This is the 558th edition of the Spotlight on Green News & Views (previously known as the Green Diary Rescue). Here is the May 23 Spotlight. Inclusion of a story in the Spotlight does not necessarily indicate my agreement with or endorsement of it.
OUTSTANDING GREEN STORIES
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Indulge Them on Conspiracy Theories, And Deniers Might Just Warm to the Consensus: “A new study in the AMS journal Weather, Climate and Society suggests that there’s an interesting way to soften denier rejection of the consensus on climate change: validate their conspiracy theories. The approach outlined in the study is pretty simple. The researchers asked nearly 500 people to what extent they agreed with the sentiment that climate change is a hoax or conspiracy, along with a few other simple questions, like their political orientation. Then they gave respondents information about the consensus on climate change. But before the consensus message was delivered, the test subjects were also told that ‘a majority of people acknowledge that on many topics, powerful people work to mislead citizens for bad purposes. Yet human induced climate change is not one of those topics.’ Finally, people were asked to what extent they think climate change is caused by humans, as opposed to being a natural phenomenon. Researchers also asked if respondents would be interested in hearing more information about human-induced climate change. The hoax believers shown the statement that conspiracies exist then became more accepting of human causation than those conspiracy theorists who weren’t shown the reaffirming statement.”
6412093 writes—The Daily Bucket--House on Poop Corners: “Oregon’s May sun warmed the Frog Mitigation Area in my backyard. I walked along the shallow creek between the two ponds, admiring the hundreds of tadpoles frolicking in the warm waters. ‘Ahem, I’ve got a message for you,’ I called out. ‘Just a reminder that you are pooping ammonia, not urea like most creatures, so please keep moving, and kinda splash a little with your tails. I’m running a pump to oxygenate waters, too, so that will help. But everyone needs to pitch in these warm days. ‘Tell us a story, Redwoodman!’ they pleaded. I pretended to ponder their request. ‘Please, please!’ ‘Oh, ok. But just one. Who wants to hear a Frog Court story?’ ‘Yay, Frog Court!’ ”
CRITTERS AND THE GREAT OUTDOORS
PHScott writes—The Daily Bucket: Wildflowers in White: “Of course I have no real evidence and didn’t bother with researching known facts and besides, when did that ever stop anyone from making assertions, but here in North Florida, after all the beautiful early spring wildflowers in yellow, purple, red, blue, orange and more red, after all those have blossomed and faded, white rules. Was that too long for an opening sentence? It's how I was taught to write long before the internet shortened time and words and therefore, thought. Now I do brevity. Yeah but it's also fun to edit and trim one’s writings, to find the best word that relays what you want to say, to encapsulate the essence of each thought, to be slyly humorous. Oh wait, that takes too long, especially when your thumbs are typing ahead. Anyways, I'll stick with my observation that we have lots of white wildflowers, more than other colors, as spring ends and summer starts. And starting with my woods, here's proof!”
OceanDiver writes—The Daily Bucket - Fidalgo tales: Along the shore: “Fidalgo Island, Pacific Northwest. Among the many islands of the Salish Sea, Fidalgo is the least island-like, being barely separated from mainland Washington State by a narrow shallow dredged waterway, the Swinomish Channel, which you cross over on a bridge, hardly noticing the water below. It’s as different as can be from the San Juan islands, which are only accessible by intermittent ferries (or much less often, small plane). Not that I resent the time and trouble it takes to get home! Far from it — the hassle of ferry transportation limits the comings and goings of both residents and tourists, which preserves a more quiet rural ambience than the rest of western Washington. All of which is to say we had several hours to while away on Wednesday, waiting for our ferry home. We decided to roam around Fidalgo Island a bit. This installment takes us to a few sites along the shore.”
