Spotlight on Green News & Views (previously known as the Green Diary Rescue) appears twice a week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Here is the most recent previous Green Spotlight. More than 24,450 environmentally oriented stories have been rescued to appear in this series since 2006. Inclusion of a story in the Spotlight does not necessarily indicate my agreement with or endorsement of it.
OUTSTANDING GREEN STORIES
The Daily Bucket - Entish trees in the rainforest written by OceanDiver: “The story of the Ents is a sad one, not just for the loss of the forests they lived in, full of trees they looked after, but also for the loss of their beloved Entwives. If Ents are inhabiting this old forest, are they awake? Maybe I’m being fanciful but some of these giants in the rainforest even look fecund. These nodules almost look like new growth….a weird Entish ‘pregnancy’? (or maybe galls...of ?) The bumpy one is a hemlock and beside it is an old spruce. The tree below looks as if it is fissioning. Like a sea anemone pulling apart to form two new individuals. And the one below that almost seems to be forming a cozy cradle. And another, a sheltered cavern.”
Another sign of Greenland ice melting—icebergs are showing up 4 months early off Newfoundland written by Pakalolo: “Something very weird is going on in the Arctic this winter. This past week we have seen satellite images of an apparent melt water pulse that exploded out of the Jakobshavn Glacier flushing sea ice from Disko and Uummannaq Bay. Tropical moisture from Hurricane Alex shrouded Greenland and Baffin Island causing significant ice melt this past weekend. Now, Robert Scribbler is reporting that ice bergs that normally arrive in Newfoundland in April, because they have been frozen in sea ice, have been spotted four months early off Bonavista Newfoundland in Canada.”
CRITTERS AND THE GREAT OUTDOORS
The Daily Bucket: Winter Storm of the Year written by PHScott: “Wow! it’s all over the morning news and weather — big storm hitting the east coast. It even got named! Forecasters had the front passing thru the Gulf Coast of Florida early and dang if I didn’t wake to lightening at 5 AM. A quick look at the iPhone to check radar showed an hour before the front hit, but I got up anyways. I saw the TV headlines while waiting for the coffee to start and then unplugged electronics. You never know about lightening in Florida. Tornado warnings were up for the Apalachicola River area but it looked like that was closer to the coast. I thought about anyone camping at Torreya State Park, maybe in a tent on the bluffs. Run, run for your car.”
ARACHNIDS! written by Desert Scientist: “I spent much of my professional life studying arachnids, especially spiders. I think that I was drawn to them for two reasons. They were comparatively little known and often misunderstood (I have written about this in two earlier diaries on my childhood.) In addition most served as important secondary consumers (carnivores) in many terrestrial ecosystems. My first real interest began when I found a resting sac of Phidippus apacheanus on a desert shrub in the Yuma desert of Arizona when I was about ten years old. It contained a male of this beautiful jumping spider (the males have black legs and bright orange-red dorsal surfaces. They appear to mimic velvet ants.) As a teenager I sent an inquiry about possible pen pals (this was around 1960 — there was no Internet) to Alice Gray at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. I mentioned jumping spiders as an afterthought. She put me in contact with a young man who was interested in these creatures and I am still in contact with him and his associate, to whom I also wrote and with whom I coauthored several publications. Between them I became hooked on these fascinating spiders, although eventually I also conducted research on violin spiders, wolf spiders, various families of sac spiders, as well as scorpions- the latter mostly in aid of a specialist I knew. I became a charter member of the American Arachnological Society in 1972 and am a member to this day.”
FBI now tracks animal cruelty and here's how this also benefits you written by Leslie Salzillo: “We live in a world where horrific crimes and atrocities against human beings take place every day, every second. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) continuously works to reduce these crime rates. There is another insidious type of abuse that is often ignored and this month there is some good news. On January 1, 2016, the FBI agency added animal cruelty to its National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS). Innocent animals are subjected to all kinds of heinous mistreatment including, but not limited to, cruel and deadly organized dog fights, torture, beating, mutilation, starvation, neglect/abandonment, even sexual abuse. These abuses are not uncommon and the stories and statistics are heartbreaking.”
