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Even in a remote part of Canadian wilderness at Lac LaBelle Serge Schmemann of the NYT finds no respite, no escape from the fires that have consumed large parts of the Canadian forests and sent acrid smoke into neighboring regions. Here he describes the problems stemming from climate change and the dangers if temperatures rise by 2.5 degrees.

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PM Modi is shown in this video doing Yoga at the International Day of Yoga on the lawn of the UN Headquarters in New York City. People from all over the world came to this Yoga session the first of its kind spreading the message of Yoga in a troubled world with climate change, unhealthy lifestyles, and conflict.

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Climate change is emerging -as a silent in terms of loud voices but yet powerful in the messages from fires and floods across the US- as the second most powerful and threatening issue for people across these 51 states. This is the situation in July 2024 in the Pacific Northwest in the states of Oregon and Washington- longer hotter heat waves.

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Over 1 million people turn out across France in protests against pension reform that takes the retirement age from 62 to 64 years. Women feel more discriminated against in this reform. The prevalent age discrimination bias in France makes it harder to find jobs after 50 years, even harder after 60 years. There is a perception that the reform is not the first priority so soon after a pandemic with its after effects, and that other changes including age discrimination and the way it affects women need to be tackled before pension reform. The government lacks an overall majority, the eight unions are united in protests and possible strikes, creating a situation in which French president Macron needs to rethink his whole approach on addressing pension reform- when tacking the cost of living crisis and climate change, energy transition, are other priorities that need more attention at this time.

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MP's and others on a panel give their views on the results of the local elections in England, and what this means for the general election. A Greens party MP says taking action on climate change is a clear vote winner. Sewage and water pollution in the rivers is an issue coming up again and again. Communities underfunded and undercared for by the Tories. John McConnell, a former shadow chancellor and MP, says for a decisive victory that helps get the majorities needed to pass legislation for funding investment in the economy, in infrastructure and fighting climate change, the Labor party needs a better result than this one. After a new Labor government is elected by the middle of its term it becomes important that the win in the general election is a big one with an overall majority in parliament. For this Labor needs to do well in Scotland taking back the position in Scotland that it held in 1997 before the emergence of the Scottish National Party.  ...

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A study and analysis in the One Earth journal for climate change action shows oil companies owe about $209 billion annually to pay for damage caused from climate change. The leading companies accounting for about 10% of global emissions are Gazprom and Saudi Aramco. These companies have benefited greatly from the oil price surge. The US and European oil majors who also have profited greatly from the oil price surge come next. Further distorting the effects of wars, financial crises since 2010, the war in Ukraine creates price surges from which oil companies benefit while the vast majority of people in the world are affected by a cost of living crisis made worse by higher energy prices. This is what is important to keep in mind as the US under president Biden prepares to play a leadership role in correcting these unneeded and bad distortions on how it affects the lives of workers and families in the US and Europe, as well as in Asia, Latin America, Africa. ...

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Announcing that he would not attend the COP27 Summit in Egypt and then deciding to go shows a lack of commitment, says Mark Landler of Rishi Sunak's decision to finally attend the climate change meeting. Mr. Johnson is remembered for his clear support at COP26 in Glasgow and he will be attending the meeting in Egypt as a private citizen. The demotion of Mr. Alok Sharma by Sunak after his role in organizing the COP26 Summit in Glasgow also does not help. Mr. Ben Wallace, and Mr. Cleverly hold the Defense and Foreign Ministry positions in Sunak's cabinet and supported Mr. Johnson throughout and after Mr. Sunak withdrew his support leading to Mr. Johnson's resignation, says Landler. During a cost of living crisis, there is also a sense that there is not enough commitment from the Tories to meeting the challenges of ordinary families with support, in addition to problems of climate change remaining unaddressed under Mr. Sunak's leadership.

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Derek Blasberg gives this interview with Lauren Sanchez, partner of Jeff Bezos, and a helicopter pilot with an exuberant personality. She talks about her career in media with Barbara Walters and in LA morning shows on television. She took up flying and is now part of a team preparing for a trip into space in a team of five women. Both Bezos and Sanchez are from New Mexico and were born in the same hospital six years apart, says Sanchez. After a helicopter accident Bezos recovered and gained the confidence to fly again with the help of Sanchez. He is currently in the process of getting his own pilot's license. She is an exuberant and active parent who calls gatherings of her kids and Bezos's kids The Brady Bunch. Both are fervent about climate change prevention and plan $10 billion in donations to help climate change prevention. The interview suggests that people with personalities that are opposite one exuberant (Lauren Sanchez) and one introverted (Jeff Bezos) can find something that brings them together. ...

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This editorial in the WSJ shows a different view of the passage of the $280 billion semiconductor bill in the US Congress and the Biden Schumer negotiation for the $369 billion climate change and tax bill that was done at rapid pace in the span of 24 hours. It sees this from the view of the Republican party that hoped to present president Biden as a failure, unable to tackle inflation or achieve much for action on climate change, renewable energy, and building America's supply chain.  All this is happening quickly and shows the value of patience and persistence, and faith in the ultimate fairness of the American cause during a difficult time of war in Europe and rancor at home. It is not that 17 Republican Senators got played as the WSJ puts it, they voted for the $280 billion semiconductor bill on its merits and their ultimate faith in the fairness of the American cause and faith in America's workers and families, in its people. ...

