Spotlight on Green News & Views (previously known as the Green Diary Rescue) appears twice a week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Here is the most recent previous Green Spotlight. More than 24,635 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
In Defense of Farmers/Ranchers written by Nodin: “My first diary contains an image of the Shideler Ranch where I spent a lot of hours as a kid bucking bales of hay, herding cattle or just plain doing gruntwork on fencing or stockyard cleaning. I want to give you a fairer perception of the small farmer/rancher across America, one that is not in any way exemplified by the Bundys of recent notoriety. This diary contains my own experiences for the most part, along with paraphrasing those of my extended farming/ranching family. The rancher in the picture is my old family friend, Barry Shideler (recently deceased) and his wife Marilyn. [...] Small farmers and ranchers are a severely endangered species with the rise of phenomenally huge Agra. My friend Barry pastured his own cattle and the ranch did lease BLM land for grazing. Barry’s great grandpa had a 99 year lease on the land so I would imagine that lease expired about the time Barry inherited the entire responsibility. I don’t know if it was renewed but my guess is it had to be or the ranch would not have survived. The lease cost used to be manageable, but I suspect it has grown right along with taxes, both of which cut into profits a rancher might make which are all too often not enough for expenses that continually rise.”
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court deals a severe blow to humanity's future. Google it written by citisven: “Those are the exact words of a text message I got from one of my friends at the EPA last night, in response to this: In a major setback for President Obama’s climate change agenda, the Supreme Court on Tuesday temporarily blocked the administration’s effort to combat global warming by regulating emissions from coal-fired power plants. It puts yesterday’s New York Times headline into a larger context of what the Supreme Court’s decision to issue a stay on the Obama Administration’s efforts to regulate coal powered plants could really mean. If this holds, it’s not only going to derail the EPA’scomprehensive efforts to clean up the worst CO2 emitters in this country, but the effects of this reckless decision will ripple throughout the world, right into the painstaking details of an already fickle climate agreement negotiated in Paris. If the US has to renege on its commitment to get serious about curbing its own emissions, it is quite possibly going to undo the thousands upon thousands of pieces put into place across the global board like a flick of the first domino.”
CRITTERS AND THE GREAT OUTDOORS
The first video of an American jaguar is released written by Walter Einenkel: “The Center for Biological Diversity released video showing the first ever footage of an American jaguar. Turns out, he lives in Arizona! The camera project is part of ongoing efforts to monitor mountain ranges in southeastern Arizona for endangered jaguar and ocelot. Chris Bugbee, a biologist with Conservation CATalyst, has been collecting data on the Santa Rita jaguar for the past three years (formerly through the University of Arizona). ‘Studying these elusive cats anywhere is extremely difficult, but following the only known individual in the U.S. is especially challenging,’ said Bugbee. ‘We use our specially trained scat detection dog and spent three years tracking in rugged mountains, collecting data and refining camera sites; these videos represent the peak of our efforts.’The jaguar has been named El Jefe (‘the boss,’ en español) and lives in the Santa Rita mountains, about 25 miles away from downtown Tucson.”
Federal Grand Jury Indicts 16 Participants in Malheur Wildlife Refuge Takeover written by ericlewis0: “From NBC/KGW Local News: PORTLAND, Ore. -- An indictment unsealed Thursday morning shows that Ammon Bundy and his followers were indicted by a federal grand jury for Conspiracy to Impede Officers of the United States. The indictment comes out of the siege of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge by the group. Charged were Ammon Bundy, Jon Ritzheimer, Joseph O'Shaughnessy, Ryan Payne, Brian Cavalier, Shawna Cox, Peter Santilli, Jason Patrick, Duane Leo Ehmer, Dylan Anderson, Sean Anderson, David Lee Fry, Jeff Wayne Banta, Sandra Lynn Pfeifer Anderson and Kenneth Medenbach. The last four names on the list are those still holed up at the refuge. Ryan Bundy (Ammon’s brother) was also indicted, but his name isn’t in the NBC/KGW report. FromOregon Live.”
The Daily Bucket - winter eagles (+ bonus sea lion pup) written by OceanDiver: ”Bald Eagles are common in the Salish Sea but right now they are abundant. On our last boat excursion out to the Rocks, just a few miles away, I counted 19 different eagles. Plus one more back at shore when we tied up. Eagle season! We visit the Rocks regularly to see what’s going on with the wildlife out at sea. They are remote and protected from people so the variations in species we see are due to changing dynamics through the seasons (and from year to year). Populations come and go, rise and fall. Compared to my reports since early fall (Aug, Sept, Dec), there have been some big changes. For one thing the hundreds of cormorants that had packed the Rocks are gone and almost all the gulls too. Now the sea lions are sharing these barren rocks only with eagles. Mostly the eagles perch quietly gazing out to sea.”
Daily Bucket: Space Traveling Lichens, Fungi, and Tardigrades written by Besame: “Spacey lichens, fungi, and tardigrades are helping scientists understand what life forms to look for on Mars. All these organisms have survived both open space and Mars-like conditions. Tardigrades were space explorers before lichens and fungi, and now scientists are learning why this animal can survive outside earth’s atmosphere. Lichens and fungi are the most recent space travelers. They spent 18 months on the outside of the International Space Station (ISS) in an experimental research unit calledEXPOSE-E that holds organisms in open space environment. The study is part of the Lichens and Fungi Experiment — LIFE. The fungi were collected from the Antarctic McMurdo Dry Valleys, considered the most Martian-like environment on earth. The lichens came from mountains in Spain and the Austrian Alps. Some fungi and lichens were exposed to open space conditions, others experienced Mars-like conditions.”
Climate change threats to pets - an alert for pet owners written by enhydra lutris.
Daily Bucket: A Walk at Freedom Park written by Lenny Flank: “Freedom Park is a large wildlife refuge in Naples FL. It is criss-crossed by several boardwalks and hiking trails. Here are some photos from an afternoon at the Park.”
Cold, Dead Fish Awards For 2015 written by Dan Bacher: “The year 2015 will become infamous as the one when many California fish populations reached record low levels, largely due to poor water management by the state and federal governments. The Bureau of Reclamation and Department of Water Resources continued to drain Trinity, Shasta, Oroville and Folsom reservoirs to record low levels during a record drought to supply subsidized water to corporate agribusiness interests, Southern California water agencies and oil companies conducting fracking operations. The good news in an otherwise disturbing outlook is the first El Niño storms that arrived at the end of the year to start recharging reservoirs depleted due to mismanagement by the agencies.”
Daily Bucket: A Walk at the Cocohatchee Preserve written by Lenny Flank: “The city of Naples FL has a number of parks and wildlife preserves. One of the smaller is the Cocohatchee Creek Preserve, just 4 acres. But there was an abundance of wildlife about when I visited.”
2016 Backyard Bird Race - Tally #2 written by bwren: “This is the the second tally of the 2016 Backyard Bird Race. The third tally will go up on Sunday, March 6. We’re off once again, with a good number of old timers as well as a bunch of new participants. A couple of categories are empty so far, so aren’t listed in the tally. We’ll see if we can muster up some participants for them this time. One more little change: the previous years’ personal tally numbers (in parentheses after everyone’s name) were beginning to take up a lot of room, so I just used the everyone’s best tally. New participants still have ‘new’ after their names.”
The Daily Bucket: See Ya Later, Alligator written by Lenny Flank: “Florida is the only place in the US that has both American Alligators and American Crocodiles. So here is a quick lesson on how to tell them apart. [...] Most reptile ID guides and websites will tell you that the way to differentiate an American Crocodile from an American Alligator is that, in Crocodiles, the large fourth tooth on the lower jaw sticks out to the side and is exposed when the jaws are closed, while it remains unseen in Alligators. Florida is the only place in the US that has both American Alligators and American Crocodiles. So here is a quick lesson on how to tell them apart. Most reptile ID guides and websites will tell you that the way to differentiate an American Crocodile from an American Alligator is that, in Crocodiles, the large fourth tooth on the lower jaw sticks out to the side and is exposed when the jaws are closed, while it remains unseen in Alligators. But you have to be pretty close to see this, and there are easier ways to tell them apart. One way is to look at the snout.”
