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
22,465 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.
In reversal, Virginia AG says localities may ban fracking—by
Ivy Main: "Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring issued an official advisory opinion on May 5 holding that Virginia localities have the right to prohibit hydraulic fracturing (or “fracking”) as part of their power to regulate land use within their boundaries. The letter reverses a two-year-old opinion by former Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli. Herring’s opinion cites §15.2-2280 of the Virginia Code, which grants broad zoning powers to localities. These include the power to 'regulate, restrict, permit, prohibit, and determine' land uses, such as 'the excavation or mining of soil or other natural resources.' Thus, writes Herring, 'I conclude that the General Assembly has authorized localities to pass zoning ordinances prohibiting fracking. The plain language of the stature also authorizes localities to regulate fracking in instances where it is permitted.'"
Support Mothers Fighting Dirty Gold Mining!—by EARTHWORKS: "Large scale, industrial mining disproportionately impacts women. So they’re often on the frontlines, fighting dirty mining projects and demanding responsible behavior from mining companies. Perhaps because they’re fighting for their children’s future, these women are often moms. This Mother’s Day, we’re highlighting two mothers’ fight to protect their kids in the Peruvian province of Cajamarca. Their fight? Making America’s largest gold mining company, Newmont, behave itself. As Executive Director of community organization Grufides, Mirtha Vasquez has been working to protect her community from the impacts of industrial mining for more than 10 years. In addition to being a persuasive spokesperson and advocate for her community, Mirtha is the mother of two young children, ages 1 and 3. Mirtha has spent years dealing with Newmont’s Yanacocha mine, the largest gold mine in Latin America. Among her many efforts, she has spoken out against Yanacocha’s repeated pollution of soil and water supplies, and the government’s failure to stop it."
NDP victory in Alberta means more opportunity for us to defeat big, dirty oil—by
e2247: "I want to share with you a message I got from Kai Nagata who works for Dogwood Initiative with a job title of Energy & Democracy Director. You may be aware that last fall Dogwood mailed oil samples to show risks of shipping oil, a provocative letter containing a sample of heavy oil to homes across British Columbia. [...] I ask you to read Kai Nagata's message and help convince Alberta's new premier Rachel Notley to set up a fair and independent review of Kinder Morgan’s crude oil pipeline and tanker project. [...]
What a strange world to wake up in. After 44 years of unbroken conservative rule, Stephen Harper’s political heartland has been swept by the New Democrats. Alberta’s Enbridge-lobbyist-in-chief Jim Prentice has resigned. And their new premier says she won’t support the Northern Gateway pipeline and oil tanker proposal. Rachel Notley’s majority victory is an earthquake for energy politics in Canada. Not only does the NDP leader think Northern Gateway is a lost cause, she sees no point in pursuing TransCanada’s Keystone XL proposal either. But make no mistake: the government she’s inheriting still depends heavily on oil sands revenues. Notley wants more 'market access' for more Alberta bitumen. That’s why she supports Kinder Morgan. Luckily, it’s not up to her. It’s up to the citizens of British Columbia—and the First Nations along the pipeline and tanker route."
You can find more rescued green diaries below the orange garden layout.
Climate Chaos
Global Warming Majority—by gmoke: "63% of adults in the USA think global warming is happening. In every state and every Congressional district the majority admits the existence of global warming. There are only 37 counties in 14 states, according to Yale Climate Opinion, where the majority rejects this idea. The lowest percentage, the least belief in the existence of global warming, is 46% in West Virginia's Mason and Pleasants counties. If I were running a public education campaign on global warming, I'd consider targeting the people in those counties, in those states to change the 2% here and 3% there so that there is no longer even one county in all of the USA where ignoring the existence of global warming is a majority opinion, no matter how slim that majority might be."
