Spotlight on Green News & Views (previously known as the Green Diary Rescue) appears twice a week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Here is the December 10 Green Spotlight. More than 26,110 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—Huge 20 Year Build up of Arctic Fresh Water May Flood North Atlantic & Stall Gulf Stream: “Huge volumes of fresh water have been building up over the past 20 years in the Arctic waters north of Alaska. A volume the size of Lake Michigan built up from 2003 through the end of 2015. Before the 1990’s there were regular cycles of fresh water build up and release within decades as periods of high pressure north of Alaska were followed by periods of stormy weather. Scientists suspect that over the past 20 years large amounts of melt water from Greenland’s glaciers have changed the dynamics of the North Atlantic ocean and the Arctic atmosphere. Since the 1990’s a dome of high pressure has persisted in the Beaufort sea and the anticyclonic winds have pumped fresh water towards the high’s center building up a mound of relatively fresh water over a huge area north of Alaska. The primary source of the fresh water is rivers that flow into the Arctic. Over the past several decades, sea ice melting has added about 20% to the increase of fresh water in the Beaufort sea.A major 2008 report by a team of scientists led by Wood’s Hole oceanographer Andrey Proshutinsky found an increase of 5000 km3 of fresh water from the 1970s to 2008. www.whoi.edu/... From 2008 to 2015 an additional 2000 km3 was added so the total increase in fresh water is 7,000km3. The total volume of the world’s second largest lake by volume, Lake Michigan, is just under 5,000km3.”
terrypinder writes—Reintroducing TransportationKos: “I’m reintroducing my little group and expanding it to go far beyond transportation.See, Trump’s got some kind of infrastructure plan in mind although we haven’t a clue as to what it will really look like. It does seem to entail much use of ‘public-private partnerships’ and ‘tax credits.’ It seems almost certain current Federal law and rules on tolling is going to be on its way out (somewhat restricted, except under certain conditions). Privatization in other areas seems almost guaranteed. I doubt Amtrak will survive the Trump Administration, for example, especially if he appoints John Mica to it. There are lots of already existing private entities who will directly benefit from the free-for-all that I suspect will come out of this $1 trillion bill he’s proposed such as: much of the electrical grid; water delivery systems already privatized (which is a great crime, in my opinion); ports (many of which are already self-supporting, and some of which are managed by private entities); airports (which are a mix of public and private and “it’s complicated” ownership nationwide, many operating under “government owned, private contractor operated”); oil and gas pipelines; the internet (trump wants this “locked up”) and other telecommunications; experimental transportation methods such as Hype(r)loop, various weird monorails, entities who want to build bullet trains that circumvent current Federal rules, private passenger railroad efforts (there are a few), and so on; the vast private infrastructure consultancy sector who actually does much the building, which globally is busy consolidating; and railroads (the vast majority of the US rail infrastructure is—and for the most part always has been save the period when Conrail operated railroads in part of the nation-- privately owned).”
CRITTERS AND THE GREAT OUTDOORS
owktree writes—Daily Bucket: A is For...: ”First “Alphabet Bucket” here today. Expect the next one in a week’s time. What do we see outside that fits the ‘A’ category? ”
6412093 writes—The Daily Bucket - Run, Forrest, Run! “Most folks know the usual ways that plants spread life, such as seeds, cones, parachutes, rhizomes, and roots. Here’s a variation; runners. I love my strawberry runners. When I accidentally buried a corner of my strawberry bed under 300 lbs. of sandy loam, I simply replanted it with strawberry runners, which are aboveground, fast-spreading specialized stems that set down new plants every foot or so. I moved my curly rush into the garage, and it is sending out runners almost 2 feet long. The ends stuck to the table top. When it was in the outdoor creek last year, it spread a Rapunzel-thick mass of runners over three feet downstream.”
Lefty Coaster writes—More Potent Greenhouse Gas - Methane is spiking in the Atmosphere: “..methane, the second most important greenhouse gas. Atmospheric concentrations of this gas — which causes much sharper short-term warming, but whose effects fade far more quickly than carbon dioxide — are spiking, a team of scientists reports in an analysis published Sunday in the journal Environmental Research Letters. Methane concentrations in the atmosphere, they report, were rising only at about .5 parts per billion per year in the early 2000s. But in the past two years, they’ve spiked by 12.5 parts per billion in 2014 and 9.9 parts per billion in 2015. With carbon dioxide rising more slowly, that means that a higher fraction of the global warming that we see will be the result of methane, at least in the next decade or so. ‘Methane in the atmosphere was almost flat from about 2000 through 2006. Beginning 2007, it started upward, but in the last two years, it spiked,’ said Rob Jackson, an earth scientist at Stanford University who co-wrote the study.”
