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18306
From: ryan, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Stop COP
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November 22, 2022 Stop COP by Robert Hunziker Image by Roxanne Desgagnés. Fossil fuel interests have taken over climate talks. The acronym COP for “Conference of the Parties” should be changed to “Continue Oil Production.” Eighteen of the twenty companies that sponsored UN climate talks at the make-believe Egyptian resort Sharm El-Sheikh either directly support or partner with oil and gas companies. Global Witness/London identified at least 636 fossil lobbyists at COP27. What are fossil fuel lobbyists doing at a climate conference? According to Pascoe Sabido of Corporate Europe Observatory/Brussels: “These findings underline the extent to which this COP has never been about the climate. It’s been about rehabilitating the gas industry and making sure that fossil fuels are on the agenda. This is part of the bigger problem which is linked to the overall corporate capture of the U.N. climate talks… We need to kick the big polluters out.” (Source: Fossil Fuel-Linked Companies Dominate Sponsorship of COP27, DeSomg, Nov. 16, 2022) Of course, fossil fuel interests sponsor big pavilions, like showtime at Las Vegas conventions. Dubai’s racy, futuristic colorful pavilion was a standout as an effective ploy to convince the world of their serious intentions for net zero. Oh, please! Hopefully, a massive worldwide movement to Stop COP28 Dubai can effectively reverse the embarrassment of holding next year’s COP in the kingdom of oil. It’s an insult to climate scientists. Is Saudi Arabia next? Adding insult to even the remotest idea of holding further COPs, COP 27 was a virtual disaster. “Indeed, the real legacy of COP27 could well be exposing the climate summit for what it has become, a bloated travelling circus that sets up once a year, and from which little but words ever emerge… in the course of 27 COPs, there has never been a formal agreement to reduce the world’s fossil fuel use.” (Source: Bill McGuire, professor emeritus, Geophysical & Climate Hazards, UCL, The Big Takeaway From COP27? These Climate Conference Just Aren’t Working, The Guardian, Nov. 20, 2022). Hopefully, a movement to stop COPs altogether will emerge from the shadows of backroom and boardroom negotiations resembling fraternity initiations of naive pledges turned into nincompoops. COP is that ridiculous and overly expensive as well as duping the public into thinking something constructive is happening. Stop COP! According to Bill McGuire: “Some old hands have labelled it (COP27) the worst COP ever, and I doubt many would argue… it is becoming increasingly difficult to view these events as anything other than photo opportunities for presidents and prime ministers who turn up simply to make the world think they care… hijacking by the fossil fuel sector, and failure, year on year, to do the job they were set up to do, surely means that COP is no longer fit for purpose.” Rampant Climate Disinformation Meanwhile climate disinformation campaigns around the world are experiencing a strong revival after a short spell of relative pause. Interestingly, as actual climate crises spread across the land, so does denialism and disinformation. Climate Action Against Disinformation, a global coalition of over 50 leading climate and anti-disinformation organizations recently released results of a new study. According to Jacob Dubbins, a coauthor, while at COP27: “The rise of climate misinformation is undermining climate action here at COP27.” (Source: November 15, 2022 Climate Disinformation Campaigns Threaten COP27 Progress, a New Report Concludes, Inside Climate News) Fox News is spotlighted in the new study as a powerful force of false and misleading information fueling unfounded public skepticism and going so far as to “inspire violence against policymakers who advocate strong climate action,” Ibid. Exactly how fascists earn their stripes. “The report included a scientific survey on the media consumption habits of thousands of people in six different countries: Brazil, Australia, India, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States. It found that Americans, especially those who regularly watch Fox News, are the most likely among the study’s participants in all six countries to hold false beliefs about global warming,” Ibid. Common misrepresentations and outright lying includes statements that renewable energy is more expensive than fossil fuels and that the world’s scientific community is still not sure about the real cause of global warming. Worldwide right-wing media pokes fun at global warming as if it’s child’s play. Twenty-five (25%) of Americans think climate change is a “hoax,” a consistent talking point of Donald Trump and the GOP. To the contrary: “A staggering 99.9 percent of peer-reviewed studies on global warming conclude that climate change is real and that humans are causing it by burning fossil fuels and clearing land for agriculture.” (Source: More Than 99.9% of Studies Agree: Humans Caused Climate Change, Cornell Chronicle, October 19, 2021) According to Harriet KIngaby, co-chair of Conscious Advertising Network in a letter submitted to COP27 presidency and country delegations: “Climate disinformation is a global problem, and it is a huge problem… We are on track for 2.8°C of global warming while emissions continue to rise, humanity faces climate catastrophe, yet vested economic and political interests continue to organize and finance climate misinformation and disinformation to hold back action.” In a twisted perverted manner, COP events feed into the disinform agenda by falsely leading the public into believing something is being done when nothing at all is accomplished. The majority of people do buy into COPs as somehow constructive because of mainstream media coverage that highlights minor accomplishments, like tossing a monetary bone to lesser-developed countries. STOP COP Robert Hunziker lives in Los Angeles and can be reached at rlhunziker@gmail.com. |
