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 24,940 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
FishOutofWater writes—Scientists Incredulous as 12% of Greenland's Surface Has Melting in April, 2 Months Early: “Danish scientists monitoring Greenland’s ice sheet didn’t believe what they saw, Monday. The model showed that over 10 percent of Greenland’s surface had melted a millimeter or more on the 11th of April, two months early. April 11 was a month earlier than earliest melt event on record in May, 2010. The Danish scientists were ‘incredulous.’ They started looking at the weather data to try to get a handle on what was wrong with the model. They were shocked. Warm rain had fallen at elevations of over 5000 feet on the ice sheet. Above freezing temperatures at those elevations are a heat wave in July. Warm rain in April on Greenland at elevations above 5000 feet was something no one had ever seen before. [...] There’s reason to fear that this is the start of an Arctic meltdown where sea ice will collapse to record low volume and extent while Greenland melts. We know from climate records that spring warmth is amplified by the darkening it brings to the Arctic. The last ice age ended when the earth’s wobble aligned to bring maximum heating to the Arctic in late spring. As spring warmth melts ice the dark ground and dark water soaks up the solar energy and by midsummer the enhanced melting multiplies the heat. That’s what’s happening right now. A feedback loop is starting that will bring extreme melting to the Arctic this summer if something doesn’t stop it.”
CRITTERS AND THE GREAT OUTDOORS
Walter Einenkel writes—Tiger numbers are on the rise—for the first time in 100 years: “The World Wildlife Fund has released a report that shows that according to the most recent data, there are around 3,890 tigers throughout the world. In 2010 there were around 3,200. ‘This is a pivotal step in the recovery of one of the world’s most endangered and iconic species,’ said Ginette Hemley, senior vice president of wildlife conservation at WWF. ‘Together with governments, local communities, philanthropists, and other NGOs, we’ve begun to reverse the trend in the century-long decline of tigers. But much more work and investment is needed if we are to reach our goal of doubling wild tiger numbers by 2022.’ In 2010, the Global Tiger Recovery Plan was launched with agreements from the globe’s 13 countries where the tiger lives. The strength of this movement is in curtailing poaching and the level of uncontrolled deforestation that impacts the tiger’s natural habitats. And while the rise in tiger population is indeed good news, there is still a lot of work to be done, especially in Southeast Asia where poaching and deforestation still continues unabated.”
etbnc writes—Dawn Chorus: Testing New Camera Gear: “As sometimes happens, this photo essay has changed substantially since I began it. When I volunteered to host today’s Dawn Chorus, I did so because it fit my calendar and schedule, not because I had anything particular in mind. Then last weekend the osprey shown above visited my backyard, spending almost two hours enjoying a leisurely breakfast in a tree. I thought, ‘Excellent! This can be my topic for Dawn Chorus.’ Then, later this past week, I acquired a new camera lens. Just when I was ready to try it out, the guy at the right flew past my window and landed nearby. This red-shouldered hawk obligingly posed for about a hundred photos over the next half hour while it hunted in the trees surrounding my house. My newly upgraded camera now weighs about six pounds. I was getting a wee bit tired and my left arm was starting to cramp when it finally flew around the back of my house and out of sight.”
Besame writes—Daily Bucket: confession of a field folly survivor - I didn't fall on the rattlesnakes: “Lost in the jungle? Locked in an Angeles National Forest parcel? Left your backpack next to a distinctive sagebrush and then wandered for an hour searching around thousands of similar sagebrush? Hiked back from a study site to a dead truck 30 miles from help? Tell us your survival stories — whether during field work, recreation, or in your back yard. It’s happened to everyone and if you don't have a survival story, why not? Tell us! Twitter has played with the concept recently (#ecologistconfessions). I confess that all the first examples listed are my own experiences. Not always my fault, though. I didn’t leave the truck lights on to drain the battery and kill the truck; that was my field partner. The field goddesses sent us a miracle — a colleague drove up to work in the area just as we were preparing to hike out for help. He had jumper cables! The rattlesnake trap, now, I brought that on myself.”
PHScott writes—The Daily Bucket: Munch Munch, so much green... so little time: “Unknown caterpillars munching their way thru the tenderest of spring growth. [...] April 2016—A rainy day along the FL Gulf Coast, over 2.5 inches of rain since the night before, so it's a great day to publish a Daily Bucket. Spring started in late February and at this point, all the trees are leafed out with vibrant, tender new leaves. Green is the dominant color, and so many shades of green. One of the first trees to flower is Redbud, leaves follow soon after. No idea what munched its way thru this small Redbud sapling but I see this happen every spring. Hickories are the last tree to leaf out and I see a lot of variability in those around my house - most in late March; one in the sideyard was last week. There are 2 Hickory species local to my area and I always struggled trying to tell Pignut from Mockernut but once I took the time to understand the scientific names - what tomentosa and glabra actually mean - ID became easy. Just look at the buds, hairy or not hairy.”
Lenny Flank writes—Daily Bucket: Florida's Invaders--Fire Ant: “If you've ever spent some time outside in Florida, then you've probably met the Fire Ant. The numerous sandy mounds, often several to a colony, are a familiar site in rural fields and urban lawns, and encounters often end with a painful raised welt that lasts for several days. The Fire Ant may be our most unwelcome invader of all. [...] There are about 280 species of fire ant, all in the genus Solenopsis. They can be found in virtually every tropical and subtropical area on earth, and get their name from their ability to deliver painful stings when disturbed. Biologically, "ants" are wasps that have shed their wings and taken to living underground. Many ant species, including the Solenopsis, have retained the stinging apparatus of their wasp ancestors. The stings can deliver a venom, made mostly of alkaloids, that varies in potency from species to species. [...] Sometime in the 1930's, however, a new species arrived in Florida, probably by stowing away in a cargo shipment. The Red Fire Ant, Solenopsis invicta, is native to the Amazon forests of Brazil. (The Latin name ‘invicta’ means ‘unbeatable,’ which may turn out to be sadly prophetic.) It was originally believed to be just a color morph of the Black Fire Ant (S. saevissima richteri), but subsequent study has shown it to be a separate species.”
marsanges writes—Daily Bucket: Wednesday News, from Overseas: “The top photo is from an excellent photo essay published yesterday in El Pais. It is a collection of photos taken from various locations across Ukraine and Belorussia from the radiation exclusion zone, which has been abandoned for (most of) human habitation after the Chernobyl nuclear accident in April 1986, thirty years ago. (All photo rights are theirs. These are seriously good photos and I dont want to step on the photographer’s toes.) Nature, freed from human interference, has developed impressively there. Its full of life. Thirty years is one half life for the main emitters.”
CLIMATE CHAOS
Pacificshift writes—The climate hour is late – Time to rapidly Break Free from fossil fuels: “The climate hour is late, too late for anything but the most sweeping and fundamental efforts to break free from fossil fuels. Lying oil companies have skewed our political system, blocking effective response for over 25 years. Now the Earth’s climate is severely twisting under the effects of fossil fuel carbon pollution. Never has the disruption been more visible than in recent months. This is the first of a series of blog posts leading up the largest direct actions against the fossil fuel industry in history. From May 4-16 Break Free, staged by the global 350.org network and other groups, will mount actions at six U.S. locations and in 10 other countries around the world. Civil disobedience will play a leading role. That will definitely be the case for the Pacific Northwest action, taking place from May 13-15 at oil refineries in Anacortes, Washington.”