Burning Down the House (Science Committee Chair)—by ClimateDenierRoundup: "We don't know what's gotten into Michael Hiltzik in the past few months, but boy are we loving it! The Pulitzer-winning journalist has recently been writing semi-regularly on the GOP's shameful climate stance and the press's duty to fact check the unscientific assertions of deniers who are 'usually Republican.' Hiltzik leads by example, recently highlighting 'the GOP attack on climate change science.' This time, Republicans have attempted to gut NASA's funding for Earth Sciences in the NASA authorization bill for fiscal year 2016 and 2017. Lamar Smith's (R-TX) announcement of the proposed bill was was described by Hiltzik as, 'a model of misdirection and deceit,' because Smith failed to mention the climate cuts and misrepresented the Planetary Society's opposition as support. Unsurprisingly, Hiltzik's (apt) description wasn't well received by Smith, whose communications director contacted Hiltzilk requesting an explanation. He, of course, obliged and wrote what may be one of the most awesome congressional burns since, well, since Senator Whitehouse's epic 'Senator Snowball' takedown. The title of Hiltzik's response makes it clear he's not playing around: 'A congressional climate change denier's disingenuous defense.'"
Heartland's "Fresh Start" Already Stale—by climatedenierroundup: "The discredited Heartland Institute has started to hype their 10th annual International Conference on Climate Change, which has the theme of 'Fresh Start.' To be honest, we were excited to hear about the conference, titled 'The New Science & Economics of Climate Change,' because it gets kind of boring covering deniers when they've been using the same tactics and talking points for decades. But alas, our hope was misplaced as the schedule reveals the same old song and dance, from the same crew of Koch-funded conservative old white men (the one exception being the now-infamous Willie Soon, who was born in Malaysia). The conference starts on June 11, with a keynote breakfast by stalwart denier James Inhofe, and ends the next day with a panel hosted by Marc Morano on 'Action Items for Policymakers.' While the conference looks pretty boring, we noticed some interesting information (or lack thereof) in the bios. For example, what's not mentioned in Inhofe's bio? His fossil fuel funding. What is mentioned in Pat Michaels' bio? His work with the IPCC (an institution Heartland both mimics and mocks). What's not mentioned in Willie Soon's bio? His Harvard-Smithsonian affiliation, suggesting H-S either told him to stop publicizing the connection or that Soon doesn't expect to still be part of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics come June."
Arctic sea ice extent second lowest level ever recorded in April—by Meteor Blades: "The National Snow & Ice Data Center has published its assessment of the extent of Arctic and Antarctic sea ice for April. The average extent of the ice was the second lowest in the satellite record for the month [...] This month, the center is using new sensors along with older sources to provide a more complete picture of changes in the thickness of Arctic ice. R. Lindsay and A. Schweiger have published a paper—Arctic sea ice thickness loss determined using subsurface, aircraft, and satellite observations—that shows a sharp drop in ice thickness over the Arctic Ocean. From 1975 to 2012, the average has fallen by 3.59 meters (11.78 feet) to only 1.25 meters (4.10 feet). That's down 65 percent."
400 ppm and rising...do we still have a chance?—by don mikulecky: "The clown show in Washington makes Nero look sane. You have probably seen some version of this: The World's Carbon Dioxide Levels Just Hit a Staggering New Milestone. [...] Crossing the 400 ppm threshold is equal parts disheartening and alarming. Less than a decade ago scientists and environmental activists, including Bill McKibben, launched a campaign to convince policy makers that global CO2 concentrations needed to be reduced to 350 ppm in order to avoid massive impacts from global warming. McKibben, who co-founded the group 350.org, explained the significance of that figure in a 2008 Mother Jones article entitled 'The Most Important Number on Earth.' Yes the number is alarming. What is so much more alarming is that the system that produced the number grinds on almost unchecked."
UWA Nixes Lomborg $4m Consensus Centre Project—by gregladen: "Over the last several weeks we've seen the University of Western Australia accept a $4 million dollar Federal grant to develop a 'Consensus Centre' in the mold of Bjorn Lomborg's nonprofit, with Lomborg as a key player. Lomborg has been heavily criticized for his lack of scholarship and seemingly biased policy related to climate change and related issues. There was heavy opposition in the Australian academic community to this project.Under pressure from peers and colleagues, Vice Chancellor Paul Johnson has announced that the project is cancelled. In a message published on the UWA University News site, the Vice-Chancellor notes: ... it is with great regret and disappointment that I have formed the view that the events of the past few weeks places the Centre in an untenable position as it lacks the support needed across the University and the broader academic community to meet its contractual obligations and deliver value for money for Australian taxpayers [...] I have today spoken to the Federal Government and Bjorn Lomborg advising them of the barriers that currently exist to the creation of the Centre and the University’s decision to cancel the contract and return the money to the government."
