Grand Canyon. See Marni McKinney's
post.
Many environmentally related posts appearing at Daily Kos each week don't attract the attention they deserve. To help get more eyeballs, Spotlight on Green News & Views (previously known as the Green Diary Rescue) normally appears twice a week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
The most recent Wednesday Spotlight can be seen here. More than
20,175 environmentally oriented diaries have been rescued for inclusion in this weekly collection since 2006. Inclusion of a diary in the Spotlight does not necessarily indicate my agreement with or endorsement of it.
Recent retreat of Alaska's Columbia Glacier’s West Branch takes scientists by surprise.—by
Pakalolo: "The Columbia Glacier descends 10,000 feet from an ice field in the Chugach mountains and terminates at Prince William Sound in SE Alaska. This glacier is known as a tidewater glacier, a mountain glacier that terminates in the ocean. Since 1986, the glacier’s terminus, has retreated 12 miles up an inlet in Prince William Sound, and the glacier also has lost about half its total thickness and volume and this loss continues to this day. Per NASA, 'By 2014, the terminus had retreated more than 20 kilometers (12 miles) to the north, moving past Terentiev Lake and Great Nunatak Peak. In some years, the terminus retreated more than a kilometer, though the pace has been uneven. The movement of the terminus stalled between 2000 and 2006, for example, because the Great Nunatak Peak and Kadin Peak (directly to the west) constricted the glacier’s movement and held the ice in place.'"
Climate change, global justice and reconciliation—by
JoyHyvarinen: "The latest round of UN climate talks is beginning in Lima, Peru. The main focus is on concluding a new climate change agreement in a year’s time. The new agreement is meant to hold climate change to a level which is 'safe,' but what that means is one of many contested issues. What is safe for rich countries with capacity to adapt may not be safe for poor and vulnerable countries, which have argued for a 1.5°C limit rather than the 2°C agreed in the UN talks some years ago. One of the questions in the UN negotiations is how 'loss and damage' will fit into the future climate agreement. Loss and damage occurs when negative climate impacts go beyond the limits of adaptation. Countries have accepted that climate change has advanced to a point where adaptation is not always possible. A new mechanism is in place under the overall framework treaty (the UNFCCC), the 'Warsaw International Mechanism,' but its role is limited and it is unclear what it can achieve."
Climate change: what they're putting off saying—by
Cassiodorus: "So, OK, back in 2009 I was telling everyone that if the movement to (as Naomi Klein called it) 'save the climate' was to accomplish anything at all, we'd need a movement to 'Keep the grease in the ground.' September 24th of 2009, to be exact. Mark that date. At some point (I don't remember when) even Bill McKibben was 'feh,' to be exact this was his reaction at a talk he gave at Scripps College in Claremont, when I brought up the 'keep the grease in the ground' thing. Well guess what? Now even Obama's climate envoy is saying the same thing! Obama's envoy: 'It is going to have to be a solution that leaves a lot of fossil fuel assets in the ground,' he said. 'We are not going to get rid of fossil fuel overnight but we are not going to solve climate change on the basis of all the fossil fuels that are in the ground are going to have to come out. That’s pretty obvious.' So after a decade of diddling around with 'cap and trade,' and flirting with a carbon tax, after pretending that all we needed to do was to make it a bit harder for people to buy the stuff and the problem would go away, world society may be on the verge of admitting the obvious—that the fossil fuels must stay in the ground if the consumers are not to burn them."
Casino Capitalism, Nevada-Style—by Rebecca Solnit: "The sprawl of Clark County contains almost three-quarters of all the people in the state of Nevada, which means statewide elections are swung by a population that mostly just got here and often doesn’t have much idea of where here is. Maybe that’s why water use per capita is so much higher here than in a place like Tucson, Arizona, whose citizens seem to love the desert and plant their front yards with cacti, not grass. About 70% of the water in Clark County goes to lawns, parks, and golf courses, to planting green in a place whose colors are warm and dusty, browns and greys and rusty reds under the burning blue sky. [...] Water is nearly always the limiting factor of growth in the arid West, and Vegas drained its own local supply long ago, then put a straw in the Colorado River and sucked hard, getting 90% of its water from the river, or rather from Lake Mead, the reservoir penned in behind Hoover Dam—which is running dry. The reservoir is at its lowest level 'in generations,' the Los Angeles Times reported in the spring of 2014. Lake Mead’s water is dropping so dramatically that the city is drilling a billion-dollar intake tunnel through bedrock, well below the current intake pipelines, a new straw with which to drink from the reservoir. That, too, may before long be above waterline if drought, evaporation, and over-allocation of the river’s water continue. In the foreseeable future, the reservoir will likely reach 'dead pool,' the point at which water no longer turns the turbines of the dam generators (though one desperate measure now being aired proposes abandoning Lake Powell and Glen Canyon Dam upstream on the Colorado River to salvage this complex). Clark County recently spent $200 million getting residents to remove their lawns, and at some point in the near future water rationing will begin."
A Beautiful Congress—by
Robocop: "The battle to establish permanent wilderness areas was of course not easy; it took eight years; but there were several elected officials who worked for its passage, among them Senator Hubert Humphrey and Senator Clinton Anderson. It was Humphrey who introduced the bill to Congress in 1956, which had been drafted by Howard Zahnister, executive director of the Wilderness Society. It was opposed by the usual commercial suspects (loggers, miners and ranchers), but also attracted major opposition within the government, including the Forest Service, the National Park Service, the Bureau of Land Management and the Fish and Wildlife Service. That this bill passed in the face of such powerful opposition is a testament to the integrity and determination shown by the politicians of the day. In the end, the bill passed 373 to 1 in the House and 73 to 12 in the Senate. It’s impossible to imagine a similar outcome today, and indeed, environmental protections have largely been ignored since the G.W. Bush administration. And it should come as no surprise that the 112th Congress, with its original batch of tea party crazies, was the worst Congress for wilderness since 1966, and in fact waged war against the environment."
You can find more rescued green diaries below the orange garden layout.
Climate Chaos
Stunning NASA video: A Year of CO2 Emissions & Blunt World Bank Warning to World Leaders—by Lefty Coaster: "This NASA video dramatically shows CO2 emissions from the heavily industrialized regions of the Global North. We should remember that the corrupt Administration of George W. Bush delayed NASA's plans to launch the satellite to study CO2 emissions. Then when the first satellite was finally launched in 2009 it crashed on launch into the ocean."
The Fierce Anger of the Math—by veritas curate: "The Math is undeniable: it is impossible to sustain exponential growth in a limited system. We can no longer sustain all our carbon burning. Math and physics impose limits. We find ourselves in a predicament between our limitless desires and the hard limits of math and physics. A predicament that involves the unintended consequences of that burning, among other things. It is a multifaceted predicament: a population soon to be nearing 10 billion; degraded land, water, air and oceans; vast inequities in resource use and wealth distribution; social upheaval; it goes on and on. The IPCC is now like Jeremiah and the consequences of rising CO2 is the 'fierce anger' of the Lord. It seems, things have reversed themselves; the wackos and crackpots are now the ones saying everything will be fine. Anticipating apocalypse is for sober minded realists. And in the face of this the hearts of our leaders have failed, our priests and prophets are appalled and the people are not listening; they remain in thrall to the money-changers."
