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 25,180 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
OceanDiver writes—The Daily Bucket - news from the oceans: “Oceanographers from the University of Georgia revealed an unexpected 600 mile-long deepwater biogenic reef off the mouth of the Amazon. They have brought up samples along its length, mapping a variety of ecosystems. One reason no one expected to find a reef there is because it is deep and dark, the topmost portions 50 meters down where light rarely penetrates. Coral reef builders require sunlight for their photosynthetic endosymbionts, which is why living corals are shallow enough to snorkel over. The published report describes the bulk of the reef’s builders to be “turned off” but the legacy structure, deep now after changes in sea level, provides a substrate for a diverse series of ecosystems that include sponges, brittle stars, tubeworms, urchins, and many fish. The other reason a reef was considered unlikely here is that the Amazon River constantly pours out tons of sediment and fresh water, both reef killers. Evidently the fresh water stratifies, staying on top of the oceanic saltwater for the most part, and the extreme currents blow the sediment away from the reef so the creatures there are not smothered. Coralline algal species continue to build on the reef, though at a much slower rate than coral animals and the overall diversity of the deep reef is lower than shallow coral reefs, but this gigantic structure provides a refuge for many species. It’s also an important nursery for juvenile fish and lobster. Unfortunately, the Brazilian government has sold 80 leases for oil-drilling in the area, two of which are active directly on top of the newly discovered reef.”
kristie kusch writes—Cherry Point is not a Bowl of Cherries: “I live in the Pacific Northwest, home to wildlife and landscape that can’t be found anywhere else, but now, our way of life is threatened by the specter of coal. Wyoming is a coal state, Montana is a coal state, North Dakota is a fracturing technology state, the gulf of Mexico and the Alaskan Peninsula are endangered by oil and liquid natural gas extraction, and now the Pacific Northwest is falling under the gavel in the quest for more environmentally dangerous practices, leading to climate change with a proposed coal terminal. This project is known as the Gateway Terminal, incorporating wharves that would move up to 48 million tons of coal a year. For perspective, that is enough to cover 80 acres in 5 open stockpiles, by water, each 2,100 feet long and up to 70 feet high, accomplished by utilizing ships, many nearly 3 football fields long and bound mostly for Asia and setting sail every 18 hours. Cherry Point is already home to oil refineries that produce 140,000 barrels of oil a day, providing the west coast with most of its oil and gas supply, and now, is under threat of expansion for additional pipelines that could produce up to 800,000 barrels of oil a day. It also has an aluminum smelting plant, leading to more pollution of an already endangered oceanic gateway. The proposed expansion of the Gateway Terminal would make it the fourth largest terminal in the country and lead to environmental degradation and an encroachment on tribal treaty rites.
CRITTERS AND THE GREAT OUTDOORS
Austin Bailey writes—Jurassic Rhinos: “There are three northern white rhinos left in the world—two females, one male. When they are gone the subspecies will be extinct. The existing rhinos are not capable of reproducing for multiple medical reasons. This article in Nature describes the cutting edge reproductive science that two research teams hope to apply to save the subspecies. …researchers this week unveiled the details of an audacious plan to save the northern white rhino (Ceratotherium simum cottoni), by transforming cells from living rhinos and from frozen storage into sperm and egg cells, and then using in vitro fertilization (IVF) to create embryos and revitalize the population. Teams led by San Diego Zoo Global in California and the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research in Berlin have already started work on the idea. The first phase of this project centers around in vitro fertilization of eggs harvested from the two remaining females with sperm from samples collected and frozen in the past. As neither female is considered physical capable of dealing with the rigors of a pregnancy, the researchers intend to use a female southern white rhino as a surrogate. Success is this phase requires developing a viable in vitro process.”
Besame writes—Daily Bucket: citizen science with bumble bees and coyote scat (but watch out for stoned coyotes): “See a bumble bee? Find coyote scat in Los Angeles? Your sightings are important to citizen science projects. The Xerces Society Bumble Bee Watch covers the US, Canada and the UK, while the National Park Service’s Coyote Scat Survey is exclusive to the Los Angeles area. Both projects involve more than seeing-reporting. You can contribute important conservation information, and learn bumble bee ecology and how to discover a coyote’s dinner from his dried poop. […] Bumble Bee Watch can be done where you live without special training and data is uploaded online. In addition to observation data, the program offers bumble bee identification guides and help in promoting their conservation through habitat enhancement and restricted use of harmful pesticides. Follow Bumble Bee Watch through their Twitter and Facebook accounts to get tips on what bumble bees to look for and up to date news about this project.”