Global Warming vs. Climate Change—by PeanutLover: "One thing that struck me, among all the other fallacies being put forth was that the “libs” (people seriously still say that?) are changing the name of global warming over time because it gets so thoroughly debunked that the left has to change the name of it. I heard it on multiple stations from multiple radio hosts. So according to them the left started out calling it Global Cooling, then Global Warming, and now Climate Change. [...] I was confused. But then I learned about the Republican strategist Frank Luntz and started reading about his influence on the Republican party and on messaging. The reality is that the transition to the term climate change came solely from the right. A memo from Luntz to the Bush White House in 2002 about how to change the conversation about global warming into what we now call denialism. It is titled THE ENVIRONMENT: A CLEANER SAFER, HEALTHIER AMERICA. In it, Luntz specifically says to start calling it climate change and not global warming because it’s 'less frightening'."
Critters & the Great Outdoors
The Daily Bucket - white flowers in wet woods
—by OceanDiver: "May 5, 2015. maritime Pacific Northwest . Wandering through the woods recently searching for nesting birds (no luck, in spite of songs and calls luring me on) I found many native flowering plants in the shady understory of the firs and cedars. Interestingly, most of the them were flowering in shades of white. These woods were on a rocky headland. In spite of the very thin layer of soil over bedrock, the ground gets very wet in winter and spring with rain soaking the moss and duff.This tiny white flower I wasn't able to identify. What flower you ask? The one the Banana Slug is sidling up to."
The Daily Bucket: Shorebirds in Breeding Plumage—by
matching mole: "It's early May in northern Florida and our abundant aquatic habitat is a lot less 'birdy' than it was a month or two ago. Oh, there are plenty of herons and egrets, anhingas and cormorants, moorhens and wood duck still around. But dabblers and divers, the loons, the horned grebes, and so on have departed for the north. Early May does have one treat for us—the shorebirds are heading for the north and putting on their breeding plumage before they leave. On Sunday we visited Alligator Point, in Franklin County, Florida for a walk on the beach. There was some other interesting stuff out there which I will save for another day. American Oystercatchers on a dock on the 'bay side' (inland) of the point. I've never seen them on a dock elsewhere. It was high tide to presumably they were hanging out until they could go back to the oyster beds. They are one of four shorebird species that breeds locally rather than heading to the Arctic."
Painted turtle
The Daily Bucket: Spring at the Nisqually Wildlife Refuge—by
Elizaveta: "There are a couple of nice trails created just for humans at the Nisqually Wildlife Refuge, but many areas are reserved for the critters we're supposed to be sharing this planet with. It's possible to observe and take a few photos without straying from the paths. More photos lightboxed (but with few comments offered) for your listening pleasure below the little orange nest. [...] We also saw a Great Horned owl hopping around way off in the tops of the trees. It was pointed out to us by a guy who obviously spends lots of time at the Refuge and knows where to look. He also had the perfect lens for capturing those sorts of photos that I will never get with the equipment I have. We all thought the owl was awfully active for someone who was supposed to be in bed. It's a busy time of year out at the Refuge (maybe all the activity was keeping the owl awake)."
Energy
Coal, Oil, Gas & Nuclear
Shell busted again-Arctic drilling rig due in Puget Sound failed a Coast Guard inspection in Hawaii—by Pakalolo: "Not only is Shell's arctic drilling fleet expected to cause catastrophic impacts to the Arctic Ocean, it apparently causes problems in local waters where ever it goes. Vice News reports: A drill ship at the heart of Shell's hunt for Arctic oil flunked a Coast Guard inspection last month when a piece of anti-pollution gear that already cost its owner millions in fines failed again. The Coast Guard held the Noble Discoverer in Honolulu for a day until engineers could repair the device that separates oil from the water in the ship's bilges, said Lt. Scott Carr, a spokesman for the service. The April 23 inspection occurred less than five months after vessel owner Noble Drilling pleaded guilty to a variety of federal charges and paid $12.2 million in fines, partly for dumping oily water overboard when the same machine didn't work. [...] The 514-foot ship is now en route to Seattle, where Shell plans to muster another expedition into the remote Chukchi Sea off Alaska. It will be the multinational oil giant's first attempt to drill there since the ill-fated summer of 2012, when Noble Discoverer was plagued by engine trouble and the drill platform Kulluk ran aground in a storm at the season's end."
