News — global warming

Link

A court ordered the state of Washington to create regulations to prevent global warming. link

See the movie "Disobedience" on 5-5-16 in boulder at 7:30 at Alfalfas grocery (link to local showing). It is about the protests to break free of oil, gas, and coal. See the movie online.

A Public Trust article claims that government has a duty to protect "life, liberty, and property". "Under the “public trust doctrine,” governments must manage the vital natural resources on which human well-being depends for the benefit of all present and future generations. Governments have no right to authorize their destruction to the detriment of constitutional rights to life, liberty and property. These legal rights can serve as an important frame for the public messaging and legal strategy of climate-protecting civil disobedience." Groups of young people are suing federal and state governments. This is a way to frame the governments, oil, coal, and gas companies as the bad criminals and to frame the protesters against global warming as the good law enforcers. link to youth group. RYSE group.

InsideClimate News LA Times LA times in Dec Attorneys- General investgate Exxon.

Film maker will show and discuss 2 short films about renewables here in Boulder at the Boulder Public Library on Monday, 4-25-16, from 6 to 7:45 pm. Refreshments at 5:45. Films you can watch online.

SP 7: From Paris to New York

Very few states in the U.S. have started to transform their economy in a way that would keep climate change at bay, and in a way that matches the Paris climate agreement. In the seventh episode of the series, Sustainability Pioneers visits New York, one of the states taking bold climate action. The goal of New York state’s new energy policy, Reforming the Energy Vision, is to get half of the state’s energy from clean sources by 2030. Sustainability Pioneers also visits Eco Village At Ithaca and Hunt Country Vineyards in the Finger Lakes to see how the energy transition is unfolding at the grassroots level.

SP 5: Becoming Energy Independent

One of Germany’s “green pockets”, Climate Community Saerbeck, shows a model to the world of how to become energy independent in a sustainable way. A town of about 7,000 people started its climate protection and adaptation work in 2009, and in just five years the town was producing more renewable energy than it consumes. Saerbeck now produces 300 percent more renewable energy than the town consumes. Sustainability Pioneers also interviews Ralf Fuecks, the president of Heinrich Böll Foundation, and climate scientist Neil Donahue from Carnegie Mellon University. Neil Donahue explains how we need to reduce our carbon footprint, and Ralf Fuechs offers his view if this is feasible in the U.S.

I think that the Saerbeck story might be of interest to people in Boulder - one of the first things Saerbeck did when they started their climate adaptation and mitigation project was to municipalize its utility. - film maker Kirsi Jansa.