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) normally appears twice a week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
The most recent Wednesday Spotlight can be seen here. More than
21,970 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.
PLS Sign Up for Guardian's Series on Climate Change—by
SeaTurtle: "The UK's Guardian Newspaper announced a series highlighting the issues of climate change, from the point of view of a 'clear and present danger', not pandering or giving false equivalency to climate deniers. It is taking a global leadership role in bringing journalistic integrity to the whole issue of climate change. The announcement of this series Climate change: why the Guardian is putting threat to Earth front and centre, has a place to sign up to be part of this at the END of the article. NOTE: CLICK ON THE ARTICLE AND SCROLL TO THE BOTTOM TO SIGN UP. THANKS. [...] The Guardian's groundbreaking journalistic stand will bring the truth to the forefront, that we do not have anymore to time to waste on these wilfull distractionists and must get about the business of cutting through the propaganda, letting people worldwide know the truth of what is really happening. Hopefully armed with the truth and when people are not sedated by propaganda, some serious changes can be made."
You can find more rescued green diaries below the orange garden layout.
Climate Chaos
Here comes El Niño. Greenland passes tipping points. Positive feedback accelerates.—by don mikulecky: "It has been only a matter of time but things are happening faster than most anticipated. [...] Greenland is warmer than it has been in more than 100,000 years and climate disrupting feedback loops have begun. Since 2000, ice loss has increased over 600 percent, and liquid water now exists inside the ice sheet year-round, no longer refreezing during winter. It is a bad time to be in a learning phase, but better late than never. Melt and ice loss dynamics from Greenland are far more complicated than we understood just a few years ago. New discoveries have been made that add large uncertainties as to exactly how fast ice melt and iceberg discharge will increase in the future. Over the last decade, continued research into the rate of ice loss in Greenland has downplayed any rapid acceleration of current melt rates. New discoveries could be changing our understanding of this last decade's work. We humans are really much better at causing problems than we are at understanding our planet. The only real fault I can point to is the failure to realize how incomplete our knowledge is. Models and their predictions are only as good as the information used to construct them and that is the problem. If you are not aware of possibilities they do not get put into the model."
The Guardian putting threat to Earth front and center—by don mikulecky: "It has reached the point where some people can no longer sit still. The editor of The Guardian is one. Climate change: why the Guardian is putting threat to Earth front and centre. The climate threat features very prominently on the home page of the Guardian on Friday even though nothing exceptional happened on this day. It will be there again next week and the week after. You will, I hope, be reading a lot about our climate over the coming weeks. One reason for this is personal. This summer I am stepping down after 20 years of editing the Guardian. Over Christmas I tried to anticipate whether I would have any regrets once I no longer had the leadership of this extraordinary agent of reporting, argument, investigation, questioning and advocacy. Don't look away now, the climate crisis needs you. Pinch me. Am I dreaming?"
Deny GHG's impact on Global Climate—by RickNelsonmn: "Deniers like Tom Harris give me pause to reflect and share what I've thought to be very egregious and inflammatory statements. I'm angry and frustrated there are people like Tom, who appear to have some connection to climate science and foment denial!"
The Free Market Has Spoken: Climate Change is Real—by Mike Coblenz: "Conservatives claim to believe in the wisdom of the free market. They believe that business people will make wise decisions based on the demands of the market, based on supply, demand, and the desires of the consuming public. So what do businesses think about climate change? Most are deeply concerned about it. Perhaps the most freaked out are the insurance companies, who believe that the effects of global warming will have a multibillion dollar impact on their industry. They are deeply concerned about paying out insurance claims for damage caused by rising sea levels, drought, and increasingly powerful storms. See: Climate Change: Insurance Issues and Insurance Industry Is Leader on Climate Change The insurance business is based on the calculation of risk. Insurance companies economic survival depends upon their ability to predict, with some statistical certainly, the future. They have a good idea how many car wrecks there will be every year, so while they can’t predict whether you or I will get in a wreck next year, they are pretty certain that millions of people will. (And they have that number down to the hundreds.) So they have studied the question of climate change in depth, and determined that it is real, and that it is a real threat to the world, the economy, and their industry."
