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. Today’s is the 461st edition of the Spotlight. More than 25,650 environmentally oriented stories have been rescued to appear in this series since 2006.Inclusion of a story does not necessarily indicate my agreement with or endorsement of it.
OUTSTANDING GREEN STORIES
Pacificshift writes—Community Solutions – Lifting people up while bringing fossil fuels down: “Following is my talk given at the Faith and Climate Action Conference in Seattle Saturday, Oct. 8, Community Solutions for Climate Justice. The challenge for the climate movement over coming years is to present solutions that scale to this monumental crisis. It will not be enough to be taking ‘steps in the right direction,’ as climate solutions are often portrayed. It will be imperative to draw a connection between those steps and outcomes that can credibly recover climate stability. The crux of the issue, and this can hardly be emphasized enough, is that unless this pathway is clearly drawn and understood, people will turn their attentions away from climate to matters they believe lend themselves to solutions. In short, the greatest enemy the climate movement has to face is not the fossil fuel industry, but despair. The movement needs to keep hope alive by developing a solutions path that illustrates the course from what can be practically achieved in the moment to what must be ultimately accomplished.”
Dan Bacher writes—Breaking News: Bigfoot hunting is legal in Texas, but not in California! “Let's take a break from the presidential debates and non-stop media coverage of the November 2016 election and deal with a particularly urgent matter — whether or it’s legal or not to hunt for the elusive Bigfoot. Don’t try Bigfoot hunting in California – it could result in your arrest and conviction, according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW). On May 11, 2012, the CDFW issued a statement in response to media reports about a Texas wildlife official proclaiming that bigfoot hunting is legal in the long horn state. ‘The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department says that in theory, it would be legal to hunt Bigfoot in their state,’ stated a CDFW facebook post. ‘Not so in California! The lack of confirmation of this alleged animal’s existence brings into question whether or not it occurs naturally in California,” according to the agency.If Bigfoot occurs naturally in the state, then it would be defined as a non-game mammal pursuant to California Fish and Game Code Section 415.’ In order to take a non-game mammal legally in California, it must be listed in the California Code of Regulations, which Bigfoot is not.”
CRITTERS AND THE GREAT OUTDOORS
OceanDiver writes—The Daily Bucket - white wings on the Skagit Flats - early days: “On my way down to the city for a family event, rather than take the direct route I chose to meander across Fir Island in the Skagit Flats in hope of seeing migrating waterfowl. I’d seen a report at eBird of Snow Geese a couple of days earlier. The Snow Geese who winter on the Skagit River delta of Washington state fly 3000 miles here from Wrangel Island off northern Siberia. By midwinter there will be 55,000 Snow Geese foraging in spent agricultural fields and wetlands. Their large busy and noisy flocks are really spectacular to see. I caught a glimpse of white shapes in a distant field as we crossed the bridge from Fidalgo Island onto the Flats. Geese? Nope. That’s a marshmallow farm in the picture above. Actually, the white plastic-wrapped bales are animal feed. It was a very dark gray overcast day, with poor visibility. I squinted at bright white shapes in the distance beyond the corn field. Geese?”
LiberalTexan11 writes—Honeybees are not going extinct: “Many people were offended that I would suggest that the honeybees were not endangered. Some thought that I was saying that CCD was a myth. Some did not like The Washington Post article that I linked to that proclaimed that the ‘Bee-pocalypse; was over. This was of course very frustrating because my story was not about CCD or the decline in honeybees. I only wanted to note that the yellow faced Hawaiian bees were the ones that were put on the endangered species list. Given this response I have decided to share this story about the current state of Honeybees. I think many of you will be glad to hear that honeybee populations have improved since CCD was first reported in 2006. According to data from the USDA, Honeybee populations have risen from about 2.5 million in 2006 to 2.7 million in 2016. As you can see from the chart below that is a 20 year high. In fact there has very dramatic decline of the number of CCD reported in recent years.”
LiberalTexan11 writes—No, Honeybees are not Endangered.
