This is the 647th edition of the Spotlight on Green News & Views (previously known as the Green Diary Rescue). Here is the June 6 edition. Inclusion of a story in the Spotlight does not necessarily indicate my agreement with or endorsement of it.
OUTSTANDING GREEN STORIES
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Are Facts Or Logic Better For Debunking Misinformation? Yes: “Brandolini’s law (also known as the bullshit asymmetry principle) holds that the amount of energy needed to refute bullshit is an order of magnitude bigger than to produce it. Given there’s a whole industry for producing climate denial, debunking it takes a lot of energy, so it’s good to know how to do it best. For the latest on that, we turn to a novel study that tests debunking on Instagram to compare fact-focused rebuttals to logic-based ones, and debunkings that come after a person sees misinformation compared to seeing the pre-bunking first. An unpaywalled version is available courtesy of study co-author and lead cartoonist John Cook, who laid out the findings in a twitter thread and CrankyUncle post, where you can see the misinformation and debunking images for yourself.”
CRITTERS AND THE GREAT OUTDOORS
OceanDiver writes—The Daily Bucket - in the yard: “Early summer. Pacific Northwest. I haven’t been able to go out for the past few weeks, so all my nature observations are in my yard and through the windows. Spring is definitely moving into summer though. At the fountain there’s a succession of local birds. [...] At the feeders, predominantly finches, including some fledglings. Crossbills, House and Purple finches. Goldfinches and Pine siskins. The occasional Evening grosbeaks. Blackheaded grosbeaks regularly. Nuthatches, juncos, CB chickadees. Hairy and Downy woodpeckers — those guys are visibly hauling suet chunks. As are the Redwinged blackbirds. [...] can look up into the canopy and sky, and listen. Heard an osprey yesterday. Vultures fly over frequently. Hearing raven fledglings now and then. Other birds heard not seen: Olive sided flycatcher, Swainsons thrush. Wild turkeys. Pileated woodpecker.”
OceanDiver writes—The Daily Bucket - by the water tanks: “June 12, 2020. Pacific Northwest. Still not going far from my house, but today I can take all ye bucketeers out to my driveway to see some nature. Our three water catchment tanks live there, now hidden by wild vegetation. We put in the catchment system in 2006 once the rotting roof shakes were replaced with metal roofing. Mr O dug spots for the tanks to sit securely and trenches for the water lines that carry rainwater from the downspouts into the tanks via a filtered sump, and back into the house. In our daylight basement he set up the pressure tank, pump, filters and electrical stuff so potable water feeds into the household plumbing. Because our climate has a long summer drought season, we’d run out before the rain comes again in October, so we switch over to well water for these next few months. The catchment water is saved for gardening, drinking water and the monthly hot tub refills in summer — it’s accessed directly from a faucet by the filters and another outside. Well water is potable but extremely hard and tastes awful. In fall, winter and spring, the tanks provide for all our water needs.”
giddy thing writes—Dawn Chorus: Birdlife in a Montana Marsh: “Montana is justly known for its scenic mountains and expansive plains, but it also harbors some splendid streams and wetlands. These marshes, prairie potholes, wet meadows, and riparian areas occupy less than five percent of Montana’s vast land base, making them ever more precious and crucial habitats for birds and other wildlife. Considering that over half of all U.S. wetland areas have vanished over the past 200 years, Montana can consider itself fortunate to still have over 70% of its historical wetlands intact. These biotically-rich habitats are disproportionately important for birds in providing… • Breeding and nesting areas for at least 52% of Montana’s breeding bird species. • Crucial food and resting areas for 65% of birds that routinely migrate through Montana. • Habitat for 30 of Montana’s 66 bird species of concern (46%).”
Walter Einenkel write—US taxpayers spent 5 times more on Don Jr.’s endangered animal hunt than originally reported: “In August of 2019 Donald Trump Jr. took a hunting trip to Mongolia, where he reportedly shot and killed an argali mountain sheep. The sheep are found in Mongolia and are considered endangered. Mongolian officials give out a limited amount of permits to hunt the endangered animals every year, and Trump Jr. was lucky enough to get one … retroactively. Junior’s hunting expedition, like any and all travel by Trump business operators, was covered in no small part by the American taxpayer. Junior needs Secret Service protection and at the time, the Secret Service estimated that the trip cost about $17,000. They even produced a receipt saying as much. Washington watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) reports that the Secret Service’s original estimate was woefully modest.”