CLIMATE CHAOS
Pakalolo writes—Sprinting to the finish line: Earth's climate to increase 4° Celsius by 2084: “A collaborative effort by Chinese researchers released a new study that was recently published in the journal The Institute of Atmospheric Physics with incredibly disturbing news for most life on the planet. They found that the world can expect a 4 degree Celsius increase above pre-industrial levels as early as 2064 (Median year will be 2084). As we barrel down to this frightening new world, the World Bank warned that we will witness a ‘triggering cascade of cataclysmic changes that include extreme heat-waves, declining global food stocks and a sea-level rise affecting hundreds of millions of people’ as a result. Eureka Alert has the story. To understand the severity of this, consider the Paris Agreement (https://unfccc.int/process/the-paris-agreement/what-is-the-paris-agreement) of the United Nations. It's a global effort to prevent an increase of 2°C. Nearly every country on the planet--the United States is the only country to withdraw--has agreed to work to prevent the catastrophic effects of two degrees of warming.”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Climate Change Versus the Volcano: “Volcanic eruptions can have an impact on the global climate. For example, Mt. Pinatubo’s massive eruption in 2001, referenced in the NBC video, cooled average global temperatures by 1°F over 15 months. The eruption spewed 20 million tons of sulfur dioxide into the stratosphere, which blocked solar radiation. So what’s the issue with this video? Well, as multiple scientists helpfully pointed out on Twitter, the science in the video is less solid than hot, molten lava. Though NBC quotes one volcanologist, the relationship between the volcanic impacts he cites and climate science are a bit fissured. First, the video says that volcanoes emit CFCs, which deplete the ozone layer and cause warming. It also claims that rapid global warming since 2014 could have been caused by the eruption of the Bardarbunga volcano in Iceland (with no real explanation for this conclusion).”
Aldous J. Pennyfarthing writes—Study: Climate action could save the world $30 *trillion* or more: “Yes, $30 trillion. With a capital ‘T’ and that rhymes with ‘pee’ and that stands for Trump.Donald Trump always said he wants to do for the U.S. what he did for his businesses, and apparently he’s off to a great start. As a failed casino magnate and, well, human being, he underperformed the real estate market by $13 billion, and now he’s doing his best to make even more wealth evaporate. Our wealth. Your wealth. A new study from Stanford University reveals just how much wealth: Achieving the toughest climate change target set in the global Paris agreement will save the world about $30tn in damages, far more than the costs of cutting carbon emissions, according to a new economic analysis.”
Extreme Weather & Natural Phenomena
AKALib writes—Mesmerizing Fiery Images from Kīlauea: “Here are some terrifying yet mesmerizing images and videos from Kīlauea volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii. It is nature and Mother Earth’s fire, fury and majesty on display. Even as She destroys everything in her path, let’s nor forget that the very existence of Hawaii and life around it depends on the volcanoes and the hot mantle plumes that emanate from the molten interior of our Earth. From death and destruction, new life shall arise, as it has done for billions of years.”
OCEANS, WATER, DROUGHT
Dan Bacher writes—Follow the money: Parsons Corporation promotes Delta Tunnels behind the scenes: “’Follow the money,’ a catchphrase popularized by the 1976 drama-documentary motion picture All The President's Men that suggests a money trail or corruption scheme within high office, definitely applies to the current rush by the state and federal governments to construct Governor Jerry Brown’s environmentally destructive Delta Tunnels even though the project makes no scientific, economic or financial sense. A review of federal election campaign contributions by Restore the Delta reveals that Parsons Corporation, an international infrastructure contractor with 13 offices, including its headquarters, in California and 106 worldwide, has contributed to campaign coffers not only of Riverside Republican House member Ken Calvert but House majority leader Kevin McCarthy, Republican of Bakersfield. Restore the Delta (RTD) reported here last week that Parsons contributed $10,000 to Calvert in 2018, as covered here on the Daily Kos: www.dailykos.com/… Parsons also gave $10,000 to House majority leader McCarthy in the 2018 cycle, according to opensecrets.org.”
