Essay by Eric Worrall

In Coober Pedy, white people live in comfortable dugouts, while Aboriginals swelter on the surface. But is this really a climate change racial divide?

In the Australian outback, climate change widens the racial divide

Story by Michael E. Miller

COOBER PEDY, Australia — From her front door, Sonya Crombie can see the sandstone hills where White men carved up the land in search of opal and then stayed, turning their mines into elaborate underground homes insulated from the desert heat.

But when Crombie’s air conditioner broke in November just as the scorching summer was about to set in, the ailing 60-year-old Aboriginal woman had no tunnel in which to take refuge. As the temperature in her state-run house topped 100 degrees Fahrenheit, Crombie struggled to breathe. Emergency workers flew her 500 miles to a hospital.

“I nearly died,” she said. “This heat can kill you.”

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Belowground, the town’s mostly White residents live in “dugouts” — bought, sold and expanded in certain neighborhoods — where the temperature stays in the low to mid-70s and electricity bills are modest.

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Aboveground, Aboriginal people, who make up 17 percent of the town, swelter without air conditioning or rack up enormous electricity bills. Crombie owes the district council almost $11,000, largely from using her now-broken air conditioner. Records show that 76 account holders, many Aboriginal and indigent, owe a total of $350,000.

…

Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/in-the-australian-outback-climate-change-widens-the-racial-divide/ar-AA1BdLc9

This has got to be one of the most fake climate stories I’ve ever covered.

I’ve never been to Coober Pedy, but I’ve been to Broken Hill in the summer, which has a similar climate. That place is hot. The satnav holder on my windshield melted in the desert sun.

But in winter temperatures in Coober Pedy are mild, with top temperatures in the high 60s or low 70s.

Why don’t the aboriginals have their fair share of dugouts?

Most of those dugouts started as mine shafts, miners searching for opal. The white people didn’t steal mineshafts from the aboriginals, they dug the mineshafts themselves, or used their own money to buy underground homes from those who built them.

I’m not expecting a 60 year old with ailing health to dig through a multiple tons of solid rock, but their younger and more athletic relatives could easily dig a few dugouts for their parents and grandparents, or dig homes for themselves and let the grandparents stay in the hotter months. Coober Pedy Summer daytime temperatures are insufferable, but as soon as you get a few feet underground temperatures drop dramatically, maintaining a comfortable 23-25C (73F – 77F) all year round.

The fact young people aren’t helping their distressed elders says more about social breakdown in the aboriginal community than climate change.

Let’s hope younger aboriginals take the initiative and start taking care of their old folk. You never know, while digging new homes they might even find a bit of opal.

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Click here for an interesting article on the history of Coober Pedy.

By Jo Nova

A jury in North Dakota has ordered Greenpeace to pay $660 milllion USD to a Texas pipeline company called Energy Transfer. Greenpeace will appeal, but the suit named Greenpeace USA, and also the international arm, and the damages are so large, if they survive the appeal they would bankrupt the US branch and prevent Greenpeace operating in the USA.

The payment is to compensate for damages and losses from protests in 2015 and 2016 that damaged and delayed the North Dakota Access Pipeline. The protests were so large and so out of control, the clean up bill cost North Dakota $38 million dollars.

Perhaps most importantly, this case may inspire other corporations to fight back. Kelcy Warren, the magnate who owns Energy Transfer, said in 2017 “Everybody is afraid of these environmental groups and the fear that it may look wrong if you fight back with these people,”. “But what they did to us is wrong, and they’re gonna pay for it.”  (– Wall Street Journal)

The 1,172 mile long pipeline did eventually start operation in 2017. It shifts about 5% of the daily oil production of the United States. Presumably every month it was delayed would have cost US customers money, time or a better choice, and there’s no compensation for them.

The sad thing is that it’s now nine years after the protests, justice still isn’t done yet, and the only guaranteed winners are the lawyers. But the message to Greenpeace and all the activist groups, is they no longer have a sacred social license to damage, trespass and interfere with law abiding operations. They can and will be sued, and that should take the wind out their egotistical sails around the world.

We’re living though an extraordinary era. The New York Times points out that among the environmentalists and celebrities who flocked to the site for the protest, were Robert F Kennedy Jr and Tulsi Gabbard. Who would have had any clue then that today they’d be the current Secretary for Health and Human Services and the Director of National Intelligence, and for a Republican President?

Court Slams Greenpeace With $660-Million Damages Order in Pipeline Suit

By Irena Slav, OilPrice

A North Dakota jury has ruled that Greenpeace must pay $660 million in damages to pipeline major Energy Transfer after the group was found guilty of defamation, conspiracy, and physical damage to the Dakota Access pipeline.

Greenpeace called the case an attack on free speech, but the company replied that “violent and destructive protest is unlawful and unacceptable.” (Are you listening Tesla-haters?)

The environmental group had said the lawsuit, over its role in a protest movement, could mean an end to its operations in the United States. — NYT

Greenpeace’s defense was that they didn’t organize much of the action:

The group has maintained that it played only a minor part in demonstrations led by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. It has portrayed the lawsuit as an attempt to stifle oil-industry critics.