Kestrel writes—Dawn Chorus: How Do Birds Find Food? ”Every morning as I stand at my kitchen sink drawing water for coffee, I look out the window and see one or two squirrels sitting atop the fence waiting for me. They are often joined by birds who are waiting for me, too. The other day, the squirrels were bookends on the fence and between them were three House Finches, two Dark-eyed Juncos, a male House Sparrow, three White-crowned Sparrows and two Mourning Doves. They were all communicating the same message: ‘Hey, where’s our food?!’ What started out with me putting a handful of sunflower seeds on the fence’s 2” x 4” support beams to distract the squirrels and keep them out of my bird feeders instead produced the opposite of what I intended — the squirrels hang out on the fence all right, but so do the birds. And I now have an avian conga line every morning waiting along with the squirrels. That got me to thinking: How do birds find food?It seems obvious, right? The Cedar Waxwing at the top of this post, for example, landed on a tree branch full of berries and voila, instant meal. But how did the waxwing find that tree with the berries? Did it see them? Smell them?”
johnnygunn writes—Clear Creek in Winter: “I have explored Clear Creek in every season. Each holds its own wonders and surprises — And yet, winter — winter is the loveliest. With so much weighing down upon us — Sometimes it is best for me just to wander out to the creek. After a long and unusually warm fall — Winter has arrived in full form — Making up and more for any delays. But Wyoming would not be Wyoming without the wind. It stretches every living thing to the breaking point — And leaves its signature in the snow. Ah, yes! Clear Creek is quite frozen here. The snow bank is deep — deeper than my bank account. But then — who cares? And the winter sun — feeble, yet irresistible — It sets the ice ablaze. The creek is rapidly closing — The ice inching in from each bank every hour. I struggle with Wyoming — But in moments like this, I cannot leave.”
OceanDiver writes—The Daily Bucket - December swans: “The Trumpeter swans arrived late this year, as I mentioned in a Bucket a few weeks ago. I heard them on November 17 trumpeting their arrival in the pond across the road. In 2015 they arrived Nov 4 and in 2014, Nov 11 (I wasn’t paying much attention to phenology before that). The literature says weather determines when swans migrate south from Alaska and northern Canada, departing in late September or October just before it begins to freeze up. It was exceptionally warm this fall so their late arrival is not surprising. For a fortnight after I first saw them it continued warm and rainy here in northwest Washington but the weather finally shifted into cooler — and sometimes sunny! — winter conditions. On a clear day recently I crept down through a brambly field to check on them and get photos. Swans spook easily so I try to be as inconspicuous as possible, which means crouching behind the bushes. Only occasionally did they swim into a window of my view; often my photos come out like the one on the right. All my observations thus far had been adults only, and I was wondering whether the nesting season had been bad. To my great pleasure, I saw adults accompanied by cygnets this time.”
Besame writes—Daily Bucket: one remarkable butterfly sets two records and makes monarch history: “On a cold, windy, late October day B-3930 was released into the air of a wildlife refuge near Boise Idaho. This was a late start in bad weather for a monarch butterfly who needed to travel southwest to California’s overwintering habitat. But B-3930 made it and was found in Santa Cruz after flying 537 miles in 32 days. Now called Miracle, she set a record for the latest known departure date for monarchs who successfully migrated from a latitude similar to Boise. That monarchs are still setting records in California is startling considering they were first seen here by foreign explorers exactly 200 years ago. And we are just now identifying and filling in some of the missing information about these butterflies.”
CLIMATE CHAOS
Karen Rubin at NewsFeaturesPhotos writes—Where to Take the Fight for Climate Action in Wake of Trump Assault: “I find myself rooting for other nations to treat the US, the world leader on climate action under Obama, as a pariah, especially if Trump tears up the Paris Climate Agreement, and that they slap carbon fees on US goods, and that the UN and international Court prosecute the US for actions that result in the death and unlivability of lands. They should sue for damages and reparations. We need to fight corporations that are not making the transition to clean energy – boycott products, fight permits, cram stockholders meetings, or alternatively, divest and drive down stock prices of offending corporations and climate deniers. Sue to recover costs when pollution impacts public health or damages the environment, require new projects to be designed sustainably and address clean energy and water. Block rate hikes and actions of utilities that refuse to adopt the Clean Power Plan standards.”