Dawn Chorus: Random birds open thread written by matching mole: “Welcome to Dawn Chorus. This is a bit of hodgepodge as I have not been out taking any pictures nor have I had time to think/write a diary. I guess the theme is fishing although the pelican wasn’t actually looking for food when I took the picture. There are a few pictures of a merganser eating a sculpin from late November at Fort Worden State Park near Port Townsend and some other pictures from Florida since my return. Please post any and all things birdy in the comments.”
The Daily Bucket - some Citizen Science and some eco-news written by enhydra lutris: “1) There is real citizen science to do, right now. This year's Great Backyard Bird Count is 2/12 through 2/15. It has its own web page: gbbc.birdcount.org. It is like those in previous years, and for potential newbies, somewhat like like feederwatch, if you engage in that. You can use eBird and your eBird account For reporting. If you've never done it, you can set up an eBird account at eBird.org or a GBBC specific GBBC account at gbbc.birdcount.org. The birdcount.org site also has links to download Merlin - a great little bird identification assistant, the Audubon Birds App for all devices, another ID tool, and a mobile eBird app. Some instructions here: GBBC Instructions.”
About 30 sperm whales have beached themselves since January—but this might be a good sign written by Walter Einenkel: “Since the middle of January this year, 29 stranded sperm whales have been reported on European beaches. There have been about a dozen in the North Sea alone—which includes coastlines in the Netherlands, the UK, and Germany. Exactly why those sperm whales have been traveling into the North Sea—known for its shallow coastlines—is not exactly known. The six whales that washed up on British beaches have all been males. Marsh said: ‘The females and calves stay in warmer waters and the males leave as they become sexually active and form bachelor pods. They will then go back to the warmer areas on an annual basis to mate. “We don’t know if they were trying to migrate down to the tropics but there’s no sign yet of any manmade activity that would cause them to come in, but that is being investigated.’ Before we begin to throw people under the bus, there is evidence here that although beached and dying whales are a tragic piece of news, this may be a sign of sperm whale recovery.”
A wintry day along the Schuylkill written by owktree: “Given that one of my favorite reads on Kos is the Backyard Science Group’s ‘Daily Bucket’ I thought an inaugural diary would be to photo-essay a walk along a stretch of the Schuylkill River on the last day of January. This is an area I take frequent walks to since it is fairly close to where I live, there are a number of nice trails along the river or simply using the nearby Ben Franklin Parkway and local streets of Philadelphia in order to see different things; flowers, birds, architecture, or possibly just people-watching. The Schuylkill River is a major tributary of the Delaware River. It rises in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania and flows through Philadelphia before joining with the Delaware River to the northeast of the Philadelphia airport. It has a varied and storied history, including issues with pollution, silt from coal mining operations, and even catching fire once. There has been considerable clean up activity and the river is now quite scenic and the Schuylkill River Trail along the river in the city is quite popular for walking and bicycling.”
CLIMATE CHAOS
Antarctica's Scar Inlet Ice Shelf is anticipated to shatter by the end of March written by Pakalolo: “The Scar Inlet Ice Shelf will likely fall apart by the end of Antarctica’s summer, predicted Ted Scambos, a glaciologist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colorado. This inlet's ice is the largest remnant of the vast Larsen B shelf that is still attached to the Antarctica peninsula. One small fragment, the Seal Nunataks, clings on as well. In the Southern Hemisphere's summer of 2002, about 1,250 square miles of the enormous Larsen B Ice Shelf splintered into hundreds of icebergs. Scar Inlet is about two-thirds the size of the ice lost from Larsen B and it to is expected to shatter into thousands of pieces. This ice sheet formed over thousands of years as ice sheets and glaciers flow off the land and extend into the ocean to create a thick floating platform of ice. Scar Inlet ice shelf acts as a dam, holding back the glaciers. When this ice shelf disintegrates, it will unleash the glaciers ice and shelf ice at increasing rates into the ocean, which contributes to rising sea level.”
Goodbye Gondwana: Remnants of ancient ecosystem torch in Tasmania due to climate change written by Besame: “This January, Earth lost plants and peat soils that are remaining fragments of a ecosystem from the Cretaceous period. Found only in Tasmania, these particular plants and soils took a thousand years or more to grow and form, and in one month many disappeared in wildfires, perhaps forever. Scientists point at climate change as the underlying cause of recent wildfires in the UNESCO Tasmania Wilderness World Heritage Area (WHA) that preserves the last ecosystem remnants from thesupercontinent Gondwana that broke apart 180 million years ago. The fires began in mid-January when extensive dry lightning struck Tasmania’s high-altitude rainforests and bogs that were uncharacteristically dry due to record-breaking low rainfall. These ancient habitats survive on western Tasmania’s high central plateau protected by its wet climate and the absence of the fire-dependent vegetation found elsewhere in Australia. Fire hadn’t been a regular part of this environment for many millions of years.”
The fake global warming "pause" is about to end. Here's why written by OutOnALimb: “Almost a year ago, I revealed Chris Monckton’s fraud, which is the basis for the denialsaur claim that there has been a global warming ‘pause.’ Monckton is the major source of this fraud. Here’s how he did it. More importantly, here’s why the propaganda about the mythical global warming ‘pause’ is about to end. Chris Monckton cherry-picked one (1) dataset -- the Remote Sensing Systems (RSS) satellite measurement of lower troposphere temperatures. He didn’t use RSS mid troposphere, or RSS upper troposphere, or RSS stratosphere. Nor did he use the other major satellite troposphere dataset, that from University of Alabama Huntsville (UAH). He cherry-picked the RSS lower troposphere dataset. He cherry-picked atmospheric data. He doesn’t use the NASA surface temperature data (GISTemp), or the NOAA surface temperature data, or the British Met Office surface temperature data (HadCRUT), or the Japan Meteorological Administration (JMA) surface temperature data. Nor the Berkeley surface temperature data (BEST). Nor measurements of ocean heat retention.”
Study claiming only developing nations will be hurt by climate change gets it wrong written by Meteor Blades: “Joe Romm at Climate Progress points out that a new study rightly reiterates what we already know—that people in poorer, developing countries will suffer disproportionately from global warming even though they have contributed little or nothing to the crisis because they have historically been low-level emitters of greenhouse gases. But the study commissioned by the University of Queensland and Wildlife Conservation Society takes that disproportionality argument too far, Romm writes, when it concludes the world’s biggest carbon polluters (now and historically) will suffer little from the ill effects of climate change.”
Sparse Coverage for House Paris Deal Hearing written by ClimateDenierRoundup: “On Tuesday, witch-hunting Senator Lamar Smith (R-TX) continued his anti-climate crusade with a Science, Space & Technology Committee hearing. The hearing was predictably one-sided, as its name suggests: ‘Paris Climate Promise: A Bad Deal for America.’ The witness panel consisted of three deniers testifying for the majority—including Chamber of Commerce’s Stephen Eule, Heritage Foundation’s Steven Groves and University of Alabama’s Dr. John Christy—with only one person, WRI President Dr. Andrew Steer, there to represent reality. Given that no new ground was covered, the spectacle received no mainstream media coverage outside a al.com. It was covered, however, by a couple of technology-focused outlets and a feature on Steer in Pacific Standard. In abrief write-up, Ars Technica’s Scott Johnson gives the hearing the corrective treatment it needs. Johnson quickly debunks Smith’s NOAA attacks and provides multiple examples of how Christy’s testimony was misleading.”
