The MCAN Climate Minute - Technology shall set you free...

Good morning everybody and welcome to the MCAN Climate Minute.  It's a gloriously warm morning here in Massachusetts and Ted and Rob ponder the meaning of a heat wave in May (after a particularly chilly spring), the "climate change is stalled" meme, and thoughts about technology reversing what technology has wrought.  Grab yourself a morning cuppa and pull up a chair as we work our way through this week's Climate Minute. It's May 1st and we're looking at the second day of an expected three day 90 degree heatwave.  Weatherspark.com has some neat graphs and good information showing what an outlier this kind of weather is for May in Massachusetts. The earlier cooler weather this spring had some thinking global warming was on the wane, and a story in the BBC regarding evidence of a stall in projected temperature increases had some worried that this evidence would be used by climate change skeptics to further frustrate efforts to turn to clean energy and sustainable living.  Well, not only did the story itself promise no succor for sketpics; "We would expect a single decade to jump around a bit but the overall trend is independent of it, and people should be exactly as concerned as before about what climate change is doing," said Dr Otto. Is there any succor in these findings for climate skeptics who say the slowdown over the past 14 years means the global warming is not real? "None. No comfort whatsoever," he said. But if you look at the underlying data, which this post on Thinkprogress.org does, the long march toward a hotter planet is still pretty undeniable. In the face of this continued evidence and the mounting examples of the damage climate change will entail, perhaps it's time to start thinking about geoengineering?  Here's an interesting Slate article with some thoughts on getting carbon out of the atmosphere and slowing climate change. Now, of course, there's a tinfoil-hat bridge side to this argument as well...  According to some folks, geoengineering is a front for those nefarious black helicopter globalist trilateral folks who also want to fluoridate your water to turn you into a communist.  Alright, moving on... CBS' "Face the Nation" had a segment on climate change and possible connections to extreme weather.  It was a fascinating discussion and well worth the fifteen minutes it takes.  This is where Ted got his "Weather is your mood, climate is your personality" quote. As we discussed during a previous episode, the carbon bubble bears watching.  Last week China announced steps they are taking to cap greenhouse gas emissions.  Those initiatives, including a cap on carbon emissions, are another "attack" upon the value of the large fossil fuel companies.  As their reserves of fossil fuels become less valuable (because they are less likely to be used), these companies values will fall and will have a significant impact on the stock market, and thus many Americans' retirements. One way to protect your investments is to diversify (or divest entirely!) into "green investments."  Massachusetts just announced a program to make that much easier with the announcement of the Green Bond program.  These tax-exempt bonds will support green, renewable, and efficient energy projects throughout the state. Here are the quick-hit links Ted talked about: Terracide, the act of killing the planet.  (So the oil companies are Terraists...) Here's Elizabeth Kolbert's excellent New Yorker piece on Keystone XL and why the President must show leadership and reject the pipeline. Here's an interesting story on how Keystone played a major role in the primary for the US Senate race here in Massachusetts. And finally, here's a good take on how Keystone has moved the mainline climate organizations to value grassroots efforts. Looking for something to do this weekend?  Our friends at Mass Interfaith Power and Light are holding a great event this Sunday in Framingham where they'll talk about how to move the Commonwealth to a future beyond fossil fuels.  For more details go to our calendar listing here. As always, it's been a pleasure sharing climate news and views with you.  You know, you can subscribe to our iTunes feed and get our podcasts automatically here.  Feel free to give us your thoughts on our Facebook page, or through old-fashioned email. You can donate and support the Climate Minute and all of MCAN's other climate change fighting activities by hitting that "donate now" button, or going to www.massclimateaction.net/donate. Remember, for climate activities near you check out our MCAN climate action calendar.  You can enter events as well as browse for interesting things to do. As always -- remember, for these reasons we have discussed, the United States must place a price on carbon.