Status of the Spent Fuel At Fukushima Dai-ichi: How much was released to the environment?—by MarineChemist: "The purpose of this diary is to answer the question posed in the title by summarizing a recently published peer reviewed study in the journal Nuclear Engineering and Design. The diary is part of an ongoing effort to communicate results from scientific studies aimed at understanding the impact of the Fukushima Dai-ichi meltdowns on the environment. The paper by Jäckel compares measured and predicted activities of reactor products 134-Cesium (134Cs half life ~2 years) and 137-Cs (137Cs half life ~30 years) in the reactor cores and spent fuel to measurements in the spent fuel pools (SFPs) of Units 1, 2, 3 and 4 at the site to determine how much spent fuel radiocesium was released after the accident. The comparison indicates that only very minor damage to the spent fuel occurred during the accident and subsequent clearing work such that at most about 1% of the Cs inventory from a single bundle (in Unit 2 SFP) was released to the cooling water. The short answer to the question is that not very much of the spent fuel was released at all and the bulk of releases originated from the reactor fuel in Units 1, 2 and 3 at the time of the accident. This is consistent with the results of measurements made of Fukushima derived radionuclides in air, soil and water worldwide since March 2011."
Seattle Mayor Ed Murray delays Shell's plan to use port as base for Arctic Drilling—by Lefty Coaster: "Seattle's Mayor Ed Murray has demanded that the Port of Seattle get a new permit to base Shell Oil's drilling for oil offshore in the Arctic Ocean, a development environmentalists have condemned as very risky in an area that is very a sensitive marine ecosystem. It seems that the lease the Port of Seattle is operating under specified it only be used for "cargo operations" and drilling in the Arctic can't be considered a cargo operation. The Port of Seattle must apply for a new land-use permit in order to have its Terminal 5 serve as a hub for Shell’s offshore Arctic oil-drilling fleet, Seattle Mayor Ed Murray said Monday. 'After talking to the Port about its plans at Terminal 5 and after reviewing the 20-year-old permit for the operation of the cargo terminal, (Seattle’s Department of Planning and Development) has found, and I concur, that the long-term moorage and maintenance of Arctic drilling equipment falls outside the current permit,' Murray said, drawing applause at a downtown Seattle fundraising breakfast for Climate Solutions, a 'clean-energy economy' nonprofit."
Emissions Control
Enormous methane leak in the southwest being painstakingly studied—oil and gas likely suspects—by Walter Einenkel: "The methane hotspot reported by NASA this past October is getting science's most rigorous method applied to it. Steve Conley is using the sky for parts of his research: Flying at about 2,000 feet, he banked hard left to circle the ventilation shaft of a coal mine as inlet tubes under the right wing of the aircraft sucked in air, which passed through equipment that detects and quantifies methane and provides results in real time. 'That’s a huge spike right there. It’s scary big,' said Conley as the instruments registered more than four times the background level downwind of the vent shaft, about 25 miles southwest of Durango. 'That means that this thing is blowing out stuff like crazy.' Whereas the original study stressed the underreporting of methane emissions from the coal industry, it was based on NASA satellite imagery. Conley's study hopes to be more definitive in its identifying of emissions sources."
Keystone XL & Other Fossil Fuel Transportation
Another HazMat Train Bomb Has Exploded—by Agathena: "May 6, 2015: Heimdal, North Dakota has been evacuated. No injuries or fatalities to people. Looking at the black plumes we can see definite injury to the planet which has reached 400 ppm carbon today. In order to survive we have to keep that under 350 ppm. So the 6th extinction marches on. How long are the people of North America going to allow these oil train accidents to continue? Above all, when are we going to insist on a limit to their size and frequency? They are one mile long and up to 100-120 cars passing through cities and towns across the continent. Train tracks originally meant to connect cities now go through heavily populated areas. They also go along rivers so that when there is a derailment our rivers are endangered by the spills. New regulations are about prevention and clean up response but what about regulations limiting the permits and the size of these trains?"