Deniers Sweating Over Senate Shaming written by ClimateDenierRoundup: “Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Ed Markey (D-MA) and Brian Schatz (D-HI) have introduced an amendment to the energy bill that scolds merchants of doubt and the companies that fund them. The amendment wouldn’t actually do anything. It’s a “sense of the Senate,” which means the amendment just serves to express an opinion to get Congress on record as supporting or opposing an issue. The amendment calls out the tobacco, lead and fossil fuel companies for knowing the peer-reviewed science of their products and employing ‘a sophisticated and deceitful campaign that included funding think tanks to deny, counter, and obstruct [the science]…to mislead the public and cast doubt in order to protect their financial interest.’ By agreeing to the amendment, the Senate would be saying it disproves of those deceitful tactics, and ‘urges fossil fuel companies to cooperate with active or future investigations into their climate-change related activities and what the companies knew and when they knew it.’ In other words, the Senate would be calling on Exxon to cooperate with the ongoing New York and California investigations.”
Exxon Not Alone, #APIKnewToo written by ClimateDenierRoundup: “InsideClimate News is continuing its now Goldsmith Prize-nominated investigation into what Exxon knew about climate change with a new story about the American Petroleum Institute’s climate report. In 1982, the Institute asked Columbia’s Alan Oppenheim and William Donn to write a report for its Climate and Energy task force to help API's leaders make sense of climate models. So, Oppenheim and Donn broke down the basics of five types of climate models, explaining such things as the difference between simple and complex models as well as the models' relative strengths and weaknesses. The report showed that each type of model found a temperature rise of 4°C from a doubling of CO2 levels in the atmosphere. (This is the standard way scientists evaluate the climate's sensitivity to GHG emissions.) Thirty years later, the models' estimates are just about right. What the report didn’t do was question the link between CO2 and climate, or CO2 and fossil fuels. Regardless, API ended up doing just that in the years after they received the report.”
Science Takes Down Science Committee Inquest written by ClimateDenierRoundup: “Last week, Congressman Lamar Smith (R-TX) continued his witch hunt against climate scientists at NOAA by convening yet another congressional Science Committee hearing on the topic of climate change, where he continued accusing NOAA of altering data ‘to get politically correct results.’ What Smith considers data manipulation, of course, was simply the necessary improvement of NOAA's sea surface temperature database to include more weather stations, making the data more accurate. Now, in addition to the overwhelming evidence already exonerating NOAA of any wrongdoing—including ample scientific support for the NOAA study under question and its finding that there was no slowdown in global surface temperature increase—a new study finds that the NOAA temperature adjustments accomplished just what they set out to do. According to Dana Nuccitelli at the Guardian, ‘[The adjustments removed] biases in the raw data to make it more accurately reflect the true temperature changes at each measurement station.’”
Extreme Weather & Natural Phenomena
Surviving tornadoes as best you can...3 questions which may save your life written by Funphil: “Tornadoes happen in every month of the year in the United States, but we are entering the time of year when the most tornadoes hit the nation. There are 3 questions which may help you find the safest place in your home or building to increase your odds of surviving a tornado. Nine out of 10 people injured or killed by a tornado are hit by flying debris. So, the objective is to find a place where flying debris will not hit you. Once you answer the questions below, think about where you live and come up with the safest place for you and your family during a tornado. These questions are for those in stick built homes or other standard construction. For mobile homes, find information with this video onmobile home tornado safety.”
ENERGY
Nuclear, Coal, Oil and Gas
Criminal Charges Filed against Utility over Massive CA Methane Leak written by ericlewis0: “Los Angeles prosecutors filed misdemeanor criminal charges Tuesday against a utility for failing to immediately report a natural gas leak that has been gushing nonstop for nearly 15 weeks. While we recognize that neither the criminal charges nor the civil lawsuits will offer the residents of Los Angeles County a complete solution, it is important that Southern California Gas Co. be held responsible for its criminal actions," District Attorney Jackie Lacey said, according to CBS Los Angeles. The leak has forced more than 4,400 families from their homes in the suburb of Porter Ranch.”
"Liquid Freedom": First Company to Export US Crude Oil Now Exporting Iran's Oil written by Steve Horn: “Proponents of lifting the U.S. crude oil export ban trumpeted the rhetorical question that since U.S. geopolitical rival Iran can export its oil, why can't the United States? But now that ‘liquid freedom’ has begun to flow from American export terminals to the global market, it turns out the same company that exported the first batch of U.S. crude oil to the global market is now also exporting Iranian oil products. That company, the Switzerland-based Vitol Group, was profiled in an investigative piece on DeSmog late last year. ‘Vitol, one of the world's largest traders in oil and oil products in terms of volumes, has fixed three vessels to load Iranian condensate,’ Platts reported on January 29. ‘The recent removal of sanctions on Iran has resulted in international companies rushing to trade in Iranian petroleum with the latest being Vitol.’”
new record for oil and gasoline stores, a record drop in the US rig count, global rigs for January written by rjsigmund: “[I]t seems we set a number of records, or encountered some unusual outliers, this week...first, we have new highs in both the amount of crude oil and the amount gasoline in storage, which isn't too surprising considering that both hit record highs last week, and we're at a time of year when inventories of both are normally increasing seasonally...we also saw the largest one week percentage drop in drilling rig activity, at least in the fracking era, as nearly 8% of the rigs that were running last week have since been pulled out...and we also saw swings in the price of oil the likes of which we have not seen in seven years…”
California Oil Lobby spent a record $22 million in 2015 written by Dan Bacher: “The oil industry spent a record $22 million lobbying California legislators and officials last year, allowing it to largely determine which bills passed and which bills didn't pass through the Legislature. This ‘gusher’ of lobbying money in 2015 yielded alarming results: every environmental bill opposed by Big Oil was shelved, or in the case of SB 350, a climate change/green energy bill, was amended under pressure from the oil industry. The 2015 lobbying brought the total expenses by the oil and gas industry to a whopping $127 million over the past 10 years, according to a report from the American Lung Association in California written by Will Barrett. The report data is obtained from the annual reports filed with the California Secretary of State.”
Oil majors suffering written by mondaysmonk: “This story seems pretty obvious but the gravity of the situation gets missed by many. Here are the headlines: BP is cutting 7000 jobs after profits crumbled by 51%; Shell suffers 80% drop in 2015 profits on oil price collapse; Exxon’s profits tumbles 58% as low crude hurts. You can just go on and on with this. Now an important part of how oil companies announce profits is by ‘Replacement Cost’. Obviously once oil is out of the ground and sold you need to replace it, if you sell your current oil at a lower price than it will cost to produce a future barrel of oil then you’ve made a loss in oil company terms. All these stories of oil companies losing money is a statement of a replacement cost loss or as I see it a declaration of a bad future for them if prices stay the way they are. Oil companies need high prices today as all the oil they will extract in the future is a hell of a lot more expensive than the stuff they had in the past.”
Field Observations Show Decline of Japan's Intertidal Biota Near Site of the Fukushima Disaster written by MarineChemist: “The purpose of this post is to report on a newly published, peer-reviewed study in the open access journal Scientific Reports that uses field observations to determine how intertidal species abundance and diversity were affected by the 2011 earthquake, tsunami and Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) disaster. This post is part of an ongoing series dedicated to summarizing the results of scientific studies aimed at understanding the impact of the FDNPP disaster on ecosystem and public health. Horiguchi and colleagues surveyed intertidal marine organisms and made measurements of artificial radionuclides in specimens in 2011, 2012 and 2013. They found that in 2012 the number of intertidal organisms was lower closer to the FDNPP than farther away and that the sea snail (Thais clavigera) was absent from sampling locations <30 km from the FDNPP. Because sea snails were found in other rocky habitats affected by the tsunami in 2011 the absence of these organisms in 2012 near the plant might be related to the FDNPP disaster. In 2013 both the numbers of organisms and diversity of species were found to be lower at sites within several kilometers south of the FDNPP site. While, according to the authors, there is no clear explanation for the findings at present it is clear that the intertidal biota has been impacted close to the FDNPP since the disaster.”
