See Wood Gas'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 Spotlight can be seen here. More than 23,050 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.
"World's First Climate Liability Suit" Succeeds - Could Be "a Game Changer"—by
sfinx: "In what is being called a landmark ruling that that could have worldwide effects, a Dutch court has ordered the government of the Netherlands to reduce the country's emissions by 25% within 5 years to protect its citizens from harm. [...] The question is whether courts and legal systems in other countries will enable such suits to succeed:
'It's a sea change if other courts follow the lead of the Dutch court,' said Michael Gerrard, who directs the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia University. 'It's sort of a break in the dyke, appropriate coming from the Netherlands. And we'll see how big the flow is that follows from it.' In the U.S., the Supreme Court has rejected a lawsuit like this one. But Gerrard said other major countries like India have legal systems more likely to to rule in favor of the environmentalists. And if this does catch on, he said, it could become an entirely new front for addressing climate change. The suit was filed by the Urgenda Foundation, an organization promoting sustainability, and 900 co-plaintiffs. It was launched in 2013."
Breaking: Big, BIG Positive Climate Change News!—by
John Crapper: "
On Tuesday, King County Superior Court Judge Hollis Hill issued a landmark decision in Zoe & Stella Foster v. Washington Department of Ecology, the climate change case brought by eight young citizens of Washington State. (emphasis mine) In her decision, Judge Hill ordered the Washington Department of Ecology ('Ecology') to reconsider the petition the eight youth filed with Ecology last year asking for carbon dioxide reductions, and to report back to the court by July 8, 2015, as to whether they will consider the undisputed current science necessary for climate recovery. Last June, the young petitioners filed a petition for rulemaking to Ecology requesting that the agency promulgate a rule that would limit carbon dioxide emissions in Washington according to what scientists say is needed to protect our oceans and climate system. The youth also asked Ecology to inform the Legislature that existing statutory greenhouse gas reductions must be revised based on current climate science. On August 14, 2014, Ecology denied the petition without disputing the underlying scientific bases for petitioner’s plea. Arguing that they have a fundamental right to a healthy environment, and that they are faced with increasing harms posed by climate destabilization and ocean acidification, the young petitioners filed an appeal of the denial to vindicate this right on behalf of themselves and future generations. 'The effect of this decision is that for the first time in the United States, a court of law has ordered a state agency to consider the most current and best available climate science when deciding to regulate carbon dioxide emissions,' said Andrea Rodgers of the Western Environmental Law Center, attorney for the youth petitioners."
You can find more excerpts from green diaries below the orange spill.
Climate Chaos
With Paris conference looming, Brazil, China and the U.S. pledge more investments in clean energy—by Meteor Blades: "As part of a bilaterial meeting, President Barack Obama and President Dilma Rousseff of Brazil announced their agreement Tuesday to each generate 20 percent of their electricity from renewables by 2030. This will not include hydropower, which generates about 6 percent of U.S. electricity compared with 7 percent for wind, solar, geothermal, and biomass sources. Brazil gets nearly 80 percent of its electricity from hydropower and just 0.5 percent from wind. Biomass provides about 4 percent of the nation's electricity. Solar generation is negligible. Rousseff also announced that Brazil will restore 30 million acres of rain forest as a means of reducing its carbon emissions."
The Pope or the Kochs: Where Does Your Faith Lie?—by ClimateDenierRoundup : "Progressive lobby Americans United for Change has a new website, ad and social media campaign focused on calling out climate deniers who are in opposition to Pope Francis's recent encyclical. The website—aptly named PopeorKochs.com—features a video ad juxtaposing the two positions, as well as quotes from among the many GOP voices who are aligned with the Kochs against the Pope's message. But the most amusing part is at the bottom, where you make your choice. You can share your support for the Pope via twitter or Facebook. Or, if you stand with the Koch brothers, they graciously allow you to show your support by clicking this amazing link. Which makes sense, because the GOP does seem to be telling both Kochs that it is 'never going to give you up.'"
Watts's Denier Society Gets its 501c(3)—by ClimateDenierRoundup : "Unnoticed by everyone but Sou at Hot Whopper, Anthony Watts's attempt to create a denier version of the American Geophysical Union or American Meteorological Society has borne fruit. In early June, Watts announced that his 'Open Atmospheric Society' officially received tax exempt, 501c(3) status from the IRS. Watts first announced his Society last September, but has since struggled to gain members, with a mere 85 email followers to date. OAS has also only received $330 of its $2,000 funding goal, failing to raise any funds since Sou wrote about it back in September. This makes sense, because Watts hasn't mentioned the OAS since September. When Watts first announced the OAS, he put out a press release responding to a tornado study. Since then, there has been radio silence."
It’s a consensus now! The Dalai Lama embraces Popes recent encyclical on climate change.—by windsong01: "His holiness The Dalai Lama, at the Glastonbury Music Festival 2015, praised the popes warning of ecological disaster and calls to action. He also joined the pope call to action by saying 'say more—we have to make more of an effort including demonstrations.' Several Republican politicians have criticized the Pope for speaking out about environmental and economic issues, including Jeb Bush, Rick Santorum and James Inhofe. But at the Glastonbury panel on climate change, the Dalai Lama said Pope Francis was 'very right,' and he appreciated him releasing the papal document. He also included a firm statement reinforcing the pope's smack down of unbridled capitalism saying 'The concept of war is outdated, but we do need to fight. Countries think about their own national interest rather than global interests and that needs to change because the environment is a global issue.'"
Heatwaves and Drought Scorch the American West - Wildfires Erupt from California to Alaska—by Pakalolo: "From Big Bear in southern California to Willow in Southern Alaska, fires have been raging across the western states. In the west, vegetation conditions are the worst on record. Ken Pimlott, Director of CAL FIRE recently stated in a recent article, that the situation is so dire that not only is he urging residents to not only not water their lawns, but to also remove the vegetation from lawns and gardens. Removing bone dry vegetation that can intensify heat and potentially spread the fire throughout residential areas is a sensible idea especially in the this changing world. 'We measure the fuel moisture content of all of the vegetation -the brush and the trees and we track that over the course of time and compare it month to month each year,' says Ken Pimlott, Director of CAL FIRE. 'And we put it through formulas and determine how much energy and how much heat it will put out when it’s burning. And we have seen -we saw it last year and we will see it again this year- we’ll be reaching records for potential heat output for times of the year that would normally not be burning in those conditions.'"