Hunter writes—Trump administration finalizes rule allowing Alaskan hunters to kill hibernating bears, wolf cubs: “While everything else is going to hell, the Trump administration has now finalized a rule allowing hunters in Alaska to murder baby animals for fun as part of the Republican plan to undo absolutely anything the nation's first Black president had anything to do with. The 2015 ban on killing hibernating bears by luring them outside their dens, and chase out wolf mothers and pups inside their dens by crawling inside with flashlights, will be lifted in 30 days. The Washington Post reports the new rules will also allow ‘shooting swimming caribou from a boat and targeting animals from airplanes and snowmobiles.’ Well, sure. If people can't fire high-powered rifles from airplanes to kill whatever they see scurrying around down there, what's the point of living?”
Ojibwa writes—Wayfarers State Park: The Nature Trail (photo diary): “Located near the quaint resort town of Bigfork on the northeast shore of Flathead Lake, this park is 67 acres in size and is 2,923 feet in elevation. A mature mixed forest makes this site very pleasant for camping and picnicking. From spring to late fall the area abounds in wildflowers. Nature walks over the rocky shoreline to the cliffs are popular with photographers for an excellent view of Flathead Lake.”
lostintheozarks writes—The Daily Bucket - It's Not a Bug - It's a Feature (Article): “June 10, 2020. Douglas County, Missouri. It was quite cool this morning and promised to get even cooler, so I set out on my morning walk with an eye to the sky in case it was planning to rain. I didn’t even spray myself with insect repellent — a minor mistake. As I began my walk I noticed that the wildflowers were covered with all kinds of different insects who were very busy eating/sipping/pollinating their way through the wilderness. The wildflower that wins my prize for being worked on by the highest number of different insect species is the lovely Carolina (or Prairie) Rose. I see a tiny hopper and a small fly on one, a larger fly on another, a bee on a third and a Rose weevil and tiny bee on the fourth.”
CLIMATE CHAOS
Pakalolo writes—The speed of Abrupt Climate Change accelerates upheaval in the Arctic. And, summer 2020 is coming: “I am sharing some of the stories from the Arctic that have not received the media attention that they deserve. We can expect increasing wildfires, a busy and dangerous Atlantic storm season, and rising marine and land temperatures as a result of the incredible speed of the climate crisis. As we leap from crisis to crisis the second President of the Confederacy (nicknamed as such by Steve Schmidt) continues his effort, under the cover of chaos and distraction, to destroy every single life form on the planet. And he has gotten away with it, for now. Summer 2020 is coming and the consequences of his inaction on the climate crisis will be yet another nail in his political coffin in November. Buckle up.”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Oil Industry Goliath BP Rebranding In Hopes Of Dodging Youth Climate Activists’ Slingshots: “For at least the past four years, we’ve talked about the fossil fuel industry’s concern about climate activists targeting it’s social license to operate (our collective social and legal acceptance of their business) and how the industry’s tried to put “lipstick on a pig” to address the optics of their atmosphere-and-community-polluting profits. This week’s bombshell revelation that someone hired hackers to target #ExxonKnew campaigners is one recent sign that at least someone is scared enough of climate activists that they’re willing to put money into such a morally dubious and legally prohibited environscheme. But just because we don’t know if it’s ExxonMobil that put money into hacking groups antagonizing ExxonMobil, that doesn’t mean oil companies aren’t seriously spooked by what were once considered by many Very Important People to be quixotic distractions:the #ExxonKnew or #KeepItInTheGround campaigns. So let’s find a more specific example, shall we?”
David A. Love via Our Prism writes—To reduce the impact of climate change, society must focus on post-pandemic recovery: “The COVID-19 pandemic has left its permanent imprint on society in just a few short months and cost thousands of lives needlessly due to government inaction and negligence, ineptitude, and malice. The virus has laid bare the longstanding inequities and injustices of American society and forced the nation to confront an ongoing emergency plaguing the poor, people of color, and Indigenous communities. The coronavirus has shone a spotlight on an economic system lacking robustness, and a political system designed to meet the needs of the powerful. A devastating, protracted, and yet manageable crisis with the proper planning, political will, and allocation of resources, the coronavirus has much in common with the specter of climate change. The former is a turbocharged version of the latter, and a preview of what will become of vulnerable, at-risk, and disenfranchised populations as the U.S. responds to natural disasters.”
