Spotlight on Green News & Views (previously known as the Green Diary Rescue) appears twice a week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Here is the most recent previous Green Spotlight. More than 24,550 environmentally oriented stories have been rescued to appear in this series since 2006. Inclusion of a story in the Spotlight does not necessarily indicate my agreement with or endorsement of it.
OUTSTANDING GREEN STORIES
Michigan: Rick Snyder channels the Wise Men of Chelm written by Brainwrap: “One of the stories about the people of Chelm was about a playground located near the top of a cliff. Every once in awhile, a child would fall off the cliff and injure themselves on the ground below. The Wise Men of Chelm came up with an ingenious solution to the problem: They built a hospital at the bottom of the cliff. That way, the children could be rushed into the emergency room quickly for medical treatment. I was reminded of this story when reading the following AP article posted moments ago: Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder will propose $30 million in state funding... Hmmm...$30 million? OK, that's only a portion of how much it'll probably cost to rip up and replace the lead pipes poisoning the city, but it's a start. Great news! Oh, wait...what's that? ..to help pay the water bills of Flint residents facing an emergency over the city's lead-contaminated water supply. You've got to be shitting me. The water coming through those pipes is still toxic and could continue to be for months or longer. So instead of using the money to actually fix the problem and paying the medical treatment for the 100,000 people you've poisoned, your Big Idea is to issue a credit for the poison that you've been serving up for the past two years??”
CRITTERS AND THE GREAT OUTDOORS
Dawn Chorus: Birds of Puerto Rico written by cardinal: “Good morning birders, twitchers, twitchy birders, bitchy twirlers, and candidate warriors who mistook the title as a reference to an early-morning rally before the Puerto Rico primary. Three weeks ago I had the pleasure of visiting Puerto Rico for the first time, and herein I share my best photos from the trip, as well as my amateurish attempts at identification. Corrections are welcome. The Southern Political Science Association typically rotates its annual conference between Atlanta and New Orleans. This year they upped their game considerably and went really farsouthern, to San Juan. So I made room for my camera (and snorkel, and hiking boots. . .) in the suitcase between the suits and academic papers, and dragged my wife (kicking and screaming, of course) to a mini-vacation prior to the political sciencing that paid for my flight. Puerto Rico has 17 endemic bird species, and I tried to see as many as possible. In addition, as I had never been SE of Miami, I could add any Caribbean endemic to my life list.”
The Daily Bucket - an otter's sole, and other fishy moments written by OceanDiver: “Gray skies and seas of winter don’t slow down the animals making a living from the sea. I’m all bundled up against the chilly wind just walking along the seashore, but the birds and mammals dive these dark cold waters searching out their sustenance all day long. Their skill, patience and persistence is impressive. [...] In summer our resident gulls are mostly offshore at their breeding sites. In winter they return to the bays and forage by the beach. One of their most remarkable strategies is diving. They’ll eat anything they can catch but their most common prey is crab at this beach. Since crabs stay below the water’s surface the gulls have to “dive” for them. Near the beach the sea is shallow enough. These big gulls can snatch a crab a couple a feet deep if they drop like a torpedo straight down from about 6 feet up, folding their wings at the last moment.”
Daily Bucket: An Anhinga Gets Lunch written by Lenny Flank: “A few days ago I was at Freedom Park in Naples FL watching an Anhinga fishing. Some photos.”
Yellowstone Park: Buffalo (Photo Diary) written by Ojibwa: “By 1902, poachers had reduced the buffalo herd in Yellowstone National Park to about 25 animals. Buffalo from private herds—including 18 cows from Michael Pablo and Charles Allard of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Indian Reservation—were used to replenish the herd. Today there are about 3,000 wild buffalo in the Park. [...] “Buffalo, the common name for bison were—and still are—important to many Native American tribes. The majority of the meat was dried and made into jerky, which could later be crushed and mixed with berries to make pemmican. Hides used for teepees were waterproofed by smoking them over fires. Horns were worked into bow supports, ladles, spoons, and cups, while hooves made rattles and glue.””
