This is the 595th edition of the Spotlight on Green News & Views (previously known as the Green Diary Rescue). Here is the April 13 edition. Inclusion of a story in the Spotlight does not necessarily indicate my agreement with or endorsement of it.
OUTSTANDING GREEN STORIES
1BQ writes—Disaster in Paradise: "jaw-dropping" amounts of benzene in water supply create new Flint-like crisis: “This is heartbreaking — Paradise, CA, site of the worst wildfire in California history, is also victim to a horrendous aftermath of fighting that fire: a water supply so contaminated with benzene that water pipes will need to be replaced. Officials said they believe the contamination happened after the November firestorm created a “toxic cocktail” of gases in burning homes that got sucked into the water pipes as residents and firefighters drew water heavily, causing a vacuum in the system that sucked in the toxic fumes, the Sacramento Bee reported. Experts say there’s significant health hazard from benzene contamination. Benzene is both a natural and human-made compound used as a building block for industrial products such as plastic, lubricants, rubber, detergent and pesticide. It also is found in crude oil, gasoline and cigarette smoke. According to federal warnings, short-term exposure is connected to various physical ailments, including skin and eye irritation and vomiting. Long-term exposure has been linked to anemia and leukemia.”
Lib Dem FoP writes—Environmental Protestors Bring Parts of Central London Traffic to a Halt: “Road traffic in parts of central London have been brought to a halt Monday. Climate change protesters have blocked Waterloo Bridge, sparking traffic disruption in central London. Members of campaign group Extinction Rebellion have also parked a boat at Oxford Circus, and blocked Marble Arch as part of a global day of action. Yen Chit Chong, from Extinction Rebellion in London, said: ‘This is our last best shot at survival.’ Police have advised people travelling into London to allow extra journey time. No arrests have been made. From local news reports on the BBC, the police are monitoring the protests and redirecting traffic around the obstructions. A large number of protestors brought plants to turn Waterloo Bridge into a community garden. It looks like a sound stage has been set up. Some protestors have set up tents and vowed to stay until they are arrested.”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Racism Rampant in Denierland, But Enviro Community Has Work To Do, Too: “The green world still has plenty of work to do when it comes to welcoming non-white communities. The growth of the environmental justice movement is encouraging, but the fact that it was ever divorced from the rest of the environmental community in the first place is a problem. Because that didn’t happen accidentally, and the community has yet to heal the damage it caused. As Mary Annaïse Heglar wrote in Dame this week, despite the movement’s best efforts, black faces are all too rare in public venues like climate marches. Stories from black voices who were made uncomfortable by both micro- and macro-aggressions from their fellow marchers, meanwhile, are all too common. Framed around the exclusive nature of Woody Guthrie’s protest song ‘This land is your land,’ Heglar exposes not only the current shortcomings of the community, but also its past, which is sadly, she writes, ‘steeped in oh-shit racism’.”
CRITTERS AND THE GREAT OUTDOORS
Dan Bacher writes—Sacramento River juvenile salmon from Coleman Hatchery released in first year of three-year study: “On Saturday, April 13, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service released a total of 360,000 juvenile fall Chinook salmon on the Sacramento River in an three-year study aimed at increasing their survival on their long journey to the ocean. The service released 180,000 marked juvenile salmon into the Sacramento River at Scotty's Landing near Chico, 75 miles downstream of where they were born, in the pilot project focusing on increasing the contribution of the Coleman National Fish Hatchery to California’s salmon fishery. Agency staff released the second group of 180,000 upstream at the hatchery to compare their survival to the fish moved downstream. Current practice for the hatchery is to release fish directly into Battle Creek, some 320 miles from the ocean, said John Heil, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service spokesman, in a statement.”
Besame writes—Daily Bucket: Honey bees take over native plants to monopolize SoCal floral gold: “Only 150 years after arriving in Southern California, honey bees are dominating the native flowers. European colonizers of North America brought honey bees to the eastern shore in 1622 and to the western shore by 1853. Now distributed widely in the world by humans who wanted to make use of them, honey bees have taken over floral resources. Social lifestyle and good communication skills have allowed this bee species to monopolize flowers worldwide, according to a 2018 study. In 2019, the same team of researchers published a new study with an alarming title: Non-native honey bees disproportionately dominate the most abundant floral resources in a biodiversity hotspot. The study’s title references its alarming conclusion — honey bees forage primarily on the most abundantly flowering native plant species (I added bold to hint my conclusion) and often account for more than 90 percent of pollinators observed visiting flowers. In the San Diego area, a biodiversity hotspot with over 600 native bee species, about two-thirds of all the observed pollinators are one non-native species: honey bees.”