Meteor Blades writes—Scientists release Arctic Report Card. If that makes you go 'uh-oh,' you've got it right: “The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released its annual Arctic Report Card for 2016 Tuesday. As anyone who has followed the headlines this past year would guess, the news was not good: Many signals of warming in the region are accelerating. For example, from October 2015 to September 2016, temperatures over land in the Arctic land were 2 degrees Celsius above the 1981-2010 baseline. That is the warmest measurement in the records, which date back to 1900. The report card ties the rise in temperature to this year’s latest-ever formation of autumn sea ice. Not only is the Arctic warming twice as fast as the global average temperature, but ocean acidification due to absorption of carbon dioxide also continued increasing, melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet lasted 30-40 days longer in the northeast and 15-20 days longer along the west coast when compared to the 1981-2010 average, and thawing of the permafrost is showing a net release of carbon dioxide and methane from tundra into the atmosphere.”
Felixkramer writes—At Truthout: "Who Will Issue The Galvanizing Call to Action We Need on Climate Change This Month?" “Memo to some climate heroes and communicators I think of first: Mike Brune, Al Gore, Van Jones, Naomi Klein, Annie Leonard, Bill McKibben, David Roberts, Robert Reich, Bernie Sanders, Rebecca Solnit (alphabetically). I've worked passionately full-time for years on climate awareness and solutions. I believe we need more at this do-or-die moment. I'm not eloquent or networked well enough to issue the required call to action. But I hope my voice and thoughts will help spark one of you -- or someone else -- to create a message that galvanizes and unites millions at a time when the future of the world may be at stake. [...] Why wait for more bad news about the Trump transition team's appointments? Right now, we need a Tom Paine, Paul Revere, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Henry David Thoreau, Upton Sinclair and Harper Lee for 2017.”
Simplify writes—The new McCarthyism: Are you now trying or have you ever tried to stop global warming? “President-elect Donald J. Trump’s transition team has circulated an unusual 74-point questionnaire at the Department of Energy that requests the names of all employees and contractors who have attended climate change policy conferences, as well as emails and documents associated with the conferences.”
LannyAlanSinkin writes—LANNY ALAN SINKIN Blog Stream Groups Following Profile Here it comes: Trump to Science – You’re Fired! “The Trump transition team asked the Department of Energy for the names of federal employees and contractors who attended United Nations climate change meetings in the last five years and the names of Obama administration personnel who developed a means of calculating the social cost of carbon pollution. The purpose of the request is transparent when placed in the context of the repeated statements by Trump that climate change is a hoax perpetrated by the Chinese. [...] A Trumpurge of federal employees and contractors involved in trying to save Humanity from climate chaos is clearly being signaled. Perhaps this purge is the first overt adoption of Russian-style politics by the candidate the CIA says was favored by the Russians.”
Mark Sumner writes—Trump-day preppers: Climate scientists scurrying to protect data against repression or alteration: “Trump has already named climate denying, EPA-hating, fossil-fuel advocate Scott Pruitt to head the EPA. He’s put climate change denier Rick Perry, who threatened to eliminate the Department of Energy, in charge of (what else) the Department of Energy. Trump advisers are already indicating that he will scrap NASA's role in studying the climate. And perhaps most ominously, Trump’s transition team is making a blacklist of scientists and bureaucrats who engaged in looking at climate change. Donald Trump’s transition team has issued a list of 74 questions for the Energy Department, asking agency officials to identify which employees and contractors have worked on forging an international climate pact as well as domestic efforts to cut the nation’s carbon output. For advocates of reason and science, Trump is like an asteroid whipping down from the far reaches of space. They can see him coming, but there’s little they can do but hunker down and prepare.”
Pakalolo writes—When ice shelves are lined up and the first one collapses it can cause rippling effects like dominos: “The greatest unknown about future sea level rise is the loss of the mighty Antarctic ice streams. The ice shelves in Antarctica provide a buttressing effect on the land-based ice streams. They hold the downward flow of the land glaciers from emptying into the sea by exerting a backward force to the downward force of the glacier streams. Ice shelves do crack and in the past have been considered localized phenomenon. But we are now learning that the disintegration of one ice shelf may induce a similar fate to its neighbor. Maggie Turin of the Institute of Columbia University reports on the example of the spontaneous but gradual retreat of the Larsen B ice shelf after the collapse of the Larsen A shelf in 1995.”
