We talk path dependence, critical juncture, and behavioral changes in this Making Sense of Climate episode (audio)

FM #1138 = This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 1138 in the series. 

This session of the radio show shares the output of The Climate Minute podcast episode hosted by Ted McIntyre, Franklin resident and climate activist. We met to record in the Franklin TV & Public Radio studio on Tuesday, January 16, 2024.  

The topic thread we talked of as we continued this "making sense of climate" discussion went something like this:

• Climate Leader Community

• State pilot to allow gas bans in 10 communities 

• Path dependence 

• Critical juncture

• Behavioral changes underlying energy revolution/overshoot/planetary management

• Need for new behavior now

• End of world? Viewpoints matter.

This discussion continues our journey understanding the MA roadmap toward net zero and while it helps me “make sense of climate”, we hope it helps with your understanding as well. 

If you have climate questions or Franklin specific climate questions, send them in and we’ll try to answer them in a future session.  

The conversation runs about 54 minutes. Let’s listen to my conversation with Ted.

Audio link ->  https://franklin-ma-matters.captivate.fm/episode/fm-1138-making-sense-of-climate-38-01-16-24

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Links to references made during this episode

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yCyhz-ZVVJImfYvJXnbaOmMhXE9RRX1E/view?usp=drive_link 

Link to the MA page on Climate Leader Communities -> https://www.mass.gov/info-details/climate-leader-communities 

Links to other places you can find The Climate Minute

• You can listen to the #ClimateMinute on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-climate-minute/id589025783 

• You can listen to the #ClimateMinute on Podbean https://massclimateaction.podbean.com/ 

• You can listen to the #ClimateMinute on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/3UIZfLRoUQVLXUY2jMAsCk 

** See the page that collects all the “Making Sense of Climate” episodes -> https://www.franklinmatters.org/2022/02/making-sense-of-climate-collection.html 

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We are now producing this in collaboration with Franklin.TV and Franklin Public Radio (wfpr.fm) or 102.9 on the Franklin area radio dial.  

This podcast is my public service effort for Franklin but we can't do it alone. We can always use your help.

How can you help?

• If you can use the information that you find here, please tell your friends and neighbors

• If you don't like something here, please let me know

Through this feedback loop we can continue to make improvements. I thank you for listening.

For additional information, please visit www.franklin.news/ or  www.Franklinmatters.org/ 

If you have questions or comments you can reach me directly at shersteve @ gmail dot com

The music for the intro and exit was provided by Michael Clark and the group "East of Shirley". The piece is titled "Ernesto, manana"  c. Michael Clark & Tintype Tunes, 2008 and used with their permission.

I hope you enjoy!

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You can also subscribe and listen to Franklin Matters audio on iTunes or your favorite podcast app; search in "podcasts" for "Franklin Matters"

We talk path dependence, critical juncture, and behavioral changes in this Making Sense of Climate episode (audio)

The Guardian view on Cop28: a phase-out of fossil fuels is the only decision that makes sense | Editorial | The Guardian

"It was never really in doubt. But the first week of Cop28, which ended with a rest day on Thursday, made one crucial fact impossible to ignore: the fossil fuel industry is not planning to go quietly. Far more of its lobbyists are in the UAE than have attended UN climate talks before. One analysis counted 2,456 of them – nearly four times the number registered last year in Egypt.

The battle is hotting up over what next week’s report on progress towards the Paris goals, known as the global stocktake, will say. Fossil fuel interests – both corporate and national – are pushing hard to avoid references to the phase-out that would signal the end of their business model and vast profits. They don’t want an energy transition that leads to their demise.

Last week, the Guardian revealed that Sultan Al Jaber, who holds the Cop presidency and leads the UAE’s state oil company, recently asserted that “no science” indicates that “a phase-out of fossil fuel is what’s going to achieve 1.5C”. Forced on to the defensive, he later said that “the phase-down and phase-out of fossil fuel is inevitable”. But it is the nations at Cop28 that will decide, and there is no guarantee that any such pledge will appear in the final text.

One of the key battlegrounds at Cop28 is that of language: whether fossil fuels will be phased “down” or “out”. The choice is either reducing carbon energy sources or getting rid of them entirely. The latter would be preferable, but there are many other battles to be won. There will be haggling over whether a transition to a cleaner future should see fossil fuels “unabated”, with greenhouse gas emissions released directly into the atmosphere, or “abated”, where carbon capture technology and carbon offsets reduce the harm caused. The latter have so far failed to deliver promised benefits, appearing more of a risk than a solution, in enabling the necessity of replacing fossil fuels to be ducked."

