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 25,075 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
cwillis writes—Chernobyl after 30 years: a photo gallery: “Early in the morning on April 26, 1986, the Unit 4 reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant (ChNPP) exploded. The lessons and legacy of this catastrophe—the world’s worst nuclear accident—continue to be widely studied and debated thirty years later, with a multitude of competing views variously apportioning blame on the actions of staff and management, on the flawed design of the reactor, on defective Soviet ‘safety culture] (a phrase born of this accident), and on what might be termed the residual risk inherent to the nuclear power industry generally. Chernobyl has cast a long shadow; efforts to clean up the disaster have outlasted the collapse of the economic and political system in which the initial response took place, and have outlasted the operational life (and revenue-generating career) of the power plant. The site today is a conflicting juxtaposition of death and renewal, depending on how one experiences it. [...] I am a four-time visitor to ChNPP. Though my career work in nuclear engineering has mostly concerned particle accelerator applications, I have long been fascinated by Chernobyl and drawn there like a moth to a flame. Most recently, I’ve led groups to ChNPP to learn the fundamentals of radiation metrology and protection in a practical setting.”
boatsie writes—Is .5° The Fatal Flaw in Paris Climate Agreement? ”Despite years of research detailing the inadequacies of limiting global warming to 2° C , the UNFCCC scored a long awaited PR victory on Earth Day 2016 as leaders from 171 countries convened at the UN to sign the Paris Climate Agreement. [...] With global warming hovering at 1.34° C and 2016 temperatures on course to break all records, it’s not too much of a stretch to agree with NASA Climatologist and activist James Hansen’s depiction of the Paris treaty as a ‘fraud.’ ‘It’s just bullshit for them to say: “We’ll have a 2C warming target and then try to do a little better every five years.” It’s just worthless words,’ Hansen said at the conclusion of the talks last December. Just last month Hansen re-released a study, first announced prior to COP21, which warned ‘soon we’ll pass the point of no return in which we lock in consequences that cannot be reversed on any time scale that people care about.’”
Michael T. Klare via Tom Dispatch writes—The Coming World of "Peak Oil Demand," Not "Peak Oil": “Sunday, April 17th was the designated moment. The world's leading oil producers were expected to bring fresh discipline to the chaotic petroleum market and spark a return to high prices. Meeting in Doha, the glittering capital of petroleum-rich Qatar, the oil ministers of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), along with such key non-OPEC producers as Russia and Mexico, were scheduled to ratify a draft agreement obliging them to freeze their oil output at current levels. In anticipation of such a deal, oil prices had begun to creep inexorably upward, from $30 per barrel in mid-January to $43 on the eve of the gathering. But far from restoring the old oil order, the meeting ended in discord, driving prices down again and revealing deep cracks in the ranks of global energy producers. It is hard to overstate the significance of the Doha debacle. At the very least, it will perpetuate the low oil prices that have plagued the industry for the past two years, forcing smaller firms into bankruptcy and erasing hundreds of billions of dollars of investments in new production capacity. It may also have obliterated any future prospects for cooperation between OPEC and non-OPEC producers in regulating the market. Most of all, however, it demonstrated that the petroleum-fueled world we've known these last decades -- with oil demand always thrusting ahead of supply, ensuring steady profits for all major producers -- is no more. Replacing it is an anemic, possibly even declining, demand for oil that is likely to force suppliers to fight one another for ever-diminishing market shares.”
CRITTERS AND THE GREAT OUTDOORS
Austin Bailey writes—Burn Down the Illegal Ivory Trade: “Tomorrow's destruction of nearly $200 million worth of elephant tusk ivory and rhino horns will mark the closing of the Giants Club Summit meeting in Kenya. Political, business and environmental leaders convened today in Kenya to discuss both tactics and strategies to end the illegal trade in ivory that has the potential to drive the estimated 500,000 wild elephants in Africa to extinction by 2025. At the end of the summit, President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya, will set fire to 100 tons of ivory - estimated to be 5% of the global stockpile of the material. You can watch that event live here. On Saturday, April 30, Kenya Wildlife Service will host the largest ivory burn in history — a bold statement against elephant poaching, and one we hope will mark the beginning of the end for the global ivory trade, which kills an estimated 33,000 elephants every year. African and global conservation leaders are working to impact global perceptions of the illegal ivory trade. On a governmental basis substantial progress has been made to marginalize the ivory trade, but the trade continues. The trade still flourishes in Asia with Hong Kong as one of its commercial centers.”
Austin Bailey writes—Tragedy in Zimbabwe: “While key leaders met in Kenya to discus putting a halt to the illegal ivory trade, the news of 300 elephants murdered by poison in Zimbabwe emerged. Pictures taken by the hunters, which have been obtained exclusively by The Telegraph, reveal horrific scenes. Parts of the national park, whose more accessible areas are visited by thousands of tourists each year, can be seen from the air to be littered with the deflated corpses of elephants, often with their young calves dead beside them, as well as those of other animals.”
ban nock writes—The Cecil Effect-200 Dead Lions And the Failure of Conservation: “There is now a thing called “The Cecil Effect”. What that term means is the disruption of scientific wildlife management via popular culture and the negative effects it has on conservation, such as with African lions. Concordia Biologist on Cecil Effect—‘If the money dries up, how will they hire park game wardens, buy cars for anti-poaching units and pay for animal tracking? The whole conservation effort is jeopardized. That’s where the disaster occurs.’ Southern Africa has been hit by a perfect storm of conservation catastrophes this year. There is a continent wide drought, the worldwide vilification of a Minnesota Dentist has kept trophy hunters away in droves, and the US Fish and Wildlife needs to authenticate a country’s conservation program before trophy importation resumes. There are now more lions than the habitat can support. Below is a statement from a resident biologist on why there is a need to cull a lot of lions.”
Lenny Flank writes—Daily Bucket: A Walk at Skidaway Island: “The University of Georgia’s Marine Science Center Aquarium is located on Skidaway Island and is crisscrossed by nature trails.”
