This is the 562nd edition of the Spotlight on Green News & Views (previously known as the Green Diary Rescue). Here is the June 16 Spotlight. Inclusion of a story in the Spotlight does not necessarily indicate my agreement with or endorsement of it.
OUTSTANDING GREEN STORIES
RonK writes—The Daily Bucket: A Tree for all Seasons and its Phenology from Solstice to Solstice: “I have a favorite tree. It is a Scarlet Oak (Quercus coccinea). The scarlet designationcomes from its bright fall red foliage that will be apparent when we get to October. The Scarlet Oak is native to East and Central US. It is a beautifully shaped tree and is often used as a featured ornamental in landscaping as it is here in a city park situated along Bellingham Bay.I have enjoyed this tree for a long time and have photographed it off and on as time presented and as I watched the sun move across the bay and the islands. The sun traverses the bay arcing through the year to one solstice and then back again. As the sun changes its position across the seasons the tree changes its persona as the sun journeys round the bay. This is a tree for all seasons with the bay, the San Juan Islands, the Lummi Peninsula and sunsets as its backdrop. The park is Marine Park, one that I have photographed in previous posts over the years. However, I have never given this magnificent tree the due that it deserves until now.”
Xaxnar writes—"The Ornithologist the Internet Called a Murderer": “The New York Times has the story of an ornithologist who found the first-ever seen male of an elusive species of bird. What happened next is not what Dr. Christopher Filardi expected. Only three females had ever been observed. They are found in an area of Guadalcanal that is under threat of logging and other development. When he caught a glimpse of a male he was thrilled. Kirk Wallace Johnson explains what happened next. Days later, when the team captured a male in a mist net, Dr. Filardi gasped. ‘One of the most poorly known birds in the world was there, in front of me, like a creature of myth come to life,’ he wrote in a dispatch to the museum. [...] It wasn’t until the public realized that Dr. Filardi had ‘collected’ the bird — killing it for the museum’s research collection — that the adulation turned to venom. What Filardi did is normal scientific practice. Rarely-seen does not mean rare. Filardi estimates the island population is 4,000 birds — a good size for an island habitat. He was not collecting a trophy. By collecting the kingfisher, he was obtaining information that is necessary to understand the bird: how it compares to related species, its genome, as a standard for further work, and so on. This is how science documents species to provide a base of knowledge about them.”
CRITTERS AND THE GREAT OUTDOORS
Besame writes—Daily Bucket: Pollinator Week celebrates birds bats flies moths butterflies beetles mice lizards: “While pollinator season is year-round, globally, National Pollinator Week is designated to celebrate and generate awareness for animals who pollinate flowers. Most people already know that some pollinators, like monarch butterflies and honeybees (not native to the U.S.), have experienced population declines. This year, the first native bee was added to the Endangered Species List (rusty patched bumble bee). Hummingbirds are admired pollinators, while moths and bats are often overlooked. Lizard, mouse, fly, and beetle pollinators missed out on the public relations campaigns and are not well known. A study earlier this year looked at the importance of vertebrate pollinators and found that preventing birds and bats from visiting flowers can reduce the plant’s fruit and seed production by an average of 63 percent.”
OceanDiver writes—The Daily Bucket: peak sun + low tide: “Today is Summer Solstice, peak sun for us in the northern hemisphere. During these days around the solstice the sun shines down directly from above, and for 16+ hours each day here in the Salish Sea. As it happens, our lowest tides of the year in the daytime are around Summer Solstice as well. For an intertidal critter who can’t just swim away it’s a triple blast of desiccation. I visited a sandy beach and a rocky shoreline this past week to see who was about. How do they survive those hours deprived of the blessed cool wetness of the sea? They hide. Critters under the shade of a dock are golden. [...] Many invertebrates could move into deeper water with the tide but they’ve chosen not to, banking on the bit of shade they’ve found.”
OceanDiver writes—The Daily Bucket - low tide, tiny island access: “June 13, 2018. Salish Sea, Pacific Northwest. Tide: — 3.2 feet. With the summer solstice imminent, we’re getting our lowest tides of the year. A few days ago I took advantage of an extreme low low tide to walk out to a tiny island that is almost always surrounded by water, and inaccessible on foot. [...] One sign of that is the otter latrine on a flat spot, along with plenty of trails and bedding spots. And the remains of crab meals.”