ENERGY
gmoke writes—Mister Franklin's Folks: How to Change USA Energy Policy in One Growing Season: “Mister Franklin’s Folks began when a small group of people decided to bring a solar fountain to the local farmers markets, swap meets, and outdoor community events and began to generate public power. Each week, they’d float the solar electric panel and pump the water in a tub and the little fountain would splash and spray. The brighter the sunshine the higher the water would go. Children loved to turn it on and off with their shadows, jumping into and out of the sunlight, making the water dance and themselves laugh. Older kids asked questions and so did some of the adults. ‘What’s it for?’ ‘How does it work?’ ‘Why are you doing this?’ ;So what?; The exhibit was labeled, ‘Solar Fountain/Wishing Well’ and some coins lay at the bottom of the tub. There was a big can labeled ‘Donations’ on the table under the shade of an awning or umbrella where one of Franklin’s Folk sat with a portable computer and a collection of books, pamphlets, leaflets, cards, and stickers. The car, van or truck, the vehicles, set up and personnel changed over the season, parked behind them was full of working models and public experiments, product demos and testing equipment. They hosted a public wifi hotspot and could print out paper copy or otherwise transfer the information.”
WILDERNESS, NATIONAL FORESTS AND PARKS & OTHER PUBLIC LANDS
Rmuse writes—400-year-old trees cut down with blessings of Trump's BLM: “Earlier in the month in Oregon, a private lumber company senselessly wiped out a stand of 400-year-old trees on the public’s land. As noted by conservationists, some of the trees were old-growth cedars and Douglas firs and cannot be brought back anytime within the next two or three centuries. To make the matter that much more infuriating, the trees ‘were’ home to an endangered species, the Northern Spotted Owl. And the denuding occurred without the public’s knowledge or input. And just in case the public did discover what was about to transpire, Trump’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) allowed the private timber company, Lone Rock Resources, to build gates to keep the public and the media from even approaching the public’s land. Local residents were not amused and complained that the entire affair was done behind closed doors; likely because the outrage and protests would have been robust.”
AGRICULTURE, FOOD & GARDENING
Missys Brother writes—Saturday Morning Garden Blogging Vol. 14.21: a simple life pleasure - ramps in spring: “Ramps are a member of the Allium family which includes onions and garlic. They are a wild variety of onion and often referred to as ‘wild leeks’ and are only available for a short period in the spring. Ramps are typically foraged, like truffles, and have been known to incite riots at farmers’ markets. They appear on gourmet and “farm to table” restaurant menus here in the Northeast for a few weeks. Ramp’s native territory is in the east from Georgia to Canada. If you can find ramps at all in NYC, they sell for over $20 a pound and sell out immediately. Whole Foods here in Connecticut were selling them three weeks ago for $14.95 a pound which was actually not too bad. You could also order five pounds here for $179 which includes Overnight S&H. Yet I got five pounds for $32 which equals to $6.40 a pound. If you make it to the end of this diary, I’ll tell you my secret.”
TRANSPORTATION & INFRASTRUCTURE
Frank DiPrima writes—“POLITICO now reports on Friday, heading into the Memorial Day Weekend, at www.politico.com/…, that, to quote its headline and sub-head: Surging gas prices could fuel backlash against Trump. A huge jump in driving costs in recent months is likely to push a wave of economic anger across the nation — just in time for the midterm elections. Let me make two concessions: first, that I hate to see gas prices go up abruptly because they have a nasty impact on so many of our citizens who — in this age of massive income inequality — have a hard time making ends meet; and, second, presidents have little or no effect on gas prices, except when they do. One of the unintended, albeit entirely foreseeable consequences of Trump’s catastrophically stupid withdrawal from the Iran nuclear disarmament deal, or “JCPOA,” was a spike in gas prices in this country. But let’s make the best of a bad thing. It’s Petro-Karma. When Obama left office, the average price of gasoline at the pump was $2.32 per gallon. See www.marketwatch.com/… Now, according to POLITICO, it is approximately $3.00 per gallon. By Trump’s own logic, he is to blame.