The Crystal River Nuclear Power Plant: How Progress Energy Broke its Own Nuke written by Lenny Flank: “In September 2009, Unit 3 was scheduled for a routine shut-down to have its nuclear fuel replaced, and Progress Energy had already decided to use the opportunity to replace the 30-year old steam generators with new ones, which would increase the lifespan of the plant and also expand its electricity output by about 20%. Since the generators were located inside the thick cement containment building that surrounded the nuclear reactor (which was designed to prevent radioactive contamination if there were an accident) and were too big to fit through the existing door, the procedure for replacing them involved cutting a large hole, some 30x20 feet, through the thick wall, and using the hole to gain access. While this might sound drastic, it had already been done several dozen times before in the US and was a rather routine task. It was expected that the work would be finished and the plant would be up and running again by December. But when workers began to cut the hole through the containment wall, they noticed some places where the wall had cracked and the concrete had "de-laminated"--the several layers of cement that made up the wall had separated from each other, and large patches of the inner wall were flaking off in huge chunks. Further probing discovered that the cracked and damaged area was extensive. It was apparent that the wall had essentially been destroyed, and the entire containment building would have to be torn down and rebuilt. The cost was estimated at over $2.5 billion. Progress Energy assumed that its insurance would cover most of the costs. But here is where things started to get strange...”
Hydraulic Fracturing
8 Realities in California Governor Brown Doesn’t Want You to Know written by LindaCapato: “One year ago, we did something pretty dang incredible. Over the course of a few months, we coordinated a massive march and rally to highlight that fracking is not only insane and dangerous, but that our water, our climate, and our communities in California are in danger from fossil fuel extraction and suffering as a result. Over 8,000 people converged in Oakland for the largest-ever mobilization against fracking in U.S. history. I spent the weekend reflecting on this action, the lawsuits, marches, hearings, rallies and press -- and taking stock of our progress to move the Governor of California to take a stand against oil/gas and to ban fracking.We’ve built a strong movement and made some important progress, but we still haven’t reached our ultimate goal.”
Emissions Controls & Carbon Pricing
Supreme Court Grants Stay of President Obama's Rules for Power Plant Greenhouse Gas Emissions written by LakeSuperior: “The Supreme Court has granted a stay of effectiveness on President Barack Obama’s final rules from last October 23, 2015, for his Clean Power Plant greenhouse gas emission control guidelines for existing source fossil-fired steam electric power plants and combustion turbines. The unprecedented Supreme Court action granted the stay before the DC Circuit Court of Appeals had even heard and decided the full case on the merits on multiple petitions to overturn the rule. The DC Circuit had previously denied petitioners the stay of final rule they had requested.”
Supreme Court blocks Obama's centerpiece Clean Power Plan until litigation settles legality written by Meteor Blades: “The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday delivered a major blow to President Barack Obama by blocking federal regulations to curb carbon dioxide emissions from power plants, the centerpiece of his administration's strategy to combat climate change. On a 5-4 vote, the court granted a request made by 27 states and various companies and business groups to block the administration's Clean Power Plan. The move means the regulations will not be in effect while litigation continues over whether their legality.”
Renewables, Efficiency & Conservation
Bryce in WSJ Cherrypicking Protests to Paint Vermont as Anti-Wind written by ClimateDenierRoundup: “Robert Bryce's most recent op-ed in the Wall Street Journal marks the fifth time since 2013 that the Journal has made space for Bryce—a Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute—to present his Koch-funded message. This time, Bryce attacks wind power and Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) by cherry-picking and highlighting a handful of anti-wind activities going on in Vermont. If you look at actual public polling—and Media Matters does—you'll find there is widespread support among Vermonters for wind turbines. Over 70 percent of state residents support wind energy development, and 89.3 percent support a transition to renewables. So while there will always be those who vocalize ‘Not-In-My-Back-Yard’ type opposition to development projects, the citizens of Vermont heavily favor clean energy overall. Even just looking at the statistics on the NIMBY opposition to wind farms on which Bryce relies, the fact remains that 69 percent of Vermonters support a wind farm in their own community.”
Despite Supreme Court, Clean Energy and Climate Progress Are Full Speed Ahead written by Mary Anne Hitt: “Let’s make one thing perfectly clear - while the Supreme Court’s decision yesterday to put a temporary hold on the Clean Power Plan was disappointing, it won’t revive the fortunes of the coal industry, slow the transition to clean energy, or cripple progress toward meeting the climate commitment the US made in Paris last year. Yesterday’s decision means the Supreme Court is temporarily pausing the Clean Power Plan from going into effect, while the courts consider the merits of the case. As that legal process unfolds, likely into 2017, something else will continue unfolding as well - the steady progress of the Sierra Club and our allies to retire coal plants and replace them with clean energy. As we outlined in a report released late last year, our strategy gives us a pathway to meet our climate targets, even as the Clean Power Plan makes its way through the courts. Thanks to coal retirements and the rise of clean energy, US carbon emissions are at their lowest level in two decades and are continuing to fall.”
Pipelines & Other Oil and Gas Transport
Eminent Domain "Condemnation" of Vt Landowner property for Gas Pipeline Hits Another Snag written by Portia Elm: “On January 8, The Public Service Board continued eminent domain proceedings for the Addison County pipeline, citing state support. Democracy Now: And in the Vermont capital Montpelier, community members shut down an eminent domain proceeding Tuesday that would have helped pave the way for a gas pipeline—by breaking into song. Protesters, singing: ‘Officer, my dear, all the people here are telling you to leave these folks alone. There’s no need to take their land and home. Officer, my dear, all the people here.’ Rising Tide Vermont is a local chapter of Rising Tide North America that “opposes the expansion of industrial infrastructure in the Northeast US and Eastern Canada, and exposes corporate and state-sponsored false solutions to the climate crisis.” It has been working with local landowners since 2013 to stop the Vermont Public Service Board (PSB) from seizing property to run a gas pipeline through Addison County.”
OCEANS, WATER, DROUGHT
Chris Christie just privatized New Jersey's water. Good luck with that, New Jersey written by Walter Einenkel: “Hurricane Sandy opportunist and all-around overgrown bully Governor Chris Christie has been sitting on a bill that would cut out citizens from the decision process concerning whether or not their drinking water is privatized. Wait no longer, New Jersey. Yesterday, the Garden State’s AWOL governor signed the ironically named ‘Water Infrastructure Protection Act’—the irony is that it protects water from the people who drink it but not from being obliterated by private interests and the one percent’s whims. The Water Infrastructure Protection Act, which purportedly aims to address aging infrastructure , allows for fast-tracking of sales of municipal water systems to private entities. Among the sponsors of the measure, which passed the state legislature in December, was Senator Joe Kyrillos (R-Monmouth), who stated Thursday: ‘We recognize that there are times when private entities might be most capable of operating, maintaining and upgrading drinking water and sanitary wastewater systems,” and keeps "the public’s ability to be part of the process.’”
How the GOP deals with the water supply written by joe quigley: “Just when what is happening to the Flint water supply was becoming public, the GOP opposed the Clean water Act. And now we have Chris Christie taking the public water system in New Jersey and making it possible for private companies to buy it at a good price, for them. This will allow multinational corporations to profit off increased water rates with New Jersey residents having virtually no recourse if they get screwed. But it seems the GOP likes to hand over land to foreign companies to make profits, like they did with Native American lands being handed over to foreign mining companies.”