The Daily Bucket: Sixteen Minutes: “A crack of lightning in drought stricken West Coast communities, East Coast hurricane evacuations are constant reminders of the fragile coexistence between nature and mankind. For those of us living in the Upper Midwest, seasonal tornado outbreaks are a very real danger - often striking without warning. The Longest Night - May 6, 1965. On May 6, 1965, six separate tornadoes wrecked havoc in the greater Minneapolis/St. Paul area. Of those six tornadoes, four F4 tornadoes were spotted on the ground simultaneously, two of those four F4 tornadoes within a one mile radius of the newly developed housing area where I lived, including the small lake I highlighted in my previous diary. Although my parents house escaped major damage, surrounding neighborhoods were completely destroyed. [...] Sixteen Minutes - July 18, 1986. Anticipating a worst case scenario, I flipped our couch over as protection from flying debris. Settling my daughters underneath, watching as our dog Lady inched her way between them, I listened to emergency radio broadcasts confirming what I already knew - a tornado was on the ground within a half mile from my house - the awful, rumbling noise I remembered from my childhood repeating itself. Insisting she could hear a helicopter, my eldest daughter wanted to look out the window. Equally insistent she not do so, I turned on the downstairs television, and yes . . . unbelievable as it is . . . there we sat huddled together under our couch watching local news coverage of the helicopter circling overhead and real time video feed of the tornado uprooting trees and power line poles - the exact same area my daughters and nephew had spent the morning riding their bikes.”
PHScott writes—The Daily Bucket: Fall comes to Spring Canyon: “Spring Canyon is a privately-owned 100 acre property in western Gadsden County, FL that is being restored to native Longleaf Pines. I was there twice last week — once to prep for Saturday’s hike and then helping with the hike. I’m happy to volunteer days since it’s really all about Helen and her vision and knowledge of this property. She had a wonderful audience of 15 for yesterday’s outing sponsored by the FL Native Plant Society. Not much to say so I’ll go with a bunch of photos — in no particular order, whatever the Image Library decides... I’ll add captions for those plants I can identify. Hope you enjoy and I’ll see you in the comments.”
kestrel writes—Dawn Chorus: Better Late Than Never Open Thread: “Last week, I made a trek to the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge Complex which encompasses thee refuges in close proximity. Thousands of Greater White-fronted Geese have arrived and the rest of the waterfowl coming down from Canada and elsewhere aren’t far behind. The Snow Geese will arrive in great numbers in December and the Sandhill Cranes have already started to show up in their usual haunts.”
CLIMATE CHAOS
erict writes—Xenophobia, Climate Change, and an Existential Flood of Humanity: “Paul Krugman in the NYT on Friday, October 7, 2016, joins the growing list of writers who raise the specter of climate change as an existential threat. He concludes his op-ed by stating, ‘There is, quite simply, no other issue this important, and letting it slide would be almost criminally irresponsible.’ Let me take one example that may elucidate Mr. Krugman’s claims. In a March, 2014, NYT article on rising sea levels and their impact in only ONE country - Bangladesh - Mr.Tariq A. Karim, Bangladesh’s ambassador to India stated, ‘We need a regional and, better yet, a global solution. And if we don’t get one soon, the Bangladeshi people will soon become the world’s problem, because we will not be able to keep them.’ Mr. Karim estimated that as many as 50 million Bangladeshis would flee the country by 2050 if sea levels rise as expected. Think about that number, 50 million. If one million displaced people have destabilized the European Union, where do we go from here?”
A Siegel writes—Ashamnu: we have transgressed on climate change: “Amid the very stark difference between the two candidates, perhaps the starkest relates to climate change. • Donald Trump, reflecting core GOP value streams, rejects climate science and promotes policy concepts (to the extent that he has actual policy concepts) that would worsen the problem (and, perhaps, be the final nail in the coffin on hopes to avert truly catastrophic climate change) • Hillary Clinton, in stark contrast, accepts (climate) science, uses it to guide her policy concepts and views, and has laid out a serious agenda to build and expand on President Barack Obama's clean energy, energy efficiency, and other climate mitigation/adaptation programs and achievements. ° Erev Yom Kippur (the eve of Yom Kippur), Hillary Clinton made this clear, standing with Al Gore at a Miami rally where she gave the strongest, most cogent speech about climate change that the United States has ever seen from a Presidential nominee. Simply put, Donald Trump intends to act to worsen the climate crisis and Hillary Clinton plans to #ActOnClimate.”