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The $369 billion Biden climate change and tax bill moves forward with renewable energy but also keeps incentives in place for oil and gas drilling for the transition period now that there is an embargo on Russian fossil fuels. US now exports LNG to Europe with the cutoff of gas supplies from Russia and gas rationing in the EU. In this new situation Senator Schumer has come up with a new approach and is preparing to take this through the US Congress. It puts president Biden within reach of his climate goals for 2030 for 50% reduction of carbon emissions by 2030. This bill could accomplish 40% of that reduction.

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The Guardian calls Chris Whipple's account of president Biden's first 2 years in office fascinating and timely. It gives a close look at what happened to get path changing legislation passed in the US Congress that will shape America for decades through new infrastructure, science and technology investments, climate change action, and building a society of opportunity envisioned by president Lincoln since the 1850's, that define what America means- a land of opportunity and dignity for all.

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Everything you might want to know about coffee, where it comes from, how cultivation is changing with climate change and higher temperatures, and the effort to map the coffee genome. With higher temperatures the farming of coffee moves to higher altitudes in coffee growing countries in the tropics, but it is easier to cross breed the 124 varieties to produce a plant that can withstand the change in temperatures and one that can resist fungus.  A coffee fungus and higher altitude rains destroyed much of the crop in Central America including Guatemala. This led to increased migration to Mexico and U.S. of farmers leading up to Mr. Trump's plan to have the National Guard of Mexico police Mexico's border with Guatemala.  Coffee is a sensitive plant and needs cooler weather and water which is found more in the tropics. Growing it in California or in Italy makes it very costly leading to Frinj coffee being sold in California at $16 a cup. Climate change could reduce the area where coffee can be grown by about 50% in the tropical countries from South east Asia to African countries such as Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Ethiopia, and in south America Colombia and Brazil, says Climate Institute, Washington DC based climate change experts.   ...

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US EU relations are on a better track with president Biden, yet tough talks on issues such as Russia and China, vaccines, climate change remain, and there is the uncertainty of new leadership in France and Germany with upcoming elections.

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Temperatures reaching 109 in Pheonix and 105 in Tucson and across Texas from Dallas to San Antonio are expected to linger for another week. The effects of climate change are seen in the lack of thunderstorms or thunderstorms behind schedule.

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People of America reflect on what has the most promise for our future?  Critics have focused so much on delivery on one night to forget what was actually said. The president's message to Congress and the American People of last week is all there for everyone to read. It states what was said in the State of the Union in January 2024 on the floor of Congress with vigor not seen since the days of FDR in 1932. Critics could read the actual text of what Biden said in the debate, and they did nothing of that acting in ways that only the uneducated would do and manipulating information about the president's health in dishonorable ways. Polling is an uncertain business and may be all wrong depending onthe sample and what questions are asked. This was proven true in last week's results of the French election. Where are the people relying on polls who predicted RN National Rally on top when it ended up in third place. The pundits have not reflected on the meaning of the French election and the British election where parties that made cost of living action, fighting for working families, and infrastructure investment coming out on top. Who is going to fight for and take climate change action and going delinquent on climate change is that an answer the American people will make? Who has done the most for climate change action, health care and education? How does the US compete with China without investing at home a fight which president has fought with economic theory from the Reagan/Friedman era that let American industry wither while China took the lead in industry after industry?  ...

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This editorial Board opinion piece in the WSJ gives exceptional insights into major issues facing Germany, the cost of electricity generated from renewables, failure to meet climate change emissions targets set by the government, and the difficulty of forming a new coalition government with conflicting goals of the Greens vs the CDU and the FDP.  By one estimate it cost households and business about $125 billion extra in higher electricity bills for 2000-2015 to subsidize renewable energy from solar and wind. Utilities are required to buy renewable at above market rates, especially since the energy revolution called Energiewende was launched by chancellor Merkel in 2010. German electricity prices are about 36 cents per kilowatt hour compared to 13 cents in America. The 2011 decision following the Fukushima disaster to phase out nuclear power by 2022 made the effort to meet renewables targets of 40% by 2020 compared to 1990 -exceeding the 20% for the EU- even harder. Germany sees a 30% target for 2020 as reachable.   Even though renewables can generate 50% of required energy supplies, only 30% of the supplies are utilized as the renewables are generated mostly in the north of the country and there is a lack of transmission lines to bring it to the industrial south. The dirty secret says the WSJ editorial board for the renewable story in Germany is that a lot of coal is used in dirty coal plants to meet electricity needs when wind and solar energy are not available. Cheaper coal not natural gas is preferred for such generation as daytime peak use that recoups more expensive gas cost is managed with renewables. Leading to the situation that Germany generates only 9% of energy from natural gas compared to 30% in the U.S.. The further Germany has gone in renewables has also led to the paradox of increased dependence on coal. Getting to the new Jamaica coalition being planned between the CDU and the FDP and the Greens. The problem is that the Greens want to see the 20 most polluting coal plants closed, the CDU and the FDP are willing to close only ten coal polluting plants. The WSJ's opinion is that voters chose the AfD right wing party with 13% of the vote because of the platform promise to shut down Merkel's Energiewende policy.   ...