PHScott writes—The Daily Bucket: Morning Walk-around: “Despite the muggy buggy start to each day, I try to get outside and wander around the yard and edges of the woods. It may be a cool 73 degrees but with humidity over 90% that makes the heat index near 90 already. No breeze gives those pesky Asian Tiger mosquitos ample time to penetrate my defenses. Gotta do it tho - I might miss something and the dawn chorus is always entertaining. Various photos as I poked around, bending over often to pull weeds and those plants I just don't want more of. After 1.5 hours (the timestamped photos tell me this :) I was soaked thru and ready for a break. Once I eat and rehydrate I go out again and so on but for shorter periods each time.”
owktree writes—Daily Bucket: Sunday Pot-au-Feu - Molluscs: Photo diary.
matching mole writes—Dawn Chorus: Brazil Birds Open Thread: Photo diary.
Pakalolo writes—In Just 8 Years, Conservation Measures in Mexico Increased Jaguar Population by 20%: “Mexico launched a conservation program back in 2005, that is overseen by the National Park System of Mexico. That program has been wildly successful for increasing the population of Mexico’s jaguar, which is considered a ‘near threatened species.’ The range of the jaguar includes most of the America’s, where there has even been a spotting of large male cat in Arizona. Jaguars are endangered by habitat loss and fragmentation, trophy killings, a burgeoning illegal trade in body parts (particularly their teeth that are in high demand in China), revenge killings associated with livestock loss and killings due to human fear. Phys.org reports: Mexico's population of wild jaguars has grown 20 percent in the past eight years, according to a study released Thursday, a bit of good news for an iconic species whose numbers have been declining. There are an estimated 4,800 jaguars in Mexico, found the study, carried out by a consortium of institutions and academics with remotely activated cameras triggered by sensors.”
Eurasian writes—Puyallup, Washington urban wildlife: Photo diary. “Some other Californians seem to like Washington, too.”
Lenny Flank writes—Photo Diary: Boyd Big Tree Preserve, Harrisburg PA: “OK, the name is a bit misleading since the trees here are not particularly big. ;) This is a State Conservation Area just outside Harrisburg, PA. Lots of trails, so you can hike for an hour if you want, or hike all day. I spent most of the day doing what I always like to do in the woods—turning over rocks and logs to see who was living under them.”
CLIMATE CHAOS
Pakalolo writes—Storm driven waves during time of sea ice loss triggered abrupt collapse of 5 Antarctic ice shelves: “Using the Earth as a community toilet is finally having the effects scientists have been warning us about for decades. But as the Earth burns, our leaders have fiddled, frittering away nearly every chance to rein in the destruction before it is too late. Now the point of no return may be upon us. Steve Hanley writing for CleanTechnica. According to new research, storm driven swells have caused the catastrophic collapse of five highly vulnerable ice shelves since 1992, quadrupling the loss of ice in peninsular Antarctica. And, gulp, the collapse can occur in just days. The research found that it is lack of sea ice, which acts as a buffer for the ice platform, that leaves a highly vulnerable ice shelf to ‘attack’ from massive ocean waves ‘causing them to flex and break’. The research notes that the Southern Ocean generates the largest waves on the planet, ‘and these waves are becoming more extreme’.”
Walter Einenkel writes—Scientists say rising sea levels will lead to tens of billions in real estate loses: “Climate researchers with the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) have decided to use the incredibly lucrative real estate industry in an attempt to educate the wealthier/ruling classes in our country. As sea levels rise, coastal areas will see more regular flooding; and so while you might still have a few decades before your beachfront property is completely submerged, you are still going to have to reckon—financially—with climate change’s effects. Titled ‘Underwater: Rising Seas, Chronic Floods, and the Implications for US Coastal Real Estate (2018),” the report discusses what the researchers call ‘a threshold of disruption.’ This is when flooding on the coastal areas begin to occur 26 times a year, every two weeks, not caused by storms. At this point researchers explain, ‘normal routines become impossible and coastal residents, communities, and businesses are forced to make difficult, often costly choices.’ The team’s findings are very practical reminders to the wealthier in our society that they lose too when it comes to climate change.”