18307
From: Jeff/Lake Almanor,CA, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Not to worry, Gavin Newsom will save us
URL: https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/21/politics/biden-funds-diablo-nuclear-california-climate/index.html
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In a sweeping climate and clean energy bill signed by Newsom in September, California state lawmakers voted to keep the Diablo plant open until at least 2030. The limited-term extension of the plant’s license, Newsom said, was “structured to take advantage of the opportunity for federal support.” The funding is a windfall not only for PG&E, but also for Newsom, who has pressed for the Diablo plant to stay online to help stabilize the state’s power grid with zero-emissions electricity. |
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18311
From: akira, [DNS_Address]
Subject: 2021: PG&E boosts lobbying spending ...
URL: https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2021/08/pge-boosts-lobbying-spending-as-dixie-fire-burns/
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August, 2021 PG&E boosts lobbying spending as Dixie Fire burns Evacuations for the Dixie Fire, the largest singular fire in California history, expanded to five counties on Wednesday. The fire is believed to have been started by faulty power fuses owned by the Pacific Gas & Electric corporation, a San Francisco-based energy company that has reportedly been the cause of over 1,500 wildfires in California between 2013 and 2019. The company spent nearly $5 million on lobbying at the federal level and $2.4 million on the state level in 2020 and 2021. PG&E spent just about $1.8 million on lobbying efforts so far in 2021. While it’s a far cry from the company’s biggest lobbying year in 2010 ($45 million), PG&E is on track to meet or beat its total lobbying spending in 2020 and 2019. And with the Dixie Fire causing mass destruction in California, the company could be on its way to the same lobbying efforts it took after the widespread Camp Fire in 2018. In 2018, PG&E spent nearly $10.6 million, more than doubling its 2017 spend of $3.7 million. PG&E’s more modest lobbying investments come in the wake of the company declaring bankruptcy in 2019. The energy company filed bankruptcy after liabilities for fires across California soared to billions of dollars. PG&E spent around $2.6 million on statewide lobbying efforts in 2018. The Camp Fire, caused by faulty PG&E equipment, resulted in 18,800 structures being destroyed, 153,335 acres burned and $8.4 billion in insured losses. PG&E has maintained a large financial presence in both statewide and national elections. California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) received over $227,000 in campaign donations from the company’s PAC and employees over the last 20 years while decrying the company as an example of “corporate greed” in 2019. In total, the company and its employees spent over $1.4 million on donations to U.S. political figures and organizations on the federal level in 2020, up from about $1.3 million dollars in 2018. On the state level, the company and employees spent about $1.4 million, down from the earlier mentioned figure of $2.6 million in 2018. Two members of the California U.S. House Delegation, Reps. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) and Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) received contributions during the 2020 election cycle from PG&E PACs and employees at $19,405 and $11,235 respectively. While PG&E’s financial donations may seem large to the average person, they pale in comparison to nationwide corporations such as Koch Industries or the Chevron Corp., whose PACs and employees contributed around $13.1 million and $8.6 million to federal campaigns respectively in 2019-2020. Like the Camp Fire in 2018, the Dixie Fire has caused large amounts of devastation and destruction. It has burned over 770,000 acres of land and destroyed over 1,230 structures. In a July 18 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, PG&E stated that it believed the fire was connected to a report by a PG&E employee responding to a power outage at Cresta Dam in Plumas County, who said that they saw a few blown fuses on a power pole in the area but was unable to reach them for nine hours due to road closures and rocky terrain. Even while California Democrats have espoused their support for climate change legislation, many Democratic state lawmakers have received and accepted PG&E money, with some donations reaching the maximum corporate fundraising limit for California." |
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