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 25,525 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
FishOutofWater writes—375 National Academy Scientists Rebuke Trump, Warn of Severe Outcome of Quitting Paris Climate Deal: “Today 375 members of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, including 30 Nobel laureates, warned that the consequences of opting out of the Paris climate agreement, as planned by Donald Trump, would be severe and long-lasting for our planet’s climate and for the credibility of the United States. Distinguished MIT Professor Kerry Emanuel, one of the authors of the letter, is a philosophical conservative who was driven out of the Republican party by climate change deniers, who attacked his wife over the internet, because he spoke out against climate change denial. He is an atmospheric scientist who developed modern theories of the thermodynamics of hurricanes and atmospheric convection. He started speaking out about climate change after he discovered in his research that the strongest hurricanes would get stronger in response to man made climate change. I know him from weather map discussions many years ago when I was a graduate student at UCLA and he was in his first years as a meteorology professor. Dr. Emanuel’s work has had a lasting effect on our understanding of hurricanes and our ability to predict how strong they might become.”
Jen Hayden writes—Meet Diego, the especially amorous 100-year-old tortoise who may have saved his entire species: “Ladies and gentlemen, meet Diego the tortoise, legendary lover: He's over 100 years old, but his sex life is the stuff of legend. Diego the Tortoise is quite the ladies' man, and his exploits have helped save his species from extinction. Diego, a Galapagos giant tortoise, has fathered an estimated 800 offspring, almost single-handedly rebuilding the species' population on their native island, Espanola, the southernmost in the Galapagos Archipelago. Diego originally found fame in the United States: Diego was found at the San Diego Zoo -- hence his name -- after Chelonoidis hoodensis was identified as a species and an international campaign was launched to find more of the rare tortoises.”
CRITTERS AND THE GREAT OUTDOORS
OceanDiver writes—The Daily Bucket - transition time at the Rocks: “Autumn brings changes at sea as well as on land. As land creatures we tend to be more aware of conditions like the cooling temperatures, brightly colored foliage and falling leaves that mark the end of summer. The shift from summer to autumn in the Salish Sea is more subtle, and not just because much of the action is in the water. Rocks are rocks and the ocean doesn’t warm or cool more than 5 degrees over the year. So how do we know fall is upon us? One obvious change is the thinning out of visitors. Some folks come here sailing their own boats, others take tours with commercial operations to see the wildlife of the Salish Sea. In summer I see countless boats criss-crossing the Sea every day. When the weather closes down tourism drops to a fraction of the summer numbers, including whale-watch boats. Labor Day weekend was very busy; since then I’ve been seeing fewer each day.”
OceanDiver writes—The Daily Bucket - another autumn sunset: “A couple of days ago I posted a dramatic sunset moment as my Bucket observation for the day: late in the day clearing after a gray dark day of wind and rain. I stood on the beach with spitting rain and a 20 mph wind in my face. It got me thinking how radically different sunsets can be, even a day or so apart. A few days before the stormy sunset, the feeling was calm and quiet. I can’t see the sunset from my house because there are dense trees toward the west. If I want to watch the sun set I have to walk 10 minutes or so to an open area (or if my back is hurting bad or the weather is super-inclement, drive). Most days it just gets dark, but on this calm day wispy clouds started forming in the late afternoon and I figured it might be a nice sunset. You never know. It had been clear and bright all day, cool but windless. I walked.”
owktree writes—Daily Bucket: The Pond in Late Summer: “This diary covers some photos around my brother’s house in Livonia, NY over the Labor Day weekend. I usually take the camera along for at least one jaunt around the pond to get flower and insect photos.”
Michael Brune writes—Lessons From the Last Grizzly: “Here’s how not to manage a population of grizzly bears. California had its own subspecies of these awesome animals before they were hunted to extinction less than 100 years ago. But the extirpation of its grizzlies didn’t stop the state from proudly adopting the bear as its official animal in 1953. After all, the California grizzly had been featured on the state flag since 1911. It’s well known that the model for the bear on the flag was a real California grizzly, called Monarch, who was captured in 1889 at the behest of newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst. Here’s something almost no one knows: Allen Kelly, the Hearst journalist who was responsible for Monarch’s capture, joined the Sierra Club as a charter member a few years later. Later still, he wrote a book (Bears I Have Met) with a whole chapter on the tragic story of Monarch. You get the impression that, if he had it to do over again, Kelly might have let the grizzly go. Instead, Monarch spent 22 years in captivity in San Francisco. He was last publicly on display — stuffed — in 2012 as part of a California Academy of Science exhibit on, of all things, climate change.”
Angmar writes—The Daily Bucket: Of Gothic plants and wild orchids: So, plants which look like bats. that would pretty much be number one! V*V Link: Bat Flower - University of Florida, Institute of Food and Agriculture—Native to southern parts of Asia, bat flower (Tacca spp.) has shiny, bright green leaves. It blooms on a stem from the center of the plant, with a cluster of purple flowers in the center. Above these flowers are two bracts (leaves that resemble flower petals) that look like bat wings. Numerous threadlike bracteoles hang from the flowers resembling 8-10 inch long whiskers. These are notoriously hard to grow. My personal anecdote with this plant is that my mom had bought me one, she was a huge gardener also, and she thought it would appeal to me a lot, which it did! it came in a root ( rhizomatous) form.
