Many environmentally related posts appearing at Daily Kos each week don't attract the attention they deserve. To help get more eyeballs, Spotlight on Green News & Views (previously known as the Green Diary Rescue) appears twice a week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays. The most recent Saturday Spotlight can be seen here. So far, more than 19,680 environmentally oriented diaries have been rescued for inclusion in this weekly collection since 2006. Inclusion of a diary in the Spotlight does not necessarily indicate my agreement with or endorsement of it.
The Daily Bucket: Turtle Release—by
matching mole: "This was a birding trip but it was also a sea turtle release trip. The trip was run by the Marine Science Center based in Ponce Inlet Florida. Among other things they do both turtle and sea bird rehabilitation. Also along on the trip were two young women who are employees of the Georgia Sea Turtle Center based on Jekyll Island in the middle of the Georgia coastline. The marine science center had a couple of hatchlings to release. These are loggerheads. The GSTC folks had two year old turtles. Apparently they had failed to leave the nest and then spent a year in captivity. One of them, at least, was considerably larger than a year old turtle would be in the wild. They were being taken on this rather long boat ride because young turtles apparently spend their time well offshore and habitually hand out in the 'weed lines' which are clumps of sargassum weed in the gulf stream. The sargassum weed habitat contains food but relatively few predators compared to inshore environments. So once we got to some nice clumps both the hatchlings and the yearlings got set free."
University of Glasgow is first European academic institution to divest from fossil fuel industry—by
Laurence Lewis: "From The Guardian:
Glasgow University has become the first academic institution in Europe to divest from the fossil fuel industry, in a turning point for the British arm of the student-led global divestment movement. After 12 months of campaigning, led by the Glasgow University Climate Action Society and involving over 1,300 students, the university court on Wednesday voted to begin divesting £18m from the fossil fuel industry and freeze new investments across its entire endowment of £128m. An elated Bill McKibben tweets:
With Glasgow news, divestment now firmly established in Aust., N.Am, and Europe. Hard to overstate how hard folks have worked--such thanks!"
Don't drink the water North Carolina–that's not a metaphor—by
Walter Einenkel: "Dukeville, N.C. has a problem. Their water supply, at least some of it, may be poison:
[Sherry] Gobble, who lives alongside Duke Energy’s Buck Steam Station in a Rowan County community called Dukeville, discovered six months ago that water in her family’s well contains the carcinogen hexavalent chromium, also known as chromium-6. Since then, they have armed themselves with bottled water and a growing pile of empty jugs they fill up across town where they know the water isn’t tainted. Duke Energy vigorously denies these allegations. North Carolina passed legislature a couple months ago. [...] The 'wake- up call' that prompted this legislation was the aforementioned Dan River environmental disaster. However, many environmentalists felt that the legislation, though bold by today's sad standards, came up short."
You can find more rescued green diaries below the sustainable squiggle.
Climate Chaos
Rising Seas Flooding Miami, But Reuters Won't Say Climate Change—by TheGreenMiles: "Reuters has a compelling story on how sea level rise is impacting Miami Beach, but even more interesting is what the story leaves out: Climate change. And there's evidence to suggest Reuters' omission is no accident. First, the Reuters coverage of the Miami Beach "King Tide" that's expected to peak October 9 at about a foot above normal: The event, caused by the alignment of the sun, moon and Earth, provides a taste of the potential impact of a longer-term two-foot sea level rise predicted for south Florida by 2060, according to the United States Geological Survey. The low-lying greater Miami area, with a population of 5.7 million, is one of the world's most at-risk urban communities, scientists told a U.S. Senate subcommittee hearing in April [...] It's a really interesting article, but it leaves you with an unanswered question: Why is sea level rising? It's a critical part of the story. Leaving out the cause makes sea level rise seem like something that's beyond our control, but it most certainly is not."
Ocean Heat in the Hot Seat—by ClimateDenierRoundupUnfollow: "There are two new studies out in Nature Climate Change dealing with heat in the oceans. One looks at the upper ocean, while the other examines the deep ocean. Both result from the work of NASA's new Sea Level Change Team, according to the NASA press release. The deep ocean paper finds that ocean depths are not significant contributors to sea level rise, meaning those waters are not warming much. To deniers, this is 'a huge blow' to global warming theory because it contradicts the idea that the deep oceans were responsible for 'the pause' or hiding the 'missing heat.' This argument would perhaps be more compelling if it weren't for the second study looking at the upper ocean. It finds that the global ocean has absorbed considerably more heat than we thought. It says there has been 24-58 percent more warming in Southern Hemisphere surface waters than accounted for by previous measurements."
