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 24,905 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
DocDawg writes—Bad science, worse politics: North Carolina's coal ash-poisoned water and the effort to cover it up: “Coal — about 1 billion tons of it a year — still powers a third of all electricity generation in the U.S., in the process creating 200 billion pounds of toxic coal ash annually. Coal-burning power plants like those operated by North Carolina’s Duke Energy (America’s largest electric utility) mix that ash with water, pump the slop (brimming with lead, mercury, arsenic, and cancer-causing chromium-6) into unlined ponds beside the state’s major rivers...and forget about it. But in the aftermath of North Carolina’s 2014 Dan River disaster, when a drainage pipe failure spilled 39,000 tons of coal ash into the Dan, the state legislature passed into law without Republican Gov. McCrory’s signature the Coal Ash Management Act (CAMA), mandating the closure and remediation of all of Duke Energy’s 14 coal ash dumps across the state. The law empowers state regulators to decide, on a case-by-case basis, how soon each of those sites must be closed (ranging from 5 to 15 years from now), and with what degree of cleanup (ranging from just throwing a bit of dirt over the top of the mess, to excavating and moving it inland to dry, lined, closely-monitored landfills — the latter a multi-billion dollar proposition). Regulators will base those decisions primarily on scientific data, produced by Duke Energy itself, regarding the degree of hazard to public health each individual site presents. But those regulators — political appointees of Gov. McCrory at the Dept. of Environmental Quality — are, like McCrory himself, ex-Duke Energy executives and are ‘business-friendly’ in the extreme.”
CRITTERS AND THE GREAT OUTDOORS
owktree writes—Daily Bucket: Coolidge Reservation and Agassiz Rocks - short walks in Massachusetts: “This photo diary covers short hikes taken at three locations in Massachusetts between Gloucester and Manchester-by-the-Sea in late June of 2015. [...] The first location, the Coolidge Reservation lies on a peninsula near Manchester-by-the-Sea. There is a trail, access to Magnolia Beach (walking only), and also the Ocean Lawn, which is the former site of the Coolidge family mansion (trail to there was not open on the day we walked it.) The pond is primarily fresh water, but high tides and storms will push salt water and sea creatures into the pond. [...] The second location is Agassiz Rock. A small parking area leads onto a 1-mile trail that climbs a small hill and passes by two large glacial erratics; Big Agassiz Rock and Little Agassiz Rock. There are some low-lying areas on the trail and it can get a little muddy.”
6412093 writes—The Daily Bucket--Tadpole Population Explodes in the Frog Mitigation Area: “Spring is toying with with our gardening emotions in the Pacific Northwest, flirting with us, offering 70 and 80 degree days. The chorus frog tadpoles (Pseudacris regilla) are taking advantage of those balmy days by hatching rapidly and entering the aquatic environment of Pear Pond in the Frog Mitigation Area. They assemble in the warm half inch of water above the shimmering slabs of mica that are propped up in the Pond. Although the mica slabs are only about one square foot in a 30 square foot pond, I can easily count over 100 there, where they are easily visible. Scores more are swimming elsewhere in the more-turbid water.”
WyomingWildlifeAdvocate writes—Will Yellowstone's Grizzlies soon be killed like Cecil the Lion? “Have you ever visited Yellowstone? Chances are that if you have, you hoped to see or actually did see a Yellowstone Grizzly Bear. The grizzly bear, which has been protected from trophy hunting in Wyoming since they were put on the Endangered Species Act in 1975, is the number 1 species that visitors want to see. That protection has helped the species recover to a more stable population but many threats to it’s survival remain, including increased human development on the periphery of Yellowstone, the decline of major food sources for the grizzly bear and climate change. The Wyoming governor and state wildlife agency has been working tirelessly to regain control of grizzly bear management and has promoted wrestling that control from the federal government as a state’s rights issue. This is all part of a plan to knock back the grizzly population thru trophy hunting and to get access and exploit the public lands that have been off limits to mining, drilling, and logging due to Endangered Species Protection.”
