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 24,850 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
citisven writes—The chance the Birdie missed (but is still within grasp of a reusable mug): “By now, everyone has seen the iconic photo of the bird landing on Bernie Sanders’ podium at a recent rally in Portland. While the reactions to what’s come to be known as the ‘Birdie Sanders’ incident have ranged from ‘the universe is rooting for Bernie’
to ‘it’s a bird, alright,’ depending, I suppose, on the observer’s affiliation in the Democratic primary, the spontaneous and synergistic convergence of natural world with human emotion undoubtedly made for an iconic image. Personally, I thought it was a genuinely sweet moment. However, as someone who cares deeply about said natural world I couldn’t help but feel disturbed by something in the image that was smaller than Bernie but larger than the bird: the single-use plastic water bottle.Before I go further, let me just say that this would have been the exact same scene had it been a Hillary Clinton or any other political rally in this country. (Or a State of the Union response, for that matter). Single-use plastic bottles have become so commonplace in our society that they’re just normal props that very few think about twice. Ironically, plastic bottles seem to be about as close to bipartisan as it gets among our bickering elected officials and constituents, outside of San Francisco.”
AuntieB writes—Gardening with Chickens: “I have wanted to have chickens for ages. One of the thing I was most excited about when moving from an urban no-chickens-allowed area to my rural place three years ago was that I could start a small egg laying flock. Now that I actually have some chickens, I love them even more. The eggs are wonderful but perhaps even more valuable is their contribution to the garden. My chickens and two ducks stay in a large chicken run, measuring about 40 feet long and 60 feet wide. Right now, though, they are in a small fenced off area of about 10 feet by 40 feet to allow the newly reseeded chicken yard to grow for a while. Off the main chicken yard, there is a small bump-out in front of the rabbit hutches that I consider to be one of the most important parts of my garden: It is the chickens’ compost area. It is connected to the main chicken yard, but off to one side. In this area goes everything a gardener would normally put into a compost heap: kitchen scraps, garden and yard waste, spent straw, leaves, and so on. This is where the chickens spend most of their days. They kick through this small area over and over, eating bugs and seeds and scraps. They leave behind poop and mellowed organic matter. Now that it is early spring here in Northern Ohio, I am harvesting the compost the chickens have processed for me.”
tin41 writes—The next taxpayer bailout: the coal industry: “The decline in demand for coal has many coal energy companies in or approaching bankruptcy. But what about the mess that they will leave behind — who will pay for that? Investors? Executives? Nope. Taxpayers. A worsening financial crisis for the nation’s biggest coal companies is sparking concerns that U.S. taxpayers could be stuck with hundreds of millions, if not billions, of dollars in cleanup costs across a landscape of shuttered mines stretching from Appalachia to the northern Plains. Billions in profits during good times that should have gone for clean-up and mitigation efforts were ignored to preserve profits, buyback stocks to increase share price, and give massive bonuses to executives. The coal industry is not alone. Every nuclear plant has a spent fuel storage pool with nowhere else to store it. Someone will have to pay for both the maintenance of these pools and sufficient security to protect these stores long after the nuclear power plants have ceased operations. Many nuclear plants will be reaching the end of their license in the next decade.
CRITTERS AND THE GREAT OUTDOORS
Lenny Flank writes—Daily Bucket: A Day at Lake Jackson FL: “A few days ago I spent an afternoon walking around at the Mounds Archaeological Park, then kayaking on Lake Jackson with our fellow Daily Bucketeer Matching Mole. Here are some photos of critters encountered. [...] Sadly, I was not able to get a photo of our most exciting adventure—when we were ...uh….attacked by fish. BIG fish. Big FLYING fish. (That’s why some of the photos have blurry patches—I had water on my lens.)”