CLIMATE CHAOS
Hottest Year Doesn’t Dent Denial written by ClimateDenierRoundup: “2015 lived up to expectations and was officially designated the hottest year in recorded history, beating the record set in 2014 by a wide margin. As a result, deniers can’t just reuse last year's uncertainty argument (though they are still clinging to last year’s satellite excuse). Unfortunately, this strong scientific data doesn’t mean that bloggers or politicians (like the now widely debunked Ted Cruz) are likely to just accept this new record. Deniers are scrambling to find ways to rebut the science, even as climate scientists reiterated that this streak of records provides yet more evidence against the ‘pause’ theory.”
Extreme Weather & Natural Phenomena
Daily Kos Weather Center: Blizzard moves north written by terrypinder: “The other day I made a forecast. I woke up this morning to realize that forecast is off. Why? In my yard there’s a ruler. It’s only a simple 1 foot ruler. I can’t see it at all right now. So I go out to to measure with my tape measure. I get an average of 16”! I was only supposed to get a foot at my house 30 miles north of Harrisburg, PA, if even that! What happened? Well, turns out, this was forecast. During the evening on Thursday and most of Friday, one of the short-range models began dumping immense amounts of water on us. This model’s named the NAM, and I looked at it, like most others, and noted two things: The heavy snow had shifted north (plausible, and I expected that), and it was dumping crazy amounts of snow (feet where I did not expect feet.) So I rejected part of that solution and went to bed last night expecting not more than a foot of snow—a lot of snow, but nothing I haven’t seen before. I’ve lived in Central PA almost 16 years and Pennsylvania all my life. Some winters, it snows a lot. So I about fell over when I measured 16”, with still six to seven more hours of snow to come. I will not be shocked to get two solid feet at my house. Two. Feet. We had back to back storms that combined gave us that in 2010.”
Major Winter Storm Update #2 written by skywrnchsr509: “All winter weather warnings have been removed from Arkansas and Missouri with only a few remaining in Mississippi as the storm begins to pull east. Additional Warnings and Advisories have been added further Northeast up into Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts. All other Warnings and advisories remain in effect for today as the primary low begins to transition to its secondary location. This change will bring in the snowfall to the Eastern Carolinas bringing it almost to the coast line by Saturday morning. As a reminder for all who have so far been disappointed by the situation they find themselves in, this storm is far from over and will be impacting your regions this evening and overnight tonight. Further north you will see snow move in even later than that as the storm pulls to the Northeast. The Southern New England area won’t see its first flakes until mid morning on Saturday.”
ENERGY
Nuclear, Coal, Oil and Gas
Five Things You Should Know About President Obama's Coal Leasing Moratorium written by Cesia Kearns via Mary Anne Hitt: “When President Obama and Interior Secretary Sally Jewell announced a suspension of pending federal coal leases and a top-to-bottom review of the long broken coal program, we cheered. Digging past the headline, here are important implications about what this proposal means for the climate, the economy, and our future that are worth cheering about. 1- Serious climate progress: The coal lease suspension stops the zombie-like inertia of a federal coal leasing program that is a major source of our country’s climate pollution. That inertia simply can’t continue if we are serious about climate. Just this week, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and NASA announced that 2015 was the hottest year on record. With rising temperatures, extreme weather, and human displacement, we know that not all populations will be harmed by climate change in the same way.”
Emissions Controls & Carbon Pricing
Extinction, Big Oil and Some Inconvenient Political Truths written by Scott Crowder: “And it may be too late for the human race even if you do vote for Bernie. How bad is it? Scientists Consider Extinction. According to a study just published in Nature Geoscience, twice as much methane as previously thought is being released from the East Siberian Arctic Shelf … The day after Nature Geoscience released its study, a group of scientists from Harvard and other leading academic institutions published a report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences showing that the amount of methane being emitted in the U.S. both from oil and agricultural operations could be 50 percent greater than previous estimates ...”