Lenny Flank writes—Daily Bucket: Birdies at Lunch: “A little while ago I was visiting the Center for Marine Science Aquarium on Skidaway Island GA, and stopped to have lunch by the birdfeeders.”
owktree writes—Daily Bucket: Schuylkill in the Spring: “Tracking the progress of the spring growing season here in Philadelphia. The ‘study area’ is a stretch of the Schuylkill River Trail near the Philadelphia Art Museum, shrub and bedding plants in gardens near the museum, and a couple of other nearby areas that might have different plants and animals. The pictures date from late March and early April with the growing season in Philadelphia itself running a little ahead of the immediate areas outside of the city.”
Besame writes—Daily Bucket News Collection: secret parrot sanctuary and other whooping conservation successes: “When scientists discover presumed extinct night parrots are still alive they wonder whether to announce it or keep it secret. The news is too exciting not to shout out to the world. But the newly discovered population also is too fragile to risk exposure. This week’s news collection reports on • a secret sanctuary for night parrots • the first wild bred and born babies in two re-introduced wildlife populations, and • the most successful breeding season for an endangered population of massive parrots.”
endydra lutris writes—The Daily Bucket - April Yard Report: “This is part of my ongoing project to document the changes in our yard from month to month. Previous versions are: march, February, January. So we were gone from March 23 through April 15. Naturally, things had changed a bit in our absence. The pathway along the back of the house was pretty much overgrown by our roses and pineapple sage. (The hummer feeder is about 9 feet off of the ground.) The pineapple sage is blooming away, of course. [...] ”
eKestrel writes—Dawn Chorus: Ooh, Baby Baby: “It’s that time of year when invisible biorhythms tell the various bird species that they need to act — to find a mate, to take off for breeding grounds, to mate, to build a nest, to lay eggs, to raise their young. These things happen at different times for different species. Some birds are only now building nests (I saw both a Western Scrub Jay and a White-faced Ibis carrying nesting materials just last week) while others have already hatched their first broods.Take a look at what I found in a coleus plant I got at the nursery last week and was potting this morning. Who wants to take a guess at what bird laid this egg? I’ve seen House Sparrows in nests built in the rafters at the nursery, so I thought it had to be from them. But when I looked at House Sparrow eggs on Google Images, they’re speckled. Black Phoebe or House Finch are possibilities and are common around here, but if any of you have better guesses, please share.”
OceanDiver writes—The Daily Bucket - stilts in a mangrove pond (West Indies bucket #1): “Small islands in the Carribean Sea are my backyard for a while each year. I’m just back from two weeks on a tiny island between Cuba and Jamaica and will share some nature observations in the Bucket today (and hopefully one or two more). Today’s is a tribute to a fantastical bird who may be familiar to some folks since its range includes the southern U.S. but it is exotic and spectacular to me, as a native of the Pacific Northwest. The Black-necked Stilt is well-named, her long pointed wings and beak perched up high on tall pink legs. She is as fluttery as a butterfly but more aggressive than any creature in the pond. Especially right now in spring. It may be warm all year here in the sub-tropics of the Caribbean Sea but spring is breeding season here too just as it is in our more northerly latitudes. Our diving destination this year was Little Cayman, a 1 mile by 10 mile speck of coral-covered limestone that is flat and barely above sea level. Rainfall is seasonal and vegetation is either drought-adapted or salt-tolerant. Behind the beach where we stayed are mangrove ponds, a rich habitat for wildlife protected by the Cayman National Trust.”
CLIMATE CHAOS
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Exxon Using Tobacco's Failed Free Speech Defense for Decades of Deception on Climate Change: “The past week has seen a barrage of opinion pieces carrying water for the fossil fuel industry, defending against the ongoing fraud investigations. The Washington Post had two pieces, Newsweek had one and the Financial Times had an editorial, in addition to op-eds in a couple of other conservative outlets. Of those six, half were penned by groups funded at least in part by fossil fuel companies. The arguments are all by and large the same, claiming that the investigations infringe on fossil fuels companies’ right to free speech while steadfastly ignoring the fact that ExxonMobil funded climate denial to protect their business model. Only the Financial Times editorial actually acknowledges the ‘misleading claims from fossil fuel interests and their allies’ but concludes that it is ‘because the stakes [of the debate] are so high that all arguments must be heard.’ While that sounds fair at first Glantz, it quickly sounds silly when applied to a recent example: the tobacco industry’s denial of the fact that its carcinogenic product is addictive. All but one of the pieces similarly ignored the tobacco industry precedent and the only person who mentioned it was one of the few voices not plugged into the professional denial apparatus.”
ybruti writes—"A brief history of climate change": “In 2013 the BBC offered A brief history of climate change beginning with the eighteenth century invention of the steam engine and the start of the Industrial Revolution: 1712—British ironmonger Thomas Newcomen invents the first widely used steam engine, paving the way for the Industrial Revolution and industrial scale use of coal. 1800—World population reaches one billion. [...] 1861—Irish physicist John Tyndall shows that water vapour and certain other gases create the greenhouse effect. [...] 1896—Swedish chemist Svante Arrhenius concludes that industrial-age coal burning will enhance the natural greenhouse effect. He suggests this might be beneficial for future generations. His conclusions on the likely size of the "man-made greenhouse" are in the same ballpark - a few degrees Celsius for a doubling of CO2 - as modern-day climate models. [...] 2013—The Mauna Loa Observatory on Hawaii reports that the daily mean concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere has surpassed 400 parts per million (ppm) for the first time since measurements began in 1958.”
purple cones writes—Republicans Don't Believe in Climate Change, but Do They Believe in Magic? “Republicans in congress have been obstructing President Obama for the past 7 years. One of them once even tossed him a snowball, claiming it was evidence against global warming. Does any Republican in congress believe that climate change is real? But here’s what they do have time for: H. Res. 642, was introduced 3/14/16 by Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX). This resolution is titled: Recognizing magic as a rare and valuable art form and national treasure. Wait a minute. What??? Magic? This is not a joke. You can read the full text of the resolution here.”