At Copenhagen climate talks, Jim Inhofe said Barbra Streisand was behind global warming 'hoax'—by Meteor Blades: "With delegates from 195 nations gathered in Lima, Peru, this week and next to try to hammer out a global agreement on climate change for approval in Paris next year, David Corn at Mother Jones recalled an encounter he had with Inhofe at the 2009 climate talks in Copenhagen. There, Corn asked the senator if he really believed that the thousands of people attending had been fooled about global warming. Inhofe said yes. Pressed, he said yes again. Corn nearly laughed and somehow managed to control his eye-rolling: That's some hoax, I countered. But who has engineered such a scam? Hollywood liberals and extreme environmentalists, Inhofe replied. Really? I asked. Why would they conspire to scare all these smart people into believing a catastrophe was under way, when all was well? Inhofe didn't skip a beat: To advance their radical environmental agenda. I pressed on: Who in Hollywood is doing this? The whole liberal crowd, Inhofe said. But who? Barbra Streisand, he responded."
250,000 'extra deaths' a year by 2030 from climate change predicts WHO—by HoundDog: "The World health organization predicts climate change will cause 250,000 extra deaths per year by 2030. Of this figure, roughly 48,000 will be via diarrhea; 60,000 via malaria; 95,000 via under-nutrition during childhood; and 38,000 via heat exposure (the elderly mostly)—according to the new report. [...] Meanwhile, in their latest global Global Climate Analysis of October 2014, a National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration report indicates that the first 10 months of 2014 have been the hottest on record."
Credibility Contest: WHO vs GWPF—by ClimateDenierRoundup : "When it comes to the credibility of claims made about a particular science, one hopes the media would be wise enough to distinguish between respectable science and thinly veiled political advocacy. The UK's Times and Breitbart have both failed that test. How? By dismissing a World Health Organization report and taking as gospel the word of the Global Warming Policy Foundation (the UK denial group forced to spin-off an official political advocacy wing after being chastised for 'blurring fact and comment'). When the WHO released a report (.pdf) finding that climate change could cause more than 200,000 additional deaths between 2030 and 2050, the GWPF put together its own report that amounts to a weak 'nuh uh!' The Times of London then ran with the story, claiming the WHO report was exaggerated and "based on false assumptions" that aren't clearly labeled in the fact sheet (even though the report lists its assumptions in full). In a detailed debunking, Carbon Brief points out that the table of assumptions ALSO appears in the executive summary—hardly hidden, like the GWPF charges! In an act of hypocrisy, the GWPF analyst told the Times—without any basis or explanation in the GWPF report—that the WHO's assumptions led to 'at least a 10-fold exaggeration in the number of extra deaths.' This leads to Carbon Brief's strong conclusion that 'unlike WHO's work, which clearly outlines its assumptions and limitations, the GWPF's estimate is impossible to analyse.'"
COP 20 Lima, Peru
Daily Tck: Day 1 of the UN climate talks in Lima—by TierneySmith: "Government negotiators and a number of our partners made their way through Lima’s streets to the Cuartel General del Ejército where COP20 kicked off on Monday morning. After the customary opening ceremony, negotiators moved through the plenary sessions at a workman’s pace, seemingly energized and eager to build a foundation for a new global climate agreement. If this pace continues, the UNFCCC’s subsidiary bodies could get through much of their technical work by week’s end, leaving the bulk of the second week of talks for tougher political issues. The energy this year was markedly different from one year ago. Last year opened amidst the Philippines reeling in the wake of super typhoon Haiyan’s deadly destruction, inspiring hundreds of people to join a fast in solidarity with those suffering from increasing climate impacts. With 2014 on track to become the hottest year on record, those impacts haven’t slowed."
Daily Tck: Day 2 of the UN climate talks in Lima—by TierneySmith: "Negotiations dug deeper into the heart of Lima’s deliverables Tuesday, re-opening negotiations on the shape and contents of the new global climate agreement. While some of what we heard during opening statements were country positions dating back to the last century, a few countries’ statements spoke to exactly what needs doing. Costa Rica, for example, on behalf of the AILAC bloc of Latin American countries, called for a zero emissions world by the middle of the century. Governments were reminded of the science underlying AILAC’s call during presentations by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, who reported on the findings of its latest synthesis report. According to that report, which for the first time included a carbon budget for the 2degC threshold: the world used up two-thirds of the total carbon budget in 2011, and at current rates will burn through the rest in less than 30 years. For the best chance of avoiding severe levels of warming, governments need to peak emissions, rapidly phase fossil fuels down to zero and transition to 100% renewable energy. Governments get another dose of scientists sharing evidence of the dire need for increased action Wednesday when UN Environment Programme, International Energy Agency, and others will present their latest research."
How one single letter can make a difference for our future—by Mattias: "Climate talks include confusingly many abbreviations. One of the most frequently used abbreviations right now at the climate summit, COP20, in Lima is 'INDC.' INDC stands for 'Intended Nationally Determined Contributions,' and replace the term 'commitments' which was previously used to describe what countries should do. The word 'contribution' is weaker than 'commitment.' Many countries are not willing to 'commit,' but want to "contribute", which characterizes an offer rather than something that must be done. [...] One of the key tasks for COP20 in Lima is to define the concept and content of INDCs further. This is not an easy task. Some parties want INDCs only to include mitigation, while others also wants to include other elements, such as finance and adaptation. Some parties want a mitigation baseline in 1990, others in 2005. Some parties want INDC’s to cover 5 years, while others want a period of 10 years. Some parties forget the 'I,' and end up just referring to 'NDC.' And the difference between 'INDC' and 'NDC' is vital."
Chris Hedges lays out predicament we face to address Global Warming - COP 20 Conference bogs down—by Lefty Coaster: "The European Union (EU)’s delegation at the climate change conference in Lima has argued that legally binding cuts applying to all countries are necessary and should be adopted by 2015 and entered into force by 2020. The EU appears to have toughened its stance faced with major nations which claim they could not impose economy wide targets. Bardram hinted that such positions could stall the negotiating process in the lead-up to the Paris meeting. [...] The EU’s stance is at odds with the US position which favours the ‘buffet option’, that would contain some legally binding elements but allow countries to determine the scale and pace of their emissions reductions, even if this this calls into question the aim of keeping temperature rises below 2C, the level that countries have agreed to limit warming to. [...] 'What the United States is putting on the table is basically the Wild West,' Asad Rehman of Friends of the Earth told the Guardian at the conference. 'Having a deregulated climate system, having countries just make any pledge they want is a recipe for disaster. What we need is science-based rigorous regulations, it’s the only way are going to tackle this climate crisis,' he said."