Agriculture, Food & Gardening
Jeff Flake's stupid GOP whining about buying chocolates for his mom/wife has global implications—by annieli: "Sen. Jeff Flake slammed the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on Friday for a program aimed at ensuring the survival of a food much loved by Americans: chocolate. The Arizona Republican highlighted the department's $135,615 grant last year to the University of Reading's International Cocoa Quarantine Centre to help develop a quarantine system for cocoa plants. After cocoa plants spend two years under quarantine, parts of the plant are shipped to cocoa-producing countries, where they can be bred with local cocoa plants to try to build a higher-resistance crop, according to the university. The Arizona Republican used the grant as part of his "Pork Chops" series, a "weekly roasting of egregious federal spending.'"
Open thread for night owls. Is corn ethanol breaking the law?—by Meteor Blades: "Joe Romm at Climate Progress writes Is corn ethanol breaking the law? Corn ethanol may be breaking the law, according to a study from last month, 'Cropland Expansion Outpaces Agricultural and Biofuel Policies in the United States.' It appears that corn was caught yellow-handed by University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers in a plot with other crops like soy to replace 'millions of acres of grasslands.' But scientists named corn the ring-leader: 'Corn was the most common crop planted directly on new land.' [...] Scientists learned that crops “expanded onto 7 million acres of new land,” during those four years and replaced “millions of acres of grasslands.” Half of that was new soy and corn, which was increasingly used to make biofuels between 2008 and 2012 to meet U.S. government mandates, which included a minimum target of over 12 billion gallons of biofuels in 2010."
It’s Time to Call BullSh!t on Those Calling BullSh!t on Chipotle—by earthyrobot: "Some media outlets are referring to a “backlash” against Chipotle after their announcement to become the First National Restaurant Company to Use Only Non-GMO Ingredients. Recently, GMO-denial has been put in the same vein with climate-denial, anti-vaxxers, and science-deniers. The problem is—this is total bullsh!t. Let’s not confuse the (oversimplification of the) production of GMO crops with the actual use of GMO crops."
Where is the Outrage?—by Adriana A: "I don't get it. California is in the middle of the worst drought on record, Nestle is stealing our precious water, and no one is calling for a boycott! They've been taking undisclosed amounts of water from all over our state, and even after it was discovered that at least some of their operations had been conducted with expired permits for DECADES, there seems to be no end in site to this theft! The U.S. Forest Service, who oversees the operations which have been taking place with the expired permit has done absolutely nothing to put a stop to it."
Sustainability & Extinction
Future of the Human Animal w/poll—by CindyV: "It is easy to point fingers toward the top, the elite 1%. But I'm afraid there is a bigger problem in modern society. How many of us have first-hand knowledge of all the things that go into what we use and consume on a day-in, day-out basis? None of us! To varying degrees, but definitely across the board, we're all out of touch. And this makes every one of us susceptible to causing damage (oh, and we are). The even deeper issue, though, is our human-centric way of viewing everything. It's natural to focus on our own survival, needs, etc. But our civilization was built on a belief in the superiority of our species; our god-given right to dominion over the earth. Even those who altruistically step outside of their personal self-interest often turn their focus on the needs of other humans first. As long as we cling to the idea that the human species is special we will continue on a flawed path. We will never live in harmony with our world if we view ourselves and our needs as uniquely important."
Eco-Essays and Eco-Philosophy
Climate change and the rise of radical religion—by grgcatfish: "What will it take to convince these CLIMATE CHANGE DENIERS that we need to act on one of the biggest problems known to man that has dire consequences if we don't? Many of the catastrophic results from the worlds inaction is already taking place in other parts of the world. The severe drought in the middle east I feel is a major factor in the rising numbers joining radical Islam. With the famine many are facing there because of no rain to grow crops, they have been turning to religion because they feel punished by God. With groups like ISIS and their offer of help for their families while playing on their religious views, they become easy targets to be exploited. This is just the tip of the iceberg so to speak. We should be more worried about where the next threat will come from. Just look to the severe changes in the weather is taking place. Here are just a few of the places that are already experiencing the decrease in snow and rainfall that very soon unrest will follow."