One Pissed Off Liberal writes—Ignoring Climate Change: “Ignoring climate change is surely the stupidest thing we can do at this point. We need to honor the science, break away from fossil fuels and do the right thing for future generations. ‘Climate change is real, caused by human activity and already devastating our nation and planet. The United States must lead the world in combating climate change and transforming our energy system away from fossil fuels and toward energy efficiency and sustainability.’ ~ Sen. Bernie Sanders. Only Bernie offers the leadership we need on climate change. Every candidate running for president has got to answer the following very simple question: At a time when we need to address the planetary crisis of climate change, and transform our energy system away from fossil fuels and into energy efficiency and sustainability, should we continue to give $135 billion in tax breaks and subsidies over the next decade to fossil fuel companies?’”
Meteor Blades writes—Getting used to those headlines about this period being the hottest ever recorded? Here are two more: “March temperature smashes 100-year global record and We Just Crushed The Global Record For Hottest Start Of Any Year—And still, we have megatons of politicians and corporadoes who, even if most of them have finally conceded that global warming is actually happening, are unwilling to even discuss the kind of policies needed to accelerate the transformation of our energy, agriculture and transportation systems quickly enough and comprehensively enough to reduce the worst impacts of climate change. Less than a decade ago, many of these same people claimed vociferously that climate scientists were mistaken or outright lying about the dwindling of Arctic sea ice. That climate change was merely an alarmist stance designed to impose unneeded and allegedly economy-wrecking regulations. That climate activists were watermelons, green on the outside and red on the inside, environmental Stalinists aching to steal our liberty.”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Questionable Study Questions Model Accuracy on Rainfall: “Last week, Nature published a study that caused quite a stir among the denier press, with write-ups in the Daily Mail, Australian, Washington Times and others claiming that models are wrong on how the world’s water cycle will respond to our changing climate. The authors argue that current models are using an incorrect baseline of past precipitation, and as a result, are overestimating how much rain and drought climate change will cause. But there’s been a flood of experts pushing back, largely because the study depends on hundred-year timescales and glosses over the extreme rain or drought events that occur on shorter-than-centennial timescales. Joe Romm has a comprehensive post on how the study is ‘deeply flawed,’ and ‘sad for science,’ according to Dr. Kevin Trenberth. The post details some of the failings of the study, and refers to a number of other studies that debunk this one, including one cited by the authors. Carbon Brief also has a fact-checking post with a number of quotes from other scientists, who explain that the study's reliance on paleoclimate proxies likely caused it to miss the short-term fluctuations of drought and deluge. Ironically, deniers usually say that paleoclimate proxies, like ice cores and tree rings, are meaningless when included in research by someone who comes to conclusions they don’t like. Dr. Michael Mann—no stranger to denier anger over these proxies—posted a response saying that based on his paleo expertise, it’s likely that these proxies underestimate changes to the water cycle, leading the authors to the erroneous conclusion that models overestimate them.”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—New Climate Consensus Paper: Deniers Will Hate This! “A new study confirms the expert consensus that humans are causing climate change, with a meta-analysis of research showing a convergence on the 97% agreement figure among climate scientists. We know how much deniers love questioning the scientific consensus, so we can only imagine how they will react to a consensus on the consensus. After years of attacks on John Cook's 2013 paper finding a 97% consensus among climate change papers and experts, Cook pulled together a dream team of other consensus paper authors to reaffirm their collective findings. [...] For over a decade, there has been a consensus among climate scientists that climate change is man-made. While fossil-fuel funded propagandists worked to cast doubt on the reality of climate change, legitimate researchers published papers to debunk denier claims and educate the public on the state of consensus among climate scientists. A variety of denier sources attacked these papers, clouding the public perception about the degree to which climate scientists are sure humans are causing climate change. One of those attacks spurred this particular paper, which shows the consensus between studies looking at the scientific consensus. So thanks to the constant denier attacks, we’ve reached Inception-esque levels of consensus. Welcome to Consenception.”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Danger, Will Robinson: Oil Industry Knew CO2-Climate Link in ‘68: “Decades-old documents unearthed by the Center of International Environmental Law (CIEL) show that executives in the oil industry knew fossil fuels posed a risk to the environment as early as 1968, and in the next decades, carried out a campaign to cloud public perception of these risks. In 1946, a consortium of oil companies, including Shell, ExxonMobil and Chevron’s predecessors, created the ‘Smoke and Fumes Committee.’ Its purpose was to commission research on smog and air pollution resulting from fossil fuels, which the oil industry would use to shape public opinion on these issues. Out of this committee grew the Stanford Research Institute, which was set up to provide an academic shroud for the industry to fight accusations that its product caused pollution. (The tobacco industry employed a similar strategy in its efforts to hide evidence that smoking causes cancer). The Smoke and Fumes Committee was folded into the American Petroleum Institute (API) a few years later, and API remains one of the industry’s biggest lobbies. In 1968, in what began as research on air pollution, the Stanford Research Institute produced its first-ever study on climate change. Known as the Robinson Report, this paper showed that fossil fuels are the most likely cause of rising global CO2 levels and emphasized the need to reduce emissions to prevent climate change.”
Pakalolo writes—The temperature currently in Kangerlussuaq,Greenland is 63F: Greenland is on fire. We are in a lot of trouble folks. Jason Box darksnow.org/..., renowned climate scientist, is reviewing the 270 scientific publications on Arctic land ice from the past 5 years. Per Mr Box: The effort is to be published by the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program (AMAP). If you've read this far, you're gonna want to read the following and you're going to want to brace yourself... Increased glacial surface melt water infiltration induces ice internal warming. Warmer ice deforms more easily, promoting a dynamical flow response to climate warming and increasing irreversible feedbacks from surface elevation drawdown into warmer parts of the atmosphere. The increase in melt area and volume with warming is non-linear because ice cap or ice sheet elevation profiles are flatter as elevation increases. In a warming scenario, a melt-elevation feedback threatens to produce irreversible ice cap and ice sheet loss. Irreversibility depends on sufficient ice surface elevation drawdown and warming sustained above some stable threshold. The larger the land ice body, the longer time needed for the irreversibility threshold to be crossed. The Greenland ice sheet is essentially lost in a climate as warm or warmer than that during 2000-2015. Yet, the loss rate depends strongly on amount of warming above a stable level. In the case of Greenland, summer warming above pre-industrial is 1.2-1.6 C. If warming were stabilized at 1 C above the preindustrial era, the loss of a significant fraction of the Greenland ice sheet appears to require 10s of thousands of years. Larger and expected warming (3-6 C above preindustrial summer temperatures by year 2100) reduces the time of significant ice sheet loss from millennia to centuries.”
don mikulecky writes—Bad news from Greenland (again!): “More evidence that scientific predictions about Global Warming are being shown to be short of reality. Things are happening faster and more severely.Climate Central tells us Greenland’s Melt Season Started Nearly Two Months Early. Warm, wet conditions rapidly kicked off the melt season this weekend, more than a month-and-a-half ahead of schedule. It has easily set a record for earliest melt season onset, and marks the first time it’s begun in April.Maps show the current melt area centered around southwest Greenland.”
Pakalolo writes—Pentagon Directive quietly makes climate change front and center in their strategic planning: “Climate change deniers have never accepted climate change as a scientific fact. They have not been able to wrap their simple minds around this fact: The United States military’s leadership is in unified agreement that climate change is real, and that it poses a clear and present danger to the troops. Deputy Secretary of Defense Robert Work signed the most important and little noticed order in recent Pentagon history. The Order states that ‘All DoD operations worldwide, must be able to adapt current and future operations to address the impacts of climate change in order to maintain an effective and efficient U.S. military.’ Deadly weather, rising seas and changing storm patterns will become ‘threat multipliers’ for the United States per the Pentagon. American troops will more than likely become even more involved in simultaneous failed states caused by climate changes such as drought and their civil wars than we are presently. The armed forces will respond to more and more climate change induced disasters throughout the world while dealing with the catastrophic consequences of fossil fuel emissions in our own country. It will be a huge cluster.”