Hydro-Fracking
Stealing from our children written by pumaconcolor: “For a nation that touts how concerned we are for our children, we have a poor history and current day record in that regard. We have a long and sordid record of how we continue to steal from future generations, our children and grandchildren. From the massive destruction of forest and fauna in the 1800’s to our current national debt, any excess use and spending of resources and money are resources and money, not of our own but of our children, and in many cases, our grandchildren. This thievery is especially true for our fossil fuels. For example, up to when I was born, 1949 (yes I am an old white guy!), the U.S. petroleum industry had exported approximately 1.1 billion barrels of oil (www.eia.gov/...). This was my oil, my generation’s oil! They did not need it and could have kept it in the ground for me and my generation. But instead they sold it, sold my inheritance, at a fraction of what it was worth in my lifetime. Of course my generation has not done any better.”
OCEANS, WATER, DROUGHT
Delta advocates blast Governor Brown for pushing tunnels plan in State of the State written by Dan Bacher: “Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, executive director of Restore the Delta, immediately responded to the state of the state by saying, ‘We are thrilled to hear Governor Brown’s commitment to protecting ecological systems. And we are glad he has committed to solving today's problems without making them worse.’ However, she then blasted Brown for moving ahead with the Delta Tunnels project, considered by many to be potentially the most environmentally destructive project in California history.”
Assemblymember Eggman introduces bill to force vote on Delta Tunnels written by Dan Bacher: “On the day after Governor Jerry Brown once again touted his Delta Tunnels Plan (‘reliable conveyance’) as a ‘solution’ to California's water problems in his State of the State address, Assemblymember Susan Talamantes Eggman (D-Stockton) announced the introduction of legislation to block the Governor’s controversial project unless it is approved by California voters on a statewide ballot. ‘An enormous amount of time and energy has been wasted rebranding and repackaging the same old Peripheral Canal plan that voters rejected decades ago,’ Eggman said. ‘It’s tragic that despite our ongoing drought, this flawed plan is being forced on us without any true debate even though it will not add one drop of water to California’s supply, but it will raise the water rates and potentially property taxes of millions of Californians.’”
Three groups 'vehemently oppose' agribusiness-backed San Luis Drainage Resolution Act written by Dan Bacher: “C-WIN, CSPA and AquAlliance vehemently oppose HR 4366, the San Luis Drainage Resolution Act sponsored by Rep. David G. Valadao (CA-21). This proposed legislation would approve the drainage litigation settlement between Westlands Water District and the federal government. The agreement will increase the federal deficit and lock in annual water subsidies forever. It also converts the district’s current two-year water contracts to a permanent contract for up to 890,000 acre-feet of water annually. For the sake of comparison, the City of Los Angeles uses only 587,000 acre feet in a typical year.”
President Obama defends clean water written by RockyMtnHigh: “You may have missed among all the primary season battles a vital action by President Obama last week: vetoing GOP led efforts to overturn EPA and Army Corps rules for protection of water quality. Liberty Equality Fraternity and Trees has a great summary of what the rules do in diaries noting the failed vote to override the veto in the Senate (sadly three Dems were on the wrong side of that vote, fortunately the override still failed) and the earlier vote in the House to overturn the Clean Water Rules (12 Ds defected on that vote) that set up the need for the President's veto. [...] At a time when the children of Flint have been poisoned through lead tainted water, it is unconscionable that politicians would be trying to roll back water quality regulations. That the President needed to use his veto pen to turn back this assault is just another reminder of why we must win in November.”
