Happy Wednesday! Here’s what’s cooking today.
Today’s must read: Hurricane Maria May Be a Preview of Climate-Fueled Migration in America (Bloomberg). “Hurricane Maria’s devastation of Puerto Rico may offer a preview for Americans of one of the most jarring potential consequences of global warming: the movement of large numbers of people pushed out of their homes by the effects of climate change.” The Department of Defense reports only 44 percent of the Commonwealth’s inhabitants have access to potable water and only 11 of 69 hospitals have fuel or power.
The Governator (bench) presses climate action: Former Terminator and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger continues to prod President Donald Trump into caring about the environment. “I think that we have in California proven that you can protect the environment and lower the greenhouse gases and go more in the green direction in terms of cars and industries and all that. We’ve passed the toughest laws in the United States. Everyone told us it was going to be suicidal, that our economy was going to crash and it was the worst thing for jobs,” Schwarzenegger said. “We’re now 10 years later and the national GDP growth is about two-and-a-quarter. The California GDP growth is at 5 percent so we are now outgrowing the rest of the U.S. and outperforming any state in the United States. We’re No. 1. So I think the federal government, Republicans and Democrats and Donald Trump and his whole White House if they will be smart, then they will just copy exactly what we’re doing in California.” He cited that pollution leads to more deaths than war and said he’s on a “crusade” to protect the environment.
Cut!: ExxonMobil announced a program to reduce methane leaks from oil and gas production. Methanea greenhouse gas that traps 80 times as much heat at carbon dioxide over a 20-year periodhas the same impact over two decades as 240 coal-fired power plants. Cutting methane emissions has grown increasingly important as the U.S. power sector transitions to more natural gas use.
The $64,000 question $25,000 phone booth: The Environmental Protection Agency, under the leadership of (frequent climate jester) Administrator Scott Pruitt, entered into a $24,570 contract last month for a “privacy booth” with Acoustical Solutions, a company that specializes in sound-dampening technology for hearing tests. The main goal is a secure phone booth that can’t be breached by hackers or eavesdroppers. We can’t help but wonder what’s so secret about Pruitt’s conversations? #coneofsilence
That’s it in our world. See you tomorrow.