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Welcome to Chemistry Lab 101. First question: Why are we treating our planet like a mere vessel in a chemistry experiment, cooking it over a Bunsen burner?

"For climate change, 2023 was an “unprecedented” year, “absolutely gobsmackingly bananas, scary and frightening” according to climate scientists. The UN Secretary General called it the year in which humanity crossed into a new climate era — an age of “global boiling”. Yet we dither. Read more about how serious the situation is here  and here.

How is it that the world still lacks robust, politically viable global carbon pricing, the critical solution recommended by literally the entire U.S. economics profession to reduce demand for fossil fuels "at the scale and speed necessary?" Why has their expert advice not translated into policy? This is what CCL remains focused on, no matter who's in power.

But since who's in power matters a lot, and the distinctions between our two major parties are more than massive, tune in to our local and national calls this month, because the current election is a climate election, and only one party is acting responsibly. The choice is clear.

Join us on Saturday, February 10 at 9 AM for the Marin/Sonoma CCL chapters' membership meeting with guest

Susan Bolle

discussing how you can participate in this most critical election cycle.

Susan Bolle is a Marin grassroots organizer who has been working on political campaigns for the past 15 years, leading volunteers for Presidential and midterm elections, focusing on battleground states. Susan founded Democracy Action Marin in 2017 and in 2022 brought together 32 Bay Area grassroots groups to found the Bay Area Coalition. She's a delegate to the CA Democratic Party, Vice-Chair of the CADEM Organizing Committee and Rep. Jared Huffman's appointed member of the Democratic Central Committee of Marin. 

Here's the zoom link



Then, at 10 AM, the National call with CCL's founding inspiration, Sam Daley-Harris.

His revised and updated edition of Reclaiming Our Democracy: Every Citizen’s Guide to Transformational Advocacy, was released on January 9, 2024. Tune in here.

What's the plan? CCL's 2024 Policy Roadmap

Details here. Get involved!

Activate Your Community Network with a CCL talk!

We're available for speaking opportunities in our community. Can you help us spread the word?

Our chapter is fortunate to include several accomplished climate educators who are ready to engage your network with a customized presentation (at no cost.)

If you have contacts at local schools, universities, community clubs (service, social, hobby, professional), faith communities, town councils, local government agencies and the like, please contact us at marincclchapter@gmail.com.

Here's another path to activism in this election cycle: get involved with the nonpartisan EVP, whose mission is to get environmental voters to actually vote. "We identify inactive environmentalists and transform them into consistent voters to build the power of the environmental movement." Do it here.

With the World Stumbling Past 1.5 Degrees of Warming, Scientists Warn Climate Shocks Could Trigger Unrest and Authoritarian Backlash

Most of the public seems unaware that global temperatures will soon push past the target to which the U.N. hoped to limit warming. Researchers see social and psychological crises brewing.

“The real danger is that there are so many other crises around us that there is no effort left for the climate crisis. We will find all kinds of reasons not to put more effort into climate protection, because we are overburdened with other things like inflation and wars all around us.”

This is a very good reason to participate with CCL and keep climate on the front burner, so to speak, where it belongs. CCL maintains that focus.

Inside Climate News

Ready to get wonky? Recently Dr. James Hansen, often called the "grandfather of climate change awareness" for his prescient 1988 warning to Congress that "global warming has been detected," published his latest paper, "Global Warming in the Pipeline," which predicts considerably greater and more rapid warming than heretofore predicted by the IPCC. Needless to say, this controversial news is alarming, and the debate within the scientific community has begun. Dr. Hansen's primary recommendation? A global carbon fee.

Listen here, if you dare, to what legendary CCL advisor Dr. Hansen has to say about our near future.

A New 66 Million-Year History of Carbon Dioxide Offers Little Comfort for Today

A massive new review of ancient atmospheric carbon-dioxide levels and corresponding temperatures lays out a daunting picture of where the Earth’s climate may be headed. The study covers geologic records spanning the past 66 million years, putting present-day concentrations into context with deep time. Among other things, it indicates that the last time atmospheric carbon dioxide consistently reached today’s human-driven levels was 14 million years ago—much longer ago than some existing assessments indicate. It asserts that long-term climate is highly sensitive to greenhouse gas, with cascading effects that may evolve over many millennia.

(As if there were any remaining doubt. Yet fossil fuels remain artificially "cheap.")

Read more here

Do Not Miss This Series!

If you've already seen it, watch it again.

You'll then understand how we got into this mess and what it will take to get us out: Massive political will for robust solutions that the industry will oppose.

Not us!

(We prefer selfies taken in front of The Capitol and with our legislators.)

You're invited, but...

This is how one behaves inside The Capitol:

Make an appointment. Business attire recommended. Bring nothing that even looks like a weapon.

Long live Democracy.

Prepared by Peter G. Joseph, M.D. 

Peter.Joseph@cclvolunteer.org

Apologies for cross postings.

If you know someone who would like to be added to this distribution list, please suggest they join CCL.