Jen Hayden writes—Climate change deniers swarm Bill Nye's Facebook page, NASA shows up to help smack them down: “Everyone’s favorite Science Guy, Bill Nye, shared an article on his Facebook page about famous climate denier Marc Morano refusing to take a $20,000 bet offered by Bill Nye about whether the planet will continue getting hotter. It didn’t take long before climate deniers were swarming Nye’s Facebook page with their own ‘facts’ about climate science. Facebook user Fer Morales offered the following comment:
Oh, snap! The earth got a little hotter with that burn. And NASA didn’t stop there. They continued replying to commenters who had it all wrong.”
Mark Sumner writes—The 'green' in Greenland is becoming all too accurate: “Spring in Greenland is usually more aspirational than actual … but not this year. Emerging from a winter that has had staggeringly warm Arctic temperatures, scientists monitoring the vast Greenland ice sheet announced Tuesday that it is experiencing a record-breaking level of melt for so early in the season. … The news raised memories of the record melt season in 2012, when the ice sheet as a whole lost 562 gigatons, or billion tons, of freshwater mass to the ocean, enough to raise sea levels the world over by more than a millimeter in that year alone. Warming effects aren’t just reaching the top of the world—they’re reaching up to affect altitudes more than a mile above sea level. All across Greenland, the ice sheets are covered in a sheen of meltwater as melting season gets a record early start. Researchers point to a mass of warm air trapped over the ice sheet as the cause for the unseasonable melt this year. Rather than the usual spring snows, Greenland is seeing widespread rain.”
Mark Sumner writes—The $500 million per year climate change obstruction industry: “Funding actual research costs money, but making up lies? That comes cheap. Still, you have to get those lies out there and repeated, keep the pundits well supplied with catchy phrases, make sure your anti-facts are packaged neatly for the press, and deliver them (folded around fat contributions) to legislators. It all adds up. So how much gets spent to keep government from taking any action on climate change? Based on a report from InfluenceMap, quite a lot.We find, estimating conservatively, that these five entities spent almost $115m per year combined on obstructive climate influencing activites, with the bulk by the American Petroleum Institute ($65m), ExxonMobil ($27m) and Shell ($22m). That’s just the information that has become visible, mostly through shareholder initiatives. And it’s only a fraction of the total climate BS factory.”
tiabanjo writes—The more you know about climate change, the more you believe it's us: “A new meta-analysis* that studied previous meta-analyses of the peer reviewed literature on climate shows that the more a scientist knows about climate science, the more he/she/they are inclined to believe in anthropogenic climate change. So yeah, those “scientists” who deny climate change, or deny that it is us — they may be scientists, but they are not climate scientists. Nevertheless, in the interests of ‘balance’ the media dutifully trot them out to teach the (mythical) controversy. One of the authors of the study is Sarah Green; a chemistry professor at Michigan Technological University. Another is Merchants of Doubt co-author Naomi Oreskes who first studied climate consensus in 2004). Green says ‘The public has a very skewed view of how much disagreement there is in the scientific community… Only 12 percent of the US public are aware there is such strong scientific agreement in this area, and those who reject mainstream climate science continue to claim that there is a lack of scientific consensus. People who think scientists are still debating climate change do not see the problem as urgent and are unlikely to support solutions… But climate change denial is not about scientific skepticism.’”
xaxnar writes—How Long Can You Tread Water? ”April 11, the BBC ran a news story: This Is How Far The Seas Could Rise Thanks To Climate Change. ...What is scary is that the best estimates for mid-Pliocene sea levels range from 10 to 40m above present. In other words, “the geologic record would say that this amount of warming [2° C] would guarantee significant sea level rise”, says Raymo. Back to the present. We have recently learned that it is not just the magnitude of sea level change we should worry about—it is the pace. A study published in March 2016 found that sea level rise in the 20th Century was faster than in any of the previous 27 centuries. The BBC article summarizes several studies and looks at the larger picture. What’s clear is that major disruption is coming; year to year may not seem like a lot of change—but it’s all in the same direction and the rate is increasing. Someone born today will live to see major disruption along the coasts of the world. The article says serious action on climate change is needed to prevent things from getting worse, and that a lot of attention is going to have to be given to coastal infrastructure to cope with rising seas.”
Steven D writes—Maintaining the Status Quo on Climate Change Will Kill Us: “Last year, the Paris Agreement set a target to keep the rise in global average mean temperature to 1.5 degrees Celsius. ‘Hurray!’ said everyone who was so thrilled to see the nations of the world finally respond to the climate crisis. But did they? Did they really? Here's the thing. The odds of winning the lottery are better than meeting that 1.5 degree C target. because the status quo has no real interest in even attempting to do what it takes to even approach that goal: The Paris deal requires no emissions reductions from countries before 2020. Steffen Kallbekken, Director of the Centre for International Climate and Energy Policy, explains that ‘by the time the pledges come into force in 2020, we will probably have used the entire carbon budget consistent with 1.5°C warming. If we stick with the INDCs we will have warming between 2.7°C and 3.7°C.’ In order to have a decent chance of reaching that 1.5° target, we need to keep at least 80 percent of known fossil fuels in the ground, and urgently halt the exploration and extraction of new sources. We need to stop deforestation and reduce other greenhouse gases such as methane, by tackling major drivers such as the growth of animal agriculture. But the Paris agreement contains no mention of the words ‘fossil fuel’—no coal, no oil, no gas—and not a whisper about the livestock, palm oil and other industries driving deforestation either. Surprised? You shouldn't be. And you know what's even worse? Current climate models have been understating the rate of warming for quite some time.”
Jamess writes—The Heated Debate on Climate Change: “The Brooklyn Democratic debate transcript, annotated.”
Walter Einenkel writes—Exxon sues to block subpoena that would reveal 40 years of their knowledge of climate change: “ExxonMobil Corp. has a problem. Besides being the walking soon-be-extinct-if-they-don’t-render-all-of-the-rest-of-us-extinct dinosaur in the room, they are now being subpoenaed by the Attorney General of U.S. Virgin Islands for 40 years worth of documents pertaining to climate change. In his demand for records, Virgin Islands Attorney General Claude Walker said Exxon may have violated the territory's anti-racketeering law, defrauding the government and consumers with the company's statements on climate change. It is the first time a prosecutor has cited racketeering law to probe Exxon over its longtime denial of climate change and its products' role in it, according to legal authorities. Exxon alleged that the subpoena is invalid because it seeks records beyond the five-year statute of limitations, and that it violates the company's constitutional rights and "constitutes an abuse of process, in violation of common law." Exxon, based in Irving, Texas, filed the complaint in Tarrant County District Court in Texas. It listed Walker as a defendant, along with the Washington, D.C. lawyer and law firm representing the territory in the probe. As InsideClimate News points out, AG Claude Walker was just one of 17 United States Attorney Generals to announce a couple of weeks ago that they were all going to be seriously investigating the alleged climate fraud perpetuated by Exxon.”
Extreme Weather & Natural Phenomena
don mikulecky writes—Temperatures reach 114 degrees F in India.“ From the BBC News: India weather: Dangerous temperatures arrive early: “A heatwave across most of India has led to a hotter than usual summer in much of the country. Broadcast meteorologist Peter Gibbs describes the situation. Dozens of deaths have been reported in the south Indian states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh and the city of Bhubaneswar in Orissa experienced its hottest April day on record on Monday, temperatures peaking at 45.8C. The run-up to the Indian monsoon season is always characterised by weeks of strong sunshine and increasing heat but this year, life-threatening temperature levels have set in rather earlier and more widely than normal.”