Lenny Flank writes—Daily Bucket: A Walk at Maclay Garden: Some photos from an afternoon walk at Maclay Gardens State Park in Tallahassee FL.
CLIMATE CHAOS
FishOutofWater writes—Weird Supercool Water Clouds a big Climate Problem: “A weird property of pure water may make the global climate much more sensitive to greenhouse gas increases than IPCC and other climate change models have predicted. Pure water in clouds may cool far below the freezing point without freezing. Weird supercooled water clouds may amplify the effects of growing levels of greenhouse gases making global warming more severe. Punch hole clouds, shown in the title image are supercooled altocumulus water clouds that have holes where aircraft triggered ice formation and cloud level precipitation. The behavior of clouds and water vapor have long been known to cause the largest uncertainties in physical models of the atmosphere. Water vapor is a powerful greenhouse gas that amplifies the effects of greenhouse gas increases directly caused by human activities. When vapor cools to form clouds, some clouds reflect heat back to space. Other clouds trap heat, increasing the warming effects of greenhouse gases. Both the height and the composition of clouds are involved in how they affect climate. Climate scientists have just discovered, based on detailed study of satellite images, that heat trapping water clouds are more abundant, and reflective ice clouds less abundant at intermediate cloud levels than in the IPCC’s climate models. The recent discovery of more water vapor at intermediate levels and this discovery of more water and less ice in intermediate level clouds means that climate models have seriously underestimated the amount of warming caused by increasing levels of greenhouse gases.”
FishOutofWater writes—Climate Change has Shifted the Earth's Poles: “The natural wander of earth’s rotational pole suddenly changed direction beginning in 2002 in response to the sudden rapid melting of southern Greenland and west Antarctic ice. The earth’s natural wobble is most sensitive to changes in the weight of water or ice at 45 degrees north or south. Huge amounts, about 278 gigatons per year, of ice have melted from Greenland’s ice sheet. Most of the ice loss has been in southern Greenland where it can have a big impact on polar wander. West Antarctic ice loss of about 92 gigatons per year since 2002 and shifts of earth’s water in response to atmospheric/oceanic shifts such as La Niña and El Niño have also been observed in the details of the data, but the ice loss in Greenland caused the sudden shift in the wander of the pole towards the Greenwich meridian that runs through England.”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Willie Soon Finds $65,000 Funding Loophole: “Last year, we found out that climate denier Willie Soon received over $1 million in funding from fossil fuel interests that he failed to disclose on eleven studies—which he had produced to justify that funding. Now, we’ve learned that Soon is continuing his career “prostituting science.” InsideClimate News (ICN) has the latest development, which is that Soon has received a new grant for $65,000 (plus a pending request for more) to fund a research project called “A Young Sun Analog: HD30495.” While ICN notes that Smithsonian didn’t want to talk about the project’s focus or a potential climate connection, a Google search shows that ‘HD30495’ is a young star whose characteristics resemble our own sun. AnHD30495 study on arXiv suggests that Soon’s study will be another attempt to blame global warming on solar cycles. This money comes from Donor’s Trust, a group that effectively functions as a non-profit money-laundering operation. It takes money from conservative donors, sets up an individual ‘fund’ for them within the organization, and then doles out the money to ‘scientists’ like Soon and other organizations, which then serve the desires of the funders. By funneling the money through Donor’s Trust, individuals can fund people and organizations without anyone outside the organization knowing where the money came from, thereby blinding the public to any potential conflicts of interest.”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Lomborg Lies About Climate and Health Assessment in WSJ: “A new op-ed in the Wall Street Journal by Bjorn Lomborg misses the mark, and while it’s not as bad as some of Lomborg’s misleading opinions, there can be no doubt that the deception is intentional. Lomborg attacks the recently released Climate and Health Assessment, a comprehensive overview of how climate change impacts the American public by the US Global Change Research Program. He attacks the report’s finding that heat-related deaths from rising temperatures will outnumber the avoided cold-related deaths, which has been debated among legitimate scientists (see this piece or this piece). In the last sentence of the introductory paragraph, Lomborg claims the report, ‘hypes the bad and skips over the good.’ He writes, ‘It also ignores inconvenient evidence—like the fact that cold kills many more people than heat.’ Later, he reiterates his thesis statement, with the sentence, ‘Not once does this “scientific assessment” acknowledge that cold deaths significantly outweigh heat deaths.’ Which is weird, because page 47 of the chapter on temperature and health states: A recent analysis of U.S. deaths from temperature extremes based on death records found an average of approximately 1,300 deaths per year from 2006 to 2010 coded as resulting from extreme cold exposures, and 670 deaths per year coded as resulting from exposure to extreme heat.”
