Category: United States of America

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United States of America

October 5, 1988 – Vice Presidential Debate and ‘the Greenhouse Effect’

On this day, October 5 in 1988, the vice presidential debate in the Presidential elections took place. The Democratic Party’s Lloyd Bentsen squared off against Republican Dan Quayle. You can watch the video here

1988 Bentsen and Quayle veep debate.

What’s interesting is that Qyayle did not deny the reality of climate change and it wasn’t really until a few years later that proper full-on denial became an acceptable position within the Republican party. Since 2015 also it has become an absolute litmus test for MAGA Republicans and this has “polarised” the issue.

[The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere was 349.37ppm. At time of writing it was 421ishppm- but for what it is now,well, see here for the latest.]

Why this matters. 

We should remember that this current culture war nonsense that the Republicans are waging did not use to include climate change. It is now of course too late to do anything substantial but it’s good to know

What happened next?

Bush won the 1988 election, having neutralised Democratic candidate Michael Dukakis very effectively with some race-baiting that would be considered tame now. Bush then did nothing while his chief of staff wreaked havoc on what could have been a vaguely consensual process in creating the UNFCCC.

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Activism United States of America

October 4, 1969 – “If we melt the Antarctic, our problems are solved because all of the ports of the world would vanish and the ocean will rise 200 feet.”

On this day, October 4 in 1969, an American activist and journalist, Roger Caras, laid it out for people at a leadership conference of the American Humane Society.

“Our population is insane in its rate of growth. This was pointed out to you yesterday. I’m sure you all know it. Our air is unbreathable. Lake Erie is gone. We are told that the oceans can be gone within 10 years. There will be no fish out of the sea to eat. Our soil is disappearing. The pollutants in the air are creating a greenhouse effect. I stood at the South Pole a few years ago. The snow is 9600 feet deep; there are 6 million square miles of it. If we melt it, our problems are solved because all of the ports of the world would vanish and the ocean will rise 200 feet.”

Caras, R. (1969). The humane movement and the survival of all living things. In C. Burke (Ed.), The Power of Positive Programs in the American Humane Movement: discussion papers of the National Leadership Conference of The Humane Society of the United States: October 3-5, 1969, Hershey, PA (pp. 89-94).  [could be 5th October]

https://www.wellbeingintlstudiesrepository.org/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1011&context=acwp_wmm

[The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere was 321.78ppm. At time of writing it was 421ishppm- but for what it is now, well, see here for the latest.]

The context was this – People had begun to worry over the past 10 years about the impact of rapid industrialisation. In 1962 Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring had been published and since that time more and more activist and scientific work had been done on air pollution in cities especially Los Angeles. A couple of months before this presentation the idea for a a 1-day teaching called “Earth day” had been put forward

Why this matters. 

In and of itself it doesn’t but as with everything in this site if you know your history you will know where you’re coming from and you will not be taken in by the idea that this is a new problem and that we need further time to study it

What happened next?

A few months after this speech Earth Day happened millions of Americans participating either in protests or Teach-ins. There was a general sense of optimism or possibility that the worst of the problems could be dealt with. They weren’t.

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Science United States of America

October 1, 1957 – US Oil company ponders carbon dioxide build-up…

On this day, October 1 1957, a US Oil Company ponders carbon dioxide build-up in the atmosphere. 

1 October 1957 Humble Oil study – Radiocarbon evidence on the dilution of atmospheric and oceanic carbon by carbon from fossil fuels. H. R. Brannon Jr.  A. C. Daughtry  D. Perry  W. W. Whitaker  M. Williams

First published: October 1957 https://doi.org/10.1029/TR038i005p00643

[The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere was 315.6 or thereabout ppm. At time of writing it was 421ish ppm – but for what it is now,well, see here for the latest.]

The context was this – by the early 1950s, various folks were beginning to take note of carbon dioxide as a potential issue. (See for example, Gilbert Plass). Accurate atmospheric measures were not yet, however, being taken.

As Ben Franta noted in his 2018 article –  

“In 1954, the geochemist Harrison Brown and his colleagues at the California Institute of Technology submitted a research proposal to the API entitled “The determination of the variations and causes of variations of the isotopic composition of carbon in nature.” The scientists proposed the use of new mass spectrometers to investigate the ratio of carbon-12 to carbon-13 in terrestrial, marine and mineral systems to understand geological and biological carbon cycling”

Source.- Franta 2018.