CLIMATE CHAOS
Long after tundra wild fire flames have been extinguished the permafrost continues to rapidly thaw written by Pakalolo: “’Fire has been largely absent from tundra for the past 11,000 or so years, but the frequency of tundra fires is increasing, probably as a response to climate warming. If the frequency of these fires remains at long intervals, 80 to 150 years, then the tundra has time to recover. If these fires occur more frequently, say every 10 years or so, then the landscape cannot recover,’ says Syndonia ‘Donie’ Bret-Harte, an ecosystem ecologist at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Institute of Arctic Biology. A new study, prepared by scientists that have been mapping permafrost in Alaska, was recently published in the journal Science Direct. The United Sates Geological Survey summarizes the grim findings. Using statistically modeled maps drawn from satellite data and other sources, U.S. Geological Survey scientists have projected that the near-surface permafrost that presently underlies 38 percent of boreal and Arctic Alaska would be reduced by 16 to 24 percent by the end of the 21st century under widely accepted climate scenarios. Permafrost declines are more likely in central Alaska than northern Alaska.”
From 30,000 to 300 against 300,000 written by ClimateDenierRoundup: “Once upon a time (in 2007), deniers could get as many as30,000 signatures on their silly climate denial petitions—although that number includes fake names, including people's pets, the Spice Girls and the deceased. Now, a month after the issue was more or less resolved, there's a new letter making the rounds in support of witch-hunter Lamar Smith (R-TX), and it’s only received 300 signatures. Of course, the low number won't stop people like Andrew Follett from “covering” the “story” in such a way as to imply there is a significant body of support for climate denial among academics. In his so-called reporting of the story, Follett—who is apparently in competition with Michael Bastach for the title of "Most Prolific Daily Caller Churnalist"—has basically pasted together a WUWT post with quotes from the letter. Follett’s only original contribution seems to be counting up the number of signers with doctorates and relaying the signers' fields of study. Glancing at the names, one finds many of the usual suspects. Scanning through, it seems at least one person on every page is affiliated with a Koch- or industry-funded group.”
Bastasch's Climate Concern Poll-Dance written by ClimateDenierRoundup: “A new poll of 17 nations by YouGov shows that of nine major types of world issues, climate change ranks third in terms of concern. People are most concerned about terrorism and poverty, followed by climate change, which ranks ahead of armed conflict, economic instability, population growth, diseases, energy scarcity and nuclear weapons. Relative to the rest of the world, the people of UK, Saudi Arabia, and US showed the least concern for climate. Of course, in Michael Bastasch's coverage of the poll, he ignores most of the information and cherry picks one number out of a relational chart comparing nine issues across seventeen countries to make it seem as though Americans are dismissive of climate change. With a title that overtly misrepresents the findings (in fairness, possibly written by an editor and not by Bastasch), the Daily Caller claims that, ‘91% of Americans Aren’t Worried About Global Warming.’”
Climate Conspiracy Shelf Life: Under 4 Years written by ClimateDenierRoundup: “An innovative new paper in PLOS One has developed a formula for how long a conspiracy theory can survive before someone exposes it as a fraud. Using real conspiracies as a sort of ‘control,’ the study defines the relationship between the number of experts required to perpetrate a hoax and the time between the hoax’s beginning and eventual debunking. Using the NSA’s PRISM project, the Tuskegee syphilis experiment, and FBI forensics scandal as reference cases, the study finds that if climate change were a hoax involving nearly the 400,000+ climate scientists found in the various scientific societies that acknowledge the consensus, it would only last 3.7 years before someone would blow the whistle. The study identified similar time frames for other major scientific conspiracy theories, including the moon landing hoax (estimated to last only 3.68 years), vaccination conspiracies (3.15 years), and the idea that Big Pharma is suppressing a cure for cancer (3.17 years). In other words, the huge number of people required to subvert the truth makes it incredibly unlikely for big conspiracies to last more than a few years before someone either slips up and accidentally reveals the plot, an outsider does the science to disprove it or a whistleblower sees the light and exposes the hoax.”
