Tacoma Chapter
Our solution to climate change? Democracy.
Please join us! We meet on the first Wednesday of the month at 1 pm, via ZOOM. Our goal, as part of CCL Education, is to provide a space to discuss books, articles, documentaries, and other media about climate activism and related topics. The stimulating discussions and friendly support help us to deal with the challenges of these times.
Find the meeting date and how to submit articles/attend on the homepage under “Upcoming Chapter Events.”
Contact Sue Lepore with any questions.
Article Lists per Month 2023-
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September-
Forests are no longer our climate friends
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/06/opinion/columnists/forest-fires-climate-change.html#:~:text=A%202021%20review%20of%20590,a%20much%2Dfeared%20tipping%20point.
America is using up its groundwater like there's no tomorrow
https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/america-is-using-up-its-groundwater-like-theres-no-tomorrow/
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Anger is most powerful emotion by far for spurring climate action, study finds
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/aug/21/anger-is-most-powerful-emotion-by-far-for-spurring-climate-action-study-finds
How U.S. oil extraction plans will scupper global climate goals
https://www.energymonitor.ai/policy/exclusive-how-us-oil-extraction-plans-will-scupper-global-climate-goals
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Could sand be the next lithium? A cadre of start-ups are building batteries that can store renewable energy in natural materials such as sand, salt and rock.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solutions/2023/08/24/natural-battery-storage/
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A big leap in solar power: the bio-inspired photovoltaic leaf shows greater efficiency
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NASA releases first U.S. pollution map images from new instrument launched to space
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/nasa-first-us-pollution-map-images-tempo-instrument-space/
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COP28 and the limits of eco-modernism
https://drilled.ghost.io/the-limits-of-eco-modernism/?ref=drilled-newsletter
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I thought fossil fuel firms could change. I was wrong.
https://www.outrageandoptimism.org/blog/fossil-fuel-firms-could-change
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The Faustian bargain of reducing air pollution
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August-
Grid Rewiring: an Answer for Biden's Climate Goals?
https://www.eenews.net/articles/grid-rewiring-an-answer-for-bidens-climate-goals/
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Backlash to climate policies is growing
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/07/24/climate-change-backlash-europe/
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America Can't Build a Green Economy without China
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/17/opinion/america-china-clean-energy.html
Adding Clean Energy to the US Power Grid Just Got a Lot Easier
Federal regulators overhauled the process for connecting new energy projects to the power grid.
Read in The Verge: https://apple.news/AbjeCs1uqSlaHROhlS0vzZA
Competing visions of the future are driving a wedge between clean energy companies and traditional environmentalists.
Read in Los Angeles Times: https://apple.news/AObIPq7YjRwqD4_ekbIu9kA
Big Oil quietly walks back on climate pledges
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jul/16/big-oil-climate-pledges-extreme-heat-fossil-fuel?CMP=share_btn_tw
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July-
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Art meets solar: These Dutch startups are making photovoltaics sexy
https://thenextweb.com/news/solar-panels-art-dutch-startups-europe
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Five ways AI could improve the world
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/jul/06/ai-artificial-intelligence-world-diseases-climate-scenarios-experts
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U.S. truck makers reach deal to phase out polluting big rigs
https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2023/jul/06/us-truck-makers-reach-deal-to-phase-out-polluting-/
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Even in Texas, you can't stop the green revolution
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/14/opinion/texas-green-revolution-fossil-fuels.html
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Canada offers lesson in the economic toll of climate change
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/03/business/economy/canada-wildfires-economy.html
Climate misinformation in a climate of misinformation
https://www.stockholmresilience.org/news--events/climate-misinformation.html
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Virtual power plants are coming to save the grid
https://www.governing.com/infrastructure/virtual-power-plants-are-coming-to-save-the-grid
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California just can't kick its coastal gas plant addiction
https://www.latimes.com/environment/newsletter/2023-06-22/california-just-cant-kick-its-coastal-gas-plant-addiction-boiling-point
June-
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https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/01/opinion/the-ocean-is-looking-more-menacing.html
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https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/23/business/australia-lithium-refining.html
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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/may/16/cop28-host-uae-climate-united-arab-emirates
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https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/30/opinion/climate-clean-energy-investment.html
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https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/global-energy-consumption-source
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https://insideclimatenews.org/news/05052023/electric-grid-customer-control/
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https://www.bing.com/search?q=the+earth+is+really+quite+sick+now+and+in+ecological+danger&FORM=AWRE
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Gasoline use isn’t falling fast enough. Targeting ‘superusers’ could help.
