Climate News: Donald Trump takes centre stage, for just a few minutes, at second Geelong Climate Cafe

My central Shepparton home in northern Victoria, Australia, was not impacted by the 2022 floods that inundated much of the city. Shepparton is central to the Goulburn Valley and is part of the Nicholls Federal Electorate, which is one of the highest-risk areas in Australia. The Goulburn Valley is on a riverine floodplain. Insurance was the topic of a recent webinar organized by the organization, &quot;Covering Climate Now&quot;. Climate change is evolving to become a worldwide catastrophe for the insurance industry as discussed in the story from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation: &quot;Insurance cost of Los Angeles wildfires may be felt in Australia&quot;; &quot;Climate Change Could Cut the Economy in Half. We’re Not Ready for It.&quot;; &quot;Trump Wants to Unleash Energy, as Long as It’s Not Wind or Solar&quot;; &quot;Orange rivers, longer days: Nine ways our planet changed in its hottest year yet&quot;; &quot;What time to leave the beach before scorching heat turns to wild winds&quot;; &quot;On Friday, we got above freezing&quot;; &quot;The PM’s Climate Speech we’ve been waiting for&quot;; &quot;Floating solar project converts former gravel pit into 20 MW power generating pond&quot;; &quot;3 reasons to fear humanity won’t reach net-zero emissions – and 4 reasons we might just do it&quot;; &quot;Marble Bar flooded after 100mm of heavy rain, major WA highway reopens&quot;; &quot;Don’t call me teal: meet the Climate 200-backed candidate set to take on Peter Dutton&quot;; &quot;Disasters Are Exactly the Time for Urban Planning&quot;; &quot;Wanting to ‘return to normal’ after a disaster is understandable, but often problematic&quot;; &quot;As Trump Targets Biden’s Environmental Justice Initiatives, Activists Gear Up for Legal Fights&quot;; &quot;Should Los Angeles be in such a rush to rebuild after the devastating wildfires?&quot;; &quot;The Dissonance of Climate Promises at Davos&quot;; &quot;Donald Trump Exits Paris Agreement, Again: What It Means for the U.S. and the World?&quot;; &quot;A Novelist Imagined a Climate-Driven Wildfire Burning LA, Then Watched It Happen&quot;; &quot;Conservation Won Big Under Biden. Environmentalists and Tribal Leaders Fear Trump Will Undo Those Gains&quot;; &quot;California leaders reject Trump administration order to allow immigration enforcement in schools&quot;; &quot;EVs account for 9 out of 10 new passenger car sales in Norway in 2024&quot;; &quot;How the Climate Crisis Became an Insurance Crisis&quot;; &quot;The Next Financial Crisis: Insurance&quot;; &quot;I was jailed for four years for a non-violent climate protest – this is my prison diary&quot;; &quot;Wild weather brings spectacular dust storm to Onslow in WA&#39;s Pilbara&quot;; &quot;The Kyoto climate treaty is hailed on stage but reality tells a different story&quot;; &quot;Are we smart enough for democracy?&quot;; &quot;Why Trump’s Positions on EVs Would Shoot America in the Foot&quot;; &quot;New York’s Congestion Pricing Could Worsen Traffic in Poor Neighborhoods&quot;; &quot;Will the Steady State Economy Be Funded?&quot;; &quot;The World Revolution Can Use a Crowd-Sourced Global Policy Cloud&quot;; &quot;Sustainability reporting is the problem, not the solution (or: The case against CSRD)&quot;; &quot;‘We’ve been dumbed-down’: Australian farmers want the right to repair their own tractors again&quot;; &quot;The Nature Conservancy pledges to continue honoring the Paris Agreement&quot;; &quot;5 ways Project 2025 appeared in Trump’s presidential directives&quot;; &quot;Building for conservative victory through policy, personnel, and training.&quot;; &quot;The tourist beach town where the ocean threatens a way of life&quot;; &quot;Four homes lost as fires threaten multiple communities across southern WA&quot;; &quot;UK climate and nature bill dropped after deal with Labour backbenchers&quot;; &quot;How the world has responded to Trump’s Paris climate agreement withdrawal&quot;; &quot;Storm Éowyn hits UK and Ireland: 1,000 flights cancelled amid ‘danger to life’&quot;; &quot;<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-an-oligarchy-and-is-the-united-states-poised-to-become-one-247566?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Latest%20from%20The%20Conversation%20for%20January%2020%202025%20-%203232332995&utm_content=Latest%20from%20The%20Conversation%20for%20January%2020%202025%20-%203232332995+CID_9f758707a3e412f45ac08fde5fa0e71