WILDERNESS, NATIONAL FORESTS AND PARKS & OTHER PUBLIC LANDS
GOP chair of Natural Resources Committee seeks public lands giveaway disguised as environmental bill written by Meteor Blades: “Two Republican Utah congressmen have introduced a deceptive public lands initiative designed to open a million acres of public land to private interests while pretending to protect other lands under a bogus “wilderness” designation where weakened environmental regulations would make that label a very unfunny joke. For 40 years, extremists have been eager to take over federal lands. It started with the Sagebrush Rebellion of the 1970s, which was reincarnated in the 1980s and ‘90s as the so-called Wise Use movement, which was and is a network of right-wing grassroots and corporate front groups focused on attacking environmentalists and promoting free-for-all resource exploitation. Among its exemplars have been James G. Watt, the corrupt secretary of Interior appointed by Ronald Reagan, and funders like the cult fascist Rev. Sun Myung Moon, founder of theWashington Times. The movement’s anti-government, anti-environmentalist rhetoric has sparked its own cohort of stormtroopers whose latest action is on display in the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, where ever more militants are showing up every day to join the armed takeover and demand that the land be given back to its original owners. They mean themselves, of course, not the Northern Paiutes whose presence there dates back several thousand years. That land has been in federal hands since it was pried from the Paiutes nearly 140 years ago.”
Hammonds Who Bundys Champion Threatened to Wrap Official’s Son in Barbed Wire and Drown Him written by Portia Elm: “It seems the BLM has shown the same ‘patience’ with the Hammond family as they have with the Cliven Bundy gang. Since the 1980s, the Hammond have: Made death threats against the then refuge manager (1980s); Cut fences and grazed on BLM land without paying fees; Done aerial gunning of coyotes in the Malheur Refuge; The Hammond cows were destroying the riparian habitat in the Refuge in the 1990s: Cameron says, ‘The cattle like to eat the young plants, willows, elderberries we were trying to introduce in the creek banks, it’s like candy for them.’ An entire replanting was wiped out by the Hammonds’ cattle and ‘a year or two later we would go back and try to restore the habitat to stabilize the creek banks.’”
Leaving the land of plywood Bundystan as Freemen: 60 days ahead for Laminates because Constitution written by annieli: “The latest glitch in the Bundystani saga now hinges on Constitutional inerrancy as Ammo(ro)n Bundy now questions the FBI’s authority as one to be granted by the Harney County Sheriff in a reprise of a trope from the Bundy Nevada standoff. But in the East Oregon batustan, and like commas and militias, the moronic always trumps the literal. And hanging trees aren’t that far away for frontier justicing. Negotiations to end the occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge went awry Friday, as protest leader Ammon Bundy questioned the FBI's legal authority to even be in Harney County. The next step toward resolving the 3-week-old standoff isn't clear. The hang-up appears to be Bundy's belief that FBI agents have no standing to deal with the refuge takeover unless they're deputized by Harney County Sheriff Dave Ward.”
Open letter to the Obama Administration regarding the Wildlife Refuge Siege written by judycalman: “My name is Judy Calman, I'm an attorney for an conservation non-profit in New Mexico. I am extremely familiar with the Bundy/anti-federal/Public land takeover movement, and have been working against it for many years in the Southwest. I am becoming increasingly angry that the Justice Department and Administration (I'm sending this email to the Justice Department too) has not taken ANY action regarding the illegal seizure of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon. Trust me, I completely understand the desire to avoid a violent confrontation, and I agree with that goal. I also understand that it's a complicated issue, and that they should not be turned into martyrs for their "movement" in any way. That being said, I am completely baffled as to why the Administration has done NOTHING while a community is terrorized, while active threats against the US Government are being made, while they're trying to recruit others to revolt, while federal employees are forced out of their jobs, and perhaps most importantly, why land that is supposedly publicly owned and publicly accessible to all Americans is now held at gunpoint by an insane militia group and not open to the public.”
Inside the Refuge (Part II): Respect the Perimeter written by Max Udargo: “I spent most of Saturday, January 9, at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, one week after a group led by Ammon Bundy had seized control of it. This is the second story I’ve written about my experience, the first is here. I left my hotel room in Burns early that Saturday morning, got breakfast at a restaurant and then headed south to the refuge. Just as I pulled up to the main entrance, Ryan Bundy was leading a small group walking up from inside the refuge, carrying with them a couple of adhesive signs to cover both sides of the official sign mounted at the entrance, which, until they changed it that morning, greeted visitors with, ‘Welcome To Your… National Wildlife Refuge System.’ The occupiers, grammar Nazis on top of everything else, were offended by the misuse of the ellipsis and felt it needed to be redressed.Actually, the sign was being updated to proclaim to the world that the refuge had been wrested from federal control and returned to the control of the local people.”
