The bill, which currently hangs in the balance, promises hundreds of billions in tax credits for companies that contribute to renewable energy sources or capture carbon emissions before they enter the atmosphere, plus a range of tax incentives for Americans to buy electric cars.
Meanwhile, Indigenous leaders kicked off a week-long demonstration for climate justice outside of the White House Monday, demanding President Biden ends new fossil fuel projects and stops pipeline construction through Indigenous lands.
Elsewhere, the effects of climate change are having a devastating effect on Shanxi province in China, where almost two million people have been displaced following torrential flooding. In the U.K., major protests continue to block highways near the capital city London which have been softly backed by Prince Charles, who said he understands the “frustration” of demonstrators.
The live updates for this blog have ended.
“We must also stand in solidarity and call on our leaders to recognize the sovereignty of Indigenous Peoples to decide what happens in their own territories,” Ruffalo said.
Ruffalo joins activists’ calls for President Biden to “move past promises and commit to real climate action, like ending fracking and shutting down all pipelines.”
This move “can’t happen overnight,” says George Zittis, a scientist at the Cyprus Institute’s Climate and Atmosphere Research Center, because of the region’s dependency on fossil fuels.
He told the Associated Press that governments need to start the transition within the next two decades in order to prevent “irreversible effects” like desertification, water scarcity and mass migrations from the region.
“We need to completely decarbonize, even go negative,” in greenhouse gas emissions, Zittis said. He said the east Mediterranean and Middle East now emit almost as much greenhouse gasses as the entire European Union.
This comes ahead of the 2nd International Conference organized by the Cyprus government that will focus on the east Mediterranean and Middle East, which are recognized as a global “climate change hot spot.”
Scientists, diplomats and policymakers from Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Iraq and Greece will present the results of a two-year study and present policy recommendations to countries in the region.
The donations will go towards providing technical support, expertise and supporting diplomatic efforts.
The U.S. and the European Union are leading efforts to reduce methane emissions and lower global warming by at least 0.2 degrees Celsius by 2050.
The State Department said Monday that 24 new countries have joined the agreements to cut methane emissions by 30 percent by the end of the decade.
Methane, the main component of natural gas, is one of the most potent contributors to climate change.
The United Nations Habitat and the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate Change are hosting the Innovate 4 Cities (I4C) conference starting Monday to bring together stakeholders to enable cities to “take accelerated action and more ambitious climate action.”
“Cities and communities must have a seat at the table in the global environmental discourse,” Maimunah Mohd Sharif, Executive Director of U.N. Habitat said in a tweet. She added that discussions from I4C will “feed into” theUnited Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26).
“The time to COP26 is short but collectively we can still raise the level of ambition,” she tweeted.
U.N. Special Envoy on Climate Ambition and Solutions and Global Covenant Co-Chair Michale Bloomberg said leaders need to be “bold and ambitious” to confront climate change head-on as communities rebuild to be resilient against climate change.
In a video shared on Twitter, he said “cities have always been hubs testing new ideas and technology.” He called on world leaders to “support cities as they lead the fight against climate change” through innovation and research.
In 2019, 15 young activists filed a complaint with the U.N. Committee on the Rights of Children arguing that France, Turkey, Brazil, Germany and Argentina knew about the risk of climate change for decades but failed to curb their carbon emissions, therefore violating children’s rights.
While the committee concluded that there was a “sufficient causal link” between the inactions of the five nations and the harm allegedly suffered by children, it accepted the arguments of the five countries that the activists should have brought the cases to their national courts first.
The committee did rule that it can deal with these cases even if the harmful effects of one country’s emissions impact children in another country.
“You were successful on some aspects but not on others,” the committee told the youth activists in a letter, commending their “courage and determination.”
“We hope that you will be empowered by the positive aspects of this decision, and that you will continue to act in your own countries and regions and internationally to fight for justice on climate change,” it said.
Extinction Rebellion pulled up in the middle of an intersection with a yellow boat that read “citizens decide” in Dutch as activists began sitting or lying down in the road, the Associated Press reported.
The group told reporters that 700 people joined the demonstration calling for climate justice and asking the government to “do what is necessary to stop loss of biodiversity and make the Netherlands climate neutral in 2025.”
Protestors held signs that said “This is a dead end road” and “Planet before profit.”
“We are grandparents, parents and children,” an activist told the demonstrators. “We are part of an international movement that fights for a livable and just planet.”
Jamie Henn, the director of Fossil Free Media, said Indigenous women “dance in the face of U.S. Park Police” as officers give their final warnings before they begin arresting people.
There are estimated to be over 135 people risking arrest at the demonstration, according to People vs. Fossil Fuels.
