See Allen Insight's
post.
Spotlight on Green News & Views (previously known as the Green Diary Rescue) appears twice a week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
The most recent Spotlight can be seen here. More than
23,420 environmentally oriented diaries have been rescued for inclusion in this series since 2006. Inclusion of a diary in the Spotlight does not necessarily indicate my agreement with or endorsement of it.
I Just Bought 90 Acres (and I'm giving it to the BLM)—by
ban nock: "And it gets better. The 90 acres is strategically important to access a further 6,000 acres of prime wildlands adjacent to the Missouri Breaks National Monument. These 90 acres open up a lot more land for people to enjoy. As you might have guessed I didn't buy this land all by my lonesome, I belong to an org that bought it. That org, The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (RMEF), enjoys a reputation of conservation not headlines, they work with rather than against private landowners, other stakeholders, and our government. The RMEF continues it's amazing growth in membership every year, built on a foundation of volunteering and raising money to purchase habitat via dinners and raffles. A member of the Foundation who lived in the area alerted the RMEF that the land might be available, and the RMEF along with the Cinnabar Foundation, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks, all came together and made it happen. [...] The US government representing all the people in the US is the best responsible steward of the land. Public lands belong to all the people for all of their use and enjoyment. The RMEF doesn't seek lands to facilitate tax breaks or for the exclusive use of it's members. Everyone is welcome to use these lands."
Republican Senator Banks a half million to fight climate change—by
Climate Coach: "New Hampshire Republican Senator KellyAyotte, who will be on the ballot next year, received a half million dollar campaign donation from Republican climate activist Jay Faison to fight climate change. Unfortunately, by working to re-elect Ayotte, Faison is helping Mitch McConnell in his efforts to derail any efforts to address climate change. Effectively reducing emissions will require binding international agreements and as we see here, McConnell is trying hard to sabotage efforts to forge an international agreement on climate. In fact, Faison also gave an undisclosed sum to McConnell's campaign super-PAC, the Senate Leadership Fund. If she gets re-elected, it is unlikely that Ayotte will be a climate champion and merit Faison's sizable investment. Earlier this year, Ayotte did vote for the Schatz Ammendment, which declared climate change is real and caused by humans. She also voted in favor of climate change science education, but she voted against the EPA Clean Power Plan, which is the most significant effort to reduce emissions and the centerpiece of President Obama's international efforts to reduce emissions. Pressure from Senator Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who is leading efforts to fight climate change solutions nationally and internationally, likely led to her voting against the Clean Power Plan. As we see in the poll above, New Hampshire Republicans support the Clean Power Plan and the rest of the state's voters support the Clean Power Plan by even larger margins."
You can find more excerpts from green diaries below the orange spill.
Climate Chaos
President Obama will talk the climate talk this week in Alaska, but we need more of the climate walk—by Meteor Blades: "While there's every good reason for ending American dependence on sources of petroleum such as Saudi Arabia, whose leaders have used a portion of their nation's oil revenue to spread an extremist version of Islam, the greater danger is the continuing dependence on oil itself at a time when it's clear that most of the world's hydrocarbons cannot be burned if there is any hope of avoiding the worst impacts of climate change. When Richard Nixon first intoned the need for 'energy independence,' meaning independence not from oil but from foreign oil, human-caused climate change was scarcely on anybody's radar. Today, with every molecule of CO2 emitted putting us that much closer to disaster, becoming 'independent' by extracting unconventional oil with risky techniques from delicate ecosystems makes no sense at all."
Excerpts from President Obama's Alaska Speech on Climate Change—by Lefty Coaster: "Our understanding of climate change advances each day. Human activity is disrupting the climate, in many ways faster than we previously thought. The science is stark. It is sharpening. It proves that this once-distant threat is now very much in the present. In fact, the Arctic is the leading edge of climate change—our leading indicator of what the entire planet faces. Arctic temperatures are rising about twice as fast as the global average. Over the past 60 years, Alaska has warmed about twice as fast as the rest of the United States. Last year was Alaska’s warmest year on record—just as it was for the rest of the world. And the impacts here are very real. Thawing permafrost destabilizes the earth on which 100,000 Alaskans live, threatening homes, damaging transportation and energy infrastructure, which could cost billions of dollars to fix."