Call Them Climate Deniers, Not Skeptics—by branto: "Justin Gillis of the New York Times recently raised the question of what journalists should properly call those who deny climate science. Are they 'skeptics,' as they generally call themselves, or something else? Given the stakes of our current climate crisis, the semantics matter. [...] Of course there are many legitimate scientific questions around climate change — for example, how fast temperatures will increase or how severe the impacts will be. There’s also legitimate debate over the degree to which climate change influences severe weather events such as wildfires. But the basic questions over the existence of man-made climate change have been answered. That’s why, when 48 scientists called on the media to stop calling deniers 'skeptics' in December, nearly 23,000 of our members nationwide resolved to support them—asking journalists to report accurately on climate change by denying them the imprimatur of the 'skeptic' label. Sign the petition calling on our news media to stop calling climate science deniers skeptics."
Extreme Weather & Natural Phenomena
The Daily Bucket--Oregon's One Crazy Trick has Backyard Scientists Baffled—by 6412093: "I have proof now. The weather nerds have confirmed that several Oregon sites are concluding the warmest winter in recorded history. While recorded history only goes back to 1940 for Portland, it goes back 122 years, to 1893, for Salem. [...] This buttresses my golf course's unofficial, but detailed records of the last 10-odd years of frost delays, meaning mornings with the temperature below 32 F. Our records show this winter had about half the typical number of frost delays."
Critters & the Great Outdoors
The Daily Bucket - hiding under a rock all winter
—by OceanDiver: "March 2, 2015. Salish Sea, Pacific Northwest. Spring has arrived in many parts of the country, as we've been sharing lately in the Bucket (though some folks are still waiting. Sorry! your time will come soon :)). In the Pacific Northwest one welcome sign of spring has nothing to do with warmth or flowers or the birds and the bees. It is seeing the beaches again, with our lowest tides now during daylight hours. Finally! In winter the water laps high against the driftwood during our short days. It's possible to explore the intertidal zone at night in winter when the water is way out, but I'm getting too rickety to risk tripping over rocks, slipping on seaweed or getting boots stuck in mud in the dark holding a flashlight in my teeth. [...] Some creatures under rocks are quicker than I am. A hermit crab darts away so fast its legs are a blur. From the photo I can tell it's a bit too big for its whelk shell home. This crab will be looking for a bigger shell soon."
Bison reintroduced into Illinois for the first time in over 100 years—by
Walter Einenkel: "This past October, Wild Bison were reintroduced onto the prairies, east of the Mississippi. It was the first time these prairies have seen the American Bison since the 1830s. [...] 20 animals will be released from the corral to gradually roam much of the 3,500-acre Nachusa Grasslands—the key part of an ambitious prairie restoration 95 miles west of Chicago. The Nachusa land is owned by The Nature Conservancy who have been buying up land in Northern Illinois since 1986. Their hope has been to reconstitute at least a small part of Illinois' prairies. Illinois, while known as 'The Prairie State,' hasn't had much in the way of prairies for many decades now. The amount of prairie lost due to westward expansion is pretty staggering:
Nearly 60 percent of the state, about 22 million acres, once was prairie, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources reports. Over the centuries, farms consumed much of it, leaving only 2,500 acres of prairie in Illinois today, the DNR states."
The Extermination of the Steller's Sea Cow—by Lenny Flank: "The Steller's Sea Cow was the largest member of the Manatee and Dugong family, reaching the incredible length of 30 feet and weighing over ten tons. It wasn't discovered by science until 1741. And by 1768, in the space of less than 30 years, it had been utterly exterminated. Steller's Sea Cow. A contemporary engraving. In the early 1700s, the Tsar of Russia, Peter the Great, became interested in North America. The French and British colonies there were extracting an enormous wealth in furs, timber and other materials, and the Tsar wanted a piece of it. But eastern Russia was at this time largely unexplored, and the huge frozen wasteland in Siberia was so little-known that nobody was even sure if it was connected to North America: it was proposed that Siberia might actually have a land route into North America. In 1728, the Russian government appointed a ship stationed in the East Indies, under the command of Russian Navy commander Vitus Bering, to find out. Bering sailed north to Kamchatka and followed the coast all the way to the Arctic Circle. There was, he reported, no land bridge into North America."