Joye Braun of Eagle Butte, South Dakota, a member of the Cheyenne River Sioux and organizer with the Indigenous Environmental Network, is demanding Biden commits to stopping pipeline construction on Indigenous land.
“Joe Biden, you have been making false promises,” Braun said. “You stopped Keystone XL. What about DAPL, Line 5, MVP. This is indigenous land. Indigenous Peoples will be here for thousands of years.”
“Can you hear me now? Biden! We came to knock on your door!” she added.
The People vs. Fossil Fuels coalition kicks off a week of protests in Washington D.C. on National Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Indigenous activists leading the protests are demanding end fossil fuel infrastructure projects that disproportionately harm Black, Indigenous, Brown, Asian American Pacific Islander and working-class communities, including pipeline construction.
They also want President Biden to declare a national climate emergency and “launch a just, renewable energy revolution,” according to the People vs. Fossil Fuels website.
A letter was organized by 69 companies including chemicals company Bayer, steelmaker ThyssenKrupp and sportswear firm Puma.
“As businesses, we are prepared to fulfill our central role in climate action. We call upon the new German government to make the transformation to climate neutrality the central economic project of the coming legislative period,” the letter said.
The companies want the new Social Democratic government to prioritize renewable energy and enact a climate-friendly tax reform that will prevent industries from investing abroad.
“Climate protection was the decisive topic in the federal election and the parties must place it at the top of their agenda in building the new federal government,” Michael Otto, board chairman of mail order company Otto Group and president of the Foundation 2 Degrees, which organized the letter, said.
The letter also urged the government to set international climate standards at the upcoming U.N. summit in Glasgow, Scotland and in Group of Seven talks.
He was keen to promote a positive outlook on the meeting which begins in Glasgow at the end of this month, saying he anticipated “surprising announcements” from key countries, he revealed in an interview with the Guardian newspaper.
But Kerry warned there was “still a lot of distance to travel in the next four weeks” and that a deal was a way off being “signed, sealed and delivered”.
The activists, who were evicted from a protest camp yesterday (pictured), see the actions as a final resort before they are permanently removed from the site in Wendover.
Critics of the initiative suggest it is causing widespread destruction of animal habitats, threatening endangered species, and have lashed out at the removal of much ancient woodland. HS2 and the British government, however, say the project will benefit the environment in the long term and have pledged to replace much of the habitat affected by construction.
But the company has just struck a deal with industries reliant on the resource - including drinks firms and nuclear power stations - to hike prices “that will enable it to continue operating while global gas prices remain high”.
Christy Brigham, the head of resource management and science for the Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks, called the potential loss “heartbreaking,” the Associated Press reported.
Brigham said that the KNP Complex Fire, which ignited on September 9 from a lightning strike, has burned into 15 of the parks’ giant sequoia groves. The effect of the blaze on the trees varied, with fires burning at a low- or medium-intensity level in most groves, which Brigham said many of the trees have evolved to endure.
FULL STORY: ‘Heartbreaking’ Loss of Giant Sequoias Reported in California’s KNP Complex Fire
No casualties have been reported but the facility is close to one of Lebanon’s two major power plants - both of which had to shut down two days ago because of a shortage fuel shortage.
The highest average price for regular-grade gas is in the San Francisco Bay Area - $4.55 per gallon - while the lowest average is in Houston - $2.77.
In an interview with the BBC at his Balmoral estate in Aberdeenshire, he warned of a “catastrophic” impact if urgent action isn’t taken on climate change, and said he was concerned world leaders would “just talk” at the COP26 summit at the end of this month.
Taken between October 6 and 8, the CBS News/YouGov survey released Sunday also found 33 percent had a general sense and some specifics, and 28 percent said they also had a general sense but not any specifics. Only 10 percent said that they know many of its specifics.
The poll showed that 59 percent of respondents heard about the plan’s spending cost and 58 percent heard about increasing taxes for high-income people. Meanwhile, only 40 percent said that they are aware of the plan’s components.
FULL STORY: Most Americans Don’t Know Much Specifically About Biden’s Build Back Better Plan
In a letter to citizens, he set out the “increasingly damaging effects on human health, water availability, food production, infrastructure, and migration” as the climate crisis continues to bite.
He insisted on the need to “transition to a decarbonized economy” to “address the needs” of the country and a looming economic disaster following the impact of climate change on the country’s agricultural sector.
As the weather turns cold heading into winter, there have been warnings that a particularly cold season could see countries run out of supply if they do not increase the activity of coal power plants, which several governments - including the U.K. - have reluctantly accepted as a likelihood.
The price of natural gas on the continent has risen sharply over the past year, with the European benchmark up nearly 600 percent as of Thursday last week.
FULL STORY: Gripped by Energy Crisis, Europe Considers Breaking Climate Promises and Turning to Coal
Follow Newsweek’s live updates for all the latest.
