Amazon Employees for Climate Justice walk out and rally at the company's headquarters to demand that leaders take action on climate change in Seattle, Washington on Sept. 20, 2019. JASON REDMOND / AFP via Getty Images
The world's largest online retailer is making it slightly easier for customer to make eco-conscious choices.
<p>Amazon announced Wednesday that approximately 25,000 products will receive a "Climate Pledge Friendly" designation to guide customers toward products that are helping the retail giant meet its commitment to be carbon neutral in 20 years, as <a href="https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-amazon-com-climatechange/amazon-launches-climate-friendly-program-to-help-shop-for-sustainable-products-idUKKCN26E0TB" target="_blank">Reuters</a> reported.</p><p>Amazon noted that the label will apply to a broad range of products. In a <a href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200923005297/en/Amazon-Launches-%E2%80%98Climate-Pledge-Friendly%E2%80%99-to-Make-It-Easier-for-Customers-to-Discover-and-Shop-for-Sustainable-Products" target="_blank">press release</a>, the company said, "Climate Pledge Friendly selection includes grocery, household, fashion, beauty, and personal electronics products, as well as items from a range of other categories — from brands including Seventh Generation, Burt's Bees Baby, and HP Inc. Climate Pledge Friendly products are clearly labeled in shopping results, have additional sustainability information on the product page, and are featured in a dedicated section of our store."</p>
<p>Amazon has been under increasing pressure from its own employees who have <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/amazon-employees-for-climate-justice-risk-2644930204.html" target="_self">risked their own careers to speak out</a> against the company's climate policies. The Seattle-based company has an enormous carbon footprint due to its commitment to speedy deliveries, its transportation emissions and its data centers, as Reuters reported.</p><p>A paper in <em>Environmental Science & Technology</em>, a scientific journal published by the American Chemical Society, found that going to a physical store actually has a lower carbon footprint than shopping on Amazon. That's due to the fact that people tend to buy just a few items online. When they go to a store, they are more likely to stock up and reduce the need for further trips. Also, the demand for faster shipping leads to inefficient packing and delivery routes, as <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/23/business/amazon-climate-friendly-products/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a> reported.</p>
<p>Environmental activists and people working to make delivery systems more environmentally friendly gave a lukewarm reception to Amazon's announcement and expressed concern that the label was a bit of "green washing."</p><p>"Some of the language is a little bit deceiving," said Alexis Bateman, director of the <a href="https://ctl.mit.edu/research/current-projects/sustainable-supply-chains" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">MIT Sustainable Supply Chains Initiative</a>, as <a href="https://www.seattletimes.com/business/amazon/amazon-tries-to-make-it-easier-to-identify-green-products-with-new-climate-pledge-friendly-label/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Seattle Times</a> reported. "Not to minimize the value of animal welfare, fair trade or fair wages." He added that just because a company offers fair wages does not mean it is eco-conscious or reducing its carbon footprint.</p><p>"That said, the fact that Amazon is doing anything in this space is just awesome, because when Amazon acts, then the pressure will be diffused across every actor that sells on their platform and is in competition with them, the biggest retailers and e-tailers of the world," Bateman added.</p>
<p>Other activists echoed the sentiment, viewing the label as a burden passed on to the consumer when the company could share the environmental impact of all its products or cut ties with companies that are not eco-conscious.</p><p>"While Amazon's sustainable shopping site is a good first step, it's not the level of ambition needed," said Jenny Ahlen, director of EDF+Business, a branch of the Environmental Defense Fund, in a <a href="https://business.edf.org/insights/amazon-takes-long-overdue-first-step-in-driving-sustainable-shopping" target="_blank">blog post</a>, as The Seattle Times reported. "Shoppers might be able to look through products with certifications, but what about the hundreds of thousands of other products sold on Amazon that don't have certifications. How will shoppers know what their impacts are?"</p>
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Moms Clean Air Force members attend a press conference hosted by Senator Tom Udall (D-N.M.) and Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) announcing legislation to ban chlorpyrifos on July 25, 2017. Moms Clean Air Force
The Trump administration's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a risk assessment for toxic pesticide chlorpyrifos Tuesday that downplayed its effects on children's brains and may be the first indication of how the administration's "secret science" policy could impact public health.
<p>Several studies have found that babies exposed to chlorpyrifos in the womb can suffer from lower birth weights, attention deficit disorder, autism spectrum disorder, lower IQ and limited working memory, <a href="https://earthjustice.org/news/press/2020/epa-ignores-evidence-chlorpyrifos-causes-permanent-damage-to-childrens-brains" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Earthjustice pointed out</a>. But the EPA on Tuesday discounted those findings, ruling instead that the science on chlorpyrifos' brain-damaging effects "remains unresolved." In doing so, it reversed the findings of EPA scientists from previous administrations.</p>
<p>"This shows that E.P.A. has completely abandoned any commitment to protecting children from this extremely toxic <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/chemicals" target="_self">chemical</a> when their own scientists recommended twice to ban it," <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Natural Resources Defense Council</a> senior director for health Erik D. Olson told <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/23/climate/epa-pesticide-chlorpyrifos-children.html?fbclid=IwAR1oVHFXSRiLg7sx1wgirelbWGK5jBoZ6b_NO0diW0o-RBfJRUTDU4itq6w" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The New York Times</a>. "The science is being overridden by politics."</p>
<p>In Tuesday's conclusion, the EPA discounted several epidemiological studies, including a prominent one conducted by Columbia University that found a connection between chlorpyrifos exposure in utero and developmental disorders in toddlers. This suggests the agency is moving forward with its proposed "<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/epa-limits-science-public-health-2645395622.html" target="_self">secret science</a>" policy that would reject or at least give less weight to the conclusions of studies that do not make their underlying data public. However, several long-term health studies do not publish such data in order to preserve their subjects' privacy. The "secret science" policy has not yet been made an official EPA rule, but the agency already seems to be applying it in the case of the chlorpyrifos assessment. EPA spokesperson James Hewitt said the agency had not been able to confirm the conclusions of the Columbia study.</p><p>"The EPA is ignoring decades of science by leading universities and in doing so, it's neglecting its duty to protect children from pesticides," Earthjustice managing attorney Patti Goldman said in a statement. "Ignoring the demonstrated harm to children doesn't make chlorpyrifos safe, it just shows a commitment to keep a toxic pesticide in the market and in our food at all cost."</p>
<p>EPA scientists sounded the alarm on chlorpyrifos in 2014 and 2016, recommending it be banned from use on food, <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/517654-epa-questions-science-linking-widely-used-pesticide-to-brain-damage" target="_blank">according to The Hill</a>. (It was already banned for household use in 2000). But in 2017, the EPA under Trump <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/epa-pesticide-ban-chlorpyrifos-2338511186.html" target="_self">halted</a> the process of banning the chemical. This <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/pesticide-chlorpyrifos-2458558122.html" target="_self">triggered a round of lawsuits</a>, leading eventually to Tuesday's risk assessment.</p><p>"They kicked the decision back to scientists and said they're reanalyzing it so that's how they got around the courts telling them to decide whether to ban it or not," <a href="https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/" target="_blank">Center for Biological Diversity</a> senior scientist Nathan Donley told The Hill.</p><p>He said Tuesday's assessment suggests it is unlikely that the agency will ultimately decide to ban the pesticide.</p><p>Meanwhile, states including <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/california-chlorpyrifos-ban-2636704080.html" target="_self">California</a> and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/chlorpyrifos-ban-hawaii-2578016885.html" target="_self">Hawaii</a> have taken matters into their own hands and banned the chemical. Corteva, the pesticide's No. 1 maker, has said it will stop producing it by the end of 2020, according to The New York Times. Despite this, Earthjustice pointed to <a href="https://beta.regulations.gov/document/EPA-HQ-OPP-2008-0850-0938" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">EPA documents</a> showing that Corteva has been lobbying the agency.</p>
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This fall brings three new environmental movies. David Attenborough: A Life On Our Planet | Official Trailer
This week marks the official start of fall, but longer nights and colder days can make it harder to spend time outdoors. Luckily, there are several inspiring environmental films that can be streamed at home.