American River flows will rise to 3,000 cfs as Folsom Lake reaches 61% capacity written by Dan Bacher: “Anglers, rafters, kayakers and others who recreate on the Lower American River be advised — the Bureau of Reclamation will increase releases below Nimbus Dam into the lower American from 1,750 cubic feet per second to 3,000 cfs for storage management in Folsom Reservoir. ‘The increased releases are scheduled to begin Tuesday, Feb. 9, at 9 p.m. and will continue until further notice,’ according to a news release from Shane Hunt of the Bureau of Reclamation. ‘Folsom Reservoir, located 26 miles northeast of Sacramento, provides water for people, fish and wildlife, hydropower, the environment and salinity control in the Bay-Delta.’ The releases are necessary to maintain required space in Folsom Reservoir during the rain and snowmelt season. The current storage is more than 130 percent of the 15-year average for early February.”
Pro-Tunnels Group Bars Reporter from Media Teleconference written by Dan Bacher: “Pro-Delta Tunnels Group Bars Journalist from Media Teleconference Veteran fisheries reporter Dan Bacher asked to media event, then denied access: [...] Daniel Bacher, a veteran Northern California journalist specializing in fisheries, received a media advisory in late January announcing a media teleconference being held by Californians for Water Security to “discuss the urgency of implementing California’s Water Fix” (aka The Delta Water Export Tunnels). The media advisory read in part… ‘On Wednesday at 10:30 a.m., the day before the State Water Resources Control Board holds its initial meeting to consider issuing permits for the California Water Fix, supporters including water experts, environmentalists and business and labor interests will host a media teleconference to discuss the importance of implementing the Governor’s plan to update our aging water infrastructure.’”
Clean Water is a Right, Not a Privilege written by political junquie: “If there’s one belief Progressives share – and I’m referring to the ones that (for all their many blind spots) built the waterways, sewers, and other infrastructure that made our cities livable a little over a century ago – it’s that providing essential services to the public is government’s most sacred responsibility. Education, sanitation, fire codes, libraries, among other things. It’s a belief built on a principle of shared trust, and a much older idea of the common good. Flint reminds all of us that the most basic service of all is clean water. Think of it. It’s such a beautiful idea. Turn on a tap in your home and clean water comes out of it, right into your kitchen sink, right into your bathtub. Water you can drink, or bathe a baby in. In practice, sure, the idea has been eroded, downgraded and privatized for years, but now it’s genuinely being threatened with extinction. It’s time to bring clean water back to its fully glory. Clean water. Clean water as a right, not a privilege.”
EXTINCTION & SUSTAINABILITY
Morning Open Thread: ARCOSANTI, City for the Evolution of Humankind written by officebss: “Paolo Soleri (1919-2013) was a visionary architect. A thinker and philosopher. Long before I ever heard the word ‘ecology,’ I was fascinated by his original experimental buildings at Cosanti, which was just outside of Scottsdale in Paradise Valley. Architecture students from across the globe would spend summers as volunteer interns making his vision into reality, while learning his creative building techniques. There was a gallery at Cosanti which displayed his drawings of a city for the future which he called Arcosanti. That future city is now coming to life, a project under construction in the high desert of Northern Arizona. Much of his work was funded by sales of Soleri’s beautiful bronze bells, bell-windchimes, and sculptures. The word ‘Cosanti’ comes from two Italian terms: ‘Cosa’ and ‘Anti,’ which together mean, literally, ‘Before (or Against) Things.’”
TRADE AND ECO-RELATED FOREIGN POLICY
Dumping Radioactive Food from Japan on the World-Why the TPP is a Pending Disaster written by Mike Taylor: “Economist Robert Reich has laid out the more general dangers of the TPP Trade Agreement in his recent piece ‘Why the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement is a Pending Disaster.’ However, the biggest risk is that it will allow Japan to dump all of its radioactive food on much of the world. In particular, 10 to 15 times more radiation is allowed in food in the US, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand than in Japan. The US has the weakest ‘standards’ of all, allowing food to have around 1,200–1,500 Becquerels per kg [1], i.e. 1,200-1,500 radioactive emissions per second per kg, compared to 100 Bq/kg in Japan. (A kg is 2.2 pounds.) The amount allowed in Japan for children is even less than 100 Bq. The TPP will allow Japan to more easily export radioactive metal products, as well. It is also a back door to allow Japan to export radioactive food and goods to Europe.”
WILDERNESS, NATIONAL FORESTS AND PARKS & OTHER PUBLIC LANDS
Conservation Might Well Not Mean What You Think It Does written by ban nock: “Conservation in North America is experiencing an identity crisis of sorts lately. The meaning has been pushed and pulled in this or that direction, kidnaped, held for ransom and generally abused until it’s come to mean just about anything. Recently I read an article in the outdoor magazine of my state division of Parks and Wildlife that discussed this very subject. It was reassuring to read that my state had been having some of the same thoughts I had. What’s not so clear is what to do about it. The most obvious meaning of conservation became a divisive catch phrase during the ‘80s, that time when James Watt was Secretary of the Interior. People then called it the ‘wise use’ movement, which to detractors meant strip mining and clear cutting the entire planet. I think more emphasis on the word ‘wise’ would have been, well, wise. On the other side acceptance that “use” is part of the equation would have gone far to avoid current pitfalls.”
A forest is a social network and a community. It may have a lesson for us here written by subir: “I’ll confess I get a physical copy of the NY Times delivered to me on weekends. I just like the feel of paper sometimes. I would have missed the Saturday profile of Peter Wohlleben, a forest ranger in Germany, if I hadn’t flipped through last Saturday’s issue. So, printed on a dead tree, which likely came from a commercial forest, I read a story that taught me a few things about trees. Wohlleben has written a book that has become a bit of a sensation in Germany, topping the best-seller list. The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate — Discoveries From a Secret World has invigorated a national conversation about forests and how Germans relate to them.”
Malheur PatRioters indicted by federal grand jury written by seesdifferent: A federal grand jury Wednesday returned indictments against the Malheur PatRioters: A federal grand jury Wednesday issued indictments against Ammon Bundy, his brother and at least nine other co-defendants arrested last week in the armed takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge outside of Burns. Those who are not still in the refuge have already been arraigned on the previous charge of impeding and intimidation of government officials. The grand jury indictments replace the single previous charge and obviates the need for preliminary hearings on the old charge. The new charges are sealed until tomorrow, but they are likely multiple: Those could include trespassing on federal property, destruction of federal property, unlawful access to federal computers and possession of firearms on a federal facility, according to legal observers. The defendants will be arraigned on the indictments Feb. 24.
Federal grand jury hands down indictments for 16 of the militants involved in the Oregon standoff written by Jen Hayden: “Sixteen of the armed militants who took over the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in early January are officially facing charges of conspiracy to impede federal officers through intimidation, threats or force. From The Oregonian: The alleged offenses began Oct. 5, when two of the defendants met with the Harney County sheriff to warn of "extreme civil unrest'' if their demands were unmet, according to the indictments. The alleged co-conspirators are charged with occupying the federal property "while using and carrying firearms,'' threatening violence against anybody who attempted to remove them from the refuge, and using social media and other means of communication to recruit and encourage others to join them. The indictments also alleged the group carried firearms on the federal property and refused repeated federal orders to leave.”
Those named in the indictment include those who’ve already been arrested: Ammon Bundy, Ryan Bundy, Ryan Payne, Brian Cavalier, Joe O'Shaughnessy, Jon Ritzheimer, Shawna Cox, Pete Santilli, Jason Patrick, Dylan Anderson and Duane Leo Ehmer. The grand jury also announced the four remaining militants—David Fry, Sean Anderson, Sandy Anderson and Jeff Banta—will face the same conspiracy charge when and if they leave the refuge. Kenneth Medenbach, who was arrested while driving a stolen federal vehicle into town for snacks, was also named in the indictment.”