https://apple.news/ApDi1tktERBGxqeX20wUVuw
May-
Supreme Court unlocks climate cases by rejecting oil industry bid ​
https://www.eenews.net/articles/supreme-court-unlocks-climate-cases-by-rejecting-oil-industry-bid/
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Nuclear waste is misunderstood
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/28/opinion/climate-change-nuclear-waste.html
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EPA rules may push power plants to capture carbon, is the tech ready?
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/epa-rules-may-push-power-073000695.html
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Clean Tech takes off in Moses Lake
https://medium.com/wagovernor/clean-tech-takes-off-in-moses-lake-211294767929
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Could AI save the Amazon rainforest?
Conservationists in the Brazilian Amazon are using a new tool to predict the next sites of deforestation – and it may prove a gamechanger in the war on logging
Read in The Guardian: https://apple.news/AXLatkRDWQTaCUXo6O8b3fw
Scientists utilize mushrooms powerful enough to digest cigarette butts and their toxic contents: ‘We’re aiming to go even higher’
Read in The Cool Down: https://apple.news/AiWvCRqvHScKmGYDti_QDYg
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Electric car battery investments skyrocketed in 2022
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April-
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More killer tornados will hit the South as global warming creates dangerous new weather patterns
https://fortune.com/2023/03/28/tornado-supercells-more-frequent-southern-us-global-warming-study/
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We need the right kind of climate optimism
Climate pessimism dooms us to a terrible future. Complacent optimism is no better.
https://apple.news/AiAS837HcTHaHiC6qLyUjJg
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House climate hawks pitch "clean" permitting plan
https://www.eenews.net/articles/house-climate-hawks-pitch-clean-permitting-plan/
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Eight reasons why Volkswagen's decision to pick Ontario over Oklahoma matters to Virginia
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Company devises ingenious method of solving major construction problem: recycling wind turbine blade material
https://apple.news/Agj0HxscOQHm0H4e5DNhdnA
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Green hydrogen development-the high tech gamble that turns water into fuel
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March-
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Recapturing excess heat could power most of Europe, say experts
Preventing heat waste largely being ignored as solution to energy crisis, say environmental campaigners
Read in The Guardian: https://apple.news/AUS68_L_BSgK7i5nXao0j6g
Analysis | How energy from Earth’s crust could pull carbon from the sky
A geothermal company announced today it will design and engineer the first purpose-built geothermal and direct air capture plant.
Read in The Washington Post: https://apple.news/AfDlGVzZAThSxKTaNA9zPEQ
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He ran the NAACP. Now he’s leading the Sierra Club's fight against climate change
"There is no green vote without the Black or brown vote," he says.
Read in Los Angeles Times: https://apple.news/Abawv_TpbQx-c6Gx6WferDQ
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Outrage and Optimism, The Bridgetown Initiative by Avinash Persaud
https://www.outrageandoptimism.org/episodes/this-is-the-rainy-day
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The CREST Act of 2022:
Japan adopts plan to maximize nuclear energy, in major shift
https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-business-japan-climate-and-environment-02d0b9dfecc8cdc197d217b3029c5898
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In the Year of Sustainability UAE Takes Significant Leap towards Net Zero 2050 as Unit 3 of Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant Starts Commercial Operations
South Korea to expand its nuclear share to 30% by 2030
February-
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Opinion | A Deal to Help South Africa Is a Breakthrough for the Worldnytimes.com
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Lost for words: fears of ‘catastrophic’ language loss due to rising seastheguardian.com
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How Central Ohio Got People to Eat Their Leftoversnytimes.com
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These remarkable new solar panels can even generate electricity at night
“The coldness of outer space is also an extremely important renewable energy resource.”