1. Kiss the Ground
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="ccc5f0c92a5603e68aec39e56b0db02a"><iframe lazy-loadable="true" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/K3-V1j-zMZw?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span><p><strong>Streaming On: Netflix</strong></p><p><strong>Premiere Date: Sept. 22</strong></p><p>Between <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/wildfires-california-washington-oregon-photos-2647585008.html" target="_self">wildfires devastating the U.S. West Coast</a> and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tropical-storm-beta-landfall-2647760268.html" target="_self">storms battering the Gulf</a>, the impacts of the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate crisis</a> can feel overwhelming right now. <em><a href="https://kissthegroundmovie.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Kiss the Ground</a> </em>offers an alternative to all of the bad news by focusing on solutions.</p><p>The film, directed by Josh and Rebecca Tickell and narrated by Woody Harrelson, explains how we can heal the Earth through "regenerative agriculture," farming practices that draw carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and into soil as a way to restore soil health, which in turn boosts ecosystems and food supplies.</p><p>"<em>Kiss the Ground </em>shows how feasible it is to make these changes at a grassroots level immediately and make a truly substantive impact with low cost and easy to implement solutions," Executive Producer RJ Jain said in an email. "This is why I got involved."</p>2. Public Trust: The Fight for America's Public Lands
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="5338f7a2931e356910026e5fd76fac56"><iframe lazy-loadable="true" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jsKMTAaj_wQ?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span><p><strong>Streaming On: YouTube</strong></p><p><strong>Premiere Date: Sept. 25, 2 p.m. EDT </strong></p><p>This <a href="https://www.patagonia.com/films/public-trust/" target="_blank">award-winning documentary</a> tells the stories of Indigenous activists, journalists, whistleblowers and historians working to protect America's <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/public-lands" target="_self">public lands</a>. The film focuses on three political struggles: the shrinking of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/bears-ears" target="_self">Bears Ears</a> National Monument in Utah, the mining of Boundary Waters Wilderness in Minnesota and the opening of the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/Arctic-National-Wildlife-Refuge" target="_self">Arctic National Wildlife Refuge</a> to fossil fuel exploration.</p><p><em>Public Trust</em> was directed by David Garrett Byars and produced by Jeremy Rubingh. Patagonia Films, Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard and actor Robert Redford are executive producers. It will be <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGjnIG7puzY" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">released</a> on YouTube in time for <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/national-public-lands-day-2640656776.html" target="_self">National Public Lands Day</a>.</p><p>"Our country is fortunate to have millions of acres of public lands, including National Parks, Monuments, Wildlife Refuges and Wilderness set aside for future generations," Redford said. "Sadly, these lands that belong to you and me are under unprecedented threats from the greed of big corporations, eager to weaken restrictions in the pursuit of profits. Many of our current politicians are also to blame. <em>Public Trust</em> tells the story of citizens who are fighting back. It's a much-needed wake-up call for all of us who want to preserve our unique and wild cultural heritage."</p>3. David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="156438a30836a765d7a92982545fc334"><iframe lazy-loadable="true" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/B_OFZvAd05Y?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span><p><strong>Streaming On: Netflix</strong></p><p><strong>Premiere Date: Oct. 4</strong></p><p>Beloved nature broadcaster <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/David-Attenborough" target="_self">David Attenborough</a> has spent his career introducing viewers to the wonders of our planet. In recent years, his footage of albatrosses swallowing <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/plastics" target="_self">plastic</a> in <em>Blue Planet II</em> has been credited with <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/2018-fighting-plastic-waste-2624606566.html" target="_self">helping to ramp up</a> the global fight against plastic pollution. Now, in this <a href="https://www.wwf.org.uk/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">World Wildlife Fund</a> (WWF)-produced <a href="https://www.attenborough.film/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">documentary</a>, he reflects on the defining moments of his career and the devastating changes he has witnessed.</p><p><em>David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet,</em> which was also produced by Silverback Films and directed by Alastair Fothergill, Jonnie Hughes and Keith Scholey, features an intimate conversation between Attenborough and Sir Michael Palin as the broadcaster reflects on his life and a career that took him to every continent on Earth. In addition to streaming on Netflix, the movie will be available in select theaters starting Sept. 28.</p><p>"For decades, David has brought the natural world to the homes of audiences worldwide, but there has never been a more significant moment for him to share his own story and reflections," WWF executive producer Colin Butfield said in a <a href="https://www.wwf.org.uk/updates/david-attenborough-life-our-planet" target="_blank">statement</a>. "This film coincides with a monumental year for environmental action as world leaders make critical decisions on nature and climate. It sends a powerful message from the most inspiring and celebrated naturalist of our time."</p>From Your Site Articles
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Evacuees wait to board a bus as they are evacuated by local and state government officials before the arrival of Hurricane Laura on August 26, 2020 in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Joe Raedle / Getty Images
By Maria Trimarchi and Sarah Gleim
If all the glaciers and ice caps on the planet melted, global sea level would rise by about 230 feet. That amount of water would flood nearly every coastal city around the world [source: U.S. Geological Survey]. Rising temperatures, melting arctic ice, drought, desertification and other catastrophic effects of climate change are not examples of future troubles — they are reality today. Climate change isn't just about the environment; its effects touch every part of our lives, from the stability of our governments and economies to our health and where we live.
<p>Where would you go if, say, a flood devastated the city you live in? Millions of people around the world have been forced to answer this question. In 2017, 68.5 million people were displaced — more than at any point in human history, according to the <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/research/the-climate-crisis-migration-and-refugees" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Brookings Institute</a>. More than one-third of those were uprooted by sudden weather events, including floods, forest fires and intense storms. A <a href="https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/29461" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">2018 report from the World Bank</a>, which focused on three regions — Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and Latin America — found that without tangible climate action, more than 143 million people in just these three areas will be forced to move to escape the impacts of climate change by 2050.</p><p>But more than <a href="http://visionofhumanity.org/indexes/ecological-threat-register/" target="_blank">1 billion people worldwide</a> will live in countries with insufficient infrastructure to withstand climate change by 2050. The Pacific Islands are expected to be affected especially hard. Sea level there is already rising at almost 0.5 inches per year. Eight islands have already been submerged and two more are close to vanishing. By the year 2100, experts fear <a href="https://qrius.com/disappearing-island-nations-are-the-sinking-reality-of-climate-change/" target="_blank">48 more islands</a> in the Pacific will be completely underwater.</p><p>So what about the people who live there? What do we call these people who will be displaced? It's actually complicated. It's difficult to determine what category these migrants should fall under because no global definition exists. Why does that matter? Without a standard method of classification, there's no way to track how many people are affected or displaced by an environmental or climate event. So the most commonly used term is "environmental refugee."</p>
<p>Experts credit the term and its definition to UN Environment Program (UNEP) researcher Essam El-Hinnawi, who in 1985 wrote the United Nations report titled "<a href="http://wedocs.unep.org/handle/20.500.11822/2651?show=full" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Environmental Refugees</a>." El-Hinnawi defined environmental refugees as:</p><p><em>... those people who have been forced to leave their traditional habitat, temporarily or permanently, because of a marked environmental disruption (natural and/or triggered by people) that jeopardized their existence and/or seriously affected the quality of their life.</em></p><p>This working definition has been the baseline for current debate.</p><p>But according to the 1951 Geneva Refugee Convention, a refugee "is someone who is unable or unwilling to return to their country of origin owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion" [source: <a href="https://www.unhcr.org/en-us/3b66c2aa10" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees</a>]. Environmental refugees do not legally fall under this status.</p>
<p>Why environmental refugees flee their homes is a complicated mixture of environmental degradation and desperate socioeconomic conditions. People leave their homes when their livelihoods and safety are jeopardized. What effects of climate change put them in jeopardy? Climate change triggers, among other problems, desertification and drought, <a href="https://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/green-science/deforestation.htm" target="_blank">deforestation</a>, land degradation, rising sea levels, <a href="https://science.howstuffworks.com/nature/natural-disasters/flood.htm" target="_blank">floods</a>, more frequent and more extreme storms, <a href="https://science.howstuffworks.com/nature/natural-disasters/earthquake.htm" target="_blank">earthquakes</a>, <a href="https://science.howstuffworks.com/nature/natural-disasters/volcano.htm" target="_blank">volcanoes</a>, food insecurity and famine.</p><p>The September <a href="http://visionofhumanity.org/app/uploads/2020/09/ETR_2020_web-1.pdf" target="_blank">2020 Ecological Threat Register Report</a>, by the Institute for Economics & Peace, predicts the hardest hit populations will be:</p><ul><li>Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, the Middle East and North Africa</li><li>Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, Chad, India and Pakistan (which are among the world's least peaceful countries)</li><li>Pakistan, Ethiopia and Iran are most at risk for mass displacements</li><li>Haiti faces the highest risk of all countries in Central America and the Caribbean</li><li>India and China will be among countries experiencing high or extreme water stress</li></ul>
<p>The <a href="http://visionofhumanity.org/indexes/ecological-threat-register/" target="_blank">report also suggests</a> that developed countries like the United States and regions like Europe are not immune. "The European refugee crisis in the wake of wars in Syria and Iraq in 2015 saw 2 million people flee to Europe and highlights the link between rapid population shifts with political turbulence and social unrest." Developed countries including Sweden, Norway, Ireland face little to no threat, the report found.</p><p>Climate change does not impact all people and all parts of the world in the same way. While floods ravage some areas, deserts are spreading in others. Desertification and depleted resources, including shortages of water and fertile land, are long-term consequences of climate change. But one of the biggest threats will be <a href="https://recipes.howstuffworks.com/all-wasted-food-in-u-s-could-feed-84-population.htm" target="_blank">food insecurity</a>.</p><p>"Ecological threats and climate change pose serious challenges to global peacefulness," Steve Killelea, founder and executive chairman of the Institute for Economics and Peace <a href="http://visionofhumanity.org/indexes/ecological-threat-register/" target="_blank">said in the in the 2020 Ecological Threat Report</a>. "Over the next 30 years, lack of access to food and water will only increase without urgent global cooperation. In the absence of action civil unrest, riots and conflict will most likely increase. COVID-19 is already exposing gaps in the global food chain."</p>
<p>The report suggests global demand for food will increase by <a href="http://visionofhumanity.org/indexes/ecological-threat-register/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">50 percent by 2050</a>. That means if there's no increase in food supply, many people could starve or be forced to flee in search of food. Currently, more than 2 billion people around the world are already food insecure.</p><p>When faced with the decision to flee, most people want to stay in their own country or region. Leaving a country requires money and could mean leaving behind family; simply relocating from a rural to urban area in search of work and resources may be easier. Plus, the chance to return and resettle back home is unlikely if a family leaves their country entirely. In instances when an area is temporarily inhabitable, like after a destructive <a href="https://science.howstuffworks.com/nature/natural-disasters/hurricane.htm" target="_blank">hurricane</a>, returning home may be an option. But when coastlines — or entire islands — are underwater, the possibility of going home is out of the question.</p><p>The future impacts of climate change will disproportionately affect the world's poorest but will also pressure countries around the globe through mass migration of refugees. Adaptation and resilience will be the key to reducing displacement risk — both temporary and permanent — in the forms of early warning systems and flood-defense infrastructure, sustainable agriculture and drought-resistant crops, as well as other protections.</p>
<p><em>This story originally appeared in</em> <u><em><a href="https://science.howstuffworks.com/" target="_blank">HowStuffWorks</a><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/r/entryeditor/2647788456#/" target="_self"></a> </em></u> <em>and is republished here as part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story.</em><a href="https://www.howstuffworks.com/about-sarah-gleim.htm" target="_blank"></a></p>From Your Site Articles
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In 'My Octopus Teacher,' Craig Foster becomes fascinated with an octopus and visits her for hundreds of days in a row. Netflix
In his latest documentary, My Octopus Teacher, free diver and filmmaker Craig Foster tells a unique story about his friendship and bond with an octopus in a kelp forest in Cape Town, South Africa. It's been labeled "the love story that we need right now" by The Cut.