Oceans, Water & Drought
MIT created a solar-powered machine that turns saltwater into drinking water—by Walter Einenkel: "MIT engineers have invented a new desalination machine that runs on solar energy. The project began in 2013 when the engineers went to India with the hopes of helping poorer villages and townships with their drinking water. The assumption was that they would figure out ways to rid these towns of microbes and other contaminants frequently found in poorer, older, water supplies. [...] The science of how the desalination system works is similar to most, sans the power source. The group came up with a method that uses solar panels to charge a bank of batteries. The batteries then power a system that removes salt from the water through electrodialysis. On the most basic level, that means that dissolved salt particles, which have a slight electric charge, are drawn out of the water when a small electrical current is applied. In addition to getting rid of salt (which makes water unusable for crops and for drinking), the team also applied UV light to disinfect some of the water as it passed through the system. Solar-powered desalination projects are not new. But the size and practicality of this project is exciting—it's won the MIT team the USAID Desal Prize."
Governor Jerry Brown tells tunnels critics to "Shut Up"—by Dan Bacher: "In a moment of candor during a speech he gave at the Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA) conference in Sacramento on May 6, Governor Jerry Brown told critics of his plan to build the twin tunnels to 'shut up' unless they have spent a million hours working on the project like the state has. Brown told the crowd, 'I asked my water man sitting over there how many man and woman hours have gone into the Delta Project? Would you tell them? One million!' 'Until you've put a million hours into it, Shut Up!' said Brown, referring to critics of his tunnels and Delta policies. He added that even that if the staff had 'wasted' 25 percent of their time, 250,000 hours, working on the project, that would still be 750,000 hours they spent on the project. [...] In response to the Governor's 'Shut Up' comment, Tom Stokely, Water Policy Analyst for the California Water Policy Network (C-WIN), said, "Money and time spent on a deeply flawed project is still a useless exercise and a waste of ratepayer and taxpayer money.' 'They've spent $240 million and have nothing to show for it other than a pile of documents 27 feet high,' he stated. 'The revised Bay-Delta Conservation Plan is an act of desperation to try and save a doomed project.'"
May 11 is California River Days at the Capitol—by Dan Bacher: "California Rivers Day 2015 is bringing together 25 river groups from across the state to speak up for rivers and call on state leaders to support sustainable drought solutions at noon on Monday, May 11th at the West Steps of the State Capitol in Sacramento. The program will be preceded by a 'Paddle to the Capitol' that arrives at the Tower Bridge public boat dock at 10:30 am. 'The drought is taking a major toll on our rivers—California’s lifeblood,' according to Eric Wesselman, Executive Director of Friends of the River. 'In addition to the noon program event at the Capitol, this day will include a morning paddle down the Sacramento River to the Capitol, informational booths on the West Steps of the building, and meetings with legislators to promote sustainable drought solutions that protect our rivers.'"
North Coast organizes to fight drought related threats to rivers—by Dan Bacher: "Tribal water activists will present short films about threats to Northern California’s rivers from Jerry Brown’s drought plans at Arcata’s D Street Community Center on Friday, May 8, at 6:30 pm. The films include the Yurok Youth Fish Kill video, Sovereigns Water and the Shasta Dam raise video, according to event organizer Regina Chichizola. The speakers will explain that Northwestern California water from the Trinity River and Shasta reservoirs are shipped hundreds of miles to benefit California’s agriculture industry, which continues to use 80 percent of California’s water on water intensive crops during the record drought. 'Even though average Californians are being asked to cut their water use, corporate agriculture interests are expanding their acreage in the driest areas of California,” said Chichizola, "and they are planning to destroy Northern California’s rivers and flood sacred sites to keep up their unsustainable water.'"
Trash, Pollution & Hazardous Waste
Two oil companies fined millions for waste violations at 560 stations the last 9 years—by Walter Einenkel: "California just fined ConocoPhillips and Phillips 66 $11.6 million as a part of a settlement for waste violations tied to 560 of their service stations. The complaint, filed in January of 2013, claims that the two affiliates failed to properly train employees and have not adequately maintained leak detection devices, tested secondary containment systems, conducted monthly inspections or maintained operational alarm systems since 2006. 'This settlement holds Phillips 66 and ConocoPhillips accountable for this dangerous negligence and will ensure future compliance with environmental laws,' said Attorney General Kamala Harris. This is just the most recent settlement ConocoPhillips has reached for polluting the environment."