The inauguration of Donald Trump as the U.S. President was lamented and considered grim news at the second meeting of the Geelong Climate Cafe on Friday, January 24. The 10 people at the cafe were deeply concerned about Trump's rise to The Whitehouse but quickly shifted to more parochial matters about which the participants felt they could do something. "Why do so few apartments in Sydney and Melbourne have cost-saving solar panels?"; "World’s largest iceberg on collision course with British island"; "‘Managed retreat’: Should Australians withdraw from our beloved coastlines?"; "Touring disaster sites, Trump says he wants to get rid of FEMA"; "Los Angeles begins long recovery from fires — and braces for new disasters"; "Hughes and Laguna fires spread on another day of fire danger in Los Angeles"; "Trump says a ‘valve’ can solve California’s water woes. Experts say it’s not true."; "Why environmental conservation won't save nature"; "Ageing coal generator fleet spells trouble for power outages"; "Trump has withdrawn the US from the Paris Agreement. Here’s why that’s not such a bad thing"; "World Leaders Remain Committed to Paris Climate Agreement Despite Trump’s Withdrawal"; "It’s science, not fiction: high-tech drones may soon be fighting bushfires in Australia"; "Sleeping on beaches and staying social: how Australians kept cool in heatwaves before modern technology⁠": "How wildfire, humans and a warming climate led to the extinction of California’s big mammals 13,000 years ago – podcast"; "After Trump’s pullback, Bloomberg promises to fill US funding gap to UN climate body"; "Geoengineering Technology to Remove Methane From Atmosphere Deemed Ineffective in New Study"; "Western Australia bushfires: homes reportedly lost and thousands told it is too late to leave"; "Swarm of jellyfish swimming in bioluminescence looks ‘magical’ – but it’s a warning sign"; "Genesis Invitational will relocate to Torrey Pines after California fires"; "‘Scare tactics’ and uncertainty: What Trump’s offshore wind order means"; "Trump freezes Inflation Reduction Act and infrastructure-law funding"; "Revisiting Applied Hope"; "Zeroing in on Steel Sector Emissions for Market Transformation"; "Firefighters battle to keep upper hand on new wildfire north of Los Angeles"; "‘We surpassed human limits to stop this’: LA megafires show our approach to fire needs to change"; "I felt death in the flames’: how lighting a forest fire inspired one man to transform barren ranches into rainforest"; "Grounded is mobilising to safeguard land and housing for future generations"; "LNP’s refusal to cap K’gari visitors risks ‘destroying’ heritage-listed island, custodians warn"; "Why Is It So Cold in the South If the Planet Is Warming? Here’s What We Know."; "This Is Who Should Foot the Bill for the Los Angeles Fires"; "Trump has a fighting chance to prevent Arctic meltdown. He should take it"; "Wildfires drive record leap in global level of climate-heating CO2"; "Spreading like wildfire: How Trump’s misinformation about water and fire in Los Angeles inflames the situation"; "We live in times of multiple entwined crises – but our policy responses aren’t keeping up"; "Memo to Trump: Five reasons to act on climate"; "The last time it was legal, exports of sea sand destroyed dozens of Indonesian islands. Now, the ban is being lifted"; "Corpus Christi Launches Emergency Water Projects as Reservoirs Dwindle and Industrial Demand Grows"; "Executive Orders on Energy and Climate Have Advocates Across the Nation on Edge"; "