278 Fires burning in Alaska as G7 study says Climate should be Top Priority in Foreign Policy—by Lefty Coaster: "More than 200 fires are burning in Alaska right now. That’s an even bigger problem than it sounds. Following on a record hot May in which much snow cover melted off early, Alaska saw no less than 152 fires erupt over the weekend. A further increase since then had the number of active fires at 243 as of Tuesday — a number that appears to have risen still further to 278 Wednesday, according to the Alaska Interagency Coordination Center. Following on a record hot May in which much snow cover melted off early, Alaska saw no less than 152 fires erupt over the weekend. A further increase since then had the number of active fires at 243 as of Tuesday — a number that appears to have risen still further to 278 Wednesday, according to the Alaska Interagency Coordination Center."
Climate: What Would Reagan Do—by CalPatriot: "Reagan Secretary of State George Shultz says we need a carbon tax and a lot more spending on alternative energy in discussion of climate issues with Dan Morain of the Sacramento Bee today: link. Climate deniers should take note: even Reagan recognized climate problems with the ozone hole and members of his administration say that we need to act on climate now."
Bloomberg Beautifully Busts Natural Warming Myth—by ClimateDenierRoundup: "Eric Roston and Blacki Migliozzi of Bloomberg have put together an elegant visualization of the evidence that points towards human causes of climate change. They framed it perfectly, noting that while skeptics claim natural forcing in global climate change, the vast majority of data show otherwise. The only way it could have been better is if they had called them climate deniers instead of skeptics.By scrolling down the page, viewers are shown various graphs of the natural forces (changes in the Earth's orbit, changes in the sun's temperature, etc.) and then human-driven forcings. At the end they're all combined, and it's clear that rising greenhouse emissions are the input that most closely tracks with the rising temperatures. This piece is getting shared pretty widely. In fact, there have been so many tweets that denier gadfly Tom Nelson asks if it's 'well-financed astroturfing' because of the 'long list of people who tweeted the exact same AGW [anthropological global warming] propaganda.'"
Extreme Weather & Natural Phenomena
Britain swelters on hottest July day since records began—by VL Baker: "Today Britain had the hottest July day on record ever. So hot that The Guardian live blogged the event to document how the population was coping with the extreme temperatures. Heathrow has recorded temperatures of 36.7C, beating the previous record for the month of July from 2006."
Eco-Essays and Eco-Philosophy
Green Energy Generation can Help Rebuild Our Economy—by Stewart Acuff: "The remarks below were presented to the Portland to the Northwest Conference on Transmission and Grid Policy to Facilitate Green Energy Generation. I speak today on behalf of the 50,000 members of the Utility Workers Union of America and our President, Michael Langford. My comments today also reflect the views of the Blue Green Alliance, its 8 million members, and, indeed, the American labor movement. It is beyond essential that the United States begin immediately to tap our vast renewable and sustainable energy resources--resources that only need public policy to spur investment to begin providing much of America's energy needs including the wind that never stops blowing across our Great Plains, the sun that shines all day, day after day in the great deserts of Arizona and other state."
Pope Francis invokes God's Garden—by governance4us: "Pope Francis's recent encyclical on Climate Change harks to an earlier thinker, one who is not well known in the English speaking world, but one who re-introduced vital concepts in Europe of the early middle ages with the intent of creating order (and sustainability) based on a universal purpose. He proposed his ideas in the Cura Reipublicae et Sorte Principantis. This translates to About the administration of the public interest and the role of the ruler. In the year 1350 this was no small title. This innovator was the young lawyer, Philips van Leyden. [...] He had the audacity to suggest that the ruler had duties with regard to the public interest. However, as opposed to his academic contemporaries, Philips was no dreamer. He did not come up with revolutionary concepts, other than the ones he needed to reconcile seemingly contradictory opinions. He was a realist who wanted to create stability in his turbulent world. To accomplish this, he needed order and a balance of power between the players. The closest thing to democracy that he was acquainted with was the corporate nature of the city governments. With their mayors, aldermen, sheriffs, and judges, their operations could be quite messy. Deadly even."
Pope Francis Offers A New Vision—by Stewart Acuff: "And so we have the outlines of a new, very powerful analysis and vision for social and environmental justice strongly delivered in the new Papal Encyclical of Pope Francis. It is very rare for a document calling for such fundamental change to put people and the earth before profits and the powerful–especially from the spiritual leader of 1.2 billion people. It would be an awful tragedy for those of us who’ve struggled for justice against the most terrible forces of greed and evil to discount this Encyclical, because we have our own criticisms of the Catholic Church or even Pope Francis. Rather it is crucial that we see the Pope’s words as evidence, vindication, and powerful assistance in a building struggle or movement across the world. We will not defeat the forces of greed and evil, which continue to force their will on our common home and our common good and our common humanity just by being right or correct. This fight in which we are engaged must be won with power from average people leveraged by moral authority."
The Pope Rethinks Christianity in Environmentalist Encyclical—by George Lakoff: "Pope Francis' recent Encyclical was not merely in support of environmentalism. In declaring 'environmental sin' as a sin of humanity, he not only got the science of global warming right, he created a new form of Catholicism, with no mention of individual salvation or personal responsibility or getting into Heaven. He re-metaphorized God and the Trinity. No God as King on a throne in Heaven with Jesus as Lord. He presents a metaphor that remakes Christianity: God as the life-giving source (Nature) and Jesus as the life given (the natural world and all life in it), with the Holy Spirit as love (empathy and nurturance) suffusing the world."
“We are not Scientists…” —but we are paid off Deniers of Science—by dbeall: "In previous blogs we have discussed the virtual mathematical impossibility of every Stupidparty member of the House Energy committee (31 of them) being so stupid that they actually believe the climate is not warming. A far more plausible explanation is that they have been corrupted by financial contributions to their campaigns. Yes, there might be a few genuine skeptics...we deal with Senator James Pinhole here. In this second piece on climate denial we shall take a closer look at the actual science. This article also points out some of the religious confusions that Stupidparty disciples resort to. But such confusions would rapidly be cleared up if they had a) a better understanding of the real Jesus and learnt that the New Testament God, the Christian God, is very different from the old Testament God and b) if they could simply handle some basic guidance from the Pope."
The Pope, climate change, rightwingers, and Stalin—by Old Redneck: "Let's see—The Pope, climate change, rightwingers, and Stalin—a little something for everyone here. In June 2015 Pope Francis issued his encyclical Laudato Si' in which he decreed that doing nothing about climate change is a sin. Tea Partiers, rightwingers, and Republicans flipped out, demanding that the Pope stay out of politics. Not so fast. Before the right goes too far in attacking the Pope, they might want to consider the example of Josef Stalin, who said: 'The Pope! How many divisions has he got?' (Said sarcastically to Pierre Laval in 1935, in response to being asked whether he could do anything with Russian Catholics to help Laval win favour with the Pope, to counter the increasing threat of Nazism; as quoted in The Second World War (1948) by Winston Churchill vol. 1, ch. 8, p. 105.)."