<p>As noted by <a href="https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/my-octopus-teacher-craig-foster/index.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">CNN</a>, the film follows Foster as he battles career exhaustion and depression by going for daily swims in the frigid South African coast.</p><p>He becomes fixated upon a common octopus, freediving daily to visit and observe her in her natural habitat. He's amazed by her ability to find clever ways to evade predators and adapt to her environment.</p>
<p>"Before the viewer's eyes, the octopus adapts her crab-hunting strategy for lobster, evades a pyjama shark by climbing onto its back, shape-shifts to resemble seaweed and rocks, and otherwise applies her intelligence and creativity to survive," the <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/2253789-my-octopus-teacher-review-the-strange-lives-of-cephalopods-up-close/" target="_blank">NewScientist</a> observed.</p><p>Foster's fascination and curiosity with her are matched by hers with him, according to a review by <a href="https://www.vulture.com/2020/09/my-octopus-teacher-netflix-doc-just-how-horny-is-it.html" target="_blank">Vulture</a>. The unlikely relationship between them is a mentorship on the fragility of life and man's connection to nature, reported The Cut. Their interaction culminates when the octopus swims up to Foster and lands on his chest, in a display of inter-species connection, the review said.</p>
<p>Throughout the film, Foster tracks the octopus' movements and thereby transports viewers into the octopus' natural world and point of view in a way that has rarely been done before, reported <a href="https://www.biznews.com/good-hope-project/2020/09/21/my-octopus-teacher" target="_blank">BizNews</a>. It brings a "level of consciousness few have experienced before him" to the life of the cephalopod, and some celebrities have vowed never to eat octopus again after watching it, according to the news report and <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/movies/2020/09/22/my-octopus-teacher-netflix-documentary-unexpected-tearjerker/5860006002/" target="_blank">USA Today</a>.</p><p>"If you gain the trust of that animal over a period of months, it will actually ignore you to a certain degree and carry on with its normal life, and allow you to step inside its secret world," Foster told CNN. "The octopus showed me many behaviors that were completely new to science because this animal trusted me."</p><p>Foster told CNN that the greatest lesson the octopus taught him is that humans are part of the natural world and not simply visitors.</p>
<p>The film was backed by the Sea Change Project, an NGO Foster co-founded to create awareness about the South African sea forest. The ecosystem stretches for 800 miles along the coasts of Namibia and South Africa, according to <a href="https://www.voanews.com/arts-culture/octopus-teacher-lets-filmmaker-secret-world#:~:text=It%20has%20received%20eight%20award,film%20and%20best%20ecosystem%20film." rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">VOA News</a>.</p><p>"Our group, our whole idea is to try and get this great African sea forest, kind of the home of the octopus teacher, recognized as a global icon, like the Serengeti or the Great barrier reef, because nobody really knows about it and no one realizes just how important this ecosystem is in terms of <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/biodiversity">biodiversity</a>, in terms of how important it is for the planet," Foster said, reported BizNews. "People have sort of forgotten that the biodiversity of nature is our life support system."</p><p>Several international publications have listed <em>M</em><em>y Octopus Teacher</em> as a must-see, including The Washington Post, Hollywood reviews, and even scientific articles, according to BizNews. It has already won several prestigious awards, including best feature at the <a href="https://earthx.org/film/" target="_blank">EarthX Film Festival</a>.</p>
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A couple react as they go through their destroyed mobile home following Hurricane Laura in Lake Charles, Louisiana, on August 27, 2020. ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP / Getty Images
By Mark Hertsgaard and Kyle Pope
In this autumn of horrific fires and deadly floods, it's easy to overlook one bit of promising news on the climate front: Some major U.S. media coverage of the crisis is finally getting better.