BMJ says Climate Change is as big a threat as Ebola—by ClimateDenierRoundup: "Recently the BMJ—the British Medical Association's journal and one of the oldest medical journals—wrote an editorial imploring the World Health Organization to declare climate change a public health emergency. At the end, the editorial compares the health risks from climate change to Ebola, pointing out that the deaths from the disease 'will pale into insignificance when compared' to the effects of unchecked climate change. Predictably, this has enraged the deniers. The first out of the gate was the Daily Mail, reporting the same day the BMJ published the editorial on the "fury" it caused and quoting a think-tank that 'slams' the BMJ's 'alarmist' claims. How they were able to know there was such a fury the day the editorial was released is impressive, since the major denier blogs expressed their rage after the Daily Mail story went out! Reading the Daily Mail story, however, it quickly becomes clear how they were able to so quickly capture the denier's rage: they talked to the Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF). You may remember them as the group recently found to be operating more as a political campaign group than the educational "think tank" they claim to be. So, in the end, we see that the Daily Mail continues the sad tradition of false balance by unquestioningly parroting a dishonest political group's commentary and disparaging one of the oldest and most prestigious medical journals on the planet."
80 groups call on eBay to drop ALEC—by ClimateDenierRoundup : "Following up on the success with Google, over 80 groups have penned an open letter to eBay founder, Pierre Omidyar, and other eBay executives urging them to cut ties with the conservative policy group ALEC. The letter tells eBay to follow the lead of other tech giants like Microsoft, Google, Facebook and Yahoo, which have all ended their ALEC membership 'because of their concerns about the harmful role ALEC has played in our democratic process.' As a reflection on the many issues for which ALEC lobbies, the groups signing the letter are varied. They range from big green groups like the Sierra Club and Greenpeace, to smaller groups like the Alliance for Retired Americans, to unions like the United Steelworkers and American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, to religious groups like the National Council of Churches USA."
In the Climate March, 2014—by Frank Paine: "The buildup to the Climate March was enthusiastic. I was on one of two busses from Framingham in the Metrowest area of Massachusetts. I knew of at least another half-dozen sites throughout the region. We met people from all over the country, and saw some of the international groups who attended. We congregated as a group through the mass of four hundred thousand protesters and the hundreds of thousands of spectators along the way. I am sick and tired of the right wing rhetoric denying climate change. It is just another notch on their anti-science belt. It didn’t start with politicians claiming climate change is the conspiracy. They want to build doubt into the masses about science, where the doubt should be in conservative policy. How many people will it take to march for politicians to change their opinion on climate change? Maybe if there is no progress from climate change by next year, there should be another march organized. Let’s see if we can get more people to attend."
Extreme Weather & Natural Phenomena
Bárðarbunga: Putting The Squeeze On The River—by Rei: "A river of lava at night, and steam by day. That's what we see on the live cameras, when the view isn't blocked by a storm. It's tantalizingly close to being able to tell what's going on without actually being able to. Wouldn't it be great to have a better idea? Where is the lava and what is it doing? How is the river responded? Has Surtur, Guardian of the firey realm of Múspell, given up his efforts to break free to wage war against the Æsir?"
Energy & Conservation
Proposed Changes to Electric Bills in Wisconsin Would Raise Costs for Families with Low Incomes—by WI Budget Project: "Three Wisconsin electric utilities have proposed billing changes that would raise energy costs for people with low incomes. We Energies, Madison Gas & Electric, and Wisconsin Public Service Corporation (WPS) have asked the state’s Public Service Commission for permission to change how the utilities bill for electric service. This request has gotten a great deal of news coverage (see here and here) focusing on how the change would make it less cost-effective for customers to install solar systems that generate electricity, and would reduce incentives to be energy efficient. Mostly missing from the news coverage has been the fact that the changes would shift costs to customers with low incomes. The utilities want to increase the fixed monthly fee charged to customers, while reducing the usage-based kilowatt-hour charge. The result would be higher costs for people who use little electricity, and lower costs for customers who use a lot of electricity."
Renewables
Germany's Solar revolution threatens fossil fuel based generation—by HoundDog: "In Fossil Fuel Generator Industry Will Be Hit Hardest By Energy Storage, Giles Parkinson, of CleanTechnica describes a new report from the investment bank HSBC that predicts 'conventional energy generators will be the biggest losers from the upcoming energy storage boom, as both consumers and grid operators look to battery and other storage technologies.' Already under pressure from the rapidly declining prices of rooftop solar collectors and large-scale solar and wind generation, the declining prices of battery storage portends greater challenges ahead for traditional fossil fuel based electrical generators."
