Climate News: Elon Musk spreads disinformation about LA fires and damns the authorities

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".

What's happened in Los Angeles is a portent for what we could see in Australia according to: listen to Greg Mullins - "As California burns, how will Australia respond to this climate-fuelled crisis?"; "Los Angeles residents flee wildfire, firefighters battle blaze in Pacific Palisades"; "Southern California is extremely dry, and that’s fueling fires − maps show just how dry;" "BoM data finds 2024 was Australia’s second-hottest year on record"; "Wade Crowfoot on Building Wildfire Resilience"; "11 killed, 35,000 acres burned by California wildfires"; "‘There was nothing you could do’: The two days when fire swallowed Los Angeles"; "Deadly wildfires surge in size in Southern California and force more evacuations"; "As fires rage, CA fears home insurance collapse"; "You just lived through the hottest year on record. Again."; "LA is on fire. How will Australia cope when bushfires hit Sydney, Melbourne or another major city?"; "The role of climate change in the catastrophic 2025 Los Angeles fires"; "Celebrities kick off fire relief efforts, Jamie Lee Curtis pledges $1.6m"; "Nearly 800 prisoners now helping to battle Los Angeles fires"; "Australia leases US firebombing aircraft in the northern winter. So what happens when LA burns in January?"; "Epic aerial assault to protect homes in Brentwood, Encino as L.A. wildfire death toll rises"; "‘We don’t know the half of it’: More deaths feared in ever-expanding LA fires"; "Wildfires latest: Pacific Palisades fire is most destructive in Los Angeles history"; "‘Like a bomb was dropped’: Devastating before-and-after pictures reveal scale of destruction".

Devastating fires at Palisades in America's California are, in my view from some 12,000 kilometres away, a direct outcome of climate change. "What it was like on the ground as the Pacific Palisades fire spread"; "California wildfires ignite as strong winds fuel flames"; "The A.I. Power Grab"; "The new phantom menace isn’t as bad as you think. Waymo rocks!"; "Fires rage out of control across Los Angeles as officials warn of worse to come"; "Live Updates: California Officials Scramble to Fight Fires With Strained Resources"; "Why the L.A. fires became so bad so quickly"; "Wildfires are raging through the US west. Here’s how to protect yourself"; "World’s climate fight needs fundamental reform, UN expert says: ‘Some states are not acting in good faith’".

Geelong's Climate Cafe meets again this month - "Climate Café launched in Geelong"; "Winter Storm Blankets the East Coast, With Arctic Air on Its Heels"; "Locking up a 77-year-old climate protester is proof of a broken justice system"; "Wind Wars"; "Cost-of-living crisis meets new era of electric cars"; "Biden Bans New Oil and Gas Drilling Along Most U.S. Coasts"; "What Would It Take to Bring Renewable, Reliable Power to Puerto Rico?"; "Polar Vortex’ Got You Baffled? Try This Extreme-Weather Guide"; "Global Water Monitor"; "High Heat Is Preferentially Killing the Young, Not the Old, New Research Finds"; "World Water Film Festival Makes a Splash at Columbia Climate School"; "'He was prescient’: Jimmy Carter, the environment and the road not taken"; "A new solar project in Brooklyn could offer a model for climate justice"; "UK EV sales reached record highs in 2024, SMMT reveals"; "In 2025, let’s make it game on – not game over – for our precious natural world"; "Artefacts from Pacific museums being put at risk"; "UK Electricity Reached a Record 58% From Low-Carbon Sources in 2024"; "All Chicago City Buildings Now Run on Renewable Energy"; "Deep-Sea Mining 101: Everything You Need to Know"; "Arbor Day Foundation to Plant 10 Million Trees to Replace Those Destroyed by Hurricanes Helene and Milton"; "Winter Storm Blair: Millions across North America hit by polar vortex"; "Fuel-hungry utes and SUVs dominate Australian sales, with Corolla the only small car on top 10 list"; "Fully recovering Australia’s threatened species would cost 25% of GDP. We can’t do it all at once – so let’s start here"; "Relentless warming is driving the water cycle to new extremes, the 2024 global water report shows"; "The Renewable Energy Transition Has Residents of a Small Arizona Town on Edge".