The Mayor of Hobart, the capital city in the Australian State of Tasmania, Anna Reynolds (pictured) has voiced concerns on Linkedin about her city facing a bushfire threat in conditions similar to those that recently razed large portions of Los Angeles during a wildfire driven by fierce Santa Anna winds. She asked the LinkedIn community for answers/comments about several issues and one to reply was a climate scientist and Professor Emeritus from the University of Melbourne, David Karoly. &quot;‘To anyone who lost their home in the #lafire I will paint it for free’&quot;; &quot;The Climate Peril We Overlook&quot;; &quot;Snow and ice will hit swath of South that hasn’t seen a storm like this in decades&quot;; &quot;L.A. Fires Revive Calls for a ‘Climate Superfund’ Law in California&quot;; &quot;Trump plans to declare a &#39;national energy emergency.&#39; What does that mean?&quot;; &quot;With ‘damaging’ winds, extreme fire danger returns to Southern California&quot;; &quot;‘Catastrophic’: Great Barrier Reef hit by its most widespread coral bleaching, study finds&quot;; &quot;Trump Signs Orders to Promote Fossil Fuels and End Climate Policies&quot;; &quot;Trump just declared an ‘energy emergency.’ Here’s what it means.&quot;; &quot;Fast moving Hughes Fire breaks out in Castaic, prompting evacuations&quot;; &quot;LA immigrant rights groups were bracing for Trump — and then came the fires&quot;; &quot;‘I&#39;ve been in many ways erased’: Artist on Eaton Fire grief&quot;; &quot;Conspiracies are rife about water and the LA fires. Here&#39;s what experts say&quot;; &quot;The L.A. fires are just the beginning of a crisis spreading across the country&quot;; &quot;Trump Attacks Climate Action, Environmental Protections on First Day Back in Power&quot;; &quot;How is Antarctica melting, exactly? Crucial details are beginning to come into focus&quot;; &quot;Study shows hot leaves can’t catch carbon from the air. It’s bad news for rainforests – and Earth&quot;: &quot;NZ’s climate policies are no longer enough to keep warming at 1.5°C – here’s what needs to happen&quot;; &quot;2024 Brought the World to a Dangerous Warming Threshold. Now What?&quot;; &quot;L.A. Fires Revive Calls for a ‘Climate Superfund’ Law in California&quot;; &quot;Mandatory climate reporting proving valuable for ESG investors&quot;; &quot;Why some are working against public transport and rail&quot;; &quot;Are Southern California Fires Outpacing Wildlife’s Ability to Adapt?&quot;; &quot;CO2 Levels Rose at Record Rate in 2024&quot;; &quot;Trump Withdraws United States from Paris Agreement&quot;; &quot;Cement has an emissions problem. Can tech that mimics coral fix it?&quot;; &quot;Solar farms are booming in the US and putting thousands of hungry sheep to work&quot;; &quot;High fertiliser use halves numbers of pollinators, world’s longest study finds&quot;; &quot;Making aluminium uses 10% of Australia’s electricity. Will tax incentives help smelters go green?&quot;; &quot;Smelters will close without green aluminium funding, Albanese warns as Dutton labels $2bn pledge a ‘con job’&quot;; &quot;The LA fires left a beloved school in ashes. Now, parents are rallying to restart their ‘community’&quot;; &quot;Can we really fight fire with fire? Why pre-burning is no magic bullet&quot;; &quot;Trump signs executive order directing US withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement — again&quot;; &quot;With ‘damaging’ winds, extreme fire danger returns to Southern California&quot;; &quot;Trump Orders a U.S. Exit From the World’s Main Climate Pact&quot;; &quot;Almost 26,000 hectares of threatened species habitat approved for clearing under Labor in 2024, new report finds&quot;; &quot;Texas Regulators Finalize Oilfield Waste Rule&quot;; &quot;Wildfire school recovery&quot;; &quot;<a href="https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/climatetech-finance/doe-finalizes-8-8b-in-financing-for-rivian-plug-powe

Simon Kerr (pictured) is alarmed about the world community not being prepared for what is coming and writes on Medium about &quot;What’s Happening with the Planet? A Short Update for 2025&quot;. He is a climate change thinker, a research fellow, the creator of &quot;Music for a Warming World&quot;, and has a PhD in Political Ecology. He was a guest on this podcast in June 2024 in an episode entitled: &quot;Interview: &#39;This is one of the most important books I&#39;ve seen for some time&#39;: Simon Kerr praises &#39;Living Hot&#39;&quot;.

