Artemis II The Moon, US’s Climate Cost, & A New Conference To End Fossil Fuels

Welcome to The Climate Roundup newsletter. Your weekly edit of the climate and environmental stories shaping our planet and our culture and how the two are deeply connected. We live in a global ecosystem shaped by human decisions. Let’s make good ones.

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To The Far Side Of The Moon

Last week, NASA successfully launched 4 astronauts into space on its Artemis II space mission to circle around the moon. As we speak, they are entering the “lunar sphere of influence” where the moon’s gravitational pull is stronger than Earth’s. Tomorrow is the big one, as they will journey around the moon, passing around the far side, where they will be between the moon and outer frickin space, and we’ll lose communication with them. Then they journey back home to planet Earth and splashdown into the Pacific Ocean on Friday. That’s some test run before we go again in a couple years and land humans there for the first time since 1972. You can watch the launch livestream from last week on youtube (skip to the 5h:36 mark for T-1 minute to blast off). The photo above is one of several that NASA just released from the current mission. The astronauts have their smartphones with them for photos. Can you imagine scrolling through your phone’s camera roll and seeing your (hundreds of) Earth pics from space from that time you flew around the moon?

If you’re a fan of the Apple TV show “For All Mankind” (I am!), the new season just started, which is trippy because sometimes it feels like real life NASA is following the show’s plot. But that’s also because it’s based on real science. In a review of the new season, a NY Times TV critic had an interesting point about the show, highlighting how even with the show’s depicted advancements in technology (humans are colonizing on Mars), technology elsewhere is pretty old school and basic. He’s right. It’s an example of what intentional and, arguably, responsible innovation could look like. And it sets a refreshing tone to an already excellent show.

Lastly on space stuff, the Guardian has a cool interactive article about the not-so-cool fact of humans littering Earth’s orbit with tens of thousands of satellites. It’s unsettling to think how it used to be empty space above us, and now there’s basically a border wall in construction up there. If physics were altered it could rain down a death pour of sharp metal objects. I’ve said this before, but I can’t help think that if aliens were observing our planet and that was what the first thing they saw, they’d say “God, is there anything these humans won’t pollute?!”

Philanthropy At Work:

🐋 NRDC swiftly filed a federal lawsuit to challenge the Trump administration’s thoughtless and devilish decision from last week’s “God Squad” (Endangered Species Committee) meeting to ignore the existing endangered species protections in the Gulf of Mexico in order to expand oil and gas activity there. They are using their favorite excuse of national security and energy dominance. The last meeting of this kind was in 1992 and included experts in science and ecology, with discussion and debate lasting almost a month. This time, in Trump’s world, it was a closed door meeting with only the 6 agency heads who make up the committee, and it lasted under 30 minutes. I think it’s safe to say that if there is a Judgement Day for these 6 men, the decision about which afterlife destination they are headed to also requires no deliberation.ity campaign on youtube and read about it here.

Environmental News:

💥 Drive less, 4-day work weeks, stay home orders, free public transit, wear less clothes to avoid cranking the AC. These are energy saving measures other countries are embracing in response to the US-Israel-caused Iran war. But it could also be describing common sense behaviors in a world on climate change, which happens to be now. Unfortunately, we’re also seeing decisions to burn more coal (Asia) and to greatly delay coal plant retirement (Italy and Germany), plus several cases of cutting fossil taxes. At the same time, renewable energy’s stock is going up, so to speak. The European Commission is calling on EU countries to ramp up their renewable buildouts, saying “this must be the time we finally turn the tide and truly become energy independent.” India is also pushing wind and battery storage projects to complete faster, though they are highly dependent on coal vs gas, and plan to continue burning the dirty stuff.

💨 Meanwhile in the US, over 30 onshore wind energy projects are being held up from development by the Pentagon simply not signing routine paperwork. Apparently the projects represent enough energy to power several cities. The head of a clean energy association called it “direct obstruction”.

💰 A study out of Stanford University tied countries’ greenhouse gas emissions to the resulting damage and loss caused by rising temperatures, and put it in terms of the hit to GDP. Turns out the United States, the largest historical emitter, has caused itself the most damage of all. From 1990 to 2020, the US is responsible for $10.2 trillion in global harm, yet has incurred $16.2 trillion in losses from climate change. Everything comes down to money. Let’s see if this new POV wakes more people up.

🤝 Something exciting is happening later this month: true climate leadership. Co-hosted by Colombia and the Netherlands, the First International Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels will take place in Colombia with 45 countries in attendance, including Germany, France, Canada, the UK, and Norway. It is not meant to replace the annual UN COPs, rather it is a continuation of international collaboration to address climate change for countries ready to move forward. They say it is a space for action not persuasion, and for those who support solutions for the transition away from fossil fuels, rather than delaying it. These are the people and countries who are sick of the bullshit and recognize the need for a new world order for the serious. Because the climate crisis is serious.

🐻 I’ve seen a few stories recently about the ongoing construction of the Trump administration’s border wall, with its goal to create a physical obstruction running coast to coast across the country at the border between the US and Mexico. The impact is likely to be massive to the animals who migrate from Mexico into the United States and back, and have been doing so long before humans began destroying their habitat with roads and development. The wall is next level depraved. This National Geographic story talks about the wildlife impact, including the black bears, some of which are being tracked, who cannot squeeze through the tiny openings in the wall and, well, we don’t yet know what this will do to them long term. But it’s not hard to imagine the disruption this human obstruction will have on several populations of species who suddently cannot access their lands they rely on for finding food and mates. In Big Bend National Park and surrounding lands, communities and bipartisan political views are coming together to fight the border wall from ruining their open access to nature, recreation, and freedom to move as they please. The online map of the wall changes often, so tbd if the wall will be stopped in these yet-to-be bordered stretches of the continent.

Take A (Long) Hike

🥾 The world’s longest coastal hiking path is now open for enjoyment: the King Charles III England Coast Path runs 2,689 miles around the perimeter of England. You can pass through the Jurassic Coast, oyster and fishing villages, beaches, castles, and see puffins and other seabird colonies. Sounds like a dream.