kpascual writes—Here's How Climate Change Can Seriously Affect Your Physical and Mental Health: “Whether or not you are a believer, climate change is a reality. Soon, so too will be the countless lives lost if we don’t make individual and systemic changes now. Often perceived primarily as an environmental concern, climate change also poses serious health risks that can affect us in ways that we may not fully realize yet. A growing body of scientific research is building the evidence that show the current and pending deleterious effects of climate change on our physical and mental health. Here are five ways rising global temperatures can impact our safety and well-being: 1) Infectious Diseases. By the end of the 21st century, the average global temperature will go up by at least 3.6°F. Public health officials warn that high temperatures worldwide can allowmosquito breeding sites to flourish and expand. This means faster rates of spreading for infectious diseases like malaria which causes millions of deaths annually and Zikawhich has been linked to thousands of babies born with microcephaly, a condition marked by an abnormal smallness of the head. Other potentially deadly infections that can spread with warmer temperatures and increased rainfall include water-borne diseases such as dengue fever and cholera. 2) Heat strokes [...] 3) Respiratory problems [...] 4) Heart disease [...] 5) Mental health.”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Celebrating Earth Day the Denier Way: “As the real world celebrated Earth Day with 170 countries signing on to the Paris Agreement on climate change, the denier world was celebrating in the same way it does every year: by throwing every argument against the wall in hopes that one will stick. Hold your nose, because we’re diving in to sift through them. (Scroll to the bottom for the ‘Too Long; Didn’t Read’ summary.) Denial seems to have found a sympathetic ear at USA Today, which is still embracing false balance on the climate front and ran pieces from both John Coleman and Bjorn Lomborg (as well as a pro-climate editorial and op-ed from a trio of scientists on short-lived climate pollutants.) Coleman’s piece is little more than a plug for the Climate Hustle movie wrapped in the usual conspiracy theory rhetoric of politics corrupting science. Lomborg’s piece focuses on his thoroughly and totally debunked Paris analysis, and is all-but identical to his NY Post piece from February. (Seriously it’s the exact same structure and sentiment: an intro about Paris being unduly praised; quotes from various leaders and a claim that Paris is all rhetoric with a reference to his study; a mention of a past failed UN agreement; and a conclusion that instead of deploying renewable energy we focus on Research & Development.)”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Fact Check Denial Dreck with Climate Feedback: “For those reading this, it should come as no surprise that the media doesn’t always get climate right—especially on the opinion pages. Unfortunately, there’s little that can be done to correct a piece once it’s published. One can write a letter to the editor, but that is unlikely to receive the same amount of attention as the original, full-length article. Helping to address this problem is the website Climate Feedback, who has just launched a new crowdfunding campaign, described by its founder and editor in a piece in the Guardian. The site works by reaching out to scientists to ask them to “grade” and fact check climate pieces. For example, they looked at Bjorn Lomborg’s recent WSJ piece and rated its overall scientific credibility to be ‘low to very low.’ It uses the hypothes.is annotation system to even provide the fact check overlaid on the piece, a great way to read the truth along with the ‘opinions’ like those found in Forbes posts by Heartland’s James Taylor. With this system, they’ve successfully gotten at least one correction to a story made, so it’s clearly an effective tool for improving scientific journalism. Now they’re asking for everyone’s support, so that they can hire an editor to coordinate the reviews and facilitate the analyses. While not everyone is in a position to provide monetary support, you can amplify their message with #StandWtScience on Twitter.”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Perennial CO2 Fertilization Hype Blooms with New Study: “The fact that plants need CO2 to grow is certainly not news for climate scientists, or really anyone with even the most elementree knowledge of biology, so the fact that an increase in CO2 levels can help plants grow is by no means news either. Known as the CO2 fertilization effect, it has been incorporated into climate models for only slightly longer than fossil-funded deniers have claimed it’s been ignored. See, for example, the 1992 coal-funded video, Greening of Planet Earth, or the quite similar 2013 talk by Matt Ridley about Greening the Planet. Every time new research quantifies some aspect of an increase in vegetation as CO2 levels have increased, it sweeps through the deniersphere like a fire through a drought-stricken forest. In the past, they’ve been assisted by mainstream media, which regularly failed to provide important context, namely that the fertilization effect diminishes over time, nitrogen availability, not CO2, is what limits growth, and that other impacts of climate change will eventually overwhelm the fertilization.”
xaxnar writes—Newly Found Weather Diary Records Show Climate Changes in the Adirondacks: “Mike Lynch has a story up at the Adirondack Almanac: Adirondack Climate Change: Deluges In The Forecast. A few years ago, Paul Smith’s College scientist Curt Stager came across a rare find that he says helps tell the story of climate change in the Adirondacks: the journal of Bob Simon, a retired engineer and longtime resident of Cranberry Lake. ...Stager was particularly interested in the entries on thunderstorms because they are not recorded by automated weather stations. Thunderstorms are a form of extreme weather and one of the rain events that are expected to happen more often in the future, he said. Stager hasn’t found any other thunderstorm records in the Adirondacks. He gave the weather records to a group of his students, who analyzed the data for their senior project. The students found that thunderstorms tended to increase in the period covered by the journal.”
tvdude writes—New uncovered corporate documents : Exxon knew about the cause of climate change back in the 70's! “I got news for all the climate deniers out there : even the big oil companies know that you are full of crap! In fact they knew as far back as the 70’s. That’s the gist of newly uncovered corporate documents by DESMOG. The corporate documents brought to light by the organization show very clearly that the company knew damn well that CO2 produced by the burning of fossil fuels was a growing problem well understood within the company. ‘It is assumed that the major contributors are the burning of fossil fuels….There is no doubt that increases in fossil fuel usage and decrease of forest cover are aggravating the the potential problem of C02 in the atmosphere. Technology exists to remove C02 from stack gases but removal of only 50% of C02 would double the cost of power generation. (bold italics added)’ According to DESMOG , those lines appeared in a 1980 report, ‘Review of environmental protection activities for the year 1978-1979,’ produced by Imperial Oil, Exxon’s Canadian subsidiary. In other words, Exxon knew about the problem, they knew it damaged the environment, and they knew how to fix it. They just felt it would cost too much money and , you know, reduce profits.”
Extreme Weather & Natural Phenomena
Libby Shaw writes—Houston: Hurricanes, Frequent Flooding and now Zika, too? ”Over the past several years Houston has experienced extreme weather events including a major hurricane as well as frequent and devastating flooding. We are not yet completely recovered from the April 18 flood and yet more heavy rain is on the way this weekend. Many residents in Houston and Harris County are at the end of their ropes. Some are walking away from homes that flooded twice in less than one year. Who can blame them?Oh and I just received this alert a few minutes ago. Flash Flood Watch for Houston from Friday afternoon - Sunday Morning. Heavy rains anticipated. Great. As if dealing with hurricanes and floods isn’t stressful enough I recently learned that Houston is a prime target for the Zika virus.”
