QUICK NEWS, March 11: Childbearing In A Time Of Climate Change; White House Budget Cuts New Energy 70%

Childbearing In A Time Of Climate Change More than a third of millennials share Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's worry about having kids while the threat of climate change looms

Eliza Relman and Walt Hickey, March 4, 2019 (Business Insider)

“…[A new informal] poll found that nearly a third of Americans — and about 38% of those between 18 and 29 years old — believe a couple should consider the negative effects of climate change when deciding whether or not to have children…[A December 2018 NY Times poll found 11% of respondents "didn't want children or weren't sure" because they were "worried about climate change," and 33% were having fewer children than they ideally wanted because of climate-change worries. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez recently made headlines] when she suggested that some young Americans are concerned about having children because of the threat that climate change could pose to future generations…[She said there is scientific consensus that climate change will make the lives of millennials’ children “very difficult" and said her peers] are grappling with the question: "Is it OK to still have children?"

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…[The informal SurveyMonkey Audience poll] found that nearly 30% of Americans either strongly agree, agree, or somewhat agree that a couple should consider the negative and potentially life-threatening effects of climate change when deciding whether or not to have children. Just more than 8% of Americans strongly agreed that climate change should be a consideration…About 18% of Americans strongly disagreed that the future impacts of climate change should be considered by would-be parents…[22%] said they neither agreed nor disagreed, and 7% said they did not know…Notably, younger people are much more likely to consider the threats of a planet more prone to extreme weather, droughts, floods, and wildfires when deciding whether to have kids…Agreement was also linked to the belief that climate change is man-made…” click here for more

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White House Budget Cuts New Energy 70% Trump Again Seeks Deep Cuts in Renewable Energy Funding

Ari Natter, March 7, 2019 (Bloomberg News)

“…[The Trump White House’s opposition to New Energy is made clear in severe proposed budget] cuts to the U.S. Energy Department division charged with renewable energy and energy efficiency research…[According to an anonymous spokesperson, the] Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy [EERE] would see its $2.3 billion budget slashed by about 70 percent, to $700 million…The request is unlikely to be granted by Congress, especially with Democrats in charge of the House, but the figure represents an opening bargaining position for negotiations by the White House…

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...[EERE, which] provides hundreds of millions of dollars a year in grants and other financial assistance for clean energy, has financed research into technologies ranging from electric vehicles to energy projects powered by ocean waves. It has been credited with financing research to help make the cost of wind power competitive with coal, and cutting the costs of LED lighting…[The White House] has tried to gut the program before, only to be rebuffed by Congress…[C]onservative groups like the Heritage Foundation have called for the office to be eliminated entirely, saying energy innovation is best left up to the private sector…” click here for more

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