George W. Bush Rebukes Donald Trump | On Point

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President George W. Bush breaks a nine-year silence to deliver a powerful rebuke to a sitting President. President Obama’s talking too. We’ll think about their critiques and President Trump.
Former U.S. President George W. Bush speaks at a forum sponsored by the George W. Bush Institute in New York, Thursday, Oct. 19, 2017. (Seth Wenig/AP)

October 22, 2017
He never named Donald Trump. But when former President George W. Bush took the stage last week in New York, he came armed with a blistering attack on the features of the Trump presidency that have become perceived hallmarks. The most recent Republican president tearing into the ways, the reputation, of the sitting Republican president. It was astonishing, especially for an ex-president – Bush – who has long held his tongue. This hour, On Point: Former president George W. Bush, and the ways of President Donald Trump. —Tom Ashbrook

Guests

Mary Frances Berry, professor of American social thought and history at the University of Pennsylvania. (@DrMFBerry)

Chris Buskirk, publisher and editor of the website “American Greatness.” (@thechrisbuskirk)

Robert Dallek, presidential historian.

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Part of the interesting thing about President George W. Bush is that he was a member of the YALE CLASS of 1968. This was a distinguished class by any account, but it was particularly riven down the middle by the radically different understandings that different class members had of the Vietnam war. Bush was in favor of it. Many others were opposed to it and to the tendency it foretold of the tragic development of an imperial democracy.

The Trump “rebuke” — marking a seeming “road-to-Damascus” conversion experience by President G. W. Bush — needs to be kept in the context of the larger refusal of President Bush and  many of his Yale contemporaries to recognize the fundamental faults of the Republic and their role in expanding the Vietnam tradition of an imperial democracy with America’s more recent invasions of countries in the Middle East.  The YALE CLASS of ’68 held part of its 35th Reunion at the White House, but it was followed by a succeeding day of sober reflection in New Haven, featuring an address of the Reverend William Sloane Coffin, Jr.  At the time Coffin’s withering critique of US. policy under President Bush may never have been absorbed by President Bush himself since he chose not to attend the New Haven events. (http://goo.gl/JNBfGQ)

As it happens, this same YALE CLASS of 1968 is now preparing for its 50th Reunion in the Spring of 2018. It will be interesting — and perhaps quite revealing — to see if President G. W. Bush decides to join the Class Reunion events in 2018 in New Haven and whether his new-found voice of rebuke of President Donald Trump becomes a sustained theme that he continues through those festivities. (http://goo.gl/tLeRGD)

Once-Rare Flooding Could Hit NYC Every 5 Years with Climate Change, Study Warns | InsideClimate News

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New York City was worried about sea level rise when it issued new recommendations this year that future buildings and other structures that are expected to last through the end of the century be raised 3 feet above current requirements. Credit: FEMA National Flood Hazard Layer

New York City is at increasing risk from storm surge flooding as sea level rises. Hurricane Sandy provided a preview of what the city could soon see more often.

Nicholas Kusnetz
Oct 23, 2017

Climate change is dramatically increasing the risk of severe flooding from hurricanes in New York City, to the extent that what was a once-in-500-years flood when the city was founded could be expected every five years within a couple of decades.

Throughout the century, of course, the risk of flooding increases as sea levels are expected to continue to rise.

These are the findings of a study published today that modeled how climate change may affect flooding from tropical cyclones in the city. The increased risk, the authors found, was largely due to sea level rise. While storms are expected to grow stronger as the planet warms, models project that they’ll turn farther out to sea, with fewer making direct hits on New York.

However, when sea level rise is added into the picture, “it becomes clear that flood heights will become much worse in the future,” said Andra J. Garner, a postdoctoral researcher at Rutgers University and the lead author of the study.

The paper, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, combines the high-emissions scenario from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change with newer research that assumes more dramatic melting of Antarctic ice sheets to come up with a worst-case scenario for sea level rise. The projection shows waters surrounding New York rising anywhere from about 3 to 8 feet by 2100.

…(read more).

Climate Reckoning: Paths to an Earth Restored

 

http://ecoethics.net/2014-ENVRE120/20171105-EV&N-260-Link.html

https://www.cctvcambridge.org/node/516433

This conference addresses the Earth System
and the universe of solutions
that systems thinking makes possible.

November 17-19, 2017, Harvard University*
Cambridge, Massachusetts

Register here

This is an important conference you will not want to miss!

Extreme heat, droughts, hurricanes, fires, floods – we can end these disasters! A panel of multi-disciplinary experts will share what can be done to restore the Earth’s natural systems and reverse global warming.

The scientific community now recognizes that even if we go to zero emissions tomorrow the tragedies will continue to mount. If we think that our only option is emissions reductions, as essential as they are, we hit a wall with nowhere to go but resignation and despair. But when we add eco-restoration into the equation a remarkable story emerges, one of renewal and hope.