COP 20 Briefer – All Eyes on Lima as critical period for climate negotiations begins—by Joshua Wiese: "The foundation of any agreement in Paris will be built in Lima. That foundation includes getting nations to begin crafting Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs), where countries will offer their plans for how to slash global carbon emissions so that the world’s warming is contained to no more than 2degC. The deadline for the INDC offers is March 2015, making Lima an opportunity for governments to put the finishing touches on what these commitments should contain, how long they should last, and how they should be presented. COP 20 is also an opportunity for governments to continue supporting the Green Climate Fund, which now has commitments for up to 9.6 billion in funding, but has an investment target of $100 billion by 2020."
What can we expect from two weeks of climate negotiations?—by mattias: "Monday, 1st of December, a new session of the UN climate talks, begin. This time parties meet in Lima, Peru, and they are faced with a packed agenda. [...] Will the climate problem be solved? The answer is no, but still the coming two weeks will be crucial for our future. According to the plan, a global climate agreement should be adopted in Paris, December 2015. To take some of the pressure off from the meeting in Paris, parties are asked to come up with their intended contributions to the global agreement, already in the beginning of 2015. In that way, the proposed level of ambition is set already before the Paris meeting begins, and it will be easier to discuss frameworks, mechanism, and possibilities for scaling up the ambition further."
Energy & Conservation
Texas Electric Utility Bails Sierra Club Out of Federal Court $6.4 Million Attorney Fee Order—by LakeSuperior: "Energy Law 360 is reporting that Energy Future Holdings Corp (owner of Luminant power in Texas) and the Sierra Club have reached a deal concerning litigation that the Sierra Club filed against the Luminant Big Brown power plant in Texas and other coal-fired power plants owned by Luminant. The energy company said Monday that it wouldn't pursue $6.4 million in attorneys' fees that a Texas federal judge had ordered the Sierra Club to pay in August for filing what he described as a "frivolous" litigation. Sierra Club had filed litigation against the Big Brown plant in Texas alleging violation of particulate emission limitations and violation of opacity limitations on the Big Brown plant. However Sierra Club lost its claims about numerical particulate emission limitation violations on summary judgement before the federal court because SC did not have specific evidence on the actual numerical magnitude of the claimed particulate emission standard violations."
Renewables
9 Million Solar Panels Spanning 9.5 Sq Miles: World's Largest Solar Farm Becomes Fully Operational!—by jpmassar: "The first 500+ megawatt solar plant in the US, and the largest solar plant in the world came online recently. Called the Topaz Solar Farm, it was built on the Carrizo Plain, located between San Francisco and Los Angeles, due east of San Luis Obispo. The farm is now producing 550 megawatts, enough to keep the lights on in 160,000 homes and displace 370,000 tons of carbon emissions. When I was a kid farmers baled hay and milked cows. Now they herd photons as well. Sometimes there really is progress."
If only the Sunshine State's rulings on solar and energy efficiency could be chalked up to ignorance—by
Meteor Blades: "Not only does the Sunshine State not have [a Renewables Portfolio Standard] and not permit leasing and power purchase agreements, its Public Service Commission also just voted 3-to-2 to let Florida's solar rebate expire at the end of 2015 and 'cut the energy efficiency goals of the state’s utility companies by more than 90 percent, a move that was based off of proposals from Duke Energy Florida, Tampa Electric, and Florida Power & Light.' Here's Katie Valentine at Climate Progress:
And environmentalists and renewable energy advocates in Florida also aren’t happy about the PSC’s vote. The Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, a group that’s pushed for more solar-friendly policies in Florida, said in a statement that the PSC’s vote represents an 'abdication of its responsibility as stewards for energy consumers.'"
Germany's Biggest Utility Changes Its Business Model—by gmoke: ""In a strategy approved by the utility's advisory board yesterday, E.ON [Germany's biggest utility] is preparing to split into two separate companies sometime next year. The new (as-yet-unnamed) company will take on the company's coal, gas and nuclear assets, as well as its trading business and hydropower plants. 'Once the spinoff is complete in 2016, E.ON will focus exclusively on renewable energy, energy efficiency, digitizing the distribution network and enabling customer-sited energy sources like storage paired with solar. The reformed utility will be active in Europe, North America and Turkey.'"
WSJ's $21 Billion Subsidy Hypocrisy—by ClimateDenierRoundup: "The Wall Street Journal—continuing its tradition of providing free advertising for fossil fuels in the form of opinion pieces—published an oped by Tim Phillips arguing that we should end the wind power Production Tax Credit (PTC), a 22-year-old subsidy for wind power. It just so happens, however, that Phillips is none other than the president of Americans for Prosperity, the oil-loving, Koch-funded right-wing 'free market' advocacy group. So what does fossil-fuel-funded Phillips have to say? He claims the PTC's costs are exorbitant, unduly burdening taxpayers, and that some states pay even though they don't produce any wind. Phillips concludes by pointing out that when the wind industry feared the tax credit would end in 2012, there was a 90 percent drop in new projects brought online. According to his twisted logic, the subsidy should therefore end because the industry needs it. (He, of course, fails to mention how the annual approval process for the PTC creates an extremely inefficient boom and bust cycle; meanwhile, fossil fuel subsidies are locked-in.) While Phillips feigns outrage over the $7.3 billion spent over the past seven years on the PTC, he remains silent about the $21.6 billion spent in subsidies for fossil fuel exploration and production in 2013 alone."
Solar and wind power are reaching competitive prices with conventional energy—by Walter Einenkel: "Over the last five years, the cost of providing energy from solar and wind power plants has dropped dramatically. Recently, in many places, it has dropped in price below coal or natural gas (fracking). Utility executives say the trend has accelerated this year, with several companies signing contracts, known as power purchase agreements, for solar or wind at prices below that of natural gas, especially in the Great Plains and Southwest, where wind and sunlight are abundant. An example of the good year wind and solar had: In Texas, Austin Energy signed a deal this spring for 20 years of output from a solar farm at less than 5 cents a kilowatt-hour. In September, the Grand River Dam Authority in Oklahoma announced its approval of a new agreement to buy power from a new wind farm expected to be completed next year. Grand River estimated the deal would save its customers roughly $50 million from the project. That's in Texas! That's the good news."
Arizona energy company trying to tax the sun—by Walter Einenkel: "The Salt River Project (SRP) is not a retirement community classic rock band. It's one of Arizona's primary energy companies. They have a problem: Arizona has too much sun. Arizona residents have begun installing solar panels on their roofs to cut energy costs. This cuts into SRP's profits. SRP has decided to increase taxes on its customers, across the board, but with the major focus being on those who already have or want to have solar panels. The proposal mirrors a failed attempt by Arizona Public Service Co. last year to add $50 to $100 in fees on rooftop-solar customers. In that case, state regulators eventually decided on a fee averaging about $5. SRP is a municipal utility and will not need regulatory approval, as APS does, to put the fees in place. SRP says they need to cover both fixed costs of maintaining the grid as well as infrastructural investments they have made in recent years. The problem, as with most all of these energy companies' attempts at taxing solar energy, is that they are actually trying to make solar energy prohibitively expensive."
