Climate change is causing food prices to rise

I spent the afternoon in the Henry Ford Museum. The draw was an exhibit of costumes for Disney live action movies. I think there were 70 costumes from a variety of movies. The first area of the exhibit was for the various versions of Cinderella and her gowns for the ballroom scene. This area included a video of what the designers considered and then did to construct them. One of them talked about three miles of hems for one gown. Elsewhere designers talked a bit about what goes into figuring out what a costume should look like. For Dumbo one character needed to portray a balance between circus owner and banker. Another costume had to be rather plain to not tip the audience off whether he was a good guy or a villain. The Red Queen’s costume had to look like she wore it while living in the forest. The costume for the original Mary Poppins had to be dark on the outside but with bright linings to show her competent and playful sides. The costume for Johnny Depp in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies had to be made in a set of twelve – one for Depp, a few for the stunt doubles, and there was a third category I don’t remember. Many of the costumes are quite beautiful. I’m glad I went. This exhibit has been there since the end of June and will stay through January 1. Meteor Blades of Daily Kos reported on COP 27 that ended last week. The outcome: there was a lot of talking. Scientists are more aggressive about the need for speed in dealing with the climate crisis. Oil companies sent hundreds of lobbyists to slow down climate action. There was no pledge of actual money to help emerging nations to convert to cleaner energy. A dozen years ago rich countries pledged $100 billion for that work. That was significantly inadequate and yet only 8% of that money had been contributed. Scientist have been saying we need to limit global temperature rise to 1.5C. The way this conference went we’ll be lucky to limit the rise to 2.7C. And that would be catastrophic. About all that can be said is all that talking is better than not talking. April Siese of Kos reports:

The House Committee on Oversight and Reform released findings from an investigation into Big Oil companies showing that giants like Chevron, BP, Shell, and Exxon will seemingly do everything they can to keep the U.S. reliant on fossil fuels—no matter the environmental cost. Chevron, for instance, wants to remain in the oil and gas industry to take advantage of “retreating” competition. Much of the companies’ claims also amounted to greenwashing. BP CEO Bernard Looney said he sees natural gas as a “huge opportunity” for the company given the fact that it’s marketed as a more eco-friendly option than other fuel sources. Despite what people like the Ohio GOP think, natural gas is anything but “green.” As with Chevron, BP “continues to invest in a future dependent on fossil fuels,” the Committee found.

Siese also reported that there is a conspiracy theory circulating on the far right called the “great reset.” It claims all this talk of climate change is a chance for the left to create climate lockdowns and do other things to control every aspect of citizen’s lives, especially our jobs and our food. I read that and think the left wants to control every aspect of citizen’s lives? This sounds like a big heap of projection. Alas, as Siese wrote, when one believes there will be an apocalypse because of a conspiracy theory it is hard to convince them an apocalypse because of climate change is a much more likely possibility. Mark Schapiro of Capital and Main on Kos discussed the various ways that climate change is causing food prices to rise. Most of our plant diversity, about 90%, comes from the regions around the equator, yet those are the regions most affected by climate change. Drought, rising temperatures, and extreme climate events contribute to reduced world wide yields of maize (corn), wheat, and soybeans. Drought in California’s led to drastic drops in yields for tomatoes and onions. At least 60% of wild coffee species may go extinct due to rising temperatures and climate disruptions in East Africa and Guatemala. Reduced yields mean higher prices. Schapiro also reported that Persian Gulf companies are using their oil wealth to buy land in North and East Africa, in southern Europe, and southwestern United States to grow food. This will likely prompt diversion of water in regions already in drought. Food grown on this land will be shipped to the Gulf, no matter the food needs of local people. Almost two months ago (yeah, sometimes articles hide in my browser tabs a long time) the Memphis Flyer posted an essay of photos taken by staffers Chris McCoy Bruce and Van Wyngarden of the shrinking Mississippi River. The “beach” on the Arkansas side is close to a mile wide. The water is so low it greatly impedes barge traffic on the river, contributing to supply chain problems. That’s enough of the bad climate news. Time for the good stuff. Ten days ago Pakalolo of the Kos community reported the EU has given France permission to ban all domestic flights between cities linked by train routes of less than 2½ hours. I don’t think the ban has been put in effect yet. The reason for delaying the ban (and for me a reason to implement it promptly) is that it mostly affects the super rich. Yeah, they use a lot more energy that us common people. Euro News Green reports that private jets are up to 14 times more polluting per passenger mile than commercial jets and 50 times worse than trains. In addition the rich have been logged for flight as short as 14 minutes. The ban is favored by us common people because we’re getting tired of strong restrictions applied to us when the rich are causing more damage than we are. The French Parliament passed a big climate bill in 2021. It bans future airport expansions, prohibits open-air terrace heaters, and reduces packaging waste. It requires schools to have one meal a week without meat or fish. Landlords must insulate their properties. High emitting cars will be banned in 2030. The subsidy for electric bicycles is extended. In a report posted a month ago Michel Martin of NPR talked to former VP Al Gore, the guy who became a climate crusader when he wasn’t allowed to be president. The audio is 14 minutes. The text contains only the major points. The discussion is about corporate reporting on greenhouse gas emissions and how we can now tell whether those reports are accurate. Gore talked about founding a new nonprofit initiative called Climate Trace that uses satellites and various sensors to monitor about 72,000 of the highest emitters. It then creates a map of what it found. 75% of emissions come from countries that have pledged to be carbon-neutral by 2050. This map will tell them where their emissions are coming from. Its information is free and online. Most of the corporate self-reporting has been significantly underreporting. This system has found actual emissions are three times higher. Gore said these low reports are not intentional cheating. Even so they prevent governments from meeting their carbon-neutral pledges. Gore says there is great danger, but also hope. The Inflation Reduction Act is the biggest climate legislation in the world. Australia has a new government that has pledged to shift from coal. Brazil’s new president vowed to protect the Amazon rainforest. I went poking around the Climate Trace map. As expected the big emitters are oil fields and refineries. Also high are manufacturing plants, especially steel and cement. There are also coal mines, cattle feedlots, cities, airports, crop fires and landfills. Interesting, but one can waste a lot of time here. Jerry Redfern of Capital and Main reported at the start of this month that a new mineral mapping instrument on the International Space Station identified a giant methane plume near Carlsbad, New Mexico. This was not something NASA was looking for. Once identified it sent people scrambling to the site to determine exactly what was causing the plume. Siese reported that Zellnor Myrie of the New York Senate has introduced a climate bill modeled on the Texas abortion ban. If any Texas citizen can sue a person who performed or had an abortion than any New York citizen can sue a fossil fuel company for civil damages related to harms from greenhouse gas emissions.

The bill itself amends the state’s General Business Law to include a definition of climate negligence as well as a suite of terms, including “fossil fuel industry member,” “knowingly,” “recklessly,” and “deceptive acts or practices” as well as “false advertising.” The definition of “climate negligence” goes hand in hand with “fossil fuel industry member”—defined as truly any one entity or person with revenues in excess of $1 billion whose business includes everything from marketing to exporting fossil fuels.

It looks like the bill is in a New York State Assembly committee waiting for an Assembly member to be a sponsor.