A group of people reached for some normalcy &quot;As L.A. burned, some venues tried to provide laughter, drinks and normalcy&quot;; &quot;As a Climate Scientist, I Knew It Was Time to Leave Los Angeles&quot;; &quot;Calif. Republicans weigh in on Trump allies’ calls for fire aid conditions&quot;; &quot;The home front: Could the Los Angeles fires happen in Australia?&quot;; &quot;How Los Angeles Dreams Became Kindling&quot;; &quot;For L.A.’s homeless population, the fires upend hard-earned stability&quot;; &quot;A new kind of urban firestorm&quot;; &quot;Advocates Warn of Climate, Cancer Risks From a Potential Trump Rollback on Electric Big Rigs and Buses&quot;; &quot;Power utility sued over woman’s death as crews make progress against LA fires&quot;; &quot;Misinformation Spreads Like Wildfire Online While LA Neighborhoods Burn&quot;; &quot;GoFundMe, Mandy Moore and the unfairness of disaster relief: ‘If you were poor before, you should stay poor’&quot;; &quot;‘Virtually Any City on Earth Can Burn Now’&quot;; &quot;Peering Into a Bleak, ‘Uninsurable Future’&quot;; &quot;Timeline: How the LA fires erupted into the worst natural disaster in California history&quot;; &quot;The California wildfires are not ‘natural disasters’ – they’re man-made catastrophes&quot;; &quot;Hottest year on record sent planet past key global warming limit of 1.5C for first time in 2024&quot;; &quot;Supreme Court declines to hear from oil and gas companies trying to block climate change lawsuits&quot;; &quot;A Court Says Coastal Marine Ecosystems Have Intrinsic Value—and Legal Rights&quot;; &quot;Why Chinese EVs are displacing Teslas&quot;; &quot;How climate-friendly waterwheels are coming around again&quot;; &quot;What might sports look like in a warming world?&quot;; &quot;Chart: EV sales grew slowly in 2024 — but still set new records&quot;; &quot;Without enough utility power, California EV truck depots try microgrids&quot;; &quot;‘There’s literally nothing’: surrounded by destruction, Los Angeles begins to process scale of loss&quot;; &quot;‘It’s going to be rough’: what Trump’s response to LA fires portends for future climate disasters&quot;; &quot;I knew one day I’d have to watch powerful men burn the world down – I just didn’t expect them to be such losers&quot;; &quot;New weather system to strike eastern Australia with strong winds and rain&quot;; &quot;Major banks are abandoning their climate alliance en masse. So much for ‘woke capital’&quot;; &quot;New Study Shows How Fossil Fuel Sectors Create a Climate Denial Echo Chamber on Social Media&quot;; &quot;More Americans, Risking Ruin, Drop Their Home Insurance&quot;; &quot;The Wrong Lesson From Trudeau’s Fall Is That Climate Action Is Unpopular&quot;; &quot;Trump Energy Secretary Pick Chris Wright Calls Climate Crisis Denier Bjorn Lomborg a ‘Friend’&quot;; &quot;I’m a climate scientist and my house in LA burned down. My work has never been more real&quot;; &quot;Texas Is Unprepared for Compound Climate Disasters&quot;; &quot;How Climate Change Is Complicating a Beloved Midwest Pastime: Ice Fishing&quot;; &quot;Los Angeles Fires Are Exacerbating the City’s Housing Crisis&quot;; &quot;Wealthiest 1% Have Used Up Their Share of World’s Carbon Budget in Just 10 Days, Analysis Finds&quot;; &quot;Trump Energy Secretary Pick Chris Wright Calls Climate Crisis Denier Bjorn Lomborg a ‘Friend’&quot;; &quot;Los Angeles Fires Lead to Over $200 Billion in Losses, Potentially the Most Expensive Wildfire Event in U.S. History&quot;; &quot;Yes, Imitation Meat Is Processed. Can It Also Be Healthy?&quot;; &quot;From cod logs to frog bogs: we catalogued 400 ways to help species survive a warmer world&quot;; &quot;The LA fires have prompted a reckoning for the insurance industry – Australian premiums could soar as a result&quot;; &quot;<a href="https://www.

Stuart Goldsmith (pictured) flies business class but makes his ethical point about flying that way, with a smile on his face. &quot;The Media’s Mega-Failure on LA’s Mega-Fires&quot;; &quot;Press Briefing: How the LA Wildfires Are Fueled by Climate Change&quot;; &quot;‘Some homes weren’t designed with fire in mind’: Is timber to blame for LA wildfires?&quot;; &quot;‘Not out of the woods yet’: Critical fire warning for LA extended an extra day&quot;; &quot;VIDEO: &#39;Absolutely terrifying&#39;: Former NSW Fire Commissioner discusses LA wildfires&quot;; &quot;Climate change is forcing us to rethink our sense of ‘home’ – and what it means to lose it&quot;; &quot;Easing conditions will help crews battle L.A. fires&quot;; &quot;Los Angeles Fires Lead to Over $200 Billion in Losses, Potentially the Most Expensive Wildfire Event in U.S. History&quot;; &quot;Wealthiest 1% Have Used Up Their Share of World’s Carbon Budget in Just 10 Days, Analysis Finds&quot;; &quot;Ecology of Fear: Mike Davis’ history of LA and natural disaster is re-read whenever fire rages in California&quot;; &quot;Boiling Point&quot; - podcast; &quot;Australia is becoming an uninsurable nation. There may only be one solution&quot;; &quot;Why the LA fires should spark economic alarm in Australia&quot;; &quot;‘Some homes weren’t designed with fire in mind’: Is timber to blame for LA wildfires?&quot;; &quot;Shattered in the Fire: A Historic Black Haven&quot;.