<p>We're seeing the evidence this week as Covering Climate Now—a collaboration of four hundred-plus news outlets, with a combined audience of two billion people—publishes and broadcasts a profusion of stories about climate change and the 2020 U.S. elections. Climate change has been largely overlooked in general-election coverage to date, with one exception: September 14, when Donald Trump said of California's record wildfires, inaccurately, that "science doesn't know" whether the earth will keep getting hotter and his Democratic opponent, Joe Biden, warned that re-electing a "climate arsonist" to the White House would ensure worse blazes in the future.</p><p>Covering Climate Now's <a href="https://www.coveringclimatenow.org/coverage-week-2020" target="_blank">week of coverage</a>, which runs September 21 through 28, aims to give climate change the attention it deserves. The collaborative, co-founded last year by CJR and <em>The Nation </em>in association with <em>The Guardian</em>, aims to help news organizations increase and improve coverage of the crisis as well as its solutions. Even amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the looming Supreme Court battle, and the other huge news stories of 2020, "the climate emergency remains the central question facing the world," United Nations Secretary General António Guterres said in <a href="https://www.coveringclimatenow.org/climate-beat/hnmqv7o1aw1lq9l8aj007y2inrssvn" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">a September 8 interview with Covering Climate Now</a>. As Justin Worland wrote in a landmark <a href="https://time.com/5864692/climate-change-defining-moment/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">special issue of <em>Time</em> magazine</a> on July 7, the U.S. elections will shape whether we "keep driving off the climate cliff or take the last exit."</p>
<p>NBC News, which joined Covering Climate Now in April, kicked off this current week of joint coverage by launching a new series, Planet 2020. Al Roker, the network's chief climate correspondent and long-time weather forecaster, has been talking about climate change on the <em>Today</em> show for months, describing its links to wildfires and hurricanes without wiggle words or alarmism. Now, Roker and cohost Savannah Sellers, the host of NBC's daily digital news show <em>Stay Tuned</em>, are connecting the dots between extreme weather, climate change, and the 2020 elections where, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXMlFFY9uEI" target="_blank">as Sellers reported</a>, "millennials and Gen-Z will make up 37 percent of eligible voters and concern over climate change is … shaping up to be more important to all voting blocs than ever before." Also this week, our partners at Reuters and Agence France Presse delivered a story to their thousands of newsroom clients around the world that <a href="https://news.yahoo.com/richest-1-emissions-twice-poorest-001208383.html" target="_blank">puts the Paris Agreement goals in a new light</a>, reporting, "The richest one percent of people are responsible for more than twice as much carbon pollution as the poorest half of the world's population."</p><p>Good climate coverage by Covering Climate Now partners is begetting good climate coverage among the media as a whole. More of America's leading newspapers are speaking more loudly and plainly about climate change, notably <em>The New York Times</em>, the <em>Washington Post</em>, the <em>Philadelphia Inquirer</em>, the <em>Arizona Republic</em>, and the <em>Los Angeles Times</em>. The latter headlined a September 14 <a href="https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/newsletter/2020-09-14/climate-change-wildfires-california-oregon-washington-todays-headlines/" target="_blank">story about the state's wildfires</a> "A Climate Apocalypse Now." Among magazines, Bloomberg has launched a new digital outlet and accompanying print edition, <em>Bloomberg Green</em>, that is a must-read for the far-reaching economic aspects of the climate story.</p>
<p>On television, Covering Climate Now partner PBS NewsHour continues to set the pace for sustained, informed climate coverage. And on August 8, CNN rebroadcast climate correspondent Bill Weir's "<a href="http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/2008/08/csr.01.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Road to Change</a>," a documentary that <a href="https://www.cjr.org/covering_climate_now/cnn-road-to-change-climate-crisis.php" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">we praised in April</a> as perhaps the best piece of climate journalism ever done by a mainstream US news outlet. </p><p>The problem is, these and other examples of first-rate climate coverage remain the exception.</p><p>Despite recent orange skies over the West Coast and fearsome storm surges in the Gulf of Mexico, not to mention the 32 years since NASA scientist James Hansen's U.S. Senate testimony that man-made global warming had begun, the climate crisis remains a marginal afterthought in most U.S. news coverage. Chris Wallace of Fox News has announced that he will not even raise the subject of climate change when moderating the first presidential debate between Trump and Biden next week.</p>
<p>And consider the scandalous absence of climate change from most coverage of the wildfires, Hurricane Laura, the Iowa derecho, and countless other extreme weather events of 2020. Only one of the ninety-three news segments that ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, Fox, and MSNBC aired during the week after Laura slammed the Louisiana coast connected the storm to climate change, <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/broadcast-networks/broadcast-and-cable-news-coverage-hurricane-laura-was-shallow-and" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">according to a study</a> by the watchdog group Media Matters. Of forty-six segments ABC, NBC, and CBS aired on the California wildfires, <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/broadcast-networks/corporate-broadcast-tv-news-fails-make-crucial-connection-between-record" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">only seven mentioned climate change. </a></p><p>This is media malpractice. It is also, from a business point of view, foolish: the public actually <a href="https://www.dataforprogress.org/blog/2020/9/17/voters-want-to-see-more-climate-coverage-in-the-media" target="_blank">wants more, not less</a>, climate coverage. According to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/23/us-voters-climate-change-guardian-vice-poll" target="_blank">a poll released today</a> by our partners at <em>The</em> <em>Guardian</em> and VICE Media, 74 percent of likely voters want the moderators to ask climate questions at the upcoming presidential debates.</p><p><span></span>We are heartened by the progress Covering Climate Now has made in helping the media rise to the existential challenge of the climate crisis. Yet even as we celebrate that progress this week, we recognize how far there is to go, and how little time we have to get there. The first presidential debate takes place on September 29, and five weeks later is Election Day. Between now and then, newsrooms should <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/the-planet-is-on-a-fast-path-to-destruction-the-media-must-cover-this-like-its-the-only-story-that-matters/2018/10/08/f806a7f0-caea-11e8-a3e6-44daa3d35ede_story.html" target="_blank">follow the advice</a> of <em>Washington Post</em> media columnist Margaret Sullivan: "This subject must be kept front and center, with the pressure on and the stakes made abundantly clear at every turn."</p>
<p><em>This story originally appeared in <a href="https://www.cjr.org/" target="_blank">Columbia Journalism Review</a><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/r/entryeditor/2647788050#/" target="_self"></a> </em><em>and is republished here as part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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An electric car at an eVgo charging station in a parking lot in Dublin, California on June 20, 2018. Smith Collection / Gado / Getty Images
California Governor Gavin Newsom signed an executive order Wednesday that would ban the sale of new cars in California that run only on gasoline by the year 2035. The bid to reduce emissions and combat the climate crisis would make California the first state to ban the sale of new cars with internal combustion engines, according to POLITICO.
<p>"This is the most impactful step our state can take to fight climate change," said Newsom in a <a href="https://www.gov.ca.gov/2020/09/23/governor-newsom-announces-california-will-phase-out-gasoline-powered-cars-drastically-reduce-demand-for-fossil-fuel-in-californias-fight-against-climate-change/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">statement</a> that accompanied the signing of the executive order. "For too many decades, we have allowed cars to pollute the air that our children and families breathe. Californians shouldn't have to worry if our cars are giving our kids asthma. Our cars shouldn't make wildfires worse – and create more days filled with smoky air. Cars shouldn't melt glaciers or raise sea levels threatening our cherished beaches and coastlines."</p>
<p>The threats posed by the climate crisis are playing out in dramatic fashion in California. This summer, the state has seen record-setting wildfires, heat waves and drought. Those mounting climate crisis-related challenges have spurred the move away from the state's leading source of greenhouse gas emissions, as <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2020/09/23/california-electric-cars/" target="_blank">The Washington Post</a> reported.</p><p>"We can't continue down this path," Newsom said at a briefing, as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/23/california-cars-electric-vehicles-gavin-newsom-climate-change" target="_blank">The Guardian</a> reported. "If you care about your kids and your grandkids, if you care about disadvantaged communities, if you care about seniors, if you care about rural communities, if you care about inner city communities that have been underserved by our fossil fuel economy, then you care about the core construct that we are advancing here in this executive order."</p><p>Newsom added that the order will create "green collar jobs" that Californians are well-positioned to capitalize on since 34 <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/electric-vehicles">electric car</a> manufacturers are already in the state.</p>
<p>"Our second largest export in the state of California are electric vehicles," he said, according to The Guardian. "Those 34 manufacturers, those public trading manufacturers, represent close to half a trillion dollars of market capitalization, some $500bn … this is an economic opportunity."</p><p>For the order to be successful, the technology, scalability, and affordability of electric cars would have to improve dramatically in the next decade. Also, the state will need to make sure charging stations are readily available. California currently has the largest market for electric and hybrid vehicles, with roughly 257,000 new registrations for electric vehicles in 2018, according to The Washington Post. Yet, that number was not even 10 percent of the state's new car market.</p><p>While the order is sure to meet legal challenges, it may set the trend that carmakers need to increase their investment in fossil-fuel-free vehicles.</p>
<p>"The automotive industry was already on the road toward electrification as a long term goal, but many automakers have been guilty of setting short term targets for their electrification strategy that never came to fruition," said Jessica Caldwell, director of insights at Edmunds, an online resource for car data, in an emailed comment to <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/23/cars/california-zero-emissions-passenger-vehicles/index.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">CNN</a>. "This rule, if implemented, establishes a specific timeline that they'll collectively need to adhere to. California is a major market that automakers desperately need to maintain sales within to ensure their own viability."</p><p>The announcement also earned the praise of environmental groups.</p><p>"The Governor's Executive Order is a meaningful step in addressing the climate crisis and protecting the health of Californians," said Coalition for Clean Air in an email to <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/09/23/916209659/california-governor-signs-order-banning-sales-of-new-gasoline-cars-by-2035" target="_blank">NPR</a>. "Electrifying transportation will also create jobs and help California move forward in its economic recovery."</p>
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Since April 2020, farmer support for Trump has fallen from 89 percent to 71 percent, according to an August 2020 survey by DTN/The Progressive Farmer. Steve Smith / Getty Imagess
By Leanna First-Arai
In a push to capture the rural vote, 62 percent of which went to Trump in 2016, both the Trump and Biden campaigns are ramping up efforts to appeal to farmers and ranchers.