Walter Einenkel writes—While you weren't looking Australia just added 49 species to the threatened and endangered list: “Last week, very quietly, the Australian government added 49 new species of flora and fauna to their Department of the Environment’s threatened and endangered list. The reserve the government showed in not publicizing this event is not a good sign. Australian Conservation Foundation campaigner Jess Abrahams said 49 species were added on Thursday without notice from the federal environment minister, Greg Hunt, or his ministry. ‘Normally they’ll put out a press release and talk about all the great work they’re doing to turn this around. This time it just slipped out.’ Many of the new species added are threatened by logging and mining and other loss of habitat; and it does not look like the government has any immediate plans to deal with these environmental impact issues. A few bats added to the list live in caves that happen to be connected to a mining proposal that is under consideration from the local government.”
OceanDiver writes—Dawn Chorus: Trip to the tropics - birds on a little island in the West Indies: “My latest dive trip was to Little Cayman, a remote and tiny island midway between Jamaica and Cuba. Interestingly, while the sea creatures were mostly cosmopolitan — species I’ve seen all across the Caribbean — many of the flora and birds were more specific to this area. Others have ranges north into the eastern US and will be familiar to some Dawn Chorusers, but they were quite unusual to me since I live in the Pacific Northwest. Luckily I stumbled across a nice local bird book to help me identify them, otherwise I’d be asking folks to help with that. But feel free to add any thoughts you have about them! Two of the most spectacular birds, which I saw daily out over the ocean, were the Red-footed Boobies and the Magnificent Frigatebirds. One of the largest nesting colonies of Red-footed Boobies is right here on this island, about 5000 pairs, who occupy the mangrove trees around the Booby Pond at this season.”
Lenny Flank writes—Daily Bucket: Snake Fungal Disease in North America: “OK, not very many people like snakes. But as mid-level predators, snakes are an important part of the food web: they serve as population controls for smaller animals like rodents, and are themselves food sources for larger predators like mammals and birds of prey. Over the past few years, snakes in the eastern part of the US have been struck with a deadly new disease caused by a fungus, which may be tied to global climate change.”
CLIMATE CHAOS
boatsie writes—Mother Nature Calls To Me: “The publication last week of the New York Times’ article Resettling the Countries First Climate Refugees hopefully at long last brings home the stark reality that rising sea levels are already severely impacting real estate in the United States. The award of $48 million for relocating residents of Louisiana’s Isle de Jean Charles is part of a $1 billion grant to 13 states to assist them in adapting to climate change. The other states include New York, Tennessee, Louisiana, Iowa, Connecticut, Virginia, California, Massachusetts, and North Dakota. [...] According to the London-based Environmental Justice Foundation, climate change has already forced the migration of 26 million people globally. That number is expected to expand to become the largest global migration in the history of mankind, with up to 200 million people displaced by 2050. That’s 35 years from now.”