Et Tu Boojum writes—Trump Does Believe in Global Warming! “From the BBC: The Trump International hotel and golf links at Doonbeg on the west coast of County Clare was acquired in 2014. Storms that year caused significant erosion of sand dunes at the course and the Trump organisation submitted plans to Clare County Council to build a two-mile (2.8km) limestone wall to limit the impact of the seas. At 4m in height and 20m wide, the 200,000-tonne structure would have required some 200,000 tonnes of rock for construction. The €10m wall would protect against the wasting impacts of the seas, the original application said. The documents went on to detail that ‘the rising sea levels and increased storm frequency and wave energy associated with global warming can increase the rate of erosion.’”
Walter Einenkel writes—The real 'War on Christmas' is climate change-related and Rudolph is paying the price: “There is a war on Christmas going on. It has been raging for decades. While right wing pundits have started brush fires over coffee cups and imaginary holiday greetings restrictions, our planet has been getting warmer. When I was a wee young lad one of the first things I learned was that heat made snow go bye bye. It was an early lesson in science for me, a lesson that everyone who has ever watched Frosty the Snowman understands. As I have gotten older I’ve learned that things getting warmer change more than just snowballs into water. Over the past 16 years, the weight of adult reindeer in Svalbard in the Norwegian Arctic has dropped by 12 per cent, likely due to global warming, said study findings presented to a meeting at the British Ecological Society (BES) in Liverpool. By the time they reached adulthood, reindeer born in 2010 weighed just over 48kg, compared to 55kg for those born in 1994. Why is this happening? Heat.”
OCEANS, WATER, DROUGHT
Dan Bacher writes—Congress Approves Water Bill With Feinstein's Environmentally Destructive Rider: “The U.S. Senate on December 9 voted 78 to 21 to pass a bill approving water projects across the country, including an alarming rider amounting to a water grab for corporate agribusiness interests in California. The Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2016 will now go to President Obama's desk for his signature. If the bill is signed by Obama, the rider attached to the legislation will weaken Endangered Species Act protections for salmon, Delta smelt and other fish species — and allow more pumping of Delta water to subsidized corporate farmers on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley. The rider would also give greater power over water projects to the Secretary of Interior. For example, it authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to construct Federally owned storage projects that are cost-shared 50-50 with non-Federal parties. ‘The rider departs from traditional Federal water law in that Congress is not authorizing projects,’ said Ron Stork of Friends of the River. ‘Rather, Congress is authorizing the Secretary to participate in any project he or she wishes to, subject to the provisions of this bill and the wishes of the appropriations committees.’”
CANDIDATES, STATE AND DC ECO-RELATED POLITICS
Charles Ray writes—Oil diplomacy: Can Trump seriously be considering Exxon Mobil CEO for secretary of state? “Seldom has a candidate for the post of America’s top diplomat brought such baggage to the process. Tillerson’s potential conflicts of interest rival Trump’s own, but unlike Trump, who claims that as president he ‘cannot have conflicts of interest’ based on the Constitution, Tillerson has no such cover. He will have to sever his ties with his company, which will probably satisfy the legal requirements. What it won’t do, in the case of his Russia ties or the climate change issue, is remove the suspicion at every decision he makes while in office. As secretary of state, he would legally (or at least ethically) recuse himself from a broad range of issues.”
seanwright writes—WaPo: Trump expected to pick ExxonMobil chief Rex Tillerson as his secretary of state: “Breaking in the Washington Post: President-elect Donald Trump is expected to name as his secretary of state Rex Tillerson, the chief executive of ExxonMobil, who has worked extensively around the globe and built relationships with such leaders as Russian President Vladimir Putin, three people close to the transition team confirmed Saturday. [...] Sanctions? Trump is preparing to give Russia a big fat fucking reward for their intervention in his favor. Each new development makes me more and more suspicious that Trump collaborated with Russia on that espionage. Go back and watch the debates again. Every single time he was questioned about Putin or Russia Trump was quite laudatory and dismissive of claims of espionage. There were the suspicious contacts between his campaign office and the computers at a Russian bank (which were supposedly debunked by anonymous FBI sources, which I think we can all agree now should be taken with a giant grain of salt.”
The Climate Mobilization writes—To avoid climate cataclysm, stop Trump through the Electoral College on 12/19: “Joseph Romm compares the Trump-Putin-Exxon alliance to the Axis Powers of the ‘30s. We think the analogy is appropriate, if insufficient. The truth is that Trump’s appointments and energy agenda point directly toward a plan of annihilation that, if executed, would dwarf the evil of Hitler’s ‘Final Solution.’ It is one thing to exterminate a people and plunge a world into war. It is quite another to willfully condemn all of humanity and incinerate life on earth. We do not wish to whitewash the climate crimes of Democratic Party politicians, or to place the blame exclusively on politicians -- the climate crisis is a responsibility shared by all of us, albeit on vastly different levels. The point is that the forces of darkness are preparing to imminently commandeer the largest military and security state in history. With less than a week left before the Electoral College votes on December 19, we support the efforts underway to encourage at least 37 Republican electors to not vote for Trump. As law professor Geoffrey R. Stone argues persuasively, voting against Trump under these circumstances is faithful to our nation’s founding principles — the courageous, patriotic thing for electors to do.”