OceanDiver writes—The Daily Bucket - drifting in an ebb tide: “The other day we took our jaunt around Whale Rocks on a strong ebb tide. It was a windless quiet day and brilliantly sunny, the first warm day we’ve had this spring. To my great surprise the Rocks were empty of sea lions! Usually there are about 30 lounging cheek by jowl, with a few youngsters sometimes wrestling noisily, roaring. This time neither rock had a single sea lion. [...] No cormorants either. A dozen gulls and four Bald Eagles, but otherwise bare this day. The Sea Lions migrate back out to the open ocean for the summer but not until May or so. Then I saw where they were. Every Sea Lion was in the water, on all sides of the Rocks.”
owktree writes—Daily Bucket: Walks in Hemlock-Canadice State Forest: “This diary covers two short hikes along two of the smaller Finger Lakes in New York state. Plus some additional wildlife photos taken elsewhere that same weekend. The Finger Lakes of western New York are eleven narrow, but relatively deep, lakes formed due to glacial activity that scoured and deepened existing valleys. All of them drain to the north towards Lake Ontario. Hemlock-Canadice State Forest is about 7,000 acres of protected forest land surrounding the small Finger Lakes of Canadice Lake and Hemlock Lake. This area is located about 30 miles south of Rochester, NY. These two Finger Lakes are unique in being undeveloped and reforested since they have served as the water supply for the City of Rochester since the early 1900s. These photos cover short walks along both the east and west side of Canadice Lake starting from the northern end, and a walk along the trail on the western side of Hemlock Lake, again starting from the northern end. Spring is just starting here in western New York. Only a few early blooming flowers are up, the trees are just budding, and there is very little insect activity.”
Lenny Flank writes—Photo Diary: Lake Jackson Archaeological Mounds, FL: “The Lake Jackson Mounds, near Tallahassee FL, was a large Native American village and ceremonial center, constructed by a group of ‘Fort Walton Culture’ natives who were likely ancestors of the Appalachee tribe. Archaeological excavations show that the site was first occupied around 1000 CE, and grew steadily in size for the next 500 years. In all, at least seven mounds were built by carefully piling up sand and soil and compacting it, one basketful at a time. (Only two of the mounds are well-preserved today.) Although one of the mounds contained burials, the others served as flat-topped terraces for ceremonial buildings. The ceremonial mounds had a nearby flat Plaza area for gatherings, and was surrounded by residential huts. Some of the mounds seem to have been the site of religious rituals, and contained artifacts, including copper axes and ornaments, tying them to the larger Southeast Ceremonial Complex. In around 1500 CE, the site was abandoned, and the inhabitants seem to have moved a few miles away and built the Appalachee trading village of Anhaica. In 1539, Anhaica was occupied by the Spanish troops under Hernando De Soto.”
CLIMATE CHAOS
Pakalolo writes—Study: Hydrofracturing of ice shelves will cause the high ice walls of Antarctica to collapse: “New computer models have shown that Antarctica’s ice sheets, which contain 70% of the worlds fresh water, are on the verge of a breakdown that could push seas to heights not experienced since prehistoric times. From the abstract published in Nature on March 30. Polar temperatures over the last several million years have, at times, been slightly warmer than today, yet global mean sea level has been 6–9 metres higher as recently as the Last Interglacial (130,000 to 115,000 years ago) and possibly higher during the Pliocene epoch (about three million years ago). In both cases the Antarctic ice sheet has been implicated as the primary contributor, hinting at its future vulnerability. Here we use a model coupling ice sheet and climate dynamics—including previously underappreciated processes linking atmospheric warming with hydrofracturing of buttressing ice shelves and structural collapse of marine-terminating ice cliffs—that is calibrated against Pliocene and Last Interglacial sea-level estimates and applied to future greenhouse gas emission scenarios. Antarctica has the potential to contribute more than a metre of sea-level rise by 2100 and more than 15 metres by 2500, if emissions continue unabated. In this case atmospheric warming will soon become the dominant driver of ice loss, but prolonged ocean warming will delay its recovery for thousands of years.”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Utilities Fight Back Against Clean Energy Transition: “Two recent stories suggest that traditional energy utilities are changing how they deal with their public image. Edison International—the parent company of Southern California Edison, one of the largest electrical utilities in the US— announced that it’s starting a new business to do energy consulting and management. Its aim is to ‘help create this market for what one might call Energy-as-a-Service.’ In other words, this business will work to help utilities manage the transition from a monopoly to a complex, competitive industry. Today, utilities need to know how to respond to competition from things that challenge their business model like rooftop solar, and learn how to incorporate utility-scale renewable projects like wind farms. On a related—but slightly less honorable—front, the Edison Electric Institute (EEI) is leading a charge to rebrand utilities. In order to improve their public image, they have hired a crisis communications expert. With policy battles between utilities and clean energy being waged across the country, the industry is feeling vulnerable to attacks. One suggestion was to apparently co-opt the term ‘community solar.’ Currently, this term refers to a solar panel or farm owned by a large group of small investors who would be otherwise unable to afford panels (like residents of a housing complex, or multiple businesses combining money to purchase panels.)”