roonie writes—Climate ignorers* and more at DKos: Is ignorance bliss for too many Hillary supporters? ”Climate change and it’s consequences trumps everything: it is and will affect every single aspect of our individual and social lives. It is affecting our personal and national finances, our food supply, our social order. And climate change and warming is happening faster than expected. It is not good. In fact it is catastrophically horrible. Along with climate change we are getting acidification of the oceans. Last year there were reports of mass extinctions of the oceans. The oceans die, we die. I don’t want to trouble your pretty little heads blissing out with visions of dancing at inaugural balls, but even if climate acceleration were not looming over every facet of our lives, the world is STILL not better than ever.”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Deniers Try Their Hand at Satire: “Satire can be a powerful tool in the right hands, pointing out the folly of a dominant power by highlighting shortcomings, creating a cartoonish exaggeration of its target through parody or sarcasm. The grade school example is the 1729 work by Jonathan Swift, in which he puts forth A Modest Proposal that poor Irish citizens sell their children as food for the rich. It’s a classic use of satire to call out economic inequality and lack of empathy for those who could use a helping hand. There’s a long history of satire being cleverly used as a mechanism for intelligent public discourse. But for every example of satire done with a deft touch, there are untold examples of ham-handed misfires. Enter the deniers.”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Bill Nye Talks Trump and All Things Climate Denial: “Every once in a while we get to leave the dark and dank depths of the deniersphere to experience the light of day. This was the case last Friday, when we saw the beloved Bill Nye at the Climate Action Summit. Our favorite science guy talked about all things climate, including his recent climate denial beef with our least favorite non-science guy, Marc Morano. During the near-hour long NowThis News chat, the interviewer was curious about denial and asked Nye a few questions on it. Bill discussed Heritage and others that have been funded by fossil fuel companies to “introduce doubt” about the science. Apparently he’s now taking a new approach to his science education -- instead of talking about the ‘settled science’ he’s out to “debunk the denial” that has been ‘too successful.’ He’s taking this approach through until November, because ‘the US President has so much influence.’ Nye's going to be dipping his toe into the political conversation, somewhat new ground for the Science Guy. He suggests that after the Republican Convention, Donald Trump will likely change his mind on climate since denial is such a losing position among the general public. Although Nye did quickly qualify the prediction, noting that given the ‘crazy things’ Trump says, Nye wouldn’t be surprised if he stuck with the conspiracy theories (which he later describes as being ‘lazy’ thinking.)”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Exxon Exxcitment Multiplying as Investigations Go International: “Prepare yourselves, dear readers. It’s only been five days since we last talked Exxon, but in that time, there’ve been a number of new stories to cover. InsideClimate News’s latest investigative piece into the fossil fuel industry’s climate change knowledge dug up a three-page article written in 1982 by Mobil’s former chief executive Rawleigh Warner Jr. He acknowledges the ‘disastrous consequences’ that may arise from the ‘excessive use’ of ‘heavier fossil fuels’ extracted from new shale mining operations (fracking) and admits that the concerns ‘should be seriously addressed.’ He recognizes that the greenhouse effect ‘may become a serious issue for the future’ before placing his faith in the National Academy of Sciences and UN efforts to “supply us with the information to deal with this problem well before the catastrophic consequences which some predict can happen.’ Which is ironic, given that these are the very institutions whose findings the fossil fuel industry spent millions to undercut with the Global Climate Coalition and similar efforts. This, along with the recent story from DeSmog about Exxon’s Canadian subsidiary admitting that ;there is no doubt’ that fossil fuels are ‘aggravating the potential problem of increased CO2 in the atmosphere,’ suggests that the #ExxonKnew investigations may be poised to go global.”
gmoke writes—Nicholas Stern on The New Climate Economy: “On May 2, 2016, Nicholas Stern of the London School of Economics spoke at Harvard on ‘The Logic, Urgency and Promise of Tackling Climate Change.’ These are some of the numbers for the greenhouse gas context he laid out: We are at 450 CO2 equivalent [CO2e] now [400 ppm CO2 and another 50ppm equivalent in warming potential in other greenhouse gases like methane]. The rate of increase is increasing. It was 0.5 ppm per year from 1930-1950. 1 ppm per year from 1950-1970. 2 ppm per year from 1970-1990., and is 2.5 ppm per year increase now. We are at the edge of the temperature range in our present geologic era, the Holocene, with about 1º C of heat cooked into the atmosphere from our industrial greenhouse gas emissions already. The 2015 Paris agreement is designed to keep the globe below 2º C, and 1.5 º if possible. Paris anticipates and tries to avert a looming catastrophe.”