Steller's Sea Cow. A contemporary engraving.
GOP congressman: If you had wolves in your district, you wouldn't have a homeless problem—by
Jen Hayden: "Alaska's Rep. Don Young wants to take gray wolves off the endangered species list. Upset with a letter 79 congressmen wrote to protect the wolves, he went on a bizarre rant. From The Washington Post:
'How many of you have got wolves in your district?” he asked. 'None. None. Not one.' 'They haven’t got a damn wolf in their whole district,' Young continued. 'I’d like to introduce them in your district. If I introduced them in your district, you wouldn’t have a homeless problem anymore.'"
Worst American River steelhead run on record nears dismal end—by Dan Bacher: "Nimbus Fish Hatchery staff continue to see the worst steelhead run on the American River, Sacramento's unique urban jewel, but a few fish continue to trickle into the river. 'We have trapped 143 adult steelhead, including 93 females and 45 males, to date,' said Gary Novak, hatchery manager. 'That compares to a total of 546 adult steelhead, including 527 adults and 19 half pounders, to date last season.' The hatchery has taken a total of 186,488 eggs so far. With some additional eggs that they received from Coleman Fish Hatchery, they plan to release 144,000 steelhead yearlings next February on the American. 'We only saw 4 new fish this week and 23 fish last week,' said Novak. 'On our best week, we saw 23 steelhead.'"
Energy
Solar meltdown? New video shows two, very different, energy futures. Which one do you want?—by nirsnet: "Yesterday, Nuclear Information and Resource Service (NIRS), Friends of the Earth, Sierra Club, Public Citizen and Greenpeace released our first major video–one we hope you’ll help us take viral. It’s at www.makenuclearhistory.org and tells a tale of two energy futures: one, down the track that Exelon, Entergy, Duke and the rest of the nation’s nuclear utilities would take us that would continue reliance on dirty and dangerous nuclear power and fossil fuels. The second energy future describes a safe, clean and affordable nuclear-free, carbon-free energy system powered by renewables and 21st century technology."
Renewables & Conservation
Urban Agriculture—by gmoke: "Here's the text of a presentation I did today at Northeast Sustainable Energy Association's Building Energy conference. This was the first time they addressed urban agriculture. Everybody eats and it's primarily solar powered. We are all solar powered through the food that we eat. Officially, we produce between 95 and 100 quadrillion btu's of energy per year in the US, an amount that's remained steady for the last 15 years or so while the GDP has continued to increase. However, we don't count any of the sunlight that powers photosynthesis on the crops we consume. All that sunlight is 'free' and not included. A back of the envelope estimate is that there's at least 300 quadrillion btu's of sunlight required for the photosynthesis that grows our food. Our world is solar powered, has always been solar powered, will always be solar powered until the sun dies out."
Nat Bank Abu Dhabi: Even at $10/BBl oil can't compete in electricity—by patbahn: "no kidding. The National Bank of Abu Dhabi says photovoltaic technologies arecompetitive today with oil at US$10/barrel and gas at US$5/MMBtu. Okay, this isn't Me, saying it, it isn't some whacky hippy saying it, it's Alex Thursby, President of NBAD saying: 'Some of the report’s findings may surprise you, as they did me. For example, renewable energy technologies are far further advanced than many may believe: solarphotovoltaic (PV) and on-shore wind have a track record of successful deployment, and costs have fallen dramatically in the past few years. In many parts of the world, indeed, theyare now competitive with hydrocarbon energy sources. Already, more than half of the investment in new electricity generation worldwide is in renewables. Potentially, the gains to be made from focusing on energy efficiency are as great as the benefitsof increasing generation. Together, these help us to reframe how we think about the prospects for energy in the region."
