By Alan Anderson, RCAT Board Member
Climate in the News (See attached articles, most with links at end of each):
1. 2023 smashes record for global temps – not where we want to be going!
2. 2023 also set new high temp records in the oceans – also not a good path!
4. World is facing massive impacts from every additional 0.1 deg. increase in temps.
5. 2023: A historic year of U.S. billion-dollar weather and climate disasters. Other years had fewer in number, but more expensive, like hurricane Katrina.
Good Climate News (there are MANY positive things happening. Here are few):
1. 700 miles on one tank of hydrogen! The technology is here. Need to expand refueling stations, just as we also expand EV charging stations.
2. Researchers are producing cobalt free batteries for EVs. Cobalt is currently mined in countries w/o protections for the miners, and it’s expensive.
3. The country’s biggest solar+batteries field just came online in CA. Now operational, the fuel is free, clean, inexhaustible!
4. Researchers have developed a solar cell 1,000x more efficient than current cells and costs LESS to produce. It will likely be sev. years before they come to market, but they will be revolutionary in our transition away from fossil fuels.
Actions we can all take to help preserve a livable world:
We have the technology to preserve a livable world. The question is, will we make the transition to clean energy fast enough. We CAN do this for all future generations, IF we all do our part. There are two main points in “our part”:
1. Press your fed & state reps to take meaningful climate action now! The best way is monthly phone calls to them. It costs little in time and $ and can make a BIG difference. Add a note to your smart phone calendar and hit repeat monthly. Your phone will remind you monthly to call.
2. Work to reduce your own carbon footprint. And now we have the big, federal climate bill offering you lots of $ to transition to electricity. Visit www.rewiringamerica.org/app/
3. Here is a quick report on my new heat pump (installed when my 20 yo A/C died last summer). This fall, my heat pump has done all my heating except in the very cold week we had. Gas savings have been more than increased electric cost, so far. But it was a warmer than average fall, in our hottest year on record. Time will see on the savings. But, burning less gas is a very good thing in any case.