ENERGY
Nuclear, Coal, Oil and Gas
Garrett writes—Huffpo's Big Story on Bribery in the Oil Industry: “Huffington Post and The Age, in Australia, are publishing a story on corruption in the oil industry. The story comes from a large leak of documents they have obtained. A massive leak of confidential documents has for the first time exposed the true extent of corruption within the oil industry, implicating dozens of leading companies, bureaucrats and politicians in a sophisticated global web of bribery and graft. After a six-month investigation across two continents, Fairfax Media and The Huffington Post can reveal that billions of dollars of government contracts were awarded as the direct result of bribes paid on behalf of firms including British icon Rolls-Royce, US giant Halliburton, Australia’s Leighton Holdings and Korean heavyweights Samsung and Hyundai. The investigation centres on a Monaco company called Unaoil, run by the jet-setting Ahsani clan. The Bribe Factory, the Age. Unaoil is acting as a middleman, bribing officials in oil-producing nations to help client companies win projects. Discussion of bribery, in the leaked documents, is often very blunt.”
puzzld writes—Wyoming Coal Industry layoffs: “My Facebook is blowing up with news of friends and family who are losing their jobs, and of course Obama is to blame. It’s a tough time for the families involved. I don’t see anything about this here, so here are a few links … Alpha Natural Resources is asking a bankruptcy judge for permission to cancel certain labor union agreements and to cut retiree benefits [...] Both Peabody Energy and Arch Coal announced Thursday they were cutting 15 percent from North Antelope Rochelle and Black Thunder Mines. The totals amounted to more than 460 jobs in northeast Wyoming.”
xxdr zombiexx writes—Coal companies may not particularly enjoy regulation, so they might get creative to evade it: “A coalition of environmental groups are alleging that a large power company is using a fake farm in part of a shell game to hide their pollution and pretend to dispose of/treat it to circumvent laws and regulations and stuff like that. I am a liberal and ‘mistrustful’ of powerful corporations, power (oil, coal, electrical, nuclear) companies in particular. These are among the most powerful people/corporate entities who whine and wail about ‘regulations’ eating into profits, taking caviar and Cuban cigars out of the mouths of their kids. But then they are all miffed and indignant when those in the know lambaste them for profits over people’s lives. This situation, while likely bordering on ‘evil,’ shows some real creativity.”
Ellen Cantarow and Alison Rose Levy write (via TomDispatch)—Could Nuclear Disaster Come to America? ”As the Fukushima tragedy struck, President Obama assured Americans that U.S. nuclear plants were closely monitored and built to withstand earthquakes. That statement covered one of the oldest plants in the country, the Indian Point Energy Center (IPEC) in Westchester, New York, first opened in 1962. One of 61 commercial nuclear plants in the country, it has two reactors that generate electricity for homes across New York City and Westchester County. It is located in the sixth most densely populated urban area in the world, the New York metropolitan region, just 30 miles north of Manhattan Island and the planet's most economically powerful city. The plant sits astride two seismic faults, which has prompted those opposing its continued operation to call for a detailed analysis of its capacity to resist an earthquake. In addition, a long series of accidents and ongoing hazards has only increased the potential for catastrophe. According to a report by the National Resources Defense Council (NDRC), if a nuclear disaster of a Fukushima magnitude were to strike Indian Point, it would necessitate the evacuation of at least 5.6 million people. In 2003, the existing evacuation plan for the area was deemed inadequate in a report by James Lee Witt, former head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.”