Fracking
Fracking For A Cure: Komen Promotes Pink Drill Bits—by Betty Pinson: "No, this is not an Onion article. It's the real thing. From Komen for the Cure's web site:
BUSINESSES THAT ARE HELPING END BREAST CANCER FOREVER.
Program / Partner Name: Baker Hughes Inc.
Program Active: October 1, 2014 - September 30, 2015
Product: Pink drill bits
Benefit to Komen: $100,000
Total Contributions to Date: $100,000
Partner Since: 2013
More Information: www.bakerhughes.com. Just when you thought Susan G Komen For the Cure couldn't go any lower, they have. They've teamed up with a fracking and drilling supply company to promote a pink drill bit to help end breast cancer.
I kid you not."
Agriculture, Food & Gardening
United Way goes after Maui anti-GMO citizens' initiative group—by Karen from Maui: "Duke Aiona (R-HI), candidate for governor, is giving Sarah Palin a run for her money in the talent division, 'Covering up ignorance by word salad.' Take a look at Aiona's answer in a gubernatorial debate when asked about the hot topic of GMOs: It is a very emotional and divisive issue right now in regards to the counties. I believe that line labeling—people knowing what’s in the food, what’s in the ground—is very important. In regards to pesticides, I believe if it is an issue in regards to monitoring and regulation, then obviously our Department of Health has to do a better job than what it’s doing right now. But I’m not sure that it’s really is the exact, the real problem, in regards to this whole genre of issues that are before the counties right now. I think it’s really a matter of not being as well educated as everyone should be. I think with the latest commercials that we see right now and the Maui initiative is educating people both ways. I’ve heard it both ways. And so, it’s something that obviously everyone has to be a part of in the discussion and when the ultimate decision is finally made, it’s whether or not it’s going to help us—it’s going to be beneficial to us in regards to our health and well-being—and of course, the economic toll that it’s going to take on the farmers, on the vendors and everyone else.' Huh?"
Big Surprise! Most 'natural' labeled foods contain GMO's says Consumer Reports—by VL Baker: "Hope you haven't been relying on the 'natural' label on your purchased food to mean anything because Consumer Reports has burst that bubble and reports that their testing shows that the 'natural' label means nothing and that GMO's (genetically modified organisms) are hiding in your purchased foods. A majority of US packaged foods labeled as “natural” and tested by Consumer Reports actually contained a substantial level of genetically modified ingredients, according to a report issued Tuesday by the non-profit product testing group. Consumers are being misled by the 'natural' label, said Urvashi Rangan, executive director of Consumer Reports Food Safety and Sustainability. There is no consensus (pdf) in the scientific community about the safety of genetically modified crops. So if you don't want to risk your health or the health of those you love there are only two labels that you can depend on that will accurately show the absence of GMO's. Those labels are shown at right."
Eat like you give a f*ck—by VL Baker: "This book is the new cookbook from the website Thug Kitchen (which I follow), The book is entitled Thug Kitchen: Eat Like You Give A Fuck. The recipes I've seen and tried so far are my kind of recipes: easy, fast, healthy, delicious and most of all they are Earth friendly, meaning they include no animal products. We now know that we (you, me and the rest of us humans) are poisoning our planet's atmosphere by our uber consumption of fossil fuel produced products. And we also now know that our diets can be the biggest climate culprits of all as meat production has an immense contribution (pdf) to climate change, water and land depletion, deforestation etc. But we can all be a part of solution to these issues by simply having a low carbon diet which consists of primarily plant products."
Carbon Farming: Organic Agriculture Saves the World [Geotherapy]—by Gmoke: "Something is happening in the organic farming community. This year the Northeast Organic Farming Association has been exploring carbon farming, 'regenerative organic agricultural techniques for sequestering atmospheric carbon in stable soil aggregates.' The NOFA Summer Conference at the beginning of August (http://www.nofasummerconference.org) had a Soil Carbon and Climate Track with eight presenters, including the keynoter, Dr. Elaine Ingham, who gave workshops about farming methods that take carbon from the air and add it to the soil while improving fertility and tilth. [...] On Monday, November 3, 2014, NOFAMASS will have an all-day workshop on Succeeding with Grass-Fed Beef: Human Health, Carbon Sequestration, and Farm Viability at Heifer International, 216 Wachusett Street, Rutland, MA led by Ridge Shinn, an expert in grass-fed and grass-finished beef with experience in all parts of the industry."