Toldjaso: FBI coddling enabled The Cowliphate to spread their paranoid bullsh*t written by xxdr zombiexx: “I told people the lack of law enforcement action on these fucking goobers would make heroes out of them. I wore my carpal tunnel out saying it. And I was correct. Raw Story was getting some reporting from a man named Arun Gupta and he has posted this story about them: Go read the whole thing. I am merely posting enough to cover the point I wish to make. Which is that I toldjaso. David Neiwert, author of In God’s Country: The Patriot Movement and the Pacific Northwest, argues the Malheur takeover was encouraged by the government failure to prosecute the Bundys following an armed standoff involving the Nevada ranch of their father, Cliven Bundy, in 2014. This emboldened the Bundy bunch to provoke new confrontations with the government in Utah, Oregon and Montana over land-use issues.”
Oregon Sheriffs' Assoc. will 'look into' conduct of 'constitutional' sheriff who met with Bundy gang written by Jen Hayden: “Grant County Sheriff Glenn Palmer, one of the darlings of the “constitutional sheriffs” organization, is now the subject of an investigation: Association President Brian Wolfe, the sheriff of Malheur County, said, at the request of citizens, an executive board would be looking into Palmer’s conduct regarding the occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge to determine whether to launch an official investigation.”
BYPRODUCTS, TRASH, TOXIC & RADIOACTIVE WASTE
FLINT: Snyder knew Legionnaires' Disease link last spring; prisoners forced to drink lead water written by Brainwrap: “Internal emails show that high-ranking officials in Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder's administration were aware of a surge in Legionnaires' disease potentially linked to Flint's water long before the governor reported the increase to the public. ...emails obtained by the liberal group Progress Michigan through public-records requests and shared with The Associated Press showSnyder's own office was aware of the outbreak since last March. The outbreak was also well known within state agencies, according to emails obtained separately by the AP and other news organizations.”
WA state rep who defied cops to meet with militants has resigned after lying about military record written by Jen Hayden: “What is it with these militant-loving, libertarian-screeching, liberty-defending, strict constitutionalists and their almost pathological need to lie about their military service? Several of the militants who took over the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge have been accused of stolen valor. Graham Hunt, a (now former) Washington state representative, defied the FBI and local law enforcement to personally meet with Ammon Bundy at the armed militants at the wildlife refuge in January. He just couldn’t resist a trip to meet with his fellow constitutional lovers. Now The Seattle Times confirms Graham Hunt has been forced to resign after flat-out lying about his military service.”
Day 34 of Bundystani Standoff: Indictments signal go-time soon & future threats could emerge written by annieli: “The outcome options now become more crucial and limited for the dead-ender four now armed with snacks, personal lube, and 20 firearms, as regional authorities prepare for potential armed threats that could come via fellow traveler militias from the original takeover of the Malhuer Wildlife Refuge including but not limited to the Pacific Patriot Network, the III% (3%), and the Oath Keepers.”
The poisoning of Flint's drinking water written by SolastalgiaUSA: “[T]he story of Flint's water crisis is a lot larger, and, if anything, even more alarming than the headlines show. A closer look at the entire sad story reveals that not only were lead levels in Flint, Michigan's water system insanely elevated in 2015, but it was a string of four health and water crises, and consistent denial of them by the state, that culminated in the discovery that the water coming out of Flint residents' faucets was poisoned with lead. It all begins much earlier than you might think. The butterfly flapped its wings, so to speak, in October 2010, setting of a chain of events and consequences that persists to the present day. In October 2010, high-ranking officials from Flint and surrounding counties decided to inaugurate a new public water corporation that would specifically serve the city and its neighboring areas.”
Sierra Blanca, Bernie Sanders, Paul Wellstone, a Poor Minority Community and a Nuclear Waste Dump written by First Amendment: “In 1998, then Representative Bernie Sanders cosponsored and actively ushered a bill through Congress that would allow Vermont and Maine to dump their nuclear waste in the poor disadvantaged Hispanic community of Sierra Blanca, Texas. Three West Texan protestors went to Vermont to plead with then Representative Sanders that the dump site shouldn't be located in this poor minority community, Mr. Sanders told the three activists, ‘My position is unchanged and you’re not going to like it.’ When asked if he would at least visit the proposed site in Sierra Blanca, he said: ‘Absolutely not. I'm gonna to be running for re-election in the state of Vermont.’ ‘He didn't listen,’ Curry said. ‘He had his mind made up.’”
Open letter to Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan about Toxic Substance Control Act (TSCA) written by e2247: “Congressional fights on 62,000+ unregulated chemicals are complicated. Nobody knows how many chemicals are used today! I write you about your role in the present congressional work to reform the Toxic Substance Control Act (TSCA). The House and Senate are working to fix the outdated TSCA law and are in the process of combining their differing bills to make the final law to improve chemical safety for the country. Illinois has some of the strongest chemical safety policies in the country. As the attorney general of one of the states that leads very well on this issue, you have a unique opportunity to ensure Congress passes the strongest chemical safety reform possible, one which doesn't curb Illinoisans’ hard earned chemical protections. The TSCA Inventory is a cumulative list of 85,000 chemicals, more or less, that began in 1979 and not all of them are in market now. The Chemical Data Reporting (CDR) Rule issued under Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), requires manufacturers (including importers) to give EPA information on the chemicals they manufacture domestically or import into the United States. The most recent 2012 submission period, closed on August 13, 2012 more than three years ago: 2012 Chemical Data Reporting Results.”
How the Flint lead crisis reflects America's water problem written by Vann R Newkirk II: “The fallout and the impact of the lead crisis in the drinking water in Flint, Michigan, is staggering. Immediate aid as measured by various proposed state and federal packages will range well into the hundreds of millions and long-term support for the health of the victims in Flint will likely be just as costly. The monetary costs of this crisis could reach into the billions, and although they are the easiest to quantify, they are the least important from a humanitarian perspective. The long-term health and behavior of impacted children will be at risk as lead is a permanent poison that impacts development. The mental and emotional health of communities in Flint will be impacted. Real estate and community ownership will be affected. This crisis will affect in some way the entire future of the city. The aftermath of Flint will be staggering. However, recent reporting has uncovered several towns with the same underlying issues with lead pipes and decaying water infrastructure. Sebring, Ohio, is suffering a lead crisis as well, and towns across Michigan are turning up with high levels of lead exposure in drinking water.”
Hillary: "The children of Flint are just as precious as the children of any other part of America" written by First Amendment: “Hillary is in Flint, Michigan today to continue shining a light on this tragedy. When Hillary said in her speech that if this happened in another Michigan city, like Grosse Pointe or Bloomfield Hills we would have had a solution yesterday, it cut to the heart of this gross inaction. Minorities in our country are still considered by many and our politicians to be second class citizens. I’m proud Hillary was in Flint today, because this will keep the pressure on officials in Michigan. I'm sure this will be all over local news tonight in Michigan.”
I really like how Hillary took the initiative to help the people of Flint written by The Cowardly Lion: “Bernie asked for the Gov of Michigan to resign over this. Hillary demanded that he solve the problem. I appreciate the sentiment behind punishing the Gov, but I think that what the people of Flint really needed at the moment wasn’t for someone to be punished, but rather for someone to do something to help solve their immediate problem. I think this is a prime example of a substantial difference in how Bernie and Hillary approach dealing with problems. Hillary saw people in immediate need and immediately acted to help start solving their problem. That meant putting pressure on the Gov to act, which worked. Bernie on the other hand asked the Gov to resign. That’s fair, but it wasn’t going to happen right away and in the meanwhile, it wasn’t going to help the people of Flint.”