ENERGY
Nuclear & Fossil Fuels
Walter Einenkel writes—New study links BP oil spill to baby dolphin deaths, more evidence for Big Oil to deny: “The BP oil spill from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil well blowout continues to show its catastrophic environmental impact, years later, whether it is research showing the truly negative results being felt by the coral communities of the Gulf or the first study linking dolphin deaths between 2010-2012 to BP’s environmental negligence. At the time of the first dolphin-death study, BP said that the data they had seen didn’t show a connection between the largest oil spill in history and the marine life living in that oil spill. A new study has just been released that focuses on dolphin baby mortality rates and pregnant dolphin health from 2010-2014. Researchers compared dolphins found inside and outside of the spill zone. By comparing 69 young bottlenose dolphins that washed up dead in the spill zone to 26 others found in areas unaffected by the oil, the team found that the young dolphins, which died in the womb or shortly after birth, “were significantly smaller than those that stranded during previous years and in other geographic locations.” A total of 88 percent of baby dolphins found in the spill zone had lung abnormalities, including partially or completely collapsed lungs.”
rjsigmund writes—US oil supplies down 1st time in 8 weeks, oil+products glut at a record high, rigs at another low: ”US oil prices rose more than 10% over the last three days of this week after the EIA reported that US crude oil supplies fell for the first time in 8 weeks, and after the on again / off again OPEC - Russian oil production freeze that's been driving the markets the past two months appeared to be back on again...oil prices had been sliding since mid-March as oil traders realized that the prior 50% run-up in prices had been driven by a short squeeze, wherein traders who had contracted to sell oil they didn't own were forced to buy oil to cover their contracts, and that virtually no one else was buying oil in the interim....prices then collapsed to a one month low at $36.79 a barrel last Friday after Bloomberg released a 5-hour long interview with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, in which he said that the Saudis would only freeze their production if Iran did so too, something Iran had adamantly refused to do ...”
Steve Horn writes—Introducing IOGCC: The Most Powerful Oil and Gas Lobby You’ve Never Heard Of: “The Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission (IOGCC) is far from a household name, but a new investigation published by InsideClimate News' Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter Lisa Song may have just put what is likely the most powerful oil and gas lobbying node you've never heard of on the map. Titled, ‘Is the IOGCC, Created by Congress in 1935, Now a Secret Oil and Gas Lobby?,’ the article's origins lay in the hundreds of documents obtained from open records requests and historical archives by me and Jesse Coleman, a researcher at Greenpeace USA, that are part of an ongoing investigation into IOGCC. Song's article for the award-winning InsideClimate News reveals documents that show for the first time that it was IOGCC at the front and center, and not just Halliburton, which created what many now know as the Halliburton Loophole. That regulatory loophole exempts the oil and gas industry from U.S. Environmental Protection Agency enforcement of the Safe Drinking Water Act as applied to hydraulic fracturing (‘fracking’) and is seen as what opened the Pandora's Box for industrial high volume slickwater horizontal drilling in the United States. But before getting too far into the weeds of IOGCC's deeds, what exactly is it?”
Mary Anne Hitt writes—Peabody’s Bankruptcy: A Giant Falls, But Its Obligations Remain: “This week, a giant that had been teetering for many months finally fell, as Peabody Coal officially declared bankruptcy. For market watchers around the globe, this was a decisive movement in the long decline of an industry that once seemed invincible - the New York Times called it ‘Wall Street’s retreat from King Coal.’ For those of us who live and work in Appalachia, this is the IMAX version of a movie we’ve seen many times before, one where coal company executives take the money and run, attempting to leave communities and taxpayers holding the bag for ruined communities, workers, mountains, and rivers. This time, we can’t let them get away with it. There’s way too much at stake. The transition away from polluting coal to clean energy is essential to protecting the health of our communities and our climate, and the Peabody bankruptcy is one of the clearest signs that there’s no reversing that trend. Thanks to to the grassroots leaders who stopped the construction of 184 coal plants, secured the retirement of one-third of US coal plants (232 and counting), and secured enough clean, renewable energy to replace that coal, the US energy landscape has changed in a profound, irreversible way. Coal was providing half of US electricity just five years ago, and in 2015 that dropped to a historic low of 34 percent.”
Hydraulic Fracturing
IowaDemocrats writes—Bakken Isn't Over. 3 Federal Agencies Slam Bakken: “Lawyers for landowners in Iowa are announcing a lawsuit at a press conference in Des Moines tomorrow. The suit is being filed in state court in opposition to the eminent domain land seizures by Bakken. The Sierra club is also looking into a federal hearing seeking an injunction to halt Bakken until thorough assessment of impacts can be done — something not done by the Iowa legislature. Clarence, Iowa - ‘Last week, three separate federal agencies slammed the Army Corps of Engineers and raised serious environmental concerns about the Bakken pipeline and its fracked oil. The letters send warning shots across the bow of the Corps of Engineers—and the establishment politicians who allowed Bakken to happen,’ said US Senate candidate Tom Fiegen this week. A complete list of Iowa politicians who took money from Bakken is provided at the end of a new campaign video. The list was compiled by www.iowainformer.com. News of the three federal agency letters was originally published in Blog for Iowa: bit.ly/...… Fiegen, a farm bankruptcy lawyer in Cedar Rapids said “The letters directly call into question the lack of debate on the Bakken pipeline by the Iowa.”
Justin Mikulka writes—Bernie Calls for National Fracking Ban, Addresses "profound danger to our climate": “As Bernie Sanders attempts an upset in New York’s April 19th primary, he has begun to increase his focus on the issues of fracking and climate change. And since the state of New York banned fracking in 2015 and a recent Gallup poll reports only 25% of Democrats nationwide support fracking this would appear to be smart politics. In his second of three rallies across New York on April 11th Sanders took the time to address the issue and highlight the major differences on the issue between himself and Secretary Clinton for the audience in Albany. With the number of anti-fracking signs in the building, the strong response to the message was not surprising. Sanders introduced the topic noting that when it came to fracking he and Clinton have ‘some very significant differences’ and then congratulated the people of New York for standing up to the fossil fuel industry to ban fracking. ‘The growing body of evidence tells us that fracking is a danger to our water supply - our most precious resource - we cannot poison our water,’ Sanders said. ‘In my view if we are serious about safe and clean water - and we must be serious about safe and clean water - we need to put an end to fracking not only in New York and Vermont but in every state in the country.’”
amborin writes—Consequences of Fracking (which Hillary promotes, worldwide): Increased Emissions & Destruction: “Proponents of fracked gas argue that it can be a “bridge” fuel while we make the transition to renewable energy. They focus on the fact that when gas — which is largely methane — is burned, it releases half the CO2 of coal. But whether you see this glass as half empty or half full, it is being poured into an atmosphere that is already full — of CO2, having crossed the threshold of 400 parts per million last year. Also, methane, which can leak from gas infrastructure, traps heat 84 times as much as CO2 does over a 20-year period. A recent study led by Harvard researchers showed that in the Boston area methane is leaking from gas delivery systems at rates two to three times higher than industry estimates. Another study, published in Geophysical Research Letters in March, found that between 2002 and 2014, a period that coincides with the fracking boom, United States methane emissions increased by 30 percent.”
amborin writes—In Debate, Hillary Lied, Said She Worked to Wean World off Coal; Reality: She Lobbied FOR Coal: “During last night’s debate, HRC said she had promoted fracking to wean the world off of coal. But this was a mendacious claim. The reality is: she lobbied for giant, massively polluting coal plants throughout the world as SoS. This is one example. She could have worked to initiate use of renewables, but instead she promoted coal: ‘Hillary Clinton Showed Support, Associates Profited from Ex-Im Bank (The Importing-Exporting Bank) Financing World’s Largest Coal Plants in South Africa. In 2009, the South African government announced a major energy plan to construct two new coal-fired power stations. The project, which aimed at building the world’s largest coal plants, came under intense criticism by various governments and climate activists, who saw it as a disastrous blow to the fight against climate change. Yet newly released emails from presidential candidate Hillary Clinton during her time as Secretary of State, reveal that she acted in support of a World Bank loan for the construction of one of the plants.”