POPULATION, SUSTAINABILITY & EXTINCTION
Pakalolo writes—“A typical person is more than five times as likely to die in an extinction event as in a car crash": “The Paris climate agreement sounds promising but it came toward the end of Earth's warmest year on record and now in 2016 warming has only gotten stronger . The increase in global temperatures over pre-industrial levels surpassed one degree Celsius in 2015 and is now inching its way to 1.5 degrees Celsius and that horrifies any person that is paying attention. Voluntary pledges made in Paris to limit greenhouse gas emissions are insufficient to the task of averting drastic climate change. They are, at best, incremental moves and not the steps that are necessary to avoid catastrophic climate change including the 6th mass extinction event which we find ourselves in at this very moment. What we needed was the types of programs that ex President Jimmy Carter had rolled out almost 40 years ago before he lost his re-election bid to Ronald Reagan. President Reagan immediately dismantled all Federal clean energy efforts. And here we are today.”
ENERGY
Nuclear & Fossil Fuels
xaxnar writes—Chernobyl, 30 years later: “It has been 30 years since the explosion and fire at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant released massive amounts of radiation. Humans have been barred from living in the exclusion zone around the complex, though work goes on to contain what’s left, and the area has become a popular tourist destination and de facto wildlife refuge. The BBC has put together a number of stories and videos for the anniversary.”
Walter Einenkel writes—BP lost $6.4 billion last year and laid off 5,000 workers—guess who's getting a raise? ”The CEO of BP (I’m old enough to call it British Petroleum) is Bob Dudley. Bob Dudley worked his way into the CEO position by first getting the (relative) dirty work of being assigned the executive in charge for Deepwater Horizon Spill back in 2010. Before that, in 2009, Dudley was the managing director of BP—responsible for oversight in Asia and the Americas. Guess he didn’t drop the ball on that. In the last few years, BP has had to pay out fines and lawyers and they have, like many in the oil game, lost billions due to falling crude oil prices. But, when you are a CEO, it doesn’t really matter, frankly you can go on Charlie Rose and smack him in the face on television and this probably won’t affect your salary. The London-based energy giant, which operates the BP Whiting Refinery on Lake Michigan, announced another 7,000 layoffs worldwide so far this year in response to a huge drop in the price of crude oil. Dudley is in line to be paid 280 times as much as workers at the Whiting refinery, who earn around $70,000 a year on average, according to the United Steelworkers union. BP shareholders will vote on whether to approve the compensation plan at BP's Annual General Meeting on Thursday at the ExCeL International Convention Center, in London. Shareholders will be voting on whether or not Dudley gets his 20 percent raise, which would bring his salary up to $19.6 million. But guess what? The bar was so low, as long as Dudley sold a barrel of crude to someone it seems that he would get his raise, regardless the yearly outcome.”
Hydraulic Fracturing
Lenny Flank writes—A Request For Information Re Fracking: “I am posting this diary specifically to the ‘Science Matters’ and ‘SciTech’ groups, for a specific reason. I must confess that I don’t know jack-diddley-doo about the science or scientific consensus around fracking, so I’d like to see a conversation from those whodo know about it. Ideology and politics aside, what’s the scientific consensus on the matter? I understand that both ‘sides’ have science studies they can cite to support their ideological view, but who has the actual scientific consensus from researchers in the field behind them? To be clear, I’m not interested in cites of single ‘dueling studies,’ or in anecdotes, or in who is paid by who and is/is not a shill for who, or in silly conspiracy theories of the ‘science is a corporate plot to hide The Truth and protect profits!!!’ variety. Whether or not fracking is harmful is a scientific question, and it is answered by science, not by ideology or politics or who we like or don’t like.”
jamess writes—The Fugitive Methane from Fracking makes it Dirtier than Coal: “So much for those “Bridge Fuel to Future” claims that rationalized the ongoing high-tech transfusion of proprietary Toxic formulas, for the ground water that nobody needs. All for sake of the EZ-profits that heralded “cleaner than coal” shale gas would bring. So we were told then, when the “all of the above” energy strategy became the policy of the land. More recently scientists are telling us that ‘Bridge to Future’ is more like an ‘Expressway to the Past,’ given the little-monitored, little-measured, little-captured Methane that escapes routinely in the normal course of shattering the Earth, for the sake of ‘gold rush’ profits. Study: Methane leaks make fracked gas 'dirtier' than coal, oil: A new Cornell University study suggests that natural gas produced using the hydraulic fracturing process contributes the same or larger amounts of greenhouse gas emissions than coal or oil.”
Emissions Controls & Carbon Pricing
tle writes—Carbon fee & dividend; James Hansen still fighting the good fight: “James Hansen is still speaking out for a carbon fee & dividend system. In an interview with Yale 360 a few weeks ago, he said The one thing, which is most important, is the assertion by the fossil fuel industry and the people who support them, that it would be expensive to solve the problem, is absolutely wrong. There have been economic studies that show if you add a gradually rising fee to fossil fuels, by collecting a fee on fossil fuel companies at the source, the domestic mine, or port of entry, and if you distribute the money to the public, an equal amount to all legal residents, it would actually spur the economy. (emphasis added). And that doesn’t even consider the reduction of CO2 which would result from making carbon more expensive than other options. In one fell swoop, F&D could make irrelevant the many other laws and regulations aimed at reducing greenhouse gases and related pollution.”
Dan Bacher writes—Nigerian Environmental and Human Rights Advocate Visits Sacramento to Oppose Expanding Cap-and-Trade: Below is a news advisory from a coalition of groups opposing California’s ‘Cap-and-Trade’ Program, otherwise known as ‘pollution trading.’ I have written several articles against the neo-liberal carbon trading program that presents many, ‘The pay-to-pollute scheme enables partner states and provinces in tropical regions to generate credits from their remaining tropical forests and to sell those credits to polluters in California to ostensibly “offset” carbon emissions from the industrial burning of fossil fuels,’ according to the news advisory.