SevenStrings writes—Thirty Years On, How Well Do Global Warming Predictions Stand Up? “What really happened is best understood by the chart above, which I have copied from RealClimate.org. James Hansen’s predictions are described by Scenario A and C (which were supposed to bound reality), and Scenario B (which was supposed to be close to reality). Reality is somewhere between Hansen’s Scenario’s B and C. Climate models are complicated, and reducing them to predictions for temperature rise requires several forcing functions. The 3 scenarios were supposed to bracket the realistic range of forcing functions, and describe the most likely ones. Given that this is now a 30-year-old prediction, that is a very impressive accomplishment. The RealClimate.org article also describes how Pat Michaels (the lead author of the WSJ opinion piece) had previously attempted to mislead Congress via a doctored version of Hansen’s prediction (he omitted Scenario’s B and C, and tried to suggest that Scenario A was the only prediction).”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Berkeley Climate Emergency Triggers Denier Media: “Last week, the Berkeley City Council voted unanimously to declare an “existential climate emergency” and pledged to become a ‘carbon sink’ by 2030. Their announcement doesn’t seem to have gotten much attention from the mainstream press (we wonder why). The right wing media, however, did pounce on the news, delighted to have found another totally intellectual, totally mature way to try to own the libs. Breitbart, the Blaze, Daily Caller and Fox News all commented on the Berkeley resolution, choosing to focus on the common alarmist tropes of social engineering, population control and comparison to war time. One of the common talking points was also their astonishment and derision of the fact that the emergency declaration talked about anticipated future calamities with a certain level of surety. How can we know what will happen in the coming decades when we don’t know tomorrow’s weather, the deniers ask?”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Antarctic Melting Is Unwelcome News, Especially For Deniers: “Odds are, no one was especially thrilled by the widely reported news last week that Antarctica’s ice melt has tripled since 1992. But deniers are particularly angry: the finding strikes a blow against one of their last sort-of-true talking points. Deniers, you see, love to claim that despite Arctic melt, the ice covering the Antarctic is doing fine, or maybe even growing. The denier reaction to the new science was quick and prodigious. WUWT posted four separate times about the study last week. The first post tried to distract from reality by pointing out that despite the fact that the melt has been accelerating, it’s still only a small percentage of the continent that’s melted. (So far…) The second WUWT post highlighted another new study, this one on the paleoclimatology of Antarctic ice over the last eight million years. This study found that the East Antarctic Ice Sheet historically survived conditions two to three C warmer than today. While this finding is reassuring, the study Watts is attempting to debunk deals with the Western and Peninsula sheets. These sheets are already melting at 1C of warming and 400ish ppm, making his claims fall well short of offering the reassurance that everything will be fine if we don’t get emissions under control.”
Chamber Watch writes—Senator Calls Out U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Role in Propping Up Big Oil, Blocking Climate Solutions: “If you have been following this blog for a while, you know full well that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s hostility to environmental solutions is nothing new. To give just a couple of examples, the Chamber litigated against the Clean Air Act; it co-sponsored a sham study that President Trump later cited to justify withdrawing from the Paris Climate Accord; it has sued the EPA at least 15 times; and it once even infamously called for a ‘Scopes Monkey Trial of the 21st century’ to put climate science on trial. [...] In a recent letter to Pope Francis, Sen. Whitehouse highlighted how the Pope’s global goal of climate action and emissions reductions is being undercut in the United States by the massive lobbying power of Big Oil. Sen. Whitehouse even explicitly called out the Chamber’s role in Big Oil’s sabotage of efforts at climate solutions, noting that ‘[g]roups like the American Petroleum Institute, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers and others have been employed as adversaries of meaningful climate legislation, in some cases with little apparent support for their opposition from the majority of the companies that make up their membership.’ The senator hit the nail on the head when it comes to the role the U.S. Chamber plays in propping up Big Oil’s lobbying efforts.”