ECO-ACTION & ECO JUSTICE
Meteor Blades writes—House committees discuss environmental justice, with Republicans doing their usual song and dance: “Jacqueline Patterson, senior director of the NAACP's Environmental and Climate Justice Program, said that 71% of African Americans live in counties that are in violation of federal air pollution standards. "To add to the injustice, African American and Latino American people are typically exposed to 56% and 63% more PM2.5 pollution than they produce through consumption and daily activities." Non-Latino white people are on average exposed to 17% less pollution that they produce, she said. PM2.5—fine particulate matter less than 1/30th the diameter of human hair—has been shown to shorten average life spans more than tobacco smoking, HIV/AIDS, violence, and vector-borne diseases like malaria. The leading culprit is the burning of fossil fuels in power plants, transportation, and the residential sector. The effect is not small. Researchers say particulate matter in the air causes 8.8 million premature deaths a year globally, with a loss of life expectancy of 2.9 years. Under the circumstances, Patterson said, the focus ought to be on how to achieve a just transition away from fossil fuels in communities of color.”
Michael Brune write—The People Are Under Attack. So Are the Laws That Protect Them: “Last week, Donald Trump took this country further down the road toward authoritarianism. He called on elected officials across the country to “dominate” and use violence against peaceful protestors. He called thousands of National Guard and members of unidentified militias into our nation’s capital. The National Guard used helicopters to intimidate and forcibly disperse protesters. And the attorney general ordered park police to clear peaceful protesters from Lafayette Square to allow Trump to pose for photos with a bible in front of a church—which they took as permission to use tear gas, batons, and explosive devices. But Trump isn’t just interested in silencing those who demand justice for George Floyd, who told the officer who kneeled on his neck ‘I can’t breathe’ again and again until his death. He’s also determined to silence, i.e. dominate, those who speak out against environmental injustice—the polluting projects that make it so much harder for Black communities and communities of color to breathe.”
Cecelia S writes—MA AG Healey's amended lawsuit against Exxon includes pandemic deception facts: “On June 5, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey filed an amended complaint in her climate fraud suit against Exxon Mobil, adding new allegations about the company’s concealment of its financial risks from a global pandemic. I haven’t seen it covered here, so this is just a quick and sloppy update on my wonderful MA AG Healey’s ongoing, righteous legal battle with Exxon: The amended complaint, filed today in Suffolk Superior Court, highlights Exxon’s continued statements omitting, denying, and downplaying the risks that climate change poses to its business, as well as Exxon’s continued failure to disclose to investors the systemic financial risks from climate change. The COVID-19 pandemic has provided a real-time illustration of how shocks to the economy, including sudden drops in fossil fuel demand, have potentially dire consequences for companies like Exxon and their investors. ‘The COVID-19 pandemic is giving us a sobering preview of the shocks to financial markets from climate change, and has exposed the massive risk posed to those invested in fossil fuel companies like Exxon by major events that cause global oil demand — and prices — to collapse,’ AG Healey said. ‘Exxon knew about these risks decades ago but kept silent, instead making the calculated decision to mislead Massachusetts investors and consumers, hawking its fossil fuel products as good for the environment, and selling investors snake oil scenarios of ever-growing global demand for fossil fuels. Our amended lawsuit seeks to stop Exxon from engaging in deception and penalize them for this misconduct’.”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Indigenous Activists Murdered Every Other Day But The Real Victims Are Deniers, Slavers and Fascists: “Between removing statues of slavers, Andrew Sullivan not being allowed to publish his literally white-supremacist take on the George Floyd protest, the Philly Inquirer’s editor resigning over an ‘All Buildings Matter”’headline, James Bennet’s resignation as The New York Times editorial page editor after his failure to even read, much less edit or fact check, Tom Cotton’s call for the military to Ohio protesters, and Roger Pielke Jr.’s assessment that climate activists trying to hold deniers accountable is ‘a huge black eye’ for the movement, there’s a lot of concern in certain circles that Very Important Voices are being silenced. But if it were really about free speech, these commentators might be more inclined to call attention to examples where free speech is actually being silenced, where political advocacy is being met with real, state-endorsed and multinational-corporation-enforced physical violence. Instead, nearly every single time, the person being defended is a powerful white man who hasn’t been silenced, but has just had a megaphone momentarily taken away from him, only for it to be replaced by a dozen microphones, often followed by a speaking tour about his inability to speak.”