Besame writes—Daily Bucket: volunteers inspect urban coyote poop for science - it's a SoCal thing: “Coyotes are omnivores, like teenage boys they can eat anything that someone else prepared and made available. Urban Los Angeles coyotes have an abundance of easy pickings: fallen fruit, human’s trash, pet food, and small mammals. Knowing what they eat helps biologists understand how the animals live in LA and guides humans in avoiding conflicts involving their pets and trash bins. Earlier this year, the Urban Coyote Project asked for volunteers to be trained in collecting scat and then picking apart dried, sterilized coyote poop to determine what LA’s coyotes have been eating. I described the call for CitSci volunteers in May. Over 25 intrepid SoCal citizen scientists rose to the challenge and have been working on the Project since June. In August, they first inspected the collected scat so LA’s findings are preliminary. A similar study in Chicago found that contrary to popular myths, Chicago’s urban coyotes mostly eat small rodents (42%), fruit (23%), deer (22%), and rabbit (18%).”
nookular writes—Dawn Chorus- Birding Costa Rica- Part 1 the Pacific Coast and Osa Peninsula: “In mid August I was lucky enough to spend about 9 days birding and hiking in Costa Rica with a couple of my birding/ biologist buddies. This was my first foray into Central America, but for my three companions, this was a return to some familiar territory. Since it was they who more or less set the itinerary, we skipped many of the better known spots on the birding circuit and headed to some of the less visited areas. Over the next two weeks, I'd like to share with you some of the sights we came across on our little excursion. Part One is Day 1 at San Jose through Day 5 at the Osa Peninsula, and Part Two will be the highlands and Caribbean slope.”
owktree writes—Daily Bucket: 13 Miles on the Delaware (and Raritan) Canal*: “A diary covering a walk along the tow paths of two canals — The Delaware Canal on the west bank of the Delaware River, and the Delaware and Raritan Canal on the east bank. Both were built in the 1830s as a way to move freight such as coal to Philadelphia. Both are now currently state parks in the respective states of Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The walk on this day was from the town of Stockton, NJ, up the New Jersey side to the bridge in the title picture, across the bridge, and then down the Pennsylvania side to the bridge located at Stockton. However, due to losing my Fitbit we turned around and re-traced our steps instead of crossing the bridge to complete about an 7-mile loop. Covered about thirteen miles altogether, which was a record hiking distance for me in the past few years. (The Fitbit was successfully recovered!)”
CLIMATE CHAOS
Pakalolo writes—Massive 100 foot thick glacier tongue collapses and covers 4 square miles with rock and ice: “One of the worlds largest ice avalanches ever recorded has flummoxed glaciologists. The slide contained about 100 million cubic metres of ice and rocks as it roared down a narrow valley killing nine herders and hundreds of sheep and yaks. The slide occurred in the Aru Range of the Rutog county in the west of the Tibet Autonomous Region on July 17, 2016. NASA in their coverage noted that ‘Tian Lide, a glaciologist at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, visited the site in August and described the avalanche as “baffling” because the area where the ice collapse began is rather flat’. [...] The cause of the avalanche is unclear. “This is new territory scientifically,” said Kääb. ‘It is unknown why an entire glacier tongue would shear off like this. We would not have thought this was even possible before Kolka happened.’”
Pakalolo writes—Arctic Sea Ice Extent in 2016 Ties As Second Lowest in the Satellite Record: “ ‘What happens in the Arctic doesn’t stay in the Arctic, it looks increasingly likely that the dramatic decrease in Arctic sea ice is impacting weather in mid-latitudes and may be at least partly responsible for the more dramatic, persistent and damaging weather anomalies we’ve seen so many of in recent years.’ Pennsylvania State University climate scientist Michael Mann. Climate change in the arctic is happening about 2 to 3 times faster than it is at the lower latitudes where the vast majority of us live. Because of this warming trend, climate amplification is actually changing the weather patterns in the mid latitudes. It means that we will have more extreme weather, more droughts, more floods, more heat waves, and more cold waves. [...] On September 10, 2016, Arctic sea ice extent shrank to 4.14 million square kilometers (1.60 million square miles). The National Snow and Ice Data Center announced this summer low was tied with the minimum of 2007 for second-lowest in the satellite record, both behind the 2012 record low.”
teacherken writes—"Anyone who takes climate change seriously ..." : “Actually, let me give you the complete setting for that quote: Elections have consequences, and this is one of the most fateful: Anyone who takes climate change seriously had better do everything possible to keep Donald Trump out of the White House. Those words were written by Eugene Robinson. They appear as the second paragraph in his very powerful Washington Post column for tomorrow’s paper, titled A vote for Trump is a vote for climate catastrophe and I strongly urge you to read the entire thing.”
OutonaLimb writes—Constraining Climate Contrarians: “The Denier Industrial Complex (DICs) have worked overtime to convince the public—particularly Americans—that the climate isn’t changing. Or if it is, we’re not doing it. Or if we are, it’s no big deal. Or if it is, it’d be too expensive to fix. Or at least more expensive than just letting it happen. None of that is true, of course. One of the ways they’ve been merchandizing doubt is by spreading the lie that there is doubt. If there is, there should be a way to prove it. It's likely we've all heard about the studies showing 97% of papers on climate-related topics endorse the global scientific consensus on human-induced climate change. There have been multiple independent studies of scientific papers, using different methodologies, done by different people, all of which show the same thing. Around 97% of climate scientists and of published papers explicitly or implicitly agree that climate change is happening, it’s dangerous, and we’re doing it. What’s up with the other 3%?”