EARTHWORKS writes—Will Pennsylvania cut oil & gas air pollution? Oil and gas field residents ask important questions, such as ‘Are the wells and facilities polluting the air?’ and ‘Is that why I’m sick?”’Unfortunately, industry representatives and some elected officials often give dismissive answers, like ‘Natural gas is clean’ and ‘There’s only anecdotal evidence of health problems.’ Well, hundreds of peer-reviewed studies and much community air testing later, it’s getting harder to hide an essential fact: oil and gas development causes air (and water) pollution and harms health. Increasingly, there’s also visual evidence, thanks to infrared cameras that make pollution invisible to the naked eye, visible to the world. Today Earthworks released a video that clearly demonstrates why stronger protections against oil and gas air pollution are needed. It shares the stories of three Pennsylvania residents living with wells, compressor stations, and pipelines. David Brown of the Southwest Pennsylvania Environmental Health Project also weighs in on the risks of exposure to air pollution. Earthworks created the video as part of a broad effort with partner organizations tosecure state and federal protections against oil and gas air pollution.
Renewables, Efficiency & Conservation
Mary Anne Hitt writes—The Untold Grassroots History of Iowa's Clean Energy Transformation: “In just over a decade, MidAmerican’s generation of electricity has gone from 70 percent coal to 35 percent coal, and now they’re doubling down again. In Iowa, an astonishing 5,000 megawatts of renewable energy has been installed, clean energy is a bi-partisan issue, and it is entirely possible with a little more prodding that the state’s two utilities, MidAmerican and Alliant Energy, will cease burning coal entirely within the next decade. Here’s the best part: This is the kind of state-by-state transformation we’re working for and realizing all across the country. To be clear, this kind of progress is moving slower in other states, and with 300 coal plants still chugging along and coal country in need of support for an economic transition, we have plenty more work to do. But we’re making progress on the scale that matters. While market pressures, federal policy, and innovation all played a role in that transformation, grassroots advocacy was a critical factor that tipped the scales and made the difference, harnessing all those forces into a smart, sustained campaign that is changing the world. In Iowa there would have been no market opportunity for clean energy investment today if the state had built three additional coal plants a decade ago.”
Pipelines & Other Oil and Gas Transport
MattRemie writes—The Black Snake II: Oceti Sakowin Prepares to Battle Another Oil Pipeline: “’Of the many atrocities we as Native Americans have faced and overcame, this is one which will affect not only us but all of mankind. Earth is our mother. We have to protect her.’ Virgil Taken Alive (Standing Rock Sioux) Last fall, the Oceti Sakowin, the Lakota, Nakota and Dakota Nations, and other tribes along the proposed route of the Keystone XL pipeline celebrated their long hard fought battle over the Black Snake when President Obama rejected its permit for construction. The multi-year battle saw the birth of a unique alliance between tribes, environmentalist, farmers and ranchers in what was dubbed the Cowboy Indian Alliance. Jointly, through tireless campaigning, awareness raising and direct actions the alliance put a stop to the proposed pipeline that would have brought tar sands crude from Alberta to the Gulf of Mexico. Now, just several months later, the Oceti Sakowin, farmers and ranchers find themselves preparing to battle yet another cross country pipeline. The proposed Dakota Access Pipeline, backed by Texas based Energy Transfer Partners, is a 1,168-mile, 30-inch diameter pipeline that would carry Bakken crude from western North Dakota to a distribution hub Illinois on route for refinement in the Gulf Coast.”
LakeSuperior writes—Major Natural Gas Pipeline Explosion - Spectra Energy - Westmoreland County, PA; 1 Person Burned: “The Associated Press is reporting a natural gas explosion and fire with 1 person burned in a nearby house in Salem Township, Westmoreland County, PA who was unable to move because of a back injury. The incident was first attributed to a natural gas well and then later reports Identified a 36 inch Texas Eastern Transmission pipeline as the cause of the massive fire and explosion. The pipeline transmits natural gas from Texas to the northeastern United States. Texas Eastern Transmission is associated with Spectra Energy Partners.”
OCEANS, WATER, DROUGHT
Mark Sumner writes—Oxygen levels in the ocean are falling as heat rises: “Often, when we think of climate change, we don’t get past the changes in global temperatures. Those effects certainly contain enough potential for disaster. But there are chemical changes taking place beyond just adding 40 billion tons of carbon to the atmosphere each year. Those high levels of CO2 in the air are leading to increased uptake of CO2 in water, which in turn forms carbonic acid, causing ocean acidification. That acidification contributes to coral bleaching, to changes in ecosystems, and to reducing the ocean’s role as a buffer for the atmosphere. And there’s still another effect. Hot water simply can’t contain as much dissolved oxygen as cooler water. So as the ocean levels warm, oxygen levels decline. A drop in the amount of oxygen dissolved in the oceans due to climate change is already discernible in some parts of the world and should be evident across large parts of the ocean between 2030 and 2040, according to a new study. Scientists know that a warming climate can be expected to gradually sap oceans of oxygen, leaving fish, crabs, squid, sea stars, and other marine life struggling to breathe.”
don mikulecy writes—It's all connected. Ocean oxygen levels falling: “Peter Hannam, Environmental Editor of the Sydney Morning Herald writes: We are looking on now as warming oceans stress the world's coral reefs, prompting them to turn white, including our Great Barrier Reef. We also know that our oceans have become about 30 per cent more acidic since pre -industrial times as they absorb the billions of tonnes of carbon dioxide released from our burning of fossil fuels and forrests, making it harder for shellfish and crabs to form shells. But now, some of the first evidence is emerging of what scientists have been expecting for decades: oxygen levels in some oceans are beginning to fall and widespread evidence of the trend should be evident from 2030 onwards. Warming seas absorb less oxygen at the surface. Another effect of a changing climate is that oceans turn over less, so that oxygen at the surface has less chance of moving deeper.”