Fracking
Keystone XL & Other Fossil Fuel Transportation
State Department Keystone XL Contractor ERM Bribed Chinese Agency to Permit Project—by Steve Horn: "Environmental Resources Management (ERM Group), the consultancy selected by TransCanada to conduct the environmental review for Keystone XL‘s northern leg on behalf of the U.S. State Department, is no stranger to scandal. Exhibit A: ERM once bribed a Chinese official to ram through major pieces of an industrial development project. ERM was tasked to push through the project in Hangzhou Bay, located near Shanghai. Accepting the bribe landed Yan Shunjun, former deputy head of the Shanghai Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau, an 11-year prison sentence. [...] Back in 2009 when news arose of ERM’s bribery and corruption, Chinese environmental campaigners worried the incident could portend a lack of commitment to tackling climate change in the months leading up to the United Nations climate summit in Copenhagen, Denmark."
Marc Eliesen former CEO of BC Hydro BLASTS Canada's NEB Trans Mountain pipeline review as "a farce"—by Lefty Coaster: "Marc Eliesen is the former C.E.O. of BC Hydro, the province of British Columbia's electric utility as well the former chairman Chairman of Manitoba Hydro, that province's electric utility. Eliesen has four decades of experience in the energy sector including as a board member of Suncor, and executive posts in provincial, and federal governments. Suncor is one of the leading producers of Bitumen from the Alberta Tar Sands. Eliesen became involved in the review process for the proposed expansion of Kinder Morgan's Trans Mountain Pipeline from Alberta through British Columbia to Vancouver. Eliesen discovered that Canada's National Energy Board's review process was structured to favor approval of Kinder Morgan's proposed Trans Mountain Pipeline. Dismayed by a distorted hearing process where the proposed project escaped any real scrutiny of Kinder Morgan's claims Eliesen has withdrawn from the N.E.B's sham review process giving his reasons in a blistering open letter."
Quebec's Premier Couillard tells TransCanada that its proposed oil terminal shouldn't be built—by Lefty Coaster: "Another setback for the variable Tar Sands Octopus pipeline operator and builder TransCanada. [...] TransCanada Corp. should abandon its plan to build an oil terminal in an area in eastern Quebec where belugas have been listed as an endangered species, Premier Philippe Couillard said Tuesday. A federal government wildlife committee recently concluded that their numbers near Cacouna have dwindled to 1,000 from a high of 10,000. That information will make the project harder for TransCanada (TSX:TRP) to sell the Energy East project at environmental hearings in Quebec and with the National Energy Board, Couillard told a joint news conference with his Alberta counterpart, Jim Prentice."
2 Victories for Anti Pipeline Protesters trying to halt Kinder Morgan's TransMountain expansion—by Lefty Coaster: "Today protesters won two legal victories in their fight to halt Kinder Morgan's proposed expansion of its Trans Mountain Pipeline through British Columbia to Vancouver. A B.C. Supreme Court judge has dropped civil contempt charges against dozens of protesters who were arrested at an anti-pipeline protest on Burnaby Mountain. The order came Thursday after Kinder Morgan acknowledged it had used incorrect GPS co-ordinates when it sought an injunction related to its Trans Mountain pipeline. More than 100 people have been arrested on Burnaby Mountain, including Grand Chief Stewart Phillip of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, who crossed the police line earlier Thursday."
Agriculture, Food & Gardening
the Daily Bucket--Round Up the Usual Suspects—by
6412093: "When we last discussed the Frogs' Mitigation Area (FMA), gentle reader, I left you all with a bucolic picture of thinly disguised garden bragging. We'd cleverly finished planted a truckload of irish and Scottish mosses and thyme, just before the rains started. -On the rare morning when it wasn't raining, I'd begun taking coffee on the back porch looking out on the FMA, admiring our handiwork. As my gaze flitted from plant to plant, a disparity caught my eye. What? Why would we not have planted those mosses and the thyme? Yet several plants lay uprooted on the ground, their naked roots quivering in shame, gasping at exposure to the cruel elements. Well, !@$%, I have to replant those immediately. I cursed my fate, as I searched for a garden trowel, well before the double expresso had integrated itself into my veins and prepared me for the daily grind. Then I have to look for gloves. Change into jeans. Find a ratty towel to kneel on, so my knees don't get wet. Dig. Fortunately, a few trowel fulls of soil removal swiftly revealed the culprit; evidence that would stand up in any garden court. Where once the moss had been planted, now there were buried peanuts. You!!"
A Community on the Rise: Baby Steps and a Seed Rack in New Port Richey—by jtietz: "Now we can make the news for something positive, constructive, and unique. This seed kiosk and these organic, heirloom seeds put New Port Richey on the map in a good way. And we are quite literally on the map – specifically, the Seed Savers Exchange mapfound on their website. [...] Why is this tangible expression of a sincere commitment to sustainability so notable, worth a dedication event, a visit from the mayor, and this address? Well, it is notable for a number of reasons. First, this is the only Seed Savers kiosk in the entire Tampa Bay Region. You won't find one in Tampa, St. Petersburg, Clearwater, or Sarasota. You won't find one south of Tallahassee, east of Silver Springs, north of Cape Coral—except here, in New Port Richey."
Saturday Morning Garden Blogging Vol. 10.40—by Frankenoid: "This has been the weirdest November here in Denver. We started out extremely warm, reaching a high of 72° on November 1. That ended November 10 when an arctic front blew in, dropping temperatures from the mid-60s in the late morning, to below freezing in 90 minutes. We blew past low temperature records, with single-digit highs and an overnight of low of -14° on the 13th. The sudden turn-about freeze dried late-blooming lavender flowers.
Transportation & Infrastructure
Electric Car 3rd Annual Owner Update: Communism, Paranoia, Road Rage—by Morgan in Austin: "I’ve been driving my 100% electric car for two years now. Basic stats:
Mechanical problems: zero
Oil changes: zero
Trips to gasoline stations: zero
Times stuck / out of charge: zero
Times I needed to recharge away from home: two (details below)
Times per year where I resort to driving a gasoline car: about 8. (Going out of town, carrying more than 3 passengers, or transporting a wheelchair) This year I’ll report on how the EV experience changes my world view. If you read my other diaries, you know I’ll start evangelizing at some point. You’ve been warned. [...] I measured the power consumption, recharging on my slow-charge 120V plugin. It draws 800W (a little less than a hair dryer on “low”). This means I use about 16kWH for a full charge, worth about 70 miles. So, roughly 4.35 miles per kWH. I have a decent size solar PV array on the roof, and it generates about 7MWH in a year. That’s 30,625 miles. That’s right. One house can power 30k free vehicle miles in a year."
Utilities learn to love Electric Cars, but a wrong TURN appears—by patbahn: "Okay Folks this is a big deal ... Electricity used to be the nice indicator for the economy. Now look what's happening ... Efficiency and new technology and Small PV are slashing the consumption of electricity. Utilities had 25 and 100 year plans. You don't build a nuke plant or a dam assuming 2 year data. So with 5 years of data, the Planners and managers are freaking out ... They are starting to scale this data out some 25 years and seeing huge down trends. With cheap LED Lights. [...] People aren't going to dump their LED lights, so, what is the source of new demand? Electric cars. In San Diego, Sempra Energy's SRE +0.56% power utility wants to install 5,500 electric-car chargers at hundreds of office parks, apartment buildings and condominium complexes at a cost of $100 million. The company says convenient, easy-to-use charging stations will encourage more Californians to adopt electric cars, improving air quality for everyone. The utility wants to add a surcharge to all San Diego customers' bills. The Utility Reform Network,(TURN) a nongovernmental organization that fights rate increases, has asked state regulators to reject the new fee, about 40 cents a month for an average customer."
