Atlantic Stingray. See more in this
post.
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 19,910 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.
Unstoppable Human Population Growth to about 10 Billion Will Cause Ecosystem Decline or Collapse—by
FishOutofWater: "Biologists, experienced in modeling wildlife populations, found that human population growth will expand to 10 billion people even if large mortality events, similar to the 1918 influenza outbreak, kill half a billion people. Human population growth has so much momentum that it's almost impossible to stop in this century. The only ways found to keep the human population below 10 billion are to eliminate unwanted pregnancies (which are presently 16% of all pregnancies) and establish a global one child policy. There is no practical way to make and enforce a global one child policy, so empowering women to control their fertility is the only possible way to keep the human population below 10 billion to avert severe loss of biodiversity, and severe ecosystem decline, in Africa and Asia. If women don't strictly limit their fertility, mass mortality events of half a billion to two billion people will not stop the human population from expanding to levels likely to cause severe ecosystem decline."
BP's Gulf Oil Disaster Left An Oil "Ring" The Size of Rhode Island—by
Dartagnan: "Remember the Deepwater Horizon BP Oil Disaster? Remember the underwater cameras that showed that never-ending plume of oil pouring into the Gulf of Mexico for week after week, month after month? BP and the rest of the oil industry would like you to forget that. Alas, they left a permanent calling card:
New research shows that the BP oil spill left an oily 'bathtub ring' on the sea floor that’s about the size of Rhode Island. The study by UC Santa Barbara’s David Valentine, the chief scientist on the federal damage assessment research ships, estimates that about 10 million gallons of oil coagulated on the floor of the Gulf of Mexico around the damaged Deepwater Horizons oil rig. Valentine said the spill left other splotches containing even more oil. The rig blew on April 20, 2010, and spewed 172 million gallons of oil into the Gulf through the summer. As most of us recall, a great deal of the oil washed ashore on Florida, Texas and Louisiana beaches. David Valentine has spearheaded the effort to find out where all of the rest of the oil went."
MI-06 Could be a Key Democratic Pick-Up....But the DCCC is Sitting Out—by
Liberty Equality Fraternity and Trees: "Last Tuesday, National Journal had an article on the congressional race in MI-06: 'Is Michigan's Most Powerful Republican Really in Political Danger?' The piece offers reason to believe that he very well might be:
[Fred] Upton, the chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, is facing the most credible Democratic opponent of his career, and a late infusion of outside money has energized Democrats on the ground. Still, there's been little polling or non-anecdotal indicators to prove the race is winnable. But even if Upton prevails this year, his opponents hope to at least put him in the conversation of future Democratic targets—and lay the groundwork for a better-financed 2016 campaign in a presidential year that offers a strong climate for Democrats. [...] MI-06 is a district that should be a swing district in Congress. Obama lost by a narrow margin (48.9% - 50.2%) in 2012 and won the district, albeit with slightly different lines, in 2008 (53.1% - 45.2%). It has a Partisan Voting Index of R+1. And its representative is a guy whom the LA Times described as the biggest enemy of the Earth in Congress. And it has a good candidate in Paul Clements. [...] According to FEC filings, Paul Clements has received all of $0 from the DCCC. Mike O'Brien, who challenged Upton in 2012, also received nada from the DCCC. According to Howie Klein (of Blue America and the blog Down With Tyranny), Steve Israel, DCCC co-chair, has actually done worse than nothing: he has actually been turning away potential donors from the race. Howie noted earlier today that Israel told the League of Conservation Voters to not spend money in the race."
You can find more rescued green diaries below the orange garden layout.
Eco-Related Candidacies, DC & State Politics
LCV-Backed Susan Collins Still Won't Comment on Obama's EPA Carbon Regulations—by Liberty Equality Fraternity and Trees: "Last night, Republican senator Susan Collins and her Democratic challenger former executive director of ACLU Maine Shenna Bellows faced off in a debate. In one of my favorite moments of the debate, Bellows attacked Collins for her overstating her pro-environment record: BELLOWS: The League of Conservation Voters rated you a D. It’s the strongest score of any Republican in the US Senate, which demonstrates the stakes and what could happen if Republicans were to gain control of the Senate. But it’s still a D. Bellows then went on to note that Collins still has not made any statement on Obama's proposed carbon regulations. If she is such a pro-environment candidate, shouldn't she have something to say?"
