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 25,380 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—"Jet Stream Crosses Equator" Not Unprecedented, not a Climate Emergency, Hell Freezes Over: “‘Unprecedented’: Scientists declare ‘global climate emergency’ after jet stream crosses equator” screams the headline at Raw Story. Now here’s the hell freezes over part. The first post that shows up on Google accurately debunking this weather nonsense is by Anthony Watts, the well known “climate change skeptic”. The original source for the Raw Story article was a blog post by robertscribbler which was amplified in a youtube video by Paul Beckwith that is included in the Raw Story piece. [...] This story is nonsense. The blogger robertscribbler is neither a meteorologist nor climatologist, nor is Paul Beckwith. I believe that robertscribbler’s expertise is in emergency management. He has excellent story telling skills and has built a large audience but he lacks scientific training. On the other hand, Joe Bastardi and Roy Spencer, who are quoted by Anthony Watts have decades of experience in meteorology. Watts, Bastardi and Spencer disagree with 97% of published climate scientists about climate change but they have studied the weather. It is embarrassing when “our side” is thoroughly debunked by Anthony Watts.”
PHScott writes—The Daily Bucket: A Sad End to this Entertaining Caterpillar: “It was my favorite caterpillar. After waiting and waiting for the first sighting of the year, I spotted three on the parsley by my porch. They were recently featured in this Daily Bucket on June 5th. [...] Guess I missed the tiny, fuzzy black, early stage of metamorphose but 3 on 1 flower was cool. That was back when they didn't eat much, or shuffle along the stems very far. The caterpillar I write about today is the bigger of these. It’s on the lower right going back to center after eating an umbelet. The other 2 are headed out to get a meal. My guy was always ahead of its cohorts — even has its own gif. […] A few days later I noticed the color changing, darkening, and peering in, I could see colors that look like its eventual wing spots. [...] Looking closer — a trail of ants that are rapidly plundering. I’m curious if this is normal for ants to attack a chrysalis, or perhaps it was dead from something else and the ants are cleaning up. [...] And that was that, this guy’s life is over in 30 days. I probably spent 20-30 hours looking at it, hovering, photographing, propping up waist-high parsley, wondering and waiting to see what’s next.”
CRITTERS AND THE GREAT OUTDOORS
Lenny Flank writes—Daily Bucket: Florida's Invaders--Cuban Tree Frog: “The Cuban Tree Frog is the largest tree frog in North America. And with an appetite to match, it has become a serious threat to native Florida wildlife. [...] The Cuban Tree Frog is the largest tree frog in North America. And with an appetite to match, it has become a serious threat to native Florida wildlife. The Cuban Tree Frog, Osteopilus septentrionalis, is a member of the large Hylid tree frog family, which contains dozens of members, but it has a number of anatomic specialties that place it apart, and it is classed in a genus of its own. The skin is rough and warty, and one oddity is that the skin on the top of the head is firmly attached to the roof of the skull. Like other tree frogs, the Cuban is arboreal and spends all its time off the ground. It uses the large sticky pads on the ends of its toes to climb around on tree branches, rock faces, or the sides of buildings. Occasionally, the frogs will seek a daytime shelter inside an electrical circuit box, and end up frying themselves and shorting out the power. To prevent itself from drying out, the skin is coated with a thin waxy layer that holds in moisture. When threatened, the Cuban Tree Frog can also produce a slimy mucus on its skin that is an irritant to the eyes and mouth of potential predators. Unlike the more familiar pond frogs, tree frogs are not very good swimmers and never enter water except to lay eggs.”
ban nock writes—Engineering Eden - A book about grizzly management in Yellowstone and other NPs: “I’m still not sure what side this book is on. It seems like it is trying to convince me of something, what that is I’m not exactly sure. The book is roughly built around the suit brought by the survivors of a late 1960s grizzly bear mortality and it uses this device to introduce the major players in grizzly bear management and Park policy in general during the sixties and seventies. [...] There are also the Craighead brothers who were the first intense griz advocates and researchers using radio collars with very effective results. They were maybe too species centric but they were mostly right about bears harassing people once the dumps were closed.Lastly were the National Park Service managers who wanted natural looking parks and for fewer people to get killed or mauled by grizzlies while at the same time making the place look less like a touristy zoo and more like a showpiece of natural management.”