ENERGY
Oil and gasoline stores at record high; why usage is falling...& a Russian-OPEC oil cartel? written by rjsigmund: “[A] number of on again, off again, stories that Russia was planning to meet with the members of the OPEC cartel to negotiate production cuts drove oil prices higher this week, but even now it's still not clear if there was any actual communication between any leaders of the countries to bring about such a meeting, or if the entire hullabaloo was just an old idea that gained a life of its own once news bureau foreign energy correspondents started asking questions of officials whose ambiguous responses fed the story as it built on itself...”
Nuclear, Coal, Oil and Gas
One-Third of Ecuador's Rainforests to Be Auctioned Off to Chinese Oil Companies written by notCinderella: “Almost two years after a controversial bid by the country's politicians to auction off part of the Amazon Rainforest to Chinese oil drilling companies, the it seems like the deal is finally about to get finalized, according to The Business Insider. If the deal does go through, China would be free to exploit about 3 million of the country's 8.1 million hectares of pure, untouched Amazonian rainforest. The region has remained pristine despite the advent of industrialization, until now. [...] Axis of Logic stated that the sale of parts of the Amazon was met with much criticism, especially from the indigenous groups who consider the land their home. A previous court ruling has also granted them the right to veto any projects that might involve the environment.”
Brazilians support Petrobras probe, and they aren't worried about the bill written by Mr Bizu: “Brazilians don’t just want Zika out of their country. According to a new poll, a majority of the country’s population support an investigation into the corruption surrounding the state’s major oil producer, Petrobras. And they don’t care how much it costs. According to a Reuters report, an overwhelming majority of Brazilians want an investigation into the sprawling kickback scheme at Petrobras to continue, despite concerns that it is hurting the nation's ailing economy.”
Emissions Controls & Carbon Pricing
Erin Brockovich will appear with Delta advocates at tonight's Stockton City Townhall written by Dan Bacher: “Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Executive Director of Restore the Delta (RTD), and Bill Jennings, Executive Director of the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance (CSPA), will appear at the Stockton City Townhall with environmental activist Erin Brockovich today, February 1, at 6 PM to discuss the relationship between Delta management, the Delta tunnels project and water quality for municipal use. [...] The event takes place at critical time for the Delta, the state’s fisheries and the public trust. The mismanagement of Central Valley reservoirs and the Delta during the record drought by the Brown and Obama administrations has brought Delta smelt, longfin smelt, winter and spring-run Chinook salmon, Central Valley steelhead and other fish species closer and closer to extinction.”
SoCalGas methane leak: 102 days & counting, eco-groups target it for attack on fracking written by Meteor Blades: “Even in states where there are rules in place to control methane leaks, enforcement is spotty. In the case of SS25, it’s been known for nearly a quarter century that the well was leaking a bit. In 1979, a broken safety valve meant to prevent bigger leaks was removed but not replaced. Had a new one been installed, the October 23 leak may never have happened. It gets worse than that. Digging through documents filed with the state, EDF discovered that in 2013, SoCalGas had received taxpayer money to conduct upgrades on equipment, including safety valves. The filing shows that SoCalGas got an extra $898,000 a year from the state to replace 5 percent of its safety valves at Aliso Canyon. EDF says these funds were not spent for that purpose.”
Hydraulic Fracking
Offshore fracking moratorium off CA coast spurred by lawsuits written by Dan Bacher: “In one of the biggest environmental conflicts of interest in recent California history, a Big Oil lobbyist led a state panel to create so-called ‘marine protected areas’ in Southern California ocean waters at the very same time that the oil industry was conducting offshore fracking operations in the region. That's right - Catherine Reheis-Boyd, the President of the Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA), chaired the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative Blue Ribbon Task Force to create so-called ‘marine protected areas’ in Southern California from 2009 to 2012 as the oil industry was fracking South Coast waters with little federal or state or federal government oversight. (www.dfg.ca.gov/...) However, the ‘rubber stamping’ of fracking operations by the federal government has at least temporarily stopped.”