Watch as Republican Candidates Continue Denying Climate Change in Year 2014—by cgibosn: "In spite of seemingly endless reasons to be depressed by these issues, the reality is that climate change denial is slowing going extinct, with a majority of voters—Republican, Democrat, and Independent—increasingly understanding the problem. As clean energy becomes more affordable, homeowners and small businesses are become energy independent. Outdated fossil fuel industries become less appealing each year. This has led to unlikely alliances between Tea Party activists and environmental groups, progress that deserves celebration. Progress remains painfully slow on the activist and scientist time scale, but we must still acknowledge that progress as we push for more. Charles Koch can't spend his way to an authentic and sustained grassroots movement, and money can't hide the truth forever. As we focus on countering the damage of his spending in both the short and long term, we don't pause often enough to celebrate the ways in which he is not meeting certain goals that undermine the public. We may even be starting to witness the days when Koch Industries slowly sells off its fossil fuel assets, as their value and utility decrease, and watch Koch enter the 21st Century."
PA-GOV: Widener University Law School Analyzes Candidate Positions on Sustainability & Environment—by LakeSuperior: "This diary is just a quick note on the Pennsylvania Governor's race from a friend of mine, Widener University environmental law professor John Dernbach. For the third time, Widener’s Environmental Law Center has prepared a comparison of major party candidates on a range of sustainability issues. The featured race this year is the Pennsylvania gubernatorial race, featuring incumbent governor Tom Corbett and challenger Tom Wolf. Two Widener law students, Mark Wendaur and Austin Langon, did the research and writing for this effort. See it here.
Midterms 2014: Candidates dodge & deny threat of climate change—by Pakalolo: "To quote President Obama: 'They say, hey, I'm not a scientist, which really translates into, 'I accept that manmade climate change is real, but if I say so out loud, I will be run out of town by a bunch of fringe elements that think climate science is a liberal plot so I'm going to just pretend like, I don't know, I can't read.' — June 25, League of Conservation Voters dinner."
Fracking and Corbett Fail Miserably in PA Job Creation—by StewartAcuff: "It turns out that fracking not only is an environmental disaster, but also a jobs disaster. Fracking is the practice of drilling into shale formations in the earth and blowing them apart to release natural gas. The practice also releases a number of toxic chemicals into ground water, poisoning that which we must have for life. The corrupt energy industry and the incredibly inept Gov. Corbett of Pennsylvania have gotten away with this eventually suicidal practice by telling us about all the jobs fracking will produce. The lies that can claim our lives. A brand new report shows that since 2011 Pennsylvania with its Wild West style fracking boom is 50th, yes 50th in the nation in job creation."
Reframing 'infrastructure' to win the Senate—by devtob : "With less than two weeks to Election Day, it may be too late to get a new message into voters' minds. But better late than never, Jonathan Alter at the Daily Beast has an idea that might work, and certainly can't hurt. Focus on jobs, and reframe the major way government can do something about jobs from 'infrastructure' to 'rebuilding America.' [...] Alter believes that the Democrats can appeal to a voter cohort that they've had trouble attracting for decades—white non-college educated blue-collar workers—by quickly and loudly giving public works a better name than infrastructure, and providing a strong rationale for why rebuilding America is a good thing, that Republicans overwhelmingly oppose."
MI-06: Breaking: polling catches up w/No. 1 climate enemy—by emorej a Hong Kong: "Eclectablog: Clements down by only 4 points, 47-43%, but within the margin of error of 4.9 points. ... same firm that showed Clements down a full 15 points the first week of October ... shows two things. ... having the resources to get your message out is crucial for changing public opinion. ... Paul Clements has a message that resonates."
Critters & the Great Outdoors
The Daily Bucket: A bucket of wind—by
Elizaveta: "It looks like October has finally decided to start acting like October. At least it has here in the PNW. The sky is a dark, heavy gray, and strong gusts of wind have been blowing through all afternoon. [...] As far as I know, it's impossible to photograph the wind (if it's possible, let me know how), but capturing the effects of the wind is pretty easy, as you can see below. The ash tree on my property four days ago:"
Daily Bucket: Florida's Invaders--The African Killer Bee—by
Lenny Flank: "Florida is the land of invasive species. Because of our status as a center for the importing of exotic pets and houseplants from overseas, and our neo-tropical climate, we have been invaded by everything from kudzu plants to Burmese pythons. One of Florida's most famous invaders is actually a hybridized version of an earlier immigrant, one that has already been here for centuries. [...] In 1956, a geneticist in Brazil named Warwick Kerr decided to try to improve the plain ole ordinary Italian Honeybee, by crossbreeding it with the African Honeybee of the subspecies Apis mellifera scutellata. The African bee lived in an environment that was much sparser than the Europeans, and consequently it had to work much harder to store sufficient food reserves for the winter. By crossing the African subspecies with the European, Kerr hoped he could develop a breed of honeybee that inherited the African genes for industriousness, resulting in a higher-producing honeybee. He imported 63 queen bees from South Africa and crossed them with Italian honeybee males from Brazil. Unfortunately, things did not work out as planned. The African subspecies had another inborn trait: since they had to work so hard to store their winter reserves, they were also extremely aggressive in defending it, and were easily provoked into making massive stinging attacks on animals that tried to raid their supply. And, alas, the hybridized bees produced by Kerr also inherited this African trait. The hybrid Africanized bees were so aggressive in the defense of their hive that they were soon dubbed 'Killer Bees.'"
