By Lorraine Chow
EcoWatch (6/13/18)
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) voted unanimously over the weekend to no longer accept campaign contributions from fossil fuel companies, Huffington Post reported.
The proposal was reportedly introduced by Christine Pelosi, a member of the DNC and the daughter of House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi.
“Climate change caused by the burning of fossil fuels represents an existential threat to civilization,” the text states, “and Democrats committed in our 2016 Platform to curbing the effects of climate change, protecting America’s natural resources, and ensuring the quality of our air, water, and land for current and future generations.”
The resolution cites President Obama’s ban on all corporate PAC donations to the DNC as well as his Farewell Address, in which he called on efforts to “reduce the corrosive influence of money in our politics, and insist on the principles of transparency and ethics in public service.”
The vote was cheered by environmentalists who have pushed progressive lawmakers to affirm their commitment to the climate crisis and swear off contributions from fossil fuel companies.
The fossil fuel industry contributed a record $100 million into the last presidential campaign and the vast majority was spent on Republicans, according to filings compiled by Greenpeace. Fossil fuel funds comprised 57 percent of Texas Senator Ted Cruz’s Super PAC. Chris Christie, Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio also received significant fossil fuel contributions.
Republicans received about $53.7 million from oil and gas companies during the 2016 election cycle, but Democrats also received about $7.6 million. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton received 7 percent of her Super PAC money from oil and gas interests, Greenpeace revealed.
Looking to the grassroots
The resolution urges the DNC to encourage grassroots donors and “reject corporate PAC contributions from the fossil fuel industry that conflict with our DNC Platform” in order for Democrats “to walk our talk in harmony with our stated beliefs and convictions.”
The DNC will also consider banning contributions of over $200 from donors employed by the fossil fuel industry, according to HuffPost. That vote will take place at a board meeting in Chicago in August.
“So if Eddie Exxon is your college buddy and a frat-boy friend of yours and he’s employed at an Exxon gas station and wishes to donate $25 to have a barbecue and a beer with you, fine,” RL Miller, president of the super PAC Climate Hawks Vote Political Action and a co-author of the resolution explained to the website. “But if Edward J. Exxon in Exxon’s middle management thinks you’re worth contributing $2,700 to out of his own salary, that is much more concerning to us.”
The vote was cheered by environmentalists who have pushed progressive lawmakers to affirm their commitment to the climate crisis and swear off contributions from fossil fuel companies.
“Wow. This is a big step AND it’s serious proof that our pressure is working,” the Sunrise Movement, a youth-led climate action network, tweeted. “Now, the DNC must step up further and refuse all donations over $200 from fossil fuel execs to prove they value young people’s futures over oil and gas profits.”
(Commoner Call cartoon by Mark L. Taylor, 2018. Open source and free for non-derivative use with link to www,thecommonercall.org )
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Scientists Warn: Melting Of Antarctic Ice Sheet Is Faster Than Expected, Scientists Warn
“Things are happening. They are happening faster than we expected.”
By Dominique Mosbergen
The HuffPost (6/14/18)
The Antarctic ice sheet is melting at a faster rate than at any previously recorded time, according to a comprehensive new study.
The planet’s largest ice sheet is now losing more than 240 billion tons of ice every year ― a threefold increase from less than a decade ago. The melting is happening so fast that it could cause sea levels to rise 6 inches by the end of the century, the study projects.
The accelerating pace of melting means rising sea levels could threaten coastal communities far earlier than scientists had expected. North America, particularly the East Coast of the U.S., could be particularly hard-hit.
The study, published Wednesday in the journal Nature, has been described as the most exhaustive analysis ever conducted on the changes to Antarctica’s ice sheet. The research involved more than 80 scientists from 44 international organizations and used data taken from multiple satellites, as well as air and ground measurements and computer simulations.
“We took all the estimates across all the different techniques, and we got this consensus,” Isabella Velicogna, an Antarctic ice expert at the University of California at Irvine, told The Washington Post.
The research shows that Antarctica has lost almost 3 trillion tons of ice since 1992. Of that loss, 40 percent took place from 2012 to 2017.
The study, published Wednesday in the journal Nature, has been described as the most exhaustive analysis ever conducted on the changes to Antarctica’s ice sheet. The research involved more than 80 scientists from 44 international organizations and used data taken from multiple satellites, as well as air and ground measurements and computer simulations. …
- Antarctica Has Lost More Than 3 Trillion Tons Of Ice In 25 Years — Scientists have completed the most exhaustive assessment of changes in Antarctica’s ice sheet to date. And they found that it’s melting faster than they thought. Ice losses totaling 3 trillion tonnes (or more than 3.3 trillion tons) since 1992 have caused global sea levels to rise by 7.6 mm, nearly one third of an inch, according to a study published in Nature on Wednesday. … Read the Rest