Jen Hayden writes—The Securities and Exchange Commission is reportedly investigating Exxon over climate change scandal: “But it now appears Congress isn’t the only government investigation into Exxon's climate change scandal: The Securities and Exchange Commission is reportedly investigating Exxon Mobil. Dow Jones reported that the investigation is looking into how the company evaluates project costs based on climate change risks as well as its accounting practices. Exxon shares neared a session low after the report and were last down about 1 percent. Things just got a little hotter for Exxon Mobil executives. And it should.”
Michael Klare via Tomgram writes—The Rise of the Right and Climate Catastrophe: “In a year of record-setting heat on a blistered globe, with fast-warming oceans, fast-melting ice caps, and fast-rising sea levels, ratification of the December 2015 Paris climate summit agreement -- already endorsed by most nations—should be a complete no-brainer. That it isn't tells you a great deal about our world. Global geopolitics and the possible rightward lurch of many countries (including a potential deal-breaking election in the United States that could put a climate denier in the White House) spell bad news for the fate of the Earth. It’s worth exploring how this might come to be. The delegates to that 2015 climate summit were in general accord about the science of climate change and the need to cap global warming at 1.5 to 2.0 degrees Celsius (or 2.6 to 3.5 degrees Fahrenheit) before a planetary catastrophe ensues. They disagreed, however, about much else.”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Fake Names Fool None Forever: “Moving on, some folks who should be ashamed of themselves but probably aren’t are the pro-pipeline PR forces behind some Twitter handles that by every indication are as real as Den Volokin and Lark ReLlez. DeSmog reports on a series of similar accounts making similar pro-pipeline statements about the Dakota Access pipeline that’s heavily contested by Native Americans. The evidence for who’s behind these sock puppets points to pro-tobacco, pro-fossil-fuels PR group DCI, hired by the pipeline company, and known for ginning up astroturf campaigns and other shady lobbying techniques. This group doesn’t get much direct attention, though it is one of the companies caught up in the #ExxonKnew subpoenas, so that should give you a sense of their behind-the-scenes connections. (For more on them, check out all the great info in the DeSmog story!)”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Brangelina Splits! What Will This Mean For Climate? “Nothing. Nothing at all. Instead here are some important things you might’ve missed yesterday while everyone (including Lindsey Graham) was busy lamenting the demise of Hollywood’s favorite power couple. At RealClimate, denier from down under Malcolm Roberts is taken to task on his recent climate nonsense by real climate scientist Stefan Rahmstorf, who explains that by Roberts (poor) logic about greenhouse gasses, a blanket keeping you warm would violate the second law of thermodynamics. Back in the US, for those who are curious about where the presidential candidates stand on science, Gary Johnson has responded to the Science Debate questions, so now all four have answered. (Turns out the candidates aren’t as similar as some millennials might think…)”
stan west writes—BREAKING NEWS! Global Warming Still a Lot of Hot Air According to Repubs! Satire starring Jim Inhofe.
xirzon writes—The Issue that Could Decide the Election: Climate Change, Humanity's Existential Threat: “There are three reasons why I believe climate change is well-suited as the ‘closing issue’ for the campaign: It’s self-evidently the right thing to do. Climate change is an existential threat. The media are not doing their job because they’re ratings-driven, and a continuing trend like this is not nearly as exciting as the hunt for some disturbed individual. Hillary can make it an issue that is worth writing about from the media’s perspective. In spite of the media’s negligence, 64% of Americans already care “a great deal/a fair bit” about climate change. This is not a partisan issue.
Hillary Clinton has a solid record on this issue, both in terms of policy positions (moderate as they are, e.g., on fracking) and in terms of diplomacy during her time as SecState. In contrast, Donald Trump’s ‘record’ is atrocious even by his standards of having no political record; he’s “jokingly” called climate change a Chinese hoax and expressed climate denial in many other forms. There are many, many ways to close the campaign with this issue.”
Mystic54 writes—Climate Change Is The Wedge Issue For Getting Millennials To The Polls: “Much has been reported in the media about Hillary’s enthusiasm challenge with younger voters. One group that turns out to the polls when there are issues on the ballot they care about is millennials. Climate change is always in the top 3 of concerns for this large voting block and yet Hillary barely mentions it. In a poll conducted this summer at the Democratic convention, millennials were sampled on which candidate they thought would best address climate change, Bernie Sanders came out on top as might be expected, but it was discovered that they saw virtually no difference between the policy positions of Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton on this key issue that is important them. It certainly exists, but it isn’t registering. Here is an excerpt from a Newsweek article on this topic: Forty-four percent say there’s no distinction between the two candidates on transitioning away from fossil fuels, and 43 percent say there’s no distinction on protecting air and water.”
aurabass writes—THE LIAR DENIERS - DESPICABLE, DEPLORABLE THREAT TO THE FUTURE: “here are no more despicable deplorable liars on the planet than the Climate Change Deniers. These paid shills who create doubt in the scientific evidence of Climate Change are a threat to the very life of the planet and will be responsible for the death and destruction inevitably visited on our grandchildren. [...] These Denier Liars are in large part found at THE HEARTLAND INSTITUTE and CATO among several others and the are paid by funding provided by the KOCH Brothers and EXXON along with other Fossil Fuel Industry beneficiaries. The Denier Liars also include a majority of Congress also bought and controlled by the Fossil Fuel Industry - the most powerful industry in the history of our World. The lowest most foul of the Liar Deniers is the founder of CLIMATE DEPOT - Mark Marano, an aide to Sen James "the hoax" Inhofe known as the Rush Limbaugh of Climate.”