Meteor Blades writes—Top exec over methane-leaking SoCal Gas gets fat bonus as company seeks to lowball mitigation pledge: “You may remember it took the SoCal Gas Company nearly four months to plug the methane leak from its decaying natural gas storage facility just north of Los Angeles. By the time it fixed the problem, 96,000 tons of methane had leaked, thousands of residents of the Porter Ranch development had reported ill effects, 6,000 had moved into temporary accommodations away from the methane plume, and a substantial amount of a highly potent greenhouse gas had been added to our already overburdened atmosphere. If this had happened in Japan, the CEO of SoCal Gas’s owner, Sempra, would have offered at the very least a public apology with a deep bow of contrition and, quite possibly, resigned. But as Mike Hiltzik reported Monday, that’s not what Sempra CEO and chairwoman Debra L. Reed did. Instead, she collected a $3.17 million bonus, bringing her total compensation for 2015 to $16.1 million. Oh, sure, the company penalized her $130,000 for the mess at the Aliso Canyon facility. Eight-tenths of 1 percent of her compensation. Four other Sempra executives were also given a financial tsk-tsk totaling $157,000, but together they collected $3.9 in compensation. Why did they get off so easy?”
Hydraulic Fracturing
Jamess writes—Some Fracking Fallout: “Nothing to see here … out of sight, out of mind. What’s a little spilt toxics, among frenemies … According to data obtained from leading oil- and gas-producing states, ‘more than 180 million gallons of wastewater spilled from 2009 to 2014 in incidents involving ruptured pipes, overflowing storage tanks and other mishaps or even deliberate dumping,’ AP reports, tainting agricultural land, poisoning drinking water, and sparking the mass die-off of plant and animal life. Most of the incidents involved the spill of fracking wastewater, which is a combination of underground brine mixed with a slurry of undisclosed chemicals. As the story notes, "A big reason why there are so many spills is the sheer volume of wastewater" produced, which according an organization of state groundwater agencies, amounts to roughly 10 barrels for every barrel of oil, or more than 840 billion gallons a year. The report details a sampling of incidents, which help illustrate the scope of the problem. In one instance, a roughly 1 million gallon spill in North Dakota in 2006 caused a ‘massive die-off of fish, turtles and plants in the Yellowstone River and a tributary.’”
Walter Einenkel writes—Stanford scientists find that fracking has 'clear impact' on drinking water in Wyoming: “Back in 2011, the EPA found chemicals in Wyoming drinking water that fit the profile of fracking contamination. They were in the beginning of an investigation into the environmental impact of natural gas extraction. A little less than a year ago, the EPA said that after five years of studying Wyoming fracking, there were risks but nothing that would constitute a systematic problem for drinking water supplies. Our own Meteor Blades pointed out that the ‘study’ was woefully incomplete and the headlines of safe drinking water was probably a mirage. Scientists from Stanford University released a new study on Thursday that says underground drinking water supplies were clearly impacted by hydraulic fracturing. Although injection of stimulation fluids into USDWs in the Pavillion Field was documented by EPA, potential impact to USDWs at the depths of stimulation as a result of this activity was not previously evaluated. Wyoming and Pavillion specifically are a flash point in the battle to regulate and create transparency in the oil and gas industry. Pavillion has a history of possible drinking water contamination going back over two decades.[...] The Stanford study exposes the fracking industry’s penchant for drilling in places they forget to tell people about.”
unclechet writes—Fracking, a Clinton mission as SOS: “Calculating Hillary Clinton’s ties to the fossil fuel industry by analyzing contributions to her campaign and PAC is complicated. The campaign finance system is convoluted, offering obscurity for donors. Yes, lobbyists with long ties to the industry have raised money for Clinton and her PAC, but maybe they weren’t influenced by their current and former day jobs. Who knows? However there is an easy way to analyze Clinton’s ties to the fossil fuel industry and fracking, its signature extraction process. All we have to do is review her record of promoting fracking, when she was Secretary of State. Fortunately, Mother Jones has already done the work. In a 2014 story titled “How Hillary Clinton’s State Department Sold Fracking to the World,” Mother Jones’ Mariah Blake outlines Clinton’s efforts to promote fracking.”