President Obama addresses Climate Change in Alaska—by akmk: "Climate change tops the agenda with President Obama's visit to Alaska this week. Restoring Denali 'officially' to its rightful name was just a lead in for President Obama's visit to Alaska this week. He outlines his intentions to address climate change here in this video. Although the days ahead have yet to fully unfold, we are dealing here with a leader who sees the bigger picture and works within the realities of the world today to move forward the progressive agendas needed to sustain our planet, its economies, and all its people. With President Obama, the US leads the way in the world on climate change."
Maybe President Obama Should Just Skip His Alaska Trip Next Week—by dcrowe: "The White House just put out a video about why President Obama is going to Alaska next week. I tried to watch it. I made it exactly 3 seconds into it before I had to turn it off. I had to turn it off because when the title card comes up, it says, 'President Obama's trip to Alaska: the front lines of our fight against climate change.' I had to turn it off because I know that President Obama approved Shell's permit to drill for oil in the Arctic seas north of Alaska, and the title of this video shows that he just doesn't get it. Talking about the 'front lines' of climate change, like there's a war happening in some place like Afghanistan from which Americans need him to bring us video so we can see the effects, shows that he's completely out of touch with the disaster he's bringing to our doorstep every day he refuses to confront and contain companies like Shell. The front lines are in Alaska, sure. But, they are also right in our faces, everywhere else."
The Failure of Neoliberal Environmentalism—by Superpole: "From Today's Salon: Establishment Dems are trying to take climate action while still satisfying corporate interests. That won't work. Not long after the President announced he would travel to Alaska in August. the 'front line of climate change,' his administration issued the final permit needed for Shell Oil to have authorization to drill for oil in the Arctic sea near Alaska. This was done in spite of the administration's admission there is a high probability (75%) for a 'significant oil spill in the area.' The sharp contradiction did not go unnoticed. 'It’s perplexing and depressing, quite frankly, to hear President Obama say he wants to fix climate change but then approve Arctic drilling,' said Rebecca Noblin, Alaska director for the Center for Biological Diversity, in an AP story highlighting environmentalists’ concerns. 'It’s like a doctor diagnosing a patient but then refusing to write a prescription.' It’s a stunning disconnect, and it’s rooted in the neoliberal’s acceptance of the marketplace as reality-defining, with all the institutional limits from existing oligopoly-dominated markets baked in, regardless of how little those markets may resemble the textbook ideals."
Saving capitalism and maybe the environment too: how will you do it?—by Cassiodorus: "So even the climate experts, who aren't likely to know much about the historical trajectory of the capitalist system, suggest that economic collapse is likely. But why bother with economic collapse? There is, after all, a school of thought which suggests 'degrowth,' a controlled reduction in total economic activity. As the header says on the linked webpage: 'Research and actions to consume less and share more.' I suppose it's a start, especially the 'share more' part. But you know what's really important with our fearless oligopoly leaders? Drilling for oil in the Arctic. Is that our fearless President out there telling us 'I've got this one'? Here's a fun one from back in July: 'Fossil fuel industry must 'implode' to avoid climate disaster, says top scientist.' Is this a serious notion in a world in which all the politicians are campaigning on platforms of 'more of the same' or of 'here's a diversion'?"