LA a GMO-free zone?—by writingbiz: "Label GMOs activists were thwarted on the state-wide ballot last year from getting GMOs labelled in California by Monsanto and others when they pumped millions of dollars into the campaign. The issue was gaining ground and looked to get passed by voters before Agribusiness and others stepped in with a dis- and misinformation blitz that sank Proposition 37. The votes were there in LA County, but Monsanto, Dow, et al heavily targeted farmers in the Food Belt and scared the bejeezus out of them alluding to possible lawsuits and costly labeling. Never mind that all of Europe and many other countries are turning their backs on GMOs refusing to buy them from American agribusiness. [...] Activists have now targeted LA as a possible GMO-free zone. By now, they're looking over their shoulders for guys in lab coats. 13-1374 would propose outlawing the sale and distribution of GMO crops and seeds in the city of Los Angeles. With so many community gardens springing up all over the city, the City Council seems receptive to the idea."
Flying GMOs—by Robocop: "Scientists generally are people who tend to explore the natural world in a quest to gain knowledge and expanded understanding. Engineers simply apply gained knowledge to solve perceived and real problems, often with an eye towards optimizing cost and efficiency, but without thoroughly examining the consequences of their actions. People distinguish between the two undertakings, but it seems we’ve entered a time where scientists are behaving more and more like engineers. I mused on this new breed of scientists as I came across a warning about genetically modified moths. [...] But in 2002, the Agricultural Research Service (ARS), the USDA’s chief scientific research agency, released four eradication approaches that were to be tested in coming years. The first wanted to shorten the growing season, making it harder for the larvae to survive to the next season. Then they wanted to switch exclusively to Bt cotton, a transgenic pest resistant cotton. (Bollworms, as one would expect, developed a resistance to the Bt cotton, acknowledged by Monsanto in 2009.) The third technique was to somehow disrupt mating, and the last approach involved releasing sterile moths into cotton fields. In this regard, scientists hoped to insert a lethal gene from a bacterium into the moth which would kill the larvae. The hope was/is that the genetically modified moths would compete successfully with fertile moths and eventually decimate the population."
How Marketing Influences What We Eat (I ♥ Bacon!!)—by edg: "In marketing circles, the promotion of pork is viewed as nothing short of miraculous. It provides textbook examples of using advertising, the government, and science to gain public acceptance of a product. While the Bloomberg article primarily focuses on bacon, most of us are aware of the other pork marketing efforts, including Pork® The Other White Meat®."
The Money Behind the GMO Debate, Part 1—by edg: "GMO proponents often proclaim that science is highly united in vociferous support for including genetically manipulated ingredients in the human food supply. Some go so far as to claim that the unanimity equals that of climate science, where more than 97% of scientists believe that mankind's activities contribute to changes affecting the only known livable planet in our solar system. But is that really true? Are scientists really in near total agreement? And, unlike climate scientists, where few if any on the "yes, climate change is real" side are bankrolled by or employed by or associated with the fossil fuel industry, how many participants in the Great GMO War are connected to or funded by the GMO industry?"
Valuing GMO Producer Choice Over Consumer Choice—by edg: "Progressives, rightly so, define abortion as the personal choice of the woman involved. The right to choose abortion has been articulated as a specific right under the general principal that a woman 'has a right to decide what shall happen in and to her body' (Judith Jarvis Thomson: A Defense of Abortion, Fall 1971). This general principal extends to many areas, including what is and is not sexual assault. However, some progressives seem to think a woman's right to decide what happens in and to her body evaporates when it comes to what food she chooses. Suddenly, the right to choose shifts to GMO producers rather than the woman concerned. The fierce resistance to GMO content labeling laws by the GMO industry and many GMO proponents is one logical outcome of that shift. Since they know what's best for women and their bodies, they will make her food choice for her. Much like pro-Lifers claim to know best about abortion choices."