Renewables, Efficiency & Conservation
Lib Dem FoP writes—World's Biggest Floating Solar Panel Array Starting Operation: “What will temporarily be the world's biggest ever floating solar panel array is due on line by today. It has been installed on part of a reservoir operated by Thames Water just to the west of London. It is expected to generate enough electricity annually to power around 1800 homes. A larger array, around three time the size, will start operation in Japan in 2018. The array covers around a tenth of the surface area of the Queen Elizabeth II reservoir, one of a group of three known as the Walton Reservoirs in West Molesey, Surrey. These store water taken from the Thames until it flows by gravity to filter beds and other treatment works for use as drinking water. This is already used to generate green energy as there is a hydro-electric plant exploiting the height difference, the electricity being used to raise more water from the Thames. By only covering around 10% of the surface area of the largest reservoir, their use by wildlife is not affected. The three are part of a Ramsdar site, a wetlands of international significance, called the South West London Waterbodies.”
OCEANS, WATER, DROUGHT
Dan Bacher writes—Commission To Vote On Postponing Scientific Assessments Of Marine Reserves: “The Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative, one of the most controversial environmental processes in California history, is known for its many broken promises and ‘inconvenient truths.’ On April 13, the California Fish and Game Commission at its meeting in Santa Rosa will consider a plan that postpones scientific assessments that would evaluate whether ‘marine protected areas’ (MPA)s have effectively restored fish populations. It proposes to change regional scientific reviews of the effectiveness of ‘marine protected areas’ from once every five years, as originally promised, to once every 10 years. It is very important that anglers and public trust advocates be there at the meeting to protest this change in plans – and sign an on-line petition urging the Commission to keep their promise to conduct regional reviews of MPAs once every five years. The meeting will take place on April 13 starting at 8:30 am at the Flamingo Conference Resort & Spa, 2777 Fourth Street, Santa Rosa, CA.”
CANDIDATES, STATE AND DC ECO-RELATED POLITICS
OmahaDemocrat writes—Column by Activist Who Asked Hillary Clinton to Pledge to Reject Fossil Fuel Contributions: “Today, I said to Hillary, ‘Thank you for tackling climate change. Will you act on your words and reject future fossil fuel money in your campaign?’ I was genuinely shocked by her response. But I want to make sure we are focused on the issue at hand: asking our candidates to take a stand to fix our democracy. Rejecting fossil fuel money sends a strong signal. To be clear, we are talking about more than just individual contributions from oil and gas employees. According to data compiled by Greenpeace’s research department, Secretary Clinton’s campaign and the Super PAC supporting her have received more than $4.5 million from the fossil fuel industry during the 2016 election cycle. Eleven registered oil and gas industry lobbyists have bundled over 1 million dollars to her campaign. I wish I had half the guts as she does. Her message is clear, and it should be the message of our party. Fossil fuels are destroying our planet, our politics, and our ability to make meaningful progress.”
OmahaDemocrat writes—Clinton: 'I'm so sick' of Sanders campaign lying about me: “Fossil Fuel Investors Are Pumping Millions of Dollars Into Hillary Clinton's Campaign. Fossil fuel interests have pumped $3.25 million into the largest super PAC supporting Hillary Clinton's candidacy for the White House. Approximately one in every 15 dollars given to Priorities USA Action, which took in $50.5 million in contributions last year, came from donors linked to oil and natural gas interests, according to data compiled by Greenpeace. But fossil fuel interests are also sending checks directly to her campaign. Clinton has take in nearly $268,000 in contributions from individuals employed in the oil and gas sector this election cycle, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.”