two eagles—by blueyedace2:
Very harrowing months are ahead for the big, bad wolf—by
Samuel Vargo: "Long misunderstood and hunted into near extinction, the big, bad wolf isn't all that bad. This species is very good, in fact, and has been credited for creating a much better eco-system in Yellowstone National Park. Hunted and trapped into near extinction and heavily safeguarded as an endangered species for a long time, the gray wolf's numbers have increased. But now it's open season on gray wolves and its cousin, the red wolf, has only 100 of these wild carnivores roaming around in America, primarily in southern states. But the threat of inbreeding with coyotes may see the end of red wolves entirely. So who are we to give either species a thumb's-down death sentence? In many states, the wolf hunt has begun, or is about ready to start up again. Why? If history repeats itself, as it always seems to, we'll ultimately eradicate wolves."
The Daily Bucket - the fluid grace of a seal—by OceanDiver: "One foggy day recently I sat up on this bluff by the sea. It takes a walk in the woods and then through steep rocky outcrops to reach a special spot. Across a deep channel are offshore rocks where wildlife are safe from people, but close enough to see. The channel is usually a maelstrom of swirling tidal currents, wind-driven surface waves and tangles of bull kelp strands, far too hazardous for any boat to traverse. The seals and birds know this and carry on their wild activities oblivious to people's presence nearby. On this late autumn day I was the only person out there, the fog obscuring what's usually a spectacular view. Somehow I misread the tide table. What I thought would be a fast-ebbing tide (which brings out the fishing pinnipeds and birds) was dead calm water. Slack tide, between the ebb and flood. Even more unusual, there wasn't a breath of wind. The combination of calm water, a glassy surface and diffuse foggy light made the interface between water and air nearly invisible. Standing up on the bluff looking down, I could see right into the water as if I was in the water myself. Then one seal came over to this side of the channel for some fishing. The seal swam by below me. I didn't realize it was underwater until it broke through the surface, exhaling in a spray of droplets."
I found a real gem.—by
CONEFLOWER42: "Well, it's not a REAL gem. But it's such a great idea I just had to share it with you all ... You may have noticed that autumn is in full swing... at least it is in the regions that have deciduous trees as one indicator. It's been an amazing autumn with the trees changing color slowly and almost one at a time so we can savor their beauty. But now the inevitable is happening and those wonderful colors are drifting to the ground and piling up in crunchy layers that are so fun to scuffle through. When the gentle drift began, hubby was able to mow the yard and turn the leaves into mulch to feed the soil for next year's grass. Now, however, the crunchy layer is way too thick for the mower to be able to handle soooooo, it's time to rake. And rake. And rake. Yikes!!"
Daily Bucket: Under the Sea—by Lenny Flank: "A few photos of native Florida sea life. From a visit to the Mote Marine Aquarium in Sarasota FL."
Dawn Chorus: Am I Blue?—by lineatus: "Admittedly, I've got a touch of grey. But nonetheless, I'm blue and that's great. Show your blue —don't be shy."
Steller's Jay
Climate Chaos
Found in the Flood—by Michael Brune: "Last week, the European Union showed the rest of the world what taking responsibility looks like by striking an initial deal to require its member countries to cut greenhouse gas emissions 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030. Could the U.S. make a comparable national commitment? Absolutely. In fact, we could do even better, but only if we force our government to get serious about solving the problem. That will take a powerful, people-driven movement to overcome the money and influence of the corporations whose existence depends on their ability to pollute and exploit without regard for the consequences. The good news is that such a people-driven movement has already started in this country, and you don't need to look further than the flooding of New York's streets and subways to see it. No, I'm not talking about the storm surge from Sandy but about the human surge of the People's Climate March in Manhattan last month—the biggest climate demonstration of all time."