Jfromga writes—New White House Initiatives on Climate Change: “The White House announced a new set of data for it’s climate information series and has furthered its plans to combat health issues from climate change. The report released indicates current issues with climate related health issues, many based on air quality, but also increasing disease vectors in new areas, frequently mosquito borne diseases. The information is scary and vital, but it is more aimed at mitigation instead of stopping climate change. The advantage of concentrating on and widely disseminating health care threats, is it may move public opinion more easily and faster, resulting in more concrete efforts to convert from fossil fuels. ThinkProgress has an article that summarizes some of the health risks, including thousands of climate related deaths per year over the next few decades, and over 100,000 additional child asthma attacks.”
One Pissed Off Liberal writes—The Media’s Biggest 2016 Failure Isn’t Donald Trump: It’s Ignoring the ‘Profound Crisis’ of Climate: “Hey, did you hear the one about how the planet is dying quickly and we’re probably all doomed? It’s true! Just this past week, the world got a fun update about just how much danger we’re in thanks to climate change. This one came courtesy of the West Antarctic ice sheet, which is, well, a giant sheet of ice in Antarctica and which is potentially disintegrating at a pace that, in the words of The New York Times, could help send sea levels rising enough to cause ‘a profound crisis within the lifetimes of children being born today.’ That seems like kind of a big deal, right? It kind of puts all of the more immediate fights we’re having in an ominous perspective, no? It’s the sort of topic you might expect, say, a presidential campaign to be taking more seriously, wouldn’t you think?”
Extreme Weather & Natural Phenomena
terrypinder writes—Weekly Wednesday Weather: CA drought, Eastern Cold, another Fiji cyclone: “The cyclone (Southern Hemisphere for Hurricane) is headed toward Fiji. Weaker (as of now) than Category 5 Winston which struck the islands 6 weeks ago, it should bring heavy rain to the main Fijian islands. It is already causing damage. [...] Disappointingly, while Northern California and the Sierra Nevada reaped some benefits from this year’s powerful El Nino, Southern California---and the Colorado basin from where it draws much of its drinking water, did not. Jeff Masters has a report, especially on why it busted for SoCal. There might be a storm in the next couple weeks that may bring SoCal some rain. I’ll wait until I see consistent model support to believe it.”
ENERGY
Nuclear & Fossil Fuels
Steve Horn writes—"Sick Of It": Key Clinton Campaign Bundler Lobbies for Israeli Offshore Drilling: “Jackson Dunn, a lobbyist employed by FTI Consulting subsidiary FTI Government Affairs and a top-level campaign finance bundler for Hillary Clinton's presidential run, lobbied throughout 2014 and 2015 for offshore drilling off the coast of Israel on behalf of Noble Energy. The finding by DeSmog comes days after an irritated Clinton told an activist for Greenpeace USA, that she was ‘so sick of the Sanders campaign lying about me’ with regards to her coziness to lobbyists and fossil fuel campaign cash. Dunn, according to his FTI biography, formerly worked for the Bill Clinton White House as the point man for the ‘business community’s support of President Clinton’s economic and trade agenda.’ The lobbying disclosure forms confirm that Dunn lobbied the White House and State Department on developments in the Eastern Mediterranean, which is where Noble's top energy assets offshore in Israel sit.”