Continue reading The Guardian article online -> (subscription may be required)

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/dec/08/the-guardian-view-on-cop28-a-phase-out-of-fossil-fuels-is-the-only-decision-that-makes-sense

Credit: Kiara Worth | UN Climate Change

"Beyond slashing carbon emissions, the grant-funded work will make living in these renovated units more comfortable"

Miriam Wasser (@MiriamWasser) posted on Tue, Nov 21, 2023:

"The first installment of Massachusetts' $50m grant to decarbonize affordable housing developments went out today.

The money will be used to electrify and retrofit over 700 units across the state. "

Full article -> https://t.co/sypqvNKjgq

Shared from -> https://twitter.com/MiriamWasser/status/1727087328181751961

MASS.gov press release -> https://www.mass.gov/news/healey-driscoll-administration-awards-27-million-to-decarbonize-affordable-housing-across-massachusetts

Mass. awards $27 million to help ‘decarbonize’ hundreds of affordable housing units

Starting with a bicycle story, we shift gears to cover climate topics around the region and cycle back to a key report (audio)

FM #1102 = This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 1102 in the series. 

This session of the radio show shares my conversation with Ted McIntyre, Franklin resident and climate activist via the Zoom conference bridge Monday, November 13, 2023.  

In this episode we cover multiple topics from the release of the Hopper Report, we run through a series of articles from around New England, and then back to MA, covering what has been happening recently to close with some quotes from the Hopper Report.

Links to the many articles we talk of are collected in one PDF doc linked to below.   

This discussion continues our journey understanding the MA roadmap toward net zero and while it helps me “make sense of climate”, we hope it helps with your understanding as well. 

If you have climate questions or Franklin specific climate questions, send them in and we’ll try to answer them in a future session.  

The conversation runs about 47 minutes. Let’s listen to my conversation with Ted as we help ‘make sense of climate.’ Audio link -> https://franklin-ma-matters.captivate.fm/episode/fm-1102-making-sense-of-climate-35-11-13-23

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Links to articles referenced for this episode are collected in one PDF -> https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fYRQvznj3SB1YU4NqXOR7NslMPM2gArf/view?usp=drive_link

** See the page that collects all the “Making Sense of Climate” episodes -> https://www.franklinmatters.org/2022/02/making-sense-of-climate-collection.html 

--------------

We are now producing this in collaboration with Franklin.TV and Franklin Public Radio (wfpr.fm) or 102.9 on the Franklin area radio dial.  

This podcast is my public service effort for Franklin but we can't do it alone. We can always use your help.

How can you help?

• If you can use the information that you find here, please tell your friends and neighbors

• If you don't like something here, please let me know

Through this feedback loop we can continue to make improvements. I thank you for listening.

For additional information, please visit www.franklin.news/ or  www.Franklinmatters.org/ 

If you have questions or comments you can reach me directly at shersteve @ gmail dot com

The music for the intro and exit was provided by Michael Clark and the group "East of Shirley". The piece is titled "Ernesto, manana"  c. Michael Clark & Tintype Tunes, 2008 and used with their permission.

I hope you enjoy!

------------------

You can also subscribe and listen to Franklin Matters audio on iTunes or your favorite podcast app; search in "podcasts" for "Franklin Matters"

Starting with a bicycle story, we shift gears to cover climate topics around the region and cycle back to a key report (audio)

CommonWealth Beacon: "Let’s be honest about cost, challenges of electrification"

Consider the author's point of view: "Michael S. Giaimo is the director of the northeast region of the American Petroleum Institute" 

"You may have missed it, but there is a pervasive movement afoot to electrify everything: cars, trucks, buses, homes, offices, stoves, and appliances. It may sound easy, but it is a massive undertaking rife with challenges. Policies seeking to simultaneously electrify our transportation system, our homes, and commercial buildings will require an upfront investment of billions of dollars in preparing and expanding the power grid to accommodate this increased demand for electricity. That is just for starters.  