Renewables, Efficiency & Conservation
Renewable energy competes in the marketplace written by Urban Owl: “In a column today, Joe Romm reports on (and explains) the changing technology and economics of renewable energy. For example, Germany now gets 20% of its energy from renewable sources. Many innovations have changed the market factors. One of the most important is more efficiency in the grid so that renewable energy can be delivered to a wider set of customers. Another is increasingly efficient battery technologies. According to Alexander MacDonald, co-lead author and recently retired director of NOAA’s Earth System Research Laboratory, ‘Our research shows a transition to a reliable, low-carbon, electrical generation and transmission system can be accomplished with commercially available technology and within 15 years.’ A very exciting and hopeful report!”
An Energy Storage Revolution begins in Australia written by Unenergy: “An interesting market experiment is beginning to take shape in Australia that has significant implications for the way electricity is generated and distributed. Over 1.5 million Australian homes now have solar panels on their roofs and one of the great arguments against the economics and practicality of solar is about to be challenged. [...] It makes good business sense then that companies like Teslaand other market participants such as LG, have made Australia one of their first target markets for home energy storage systems capable of storing excess power generated by a solar system during the day for use by a household when the sun goes down. A programme aired last night on the Australian ABC Science program Catalyst which investigates the potential impact of accessible energy/electricity storage and the disruptive potential this technology has is something I’d like to explore below.”
OCEANS, WATER, DROUGHT
Reclamation Increases American River Flows to 1750 cfs written by Dan Bacher: “The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation will increase flows from Nimbus Dam into the lower American River from 800 cfs. to 1750 cfs on Friday, February 5, over doubling the flows. The release is for the purpose of “storage management” at Folsom Reservoir as it rises rapidly from recent storms, according to Bureau spokesperson Randi Field. The steelhead continue to surge into the river, with 61 new fish trapped at Nimbus Fish Hatchery on Tuesday, reported Gary Novak, hatchery manager.”
WILDERNESS, NATIONAL FORESTS AND PARKS & OTHER PUBLIC LANDS
More Than Just a Pretty Place written by Michael Brune: “Celebrating the centennial of a government agency isn't exactly the norm in America these days, but the National Park Service represents something special. It has taken what Wallace Stegner called ‘the best idea we ever had’ and made it a reality—a system of national parks that is both the envy of the world and the priceless birthright of every American. Sierra Club members were excited when the National Park Service was created in 1916, and today we're more than ready to celebrate this centennial. At the same time, though, we want to join the Park Service in using this milestone as an opportunity to think about what we want the next 100 years to look like for America's national parks, monuments, and historic places. That was a recurring theme during an online discussion I had last week with National Park Service director Jonathan B. Jarvis, Outdoor Afro founder Rue Mapp, Latino Outdoors founder José González, and Sierra Club Board director Allison Chin. You can watch it here if you missed it.”
Ammon Bundy heads to court today and his own father may have sunk any chance of pretrial release written by Jen Hayden: “Cliven Bundy is not helping his son’s cause today, the very day Ammon Bundy is headed before a federal judge: Three men charged over the armed occupation of federal land in Harney County will appear in federal court on Tuesday. Ammon Bundy, Peter Santilli and Joseph O’Shaughnessy are seeking release from custody pending trial. Bundy and Santilli were denied release on Friday. O’Shaughnessy was granted release, but federal prosecutors are fighting to keep him locked up. Ammon Bundy was previously denied released pending trial because the judge determined he is a danger to the community. He is asking a judge to allow him to leave for Idaho with a GPS enabled ankle bracelet.”