Possibility: A Car That Makes Its Own Fuel—by Lib Dem FoP: "British (well Russian emigre) scientists have discovered that the material they first developed ten years ago has a unique property which could mean at some time in the future there will be cars that generate their own fuel. A report in Friday's Independent tells how Professor Sir Andrei Geim of Manchester University has found that graphene membranes allow hydrogen protons to pass through while excluding other gases and hydrogen itself. Applying an electric charge would mean that the hydrogen protons and the electrons could combine with oxygen in a conventional fuel cell that are already being used to power vehicles."
Sustainability & Extinction
Climate Change as a Moral Issue—by leema: "The Truthout article was entitled Are Humans Going Extinct? The answer in short was yes, and in our lifetime. McPherson mused: So it's difficult for me to imagine a scenario where we'll survive even a 4-degree Celsius [above pre-industrial baseline] temperature rise, and we'll be there in the very near future, like by 2030, plus or minus. So it's hard for me to imagine we make it into the 2030s as a species. My letter, which would have stressed the immediacy more if I had read the Truthout interview first, follows: Is it moral to kill future generations to secure our lifestyle for a few more years? That is the big question behind the ever increasing climate changes caused by greenhouse gases. For if we refuse to stop the Fossil Fuel Industry from its wanton need to pollute for profit we are all culpable in the destruction that follows. To make the needed changes the powerful Fossil Fuel Industry must be stopped in its tracks. Individuals alone cannot do that; it requires national and global leaders."
A new road to a sustainable Earth—by Earth Accounting: "Either we achieve a global sustainable economy or we may become extinct. Global warming caused by GHG emissions of human activity alone could do it. The Pentagon knows this. One school of thought is that there are just too many humans as it is. Yet another school of thought advocates less consumption. Both of these schools of thought are right. If less people consume less, sustainability is possibly achievable. Then again achieving a sustainable Earth so that it can continue being a functional spaceship and carry us through the ages is a complex issue. [...] Consumption represents up to 70% of the economy. So what can be done to change consumption patterns to achieve sustainability. What is needed is for consumers to change their behavior patterns?"
Sustainable Building: "The Greenest Building"—by
LeftOfYou: "This is the 4th post in a series which began with We Must Be Nuts, on September 23. That post revealed our dream to find a 100+ yo historical home and perform a sustainable preservation/conservation to provide us with a home during our retirement and then sustain other families for the next 100+ years. The 2nd and 3rd posts detailed houses that we loved and lost for different reasons. You may now continue out into the tall grass, if you like, for the story, in words and pictures, of our adventure, really just beginning, purchasing and planning the restoration of the incredible building pictured above. Ain't she sweet? She needs a lot of TLC, but how is it, some might ask, that I propose, with seeming unbridled extravagance, that this old pile of bricks represents some idea of 'the greenest building.' Well, allow me to retort."
CULTIVATING CLIMATE JUSTICE: A TALE OF TWO CITIES—by Bev Bell: "This is a tale of two U.S. cities building solutions to the climate crisis from the bottom up. We start in the Northeast of the country, with Cooperative Energy, Recycling and Organics (CERO), a newly formed worker-owned cooperative in Boston, Massachusetts. While providing family-supporting jobs for the community, CERO works with businesses on separating out materials that can be recovered. They then collect this waste in a truck and bring it to facilities where it can either be recycled or returned to the soil as compost. (See this video on CERO.) CERO's board members and employees are people like Guadalupe Gonzalez and Josefina Luna, who have been recycling informally for years or decades. Guadalupe Gonzalez used to do backbreaking work, cleaning commercial buildings during the day while picking bottles from the trash at night. She was one of the thousands of underrated recycling workers, earning precious extra money to support her family. Josefina Luna explains that, at CERO, 'Now we can earn a living while protecting the environment.'"
Eco-Related Candidacies, DC & State Politics
Clinton shows she's not the climate leader we need—by Willinois: "Hillary Clinton did us a favor. At a recent speech to the League of Conservation Voters, Clinton showed that she doesn't understand what it will take to confront the climate crisis and she's unwilling to stand up to fossil fuel interests who are threatening to destroy civilization. Even after climate scientists warned we must keep most fossil fuel reserves in the ground, Clinton still advocates natural gas as a 'bridge' fuel. It's ridiculous. There's no credible evidence to show that fracking and building more natural gas infrastructure will reduce CO2 emissions to the levels needed. Clinton made favorable comments about Keystone XL during the 2008 campaign and has refused to speak out against it since then. She dodged the topic again in her latest speech. Her staff at the State Department helped the oil industry influence environmental impact studies in favor of the pipeline. Is that the kid of influence we can expect the fossil fuel industry to have in a Clinton White House? 'Our economy still runs primarily on fossil fuels and trying to change that will take strong leadership,' Clinton said."
Obama Poised to Become the Most Environmentally Consequential President Ever—by therehastobeaway: "According to Coral Davenport of The New York Times, 'President Obama could leave office with the most aggressive, far-reaching environmental legacy of any occupant of the White House.' [...] The real sauce may yet come in the form of his adroit usage of the 1970 Clean Air Act, 'the most powerful environmental law in the world,' in order to "issue a series of landmark regulations on air pollution, from soot to smog, to mercury and planet-warming carbon dioxide' and 'to push forward in a way that no president ever has' a far-reaching, coherent national agenda for tackling global warming and 'reshaping major sectors of the economy, specifically auto manufacturing and electric utilities.'"
I Racked Up $2000 Campaign Debt Fighting Fracking; Can You Help Me Retire It?—by Seneca Doane: "This is Greg Diamond from Orange County. As some of you know, since I started focusing on local blogging here (where it is desperately needed, given the dearth of local liberal Democratic voices), I've begun running for office where I can as a way of getting political messages out to the public. This hasn't led to my getting elected, but it has given a good chunk of the population the opportunity to say "no" to rotten incumbents. [...] The other big water issue is fracking. And the main site for fracking in in the little foothills town of Brea—about three miles from my home. Barbre generally takes a 'not all of the science is in' view towards these sorts of problems—he's one of the people that they trot out to attack Erin Brockovich!—and my water tap is among the ones closest to the scene. Oh, and we started having a swarm of earthquakes shortly after the fracking began, too. Earthquakes are nothing new here—but the timing and location (right near where the fracking was occurring) give any reasonable person pause."