InteGritty writes—Bernie v. Hillary fossil-fuel funding debate doesn't need a fact check, it needs an attitude check: “Out of nowhere, for the first time all campaign, Democrats are talking about fossil fuel. Well, sort of. Instead of engaging with something useful like whose plan will stop burning fossil fuels the fastest, the Sanders/Clinton debate devolved into a tedious and boring squabble over exactly how much funding Clinton had received from fossil fuel donors over the years. Should we include bundlers? Or no bundlers? Should we look at Hillary’s Senate funding or only her 2016 numbers? What about Bernie’s micro-drop of fossil-fuel low-level employee money? You know what? Get a grip. Neither side looks good in this ‘debate.’ All it has done is pull both campaigns both off message and out of their stylistic sweet spots. If they want to win New York, they each need an attitude check, pronto.”
oldmancoyote22 writes—Bernie gets 3 Pinocchios; He should apologize: “After the back and forth between the two campaigns over who lied about whom, WaPo weighs in: The Sanders campaign is exaggerating the contributions that Clinton has received from the oil and gas industry. In the context of her overall campaign, the contributions are hardly significant. It’s especially misleading to count all of the funds raised by lobbyists with multiple clients as money ‘given’ by the fossil-fuel industry. These attacks are misleading and desperate. If Bernie can't win selling his vision, he should focus on his attacks on the GOP, not Hillary. But more than that, he should tell the truth. Lying on the campaign trail does not reflect progressive values.”
educatordcm writes—Rachel Maddow Show Analyzes Bernie's Claim That HILLARY Is In The Pocket Of Big Oil... It's FALSE! “ Interesting analysis from the Rachel Maddow Show in an article titled ‘Money From Big Oil Isn’t Always What It Appears To Be.’ The information presented ran VERY CONTRARY to the information Bernie, his campaign, his surrogates, and his supporters are perpetuating. I find this source very credible, as Steve Benen is an Emmy Nominated political writer for The Rachel Maddow Show and an extremely respected political journalist. Some of the highlights: For its part, the Sanders campaign highlighted the encounter and insisted that Clinton ‘has relied heavily on funds from lobbyists working for the oil, gas and coal industry.’ This morning, the senator himself repeated the charge, arguing, ‘The fact of the matter is Secretary Clinton has taken significant money from the fossil fuel industry.’ The point of the criticisms is hardly subtle: Sanders and his supporters want Democrats to see Clinton as someone who may not follow through on her energy and environmental commitments because of the money she’s received from Big Oil. So, is that fair? Let’s unwrap this a bit.”
Sharpspoonoo writes—Fact checkers sort out the Hillary-Bernie Fossil Fuel contributions spat: “And they’re all saying the same thing.1)The Washington Post has given the Sanders campaign 3 Pinocchios: As our colleague Philip Bump noted, about 0.15 percent of Clinton’s campaign and outside PAC money is from the ‘oil and gas industry,’ compared to 0.04 percent of Sanders’s contributions. So it’s pretty hard to describe that as ‘significant,”’as Sanders did in his interview. They mentioned the Super PAC contributions: Then another $3.35 million donations were directed by such lobbyists to Priorities USA, a Super PAC backing Clinton. We should note that under the law Clinton cannot coordinate with the Super PAC so she has no control over these donations. So that adds up to more than $4.5 million. That’s certainly a bigger number than $333,000, but it’s still only 2 percent of the total contributions received by Clinton and outside groups backing her. Indeed, the Center for Responsive Politics does not list oil and gas as one of top 20 industries contributing to Clinton’s campaign. And they addressed the whole thing about lobbyists.”
