The new year started with two major escalations. Raging, ever worsening wildfires in Australia that are the most recent reminder of the climate crisis we’re in. The killing of Qasem Soleimani that brought US and Iran to the brink of war. In her newsletter Heated, Emily Atkin makes the connection: How a war between the US and Iran could doom efforts to fight climate change. Not just because it would draw away attention and resources from climate action, but also because wars cause enormous amounts of CO2 emissions (in fact, and this was news to me, the U.S. military is the single biggest emitter of carbon dioxide in the world).

From Weekly Filet #284, in March 2020.