tampaedski writes—Slowly choking the ocean. Well, maybe not so slowly...: “I've been aware of the possible disaster of ocean acidification for a very long time, but there is another issue related to ocean chemistry I just ran across that scares the crap out of me. The implications are huge. I have a degree in geology and had a minor in chemistry, then went on to almost finish a masters in meteorology. I was mainly interested in the theoretical fluid dynamical aspects of weather then, but since I had a strong background in chemistry I also took a fair amount of coursework related to pollution issues. My initial professional career was involved with air pollution measurement and control. But this article brought out an issue that is so basic that maybe it slips under the radar. In warmer liquids, less gasses dissolve. As the ocean warms up we can expect that there will be a decrease in dissolved oxygen. A new study released by the National Center for Atmospheric Research has some startling conclusions. We might be seeing this affect ocean life in a relatively short time frame. Maybe less than 2 decades.”
liberaldad2 writes—Water in California: We're doing better, thanks for your concern: “I want to talk about the drought in California. No, it’s not over. But there is some good news. (Lots of data here.) I put the chart below together to illustrate an important fact. Water has actually been returning to CA. Comparing the water picture in California at the end of the first quarters of 2014, 2015, and 2016, it’s clear that 2016 is the best of the lot. It rained a little in California this winter. Not so much in Southern California, but lots more in Central and Northern California. The dire conditions of a year ago have been mitigated, at least a little. In Southern California, we get our water basically from 2 sources. The Colorado River, and the reservoirs and watersheds of Northern and Central California. Very little of our water comes from local sources. There have been political decisions and feuds over the years that have resulted in our current situation, which is basically that there are far more people in Southern California than the local water supply can support. So what can we do? No, we’re not going to die quietly.”
thePHATman writes—GM Got Bailed Out – Flint Got Poisoned – Two Years Later Water Still Not Safe: “How many times have we heard from our elected officials, that their number one priority is protecting Americans? Well, gee, call me confused, because I do not believe that what is happening in Flint, is in any way, protecting the people. Our government is failing to live up to it's basic, fundamental principle, to ‘provide for the general welfare of the people.’ Poisoning tens of thousands of people is NOT providing for the general welfare of the people, it is down right criminal negligence. It's been two years and the water in Flint is still not safe. The president and the governor have both declared states of emergency, free filters and bottled water are available, and the water system has been switched back to Lake Huron, but much of the damage has already been done to the people, and the water in Flint is still not safe. While the ‘state’ of emergency is in effect, at least until August, there has been very little done to remedy the situation, not to mention the personal and public harm that has already befallen on the residents in Flint.”
Dan Bacher writes—State Water Board denies dismissal request for Delta Tunnels petition: “The California State Water Resources Control Board today denied the request by a coalition of environmental, fishing and family farming groups to dismiss the joint water right change petition from the Department of Water Resources (DWR) and the U.S. Department of Interior for the California WaterFix Project, the new name for Governor Jerry Brown’s Delta Tunnels Plan. The Board granted the 60-day extension requested by DWR and the Bureau of Reclamation for their permit needed to divert water from the Sacramento River under the plan to build two massive tunnels under the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. ‘The request to dismiss the petition is denied,’ wrote Felicia Marcus and Tam M. Doduc, State Water Board Members and California WaterFix Co-Hearing Officers. ‘Parties raised similar concerns about petition completeness during the pre-hearing conference, and this issue was addressed in our February 11, 2016 ruling. Rather than supplement the petition, the petitioners are expected to provide more information concerning project operations and potential effects on legal users of water during the petitioners’ case in chief.’”
Dan Bacher writes—U.S. Taxpayers Are Paying Lion's Share for Brown's Delta Tunnels: “Federal taxpayers, not the federal water contractors, are paying the lion’s hare for Governor Jerry Brown’s Delta Tunnels, a coalition of environmental and fishing groups revealed on April 28. In response to a January 25, 2016 letter sent by conservation groups, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Regional Director David G. Murillo has confirmed that more than $86.9 million of the costs for the Delta Tunnels have been billed to federal taxpayers to date! The alarming data was revealed in a news release, including a copy of the letter, issued by Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Restore the Delta; Carolee Krieger, California Water Impact Network; Conner Everts, Southern CA Watershed Alliance & Environmental Water Caucus (EWC); and Tim Sloane, Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations. ”
CANDIDATES, STATE AND DC ECO-RELATED POLITICS
igualdad writes—Climate Activist Josh Fox in Rolling Stone: Bernie is already President of the Progressive Movement: “For filmmaker and climate activist Josh Fox, supporting Bernie was an easy choice. In an article in yesterday’s Rolling Stone, Fox explains: And Sanders is the first major presidential candidate to come out against fracking, right? Hallelujah! It's a big deal. I mean, Hillary Clinton, when she got up and talked about fracking at the first debate, it was a bunch of gobbledygook that came out of her mouth, and those are the moral somersaults that you're doing when you're trying to justify any fracking at all. She's proposing this ‘natural gas bridge to the future,’ which is of course the same thing that Obama is doing. What do you like better about Sanders' position? Bernie is saying, ‘We have to go to 100 percent renewable energy, and we have to do it as fast as possible.’ That's not an easy thing. But then again, neither is encountering the reality of where we're at with climate change. Bernie has correctly come out and identified this as the number-one security threat to the United States. And he invoked FDR, who overhauled the entire American economy to defeat fascism in Europe, and that is the correct mindset. We need that kind of FDR-like mobilization on renewable and on climate.”
Brett Wilkins writes—'Gasland' Director Josh Fox: Bernie Sanders' Climate Plan 'Only Realistic One': ‘Oscar-nominated filmmaker and climate activist Josh Fox slammed Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton for her lucrative ties to the fossil fuel industry and praised Bernie Sanders’ plan to tackle climate change as the “only realistic one.’ In an interview with the Huffington Post published Monday, Fox, whose 2010 feature film Gasland was nominated for an Academy Award for best documentary, asserted that ‘there’s no real scientific debate on climate change.’ ‘Bernie Sanders’ position is actually the only realistic one when we’re really facing the science on climate change,’ said Fox. ‘We’ve already warmed the Earth by 1 degree since pre-industrial times. We have enough carbon dioxide and greenhouse gases in the atmosphere now to bring the Earth to 1.5 degrees. At 2 degrees, we bring about a process of 5-9 meters of sea level rise … If the science is telling us that we cannot go past 1.5 degrees or else our major cities go under water, then isn’t it the realistic position that we have to act as fast as possible not to go toward natural gas and fracked gas for the next several decades?’”
poopdogcomedy writes—PA-AG: Shapiro (D) Vows To Join Coalition Of AGs That Examine Fossil Fuel Companies Like ExxonMobil: “Pennsylvania voters have some big decisions to make at the polls tomorrow and one of them is for Attorney General. Here’s something you should know: The day before Pennsylvania voters cast their votes in the primary election, the leading Democratic candidate for attorney general has confirmed to ThinkProgress that, if elected, he would join a growing coalition of state attorneys general in examining whether fossil fuel companies like ExxonMobil have purposefully misled the public on climate change. ‘Climate change is one of our world’s most pressing issues and and I’ve made addressing it a top priority in my campaign and have pledged to hold the fracking industry accountable for violating Pennsylvania’s environmental laws,’ Josh Shapiro, who according to the most recent polling from Harper Poll leads the current Democratic attorney general race by almost 20 points, told ThinkProgress via an emailed statement.”