Fracking
Two Huge Stories on Fracking You Probably Missed This Week—by Food and Water Watch: "It seems that the fracking industry’s biggest concern is keeping their operations secret. Whether they’re talking about the chemicals in their frac fluid, how they pay (or don’t pay) royalties to landowners, or even whether doctors can tell their patients what they’re treating, industry representatives have pushed to keep their secrets. The industry has been pretty good at keeping people in the dark. But two recent disclosures have shed some light on how the industry manages to obscure the details of its operations. On Tuesday, Mike Soraghan at EnergyWire broke the news that scientists in Oklahoma knew five years ago that the state’s recent unprecedented swarms of earthquakes were probably due to oil and gas operations. (We confirmed with Mike that he had uncovered these emails after pursuing an Open Records Act request in Oklahoma. Previously, he had analyzed federal earthquake data to break the news that Oklahoma had more earthquakes than California in 2014.) According to EnergyWire, when Austin Holland, a seismologist from the Oklahoma Geological Survey (OGS) based at the University of Oklahoma, raised the issue, he was asked to meet with the president of the university and 'concerned' oil and gas industry officials (including with Mitt Romney’s campaign advisor on energy issues, Harold Hamm, who has donated over $30 million to the school.) Since that meeting, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and OGS have butted heads over the link between oil and gas activities and earthquakes, with OGS pushing back against the idea that Big Oil and Gas is to blame."
Keystone XL & Other Fossil Fuel Transportation
Obama gives strongest hint yet that he may reject TransCanada's application to build Keystone XL—by Meteor Blades: "At a town hall meeting at Benedict College in Columbia, South Carolina Friday, President Obama indicated once again that he may not approve a permit for building the northern leg of the Keystone XL pipeline. The section would run from Hardisty, Alberta, to Steele City, Nebraska. The southern leg of the pipeline, which runs from Cushing, Oklahoma, to Port Arthur, Texas, is already operational: 'The reason that a lot of environmentalists are concerned about it is the way that you get the oil out in Canada is an extraordinarily dirty way of extracting oil. And, obviously, there are always risks in piping a lot of oil through Nebraska farmland and other parts of the country,' Obama added. [...] 'I haven't made a final determination on it, but what I've said is that not going to authorize a pipeline that goes to benefit largely a foreign company, if it can't be shown that it is safe and if it can't be shown overall that it would not contribute to climate change.'"
One more crude-oil 'bomb-train' goes boom, this time in Illinois. Regulations clearly inadequate—by Meteor Blades: "Six cars of a 105-car train carrying crude oil derailed near Galena, Illinois, Thursday. Two cars caught fire and burned throughout the night. The train was carrying gassy oil from the Bakken Shale formation of North Dakota where an economic boom in the production of oil pried from rock by hydraulic fracking has boosted domestic oil production to levels not seen since 1970. In 2008, oil by rail barely made a statistical blip, with 9,500 carloads moved. In 2014, the number exceeded 500,000 rail cars of crude. The derailment took place near the Iowa border where the Galena and Mississippi rivers come together. [...] Oil from the Bakken is particularly volatile, and several derailments, explosions and fires have occurred in the past three years as ever more amounts of crude have been carried by rail. An accident Feb. 17 in West Virginia derailed 26 rail cars: 19 of them burned, some for days, and more than 100 people were evacuated. The U.S. Department of Transportation predicted in July that there would be an average of 10 such derailments a year for the next 10 years. It estimated there would be 15 oil train derailments in 2015."
Yet Another Bomb Train Goes Up in Flames—by jpmassar: "If planes crashed at the rate these trains are derailing their would be a major Federal investigation and planes under suspicion of faults would be grounded. Yet these trains filled with essentially high-explosives continue to roll through the country, and worse through densely populated areas. The latest plan for the Bay Area has these bomb trains being sent through the East Bay, from Martinez which is north and east of the East Bay, down through Richmond, Berkeley, Oakland, San Leandro, Hayward, Fremont and San Jose - all major metropolitan areas."