Carbon Tax: Paying to Reduce Emissions—by Frank Paine: "Massachusetts is on the leading edge of Carbon Tax law. Our state is positioning itself to be the first state in the union to pass a Carbon Tax into law in the country. Other regions of the world have passed Carbon Taxes with mixed success. In British Columbia, Canada, it has been effective and popular. An ineffective Australian Carbon Tax faired worse and resulted in political upheaval. Where an unpopular Carbon Tax was passed and resulted in the conservative overthrow of the progressive movement. The conservative landslide promised and delivered on repealing the Carbon Tax. The Carbon Tax raises revenue by increasing the cost of carbon fuels. The increase in price is supposed to decrease demand. Unless there are incentives to invest to reduce demand, it is a stick and no carrot. There needs to be incentives to reduce demand; incentives paid by the Carbon Tax itself."
Copenhagen: Awaiting Dire IPCC 5th Synthesis Report—by boatsie: "A month after the unprecedented massive People's Climate March, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is meeting this week in Copenhagen preparing for the November 2 release of its AR5 Synthesis Report, which is being called 'the most comprehensive, authoritative and scrutinized assessment of climate science ever produced.' Leaked copies of the Synthesis reveal the IPCC predicts "severe, pervasive and irreversible" climate impacts if immediate aggressive and immediate action is not taken to shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy. 'May I humbly suggest that policymakers avoid being overcome by the seeming hopelessness of addressing climate change,' said Rajendra Pachauri, IPCC chairman. 'Tremendous strides are being made in alternative sources of clean energy. There is much we can do to use energy more efficiently. Reducing and ultimately eliminating deforestation provides additional avenues for action.'"
Deniers Deny Hottest Year—by ClimateDenierRoundup: "Recognizing the writing on the wall, deniers have started a preliminary round of pushback against the increasing likelihood that 2014 will be the hottest year on record. Dr. Spencer, for example, has a blog post stating that it won't be the warmest year on record, so long as you ignore the oceans and all our thermometers, only consider the satellite record, and ignore the fact that the satellite record undersamples the Arctic where it's warmed the most. Finally he would probably also want you to ignore the numerous past errors in his satellite research which have been corrected time after time. Eager to do damage control, the Competitive Enterprise Institute sent out a fundraising email based on Spencer's post, while Heartland's Climate Change Weekly email featured it as their lead story. This is understandable, as deniers will have a particularly difficult time convincing the public that there's "no warming" after the hottest year on record. DeSmog UK even asked the leader of the UK's denier organization, the Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF), if this record undercuts the group's recent report, which claims that warming has stopped. GWPF replied with: 'No comment.'"
Freudian Friday Funny—by ClimateDenierRoundup: "In what could be seen as a Freudian slip, WUWT has a guest blogger for its 'Friday Funny' post. Mark Heyer begins the post saying: 'You're a climate denier if' and then he goes on to list eight statements that accept the reality of climate change. So if 'you believe that the atmosphere has continued to warm for the last 17+ years' or if 'you believe that climate models accurately represent the climate of the earth' then, according to this 'Funny' post, you're a climate denier. We assume it's supposed to be funny for flipping the climate denier name on its head, but what's really funny is the weakness of the straw men and debunked claims to which they desperately cling. No one is saying that climate models can reproduce every gust of wind, but are they robust enough to show us where we're headed by the end of the century? Yes. Maybe next Friday they'll post about how the only trustworthy and independent scientists are the ones paid by fossil fuel companies!"
Early Winter in Kazakhstan? Must be an Ice Age Coming!—by ClimateDenierRoundup: "WUWT has a guest post with the headline "winter comes a month early in Kazakhstan and other northern regions," and a featured video predicting a 30-year cooling trend and impending ice age due to solar cycles. The five-minute video is mostly about crop yields and how the cold and early snow is leading to crop losses, particularly in central Asia. Of course, the comments take this bit of news to its (il)logical conclusion: cold weather in central Asia must mean no warming, global or otherwise. This is particularly interesting considering the day before WUWT published its post, Nature Geoscience published a paper that shows how melting sea-ice in the Arctic has made the occurrence of a cold winter across central Asia twice as likely!"