When policymakers discuss this issue, they focus on the perceived benefits of decarbonization but consistently gloss over the process and associated challenges. When they consider mandatory electrification, among the questions they leave unanswered are: How much power is going to be needed to preserve reliability? Where is that power coming from? How is the power going to get where it needs to go? And how much is this all going to cost?

Let’s start with the question about the amount of power needed. According to the 2023–2032 Forecast Report of Capacity, Energy, Loads, and Transmission (CELT Report) – the region’s demand for electrical power is projected to increase by a quarter over the next decade – and that prediction might be understated."

Continue reading the article online ->

https://commonwealthbeacon.org/opinion/lets-be-honest-about-cost-challenges-of-electrification/

Reports referenced in the article are also available via Franklin Matters:

• 2023–2032 Forecast Report of Capacity, Energy, Loads, and Transmission (CELT Report) (Yes, it is an Excel file)  https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1dlwPUid6Fi6Kuwa44n4ItREbYO1qE71I/edit?usp=drive_link&ouid=101938843903614700481&rtpof=true&sd=true
• NationalGrid outlook ->   https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dn0UzxmP5c8wWb7LwtIS_e9xIykVbac-/view?usp=drive_link
• Eversource outlook ->  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1e170UznBm4OHedajXqOaAor5fVpyQAQu/view?usp=drive_link

Stay tuned into the "Making Sense of Climate" podcast series as we have these discussion about how we are going to get where we need to be. It will only happen with a concerted effort on the part of all involved ->   https://www.franklinmatters.org/2022/02/making-sense-of-climate-collection.html

CommonWealth Beacon: "Let’s be honest about cost, challenges of electrification"

Boston Globe: "Boston’s plan to ban fossil fuels in new buildings goes up in smoke"

"Wu’s decision not to apply for the program came as a surprise to environmental advocates and legislators who have been trying to move the state away from heating and cooling new structures with fossil fuels. Constructing buildings that are only powered by electricity is considered among the low-hanging fruit of plans to decarbonize. Buildings account for roughly 70 percent of Boston’s greenhouse gas emissions.

The decision marks an abrupt departure from the mayor’s recent statements, delivered in press conferences and radio interviews, that the city intended to participate in the program and lead by example.

Wu said, “it breaks my heart,” but that the city was not applying for the state program because it appears it was not actually intended for a city as complex as Boston, with its large population and already-strained electric grid. She said she had gotten “clear indications that Boston would not be chosen for the one available spot.”

Maria Hardiman, a spokesperson for the state Department of Energy Resources, said the challenge for Boston is that it’s “electrically similar” — meaning the age of the infrastructure and demands on the system are comparable — to several other cities or towns that have already been selected for the program, including Cambridge, Brookline, Newton, and Arlington. Those similarities “would have presented a challenge in the selection process” because the pilot program is aimed at getting data from a diverse group of communities."

Continue reading the article online ->    https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/11/13/science/boston-will-not-apply-to-ban-fossil-fuels/

Shared from Sabrina Shankman (@shankman)->    https://twitter.com/shankman/status/1723830814788518112

Boston Globe: "Boston’s plan to ban fossil fuels in new buildings goes up in smoke"

In this Making Sense of Climate episode we talk about tough choices on the climate roadmap (audio)

FM #1084 = This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 1084 in the series. 

This session of the radio show shares my conversation with Ted McIntyre, Franklin resident and climate activist via the Zoom conference bridge Monday, October 16, 2023.  

In this episode we cover the following topics

• Legal challenges tossed

• Inspector General editorial

• Brayton Point conundrum

Links to the articles we talk of are collected below.   

This discussion continues our journey understanding the MA roadmap toward net zero and while it helps me “make sense of climate”, we hope it helps with your understanding as well. 

If you have climate questions or Franklin specific climate questions, send them in and we’ll try to answer them in a future session.  