<p>On <a href="https://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/election/article245908610.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">September 22</a>, the Biden campaign launched a new radio ad blitz in eight battleground states, in which Biden appeals to older voters whose families have lived in rural areas for generations. "No longer are we going to be faced with children or grandchildren believing that the only way they can make it is to leave home and go somewhere else to get that good job," Biden's <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGcsHyT0Xyw&feature=youtu.be&ab_channel=JoeBiden" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">voice assures</a>. "There's no reason why it can't happen here."</p><p>In a contrasting approach, at a <a href="https://carolinapublicpress.org/37377/mountain-strength-trump-plays-to-base-with-visit-to-mills-river-nonprofit/" target="_blank">rally</a> in North Carolina, just a few hours ahead of the opening of the Republican National Convention in August, Trump claimed that, under his administration, "The American farmer has done very well. I never hear any complaints from the American farmer." Remarks later that week during the convention followed suit. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2020/08/24/us/rnc-fact-check#the-economy-is-coming-up-very-rapidly-our-farmers-are-doing-well-because-i-got-china-to-give-them-28-billion-because-they-were-t" target="_blank">"The economy is coming up very rapidly, our farmers are doing well because I got China to give them $28 billion because they were targeted by China,"</a> <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2020/08/24/us/rnc-fact-check" target="_blank">Trump said</a> on the first night of the convention.</p><p>But that assessment doesn't square with the hardship many U.S. farmers are facing — particularly small farmers. U.S. farm bankruptcies increased <a href="https://investigatemidwest.org/2020/04/14/where-are-farm-bankruptcies-happening/" target="_blank">20 percent</a> in 2019, reaching an eight-year high, on account of factors like the trade war, increasing costs of production and crop loss related to the climate crisis.</p><p><span></span>Since April 2020, farmer support for the incumbent president <a href="https://www.dtnpf.com/agriculture/web/ag/livestock/article/2020/08/19/agriculture-confidence-index" target="_blank">has fallen</a> from 89 percent to 71 percent, according to an August 2020 survey by DTN/The Progressive Farmer. A recent <a href="https://www.gao.gov/assets/710/708942.pdf" target="_blank">report</a> by the Government Accountability Office revealed that under the Trump administration, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Market Facilitation Program payments to farmers harmed by the trade war went disproportionately to large-scale cotton and soybean farmers, ignoring the needs of small farmers who grow food. On account of Trump administration changes in payment maximums for the USDA's Market Facilitation Program, the top <a href="https://www.gao.gov/assets/710/708942.pdf" target="_blank">1.3 percent</a> of payment recipients received an additional <a href="https://www.gao.gov/assets/710/708942.pdf" target="_blank">$519 million</a>, while the average individual farmer in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania got $11,829 and $8,661, respectively. The finding is in line with earlier analyses revealing Trump's <a href="https://www.ewg.org/agmag/2019/11/trump-s-hollow-promise-trade-war-relief-small-farms" target="_blank">disproportionate financial support</a> for the largest capitalist farmers.</p>
<p>According to the USDA, <a href="https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/chart-gallery/gallery/chart-detail/?chartId=58426" target="_blank">more than half</a> of the <a href="https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/ag-and-food-statistics-charting-the-essentials/farming-and-farm-income/" target="_blank">2 million farms</a> in the United States are "very small farms," grossing less than $10,000 annually. When asked what political capital this group could hold, Wingate University Assistant Professor of Political Science Chelsea Kaufman told <em>Truthout </em>that the increased pressure small farmers face from forces like the overlapping COVID-19 pandemic and climate crisis could make them a "relatively unique" political force, as has been the case with farmers experiencing economic shocks during past election cycles.</p><p>In 1932, incumbent President Herbert Hoover <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/3742831?casa_token=EH6FRgNDmyYAAAAA%3AWssxfIPB8xWfWNz2BCYonkaRYauNsUtajPGpuCJNNj-iz9yibMfSTuy0r9Zq6hytcZtHrcnNZut5CXzFLTeRYYU9oOJCyVywpxHyYQZyOEp9JxuKAg&seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents" target="_blank">lost votes</a> from normally Republican-voting northern farmers, and the same happened for Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956. Academics <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/3742831?casa_token=EH6FRgNDmyYAAAAA%3AWssxfIPB8xWfWNz2BCYonkaRYauNsUtajPGpuCJNNj-iz9yibMfSTuy0r9Zq6hytcZtHrcnNZut5CXzFLTeRYYU9oOJCyVywpxHyYQZyOEp9JxuKAg&seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">attribute this</a> to low crop prices during election years. According to the <a href="https://cookpolitical.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Cook Political Report</a>, many of what are expected to be key battleground states in 2020, like Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, are also <a href="https://data.ers.usda.gov/reports.aspx?ID=17844" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">top agricultural producers</a>.</p><p>The majority of the smaller farmers <em>Truthout </em>spoke with for this story want to see a federal government that tackles climate change head-on and restructures agriculture to be a solution by encouraging diversified farming that stores (rather than releases) carbon. Industrial agriculture is a <a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/news/25012019/climate-change-agriculture-farming-consolidation-corn-soybeans-meat-crop-subsidies#:~:text=Hot%20Topics%3A-,Industrial%20Agriculture%2C%20an%20Extraction%20Industry%20Like%20Fossil%20Fuels%2C%20a%20Growing,damage%20as%20the%20planet%20warms.&text=change%20in%20mind.-,%22I%20can%20see%20the%20impact%20of,changing%20climate%2C%22%20he%20s" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">major contributor</a> to climate change, through its reliance on chemical fertilizers, the manufacturing of which releases carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide, and depletes the soil of nutrients. It's a system that farmers are "stuck in," says Tom Rosenfeld, who grows apples, blueberries, strawberries and peaches on 120 acres of farmland in southwest Michigan. Rosenfeld purchased a conventional orchard in 2005 and has been converting it to organic ever since, which he says has been a challenge in a system that prioritizes conventional practices. Dealing with climate change has made it even more difficult, a sentiment that reflects a wider experience among farmers. In 2018, <a href="https://filesforprogress.org/memos/regenerative-farming-and-the-green-new-deal.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">75 percent</a> of Farm Aid hotline calls were related to extreme weather and weather-related crises like wildfires.</p>
<p>Rosenfeld says more frequent late freezes due to climate change have been all but impossible to bounce back from. After temperatures dropped to 25 degrees Fahrenheit in May 2020, he lost 65 percent of his strawberries, 40 percent of his blueberries and all of his Red Delicious, Gala, Empire and McIntosh apples. On top of that, the changing climate has brought new pests to the region, like the apple flea weevil, which destroyed a full season's worth of crops when it first appeared in 2010. "Every year I keep thinking, is this it?" he tells <em>Truthout. </em>"I can't afford this financially; I can't afford the time and energy and it doesn't seem to be getting to any kind of manageable place."</p><p>In 2018, when President Trump signed the latest Farm Bill, he reauthorized the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), which provides financial and technical assistance to farmers who implement certain <a href="https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detailfull/national/technical/cp/ncps/?cid=nrcs143_026849" target="_blank">conservation practices</a> like mulching to protect soil, or "<a href="https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/PA_NRCSConsumption/download?cid=nrcs143_026249&ext=pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">karst sinkhole treatment</a>" to protect runoff from reaching groundwater supply.</p><p>But Rosenfeld, who is in the midst of transitioning all 110 acres from conventional to organic, says the program doesn't offer the kind of assistance he needs. When government representatives paid his farm a visit to assess what kind of EQIP program they might support, Rosenfeld says they proposed he build a retention wall near where he fills his sprayer, to help catch runoff. "But what good does that do?" he said, referring to his ultimate goal of moving away from using any kind of hazardous material on his land. "They're not offering the types of programs that are relevant to me as an organic grower."</p>