Walter Einenkel writes—Climate change: penguin colonies may drop 60% by the end of this century: “For millions of years, the Adélie penguins have lived all over Antarctica. As the climate has changed, so has the distribution of the penguin breeding habitats. Unfortunately, historically and geologically speaking, warming climate conditions have not been good to penguin populations. In a paper published today (June 29) in Scientific Reports, the researchers project that approximately 30 percent of current Adélie colonies may be in decline by 2060 and approximately 60 percent may be in decline by 2099. ‘It is only in recent decades that we know Adélie penguins population declines are associated with warming, which suggests that many regions of Antarctica have warmed too much and that further warming is no longer positive for the species,’ said the paper's lead author Megan Cimino, who earned her doctoral degree at UD in May.”
OceanDiver writes—The Daily Bucket - birds lost & found: “The osprey perched on the piling was one of two I saw over Ship Harbor bay. I saw them stoop several times during the 45 minutes I was waiting for the ferry. An osprey hovers in place watching for a fish through the ripply sea surface, and then dives [...] Diving ospreys — cool! I found several exciting birds along the Salish Sea shore on this trip—the Great Blue Herons, the Purple Martins, and the Ospreys. It was disappointing to miss the White pelicans—lost my chance for them probably. But speaking of lost: I was sad to see what’s happened to the nesting Pelagic Cormorants at the dock, from a birdwatchers POV. They’ve been driven away by Washington State Ferries, who consider birds a nuisance and possible health hazard.”
The Katwoman writes—How SeaWorld Relies on Ignorance and Misdirection on the Subject of Calf Separation: “Back in March, a lot of people were pleasantly surprised by the news that SeaWorld was ending their shows and breeding program. Their assertion that the current generation of killer whales would be the last was seen as a sign that SeaWorld was finally listening to scientists and critics and opening themselves up to change. And while I am still optimistic that the lives of captive killer whales will continue to get better, there was one glaring omission in SeaWorld's announcement: the calf separations. This is one of the topics I see argued about the most often when discussing the welfare of killer whales in captivity. As I stated in a previous diary, learning that the whale Keet had been permanently separated from his mother at a young age was one of the key factors into making me an opponent of captivity. SeaWorld, however, tries to refute this accusation whenever it is made, and as of this writing, the page on SeaWorld's website addressing the topic has not been altered since the Spring announcement.”
CLIMATE CHAOS
Pakalolo writes—Melt water filled Suicide Basin, near Juneau, explodes in a powerful glacial outburst flood: “We have entered the world of consequences. The United States Geological Survey just released a time lapse video that is jaw dropping. Local Juneau officials are being assisted by the USGS as rising water levels in the Mendenhall river rush towards the city. I hope people can evacuate if any possible danger exists. This glacial outburst occured within the last hour or so. This breaking story and video can be seen on USGS www.facebook.com/... The current high flows were brought about by the release of a glacial, dammed lake on the nearby Mendenhall Glacier. A tributary glacier to the Mendenhall Glacier recently receded, leaving a new basin (Suicide basin) that fills up with melt water every summer. The water level in the basin rose 100 feet since May 14, 2016, and began draining through the glacier on June 29, a process known as a glacial outburst flood. This new USGS monitoring station in the Suicide basin provided emergency officials with a 3-day warning on June 29th, before the flood peaked in downstream residential areas.”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—WSJ Defends Itself by Demonstrating the Denial, Deception of Which it's Accused: “In the two weeks since the WSJ started running ads that call out its systemic bias on climate change, the opinion pages have yet to address them. But now, columnist Holman Jenkins Jr has responded with a piece that perfectly demonstrates how the Journal misleads readers in a way that is hard to believe is anything but intentional. If this same sort of advice were applied to, say the stock market, readers would laugh it off as satire. Sadly, that is not the case. Jenkins wastes no time in tricking his readers. In the second paragraph, he does his best Dumb and Dumber impression when he tells readers that since the IPCC was less than 100% certain that humans are causing climate change, it agrees with his denial. What he didn’t tell readers is that the IPCC is 95% certain, which, according to scientists, is about the same level of certainty of the age of the universe or that smoking causes cancer. This sort of impossibly high standard is not only a common element of denial, but also not a smart way to approach policy, or anything in life really. For example, as military leaders are wont to point out, ‘If you wait for 100% certainty on the battlefield, something bad is going to happen.’”