Lenny Flank writes—Photo Diary: A Hawk Gets Bullied: “Weather there said it was raining heavy, so I postponed my departure for a day, and spent another afternoon in Myrtle Beach. While sitting outside, I happened to see this hawk (I think it is a Red-Shouldered Hawk, but all hawks look alike to me) land on a nearby lamppost. He didn't look like he was hunting—he apparently just wanted to straighten out his feathers. But some nearby Fish Crows objected strongly to his presence and proceeded to dive-bomb him.”
Lenny Flank writes—Photo Diary: Phinizy Swamp Nature Park, Augusta GA: “Despite the rather unappealing name (I thought the term “swamp” disappeared long ago), this is a very nice wildlife area with wetlands habitat. The weather here in Georgia today is very nice, so there were lots of critters out and about.”
6412093 writes—The Daily Bucket--Frog Erotica: “For many of us, the loud rapid croaking of peeper frogs fills the Spring air. Varieties of the thumb-sizer peeper, or chorus, or tree frogs occupy a North American range almost from the Arctic circle to the Equator.However often you’ve heard the peeper frogs, it’s unlikely that you’ve seen very many of them. They are tiny, stealthy, and come in hard to spot camo colors. They assemble each spring to mate in shallow ponds and creeks, This diary tells the frogs’ Spring story, with pictures, so you can see what all the ribbet-ing is about.This year, the male frogs arrived 4 days later than last year, in Early March. They staked out places around my backyard pond and began their 100-decibel “trademark” call which is a Rib-bet croaking sound. The females gather, listen, and choose mates. This year, the largest, bright green female ever appeared; she’s in the first picture above. Below are more commonly colored brown chorus frogs during mating season.”
6412093 writes—The Daily Bucket--Life Bursts Forth: “Less than 30 days after the chorus frogs began mating on the Spring Solstice in the Frog Mitigation Area. Hundreds of tadpoles have already hatched from their egg sacs. Yet many egg sacs have not yet yielded their bounty. Every back of the envelope calculation shows I may soon have over a thousand new tadpoles, all told. The frogs haven’t stopped mating, either. There may only be twenty or so adult frogs still present, but a single female can lay hundreds of eggs a day, if she finds a worthy partner. But the bullfrog showed up, so the chorus frogs better make haste. The tadpoles are a little ahead of schedule to complete their metamorphosis into frogs. This is the 5th Spring the chorus frogs have mated in my back yard pond on the Spring Solstice and produced this “run” of tadpoles and eventual frogs.”
sandbear75 writes—Daily Bucket: Iris Fever: “Iris are wonderful to grow in Arizona. They handle any temperature. They are drought tolerant. Hell, I never water mine and they bloom every year. The Javalina don’t eat them. They’re indestructible. These photos are from ma’s front and back yard. Mine are kinda native and suffer my neglect with good natured aplomb. Ma however loves neat and orderly colors. She’s a Libra. One thing she hasn’t gotten into is breeding. I find the culture of breeding Iris to be quite interesting, as there is a huge amount of creativity and imagination in it. If someone creates a new breed, they get to name it whatever they want. Some of my favorites are Act of Kindness, Dangerous Mood, Let’s Be Brazen, Motown Sister and Southwest Tattooed Lady.”
Pakalolo writes—Pine Island Glacier will dump yet another 96 square mile iceberg into the Amundsen Sea: “No one else has reported on this yet but, another massive chunk of ice will soon break off of West Antarctica’s Pine Island Glacier. Pine Island is crumbling rapidly, it is located adjacent to the very vulnerable Thwaites ice stream, both of which drain into the Amundsen Sea embayment. Pine Island is configured in such a way that it is susceptible to thinning and disintegration. The ice stream has developed a troubling new way of losing ice, with rifts forming in the centerof its floating ice shelf from beneath, rather than from the sides. Pine Island last calved a major iceberg on November 7, 2018. The ice sheet in this area is grounded 6500 feet below sea level, which makes it more exposed and vulnerable to rapid melting at its base from warm ocean water, and to the rapid retreat of the grounding line. It is not uncommon for the fast-moving glacier to calve an iceberg every 10 years or so, but recently the frequency has been just a few months. Smaller bergs break off even more frequently.”