Next Conservatism writes—There Are Solutions to Climate Change. Don't Look For Them in The New York Times: “James Hansen isn't speaking for Democrats, presumably, but still, he is articulating the position they take when they say we need to work against climate change. And this is a political prescription, whether he's being political or not. It's is why the Democrats fail: “It’s very hard to see us fixing the climate,’ Dr. [James] Hansen said, ‘until we fix our democracy.’ No.
This isn't political. it isn't about democracy except insofar as our democracy permits us to act for ourselves, as we like, and not put it up for a vote. The prescription is plain to see, proven, and scalable at levels from individual to enterprise: saving energy saves money; saving money is measurable and competitive; competitiveness is the essence of effective performance in capitalism. It requires no ‘fix’ to democracy for one person or one hundred million people to decide, on their own, for their own reasons, to make improvements.”
OCEANS, WATER, DROUGHT
Dan Bacher writes—Municipal Water District of Orange County Committee approves recommendation backing Calvert rider: “The Municipal Water District of Orange County (MWDOC) Public Affairs & Legislation Committee voted 3 to 0 yesterday to support a resolution backing Representative Ken Calvert’s controversial rider banning the judicial review of lawsuits against Governor Jerry Brown’s Delta Tunnels project at the committee’s meeting on Monday, June 18. The resolution will go before the district's Board of Directors on Wednesday, June 20, 8:30 AM, at the regular board meeting, Conference Room 101, according to Damon Micalizzi, Director of Public Affairs at MWDOC. Martha Camacho-Rodriguez, an educator/organizer with Social Eco Education, an ally with Restore the Delta, Sierra Club and Food Water Watch, spoke against the resolution at the meeting. ‘We are here to speak for Southern California ratepayers who are now aware this entire agency’s connection to Congressman Ken Calvert — who is renowned for political corruption – is well documented’” Camacho-Rodriguez said. ‘Your board is behind the push for Calvert’s rider to strip the people of California the right to judicial review of the WaterFix tunnels. This political push by this corrupt agency shows your disregard for constitutional protections for Californians. It is immoral, corrupt and low down dirty to conduct yourselves as two-bit crooks’.”
Mark Sumner writes—Trump repeals National Ocean Policy, opening the seas to 'more industrial uses': “On Tuesday, Donald Trump signed an executive order repealing protections for the oceans and Great Lakes. Instead, according to The Hill, Trump’s executive order gives priority to ‘ocean industry’ and ‘particularly oil and natural gas drilling.’ With much of the nation’s ire currently directed at the way Trump is demanding billions for his wall as ransom for handing back stolen children, it’s easy to overlook how many other outrages are moving ahead at full speed. Trump is still engaged in an accelerating trade war. He’s still intent on driving a wedge between the US and traditional allies. He hasn’t paused his attacks on the FBI and the investigation. And he hasn’t halted the string of policies designed to boost the use of fossil fuels in the face of not just environmental disasters, but a declining interest from the markets. The order encourages more drilling and other industrial uses of the oceans and Great Lakes. This follows executive orders that Trump has already issued which destroyed the Stream Protection Rule, allowing coal mines to dump waste into streams and rivers.”
WILDERNESS, NATIONAL FORESTS AND PARKS & OTHER PUBLIC LANDS
Walter Einenkel writes—Not American company sharpens its drills and will begin mining national monument: “Donald Trump’s executive order to allow Utah’s Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments to be mined by private interests was devastating. The transparency of big business corruption easily uncovered in emails from the administration’s Interior secretary Ryan Zinke. Environmentalists have raced to try ands ave what’s being destroyed by litigating; but damage has been and will be done—even if good ultimately wins. Glacier Lake Resources Inc., a Canadian mining company got their hands on approximately 200-acres of land, filled with some cobalt and nickel. In their press release, they crow about shedding the shackles of the national monument protections. [...] I believe it was on the eighth day of creation that God and Buddha, Zeus and Vishnu sat down and wondered when humanity would be able to carve up their creation and, using artificial boundaries and for-profit organizations, add those slices to their ‘portfolios.’ Glacier Lake Resources will now begin the literally archaic mining permit process that allows them to drill the land for about $15 a year.”