Mark Sumner writes—Trump makes Tillerson selection official, sells out climate and US policy: “Citing his experience in dealing with foreign leaders as the CEO of ExxonMobil, Donald Trump has made Rex Tillerson his official choice for Secretary of State. In saying he will nominate Mr. Tillerson, the president-elect is dismissing bipartisan concerns that the globe-trotting leader of an energy giant has a too-cozy relationship with Vladimir V. Putin, the president of Russia. That cozy relationship would channel enough money into Russia to wipe away their budget deficits for decades to come, allowing Putin to resume some of the largess that bolsters his popularity at home, and fueling an expansive Russian military policy that threatens a half-dozen nations along Russia’s borders. It would also significantly fatten the wallet of Tillerson and the one company where he has worked his entire life.”
azindy writes—Tillerson Already A Secretary of State, Sorta: “From Yahoo Finance's Sam Ro (of all places), Trump’s pick for Secretary of State has substantial experience in international relations due to his responsibilities as overseer of Exxon’s global empire. Exxon has a massive global footprint, and its relationships with foreign governments are much more complicated than those of a retailer looking to open a store. Exxon goes in to produce and distribute oil and oil products. It’s not crazy to compare Exxon to a small country and say that Tillerson is its ‘secretary of state.’’”
Paul Bland for Public Justice writes—Exxon’s CEO Wants to Run the State Department. Here’s Why That’s a Terrifying Idea: “In fact, Trump’s nominees for numerous cabinet posts appear hell bent on destroying the agencies they have been asked to lead. But in Tillerson’s case, it is likely he will be focused on giving succor to big oil by destroying the environment and rolling back much of the domestic and international progress his predecessors have made on fighting climate change. First, Tillerson is likely to rip up the Paris climate accord in what would be one of the most audacious gifts ever to the oil and gas industry. It would also bring Exxon’s anti-science lobbying campaign full circle: The company helped found the now defunct Global Climate Coalition, a group of businesses opposed to regulating greenhouse gases that worked to derail ratification of the Kyoto Protcol. According to the Royal Society in London, the company has funded at least 39 organizations – to the tune of $2.9 million – that "misrepresented the science of climate change by outright denial of the evidence.’ No wonder Mother Jones called Exxon ‘the Michael Jordan of climate change denial.’”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—DoE Gets its Groove Back as Exxon’s Private Empire Infiltrates the Trumpire: “Regardless of who told Trump to pick Tillerson, a man described as having “more interactive time with Vladimir Putin than probably any other American with the exception of Henry Kissinger,” we should be worried. Tillerson has spent his entire career at ExxonMobil, a company with a long history of anti-climate lobbying, among other unsavory endeavors. As detailed in Steve Coll’s Private Empire and summarized by Coll recently, ‘ExxonMobil saw itself as an independent, transnational corporate sovereign in the world, a power independent of the American government, one devoted firmly to shareholder interests and possessed of its own foreign policy.’”
flatmotor writes—Donald, Vladimir and the Arctic Dome The Art of the Biggest Deal Ever: “The Arctic Ocean is basically a Russian lake. A liquid water lake easy to navigate once global climate change melts most of the ice. Drill rigs don't work well in Arctic sea ice. Because their country's northern shore front surrounds about half of the Arctic with major human settlements the Russians are way ahead of any other nation in their ability to use and navigate that ocean. The Russians are a major producer of oil and natural gas. Their economy is highly dependent on wealth created by selling these commodities. But they need a market to buy it. A world worrying about fossil fuels doesn't look like a good customer and a leader country like the USA rejecting fossil fuels is a problem. Russians can get oil out of easy places. Easy places are drying up. Exxon Mobil is good at getting it out of difficult places and the resources to handle really big projects. Exxon Mobil wants a place to drill and make serious money. So Exxon Mobil hooks up with the Russians to supply the rest of the world with a century's worth of energy in a 500 billion dollar deal to drill the Arctic. Only the USA is big enough to get in the way.”
