Hey Garbäge Folks,
It’s almost Earth Day—which means it’s almost WNWN’s one year anniversary! Keep your ears pealed for a special episode. It’ll be presented by this new guy, called Yu-Chen. You might have heard his name in the credits, or seen him on Twitter. He is our production assistant, and he also helps me write this letter after I dump out all the news.
And we have two big heaps of garbage for you today. So buckle up!
Here’s Some Trash:
Carbon Researchers Estimate that COVID-19 will Cause the Largest Ever Annual Fall in CO2 Emissions (Carbon Brief)
The climate change website Carbon Brief had previously estimated that China’s emissions would drop 25% due to lockdowns from COVID. Now, they have expanded their analysis to the world, and found that emissions are set to drop 4% globally. But don’t get your hopes up. Here’s a quote from the article:
Even this would not come close to bringing the 1.5C global temperature limit within reach. Global emissions would need to fall by more than 6% every year this decade – more than 2,200MtCO2 annually – in order to limit warming to less than 1.5C above pre-industrial temperatures.
What does this mean, then, for climate action and the role of individuals?
THE N8 TAKE:
Hopefully these findings can serve as a wakeup call. Even with extreme restrictions on personal travel and consumption, we won’t actually get the carbon benefits we need.
What is the role of individuals? With millions of people restricting driving and #WFH, it truly hits home, just how little our individual actions… matter. Straightforward lifestyle changes, telecommuting, changing consumption, and more, can’t lead to the carbon reduction we need to avoid a catastrophic climate crisis. This isn’t to say you don’t matter. It’s more that, your individual emissions are not the end all be all, when there are deeper structural problems in place.
Organize with your coworkers. Mobilize your friends. Give pressure to industry leaders. We need to move the needle at a macro-level.
(Side note: We’re going to need better social safety nets. COVID-19 has had a devastating effect on lower income folks, manual laborers, and people in the service industry. People are losing their jobs. It would only get worse when fighting climate change. This should be more obvious than ever.)
In Other News…
This-was-satire-but-I-wish-it-were-true-got-deleted-from-Facebook
Extinction Rebellion NYC made a prank site claiming that Google would no longer give money to climate-denying organizations, and instead, adopt aggressive carbon reduction policies.
We love satire, and these sorts of campaigns really do work. Greenpeace’s Dirty Cloud campaign “inspired” tech giants like Apple, Facebook, and even Google to commit to using 100% renewable electricity. But, in my Facebook forum (private group, E-mail me if you want access!), the links to the parody site was taken down. In an effort to stop “fake news”… we assume.
THE N8 TAKE:
The problem is that, in a time of quarantines, it’s hard to physically protest the climate crisis. Satire and online action are one of the only forms of recourse.
If Google can request Facebook to deactivate links that go against corporate interests, is social media really a viable platform for organizing? Is this a form of censorship or public protection? (And the thing is, essentially all environmental campaigns go against corporate interests.)
We admire companies like Patagonia because they built sustainability into their business model. I’m sure they do this because they care. But, I also think it’s because they have carved out this niche in business. At the end, it’s all for profit. I am not saying we need to start chucking recycled molotov’s or performing direct actions, but satire and criticisms are vital for any kind of public policy change.
Speaking of public policy…
🚨The USA Ocean Department🚨
I wish people would say stupid things about NOAA, but they don’t even talk about it! When was the last time YOU thought about NOAA? It’s OK, though. No judgement, we all have a lot going on.
Here’s a pic of N8 by the beach. Simple times.
And Environs
Did you know that Taiwan is a garbage country—in a good way? Here’s a thread on Taiwan’s garbage history ~curated by Nature N8~.
Did you also know that COP26 is postponed?
Before you start to worry that the climate is doomed, this might not be so bad. Moving COP to 2021 means that there is a chance Trump won’t be president. That’s good! (Remember COP24 and Poland in our COP episode? Leaders matter.)
Keep in mind, climate negotiators don’t exactly finalize their deals on the day of. They spend the whole year ahead determining new language, meeting at pre-COPs, and building trust with counterparts. That’s been mostly impossible with COVID travel restrictions anyway. If COP wasn’t postponed, there is almost no way negotiators could come to an agreement.
While I don’t love delaying climate action, sometimes it’s more important to get things right, rather than to just get things done.
Now, what you can get done, is this!
Behind the Bin:
Do you want to laugh at Nature N8? Do you want to hear Nature N8 on the edge? Here are some bloopers from our episode with Dr. Lewandowsky.
Circular Memes for Recycling Teens
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