"We" Will Not "Adapt"—by Allen Insight: "The Fossil Fuel Industry and the Republican Party claim that Global Warming is not happening. But if pressed with the scientific fact that Earth IS getting hotter, they sometimes claim 'we' can “adapt” to a hotter Earth. This is very misleading. Because when most people hear the phrase 'we can adapt,' they assume 'we' includes themselves, their children, and their grandchildren. It does not. While a few humans in general MIGHT still survive on a much hotter Earth, your children and grandchildren in particular will not. Ponder this. As Earth heats up, extreme heat waves will become hotter than ever before with maximum temperatures in the 120Fs, 130Fs, and 140Fs. And on top of this, Earth will be more humid which will drive up the heat index into the 150Fs, 160Fs, and beyond. Does that sound adaptable to you? Today, 'we' are heading toward worst case scenario: Runaway Global Warming. And Earth’s average temperature will increase about +5C in as little as 85 years. Your child’s lifetime. And in this scenario, most human agriculture will collapse due to drought and extreme heat. It is also reasonable to also assume that Earths SEVEN BILLION human population will collapse as well."
Approximate Estimates for Maximum Fahrenheit
Temperatures and Heat Index on a Warming Earth
Increase
in Earth's Approximate Maximum
Average Celsius Fahrenheit Heat Wave
Temperature Temperature Heat Index
+12 C 147 F 200 F
+6 C 136F 170 F
+4 C 132F 155 F
+2 C 129F 142 F
Open thread for night owls: Activists push fossil-fuel divestment for Paris climate conference—by
Meteor Blades: "Channeling the momentum of an ever-growing movement, climate leaders launched the "Divest for Paris" challenge on Tuesday, calling on institutions, individuals, and governments to align their investments with their values by divesting from fossil fuels ahead of this fall's COP21 climate summit in Paris. 'If you say you want action in Paris, then you have a responsibility to divest from fossil fuels,' said May Boeve, executive director of 350.org, which is co-hosting Tuesday's Paris Divestment Conference along with the European Green Party. The conference is timed to coincide with the second day of the latest round of climate negotiations in Bonn, Germany this week, where officials are working to streamline the negotiating text world leaders are expected to finalize in Paris in December."
Lomborg: Just Another Fossil Fuel PR Tool—by ClimateDenierRoundup: "Stefan Rahmstorf has a new post on Real Climate that takes a look at Bjorn Shipping Center' Lomborg's publication record. Specifically, Rahmstorf investigates just how qualified the skeptical environmentalist is to offer advice on all things climate and economic development. No surprise: the answer is 'not very.' Turns out that despite his robust writing for the public, Lomborg has written next to nothing in academia. He published one paper back in 1996 about game theory—the subject of his PhD thesis. Since then, Lomborg has done nothing to suggest he is a serious researcher. For comparison, Rahmstorf looked at a real economist, Gary Yohe, and found that 'Lomborg's papers were cited once last year,' while Yohe's were cited '608 times.' Looking at Lomborg's past claims about sea level rise, Rahmstorf again finds that Lomborg is no academic. His claims are repeatedly misleading. He cherry picks a small slice of data suggesting a two year pause in sea level rise, and he ignores the long-term trend showing continuous rise."
Stuck: or, All Climate Change is Local—by SninkyPoo: "Something essential about climate change that most conversations about it fail to adequately convey is just how inescapable one’s local climate is. Climate varies over the face of the globe, obviously. Some people are (IMHO) lucky enough to be freezing their nads off in Iceland, while others live in Miami Florida (hot and wet), or Hyderabad Telangana (tropical wet and dry), or Chelan Washington (probably on fire at the moment).
But what’s the same for 99% of people, no matter the climate, is this: wherever you are, that’s where you’re stuck. Whatever your climate locally, if you don’t have lots of freedom and enough money, then without the heroic determination it takes to flee, you have to deal with it. It seems like a such a simple premise, but it’s the meat of the matter. Your local climate influences everything—from food prices and heating or cooling costs, to civil unrest and insecurity, to devastating wild weather—including floods and drought and terrible storms. And if it becomes unbearable or uninhabitable where you live, and you can’t change things back, then what do you do? What happens then?"
