The Climate Crisis Is Getting Worse

A couple of days ago, Axios' 1 Big Thing was The Future Of Mankind. I had just gotten off the phone with a Texas candidate we're in the middle of vetting and she had been telling how the Climate Crisis was a paramount issue for people in her district under thirty and even more so for voters under 21. But the urgency of the issue seems to fade rapidly withholder voters. Ben German wrote that "nothing is happening remotely fast enough to save humanity from facing the self-inflicted disaster of runaway climate change. That's the key takeaway from a new UN report that shows greenhouse gas emissions increasing last year, despite the need to cut them substantially by 2030. 'There is no sign of a slowdown, let alone a decline, in greenhouse gases concentration in the atmosphere despite all the commitments under the Paris Agreement,' World Meteorological Organization Secretary-General Petteri Taalas said in a statement with the report. Even more ominous, investment in clean energy in developing nations actually fell last year, led by China."

The big picture: The world needs to cut emissions by 25% by 2030 to keep warming to 2°C, and a much steeper 55% to keep it within 1.5°C. But under current pledges, the world is on course for a 3.2°C rise by century's end.

No laughing matter, that's for sure.

And... Next week is the second annual Motherfucker Awards Gala-- to bring attention to those who have been the worst on the Climate Crisis this year. They use comedy and music to make their point, celebrating, in a manner of speaking, the corporations, politicians, and lobbyists that fucked Mother Earth in 2019. Kelly Slater (11 times Surfing World Champion), Lawrence Lessig (Harvard Law Professor), Abby Martin (Investigative Journalist),& Jodi Armour (USC Law Professor), and Kaj Larsen (Navy SEAL/Journalist) have been the first announced to present at this years event.

The gala features top comedians accepting awards on behalf of the ones responsible for inflicting the most impressive damage in 2019. Journalists and celebrities prompt the comedians with basic facts about their "achievements," and the comedians create their own acceptance speeches.

Their press release emphasized that while there are plenty of awards that celebrate efforts to protect the natural environment, it’s clear now that Mother Earth is losing and it’s time the winners got their due. The 2019 Motherfucker Awards use satire to tackle issues in the categories of: Land, Water, Air, Fire, Spirit, and The Lifetime Achievement Award.

LAND: The MOFAS will celebrate the fracking industry, and their outstanding efforts to penetrate Mother Earth, resulting in contaminated drinking water in communities across the country. The fracking industry increases the potential for oil spills, which can harm the soil and surrounding vegetation.

WATER: This year’s Water category will highlight the single use plastics industry and their generous donations of single use plastic to our oceans all over the world.

AIR: Key players within the Amazon fires will be honored for their efforts to make our atmosphere more visible and supercharge climate change.

FIRE: The Fire category will highlight the global firearms industry and the entities responsible for the most egregious military corruption and human rights abuses over the past year.

SPIRIT: The Spirit Award honors outstanding efforts to break the human spirit. While the United States represents about 4.4 percent of the world's population, it houses around 22 percent of the world's prisoners. This year the award will focus on our country’s private prison system and the groups that profit most from human incarceration.

And finally, to the biggest motherfucker of them all, The Lifetime Achievement Award honors an individual who has screwed Mother Earth the hardest over their entire career. (Guess who that will be!)

Here are some clips from last year's gala:





Doors open at 7. Tickets can be ordered here.