Ingrid Robeyns (pictured) has written an amazingly timely book - "Limitarianism: The Case Against Extreme Wealth". You can hear an interview with her by Adam Canover on "Factually - Why Billionaires Should Be Banned". Powerful writing by Adam Knox in the Melbourne Age - "It’s worse than any war or pandemic, so why are our leaders ignoring it?"; "More than 100 water rescues as heatwave sweeps across Victoria"; "The Weather That Changed Us | Heatwave"; "Federal Labor pledges to fund bulk of Bruce Highway upgrade in re-election bid"; "The first major winter storm of the season will bring heavy snow and ice to millions"; "Creating clean hydrogen power is hard. Biden’s new subsidies show why."; "The oldest animal ever found could reveal whether a crucial ocean current will collapse": "Southern Ocean winds to break stifling heatwave baking Australia’s south-east"; "Australia needs better ways of storing renewable electricity for later. That’s where ‘flow batteries’ can help"; "Why drought and a big wind event spell fire trouble for Southern California"; "Several flights cancelled across Germany as extreme winter weather brings widespread disruption"; "After Three Hurricanes in 13 Months, Residents of Cedar Key, Florida, Are Considering the Island’s Future—and Their Own"; "These cities will be hardest hit as winter storm brings snow and ice to many states"; "Trump team takes aim at crown jewel of US climate research"; "What to know about the heavy snow and ice storms soon to hit a swath of the U.S."; "Polar vortex expected to bring snow, ice and brutal cold to most of US"; "Landman Is in Love With the Myths That Oilmen Tell About Themselves"; "Why the Argument That LNG Is Essential to the Energy Transition Is ‘Nonsense’"; "2024 – a dire year for Human Survival"; "Improvements to Electric Vehicles Ease Concerns About Range Loss in Cold Climates"; "Firefighters battle fresh blazes in Victoria as pockets of NSW burn"; "Biden to block oil drilling across 625 million acres of U.S. waters"; "A season of uncertainty for this Helene-stricken Christmas tree farm"; "China records warmest temperature in 2024"; "Weather warnings remain as flooding clean-up starts"; "An economic lifeline: Why Iran opposes production curbs in UN plastics treaty "; "Medical Schools Around the World Are Expanding Their ‘Climate Change Curriculums’"; "World Bank climate funding greens African hotels while fishermen sink"; "Greenhushing’ Is On the Rise as Companies Go Silent on Climate Pledges"; "On beaches of Gaza and Tel Aviv, two tales of one heatwave": "Reckoning With Climate Anxiety in the Wake of the US Election"; "The Earth’s Colors Are Changing—and Climate Change Could Be Partially to Blame"; "Most Costly Climate Disasters of 2024 Killed 2,000 People and Inflicted $229 Billion in Damages"; "Climate-friendly electricity sees big battery projects soar again for 2024"; "Year of deadly weather: Climate change added 41 extra heat days and supercharged disasters"; "‘Ironic’: climate-driven sea level rise will overwhelm major oil ports, study shows"; "Plants Are Becoming Less Nutritious Because of Climate Change, Impacting Herbivores From Insects to Giant Pandas"; "Trump accused of attacking UK energy policies on behalf of fossil fuel industry"; "Creating clean hydrogen power is hard. Biden’s new subsidies show why."; "The first major winter storm of the season will bring heavy snow and ice to millions"; "New York to Charge Biggest Emitters for Climate Damages Under New Law"; "The world’s hope to fight common threats: The U.S. will wake up"; "‘An ecological disaster’: Russia deals with aftermath of massive fuel oil spill"; "<a href="https://www.canarymedia.c