Angmar writes—"The world wasn't ready for a Green New Deal in 2009. Today, it may be": “Governments are creating, borrowing and spending money like never before in peacetime, in an attempt to mitigate the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. They have the opportunity to reshape their economies in a way that would be consistent with preventing catastrophic increases in global temperatures. Businesses are already learning lessons from the lockdown, such as that modern technology no longer makes it essential for an executive to travel half way round the world for a business meeting, and that employees can be just as productive working from home as they can when sat in expensive set-piece city centre offices. The world has been here before, though, and there is no guarantee that an opportunity proffered will be an opportunity taken. One was certainly missed at the back end of the 2000s, when the banks nearly went bust. Supporters of a Green New Deal (of whom I was one) said governments should avert the possibility of a second Great Depression by investing in decarbonisation of their economies and programmes that would put people back to work by making their homes energy-efficient.”
CANDIDATES, STATE AND DC ECO-RELATED POLITICS
poopdogcomedy writes—CO & MT-Sen: "In An Election Year, 2 Vulnerable GOP Senators Are Suddenly Conservationists": “The Senate is expected to debate into next week bipartisan legislation that would allow massive spending on the nation’s public lands and help two GOP senators boost their moderate credentials in tight reelection races. Senators voted 79-18 on Wednesday to proceed to a legislative vehicle for the bill. A cloture vote could come as soon as 1 a.m. Friday. The vehicle is a tax bill that was passed in the House in April 2019. Because the addition of the outdoor bill would constitute substantial changes to the tax measure, it would have to be voted on by the House again. Sponsored by Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., and cosponsored by Sens. Joe Manchin III, D-W.Va., Steve Daines, R-Mont., and 57 other senators, the bill would fully and permanently fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund and address the National Park Service's maintenance backlog.”
ENERGY
Fossil Fuels & Emissions Controls
Walter Einenkel writes—Trump plans to unleash offshore oil drilling in Florida—after the election: “The backwards-facing moves by the Trump administration to boost the unhealthy fossil fuel industry include subsidies, deregulation of environmental protections, and drilling. Lots of drilling. Former Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke spent the first weeks of his administration holing up on Trump properties in private meetings and coming up with a wish list of things the fossil fuel giants wanted to get done. Offshore drilling has always been high on their lists, so it was no surprise when the Trump administration and Zinke announced plans to begin offshore drilling like it was going out of style. Conservatives who would be directly affected by the possible environmental and health fallout began to get stressed out, and politicians in Republican-led areas like Florida and Alaska signaled to the government that with elections on the horizon, drilling in their areas wouldn’t be a good look. So Zinke and Trump relented, very publicly and cravenly exempting Florida from their plans.”
Lib Dem FoP writes—Britain Has Now Gone Two Months Without Electricity From Coal: “Britain has now gone two months without generating electricity from coal. The last generator was taken off line at midnight local time on April 9. The previous record of 18 days, 6 hours and 10 minutes was set in June last year. So far this year, renewables have generated more than coal or gas. Renewables have generated 37%, fossil fuels 35% and nuclear around 18% with the rest comprised of imports. It is probable a lot of that is nuclear generated as the main interconnectors are with France which has a large nuclear sector. In addition, one of the main wholesaler/retailer in the UK is EDF, the French state owned Électricité de France. The big success story is offshore wind. Seven of the ten largest offshore wind farms are in British waters.”
Dan Bacher writes—Exposed: 3,000% Increase in Aliso Canyon Gas Storage Facility Use Under Gov. Newsom! “Remember the infamous SoCalGas Aliso Canyon gas storage facility—home to the largest gas blowout in U.S. history in 2015? Well, Food & Water Action has just analyzed data compiled over the last four years and found that the use of the facility has increased by about 3,000% under Governor Gavin Newsom’s administration. The group points out that this comes despite Newsom’s repeated pledges to expedite the shutdown of the facility, according to a press release today from Food & Water Action. In contradiction to downward shifts in natural gas use, mild winters with low peak demand, and excess pipeline capacity, data shows that SoCalGas withdrew from Aliso Canyon on 56 days over the winter 2019-2020 season, and 38 days over the winter 2018-2019 season, representing a combined total of 34.668 billion cubic feet (Bcf). This compares to nine days of withdrawals for winter seasons 2016-2017 and 2017-2018, for a combined 1.190 Bcf,” the group stated.”