Do We Need a Climate Czar?—by SninkyPoo: "Or the work of coordinating and disseminating up-to-the-minute climate information and cutting-edge research from NASA and NOAA, the National Institutes of Health and the National Institute of Standards and Technology, both to communicate to the public and to ensure we are not wasting time and money on duplicative efforts. Not to mention the need to plan climate research policy with the National Science and Technology Council, the National Science Board, and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. Climate Czar would be a HUGE job. But I’m not sure how we can otherwise launch a concerted, coordinated, effective national campaign to slash emissions, develop new technologies, shore up infrastructure, plan for and implement disaster relief and relocation of populations displaced by sea level rise and other environmental changes, work on resource challenges, ensure a consistent and safe food supply, ration water (and other commodities, if needed), etc."
What kind of World would you Leave the Next Generation—by jamess: "'What kind of world do we want to leave to those who come after us, to children who are now growing up? This question not only concerns the environment in isolation; the issue cannot be approached piecemeal. When we ask ourselves what kind of world we want to leave behind, we think in the first place of its general direction, its meaning and its values. Unless we struggle with these deeper issues, I do not believe that our concern for ecology will produce significant results.'"
Privatizing Our Public Places: Not Here, Not Today—by James Wells: "Our local Bloedel Donovan Park is a great wonder. All kinds of people come from all over for a picnic, or a swim, or to play ball. Recently, a piece of our park was swallowed up by a rowing club, under some agreement with the parks department. An area of public parking was replaced by a locked boathouse, available only to members of the association. But don't worry, your family can join—for only $400 per year. And a new dock sprouted in a place that was previously undeveloped public shoreline. The dock is nominally public, but according to the the sign you need to be launching a boat to use it. And of course the nearest boats are in the locked boathouse. On one of the first sunny, warm days of summer after all the kids were out of school, they discovered the dock. The results are predictable. [...] In the larger picture, this is all part of the Fencing of the Commons that is ongoing every day. Fewer and fewer places are truly public, and those public places are losing access due to budget cuts and other restrictions."
Critters & the Great Outdoors
The Daily Bucket - Heermann's gulls arrive, and a plea about using fireworks—by
OceanDiver: "June 27, 2015. Whale Rocks and Cattle Pass area. Salish Sea, PNW. A late bucket today with some observations from the boat yesterday. The big news was the arrival of the Heermann's gulls for the season! I didn't see them last year until July. In their fresh breeding plumage, they are very distinct and striking, most obviously their bright orange beaks. The adults are mostly grey, with a white head. Interestingly, I also saw some young Heermann's. They are mostly grey, with a somewhat less viibrantly orange beak. Usually they don't appear until later in the summer. 90% of all Heermann's gulls nest on one island in the Sea of Cortez, a tenuous situation. These pics were taken near Whale Rocks, where Steller Sea Lions haul out over the winter. In their absence, gulls, cormorants and seals have taken over."
The Daily Bucket - wild baby otter—by OceanDiver: "June 22, 2015. Salish Sea, PNW. High-pitched shrill cries, over and over, echoing across the bay mystified me the other day. It sounded much like a blackbird warning scream but much louder. I could not see who was making the sounds - what bird could that be?? I walked down the beach in the general direction of the calls until I was across from a little island. This island is inaccessible unless the tide is at least minus 1 foot, a rare occasion (or by kayak, but landing on jagged rocks wouldn't be easy). I have been out there a few times, searching for seastars, but today it was 300 unwadeable feet away. Searching from shore for any movement I finally saw a River Otter swimming toward the island. It climbed out and up the rocks, sleek and dripping."
The Daily Bucket - Invasive Flatworm in Florida—by
enhydra lutris: "
One of the world’s most invasive species, the New Guinea flatworm, is on the move and has just invaded six new locations, including the continental U.S. — Florida — according to a new study. The worm (Platydemus manokwari) is on the “100 worst invasive alien species” list, and is now newly located in New Caledonia, Singapore, the Solomon Islands, Puerto Rico and Florida, according to the study, which is published in PeerJ. Although the worm lives on the ground, it is able to climb trees to follow and consume prey."
The Daily Bucket - Critters of Hurricane Ridge—by Milly Watt: "Our observing from a safe distance (thank you zoom lens!) created a "goat jam" of hikers stopping to watch. Unfortunately, this included some clueless teens who wanted to take a selfie with the goats. What a great plan ...get up close and turn your back on those horns! Maybe everyone should be a bit more careful there?"
The Daily Bucket - Sea Lions have one of those kind of parties—by
Wood Gas: "Porpoising Stellar Sea Lions, I have yet to see porpoises sealioning, when I do, there will be a bucket 'bout that too. Where could they be going in such a gosh awful hurry? We will follow, solely for the good of science. Whoop! it's party time! uh, some of the party goers seem to be in ..ahem.. compromising positions here. Positions not found in the Kama Sutra either. Let's give them the benefit of doubt here, these are noble creatures of nature. No reason at all to claim they might be doing what comes natural."
Stellar sea lions at play
The Oarfish: Nature's Deep-Sea Oddity—by
Lenny Flank: "The Oarfish is one of the oddest fish in the ocean. It is the longest of all the bony fishes (only some of the largest sharks get bigger), and it may have sparked the legend of the Sea Serpent. The Oarfish,
Regalecus glesne, is a bizarre-looking animal. Measuring up to fifty feet long, it is only a few inches thick, giving it the alternate name of Ribbonfish. In the Mediterranean region, it is sometimes called the King of Herrings. The long slender body has a bright silvery-blue sheen with some darker splotches, but the most striking feature is the bright red dorsal fin, supported by spines, that runs like a crest along the back for its entire length, and the two long red pectoral fins. Despite its impressive size, the Oarfish has a small head with a tiny toothless mouth. They are filter feeders, which trap krill, small fish and squid in cartilaginous "rakes" located inside their mouths, extending from the gill arches. One adult that washed ashore in California was found to have over 10,000 krill in its stomach."
Climate change meme creation: a cautionary tale
—by SninkyPoo: "So what's going on in California? I made the above meme this morning and tweeted it out to some legislators from California, with a link to this excellent blog post by Jeff Nesbit on US News & World Report. It features some bracing analysis of the mechanisms by which climate change is affecting the drought in California. Specifically, it says: Climate change is linked to California’s drought by two mechanisms: rising temperatures and changing atmospheric patterns conducive to diminishing rains. The first link is firmly established, and there is a considerable and growing body of evidence supporting the second."
