{"id":2485,"date":"2015-05-01T09:12:23","date_gmt":"2015-05-01T16:12:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/alan\/?p=2485"},"modified":"2021-10-11T23:06:53","modified_gmt":"2021-10-12T06:06:53","slug":"keep_it_in_the_ground","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/alan\/2015\/05\/keep_it_in_the_ground\/","title":{"rendered":"Guardian says, &#8216;Keep it in the ground&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>(<strong>Update<\/strong>: On 11 Oct 2021 the Reed College Board of Trustees announced its decision to divest the college&#8217;s endowment from fossil fuels. Read about it <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/alan\/2021\/10\/reed-announces-plan-for-fossil-fuel-divestment\/\">here<\/a><\/strong>.)<\/p>\n<p>The logic of climate change is simple:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>high-levels of atmospheric CO2 threaten our future (not only humans, but many species)<\/li>\n<li>burning fossil fuels adds CO2 to the atmosphere (scientists estimate that the current level, ~400 ppm, is already dangerously high)<\/li>\n<li>BINGO! We need to <em>keep fossil fuels in the ground <\/em>&#8211; that means unmined, unpumped, unextracted, unburnt &#8211; so that we can return CO2 to a safe level.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>What is so hard to understand? None of it, really. The only reason we think of this as a Difficult Problem is that we developed an energy infrastructure based on fossil fuels before we recognized the danger they posed. We are like the lifetime heroin addict who says, &#8220;<em>Now<\/em> you tell me this stuff is dangerous?&#8221; Well, yes, now we are telling ourselves, this stuff is DANGEROUS.<\/p>\n<p>Please learn more by reading some of the articles below, and joining the campaign to <a title=\"Keep it in the ground | The Guardian\" href=\"http:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/environment\/ng-interactive\/2015\/mar\/16\/keep-it-in-the-ground-guardian-climate-change-campaign\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Keep It In The Ground<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.sierraclub.org\/sierra\/2015-5-september-october\/feature\/divestment-goes-global\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Divestment Goes Global<\/strong><\/a> (Sierra, Sept\/Oct 2015)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/w2.vatican.va\/content\/francesco\/en\/encyclicals\/documents\/papa-francesco_20150524_enciclica-laudato-si.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Pope Francis issues encyclical, &#8220;Care for Our Common Home&#8221;<\/strong><\/a> (Vatican, 24 May 2015)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.carbonbrief.org\/blog\/2015\/04\/hsbc-outlines-four-ways-to-divest-from-fossil-fuels-(1)\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>HSBC Outlines 4 Ways to Divest from Fossil Fuels<\/strong><\/a> (The Carbon Brief, 24 Apr, 2015)<\/li>\n<li><a title=\"Study Finds Global Warming as Threat to 1 in 6 Species | NY Times, 30 Apr 2015\" href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2015\/05\/05\/science\/new-estimates-for-extinctions-global-warming-could-cause.html?rref=homepage\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Study Finds Global Warming as Threat to 1 in 6 Species<\/strong><\/a> (NY Times, 30 Apr 2015)<\/li>\n<li><a title=\"UN panel issues its starkest warning | NY Times, 2 Nov 2014\" href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2014\/11\/03\/world\/europe\/global-warming-un-intergovernmental-panel-on-climate-change.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>UN panel issues its starkest warning yet on climate change<\/strong><\/a> (NY Times, 2 Nov 2014)<\/li>\n<li><a title=\"Coal rush in India | NY Times, 17 Nov 2014\" href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2014\/11\/18\/world\/coal-rush-in-india-could-tip-balance-on-climate-change.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Coal rush in India could tip balance on climate change<\/strong><\/a> (NY Times, 17 Nov 2014)<\/li>\n<li><a title=\"The New School divests | NY Times, 6 Feb 2015\" href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2015\/02\/07\/science\/the-new-school-takes-a-big-step-beyond-divesting-fossil-fuel-stock.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>The New School divests fossil fuel stock and refocuses on climate change<\/strong><\/a> (NY Times, 6 Feb 2015)<\/li>\n<li><a title=\"Guardian Media group divests | The Guardian, 1 April 2015\" href=\"http:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/environment\/2015\/apr\/01\/guardian-media-group-to-divest-its-800m-fund-from-fossil-fuels\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Guardian Media Group to divest its \u00a3800m fund from fossil fuels<\/strong><\/a> (The Guardian, 1 April 2015)<\/li>\n<li><a title=\"Keep it in the ground | The Guardian\" href=\"http:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/environment\/ng-interactive\/2015\/mar\/16\/keep-it-in-the-ground-guardian-climate-change-campaign\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Keep it in the ground: The Guardian&#8217;s divestment challenge<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a title=\"Portland will still be cool | NY Times, 22 Sept 2014\" href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2014\/09\/23\/science\/on-a-warmer-planet-which-cities-will-be-safest.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Portland will still be cool, but Anchorage may be the place to be<\/strong><\/a> (NY Times, 22 Sept 2014)<\/li>\n<li><a title=\"Scientists trace extreme heat | NY Times, 29 Sept 2014\" href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2014\/09\/30\/science\/earth\/human-related-climate-change-led-to-extreme-heat-scientists-say.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Scientists trace extreme heat in Australia to climate change<\/strong><\/a> (NY Times, 29 Sept 2014)<\/li>\n<li><a title=\"Methane's Role in Climate Change | C&amp;ENews, 7 July 2014\" href=\"http:\/\/cen.acs.org\/articles\/92\/i27\/Methanes-Role-Climate-Change.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Methane&#8217;s role in climate change<\/strong><\/a> (Chemistry &amp; Engineering News, 7 July 2014) (sidebar: <strong><a title=\"Methane by the Numbers | C&amp;ENews, July 7, 2014\" href=\"http:\/\/cen.acs.org\/articles\/92\/i27\/Methanes-Role-Climate-Change.html#1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Methane by the Numbers<\/a><\/strong>)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>(Update: On 11 Oct 2021 the Reed College Board of Trustees announced its decision to divest the college&#8217;s endowment from fossil fuels. Read about it here.) The logic of climate change is simple: high-levels of atmospheric CO2 threaten our future&nbsp;&hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/alan\/2015\/05\/keep_it_in_the_ground\/\">finish&nbsp;reading&nbsp;Guardian says, &#8216;Keep it in the ground&#8217;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":55,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2485","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-climate-change"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/alan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2485","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/alan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/alan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/alan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/55"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/alan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2485"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/alan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2485\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3416,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/alan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2485\/revisions\/3416"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/alan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2485"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/alan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2485"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/alan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2485"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}