Democracy Now!

Carlos Bazante

Soc. Movements MW

Democracy Now! (5-7-2014)

Foretelling Devastating Impact, Will White House Climate Report and Stanford Divest: Student-Led Movement Forces Elite School to Pull Its Money from Coal Companies

One of the stories on Democracy Now! informed the viewers about a new comprehensive study on the impacts of climate change on the United States.  It informs us about the increase of number and strength of extreme weather events in the past fifty years.  The report's main goal was to inform the public about the assessment which affects everyone especially the more vulnerable in our society.  Climatologist, Radley Horton, claims that climate change is happening right now.  Radley Horton claims that his assessment of the climate change in the United States shows that the precipitation in the atmosphere is increasing, sea levels rising, heavier rain storms, and drought.  He notes that different regional areas will experience a different climate shift such as heavier rains in the Northeast and severe drought in the Southwest.  The assessment is different from other past research because it provides information on how to decrease greenhouse gases and how to adapt and deal with climate change.   The assessment also provides us with reasons why we should tackle this issue.

The next story informs us about Stanford University's decision to break business ties with 100 different coal energy corporations around the world.  But the prestigious educational institution did not decide on its own to  join the movement against global warming and the devastating effects of coal.  Students pressured Stanford's board of trustees to stop investing on coal.  Michael Penuelas was one of the main leaders of this action.  Narmeen Shaikh asked Michael an interesting question.  She asked why has the student of Stanford were successful at persuading their board of trustees while other universities, such as Harvard, are not.  Michael  claims that were successful at Stanford was due to several factors.  He claimed that a large percentage of the student body (more than 70%) and the board of trustees willingness to listen to the students concern were one of the main factors