The Daily Bucket - Early Wildflower Season at Hurricane Ridge—by Milly Watt: "Last winter, the snowpack in the Olympic mountains was extremely low. The measurement station near Hurricane Ridge (at elevation 5110 ft) recorded a snowpack that was less than 8% of average on February 15. There was enough precipitation but it fell as rain (rainfall was 104% of average) and warmer temperatures melted whatever did fall as snow. Snow is our water storage for summer, here on the Olympic Peninsula. The creeks and rivers will lack water for salmon runs and human uses. It will also be a dangerous fire season, with the Paradise fire in the Queets valley (western side of the park) already consuming 1000 acres in steep terrain. [...] I've talked in previous buckets (The Daily Bucket - Chocolate and Other Delights and The Daily Bucket - Where have all those flowers gone?) about my unscientific project to record the blooming times of wildflowers on the Hurricane Hill trail. Each year since 2009, Mr. Watt and I have hiked this trail multiple times during the wildflower season. I've taken thousands of photos and identified as many flowers as I can. As I learn more about plants and about how to take better photos for the purpose of identification, I still discover new flowers that I never noticed before. So, even though I'm recording a lot of observations, I know my earlier efforts missed a lot of flowers and my data are incomplete. Oh well, forge ahead and gather more data."
View from Hurricane Hill showing very little snow and smoke from Paradise Fire - June 22, 2015.
Dawn Chorus: Barred Owls—by
etbnc: "I'm fascinated by owls. I'm especially fascinated by barred owls, because I've had the good fortune to have them as neighbors for several years. I can't quite say that I've watched their kids grow up, because their territory is big, the trees are tall, and they're elusive lurkers. I can say, however, that I've seen their kids (owlets) occasionally, first in 2009, then in 2012, and most recently, just last week. Unfortunately the fuzzy, gray and brown juvenile I saw last week didn't want to pose for a photo. All I got was one out-of-focus image, at the right. (The gray blob that isn't tree trunk is a juvenile barred owl.) I've had better luck getting pictures of owlets in past years. It wasn't until I began preparing pictures for this diary that I realized I've seen juveniles every three years, beginning in 2009. That spring I found the family nest cavity. I had noticed an adult barred owl who seemed especially active, hunting within sight of my house throughout the day and calling frequently to another owl who sounded near. One morning I followed him (male, I think, based on what I've learned since then). I was thrilled to watch him swoop down from a low branch, catch some small creature on the ground, then fly off to another tree. I followed, carefully, and I was able to see him fly to an opening in a large tree, about 20 feet up, where he delivered the tasty morsel."
Energy
Coal, Oil, Gas & Nuclear
Open thread for night owls: For investors, fossil fuel is an ever more risky business—by Meteor Blades: "The video below—"Fossil Fuel: A Risky Business"—was released Monday by Carbon Tracker along with this statement: The fossil fuel industry is inflating a ‘carbon bubble’ based on risky demand & price assumptions. Already under current climate policy settings, companies risk wasting over $1 trillion over the next decade. If the policy settings are ratcheted up to reflect a 2 degrees [Celsius] target then the amount at risk rise dramatically to $20 trillion plus. Did you know that your money could be at risk too?"
fast track passes and symbolically the rig count increases for the 1st time this year...—by
rjsigmund: "since we haven't looked at a picture of the historical track of the oil rig count in quite a while, we'll include a current version below, which comes from Friday's article on this week's rig count at the Business Insider...you'll note that the US oil rig count was below 200 for more than 3 years until horizontal drilling & fracking started taking off in 2005, and it subsequently rose to over 400 in late 2008 before the recession hit, at which time oil crashed to $35 a barrel and more than half of the rigs running then were stacked...the oil rig count then began rising again in 2009 to top 1400 in 2012 and then moved up gradually until it peaked at 1609 on October 10th of last year...as you can see, it's been all downhill from there...now we're nearly at a 5 year low; we'd have to go back to August 6, 2010 to find a week when less oil rigs were running than the 628 that were working on June 26th of this year..."
Coal Plant That Advocates Worked to Retire Will Become Clean-Powered Google Data Center—by Mary Anne Hitt: "Google announced this week that it will be opening its newest data center—which will be 100 percent powered by renewable energy—at the site of a soon-to-be retired Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) coal plant in Alabama that is being phased out thanks to the advocacy of Sierra Club and many others. It's one of the most powerful, inspiring examples yet of the energy transformation that we're driving all across this nation, and if done right, it could also provide an economic boost for Widows Creek workers and the local community. 'It's exciting to see Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) working with the state and regional economic agencies to repurpose this old, polluting coal plant in a way that will jumpstart green industry growth, renewable power, and job creation in Alabama,' said Jonathan Levenshus, a senior Beyond Coal campaign representative in the region. This is especially timely, as news is just breaking today that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Alabama Power have reached an agreement to phase out coal at several units and crack down on air pollution from the remaining units."
Emissions Control
America's Zero Emissions Imperative—by Renewable Rider: "Last fall, we wrote an article explaining why zero has become the most important number for humanity. Since that time, zero emissions has been embraced as an idea that's time has come by nearly 120 countries, leading European companies, high-profile CEOs, two Pontifical Academies, climate visionaries like Al Gore, mainstream media outlets and, if you can believe it, even the leaders of the G7. We now address the critical issue of timelines. Currently, the two target dates most commonly cited for achieving zero greenhouse gas emissions are 2050 and 2100. Given the extreme weather weirding we are witnessing at current levels of pollution, we shudder to think what 35 years--let alone 85 years--of continued emissions will bring. Everyone can see that the climate is already on steroids and wreaking havoc. The urgency of our planetary emergency requires that we transition from fossil fuels to renewables not in decades, but in years. We must move beyond what conventional wisdom views as politically feasible to what this existential crisis truly demands: an all hands on deck societal mobilization at wartime speed."
Black or white, what counts is the green—by ClimateDenierRoundup: "Media Matters exposes yet another example of undisclosed conflict of interest, as the National Black Chamber of Commerce (NBCC) president Harry C. Alford wrote an op-ed criticizing the EPA's Clean Power Plan was syndicated in seven different papers. Being a Chamber of Commerce it's obvious that they're a pro-business voice, but beyond that obvious bias there's also the fact that the NBCC has gotten $1million in funding from the ExxonMobil Foundation. So it should come as no surprise then that the opeds are based on discredited denial. They are based on a report by the NBCC that looks at seven different studies and comes to the conclusion that the EPA's Clean Power Plan will be bad for minorities. But of those seven studies, three predate the CPP, one was a preliminary analysis from a Mining group, and the other three were funded by fossil fuel interests. So half of them have an obvious conflict of interest, and the other three can't be as focused on the CPP as the NBCC report portrays them. One of those three is from the Chamber of Commerce report that Politifact called "false" and the Washington Post Fact Checker blog gave GOP members who cited it in regards to the CPP four Pinocchios. A second study, when used by Inhofe (R-OK) as an attack point on the CPP was rated as misleading by the Fact Checker blog."
