THE INVADING SEA NEWSLETTER
August 2022, Newsletter No. 7
If you’re worried that fossil fuel emissions are going to ruin the planet, recent events should cheer you up. Congress passed the Inflation Reduction Act last week and President Biden will sign it into law this week.
While some critics consider its provisions weak, the legislation contains the most aggressive proposals to curb the warming of the planet that any country has adopted so far in this long, long effort to reduce fossil fuel emissions.
Earthjustice provides this summary of the climate pros and cons in the bill.
The bottom line is that it directs roughly $369 billion over the next decade toward programs designed to reduce emissions. Electric vehicles will be less expensive. Installing solar panels on your roof will cost less. The bill has a potpourri of programs that are designed to deliver cleaner energy in the United States.
Of course, the legislation has no effect on the behavior of the other 194 countries on Earth. Many of them need to take similar action if we are to avert disaster.
Scientific American interviewed some climate experts about the legislation. They’re all thrilled, but they all agree the Inflation Reduction Act is just a small step on a long, tough journey.
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NEWS
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St. Johns River three feet below normal as residents fear worse is yet to come
Florida Today
Lake Poinsett is parched beyond what Doug Sphar ever recalls seeing or believing could happen in more than six decades living along the Cocoa lake.
“This is all the talk of the people out here,” Sphar said. “The consensus is that none of us remembers it this low this time of the year.”
‘We are astonished, ecstatic’ – Southwest Florida’s best turtle nesting season on record
Naples Daily News
This is the best turtle nesting season on record for Bonita Beach, Vanderbilt Beach, Naples, Marco and Keewaydin Islands.
“We are astonished, ecstatic,” exclaimed Eve Haverfield, president and founder of Turtle Time, a volunteer group that monitors sea turtles in South Lee County. “It is just incredible. We are just so, so thrilled.”
Climate change’s impact intensifies as U.S. prepares to take action
Washington Post
For residents of the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard, the United States’ recent success in clinching a major piece of climate change legislation may feel like too little, too late.
Over the past 40 years, as the world’s largest historical emitter of greenhouses gases repeatedly failed to take significant action on the climate, the region surrounding Svalbard has warmed at least four times faster than the global average.
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INVADING SEA OPINION
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Congress has finally passed major climate legislation and that is a victory for future generations
By Madeleine Para and Susan Kaye, Citizens’ Climate Lobby
Those hoping to preserve a livable world for ourselves, our children and our grandchildren can find much to celebrate in the climate provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act recently passed by Congress. The bill, which President Biden is expected to sign into law, contains a huge investment — $369 billion — in low-carbon technologies and is expected to reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions 40% below 2005 levels by 2030.
Extreme heat kills; communities shouldn’t wait for government to save us from it
Ashley Ward, Duke University
Daytime highs of 105 degrees grab the headlines, but we should be just as worried about something less eye-catching but still deadly — persistently high overnight temperatures.
Heat kills thousands of people each year, and it’s the 80-degree nights that quietly wreak havoc on the human body. Minimum overnight temperatures above 75 degrees leave our bodies unable to recover from the daytime heat. This is crucial for people who don’t have an air conditioner, or can’t afford to run the one they have.
A key question for candidates: How will you reduce use of fossil fuels?
By Charles Dodson
It has been a brutal, scorching, scary summer for people around the planet, which includes us Floridians.
I am a proud lifelong Floridian. I was raised in the small town of Sneads, about an hour west of Tallahassee. I was a trial lawyer for 31 years before becoming a circuit judge for 12 years. I retired from my judgeship in 2021. My entire legal career I made decisions based on evidence. As a judge I made decisions based on the evidence presented to me. I’m 70 years old now.