Dan Bacher writes—California regulators approve 12 more new fracking permits - during the COVID pandemic! “While California continues to be portrayed as a “green” and “progressive” state by state officials and the mainstream media, the reality is much different, as I have revealed in hundreds of articles exposing the state’s environmentally unjust fossil fuel and water policies. California Governor Gavin Newsom’s oil and gas regulators continue to approve new oil drilling and fracking permits in California, in spite of an outcry by environmental justice and public trust advocates during the midst of a global pandemic as oil prices are now $35 per barrel. On Monday, June 1, the California Geologic Energy Management Division (CalGEM), the agency responsible for regulating oil and gas in the state, quietly approved 12 new hydraulic fracturing permits to Aera Energy LLC for the Lost Hills Oil Field in Kern County, according to Food and Water Watch Action.”
Renewables, Efficiency, Energy Storage & Conservation
indycam writes—Electric air taxi: “”This one looks like it might be real . Toyota has put in a great deal of money , I doubt they would do that if it wasn’t real . www.jobyaviation.com. Our four passenger aircraft takes off and lands vertically like a helicopter, then smoothly transitions to forward flight. Its all-electric powertrain allows for near silent cruise, while accelerating the shift to sustainable transportation. Designed with high levels of redundancy to avoid single points of failure, our piloted aircraft will get you comfortably and reliably to your destination.”
Mokurai writes—Renewable Monday: 15 GW of Solar for Israel: “”Mazel tov, Eretz Yisroel! No coal after 2026! Huge amounts of solar! Now, we just have to get a new Israeli government willing to abandon gas. And let the Palestinians join in. And, well, you know. Israel lifted our spirits, by announcing plans to add 15 GW more solar this decade. Israel wants another 15 GW of solar by 2030. Energy minister Yuval Steinitz has announced the country’s 2030 renewable energy target will rise to 30%, with solar expected to account for the lion’s share. Approximately $23 billion more clean energy investment is envisaged this decade. In the next decade, solar energy and electricity storage facilities will be set up on a scale equal to all existing electricity production in the country today,” said Steinitz in an official statement. The minister predicted renewables would meet around 80% of power demand by 2030, with gas covering the balance and coal phased out.”
Mokurai writes—Renewable Tuesday: Battery Storage in China: “We have Good News for battery storage in China, and we have Bad News, and we have Good News again. Production is going up. Installations are going up. Costs are coming down. But covid-19 and erratic policy changes are temporary roadblocks. China reaches 1.7 GW of electrochemical storage capacity. According to new numbers released by the China Energy Storage Alliance, the country’s storage capacity topped 32.4 GW at the end of last year. The association said the storage market is expected to continue to grow steadily in the years ahead. China’s electrochemical energy storage market grew 59.4% thanks to 636.9 MW of newly installed capacity last year, according to figures released by the China Energy Storage Alliance (Cnesa) from its Global Energy Storage Project Database.”
Mokurai writes—Renewable Wednesday: Green Finance: “Rule One of Green Finance: Fossil Foolishness has become vastly more expensive than wind, solar, storage, and so on, and increasingly unprofitable. Rule Two: When you talk about Real Money, even the most hidebound practitioners have to take notice. Not those who are paid to deny reality, of course. But those profits are looking increasingly thin. Finance is an insane business, between the shenanigans of the banksters and the marketeers, the politics of economics denial, the Ponzi scheme of fracking, the Oil and Gaslighting industry, and the lack of access to finance in ‘risky’ ‘developing’ countries. So how come trillions of dollars got poured into those countries when they were dictatorships, subject to endless civil wars, and only now is the risk deemed too great, when so many are transitioning to democracy, the rule of law, and economic growth? Oh, of course. Sane economic and financial regulation, too. One could be forgiven for concluding that the financial Masters of the Universe, as some of them call themselves, want other countries to be messed up. As in Naomi Klein's vision of The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism.”