Water, Droughts & Oceans
From the Amazon: Our planet's 'lungs' are now not working well.—by don mikulecky: "And the onset of El Niño makes it even worse. I'm very tired of bad news. I am especially tired of news of more tipping points being passed and of more positive feedback loops kicking in. Here's a recent study that has very depressing results: Droughts in the Amazon are speeding up climate change: 'Lungs of the planet' are emitting more CO2 than they capture. Trees absorb a tenth less CO2 from the atmosphere during droughts. 2010 dry spell saw forest release 8 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide. This is as much as annual emissions of China and Russia combined. Trees may be channelling more limited energy reserves into growth. The picture gets more grim by the day."
What's the most water-intensive activity in the US?—by VL Baker: "Grist has compiled this excellent video showing how much water goes into our food. It also shows the incredible opportunity for a simple solution to our water crisis. Reducing the production/consumption of water intensive crops such as livestock can go a long way to mitigating our water issues which will only be exacerbated by climate change."
DC, State & Local Eco-Politics
Electing Clinton means likely Keystone XL approval—by ypochris: "In brief, the Wall Street journal reports that the Clinton Foundation has accepted between a quarter and half a million dollars from a Canadian agency whose priority is to promote Keystone XL. The article states: One of the 2014 donations comes from a Canadian agency promoting the proposed Keystone pipeline, which is favored by Republicans and under review by the Obama administration. The Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development agency of Canada, a first-time donor, gave between $250,000 and $500,000. The donations, which are disclosed voluntarily by the foundation, are given only in ranges. Do we really want to nominate a person to the Democratic ticket who has so little concern for the fate of our planet? Between Clinton's statement that she is inclined to approve Keystone XL, and her family foundation's acceptance of such a large sum of money from an agency lobbying for the project, her approval seems almost certain. That would mean that whomever wins the 2016 election, Keystone XL is going to be approved."
Friends of Big Oil have another Big Fail with Keystone XL—by jamess: "Maybe there are "some things" that money, just can't buy ... Override of Obama’s Keystone Veto Fails in Senate [...] Eight Democrats joined all Republicans in voting to override the president. [...] Wednesday’s vote marked the first time the Senate has tried to override a veto since Mr. Obama has been in office. Including the latest veto on the Keystone bill, Mr. Obama has invoked this presidential power three times since 2009. His other two vetoes were on relatively minor bills: one involving legislation dealing with the notarization of mortgages, and the second rejecting a spending bill for technical reasons. The House tried, but failed, to override both of those vetoes, congressional records show. Democrats opposed to the project took to the floor before the vote to criticize the project for its environmental risks. They also said the company behind it, TransCanada Corp., faces permitting challenges in states the pipeline would traverse, which cast doubt on when—or even if—the pipeline will be built."
McConnell attacks clean power plan—by ClimateDenierRoundup: "In an oped in the Lexington Herald-Leader, Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has issued a call for other states to reject Obama's Clean Power Plan. Full of rhetoric and short on hard citations (referring, for example, to an unnamed but 'respected group of economists'), the piece reads like a typical stump speech. It features all the regular talking points, using incendiary terms like 'draconian,' while charging that the Clean Power Plan is an "attack on the middle class,' that it threatens to cause "price hikes," and that it will likely 'throw countless out of work.' With all of McConnell's blustering about Obama's "decree" from on high, The Hill points out a rather amusing piece of irony—the Secretary of Energy and Environment from McConnell's own state said the EPA has done 'incredible' state outreach, helping states tailor the rule to fit their situation. And the AP ends its story with another ironic note, pointing out that Republicans are criticizing the EPA's budget request for $3.5 million to hire 20 additional lawyers to defend the plan from Republican-led lawsuits against it."