Senor Unoball writes—Dawn Chorus: Where's the Egrets? Let's Google It! “The “awwwwwww….” factor is building by the day in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay area, as birders have the chance to watch one of the most fantastic urban egret rookeries in this part of California. Many thousands of people live and work nearby, but unless you look up while heading down a certain street, you might never know about it. Each spring, from February or March through late summer, hundreds of birds nest and raise their chicks in sycamore and other tall trees on the Google headquarters campus in Mountain View. Nesting has just begun, and any eggs produced won’t be hatching until sometime next month. When we went to view last Sunday, April 7, about a dozen birds were in the trees along Shorebird Way. A passer-by told me that, the previous week, there had only been about five birds. At the peak of the season, Google says more than 100 nests are typically found in the rookery. Right now, all we observed were Great Egrets, but Snowy Egrets and Black-crowned Night Herons also breed along Shorebird Way.”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Deniers Attack Walrus Deaths Story, Showing Who’s The Real Threat to Our Planet: “There’s a new Netflix series featuring the voice of nature documentaries himself, David Attenborough. Called Our Planet, the series has been getting a lot of attention lately, for one scene in particular: walruses falling off a cliff. In the Russian Arctic, as sea ice melts and walrus colonies have fewer and fewer options for places to rest, hundreds of walruses were forced to spread out on a large hill as the documentary’s crew rolled tape. At the top of the hill, like in so many melodramatic romance novels, was a cliff. And again, like in so many paperbacks, the end was tragic: dozens of the gathered walruses tumbled down the cliff to their death as the filmmakers watched in horror. Because the clip generated conversation about climate change (if there were more ice to chill on then the walruses wouldn’t have been forced up the hill) it, of course, also generated conversation from climate denial.”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Breitbart’s Nolte Doubles Down On World’s Dumbest Denial: “A couple week ago, Breitbart’s John Nolte wrote a piece claiming that “scientists have finally proven that the theory of man-made Global Warming is a total hoax.” Obviously that’s not true. Nolte transparently and unabashedly misconstrued the conclusions of a study showing that CO2 levels on Earth haven't been as high as current levels in at least 3 million years. According to Nolte, the fact that CO2 levels then were the same as they are now means that we must not be causing warming now because there was warming then. This, it should go without saying, is very, very dumb. But dumb takes are Nolte’s brand. Whether it’s defending (‘alleged’) pedophiles like Michael Jackson and Woody Allen, attacking transgender people as being mentally ill, sexualizing women or criticizing them for putting on weight (an issue one might think he’s sensitive to, given his own admitted insecurity about his weight and being“pathetically vain about [his] build”,) Nolte is one of the key forces behind Breitbart’s culture-war-trolling. So it’s not exactly surprising that he took a study warning about the grave impacts of warming and spun it as a demolition of climate science.”
Angmar writes—Daily Bucket Earth:"We’re now well into the middle of the climate change era": “’Glaciers and arctic ice are vanishing. Time to get radical before its too late’ by Bill McKibben. Forget ‘early warning signs’ and ‘canaries in coalmines’—we’re now well into the middle of the climate change era, with its epic reshaping of our home planet. Monday’s news, from two separate studies, made it clear that the frozen portions of the Earth are now in violent and dramatic flux. The first, led by the veteran Greenland glaciologist Jason Box, looked across the Arctic at everything from ‘increased tundra biomass’ to deepening thaw of the permafrost layer. Their conclusion: ‘the Arctic biophysical system is now clearly trending away from its 20th century state and into an unprecedented state, with implications not only within but beyond the Arctic.’ To invent a word, the north is rapidly slushifying, with more rainfall and fewer days of hard freeze; the latest data shows that after a month of record temperatures in the Bering Sea, ocean ice in the Arctic is at an all-time record low for the date, crushing the record set … last April.”
CLIMATE CHAOS
Mark Sumner writes—Baked Alaska: Global warming turns deadly in America's largest state: “As The Washington Post reports, temperatures this spring in Utqiaġvik (formerly known as Barrow) weren’t up by one degree, or two, or even three — they were an astounding 18.6 degrees Fahrenheit above normal. That kind of drastic change has turned the areas’ traditional ice roads into lakes, exposed villages normally sheltered by sea ice to the pounding of spring storms, and it has led to at least five deaths when people fell through ice that had never before been an issue. In many areas of the state there are no permanent highways. Lakes and rivers have long been treated as transport corridors, and some villages can only be reached by snowmobile. But with the warming conditions, routes that have been solid for generations are turning into dangerous slush. Three people, including an 11-year-old-girl, died in the last week after an excursion to visit family ended by a plunge through fragile ice.”
greenandblue writes—Anti-Capitalist Meetup: The Climate Talk: “This is a pep talk for grown ups. You can do it. You can talk to kids about climate change. You don’t have to say we’re all gonna die, or we’re so screwed, unless you decide to. You can give them hope. Technology and politics are changing and might yet develop enough for us to get through this trial. If I ended there, it would not be so bad. My next problem is whether we can make the requisite changes in our economic thinking and tribal biases necessary for transitioning to a sustainable and just future for all. If we concentrate on climate change, we can make it hopeful. Maybe we should focus on that emergency for now. If I ignore the foundation of beliefs upon which climate change conditions were built, I can end on a good note. We can do it. Yet, when I look at the foundation, the happy ending moves further from reach. Let me explain by giving an overview of what I say to my kids.”