Renewables, Efficiency & Conservation
Pacificshift writes—100% renewables or climate chaos? People power needed: “An avalanche of studies points the way to a 100% world largely based on wind and solar energy. They illuminate how to reach 100% in all sectors – electricity, transportation, and heating/cooling – by 2050. Most prominent are roadmaps for 139 countries and 50 U.S. states done by Stanford’s Mark Jacobson and his team, and the Energy Revolution series done by Greenpeace. There are many others.This is more than an academic exercise. Nations are acting. [...] A 100% renewable world is possible. The big question is - Can we achieve it fast enough to avert a complete climate meltdown? Because oil companies systematically monkey-wrenched the political system to prevent significant carbon regulation for over 25 years, we are very late in the game. With carbon pollution growing at a record rate, the world is on track for the worst-case climate havoc, a nature-wracking, civilization-destroying 4-5° C heat upsurge this century. How fast do we need to drop carbon pollution to get off this dead-end track? Almost unimaginably fast.”
40ford writes—Clean Green Energy: “Almost 90% of the electricity we use is generated by steam turbines. Nuclear, coal, and gas fired power plants only heat water to turn it into steam for the turbines. Still can’t guess what this machine has to do with clean energy? About ½ mile straight down from where you are at this moment, the temperature is over 1000 degrees Fahrenheit. That is approximately the temperature that the steam needs to be to drive a steam turbine. At that depth, the temperature remains constant. With one of these borers, we can tunnel straight down, lining the tunnel as we go, to half a mile where the temperature will turn water into steam to drive a steam turbine. We then remove all but the very end of the machine (the actual boring part). It was designed to come out at the other side and, as a result, can’t be removed from the tunnel. Then cover that with concrete appropriately thick to take the pressure. Then a lid for the chamber needs to be build and installed to hold and focus the steam. Pipes and pumps need to be installed to deliver water to the chamber. We, then, mount steam turbines on the wall of the tunnel. Then water is pumped into the chamber and we direct the resulting steam to drive the turbines. Nothing in but water. Nothing out. That generates pollution free electricity.”
LakeSuperior writes—Fish & Wildlife Service EIS Addresses Adverse Effects of Midwest Wind Energy on Birds & Bats: “The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) published a notice concerning their Draft Environmental Impact Statement addressing current and future wind energy development taking place in the Midwestern United States in Friday’s Federal Register (April 15, 2016). The Draft EIS addresses the problem of adverse effects of wind turbines on birds and bats that are threatened or endangered species or that have special federal protections, like bald eagles, Indiana Bat, Norther Long-eared Bats, Piping Plovers, Kirtlands Warblers and others. The Draft EIS and Habitat Plans will address USFWS plans that will play out over the next several decades on wind energy adverse effects. The Draft EIS deals with Incidental Take Permits under the Endangered Species Act and Habitat Conservation Plans to address the adverse effects of wind energy development in the Midwest on such bird and bat species.”
Pipelines & Other Oil and Gas Transport
Mark Sumner writes—Keystone XL may be dead, but big pipelines are still an issue: “Last November, to the relief of almost everyone not on the TransCanada payroll, President Obama nixed the northern leg of the Keystone XL pipeline that would have taken oil from the Canadian Tar Sands all the way to the US Gulf Coast. It was a good thing. But just because Keystone XL won’t be constructed (until a Republican is in the White House) doesn’t mean that we’re free from fantastically long pipelines, and the number of leaks from these pipelines is increasing. [...] All of which leads to the EPA suggesting a tighter look at another mega-pipeline in the works. The pipeline will cross through Illinois, Iowa, North Dakota and South Dakota. Dakota Access, a unit of Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners, has received state permits to proceed with the 1,168-mile pipeline, which will carry nearly half a million barrels of oil a day from northwestern North Dakota's Bakken oil fields.”
Meteor Blades writes—TransCanada plugs leak in Keystone I pipeline and turns on the flow from the tar sands again: “Calgary-based TransCanada Corp. found the leak in its Keystone I pipeline late Friday, patched it and opened the valves Sunday. The leak was found nine days ago by a farmer near a pipeline pump station in Freeman, South Dakota, a rural area. Nearly 17,000 gallons—400 barrels—of oil had leaked before the pipeline was shut down from its origin in Hardisty, Alberta, to Cushing, Oklahoma, and Patoka, Illinois. ‘Clean-up and land restoration has already started and will continue over the coming days,’ the company said. TransCanada excavated four feet of soil along 275 feet to reach the buried pipeline to find the leak, which took several days. It claims it found no significant environmental impact from the spill. That’s a matter of opinion. Typically, clean-ups do not collect all the spilled oil when leaks occur.”
POPULATION, SUSTAINABILITY & EXTINCTION
IonGirl writes—Family Planning, Fiscal Responsibility and the Environment: Moving Past the Disconnect: “This week, Population Connection (www.populationconnection.org) is in Washington, DC, lobbying for international family planning. As the biggest contributor to global warming, human activity is amplified by human population growth, which also amplifies the associated environmental and economic damages. This is what makes family planning critical to life on Earth as we know it — and it also makes the Rubbish on the Right’s more babies über alles policy among the biggest threats to the environment that no one seems to be talking about. For just a moment, forget that you have been shifted, by the same Rubbish on the Right, into an argument about when life begins and slut-shaming, ignoring — at our own peril — that there is no Planet B. And Planet A, which supports ALL life — not just the wittle fetuses, mind you — is in real trouble. Forget it and instead choose a fresh start in re-framing the entire issue as an environmental one, because at this point in history, it is irresponsible and dangerous to force more humans into an already-damaged ecosystem, and unconscionable in a world where so many already go to bed hungry at night due to lack of resources, or access to them.”
Lenny Flank writes—How "Traditional Chinese Medicine" Is Pushing Species to Extinction: “Science shows that most of today's ‘traditional Chinese medicine’ is simple quackery. But another consequence of the global ‘traditional medicine’ industry that has not been as widely discussed is the enormous destructive effect it has had on some of the most endangered species on the planet. [...] There are over 1500 different species of animal that are used in Indian and Chinese ‘traditional medicine.’ They range from turtles (which are supposed to promote longevity and also to increase the ‘yin’ energy of the body and diminish the ‘yang’) to monkey blood (which is supposed to cure all sorts of things, from achy joints to heart disease). The oddest (and sadly one of the most common) areas to be ‘cured’ is male impotency. Among the ‘traditional medicine cures’ proposed for this have been rhino horn, tiger penis, snake gall bladder, pangolin fetuses, sea horses, gecko lizards, cinnamon bark, and a few dozen others.”