thePHATman writes—Climate Change – We Get Only One Chance to do This Right!: Today, as they say, things are dramatically different. The “reality” we are faced with is this, we get only one chance to do this right, and if we fuck it up, humanity is toast. Got it? I know that might seem like hyperbole, alarmist even, but truly it is not. I posted a comment the other day in another diary indicating that, if we stay on our current course, humanity has about 5 generations (100 to 120 years) left before we become extinct. Someone replied that I'm engaging in hyperbole and that even if temperatures rise as much as 36 degrees Fahrenheit, sure places around the globe would be hard hit, but humanity would still survive. I'm more than likely preaching to the choir about climate change here, but this reply I received to my comment was a little startling, especially coming from someone in this so called, ‘reality based community.’ (Face Palm) It's these kinds of replies that don't give me much confidence in humanity, because it displays that the ‘reality’ has not sunk in yet. This is a very real and dangerous development, especially within the “party” that has been pushing for climate change for a very long time. We have enough people in this country who don't even believe climate change is real, and it's kind of frightening to me that some people that do believe in it, don't really ‘get it’.”
Meteor Blades writes—Center provisionally updates its Arctic sea ice data for first time in a month—it's a scary picture: “The data are provisional, but if they hold true—and there is good reason to believe they will—the summer melting of Arctic sea ice is very likely headed for a record year in 2016. For the past month, the National Snow and Ice Data Center hasn’t been updating itsnear-real time daily chart of sea ice observations because of a problem with the passive microwave sensor on the Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) F17 satellite that monitors the ice. It’s been working on replacing the F17 data with data from DMSP F18. Now for the first time since April 12, it has provisionally updated its chart, shown above.”
Extreme Weather & Natural Phenomena
Steve D writes—Alberta Wildfires Out of Control. Blame Climate Change, with a little help from Hillary Clinton: “Perhaps I'm beating a dead horse in the eyes of some here, but when I see a headline like this - Fort McMurray: Fire could double in size, Canadian official says - from CNN, I find it more than a little disturbing. Dry, windy conditions are fueling the blaze, which has already raged over 1,010 square kilometers (389 square miles). By Saturday, it might be twice as big. ‘It's extremely dry out there. Wind continues to push from the southwest, to push the fire to the northeast into the forested areas,’ Alberta Wildfire official Chad Morrison said Friday afternoon. ‘There is a high potential that this fire could double in size by the end of the day tomorrow.’ This is just one of forty (40) wildfires ravaging Alberta. And it's only May. As for those who see this as just another strange weather event that we should not tie to anthropogenic climate change, well, again, that's not what the experts at Climate Central, a popular and respected climate science website, are saying in their article: ‘Here’s the Climate Context For the Fort McMurray Wildfire.’”
Jan4Insight writes—Canada's massive #ymmfire > Updates, pet rescue, and how you can help: “I’ve been following the massive wildfire around Ft. McMurray in Alberta, Canada, during the past week, and posting updates in the PWB threads and a few other groups. Several folks have said I should make it a diary, so here goes. This diary is focused on two things — the amazing stories of pets and the people and the rescuers who’ve helped them, and showing support and solidarity for our Canadian neighbors who are enduring this catastrophe of historic proportions. I’d really like to keep comments on this thread positive (pls hold the primary pie fights!), because I want to tweet this to the #ymmfire hashtag on twitter, which is a wealth of info & read by many people out there in the thick of it. First, though, here are the key places to show support via donations, for those so inclined.”
veritas curat writes—The Tar Sands Burns Itself: “So, Fort McMurray is burning. The tragedy is deep and powerful. A settlement, actually an “urban service area”—completely dependent upon the extraction of tar sands from the boreal forest, is being destroyed by fire. The property and possessions of more than 80,000 people who came to live within that wild boreal forest because “that’s where the jobs are” are being burned up in this conflagration. At this point , fires had displaced so many workers and crippled so much infrastructure that tar sands production in the region came to a grinding halt. As of early Thursday morning more than 640,000 barrels per day of the climatologically volatile synthetic crude had halted. Representing more than 16 percent of Canada’s crude production, the fire-forced cuts were significant enough to drive oil prices in the global markets as high as 46 dollars a barrel in trading early Thursday. More production shut ins were likely with other major tar sands extractors scrambling to slash oil flows as the Fort McMurray blaze became ever-less predictable. Near Anzac, the southern extent of the fires threatened a 30,000 barrel per day Conoco Philips tar sands production facility in the Surmont region — forcing a production halt and the evacuation of all tar sands workers. Whoopie! The price of oil is rising! The stock market likes this! And what’s good for the stock market is good for the USA!”