Walter Einenkel writes—Property insurance titan begs for action on climate change, calling failure 'an existential threat': “Our planet’s climate is changing. It is changing faster and with more dangerous results than many had hoped for. Our only chances of averting relentlessly catastrophic results will be to acknowledge our part in the climate change we see around us and work to use our technological innovations to create new infrastructures, while attempting to slow down a process we have helped to manufacture. That’s all. Unfortunately, there are still incredibly selfish and greedy people working with lots of power and money and influence to muddy this global reality. But even the people that make most of the money know that ‘business as usual’ will not be able to continue on without acknowledging and dealing with our changing climate. Chubb Ltd.’s CEO Evan Greenberg heads one of the largest property insurancecompanies in the world. Chubb Ltd. handles a lot of commercial and private properties around the world and brings in revenues in the billions of dollars, annually. In the company’s 2018 annual report, Greenberg has a few important things to say from the property insurance perspective.”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Breitbart’s Nolte Doubles Down On World’s Dumbest Denial: “A couple week ago, Breitbart’s John Nolte wrote a piece claiming that “scientists have finally proven that the theory of man-made Global Warming is a total hoax.” Obviously that’s not true. Nolte transparently and unabashedly misconstrued the conclusions of a study showing that CO2 levels on Earth haven't been as high as current levels in at least 3 million years. According to Nolte, the fact that CO2 levels then were the same as they are now means that we must not be causing warming now because there was warming then. This, it should go without saying, is very, very dumb. But dumb takes are Nolte’s brand. Whether it’s defending (‘alleged’) pedophiles like Michael Jackson and Woody Allen, attacking transgender people as being mentally ill, sexualizing women or criticizing them for putting on weight (an issue one might think he’s sensitive to, given his own admitted insecurity about his weight and being ‘pathetically vain about [his] build’), Nolte is one of the key forces behind Breitbart’s culture-war-trolling. So it’s not exactly surprising that he took a study warning about the grave impacts of warming and spun it as a demolition of climate science.”
Lib Dem FoP writes—David Attenborough's New Message On Climate Change - So Simple Trump Could Understand: “The BBC on Thursday night aired a major new documentary showing the urgency of making changes to avert increasing global warming. This video is part of BBC’s Breakfast show interviewing two contributers. The clip starts with David Attenborough’s warning to camera but the interview itself makes some good points.”
ENERGY
Green New Deal
xaxnar writes—Stunning Video From The Future - AOC on Where the Green New Deal Could Take Us: “Via the Intercept, Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez narrates a film that shows where we could choose to be if we embark on the Decade of the Green New Deal in 2020. It is a must-see. TODAY, THE INTERCEPT launches ‘A Message From the Future With Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez,’ a seven-minute film narrated by the congresswoman and illustrated by Molly Crabapple. Set a couple of decades from now, it’s a flat-out rejection of the idea that a dystopian future is a forgone conclusion. Instead, it offers a thought experiment: What if we decided not to drive off the climate cliff? What if we chose to radically change course and save both our habitat and ourselves? What if we actually pulled off a Green New Deal? What would the future look like then? This is a project unlike any we have done before, crossing boundaries between fact, fiction, and visual art, co-directed by Kim Boekbinder and Jim Batt and co-written by Ocasio-Cortez and Avi Lewis. To reclaim a phrase from Ho use Speaker Nancy Pelosi, it’s our ‘green dream,’ inspired by the explosion of utopian art produced during the original New Deal. There’s more than the video to this—check out the rest of the article at the Intercept. It provides some valuable context by looking at FDR and the original New Deal. Then as now, Art can be a valuable tool to shape our future.”
lynn47 writes—AOC has a Video out for the Green New Deal...Simply Amazing and full of Hope for all of us!!
Meteor Blades writes—Open thread for night owls. Maine AFL-CIO okays GND to fight 'twin crises' of climate and inequality: “Maine's Green New Deal legislation is the first to be backed by labor unions. The Maine AFL-CIO made its support for the state-level bill public on Tuesday. The union delivered a strong statement allying the organization with the environmentally friendly policy from executive director Matt Schlobohm. Schlobohm said that the Green New Deal could answer the ‘twin crises’ of climate change and inequality. ‘Climate change and inequality pose dire threats to working people, to all that we love about Maine, and to our democracy,’ said Schlobohm. ‘The work of moving towards a renewable economy must be rooted in workers's rights and economic and social justice’.”