NO MORE %$#@! BUNDYS written by moreach: “Speaking as a fifth generation Oregonian, most of whose ancestors WALKED here behind wagons, some as early as 1843, I would like to challenge the Bundy ‘militia’ to go back home, as they promised, when assured we DIDN’T WANT THEM. Evidence? The local folk shouted their man Ritzy down at a recent public meeting. He was evicted for threatening violence. The rancher they ‘helped’ by cutting the refuge fence rebuilt it immediately and said he would ‘take steps’ if he caught any of them on his land. He praised the Refuge as a good neighbor.”
The Bundy Gang’s Latest Stunt Proves They are A Horse's ASs written by Jerry Nelson: “There are many reasons to be disturbed by the fact that a band of armed thugs has occupied federal land in Oregon for nearly three weeks with hardly more than a shrug from the authorities. For one thing, if the ringleader were named Hassan instead of Bundy, the right-wing circus on the presidential campaign trail would have been demanding a nuclear response long ago. The Bundy gang’s staged pronouncements about American values, pioneer history and the sacred rights of landowners are offensive. Their disregard for the law is equally so. And their utter lack of self-awareness is breathtaking. It would be funny if they were not committing serious criminal acts.”
Ammon Bundy plans a Saturday ceremony to tear up federal grazing contracts written by Blue Tortoise.
Please, Please, Please, Help Stop Planned Name Changes of Iconic Yosemite National Park Landmarks written by jbob: “Please, please, please sign this petition to the management at Delaware North Corporation. We can't let Delaware North bully Yosemite into changing these iconic names! Please sign the petition to urge DNCY to give up its fight for copyright over Yosemite names! One week ago yesterday the National Park Service had a news release about some corporate shenanigans greed that is infuriating and just plain wrong. [...] Without prior National Park Service concurrence, DNCY or its predecessor had previously trademarked or service-marked several nationally significant properties in the park including The Ahwahnee Hotel, Badger Pass, Curry Village, Wawona Hotel, and Yosemite Lodge. DNCY also trademarked the phrase ‘Yosemite National Park.’”
BYPRODUCTS, TRASH, TOXIC & RADIOACTIVE WASTE
Flint's Toxic Water, Legionnaires Disease, Republican's War on Democracy written by irocdk: “Legionnaires Disease has now been linked by McLaren Regional Center to tainted water supply. That was the headline in today’s Detroit News. Since Flint began drawing water from the Flint River there were 87 reported cases of Legionnaires Disease with 9 deaths. How does Governor Snyder fix that? It is estimated that up to $1.5 billion will be needed to replace the infrastructure.”
Sewer Socialism Works written by gmoke: “Thinking about the Flint, MI lead poisoning government water system I remembered the Sewer Socialists and did a little cut and paste research. ‘Often referred to as “sewer socialism'”for their back-to-basics strategy, Milwaukee Socialists sought to reform the legacy of the Industrial Revolution on the local level by cleaning up neighborhoods and factories with new sanitation systems, municipally-owned water and power systems, community parks, and improved education systems. Progressivism and Socialism had different leaders and spoke different languages, but were, in many ways, remarkably similar in practice. Socialists rejected the Progressive idea of government regulation of industry. Instead, they sought to replace the capitalist system with a planned economy of state-owned industries that would protect workers from business monopolies."’Source: www.wisconsinhistory.org/… Seems to me that Bernie Sanders fits within this history and tradition of American Socialism. Look at the way he governed as a mayor in Burlington, VT and you will see, most likely, what he would be as President.”