Transportation & Infrastructure
Amtrak Gearing Up—by xaxnar: "Via NARP, here's a news story about Amtrak worth passing on. Railway Age has taken note of new rolling stock and locomotives coming into service. Despite knee-jerk efforts by Republicans to kill rail passenger service in this country, despite freight railroads and court decisions putting passenger service behind slow freights, Amtrak is surviving and growing ridership. The old narrative about Amtrak for too many people is that it's expensive, slow, has terrible service, and is inconvenient. And yes, that's still the story some of the time. BUT... the truth of the matter is we're getting what we're paying for, and Amtrak has been chronically underfunded for years. With no long-term funding stream or dedicated revenue for necessary investments, with little trackage under its control, Amtrak is still providing a valued service and improving all the time. The latest from Railway Age shows what happens when needs are actually addressed and the railroad can move beyond Survival Mode."
Eco-Related Candidacies, DC & State Politics
Why Lisa Cried When Eric Dumped ALEC—by Michael Brune: 'Exactly 54 days after Lisa B. Nelson, the new CEO of the American Legislative Council (ALEC), started her job, Eric Schmidt, the chairman of Google, dropped the bomb: Google wanted out of its relationship with ALEC. 'That was some sort of mistake,' Schmidt said on The Diane Rehm Show when a caller asked why Google was supporting the organization. 'We're trying to not do that in the future.' 'It's like breaking up via text with your girlfriend when you're 16,' said Nelson, presumably before throwing out the mixtapes and Google hoodie Eric gave her and unfriending him on Facebook. Wait a minute, she couldn't do that, because Facebook is also leaving ALEC. Well, then maybe she could post a picture of her trashed hoodie and mixtapes to Yahoo's Flickr site? Nope, Yahoo's ditching ALEC, too. [...] ALEC exists solely to do the will of the corporations that bankroll it, which is how technology firms got seduced into supporting it in the first place. They hoped ALEC could help them with issues aligned with their own values, such as an open Internet. What changed? The Climate Movement, which reared its head and roared on September 21 around the world, has made it a lot harder for some companies to keep turning a blind eye to the harm that ALEC does by undermining clean energy and funding climate denial."
CO-Sen: Cory Gardner (R) Tries To Run From His Climate Denying Record During Debate—by poopdogcomedy: "Republican Senate candidates Scott Brown and Cory Gardner on Monday embraced the notion that climate change is caused in part by human activity, despite previously expressing skepticism that man-made climate change is real.
Brown, a former Massachusetts senator, is seeking to unseat Sen. Jeanne Shaheen in New Hampshire, while Gardner, a congressman from Colorado, is looking to defeat Sen. Mark Udall in that state. Both Senate races, regarded as unexpectedly competitive for Democrats, had debates on Monday—the first for New Hampshire candidates, the second for Colorado. In both, candidates were asked if they believed that humans were causing climate change. Gardner briefly weighed in on the human contributions to climate change, then used his response to criticize the so-called Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade bill passed by House Democrats in 2010:"
Who will be the climate change candidate in 2016?—by Willinois: "Will the climate movement have a serious contender for President in 2016? Now's the time to find someone strong on the most urgent crisis of our time and serious about winning the White House. Should that candidate be Hillary Clinton? She says the right things. But the most significant actions of her career are promoting fracking as Secretary of State and letting the oil industry influence environmental impact studies for the Keystone XL pipeline. With a record like that, it's hard to imagine what Clinton can say to convince skeptical primary voters that a politician notorious for having her finger to the wind will suddenly became a stalwart champion against powerful fossil fuel interests."
League of Conservation Voters Endorses Republican Who Voted Against Them 75% of the Time Last Year—by Liberty Equality Fraternity and Trees: "I get irritated when environmental groups like the League of Conservation Voters endorse Keystone XL-supporting Democrats like Kay Hagan or Mark Begich. I get even more annoyed when such groups back Keystone XL-supporting Republicans like Susan Collins. At least Hagan and Begich are the more pro-environment candidates in their races. Collins is not. Her Democratic challenger--Shenna Bellows--would have a far better environmental record. Collins's LCV score from last year was 69%, a D+. All of the New England Democrats in the Senate had A's, if not A+'s. Well, at least Susan Collins, with her D+, is still technically passing. I can't say the same for the LCV's latest endorsement: New Jersey Republican Frank LoBiondo (NJ-02). Last year, LoBiondo had an LCV score of 25%. That means he voted against the environmental position 75% of the time. This year so far, his score is 42%. Again, still a whopping F."