AKSteve writes—This Is Why So Many Establishment Politicians And Their Supporters Hate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: “Let me just say it out front. I think AOC is one of the best things to happen in 2018/2019. In this post I'm going to explain why I think she's pissing off so many people in Washington and beyond. But if you aren't interested in that, just scroll down to the bottom for her video and its positive look to the future. When it gets trashed by the president and others, you can come back and see why I think they do that.”
Renewables, Efficiency & Conservation
SouthernLeveller writes—Quick Transition to Renewables & Electric Vehicles Could Save Planet & Trillions of Dollars: “Rapid transition to clean energy and electric cars could not only save the planet, but could save the global economy $160 trillion USD by 2050. Part of this is because falling battery costs will soon make EVs as cheap as new gas-powered cars at point of purchase (not just over time). It is now cheaper to build new solar plants or wind farms than to run existing coal plants—and renewables are closing in on natural gas. So the economics of transition are lining up with the environmental necessity. Further, every dollar invested in renewables or ‘deep electrification’ pays $7 in profits (and health savings, etc.). Such a rapid transition would create 11 million new jobs globally, but there would have to be help for the jobs lost in the old energy sectors of coal, oil, and natural gas. Greening buildings, investing in mass transportation, making cities bike friendly, add extra dimensions to the transition. ‘Meat’ grown in labs could be a major answer to the methane problem of corporate farming/ranching—as well ending starvation and animal cruelty.”
Michael Brune writes—Of Change and Heart: “After the 2016 election, we knew that our work would need to encompass more than resisting the Trump regime's horrible policies. More than just playing defense, we would need to keep advancing the equitable and just clean energy solutions that, ultimately, are what will save our air, water, public lands, communities, and climate. And we have: Almost 120 cities and municipalities have committed to 100% clean energy since Trump took office, including -- just last week -- a breezy little burg called Chicago. Clean energy is barreling along like an electric semi truck, and Trump can't stop it.So we shouldn't worry about whether 100% clean energy will happen: It’s inevitable. What we do need to be concerned about is how it will happen and who is affected. As change makers, we must be honest about the repercussions of the big transformation we need, from dirty fuels to clean energy.”
Mokurai writes—Renewable Friday: Bankster Hypocrisy & Fraud: “ Fossil fuel financing on upward trajectory with trillions invested since 2015. While some lenders and financiers have signaled plans to stop funding polluting power stations, a new report shows that 33 global banks have poured $1.9 trillion into financing the fossil fuel industry as a whole since the adoption of the Paris Agreement. Big U.S. banks led by JPMorgan have invested most heavily. With Morgan Stanley in 11th place and Goldman Sachs in 12th, all six of the U.S. banking giants are in the top dirty dozen fossil banks; together, they account for an astonishing 37% of global fossil fuel financing since the Paris Agreement was adopted. Elizabeth Warren? AOC? Do you know about this? All of this funding is done on the Greater Fool basis, the same model as the Housing Bubble. The projects are built with Other People’s Money, so the banks get paid in advance, and the buyers are left holding the bag on inherently unprofitable assets. Even Goldman Sachs, which started advising against investments in coal in 2013, is still selling them.”
Dan Bacher writes—Assemblymember Jim Frazier: The Delta region is 'held hostage' by SoCal special interests: “Assemblymember Jim Frazier (D-Discovery Bay), co-chair of the Legislature’s Delta Caucus, spoke out in frustration when his bill to increase local representation on the Delta Stewardship Council (DSC) died in a committee hearing after Southern California water special interests lobbied against it. The DSC consists of seven voting members; only one of these represents the Delta. Frazier’s AB 1194 would have added four voting members from the Delta region to the Council, according to a statement from Frazier's Office. ‘Time and again, the voices of my Delta neighbors have been silenced or dismissed,’ said Frazier, presenting AB 1194 to the Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee. ‘The interests of Southern California water agencies have been totally prioritized, while the goal of protecting the Delta’s ecosystem has been ignored and diminished, even violated.’ Solano County Supervisor Skip Thomson, immediate past chair of the Delta Protection Commission who for two years served as the Delta region’s lone voting member on the DSC, joined Frazier testifying in support of AB 1194.”
Dan Bacher writes—Winnemem Wintu Tribe Chief Caleen Sisk Receives 2019 Anthony Grassroots Prize from Rose Foundation: “The Rose Foundation for Communities and the Environment announced Winnemem Wintu Tribal Chief and Spiritual Leader Caleen Sisk as the winner of the 2019 Anthony Grassroots Prize, an annual $1,000 Earth Day award recognizing an outstanding example of grassroots environmental activism. Since assuming leadership of the Winnemem Wintu Tribe in 2000, Chief Sisk has focused on uplifting the cultural and religious traditions of the tribe, such as the revitalization of the Winnemem’s H’up Chonas (War Dance) and BaLas Chonas (Puberty Ceremony). She also advocates tirelessly for salmon restoration, the undamming of rivers and lakes, and the basic human right to clean water. Chief Sisk is currently leading the Tribe’s resistance against the proposal to raise the Shasta Dam, and is an integral voice in the efforts to bring salmon home to the tribe’s sacred watershed above the dam.”