Biodiversity for a Livable Climate is telling that story. Our tenth conference in three years takes a systems approach to climate. It’s not just about carbon, or renewable energy, or economics, or regenerative agriculture, or psychology, or water, or politics – it’s about all of these and more, the entire Earth system working as a complex whole

Tim , you can help solve our daunting problems by sharing our growing knowledge of living systems and how to bring them back to life. The good news: we already know how to do it – what are we waiting for!

We hope to see you on November 17-19 when we’ll look at the most hopeful picture yet as we work to put these dark and disturbing days behind us.

Links to Past Conferences of Biodiversity for a Livable Planet

See as well:

Compendium of Scientific and Practical Findings Supporting Eco-Restoration to Address Global Warming

DOWNLOAD:  Compendium Volume 1 Number 1 July 2017 

This Compendium of Scientific and Practical Findings Supporting Eco-Restoration to Address Global Warming (the “Compendium”) is a fully referenced compilation of the evidence outlining the power, benefits and necessity of eco-restoration to address global warming.  Bringing together findings from the scientific literature, government and industry reports, and journalistic investigations, it is a public, open-access document that is housed here on the website of Biodiversity for a Livable Climate.

This is the first full release of the Compendium.  We anticipate a new release every six months, and invite others who wish to contribute to its development to send suggestions and article reviews to compendium@bio4climate.org. The next release is scheduled for January 2018.

 

Allan Savory – Reversing Global Warming while Meeting Human Needs

Steven Schwartz
Published on Mar 13, 2013

Allan Savory’s presentation on January 25, 2013, about how Holistic Management restores grasslands from land that’s degraded to desert. This innovative, natural, and simple idea mimics Nature by using careful management of livestock to stimulate the regrowth of grasses, animals, and puts large amount of greenhouse gases (GHG’s) from the air into the soil. The event was sponsored by the Center for International Environment and Resource Policy (CIERP) at the Fletcher School at Tufts University and Planet-TECH Associates, a consultancy focusing on innovations for a regenerative future. Videography provided by Local Flavor LLC.

Food-Matters

 

Conversation With Allan Savory

Steven Schwartz
Published on Apr 18, 2013

Following Allan Savory’s lecture at the Fletcher School, Allan Savory, William Moomaw, August ‘Gus’ Jaccaci, and others discuss future options about Holistic Planned Grazing and mitigation of global warming. Sponsored by Planet-TECH Associates’ CEO Seth Itzkan.

Food-Matters

 

Allan Savory: Q&A Session – Reversing Global Warming while Meeting Human Needs

Steven Schwartz
Published on Mar 8, 2013

Question & Answer Session following Allan Savory’s presentation on January 25th, 2013 at the Fletcher School, Tufts University. Students, environmentalists, and concerned citizens peppered posed questions for the co-founder of The Savory Institute. Event sponsored by The Center for International Environment and Resource Policy (CIERP) at the Fletcher School at Tufts University, the The Friedman School of Nutrition at Tufts University, and Planet-TECH Associates of Somerville, MA.”

Food-Matters

US stock indexes hit record highs – but will this last?

Al Jazeera English

Published on Oct 24, 2017

About this time, almost 90 years ago, the worst stock market crash in US history was about to begin. Billions of dollars were lost and the world spiralled into the Great Depression. However, the picture now is very different with US stock indexes more than tripling in the past eight years. And with possible tax cuts on the horizon, investors could be reaping more financial gains. But others suspect the stock markets’ success will not last so long.

The Coming Disruption of the Fossil Fuel Industry

Climate One
Published on Oct 24, 2017

President of the Union of Concerned Scientists Kenneth Kimmell predicts a “massive disruption of the fossil fuel industry” is imminent.

Climate Change | The Forum at Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health

CLIMATE CHANGE: Responses from the Public and Private Sectors
Presented jointly with Reuters

Friday, October 13, 2017

Climate-related programs face challenges from federal regulation rollbacks and proposed spending cuts. In response, some members of the public and private sectors have stepped in, announcing various commitments to take action to curb climate change. What can cities, states, research institutions and businesses do to lead the way on climate change and to make the greatest impact on the environment and public health? A stellar panel of national, state, corporate and science leaders addressed the question in this Forum.

Part of: Policy Controversies.

Presented jointly with Reuters

Trump’s Proposed Tax Overhaul Would Give Billions to Trump & Cabinet While Sparking Global “Tax War”

Democracy Now!

Published on Oct 23, 2017

https://democracynow.org – As the Senate narrowly passes a budget bill that clears the path for a historic tax reform, we’ll look at how President Trump’s proposed tax overhaul would shower billions of dollars in tax cuts upon the wealthiest Americans—including President Trump’s family and members of his administration. An analysis by the Center for American Progress Action Fund shows President Trump’s family and Trump’s Cabinet members would, combined, reap a $3.5 billion windfall from the proposed repeal of the estate tax alone. Trump’s plan would cap the tax rate on “pass-through income” at 25 percent—a move that would also shower millions in savings upon millionaires and billionaires. We speak with economist James Henry of the Tax Justice Network and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Cay Johnston, whose latest piece is titled “Nine Reasons Trump’s Tax Plan Will Hurt You.”