I Just Went Ahead and Gave Another 8,000 Acres to the US Government written by ban nock: “I belong to and donate to an organisation that arranges to purchase land and then we give it to the federal government to be turned into public lands, usually as in this case, National Forest. We believe the US Government to be the best caretaker of lands held in trust for all Americans to use and enjoy. All words are my own and I do not represent the Foundation etc etc etc. We are called The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. The main purpose of our organisation is to conserve habitat for elk, and when we do purchase habitat we always give it to the government for all the people of America to enjoy however they see fit. When we can’t arrange the purchase of land outright we work to promote the various types of conservation easements etc. [...] It might not be apparent from the map but this purchase gives access to far more than the 8,000 acres involved. Because the land was in a checkerboard pattern it denied access to all lands behind it. A good ten mile stretch of land.”
No Bars save for prison's on Day 30 at Bundy-world as Malheur Wildlife Refuge loses Web access written by annieli: “Unfortunately the libertarian lifeboat is now more constrained as the remaining insurgents are stuck with fewer poptarts and now less computer network access. OTOH, one assumes that much of the Bundystani larder was left as a hasty exit was made by most of the militants after the Bundys’ capture leaving supplies including the 55 gallons of personal lube. That some of the still imprisoned Bundy leadership’s bail possibilities are tied to amnesty demands provides an interesting example of prisoner’s dilemma negotiation soon to be made real. The four holdouts awoke to discover that many lost phone and Internet service overnight, according to Greg Whalen, a Nevada supporter who said he had been in contact with the armed protesters. They have refused to leave the refuge until they are guaranteed they won't be arrested.”
BYPRODUCTS, TRASH, TOXIC & RADIOACTIVE WASTE
High Poverty Rates Stricken 18 Pennsylvania Cities Where Lead Exposure is Higher Than Flint written by S Kitchen: “For the past month, Flint, Michigan has been under the national microscope for its lead contamination. Residents from Flint have been complaining about the city's water for a couple of years, but the government did not acknowledge the disaster until two a chemist and a health professional published reports and the corrosives of the city's water and the lead levels found in children. Earlier today, Vox reported that "nearly 10 percent of the more than 140,000 kids tested had levels of 5 or more micrograms per deciliter of lead in the blood (5 µg/dL) —this is the threshold the government uses to identify children with dangerously elevated blood lead levels," and cite Flint's exposure rate between 3.21 and 6.3 percent, which is lower than 18 of 20 Pennsylvania cities.”
The Flint Water Crisis: Environmental Racism? written by Jill Richardson: “Obviously, the Flint water crisis is bad. Obviously, it was a tremendous failure of government at numerous levels. It’s a catastrophe for so many reasons. But is it a case of environmental racism? Or is it simply a very bad thing that happened to occur in a town that is mostly black? I would argue that racism is involved, although it was not the only factor at play. [...] If you do the math, the state took about $6 million per year from Flint, and then declared Flint was in a bad enough budgetary crisis to necessitate installing an emergency manager. The emergency manager then saved $2 million per year (or attempted to) by switching the water source. A mere $36,500 per year would have prevented most of the lead problem.”
Michigan: Rick Snyder channels the Wise Men of Chelm written by Brainwrap: “One of the stories about the people of Chelm was about a playground located near the top of a cliff. Every once in awhile, a child would fall off the cliff and injure themselves on the ground below. The Wise Men of Chelm came up with an ingenious solution to the problem: They built a hospital at the bottom of the cliff. That way, the children could be rushed into the emergency room quickly for medical treatment. I was reminded of this story when reading the following AP article posted moments ago: Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder will propose $30 million in state funding... Hmmm...$30 million? OK, that's only a portion of how much it'll probably cost to rip up and replace the lead pipes poisoning the city, but it's a start. Great news! Oh, wait...what's that? ..to help pay the water bills of Flint residents facing an emergency over the city's lead-contaminated water supply. You've got to be shitting me. The water coming through those pipes is still toxic and could continue to be for months or longer. So instead of using the money to actually fix the problem and paying the medical treatment for the 100,000 people you've poisoned, your Big Idea is to issue a credit for the poison that you've been serving up for the past two years??”