The conversation runs about 37 minutes. Let’s listen to my conversation with Ted as we help ‘make sense of climate.’ Audio link -> https://franklin-ma-matters.captivate.fm/episode/fm-1084-making-sense-of-climate-34-10-16-23

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Links to articles referenced:

Legal challenges tossed

https://commonwealthmagazine.org/energy/legal-challenges-by-fishing-groups-to-vineyard-wind-rejected/

Inspector General Editorial

https://commonwealthmagazine.org/government/push-for-electric-school-buses-faces-procurement-bump-in-the-road/ 

Brayton Point Conundrum

https://commonwealthmagazine.org/energy/brayton-point-offshore-wind-prize-in-doubt/ 

Another conundrum arises as we go to press 

EV Charging challenges for condo owners vs. homeowners 

https://commonwealthmagazine.org/opinion/my-energy-efficiency-efforts-were-frustrated-by-mass-save/

** See the page that collects all the “Making Sense of Climate” episodes -> https://www.franklinmatters.org/2022/02/making-sense-of-climate-collection.html 

--------------

We are now producing this in collaboration with Franklin.TV and Franklin Public Radio (wfpr.fm) or 102.9 on the Franklin area radio dial.  

This podcast is my public service effort for Franklin but we can't do it alone. We can always use your help.

How can you help?

• If you can use the information that you find here, please tell your friends and neighbors

• If you don't like something here, please let me know

Through this feedback loop we can continue to make improvements. I thank you for listening.

For additional information, please visit www.franklin.news/ or  www.Franklinmatters.org/ 

If you have questions or comments you can reach me directly at shersteve @ gmail dot com

The music for the intro and exit was provided by Michael Clark and the group "East of Shirley". The piece is titled "Ernesto, manana"  c. Michael Clark & Tintype Tunes, 2008 and used with their permission.

I hope you enjoy!

------------------

You can also subscribe and listen to Franklin Matters audio on iTunes or your favorite podcast app; search in "podcasts" for "Franklin Matters"

In this Making Sense of Climate episode we talk about tough choices on the climate roadmap (audio)

"Current law complicates effort" How to transition a complicated matter

Via CommonWealth Magazine: 

"THE COMMONWEALTH HAS established itself as a national leader in addressing climate change by setting an aggressive goal of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. A host of strategies have been adopted and proposed to move us forward in meeting this goal. This is cause for celebration given that leaders in some states refuse to acknowledge climate change and are blocking any attempts to address it.

One such proposal is Senate bill 2218, filed by Sen. Brendan Crighton, calling for 100 percent of new vehicles purchased by the Commonwealth to be electric by 2026 and 100 percent use of zero emissions vehicles by public entities by 2035. The Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean School Bus Program is offering $5 billion in grants and rebates over five years to schools to electrify their bus fleets. (Five Massachusetts school districts received rebates through this program in 2022.)

Electrifying school buses as an immediate first step should be a no-brainer. They travel a known distance each day and are parked in a central location overnight, easing the logistics of route planning and charging. What’s more, electric buses are quieter and reduce students’ exposure to tailpipe emissions, which has been shown to be a leading cause of asthma.

However, current laws do not make this so easy. The heart of the challenge facing school districts is the requirement under current law that they procure fuel sources separately from vehicles. While that may seem like a minor bureaucratic detail, it runs the risk of greatly complicating districts’ move to cleaner bus transportation, and could lead to violations of procurement regulations and law."

Continue reading the article online

https://commonwealthmagazine.org/government/push-for-electric-school-buses-faces-procurement-bump-in-the-road/

(Photo via Creative Commons/Flickr by ThoseGuys119)

 

"Brayton Point offshore wind prize in doubt

Divided Somerset grapples with ship electrification mandate"

"ONE OF THE BIGGEST prizes of the emerging offshore wind industry – an onshore subsea cable manufacturing facility providing jobs, tax revenue, and the beginnings of a US supply chain – is in danger of slipping away at Somerset’s Brayton Point because of a dispute over a zoning condition.

Prysmian Group, based in Italy, is proposing to build a $250 million factory employing nearly 300 people and generating local taxes of $9 million, which would represent about 12 percent of Somerset’s current budget. The factory would supply transmission cables to offshore wind farms up and down the Atlantic Coast and help reduce the nation’s reliance on fossil fuels.

President Biden recognized the symbolic importance of the Prysmian facility in July 2022, when he used Brayton Point – the former site of one of New England’s largest coal-fired power plants — as the backdrop for a speech outlining his vision for addressing climate change. He described Brayton Point and the Prysmian cable manufacturing plant as being “on the frontier of clean energy in America.”

 Continue reading the article online

https://commonwealthmagazine.org/energy/brayton-point-offshore-wind-prize-in-doubt/

A rendering of the Prysmian subsea cable manufacturing facility proposed for Brayton Point in Somerset.