Shower writes—Climate Change will generate a Presidential Debate question: “Any debate on the issue is essentially scientific and not political. My question for the debate reflects this — “Which scientific fact or theory is the basis of your position on climate change?” Try it for yourself. [...] My answer is as a physicist. ‘We all accept that a greenhouse works. Radiant heat from the sun passes through a thin invisible substance (glass). The glass then traps heat inside the greenhouse. Temperature inside rises. This is the greenhouse effect. There are gases in the atmosphere which have an identical effect. Carbon Dioxide acts as a greenhouse gas trapping heat from the Sun inside our atmosphere. This has worked well for thousands of years but increasing levels of Carbon Monoxide (and incidentally Methane — another greenhouse gas) have tipped the balance — resulting in higher temperatures, extreme climate events, glacier melt and melting of the polar ice resulting in rising sea levels.”
OCEANS, WATER, DROUGHT
Lenny Flank writes—Study: Pacific Ocean's response to Global Warming Could Extend California Drought for Centuries: “The study, published today in the Nature.com journal Scientific Reports, looked at how natural climatic forces contributed to centuries-long and even millennia-long periods of dryness in California during the past 10,000 years. These phenomena—sun spots, a slightly different earth orbit, a decrease in volcanic activity—intermittently warmed the region through a process called radiative forcing, and recently have been joined by a new force: greenhouse gases. As long as warming forces like greenhouse gases are present, the resulting radiative forcing can extend drought-like conditions more or less indefinitely, said MacDonald, a distinguished professor of geography and of ecology and evolutionary biology.”
Dan Bacher writes—Dams, Dead Fish, Tunnels and Indians: “In the midst of a 300-mile trek and prayer journey to bring salmon back to the McCloud River, the Winnemem Wintu Tribe and their allies converge on the State Capitol to demand a change in California’s water policy. With plans to build new Dams and expand existing ones, and proposing to build two forty-foot Tunnels to divert more water out of the Delta, the stakes could not be higher for all of Californian. Fish species are on the verge of extinction. Disadvantaged Communities, subsistence fishermen, and small family farmers could see their water and way of life disappear altogether. And, the Winnemem Wintu Tribe, who suffered over 90% loss of their traditional homeland, sacred sites, and cultural gathering sites along the Sacramento, McCloud and Pit Rivers when Shasta Dam was built, will again suffer the brunt of this destructive water policy. The Winnemem Wintu and their allies have embarked on a 300-mile prayer journey from Sogorea Te (Glen Cove, Vallejo) to the historical spawning grounds of the winter-run salmon on the McCloud River.”
CANDIDATES, STATE AND DC ECO-RELATED POLITICS
HuoMao writes—Four (Well, Three) Presidential Candidates Answer Twenty Questions about Science: “The non-partisan ScienceDebate.org asked the four main presidential candidates (Clinton, Trump, Johnson, and Stein) a series of twenty questions in regards to important scientific and technologically related questions. There’s one other diary on this already (by Meteor Blades) but discussing the climate change question, not the other nineteen. I won’t steal his thunder with regards to dissecting that aspect of the page, go and read his excellently crafted diary. The answers showcase how they’ll approach important science related topics, while also perhaps showing a lot more than just that. Clinton’s answers are full of substance, argument, and plans. She states what the problems are, why we should be concerned, and how she plans to fix them. They’re full of good ideas, with a few places I don’t entirely agree, but I’m okay with the disagreement. I can rest assured when she becomes President, we’ll have policy and priorities in place that are of sound science and will help the country achieve its goals again.”
WILDERNESS, NATIONAL FORESTS AND PARKS & OTHER PUBLIC LANDS
Meteor Blades writes—If the GOP had its way, Obama couldn't have designated this undersea national monument: “For the 27th time since he took office, President Obama used the 1906 Antiquities Act Thursday to extend permanent protection to public lands from commercial activity and development. This time that land—4,913 square miles of it, about the size of Connecticut—is underwater. Given the view of right-wing Republicans that the president is abusing his authority in designating monuments, there will no doubt be some grumbling about this one. I’ll return to that in a moment. Designated the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument, the ecosystem is home to 73 unique kinds of corals, fin, right, sei and endangered sperm whales, tunas, sharks, dolphins, sea turtles, numerous seabirds, including puffins, and ravines deeper than the Grand Canyon. The monument’s four seamounts are the only ones in the U.S. Atlantic. The monument lies about 150 miles southeast of Cape Cod. It will be managed by the departments of Interior and Commerce. The announcement of the new monument was made Thursday morning at the third annual “Our Oceans” conference. Some other nations also announced they are permanently preserving some marine environments.”
MorrellWI1983 writes—Obama creates First Atlantic Marine Monument: “The White House has announced that President Obama will invoke the Antiquities Act to create the first marine monument in the Atlantic, called the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument . Located offshore of Massachusetts, the canyons rival the Grand Canyon for length and depth and are home to several unique ecosystems. The Seamounts — which are underwater mountains that did not grow tall enough to reach the ocean surface- are likewise home to a large variety of unique wildlife. while the monument will cover close to 5000 sq miles, it is a reduction in size from the original proposal for the area.”
Jen Hayden writes—Report: Trump would name oil billionaire to lead government agency overseeing National Parks: “Bucking the trend of environmentally friendly Interior leadership (current Dept. of Interior Secretary Sally Jewell is the former CEO of outdoor retailer REI), Politico is reporting Donald Trump's strongest contender is an oil billionaire: Forrest Lucas, co-founder of oil products company Lucas Oil and an outspoken opponent of animal rights, is a leading contender for Interior secretary should Donald Trump win the White House, say two sources familiar with the campaign’s deliberations. [...] It’s no coincidence oil and gas industry executives would be thrilled with the choice: Lucas’ nomination would be a coup for the oil and gas industry, which has battled President Barack Obama’s Interior Department for years over everything from Endangered Species Act listings to access to federal lands for drilling. Trump has cultivated close ties to the oil industry, which was once skeptical of his campaign for president. Harold Hamm, the CEO of Oklahoma oil company Continental Resources, is seen as a possible pick for energy secretary in a Trump administration.”