joeknapp writes—Alberta wildfires, record of the last 85 years: “The wildfire currently raging in Alberta, causing the evacuation of 90,000 people from Fort McMurray, was recently reported to cover 161,000 hectares (1,610 km2). To put this in context of historical wildfires in Alberta, the map above was made from the database provided by Alberta Agriculture and Forestry: Spatial Wildfire Data. That database contains perimeter information for 25,738 wildfires in the province from 1931-2015, with areas ranging from very small fires to a massive fire covering over a million hectares in 1950 (at the left of the map above). The latter is known as the Chinchaga fire, the largest North American wildfire on record. [...] So while several large fires have been relatively near Fort McMurray over that time period, there were none that involved the town itself. A closer view of the Fort McMurray area, with fires greater than 10,000 ha annotated:
OCEANS, WATER, DROUGHT
Walter Einenkel writes—Exclusive CA homeowners association telling residents to beautify their lawns—forget the drought: “One thing that the past couple of decades—and the combined recorded history of humanity—has shown us, is that the wealthiest in our society have a tendency towards … dissociation with reality. A couple of weeks ago the California ‘drought shaming’ policy that had been enacted in the Bay Area ended. Right on cue, the Blackhawk, California community’s homeowners association decided it was time to tell their residents to get to spraying that precious water onto their lawns. ‘A lot of lawns were just let go, and it's created some problems of the atmosphere of Blackhawk not looking proper for the type of homes we have in here. ... You want everything to look nice,’ Blackhawk homeowner Gary Schenck said. [...] In their defense, they’re rich! Brown grass is for plebeians! If the residents of Blackhawk want to show that they have souls, the law is still on their side.”
Dan Bacher writes—Group seeks full accounting of finances, state audit about Delta Tunnels funding: “Citing a lack of state or federal legislative authorization, Restore the Delta today sent a detailed request under the California Public Records Act to a half dozen public agencies, including the California Department of Water Resources seeking details about the funding plan for the proposed Delta Tunnels (CA WaterFix). The letter was addressed to officials at Zone 7 Water Agency, Westlands Water District, Metropolitan Water District, Kern County Water Agency, and the Santa Clara Valley Water District, in addition to the California Department of Water Resources. The letter asks the agencies to clarify how ‘…the continued planning and design of the proposed project is funded by each major water contractor who may benefit from its construction, operation and maintenance, and who provide security for state and federal debt issuance.’”
CANDIDATES, STATE AND DC ECO-RELATED POLITICS
Meteor Blades writes—Juneau, Wilder, Barragán, Hogg. I cannot vote for these excellent candidates, but I'm sending money: “As anyone who knows me is aware, I am far from a one-issue voter. And neither are the four candidates I am sending money to. But it’s true I picked three of them—Sellus Wilder, Rob Hogg, and Nanette Barragán—specifically because they are endorsed byClimate Hawks Vote. While there are many other good candidates running, these three can be counted on to be tough on climate action, a matter that—despite all the scientific studies and other reports telling us the crisis is getting worse and faster—doesn’t get enough attention in election campaigns. And as a result not enough attention in Congress. The fourth candidate is Denise Juneau, and I’ll start with her.”
TRADE AND ECO-RELATED FOREIGN POLICY
NeoLiberalTrash writes—"An Explosion of Fracking? One of the Dirtiest Secrets of the TPP Free Trade Agreement": “One of the Dirtiest Secrets of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Free Trade Agreement”: How the TPP could increase fracking. In order for the United States to export natural gas to another country, the Department of Energy (DOE) must first conduct a public analysis to determine whether those exports are consistent with the public interest. This analysis is critical to understanding the environmental and economic impacts associated with natural gas exports and to building a deliberate energy policy that protects the interests of the American public.Unfortunately, the DOE loses its authority to regulate exports of natural gas to countries with which the United States has a free trade agreement that includes so-called ―national treatment for trade in gas. The TPP, therefore, would mean automatic approval of LNG export permits—without any review or analysis—to TPP countries. And many TPP countries would likely be quite interested in importing LNG from the United States. This is particularly true of Japan—the word’s single largest LNG importer—which is one of the 12 TPP countries.”