Restoring Ecosystems to Reverse Global Warming—by gmoke: "Just wanted to make sure people know about this upcoming conference which may be the start of something really exciting. I know from my monitoring of Harvard, MIT, and other universities that ecosystem solutions to climate change are not only not on their radar but met with antagonism when brought up. The conference organizers can use your help (and mine) in getting the word out. Restoring Ecosystems to Reverse Global Warming: We have solutions! More of our man-made carbon emissions to date have come from land mismanagement and the resulting loss of soil carbon than from burning fossil fuels. The good news is that we know how to remove that atmospheric carbon and store it back into the soils where it belongs, by harnessing the power of nature. Restoring Ecosystems to Reverse Global Warming is a 3-day conference with the goal to bring the power of biology front and center in the climate conversation. We are bringing together a stellar roster of speakers—scientists, land managers and activists—and participants from around the world to learn from one another and to devise strategies to expand vast natural soil carbon sinks around the world."
Extreme Weather & Natural Phenomena
Bárðarbunga: Ice Cauldrons Ring The Caldera—by Rei: "People have been asking me for a long time for pictures of the caldera. They see the graphs of the great levels of subsidence and often expect to see a giant bowl. But while there've been dozens of meters of subsidence, it's over an area the size of Manhattan - to view the whole thing you have to be so far away that the slope downward is almost imperceptible. But what's much more perceptible are the smaller sigkatlar, the ice cauldrons which ring the descending plug. And they're concerningly both growing and increasing in number. [...] That's a huge freaking lake of lava! If we say it's merely 5% of the size of the flow it's still larger than Central Park. Of particular note is how the entire lava flow (Holuhraun? Þorbjargarhraun? Nornahraun? Flæðahraun? This naming dispute could go on for a long time...) is quite visibly still very hot (even areas that haven't flowed since the early days), to the point that snow can't collect on it. Lastly, the snow really helps the kīpuka in the middle stand out."
Bárðarbunga: Pollution Levels In Höfn Blow Away Records; Plus, A Seismic Tour Of The Caldera—by
Rei: "Let's recap our SO2-level readings.
600 µg/m³: Highest of the first post-eruption recordings in Iceland; they blew away Iceland's previous SO2 record by 2 1/2 times over. Also the levels which, when I was working on my land painting only caused minor symptoms, but when I switched to heavy fence work with a sledgehammer, developed breathing problems whose symptoms took a few days to go away.
2600 µg/m³: Subsequent record breaker in Reyðarfjörður, described as being like breathing from the tailpipe of work equipment.
4000 µg/m³: Reyðarfjörður's subsequent besting of their previous record.
5800 µg/m³: Mývatn's taking over as the worst-pollution record-holder. So how much did Höfn break the record by? A couple hundred µg/m³? A thousand maybe? Not exactly.
7000 µg/m³ ... would have been nice if that was all the higher it went, but that's not where the meters stopped. No,
8000 µg/m³ ... is also too low. The actual numbers?
9000 µg/m³ ... but that's only for downtown earlier in the evening. Then it hit
18500 in town. On the outskirts of town, levels hit
21000 µg/m3."
Energy & Conservation
Does Obama's new EPA rule place a dangerous bet on natural gas?—by Lukas Ross: "Natural gas is set to be the biggest winner of the new Environmental Protection Agency rule regulating power plants. If the current version of the rule goes into effect, then by 2030 it is expected to raise the profile of gas in our energy mix by almost 20 percent. In a sense, both the rule itself and President Obama’s broader energy plan are gambling on gas—gambling on its affordability, its abundance, and its ability to mitigate climate change. But are these bets sound? Setting aside very legitimate concerns about how clean gas actually is, another key question remains: is this the smartest way to deliver reliable and affordable electricity to our economy? If the rule is more supportive of gas than renewables, does it mean that consumers are going to get a worse deal?"
GETTING TO ZERO: The hidden CO2 emissions from renewables—by Keith Pickering: "Figuring out how much CO2 a given power technology emits is a tricky business. [...] The standard way of handing this is through what's called a "Life Cycle Analysis", or LCA, which tracks all of those emissions and more. Ideally an LCA will give you a "cradle-to-grave" picture of the total emissions from every source and every energy input, including things like waste disposal and plant decommissioning. [...] Looking at these numbers, the non-fossil technologies are low, as expected. Solar is higher than wind because it takes a lot of energy to make a solar cell, and that costs emissions. But both solar and wind have a hidden emissions cost that isn't reflected here, because neither the NREL nor any of the papers they analyzed included it. When the wind starts or stops, wind turbines change their power outputs dramatically over short time periods. And when a cloud drifts over a solar panel, its power output also changes dramatically over short time periods. Either too much or too little power on the grid is a problem, and utilities understand that issue and manage it quite well. The way they do that is by changing the power output of other generators, either up or down, to compensate for the changing outputs of the renewables; this is called "ramping". In fact, some natural gas generators are specifically designed to ramp their output rapidly. They are called open-cycle gas turbines (OCGT), combustion turbines, or conventional turbines (NGCT), but they all mean the same thing. The issue arises because when the fossil plant is ramping up or down, it's not operating as efficiently as it could if it were operating at a constant speed. The ramping causes the plant to lose efficiency, and therefore emit more CO2 (on a per-kWh basis) than it would have otherwise."
