Top news and views about Environment and Cleantech for 31 Mar 2017
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5 Cities Leading the Charge on Climate Action
For centuries, cities have been at the heart of the arts and culture, thriving businesses and innovative ideas. More than 90 percent of urban areas are coastal, which means that most cities on the planet are extremely vulnerable to the effects of the climate crisis as sea levels rise, polar ice melts and powerful storms sweep across these regions.
The sheer number of people who live in cities now and who are expected to move into them in the coming years is startling. Around two-thirds of the world's population is predicted to live in an urban area by 2050, which means there are also major financial implications when extreme weather like unexpected storms and flooding cause disruptions in businesses and governments.
Full story at http://bit.ly/2niPuDQ
Bernie Sanders says oil company knows more about climate change than 'pathetic' Donald Trump
Bernie Sanders has claimed that an oil company “understands more about climate change” than Donald Trump, after ExxonMobil urged the government not to withdraw the US from the Paris climate accord.
In a letter to the government, a senior official from the US’s largest oil company, said the accord signed in 2015 was “an effective framework for addressing the risks of climate change”.
“It is prudent that the United States remain a party to the Paris agreement to ensure a level playing field, so that global energy markets remain as free and competitive as possible,” wrote Peter Trelenberg, Exxon’s manager for environmental policy and planning.
Full story at http://ind.pn/2niUZ5c
Can China pick up US slack on climate change?
Some analysts have expressed concern this could enable Beijing -- the world's leading emitter of greenhouse gases -- to water down its own commitments, but others say it is more likely China will step into a leading role in the vacuum left by Washington.
"China now finds itself in the unenviable position of being world leader on climate change, thanks to Trump's willfully blind irresponsibility," Mark Lynas, a fellow at the Alliance for Science at Cornell University, wrote for CNN Opinion.
Speaking Wednesday, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Lu Kang said the country will "continue to work with relevant parties for enhanced dialog and cooperation, hand-in-hand to manage climate change, to promote efforts to put the global economy on a green and low carbon path, in order to pass on a better future to the generations to come."
Full story at https://cnn.it/2nixDNg
Energy Department climate office bans use of phrase ’climate change’
A supervisor at the Energy Department's international climate office told staff this week not to use the phrases "climate change," "emissions reduction" or "Paris Agreement" in written memos, briefings or other written communication, sources have told POLITICO.
Employees of DOE’s Office of International Climate and Clean Energy learned of the ban at a meeting Tuesday, the same day President Donald Trump signed an executive order at EPA headquarters to reverse most of former President Barack Obama's climate regulatory initiatives. Officials at the State Department and in other DOE offices said they had not been given a banned words list, but they had started avoiding climate-related terms in their memos and briefings given the new administration's direction on climate change.
The Office of International Climate and Clean Energy is the only office at DOE with the words "climate" in its name, and it may be endangered as Trump looks to reorganize government agencies. It plays a key role in U.S. participation in the Clean Energy Ministerial and Mission Innovation, two international efforts launched under Obama that were designed to advance clean energy technology.
Full story at http://politi.co/2niYrg9
Michael Moore says Donald Trump just began the 'extinction of human life on Earth'
Donald Trump just began the “extinction” of human life on Earth, according to Michael Moore.
The US President signed an executive order on Tuesday that rolls back Obama-era rules aimed at tackling global warming.
The order will look to suspend, rescind or flag for review six of Barack Obama’s climate change measures in an effort to boost the use of fossil fuels.
In a Facebook post, Mr Moore said: “Historians in the near future (because that may be the only future we have) will mark today, March 28, 2017, as the day the extinction of human life on Earth began.”
Full story at http://ind.pn/2niYrNb
Stephen Colbert Ridicules Donald Trump’s Push For ’Clean Coal’
“[It] sounds like an oxymoron, but so does President Trump.”
Stephen Colbert trashed President Donald Trump’s proposed rollback of Obama-era environmental regulations on Tuesday.
The “Late Show” host mocked the president’s insistence that his push for so-called “clean coal” would have no negative effect on the environment.
“I know clean coal sounds like an oxymoron, but so does President Trump,” Colbert said.
Full story at http://huff.to/2niEO87
Prepared by @SydesJokes
Original post from: http://CrowdifyClub.com/SydesJokes