Read in The Cool Down: https://apple.news/AwAWf3eaARHahsyPn2eAXAg
Algae-based bioplastic for 3-d printing
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January -
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Snapshots, Hotshots and Moonshots: Images of Climate Change in 2022
Six climate breakthroughs that made 2022 a step toward net zero
The newest crop found on the farm? Solar panels.
Superhot rock energy is growing, but needs more support to reach its full potential
https://www.wnps.org/blog/wa-ecosystems-are-changing-conservation-efforts-are-too
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Climate misinformation spreads on Musk's Twitter
Greta Thunberg tweet https://apple.news/A4V6eiz3gSnuxlCPM2aR_iA
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Rural America Is Battleground for Green Energy | The New York Times
How U.S. oil extraction plans will scupper global climate goals
List of Materials 2020-2021
The Overstory by Richard Powers, 2018. Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about people and trees.
The Future We Choose: Surviving the Climate Crisis by Christiana Figueres and Ton Rivett-Carnac, 2020. They led the negotiations for the UN during the Paris Agreement.
“2040” a documentary of 2019 by Damon Gameau, who travels the world meeting with innovators about climate solutions.
Clade by James Bradley, 2015. Novel about a family coping with planetary changes. Australian author.
Carbon Pricing: A critical perspective for community resistance by Indigenous Environmental Network, 2017. It’s a free PDF download, about 50 pages. It’s a critique of why they don’t support carbon pricing as a viable solution. We try to reach for and understand conservatives but how about the progressive left?
Eat Like a Fish: My Adventures as a Fisherman Turned Restorative Ocean Farmer, by Bren Smith, 2019. Fascinating life story and a hopeful climate solution.
Grassroots Rising, a call to action on climate, farming, food, and a green new deal by Ronnie Cummins, 2020. Transforming our food system is a great climate mitigation action.
Viking Economics: How the Scandinavians Got It Right and How We Can, Too by George Lakey, 2016. An excerpt, Chapter 13, on the clean energy successes of this region.
Doughnut Economics: 7 Ways to Think Like a 21st Century Economist by Kate Raworth, 2020. A brilliant and revolutionary model for meeting the needs of all while staying within the limits of the planet.
Caste: the Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson, 2020. Pulitzer Prize-winning expose of the underlying caste system behind white privilege and racial bias.
White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo, 2018. Thoughtful treatment of race relations in the U.S.
So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo 2018. Frank, hard-hitting, and very useful. A Seattle-based author.
The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson, 2021. By an acclaimed sci-fi author, but with so many fascinating “info-dumps” about climate solutions that it seems halfway non-fiction. Visionary—we keep referring to it as a possible “guide” to the near future.
Various articles from The Economist and from Yes Magazine
How To Avoid a Climate Disaster: the Solutions we Have and the Breakthroughs We Need by Bill Gates, 2021. Recommendations from the business and technology giant, including nuclear power.
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Learning to Die in the Anthropocene by Roy Scranton, 2015. “Calls for a reimagined humanism that will help us meet our stormy future with as much decency as we can muster.” (Naomi Klein)
“Seaspiracy” a 2021 damning documentary about industrial fishing’s impact on ocean life.
Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer, 2013. An excerpt, “Windigo Footprints” on the monstruous greed and ruin caused by capitalist consumer culture.
“Biggest Little Farm” a 2018 documentary by John Chester about developing a sustainable farm on desolate ground outside of Los Angeles.
Various articles from The Economist.
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Everything Change Vol III, an anthology of short stories about climate change and the future, 2021. Free download.
“Breaking Boundaries: the Science of our Planet,” a 2021 documentary by Johan Rockstrom, narrated by David Attenborough. Excellent big-picture science and visuals explaining how human activity has broken the boundaries of most of our planet’s stabilizing systems, but ending with a positive note on “solutions.”
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Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, 2021. Geeky fun not just for geeks! The whole planet must work together to solve an existential threat by the skin of their teeth...sound familiar?