Climate Synopsis: censorship, a bad faith epidemic & the emptiness of solar stuff.

The weekly summary of the news on climate policy, science and solutions.

In the surreal world of climate change politics, people can become prone to thinking the worst. Salon warns of increasing censorship and intimidation of climate scientists, and the Guardian reports that the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service has been advised to reference ‘weather extremes’ instead of climate change. RedState praises that decision as toning down the panic, but Time Magazine says we can blame the extremes on climate change anyway.

Contributing to the sense of panic, a draft version of the National Climate Assessment received featured coverage from the New York Times, but the paper erroneously claimed to have obtained an unpublished document at risk of being suppressed. In fact, as Salon and a Washington Post op-ed explained, a draft report was already available through the National Academy of Sciences for public comments. Predictably, The Daily Caller took the Times to task, and emphasized comments by scientists that their climate work continues unimpeded. But Washington Monthly had a different view, concluding that "there isn’t a chance in hell" that the Trump administration will ever officially release the report. Seemingly proving the point, Politico quoted Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt as saying that the report was "politicized" and that EPA staff will gauge the “accuracy” of the assessment.

But looking past the censorship debate, and into the actual contents of the document, National Geographic offered an important observation:

"Virtually point for point, the review flatly refutes statements that senior Trump administration officials have made about the causes and effects of our changing climate." said NatGeo.

Fox News Weather summarized the report with five takeaway points: 1. Global temperatures are rising; 2. Significant atmospheric changes are inevitable; 3. Humans are the dominant cause; 4. Extreme weather events are happening more frequently; and 5. Oceans are rising and heating up. Clearly, the U.S. federal government bureaucracy must continue to help our leaders understand the climate science. For 25 years, four satellites have helped NASA understand ocean heat and its effects on the planet. Using that data, and much more, NOAA released the State of the Climate 2016 report, concluding that Earth’s surface observed record warmth for a third consecutive year.Given the release of the reports, a Washington Post op-ed quipped that Trump’s attack on science isn’t going very well.

Optimistically, the New York Times even said that President Trump might soon have to choose between climate science and his base. History suggests that the President will choose his base, and CNN summarized the President's many harsh quotes about climate change. Meanwhile, Congress and the President cut the funding for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, notes Wired Magazine. And The Hill reports that EPA chief Scott Pruitt refers to the "supposed" threat of climate change. Blame it all on the Axis of Climate Evil, says columnist Paul Krugman, citing the fossil fuel industry, the anti-government ideologues, and the contrarian public intellectuals as leaders of "an epidemic of bad faith."

But hope springs eternal. As the Minneapolis Star Tribune noted, Chief of Staff John Kelly is likely a stealth believer in climate change, and while serving as a four star general in the U.S. Marines, he recognized the national security threats and instability concerns. Of course, Mr. Kelly is probably more worried about North Korea right now. But when North Korea's threats got people thinking about Guam, the New York Times pivoted back to climate change with a story on local concerns about climate change, coral reefs and the tourism economy. The Daily Caller, in turn, took issue with the report, and noted that "Twitter users relentlessly mocked the NYT."

Still, the concerns about climate change are real, and politicians cannot ignore their constituents forever. All over the globe, local concerns continue to produce an awakening -- although perhaps too slowly. The Washington Post discusses melting glaciers in Peru. The Danish Institute for International Studies describes local governments in Africa confronted by flooding rivers and drought striken voters. And as water becomes ever more precious, a National Geographic map depicts how access to water can be weaponized in the Middle East and elsewhere.

In the United States, coastal communities face heightened risks, especially along the Atlantic Coast where Geophysical Research Letters explained that there are "hot spots" for sea level rise. This week, NJTV covered a session held by New Jersey lawmakers, who heard testimony and reviewed data addressing the disproportionate affects of both rising temperatures and rising seas on the Garden State. The hearing was a wake up call that led to discussions about infrastructure, energy and regulatory solutions:

“Science doesn’t care what our opinion is,” said Assemblyman Tim Eustace. “What will happen is going to happen, so our opinions are almost irrelevant. That’s why the experts are here to tell us what’s going on. The horse is out of the barn, so it’s time to stand up and represent the planet.”

Similar sentiments can be heard all over the United States, in places both red and blue. In Alaska, the Guardian explained that federal officials have been removed from the Denali Commission that was planning the adaptation or relocation of the Alaskan communities threatened by rising seas. The Atlanta Journal Constitution discussed potential effects on local water supplies. Courthouse news service says that the California Coastal Commission is creating records and policies anticipating litigation over the denial of coastal development projects due to erosion and rising seas. The Hawaii government is holding public hearings to assess its vulnerability to sea level rise and extreme flooding. Rising humidity in Iowa threatens agriculture, says the Quad City Times. Montana is dry and burning in August, says a New York Times op-ed, with a haze sufficient to blot out the Big Sky. The Seattle Times worries about dozens of 95 degree days.

A pair of court rulings this week indicates that the judiciary will not come to the rescue. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit extended the stay of litigation over the Clean Power Plan, because the Trump Administration is in the process of modifying or repealing the rules. A concurring opinion, however, noted that the Environmental Protection Agency still has an affirmative duty to regulate greenhouse gases, hinting that the parties should take up the issue once again with the U.S. Supreme Court. And in a different case, the D.C. Circuit also ruled that EPA lacked the authority to regulate hydrofluorocarbons, the greenhouse gases used for cooling and refrigeration. Congress will need to address this issue if the United States is going to have any role in the implementation of the Kigali amendment to the Montreal Protocol, a treaty originally designed to protect ozone in the global atmosphere. Perhaps Republican Rep. Ed Royce of California, who is chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, and who just joined the bipartisan Climate Solutions Caucus, can help.

Without the leadership of politicians, legislators and judges, the creative pursuit of climate solutions must come from elsewhere. Implementing the scientific research by Berkeley scientists, Los Angeles is painting its streets white, trying to increase reflectivity and cool the surface. And taking that concept to the extreme, The Atlantic revealed how a community of engineers, funded by Harvard University, reconvened to refine their concept of solar geoengineering. If humanity can't end its addiction to fossil fuels, then the alternative might be dimming the skies.

Even in the face of the hard-to-swallow current events, climate stalwart Al Gore continues to express his faith in the system, says Vox. But his movie hasn't done well at the box office, and his daughter Karenna offers a thoughtful critique of her father, suggesting that perhaps capitalism itself is contributing to the problem. "I don’t think we can do all of the same stuff, with the same mentality, and just solar power it."

Climate Monitor remains grateful to the many journalists and publications focused on the subjects of climate change and sea level rise. Learn more by watching our videos on Roku, on Amazon, and on www.climatemonitor.tv