Fracking
Drilling Deeper: New Report Casts Doubt on Fracking Production Numbers—by Steve Horn: "The report, “Drilling Deeper: A Reality Check on U.S. Government Forecasts for a Lasting Tight Oil & Shale Gas Boom,” authored by Post Carbon fellow J. David Hughes, updates an earlier report he authored for Post Carbon in 2012. Hughes analyzed the production stats for seven tight oil basins and seven gas basins, which account for 88-percent and 89-percent of current shale gas production. Among the key findings: • By 2040, production rates from the Bakken Shale and Eagle Ford Shale will be less than a tenth of that projected by the Energy Department. For the top three shale gas fields — the Marcellus Shale, Eagle Ford and Bakken—production rates from these plays will be about a third of the EIA forecast. • The three year average well decline rates for the seven shale oil basins measured for the report range from an astounding 60-percent to 91-percent. That means over those three years, the amount of oil coming out of the wells decreases by that percentage. This translates to 43-percent to 64-percent of their estimated ultimate recovery dug out during the first three years of the well’s existence."
Native American tribe outlaws fracking on tribal lands—by Walter Einenkel: "'The Eastern Band of Cherokees will not permit or authorize any person, corporation or other legal entity to engage in hydraulic fracturing on Tribal trust lands,' reads part of the text of a resolution passed unanimously by the Tribal Council last month and signed into law by Principal Chief Mitchell Hicks on September 10. 'The State of North Carolina is without legal authority to permit hydraulic fracturing on Tribal trust lands.' Tribal officials cited the importance to preservation of the woodland habitats that are the underpinning of tribal health and culture. There have been many local governments that have tried to ban fracking from their areas. But since Gov. Pat McCrory lifted the facking ban from North Carolina, that hasn't meant much. The Cherokee Band's sovereign status makes their decision much more powerful."
Agriculture, Food & Gardening
Are you brave enough to watch this Halloween Horror foodie flick?—by VL Baker: "I have to admit I had to avert my eyes more than once. 'The Slaughter' portrays animal slaughter on a small hog breeding family farm; the type of farm you might consider sustainable. For a factory farm just multiply the experience by hundreds of thousands. Slaughter is slaughter. Jason Kohl does a good job in keeping a level of suspense. And that ending: Wow! I didn't expect anything like that.
Eco-Justice & Eco-Activism
Join Pacific Islanders, demand climate justice at the G20 in Australia—by cmanning: "There is just one month to go until the group of 20 (G20) richest nations gather in Brisbane, Australia, and the Anglican Alliance are putting out a final call for signatures on the Oceans of Justice petition. Thousands have already signed in agreement with the call from Pacific Islanders, which demands action on climate change from the world's leaders. Every voice counts - every individual signing the petition now. Unfortunately, climate change is happening right now, and it is affecting the world's most vulnerable with the most devastating consequences. In the Pacific, Australia’s neighbourhood, rising oceans are poisoning agricultural land, washing away homes, and forcing people to abandon islands that their people have lived on for thousands of years. Despite this, the Australian Government has refused to add climate change as an urgent agenda item for the G20 meeting in Brisbane in November this year."
Indians 101: Tribes ask the Oil and Gas Leases be Cancelled—by Ojibwa: "On Friday, Blackfeet tribal leaders in Montana sent letters to Interior Secretary Sally Jewell and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack asking that all federal oil and gas leases in the Badger-Two Medicine area be cancelled. According to the letter: 'We respectfully request that you and your staff meet directly with representatives of the Blackfeet Tribal Business Council regarding the Badger-Two Medicine oil and gas leases, and long-term co-management strategies for permanent protection of this most sacred mountain land.”'The Badger-Two Medicine area is adjacent to the Blackfeet Reservation and Glacier National Park and is administered by the National Forest Service. The Blackfoot Confederacy (a group of related Indian nations in the United States and Canada) and the Montana-Wyoming Tribal Leaders Council also joined in this request. According to the tribes, oil and gas exploration threatens the sacred and cultural values of the region."