WILDERNESS, NATIONAL FORESTS AND PARKS & OTHER PUBLIC LANDS
Desert Scientist writes—Spring In A Northwestern Second-growth Forest: “In recent weeks I have been driving to Yost Park in Edmonds, Washington, to hike the trails and bird and bug watch. The park covers an area of 48 acres around the ravine of Shell Creek. The creek was dammed in 1902 to provide water to the community. The remains of the water project can still be seen along the creek. The original forest was cut over around 1900. Now it is covered with a second growth forest of western red cedar, red alder, bigleaf maple and western hemlock trees, and numerous shrubby undergrowth plants that provide a dense understory.”
poopdogcomedy writes—MT-Gov: Bullock (D) Reminds Gianforte (R) Public Lands Are A Constitutional Right & Not For Sale: “Received this e-mail today from Governor Steve Bullock’s (D. MT) re-election campaign: Like many Montanans, I grew up fishing and hiking on our public lands. Protecting public access is an issue that is deeply important to me. I’ve always viewed access to public lands and streams as one of the great equalizers, and it goes right to the core of who we are as Montanans. But for years, Montanans have been locked in battles against wealthy out-of-state landowners, buying up land and blocking access to the places we’ve enjoyed with our families for generations. Now we learn that in 2009, my multi-millionaire opponent Greg Gianforte sued the people of Montana to terminate an easement on his land allowing public access to the East Gallatin River, claiming that the public could access the river in other ways. This is a thumb in the eye for all Montanans who value their right to access the land we all own.”
ENERGY
Nuclear & Fossil Fuels
Mark Sumner writes—Oil producers face the possibility of massive legal settlements over climate change: “You know the Gandhi saying, “First they ignore you, then they laugh ...” Yeah, that one. Energy companies have their own version. It goes like this: First you ignore climate change, then you deny climate change, then you try to blame anything but your actions for climate change, then you complain about the cost of ending climate change. Oh, and at all stages you pay Republicans to carry your water on climate change. So far this has been a fairly decent strategy for the people raking it in by spewing it out. It’s even allowed them to argue that saving the world would be too expensive. (Because letting world civilization end, that’ll definitely save some bucks.) Only there’s one new area of conflict that’s hitting energy companies in the only place they care about.”
Mary Anne Hitt writes—US Government Upholds Its Treaty Obligations - Rejects Giant Coal Export Terminal: “This is big - for our climate, for clean air and water, for our future. It’s also big because the US government is honoring its treaty obligations. After a five-year struggle that engaged hundreds of thousands of people, on Monday the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued a landmark decision to deny federal permits for the biggest proposed coal export terminal in North America, SSA Marine’s proposed Gateway Pacific Terminal, a coal export facility at Xwe’chi’eXen (also known as Cherry Point), Washington. In January 2015, the Lummi Nation asked the Army Corps to reject the projectbecause it would violate US treaty obligations to project the tribe’s fisheries and ancestral lands. This is a huge win for the Lummi Nation and its Northwest community allies over the coal companies.”
Wisper writes—Coal is Down: LET US KEEP KICKING: “As West Virginia assumes its place in today’s primary spotlight, let us take a moment to celebrate one of the things for which the state is most well known: Coal. And specifically, let us celebrate its death. Not a complete death, mind you, one to be spoken of in past tense and nostalgia. Not yet, but rather a dying death, slow but measured, tortuous but assured. With all the accompanying angst, anger and anguish from the people involved. The bad news on coal rolls in with such a superfluous cadence that one can hardly keep up. But don’t worry if you missed some profound development thoroughly deepening the already pitch-dark cloud hanging over the industry. Merely wait a week or ten days and worse news for Dirty Rock, Inc will leap into the headlines.”