Eco-Justice & Eco-Activism
UnKochMyCampus: New Grassroots Effort Launches to Fight Koch Influence on Higher Education—by
ClimateBrad: "Students across the country have launched a new effort to protest the influence of the petrochemical billionaire Koch brothers on their campuses. As part of their effort to influence the American political system, Charles and David Koch have flooded hundreds of universities with contributions intended to promote their economic agenda. Although the contributions go back for decades, the spigot has been opened wide in recent years; from only seven universities recorded to have Koch contributions in 2005 to over 250 by 2012. According to UnKochMyCampus, the new grassroots effort to oppose Koch influence on higher education, 390 different colleges and universities have received Koch money. The UnKochMyCampus effort was launched by three young activists: Kalin Jordan, a graduate of Suffolk University, where the Koch-funded Beacon Hill Institute is housed; Lindsey Berger, a Missouri State University graduate and campus organizer, and Connor Gibson, a University of Vermont graduate and Greenpeace researcher. Jordan founded the Koch Free Zone campaign at Suffolk in 2013 to end the Koch influence over the Beacon Hill Institute, one of a nationwide network of right-wing think tanks. The UnKochMyCampus site has a organizer's guide to help students launch campaigns on their own campuses, including background research on the Koch brothers."
Eco-Essays and Eco-Philosophy
To save the planet we should kill GDP—by Jacob Geers: "The problem is that GDP is an increasingly inaccurate method to measure the economy. It is a metric that is overused and riddled with problems. It overlooks ecological damage, blows past non-economic services (that regardless are apart of the economy), and serves as the idol for which we kill the environment as a sacrificial bull in the hope that it stays in 'the black.' Without an appropriate measure of society's wealth, our policymakers are going to be flying blind. In an era of statistics and econometrics we have to do better. GDP is said to 'represent the total dollar value of all goods and services produced over a specific time period,' and it does that job extremely well. What GDP does not do is represent the overall health of an economy, nor does it adequately factor in externalities. GDP is also blind to the human condition. GDP does not understand human suffering, the mental anguish of unemployment, or the psychological distress of environmental destruction. It does not understand the need to provision for the future and provide for a world beyond the time in which it measures."
Pestilence—by Desert Scientist: "In essence the increase of humans to 11 billion, as recently predicted, will present disease organisms, both well-known like pertussis and emergent like ebola, with great opportunities for expansion. Global warming will also expand the range of vectors. Multiply medieval slums by a factor of 30 or more in a warming world and you can see the problem. Unless we alter this, humans will find their civilization overwhelmed by famine, war, pestilence and death, as it was for a time in the 14th Century. We may already be seeing the future in ISIL and ebola. On this note I am thinking of ending my diaries with this, my 101st diary. People who have read them have probably gathered whatever wisdom or knowledge, if any, that I can impart. The Buddha is said to have remarked that 'But those who grasped after marks and philosophical views, they wander about in the world annoying people.'"
Oceans, Water & Drought
Southern Oceans Warming Faster Than Thought. 48-152% Faster.—by pollwatcher: "Two new studies are telling us more about how Global Warming is changing our oceans. The first suggests that the upper part of the southern oceans are warming anywhere from 48-152% more than had been previously measured. One of the problems that scientists have is that most of the world's population and advanced economies are in the Northern Hemisphere, while most of the worlds water is in the southern hemisphere. So it's harder to get as much accurate data about what's happening to the southern oceans. We know the oceans are absorbing much of the extra heat that Global Warming is causing, but the details of where the heat is going are still being worked out and these 2 studies take a big step forward in that understanding. Dr. Jason Box is a climatologist and former professor at The Ohio State University and is now conducting extensive climate research on Greenland melting which I wrote about in five separate diaries found here. He was featured in the must-see recent documentary 'Chasing Ice' and is presently working on the Dark Snow Project. In this video, he gives us his take on how vegans can have a positive impact on climate."
California Drought Linked to Climate Change—by StewartAcuff: "A team of scientists and meteorologists funded in part by the National Science Foundation recently published an article showing the link between global climate change and the awful drought in California. The work was published in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. The California drought has had extreme and terrible economic consequences. It is expected to cost California 17,000 jobs and as much as much as $2.2 billion. The drought and this study linking it to climate change demonstrate the fact that climate change is not just an environmental hazard, but indeed a grave economic hazard for America and the whole world. Those of us who spend most of our time focused on economic and political matters have an immediate and compelling need to look at the desperate economic consequences and job losses that will result from climate change."