<p>Rosenfeld says he wants to shift away from using diesel and gas-fueled tractors and to have on-site renewable energy to power his farm. But no existing government programs make that financially feasible. When he considered investing in solar panels a few years ago, he found one program that would have cost him around $30,000, but with the kind of crop loss he has experienced, he couldn't afford it.</p><p>Two hours north of Rosenfeld's farm, in White Cloud, Michigan, Luke Eising is a farmer who uses silvopasture techniques, letting cows, pigs and chickens graze together amid integrated forest and plant landscapes. Rotating the animals to different pastures encourages plants to develop more robust root systems, which returns carbon to the soil and improves soil quality. In addition to producing food for his community, Eising says, being able to help sequester carbon and rebuild degraded soil is a major reason he chose to be a farmer. According to the 2018 United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/" target="_blank">report</a>, sequestering carbon in the soil is the most cost-effective option for economic activity generating "negative emissions." "I very much see it as a solution for food systems," Eising told <em>Truthout</em>.</p><p>Eising would like to see subsidies for corn and soy cut, because he thinks regenerative practices like his would become competitive. "We're fighting an uphill battle when I can see chicken breasts or pork chops in the store for less than I pay to process [my product]," he says, referring to animals raised in confinement and fed monoculture corn and soy feed the federal government subsidizes. Another issue the current administration hasn't helped with, Eising says, is a major meat processing backlog. Whereas Eising can usually get a date within six to eight weeks at a meat processing plant, given meat plant shutdowns amid COVID-19, leading to short supply of meat processing facilities, it's been hard to find a date any time before 2022. "This is not okay. I have animals outside that are ready to process, I have customers lining up because they're hungry and I have a freezer that's empty," he says. Existing laws prohibit small, local butchers from processing meat headed for market.</p>
<p>Eising tends to vote for conservative or libertarian candidates in local and national elections. In 2016, he voted for libertarian candidate Gary Johnson. But Eising says he'll likely vote for Biden if polling remains close in Michigan. "Nobody else is at all interested in what regenerative farming could do for this country," he says. Biden has recently <a href="http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/2009/17/se.01.html" target="_blank">talked about</a> paying farmers for "planting certain crops that in fact absorb carbon from the air," but his <a href="https://joebiden.com/climate-plan/" target="_blank">climate plan</a> makes no mention of organic, diversified or regenerative farming. According to a <a href="https://filesforprogress.org/memos/regenerative-farming-and-the-green-new-deal.pdf" target="_blank">report</a> by Data For Progress, conventional farming practices that rely on pesticides and monoculture practices are linked to $44 billion in annual damage related to soil erosion in the United States, which is perhaps felt most acutely in areas where soil can no longer retain moisture in the advent of a heavy rain, leading to catastrophic flooding.</p><p>Ecologically minded farmers in swing states outside of Michigan similarly reflect a desire for leadership that addresses climate through agricultural reform. Kemper Burt began farming 40 years ago in California. He now lives in Arizona, where he grows lettuce and other produce on a 40-acre farm powered by solar energy. Burt points out that tackling climate change will entail decolonizing the way we produce food, in direct contrast with the "feed the world" mentality behind the so-called "<a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/green-revolution-norman-borlaug-race-to-fight-global-hunger/" target="_blank">Green Revolution</a>" of the 1970s, which led to the fertilizer and pesticide-heavy monoculture farming he and other small-scale farmers want to break away from. "Let's just try feeding our community, then let's just try feeding our state, and then let's just try feeding other states," Burt says. Burt is registered as an independent, though he wouldn't say exactly how he'll vote in November. "I look to what people are doing to help protect nature, which then in turn protects you and I," he said.</p><p>Many small farmers say they've yet to see a presidential candidate or down-ballot candidate fully address their needs in this election cycle. President Trump's reelection campaign has not yet put out a climate plan. And Biden's climate plan does not yet spell out what small-scale farmers say they want, like a return to the New Deal-era concept of "parity," a supply-management strategy designed to prevent the kind of wasteful over-production of soybeans and corn that wipes the land of biodiversity and results in unstable prices. Rosenfeld wants to see a shift away from crop insurance, which comprised <a href="https://www.agri-pulse.com/articles/12889-farm-income-forecast-rises-on-trade-aid-crops#:~:text=Rural%20Trade%20WEST-,USDA%3A%20Nearly%20one%2Dthird%20of%202019%20farm,earnings%20due%20to%20subsidies%2C%20insurance&text=Some%2031%25%20of%20that%20income,said%20ERS%20economist%20Carrie%20Litkowski." target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">one-third</a> of farmers' income in 2019, toward income insurance, which would provide financial support for people growing food, rather than cash crops.</p>
<p>As long as agriculture is considered a solution to the climate crisis, whether in a Green New Deal or as part of another climate plan, says Maine farmer Craig Hickman, he'd consider it a step forward, noting that he thinks his neighbors in Maine, many of whom are libertarians, would agree. "Investing in food infrastructure is as important as roads and bridges," he told <em>Truthout</em>.</p><p>In 2019, Maine, a "purple" state, passed the <a href="https://archive.thinkprogress.org/labor-union-support-maine-green-new-deal-bc048eea1c91/" target="_blank">first</a> state-level Green New Deal backed by labor unions. Facing increased pressure from forces like climate change, the potential "farm vote" could build swing power, "although it is not clear whether that would happen in 2020 or a later election year," Kaufman said. "We can look to the lessons of history: Farmers had quite unique behavior at points in time where they faced economic instability, which led them to support candidates and parties that addressed these issues."</p>
<p><em>This story originally appeared in</em> <u><em><a href="https://truthout.org/" target="_blank">Truthout</a><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/r/entryeditor/2647787588#/" target="_self"></a> </em></u><em>and is republished here as part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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A "trash tsunami" has washed ashore on the beaches of Honduras, endangering both wildlife and the local economy.
<p>The trash is mostly <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/plastic" target="_self">plastic</a> waste, <a href="https://www.voanews.com/episode/trash-tsunami-blights-honduras-beach-4427746" target="_blank">Voice of America reported</a> Tuesday, and it is polluting the typically pristine tropical beaches of Omoa in the country's north. Honduran officials said Saturday that the refuse was coming from the mouth of the Motagua River in neighboring Guatemala. It poses a problem for the local economy because it depends on the tourism the beaches attract.</p><p>"This wave of trash which came from the Motagua River really surprised us, and even though it caused problems, it has not stopped our activities," Honduran environment official Lilian Rivera said, as <a href="https://news.yahoo.com/trash-tsunami-blights-honduras-beach-111435040.html" target="_blank">Yahoo News reported</a>. "We are committed to cleaning our beaches and keeping them clean, but today we are demanding that authorities in Tegucigalpa take strong actions, actions to find a permanent solution to this problem."</p><p>Tegucigalpa is the capital of Honduras.</p><p>The Hondoran government, meanwhile, has demanded action from Guatemala to stem the tide of plastic, according to Voice of America.</p>
<p>But the plastic flowing from Guatemala's Motagua River is an ongoing problem for the region, as <a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/10/27/plastic-pollution-guatemala/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Intercept reported in 2019</a>. The plastic tide is fed by the fact that Guatemala has few managed landfills or wastewater treatment plants. The plastic then washes out in the Caribbean Sea, home to the biodiverse Mesoamerican reef.</p><p>In 2017, the Guatemalan government installed a "bio-fence" in the river to catch some of the waste after the Honduran government threatened a lawsuit over the pollution that reached its beaches. The fence is made of plastic bottles tied together with plastic netting.</p><p>"When it's full, you can practically walk on it," trash removal worker Marco Dubón told The Intercept.</p>
<p>Worldwide, rivers are a major source of ocean plastic pollution: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=10155392528501479" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">90 percent of it</a> comes from just 10 rivers, scientists found in 2017. The problem is only growing. A study <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/ocean-plastic-2040-2646793992.html" target="_self">published in July</a> found that around 11 million metric tons of plastic enter marine environments every year, and that number will increase to 29 million metric tons a year by 2040 if no action is taken. Plastic is then a major problem for <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/marine-life" target="_self">marine life</a>. Seabirds, turtles and marine mammals can become entangled in plastic or eat it by mistake, <a href="https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/articles/2018/09/24/plastic-pollution-affects-sea-life-throughout-the-ocean#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20United%20Nations,of%20that%20litter%20is%20plastic.&text=Fish%2C%20seabirds%2C%20sea%20turtles%2C,suffocation%2C%20starvation%2C%20and%20drowning." rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">PEW pointed out</a>. This can lead to strangulation, suffocation or death. It is estimated that plastic kills one million seabirds every year and that half of all sea turtles have swallowed plastic.</p>
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A protest in solidarity with the Wetʼsuwetʼen's anti-pipeline struggle, at Canada House in Trafalgar Square on March 1, 2020 in London, England. More than 200 environmental groups had their Facebook accounts suspended days before an online solidarity protest. Ollie Millington / Getty Images
Facebook suspended more than 200 accounts belonging to environmental and Indigenous groups Saturday, casting doubt on the company's stated commitments to addressing the climate crisis.