OCEANS, WATER, DROUGHT
Dan Bacher writes—Feds to Probe Delta Tunnels Misuse of Grant Funds: “In the latest development in the long saga of Governor Jerry Brown’s rapidly collapsing California Water Fix/Delta Tunnels Plan, the Inspector General will be conducting an investigation of a Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) complaint detailing how a funding agreement with the California Water Resources Department ‘is illegally siphoning off funds that are supposed to benefit fish and wildlife to a project that will principally benefit irrigators.’”
Dan Bacher writes—State Water Board Schedules Closed Meetings on Delta Tunnels: “The State Water Resources Control Board on April 11 announced a schedule of meetings that it may hold regarding the state and federal government petition to divert water on the Sacramento River for Governor Jerry Brown's Delta Tunnels, but these meetings will be closed to the public and the media. The ‘notice of meetings in closed sessions’ was issued the same day that the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) revealed that the Department of Interior’s Inspector General has opened an investigation into the possible illegal use of millions of dollars by the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) in preparing the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Delta Tunnels Plan, called the ‘California Water Fix’ by the Brown administration. The State Water Board or Board ‘may meet in closed session on the following dates beginning at 1:00 p.m. at the CalEPA building, Conference Room 2510, 1001 I Street, Sacramento, California,’ according to the notice.”
Dan Bacher writes—Metropolitan Water District's Delta Islands Purchase Challenged by Lawsuit: “On the lawn of Cesar Chavez Park in downtown Stockton on April 14, representatives of two environmental groups, two Delta counties and Central Delta farmers gathered to announce the filing of a lawsuit challenging the Metropolitan Water District (MWD) of Southern California's purchase of four Delta islands to facilitate the construction of Governor Jerry Brown's Delta Tunnels. Food & Water Watch, the Planning and Conservation League, San Joaquin County, Contra Costa County and the Central Delta Water Agency filed suit in San Joaquin Superior Court, alleging that MWD's claim of complete exemption from environmental review for the proposed purchase of 20,000 acres of Delta islands and farmland is ‘illegal and unjustified.’ The lawsuit asks the Judge to enjoin MWD from purchasing the property unless and until it completes the environmental review required under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), one of the state's landmark environmental laws.”
Walter Einenkel writes—Department of Water commissioner resigns right after Chicago announces it will test water for lead: “Thomas H. Powers has been the Commissioner of the Department of Water Management since 2010. Late last week he announced he would be ‘stepping down to pursue other professional endeavors’: “Over the last five years, Tom has overseen an historic investment in Chicago’s infrastructure that has helped to build a better Chicago, and I thank him for his service to the City,’ said Mayor Emanuel. ‘Moving forward, Barrett Murphy’s vast knowledge of and experience within the Department make him the best choice for the job as we continue to implement our 10-year Capital Improvement Program.’ Under Commissioner Powers’ tenure, 320 miles of water main have been replaced, 77 miles of sewer main have been replaced and 198 miles of existing sewer has been lined to date under Mayor Emanuel’s Building a New Chicago program. Additionally, 72,176 water meters have been installed in Chicago homes, saving residents money and promoting water conservation. Well, he’s been thinking about leaving for a year! Three days before this announcement, the Chicago Tribune reported, after tons of pressure had been put on city officials to test for lead in drinking water, due to long held community and activist concerns.”
Mark Sumner writes—Flint—bottled water is okay for drinking, but a shower? ”For the people of Flint, trucked in bottles can provide a temporary source of drinking water. However, water is for more than drinking. Near the top of the daily challenges that Flint residents face in a city without safe drinking water is how and where to shower. Families are going to extraordinary lengths to find places where they can bathe without fear, taking measures that many say add to the upheaval that has been part of their lives since state officials confirmed last fall that their water was contaminated with dangerous levels of lead. If you’ve ever been through an extended outage, you quickly learn that being without safe water intrudes into your life constantly. Can you make coffee? Wash the dishes? Clean the counters? Wash your clothes? Water the garden? Mop the floor?”
CANDIDATES, D.C. & STATE-RELATED ECO-POLITICS
Dan Bacher writes—Congressman Jared Huffman and colleagues launch investigation of Westlands sweetheart deal: “ Here is some wonderful news — Congressman Jared Huffman and California Legislators have launched an investigation into a proposed Obama administration settlement with the Westlands Water District, considered the “Darth Vader” of California water politics by public trust advocates. Below is the news release from Huffman’s Office: In light of the nearly unprecedented penalties paid by the powerful Westlands Water District to settle Securities and Exchange Commission charges for misleading investors, Congressman Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael) today launched an investigation with several of his congressional colleagues into a major settlement agreement between Westlands and the federal government. The settlement agreement, currently pending in Congress, would forgive hundreds of millions of dollars owed by Westlands yet lacks key safeguards and assurances that the water district will hold up its side of the bargain.”
Whamadoodle writes—This is our last chance to elect a fossil-fuel-unfriendly president in time to make a difference: “Naomi Klein questions Hillary Clinton’s readiness to take the drastic action that is necessary to save us from global climate change’s ill effects: A new paper from Oxford University, published in the journal Applied Energy, concludes that for humanity to have a 50-50 chance of meeting the temperature targets set in Paris, every new power plant has to be zero-carbon starting next year. That is hard. Really hard. At a bare minimum, it requires a willingness to go head-to-head with the two most powerful industries on the planet—fossil-fuel companies and the banks that finance them. Hillary Clinton is uniquely unsuited to this epic task. The real issue is not Clinton’s corporate cash; it’s her deeply pro-corporate ideology.”
Brandom writes—Sanders' spokesman: Obama probably the worst climate President ever: “Michael Shanks is the person whom Bernie Sanders assigned to answer all questions about his trip to attend a conference in the Vatican , according to media reports. www.politico.com/... Angry about some move made by a federal agency regarding fossil fuels, Michael Shank tweeted in March: USG's shameful public lands giveaway to fossil fuel industry. BLM in bed w/ big oil, gas. Obama worst climate pres?”
racerx writes—Politifact: "Does Hillary Clinton support fracking?": “The Politifact ruling—Sanders said that Clinton supported and continues ‘to support fracking.’ As secretary of state, Clinton supported and promoted fracking around the world. As a 2016 candidate, her support comes with conditions such as local choice, stronger environmental regulation and chemicals. Sanders’ claim is accurate but needs additional information. We rate it Mostly True. Hillary Clinton supports fracking. Bernie…? Not so much.”
jonischmidt writes—The real deal: Sanders, climate change and the power of citizens: “Superficial rhetoric, sporadic acts of philanthropy and perfunctory expressions of concern for the environment: That’s not really a Bill McKibben critique of the global response on climate change, but it did make sense for the leading global environmental activist from Vermont to quote Pope Francis and Laudato Si during his April 12 visit to the University of Notre Dame. McKibben’s talk was followed by a student rally to demand that university officials managing Notre Dame’s $10.5 billion endowment act on fossil fuel divestiture. McKibben joined them even as, on the same day, climate activist students were arrested at Harvard University and University of Massachusetts Amherst, and democracy protests continued in Washington D.C. Amid the day’s clamor, a quieter man named Myles Robertson asked McKibben who – at this critical time for both the planet and the nation – is the American presidential candidate best qualified to lead the United States. McKibben drew laughter and applause from the crowd of 375 participants when he referred to that “raging Vermonter” he endorses, Bernie Sanders.”
acommonconcernofhumankind writes—Oil Money and Climate Change Don't Mix: “If you care passionately about an issue, such as climate change, and you would like to vote for a politician that will do the most for your issue, there are only two questions to ask: 1) What does the politician say they will do? 2) Can you trust them? It’s actually pretty simple. Go to Hillary’s campaign website and click on her climate change page. Then, go to Bernie’s campaign website and look at his climate change page. From my perspective, I think Hillary’s got a great set of renewable energy and energy efficiency initiatives, and I think she really understands the complexities of getting more renewable energy in place. However, Bernie seems to really get IT. He seems to understand the urgency of the moment and embraces a more ambitious, if less well-developed, vision. I give a clear edge to Bernie, but it’s not a blow-out.”