Mark Sumner writes—Update: Twenty-nine men died and Don Blankenship sentenced to one year in prison: “Blankenship has been sentenced. His judge, herself the daughter of a coal miner, handed down the maximum sentence. Former coal executive Don Blankenship has been sentenced to one year in prison and fined $250,000 for conspiracy to violate mine safety standards in the deadliest U.S. mine explosion in four decades. So Blankenship should get to spend a little quality time away from his giant castle on the one mountain he defaced with his own face rather than mountaintop removal mining. He deserves worse, but at least both the jury and the judge saw this man for what he is and did what they could.”
Mark Sumner writes—Workers have a right to be rude when safety is on the line: “When two coal miners were given the chance to comment on a new safety program they didn't hold back. [...] You probably won’t be surprised to learn that both miners were immediately fired after expressing themselves so forcefully to [coal baron Bob] Murray. [...] You probably won’t be surprised to learn that both miners were immediately fired after expressing themselves so forcefully to Mr. Murray. [...] However, both a trial judge and the National Labor Relations Board have now ruled that the miners should be reinstated and awarded back pay. Because, no matter how they phrased it, their words were a form of protest against what they viewed as a program to decrease safety at the mine. They also demonstrated that—and stop me if this shocks you—a coal mine is a place where more than a little profanity gets used daily, both by employees and supervisors.”
Mary Anne HItt writes—Florida’s Dirtiest Coal Plant Putting Water Supply At Risk: “I normally think of Florida as a sunny, pristine place - but this latest news from our Florida Beyond Coal campaign is very unsettling. Lakeland - a city roughly halfway between Tampa and Orlando, is the home of the C.D. McIntosh coal plant. The plant is already linked to contaminated groundwater and is one of the largest producers of toxic coal ash in the state. A new report shows that the plant also cannot protect its coal ash storage ponds from sinkholes - ‘a liability of catastrophic proportions to Polk County and its water supply.’ Coal ash is the toxic byproduct of burning coal for electricity. It’s full of toxins like arsenic, lead, cadmium, and more. The coal ash storage areas at McIntosh are essentially holes in the ground ‘lined’ with coal ash ponds so there is no real barrier to prevent dangerous chemicals from leaching into groundwater, which feeds local aquifers and public drinking water supplies.”
dinotrac writes—CO2 and radioactive, too? “Sheesh, isn’t it bad enough that burning coal pours CO2 into the air, and that the assorted other crap it spews is good for tens of thousands of deaths, but — Hold on to your horses, boys and girls — it seems that fly ash from coal burning power plants, ounce for ounce, is more radioactive than nuclear waste! I didn’t know that, but it’s not new news. This article from Scientific American in 9 years old now.”
Pipelines & Other Oil and Gas Transport
meralda writes—Keystone I leak in SD: cause still not identified and estimated size of spill (surprise!) increased: “As opponents of Keystone XL consistently argued, it’s not if the pipeline would leak, but when. Keystone I pipeline (a separate pipeline already in use) has had four previous leaks in SD since it was opened in 2009. We are now waiting to see how large the fifth one—the first major spill is. There are several concerns: 1: The spill was not detected by TransCanada’s high tech spill-detection systems. It was reported by a passerby who noticed “a sheen of oil in the ditch” … overlying the buried pipeline in a rural area near Freeman, SD on 2 April. Although the pipeline was shut down within minutes of TransCanada being notified, Keith Stewart of Greenpeace noted: ‘The company has been making big claims at the Energy East Pipeline hearings in Quebec about how their spill detection system will identify a leak within minutes, but the truth is that most pipeline spills aren’t detected until the oil makes it way to the surface where it can be seen and smelt’.”
Meteor Blades writes—TransCanada says Keystone I spill was 90x worse than first estimate. Source of leak still not found: “After South Dakota farmer Loern Schulz reported a leak at a remote underground segment of TransCanada’s Keystone I oil pipeline last Saturday, theCalgary-based company reported that it estimated the spill at 187 gallons. On Thursday, the company reported that the spill at 90 times as much, 16,800 gallons. A spokesperson told CNN that TransCanada has ‘yet to pinpoint the source’ of the leak. The pipeline will remain shut down all the way from Alberta to Illinois until that source is found and patched. Around 100 people are working to make that happen. The 30-inch Keystone I usually carries half-a-million barrels of crude oil each day, 21 million gallons. It was built with advanced leak-detection technology that TransCanada touted when promoting construction of the 36-inch Keystone XL pipeline. The leak detectors would make the KXL very safe, the pipeline’s advocates claimed. In fact, since Keystone I opened its valves to the flow of oil in 2010, it has leaked 35 times, once spilling 21,000 gallons.”
