Look West: Public lands and energy news from the Center for Western Priorities
** National climate report finds U.S. hit harder than other countries by climate change
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Tuesday, November 14, 2023
Wildfire is on the rise in the U.S. due to climate change; Source: BLM/Flickr ([link removed])
A congressionally-mandated federal climate report released today delivered a predictable message ([link removed]) : the U.S. must rapidly reduce emissions or face even more dire consequences to human health, infrastructure and the economy.
The latest National Climate Assessment ([link removed]) includes a comprehensive look at U.S. climate science, impacts and action. More than 750 experts across a number of federal agencies evaluated thousands of academic studies ([link removed].) and other reports to compile the report, which is the fifth installment since the law requiring it passed in 1990.
The report found that global warming caused by human activities—primarily the burning of oil, gas, and coal—is raising average temperatures in the United States faster ([link removed].) than it is across the rest of the planet.
It includes examples of how climate change is already hitting the U.S. (http://) with extreme heat, hurricanes, wildfires, droughts, floods, and swiftly rising sea levels and estimates that “billion-dollar disasters” are happening every three weeks on average—up from every four months in the 1980s.
In coordination with the release of the report, President Joe Biden today announced more than $6 billion ([link removed]) in investments to strengthen America’s aging electric grid infrastructure, reduce flood risk to communities, support conservation efforts, and advance environmental justice.
** Quick hits
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National Climate Assessment predicts growing threats to society, economy
New York Times ([link removed].) | E&E News ([link removed]) | White House fact sheet ([link removed])
Mark Udall: Recreation is the future of wilderness conservation
The Hill ([link removed])
Winter snow could help recharge the Colorado River. But what if it doesn't?
KUNC ([link removed])
More solar, geothermal development planned on NV public lands
Nevada Current ([link removed])
Native American Tribes fight feds over proposed $10B renewable energy transmission line
Associated Press ([link removed])
BLM floats land use changes for oil and gas in Colorado big game habitat
E&E News ([link removed]) | BLM press release ([link removed])
Bison return to Indigenous lands in Texas
Texas Tribune ([link removed])
How much can trees fight climate change? A lot, but not alone
New York Times ([link removed])
** Quote of the day
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” They have not just intellectually started to appreciate the concept of this crisis—it is their lived experience to see the sky turn orange, to breathe in the smoke from wildfires hundreds of miles away, to see lives and livelihoods washed away by floods and the fury of hurricanes.”
—White House National Climate Adviser Ali Zaidi on U.S. youth, E&E News ([link removed])
** Picture This
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@usinterior ([link removed])
About 1.2 million years ago, a spectacular volcanic eruption created a 13-mile-wide circular depression in the earth now known as @vallescaldera in northern New Mexico. The caldera is dormant but not extinct and still displays signs of volcanic life with hot springs and boiling sulphuric acid openings at the surface where volcanic gases and vapors are emitted.
The contrast of large grassland meadows, or valles in Spanish, surrounded by rounded, forest-covered volcanic domes provide the distinctive natural landscape that led to the name of Valles Caldera.
Visitors come to the national preserve to explore the unique geology, view wildlife and learn about the rich human history of the site.
Photo by Andrew Gordon
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