Brett Wilkins writes—The Trump Petropoly: Environmentalists Appalled by Imminent Regime of Climate Deniers and Doubters: “’Forget draining the swamp, Trump wants to frack, mine and drill it,’ Jamie Henn, co-founder of the climate action group 350.org, wryly tweeted in response to the president-elect’s picks. With Republicans controlling both houses of Congress (including the king of climate deniers, Oklahoma’s James Inhofe, heading the Senate environmental committee), and with wealthy denialist donors ready to reward — or punish — Trump in 2020, it increasingly appears as if the tenuous global fight against climate change is in grave danger as a result of the billionaire businessman’s rise, with potentially existential consequences for all of humanity.”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—States’ Rights the New Excuse for Protecting Polluters: “Reacting to Scott Pruitt as Trump’s EPA admin pick, the WSJ’s Kimberly Strassel praised the choice in her column. She opens by characterizing the reaction of ‘the left’ as, ‘He’s an untrained anti-environmentalist. He’s a polluter. He’s a fossil-fuel fanatic, a lobbyist-lover, a climate crazy.’ Strassel, obviously, doesn’t agree with that assessment, and suggests that the left doesn’t really either. They’re really upset because ‘He’s a constitutional scholar, a federalist (and a lawyer).’ Of course. Opposition to putting a man who sues the EPA in charge of it and has time and again backed polluters is actually just a front for anger about him being a constitutional scholar. Strassel may be the only person on the planet to write about Pruitt without mentioning the NY Times story about Pruitt’s ‘unprecedented, secretive alliance’ with the fossil fuel industry. What she did say, however, bore a striking resemblance to some of the comments at last week’s Heritage event. Specifically, praising Pruitt’s ‘federalism’ and invoking the concept of states’ rights.”
Senor Unoball writes—Interior Dep't: Zinke In, McMorris Rodgers Out: “...today it has been announced that Interior would go to, instead, Rep. Ryan Zinke of Montana. Zinke, a first-term Congressman, sits on the House Natural Resources and the Armed Services committees.The Washington Post: Zinke has defended public access to federal lands even though he frequently votes against environmentalists on issues ranging from coal extraction to oil and gas drilling. This summer, he quit his post as a member of the GOP platform-writing committee after the group included language that would have transferred federal land ownership to the states. Make no mistake, however. Even though he does not have the pure “drill baby drill” outlook that McMorris Rodgers seemed to have, he’s still a full-fledged developer who would be in charge of our nation’s national resources.”
Meteor Blades writes—Trump picks oil-loving Montana Rep. Ryan Zinke for Interior secretary, sources say: “If Zinke were to take the job, all four Cabinet posts charged with energy and other issues relating to climate change would be filled, with the Congressman arguably being the least bad of the lot, a low hurdle to leap. While Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, the supposed front-runner for the post, has a zero percent lifetime score from the League of Conservation Voters, Zinke scores 3 percent. Friends of the Earth Climate Campaigner Marissa Knodel issued a statement: Zinke is another dangerous pick from Donald Trump. If the task is plundering our public lands on behalf of fossil fuel empires, Rep. Ryan Zinke is the man for the job. Representative Zinke and Donald Trump are determined to turn our public lands and waters into energy sacrifice zones. Interior’s budget for 2017 is $13.4 billion. Included in the department’s portfolio are nine offices, including the Bureau of Land Management, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, the National Parks Service, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. For the past 40 years, every Interior secretary has been a Westerner, three of them from Colorado. None has ever been a Montanan.”
peagreen writes—Rep Ryan Zinke as Interior Sec. Pick...we were sooo close to sayin' bye bye McMorris Rodgers: “McMorris Rodgers must have opened her mouth without a 3x5 card and they found out what we here in WA-05 have known for 12 looooooong years. The woman isdumber than a box of rocks. The offer comes just days after multiple news outlets reported that No. 4 House Republican Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) was the favorite to win the position. But multiple top Trump aides weren’t sold on the Washington Republican and encouraged Trump to broaden his search.She, Zinke and Rep. Raul Labrador (R-Idaho) all interviewed for the job Monday. According to Politico. Out of all the Republicans on the Hill, Zinke has one of the strongest track records on conservation and public land issues — and he's even voted against his own party at times. He voted against the GOP’s fiscal 2016 budget because it sold public lands, and even resigned as a delegate to the RNC this summer because the party platform included language calling for the sale of public lands.”
ban nock writes—Zinke Offered Secretary of Interior: “He’s a congressman from Montana, a state with a strong conservationist tradition. Conservationist like conserving land and species. He is supported by the typical left of hunting groups also like Whit Fossberg of the TRCP (union money) as well as Back Country Hunters/Anglers, and middle of the roaders like Rocky Mountain Elk Association. I would think there was work done by Trump’s son as well as the major hunting orgs. Zinke is said to be good on Land and Water Conservation Fund as well as Federal Land Transfers, the two big conservation issues for hunters.”