Heat records are tumbling - "Australia just had its second-hottest year on record – and temperatures will rise again"; "The $80 billion question buried in Dutton’s nuclear power plan"; "Victoria braces for weekend heatwave as total fire ban declared in state’s west"; "The key step to making your holiday period more environmentally friendly"; "Drilling could resume where a 1969 oil spill inspired Earth Day"; "Heat Is Claiming Mexico’s Young People"; "The price of batteries has declined by 97% in the last three decades;" "Solar panel prices have fallen by around 20% every time global capacity doubled"; "Why seas are surging"; "Will Trump Cut Short the Biden Clean-Energy Boom? Investors Are Nervous."; "Analysis: Why the $300bn climate-finance goal is even less ambitious than it seems"; "Poverty in Lahaina has doubled after 2023 wildfire: ‘We’re cutting down on what we eat’"; "Well Beyond the U.S., Heat and Climate Extremes Are Hitting Billions"; "50 years ago, Cyclone Tracy flattened Darwin – and Australia’s attitude to disasters changed forever"; "New York aims to fine polluters up to $75 billion with new climate law"; "The Fossil Fuel Industry’s Ceaseless Assault on Climate Policy"; "‘Ambitious’ climate claim against Attorney-General dismissed"; "UK to finish with coal power after 142 years"; "Climate crisis exposed people to extra six weeks of dangerous heat in 2024"; "Environmental-Political Collapse Accelerates"; "The University of Chicago’s new climate initiative"; "The clean energy transition, in 10 charts"; "Revealed: Big Oil Told 70 Years Ago That Fossil Fuel Emissions Could Impact ‘Civilization’"; "New Mexico Lawmakers to Decide Whether Oil and Gas Wastewater Could Be Reused on Wide Scale"; "How to Start a Public University LNG Research Center: An LNG Lobbyist Director and Donations for Research Votes"; "Nigel Farage Helps to Launch U.S. Climate Denial Group in UK"; "AI air pollution takes deadly health toll"; "The oldest animal ever found could reveal whether a crucial ocean current will collapse"; "At Extinction Rebellion, we aimed for UK net zero in 2025. That won’t happen – so here’s what to do instead"; "Amazon wildfires and droughts are ‘ominous indicators’ of a long-feared tipping point"; "Roadmap to COP30 - Climate Action in 2025"; "Here are 12 climate resolutions to take with you into the new year"; "World endures 'decade of deadly heat' as 2024 caps hottest years on record"; "A more common enemy - How climate change spreads diseases and makes them more dangerous";  "Future fizzles: the promises and predictions for 2025 in Australia that came true (or didn’t)"; "Climate change will devastate value of homes, warns Bank of England"; "The facts about a planet facing climate disaster are clear. Why won’t this Labour government face them?"; "Labour under fire over plans for 40 more ‘greenwashing’ waste incinerators"; "The effect of CO2 ramping rate on the transient weakening of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation"; "Americans’ support for climate justice": "To Combat Phoenix’s Extreme Heat, a New Program Provides Sustainable Shade"; "UK weather: amber snow warnings after temperatures hit -8C"; "China and Russia agree to deepen cooperation on Arctic shipping route"; "El Niño and La Niña, Explained

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter (pictured) died a few days ago at 100. Here is Jonathon Altrer, who said that as President, "He peered over the horizon, especially on energy and the environment"; "Canary Media’s top 10 clean energy stories in 2024"; "A Triple Threat to Humanity: Climate Change, Pandemics, and Anti-Science"; "Nuclear power had a strong year in 2024, but uncertainty looms for 2025"; "In 2025, let’s make it game on – not game over – for our precious natural world"; "Sport produces mountains of high-tech waste. We are finding new ways to recycle it"; "Germany and Spain experienced some of the world’s costliest climate disasters in 2024"; "Violence, frayed tempers and hot weather — is mango madness real?"; "AI air pollution takes deadly health toll"; "If popular culture is anything to go by, 2024 is the year we simply gave up"; "These Graphics Help Explain What Climate Change Looked Like in 2024"; "North Carolina’s Climate Activists Brace for Trump’s Return"; "2024: a year of racism and lying to ourselves"; "From the sidelines to the helm: The Global South’s turn to lead climate policy"; "Millions of households in Great Britain face higher energy bills as price cap rises"; "‘Moving to the mountaintops’: rising seas displace tens of thousands in Papua New Guinea".

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (pictured) looks back, looks ahead and looks for hope. "Podcast: Facing the world at 3-degrees of warming"; "New York to fine fossil fuel companies $75 billion under new climate law"; "Long recovery ahead for wildlife hurt by Grampians fire, ecologist says"; "Is there a new energy future for Australia’s remaining oil refiners?"; "2024’s most costly climate disasters killed 2,000 people and caused $229bn in damages, data shows"; "2025 tipped to be bumper year for EVs as emission laws change and new models arrive"; "The Year in Climate: Record Heat, an Election, a Push for Justice and Reasons for Hope"; "In 2025, let’s make it game on – not game over – for our precious natural world".