress” | McConnell sends letter “urging states not to comply with EPA’s Clean Power Plan”
2017 – McConnell succeeds at urging Trump to pull United States out of Paris Agreement
2018 – Katowice Climate Change Conference COP24 | “leaders reach deal bolstering Paris Agreement,” but not United States, “U.S. held event promoting fossil fuels“

In a stunning rebuke of the 800 million people across the globe who are impacted by global warming, McConnell has consistently corralled his senate colleagues, and now the current president, to maintain staunch opposition to the science behind the global warming warnings. Despite the scientific facts, and the yearly physical proof that climate change is a reality, McConnel persists at denying the research and guidance of experts, and plows forward with legislating in conflict with the damaging impact of climate change reality.

Unfortunately, McConnell’s thirty-four years representing Kentucky in DC have not proven to be a career of public service, but rather of self-service. Hundreds of thousands of lives have been lost, and many millions are at stake.