BYPRODUCTS, TRASH, TOXIC & RADIOACTIVE WASTE
Walter Einenkel writes—Sinkhole opens at fertilizer plant and leaks 300 Olympic swimming pools' worth of radioactive water: “A Mosaic Co. phosphate fertilizer facility in Mulberry, Florida says that a 45-foot-wide sinkhole opened up and leaked out 215 million gallons of ‘slightly radioactive water.’ Please, don’t undersell this. It’s also hard to take them at their word as it took them about three weeks before they alerted the public of this situation. The nearly three-week gap between detecting the sinkhole and reporting it to the public is alarming, said Jacki Lopez, Florida director of the Center for Biological Diversity. ‘It’s hard to trust them when they say 'Don’t worry,' when they’ve been keeping it secret for three weeks,’ she said. It’s very hard to trust Mosaic, who settled a $2 billion hazardous waste lawsuit last year, owing the government $800 million. This sinkhole leak is potentially very dangerous.”
Jen Hayden writes—Sinkhole at FL fertilizer company leaked 215 mil gallons of radioactive water, seeped into aquifer: “The Mosaic Company noticed a dropping water level at their fertilizer facility in Mulberry, Florida on August 27th and notified state authorities. They didn’t notify the public for another 3 weeks and by then a large amount of ‘slightly radioactive water’ had already leaked: A sinkhole spanning 45 feet (13.7 meters) in diameter opened at a Mosaic Co phosphate fertilizer facility in Florida, leaking 215 million gallons of ‘slightly radioactive water,’ a company spokesman said on Friday. Needless to say, people are questioning why it took the company three weeks to notify the public.”
ENERGY
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—WSJ DEDICATES SECTION TO ENERGY ISSUES; REPORTS FAIRLY! “The Wall Street Journal’s opinion page has always been Biased on climate change. It’s straight news reporting, however, has been only somewhat biased on the issue, exhibiting more negative framing than other outlets, but not propagating myths outright like their opinion section. Now the Journal’s news team has apparently decided to balance out the partisan opinion section by publishing an entire section dedicated solely on energy, and amazingly there’s nothing for us to complain about among the 15 stories. They even published it in the physical paper! And the lead story is about how the US will likely implement a price on carbon! While there was also a balancing story explaining why that’s actually unlikely, that story was on the second page in a box surrounded by the larger story about how the price on carbon is probably going to happen. Importantly, the story about why a carbon price is unlikely was remarkably realistic, and had nothing to do with denial. Similarly balanced (real, actual balance!) were two stories about Japan’s Post-Fukushima energy issues, one focusing on local efforts to expand renewables and the other a broader story about the hurdles clean energy, like solar, still faces in the land of the rising sun.”
Nuclear & Fossil Fuels
Crashing Vor writes—Some Potentially Good News from the Coal (Bankruptcy) Industry: “As previously discussed, the decline of Big Coal, though generally a positive development in humankind’s painful stumble to adulthood, poses a number of legal, financial and environmental challenges, many resulting from the industry-specific practice of ‘self-bonding,’ pledging corporate assets to be used for land remediation instead of more traditional insurance. In yesterday’s Casper Star-Tribune,Heather Richards reports that, in a departure from usual practice, bankrupt Arch Coal has agreed to a restructuring which relies on traditional insurance policies to guarantee cleanup of its retired mines. The plan moves the coal giant away from self-bonding, a contentious practice that allows companies to forgo traditional insurance for cleanup, backing up their promise to pay for reclamation with their financial strength.”
ryschlee writes—You Can Now Buy the Rights to Drill for Oil and Gas on the Internet: “Have you ever thought to yourself, ‘I wish it were easier for fossil fuel companies to get their hands on public land so they can drill for oil and gas?’ Yeah, neither have I. Unfortunately, that seems to be what the Obama administration was thinking when it announced it would move auctions for the rights to exploit public lands for fossil fuels to an online bidding process. But if the fossil fuel industry and our government think they can hide from keep it in the ground activists by moving online, they’re wrong.”
Mary Anne Hitt writes—Breaking the Silence on Coal and Health in the Ohio River Valley: “Wendy Bredhold says despite serious public health threats posed by high levels of coal pollution in the Ohio River Valley (which includes parts of Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio), not many have paid attention. ‘This region has one of the highest concentrations of coal-burning power plants in the country, including some of the dirtiest, and more than half of the power generated is exported,’ said Wendy, a Beyond Coal representative who lives in the area. Two of these plants, Duke’s Gibson station and AEP’s Rockport plant, are among the biggest and dirtiest in the country. ‘We’re left with the pollution.’ For many residents, they either hadn’t connected the dots between nearby coal-fired power plants and health problems like asthma, or they just weren’t that aware their area was home to such a high concentration of power plants. Months of work to raise awareness culminated in a public forum entitled “Breaking the Silence: Coal’s Impact on Our Health” earlier this month in Evansville where a full house of more than 100 people gathered to learn from experts, ask questions, and share their stories.”
