We are the last generation that can stabilize the earth’s deteriorating climate. That outcome requires a 50% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by the early 2030s. Then, we must reduce remaining emission to zero by 2050. Finally, we must go…
Heat Waves — In Red and Black
Heat Waves — In Red and Black | Designed to Fail: Texas’ Radically Deregulated Power Grid
by William Rau • • 0 Comments
The massive, multi-day electricity blackout in Texas this February vividly highlights the importance of reliable electricity during extreme heat or cold. The economic cost to Texas from days without power will be close to $200 billion, or $75 billion more…
Heat Waves — In Red and Black | Paul Hawken’s Drawdown Fellows and the 80 Ways to Cut Your Carbon
by William Rau • • 0 Comments
My last three columns highlighted a federal, dividend-based carbon tax. This policy would often amplify complementary local, state and international policies. State governments, for example, can capitalize on a dividend-based carbon tax by expanding renewable energy production, electrifying transportation, increasing…
Heat Waves — In Red and Black | Reasons for a Dividend-Based Carbon Tax, Part 3: Heat that Kills
by William Rau • • 2 Comments
Kim Stanley Robinson opens his climate fiction opus, “The Ministry for the Future,” in the year 2025 with a brutal heat wave spreading across India. Heat and humidity approach the survival limit for humans. Then, the grid goes down across…
Heat Waves — In Red and Black | Reasons for a Dividend-Based Carbon Tax – Part 2: Sea Level Rise
by William Rau • • 0 Comments
Heat Waves — In Red and Black | The No. 1 priority if Biden-Harris get one shot at major climate legislation
by Community Word Staff • • 0 Comments
What might be Biden-Harris’ strategic entry into climate legislation? What is the must-win bill Biden should want delivered to the Resolute Desk? Without exception, bill No. 1 must reduce greenhouse gas emissions at least 50% by 2030. Only large, fast…
Heat Waves — In Red and Black | Universities’ Roles in the Climate Crisis
by William Rau • • 0 Comments
Illinois universities help fuel the climate crisis. First, no Prairie State university has dumped fossil fuel investments. These money-losing, risky holdings serve primarily to legitimize a planet-destroying industry. Second, as large fossil fuel burners, universities are major carbon emitters. Illinois…
Heat Waves — In Red and Black | Will Illinois State University’s Reggie Redbird Get a Green Vest?
by William Rau • • 0 Comments
As climate wildfires rage and the world burns, we ask: who is rising to the challenges of the multiplying climate catastrophes? Illinois State University (ISU) has not. Instead, ISU has retreated from past climate commitments. The retreat begins in earnest…
Heat Waves — In Red and Black | How not to treat heat stroke during an intense heat wave
by William Rau • • 0 Comments
I know three people who collapsed from heat stroke. Doctors told frantic parents of two kids to immerse them in a cold-water bath. The third, a high school runner who collapsed during a race, attended a school where the athletics…
Heat Waves — In Red and Black | Coronavirus Climate Crisis Crosswalk: COVID Surges, Heat Stroke Explosions
by William Rau • • 0 Comments
In April, some hospitals in the New York region were almost overwhelmed as a wave of COVID patients swept into emergency rooms. By mid- to late-March, foresight of the cresting wave guided the hasty creation of surge capacity and recruitment…