Dan Bacher writes—State Water Board report documents oil industry pollutants in Kern County water supply wells: “California officials have allowed the oil and gas industry to pollute drinking water wells while expanding drilling in recent years, exposing the constant touting of the state as the nation’s ‘green leader’ by state officials and many media outlets as an unsupportable false narrative. A new report released by the State Water Resources Control Board, entitled ‘2018 Annual Performance Report: Model Criteria for Groundwater Monitoring in Areas of Oil and Gas Well Stimulation,’ documents the presence of oil industry pollutants in water-supply wells in Kern County. The chemicals detected at elevated levels include arsenic, barium and boron, according to a statement from the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD). ‘Within the (oil) fields, multiple lines of geochemical evidence indicated overlying groundwater is mixing with oil field fluids,’ according to the report.”
Dan Bacher writes—Westlands Water District, Interior Secretary Bernhardt’s Former Client, Sued for Public Documents: “Whitefish, MT—Just five days after the U.S. Senate confirmed former oil industry and agribusiness lobbyist David Bernhardt as Trump's Interior Secretary, The Western Values Project (WVP) today filed suit in Superior Court of the State of California for the County of Fresno against Bernhardt’s former client, Westlands Water District, for three unfulfilled public records requests under the California Public RecordsAct (CPRA) (see exhibits and correspondence here). ‘This petition on behalf of the Western Values Project seeks a writ of mandate compelling Westlands Water District to make available for inspection public records in its possession, as required by the California Public Records Act (“PRA”), Gov’t Code §§6250-70. For almost two years after the Western Values Project submitted a number of public records requests, the Westlands Water District has refused to produce responsive public records, or to identify any basis for withholding such records,’ the lawsuit states. WVP submitted the public records requests on May 4, 2017, to Westlands regarding communications with their former lobbyist-turned Interior Secretary David Bernhardt. ‘After nearly two years, not one of the requests has been fulfilled, a violation of California law,’ according to a press release from the group.”
CANDIDATES, STATE AND DC ECO-RELATED POLITICS
Laura Clawson writes—Kentucky Republican backtracks after AOC says she's 'happy' to talk Green New Deal with coal miners: “Republicans like to pretend that their fascination with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez doesn’t involve a big helping of fear, but every now and then they drop the facade and let the fear show through openly. That’s the case with Republican Rep. Andy Barr’s invitation to AOC to come to his home state of Kentucky and talk to some coal miners about the Green New Deal. Barr thought he had her in a corner … right up until she accepted the invitation and he realized he was the one in the corner. Barr pretty obviously planned to find some coal miners who would yell at AOC about how she was putting them out of work. But she responded that she’d be ‘happy’ to go, that ‘when I first started my campaign, the first place I went was Kentucky,’ and oh, by the way, ‘I'd also like to note that in the Green New Deal, one of the things that I advocate for is fully funding the pensions of coal miners in West Virginia and throughout Appalachia because we want a just transition to make sure we're investing in jobs across those swaths of the country.’ Huh. Fully funding pensions, she says? At a time when coal companies are doing everything they can to dump the pensions of their retired miners?”
Jen Hayden writes—Elizabeth Warren unveils policy plan to protect public lands, increase renewable energy on 'day one': “In recent weeks, Sen. Elizabeth Warren has produced a steady stream of detailed policy plans aimed at tackling universal child care, corporate fraud, consumer protection, wealth inequality, rent regulation, Big Tech monopolization, and taxation of America’s largest corporations, many of which, such as Amazon, pay little or no federal taxes. It’s a day that ends in y, and that means Warren is introducing another progressive policy proposal—this one aimed at protecting federal lands. In a post at Medium, Warren explains the details of the executive order she says she would sign on “day one” in the White House. It is wrong to prioritize corporate profits over the health and safety of our local communities. That’s why on my first day as president, I will sign an executive order that says no more drilling — a total moratorium on all new fossil fuel leases, including for drilling offshore and on public lands. I’d also reinstate the methane pollution rule to limit existing oil and gas projects from releasing harmful gases that poison our air, and reinstitute the clean water rule to protect our lakes, rivers, and streams, and the drinking water they provide.”
