QUICK NEWS, September 17: History’s Moment – The Time To Fight; Transportation Electrification Faces Off Against Oil
History’s Moment – The Time To Fight The Climate Crisis and the Case for Hope; Protesters and politicians are stepping up and fighting for the future we want. Will 2019 be remembered as a turning point?
Jeff Goodell, September 16, 2019 (Rolling Stone)
“…[A] decade or so from now, when the climate revolution is fully underway and Miami Beach real estate prices are in free-fall due to constant flooding, and internal combustion engines are as dead as CDs, people will look back on the fall of 2019 as the turning point in the climate crisis…[when] it became clear that people were not going to give up their future on a habitable planet without a damn good fight…It’s not easy to feel hopeful at this dark hour…Climate scientists tell us that nations of the world need to cut carbon pollution in half by 2030 to avert the worst impacts of the climate crisis. Yet in 2018, carbon emissions grew faster…[But] Greta Thunberg, a 16-year-old Swedish climate activist, has become a media star for calling CEOs and politicians liars and thiefs who have stolen her future – and the future of millions of other voiceless people…
…[T]ens of thousands of people will participate in a global climate strike on September 20th to demand action. CNN just devoted seven hours of coverage to climate change. In the U.S., a majority of registered voters now say climate change is an ‘emergency’…[Moral courage and financial panic are beginning to drive action because] it is blindingly obvious to anyone who thinks honestly about it that the beginning of the end of the fossil fuel era is nigh. It’s just a question of how much damage to the climate they will do before they topple over into the tar pit of history…[The lesson is clear: It is] up to us to choose the future we want…” click here for more
Transportation Electrification Faces Off Against Oil The oil industry vs. the electric car; Electric vehicles could make up nearly half the fleet of passenger cars and trucks by 2040. But oil and gas companies are striking back.
Gavin Bade, September 16, 2019 (Politico)
“The oil industry is trying to crush the booming electric car movement…[Oil-backed groups have challenged electric companies’ plans to expand charging infrastructure] in 10 states…The counterattack involves an array of trade associations and industry-funded political groups…[including the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers, a trade group for gasoline makers, the American Petroleum Institute joined with the Koch-funded Americans for Prosperity. But consumer] advocates and some independent charging firms argue that utilities, which operate as monopolies, are using electric vehicle infrastructure to pad their balance sheets because their captive customers will have to pay for the investments…
Utilities say the upfront cost of charging stations is minimal for ratepayers, and that customers' bills may actually drop as electric vehicle adoption grows because the cost of power grid infrastructure will be spread over a larger base of power demand…[T]he oil sector hasn’t seen much success combating utility plans…[but many expect oil companies to keep up the fight because electric vehicles are becoming cost-competitive, making the biggest hurdle to greater adoption the deployment of] enough chargers to fuel their growth…[In response, utilities and some automakers] have stepped up their electric vehicle lobbying…[and environmental groups] have come to view them as powerful allies to cut transportation pollution…[State regulators will increasingly be on] the front lines of the battle…” click here for more
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