Senate Majority Leader McConnell Urges States to Defy Federal Law—by xaxnar: "A New York Times story by Coral Davenport picked up on an Op-Ed piece Mitch McConnell ran in the Lexington Herald-Reader calling on the states to ignore Federal regulations meant to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The piece, titled 'States should reject Obama mandate for clean-power regulations' starts out: The Obama administration's so-called 'clean power' regulation seeks to shut down more of America's power generation under the guise of protecting the climate. In reality, this proposed regulation would have a negligible effect on global climate but a profoundly negative impact on countless American families already struggling. The regulation is unfair. It's probably illegal. And state officials can do something about it; in fact, many are already fighting back."
McConnell urges state gov'ts to commit civil disobedience by refusing to submit clean energy plans—by Meteor Blades: "In an op-ed published in the Lexington Herald-Leader Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell called on states to refuse to submit plans to control emissions from power plants. The plans are a piece of the Obama administration's Clean Power Plan that will impose greenhouse-gas emissions-curtailing rules for existing, modified, and new electricity-generating plants. The rules are slated to be finalized by the Environmental Protection Agency this summer. To give states flexibility in how the emissions targets in the rules are achieved, the EPA wants them to come up with their own plans. But those states that don't will have a one-size-fits-all plan imposed on them."
Hermosa Beach Voters Defeat Measure to Overturn Oil Drilling Ban—by Dan Bacher: "Fracking opponents scored a victory against the oil industry by defeating a measure to overturn an oil drilling ban in Hermosa Beach, but failed to pass an initiative to prohibit new oil and gas development in La Habra Heights. Hermosa Beach is a coastal city of almost 20,000 people south of Los Angeles, while La Habra Heights is a rural community of about 5,500 on the southeastern edge of Los Angeles County. 'Amid growing concern with the state government’s inability to police the oil industry, Hermosa Beach overwhelming voted to limit oil development as cities and counties throughout the state launch efforts to ban dangerous oil extraction in their communities,' according to a statement from Californians Against Fracking. With 78 percent against, Hermosa Beach voters defeated Measure O, which would have overturned a longtime ban on oil drilling. The measure’s defeat prevents the seaside city from approving a controversial oil drilling project, the group noted. In La Habra Heights, voters did not approve an initiative, Measure A, which would have prohibited land use for new oil and gas development in the city, including high intensity extraction methods such as fracking."
Agriculture, Food & Gardening
The Daily Bucket: Camellia Coloration Conundrum—by RonK: "I have a beautiful camellia bush/tree that has been at the house since long before I bought it 40 years ago. Below you see its size and although fading badly now, it has had its best flowering year in my memory. As you can see, it has been shaped to be tree-like to allow light into the kitchen windows behind it. I have a question for the botanists bucketeers and others who might be able to explain it's various and variegated coloring characteristics illustrated below."
GMO refusers and vaccine deniers cross–call Big Pharma and Monsanto—by SkepticalRaptor: "There is a feeling among many scientific skeptics that the anti-GMO and the antivaccine broadly intersect. Unfortunately for simple generalizations, that assumption is not supported by rational political analysis. In fact, it's much more complicated than that. Those of us who are on the political left want to believe that it's only the right wing (Republicans in the USA, but other countries have their political parties of the same general sentiment) that are science deniers. One of the memes that I use is that those liberals who deny vaccines or think that genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are dangerous, really aren't all that much different than climate change deniers, who deny basic science, cherry pick only the data that supports an a priori conclusion, or ignore the consequences of their beliefs. But it appears that the vaccine and GMO deniers are cut from different political cloths."
Saturday Morning Garden Blogging: Tools of the Trade—by skohayes: "Good morning, gardeners! I have always wanted to write a diary about the tools we all use in our gardens, and how essential a good set of tools is to a gardener. Now I'm including all kinds of things you may not think of as "tools", but are absolute essentials- like hoses! Who could get through a dry summer without some good hoses? How about something as simple as a good spray nozzle for the end of that hose? I don't know about you guys, but I go through two or three every summer. I've tried the more expensive ones and they fall apart as quickly as the cheap ones! Now, please join me below the tangled hose for my essential tools."
