Category: Uncategorized

I just returned from Blue River Writers Gathering sponsored by the Spring Creek Project at Oregon State University. The Gathering was at H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest near McKenzie Bridge, Oregon. I was glad to attend workshops by Oregon Poet Laureate Kim Stafford, Jourdan Keith, Kathleen Dean Moore, and spawning spring chinook. A major theme was…

Today at The Guardian Benjamin Franta wrote in an article “Shell and Exxon’s secret 1980s climate change warnings,” “Looking on the bright side, [Shell] expressed its confidence that ‘this problem is not as significant to mankind as a nuclear holocaust or world famine.’ [par break]  The documents make for frightening reading. And the effect is all…

I took a break from climate posts so my nephew Kaige and I could fish off Mexico. In two trips we caught bluefin, yellowfin, and yellowtail. I recalled my poem about Bukowski, “make joy / no matter what.” However, when eating tuna, follow “U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) test results for mercury and fish,…

“Ocean heat content (OHC) and CO2 concentration measurements since 1950s. The black line represents ocean heating for the upper 2000 meters of ocean, and light red shading represents the 95 percent confidence interval. CO2 concentration observed in Mauna Loa Observatory is displayed by light blue.” Thanks to Lijing Cheng of the INSTITUTE OF ATMOSPHERIC PHYSICS, CHINESE ACADEMY…

In a related matter, click this article from The Spokesman-Review by Eli Francovich noting “‘The orcas are going to die if we don’t breach the [Snake River] dams,’ said Chiara Rose, a student at Western Washington University in Bellingham. ‘They are very dependent on this specific ecosystem [supplying Snake River salmon orcas need.]’” The article…

Yesterday I attended 350PDX’s Climate, Jobs and Justice event at Glenhaven City Park in Portland, Oregon.  Highlights included an opening prayer by Celilo Falls-born Ed Edmo, a poem from Marshall Islander Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner (video below), presentations by Oregon Just Transition Alliance (OJTA), and others. In addition, check out Portland Clean Energy Fund. The event, according to riseforclimate.org,…

The Atlantic and other publications noted in 2017 the United States is the only country on Earth opposing the Paris Climate Agreement. The Atlantic reported “195 other countries have already signed on.” As I wrote below, the Climate Agreement didn’t go far enough, and was only a start. Many colleagues, friends, neighbors, and students don’t want to…

Jeff Goodell, Rolling Stone contributing editor and author of The Water Will Come: Rising Seas, Sinking Cities, and the Remaking of the Civilized World, has an excellent article about specific challenges with Arctic melt you won’t hear in many mainstream news sources.  Goodell’s August 29, 2018 article notes: “The thawing of the Arctic is one of…

August 28, 2018, Lukas Ross, an opinion contributor at Thehill.com, reported,”Just two months ago, the DNC voted unanimously to refuse donations from political action committees, or PACs, run by fossil fuel corporations [ . . . .] The August resolution is a half-clever twisting of words that uses fossil fuel workers as props to justify continuing to…

Schellnhuber: “Were not talking about a million people seeking refuge from Syria. We talk about hundreds of millions of people who will have to be displaced on this planet.  How will we do it? [ . . . . ] Planet Passport for Climate Refugees? Global Green Card? [ . . . .] Think about…