Ninox writes—Please Stop the Smears: Hillary and "Fossil Fuel Interests": “Recently, some have attacked Clinton for taking a tiny percentage of her campaign contributions from supposed ‘fossil fuel interests.’ Here, we show how much of a stretch those claims are: First there are the direct contributions from people working for fossil fuel companies to Hillary Clinton’s campaign committee. According to the most recent filings, the committee has received $309,107 (as of 3/21/16; source: Center for Responsive Politics) from such donors. These aren’t donations from fossil fuel companies, they are donations from employees of fossil fuel companies. And this total is less than two tenths of one percent (.2%) of the total contributions received by her campaign committee. That sounds more like ‘contributions from employees scared to tell their bosses they are Democrats’ than ‘SHE IS BOUGHT!’ If this counts as “fossil fuel industry” donations to Clinton, why doesn’t the $53,760 Bernie Sanders has raised from fossil fuel employees count as ‘fossil fuel industry donations’ to him? I put both totals in the same category — contributions from Democrats working in an industry whose aims they don’t agree with because they have to pay the bills and support their families.”
Lawrence writes—Hillary is in The Tank For Big Environment! “Recently, a reclisted diary and many comments have been trying to sell us the framing that Hillary Clinton is in the tank for the oil and gas industry because she is receiving more donations from people working in the oil and gas industry than Bernie Sanders. Some folks have been using the open secrets site to try and make some kind of bizarre case for Hillary’s corruption based on what employees in this sector have been donating to her. So I followed the links to Open Secrets, did some research, and was shocked(!) to learn that Hillary has received far more money from people working on environmental issues and people working in the renewable energy sector than Bernie Sanders. She has received 4 times as much in donations from people working on environmental issues as Bernie Sanders and 4.5 times as much from people working in the cleantech/renewable energy industry. Not only that, but she is receiving 3 times as much money from people in those sectors than from the oil and gas industry. This can only mean on thing: Hillary Clinton is in the pocket of the environment and the renewable energy industry!!”
TomP writes—Bernie Campaign Responds to Hillary's Accusation of Lying about Her Contributions: “The statement from the Bernie Sanders campaign tonight: Bernie Sanders’ campaign spokesman Michael Briggs issued the following statement on Thursday after Hillary Clinton said she was ‘sick of the Sanders’ campaign lying about’ contributions she received from the fossil fuel industry: ’The truth is that Secretary Clinton has relied heavily on funds from lobbyists working for the oil, gas and coal industry. According to an analysis by Greenpeace, Hillary Clinton’s campaign and her super PAC have received more than $4.5 million from the fossil fuel industry. In fact, 57 oil, gas and coal industry lobbyists have directly contributed to Clinton’s campaign, with 43 of them contributing the maximum allowed for the primary. Eleven of those 53 lobbyists are working as bundlers and have raised over $1.1 million in bundled contributions between them. ‘It’s no wonder that back in December Clinton refused to agree to stop accepting money from the fossil fuel industry when pressed at a town hall, saying, “I’m not going to do a litmus test on them.” ‘If Secretary Clinton wants to discuss this and other important issues she should stop stalling and agree to a debate in New York before the April 19 primary election.’”
ryeland writes—Watch Howard Dean debunk Bernie's fossil fuel smear... in under 60 seconds! “
Like any good country doctor, Howard Dean has always had a knack for cutting through half-truths and innuendo and bringing the discussion back down to terra firma. The reports that Hillary has literally dozens and dozens of "fossil fuel lobbyists" giving her money is about as credible as the Wash Post's retracted smear about hundreds of FBI agents investigating her. Listen to what Dean says: (Ironically, this outtake is being circulated by Republicans and Sanders supporters who apparently haven't actually watched the video are are relying on its deceptive title.) Hillary took some money from some people who lobby for fossil fuels but that's not all they do and they don't work for fossil fuel companies. They probably are Washington people who collect money for candidates running in the Democratic Party. A lot of that money is going to the Democratic Party and Bernie has not contributed anything to the Democratic Party …”
pensando writes—Democracy Awakening and the Fossil Fuel Industry - A campaign every DKOSer can support: “This deserves viewing. You’ll appreciate comments by Molly Dorozenski, from DemocracyAwakening.org and Greenpeace USA, regardless of which candidate you are supporting. She explains in detail the request to all candidates to refuse fossil fuel industry money. Also, at the end her remarks Dorozenski talks about exciting news from DemocracyAwakening.org, an historic coalition bringing together Greenpeace, the NAACP, Communication Workers of America, Public Citizen and more. They’ve called for an April weekend of action in Washington, DC.”