OCEANS, WATER, DROUGHT
Dan Bacher writes—Tribes, State and Feds Sign Klamath Dam Removal Agreement: “At the mouth of the mighty Klamath River at Requa in Northwest California on April 6, representatives of the U.S. Departments of the Interior and Commerce, the States of Oregon and California, the Yurok Tribe, the Karuk Tribe and PacifiCorp signed an agreement clearing the path for dam removal on the river. The Amendment to the Klamath Hydroelectric Settlement Agreement (KHSA), if approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), will initiate the removal of four dams on the Klamath River. It will be “one of the largest river restoration projects in the history of the U.S,” according to Interior Secretary Sally Jewel. Under the agreement, dam owner PacifiCorp, a subsidiary of Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway, will transfer its license to operate the Klamath River dams to a private company. This company, the Klamath River Renewal Corporation, will oversee the dam removal in 2020. PacifiCorp will continue to operate the four dams, including Iron Gate, Copco 1 and Copco 2 in California north of Yreka and J.C. Boyle in Oregon, until they are decommissioned.”
CANDIDATES, STATE AND DC ECO-RELATED POLITICS
Jim in Chicago writes—Naomi Klein: Fossil fuel money makes Hillary Clinton "uniquely unsuited" to tackle climate change: “One could even say ‘unqualified.’ Author of the seminal alternative economic history, The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism, Naomi Klein sees and elucidates political trends better than just about any writer today. Her new article at The Nation is titled, The Problem With Hillary Clinton Isn’t Just Her Corporate Cash. It’s Her Corporate Worldview. The article effectively contrasts her political philosophy with Bernie Sanders’ and offers the best explanation I have seen to date of what makes the Clintons’ worldview so wrong — and dangerous (and in need of change). The article is subtitled: Clinton is uniquely unsuited to the epic task of confronting the fossil-fuel companies that profit from climate change.”
MINING
Mother Mags writes—80% of Arizonans want to ban mining near Grand Canyon, Congressman calls it a job killer: “You remember Arizona Congressman Paul Gosar, right? He’s the Republican dweeb who thought Cliven Bundy’s skirmish against the feds was so important that he caravanned to the Nevada compound with a gaggle of other Arizona nitwits to support the criminals. Gosar had time to make the long drive to Nevada, but when Pope Francis addressed a joint session of Congress last year, the climate-denying Congressman did not have time for that audience. Because, you see, Francis is a flaming environmentalist in Gosar’s alleged mind, so he boycotted the event, being the good Catholic that he is. On Monday in Kingman, Arizona, Congressman Gosar will host a public meeting, which he is calling ‘Government Land Grab: Exposing the Truth.’ The gathering of Sagebrush Rebellion pinheads is in response to fellow Arizona Congressman Raul Grijalva’s recent attempt to create the Grand Canyon National Heritage Monument. Grijalva’s bill, which was written with the tribes who call Grand Canyon their sacred home (Havasupai, Hualapai, Navajo, Hopi), as well as local environmental groups, would protect 1.7 million acres on the south and north sides of the giant gorge by prohibiting further mining. ‘[The bill] permanently protects the Grand Canyon from new uranium mining claims; protects tribal sacred cultural sites; promotes a more collaborative regional approach between tribal nations and federal land managers; protects commercial and recreational hunting; preserves grazing and water rights; and conserves the Grand Canyon watershed.’”