Renewables & Conservation
Director James Cameron is trying his hand at making solar power better—by Walter Einenkel: "Everyone's favorite undersea explorer and summer blockbuster director James Cameron is at it again. This time he's working on fixing some of the problems with solar power. Cameron himself was an early adopter of solar tech: Besides switching to solar energy on his film sets, he has a 50 kWh array on his own Santa Barbara County property. But even he acknowledges the problems with solar panels, and one of the major hurdles keeping them from widespread adoption: They’re just kinda ugly. 'I happen to like the way solar panels look—the more the better,' Cameron told me by phone last week. 'But I can appreciate the fact that not all people like them.' The impulse to try to make the solar panel arrays more aesthetically pleasing led Cameron to design the Sun Flower. In creating the petaled design, Cameron and his team were able to lessen the footprint and weight of the panels and free up the mechanics of the devices to slowly pivot to try to get the most exposure to the sun throughout the day."
Open thread for night owls: Solar energy poised to dominate electricity markets by 2040—by Meteor Blades: "After years of anticipation, the renewable energy revolution is finally here. Solar energy is poised to become the dominant player in electricity markets worldwide moving forward, capturing a large share of the expected $12 trillion in investment between now and 2040, according to a new report from Bloomberg New Energy Finance. Geographically speaking, the vast majority of the $12 trillion in investment will take place in the Asia-Pacific region, driven, as usual, by India and China. [...] The report details the revolution that is just starting to get underway. By the middle of the next decade, utility-scale solar power will be competitive in most places around the world. The cost of solar has fallen by 75 percent since 2009, but costs are still going down. Over the next two and a half decades, not only will solar outcompete new fossil fuel plants – natural gas and coal – but solar will also start to edge out existing fossil fuel power plants."
Fracking
Finally official: NY has banned fracking—by Walter Einenkel: "With the release of this document the State of New York has officially banned fracking within its boundaries. The document is the Department of Environmental Conservation's findings statement. 'Prohibiting high-volume hydraulic fracturing is the only reasonable alternative,' said DEC Commissioner Joe Martens in a prepared statement. 'High-volume hydraulic fracturing poses significant adverse impacts to land, air, water, natural resources and potential significant public health impacts that cannot be adequately mitigated. This decision is consistent with DEC's mission to conserve, improve and protect our state's natural resources, and to enhance the health, safety and welfare of the people of the state.'"
Texas-based fracking company about to get fined $8.9 million for leaking gas well—by Walter Einenkel: "Range Resources, one of 'Fracking's Ten Most Wanted,' will be getting a record fine levied against them by Pennsylvania regulators: Range Resources, the Texas-based company that drilled the first Marcellus Shale well in 2004, faces a $8.9 million civil penalty stemming from a leaking gas well in Lycoming County. It follows a pair of multi-million-dollar fines against drilling companies last year. '(Range) has the responsibility to eliminate the gas migration that this poorly constructed well is causing,' said state Environmental Secretary John Quigley, in a written statement. 'Refusing to make the necessary repairs to protect the public and the environment is not an option. Range denies that the poison found near their wells is their poison. They have also filed an appeal saying that the integrity of the well in question is sufficient and meets government standards and they should not have to fix some made-up leak."
What is causing Alabama's earthquake swarms?—by Walter Einenkel: "According to the Christian Science Monitor, since last November, there have been 14 earthquakes recorded in Alabama. This is the most earthquake activity seen in Alabama in over 40 years. [...] Alabama's state geologist, Nick Tew, has said that there is no connection between the growth of hydraulic fracturing in the state and the rise in earthquake activity. Tew is the head of both the Geological Survey of Alabama and the State Oil and Gas Board of Alabama, the latter of which regulates drilling operations in the state. According the biography he submitted to Shale UK for a speaking event at a March 2015 conference seeking to boost shale drilling potential in the UK, Tew was the former head of American Geosciences Institute, an organization that downplays fracking risk, and vice-chairman of the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission. He currently serves on the National Petroleum Council."
Keystone XL & Other Fossil Fuel Transportation
Is a Pipeline through the Big Bend a “Done Deal”?—by outdoorsy : "The situation appears bleak, but a group of feisty far west Texans, the Big Bend Conservation Alliance (BBCA), are doing their best to hold the pipeline back. Along the Mexican border, the Rio Grande takes a big slow meander southeast and then northeast before heading south again to the Gulf of Mexico. This part of west Texas bordered by the Rio Grande is called the “Big Bend” and it contains a huge area of sparsely populated, unspoiled and uniquely beautiful land that is part of the Great Chihuahuan Desert. This ecosystem is rich in biodiversity and contains every type of mountain that exists on planet Earth. Big Bend National Park and Big Bend Ranch State Park are but two of the places that attract tourism to this area. The small number of people out here–perhaps 20,000 total living in small towns like Alpine, Fort Davis, Marfa, Valentine, Shafter and Presidio–have suddenly found themselves in the crosshairs of Big Oil in the form of a 42” diameter high pressure natural gas pipeline that would cut straight through the heart of the Big Bend. 143 miles in length, this pipeline would transport natural gas from the gas fields of the Permian Basin to Presidio, TX, and without stopping, across the border to Ojinaga, Mexico to be used by power plants in Northern Mexico."
Exxon Mobile finally stops drilling offshore weeks after pipeline dumped 100,000 gallons of oil—by Walter Einenkel: "ExxonMobile has been hoping to continue to drill away at three of their offshore platforms on the Santa Barbara Coast but their emergency application to truck their oil to refineries was just rejected. A Santa Barbara County official said the company's problem did not constitute an emergency and it could go through the normal procedure to get a permit to truck oil. ExxonMobil had significantly cut production from the three rigs after the Plains All American Pipeline spilled crude on the coast May 19 and was shut down. Gov. Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency in Santa Barbara County due to the effects of the spill. It's been over a month since an Plains All American's oil pipeline spilled somewhere in the ballpark of 101,000 gallons of crude oil on the Santa Barbara Coast. It's been almost 3 weeks since federal regulators revealed that the pipeline rupture occurred along a section of the pipeline that was badly, externally corroded."
Candidates, DC, State & Local Eco-Politics
McKibben to Clinton: 5 Reasons environmentalists distrust you; and what you can do about it—by VL Baker: "Bill McKibben writes at Grist that it's time Hillary Clinton got serious about climate change. He tells her why she's not getting support from environmentalists and what she could do about it. FIVE REASONS ENVIRONMENTALISTS DISTRUST YOU. 1)Climate change has not been your issue. 2) You were terrible on Keystone .Even before the State Department began its review of the project, you said you were “inclined” to approve it. That’s been your last public word on the project, but your team performed an intellectually corrupt review of the plans, your campaign bundlers landed rich lobbying contracts, and your former advisers took jobs with Transcanada. 3) You took the Obama administration’s affection for fracking and ran with it. Working with a deep team of oil company advisers, you set up a whole office at the State Department whose job it was to push fracking all over the world (Cambodia, China, New Guinea); you gave speech after speech in country after country. This was bad policy in the extreme. 4) As the world’s top diplomat, you presided over the monumental failure that was the Copenhagen climate conference in 2009. Six crucial years were lost as a result. Enough said. 5) All that endless money. The right-wing attacks on the endless speaking fees and foundation gifts aren’t actually just a concern to the right wing. It's no longer enough for a politician to state that climate change is real. It's necessary to back that with action."