Why this matters. 

Even with International Geophysical Year barely being underway, we knew enough to plant a big fat warning flag in the ground and say “we really need to think about this one.”. The oil companies certainly did…

What happened next?

Awareness of the potential climate impacts of carbon dioxide build-up grew and grew through the 60s, into the 70s and 80s. There was a thirty year history of scientists saying “er, look” before 1988, when the issue broke through into the public sphere.

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Australia Denial United States of America

September 28, 1997 – Australian denialist spouting tosh to his US mates.

On this day, September 28, 1997, Australian denialist Ray Evans sprayed his usual nonsense.

1997 Climate Treaty fosters economic impoverishment and endangers US Sovereignty. Washington, D.C. Heritage Foundation, backgrounder No 1143.

The forthcoming Conference… on Climate Change.. in Kyoto… is the next occasion where the Environmentalists will seek to build their Berlin Wall. That Wall will take the form of an international institution… empowered to monitor, and regulate, the C02 emissions of the countries who sign the Kyoto Protocol, and, presumably, impose penalties upon those countries.

NR Evans, Executive Officer, WMC Resources Ltd Australia, speaking at the International Conservative Congress, Washington DC, Sept 28, 1997.

Context – Australian fossil interests had been pushing hard against a climate treaty since 1990. The Australian Government had been sorta divided on this, but always with the pro-coal interests having the upper-hand. Then John Howard became Prime Minister (March 1996) and went all-out in 1997 to try to get Australia the most generous terms imaginable. This effort by the vile Ray Evans should be seen against that backdrop.

On this day the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide was 360.44 ppm. At time of writing it’s 420ish.

Why this matters. 

The denial campaigns worked. Bravo

What happened next?

We didn’t act at the speed and scale we needed to.

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Ignored Warnings United States of America

September 27, 1962 – “Silent Spring” published as a book

On this day September 27  1962  the hugely influential book “Silent Spring” was published.

It had already been serialised in the New Yorker from June.

Carson’s book is regarded as the starting gun for public awareness of the dangers of technology-driven economic growth (what is now known as “The Great Acceleration” in some circles).

Industry’s response was predictable, involving heavy-handed satire and attempted smears (Carson was a lesbian, Carson was only a woman and therefore emotional and unreliable etc etc).

(Btw, see Hoffman and Ocasio (2001) Not All Events Are Attended Equally: Toward a Middle-Range Theory of Industry Attention to External Events)

On this day the PPM was 316.25 ppm. Now it is 421ish – but see here for the latest.

Why this matters. 

If you stick your head above the parapet and say that what seems normal is actually deeply problematic, expect trouble. (That is not to say you deserve it, or should accept it, but you’d be wise to expect it).

What happened next?

Well, in the short-term, the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962 almost solved all of humanity’s long-term problems very abruptly.

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United States of America

September 23, 1986 -Joe Biden suggests urgent #climate action…

On this day 23 September 1986, Senator Joe Biden (what happened to THAT guy?) launched the “Biden Initiative on Global Warming.”

Yes, 1986.

The excellent book by Howe, “Behind the Curve” contains this 

“Throughout the mid-1980s, Al Gore and his fellow congressional Democrats continued to push the Reagan administration to begin dealing with the problem of climate change. In 1986, Senator Joe Biden introduced an initiative mandating that the president commission an executive-level task force to devise a strategy for responding to global warming – a strategy the president was meant to deliver to Congress within one year. The initiative became the Global Climate Protection Act of 1987, which the president signed. The bill in the end required very little real commitment from the administration, but it demonstrated an expanding congressional interest in climate change that raised the domestic political profile of the State Department’s negotiations with UNEP and the WMO leading up to the IPCC. It also led to more congressional hearings on the issue, which helped keep global warming in the news and thus on the public agenda.”

(Howe, 2014:160)

The Biden Initiative on Global Warming, Sept 23 1986                 https://www.congress.gov/bill/99th-congress/senate-bill/2891

“Directs the President to establish a Task Force on the Global Climate to research, develop, and implement a coordinated national strategy on global climate. Requires such Task Force to transmit a United States Strategy on the Global Climate to the President within a year. Requires the President to then report to specified members of Congress on such report.