WILDERNESS, NATIONAL FORESTS AND PARKS & OTHER PUBLIC LANDS
Besame writes—Reid renews commitment to designate national monument surrounding Bundy's Nevada ranch: “Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid said today he will renew his efforts to designate hundreds of thousands of acres of scenic Nevada desert surrounding Cliven Bundy's ranch as a national monument. Reid has previously pushed legislation to designate a 350,000-acre Gold Butte National Conservation Area as well as 220,000 acres of wilderness protections within it. ‘Because of this legislation [Antiquities Act] and now the fact that the Bundys are all in jail, I'm going to reach out to the White House, and I guarantee we'll get it done," Reid said in a speech this morning on the Senate floor. "That's for sure, to see if President Obama will protect this area.’”
Mark Sumner writes—Obama's new national monuments generate lasting revenue for local economies: “Since coming into office, President Obama has put his stamp on 22 new national monuments, ranging from the Harriet Tubman Underground Railway National Monument in Maryland to the San Juan Islands National Monument along the Washington state coast. These areas preserve historic sites, wildlife habitat, spectacular scenery, and recreational land for the use of all Americans. Which, naturally, means that it’s one of those Obama things that really, really irritates ultra-conservatives. But before any collection of bearded dudes gathers to conduct a takeover of the beautiful Mohave Trails National Monument, the even more gorgeous California Coastal National Monument, or the really a burr under conservative’s skin César E. Chávez National Monument, they might want to check outone thing ... The national monuments that President Obama has created or expanded are generating more than $156 million in local economic activity annually, according to a study published Wednesday.”
BYPRODUCTS, TRASH, TOXIC & RADIOACTIVE WASTE
Mark Sumner writes—It's not just Flint—high lead levels can happen anywhere: “Where’s the lead poisoning infrastructure disaster looming? Anywhere. Actually, everywhere. In the wake of the Flint water crisis, local governments nationwide have had to assure residents worried about brain damage and miscarriages that their drinking water meets or exceeds all federal standards. It may not be perfect, but keeping the values below the 15 parts per billion of lead required by federal guidelines is certainly a start. Even if … Complying with federal water regulation, it turns out, doesn’t necessarily mean a city’s water is lead-free. All it means is that the amount of lead coming through faucets is beneath an arbitrary level. The rule essentially says that using lead pipes for drinking water is fine, even though childhood exposure to lead can cause permanently diminished intelligence and behavioral problems — serious ones. Still, there’s another part of this problem that’s even more … problematic. Cities aren’t built in a day. Like more visible components such as streets and sidewalks, the infrastructure that you can’t see varies in age and quality. In a city that’s a century or more old, some water supply lines may be made from modern, safer materials while homes right next door draw their water from aging lead pipes. Short of testing, there’s often no way to know.”
ECO-ACTION & ECO JUSTICE
Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse writes—Youth climate activists win over feds & fossil fuels, step closer to climate justice trial: “A group of youths filed a climate change lawsuit, raising civil rights and environmental claims based on the public trust doctrine, constitutional and statutory grounds. Fighting for the principle that all the people own the public natural resources, including future generations, and that the federal government has a duty as trustee of these resources to protect, conserve and maintain. The plaintiffs seek court orders to require the government to drastically reduce emissions. Yesterday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Coffin rejected motions to dismiss this lawsuit filed by our government and the fossil fuel industry. Coffin recommended that the lawsuit be allowed to proceed to trial. The next step is for a U.S. District Court judge to determine whether to accept his recommendation and allow the lawsuit to proceed to trial.”
AGRICULTURE, FOOD & GARDENING
ColoTim writes—Saturday Morning Garden Blogging: An introduction to My Colorado Flower Garden and Orchard: “For those of you in the center and eastern US, you may be experiencing snow, ice, freezing cold and scenes like the above. I’m here to tell you that yes, it can get better. As for Colorado, Saturday we are expecting temperatures today of about 72, with chances of rain in the afternoon. Highs are likely to be in the range of the 60’s for most of the next week, with lows in the upper 30’s. We’ll send some of that warmth east as time allows. Some of you may have read about my yard in my various past posts here in the Garden blogging. Some have even visited for some Kossack meetups and even for Crawfish Boils like what’s coming up June 4th. If you have interest, let me know in the comments if you want to come.”