Pipelines & Other Oil and Gas Transport
RL Miller writes—#NoDAPL: Putting Senator Heitkamp in a Box: “A couple of weeks ago, I started a petition to Senator Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) asking her to side with the Standing Rock Sioux against the Dakota Access Pipeline. The petition did pretty well, thanks to Navajo and others. And the National Journal took notice of Senator Heitkamp’s conflicts, as between a fossil fueled, pro-Keystone XL Democrat, and a Democrat who stands up for Indians who helped elect her: The Latest Pipeline Fight is Coming to DC (subscription may be required). At the end of the week, the Climate Hawks Vote super PAC will deliver a MoveOn.org petition to Heitkamp’s office calling on her to oppose the pipeline. As of Monday, the petition had more than 10,400 signatures. [...] By the time I was ready to deliver the petition on Thursday, I had over 26,000 signatures. So I printed out the names of the hundreds of North Dakota residents who signed my petition and stand with Standing Rock — along with their comments about the pipeline, some angry, some pleading, some ALL CAPS SPITTING RAGE. (The signatures from other states/nations are delivered by MoveOn electronically.) I walked it into Senator Heitkamp’s Washington, DC office, where I spoke with Bryce about the concerns of the climate community. He promised to let me know if she put out a statement on it.”
navajo writes—North Dakota Water Protectors prepare for long winter camping out, IEN needs a rolling Media-Com Van: “Winter can be brutal on the Standing Rock Reservation. Temperatures ranging from 17 degrees to 30 below. Snowstorms easily turn into devastating blizzards. The Oceti Sakowin (Och-et-eeshak-oh-win) Camp which encompasses all the camps at the resistance location near Lake Oahe in North Dakota is focusing on maintaining camp through the winter. The big camp is being funded by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. The camp currently housing thousands of supporters will need to prepare for winter.Heavy duty tents, warm clothing, porta-potties, food and fuel, i.e. wood to burn in stoves. Wood fuel was the number one request. You can help by contributing directly to the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe at their homepage so they can purchase exactly what they need.”
Steve Horn writes—As Dakota Access Protests Escalated, Obama Admin OK’d Same Company for Two Pipelines to Mexico: “On September 9, the Obama administration revoked authorization for construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) on federally controlled lands and asked the pipeline's owners, led by Energy Transfer Partners, to voluntarily halt construction on adjacent areas at the center of protests by Native Americans and supporters. However, at the same time the pipeline and protests surrounding it were galvanizing an international swell of solidarity with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and its Sacred Stone Camp, another federal move on two key pipelines has flown under the radar. In May, the federal government quietly approved permits for two Texas pipelines — the Trans-Pecos and Comanche Trail Pipelines — also owned by Energy Transfer Partners. This action and related moves will ensure that U.S. fracked gas will be flooding the energy grid in Mexico. The Dakota Access Pipeline is also set to carry oil obtained via hydraulic fracturing ("fracking"), but in the northern U.S., from North Dakota's Bakken Shale Formation through several Great Plains states to Illinois.”
LakeSuperior writes—AFL-CIO Chief Trumka Calls on President Obama to Allow Dakota Pipeline Construction to Continue: “The AFL-CIO, the federation of labor unions and the organized labor movement in the United States, has issued a statement by their Chief (and Daily Kos Kossack), Richard Trumka, calling on President Obama to allow construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline to continue. ‘The AFL-CIO supports pipeline construction as part of a comprehensive energy policy that creates jobs, makes the United States more competitive and addresses the threat of climate change. Pipelines are less costly, more reliable and less energy intensive than other forms of transporting fuels, and pipeline construction and maintenance provides quality jobs to tens of thousands of skilled workers……’ ‘The AFL-CIO calls on the Obama Administration to allow construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline to continue.’ Trumka was reacting in part to the recent news release from the U.S. Departments of Justice and Interior, and the Army Corps of Engineers issued shortly after the D.C. District Federal Court rejected the motion of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe for a preliminary injunction to stop construction work.”
eeff writes—Neil Young Has Recorded a Song for The Water Protectors.
johnabbe writes—Keep #NoDAPL Growing — Send Your Solidarity Video to Sacred Stone Camp by Midnight Tonight: “As many have pointed out, the struggle to protect the water, Native culture, and a livable climate are at a crucial moment. The Obama administration’s intervention a week ago in the Standing Rock Sioux lawsuit against the Dakota Access Pipeline, has only paused construction in a small area. Energy Transfer Partners’ CEO says the pipeline is 60% completed and vows to finish. Given the federal government’s history with Native Americans, protectors are not expecting a positive outcome from the Army Corps of Engineers. So, the camps are still growing (and winter is coming! — more on that later). Local rallies seemingly everywhere continue to spread daily, and protectors continue to stand up in civil disobedience not only close to Sacred Stone Camp, but also in Iowa. In response to a call from the camps for some focus on the pipeline’s bankster funders, on Wednesday in Washington, D.C. protectors shut down two branches of TD Bank. But the corporate media, having reported on Obama’s narrow intervention, are not paying attention.”
Michael Brune writes—A Light Shines in the Dakotas: “Regardless of what happens next, the Dakota Access pipeline protest has already made history. More than 200 tribes and thousands of Native American activists have gathered at the Standing Rock Sioux reservation in a remarkable and virtually unprecedented show of unity. Yesterday, thousands of people protested in solidarity with the Standing Rock Sioux in more than 100 cities across the country. The source of the outrage is simple: The U.S. government attempted to fast-track a dangerous pipeline without properly and respectfully consulting the sovereign tribal nation whose ancestral lands and water it threatens. But the government agent in this case — the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers — overlooked two things. First, for the Standing Rock Sioux, this is a life and death issue: ‘Mni Wiconi’ (meaning ‘Water is life,’ in Lakota). Second, for the greater Native American community, the Dakota Access fast-tracking has resonated as yet another injustice by those who, having seized the land, would then despoil it with equal measures of greed and indifference.”
