Their answer: NOW How many years until we must act on climate? Zero, say these climate thinkers
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Peter Kalmus: ‘Zero years’
We have zero years before climate and ecological breakdown, because it’s already here. We have zero years left to procrastinate. The longer we wait to act, the worse the floods, fires, droughts, famines and heatwaves will get . .
Peter Kalmus is a climate scientist at Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Lab. He is the author of Being the Change: Live Well and Spark a Climate Revolution
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Jennifer Francis: ‘We cannot wait’
We need to immediately stop subsidizing all aspects of the fossil fuel industry. According to this report, the fossil fuel industry received $66bn in 2016, while renewables (excluding nuclear) only received $9.5bn. We should instead use those billions of subsidy dollars to ramp up the renewable energy industry: generation (wind, solar, nuclear), distribution (smarter grid), storage and electric transportation. . .
Jennifer Francis is senior scientist at the Woodwell Climate Research Center
3
Michael Mann: ‘Strictly speaking, zero’
How many years do we have to act? Strictly speaking, zero – which is to say, that we must act, in earnest, now. We have a decade within which we must halve global carbon emissions. As I argue in The New Climate War, this requires dramatic systemic change: no new fossil fuel infrastructure, massive subsidies for renewables, carbon pricing and deploying other policy tools to accelerate the clean energy transition already under way. . .
Michael E Mann is distinguished professor of atmospheric science and director of the Earth System Science Center at Penn State University. He is author of the recent book, The New Climate War: The Fight to Take Back our Planet
4
Holly Jean Buck: ‘We need action now’
We need to ramp up action now in order to transform all of our major systems by 2050: energy, transportation, industry, agriculture, waste management. We’ll need to eat less meat, farm in ways that store more carbon in the soils, reforest degraded or abandoned land and restore wetlands. . .
Holly Jean Buck is a postdoctoral research fellow at UCLA’s Institute of the Environment and Sustainability. She is the author of After Geoengineering: Climate Tragedy, Repair, and Restoration
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Mesa City Council accepts City of Mesa Climate Action Plan
The goal of the Climate Action Plan is to lower the City of Mesa's climate impact, serve as a guide for sustainable growth and build resiliency by reducing carbon pollution in City operations. Mesa will use the plan to further study mitigation and adaptation strategies, implement intentional policy direction and support the advancement of innovative technologies.
"The Climate Action Plan affirms Mesa's commitment to resiliency and sustainability," said Mayor John Giles. "Now it's time to engage the community and measure our progress to ensure we pass along a community to future generations that's healthy at every level."
The plan uses four Aspirational Goals that will guide the vision for the future: BY THE YEAR 2050 !
Carbon Neutrality- Reduce the carbon footprint of City operations by 50% by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and enhancing carbon sinks.
Renewable Energy- Prioritize the use of renewable, resilient energy to achieve 100% renewable energy by 2050.
Materials Management- Manage material responsibly and divert 90% of waste from the landfill by 2050.
Community Action- Develop community-based action items to be incorporated into the Climate Action Plan.
City departments will focus on six areas to help to achieve progress towards the goals laid out in the plan. The six focus areas are energy, air quality, heat mitigation, water stewardship, materials management and food systems. The City will work within these areas to create solutions with short-term and long-term benefits. . .
The Climate Action Plan will be a living document that will evolve over time as new strategies, resources, technologies and collaborations come to light.
For more information and to see a copy of the Climate Action Plan, visit www.mesaaz.gov/climateaction.
Contact: Casey Blake
(480) 644-3662
casey.blake@mesaaz.gov
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Now Is Our Last Best Chance to Confront the Climate Crisis
With Joe Biden in office, a serious plan to combat climate change is finally in our sights — but the clock is ticking, and there is no more room for error
The Earth’s climate has always been a work in progress. In the 4.5 billion years the planet has been spinning around the sun, ice ages have come and gone, interrupted by epochs of intense heat. The highest mountain range in Texas was once an underwater reef. Camels wandered in evergreen forests in the Arctic. Then a few million years later, 400 feet of ice formed over what is now New York City. But amid this geologic mayhem, humans have gotten lucky. For the past 10,000 years, virtually the entire stretch of human civilization, people have lived in what scientists call “a Goldilocks climate” — not too hot, not too cold, just right . . .
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