Mokurai writes—Renewable Thursday: Microgrids in Puerto Rico: “Trump hates Boricuas/Puerto Riqueños at the best of times. In addition, FEMA is, by law, not permitted to rebuild the storm-shattered energy grid in PR with distributed solar and wind power, our topic today. Malignancy plus mandatory foolishness pile disaster on each natural disaster. It is going to take Joe Biden's people years to get back to where we were years ago, and decades for them and the people of Puerto Rico and those willing to help to restore forests, buildings, and infrastructure on the island. Puerto Rico's electric grid is extremely fragile and in need of repair. ... Microgrids are mini-energy service stations that can maximize locally-generated renewable energy, such as wind and solar power, and are backed by battery storage and intelligent software. Environmental Defense Fund is developing an innovative project to demonstrate the feasibility of distributed energy resources, including microgrids that can reduce the island’s dependence on fossil fuels. [...] For more information, visit www.edf.org/PuertoRico.”
Mokurai writes—Renewable Friday: Solar Sustainability: “Sustainability means different things to different stakeholders. It can be mining and recycling of materials, and it can be the quite different question of a sustainable global economy that brings prosperity and other benefits to billions more people. It can be the question of profitability of investments in renewable energy, electric vehicles, sustainable agriculture, carbon-free manufacturing, and more. Or, of course, it could be bogus Denialism and gaslighting and purity trolling, which we will ignore today. Does solar sustainability go far enough? Solar PV is on track to become a terawatt-scale industry. With this opportunity comes challenges, particularly when future raw material and manufacturing volumes are considered. For progress to be made, sustainability becomes a crucial issue. Already the first global sustainability standard for solar modules and inverters has been introduced, and it is likely mandatory measures will be applied in Europe via the Ecodesign directive. Ahead of the upcoming pv magazine Roundtable on sustainability, SMA answers some key questions about certification.”
funningforrest writes—The Daily Bucket: Energy Conservation Redux: “Before I talk about my current energy conserving measures, I’d like to vent on something: why is it that certain household appliances, like my coffee maker, have a pilot light just to indicate the darned thing is plugged in? And my phone. And my computer speakers? And my air conditioner? [...] Now, I am definitely not one to go in for conspiracy theories, and these itsy-bitsy indicator lights couldn’t burn more than a few pennies per month, but it sure makes me wonder. Are the appliance manufacturers getting a kick-back from the electricity utilities? No, I certainly don’t believe that. I’m sure these lights are there because design engineers think it is wise to advertise that your device is at least powered on. In some cases this is a good thing, like for a clothes iron. But in my opinion most of these just needlessly waste electricity.”
AGRICULTURE, FOOD & GARDENS
Mimer writes—Saturday Morning Garden Blogging. Vol 16.24: Another virus? Yes! the iris virus: “It’s iris time again and I suspect many of you, like me, have gone through a series of plant obsessions in your gardening journey. Years ago I became enchanted with hybrid tea roses; that obsession only lasted a couple of years because of all the pests those roses are heir to, and all the chemicals needed to keep them looking great. I went on to hostas, collecting as many different varieties as I could manage in what was then a shady back garden. Then I went through a hardy geranium stage, and briefly flirted with peonies until, about ten years ago, I was browsing through one of my favorite nurseries when a tall bearded iris named Impressionist screamed at me from across the rows of plants, ‘BUY ME! BUY ME!’ So I did and that is how I succumbed to the iris virus.”
REGULATIONS & PROTECTION
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Trump’s “Absurd and Unnecessary” NEPA Rollback Is Nothing Compared To His Second-Term Agenda: “Donald Trump has been using cover of COVID-19 and his wannabe strongman response to Black Lives Matter protests to continue his pro-polluter agenda, recently with an Executive Order tossing basic environmental protections out the window under guise of economic recovery. Fortunately, this appears to be yet another pointless distraction., As Niina Farah and Jennifer Hijazi make clear in E&E, legal experts are not impressed by the move. According to former EPA attorney Joel Mintz, ‘there is a real question as to whether or not the president can contradict the directives of Congress and essentially suspend environmental laws that are in effect.’ The ‘real question’ is really whether or not he’ll get away with it, because the idea that the president can ‘contradict the directives of Congress’ is pretty obviously unconstitutional. According to NYU Law’s Elizabeth Klein, while emergency authority is certainly a valid power, ‘this is not the kind of emergency’ those powers were meant for, and that waiving NEPA and other reviews ‘in the name of economic recovery is absurd and unnecessary’.”