Which 8 Democrats Just Voted to Effectively Repeal the EPA's Clean Power Plan?—by Liberty Equality Fraternity and Trees: "House Republicans, along with a handful of Democratic friends, have been busy this week attacking the Affordable Care Act. But they managed to take time off from that this week to focus on another pastime: attacking the EPA. Today, the House passed the "Ratepayer Protection Act of 2015." Is this bill about "protecting ratepayers"? Of course not. It's an assault on the EPA designed to effectively repeal the Clean Power Plan: This bill would delay the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) implementation of the Clean Power Plan, rules proposed in 2014 to reduce emissions at existing electric power plants that are expected to be finalized later this summer. The Clean Power Plan would require states, territories and Indian tribes to develop and meet individual goals for reducing carbon dioxide emissions from the electricity sector. H.R. 2042 would delay implementation of the forthcoming EPA carbon emissions reduction rules until any legal challenges are complete and no longer subject to further appeal or judicial review. [...] The bill passed 247 to 180. 239 Republicans and 8 Democrats voted for it. 176 Democrats and 4 Republicans voted against it. Here are the 8 Democrats: Nick Ashford (NE-02); Sanford Bishop (GA-02); Andre Carson (IN-07); Henry Cuellar (TX-28); Ann Kirkpatrick (AZ-09); Collin Peterson (MN-07; Terri Sewell (AL-07); Kyrsten Sinema (AZ-09)."
Santorum: gay marriage, not climate change, is the real threat to the planet—by Kerry Eleveld: "The Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage will be providing endless joy in GOP candidate watching in the coming months and Rick Santorum did not disappoint Sunday on Fox & Friends. Santorum bemoaned the fact that President Obama has spent time using the bully pulpit to talk about climate change. Caitlin MacNeal reports: 'Can you imagine if instead of this president spending all his time talking about global warming, if he talked about the importance of marriage and fathers and mothers taking responsibility and raising their children in healthy homes?' Santorum said that in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling, the country should 'have programs that support the idea of marriage and togetherness in order to raise children.'"
EPA Chief Says Normal People Will Win—by ClimateDenierRoundup: "Michael Bastasch at the Daily Caller has another anti-EPA fluff piece, this time regarding EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy's recent speech. In talking about the EPA's report on the benefits of climate action, McCarthy said that 'normal people' will win the climate change debate. Cue the disgruntlement, as climate deniers begin manufacturing outrage at the implicit suggestion that they're not normal people. Guess what? They're not. Normal people don't cook up James Bond-esque conspiracy theories wherein the world's scientists are secretly colluding to crash the global economy and institute a new world order. Normal people don't send scientists envelopes with white powder in it. Normal people don't equate papal documents to the Unabomber's manifesto."
Eco-Action & Eco Justice
The Young Lions Roar !! Earth Guardians fight for Planet Earth—by windsong01: "It has often been said that for what Youth lack in Experience, they more that make up for in Passion and determination. 14-year-old Xiuhtexcatl pronounced (Shoe-tez-cot) Martinez certainly hammers that point home. Environmental activists since the age of six, Activist Rapper Martinez, has ignited the flame of hope and optimism about positive environmental change in Youth around the Globe. In his most resent speech to the UN on climate action Xiuhtexcatl, now 15, galvanized his adult audience. Watch the speech from link below. As you will see the youth of today are far smarter and savvy that we can imagine. They truly are the 'Next Generation'."
How I got Peabody Coal delisted from the S&P—by
RLMiller: "So, this happened Wednesday:
A California legislative committee voted Wednesday to require state pension funds to sell their investments in coal companies, a move that caused shares of leading miners, including Peabody Energy and Arch Coal, to fall. Shares of Peabody Energy also dropped on news that the St. Louis-based company will be removed from the S&P 400 MidCap index after the close of trading on Tuesday. The legislative committee was hearing SB 185, a bill to require California's huge pension funds CalPERS and CalSTRS to divest from coal mining companies, authored by Senate Pro Tem Kevin DeLeon. It's part of a package of bills to establish California's leadership on climate. And it's remarkably similar to, albeit narrower than, a fossil fuel divestment resolution I originally wrote that passed the California Democratic Party last month."
Philly Crude Oil Tanker Kayak Flotilla—by Elizabeth Arnold via StewartAcuff: "As kayaktivists in Seattle were preventing Shell from heading to the Arctic to Drill recently, here in Philly we put a crude oil tanker kayak flotilla on the river at the annual Tidal Schuylkill Boat Parade to raise awareness about the danger of oil trains and to promote the national week of action. I wanted to share some pictures with you all from the event. Notice the real oil trains in the background in some of the pictures. Rob and I are in our version of hazmat suits and we had a couple other brave rowers as well. Encouraging Development of a Green Economy and POW had a table on shore with info on oil trains and the fracked fossil fuel hub Phil Rinaldi (CEO of the PES refinery here in Philly) is promoting as Philly’s energy future. The Boat Parade was sponsored in part by the PES refinery. By the end of the day the organization putting on the parade, Bartram’s Gardens said they will never take refinery money again, and gave half the earnings from the event to the folks at our table.
If you need help planning an action for the National Week of Action to Stop Oil Trains July 6-12th, download the Stop Oil Trains Week of Action Organizing Toolkit!"
Protesters urge state officials to halt Santa Barbara offshore drilling expansion—by Dan Bacher: "As crews struggle to clean up crude oil off the beaches and wildlife along the Santa Barbara County Coast, dozens of people with an inflatable pipeline, hazmat suits, and a 20 foot tall mock oil derrick gathered at the Goleta Valley Community Center outside Santa Barbara on Wednesday, June 24, to urge the State Lands Commission to reject Venoco’s bid to expand offshore drilling. The proposed project would feed oil into the same decades-old and badly corroded pipeline, owned by Plains All American Pipeline, that burst on May 19, spilling more than 100,000 gallons into the coastal environment. In one of the biggest environmental scandals in recent California history, the very same oil industry lobbyist who is pushing for increased offshore drilling and fracking in California - and is now serving as the lobbyist for Plains All American - is the exact same lobbyist who chaired the panel that created the "marine protected areas" that are now being fouled by the Santa Barbara Oil Spill."