Gov. Snyder Refuses to Appear at Congressional Flint Water Hearing written by ericlewis0: “Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R) is turning down a request from House Democrats that he testify about his role in Flint, Mich.’s drinking water crisis. Snyder spokeswoman Anna Heaton said Monday that the governor won’t attend on Wednesday because he’s due to present his annual budget proposal that day in Michigan. It will be the second congressional hearing on Flint’s lead contamination, and the second at which Snyder will not testify.”
Congressman Elijah Cummings spits fire over Flint water 'This is not a third world country!' written by Walter Einenkel: “Ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, Congressman Elijah Cummings was justifiably pissed off at the debacle that is Flint, Michigan’s water crisis. The first hearings, held last week, starred Joel Beauvais, acting deputy assistant administrator, Office of Water, Environmental Protection Agency; Keith Creagh, director, Department of Environmental Quality, State of Michigan; Marc Edwards, Virginia Tech professor, Environmental and Water Resources Engineering, and a Flint resident LeeAnne Walters. Representative Cummings spent the opening parts of his statement going in on Keith Creagh—director of Michigan’s Environmental and Water Resources. Creagh, in his defense, is a foil here for the fire that Cummings is about to unleash. That fire is directed at Governor Snyder—whom Cummings says he “hopes is watching this” at the beginning. Elijah Cummings has no time for Snyder’s excuse that the city council of Flint is at fault here, pointing out that the city council of Flint did not vote to change the water source for Flint, nor does the city council have any power in this regard.”
Michigan Attorney General's office will not rule out manslaughter charges in Flint water poisoning written by Jen Hayden: “The Michigan Attorney General and his staff say they are leaving all options on the table as they investigate how an entire city was poisoned: Todd Flood, special counsel for the state attorney general’s office investigation into the Flint water crisis, said Tuesday the probe could lead to a variety of criminal charges or civil actions. ‘We’re here to investigate what possible crimes there are, anything to the involuntary manslaughter or death that may have happened to some young person or old person because of this poisoning, to misconduct in office,’ he said. ‘We take this very seriously.’ Criminal charges may not be the only route they take.”
NEW JERSEY DCA SAYS PREVENTING LEAD POISONING IN CHILDREN IS “DIFFICULT”, IGNORES LAW written by GregWright: “The New Jersey Department of Community Affairs spokeswoman, Tammori Petty, said in an email Friday that the state has not enforced a 2008 law that would prevent children from being exposed to lead poisoning from old lead-based paint. ‘The legislation,’ said Petty, ‘was signed into law in 2008 with no clear path to enforcement making implementation [of the law] difficult.’ ‘Registering one- and two-family rental housing units is a major undertaking since there is no readily available way to identify which one- and two-family properties are rentals and which were built before 1978 where there would be a potential lead poisoning risk,’ said Petty. Lead-based paints were banned in 1978 but not all structures were required to remove the paint that was in place.”
AGRICULTURE, FOOD & GARDENING
City Agriculture written by gmoke: “Cooling towers into green communities inhabitat.com/… www.archdaily.com/… Aker - snap together kits for urban ag www.aker.me One of the POC [Proof of Concept] ideas from COP 21 www.poc21.cc/… Agritecture: "Your source for vertical farming and urban agriculture news, business, and design." agritecture.com Local Roots Farms - local produce anywhere www.localrootsfarms.com Bell Book and Candle - NYC farm to table restaurant, rated as one of the best in the country. ‘SOME ITEMS WE PRODUCE THROUGHOUT THE YEAR FROM OUR AEROPONIC ROOFTOP GARDEN LISTED BELOW: Sage, Chive, Chervil, Cilantro, Dill, Genovese Basil, Opal Basil, Italian and Flat Leaf Parsley, Spearmint, Rosemary, 4 varieties of Nasturtium, Cheddar Cauliflower, Purple Tomatillo, Tomatillo, Japanese and Kermit Eggplant, 2 varieties of Arugula, 4 varieties of Cherry Tomato, Great White Tomato, Bibb Lettuce, Red Oak Leaf, Red Romaine, Green Romaine, Lola Rosa, Frisee, Green Crisp, Poblano Pepper, and Fennel.’ bbandcnyc.com”
Saturday Morning Garden Blogging: Here Comes the Sun! written by Merry Light: “Winter is a hard season for me. I love the seasons where I live, don’t get me wrong. I don’t think I’d appreciate spring as much. It’s not so hard in December, when the year is at its darkest in the pre-holiday frenzy. I find solace in the cheerful twinkling of the lights on every house and building. In January, the darkness persists but the lights are extinguished. I am the first one up in the morning, and this winter I have had to shovel a path down the driveway for the paper more often than not. On clear mornings the stars in the constellation Orion hang in the pre-dawn sky like so many sharp little points of ice. However, if you asked me, I’d vote for warm weather and green grass every time. The world eventually turns towards that goal, and I start to revive and cheer up when it becomes apparent that the weather is finally going to start warming up and I can look forward to spring. I think I’ve made it through the darkness into the light once again. Indoor flowers also sustain us gardeners while we watch the sun turn back towards the northern sky. I rescued an amaryllis from the local Walmart in January of 2015, and it bloomed for me this year.”
Sustainable cultured meat - the future is closer than you think! written by zipn: “Meatballs from cow — without slaughtering the cow! Memphis Meats has demonstrated the technology to make a food (a meatball in this case) grown from cow cells. No need to slaughter a cow, and much much lower greenhouse emmisions. It’s a short video — pretty cool and maybe a sneak peek into our future…”
TRANSPORTATION & INFRASTRUCTURE
Funding a clean transportation system written by ybruti: “To fund a 21st Century Clean Transportation System, the Obama administration is proposing a $10 per barrel fee on oil, gradually phased in over five years, which would bring in $32 billion annually. This would support clean vehicle research, ensure the Highway Trust Fund remains solvent, and improve public transit. It would also encourage innovation, strengthen the economy, create hundreds of thousands of new jobs, and assist families with energy costs. Most importantly, since 30% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions are related to transportation, a cleaner system would help fight global warming. [...] However, Steve Scales of Louisiana, the Majority Whip in the House, says the oil fee is an absurd proposal that will be dead on arrival. But it should not be dismissed so quickly. The results of a carbon fee (or tax) in British Columbia since 2008 show that gasoline use has declined there and the economy has benefited.”
Obama proposes oil tax to pay for public transportation written by gjohnsit: “Some of us on DKos were talking about this just the other day. That the government should tax some of the price collapse in energy to make the country more energy efficient. It seems the president was thinking the same thing. President Barack Obama will propose a $10 per barrel tax on oil in his fiscal 2017 budget to finance self-driving cars, public transit, railroads and other transportation improvements, the White House said. ‘By placing a fee on oil, the President’s plan creates a clear incentive for private sector innovation to reduce our reliance on oil and at the same time invests in clean energy technologies that will power our future,’ the White House said Thursday in a statement. [...] Obviously the Republic-controlled Congress is unlikely to agree with this common sense idea, but if no one ever even suggests it then a “slim chance” becomes “no chance” (like universal health care).”
Finally! Obama proposes a $10 per barrel fee on oil written by Magnifico: “In his budget delivered to Congress, President Obama proposed a new few oil companies that would assess $10 for every barrel of oil both domestically extracted as well as imports. The fee would be phased in over five years and the money raised by it could then be used to fund repairs on America’s aging transportation infrastructure, and clean transportation research and development. Such as building high-speed rail, more environmentally friendly airplanes, electric-car charging stations, and improving electric vehicles. The president’s goal is a “clean transportation” system. The White House released a fact sheet describing the president’s plan for a 21st Century Clean Transportation System, characterizing it as ‘smart, strategic integrated investments to help reduce carbon pollution, strengthen [the] economy.’”