Oligarchy writes—What Environment? There are hungry investors: “I live on an island — a summer playground for richest people in the world. I witness first hand the power of Mother Atlantic. Every year we lose some of our island to erosion. It is most dramatic after a storm. It is sometimes welcome when a major storm takes away yards of dune beach & leaves us with a healthy sand bar. Sometimes a good break is necessary to enjoy the waves. Ride on. Climate change is being left out of this election cycle because it hurts the corporate centrist candidacy. The frequency & consistency of record breaking months alone is enough cause for concern. We need more discussion from our candidates about how the United States can lead us into an era renewable energy & innovation.”
WILDERNESS, NATIONAL FORESTS AND PARKS & OTHER PUBLIC LANDS
ban nock writes—A Visit To Yellowstone National Park and Some Thoughts: “A problem that the Park Service is very aware of is diversity. As in there is none. When the Park Service looks at their visitor demographics they see a sea of white. Where the Park Service sees white I see a different color, green, like money. There just weren’t many other people driving fifteen year old vehicles or sleeping in tents. Long vacations seem to have gone the way of defined pension plans for the working class. There is currently a movement afoot to sell off all our public lands except parks and monuments. Look at the fine print on Paul Ryan’s budget. Selling off public lands is how he balances the budget. If people don’t even visit National Parks how important is some bunch of trees out in the middle of fly over country. And they have a point, to take ownership of our public lands people need to be able to go to them and enjoy them. National Parks need to be accessible and enjoyed by all our nations people. People of diverse races, backgrounds, and incomes.”
citisven writes—Springtime at Joshua Tree (a National Park Week Photo Story): “As National Park Week is coming to an end, I thought I’d share some of the photos I took last week during a visit to Joshua Tree National Park. In light of Congress’ Anti-Parks Caucus dedicated to the incomprehensible task of wrecking our park system I think it’s more important than ever to give visual presentations of the great natural life and beauty that still exists all across this country, thanks in large part to the history of the National Parks system. As if that weren’t enough, on August 25, 2016 the National Park Service turns 100, so even more reason to celebrate. Here’s to another 100, but preferably a million.”
Jen Hayden writes—National Park Service looking for answers after graffiti found carved into famed rock: “Officials with the National Park Service are searching for suspects after rocks on the Delicate Arch trail inside Arches National Park were heavily damaged by graffiti: Park Superintendent Kate Cannon says the carvings discovered last week span 5 or 6 feet on Frame Arch and include names and messages. Cannon said Thursday that the vandalism is so deeply etched that it might have taken at least an hour for someone to carve. She's unsure if park officials will be able to repair the arch. The arch is off a popular hiking trail in the park where visitors can look through it and view the park's iconic, stand-alone Delicate Arch.”
BYPRODUCTS, TRASH, TOXIC & RADIOACTIVE WASTE
Mark Sumner writes—Mayors worry that their town could be the next Flint, and that it could be their fault: “Being a public servant at any level means making trade-offs. No country, state, county, or town has unlimited funds, and managers of those funds are always sensitive to the idea that they’ve been wasteful—especially when that waste can be a factor in voters taking away their jobs. For many mayors, ‘I’ve been a good manager of your money’ is line number one on the Why You Should Re-elect Me résumé. So it shouldn’t be surprising that, in light of what’s happening in Flint, Michigan (where a cost-saving measure ended up poisoning the city’s water with lead), many mayors are starting to weigh the possible consequences of their own decisions. Nearly 1 in 3 American mayors think they may already have hurt their own citizens by making cost-saving decisions on critical infrastructure—a startling admission of fearfulness and accountability from the nation’s top urban executives on the heels of the Flint water crisis.”
Mark Sumner writes—President Obama is going to Flint, but Gov. Snyder will be too busy: “President Obama is coming to personally look at conditions and talk with the people of Flint, Michigan, a city dealing with the devastating effects of lead poisoning in its water supply. With everything else that’s going on, he might not be making this trip were it not for a special invitation. Mr. President, Hello my name is Mari Copeny and I’m 8 years old, I live in Flint, Michigan… I am one of the children that is effected by this water, and I’ve been doing my best to march in protest and to speak out for all the kids that live here in Flint. … I know this is probably an odd request but I would love for a chance to meet you or your wife. My mom said chances are you will be too busy with more important things, but … just a meeting from you or your wife would really lift people’s spirits. … Thank You Mari Copeny.”
AGRICULTURE, FOOD & GARDENING
Dan Bacher writes—California's Thirsty Almond Acreage Increased by 60,000 Acres in 2015! “As Governor Jerry Brown urged Californians to ‘Save Our Water’ by taking shorter showers and letting our lawns turn brown, corporate agribusiness continued to expand its acreage in water-intensive almond trees in the Central Valley. California’s 2015 almond acreage is estimated at 1,110,000 acres, up 6 percent from the 2014 revised acreage of 1,050,000, according to a California Department of Food and Agriculture report released today. That’s up 60,000 acres from 2014’s estimated acreage. ‘Of the total acreage for 2015, 890,000 acres were bearing and 220,000 acres were non-bearing. Preliminary bearing acreage for 2016 was estimated at 900,000 acres,’ the report stated. [...] “This acreage, planted in Drought Year Four, commits about 180,000 [acre-feet]/year to those trees, a constant burden on groundwater basins and our political system for every one of the next twenty-five years,’ commented onthepublicrecord.org. ‘Had the Brown administration banned new permanent crops in basins with declining groundwater levels, that demand might be in annual crops, flexible in times of high climate variability.’”