If terrorists had poisoned the water in Flint written by TrueBlueMajority: “Village Vet said in one of the diaries about the Flint emails: If an entire municipal water supply were destroyed in a city of 100,000 people and the culprits were determined to be Muslims, we would be steaming every aircraft battle group in our Navy to bomb to smithereens whatever nation did this. I suspect we will not be bombing Lansing, Michigan. Let’s think about this. What if the water supply of a U.S. city had been poisoned by the actions of a terrorist group? Leaving children with skin rashes, seizures, comas, permanent brain damage, and death. Causing other illnesses in adults. Leaving still others dead from Legionnaires’ disease. Let’s just imagine the response from Republicons, shall we? The outrage. The desire to bomb someone back into stone age.”
The poisoning of Flint is domestic terrorism* written by RichardWexler: “*-OR MAYBE JUST CALLOUS INDIFFERENCE, NEGLECT AND RACISM. One of the nightmare scenarios often discussed in stories about domestic terrorism is the one in which a terrorist poisons the water supply for an entire city. Untold numbers suffer from the poisoning and, of course, no one can drink the water. If a terrorist actually did such a thing it would be front page news immediately. There would be round-the-clock television news coverage not seen since 9/11. And Republican presidential candidates would be rushing to outdo each other in demands to bomb something. And yet, when it actually happened the response was very different.”
Some questions for the legal crowd here at Daily Kos about Flint written by terrypinder: “I’m pretty furious about Flint. The water coming out of the taps met the EPA definition of toxic waste. I have a few questions for the legal crowd here, since like many, I’d like to see some quick action and some quick metaphorical head rolling. • Under which Michigan and Federal laws can the emergency manager be charged? • Will there be a grand jury of some kind, at any level? • Under what Michigan and/or Federal laws can Governor Snyder and/or members of his administration be charged? • How soon can this occur? • Which legal entity would be the one to arrest these people if/when we get to that point? • Who would have jurisdiction? The Genesee County District Attorney? The Michigan Attorney General? The US Attorney General? ”
"Christian" Ted Cruz Brings Fresh Water to Flint--But Only For Right-Wing Extremists! written by SemDem: “The most hated man in America just gave another reason to be hated. As you know, there is a medical crisis going on in Michigan with every child in Flint now poisoned with lead. People, especially the poor, are still desperate for clean water. Ted Cruz has entered to do the Christian thing and donate—But only for those who work in ultra-right wing fake pregnancy ‘crisis’ centers. Likely, none of Ted’s water donation will get to the children who actually need the water. That would require working with a real charity, like the Red Cross. Instead, Ted's campaign is coordinating donations through Flint Right to Life for water donations only to be delivered for the ideologically aligned wingnuts who work at these awful anti-abortion centers.”
Flint Water Problems Just Tip of the Iceberg written by Fan143: “The egregious incompetence of the public manager who took over and made decisions about the Flint water system should not be seen as an isolated issue of malfeasance. It needs to be considered in the context of the neoliberal movement to privatize public services, with water and sanitation systems prime targets around the world. I am familiar with these issues only because a family member had worked in the water industry, but an astute reporter should start looking into the larger picture. A good place to start might be the Wikipedia entries on ‘Water Privatization in the United States’ en.wikipedia.org/... which provides some basic information about the ‘profit opportunities’ that both domestic and international companies see in the prospect of privatizing more municipal and local water systems.”
The Children of Flint Are Just Like Me: My Lead Poisoning Story written by AC1TAKERVERGIL: “When I was 2 years young, I was lead poisoned by an airborne source, which was a lead-based paint used in one the homes I used to live. I also must have put something in my mouth when it was on the floor. I am sure you all can understand how children interact with objects with their curiosity (I guess curiosity almost killed me). My parents (maybe in some part grandparents or whoever else related to me) did everything they could to save me and they did. I was admitted to a lead clinic in the summer of 1992 (not sure if such places still exist as of now; possibly) undergoing a therapy, which cleaned at least most of the lead in my blood. [...] From what I recall currently, the effects on me were mainly with my speech and learning disabilities; to some extent my communicating abilities. When I was around children of my age group and above or younger, I was bullied and I never understood why. Looking back, maybe it was about how I looked (I do have red hair and pale skin) or other factors; I do forgive those who hurt me in the past.”