Directs the President to appoint an ambassador at large to coordinate Federal efforts in multilateral activities relating to global warming.

Directs the Secretary of State to promote the early designation of an International Year of Global Climate Protection.

Urges the President to give climate protection high priority on the agenda of U.S.-Soviet relations.”

On this day the PPM was 345.48 ppm.

Now it is 420ish – but see here for the latest.

Why this matters. 

The pre-1988 activity matters, so we know just how long we’ve been talking about maybe eventually doing something about “it.”

What happened next?

Oh, don’t the wheels grind slowly (or spin aimlessly).

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United States of America

September 21, 2014 – big #climate march in New York. World saved.

On this day, September 21, 2014, there was a big march in New York and the alleged birth of a “new climate movement”. Er, nope.

If you want more of my take on this, check out What is to be done? Climate, capitalism and collisions with the ‘Limits to Growth’

On this day the PPM was 395.64

Now it is 420ish – but see here for the latest.

Why this matters. 

When will we ever get over the fetishism of marches (with Big Speeches) as the way to start/revivify a “movement”?

What happened next?

You’re living it.

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United States of America

September 20, 1893 – first American-made gasoline-powered car hits theroad.

On this day, September 20, 1893,  Charles Duryea and his brother Frank road-test the first American-made gasoline-powered automobile.

On this day the PPM was 295ppm

Now it is 420ish – but see here for the latest.

Why this matters. 

What a potentially useful invention. What a catastrophe it has turned out to be. Oh well

What happened next?

Vroom vroom! The car took over the world, reshaped cities, killed millions upon millions and, of course, polluted the atmosphere.

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United States of America

September 17, 1969 – trying to spin Vietnam, Moynihan starts warning about #climate change

On this day, September 17 1969, Patrick Moynihan, wrote a memo to the Nixon administration warning of the build up of carbon dioxide.

See here.

To quote yesterday’s blog, which was also about 1969, the context is that by the late 1960s smart people were paying attention to – and starting to get worried about – carbon dioxide build-up. Burnet was not alone in this.

But the broader context – which I have not seen in the popular accounts of Moynihan’s warning (it crops up on Twitter occasionaly). Tricky Dick Nixon was keen to get Europeans thinking about, well, anything other than Vietnam, and was seeking to retool NATO to include “challenges to modern society” – including ‘the environment’.

Connecting with President-elect Richard Nixon in 1968, he joined Nixon’s White House Staff as Counselor to the President for Urban Affairs. He was very influential at that time, as one of the few people in Nixon’s inner circle who had done academic research related to social policies.

In 1969, on the initiative of Nixon, NATO tried to establish a third civil column, establishing itself as a hub of research and initiatives in the civil region, dealing as well with environmental topics.[6] Moynihan[6] named Acid Rain and the Greenhouse effect as suitable international challenges to be dealt by NATO. NATO was chosen, since the mutual defense organization had suitable expertise in the field and experience with international research coordination. The German government was skeptical and saw the initiative as an attempt to regain international terrain after the lost Vietnam War. The topics, however, gained momentum in civil conferences and institutions.[6]

https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Daniel_Patrick_Moynihan

Why this matters.

Let no-one tell you this was a sudden surprise in 1988 (and even if it were, we’ve had a generation to start taking action).

What happened next?

More and more people became aware of the problems. But awareness is not political and economic power, and those who were doing nicely from the sale of deliciously cheap and abundant fossil fuels saw no reason to stop. And every reason to stop those who wanted them to stop. So that’s what they did, very well, for a very long time. Eternity, effectively.

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United States of America

September 15, 1982/1990 – “Environmental Justice” is born. And so is Captain Planet…

.

On this day in 1982 gutsy people fight back

1982: Warren County, North Carolina. Birth of the “Environmental Justice” movement

September 15 – October 31: State uses nearly one million dollars of police force to bury 10,000 truckloads of PCB-contaminated soil from approximately 250 miles of roadside.  

Warren County citizens and their supporters march, protest and over 500 people are arrested. The environmental justice movement is launched.

http://www.ncpcbarchives.com/?page_id=8

And 8 years later, dreams of redemption and safety are sold back to us…

15 September 1990 Captain Planet and the Planeteers first episode

But really, you need to check out the Don Cheadle spoof…