Manhattan-size Iceberg Contributes to Sea-level Rise—by shandyside: "The process of glacial calving is perfectly natural, but the speed at which it's happening is not. Recent satellite images suggest that one of the world's largest ice sheets may be losing ice faster than it can accumulate, and the loss of ice is contributing to rising sea levels. Between Aug. 6 and 16, two European Space Agency satellites captured before and after photos of one of the most significant glacial calving events on record. According to an Aug. 21 ESA report, the images show that an iceberg broke away from western Greenland's Jakobshavn glacier. ESA scientists say the iceberg is roughly 1400 meters deep with a surface area of about 12.5 square kilometers—big enough to suffocate Manhattan in a 300-meter deep blanket of ice."
Murdoch Falls Prey to His Own Media Misinformation—by ClimateDenierRoundup: "While we generally focus on the missteps of Rupert Murdoch's media empire, the man himself has recently sent some tweets that are worth a quick look. A few days ago, Murdoch tweeted that, 'To the naked eye [the Great Barrier Reef] looks fully as good as it did 50 years ago.' In response, Queensland Senator Larissa Waters tweeted, 'Your naked eye needs glasses. And scientific training, @rupertmurdoch #savethereef #50percentcoralcovergone.' Drifting further from the truth, Murdoch tweeted this past Wednesday saying, "In last 3 decades carbon in US air has reduced by nearly 50%." This is bizarre for a number of reasons, like the fact that CO2 is spread evenly through the atmosphere and doesn't stay within national borders. There's also the more widely known fact that CO2 concentrations reached 400ppm this year, a concentration higher than any time in the last 2 million years. Even Murdoch's own Fox News carried the story. Finally, there's this tweet: 'A climate change skeptic not a denier. Sept UN meets in NY with endless alarmist nonsense from u know whom! Pessimists always seen as sages.' This one is even harder to decipher, particularly as the UN meeting in September is about sustainability (which as Bob Ward and Aaron Huertas point out, News Corp and Rupert himself support)."
Globe Warms, Arctic Ice Thaw, Fires Burn, Politicians Deny, Pope & Green Patriarch Bartholomew Pray—by e2247: "The Unity of the World Is Not An Option But Now Is A Condition. In widening, deepening chorus these past 18 months climate deniers expressing opinions and complaints loudly and repeatedly with vociferous demands have been touting a phenomenon dubbed the global warming 'hiatus' allegedly operating since 1998. [...] A nine-investigator team led by Thomas R. Karl in National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA’s) National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) and LMI used the latest global surface temperature data to show No Slowdown in Global Warming. The latest corrected analysis shows that the rate of global warming has continued, and there has been no slow down. It's steaming along just as fast as it has been moving for the last 20 or even 30 years."
Extreme Weather & Natural Phenomena
You ain't seen nothing yet! Northeast’s Next Winter Is Going to Be Freakishly Cold—by Pakalolo: "The rapidly melting Arctic sea ice during summer will be the driver of extreme bitter winter cold in the world's lower latitudes for decades to come. Take Part reports on a new study published Monday by the journal Nature Geoscience. The study concludes that growing scientific evidence on these record breaking extremes that the Northeast experienced last winter "have not been a pause in the advance of human-driven climate change but a result of it."The President is in Alaska attending the GLACIER conference and made a passionate speech regarding the dire consequences that await us with Abrupt Climate Change. The press once again ignores this phenomenon even with Obama's historic trip. Hillary's emails seems to be the topic du jour today, tomorrow maybe Donald Trump once again spews some nasty comment sliming whole populations of his fellow Americans. I am not surprised by the media, but I am very sad. We are in for a world of hurt and more than likely there is nothing we can do about it at this point. But can we at least stop digging our graves deeper and deeper? We will find out in December when the Paris talks begin what the world will do."