Jen Hayden writes—Neil Young joins the North Dakota pipeline protest with new song and video—'Indian Givers': ”Legendary rocker and activist Neil Young is jumping into the fray to support the protesters fighting to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline. As Rolling Stone notes, he definitely wrote and recorded the song within the last two weeks: Young wrote the track in the past two weeks as it mentions Dale "Happy" American Horse Jr., a Native American protestor who was arrested August 31st after chaining himself to pipeline construction equipment for nearly six hours. "Saw Happy locked to the big machine / They had to cut him loose and you know what that means," Young sings. "That's when Happy went to jail / Behind big money justice always fails.” The lyrics and video below clearly show Neil Young is standing with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe as they try to stop the pipeline from going through their reservation.”
6412093 writes—Courts Award Anti-Pipeline Protestors two victories: “Two federal courts upheld the North Dakota pipeline protesters yesterday in separate decisions. The District of Columbia Federal Circuit Court has granted the Tribes’ emergency motion to stop the pipeline’s construction within 20 miles of Lake Oahe in North Dakota. The Court acted to give itself additional time to weigh the issues, and ordered the parties to file additional pleadings by September 19. The Standing Rock and the Cheyenne Rive Sioux Tribes requested the emergency motion to prevent destruction of sacred sites that might be within the pipeline’s route. The Army Corps opposed the Tribes’ motion, claiming that the Tribes’ ‘largely refused to engage in consultations’ about potential cultural sites during earlier discussions of the pipeline’s route. The Court order halts the pipeline’s construction in the vicinity of the Tribal Reservation.”
Walter Einenkel writes—Alabama and Georgia declare state of emergency for pipeline that spilled 250,000 gallons of gasoline: “Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley and Georgia’s Gov. Nathan Deal both issued executive orders declaring states of emergency over the apparent ‘leak’ of more than 250,000 gallons of gasoline somewhere south of Birmingham. A leak in a major gasoline pipeline running from Houston to New York was discovered late last week in rural Shelby County, about 30 miles south of Birmingham. The operator, Colonial Pipeline, announced yesterday that the total volume spilled was approximately 250,000 gallons.’ [...] Gov. Bentley warned against price gouging, but who cares what he says, he spent $4,000 of citizens’ money to have a wallet delivered, via helicopter, to his beach house.”
Chip Ward writes—Peace Pipes, Not Oil Pipes: “Cowboys and Indians are at it again. Americans who don’t live in the West may think that the historic clash of Native Americans and pioneering settlers is long past because the Indians were, after all, defeated and now drive cars, watch television, and shop at Walmart. Not so. That classic American narrative is back big time, only the Indians are now the good guys and the cowboys -- well, their rightwing representatives, anyway -- are on the warpath, trying to grab 640 million acres of public lands that they can plunder as if it were yesteryear. Meanwhile, in the Dakotas, America’s Manifest Destiny, that historic push across the Great Plains to the Pacific (murdering and pillaging along the way), seems to be making a return trip to Sioux country in a form that could have planetary consequences. Energy Transfer Partners is now building the Dakota Access Pipeline, a $3.7 billion oil slick of a project. It’s slated to go from the Bakken gas and oil fracking fields in northern North Dakota across 1,100 miles of the rest of the Dakotas and Iowa to a pipeline hub in Illinois.”
rebel ga writes—#NODAPL More Than 2,500 Native Americans Successfully Block Dakota-Access Pipeline: Links and photos of the action.
ECO-ESSAYS & PROPOSALS
EVERGREENS writes—One of Jill Stein's biggest campaign promises, the Green New Deal, is rooted in complete fantasy: “This revolution will launch the "Green New Deal" which promises to somehow force entire industries to suddenly and radically reorient themselves to take steps to stop climate change. Stein likens this mobilization to the mass transition to a war economy during the Second World War and says that climate change presents the same urgent existential threat to America that the Axis powers did. We will awake one day to find ourselves working in companies that have all uniformly democratized their decision-making and management. In a Stein administration, we would live in a country where monetary and energy policy would be subject to the whims of populism through similar “democratization” initiatives.”
ECO-ACTION & ECO JUSTICE
SninkyPoo writes—#PivotToClimate Part DeuxHave you been listening? Have you been following #climatechange or #ClimateAction on social media, or noticed that there seem to be more - and more urgent - news stories every day about heat, and wildfires, and floods, and global warming? It's not your imagination. There's a groundswell bubbling up. Climate change is finally on the MSM radar. And more and more voices are calling for a global climate revolution - or for action on the scale of the citizen mobilization undertaken in WWII. But what is missing in these calls, so far, is a PRACTICAL way to do that. What is missing is a framework for us to work with. So I have a suggestion - #PivotToClimate. I described it in a diary here a week or so ago, but didn't flesh it out. In brief: for all of calendar 2017, I am calling on all of us in the social and environmental justice activism communities to devote 50% of our time and treasure to educating, communicating, lobbying, organizing, demonstrating, voting, advertising and taking direct action on the issue of climate change. Doing this will capture the momentum generated by a newly-installed Clinton administration in the US, and give the extra kick and urgency of a deadline.”
