The Sixth Extinction (Environmental News)

[Nocturnal Submission]

Just got this from Bulb. It's my 2019 Green Impact Report apparently:

Thanks so much for being with Bulb in 2019. We wanted to show you just how big an impact you’re having.

By being with Bulb, you’re lowering your carbon emissions by 12,053 kg of CO2 per year. That’s the weight of an ankylosaurus.

12,053 kg of CO2 Share

You use 7,384 kWh of renewable electricity and 5,464 kWh of green gas per year. Before offsetting, this reduces your emissions by 2,907kg of CO2. It would take 6,027 trees to absorb that much in a year.

6,027 trees #poweredbyBulb

And we carbon offset the rest of your gas emissions too, making it 100% carbon neutral. You're offsetting 9,147 tonnes of CO2 each year. This does things like buying new cook stoves for families in Ghana, saving money on fuel and improving the quality of their air.

9,147 kg of CO2 #poweredbyBulb

In total, all Bulb members have reduced their carbon emissions by the equivalent of 5.3 million tonnes of CO2 through renewable energy and offsetting. That’s the weight of 240,000 Diplodocuses. Diplodoci? Diplodoodles? Anyway, you’d need at least 3,117 Jurassic Parks to keep that many dinosaurs.

5.3m tonnes of CO2

[Nocturnal Submission]

If anyone's thinking of moving their power supply contract to Bulb, PM me. I've got a referral link that will save us both a bit of money.

[Nefertiti2]

https://twitter.com/ayanaeliza/status/1251949492078772224?s=21

[ursus arctos]

https://twitter.com/mckinleaf/status/1255413545447108609

[Eggchaser]

Massive oil spill in Siberia caused by the foundations of buildings giving way because the permafrost they're rooted in is melting. Who says irony is dead.

Meanwhile the cunts running the EPA are looking to make America great again by returning regulations to robber baron days.

[Nefertiti2]

https://twitter.com/DoctorVive/status/1274301322821545985?s=20

[Nefertiti2]

https://twitter.com/maxseddon/status/1276484023301353478?s=20

[Eggchaser]

Not sure where to put this, but it seems appropriate that Johnson's New Deal looks to have fuck all green about it. Despite having the worst insulated housing stock in the UK, Grima Cummings is not in favour of doing anything about it, so I guess that's that.

I read a fair bit of environmental news websites and it's becoming increasingly clear that I'm most cases, national Governments are playing less of a role than private enterprise as banks refuse to back coal, solar and insulation gets included in building projects as ROI becomes ever more prevalent and, most telling of all the insurance companies are twitching like hell about climate change risks. It won't be enough, though.

[San Bernardhinault]

There was a moment, 3 or 4 months ago, where I almost wondered if the market-mentalists might have been right about Coronavirus: individuals had stayed home; businesses had moved to work from home; in the US government had done almost nothing and yet people reacting to information had created better outcomes. The Randian lunatics could proclaim that government was redundant.

3 months later and the evidence is in. Relying on individuals and businesses can make changes around the margins, but it's completely insufficient.

Equally, relying on the insurers to make costs prohibitive is clearly not going to be enough to reverse carbon emissions - or even stop builders building in totally unsuitable places for a climate-change world.

[Nocturnal Submission]

I thought that this was a rather good summation by the ever-dependable Roger Harrabin: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-54662615

[delicatemoth]

It's looking like a very bad year for Arctic sea ice. Various scientists predicting that we'll see the first ice-free Arctic summer within ten years.

https://sites.uci.edu/zlabe/arctic-s...concentration/

[anton pulisov]

Yeah, ironically, it is opening up a land rush for Arctic oil reserves.

[anton pulisov]

Not sure where to put this, but it seems appropriate that Johnson's New Deal looks to have fuck all green about it. Despite having the worst insulated housing stock in the UK, Grima Cummings is not in favour of doing anything about it, so I guess that's that.

I read a fair bit of environmental news websites and it's becoming increasingly clear that I'm most cases, national Governments are playing less of a role than private enterprise as banks refuse to back coal, solar and insulation gets included in building projects as ROI becomes ever more prevalent and, most telling of all the insurance companies are twitching like hell about climate change risks. It won't be enough, though.

Solar is now cheaper than oil per kWh in many parts of the southern United States, and that's with the current low oil prices. The only thing keeping oil competitive is subsidies. Obama is often referred to by energy experts as "the fracking president", and probably set solar back by about a decade.

[Eggchaser]

Saw on Twitter today that the same consulting company, Boston Consulting Group, that has a hand in multiple thousands a day advice on Track and Trace is right at the heart of the Government's climate change advice mob, and coincidentally they are Big Oil cronies.

[ad hoc]

Saw on Twitter today that the same consulting company, Boston Consulting Group, that has a hand in multiple thousands a day advice on Track and Trace is right at the heart of the Government's climate change advice mob, and coincidentally they are Big Oil cronies.

cash cow

[ad hoc]

Greta Thunberg is so good. Clear, concise, brilliant. Such an amazing communicator. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/e...truth-society/

[Nocturnal Submission]

This is interesting: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-55763356

[anton pulisov]

yeah maybe toyota are on to something

this looks somewhat more environmentally friendly than strip mining for battery metals

[Eggchaser]

No, they're not. Toyota have resisted the move to battery EVs because they are massively hide bound in the classic Japanese company way. The completely out of touch bloke at the top thinks this, we cannot challenge him.

All fuel cells EVs are is a battery powered by hydrogen, so it doesn't get rid of the need to strip mine. And the production of hydrogen is hugely energy intensive and makes no sense in a car. Allied to storage and delivery problems, maintenance (the Mirai has to be worked on in what is essentially a sealed box in case residual hydrogen remains in the system and leaks), no one can actually buy a Mirai (they are leased with $15k of free fuel, which tells you something) and they are being left far behind by the advances in BEV technologies means it is a dead end.

The head of VW tweeted just the other day that VAG consider it a dead tech, they are swinging full bore behind the MEB BEV platform.

Hydrogen will have a vital role to play in heavy industry (replacing coking in steel, for example) but it ain't going to be in cars.

[ursus arctos]

https://twitter.com/khayhoe/status/1360321695060553730

[Eggchaser]

It's quietly going about its business of making things worse for the future. And when I say it, I mean we.

[Nefertiti2]

https://twitter.com/luriethereal/status/1424796558277677060?s=21

[anton pulisov]

Obama wasn't called the Fracking President for nothing.

[Sporting]

How have the conservative US networks been reporting the latest news? Are they on "ignore" or out-and-out counter attack?

[ursus arctos]

https://twitter.com/lispower1/status/1424767803672903680?s=21

https://twitter.com/mmfa/status/1424892308219125760?s=21