Eco-Essays and Eco-Philosophy
Can We Save Miami? Should We?—by The Gay Blade: "When we talk about climate change and sea level rise rarely is it with any sense of urgency. Sea level rise might be a problem in a hundred years, a problem for your grandchildren to manage. Sea level rise lacks the immediacy of a tornado or hurricane and the spectacular visuals of a volcanic eruption. There are no videos of a rising sea level sweeping away cars, trucks and houses. Sea level rise is slow and it all seems so comfortably out in the distant future but that future may not be as distant as we think, especially in South Florida where the ocean seems to be in hurry to get started on reclaiming the land. Even along the coastal areas of Florida the economic machine is in full denial. Property values, especially along the coast, are up. Almost every week there’s a new artist conception of a new development along the waterfront in Miami. Banks are still handing out 30 year mortgages, insurance companies are still covering properties, new developments are going up faster than anytime in the area’s history, including the go-go days of the 70s and 80s when development was fueled by drug money. It would be easy to suggest that South Florida is run by climate deniers but, at this point, it doesn’t matter if you believe global warming is man-made or not, it’s here with a vengeance regardless of the cause. The ocean is going to keep coming and South Florida is going to be powerless to stop it. In less than 100 years Miami is going to be underwater, but decades before that, possibly in our lifetimes, it’s going to be dead economically."
Oceans, Water & Drought
Sao Paulo Brazil, See The Future World Of Global Warming—by pollwatcher: "Many people see the effects of Global Warming as ocean waves lapping up to the front doors of their ocean front homes, 100 years from now. This is a nice frightening effect that may help the media sell advertising to the left that reads their outlets, and it may help explode heads in the right wing denialist alternative universe, but it misses the many, many other problems that Global Warming is causing, not a century from now, but right now! While we in the U.S. are very concerned about the horrible drought the people of California are going through, the people of Brazil are about to experience something that will challenge what it means to be a massive city in a Global Warming world. From the weather channel: Just two months after São Paulo's state-run water utility Sabesp refused to implement water rationing amidst the area's worst drought in eight decades, at least one government official is warning of 'dramatic water shortages' and 'collapse' for the residents of South America's most populous metro area. 'If the drought continues, residents will face more dramatic water shortages in the short term,” said Vicente Andreu, president of Brazil’s National Water Agency. 'If it doesn’t rain, we run the risk that the region will have a collapse like we’ve never seen before.'"
Contributions to Yes on Prop. 1 and 2 campaign rise to over $13 million—by Dan Bacher: "Contributions to the Yes on Proposition 1 and 2 campaign soared to $13,212,726 on Friday, October 24 as corporate agribusiness interests, oil companies, billionaires and the health care industry continued to dump millions of dollars into Jerry Brown’s campaign to pass the water bond. The main committee, 'Brown; Yes on Props 1 and 2, A Bipartisan Coalition of Business, Labor, Republicans, Democrats and Governor,' has raised $12,418,226 and has spent $11,221,528 to date. The California Business Political Action Committee, sponsored by the California Chamber of Commerce, has raised $794,500 and has spent $312,401 for the campaign to date. In contrast , the Vote No on Prop. 1 campaign, has raised $89,100 and has spent $53,077 to date."
Food and Water Watch: Prop. 1 ad is 'flagrantly misleading'—by Dan Bacher: "Adam Scow, Food & Water Watch California Director, today described as 'flagrantly misleading and wrong' the newly released advertisement where Proposition 1 proponent Governor Jerry Brown urges Californians to 'Save Water. Save Money. Save for the Future.' 'Don’t let them fool you: Proposition 1 won’t provide drought relief, won’t solve California’s long-term water crisis and will continue to reward corporate greed at the expense of California taxpayers and the environment,' concluded Scow. Contributions to the Yes on Proposition 1 and 2 campaigns soared to $13,212,726 on Friday, October 24 as corporate agribusiness, oil companies, billionaires, the health care industry, the tobacco industry and other corporate interests continued to dump millions of dollars into Jerry Brown’s campaign to pass the water bond."
Chief Caleen Sisk: It's All One Big Project—by Dan Bacher: "Tribal leaders and river and groundwater protection advocates on Monday, October 27, announced their strong opposition to Proposition 1, Governor Jerry Brown's controversial State Water Bond. Caleen Sisk, Chief and Spiritual Leader of the Winnemem Wintu Tribe, said the water bond, peripheral tunnels, Shasta Dam raise and other water projects now being planned by the state and federal governments are in in reality "one Big Project" that will destroy salmon, rivers and groundwater supplies. 'It does not make sense that people are separating the water puzzle into individual pieces, such as: the raising of Shasta Dam, Proposition 1, the Delta tunnels, BDCP, Sites Reservoir, Temperance Flat, CALFED, Delta Vision, BDCP, OCAP, the Bay Delta, Trinity/Klamath Rivers, the Sacramento River, the San Joaquin River, and water rights,' said Chief Sisk. 'It is all one BIG Project.'"