Emissions Controls & Carbon Pricing
poopdogcomedy writes—WA-Gov: Jay Inslee (D) Keeps Up The Momentum For Washington's Clean Air Rule: “Received this e-mail today from Governor Jay Inslee’s (D. WA) re-election campaign: Dear Friend—Eight courageous kids went to court to compel us adults to take action on climate change. I'm happy to say that they won. These eight kids know that our state can do more to fight climate change —and I do, too. Their case has been a call for action to no longer ignore our climate and our kids. And now, the court has affirmed that our plan to reduce carbon pollution is the right thing to do, and now is the right time. While we fight for better schools and an economy that works for everyone, making sure we do our part to protect our air and water for generations to come must be a critical issue for all of us. [...] Thanks to those eight kids, the court has affirmed our plan to act, contrary to the assertion of those who continue to obstruct action on climate change and ocean acidification. Hundreds of people have participated in the creation of our state's Clean Air Rule and the draft will be out this month.”
TRANSPORTATION & INFRASTRUCTURE
terrypinder writes—The Transportation Roundup: A Tale Of Two Transit Shutdowns: “I’ve written about the embarrassing state of our capital city’s subway network in the past. It’s killed several people in accidents over the years, accidents that should not occur. Evacuations due to smoke seem to be an almost weekly occurrence. WMATA recently hired a new general manager and he’s really taken the ball with this. And now, WMATA has a plan that will mean a year of pain, but it will fix many of the major problems the system has due to its age and decades of deferred maintenance. [...] The Canarsie tunnels, which carry the L line from Brooklyn into Manhattan beneath the East River, flooded to their roofs during Hurricane Sandy. The hurricane’s storm surge swamped much of New York City’s underground subway network. There’s really no good way to fix the damage. They can limit the amount of trains through, doing night and weekend work, or they can shut the line down entirely. It will take 7 years, apparently, if they do option one. It will take 18 months if they do option two.”
Brainwrap writes—I support an environmentally-friendly regional transit solution for the 21st Century: “Last week I attended a seminar put on by Marie Donigan of A Coalition for Transit, an organization devoted to finally bringing a reliable, high-quality regional public transit system to Southeast Michigan. This November, along with the Presidential, Congressional and other races (including, of course, my own campaign for Oakland County Commissioner), there will also be a ballot initiative to authorize a regional public transportation system which would bring together Wayne, Oakland, Macomb and Washtenaw counties. As the Detroit News reported in February: The Regional Transit Authority — a state-created board with representatives from Macomb, Oakland, Wayne and Washtenaw counties — is working to finalize a master plan by spring. Consultants are strategizing with businessman Roger Penske and other community and philanthropic leaders to fund a detailed public education effort that will evolve into a separate, all-out political campaign heading into the November election.”
MISCELLANY
Exeomens writes—200 Years of Wrongheaded Science and Engineering...: “ ...have led us to this point of anthropogenic cataclysm. I say CATACLYSM because the domino effect will deliver its consequences to every corner of the planet in short order. Word have reached me, from family abroad, in countries lying closer to the equator, that temperatures in the past few years have reached easily 113 degrees. Children and elderlies falling ill from heatstroke. People feel like they are being ‘baked alive in an oven.’ Fish die by the thousands in low water level lakes from the heat.We may still have a chance yet to save our planet. For this to happen, scientists and engineers must change their ways. They need to adopt the concept of SYMBIOTIC MUTUALISM with nature and the planet. That is to say, they need to RESPECT the POWER of nature and natural laws. Instead of MANIPULATING and perverting the laws of mother nature, they optimize it - adhere to a win-win principle with mother nature. Humans must learn to live in mutualistic symbiosis with the planet.”
DarkScholar82 writes—Will New Jersey Become the Next Alberta? “By this point, most people who follow the news will be familiar with the horrific wildfires in Alberta, Canada, described in diaries by other Kossacks. These fires have forced the evacuation of over eighty thousand people, many from the city of Fort McMurray. Much of the city has been destroyed, and the conflagration has burned 400,000 acres, with Alberta Premier Rachel Notley warning that the fire could continue for months. The images of devastation and fleeing people coming out of Canada are bad enough. However, they become even more disturbing in the face of a recent Rolling Stone article by former firefighter Kyle Dickman warning that a similar situation could eventually face New Jersey. The state’s Pine Barrens are at serious risk for a massive fire if a major drought hits. My Gut Reaction: So New Jersey will have a source of hot air worse than Chris Christie.”