Eco-Justice & Eco-Action
Climate Justice Rally Next Week—by fortyhays: "On Dec. 10, 350NYC, an affiliate of 350.org, is holding a rally near the United Nations to focus attention on climate negotiations in Peru. This International Human Rights Day demonstration, titled 'Climate Justice is a Human Right,' will include speakers from Oxfam, Global Kids, the Rainforest Foundation, and an 11-year-old expected to break his vow of silence. In addition to the speakers, various art performances are planned from 4 to 6 p.m. One speaker will be Kevin Murungi, director of human rights and foreign policy programs at Global Kids, an organization that brings youth development and global education to schools in New York City and Washington, D.C. 'At the core is leadership development. These are young people now, who will be the decision makers not too far from now,' Murungi said. “When they are in the halls of power, they will hopefully make good decisions.'"
Why I won't step foot in a Walmart—by Dan Bacher: "The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) is asking people to not step foot in a Walmart today in solidarity with the workers of the retail giant who are now striking for better wages and working conditions. I won't step foot in a Walmart for that reason and a multitude of other reasons including the following: 1. Walmart funds corporate "environmental" NGOs that support neo-liberal environmental policies including fake "marine protected areas" and "catch shares" programs that devastate fishing families around the world. Don't support any group, such as the Nature Conservancy, Ocean Conservancy and EDF, that receives Walton Family Foundation money! If you're an angler, why support anti-fishing groups by buying garbage at Walmart? [...] 6. Walmart is a notorious corporate polluter, practicing unsustainable practices around the world, and is known for building its giant stores in once-pristine areas with no regard for fish, wildlife and the evironment."
The Inoculation Project 11/30/2014: Birds and Alternative Energy—by nomandates: "Project: Alternative Energy Resources Needed: ethanol production, solar oven and wind power kits for their unit on alternative energy, and lab kits in cell energy and DNA and RNA. School Poverty Level: Highest. Location: Bogalusa High School, Bogalusa, Louisiana. Total Cost: $754.82, starting point $604.82. Still Needed: $259.82 $182.94. Expires: Dec 21, 2014. [...Teacher's narrative:] My Project: I will use the alternative energy kits in my Advanced Placement Environmental Science class. This is the first year for our school to have this class. AP En. Sci. is a hands-on lab based class. Our school has been able to provide our class with a few basic items for our lab, but I am hoping that we can get more. The ethanol production, solar oven and wind power kits will be used throughout the school year as we study alternative fuel and energy sources."
Eco-Essays and Eco-Philosophy
New York City Needs a New Predator—by ban nock: "I wasn't so amazed to see that New York City (NYC) had a deer population when I was browsing the online edition of the New York Times. What was surprising to me was that these gentle and beautiful non human residents of the Big Apple might be murdered! As I delved deeper into the Informative article in the NYT by Ms. Lisa Foderado I learned that deer do this thing called "browse" in a place called Buck's Hollow and that browsing wasn't appreciated. I guess you could say bucks aren't appreciated in bucks hollow. [...] Besides taking a less than benign look at white tail deer. The city parks department is even considering a "cull" which is a polite way of saying murder. More than likely by some gun loons within the department who have been itching to let loose their murderous blood thirsty urges. No doubt due to issues of manhood and penises and stuff. No big predators are not dangerous to humans, they have much more to fear of us than we do of them. Humans are evil, animals are innocent, look how many of them men have murdered and yet since the beginning of time neither a wolf nor a mountain lion has ever killed a human."
The Daily Bucket--Living on the Edge—by
6412093: "Most scientific studies focus on how fragmentation degrades otherwise-majestic forests. I've been watching a much smaller example at the golf course. This area in the northern Willamette Valley contains high-quality farmland. The area's soils include fertile volcanic soils, mingled with ancient marine sediments and glacier-delivered loess. Some farmers cultivated walnut orchards. But as the area developed, a new road cut off a dozen trees from the main portion of the orchard, and isolated those walnut trees onto the golf course. The large trees in the central foreground, just to the right of the paved path, are dead walnuts, their leafless branches still reaching into the sullen Fall sky. When the road separated that handful of trees from the protections of the main grove, the 'edge effect' had its literal opening to inflict more wind, more sun, more rain, and different microclimates and a different mix of nutrients onto the smaller group. One by one, the smaller group are dying."
The Daily Bucket-Where I Roll—by 6412093: "Many people rightly disparage golf courses. Some Private golf clubs protect racist, sexist and ruling class attitudes and practices. Or you could look at some of the best managed public courses and see massive losses of acreages that could have provided crops and/or critter habitat instead of encouraging a stupid game. My name is Redwood Man. I am a golf addict. Yet when I tread a golf course, I see much more than herbicide-drenched, close-mowed fields. I see the unkempt places where critters can thrive or at least survive."
Nice golf community you got there. Be a shame if wild animals moved in.—by SamLoomis: "The gated golf lifestyle apparently isn't as popular anymore, and course owners are cashing out. Problem is, the buyers are closing down the courses. Residents used to freshly trimmed greens and sharply trimmed hedges are seething from all this. [...] Imagine living in a beautiful community like that. Then, one day they stop mowing the grass, the lakes turn to slime and coyotes hunt near your backyard. They already have enough problems with bears biting women in the ass. Developments were supposed to drive those animals far away from our new lots, not invite them back in. We are going on eight years of the country closing more courses than it opens. Using golf courses to sell residential developments hasn't worked out so well, when there aren't enough affluent club members to keep the course afloat. Many of these courses will eventually be carved up and filled with closely-packed houses I described above. Until then, warding off coyotes and bears is a priority for the residents of these abandoned golf wastelands. Many of them have turned to good ol' American self-reliance."
Oceans, Water & Drought
Construction set to begin on Nicaragua's Interoceanic Grand Canal-What could possibly go wrong?—by Pakalolo: "Scientists and social activists have very become disturbed by the potential catastrophic consequences caused by the construction of a new canal through Nicaragua. Reuters reports that construction will begin 12-22-14. [...] Dredging millions of tons of earth from land and the lake bed, displacing tens of thousands of people, steam rolling over the indigenous people and their land. The list goes on, polluting the water of Lake Nicaragua which just happens to be the water supply of the nation."
Group Says Bechtel-Funded Water Storage Study Is 'Half-Baked'—by Dan Bacher: "A Bechtel Foundation-funded water storage study released by U.C. Davis on November 20 promotes Governor Jerry Brown's peripheral tunnels and links the construction of new dams to tunnels, according to Restore the Delta (RTD). Opponents of Governor Jerry Brown's Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) to build two massive water diversion tunnels under the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, today released their critical responses to the study, entitled 'Integrating Storage in California’s Changing Water System.' [...] The UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences, funded by the S.D. Bechtel Jr. Foundation, claims, 'California’s approval of a $7.5 billion water bond has bolstered prospects for expanding reservoirs and groundwater storage, but the drought-prone state can effectively use no more than a 15 percent increase in surface water storage capacity because of lack of water to fill it, according to a new analysis released Nov. 20.'"
Brown Administration Abandons Raid on Fishing License Funds!—by Dan Bacher: "In response to objections raised by the California Sportfishing League (CSL) in an action alert campaign, the California Ocean Protection Council (OPC) has abandoned its plan to raid fishing and hunting licensing funds to manage questionable "marine protected areas, created under the privately funded Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative. This reversal shows that California’s fishing community, when it unites, can be a powerful voice in influencing the outcome of public policy. 'Not only was the proposed raid illegal, but it was a violation of the public’s trust,' according to a statement from CSL. 'Fish license funds are intended to support programs that protect and enhance recreational fishing opportunities, not programs that deny anglers access to California’s coastline!'"