mc24 writes—Perry As Secretary Of Energy Makes A Mockery Of Governance: “It is a satire or parody that few would have the courage to write, much less perform in real life. Apparently Trump has selected Rick Perry as the Secretary of Energy. This is the same Rick Perry that could not remember the Energy Department as being the third of three departments he would close if he were to become President way back in 2012. [...] Trump is making a habit out of selecting people who either want to shut the very agency they will be in charge of now or oppose the very principle their agency is supposed to stand for. Sad to say, but our only hope for the next four years is that they all have as bad and as short a memory as Perry. And it is just one more assault on governance and our democracy.”
e2247 writes—James R. "Rick" Perry, ETP Director as secretary of energy conflicts DAPL, Army Corp & Obama: “James R. Perry an Energy Transfer (ETP) Board of Directors member since Feb., 2015 is Trump’s Sec. of Energy! Where does Perry stand with Standing Rock and the extended NoDAPL family here and here, for example? Where does Perry stand with Big Dirty Oil Trump’s Sec. of State rookie government official ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson? Where is Trump himself “On The Issues” of Energy and Oil? You can check the loudmouth and his megaphone on many other issues as well here. As for his U.S. Cabinet, hell, he’s putting up a U.S. Board of Directors. Rick Perry as both Energy Sec’y. and ETP Director? God forbid! Sheesh. we gotta fight back.”
BYPRODUCTS, TRASH, TOXIC & RADIOACTIVE WASTE
butteite writes—In Other News: Toxic Remnants of Mining in Butte, Remain Toxic: “Meanwhile, in my old stomping grounds of Butte, MT, the mess left by rampant, unfettered capitalism continues to inflict its damage. WaPo: Thousands of Montana snow geese die... For years, I lived near “The Pit” and would often hear the blasts of various noise-makers in attempts to keep geese from landing in a spot that most likely would result in their death. We used to talk of the great ‘95 overnight landing that caused some 350 geese to die (Perils of The Pit) but this latest event dwarfs that by a huge amount. It is all sad and frustrating. For decades the Big Copper companies sucked the profits from the earth and then walked away leaving a savage, poisoned scar in an otherwise beautiful landscape. [...] It’s hard to imagine the size and magnitude of “The Pit” without actually being there and seeing it directly. One thing to be sure of is that geese notice it and see it as a nice place to land and rest. Unfortunately, they are very wrong in that assessment.”
ENERGY
Fossil Fuels
Mary Anne Hitt writes—Wednesday Night TV: Beyond Coal in the National Spotlight: “This Wednesday night, the National Geographic Channel will feature Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign in the season finale of the Emmy-winning climate series, Years of Living Dangerously. I’m so excited for you to see this episode, which takes you inside a campaign led by determined, compassionate local volunteers working to get a transition plan for the coal plant and bring in clean energy jobs to their Illinois community. At a time of so much national uncertainty and distress, this inspiring story of people power doesn’t just show you the heart and soul of the Beyond Coal Campaign - it’s a compelling reminder that grassroots leadership will always provide a path forward for justice, even in challenging times against difficult odds. As a mom, I’m overwhelmed every time I meet yet another family coping with asthma exacerbated by nearby coal plant pollution.”
Woodguru writes—Just How Dangerous An Exxon Russian Oil Merger Is: “The US struggles as it is to regulate and enforce oil industry safety standards, having a party that is dead set against regulations in the first place is a big part of the problem. Russia and Exxon already tried to form a merger type deal that was properly denied, as it should have been. Exxon has Gulf leases, and we have to ask what Russia brings to the table as far as what Exxon would want that it doesn’t have? Try deniability, try no accountability for Russia by the US, try holding Exxon accountable for billions of dollars in cleanup for spills when they shrug their shoulders and say it was Russian equipment that failed, go sue Russia. Now here is something to keep in mind in regard to Russian accountability and how Putin rolls, and Trump seems to have an admiration for Putin’s sense of style and control. Putin created the largest oil company in the world by simply taking over oil companies. He jailed the owners and their CEO’s and took over. Trump has indicated that we should just take the oil from Iraq because we could, who could stop us if that’s what we wanted to do?”