Extreme Weather & Natural Phenomena
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Hurricane Matthew: Unwrapping the tinfoil: “Hurricane Matthew wasn’t an ordinary storm. It killed more than a thousand people in Haiti and at least 20 in the US. Its trail of widespread devastation was shocking and it will take the affected regions time to recover. But while 1.5 million people were being asked by Republican governors to head to safety for the fear for their lives, Drudge wondered if the government was lying to its people to ‘make an exaggerated point on climate.’ During the time when hurricane-related reported deaths in Haiti jumped from 20 to more than 300, Drudge questioned National Hurricane Center’s data in a now-infamous tweet. Several people (such as Jason Samenow of WaPo and Libby Nelson of Vox) wrote against his outrageous claims for not only trying to score cheap political gains but also putting lives in danger. Not to be outdone, Rush Limbaugh too accused the government of ‘hyping Hurricane Matthew to sell climate change,’ earning the ire of even the Daily Dot. Without having any other evidence to disprove the solid climate science linking Hurricane Matthew to climate change, the denial community has been repeating one fact ad nauseam – the arbitrarily defined ‘major hurricane drought.’ It’s a classic case of cherry-picking data that trivializes the lives disrupted and lost by major storms like Matthew, Sandy and others.”
OCEANS, WATER, DROUGHT
Dan Bacher writes—Brown administration applies for permit to take endangered species killed by Delta Tunnels: ”California, continually depicted as the nation’s ‘green leader’ by state officials and the mainstream media, is in fact a state with some of the most environmentally destructive policies in the nation when it comes to fish, water, Tribal rights and the public trust. For decades, the state and federal water export pumps on the South Delta that deliver subsidized water to corporate agribusiness interests on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley have killed hundreds of millions of fish. These fish include Sacramento splittail, a native minnow; endangered species such as winter-run Chinook, spring-run Chinook, Central Valley steelhead and Delta and longfin smelt; and introduced fish including striped bass, threadfin shad, black bass and striped bass. Now the Department of Water Resources (DWR) has submitted an ‘incidental intake’ application for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife in alleged ‘compliance’ with the California Endangered Species in order to build the Delta Tunnels, also known as the California WaterFix. In other words, they are applying for a permit to kill even more endangered species in the Delta pumping facilities.”
CANDIDATES, STATE AND DC ECO-RELATED POLITICS
Mark Sumner writes—Florida's 'head in the sand' governor and senator leading the state to disaster: “While Hillary Clinton and Al Gore were in Florida to talk climate change—and, incidentally, the importance of getting out to vote—climate scientist Michael Mann expanded on some of the issues they brought up. With 1,200 miles of coastline and 5 million residents who will be displaced by just 10 feet of sea level rise—something we are likely now committed to, though how quickly it will happen is still rather uncertain—Florida arguably has more to lose by unmitigated climate change than any other state. What is Republican Governor Rick Scott’s plan for responding to the threat? How about banning the use of the terms climate change and global warming in all official state communications and publications. Florida’s junior US Senator and former presidential hopeful, Marco Rubio, rates little better. His approach to dealing with climate change is to attack the scientists, deny any human role in global warming, an oppose all viable policy solutions. Mann was also on hand this week to talk about the relationship between climate change and Hurricane Matthew.”
HM1028 writes—Florida Governor now believes in science - it's a miracle! “=How come the climate change denying Governor of Florida refutes scientists when they provide irrefutable evidence for climate change BUT believes those same scientists as speaking the truth evidencing the power of and the tracking of the massive storm system we just had? All I am saying is, did he have an epiphany? Has he seen the light? Or does he just like to pick and chose the science he wants to ‘believe in’.”