AGRICULTURE, FOOD & GARDENING
kishik writes—Saturday Morning Garden Blogging 12.38 :: Hoping for Hummers, Got Cats? “Since experiencing hummingbirds visiting my garden (visibly and regularly) for the first time in 2013, I was determined this year to plant a garden of flowering plants, vines and shrubs to lure the flying jewels in. You see, even though I have been happily blessed with hummingbird spotting, it’s only during the end of the season as they prepare to migrate south that I see them with any regularity. Typically, hummingbirds will show up at the feeders for me around late August or more predominantly in September and through October (and November if it stays warm enough for stragglers). Seeing them flitting about my garden gives me such pleasure that it was my aim to expand their visiting time hopefully to include from the start of Spring and through Fall, when ruby throated hummingbirds spend their time in my area.”
AuntieB writes—Dry Beans, Winter Squash and Fall in the Midwest: “Mid-September in northern Ohio means we are in a race to get food from the garden to the pantry before a frost. Normally the first frost date here is on the 20th of October, but the last few nights have gotten chilly- in the low to mid 50’s. The temperature has come back up now, but many of the tender plants have started to wind down. Fall is in the air, and the plants know it. The green beans are getting starchy, and losing their sweetness. I picked some for dinner tonight and saw that their days are numbered. Soon we’ll just leave the rest to dry on the vine. Two months ago I was worried we might not have many beans, but now the freezer has enough to last six months, and I’ve canned some into dill beans. I was hoping to get another 10 quarts of dilly beans, but I don’t think that will happen. The tomatoes are slowing down too. I’ve put up about 40 quarts of stewed tomatoes with herbs, 30 jars of a homegrown version of Ro-tel, and plenty of salsa, since they are all quick to do and so useful. Now that I don’t have to do so many tomatoes so often, I can make some of the more slow-to-cook sauces for pasta and pizza. The slow cooker goes all night to cook down the tomatoes into a thick sauce, and the house smells of tomato, garlic, onions, summer savory and basil for days on end.”
LiberalTexan11 writes—EPA's Glyphosate Review: “The EPA has come out with a report that concludes that glyphosate is not likely to cause cancer in humans. The report was part of a larger review process into agricultural chemicals and deciding if farmers will be allowed to use them. It looked at 23 epidemiological studies, 15 animal carcinogenicity studies, and nearly 90 genotoxicity studies for the active ingredient glyphosate. After weighing the evidence the study came to the conclusion that the ‘not likely to be carcinogenic to humans’ classification was the strongest descriptor for glyphosate.”
TRANSPORTATION & INFRASTRUCTURE
BruceMcF writes—Sunday Train: Sleeping On A Trip, In Transit: “Americans once took for granted that a long cross country trip might involve sleeping in a Pullman car or in a sleeping cabin. Then we took to the air, and allowed our rail transport corridors to devolve into slow trains hauling bulk cargo as we subsidized truck freight while taxing rail freight. And I was planning on writing on this topic before leaving for China, but after my Greyhound trip from Knoxville to northeast Ohio, and then my 13 hours flight from Detroit to Beijing, I've got even more to write about now, as I see whether I can hit the fortnightly posting target I've set for the Sunday Train while in China. Since I was here in China (but still jet-lagged) last Sunday, it's this Sunday or Bust.”
MISCELLANY
OldJackPine writes—September: “All summer, we’ve been sleeping with the windows open to the extent that we can tolerate the heat and humidity – saving the air conditioning for the worst of it. But tonight it finally cooled down. I could feel the cold on my face and for the first time since last spring I pull the quilt up over my shoulders. It’s Labor Day weekend and we are on the cusp of September so I lay here staring out the window into the not-quite-complete darkness listening to the not-quite-compete silence. The trees are silhouetted against the faint glow we get from the city to the south and the light on the watertower diffusing in the summer haze. In an hour or two the birds will start but for now all I hear is a delicate chorus of crickets filtered by distance and darkness and through that, the quiet Doppler whine of tires on a distant highway and then a coyote singing far off. I should be sleeping (dammit!), but I do so love the peacefulness late at night and the sense that I alone am awake and alert and able to appreciate it all. As a kid, I thought that because there were four seasons, each season should be the same length and this was re-enforced by learning that there are three months associated with each of the four seasons. The reality of living in the Great Lakes region is that there really are only two seasons proper – a long summer and an even longer winter, and their boundaries are brief transitions where things change gloriously and quickly and if one misses the opportunity to appreciate it… well, you will just need to wait until the cycle repeats itself.”
terrypinder writes—20 Minutes Into The Future: The Great Oklahoma Earthquake: “The following is a work of fiction, and this must be stressed. But unlike other disaster movies such as San Andreas, the earthquake depicted here is actually plausible—and worse, avoidable. The damage potential is drawn from data found around the internet. “20 Minutes Into the Future” refers to TV Tropes—a story that’s set in the very near future. It’s a long read, so settle in. It is about 2:30 in the afternoon on a Tuesday in mid-summer. It’s been hot and dry for a very long while in this particular summer. Rain hasn’t happened in weeks. At 2:32 pm on this hot summer Tuesday, a previously unknown fault associated with the Nemaha Uplift and fault zone, which trends northward through Central Oklahoma through Kansas and Nebraska, finally snaps. The quake is the result of years of intense wastewater injection. The injection has caused swarms of minor to moderate earthquakes around Oklahoma City for years, forcing the state government to impose some restrictions on the practice. But the injected salty wastewater still has raised pore pressures beneath the ground, causing already critically stressed faults to slip. The Nemaha and its associated faults may be ancient, but they are not dead, as everyone is about to find out.”