President Obama addressed the Flint water lead poisoning in Detroit speech with an admonition written by Egberto Willies: “President Obama visited Detroit Michigan to highlight the once again booming auto industry. He spoke at a joint General Motors-United Auto Workers facility where he made the following statement about the water lead poisoning by the negligence of Governor Rick Snyder (R-MI): I want to pickup briefly on something that Cindy said and that is just to talk for a second about what's happening in Flint. I am very proud of what I've done as President. The only job that is more important to me is the job of father. And I know that if I was a parent up there, I would be beside myself that my kids health could be at risk. That's why over the weekend I declared a federal emergency in Flint to send more resources on top of the assistance that we've already put on the ground. We've designated federal coordinator to make sure the people of Flint to get what they need from their country yesterday. Yesterday I met with Mayor Weaver in the White House in the oval office. And I told her that we are going to have her back and all the people of Flint's back as they work their way through this terrible tragedy. It is a reminder of why you can't shortchange basic services that we provide to our people and that we together provide as a government to make sure the public health and safety is preserved.”
Erin Brockovich on the Flint water crisis written by directional: “Brockovich explained the cause of Flint’s crisis and why the city switched from Lake Huron to the Flint River. She told Golodryga, ‘Because the city was in bankruptcy, there was an appointed emergency city water manager who decided to save a buck and the governor agreed. They made the switch, added the chloramines that caused all this lead to leach out, and nobody disclosed anything to the residents.’ Brockovich had already called on Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder to resign. On ‘Yahoo News Live’ she went further to suggest criminal charges should be considered: ‘They created this mess and they can’t continue to hide behind it. This is where the residents have every right, and I stand with the residents, to be absolutely furious. This lack of transparency, this deception that cost them their health, their children’s health, potentially for life, is inexcusable.”
Snyder Chief of Staff had Lead Test Meeting with Flint 2 Months Prior to Claimed Knowledge of Crisis written by ericlewis0: “From Progress Michigan: LANSING — Documents obtained by Progress Michigan, a government watchdog group, reveal that Governor Rick Snyder’s Chief of Staff Dennis Muchmore met with Flint residents regarding a positive lead sample on August 4, 2015 — nearly two months before Snyder claims to have known about the lead crisis. The meeting was not referenced in the emails released by Gov. Snyder on January 20th or the timeline released by his administration after his State of the State address. Snyder claims to have first heard about the lead crisis on October 1, 2015.”
AGRICULTURE, FOOD & GARDENING
Another "GMOs are dangerous" article retracted written by SkepticalRaptor: “A few years ago, an article by Gilles-Eric Séralini was published which trumpeted the belief that GMOs cause cancer. That article was widely ridiculed and criticized by scientistsacross the world. Eventually, because of bad study design, terrible statistics, and harsh criticism of the conclusions, the journal that published the article retracted it. It's clear, at least to me, that when a side of a sociopolitical debate lacks scientific evidence, such as the anti-GMO side, they grab at anything, including Séralini's retracted study, in an attempt to cherry-pick themselves into scientific legitimacy. And it's happened again.”
Saturday Morning Garden Blogging: Order Up! written by jayden: “It’s the dead of winter and once again we find ourselves inundated with a colorful assortment of Spring seed, bulb, and plant catalogs arriving in the mail in earnest. Some are impressive glossy-paged mini-magazines with glorious digital photography while others are nothing more than scrappy leaflets on newspaper stock with small artist’s renderings and even finer print. Whatever the style of presentation we find ourselves combing through the pages looking for the latest “must have” while compiling wish list after wish list after wish list. Browsing catalogs and placing orders is the gardener’s annual Rite of Spring and helps us focus on the seasons ahead and encourages us to once again begin planning our gardens and landscapes. While the catalogs are fun to peruse and helpful for making selections anymore I place all my orders on-line at their various websites.”