Ojibwa writes—Public Lands: Formal Gardens at Shore Acres State Park: “Shore Acres State Park, near Coos Bay, Oregon, was once the estate of Oregon pioneer lumberman and shipbuilder Louis J. Simpson. The day-use park includes a magnificent five-acre garden overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Simpson bought the land in 1906 and built a three-story mansion. Landscape gardener David Masterton designed English-style gardens south of the mansion. In the 1970s, a team of Oregon State Parks landscape architects restored the Shore Acres gardens.”
BYPRODUCTS, TRASH, TOXIC & RADIOACTIVE WASTE
Sarah Corcoran via CACourtMonitor writes—Tar Heel State on Point to Tackle Asbestos Fraud: “For context, it is worth noting that asbestos bankruptcy is an insular environment. Faced with burgeoning asbestos liability in the early 1990s, the U.S. Congress in 1994 created a system that allowed court-approved trusts to assume those payouts. Funded by the companies, the trusts are typically managed by victims’ attorneys and have come under fire for having little or no independent oversight. The Reuters news service explained that ‘… a judge who found what he called a “startling pattern” of abuse by plaintiff’s lawyers may have shifted the landscape of asbestos litigation with a ruling in favor of manufacturers’ and then quoted from the judges decree stating that lawyers had manipulated evidence to get bigger settlements from Garlock. Citing his finding, the judge knocked a billion dollars off the amount victims attorneys were seeking for asbestos cancer victims. Garlock even sued some of the firms that had been suing them, claiming racketeering. That case was resolved, but other civil racketeering cases have been filed and more than a dozen state attorneys general have taken notice, The AG group issued a formal letter demanding information from trust records, but did not get that information. That effort resulted in a lawsuit in Utah, and developments are ongoing.”
ENERGY
Dan Bacher writes—CA Senate Committee passes regional grid bill that would keep state dependent on dirty energy: “The California Senate Energy, Utilities and Communications Committee yesterday passed a bill that critics say would dismantle the California Independent System Operator and replace it with a western regional electricity market under the control of the Trump administration’s Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). Although opposed by an array of environmental and community groups, the committee passed AB 813 by six votes to one. It now heads to the Senate Judiciary Committee. Bill opponents including Food and Water Watch and Consumer Watchdog charge that a regional grid will undermine renewable energy and green jobs in California and open up the state to market manipulation and speculation similar to the Enron energy scandal that plagued the state in the early 2000s. You can read the Legislative Analysis, including the list of groups supporting and opposing the bill, here: leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/...’AB 813 would give the Trump Administration the ability to determine California’s energy future and keep us hooked on dirty coal and gas imports,’ said Adam Scow, California Director of Food & Water Watch.”
Dan Bacher writes—New Report warns of 'Enron All Over Again' in California: “A report unveiled by Consumer Watchdog today, ‘Betting Against The House,’ warns of ‘Enron all over again’ as Governor Jerry Brown and electricity deregulation era fixers are poised to rip off California ratepayers with a revival of the Western Power Trading Casino. Below is the news release, with a link to the report, from Consumer Watchdog: California leaders are being pressed by former allies of Enron and energy traders who ripped off the state to gamble away California’s energy future on the revival of a plan for a Western regional power trading system that will benefit billionaires and Wall Street and put ratepayers and the environment at risk, Consumer Watchdog finds in a new report. The report reveals that legislation reauthorizing an Enron-era law, AB 813, authored by Assembly Member Chris Holden and to be heard Tuesday in the California Senate, is a scheme that will leave the market open to trading manipulation that will raise electricity rates. The plan will also undermine California's control of carbon emissions and pollution from power plants by empowering Trump appointees to overturn California laws. Read the report, Betting Against The House: How California’s Leaders Could Gamble Away Our Energy Future On A Western Power Trading Casino, at ‘Why would Californians support such a plan?’ the report asks. ‘It’s backed by Governor Jerry Brown, a coterie of his former and current appointees, fixers for energy billionaires, and remarkably, representatives of “mainstream environmental groups” such as such as the Natural Resources Defense Council’s Ralph Cavanagh that once promoted Enron’.”