Flint Could NEVER, EVER Happen In A Wealthy Community. Here's Why written by TRAmnesia: “When you’ve read any of the stories and reports of the water crisis in Flint, Michigan, invariably there was a statement that ‘this wouldn’t be allowed to happen in an affluent city” or a comment that asks, “What would happen if this was a wealthy community?’ In reality, it would be impossible for this crisis to occur in any wealthy community. IMPOSSIBLE. Flint, like Detroit, is an old city. Most of the homes were built in the 1930s and ‘40s when indoor plumbing was just a couple decades old. A new and novel addition to home design was a sink, toilet, and a cast-iron bathtub in the same room called a ‘Bath Room’... Fresh water was delivered through cast iron pipes and connectors or later, galvanized steel. These were state-of-the-art materials that were expected to last for decades before corrosion necessitated their replacement.”
ECO-ESSAYS & PROPOSALS
How to Be a Blackbird written by Robert Dobbs: “Blackbirds are trouble. Never more than at a sidewalk bakery, when they swoop down to lay claim to the crumbs on your plate: ‘You WERE done with that -- you know that, don't you?’ I sometime wonder how nature packaged so much attitude into two ounces of bird. I'm 1500 times their weight, and do they care? ‘Gimme those croissant crumbs, ape, or there'll be trouble.’ Blackbirds have to be trouble. They are small, and life is hard. If they were meek, they'd be gone. So they are not meek. They've got a few years to live, if they're lucky, and they make the most of them. [...] So be a good blackbird: flock with your fellows and see about being troublesome -- constructively. Trouble for the giants is justice, life, and freedom for you. Dodo birds weren't a lot of trouble; where are they now?”
AGRICULTURE, FOOD & GARDENING
Florida Farm Bureau Gets Award for Drone Program written by Environman: “Florida Farm Bureau was recently awarded the New Horizon Award. The award came from the American Farm Bureau Organization to recognize the innovations made by the Florida Farm Bureau in creating unmanned aerial vehicle training and certification program meant for high school students. The program was developed in partnership with Embry Riddle Aeronautical University and Florida Department of Education. Florida Farm Bureau was also honoured with awards of excellence due to its demonstration of exemplary achievements in other program areas such as leadership development, education and outreach, membership initiatives, policy development, member services and public relations and communications. The training and certification program is geared towards equipping high school students with the skills necessary to learn how to fly uav’s. Those who graduate from the program will be in a better position to use crop protection and irrigation materials.”
La Via Campesina, Building an International Movement for Food and Seed Sovereignty written by Simone Adler via Bev Bell: “Elizabeth Mpofu of Zimbabwe is General Coordinator of the international peasant movement La Via Campesina, a coalition of 164 organizations in 73 countries around the world, representing about 200 million peasant, landless, indigenous, and other farmers. She is also Chairperson of Zimbabwe Organic Smallholder Farmers Forum, and herself a farmer. Who we are fighting for is every single peasant farmer – more than 200 million – on the planet. People are eager to join hands in building a global voice. Transnational corporations are pushing policies in African countries for industrial farming and the use of GMO [genetically modified] seeds, while grabbing our land and [stealing] our natural resources. No one should come and tell us how to produce food.”
TRANSPORTATION & INFRASTRUCTURE
Meet Uganda's Solar Bus written by FrustratedProgressive: “I imagine most of us are busy attempting to comprehend the Iowa caucuses tonight, but there is in fact other stuff happening in the world. One such event that caught my attention was the demonstration of an electric bus partially powered by solar energy in Uganda of all places. Uganda has mostly come to the attention of the West for its prodigious hatred of homosexuality, which many American conservative Christians have been happy to augment. There’s nothing particularly unusual about electric buses. The Chinese company BYD motors has been building them for some time. The Ugandan example, which is produced by the local Kira Motors, is unusual for two reasons. Firstly, it is intended to be built by Ugandans in Uganda. Economic development is always welcome in the developing countries of Africa, and it is encouraging to see it being directed towards building electric vehicles. Africa’s growing megacities will need fleets of buses, and it would be great if they didn’t choke people to death as do diesel buses. The second reason the Kayoola bus, as it is called, is unusual is that it has solar panels on its roof.”