A Siegel writes—#KenBone becomes famous -- though not for asking a non-#climate question: “Several early striking points here before we even get to the candidates: • Yet another debate has passed without a direct question related to climate change ... as if it is some form of unimportant, minor issue with minimal public interest and even less difference between the two presidential candidates. • The moderators mentioned the online questions, pulled up a relatively low question and ignored multiple (much) higher ranking climate/clean-energy questions. ° Even as one of the moderators was co-host of a documentary in 2007, nearly TEN YEARS AGO, that focused on climate change and has reported on climate issues. Okay, Anderson Cooper, time to answer a question: Why the climate silence? • With all due respect to Mr. Bone, this certainly seems like a question that might have come from a fossil-fuel lobbying group: ‘meet energy needs ... environmentally-friendly ... minimize job loss for fossil power plant workers...’ • Seriously, "minimize job loss for fossil power plant workers" only occurs with the following: ° Doubling down on a system and policies that ignores externalities (e.g., pollution & health/climate impacts) with increased subsidies for polluting fossil fuels. ° Enacting policies that dissuade automation reducing numbers of workers required per kilowatt hour produced.”
Steve Horn writes—Ken Bone, Web Sensation from Presidential Debate, Works for Coal Company Opposed to Climate Regs: “Lost in the shuffle of the viral memes, internet jokes, and a Facebook fan page is a basic question: Who is Ken Bone and what does he do for a living? A DeSmog investigation has revealed that Bone works for the Prairie State Energy Campus, which is co-owned by a consortium of electric power companies and located about an hour southeast of St. Louis in Lively Grove, Illinois. Adam Siegel, who blogs at the site Get Smart Energy Now, first pointed to the lack of disclosure the day after the debate. Both a blog post promoting Prairie State employees' community volunteer work and his personal Facebook page confirm that Bone works for Prairie State. According to the Chicago Tribune, Prairie State opened in late 2012 and is one of the dirtiest U.S. power plants opened in the past quarter century. Previously, it was partially owned by coal giant Peabody Energy until it sold its five percent stake in May. ‘Each year, it will churn more than 13 million tons of heat-trapping gases into the atmosphere, an amount equivalent to adding 2 million cars to the nation's highways,’ wrote the Chicago Tribune. ‘Most U.S. power plants emitting that much climate-change pollution date to the 1960s and '70s.’”
poopdogcomedy writes—CA-Sen: Kamala Harris (D) Pushes Moderators To Address Climate Change In Next Presidential Debate: “Received this e-mail today from Attorney General Kamala Harris’s (D. CA) U.S. Senate campaign: Here’s the truth: Congress has refused to pass any legislation to fight climate change and global warming. Instead, Republican majorities in both chambers are working to undo the rules that keep our air clean and protect our future. I’m running for Senate because we need a fighter in Washington who will stand up to climate change deniers like Donald Trump and work to pass national climate change legislation that promotes innovative solutions, like establishing a carbon tax or creating a cap-and-trade market for carbon pollution. Now I want to talk about something specific that has been bugging me on this issue: there has not been a single question about climate change at any of the presidential or vice presidential debates we’ve had up to this point. That is ridiculous. Climate change is one of the gravest threats facing our nation right now, and millions of Americans deserve to know how Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump will address it.”
plantdokta writes—Climate change, choice, and the single-issue voter: a thought experiment: “I am a single-issue voter. From the overwhelming data and analyses, I know that climate change is happening, that human activity is the primary driver, and I believe that the consequences of climate change threaten civilization as we know it. There is dramatic change that will still happen even if we do take action in the many necessary ways, and if we do not act, the world that is rising in the wake of our emissions is almost unbearable to envision. Even if I did not have children of my own (and I do), and hopes of grandchildren one day (and, again, I do), I would continue working to slow down the speed and the enormity of the behemoth we have summoned. And I believe that my vote, and the votes of others that I can influence, can make a difference in how we respond, could make the difference in what kind of world we leave for the generations after us. What if Trump was the one who thought climate change is real, and must be responded to, and Clinton was the one who believed it is a Chinese hoax? Or, to frame it a little differently… how reprehensible would a candidate have to be for me, as a single-issue voter, to not vote for that candidate, if the reprehensible candidate was, for me, on the side of saving civilization, and the non-appalling one, in terms of behavior, was on the other side?”