Forests, Wilderness & Public Lands
The Effort to Save Golden Gate Park Goes National, but Remains Local—by GTK: "Oh ye of little faith. When I began posting on Daily Kos about my campaign to protect the western end of Golden Gate Park from the installation of toxic tire crumb, there were murmurs (justifiable at first) that such a topic was too insular. Who knew that NBC Nightly News would come to our rescue in a shocking expose on the matter. And immediately following those exposes earlier this October came the Mission Playground DropBox fiasco, further underscoring the dangers of privatizing recreational space, at least under our current Rec and Park regime. The philosophical stars seem to be aligning for Yes on Measure H (saving Golden Gate Park’s west-end soccer fields from hundreds of tons of tire crumb infill) and No on Measure I (the poison pill meant to override H and simultaneously give Rec and Park even more power for itself over ALL park space in San Francisco)."
Trash, Pollution & Hazardous Waste
Poison Fish—by Robocop: "The Columbia Riverkeeper released a study this year measuring toxic pollution in five different fish that reside in the Columbia river. Most of the toxins were identified as PCBs, mercury, arsenic and flame retardants, all chemicals that disrupt endocrine and reproductive systems, but runoff from pesticides is among the leading contaminants in all of U.S. rivers and streams. Even the EPA has reported that 'nonpoint source pollution was the leading source of water quality impacts on surveyed rivers and lakes, the second largest source of impairments to wet lands, and a major contributor to contamination of surveyed estuaries and ground water.' 'Excessive or poorly timed applications of pesticides' was among the list of agricultural activities that harm our water systems. As it’s been shown that GE crops demand an ever increasing amount of pesticides to combat weed and insect resistance, it stands to reason that our rivers are in greater danger in Oregon because of GMO production. The chemical fertilizers that are washed into the waterways damage the water and the life therein. The Columbia Riverkeeper study, as well as another study conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey found that chemicals harmful to people who eat large quantities of fish have been found in the Columbia at levels exceeding safe consumption."
Miscellany
The Inoculation Project 10/26/2014: Round 2 for EcoColumns!—by belinda ridgewood: "Teacher's Comments from Mrs. King Okorie: My Students: So many places in the world lack clean water. The Eco-column teaches students how important it is to preserve what we have as water percolates through each section. They collect data and use problem solving skills to rebalance each section of the Eco-column. The student population of my school is mainly Hispanic with a high level of poverty. In spite of that they are very successful in a variety of areas, winning academic, music and sports awards. These middle schoolers are energetic and eager to learn! My Project: Imagine building an Eco-column out of 2 liter bottles that has several levels, each with its own ecosystem. The bottom level is a small, fresh water aquarium, the next contains a mini compost area including earthworms. Finally, there is a plant growing in the top level. This Eco-column teaches so many principles of science from recording data and problem-solving to what happens in different ecosystems and how are they related. It also allows students to see how water flows through the soil and how important that part of the water cycle is to having clean, fresh water. Students will keep track of data such as temperature of soil and water of different levels, as well as pH levels."
Ethical Recreation—by hannah: "[E]thics has been on my mind and today it surfaced in contemplating our relationship to water, particularly the Water Quality Standards which the state of Georgia has adopted in accordance with promulgations from the Environmental Protection Agency. 'Take nothing but pictures; leave nothing but footprints" needs to be matched with "take nothing but pictures; leave nothing but waves. for man's casual relationship to our watery world. The formal classification of water bodies according to use/abuse is another example of hubris in the extreme. Illogical thinking is a clue. Some of these things are not like the others: Water use classifications for which the criteria of this Paragraph are applicable are as follows: Drinking Water Supplies; Recreation; Fishing; Propagation of Fish, Shellfish, Game and Other Aquatic Life; Wild River; Scenic River; Coastal Fishing. Use is not really the issue. Exploitation is. To use is to leave an item in the same condition it was found. To exploit is to abuse. Which means that "use" is being deployed as a euphemism. But then, abuse has been the historical ethic of the USA. Perhaps people who exploit their own kind can't really be expected to respect the integrity of their environment."