https://jamesrichardbennett.blogspot.com/2023/05/omni-climate-memo-mondays-128-may-22.html
Population Connection Recommended Books.
“Climate breakdown, extinction, and ‘the most stupid boast.’” Media Lens.
Population Connection. Submit Your Reading Pick for the Next Book Club. Engage. May 17, 2023.
[All five of these books look highly worthwhile—from Attenborough’s autobiography, to protection of threatened species, to refugees, to a survival guide. But I cite them especially to draw attention to Population Connection, which defends abortion AND vigorously advocates contraception, both in the context of climate change the variety of which is suggested by these 5 books. This is a comprehensive women’s and men’s organization you should know about. –D]
Last week we hosted an engaging discussion with Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka for our Page Turners Book Club meeting. If you love reading and enjoy discussions with other passionate individuals, be sure to submit your vote for the book we will be discussing at our next meeting in August! Descriptions of the book options are listed below.
To submit your pick, please take this book selection poll no later than this Friday, May 19th. We plan to announce the winning selection then, along with the date of the next meeting.
Beloved Beasts: Fighting for Life in an Age of Extinction by Michelle Nijhuis
Beloved Beasts is a richly informative history of the international conservation movement and the central figures who have played crucial roles in developing conservationism and moving conservation efforts forward.
A Life on Our Planet: My Witness Statement and a Vision for the Future by David Attenborough
In this scientifically informed account of the changes in nature over the last century, award-winning broadcaster and natural historian David Attenborough shares a lifetime of wisdom and a hopeful vision for the future.
Nomad Century: How Climate Migration Will Reshape Our World by Gaia Vince
Many areas are experiencing drought and coastal regions are shrinking each year. The devastating effects of wildfires and hurricanes are becoming more frequent. The cause of these issues is widely accepted as climate change, yet we are not doing enough to address one of its major consequences – a complete transformation of human geography on Earth.
Living in the Long Emergency by James Howard Kunstler
In his 2005 book, The Long Emergency, James Howard Kunstler described the global predicaments that would pitch the USA into political and economic turmoil in the 21st century—the end of affordable oil, climate irregularities, and flagging economic growth, to name a few. Now, he returns with a book that takes an up-close-and-personal approach to how real people are living now—surviving The Long Emergency as it happens.
Earth for All: A Survival Guide for Humanity by Sandrine Dixson-Decleve, Owen Gaffney, Jayati Ghosh, Jorgen Randers, Johan Rockstrom, and Per Espen Stoknes
Five decades ago, The Limits to Growth shocked the world by showing that population and industrial growth were pushing humanity towards a cliff. Today the world recognizes that we are now at the cliff edge: Earth has crossed multiple planetary boundaries while widespread inequality is causing deep instabilities in societies. In Earth for All, a leading group of scientists and economists from around the world present five extraordinary turnarounds to achieve prosperity for all within planetary limits in a single generation.
Thanks again for sharing your input, and we’ll reach out soon with more details on the next “Page Turners” meeting!
All the Best, Natalie and Stephanie
Membership Relations Team
| Engage May 19, 2023 | |||
Hi James R., The votes are in!
We will meet on Tuesday, August 1st at 4 pm ET/1 pm PT to discuss Earth for All: A Survival Guide for Humanity by Sandrine Dixson-Decleve, Owen Gaffney, Jayati Ghosh, Jorgen Randers, Johan Rockstrom, and Per Espen Stoknes.
In Earth for All, a renowned collective of scientists and economists from across the globe unveil a compelling vision for our future. Building upon the revelations of The Limits to Growth, which rocked the world five decades ago, they now confront the stark reality: we stand precariously on the precipice of a global crisis.
Within the pages, the authors present a roadmap for change, proposing five key shifts that can lead humanity toward shared prosperity while respecting the limits of our planet. However, their argument that unequal resource distribution is driving our environmental crises, rather than overpopulation, is very misleading. This will be an engaging discussion delving into the links between population dynamics, sustainable development, and economic systems.
If you have any questions about our upcoming book club meeting, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at engage@popconnect.org.
Best Regards, Natalie and Stephanie
Membership Relations Team of Population Connection
“Climate breakdown, extinction and ‘the most stupid boast.’” Originally published: Media Lens on May 16, 2023 by DC (more by Media Lens) | (Posted May 18, 2023).
[This is one passage from another of the truthtelling articles published in small magazines and republished or summarized in OMNI’s blog, “War and Warming,” revealing the corporate -government refusal to inform the public of the climate emergency, and the failure of mainstream media and journalists to expose the failure. I have highlighted a few passages, but the entire article deserves bold type. The article is about the UK, but it applies equally well to the USofA. Dick]
Crucially, there is little, if any, intense media scrutiny of how governments are doing so little to respond to the dire warnings of climate scientists. In fact, governments are actively making things worse by continuing to subsidise fossil fuel giants, even as they make record profits. Financial institutions are complicit too. In the last 12 months, the ‘Big 5’ UK high street banks—Barclays, HSBC, Santander, NatWest and Lloyds—gave $37 billion in loans to fossil fuel companies to expand production.
But when did you last see the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg grill a government minister, bank chief or corporate boss on climate? What about Andrew Marr? Robert Peston? Or any of the other media ‘big-hitters’? What about the BBC Radio 4 ‘Today’ programme? Channel 4 News? ITV News? Where are the Westminster news reports about Prime Ministers’ Questions pointing out that, once again, politicians are ignoring the climate crisis and mass extinction of species, including homo sapiens? Given the stakes for humanity, Westminster politics and political ‘journalism’ are simply a sham.
Take a look at the main channels’ daytime schedule, crammed with shows like ‘Scam Interceptors’, ‘Homes Under the Hammer’, ‘Bargain Hunt’, ‘Loose Women’, ‘Dickinson’s Real Deal’ and ‘Tipping Point’ (a game show that has an ironic title, given that we are now breaching climate tipping points). The public is being force-fed distracting ‘light entertainment’, while we should be fighting for our futures.
We are literally talking about the likely extinction of the human species if radical, large-scale global action is not taken now to turn away from fossil fuels towards renewable energy. We also need huge changes in agriculture, transportation, infrastructure, city and town planning, the economic and financial systems, and much more. A responsible, public-interest media would be analysing these issues with as much, if not more, passion and relentless attention as was given to the coronation of a king sitting atop an unjust, hugely-divided class system.