CANDIDATES, STATE AND DC ECO-RELATED POLITICS
Democrats seeking aid for Flint through bipartisan Senate energy bill written by Vann R Newkirk II: “The people of Flint, Michigan, could soon find major assistance from the U.S. Senate. Led by Michigan Senators Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters, some Democrats are pushing for an amendment to a bipartisan energy bill that would provide as much as $400 million in emergency aid and infrastructure aid and provide funds for the creation of a Center of Excellence on Lead Exposure to help assist the longterm needs of Flint citizens exposed to lead. Bloomberg reports: The energy legislation, S. 2012, which is backed by Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairwoman Lisa Murkowski, an Alaska Republican, and the panel’s top Democrat, Maria Cantwell of Washington, would encourage energy efficiency upgrades of schools, speed up licensing of hydroelectric power projects and permits for liquid natural gas exports.”
H. Heitkamp & J. Manchin Just Voted to Keep Fossil Fuel Corps' Political Spending in the Dark written by Liberty Equality Fraternity and Trees: “Today, the Senate voted on a series of six amendments to the Energy Policy Modernization Act of 2015. Joe Manchin (D-WV) voted against the Democratic Party line 5 out of 6 times, Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) did so 4 times, and Joe Donnelly (D-IN) and Jon Tester (D-MT) both did so once. [...] Al Franken (D-MN) offered an amendment to establish a Federal energy efficiency resource standard for electricity and natural gas suppliers. It was voted down 52 to 43. Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND), Joe Manchin (D-WV), and Jon Tester (D-WV) voted against it with the Republicans. Susan Collins (R-ME) voted for it with the Democrats. [...] John Barrasso (R-WY) offered an amendment to expedite permitting of natural gas lines on federal land and Indian land. The vote was 52 to 43, 8 short of passage. Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) and Joe Manchin (D-WV) voted for it with the Republicans.”
MISCELLANY
Who’s Afraid of The Zika Virus? How We Perceive Threat With Infectious Disease written by Virally Suppressed: “My fellow Americans, there is a new disease among us. It has only recently begun to make its way to our country from Latin America, but it will surely spread farther. Discovered in Sub-Saharan Africa shortly after World War II, this mosquito-borne alphavirus lay low for decades, popping up sporadically until the last few years, when it exploded on the international scene, ravaging not just Africa, but Asia and the more tropical portions of the Americas. Carried aloft in the bloodstreams of unsuspecting travelers, this virus has finally made landfall in the United States, with 44 states having reported cases. In adults who contract the virus, the predominant symptoms are fever, joint pain and rashes, although pregnant women are at greatest risk, as they can pass it on to their babies, potentially causing neonatal encephalopathy and leading to diminished neurological functioning. There is no known cure and no effective treatment has been developed. It seems like nothing can stop Chikungunya from wreaking havoc throughout the US.”
Daily Bucket: Celebrate World Wetlands Day 2016 written by Besame: “Wetland protection and restoration is essential to all life on earth. More than 64 percent of the world’s wetlands have been lost since 1900 and 76 percent of wetland species populations have declined between 1970 and 2010. We recognized the important of wetlands too late, but restoration projects are bringing many back as productive and protective habitats, such as Richardson Bay in Marin County California, and as mitigation for urban sprawl, such as Natomas Basin Conservancy just north of Sacramento. The Natomas Basin historically was tule and floodplain wetlands when the Sacramento River was free-flowing braided channels that seasonally flooded the basin. Now it is home to the Sacramento Airport and an appalling number of residential developments. But conservation and restoration required as part of development mitigations has improved 4,200 acres of Natomas habitat enough to support animals known to be uncommon, like the mink seen recently and reported by John Roberts, executive director of the Natomas Basin Conservancy.”