Emissions Controls & Carbon Pricing
Walter Einenkel writes—New study says methane emissions from gas and oil industry 60 percent higher than EPA reports: “A new study published in Nature says that the amount of leaked methane is short-changed in the EPA’s own reporting of emissions. According to the study’s authors, the amount of information left out by the EPA is considerable. Methane emissions from the U.S. oil and natural gas supply chain were estimated using ground-based, facility-scale measurements and validated with aircraft observations in areas accounting for ~30% of U.S. gas production. When scaled up nationally, our facility-based estimate of 2015 supply chain emissions is 13 ± 2 Tg/y, equivalent to 2.3% of gross U.S. gas production. This value is ~60% higher than the U.S. EPA inventory estimate, likely because existing inventory methods miss emissions released during abnormal operating conditions. Methane emissions of this magnitude, per unit of natural gas consumed, produce radiative forcing over a 20-year time horizon comparable to the CO2 from natural gas combustion. Significant emission reductions are feasible through rapid detection of the root causes of high emissions and deployment of less failure-prone systems. The issue comes from the less-than-ideal infrastructure used in many cases to contain methane, and the less-than-ideal protocols in repairing a leaking gas and oil infrastructure. As Inside Climate News explains, the amount of leaked methane missed by the EPA ‘is just as bad for the climate in the short term as the carbon dioxide that results from burning natural gas for fuel’.”
Renewables, Efficiency & Conservation
Will Driscoll writes Seven U.S. Cities Plan to Power City Government Operations with Renewables: “Chicago, which has committed to power its 900 municipal buildings with 100 percent renewable electricity by 2025, has joined a seven-city collaboration to request price estimates for renewable electricity. The collaboration, led by Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh, also includes Los Angeles, Houston, Portland, OR, Orlando, FL, and Evanston, IL. The cities expect to issue a single request for information (RFI) to renewable developers later this summer. Mayor Walsh, who co-chairs the Climate Mayors network of more than 400 cities, has invited other cities to join in the RFI by submitting their ‘energy demand data.’ Boston ‘continues to have ongoing conversations with cities that are highly interested in joining the initiative,’ said Lauren Zingarelli of the mayor’s press office. Most city-owned buildings are schools, and both Chicago and Boston will include schools’ use of electricity in the RFI. Boston’s mayor did not commit to meeting any given percentage of city government’s electricity demand with renewables, and did not ask other cities to make such a commitment. Mayor Walsh highlighted benefits of the initiative including helping meet the Paris Climate Agreement and creating clean energy jobs. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said ‘we can show the world that environmental stewardship and economic prosperity go hand in hand’.”
REGULATIONS & PROTECTIONS
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Inhofe Recovers From a Momentary Lapse of Denial, Expresses Support for Pruitt: “Last week, when even snowball-loving Oklahoma Senator James Inhofe expressed some doubts about Scott Pruitt’s tenure as EPA administrator, it felt like perhaps, finally, the constant barrage of scandals was having an impact on Pruitt’s supporters. But after meeting with Pruitt on Monday night, Inhofe told reporters he felt ‘a little embarrassed’ for having ever doubted Pruitt. It seems Pruitt convinced his fellow Sooner that the real culprits behind all these scandals was a trifecta of ‘disgruntled former employees,’ Tom Steyer, and critics of Pruitt’s agenda. In other words, Pruitt played to his fellow climate denier’s susceptibility to conspiracy theories and blamed the left for his problems. But that’s some straight up bullshit. We wondered, when we heard Inhofe was meeting with Pruitt, if it would be an earnest effort to suss out his motives or just an excuse for Inhofe to give Pruitt a clean bill of health, so to speak. Now we know.”
guerrillascholar writes—Why Exposing Scott Pruitt’s Bogus Climate Science Probably Doesn't Matter: “Most people who are at all familiar with how things work in Washington understand that administrations come and go, but agencies remain. This vast bureaucratic inertia constitutes a built-in safeguard against ideological extremism, as was the intention, although reducing that bureaucracy has been an ongoing project for the GOP since the Gingrich revolution at least. Trump’s attacks on government agencies are particularly deep and wide-ranging—and dangerous—but they are hardly new. This means that there has always been some disconnect between the ideology of the Director appointed to head any given agency, and the way things are actually done. In other words, while Pruitt’s climate denialism is infuriating and reprehensible, its actual influence on the development of EPA policy as it’s done deep in the bowels of the agency is limited. A friend of mine, Dr. Dave Bella, a retired professor of Civil Engineering at Oregon State University, discovered this when he prepared a 20-page comment on a proposed repeal of carbon emission guidelines for generator plants powered by fossil fuels. As part of his research, he went deep into the EPA’s documentation in order to ascertain just how much of their policy was actually based on junk science. The answer was, practically none.”