Critters & the Great Outdoors
Chimps Are People, Too? Habeas Corpus Lawsuit Will Test That Question ...—by Ole Texan: "The recent ruling by the high court in Hobby Lobby`s decision is the latest in a 200-year-long line of rulings giving businesses owned, which of course are things or corporations the same rights as humans. So it comes as no surprise to me being a witness to a new break-through into the mind of the most knowledgeable person that has ever lived to tell her story about Chimpanzees, and why today, The Nonhuman Project filed a writ of habeas corpus demanding Tommy the Chimpanzee and other Chimps be granted personhood status and that they should be freed from their illegal restraints. Fifty years ago Jane Goodall made one of the most important scientific observations of modern times in a remote African rainforest. She witnessed a creature, other than a human, in the act not just of using a tool but of making one. "It was hard for me to believe,' she recalls. 'At that time, it was thought that humans, and only humans, used and made tools. I had been told from school onwards that the best definition of a human being was man the tool-maker—yet I had just watched a chimp tool-maker in action. I remember that day as vividly as if it was yesterday."
Northwest Tribes call for improved protection of Pacific Salmon—by Lefty Coaster: "Saving salmon runs wasn't important to the engineers who designed Grand Coulee Dam to meet the need of white farmers for water and white industries for power. The Salmon were not considered as important, except to the tribes they were everything. Their economy collapsed after Grand Coulee was built and most of their most fertile land was flooded.
My grandfather was born just up river from Kettle Falls when it was still a place where native peoples gathered to fish for salmon. His mother, my great-grandmother had a mixture of white and tribal heritage. This fight is personal as well as being a part of the struggle to save thousands of species, most of which aren't as well known as Pacific Salmon, and the man-made Great Extinction picks up its destructive momentum."
Hummingbird season winding down—by not4morewars: "It's a cool but sunny day here in central IA. We are about to the end of the hummingbird season here :( I love taking pictures of them, they are very challenging critters to shoot. Here are a few I took over the summer below the fold."
Vedauwoo An Oasis In Southeast Wyoming—by
ban nock: "Rising above the dry desert-like plains of eastern Wyoming, Vedauwoo's (pronounced Vee-dah-voo) oddly shaped rock formations, higher elevations, scattered trees, and the flowing water in it's creeks, offer a welcome rest from the hot plains. The rock is granite and the sandy soil grows very good grass. Part of the Medicine Bow/Rout National Forest, Vedauwoo is on the southernmost flank of some low rounded uplands called Pole Mountain though hardly mountainous. In all the little patch of forest is maybe ten by fifteen miles. Under pressure from my daughter I was on a mission to take the kids 'camping.' Drive up, sleep, drive home. No big production. I called an old climbing buddy, now a down-and-out human rights lawyer who does legal translation from Spanish by the hour. I notice grass, and the grass at Vedauwoo was good, only problem was it had all been eaten to the quick. Cows. Grazing allotment no doubt. Not recently, maybe in early August. We headed over to a draw wandering around. My little girl piped up 'Daddy, what's this?' Cow patty. Kids can recognise moose, elk, deer, yote, and bear scat but are unfamiliar with cows. Gotta love it."
Daily Bucket - Year in Review: Birds—by
Attack Gardener: "Not too long ago, I wrote a bucket about the bugs I had discovered this year and I thought it might be fun to follow up with some of the birds that put in an appearance at Chez Gardener in 2014. Join me below the orange bird nest for some feathered friends. I got into birding a few years ago after my gardens began going a little wild. An injury had kept me from taking care of them as much as I would have liked and the weeds and small shrubs took full advantage of my neglect. In the long run, this turned out to be a good thing. I discovered that I love all the critters that a um, less manicured garden attracts. ;) Birds, bugs, fuzzy critters—all fascinating and wonderful to watch. Now, after a few years of watching and studying, I have a pretty good idea of what birds I might see at any given time, what they like to eat and how best to stay out of their way and give them room to live. They, in their turn, generally seem to accept me and my household as harmless nuisances (except Gracie the Wonder Pug, whom they regard as a blasted pest). The year started off with a bang when a lovely juvenile Cooper's hawk attempted to help itself to the bird buffet at our feeders during a snow storm. It missed but took up a perch on an arch long enough for me to snap a few good pictures."
The Daily Bucket- Frogs, Snakes, and Wine in Northwestern Oregon—by RonK: "During a short trip to visit my daughter in Forest Grove OR last week, I took advantage of the fact that this is north end of the Willamette Valley wine country. This is really beautiful country, about 20 miles northwest of Portland, on the edge of the Willamette valley, lying up against the Coastal Range that separates it from the Oregon coast. This is also a place of frogs as fellow Bucketeer, Redwood Man or (6) has demonstrated on several occasions. In fact this bucket was inspired by his herculean efforts at “mitigating the frog pond."