I'm sick and tired of organic, shade-grown, cage-free blah, blah, blah—by lawrencegoodman: "I think the food movement began with excellent intentions—sustainable agriculture, reduced pesticide pollution, combatting obesity, more humane treatment of farm animals. But it's become excessive. It's less about transforming the food supply than an inchoate bourgeois anxiety about what we're putting into our bodies. We eat organic nowadays not because of its environmental benefits but because we have some vague sentiment that anything with chemicals must be bad for us. The more simulated, machine-ridden our lifestyle, the more we want to eat 'natural.' It's an understandable impulse but it has nothing to do with making good food policy. Take this study in the scientific journal PlosOne. The researchers concluded natural pesticides of the kind used by organic farmers are more damaging to the environment than synthetic ones: organic approved insecticides had a similar or even greater negative impact on several natural enemy species in lab studies, were more detrimental to biological control organisms in field experiments, and had higher Environmental Impact Quotients at field use rates. I am sure there are plenty of flaws in the study and plenty of scientific studies showing the opposite, but the point is the food movement is really no longer interested in whether its assumptions are backed by science."
Eco-Essays and Eco-Philosophy
Glass Beaches—by James Wells: "Waste from a dump pours out into the ocean. Debris and pollution enter the natural environment. Add fifty years or more. The histories of these sites are pretty much all the same: A stunning lack of regard for our world, and the perception that the ocean can absorb any injury, followed by decades of healing by the forces of nature. Glass beach on Kauai: Well over a hundred years ago it was decided, for whatever reason that the small area of shoreline that is now known as Glass Beach was designated as a dumping site for much of Kauai's discarded items. Cars were dumped here, large metal items of all kinds, bottles, windshields and all sorts of junk. Over the course of time the ocean has worked its wonders and melded the shards of glass and fragments into smooth and circular touch stones of every color imaginable. There are dozens or perhaps hundreds of these sites all over the world. And now, these former dump sites are hot spots for collectors. Some people collect beach glass as part of their business, incorporating the pieces into jewelry or selling rare pieces for prices that approach what you could get for a first edition Charizard Pokemon card. Other collectors are avid hobbyists."
Trash, Pollution & Hazardous Waste
China's "Silent Spring": Chai Jing's "Under the Dome", now in English—by Keith Pickering: "You may have already read about the video that's been going viral in China like nothing else recently: a nearly two-hour documentary by investigative reporter Chai Jing into the causes, effects, and remedies for China's massive air pollution problems. NPR: Two hundred million and counting: That's how many times a documentary about China's massive air pollution problem has been viewed online since the weekend. Environmentalists are hailing it as an eye-opener for Chinese citizens. "Under the Dome" was originally produced with Chinese subtitles (a requirement in a country where more than one spoken language shares a common written language). Now a crowd-sourced effort has translated those subtitles into English. You might balk at starting a video of nearly two hours, but just watch the first five minutes, and you'll be hooked."
Throwin' So Much Away: 'Garbage Night' in America—by jtietz: "The adage about a road paved with good intentions probably fits a good many of us in contemporary U.S.A. culture. We recycle, we prioritize the reusable, and we teach our children to take care of the planet. But for most of us, without twice-weekly trash service, we’d have more garbage in our homes than we’d know what to do with. [...] For some of us, even those of us with the most well-meaning intentions, garbage piles up. Today, the average American will generate 4.54 pounds of trash. And tomorrow, it will be another 4.54 pounds, just like it was yesterday, and just like it will be the day after tomorrow and the day after that and the day after that and every day after that that we live. As Anthony Doerr puts it in 'Garbage Night,' which originally appeared in The Morning News, 'We Americans are the best trash-makers the world has ever seen. We are the maestros of refuse, champions of rubbish.' For Doerr, the American proclivity for garbage production hit home after he became a parent. And indeed it seems that raising children now is somehow incomplete without disposable supplies and layers of plastic packaging."