Mark Sumner writes—The price for Trump's environmental policy is 80,000 American lives and over a million sick kids: “A letter released this week in the Journal of the American Medical Association gives a preliminary accounting of Donald Trump’s environmental policy. And the butcher’s bill for Trump’s actions are horrifying. Repealing the Clean Power Plan can be expected to lead to the deaths of 36,000 Americans and to generate 630,000 cases of childhood respiratory illness over the next decade. Dropping the CAFE standards brings another 5,500 deaths and another144,000 sick children. And those are not even the biggest impacts. Easily overlooked changes in the rules for diesel trucks allow previously non-compliant, high-pollution vehicles to take to the roads. Those “glider” vehicles mean another 41,000 premature deaths and 900,000 illnesses. Add it all up, and the tab comes to over 80,000 Americans dying and over a million American children growing up with respiratory illness from pollution that is directly traceable to decisions made by Donald Trump and EPA administrator Scott Pruitt.”
AGRICULTURE, FOOD & GARDENING
Merlin1963 writes—Minnesota Soybean Farmers: Yeah, Trump Is Ruining Us, But...: “I got curious to find this article on Minnesota soybean farmers after Howard Dean mentioned it on MSNBC. Dean mentioned that one of the Minnesota soybean farmers stated his farm had lost $250,000 dollars in value thanks to Trump’s trade war with China. Here is the money quote: Petefish is considered a young farmer and he hopes one day to pass his farm onto his children, much like he father is doing right now with him. Right now, though, Petefish says the slim margins in farming make it hard to convince young people that farming is a profession worth their time. Every morning he wakes up and checks two things: The weather and the price of soybeans. Over the last two weeks, as soybeans tanked, he said his farm value has lost around $250,000. It's often tough to accept. I’ve been a little curious to see how all of Trump’s tariffs are playing among his strongest farm supporters. And as one other reader on Daily Kos pointed out, there is a lot of ‘whistling past the graveyard’ from farmers who have voted for Trump. And I’m seeing some tombstones [...] I have relatives that run a country store and meat processing business. They have always voted Republican. And even when the economy went bad under Republican presidents, they always voted for the Republican. ”
skralyx writes—DON'T TOUCH: Giant hogweed, 10x worse than poison ivy, spreading in US: “Giant hogweed sap + skin + sunlight = serious burns. If you see anything that looks like the plant above, don’t touch it, because it contains phototoxins that can cause third-degree burns if sunlight strikes your skin after being exposed to them. Why are you telling me this NOW? Because the plant has been spreading recently, accoridng to a Weather Channel story: Sightings of the giant hogweed have been reported in Virginia, Maine, New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and parts of the Pacific Northwest, WTVD reports. What does it look like? Biologist Yasmin Tayag explains: One of the most dangerous things about giant hogweed is that it has a lot of lookalikes. Most similar is cow parsnip, a tall, mostly nontoxic herb with white bunches of flowers and lobed leaves. This plant is common across America, and touching it won’t leave sufficiently graphic burns on your body but may cause a rash.”
Merry Light writes—Saturday Morning Garden Blog v. 14.25: “I’ll keep this short. As some or most of you know, a fractured wrist and ankle have put me on the sidelines temporarily. However, modern medicine and ObamaCare have me mending fast. Now I’m in a splint for the ankle, and I’m able to work the phone camera with two hands (also in a hard, removable splint). Typing is still iffy. I I TEND TO HIT THE CAPITAL LOCK BUTTON instead of the tab key. Grrrrr! i have managed to take photos over the last month or so, here’s some of the clematis in bloom last week.”
gmoke writes—City Agriculture - June 18, 2018: Building the largest hanging gardens since Babylon; Arboricole - A Biophilic Project Focused Smart Building by architect Vincent Callebaut; Mobile Greenhouse Office And Garden; Venlo, Netherlands city hall has a pollution removing green wall and a cradle-to-cradle design; Aggressively Organics’ indoor growing system ‘grow more lettuce in even a 10 x 10 room than a traditional organic farm can grow in a half acre of land’; Urban farming in Dallas, TX and a fellowship garden in Orange, CT [...]