NC Dept. Of Transportation Nixes Red Route, Environmentalists Protest, Republican Spin On This...written by Kalisiin: “This comes straight from an email I received today from Chad Barefoot, my State Senator. The North Carolina Department of Transportation announced Wednesday that it's recommending routes for the final segment of the Complete 540 Project, and their recommendations do not include the controversial "Red Route" that would have split communities throughout Garner and Southern Wake County. Instead, the department recommended using the orange, green and mint routes. Environmentalists acted immediately to criticize<www.newsobserver.com/...> the Department of Transportation's decision to prioritize people over plants.”
CANDIDATES, STATE AND DC ECO-RELATED POLITICS
O'Malley: Hillary's Climate Plan Would Literally Destroy the Planet written by New Minas: “Martin O’Malley minces no words: Her goal would be to reach 33 percent of clean energy in the electric grid by 2027, up from 16 percent today. ‘Secretary Clinton’s plan can most kindly be summed up as a voluntary solar panel plan for residences,” O’Malley told me. “Under her plan the planet would literally burn up. Her approach is much more incremental.’ Get that? A voluntary home solar plan, using free market principles to allow the invisible hand of the market to save the planet. This is the hallmark of corporatist incremental suicide. We cannot possibly do what needs to be done because it doesn’t fit within the arena of possibilities that are allowed under the consensus of corporate interests.”
Army of Lobbyists Push LNG Exports, Methane Hydrates, Coal in Senate Energy Bill written by Steve Horn: “As the U.S. presidential race dominates the media, it is easy to forget that both chambers of the U.S. Congress are currently in session. The U.S. Senate has put a major energy bill on the table, the first of its sort since 2007. The 237-page bill introduced by U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) — S. 2012, the Energy Policy Modernization Act of 2015 — includes provisions that would expedite the liquefied natural gas (LNG) export permitting process, heap subsidies on coal technology, and fund research geared toward discovering a way to tap into methane hydrate reserves. As we saw with the lifting of the U.S. crude oil export ban, which was part of a broader congressional budget bill, a DeSmog investigation reveals that these provisions once existed as stand-alone bills pushed for by an army of fossil fuel industry lobbyists. The list of lobbyists for S. 2012 is a who's who of major fossil fuel corporations and their trade associations: BP, ExxonMobil, America's Natural Gas Alliance, American Petroleum Institute, Peabody Energy, Arch Coal, Southern Company, Duke Energy and many other prominent LNG export companies.”
NH Republicans a good match on climate change wackiness with Cruz, Trump, and Rubio written by Meteor Blades: “In a less insane world, Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, and Marco Rubio’s views on climate change would be enough to scrub them right out of the race for the Republican presidential nomination. But the majority of GOP-affiliated voters in New Hampshire, which holds the nation’s first primary Tuesday, mesh quite nicely with the views of the three candidates. Jeremy Schulman at Mother Jones writes: At a campaign stop in Henniker, New Hampshire, last week, Ted Cruz was asked what he'd do as president to combat climate change. Cruz's answer—an eight-minute rant that you can watch [here]—was essentially that he would do nothing. Because global warming isn't happening. It's ‘the perfect pseudoscientific theory’ to justify liberal politicians' quest to expand ‘government power over the American citizenry,’ he said. Like Cruz, the two GOP front-runners in the state—Donald Trump and Marco Rubio—reject mainstream climate science. Trump has repeatedly called global warming a ‘hoax,’ and Rubio has said, ‘I do not believe that human activity is causing these dramatic changes to our climate the way these scientists are portraying it.’”
Carbon footprints - Hillary vs Bernie written by pianogramma: “Unlike the Republican pack of climate change deniers, both Hillary and Bernie at least acknowledge the problem. Bernie took heat for calling it the greatest threat to our national security in the first debate. No doubt Hillary’s commitment to reducing greenhouse gases is sincere: after all, even US energy corporations are ahead of Republican politicians on this issue. But just as it seems crazy to expect a recipient of millions of dollars from Wall Street to do everything possible to rein in Wall Street, it seems crazy to expect someone who has eagerly acquired a carbon footprint probably a hundred times as big as the average American’s (America’s being twenty times too big already) to do everything possible to rein in the overconsumption underlying our excessive carbon emissions. Pope Francis leads by example on climate change and economic justice. Jimmy Carter does the same. So can Bernie, I believe. You can probably guess which of our candidates I imagine would have been a slaveholder during the 1850’s.”
So... Another Dem Debate Without Climate Change or Reproductive Rights written by NewYorkerforLIfe.
Hillary Clinton and Monsanto written by Robocop: “The Iowa caucuses revealed more than who the front runners might be in the upcoming presidential race. In a meeting of Iowa’s Tri-County Democrats, there existed a rather large block of women who had expressed strong and vocal support for Hillary Clinton. When these women discovered, however, that Mrs. Clinton is a visible supporter of genetically modified organisms and the biotech industry that’s pushing for their introduction across the globe they immediately switched their allegiance to Bernie Sanders. Iowa is the biggest producer of corn in the country and much of that is genetically modified. Perhaps these Iowan women know first hand the effects the massive amounts of pesticides necessary to grow GMOs have on the health of their families and the land itself.”
Senate Ds Sought a United Front to Get More $ for Flint in Energy Bill. These Five Broke Ranks written by Liberty Equality Fraternity and Trees: “Yesterday, the Senate voted twice against ending debate on the Energy Policy Modernization Act. Democrats blocked the two cloture votes in order to have more time to get a deal on securing money for Flint. Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters, the senators from Michigan, want $600 million for Flint, including $400 million to match state funds to repair and replace old pipes in the city, with the rest going to a research and education center on lead poisoning. The Democratic caucus was mostly united behind Stabenow and Peters; however, six members of the caucus (five Democrats and one Independent) didn’t think securing money for Flint was important enough. The six? Joe Donnelly (D-IN). Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND). Tim Kaine (D-VA). Angus King (I-ME). Joe Manchin (D-WV). Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH).”
Rubio is the Koch Brothers Candidate written by Climate Coach: “The bad news for Climate Voters coming out of Iowa this week is Marco Rubio had a strong night. Unlike Ted Cruz and Donald Trump, Rubio is the Koch Brothers candidate because he can win in November. The Koch Brothers are Charles and David Koch. They are heavily invested in fossil fuels and collectively, they are worth more than $100 Billion. Rubio is the Koch Brothers candidate because if he takes the White House, the Koch Brothers and all their fossil fuel investments will be moving in. Already endorsed by Senator Snowball, aka Jim Inhofe, the man who brought a snowball into Senate chambers to demonstrate climate change is a lie, Rubio, if elected President, will be turning climate denial into climate policy.”
Ted Cruz States An Opinion On Federal Public Lands Ownership written by ban nock: “Sometimes when you get a bright guy like Ted Cruz, who has pondered policy issues before, you get a guy who is not shy to speak his mind, such is the case with Ted in this vid. I’m sorry, it’s so good I don’t want to give it away. Just click on the vid and scroll on up to the 1:20 point. It’s only 30 seconds. Great acoustics and what I like is that it’s so unambiguous, guy speaks his mind.
I read a web site that is 75% Republican one way or another. That’s how they broke out recently on a presidential poll. The purpose and general discussion on the site is not politics. None the less I read comments like this.”
MISCELLANY
A Briefing on the Zika Virus, With Links written by xaxnar: “The news media continues to give the Zika virus a lot of airtime, but there’s only so much they can put in the story once they get past the headlines. Here’s some more info for those who want it. New York State’s Commissioner of Health Dr. Howard Zucker recently gave a webinar presentation on the current state of knowledge of the disease, based on information from the CDC and from the department itself; the Wadsworth Center is one of the few labs in the country equipped to test for the infection. Here’s a link to the pdf file containing the Powerpoint slides from the webinar. The intended audience are the health care professionals gearing up to deal with this emerging threat, so some of it is rather technical and clinical.”