Call Your Senators and Congress Members to stop new drought bill!—by Dan Bacher: "Congressman David Valadao has authored H.R. 5781 which was introduced on the House Floor last night (December 2, 2014). A first reading of the bill reveals that it does little to "solve water shortages" resulting from the drought, but it does alter how environmental protection statutes are implemented and enforced for the San Francisco Bay-Delta estuary, according to Restore the Delta (RTD). It also contains language to expedite Federal review of storage projects (within a 30 day window) which could have a negative impact on the availability of flows into the Delta and that could be used, according to a recent UC Davis report, to provide additional water for Governor Brown's proposed twin Delta tunnels. It also allows for expedited water transfers which puts the health of our Northern California rivers and groundwater supplies at stake, especially during times of extended drought."
Critters & the Great Outdoors
The Daily Bucket: Winter Comes to Paradise
—by
Elizaveta: "When I was a kid, visits to Mt. Rainier National Park meant summer and those Fridays when my mom would pack all the food, camping gear, and kids into the car in the early afternoon and drive up to the Cougar Rock or Ohanapecosh campground for the weekend (there was no need for campground reservations back then). My dad and uncle joined us in the evening when they were through with work. September meant we were locked away behind the walls of school, the camping gear was stowed away, and as far as I figure, the mountain was closed the rest of the year. What a bill a goods I was sold. Now that I'm all grown up and know better, and especially since I moved back to the Pacific Northwest, I've made the effort to get out to the parks and forests in every season and in all kinds of weather to see what's changed with the seasons (there are a lot of other good reasons for getting out, of course). This trip came at the end of the Thanksgiving Day weekend--outdoor experiences are an essential part of my family's holiday traditions. Who can be bothered with shopping when all of this is right outside your back door?"
Bog Time—by OldJackPine: "The way to the little bog is hidden save for a wide spot on the edge of a sandy two-track snaking through the pines. If you know where to step through the roadside alders, a trail is revealed leading off through the relative darkness of closely growing northern white cedars, eastern hemlocks, and stately white pines. The trail traverses a decrepit little boardwalk in the wetter areas and I even found a regulation state park interpretive sign pulled up by its post and laying face-down along the trail. The State Park was evidently once proud of this little bog but no longer. Debris left by retreating glaciers often contained enormous blocks of ice that melted to create landlocked little depressions known as kettle holes. With no inflow or outflow, these little depressions filled with glacial melt and then remained full due to the abundant rain and snow of the Great Lakes region and remained isolated by the poor drainage of the clay deposits—hence even at birth, they were destined for stasis."
Dawn Chorus: Another Limpkin Stand In Diary—by
matching mole: "Here are some pictures of a Limpkin I took yesterday. Limpkins are tropical birds that feed on apple snails. Although they resemble ibis they are actually more closely related to rails and cranes. Here in Tallahassee we are at the northern edge of their range but they are thriving due to an invasive apple snail species. If you look closely you can see snails in the process of being devoured in a couple of pictures."
Hiking With a Gun—by ban nock: "Hunters have a self depreciating term for an unsuccessful hunt, they call it 'hiking with a gun.' It helps to have a sense of humor if you're going to take so much time sleeping in winter conditions, hiking at altitude in dense forests, day after day, often year after year, and come home with nothing. Fail. Zero. No meat. No horns. I spent a few days up in the northwest portion of Colorado and then a couple more days in the front range above Denver in the early part of November, hiking with a gun."
Duck Stamp Passes Senate - Heads for President's Signature—by ban nock: "Some legislation does pass congress. Yesterday legislation to increase the federal duck stamp that all migratory waterfowl hunters must pay was increased from $15 to $25. If you look up top of this post you will see a duck stamp, not sure which year. Duck stamps pay to purchase and maintain habitat so everyone is pretty happy. Fish and Wildlife Director Dan Ashe said, 'At a time when millions of acres of wildlife habitat are at risk of being lost forever, congressional approval of this bipartisan legislation is a critical boost for wetlands conservation.'"
Thanks for Nature - Video & Photos—by John Crapper: "My wife and I found ourselves with some unexpected time off right after the mid-term elections. Needing a pick-me-up we decided to get out of town for a little recharge. So on November 10th, just a couple of days before the North Cascades Highway (Hwy. 20) closed for the winter we traveled across the mountain pass to spend three days in Winthrop. Always in awe of nature and very concerned about the affect humans are having on our climate I want to share a little of our journey and give thanks for the wondrous beauty that still surrounds us. Today is not a day to mention all the negative things happening in our world. It is a day to give thanks for it's beauty and all it provides us every day.Crossing the pass this is the beauty we witnessed":
The Daily Bucket - Oh, the Places You'll Go!—by Milly Watt: "A couple of years ago, Mr. Watt took up geocaching as a hobby. The great thing about it is that it has led us to explore new places and see things we might not have discovered otherwise. Mr. Watt has a sweatshirt that explains geocaching.
[...] Geocaching.com gives a much fuller explanation, of course. Geocachers use Global Positioning System (GPS) devices to navigate to the coordinates specified for a cache and, once there, try to find a hidden container. The container contains a logbook to sign and possibly toys or trinkets that participants can trade (take one, leave one). Some of those items can be trackables that one can watch travel from cache to cache as participants pick them up and leave them elsewhere. Those are the simple caches. There are also caches that require you to solve a puzzle to derive the coordinates, multi-stage caches that involve multiple steps on the way to the final cache that contains the logbook, and EarthCaches that involve learning about geological features at the specified location and logging it by answering questions about your observations there (I'll talk about those in another bucket some day)."
❅ thanksgiving winter wonderland - part two ❅—by blueyedace2:
❅ thanksgiving winter wonderland - part one ❅—by
blueyedace2. Photo Diary.
Daily Bucket: Wild Florida--Stingrays—by Lenny Flank: "The Stingray is one of our more famous Florida residents. Indeed it is so well-known that we named one of our major league baseball teams after it. Most tourists know it from the potential dangers of accidentally stepping on it. But in reality the Stingrays are shy inoffensive fish who do their best to avoid conflicts. The stingrays (and their relatives the skates) belong to the taxonomic order known as Myliobatiformes. There are about 480 species of rays and skates worldwide, divided into eight different families. Together with the sharks, they make up the class of fishes known as Chondrichthyes. This is a very primitive group of fishes—fossil sharks and rays have been found as far back as 400 million years ago. The sharks and rays were one of the first animals with jaws to appear. They are so primitive that they don't even have any bones—their skeletons are made entirely of cartilage."