OCEANS, WATER, DROUGHT
marsanges writes—The EU at work: A ban on deep sea trawl fishery in >800 m water depth: “It is reported that the European Commission, which is in session, today has agreed on a ban on deep-water trawling in its waters at a water depth large than 800 meters. The EP (European Parliament) had already asked the Commission to do this a while back, but decision lay with the Commission acting on behalf of the Council (the assembled european governments). For those who do not know it, the world-s oceans are seriously overfished and one specific point of concern of fishery scientists is bottom trawling and deepwater trawling of marine communities whose ecology is far from sufficiently understood.”
Dan Bacher writes—Deep Regulatory Capture Exposed: The Links Between Delta Tunnels Plan & MLPA Initiative: “One of the least discussed issues in California environmental politics – and one of the most crucial to understanding Governor Jerry Brown’s Delta Tunnels Plan - is the clear connection between the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative and the California WaterFix, formerly called the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP). The privately funded MLPA Initiative and the California WaterFix at first may appear to be entirely different processes. The MLPA Initiative, a process begun in 2004 under the Schwarzenegger administration, purported to create a network of ‘marine protected areas’ along the California coast. The network was supposedly completed on December 19, 2012 with the imposition of contested ‘marine protected areas’ along the North Coast. On the other hand, the Bay Delta Conservation Plan process began under the Bush and Schwarzenegger administrations to achieve the so-called ‘co-equal goals’ of water supply reliability and Delta ecosystem restoration. In 2015, the state and federal governments divided the BDCP into two projects, the California WaterFix, the conveyance component and the California EcoRestore, the habitat ‘restoration’ component.”
Dan Bacher writes—Groups Expose The Big Lie: "There's No Plan B to Delta Tunnels": “On June 27, a coalition of conservation, fishing and environmental justice organizations submitted a letter to the Santa Clara Valley Water District exposing the “Big Lie” that there is no Plan B to Governor Jerry Brown’s Delta Tunnels, now renamed the California WaterFix. In their letter, Restore the Delta, AquAlliance, California Sportfishing Protection Alliance, California Water Impact Network, Environmental Justice Coalition for Water, Environmental Water Caucus, Friends of the River, Planning and Conservation League, and Sierra Club California revealed that there is indeed a Plan B — a comprehensive, well-researched alternative plan to fulfill the dual goals of ecosystem restoration and water supply reliability. ‘Our public interest organizations write out of concern that once again, the Big Lie has been repeated that there is no Plan B to the California Water Fix Delta Water Tunnels,’ the groups wrote. ‘In fact, there is an outstanding Plan B, and for that matter, other alternative plans as well to the Water Tunnels. The self-serving refusal of the proponents of the Water Tunnels to listen to or consider alternative plans does not mean there is no Plan B.’”
CANDIDATES, STATE AND DC ECO-RELATED POLITICS
Lefty Coaster writes—Rick Scott tries to blame Florida's Putrid Toxic Algae Crisis on Feds NOT GOP's lax enforcement: “The algae is toxic, as thick as guacamole, and if that isn’t enough the muck smells like dead animal tissue decomposing. The coveted waterfront neighborhoods that now stink so foully have been rendered very undesirable locatales. [...] At play are many of the forces that define modern Florida: competing environmental, residential and agricultural interests, a failure by state officials to invest in managing the demands of growth, finger pointing between state and federal officials. The result has been an environmental nightmare playing out here, about 35 miles from the source of the problem in Lake Okeechobee.”
Liberty Equality Fraternity and Trees writes—These 17 Senate Democrats Don't Want You to Know What's In Your Food: “Yesterday, the Senate cleared a procedural vote for a bill from Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Pat Roberts (R-KS) to block state GMO labeling efforts. The GMO labeling bill passed recently in Vermont will go into effect tomorrow, and Big Ag desperately wants to stop it. The legislation crafted by Stabenow and Roberts, regular supporters of large, deep-pocketed agricultural interests, preempts state efforts by creating a toothless and confusing national standard in which food companies can dispense with labeling their products and just use QR codes, 1-800 numbers, or a statement referring people to websites instead. The American Soybean Association and the Grocery Manufacturers Association (funded by major food processors and agrichemical titans like Monsanto, DuPont, and Dow) praised the bill.”