TRANSPORTATION & INFRASTRUCTURE
Mokurai writes—EV Tuesday: Electric Buses in Brazil to Advance Batteries: “BYD: Chinese electric vehicle giant expands in Brazil. Chinese company opens battery plant, boosts bus fleet and aspires to lead solar panel production. BYD currently has 50 buses in Brazil. They are spread across 8 cities: São Paulo, Bauru, Santos, Campinas (all SP state); Brasília; Volta Redonda (RJ); and Curitiba and Maringá (Paraná) Each electric bus saves 9 tonnes of CO2 per month from going into the atmosphere.Mar 12, 2020. An Increasingly Urbanized Latin America Turns to Electric Buses — Yale. Sep 9, 2019 — From Colombia to Argentina, major cities in Latin America are starting to adopt electric bus fleets. In a region with the highest use of buses per person globally, officials believe the transition will help meet climate targets, cut fuel costs, and improve air quality.”
OCEANS, WATER, DROUGHT
yogibear1963 writes—We'll help you with a water treatment plant if you let our friend poison the Boundary Waters aquifer: “Antofagasta Mining is a major mining company in Chili. They want to mine the copper and nickel ore in the lands adjacent to the Boundary Waters. They have set up a shell company called Twin Metals to be the front face of the operation. The problem is they will us an acid mining technique which will produce sulfuric acid, heavy metals, and sulfites as a byproduct. It is basically guaranteed that the dams holding the tailings will fail resulting in the contamination of the surface water and aquifer. This has happened at many mining operations. Being a giant corporation, the Republicans are obviously on board with the plans. Sadly, because of the (short term) economic impact, many Democrats are as well. Several dozen groups have organized to resist the mining operation. One of them is the Fond Du Lac Band (Lake Superior Chippewa (Ojibwe) ). They have been involved in legal action which has stalled the progress of the mining operation for several years. Now the water treatment plant for Fond Du Lac has been declared out of compliance by the state and they need a new one at a cost of $1.3 million. As part of the funding package the band asked the IRRRB for a $250,000 grant.”
MISCELLANY
funningforrest writes—The Daily Bucket: Talkin' Trash: “This morning I filled yet another 13-gallon kitchen trash bag with household waste and took it to the dumpster. Yesterday I took two out. Packaging. My Pet Peeve. Can’t stand to live with it, can’t live without it. Every time I throw inorganic waste in the trash I feel guilty. But what are you going to do? My apartment complex here in Quincy, CA, does have a “recyclables” dumpster, but it’s just a small mini-dumpster, and I admit I don’t like taking the time to separate as I go. More guilt. I do flatten all my corrugated cardboard boxes and put them in the recyclables bin. But my everyday paper and plastic from all the grocery and sundries packaging just goes in the big dumpster. Guilty, guilty, guilty. In my feeble defense I will stipulate that separating my recyclables would require keeping yet another receptacle in my kitchen, which I really don’t have the space for.”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Tucker Carlson Sells Daily Caller Stake, Lying About It On The Way Out: “Over the years, we’ve spent a lot of time calling out the Daily Caller for its misogyny, white supremacy, climate denial, fake-fact-checks, Trump EPA bootlicking, its repeatedly pitiful, mean, and hilariously backfiring gotcha attempts (remember when they tried to catch AOC driving, only to find her walking?), its apparent obliviousness to its own Koch funding, and once more for good measure, its climate denial. But you might’ve noticed that we haven’t talked about them too much lately. When Koch-bro Michael Bastasch parted ways with the Caller a year ago this month, we noted the schism between Tucker Carlson and the Kochs and wondered what that meant for the Caller’s regular climate denial content. (Bastasch is now a writer at Fox News according to his Twitter bio, but doesn’t appear to have any bylines as a journalist, or any current presence on Fox aside from his years-old syndicated Daily Caller stories for that matter, so what he writes at FoxNews is not apparent…) Since his departure, there’s been a marked decline in climate content, with a couple reporters occasionally publishing Bastasch-esque stories based on some Koch crap, but otherwise not much for us to mock. Plenty of far-right cringe, but little noteworthy climate or energy content”