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National and president Biden's priorities on climate change, on infrastructure, on workers and families, on renewable energy, and on regaining world leadership in science and technology, are preserved with the passage of the US debt ceiling agreement with bipartisan support in the Senate. Of the 63 Senators supporting it, 17 were Republicans including the Republican minority leader Mitch McConnell.

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US president Biden now plans to break the $2 trillion Build Back Better into smaller pieces so that where there is greatest support such as early childhood education, action on climate change, and other parts of Build Back Better, these parts can move forward in 2022. This is seen by Biden as a better strategy to accomplish the same goals.

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Climate protection goals require rail to get its standards up and modernize quickly in Germany. Deutsche Bahn, the German Rail Network accepts that it needs radical changes. It is important to attract more people to urban transit and rail to promote climate change initiatives and to reduce gas consumption in Germany.  The head of the Deutsche Bahn Richard Lutz says the German Rail has been neglected for years and pushed to its "absolute limit."  Many rail points and signal boxes are obsolete and highly prone to failure.  About 51,000 passenger and goods trains travel through Germany every day going up to 59,000 in 2030.  Lutz says it cannot stay this way- "Increasing demand, combined with aging infrastructure and construction work, is leading to traffic jams and delays with a massive impact on all customers." More than this there is the the question how do you attract more people to not drive but take the train to save gas consumption and reduce the impact on the environment when things are so bad in the rail network? The dilemma says Lutz is "how to grow and modernize at the same time?" Under Lutz and Transport ministry plans high performance corridors are to receive a first class quality standard. More customer friendly construction should be used. And planned construction done in such a way that some sections are construction free sites for several years. Heavily used sections make up 10% of the network or 3500 kilometres and operate at 125% of capacity. By 2030 these sections will be 9000 kilometres or triple that now. Climate protection goals require getting rail up to speed.  ...

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This BBC report shows how much has changed with Germany's erstwhile leaders. From 1998 to 2005 Mr. Gerhard Schroeder was head of the German government. His ties with Russian leaders and Gazprom have led to severe criticism in Germany. He survived an effort this week to remove him from the local chapter of the Social Democrat Party. He now faces a loss of his office and staff and other privileges in the German parliament. The Budget committee of parliament says "he no longer upholds the continuing obligations of his office," says this report. Mr. Schroeder has filed a suit against the German parliament in the Berlin Administrative Court. This BBC report shows how things are changed in 2022- Merkel, Schroeder, Steinmeier and other politicians of the Christian Democrats and Social Democrats face intense public skepticism of their role in a situation where Germany faces a cold winter with gas rationing. It is the Greens with Robert Habeck who are faced with the hard work of finding the energy to meet the shortfall and to build back on renewable energy to fight climate change. Very little was done under the previous administrations it now appears, as the public looks back with regret. ...

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Less noticed climate change action is coming from Brazil. The Amazon deforestation has been slowed since the new administration of Lula took office in Brazil in 2022. Forest loss has dropped by a third in Brazil and half in Colombia says this report in DW.com. One of the big pledges at the Glasgow Climate Summit said to cut deforestation. Tjink of the impact- a quarter of all greenhouse gas emissions from transportation come from deforestation and most of it from the Amazon (two thirds from Brazil, Indonesia and the Congo DRC alone). Ending forest loss by 2030 the goal of Glasgow would lead to 18.9 million megatonnes of carbon being removed from the atmosphere (GtCO2e) says the World Resources Institute.

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German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock says a few rich fossil fuel states and emitters have "ripped" off the countries most affected by climate change.

Baerbock said of the COP29 talks at Baku, Azerbaijan-

"As the EU, we strongly oppose abandoning the path set in Dubai. What we need now is a coalition across continents for the climate."

"We are in the midst of a geopolitical power play by a few fossil fuel states."

"We Europeans will not allow the most vulnerable states in the world, especially the small island states, to be ripped off by some of the new [rich fossil-fuel] emitters."

 

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Italy is only now waking up to the challenge of climate change. Over a 36 hour period northern Italy's Emilio Romagna region received half the annual rainfall. A similar situation was experienced with sudden rainfall and floods in Germany last year.

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In the process tech companies in the US also directed massive capital misallocation away from much needed infrastructure, and other essential needs in the US. Some of that capital was also wasted as the productivity of tech invested capital dropped sharply. US president Biden's investment in climate change prevention, chips and science, in infrastructure and to support working families brought America back to much needed national renewal.

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In a sign of the severity of climate change impact in China 86 cities in southern and eastern China are shown to have heat alerts as of July 12. Temperatures over 40 degrees were only recorded for 15 days since 1873 in Shanghai says this report in The Guardian. Shanghai expects hot weather of 40 degrees. Cities Nanjing, Wuhan and Chongqing are experiencing extreme weather.