<p>The suspensions came days after Facebook launched a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/climatescienceinfo/" target="_blank">Climate Science Information Center</a> to correct widely-shared posts that spread disinformation about climate change, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/sep/22/facebook-climate-change-environment-groups-suspended?fbclid=IwAR0RFAFizQbp6B206VEU-mxSUQs0AD15d6qDEgK0LjzWr6dO_-NJlf2quhQ" target="_blank">The Guardian pointed out</a>. The same week, Facebook <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/google-facebook-climate-commitments-2647660142.html" target="_self">also pledged</a> to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030. But the activist groups expressed doubt about Facebook's priorities, saying they were locked out of their accounts days before a planned protest against a <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fossil-fuels" target="_self">fossil fuel</a> company building a <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/pipelines" target="_self">pipeline</a> through Indigenous land.</p><p>"Actions speak louder than words and once again Facebook has taken actions that are in stark contrast to public statements from the company," senior corporate campaigner at <a href="https://secure.greenpeaceusa.org/fires-2020/?&utm_source=website&utm_medium=takeover&utm_campaign=fires_2020" target="_blank">Greenpeace USA</a> Elizabeth Jardim told The Guardian. "The recent bans targeting people fighting to save their communities from climate change and the continued exploitation of fossil fuel companies show us that when push comes to shove, Facebook will side with polluters at the cost of their users' trying to organize."</p>
<p>Greenpeace USA reported it <a href="https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/news/facebook-suspends-hundreds-of-accounts-associated-with-online-event-targeting-coastal-gaslink-pipeline/" target="_blank">was one</a> of the suspended groups, along with others including Rainforest Action Network, Presente.org and Wet'suwet'en Access Point on Gidimt'en Territory. The groups were all co-hosts of an event in May targeting the company KKR & Co. Inc., which is the new majority funder of the Coastal GasLink <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/natural-gas" target="_self">natural gas</a> pipeline that the Wet'suwet'en community <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/pipeline-blockade-british-columbia-2625969371.html" target="_self">is fighting</a> to keep off its unceded land in British Columbia. Another online protest against the company had been scheduled for Monday.</p><p>The accounts were told they were being suspended for three days for "copyright infringement," Greenpeace said.</p><p>"The timing was more than suspect," Delee Nikal, a Wet'suwet'en activist from the Gidimt'en clan, told <a href="https://www.nationalobserver.com/2020/09/21/news/facebook-suspends-then-reinstates-hundreds-accounts-linked-anti-coastal-gaslink" target="_blank">Canada's National Observer</a>. "We would like to have transparency in this situation."</p>
<p>Facebook, meanwhile, claimed the accounts were suspended by accident and had since been reinstated.</p><p>"Our systems mistakenly removed these accounts and content," a company spokesperson told the National Observer.</p><p>The company did not provide any more information about how or why the mistake was made. Most of the accounts were able to post Monday night, but some are still locked out, Greenpeace's Valentina Stackl said.</p>
<p>The suspended activists also pointed out that the social media giant has allowed right-wing groups and posts to spread false information or encourage violence without suspending them. For example, the CO2 Coalition, a group that argues carbon dioxide is beneficial, was able to bypass a Facebook fact check this month by publishing its article as opinion, The Guardian pointed out. Facebook also refused to act on complaints when a militia group used the platform to urge armed people to attend a Black Lives Matter protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, according to the National Observer.</p><p>"We are not surprised by the actions that Facebook has taken," Nikal told Greenpeace. "This once again exposes the white supremacy inherent in the system. Videos of extreme violence, alt-right views and calls for violence by militias in Kenosha, Wisconsin, are allowed to persist on Facebook. Yet, we are banned and receive threats for permanent removal, for posting an online petition. Facebook is actively suppressing those who oppose fascism and the colonial capitalists."</p>
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Long-finned pilot whales are seen during a 1998 stranding in Marion Bay in Tasmania, Australia. Auscape / Universal Images Group / Getty Images
More long-finned pilot whales were found stranded today on beaches in Tasmania, Australia. About 500 whales have become stranded, including at least 380 that have died, the AP reported. It is the largest mass stranding in Australia's recorded history.
<p>The stranding started on Monday when the whales became stuck on sandbars in Macquarie Harbor on Tasmania's west coast. Rescue efforts started on Tuesday morning and successfully helped 50 whales back into the water. On Wednesday afternoon, rescuers were trying to save the remaining 30 survivors, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/sep/23/more-than-450-whales-now-stranded-in-tasmania-after-rescuers-discover-pod-of-200-dead" target="_blank">The Guardian</a> reported.</p><p>"While they're still alive and in water, there's still hope for them — but as time goes on they do become more fatigued," Nic Deka, regional manager for Tasmania's Parks and Wildlife Service, told the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-54260278" target="_blank">BBC</a>.</p><p>The Tasmanian government officials said that rescue efforts would continue as long as there were survivors. At the same time, The Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service will address removing the carcasses dotting Macquarie Harbor, the BBC reported.</p>
<p>"We have a couple of options that we are considering, but we need to consider all aspects before we settle on a decision," Deka said in a <a href="https://dpipwe.tas.gov.au/Documents/Media%20Release%20Whale%20Stranding%20Strahan%2023%20September%2012%20pm.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Tasmanian government press release.</a> "We can't leave the whales in the harbor as they will present a range of issues. We are committed to retrieving and disposing but our key priority is to remain focused on the rescue effort."</p><p>The first pod, containing about 270 stranded whales, were spotted Monday near the small town of Strahan. Aerial surveillance found another pod Wednesday morning with about 200 whales further south. Experts believe the two groups represent one mass stranding event, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/23/australia/tasmania-whale-stranding-new-pod-intl-hnk-scli/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a> reported.</p><p>"From the air most of the additional whales detected appear to be dead, but a boat has headed over there this morning to do an assessment from the water," Deka said in the press release.</p>
<p>He explained that the whales were difficult to detect partly because of the dark water. "In that part of the harbor the water is a very dark tannin color so we think potentially they stranded, washed back into the water and then have been washed back into the bay, so that made it more difficult for them to be detected earlier in the piece."</p><p>Tasmania experiences more than 80 percent of Australia's whale stranding events, the BBC reported, although the last mass stranding with more than 50 whales occurred in 2009.</p><p>There's no clear reason why stranding occurs, but several theories exist, including the notion that whales become confused if they get too close to the shoreline. Since whales are social creatures, it might take only one confused whale to lead an entire pod ashore, BBC reported.</p>
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An Extinction Rebellion protester outside the Bank of England on Oct. 14, 2019 in London, England. John Keeble / Getty Images
By Jessica Corbett
In another win for climate campaigners, leaders of 12 major cities around the world — collectively home to about 36 million people — committed Tuesday to divesting from fossil fuel companies and investing in a green, just recovery from the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
<p>The announcement from C40 Cities — a global network of communities dedicated to tackling the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-crisis">climate emergency</a> — came on day two of <a href="https://www.climateweeknyc.org/climate-week-nyc-2020" target="_blank">Climate Week NYC</a>, some of which is being held online because of the COVID-19 crisis.</p><p>"Now is the time to divest from fossil fuel companies and undertake investment and policy change that prioritizes public and planetary health, building back a more equal society and addressing this climate emergency," <a href="https://www.c40.org/press_releases/cities-commit-divest-invest" target="_blank">declared</a> New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio.</p><p>"In New York City, we know that taking action on climate change is not optional," added de Blasio, whose community has been hit hard by the pandemic. "As we recover from COVID-19, we must make our cities even stronger."</p>
<p>In 2018, de Blasio and London Mayor Sadiq Khan established the first-of-its-kind Divest/Invest Forum to help city leaders shift money away from fossil fuels and toward the creation of low-carbon jobs. Khan said Tuesday that his city has "demonstrated that divestment is possible and indeed essential for our future."</p><p>"Through our work with New York and C40, I'm delighted to bring together 10 more cities to join us in taking Divest/Invest action," he added. "As the world recovers from COVID-19, we need to work together to ensure a fairer, fossil-fuel-free green recovery."</p><p>Berlin, Bristol, Cape Town, Durban, Los Angeles, Milan, New Orleans, Oslo, Pittsburgh and Vancouver have all signed on to C40's declaration, "<a href="https://www.c40.org/divest-invest" target="_blank">Divesting from Fossil Fuels, Investing in a Sustainable Future</a>."</p>
<div id="401b5" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="f557fec553a3680fde961b824afb0188"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1308441659798171649" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">We are proud to be one of 12 cities around the world committing to
@c40cities' declaration “Divesting From Fossil… https://t.co/qelg6N2x7o</div> — LDNMayor Environment (@LDNMayor Environment)<a href="https://twitter.com/LDN_environment/statuses/1308441659798171649">1600791776.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>"We're in a make-or-break decade for the preservation of our planet and our livelihoods," said C40 chair and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti. "Our declaration makes a clear statement: If we're serious about a sustainable, just, and prosperous future, we have to put our money where our mouth is, remove public dollars from companies harming the Earth, and power our cities with bold investments in low-carbon industries."</p><p>Specifically, the mayors are committing to taking all possible steps to divest city assets from fossil fuel companies and increase investments in climate solutions; calling on pension funds to follow suit; and advocating for fossil-free and sustainable finance by other investors and all levels of government. A C40 statement called the declaration "a critical next step towards realizing the vision for a Global Green New Deal, announced last October at the C40 World Mayors Summit in Copenhagen, Denmark."</p>