The eastern U.S. may see winter extremes—such as these human-size icebergs on Massachusetts' Cape Cod National Seashore in 2015—for the next few decades. (Photo: Dapixara/Twitter)
The map serves to remind me why I am here.
The Accidental Refugee: More Reports from the Washington Forest Fires—by
foresterbob: "The past few days have seen me at a shelter in Republic. Staying in a shelter was never on my bucket list, but here I am. How did I get here? It began with last Thursday's evacuation of Aeneas Valley in Okanogan County, where my cabin is located. Taking advantage of blue skies and clean air, I camped at Curlew Lake State Park north of Republic. That’s where we left off in the last installment of my saga. Last Saturday, August 22, my friend Chuck and I departed the campground and headed for the cabin. We really wanted to improve the perimeter around the cabin. Despite my previous efforts, a great deal of fuel remained on the ground on the downhill side of the porch. That’s a bad place for fuel. Fires tend to travel uphill much faster than downhill. Two chutes next to the cabin, if ignited, could send a jet of fire towards the cabin, and into the two largest trees nearby. In turn, the trees could become giant torches, throwing embers everywhere. We drove west from Republic under clear skies. As we approached Aeneas Valley, the smoke from the Tunk Block fire rose menacingly ahead of us."
The Accidental Refugee, Part 2: More Reports from the Washington Forest Fires—by foresterbob: "Sunday, August 23 through Wednesday, August 26. While the Search and Rescue shelter at the school provided me with a safe and comfortable base of operations, not everything was rosy. When people see their lives turned upside down, and get placed in the company of others whose lives are similarly affected, there can be conflict. And when rigid bureaucratic rules meet a rapidly changing natural disaster, there will be more conflict. One new development was the recent Level 2 evacuation order for Republic, which basically means “be ready to leave on a moment’s notice.” Level 3 means “get out.” [...] As I prepared to check into the school/shelter early Sunday afternoon, everyone was wearing Red Cross vests. But the American Red Cross was already in the process of pulling out. Citing rules against maintaining an active shelter in locations with a Level 2 or higher evacuation or higher, they moved their shelter to the town of Colville. Not only is Colville 52 miles to the east on State Highway 20, the safety of traveling on Highway 20 was in question. Another wildfire, known as the Graves Mountain fire, burned along the north side of the highway. Crews struggled to keep the blaze from crossing the highway and shutting down the critical travel route."
Glacier National Park - Today—by
woolibaar: "On Thursday, August 27, I took the shuttle up to Logan Pass and hiked the Hidden Lake Trail to the overlook. As you can see, it has become hard to see anything for the smoke from the 101 (or so) fires in Montana, plus Idaho, Oregon and parts of Canada. [...] Besides the smoke making things difficult to see, it is very hard on the lungs and eyes. I was coughing by the time I got back to Logan Pass. This isn't the dire straits that Foresterbob wrote about, but I thought the members of the EPIC visit in late June might want to see what GNP looks like right now. I understand, also, that Hwy 2 (around the south of the park) has been closed and the town of Essex has been evacuated. It is so sad to see the West on fire. Rain without more lightning is sorely needed!"
Logan Pass, Aug. 27, 2015
Logan Pass June 11, 2015
Isn't it time to fund Fire Fighting like the Emergencies they are?—by
jamess: "The Ag Secretary thinks so. So do a number of currently-singed Senators. [...]
Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden said freeing up federal natural disaster money to fight fires, rather than dipping into the U.S. Forest Service’s operating budget, is the primary thing he wants to accomplish when Congress reconvenes in September. [...] U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, attending the briefing with Wyden, said 52 percent of the Forest Service’s budget is eaten up by fire suppression work, compared to 16 percent in 1995. At this rate of increase, responding to wildfires will take two-thirds of the agency’s budget within a few years, he said. The Forest Service has seen a 115 percent increase in personnel assigned to fight fires, and a 38 percent decrease in people assigned to do everything else, Vilsack said."