estreya writes—Saturday Morning Garden Blogging, Vol. 12.18: It's all O'koi with me ...”Allow me to begin today's blog with a confession: I'm behind in my weeding. Have i ever mentioned my gift for understatement? When i tell you i've fallen behind, i mean there are weeds on the side of my house that I whimsically refer to as ‘knee ticklers’ because that's how tall they are. Was George Carlin on to something? Should i reframe my thinking about the ubiquitous ‘weed’ and reconsider its value in my garden? Or should i continue the struggle? Smother them under bricks. Burn them with a torch. Attempt to pluck them one by one, often loosing the tug-of-war with an especially deep network of roots and ending up with nothing but a fist full of foliage, scraped-up fingers and a defeated spirit. Until i decide to either embrace or eschew the ever-present weed, i must accept that they're a fact of life in my garden. Shall we turn a blind eye to this horticultural cellulite and have a look around at what's blooming?”
TRANSPORTATION & INFRASTRUCTURE
Lefty Coaster writes—Photo Diary: Crossing southern China by High Speed Rail: “I had been traveling in southern China’s Guangxi province for three weeks. It was a rainy that Monday as southern China’s wet season became more inescapable all across the roughly 1,000 mile train journey from Guilin to Shanghai, crossing six Chinese provinces. A journey that took the old trains 20 to 22 hours, now takes a little over nine hours on the new high speed CRH trains. I wanted to see how the Chinese middle class travels city to city using the extensive new high speed rail network. The Train staff knew no English, as most of the other passengers didn’t. I don’t know Mandarin. I saw no other foreigners on the nearly full train. Most of the passengers were older, about my age, and many seemed to be returning from a holiday trip. China’s rapid expansion of it’s high speed rail network has opened over 19,000 Kilometers of the system by the end of 2015. The Chinese government is spending over $300 billion to create the world’s largest, fastest, and most technologically advanced high-speed railway system by 2020, when they plan to have 30,000 Kilometers completed. The electric motors would hum more loudly as we accelerated out of a station stop, gently pushing your head back into the headrest as the speed climbed. The train’s cruising speed was about 300 KPH or 186 MPH. The countryside whizzed by the window like we were in a low flying rocket. It made for comfortable, green, fascinating, trip.”
LakeSuperior writes—First Electric Utility Hit by RansomWare? Lansing, MI Board of Water & Light Crippled: “Lansing’s public power electricity and water supply utility, the Lansing Board of Water & Light, is currently crippled by a RansomWare attack on its corporate computer network for the last two days. Press reports by the Lansing State Journal, WILX-TV and WLNS-TV indicate the attack started on the morning of the April 25. While the electricity and water supply are still running in Lansing, MI, Lansing BWL personnel don’t have access to their corporate server computer files and their telephone system. The attack caused the BWL’s files on its corporate server to become encrypted and some criminal is apparently demanding money for the key to unlock the system. BWL reports that customer data is not affected or compromised. The FBI and Michigan State Police have been called in to investigate the attack.”
MISCELLANY
Jen Hayden writes—NASA released stunning, ultra high definition video of the earth: “NASA has released two short but intense ultra high definition videos of the earth, taken from the International Space Station.”
Meteor Blades writes—Unless you're tired of tributes to Prince (and how could that ever be?), here's a green angle: “Here’s Lorraine Chow at EcoWatch: The Purple One was secretly Green. In an emotional interview on CNN, political commentator Van Jones revealed that his close friend Prince wasn’t just a musical icon but also a major philanthropist. One of his many initiatives included helping Oakland, California residents go solar. ‘He worked for something called Green for All,’ Jones told CNN host Don Lemon. ‘I was the public face of that, but he helped put the money in. There are people who have solar panels on their houses now in Oakland, California, that don’t know Prince paid for [them].’ ‘[Prince] did not want it to be known publicly, but I’m going to say it because the world needs to know that it wasn’t just the music,’ Jones said. ‘The music was one way he tried to help the world. But he was helping every day of his life.’”
fqwatkins writes—Why I Write for Climate Justice: A Letter to Kathleen Dean Moore: “Dr. Kathleen Dean Moore is a writer, speaker and moral philosopher. She taught at Oregon State University for “many years” before leaving “to write and speak full-time about the moral urgency of action to stop fossil fuels and the consequent global warming.” She is the author of Pine Island Paradox, Riverwalking, Moral Ground, and, most recently, Great Tide Rising. 360 By Bike would not exist without the writing of Dr. Moore. I wrote this letter to her, offering my story as thanks. It took shape over this past week, and as it did, I realized that it hardly overlapped at all with the story I tell on the About page of this site. In the spirit of climate stories, I wanted to share it here and get your perspectives. Kathleen Dean Moore, My name is Forrest, and I’m cycling around the world to collect stories of humans and climate change. I’ve been on the road for about 8 months now and have come to a point of inflection, where the path ahead curves away out of sight and I look back to get my bearings.”
Austin Bailey writes—Daily Environmental Brief: “Dramatic airlift of rescued lions leaves for South Africa today! 33 lions rescued from circuses in Peru and Colombia are due to fly to a new life in South Africa on 29 April on a chartered MD11F freighter. The animals, 24 from Peru and nine from Colombia, have been rescued by international campaigning group, Animal Defenders Internationalare heading back to their homeland after both countries banned the use of wild animals in circuses. The 33 will arrive at the Emoya Big Cat Sanctuary on Saturday, April 30.”
Meteor Blades writes—Unless you're tired of tributes to Prince (and how could that ever be?), here's a green angle: “The Purple One was secretly Green. In an emotional interview on CNN, political commentator Van Jones revealed that his close friend Prince wasn’t just a musical icon but also a major philanthropist. One of his many initiatives included helping Oakland, California residents go solar. ‘He worked for something called Green for All,’ Jones told CNN host Don Lemon. ‘I was the public face of that, but he helped put the money in. There are people who have solar panels on their houses now in Oakland, California, that don’t know Prince paid for [them].’ ‘[Prince] did not want it to be known publicly, but I’m going to say it because the world needs to know that it wasn’t just the music,’ Jones said. ‘The music was one way he tried to help the world. But he was helping every day of his life.’”