INI podcast

Quinn Emmett

June 24, 2018

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Good morning, friends.

Hell of a week, huh? I feel you. It really seems like the bigoted, evil asshats running our country (or declining to actually run it, or enforce checks and balances, etc) are hitting all the marks: climate, clean air, clean water, clean energy, oh, and now they're putting babies in cages.

Exhausted? Feel like you're having to readjust your donations once a week to the cause of the moment, because they're attacking on every front?

Me too. Me, too.

But guess what?

The single focus that unites each of these issues is this: replacing the motherfuckers in charge.

Want America to start fighting climate change again? Want highways filled with electric car chargers? A carbon tax? Environmental justice? Fewer babies in FUCKING CAGES?

Donate to candidates in swing states, and then vote them the fuck out.

Money in politics is the root of all evil, but like steroids in sports, sometimes you gotta do the deed just to keep up. Just to be on the level.

So donate. Call your reps. March. Knock on doors. Print signs. Get arrested. Fuel the revolution.

And then in 137 days, vote them the fuck out.

PODCAST UPDATE

This week's question was: how does your phone call become law? Our guest was Andres Jimenez, Senior Director of Government Affairs at the Citizens Climate Lobby. Check it out to find out what happens after you leave a voicemail for that scary Congressperson you've never called before.

Subscribe now to get Tuesday's episode where we ask: could we actually predict the next big earthquake? Sure hope so!

On to the news!

Climate Change 🔥🌊💨

Will your city be underwater by 2045?

"More than 300,000 of today's coastal homes, with a collective market value of about $117.5 billion today, are at risk of chronic inundation in 2045—a timeframe that falls within the lifespan of a 30-year mortgage issued today.

Approximately 14,000 coastal commercial properties, currently assessed at a value of roughly $18.5 billion, are also at risk during that timeframe.

This analysis looks at what's at risk for US coastal real estate from sea level rise—and the challenges and choices we face now and in the decades to come. "

+ Remember last week's bombshell about 3x accelerated ice sheet melting? Yeah. This tool gets into the nitty-gritty of who's gonna get hit worst.

If you live in one of these communities, take this information to your next city council meeting and asking what the plan is. Email us back at news@importantnotimportant.com to let us know how it goes.

+ More on coastal flooding:

- Florida's in deep shit/water

- And so's Norfolk. More to come on this one.

- Further analysis by The Guardian

Deadly Tensions Rise as India’s Water Supply Runs Dangerously Low

"Tourism is the mainstay of the economy in this mountain city, which the British colonial authorities made their summer capital so they could escape the brutal heat of New Delhi. But the drought — accompanied by unusually high temperatures, above 90 degrees Fahrenheit — has been so severethat in May, some residents took to Twitter to ask tourists to stay away and leave the water for local residents. Many in Shimla call it the worst shortage they can remember."

+ More climate:

- Climate Change May Spark Global ‘Fish Wars’

- Survivors Of Category 5 Hurricane Irma Want A Category 6

- Experts: ‘Alarming’ drought conditions hit US Southwest and In a Warming West, the Rio Grande Is Drying Up

Fuck Cancer, Volume XCVII 🖕

China just approved its first cancer immunotherapy drug. Here’s what’s next.

"As more checkpoint inhibitors come to market in China, they’re expected to command far lower prices there compared to other global markets. The Goldman analysts surveyed the medical community in China and concluded that the consensus expectation for “reasonable” pricing of domestic checkpoint inhibitors ranged between $15,000 and $20,000 a year for treatment costs. That compares to $157,000 in the U.S., $135,000 in Japan, and $122,000 in the European Union."

Clean Energy 💨☀️⚡️

India energy minister flags massive 100GW solar tender

"India’s energy minister R K Singh has flagged a massive solar tender of 100GW (yes, that’s 100,000MW) – by far the biggest in the world, as the fastest growing energy consumer turns increasingly to renewables to satisfy its enormous needs.

Singh did not give a direct timetable for the new tender, and given its size it would likely the a few years, but he did say that India will over achieve its renewable energy target of 175GW by 2022.

According to the Economic Times, Singh said India has already installed 70GW of renewable energy capacity and had about 12.5GW under construction."

+ As noted above -- this sort of radical (but economically-viable!) action is absolutely necessary in the world's largest democracy.

+ More clean energy:

- New Group, With Conservative Credentials, Plans Push for a Carbon Tax

- A "West-wide" Grid is Needed to Control Climate Change

Biology 401 💉👾💊

The Next Plague Is Coming. Is America Ready?

"Unlike airborne viruses such as influenza, Ebola spreads only through contact with infected bodily fluids. Even so, it is capable of incredible devastation, as West Africa learned in 2014, when, in the largest outbreak to date, more than 28,000 people were infected and upwards of 11,000 died. Despite the relative difficulty of transmission, Ebola still shut down health systems, crushed economies, and fomented fear. With each outbreak, it reveals the vulnerabilities in our infrastructure and our psyches that a more contagious pathogen might one day exploit.

These include forgetfulness."

+ Related: Superbugs Are Going to Eat Us Alive, from Foreign Policy