Climatechella lineup announced

Hi Earthlings! I don’t know about you, but Diplo and Chris Rock hitchhiking home from a festival turned natural disaster was not on my climate change bingo card. It’s a little surreal. Part of me struggles to believe this isn’t some elaborate promo for Fyre Festival 2. The influencers, the port-a-potties… The one thing Fyre Festival didn’t have that Burning Man did is climate protesters. Their short-lived appearance on the highway to Black Rock City seemed to be a harbinger for the disaster to come.

Scientists believe the flash flood is another feature of the climate crisis unfolding this summer. Michael Mann, a science professor at the University of Pennsylvania, told Wired Magazine, “Mother Nature is not without a sense of irony, and surely she displayed it here. What took place this year at Burning Man speaks profoundly to the message of the climate protesters who were shouted down by Burning Man only days earlier.”

As of this morning thousands of festival attendees are finally leaving the desert. We’re curious how many many minds were shifted towards urgent climate action after this near-brush with nature.

This week we have some stories that might have fallen off your radar. We’re also getting ready to head to NYC Climate Week. There are a ton of amazing events going on, starting with the March to End Fossil Fuels. We’ve put together a list of events happening all around the city parallel to the summit’s program. We’ll be at some of them. 🪩🌎

California endorsed the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty. The state is the largest global economy to support the proposal. The treaty supports fast-tracking an equitable transition away from oil, gas and coal—through a global plan to create the missing framework for managing fossil fuel production, first by stopping expansion and then phasing them out. CleanTechnica

EU’s fossil fuel burning reached a record low. The 27 EU states burned 17% less fossil fuels to make electricity between January and June 2023 than over the same period in 2022. In 7 countries, fossil fuel burning hit its lowest levels this century. A study found this was driven by a fall in demand for electricity, as well as some growth in clean power. The Guardian

Fungi are gaining recognition in conservation talks. Campaigners have called for the word “funga” to be used alongside flora and fauna when discussing conservation issues to reflect the importance of fungi to ecosystem health. The creation of the term and its use reflects an increasing appreciation of the fungal kingdom, and its “vital role in the grand web of life on and in Earth.” The Guardian