TRANSPORTATION & INFRASTRUCTURE
Electric Trucks Will Be Environmental Game Changer (When Perfected) written by Enviroman: “Ian Wright, who is a co-founder of Tesla, claims that commercial trucks are the real market for electric vehicles, not cars. We already have electric truck concepts which are working, and there are other ways as well in which the fleets are being turned into electric-powered vehicles. There are some issues which have kept electric trucks and cars off the market. One problem is that it is rather hard for the batteries to store all the power needed to travel any sort of distance, though this is changing fast as our battery technology is improving. [...] Fully commercial electric trucks, right now, are not practical. What we are seeing these days in the market is the availability of Hybrid trucks. Hybrid cars have become very common and we can expect things to go the same way for trucks.”
CANDIDATES, STATE AND DC ECO-RELATED POLITICS
Trump On Privatizing Public Lands (and hunting) written by ban nock: “Frankly from the sound of it Trump has no idea of how public lands or hunters figure into Western politics. Trump’s son might well be a hunter but I don’t think Trump has ever stepped far off the pavement. I’d be unsurprised if ten days after being elected he bought Yosemite and Yellowstone to make another Trump Tower. [...] In reading postings to hunting forums I’m fairly surprised at some of the comments. Public land privatization is a burning issue with Western hunters, it is the one single make or break issue and Republicans have pretty much aligned themselves with the “privatize it” bunch. There’s a saying that Democrats want to take your guns and Republicans want to take your land. For now the possibility of land privatization is a whole lot scarier than gun confiscation.”
Hillary Doesn't Have a Full Climate Plan Yet, So Her Campaign Is Lying About Bernie's written by Liberty Equality Fraternity and Trees: “Over the past few weeks, Hillary has been attacking Bernie for a lack of specificity in his proposals. As VL Baker noted in a diary earlier today, the Sanders campaign called out the Clinton campaign for its own failure to provide details for its climate campaign. Hillary’s climate page says that the information provided is ‘just the beginning’ of an energy and climate strategy to be released in the upcoming months. Months have passed, but the Clinton campaign has yet to flesh out the strategy. The Sanders campaign highlighted some key questions unanswered: ‘Will she support a carbon tax? Will she continue President Obama’s moratorium on all new coal leases on public land? Will she commit to banning fossil fuels extraction on public lands? Does she oppose offshore drilling? Fracking? We just don’t know.’”
Where is Hillary's Climate Plan? written by VL Baker: “The Sanders campaign and other inquiring minds would like to know “Where the hell is Hillary’s Climate Plan?The Sanders campaign issued the statement below in conjunction with it’s new Iowa specific ad above. ‘Sen. Sanders believes stopping the worst effects of climate change is a critical challenge for the next president. That’s why he’s proposed a bold and comprehensive proposal that lays out what he would do once he’s in the White House to put people before polluters. His plan cuts U.S. carbon pollution 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030 and 80 percent by 2050. He does it by putting a tax on carbon pollution, repealing fossil fuel subsidies and making massive investments in energy efficiency and clean, sustainable energy such as wind and solar power. With only 12 days to go before the Iowa caucuses, however, it remains unclear whether Hillary Clinton will tell voters what she would do to address climate change.’”
MISCELLANY
Oil Bust Goes Boom On Kids In Oklahoma With Mental Health Needs written by crxmeup: “The oil bust is really wreaking havoc on budgets in Oklahoma. It appears there is going be at least a billion dollar deficit. To make matter worse, they are led by a tone deaf Governor who is gung ho about cutting the income taxes of the wealthiest Oklahomans. This tax cut, cuts a quarter percent off of the top tax rate. A tax cut that is very ill timed. I swear she wants to be just like Sam Brownback in Kansas. Since revenues are down so much, a ‘Revenue Failure’ has been declared. All state agencies must make cuts. The healthcare agency must make a 3% cut. They are headed by a Republican hack who has made it clear that they do not need the Federal dollars that Medicaid expansion would bring.”