TRANSPORTATION & INFRASTRUCTURE
Xaxnar writes—How the Koch Brothers are Systematically Killing Public Transit and the Planet for Personal Gain: “Hiroko Tabuchi in a front-page article at the NY Times website has pulled back the curtain on how Charles and David Koch are targeting public transit projects around the country. It’s a primer on how big money can use technology and messaging to get what it wants. How the Koch Brothers Are Killing Public Transit Projects Around the Country shows how they killed a transit plan in Nashville, TN, the tools they use, the partners they team up with, and their tactics. ...In cities and counties across the country — including Little Rock, Ark.; Phoenix, Ariz.; southeast Michigan; central Utah; and here in Tennessee — the Koch brothers are fueling a fight against public transit, an offshoot of their longstanding national crusade for lower taxes and smaller government. At the heart of their effort is a network of activists who use a sophisticated data service built by the Kochs, called i360, that helps them identify and rally voters who are inclined to their worldview. It is a particularly powerful version of the technologies used by major political parties.”
Meteor Blades writes—With emphasis on local organizing, Koch Brothers' propaganda arm is helping win anti-transit fights: “In the past three years, AFP has coordinated campaigns on at least seven local or state-level ballots. Most of the time, it was victorious. Both AFP and other Koch-funded organizations have opposed at least 25 transit-related ballot issues around the nation. The way the win was achieved in Nashville and those other cities is about more than just money for advertising and mailers. While those also were part of the campaign, a door-to-door organizing approach using local residents was a key element. In Nashville, AFP volunteers made 42,000 phone calls and knocked on more than 6,000 doors. Akash Chougule, AFP’s policy director told Tabuchi: ‘There’s nothing more effective than actually having a human conversation with someone on events that affect them on a day-to-day basis. It’s a great opportunity for us to activate people in their own backyards, and we’re among the first to do it in a sustained, permanent way.’ Chogule is absolutely right about those face-to-face human conversations. AFP is funding the kind of local organizing that we progressives should be doing more of, had better be doing going forward if we are going to turn the occasional blue wave into something more solid and long-lasting. We cannot match the money the Kochs and other rightist billionaires can so easily provide. But we don’t have to. If fewer dollars are combined with the right level of passion and commitment, we can craft our own victories despite the right’s deluge of cash. Call it asymmetric electoral warfare.”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—On Gliders, Bastasch at Daily Caller Plays Stenographer for Pollution Proponent Milloy: “With a combination of the sensational must-click words ‘emails,’ ‘colluded,’ and ‘Trump,’ the headline of a Daily Caller story that ran at the top the site’s homepage for a while yesterday promises a major revelation. The story, spoon-fed to Koch operativeMichael Bastasch by bedwetting-obsessed industry lobbyist Steve Milloy, is not about what those three SEO-optimized words may suggest, but rather alleges that the EPA colluded with Volvo to attack the glider truck industry. For those not well-versed in the shipping industry, trucks with new cabs but old, rebuilt engines are known as gliders. Because they’re not technically ‘new,’ gliders traditionally weren’t subject to the same pollution controls as new trucks--despite the fact that they emit as much as 450 times the pollution of a new truck. This loophole was closed during the Obama administration, and then, for the low-low price of $250,000, was re-opened by Pruitt and Trump last fall. It should come as no surprise that Milloy is a big proponent of these polluters, though of course we don’t know if that’s just because someone’s paying him to focus on the issue. According to emails from fall 2017 that Milloy FOIA’d (because apparently, unlike actual reporters, he doesn’t have to wait years on end for his requests) Volvo supplied the EPA with a couple of glider trucks so that the agency could test them. Then, likely because the research contradicted Trump and Pruitt’s agenda to roll back the regulations on gliders, the study was never officially released by the EPA.”