Go Griz! Beat State! Montana v. Bison in the Smoke Bowl ~ College '15 fb starts now!—by e2247: "4 time national champs North Dakota State Bison (Fargo) will get thumped in the next 2 hours or so & the Griz will reign Smoke Bowl victors today. Later =>1st Griz Beat Bison since 1941 ... a historic game in the Smoke Bowl. Check the pictures in Griz stadium now (on ESPN or elsewhere) to see why this game should have been moved east to protect the lungs & other precious parts of the boys' bodies. The smoke is coming from HERE."
Washington WildFire Complexes Status—by e2247: "Chelan Complex: Extreme fire behavior pushed the northwest perimeter of the fire across Fisher Creek yesterday, allowing it to become established in the Saint Louise Creek drainage. Crews were able to hold the northern part of the fire at Forest Service Road 600 and south of South Fork Creek. Conditions permitting, burnout will continue along Forest Service Road 8020 on Cooper Ridge while crews mop up along Forest Service Road 600. The fire made a significant run towards Goat Ridge and communication sites. Today, crews will continue to mop-up and hold the southern portion of the fire. First Creek: The north end of the fire continued to be extremely active Tuesday afternoon and throughout the night, prompting structure protection near 25 mile throughout the night. Today crews will improve dozer line along the northern flank of the fire and expect the fire to continue to make uphill runs as it moves to the north. Structure protection continues along Lake Chelan, Field Points Landing and 25 Mile Creek area."
Katrina: A 10-Year Review—by brasch: "Sanctimonious critics, many of them conservative politicians, claimed that if the residents had evacuated New Orleans like they were ordered, the death toll and suffering would have been significantly less. What they didn’t say, however, was that almost all roads were blocked or destroyed. Even if the roads weren’t damaged, evacuation would have been difficult. Many of the residents who remained were poor, Black, an often relied upon public transportation, as do many residents of urban areas. Hundreds of school buses that could have evacuated the residents were in the flood. Even if they weren’t, there weren’t enough drivers—most were in their own houses, which were flooded, or at the SuperDome or Convention Center, both of which sustained damage. cThe media—and numerous conservative radio and TV pundits—reported looting. But, most was for food and supplies needed to sustain the people through what would be several days of terror. Not reported was that the stores would have had to throw away the food and supplies, but would still get insurance reimbursement, whether the supplies were damaged by the flood or taken from the shelves by the storm victims."
Ten Years After Katrina—by Michael Brune: "Although the events of 10 years ago were certainly momentous enough in and of themselves to warrant commemoration, Katrina is also a harbinger of our future. We know that climate disruption threatens to increase the frequency of extreme weather events, from droughts to heat waves to hurricanes. Extreme storm surges like those from Katrina and Superstorm Sandy will become 10 times more frequent, even if we succeed in limiting global temperature increase to 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit. That works out to a Katrina every other year. But the most important lesson we can take from Katrina has more to do with people than weather. The storm itself was only partially responsible for the extensive damage and suffering in New Orleans. When the levees failed, it was because no one cared enough to ensure that they were properly engineered and constructed. When thousands of people found themselves caught in the storm's path, it's because no one cared enough to help them evacuate. Even after the storm had passed, and survivors were sickened by the formaldehyde in FEMA trailers... well, you get the idea."
Spinning Hurricane Science—by ClimateDenier
: "To mark the tenth year since Hurricane Katrina made landfall in New Orleans, many are taking a deeper look at the connection between hurricanes and climate change. By and large, model projections and observations suggest we can expect fewer small storms as a result of higher wind shear that cuts off the top of storms, but more big storms as ocean temperatures increase and drive stronger hurricanes. On balance, the research finds that for every 1°C of warming, a Katrina-like event becomes two to seven times more likely. But to the deniers, anything short of a constant barrage of megastorms is evidence that all climate scientists are wrong all the time. They point to standard media hype to make their point or pretend that scientists only started predicting more and more hurricanes post-Katrina. They either accidentally or willfully miss the nuances of scientific understanding, which predicts fewer but more intense storms. Whether or not the frequency of storms changes significantly, what is undeniable is that the impacts will be worse for one simple reason: sea level rise. As explained in this TIME article, with ice melting and water expanding as it warms, there's more ocean to be pushed onto shore when a storm hits. Storm surge is what made Typhoon Haiyan so devastating, as well as Superstorm Sandy and Hurricane Katrina."