New York Times climate reporter, Christopher Flavelle (pictured) discusses Los Angeles' strengths and weaknesses and how the city responded to the present fire crisis. "California’s insurance crisis is a warning for America"; "‘It’s ironic’: how climate crisis is driving Trump push on Greenland and Panama"; "Republicans see the LA wildfires as an opportunity to punish California"; "Death toll from Palisades and Eaton fires climbs to 24. What we know about those killed"; "‘The Love in the Air Is Thicker Than the Smoke’"; "Why firefighters say the Los Angeles blazes have been unstoppable"; "Much of Australia enjoys the same Mediterranean climate as LA. When it comes to bushfires, that doesn’t bode well"; "In pictures: The deadly path of a small bush fire that came to devastate the LA elite"; "California’s Insurance System Faces Crucial Test as Losses Mount"; "Supreme Court Clears a Path for Climate Lawsuits to Proceed".

Amy Chozick (pictured) wants someone to take control in Los Angeles, as she writes in her guest essay in The New York Times: "Los Angeles Is Being Crushed Under the Weight of Inaction"; "‘We got our fingers crossed’: residents in limbo after LA fires force evacuations"; "The Eaton Fire Is Now One of California’s Deadliest"; "'We are not in the clear': Dangerous Santa Ana winds forecast to resume in Los Angeles"; "Disinformation reigns as bushfires devastate California": "How the climate crisis fuels devastating wildfires: ‘We have tweaked nature and pissed it off’"; "Middle-Class Dreams Lie in Ruins in Palisades Mobile Home Park"; "L.A.’s wildfires have leaders fighting on two fronts: Nature and politics"; "The Los Angeles fires won’t affect climate denial. They should."; "Can the Coalition turn teal seats back to blue?"; "Are Australia's urban centres prepared for a fire like Los Angeles?".

Bushfire expert, David Bowman, has warned us against "kicking the can down the road" - he asks: "Could what happened in LA occur here? Short answer: Yes"; "Los Angeles prepares for return of strong winds as fire death toll rises to 16"; "Five battles that will define Australia’s climate war election"; "The Last House Standing"; "Gov. Gavin Newsom says he expects death toll will rise"; "'Unimaginable terror and heartbreak' in LA as heightened winds threaten to worsen fires"; "As Los Angeles combusts, 2024 is declared Earth’s hottest on record"; "‘We’re in a New Era’: How Climate Change Is Supercharging Disasters"; "Scientists Say Musk Wrongly Downplays Climate Role in L.A. Fires"; "What it feels like to live in a city on fire"; "Winds will ramp up in coming days, challenging firefighters and keeping evacuees from being able to return"; "U.S. Efforts to Cut Emissions Stalled in 2024 as Power Demand Surged".

Tesla and X owner, billionaire Elon Musk uses his position to spead disinformation about the LA fires and the California Fire Authority using sexist and racist language: "Elon Musk blames female firefighters of colour for LA fires"; "Their homes torched amid a housing crisis, L.A. residents wonder where to go"; "‘We don’t know the half of it’: More deaths feared in ever-expanding LA fires"; "Drones Take Off in the Battle Against the Los Angeles Fires"; "‘It was just dust’: Shocked families return to find their charred homes"; "Los Angeles wildfires already pegged as costliest blaze in U.S. history"; "Why Los Angeles was unprepared for this fire"; "More evacuations as fire changes direction, posing new threat to Los Angeles"; "See how a small fire in L.A. turned into a monster, hour by hour"; "The LA Fires and the Big Bang"; "Los Angeles wildfires already pegged as costliest blaze in U.S. history"; "Coming Soon to Our Musk-Trump Hellscape: AI-Trained Tesla Robotaxis"; "Misinformation Spreads Like Wildfire Online While LA Neighborhoods Burn⁠"; "Global Warming Surges Well Past 1.5-Degree Mark in 2024"; "Another Polar Vortex Is Blasting the U.S. With Harsh Winter Weather. So How Is Climate Change Involved?"; "Caught in a Climate Bind, New York State Is Reconsidering Nuclear Power"; "After Three Hurricanes in 13 Months, Residents of Cedar Key, Florida, Are Considering the Island’s Future—and Their Own".