BYPRODUCTS, TRASH, TOXIC & RADIOACTIVE WASTE
Walter Einenkel writes—A day after Congress finds lead in their building they want stricter EPA regulations: “Sixty-one House representatives sent a bipartisan letter yesterday to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In that letter they demanded that the EPA tighten and modernize their regulations. Hooray! As ThinkProgress points out, this strong stance comes just one day after some of the signatories had their offices closed due to high levels of lead prompted a water shutoff in the Cannon House Office Building. The letter urges the EPA to update the Lead and Copper Rule, the regulation meant to keep the U.S.’s drinking water free from lead contamination, so that the threshold for action is lower. Currently, if a water system finds that at least 10 percent of homes tested show levels of lead at 15 parts per billion, steps have to be taken to reduce it, including replacing lead service lines and improving the use of corrosion control measures to keep lead from leeching from pipes into water.”
ENERGY
Hydraulic Fracturing
Steve Horn writes—Documents: Fracked Gas Exports Were Central to Panama Canal Expansion: “After nearly a decade of engineering work on the project, the Panama Canal's expansion opened for business on June 26. At the center of that business, a DeSmog investigation has demonstrated, is a fast-track export lane for gas obtained via hydraulic fracturing (‘fracking’) in the United States. The expanded Canal in both depth and width equates to a shortened voyage to Asia and also means the vast majority of liquefied natural gas (LNG) tankers — 9-percent before versus 88-percent now — can now fit through it. Emails and documents obtained under open records law show that LNG exports have, for the past several years, served as a centerpiece for promotion of the Canal's expansion by the U.S. Gulf of Mexico-based Port of Lake Charles. And the oil and gas industry, while awaiting the Canal expansion project's completion, lobbied for and achieved passage of a federal bill that expanded the water depth of a key Gulf-based port set to feed the fracked gas export boom.”
Randian writes—A question about Hillary Clinton and fracking: I am going to ask a direct question about fracking, which I (along with thousands of environmental activists here in NY state) oppose, and which Hillary Clinton, has in the past, supported. My question is straightforward, and it is this. Does Hillary now believe, as she stated as Secretary of State back in 2010, that fracking can be done in a way that is “environmentally respectful? [...] Essentially, Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State, sold fracking to the rest of the world, as, of course, did President Barack Obama. And I say this as someone who supported Obama and will support Hillary for the sake of defeating Donald Trump. But, I am asking, respectfully, where Hillary now stands on this issue.”
billofrights writes—In Maryland, Open Disbelief when an anti-regulatory Gov. says he'll Protect Us from "Fracking”: “The Maryland revolt against fracking has been led, its emotionally intense core, comes from those residents of the two western Maryland counties who have developed green leaning businesses or bought farms or retirement properties in the Deep Creek Lake area. I suspect quite a few are Libertarians at least, and many are long-time Republican voters. Everyone got a lesson in Neoliberalism’s reach, however, as they have learned that both liberal Martin O’Malley and conservative Larry Hogan each support fracking with varying degrees of regulation. The revolt against fracking has posed the greater problems, however, for the Republican Party in the state, because it is confronted by a deep split in its core constituency: business. That’s something the leadership ignores at its peril. Meanwhile, the Democrats have learned from the national curve that is turning against natural gas, and fracking, as the so called ‘Bridge to the Future,’ the future being alternative energy. I address the evolution of the greens in the natural gas story in my formal comments.”
Renewables, Efficiency & Conservation
Michael Brune writes—Doubling Down on Clean Energy in California: “Last week, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. announced that it wants to retire California's Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant by 2025. If the California Public Utilities Commission accepts the utility's proposal, it will mean the end of the nuclear era in California. Beyond that milestone, though, it marks what is now an undeniable trend. Clean, renewable energy like wind and solar—combined with energy efficiency and storage—can compete with any dirty fuel, be it coal, gas, or nuclear power. The Sierra Club has unequivocally opposed nuclear energy for more than three decades, and Diablo Canyon is a good illustration of why we do. From the beginning it was a reckless enterprise. Nuclear power plants are not just accidents waiting to happen—they are mega-disasters waiting to happen. Diablo Canyon was especially risky owing to the discovery of nearby earthquake faults, but no nuclear plant can be guaranteed to be safe. The potential consequences of a nuclear disaster are so horrific by themselves that they overwhelm any risk analysis. In spite of all that, PG&E would likely have attempted to keep Diablo Canyon open if it could have done so profitably. What's driving the closure of this and other nuclear plants is not the obvious risks they pose, but their inability to compete economically.”
daktsk writes—Going Totally Solar: “The more people who go solar, the cheaper it will get. Nothing like a little competition to lower the price of things. So, the only realistic way for people to go totally solar, is with government involvement. It could so easily be done. Anyway, here's my comment: ‘I've been keeping track of the price of going major solar, (and I checked on a windmill before solar was even available), for the last 30 years and I can assure you that it has always been price prohibitive for the average Joe. If you average in the price of the regular maintenance on solar, which pretty much has to be done by a professional … it gets worse. I actually remember getting an estimate on a windmill. In 1987 dollars, it was $12,000.”