Agriculture, Food & Gardening
Big, Fat Chickens—by Robocop: "You can walk into any large grocery store and buy a factory raised whole chicken for about $1.50 a pound. Chickens raised on sustainable local farms currently cost close to $3.00 a pound, or more if they are organically raised. To someone on a budget, purchasing the cheaper chicken would seem obvious, but there are hidden costs. Consumers are more and more demanding that animals bred for food be treated humanely and the poultry industry is responding, but only with lip service. Given the business model of the confinement method of raising chickens that was established in the late 1950s, it’s virtually impossible to treat these animals humanely or without antibiotic treatment, even if front-of-package advertising claims otherwise. Waste treatment for factory farms is also a problem environmentally, and one that hurts us all."
90 percent vegan hack of the day—by SninkyPoo: "I wittered on in an earlier diary about slashing carbon emissions by cutting out meat, and proposed that, if vegan seems too extreme for most folks, 90 percent vegan might be a do-able compromise. It occurs to me that posting a 90 percent vegan 'hack of the day' from time to time might make what otherwise seems like austerity sound like a delicious idea. My food photography skills are in their infancy, and my 'plating' technique (oooh! get me! so chef-y!) is rudimentary, but this picture came out pretty well, so I thought I would share it. This yummy 90 percent vegan hack is two fried eggs atop sautéed mushrooms and spinach. Behold, the eggy goodness, the meaty umami of the mushrooms, and the Popeye levels of nutrition in the spinach!"
Saturday Morning Garden Blog V. 11.18 Finally! Summer is here.—by
Merry Light: "Summer is here and it is HOT HOT HOT in Western Colorado! Our forecast went from rainy and somewhat cool to 90's overnight. The garden and lawn benefited from the moisture but then began to dry out fast! I do think that the earlier moisture did help to get the gardens going and now we have lots of summer flowers beginning to bloom. Among them are the Maltese Cross (Lychnis chalcedonica)—if you want seeds, I'll send them, but beware. These 3 foot tall flowers will reseed and end up everywhere. I have them now in almost every garden around the house. They even reseeded into a big pot where I had an Arbor Day crabapple tree planted. Those plants went to the Front Range with the crabapple tree, where they will probably start taking over my mom's garden (also known as the back yard)."
The devil is in the details...—by SninkyPoo: "I talk a lot about climate change. I think a lot about climate change. I ponder solutions. Sometimes I blog about those solutions. And it's all well and good to say, as I've done a couple of times here, that eating no more than 10% of your daily calories from animal sources would be an excellent idea in that context. It's of note that if you want to make a relatively big impact on emissions in a relatively short period of time, eating less meat is a great way to go. Eating less meat really would make a significant impact on America’s total carbon emissions, and although selling the idea of eating (way) less meat is a heavy lift, I am beetling away at it in my own small way. But the devil, as they say, is in the details."
Oceans, Water & Drought
The Salton Sea is shrinking and it affects both animals and children—by Walter Einenkel: "California's largest lake is shrinking and has been for quite some time. The Salton Sea was originally created between 1905 and 1907 when the Colorado River broke through canals in Imperial County's irrigation system. Since the Colorado River returned to its easterly channel, the Sea has been left to evaporate. There are a handful of problems facing the Salton Sea: Because the Sea has no outlet, water is lost only through evaporation, leaving dissolved salts behind and graually raising salinity. The Sea's salinity has now reached 44 parts per thousand (ppt), about 25% higher than ocean water. This elevated salinity may partially explain an apparent decline in orangemouth corvina, the most popular sportfish. [...] The inflows to the Salton Sea contain high levels of nutrients making the Sea a highly eutrophic (very productive) body of water. This high primary productivity explains the productivity of the fishery but also contributes to periodic fish kills via deoxygenation due to decomposition of 1(the heavily organic sediment after it has been resuspended by high winds, or 2) dead algae following planktonic 'blooms.'"
Climate change meme creation: a cautionary tale
—by SninkyPoo: "So what's going on in California? I made the above meme this morning and tweeted it out to some legislators from California, with a link to this excellent blog post by Jeff Nesbit on US News & World Report. It features some bracing analysis of the mechanisms by which climate change is affecting the drought in California. Specifically, it says: Climate change is linked to California’s drought by two mechanisms: rising temperatures and changing atmospheric patterns conducive to diminishing rains. The first link is firmly established, and there is a considerable and growing body of evidence supporting the second."
Drought's Not Just a Cali Thing - It's All Over & Common Denominator is Climate Change—by Steven D: "As bad as the drought in California and the West has been, as bad as the depletion of water resources in our country has been, drought conditions in many parts of the world are far worse from the standpoint of human health and well being. In Syria drought was one of the major causes of the current conflict that has killed hundreds of thousands and torn apart the lives of millions of people. [...] Severe drought in Tanzania is destroying that nation's ecological diversity, and now also threatens to destroy the economic live blood of the country, its farmers. Why? Because their farming culture depends on irrigation, and now with water levels at unprecedented lows, the government is having to choose between hydroelectric power and irrigation fed agriculture."
Draining of Folsom Lake forces evacuation of American River and Nimbus Fish Hatcheries—by Dan Bacher: "The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) announced on June 25 that it is moving fish out of the Nimbus and American River Fish Hatcheries for the second year in a row as Folsom Lake's cold water pool is rapidly drained by increased Bureau of Reclamation releases into the American below Nimbus Dam. The agency blamed 'a fourth year of extreme drought conditions' for 'reducing the cold water supply available,' while representatives of fishing and environmental groups point to mismanagement of Folsom Lake and other Central Valley reservoirs during the drought crisis as the key factor behind the evacuations. As the hatcheries are being evacuated, the Bureau of Reclamation continues to drain Folsom Lake by releasing 2750 cfs from Nimbus Dam into the American River to export water south of the Delta through the Central Valley Project's Delta Mendota Canal and the State Water Project's California Aqueduct."
Open Letter to Congressman Jared Huffman Regarding His Drought Response Bill—by Martha Ture: "My greatest concern with the Drought Response Bill as presently constructed is that it does not address the greatest problem we face, which is the unsustainability of California's current economic and water policies. Our agricultural, industrial, and municipal uses of water are premised on an infinite supply of land and water, however inconveniently interrupted by drought, groundwater overdraft, the cost of additional plumbing, et cetera. At present, we have numerous severe water problems in California, including: 1. Unsustainable agriculture, based on groundwater overdraft, reliant on water piped from north to south, and driven by market demand rather than by sustainability policy or science. 2. Unsustainable municipal and industrial growth, not constrained by any sustainability policy or science. 3. No sustainability policy. The Drought Response Bill effectively spends additional federal monies on more plumbing, to capture and distribute any additional water that falls. This is a very bad idea, in my view, and duplicates the efforts of California Proposition 1, which passed on the November 2014 ballot."