Inventor of the disposable 'K-Cups' for Keurig coffeemakers: I feel bad for inventing them—by Jen Hayden: "John Sylvan invented the individual coffee pods known as "K-Cups." They are incredibly popular: Almost one in three American homes now has a pod-based coffee machine, even though Sylvan never imagined they would be used outside of offices. Last year K-Cups accounted for most of Keurig Green Mountain’s $4.7 billion in revenue—more than five times what the company made five years prior. And because of those skyrocketing sales, the K-Cups are now becoming a huge problem for the environment. Each year enough K-Cups are sold to circle the earth 10.5 times. And, therein lies the problem. Although Keurig claims they are recyclable, that really isn't true at all."
Study Proves Govt Air Quality Regulations Help Children's Lungs Grow Bigger and Stronger In L.A.—by
Doctor Jazz: "Today KPCC's Deepa Fernandes reported on a twenty-year USC study released Wednesday that found Children's lung development in urban Los Angeles has significantly improved due to better air quality. The research, published in the March 5th edition of the New England Journal of Medicine, found the region’s steep decline in air pollution since the mid-1990s is strongly associated with 'statistically and clinically significant improvements' in children’s lung function and growth.' [...] The Los Angeles Basin was once notorious for smog. The indigenous Chumash peoples called it the "Valley of Smoke." I remember after playing tennis in Long Beach in the 1980s my lungs actually ached and I couldn't breathe normally for two days. But 'Southern California's air has cleared up dramatically in response to years of strict pollution-control rules targeting cars, diesel trucks, power plants, sea ports, consumer products and factories.' (latimes.com) The improvement in air quality is something that has been verified scientifically for a long time, but what is significant here is that this study proves the direct relationship of this cleaner air to the pulmonary function of our children."
Southern California Air Pollution Reduction & Children's Lungs - New England Journal of Medicine—by LakeSuperior: "This is a heads up to the Daily Kos community and to other environmental networks I deal with concerning information in the current issue of the New England Journal of Medicine on the childhood health respiratory health benefits of the significant reduction that has occurred in Southern California PM-2.5 and nitrogen dioxide air pollution ...... something brought to us all as products of the works of Senator Edmund Muskie and his Clean Air Act allies."
Forests, Wilderness & Public Lands
Expanding the National Parks System -#29 New Hampshire—by MorrellWI1983: "This is the twenty-ninth diary in my series on expanding the National Parks. Prior diaries are linked at the bottom of this diary. Last time I was in Nevada, this time I'm in New Hampshire, the Granite State. New Hampshire has the shortest coastline of any state with either an ocean or Great Lakes coastline- 13 miles. New Hampshire has 13.4% of its territory federally protected, 14th most on the country and the highest of any state east of the Mississippi River. Currently, New Hampshire has 1 national forest, 5 wildlife refuges, and 2 historic sites and other NPS units. I will propose giving New Hampshire its first national monuments."
Explore America with its National Parks – The Grand Canyon—by ukwriter: "America has a rich and diverse natural wonders. There are awe inspiring flora fauna and wildlife that leave nature lovers with many magical moments. In US the National Park Service has been managing and safeguarding natural parks since 1916. What is more—in the process of natural conservation and wildlife preservation they also have opportunity to save local heritage and celebrate its history. There are hundreds of national natural landmarks, historic landmarks - structures, heritage sites and national parks that are being cared for in order to be saved. One of these is the Grand Canyon."
Miscellany
Environmental Education through Children's Music - IN SPANISH! (and English)—by arper: "I'm looking for a collaborator with audio-video presentation skills, plus (ideally) environmental awareness and Spanish language or Latin American interests. The project is to produce environmental educational music videos. Details below this colorful banner. Venezuelan professor Adolfo Cardozo is a remarkable friend and colleague. A singer and songwriter, he has recorded 3 CD's, more than 30 original songs, that teach environmental principles. They are in Spanish, of course, but easily translated into English. The main personality in the songs is La Doctora Gallina (Doctor Chicken), a fanciful mother hen that takes her baby chicks on field trips. What's more, for each CD there is a colorful book with stories, song lyrics, and coloring-book pictures for every song! What's even more, all the songs, the lyrics, and the coloring-book pictures are available FREE, online, at his website and at mine."