But the American Energy Institute feels differently (and apparently the Jury in North Dakota too)

Greenpeace played a leading role, mobilizing activists who trespassed on private property, vandalized equipment, and disrupted lawful commerce. These protests, portrayed as peaceful by the mainstream media, caused millions in damages and left the state to shoulder over $38 million in law enforcement costs. Property owners faced destruction and intimidation, and vital energy infrastructure was attacked – all under the banner of environmental justice and free speech.

After the case they vowed not to stop with their legal battle

We absolutely believe in our legal defense. We believe the law is fully on our side. We believe in what we did at Standing Rock, and that ultimately we will prevail against this meritless lawsuit.

Sure.

Protesters camping in North Dakota

The $660 million dollar bill is split between the three wings of Greenpeace:

Of the total damages of $USD666.9 million, the jury found Greenpeace USA must pay nearly $USD404 million, while Greenpeace Fund Incorporation and Greenpeace International would each pay roughly $USD131 million.

Taxpayers of the USA probably helped fund Greenpeace whether they wanted too or not. Only a few days ago it was reported that USAID gave about $25 million dollars to the Tides Center, which in turn funded radical organisations, including Greenpeace.

Who knows how much other money ultimately found its way from taxpayers through The Blob to Greenpeace. h/t RickWill.

Time Magazine (does anyone still read it) posted the most incompetent coverage on the topic allegedly written  by one Hallie Golden/AP. Or maybe an AI just phoned it in. In “What to Know About Greenpeace, After it was Found Liable for $650M” someone or something wrote three paragraphs saying the obvious and then three pages reproducing a Greenpeace brochure they got in 1995 or something. Their softball questions were so soft it was more like throwing teddy bears — “How was Greenpeace Founded”, and “Where did the name Greenpeace come from” as if the chumpy chumpy promo stories from 50 years ago have any meaning at all in this case. It was so bad I wondered if the domain name was hijacked.

But Google still put the Time article as number 7 on it’s first page as “news”.

Thanks to Fuel Filter, David Wojik, RickWill, and David E

Protest photos:  Pax Ahimsa Gethen and Maligh.

 

 

From the Weather is Not Climate unless we say it is department and the University of Reading, comes this press release about an inane study that tries to link tree rings and severe weather, while ignoring warning fatigue.

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How to stop being surprised by extreme weather – study

Helping communities predict extreme weather events that have never been recorded in modern history is the focus of a new study published in Nature Communications.

A team from the Climate Adaptation Services Foundation, the University of Reading and other international institutions has brought together methods to see beyond the limitations of conventional weather records, which typically only cover the past century.

The study reveals how, for example, nature’s own archives – like tree rings – combined with forgotten historical documents can unlock centuries of climate data that modern instruments have missed.

Lead author Timo Kelder said: “We’ve been limited by thinking extreme weather is only as bad as what we’ve measured since weather stations were invented. But our research shows we can use weather models to look back hundreds or even thousands of years to discover what’s truly possible in our climate system.”

A toolkit for scientists and practitioners

The researchers identified four approaches that together create a more complete picture of possible extreme weather:

● Analysing conventional records

● Studying historical and natural archives like tree rings

● Creating “what-if” scenarios based on past events

● Using climate models to simulate physically possible extremes

Tree rings proved especially valuable, with each ring preserving a year’s worth of climate history. Researchers used these natural time capsules to reconstruct 850 years of drought patterns in northwestern China, revealing extreme events that would have been invisible in modern records.

The team also highlighted forgotten weather extremes by digging through historical archives. They found that June 1846 in Durham, UK was significantly hotter than any modern June temperature. Similarly, September 1774 in Oxford was wetter than any month recorded in the 250 years since.

Adapt, adapt, adapt

The study emphasises that with these methods to anticipate the unseen, communities can better prepare for unprecedented weather. The methods can support three layers of preparation:

● Improved early warning systems

● Upgraded infrastructure

● Transformative social changes to reduce vulnerability

The researchers conclude that by breaking free from the constraints of limited modern records, we can finally stop being surprised by “unprecedented” weather events.

Dorothy Heinrich, co-author at the University of Reading, said : “Unprecedented weather doesn’t just break records—it breaks communities, infrastructure, and lives. When the unimaginable happens, being unprepared is a disaster waiting to unfold. But science can help us to imagine the unimaginable, to uncover these risks, and prepare. Our future depends on how quickly and thoroughly we adapt today.”

Here’s the study if you want to read it: How to stop being surprised by unprecedented weather

Abstract

We see unprecedented weather causing widespread impacts across the world. In this perspective, we provide an overview of methods that help anticipate unprecedented weather hazards that can contribute to stop being surprised. We then discuss disaster management and climate adaptation practices, their gaps, and how the methods to anticipate unprecedented weather may help build resilience. We stimulate thinking about transformative adaptation as a foundation for long-term resilience to unprecedented weather, supported by incremental adaptation through upgrading existing infrastructure, and reactive adaptation through short-term early action and disaster response. Because in the end, we should take responsibility to build resilience rather than being surprised by unprecedented weather.