BYPRODUCTS, TRASH, TOXIC & RADIOACTIVE WASTE
Jen Hayden writes—New report shows nearly 70% of canned goods contain toxic chemical bisphenol A (BPA): “A coalition of 22 organizations from 19 states in the U.S. and one in Canada banded together to do an analysis of canned goods. The goal of their study was to ‘determine to what extent BPA-based epoxy linings are still being used by major national brands and retailers in canned food linings, and whether these companies have policies in place to disclose and/or phase out its continued use.’ They analyzed the lids and interior of 192 cans gravy, soups, pastes and the results were alarming: We expected that the explosion in consumer demand for BPA-free pack- aging would have resulted in swifter action by canned food brands and retailers. However, 67 percent of the cans tested (129 out of 192) contained BPA-based epoxy in the body and/or the lid.”
ECO-ACTION & ECO JUSTICE
Besame writes—Retrial for conservationist's murder in Costa Rica results in guilty verdicts: “Three years and two trials later, the murderers of sea turtle conservationist Jairo Mora were convicted in Límon, Costa Rica yesterday. Four of the accused men were found guilty of the May 2013 murder of 26-year-old Mora and the kidnapping and robbery of four foreign women volunteers who were with Mora. The other three men accused were cleared of all charges. Sentences ranged from 74 to 90 years but the guilty men will serve only 50 years, the maximum sentence allowed under Costa Rican law. A sexual assault charge was dropped due to lack of evidence pinpointing who did it. The murder and assault happened at Moín Beach on Costa Rica’s northeast Caribbean coast.”
AGRICULTURE, FOOD & GARDENING
Walter Einenkel writes—New Missouri ordinance restricts man from having a vegetable garden because it isn't pretty: “Sugar Creek, Missouri just passed a new ordinance—no “vegetation” less than 30 feet from street. This, in essence, means that Nathan Athans and his family cannot have their vegetable garden anymore. The Athans backyard does not get nearly enough sunlight. He believes it’s important for his family. ‘I want my family to know where their food is coming from, I don't want to have to go to the grocery store and worry about what was done to that food.’ But Sugar Creek residents are not impressed. The city’s building official, Paul Loving, argued otherwise. ‘I don't know that there would have been a problem with them had the gardens been well kept, they weren't.’”
estreya writes—Saturday Morning Garden Blogging, Vol. 12.14: A Peek Inside The Hive: “If i could save time in a bottle, i might be tempted to shave a month off the dog days of summer and make Spring last twice as long. I love this time of year, when the sun conducts its daily symphony of restoration and rebirth. Here in my Pacific Northwest garden, there's new life at every turn. This re-awakening is especially evident within the wooden walls of a beehive. Shall we crack open the lid and have a look inside? There was a time when many a backyard garden had a beehive on the premises. One of the earliest English garden books, ‘New Orchard and Garden,’ written by William Lawson in 1618, stated, ‘There remaineth one necessary thing ... which is Bees, well ordered.’ …”
TRANSPORTATION & INFRASTRUCTURE
ChasMac77 writes—Tesla introduces a Gamechanger: “In what I consider to be a seminal moment in automotive history, if not American history, Tesla just unveiled the Model 3 sedan. A $35,000 car that will have a minimum EPA rating range of 215 miles, do 0-60 in under 6 seconds, fit 5 adults comfortably, have autopilot safety features, be able to use one of thousands of Superchargers all while looking like a beautiful car. Amazing! This will bring EVs to the masses and send the auto manufacturers scrambling IMO. This will force them to compete. Tesla took preorders ($1,000 deposit) for over 120,000 vehicles in a few hours.”