cyclinger writes—Time to focus on electing a climate Congress: “The second presidential debate saw one question about energy policy at minute 89: ‘What steps will your energy policy take to meet our energy needs, while at the same time remaining environmentally friendly, and minimizing job loss for fossil power plant workers?’ Trump used his response time mostly for bashing ‘Hillary Clinton wants to put all the miners out of business’ and expressed no concern for the state of the climate. Hillary’s response actually included a statement of her intent to fight climate change ‘because I think that is a serious problem’ but she did not satisfy a lot of listeners looking for a more complete statement of the scope of climate crisis (despite Hurricane Matthew having made landfall on the east coast). In fact, climate change has been monumentally under-reported in the mainstream media. The topic appears seldom even on candidate website and, to the dismay of activists I know, even Wikipedia has not been covering this issue in its profiles of American politicians. Until now ... !”
Ojibwa writes—Indians 101: Public Lands and Denise Juneau: “In the United States today, the controversy of private land versus public or communal land continues. One the one side we have those who argue for private ownership of land or at least private management of public lands so that resources—oil, gas, mineral, timber—can be extracted for the benefit of the wealthy. On the other hand, there are people who feel that public lands should somehow benefit the public, not the privileged few. [...] In Montana, Denise Juneau is running for Montana’s only seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. Denise Juneau is an enrolled member of the Mandan Hidatsa tribes and a Blackfoot descendent. [...] With regard to her position on public lands, this is what her website says: Public lands offer a promise to every hardworking Montana family that they can access and enjoy the best our state has to offer. A promise that says these places are for all of us, not just for the wealthy or the privileged. That is a promise Denise Juneau will keep to the people of Montana. She will always fight to protect access to our public lands, and is 100 percent opposed to the transfer or sale of our land.”
WILDERNESS, NATIONAL FORESTS AND PARKS & OTHER PUBLIC LANDS
Karen Hedwig Backman writes—Witches' Agenda: Haiti: Reforestation: “One of the primary causes of poverty in Haiti is deforestation. Only 2% of the Haitian side of the island is covered by forest, one of the lowest rates in the world and less than a fifth of the global average. Satellite images show a striking contrast between the forested Dominican Republic and the barren Haiti. Severe deforestation leads to poor soil quality and water scarcity, both of which reduce agricultural yields. Additionally, natural disasters are worsened with the instability of bare soil, increasing the threat of mudslides and the damage caused by earthquakes. This issue is not a new one in Haiti. Deforestation began on a massive scale in colonial times, when land was cleared for sugar plantations. Since then though it has continued, with as many as 40 million trees felled annually for cooking fuel. However, a recent government initiative marks a turning point. The government of President Michel Martelly is beginning a push to reforest Haiti, committing to planting 50 million trees a year. The goal is to double forest cover by 2016, and then to continue to improve on that gain. Until now, reforestation programs have all been carried out by non-government organizations, the majority of which are foreign operated.”
ENERGY
Nuclear & Fossil Fuels
randallt writes—North Carolina Open Thread: The Gov is Served, Henry Rollins on HB-2 and Coal Ash Victory: “Of course it took a lawsuit to make it happen: On Tuesday the Yadkin Riverkeeper and Waterkeeper Alliance, represented by the Southern Environmental Law Center, reached a settlement with Duke Energy that requires the removal of all the coal ash from the unlined, leaking coal ash pits at Duke Energy’s Buck Steam Station facility on the Yadkin River in Salisbury, North Carolina. This is good news for the people who live near the plant. Duke Energy, in a dig to the human beings who live near the Buck plant and have been vigorously advocating for clean water, issued a statement claiming that the decision was ‘Just business’ and that coal ash is ‘safe.’ They made no mention of the human cost of their profits.”