Lefty Coaster writes—Jay Inslee talks about climate and BLASTS Howard Schultz in New York Magazine interview: “Did you see the recent report that Trump plans to run in 2020 on his environmental record? Whenever you read something associated with Trump, you have to ask whether it’s out of the Onion or not. And so when you see things like this — ‘wind turbines cause cancer,’ ‘Trump runs on his environmental record,’ you have to think, Is this just out of the Onion?Point taken. What do you make of the prospect of him actually doing it, though? My belief is there is no whopper too obvious and large for him not to tell, there’s no expectation of truthfulness—ever—from him. Therefore there’s no norm of honesty that he would not violate in a heartbeat, for whatever reason, and a guy who’ll tell you his father was born in Germany — when we know he was born in Kenya, by the way—will tell you anything. So no, nothing would shock us, but would that be successful? No. It won’t be successful, because—and Republicans know this too—the Republicans now are moving on climate change issues, the national number now is 75 percent, it’s gone up 10 percent in the last year, year and a half, because of increasing disasters, more people are recognizing this with visual evidence, personal evidence, it’s no longer a graph on a chart — the things he is doing are so palpably violative of any sense of health.”
Lefty Coaster writes—Jay Inslee asks DNC to to devote one candidate debate to Climate Change - You can sign the Petition: “Climate Change will be the defining issue of the coming epoc. It will almost certainly be the dominant issue by 2024 and for every other election for the rest of this century. For that reason Democrats deserve to have an in depth look at the different candidates’ approaches to this looming crisis. Inslee calls on DNC to hold debate focused on climate change. Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D), who has made climate change the focal point of his presidential campaign, called on the Democratic National Committee (DNC) to hold a debate centered solely on the issue. ‘Climate change is the biggest threat facing our nation. And it demands to be the sole focus of a nationally televised debate. Democrats must put this issue front and center,’ he said in a petition to pressure the DNC to hold the debate. ‘This can’t be a one-off question where candidates get to give a soundbite and move on: Climate change is at the heart of every issue that matters to voters, and voters deserve to hear what 2020 presidential candidates plan to do about it,’ he added in a press release.”
WILDERNESS, NATIONAL FORESTS AND PARKS & OTHER PUBLIC LANDS
stevo86 writes—Elizabeth Warren would turn back Trumps National Monument downsize: “Elizabeth Warren is now on record that she would overturn Trump’s downsizing of Bear’s ears National Monument and Grand staircase Escalante National Monument. The Monuments were downsized by Trump as part of a ongoing attack on any thing President Obama and Clinton, and to appease (bribe) the local Federal Land haters. Although she wouldn’t carry Utah, the Monuments remain popular with many Utahans and the environmental community at large.”
Lenny Flank writes—Photo Diary: Augusta Canal National Heritage Area: “Constructed in 1845 near the Savannah River, the Augusta Canal turned the sleepy little village of Augusta into an economic and industrial powerhouse. Providing both efficient transportation and cheap hydro power, the Canal quickly attracted a series of mills and factories along its banks. During the Civil War, the Confederacy operated a huge explosives mill here that at its peak was producing 3.5 tons a day of black powder for the Southern armies. After the war it became a center for textile mills. Today, a section of the Augusta Canal is run by the National Park Service as a historical heritage area. There is a small museum, and boat tours take visitors for a one-hour cruise on the Canal. The tour guide gives a history lesson as well as watching out for local wildlife.”
REGULATIONS & PROTECTIONS
Mark Sumner writes—EPA Admin Wheeler cut size of a scientific panel to 'save time.' Instead, he wasted everyone's time: “When oil lobbyist Scott Pruitt moved into the lead chair at the Environmental Protection Agency, the first thing he did, other than assigning himself a small army of bodyguards and setting up ridiculous levels of security, was to get rid of scientists. Advisory panels were gutted. Public databases were hidden. And consulting scientists conducting research for the EPA were shown the door. None of this slowed down under coal lobbyist Andrew Wheeler. In October 2018, Wheeler killed the 20-member Particulate Matter Review Panel of outside scientists who were helping the agency with guidelines on how to limit the amount of soot in the atmosphere. The stated reason for closing it down was to ‘speed up’ getting to results by putting in a slim, trim hand-selected group of just seven scientists who were expected to come up with solutions much more to the liking of the fossil fuel industry. However, as The Washington Post reports, that effort to speed up scientific rule-making by taking out the scientists has run into a snag. The members of the group appointed by Wheeler sent the EPA administrator a letter on April 11 admitting ‘it does not have sufficient expertise to do the work.’ And now the team that Wheeler put in charge is asking nicely if he won’t get the full science panel back. Which means not only that the hand-picked team is crying uncle, but that all the ‘time-saving’ did was absolutely waste seven months.”