<p>The mayors' latest move comes as western U.S. states including California battle <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/16/us/west-coast-wildfires-wednesday/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">unprecedented wildfires</a> while the Gulf Coast recovers from <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/17/bolstering-calls-climate-action-mutant-sloth-hurricane-sally-leaves-major-mess-gulf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Hurricane Sally</a> and prepares for the possibility of more storms. Scientists have emphasized that both the intense blazes and slow-moving, destructive hurricanes are connected to global heating that results from human activity, especially the burning of fossil fuels.</p><p>"The declaration sends a loud clear message to the fossil fuel industry," <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2020/09/22/may-boeve-joins-mayors-12-major-cities-committed-divest-fossil-fuel-companies" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">said</a> 350.org executive director May Boeve, whose advocacy group has spearheaded <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/04/30/ahead-may-day-500-groups-worldwide-demand-just-and-visionary-recovery-covid-19" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">demands</a> for a green, just recovery. "As we watch wildfires burn in the U.S. and devastating floods in parts of Africa, we know that fossil fuels are not a safe investment: the sector is too volatile to be <a href="https://350communications.cmail19.com/t/t-l-xbdyky-autddlkti-y/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">deeply vulnerable</a>, it is time to divest from fossil fuels and invest in the green and just recovery of the future."</p><p>Globally, over $200 billion in COVID-19 recovery funding <a href="https://www.energypolicytracker.org/" target="_blank">has been</a> pledged to fossil fuels. Boeve argued that "it is essential to ensure that today's investments do not lock-in polluting technologies and carbon-intensive industries. Investments should instead support the solutions we need to avert climate breakdown, create good jobs, advance environmental justice, and support livable communities."</p>
<p>Signatories to the C40 declaration agree. "Pulling out of climate-damaging and ethically problematic investment strategies is a key step in the transition to a sustainable economy," said Michael Müller, governing mayor of Berlin. "The fact that C40 cities are taking this ambitious step and actively promoting divestment sends an important political signal."</p><p>Last year, the Vancouver City Council took action to divest city and staff pensions from fossil fuels. By signing the declaration, said Mayor Kennedy Stewart, "we are furthering this work, which aligns with City Council's 2019 vote to unanimously recognize a global climate emergency and local climate crisis."</p><p>Former Vancouver City Councillor Andrea Reimer participated Tuesday in an NYC Climate Week event, hosted by <a title="Original URL: https://linkprotect.cudasvc.com/url?a=https%3a%2f%2fStand.earth&c=E,1,2oxw9peuNmXdM3-IVcc3MU11FD_LpPqn-0YYMY8KmkFp8NKhgi2ZwWQXVWeT5o0wya6eaAe1o1OsEUOQmuOPrNUC_6Kg7lbHWBzKsIBd9VP2wi5M&typo=1. Click or tap if you trust this link." href="https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Flinkprotect.cudasvc.com%2Furl%3Fa%3Dhttps%253a%252f%252fStand.earth%26c%3DE%2C1%2C2oxw9peuNmXdM3-IVcc3MU11FD_LpPqn-0YYMY8KmkFp8NKhgi2ZwWQXVWeT5o0wya6eaAe1o1OsEUOQmuOPrNUC_6Kg7lbHWBzKsIBd9VP2wi5M%26typo%3D1&data=01%7C01%7Cepollak%40theclimategroup.org%7C9395c5b8b70e4330779508d83fbec0e6%7Cdc6bc025abec4b55b2a05a63afca742b%7C0&sdata=NRWAlXdDOHBf97iPAqWNbffp1%2B%2F943LF%2B%2BxIqi%2BAKPU%3D&reserved=0" target="_blank">Stand.earth</a>, about local efforts to facilitate "a just transition to <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/renewable-energy/">renewable energy</a>, a green recovery, and a livable climate."</p>
<div id="4ec15" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="75b9da530a37a63517787159519175e3"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1308466188532346880" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">We’re live at #ClimateWeekNYC! Our “Cities Lead: Phasing Out Fossil Fuels” event is happening 2-3:30pm ET today. Fo… https://t.co/c4cpi7KlQU</div> — Stand.earth (@Stand.earth)<a href="https://twitter.com/standearth/statuses/1308466188532346880">1600797624.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>The event — which also featured speakers from Stand.earth, Baltimore, Berkeley, and King County, Washington — included sample policies, success stories and resources for grassroots organizers and local government leaders.<br></p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/22/mayors-12-major-global-cities-home-36-million-people-make-unified-fossil-fuel" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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The Västra Hamnen neighborhood in Malmö, Sweden, runs on renewable energy. Tomas Ottosson / Wikimedia Commons / CC by 3.0
By Harry Kretchmer
By 2030, almost a third of all the energy consumed in the European Union must come from renewable sources, according to binding targets agreed in 2018. Sweden is helping lead the way.
<p>As well as targeting <a href="https://sweden.se/nature/energy-use-in-sweden/" target="_blank">100% renewable electricity production</a> by 2040, the country is <a href="https://www.buildup.eu/sites/default/files/content/transforming-a-residential-building-cluster-into-electricity-prosumers-in-sweden.pdf" target="_blank">transforming homes into highly efficient 'prosumers'</a> - buildings which both produce and consume the vast majority of their own energy.</p><p><span></span>Meanwhile local 'district heating' plants are using excess heat to produce <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421520304080" target="_blank">over 75% of the warmth that Swedish households need</a>. The country also manages to combine the world's highest carbon taxes with <a href="https://www.thelocal.se/20200124/why-electricity-prices-are-low-in-sweden-right-now" target="_blank">relatively cheap energy prices</a>.</p><p>These are all reasons why Sweden tops the <a href="http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Fostering_Effective_Energy_Transition_2020_Edition.pdf" target="_blank">Forum's Energy Transition Index</a> - providing environmental leadership at a time when a <a href="https://www.weforum.org/great-reset/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Great Reset</a> has never been more needed. Here's how Sweden is building up local solutions in its energy revolution.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDQzMzEyOS9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1OTU2OTQ1Nn0.lCCzsNTLPm6fhSrx0TYLxHqceeW6KKm2_uItDuHATEc/img.png?width=980" id="a42bf" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="3bdefd81caddfc39dd77bf3e0ca9b203" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Sweden is a world leader in renewable energy consumption. Swedish Institute/World Bank
Naturally Warm
<p>54% of Sweden's power comes from renewables, and is helped by its geography. With plenty of moving water and 63% forest cover, it's no surprise the <a href="https://sweden.se/nature/energy-use-in-sweden/#" target="_blank">two largest renewable power sources</a> are hydropower and biomass. And that biomass is helping support a local energy boom.</p><p>Heating is a key use of energy in a cold country like Sweden. In recent decades, as fuel oil taxes have increased, the country's power companies have turned to renewables, like biomass, to fuel local 'district heating' plants.</p><p>In Sweden these trace their <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360544217304140#fig3" target="_blank">origins back to 1948</a>, when a power station's excess heat was first used to heat nearby buildings: steam is <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/engineering/district-heating-system" target="_blank">forced along a network of pipes</a> to wherever it's needed. Today, there are around 500 district heating systems across the country, from major cities to small villages, providing heat to homes and businesses.</p><p>District heating used to be fueled mainly from the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360544217304140" target="_blank">by-products of power plants</a>, waste-to-energy plants and industrial processes. These days, however, Sweden is bringing more renewable sources into the mix. And as a result of competition, this localized form of power is now the country's<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360544217304140#fig3" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> home-heating market leader.</a></p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDQzMzE0OC9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxOTk2MDE5NH0.AtGztm8u1Chy4nEcQ4YG0L7Vixfc4a0VhxJ9RM3ZlPc/img.png?width=980" id="a3224" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="bd8e92706785ef8c7aadb1319d23007d" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Sweden is using smart grids to turn buildings into energy producers. Huang et al/Elsevier
Energy ‘Prosumers’
<p>But Sweden doesn't stop at village-level heating solutions. Its new breed of energy-generation takes hyper-local to the next level.</p><p>One example is in the city of Ludivika where 1970s flats <a href="https://www.buildup.eu/sites/default/files/content/transforming-a-residential-building-cluster-into-electricity-prosumers-in-sweden.pdf" target="_blank">have recently been retrofitted with the latest smart energy technology</a>.</p><p>48 family apartments spread across 3 buildings have been given photovoltaic solar panels, thermal energy storage and heat pump systems. A micro energy grid connects it all, and helps charge electric cars overnight.</p><p>The result is a cluster of 'prosumer' buildings, producing rather than consuming enough power for 77% of residents' needs. With <a href="http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1232060/FULLTEXT01.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">high levels of smart meter usage</a>, it's a model that looks set to spread across Sweden.</p><div id="d7bf9" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="8757b138d5570bec9d6aad18074a429a"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1273556364263071744" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Read more about Western Harbour and book a visit: https://t.co/ujSmVs9rNK 🏡🌳🌊 https://t.co/C5PuPziqIM</div> — Smart City Sweden (@Smart City Sweden)<a href="https://twitter.com/SmartCitySweden/statuses/1273556364263071744">1592474473.0</a></blockquote></div>
Scaling Up
<p>A recent development by E.ON in Hyllie, a district on the outskirts of Malmö, southern Sweden, <a href="https://www.eonenergy.com/blog/2019/February/sweden-smart-city" target="_blank">has scaled up the smart grid principle</a>. Energy generation comes from local wind, solar, biomass and waste sources.</p><p>Smart grids then balance the power, react to the weather, deploying extra power when it's colder or putting excess into battery storage when it's warm. The system is not only more efficient, but bills have fallen.</p><p>Smart energy developments like those in Hyllie, Ludivika, and renewable-driven district heating, offer a radical alternative to the centralized energy systems many countries rely on today.</p><p>The EU's leaders have a challenge: how to generate 32% of energy from renewables by 2030. Sweden offers a vision of how technology and local solutions can turn a goal into a reality.</p>From Your Site Articles
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