Trash, Pollution, Oil Spills & Hazardous Waste
Supreme Court rejects EPA's regulation of power plants' emissions of mercury and other toxins—by Meteor Blades: "The U.S. Supreme Court plunked a setback into the lap of the Environmental Protection Agency Monday by trashing the agency's regulation of emissions of mercury and other air toxins (MATS) from electricity-generating plants. The court overturned a lower-court decision in the case of Michigan v. EPA stating that the agency had acted reasonably when it chose not to consider compliance costs first in its effort to control those emissions. The justices split 5-4, with the four liberals on the side of the EPA and the four conservatives and Justice Anthony Kennedy on the side of industry and the states that had sued. The ruling—Michigan v. Environmental Protection Agency and two other consolidated cases—is a major disappointment for environmentalists and drag on the Obama administration's efforts to reduce toxic emissions. While it doesn't bar the EPA from regulating these toxins, it means the agency has to start over, this time considering costs as one of the factors BEFORE making a decision about whether to limit emissions."
Supreme Court Mercury Decision Threatens Public Health, But Won't Revive Big Coal—by Mary Anne Hitt: "Today's ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court to send the Mercury and Air Toxics Standard (MATS) back to EPA for further proceedings is a decision that endangers public health, but it won't revive the fortunes of Big Coal. These standards were designed to safeguard local communities against dangerous pollution from power plants. Unfortunately, today millions of Americans won't yet be able to breathe more easily. Practically speaking, today's decision won't revive the fortunes of Big Coal or slow down our nation's transition to clean energy. Most utilities have long since made decisions about how to meet the standard, since the compliance deadline was April 2015. Only a few dozen coal plants are still operating today with no pollution controls for mercury and air toxics and no clear plans to install them."
COAL FOLDEROL: Supreme Court's ruling on EPA mercury rules is either a huge smackdown or a non-issue—by rlegro: "This morning's headlines provided an excellent example of how interest groups and news media tend to impart spin on even the clearest set of facts. The latest spinning comes in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in a case involving the Environmental Protection Agency's power to regulate toxic mercury emissions from the nation's coal-fired power plants. The case was brought by coal and utility industry interest groups and 21 Republican-led states. The slant in most mainstream news coverage, at least initially, would lead most people to think the EPA and the Obama administration have just been seriously smacked down by the court, a bare majority of which agreed with complaints from coal interests. That's the way Republicans played it, executing high-fives all around."
Supreme Court overturns EPA air pollution rule—by dkmich: "Breaking news...and sort of in keeping with Obama's push for TPP. Profits come first. If you can't breath, who gives a fuck. The Supreme Court overturned the Obama administration’s landmark air quality rule on Monday, ruling the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) did not properly consider the costs of the regulation. In a 5-4 ruling, the justices ruled that the EPA should have taken into account the costs to utilities and others in the power sector before even deciding whether to set limits for the toxic air pollutants it regulated in 2011."
New Tests Find Toxic Cocktail in Santa Barbara Spill—by Dan Bacher: "As the mainstream media and most alternative media continue to cover-up the cause of the Santa Barbara Oil Spill - Big Oil's capture of the regulatory apparatus - an independent scientific study revealed that that the spill released glutaraldehyde, ethylbenzene, naphthalene and other toxic chemicals into the environment. Numerous toxic chemicals known to pose severe threats to human health and marine life contaminated the Pacific Ocean and beaches when more than 100,000 gallons of oil spilled from a ruptured pipeline in Santa Barbara County, according to independent test results released on June 25 by Water Defense. The non-profit organization’s testing of spilled oil deposited on the beach and water samples collected from the May 19 Refugio State Beach oil spill confirmed the presence of several toxic chemicals including, but not limited to, Ethylbenzene, Toluene, Xylene, and Naphthalene."
Forests, Wilderness & Public Lands
A Walk for the Park—by conniegallant : "The Olympic National Park, on Washington State’s Olympic Peninsula, is visited by millions of people annually. The economic boom such visitors bring to our tourism economy is acknowledged by anyone in business on the peninsula, including the chambers of commerce. Visitors walk its old growth forested trails, hike its stunning mountains, swim and paddle in its pristine rivers. The Park was accepted as a biosphere reserve in June 1976, and as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1981 because of its: spectacular coastline, scenic lakes, majestic mountains and glaciers, and magnificent temperate rainforest. It is the lowest latitude in the world in which glaciers form at relatively low elevation. Its relative isolation and highly varied rainfall have produced complex and varied life zones. So what’s this all about a woman walking for the Park? Why should this interest anyone? Well, because that biosphere reserve is being threatened by no other than our own U.S. Navy."
US Navy plans to bomb the Arctic—by VL Baker: "Is this what President Eisenhower had in mind when he warned us about the growth of the MIC? It is stunning to think that when our species is struggling with the existential threat of climate change that the US Navy would even consider doubling down on Arctic melting by playing War Games in the Gulf of Alaska. [...] In 2013, U.S. Navy researchers predicted ice-free summer Arctic waters by 2016 and it looks as if that prediction might come true. Recently, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reported that there was less ice in the Arctic this winter than in any other winter of the satellite era. Given that the Navy has been making plans for 'ice-free' operations in the Arctic since at least 2001, their June "Northern Edge" exercises may well prove to be just the opening salvo in the future northern climate wars, with whales, seals, and salmon being the first in the line of fire. Is this what President Obama meant when he told us that climate change is a national security issue? [...] Is this one of the things Secretary Hillary Clinton had in mind when she was meeting with climate scientists and oil executives in the Arctic? Seems like the US can't wait for the Arctic to melt. Their cognitive dissonance on climate is insanity at this point. We must bring some sanity into our government if we are to even survive."
Miscellany
Solar plane begins longest leg of flight around the world—by Walter Einenkel: "The Solar Impulse Plane has been flying around the world using nothing but electric power generated by the sun and stored in batteries. The plane flies at around eight thousand feet and moves at about 29 knots as it travels. [...] After months of being grounded due to inclement weather conditions, the 120 hour flight across the pacific is no small feat. Borschberg will be in the plane for 5 days and 5 nights and is at the "point of no return" in his flight over the Pacific."
Washington State Open Thread - Cherry Point Aquatic Reserve and Point Whitehorn Marine Reserve—by RonK: "This diary may seem a bit disjointed but each part is in fact related and I hope of interest to this group. Each of the components emanates from a beautiful beach and pertains to various environmental and geologic issues currently and historically in play in Whatcom County and Washington State. Some items can be seen as hopeful, positive, and far sighted like the State’s aquatic reserve program. Others are worrisome and seen by many as looming disasters waiting to happen such as the potential coal export terminal slated to be situated in this area. And finally, I describe some geology of how our beautiful region, including this beach became what it is today."