Whamadoodle writes—Hillary Clinton Supported Coal Use as SoS--David Sirota Calls Out Hillary for Not Being Quite Honest: “David Sirota fact-checked Hillary for her debate answers tonight, where she claimed to be a champion of fracking only as a “bridge” to renewable energy sources, away from coal. However, David Sirota found that when Hillary was Secretary of State, she and her State Department did in fact promote coal, in Afghanistan, in Pakistan, and in South Africa. Clinton told Pakistani leaders that ‘many of your neighbors are producing coal ... it’s unfortunate, but it’s a fact that coal is going to remain a part of the energy load until we can transition to cleaner forms of energy.’ She then promoted the benefits of coal development. ‘There is no doubt that energy is at the heart of many of the economic problems that Pakistan faces – the unreliability, the erratic cross-structure, the failure to capture the full load that is produced,’ she said during a trip to Lahore. ‘So getting the resources to exploit your coal as opposed to being dependent upon imported energy is a choice for you to make, but it is certainly a choice that your neighbors have made. And that’s something that should attract foreign investment and should attract capital investment within your own country.’”
poopdogcomedy writes—NV-Sen: With Earth Day Approaching Cortez Masto (D) Slams GOP Congress & Kochs On Climate Change: “Received this e-mail today from former Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto’s (D. NV) U.S. Senate campaign: Earth Day is April 22 – a day recognized around the world when we come together to demonstrate our support for environmental protections. Yet if we’re truly going to celebrate, it’s long past time right-wing Republicans recognize man-made climate change is real. Ninety-seven percent of climate scientists – in addition to NASA and members of the U.S. military – agree that human activity contributes to climate change. Extremist Republicans should stop denying its legitimacy and start working with Democrats to address it before the effects are irreversible. That’s why I’m calling on you for help: Will you join me to call on congressional Republicans to stop denying climate change and start acting?
unclechet writes—"The Nation" Endorses Sanders! Investigates Clinton's Fossil Fuel Ties: “As the pivotal New York State primary nears, The Nation, has weighed in on Hillary Clinton’s connections to the fossil fuel industry. And endorsed Bernie Sanders for president. The venerable magazine’s Naomi Klein finds Clinton’s industry connections far more extensive than have been debated recently after the candidate was confronted by Greenpeace volunteer Eva Resnick-Day. Klein writes [...] Then there’s all the cash that fossil-fuel companies have directly pumped into the Clinton Foundation. In recent years, Exxon, Shell, ConocoPhillips, and Chevron have all contributed to the foundation. An investigation in the International Business Times just revealed that at least two of these oil companies were part of an effort to lobby Clinton’s State Department about the Alberta tar sands, a massive deposit of extra-dirty oil.”
WILDERNESS, NATIONAL FORESTS AND PARKS & OTHER PUBLIC LANDS
Samuel Vargo writes—Black Hills resource harvesting and the rape of sacred Lakota lands is just 'Business as Usual': “’Without any disrespect, the White Man makes all these laws and he breaks them as soon as he makes them,’ said Fred Sitting Up, a full-blooded Oglala Lakota who sits on the original Ocha-te-sakowin, Seven Council Fires Treaty Council. ‘It’s a tough issue to talk about today. The first thing we’re going to say is that we don’t agree with it, and that we oppose any type of mining, fracking, or natural resource and mineral harvesting. And we don’t want pipelines here, either.’ ‘They want to destroy it,’ Sitting Up complained to this writer during a telephone interview on Thursday, April 14. ‘It’s hard talking to a landlord who wants to wreck your house. This is the message we want to get to President Obama. He said he’d work with those of us who are involved with these treaties. He promised that he’d make things right but he never has.’Meantime, the Big Oil and Gas corporations, along with mining companies — even those involved with mining radioactive elements like Uranium, are harvesting the earth of the Black Hills. ‘They are going right along’ with things in a business-as-usual fashion, Sitting Up said sadly, with a wavering voice.”
poopdogcomedy writes—AZ-Sen: LCV Fights Back Against McCain (R) & Koch Bros Plan To Destroy The Grand Canyon: “Received this e-mail today from the League of Conservation Voters: If the Koch brothers and other dirty polluters have their way, the greater Grand Canyon could soon turn into a mining wasteland. You read that right: The Koch brothers’ shady network is trying to open up areas right next to the Grand Canyon, one of the most treasured places on Earth, to highly toxic uranium mining. Radioactive uranium mining could damage the Grand Canyon for decades to come, meaning future generations would never get to see, explore, and marvel at the Grand Canyon as it is now. But we have a serious chance of saving it — not just from this current threat, but forever. We need President Obama to make the greater Grand Canyon a national monument. And that’s only going to happen if he hears from you today.”
BYPRODUCTS, TRASH, TOXIC & RADIOACTIVE WASTE
Mark Sumner writes—Flint—bottled water is okay for drinking, but a shower? “If you’ve ever been through an extended outage, you quickly learn that being without safe water intrudes into your life constantly. Can you make coffee? Wash the dishes? Clean the counters? Wash your clothes? Water the garden? Mop the floor? When brushing your teeth involves dragging in a bottle of water to damp your toothbrush, it brings home how even the simplest things are tied to the idea that we can turn on the tap and receive clean, safe water. Those who have not found an alternative to bathing with Flint water are limiting their use of it — dashing into and out of the shower once a week with their mouths tightly shut. Others wash only with baby wipes — or, if they can, wait to bathe at the homes of friends or relatives outside Flint.”
Randian writes—My neighborhood Superfund site: “I live in the scenic Hudson Valley in the city of Beacon, NY, just a little over 60 miles north of New York City, and we are blessed here to be surrounded by much natural beauty, as well as by dedicated stewards of nature, like the organization Scenic Hudson, which has dedicated itself to preserving nature and wildlife throughout the Hudson Valley. I also live just a few blocks away from the Fishkill Creek, a 33 mile long estuary of the Hudson River. [...] Now, though, come reports that the creek — like the Hudson River that it connects to — is also heavily contaminated by old industrial pollutants from now gone factories that made use of a moving water supply as a resources. The creek is being discussed as now qualifying for federal funds through the Superfund program. This is something that the EPA is currently proposing.However, as an editorial in today’s Poughkeepsie Journal (a local paper that has a very good track record on environmental news coverage) points out, there are politically caused limited Superfund dollars available for cleanups of sites like the Fishkill Creek.”
Walter Einenkel writes—New research suggests that oxygen may be a key to dealing with coal ash contamination: “When Duke Energy admitted to poisoning virtually all of the water wells anywhere near their ash ponds last year, lawsuits and trials and fines were filed and tried andsettlements were reached. Regardless of one’s ambivalence concerning the punitive veracity of the judgements and settlements against Duke Energy for poisoning North Carolina, there is one thing we can all agree on. Those ash ponds and those potentially contaminating agents must be properly cleaned and disposed of so that no further damage is done to the surrounding environments. New research conducted at Duke University may have found a new avenue of hope in coal ash containment—air.”