Pipelines & Other Oil and Gas Transport
navajo writes—The day before Indigenous Peoples Day U.S. Court of Appeals rules against the Standing Rock Sioux: “ The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Sunday rejected the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s request for an injunction to halt construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline by Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners. The announcement was made public by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in a news release distributed within the past hour on Sunday evening. The decision comes as the Tribe is pursuing an appeal to stop construction while the rest of the case proceeds in U.S. District Court. Statement from Dave Archambault II, Chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe: The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe is not backing down from this fight,” said Dave Archambault II, Chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. “We are guided by prayer, and we will continue to fight for our people. We will not rest until our lands, people, waters and sacred places are permanently protected from this destructive pipeline.”
Lefty Coaster writes—Activists shut down 5 pipelines from Canada's Tar Sands in solidarity with Standing Rock Protest: “Activists successfully shut down five pipelines today across the U.S. that deliver tar sands oil from Alberta, Canada. The pipelines targeted were Enbridge line 4 and 67 in Leonard, Minnesota; TransCanada's Keystone pipeline in Walhalla, North Dakota; Spectra Energy's Express pipeline at Coal Banks Landing, Montana; and Kinder-Morgan's Trans-Mountain pipeline in Anacortes, Washington. ‘We did this in response to Standing Rock's call to action for escalated actions,’ a spokesperson for #ShutItDown told EcoWatch.”
AGRICULTURE, FOOD & GARDENING
EXPOSEDbyCMD writes—Industry-Funded Research Downplayed Sugar Health Effects: “The fossil-fuel industry isn’t the only sector that’s poured money into downplaying the effects of its product. A newly published article in JMA Internal Medicine reveals that the sugar industry secretly funded research since the 1950s to downplay the risks of sugar while singling out fat and cholesterol as the main culprit of coronary heart disease. The revelations were discovered by researchers examining the Sugar Research Foundation (SRF) internal documents, historical reports and statements, following on a breakthrough story in 2012 in Mother Jones that was spurred by a whistleblower. In an effort to refute the concerns about sugar’s possible role in coronary diseases, according to the findings in the article, the SRF sponsored research in the 1960s and 1970s that ‘successfully cast doubt about the hazards of sucrose while promoting fat as the dietary culprit in CHD.’ The Sugar Association, which began as the SRF, defended industry-funded research asserting it should not be ‘branded as tainted,’ and claiming ‘what is often missing from the dialogue is that industry-funded research has been informative in addressing key issues.’”
kishik writes—Saturday Morning Garden Blogging: Texas Transplants and Critters: “Knowing I’ve been rather obsessed with hummingbirds, I was sent a few plants (okay, three boxes full!) from Texas to help me along the way. I’d like to happily report — it worked! As fall begins and I’m seeing the hummers using my yard as a stopover as they’re migrating south, the Texas transplants are still in bloom, providing nectar to hungry hummingbirds. Here are some of the plants as modeled by this weeks passing hummer.”
TRANSPORTATION & INFRASTRUCTURE
BruceMcF writes—Sunday Train: Going to Tianjin by Subway and High Speed Rail: “OK, so after years of (off and on) writing about High Speed Rail, I've finally been on a High Speed Rail train ... on the Beijing - Tianjin Intercity Railway. [...] Beijing and Tianjin are two of the larger cities in China. In terms of the populations of the ‘cities proper’ (Wikipedia machine link), they are the second and third largest cities in China, at 21.5m and 15.2m, respectively (in that list Shanghai is first overall, and Guangzhou ~ aka Canton ~ is fourth among Chinese cities). [...] This is, however, still with urbanized populations of 21.5m and 15.5m, which are quite substantial cachements for a HSR route. And thanks to a canal to the sea, Tianjin is the historic seaport for Beijing, so the two cities have historically had close commercial relations. Indeed, the Beijing-Tianjin route is only 117 km (72 miles) long, which is part of why the trip only takes 35-41 minutes. The other part is the fact that the Beijing side of the route is at Beijing South railway station, which is south of the both Beijing's downtown cores and much of its inner belt of suburbs. [...] So, where would you like to ride a bullet train? Myself, I plan on riding the bullet train to Shanghai someday, and possibly the bullet sleeper train to Guangzhou. And if I live long enough, perhaps the California bullet train.”