Marina Asbury writes—It’s the Russian arctic shelf, stupid: “Oil is the reason behind Putin’s covert acts in helping trump to win the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Specifically Arctic shelf oil. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), reports that Russia’s largest exports are oil and petroleum products, they are one of the largest producers of crude oil in the world, and they are the second largest producer of natural gas, after the US. One of the US’s top imports is crude oil ($230 billion), one of Russia’s top exports is crude oil ($155 billion). The US alone purchases (16.5 billion) worth of Russian crude oil. Russia’s economy depends on its energy exports, oil and natural gas comprise 68% of their total export value. What does this have to do with the recent presidential election? The connection to the 2016 election, and the recent CIA report stating that Russia interfered with the election to help Trump win the presidency has roots in the Russian invasion in the Ukraine in 2014 and the desire of Exxon Mobil to drill for oil on the Russian Arctic shelf.”
McCamy Taylor writes—What Will Trump Do For Putin? Anything It Takes to Raise Oil Prices: “Missing from the national dialogue---why does Putin need a Trump puppet? Why did he hack the RNC and keep their data private so he could secretly blackmail them while turning the Democratic data over to the world? What does Putin need so badly? In case any of you do not follow the economic news, Russia’s economy is dependent upon oil and gas. And oil and gas are low. What does that mean for the US.? Trump will almost certainly go to war with Iran. And his hostile gesture toward China may be the opening salvo in a South China Sea War. Unthinkable? Why? No Russian lives will be lost. The Russian national debt will not rise. When the US embargoes the shipping of fuel to China via the South China Sea, Putin can secretly sell China energy at an inflated cost. And weapons. While pretending to BFFs with Trump and the GOP.”
Hydraulic Fracturing
Mark Sumner writes—EPA study confirms what many said all along—fracking can sometimes contaminate drinking water: “Now the EPA has completed a study of pollution associated with fracking to determine whether or not the wells represent a danger to local groundwater sources. And the answer is: sometimes. These activities can impact drinking water resources under some circumstances. Impacts can range in frequency and severity, depending on the combination of hydraulic fracturing water cycle activities and local-or regional-scale factors. Sometimes yes, sometimes no is not an extremely satisfying answer. However, the EPA identified a series of circumstances that increase the threat, which, in a rational world, would lead to improved regulation of fracking sites.”
Pipelines & Other Oil and Gas Transport
rebel ga writes—Important Update With Chief Chase Iron Eyes, Water Protectors (Video) Human Rights Day December 10th: “Message From Chase Iron Eyes. We are not leaving. The warriors of all nations are here. Until the pipeline that's in the ground is gone, until the law enforcement, militarized blockade is gone, until DAPL is gone. Sacred Stone Camp is 1000 strong and they are NOT leaving. Rosebud Camp is 300 strong, they are NOT leaving. 1000 people are still at what was formerly known as Oceti Sakowin Camp. Stay if you feel in your heart that freedom is here. We may never get this opportunity for another generation.”
DRo writes—North Dakota Oil Leak Into Waterway: “About 150 miles from where thousands have protested for months that the Dakota Access pipeline could threaten a Sioux tribe’s water supply, a pipeline in the western part of North Dakota has spilled more than 130,000 gallons of oil into a creek, state officials said. In all, the Belle Fourche pipeline lost 4,200 barrels of crude oil, or more than 176,000 gallons, before operators shut it down, according to state Department of Health spokeswoman Jennifer Skjod. Most of the oil flowed into the Ash Coulee Creek near Belfield, Skjod said. A blizzard last week has impeded efforts to assess the spill’s extent and its impact on the environment. The creek is frozen. Officials are investigating when the pipeline, which typically carried 1,000 barrels of oil per day, started to leak. ‘We have no estimate on when or if it will be operational,’ Skjod said of the pipleline.”
AGRICULTURE, FOOD & GARDENING
AuntieB writes—Preparing the farm for snow- early winter on the farm: “I haven’t blogged about my little farm for a couple months. This time of year is crazy busy, even busier, maybe than the growing season, since I’m self-employed and make most of the years money in the two months before Christmas. I enjoy the way the growing season goes right into being busy working inside because it makes the winter go more quickly. A winter storm just passed over much of the northern half of the country. We didn’t get as much snow as many other places, but we prepared for the worst. The day before the storm, we picked up a load of straw bales in our old truck. I think there were 50 bales, and the truck was piled high. It made for adventurous driving for the couple miles from the farm where we purchased the bales to our place. My daughter and I had cleaned the chicken house earlier in the fall so it only took a quick scooping to get it back in order, then we spread a thick layer of diatomaceous earth over the dirt floor of the chicken house, and started putting in the bales of straw.”