AGRICULTURE, FOOD & GARDENING
Auntie B writes—I kill animals and then eat them: “Beside eggs, last summer, we raised meat chickens. In batches of 10 and 15, we raised 40 Cornish Cross chickens over the summer. We were also given four black rooster chicks too. We didn’t know they were roosters until one by one they started crowing at all hours of the day. At first, I didn’t realize it was crowing. Their first attempts sounded more like a cat being slowly strangled, and I spent several mornings at 4 AM tromping around outside in my boots and nightgown trying to find the animal that was being hurt. But I finally caught one scrawny chicken doing it, and figured out what it was. Within a week the young fellows were pestering the lady chickens so much that several of them started molting early. Then the neighbor came over and told me he was tired of hearing them crow, and offered to wring their necks for us. The first batch of cornish cross chickens weren’t ready to butcher, and I had never dressed a chicken by myself before, so I figured the roosters would be good butchering practice. I watched a bunch of youtube videos and set up a sterile area on the tailgate of the truck using plastic tablecloths and bleach water. Killing the first chicken was hard. I had sharpened my knife, gotten a large pot of very hot water ready, and plenty of clean cloths. I put the rooster’s feet in a loop of rope so it hung upside down. Talking to it the whole time, I separated the feathers under it’s cheek, and cut hard with my sharp knife. There was a slight sucking hiss when I hit the artery, and the rooster bled out quickly. It hung calmly, watching me and the blood running out, until it closed it’s eyes, and then went into death throes of wildly flapping it’s wings and shaking violently. At that point I ran inside, sobbing. [...] I have gotten faster, and am now able to dress a chicken in about 30 minutes, but I still get close to tears each time. My sister suggested coming up with a small ritual of thanking each bird for it’s life, and that helps a lot. I’m not religious, but the ritual helps me, though I’m sure it does nothing for the chicken.”
Steve Masover writes—GMO labeling and a dearth of principled discourse: “GMO labeling, coming to a supermarket near you. Yep. I'm talking about labeling food that contains GMO ingredients. You may already know that beginning on 1 July Vermont's Act 120 will require that GMO ingredients be called out on labels of food sold in that state (the nitty-gritty is delineated in the Vermont Attorney General's Consumer Protection Rule 121). The imminent deadline made March a pretty lively month in this particular corner of the struggle between What People Want and What Megacorporations Wish People Wanted. You may have already seen, for example, that corporate-backed federal legislation to neuter Vermont's labeling requirements moved to the U.S. Senate's front burner last month. Here's how, way over here on the Left Coast, San Francisco's newspaper reported how that has turned out thus far (GMO food labeling bill does not pass in Senate, SF Chronicle, 16 Mar 2016).”
gmoke writes—City Agriculture—April 10, 2016: A small collection of links on the subject.
kishik writes—Saturday Morning Garden Blogging: Green is the loveliest colour… “Here in the northeast — more specifically, Long Island, NY, Spring has finally arrived. Ok. Spring officially began last month, however it’s been this week where temps have settled enough that I feel Spring emanating from the earth and when new growing green from the ground is the most wonderful sight in the world. My garden in Spring is more than a weedy mess and is always so because I allow plants to spread naturally and self-seed. Allowing the garden to grow this way also means a big Spring clean-up rather than a Fall clean-up. I do clear tree leaves that cover the flower beds in most places in Fall, but I don’t start clearing things down to the ground in pulling up weeds or dying perennial tops. I like exploring my yard as the next growing season begins, to search for new plants that have spread or sprouted, or old ones coming back. My haphazard gardening habits have required that I’m able to identify plants from weeds. The following quiz may seem a bit rigged, since really only I would know what I’ve planted or allowed to grow in the yard, but can you identify just the green of the plants that have sprung forth? Common names accepted!”
Mark Sumner writes—This is your brain on fungicides: “While Republicans are actively trying to bring back DDT to please big agriculture, concern is growing about other pesticides and fungicides that are already out there. In your food. In your body. In your brain. … a team of University of North Carolina Neuroscience Center researchers led by Mark Zylka subjected mouse cortical neuron cultures—which are similar in cellular and molecular terms to the the human brain—to 294 chemicals "commonly found in the environment and on food." The idea was to see whether any of them triggered changes that mimicked patterns found in brain samples from people with autism, advanced age, and neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's. This is initial research, and obviously mouse brain samples in a test tube aren’t the greatest analog for what happens in a living human mind. Still, among the chemicals tested, eight showed up as triggering degenerative effects. And among those eight were a couple of brand-spanking-new fungicides introduced into the U.S. only within this century. ”
MISCELLANY
don mikulecky writes—Who cares about "Green" diaries? “Since this site is somewhat like the MSM in that it has an owner who sets the tone, I have been less inclined to speak my mind here. I don’t like to offend people just for the sake of offending them but am often accused of that if I am merely honest about what I think. Often I am criticized for think my ideas might have some value by those who refuse to consider them. So a lot became clear as I did my self analysis today. I do not believe anyone who opposes Bernie is really going to read a green diary and get what it is saying. They may pay lip service but how can you oppose the only candidate who is speaking the truth about green issues?”
WeAreKochs writes—Undisclosed Koch-Affiliated Parrots Mislead About Koch Industries' Environmental Record on Twitter: “We noticed something strange on Twitter today. Many seemingly unconnected accounts were tweeting similar misleading content about the EPA and Koch Industries. As it would turn out, all of these accounts had something in common. They were all connected to Koch-affiliated groups. Feel free to consult reputable sources for information about Koch’s ‘environmental awards’ and pollution record. Also, it is worth noting the two Politifact fact-checks (1, 2) related to the company’s pollution record (spoiler: it is TRUE that they are ‘one of the biggest polluters in the country’ and MOSTLY FALSE that they are ‘model company for a clean environment’).”
WeAreKochs writes—Fellow at #Climate Denial "Think Tank" Under Subpoena, With Koch Network Ties, Touts Koch Industries: “At least one person wasn’t happy about the free publicity he landed from our story yesterday (Undisclosed Koch-Affiliated Parrots Mislead About Koch Industries' Environmental Record on Twitter). William (Bill) Frezza’sTwitter bio listed him as a ‘Fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute’ (CEI), which we pointed out to be supposedly partially funded by Koch-affiliates (including the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation and the David H. Koch Charitable Foundation). We were surprised that Mr. Frezza blocked on us on Twitter, and decided to do some follow up research. The tweets we cited in our original article were indeed strange. Multiple geographically dispersed Twitter users, including one with the handle “recruiter4koch”, separately Tweeted similar content about the EPA and Koch Industries. To our knowledge, there was no news article or press release issued with that specific content while these Tweets were being posted. Certainly, none of the tweets linked to such material.”
Mark Sumner writes—Nooooot Dooooomed!!! GDP growth no longer means carbon growth: “The Atlantic has what they’re calling the biggest news of the millennium. And it’s good news. For the second year in a row, global GDP grew in 2015 while global carbon emissions stayed flat. This terminates a link that had persisted for 200 years, and it suggests that mitigating climate change won't be disastrous for the global economy. Since the Industrial Revolution, fossil fuels—coal for warmth and power; petroleum for asphalt and transport—have driven and even indicated economic growth. Given this history, and given the grave consequences of carbon emissions, it seems no exaggeration to call this the most important political-economy news this millennium. CO₂ emissions aren’t just another economic indicator. Think about that a sec. For 200 years, the growth of our civilization has been measurable in CO₂ output. That’s because CO₂ has marked the energy we’ve used to construct buildings, transport goods, and heat our homes. So those arguing that any attempt to regulate CO₂ might affect the quality of life had a couple of centuries of if-this-then-that to fall back on. Only now … that’s no longer true.”