AGRICULTURE, FOOD & GARDENING
Iowa Farm Activist writes—Farm Justice in the Daily Kos Liberation League: “Politically, the US has been colonized in it’s agricultural system, with Congress choosing to lose money on US farm exports over decades in order to provide tribute to US & foreign agribusiness. The tribute comes not from the tax system, however, but directly from underpaying family farmers. As was very broadly true in ancient times, family farmers provide the wealth of (agribusiness) empires today. An agricultural ethic, therefore, (unlike, for example, an environmental ethic,) is focused directly on distributive economic justice. We’ve been divided and conquered by not understanding this, in movement sectors working on food, farming, the environment, hunger and related areas. The major root of the failure is probably the subsidy myth, which has gone viral, with most progressives siding with agribusiness on the biggest farm bill issues, against their own cherished values and goals, but not knowing that they’re doing so. This doesn’t have to happen. It’s fixed by being inclusive of farmer activists from the Family Farm (Farm Justice) Movement.”
Walter Einenkel writes—More than 100 Nobel laureates call for Greenpeace to end its opposition to GMOs: “Over 100 Nobel laureates called for the end of Greenpeace’s opposition to genetically modified crops. They said that there is a very clear scientific consensus that modified crops are safe and in some cases a huge benefit to communities. ‘Golden Rice’ produces beta carotene in the grain, which rice does not do in the natural world. The laureates called on Greenpeace specifically to stop opposing the grain, as well as related biotechnology that they say has a positive impact across the globe. ‘The time has come that we now know these things are safe,’ Nobel laureate Sir Richard Roberts said. ‘The basic method does not lead necessarily to a bad thing.’ The group of laureates said that by asking Greenpeace they hoped he huge international organization may be able to change the minds of smaller anti-GMO organizations. Greenpeace feels that the timing of the announcement, not long before a procedural vote on GMO labeling is to be made by the Senate, is dubious.”
TRANSPORTATION & INFRASTRUCTURE
dyna writes—EPA, Don't Take Our Economy Cars Away! “The EPA is taking our 40 MPG economy cars away. We are being offered a buyout from VW, and in many cases the deal isn’t bad- I’m being offered almost as much as I paid for my 2013 TDI diesel 33,000 miles and 3 years ago. Theoretically there is an option to have the car fixed to comply with emissions laws, but no fixed has been approved and the EPA has perversely rigged the incentives by making the fixed cars pass a higher emissions standard than new ones and offering more generous financial incentives for turning these cars in to be scrapped rather than fixed. Theoretically we could also ignore the buyback and recall and just keep driving, but many states will not allow us to re-register our cars until any uncompleted recalls are done. So the EPA is effectively taking our 40 MPG economy cars away.”
MISCELLANY
Wee Mama writes—This beautiful blue may cool your roof. Woo hoo! “Serendipity may happen to many scientists, but it takes recognizing the happy accident for its full value to be realized. In the case of YInMn blue, it was a quick graduate student, Andrew Smith, who made the catch: Back in 2009, Professor Mas Subramanian from the Department of Chemistry at Oregon State University created a pigment which had a new and vibrant shade of blue. Formed by heating black manganese oxide and other chemicals in a furnace to 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit, the intention of Subramanian and his research group was not to create new pigments, but to create new materials for applications in solid state electronics. Instead, by pure chance, a graduate student of Subramanian happened to notice the blue color of the compound in the furnace that is now known as YInMn Blue, a nod to its composition that includes Yttrium, Indium and Manganese. [...] And finally, and perhaps most importantly, it reflects infrared light very efficiently. Another commercial use of the product – in addition to coatings and plastics, may be in roofing materials. The new pigment is a “cool blue” compound that has infrared reflectivity of about 40 percent – much high than other blue pigments – and could be used in the blue roofing movement. Can you imagine a street of houses roofed in this celestial blue?”