Meteor Blades writes—Ryan Zinke lands second job since leaving Interior. But no worries. He won't be lobbying. Uh-huh: “Less than three months after leaving the job, Ryan Zinke, the most wretched and venal secretary of the interior since James G. Watt held the position under President Ronald Reagan, has landed a job with U.S. Gold Corp., a small Nevada-based mining company. It’s the second job Zinke has taken on since his departure, the first being managing director of the technology and energy investment firm Artillery One, a post he took less than two weeks after leaving Interior. At the gold company, he’ll bring in $114,000 a year plus an allowance for personal expenses up to $120,000. The announcement again raises the issue of conflict of interest. In 2017, Donald Trump issued an executive order imposing a ban on lobbying by former members of the administration, for their lifetimes for foreign governments and for five years for other entities. Zinke says he won’t be doing any lobbying in his new post. The reality? Zinke was already working from his government post to make private industry happy, lessening the need for lobbyists to do any nudging.”
ECO-ACTION & ECO JUSTICE
Lib Dem FoP writes—A Tale of Two Cities - Police in London and Paris Remove Environmental Protestors: “Environmental protestors under the banner of Extinction Rebellion have been blocking three strategic London road points since Monday. The camp at Marble Arch remains as do the plants and people blocking Waterloo Bridge, despite arrests. The pink boat blocking Oxford Circus and acting as a DJ stand shown above has been removed peacefully by police. [...] Meanwhile in Paris: Hundreds of climate activists staged a protest in Paris's business district of La Défense on Friday morning to highlight the "toxic alliance" between the French state and multinationals that they accuse of being responsible for global warming. It was a far cry from ‘business as usual’ at Paris's bustling business district, La Défense, on Friday morning.”
TRANSPORTATION & INFRASTRUCTURE
newpapyrus writes—Utilizing Renewable Methanol to Power Electric Commuter Aircraft: “Renewable methanol (methyl alcohol) is a hydrocarbon fuel that can be derived from the synthesis of carbon dioxide (CO2) and hydrogen. Methyl alcohol can also be synthesized from syngas derived from the pyrolysis of hydrocarbon waste. The production of renewable methanol from both methods can be powered by carbon neutral electricity from both nuclear and renewable energy resources. CO2 can be extracted directly from the atmosphere or from the flu gases of a power plant using a renewable hydrocarbon fuel. Hydrogen can be produced from the electrolysis of freshwater, seawater, brine, or from desalinated water derived from seawater or brine. Methanol can be synthesized from the syngas resulting from the pyrolysis of urban and rural biowaste and hydrocarbon waste of non-biological origin such as polymers.”
MISCELLANY
claude writes—Only rebellion will prevent an ecological apocalypse: George Monbiot: “A much-needed dose of reality from (of course) The Guardian. In essence: The political class, as anyone who has followed its progress over the past three years can surely now see, is chaotic, unwilling and, in isolation, strategically incapable of addressing even short-term crises, let alone a vast existential predicament. Yet a widespread and wilful naivety prevails: the belief that voting is the only political action required to change a system. Unless it is accompanied by the concentrated power of protest – articulating precise demands and creating space in which new political factions can grow – voting, while essential, remains a blunt and feeble instrument. The media, with a few exceptions, is actively hostile. Even when broadcasters cover these issues, they carefully avoid any mention of power, talking about environmental collapse as if it is driven by mysterious, passive forces, and proposing microscopic fixes for vast structural problems. The BBC’s Blue Planet Live series exemplified this tendency. Those who govern the nation and shape public discourse cannot be trusted with the preservation of life on Earth. There is no benign authority preserving us from harm. No one is coming to save us. None of us can justifiably avoid the call to come together to save ourselves.”
Lefty Coaster writes—Grassroots opponents to Navy jet noise on Whidbey Island meet in a local Barn to plan our resistance: “Yesterday a couple hundred of local residents came together in a local barn to map out a strategy to reduce the noise from the Navy’s F-18 Howler Jets by pushing for the training flights to be moved to a more suitable location, instead of turning central Whidbey Island into a sacrifice zone. The meeting was organized by the Sound Defense Alliance. [...] For the last couple of months we’ve been impacted by the Navy’s jets flying over my neighborhood at treetop altitudes on an almost constant basis. This increase in the the Navy’s F- 18 Howler flights has been alarming, and inescapable. One speaker related how he had just spent $20,000 on soundproofing his home and when he was done the sound levels in his living room were in still the upper 80s decibel range. If this were a civilian airport the government would pay for soundproofing our homes, but the military is allowed to be completely irresponsible when it comes to providing funding to mitigate military noise pollution. The Navy doesn’t care because they don’t have to.”