The Daily Bucket - invisible wildlife—by OceanDiver: "Fair warning, there are NO pictures of wildlife in this Bucket! That said, I did discover some cool wildlife living and working—invisibly—in the lowlands of western Washington on a recent visit. Invisible at least to a human visitor tromping noisily through the wetland woods for a few minutes. Or closeted inside a house during the night hours ... I did hear a band of coyotes yipping down in the bottomland one night. That was worth being awake at 3 am (I don't sleep very well away from home). I've heard—and seen—coyotes in this forested creek bottom before. I grew up there, and return for visits. Half a century ago this part of Snohomish county was rural woods and farms; today the area has become a bedroom community for nearby cities. But because an ancient creek still wanders along this bottomland, its wetland corridor is an undeveloped refuge for wildlife. Even with rubber boots I can only get so far into the wetland at this time of year, but I like to see what's happening where I can. I listen. The insects and frogs are silent but birds call—a Towhee, a Raven, a Golden Crowned sparrow. A squirrel chatters in a tree, invisible even though I look for movement in that direction."
Beaver dam where diarist has never seen a beaver.
Forests, Wilderness & Public Lands
Toward Securing a Grand Canyon Watershed National Monument—by Marni McKinney via Dan Chu: "The Grand Canyon Watershed is the site of a proposed new national monument, covering 1.7 million acres of desert grasslands, old growth forests, towering cliffs, deep canyons, and freshwater springs that flow into the Colorado River. The Sierra Club, with support from the Sierra Club Foundation, is currently working locally and nationally to secure a presidential proclamation designating a Grand Canyon Watershed National Monument. During our 4-day trip that included visits to the Kaibab National Forest, the North Rim, Vermilion Cliffs, the Navajo Bridge, and the town of Flagstaff, we met with tireless Sierra Club national and chapter staff and volunteers, working to secure permanent protection for this special landscape. Along the way we solicited advice and guidance from local partners including elected officials, business owners, and tribal leaders."
Mining
North Carolina's Ash Tray—by skeyewalker: "Residents of a small trailer park off Colon Road in Sanford North Carolina didn’t know that their community will soon become a dumping ground for millions of tons of potentially toxic coal ash. Why is because no one had to ask their permission prior to doing so. According to North Carolina law, as long as the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) granted its permission to Duke Energy by early 2015, they are good to go. Most community leaders south of Raleigh, North Carolina found out about the Duke Energy plan on November 15, the same day Duke Energy turned in its proposed coal ash disposal plan to the DENR. This was at the behest of state lawmakers to close high-risk coal basins in Eden, Mount Holly, and Wilmington, NC and move the 17.5 million tons of coal ash elsewhere. That ‘elsewhere’ appears to be the small trailer park off Colon Road in Sanford because of its proximity to rail lines and its abundance of clay."
Trash, Pollution & Hazardous Waste
Radiological Threat Risk: Unaddressed known threat killing 6X as many as 9/11 every year—by benamery21: "The biggest radiological killer in the U.S., killing tens of thousands of people annually, kills by causing lung cancer. The cause is a naturally occurring toxic radiological gas called radon, of which you have likely heard, and the risks of which have been well known for decades. Identification and mitigation of these risks would be a rounding error in the federal budget and would save the government significant money over time in reduced treatment costs of lung cancer."
The Personal Cost of Water Pollution—by michelewln: "In February Duke Energy spilled toxic coal ash into the Dan River. It still isn't cleaned up. Duke Energy is still fighting in court to keep from having to pay in full for the clean up not only on Dan River but at the other sites as well. Governor McCrory worked for Duke Energy for 28 years. There are on going investigations into the campaign finances and the Governor's response or lack of strong response to Duke Energy's pollution. [...] I live in North Carolina and am a caregiver to a 100% disabled brother. For the last couple of years I have been fighting the black gunk coming out of my water faucets. The maintenance people tell me it is the result of stuff in our water tables and they have asked the government to do something about it but nothing has been done. The black gunk coats the pipes and rapidly builds up to stop up the drains. The only way to open the drains is use the strongest of the commercial drain openers. [...] Essentially my whole life is covered with black gunk. When I shower it is in the water. When I wash dishes it is in the water. When I wash clothes it is in the water. The apartment says they can do nothing. The city says they can do nothing. The state is owned by Duke Energy."
Fukushima Radionuclides Not Detected in Sockeye Salmon and Steelhead Trout Collected Summer 2014—by MarineChemist: "The Integrated Fukushima Ocean Radionuclide Monitoring (InFORM) project is a network involving academic, governmental, and non-governmental organizations, as well as citizen scientists. InFORM is acquiring data to support a thorough radiological impact assessment for Canada's west coast stemming from the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant (FD-NPP) accident, and to effectively communicate these results to the public. The first measurements undertaken as part of the InFORM project to look for Fukushima derived radionculides were made on 19 fish in collaboration with the Nisga'a First Nation. Sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) and Steelhead Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) were caught off the west coast of Canada in Summer 2014 as they were returning to the Nass River in northern BC. We measured the activities of cesium radioisotopes 134-Cs and 137-Cs that were released in large quantities from the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant disaster in 2011. We also measured naturally occurring radioisotopes Potassium-40 (40-K) and Polonium-210 (210-Po) that always contribute doses of radiation to human consumers of marine fish. None of the fish were found to contain detectable levels of Fukushima derived radionuclides."
Studying Radioactive Cesium Contamination of Children Affected by the Fukushima Disaster—by MarineChemist: "The purpose of this short diary is to report the results of a very recently published study which used a whole body scanner to look for cesium (134-Cs half life ~ 2 years, 137-Cs half life 30 years) contamination in children directly affected by the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant (NPP) disaster. [...] This diary is part of an ongoing series which reports information gained by scientific study regarding the environmental impact of the triple meltdowns at the NPP site. Whole body measurements of contamination levels in elementary and middle school students who commute to 22 schools located within Minamisoma City were assessed between May and July 2013 (roughly 2 to 2.5 years after the disaster). Of the 3,299 elementary and middle school students in the city, 3,255 individuals, or 98% of the total were screened through school health check-ups. No children screened had detectable levels of 134-Cs or 137-Cs (detection limits were 220 Bq body-1 and 250 Bq body-1 respectively). Maximum annual effective doses (25-66 µSv yr-1), estimated from diet surveys and the detection limits of the whole body scanner, are much lower than the common dose limit recommendation for the public (1 mSv yr-1). The authors suggest that ongoing food inspection by local governments, volunteers, and farmers has been functioning well within Fukushima prefecture to limit the exposure of residents to contaminants."
Miscellany
Something new on the Spaceship Earth instrument panel—by Earth Accounting: "One way to look at Spaceship Earth is from a macro-economy perspective. Macro-economics is one of the instruments the meta-organism piloting the spaceship looks at. The Gross World Product is about $80 trillion/year, the sum total of the Gross Domestic Product of all countries. The instrument on Spaceship Earth that shows it is running out of dial. We may need a new GWP indicator. Of this $80 trillion, approximately 60% of the sum total of comes from household consumption. In the US it's 70%. So, overall, human consumption by all households is about $50 trillion/year. This $50 trillion is a function of the purchasing decisions made by billions of human beings. The sum total of these decisions by "consumers" is one way that the humanity meta-organism is affecting the sustainability of the planet. What if the individual consumers became aware of the impact of their purchasing (consumption) decisions on the planet? Technology makes this possible now."