The Daily Bucket How do you photograph the wind?—by Wood Gas: "The next morning one can see that the tree suffered some damage, the base has split vertically from the ground up. I logger parlance, it has barber-chaired. The left half is under huge compression, the right equal tension, you can see that half the root mass has lifted. [...] Too many good treefallers have earned a bunk underground because of trees like this."
Cascade foothills photo diary—by
happymisanthropy:
Bedsteads for bumblebees—by
malapert: "'There are bees sleeping in my flowers!' This bit of news was breathlessly delivered by my wife, and she added, "You've got to take a picture!' The evening before, she'd noticed that there were bees curled up and sleeping in our Maximilian sunflowers--an annual sunflower that does well here in northern New York state. They grow five, six, seven feet or more tall, and this time of year are so heavy with blossoms many of them fall over—undone by their own beauty. So the next evening, at dusk, we went out to take a look-see. Camera in hand. If a particular stem had ten flowers, at least two or three of them was home to a sleeping bumble bee. There are several hundred blossoms—and had to be hundreds of bees using our back yard and these flowers as a crash pad."
Rescue Me - The Wild Animal Sanctuary - Keenesburg, CO—by Pam LaPier: "The Wild Animal Sanctuary is the oldest and largest nonprofit Sanctuary in the US dedicated exclusively to rescuing captive exotic and endangered large carnivores, providing them with a wonderful life for as long as they live, and educating about the tragic plight faced by an estimated 30,000 such animals in America today. [...] The Sanctuary is located on rural, rolling grasslands northeast of the Denver Metro area. Comprising 720 acres and sheltering more than 290 Lions, Tigers, Bears, Leopards, Mountain Lions, Wolves and other large carnivores, it is the first sanctuary of its kind to create large acreage species-specific habitats for its rescued animals. Since January, 1980, The Wild Animal Sanctuary has responded to nearly 1,000 requests from private citizens and government agencies to rescue animals from across the United States and in Mexico. Our furry residents were abused, abandoned, illegally kept, or were victims of other terrible situations."
Forests, Wilderness & Public Lands
The Nexus of Public and Private—by draghnfly: "My community has a lovely botanical garden and arboretum. McCrory Gardens was established by South Dakota State University in 1966 as a teaching and research facility. The Gardens have grown to 70 acres of trees and flowers and since the first have been completely open to the public. For nearly 50 years people could wander through at will. They could enter and exit the gardens at any point and stay for as long as they liked. There has always been a modest charge for events like weddings. [...] Over the past few years funds were raised to build a very nice Education and Visitors Center with facilities to hold events. The parking area at the old entrance was closed to funnel visitors through the new center. I could see the logic in that though I knew it was just the first step. A 'decorative' fence is now going up around the entire garden. Not split rail but 6-foot wrought iron. And we also have 'suggested' admission prices. Again, these are modest—$6/adult. These changes were at the recommendation of some consultant. Over the years I've spent many happy hours at McCrory. As have thousands of others. It's been a part of my life. Am I wrong to be upset? Everyone tells me, 'It's not much money.' Or 'But they're going to have free days, too.' Should I just suck it up because as one of my Facebook friends put it, 'We have been spoiled for decades because it has been like our own fabulous city park.'"
Miscellany
My Adventures at the 12 Star Ranch—by hannah: "12 Star Ranch LLC" is the moniker chosen by one Francis Williams of Whitehouse, Ohio for an 1175 acre parcel he picked up cheap from the bank, after Buffalo Creek LLC, which had forked over $2.8 million to the Plum Creek Timber Trust people, went belly up. Being a newly re-activated snoopy citizen, I not only took a look online, but went to view the site of the proposed slicing and dicing of Mother Nature's domain, up close and personal. The following is a recitation of my adventure on Highway 99 written soon after I got back home. [...] The woods are dense. It's no longer a pine plantation, but there are some very tall pines that may well be logged out after the right to develop is achieved. After a while I heard some honking over the general din of Highway 99, which is very noisy because of racing trucks. When I got back to the gate, there was a fellow in a big red truck chatting on his phone with a friend and almost blocking the way out as long as his door was open. I asked if he was going to move. He got confrontational, even though I explained that there was a notice for a public hearing and since I intended to comment, I wanted to be informed. I got in the car to try to turn around and go by him but he got in back of the car, taking pictures with his phone and then he drove his vehicle up to block me."