Critters & the Great Outdoors
The Daily Bucket - rascals! otters on the boat—by OceanDiver: "August 26-27 2015. Salish Sea, PNW. They've been leaving little presents on the boat for months now—lumps of runny gooey stinky scat filled with fragments of crabshells—but a couple of days ago for the very first time we surprised two otters on top of the aft cabin doing ... something. We were paddling out to the boat in our kayaks ready to take Elansa out for a spin, and we all saw each other at the same moment. The otters watched us intently as our kayaks approached. Then one slithered further down, waiting to see if we were really heading their way. Yep. [...] Once we got onto the boat it became clear what they'd been doing. No poop piles this time, but the bottom corner of the canvas was wet and chewed. This isn't the first time somebody's been at this corner. Elansa's canvas was already 10 years old when we bought her (a 1972 Albin-25) a year ago, and now the zipper stitching is gone and the fabric shredded. We've been clamping a towel over the opening as an ad hoc temporary blockade, but the otters clearly see it as the next challenge. We REALLY do not want otters inside the cabin. Otter parties are wild and crazy, and they do NOT clean up after themselves ;-)"
Cheezit! Here come the people! Better skedaddle.
Daily Bucket: Scioto Audubon Park in Columbus OH—by
Lenny Flank: "Located not far from downtown Columbus, the Scioto Audubon Park is listed as an 'Important Bird Habitat Area.' Here are some photos from a walk through the park. [...] The turtles here were VERY wary; they didn't mind people walking along the path, but the instant anyone stopped they'd all drop into the water."
The Daily Bucket: Night walk in the jungle—by
matching mole: "These are from 1.5 months ago but I figure I should milk my expensive vacation in Brazil for all its worth. One of the coolest things to do in the rainforest (or the desert or ….?) is to go for a walk at night. A very slow walk with a good light. Looking carefully at the vegetation, on the trunks of trees, into holes or crevices. The forest is full of small creatures that come out at night. You may not see a jaguar but you will see a bunch of other predators. [...] It is an amplypigid, an animal with one of the most lopsided 'appearance of being extremely dangerous':'actual danger posed' ratios out there. As you can see they have a rather terrifying set of mouthparts which are used for grabbing small animals as prey. However they are not in the least venomous or aggressive toward large things like ourselves. The traditional common name is the rather awkward 'tail-less whipscorpion' which in addition to being awkward is somewhat misleading as they are not really very scorpion-like."
New study says that 9 out of 10 seabirds have plastic in their stomach—by
Walter Einenkel: "In the past, scientists have put the percentage of seabirds with plastic in their diet at an astronomical 29 percent. Sadly, records were made to be broken and it looks like the depth of plastic penetration into our ecosystem is so much worse than previously imagined. An Australian team of scientists who have studied birds and marine debris for decades used computer models to update those figures, calculating that far more seabirds are affected, according to a new study published Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 'It's pretty astronomical,' said study co-author Denise Hardesty, senior research scientist at the Australian federal science agency. She said the problem with plastics in the ocean is increasing as the world makes more of the stuff. 'In the next 11 years we will make as much plastic as has been made since industrial plastic production began in the 1950s.'"
The Daily Bucket - A Walk With Gracie—by
Attack Gardener: "Gracie the Wonder Pug was an impulse purchase from a pet store in a mall. We were there to see the movie Avatar and stopped by the pet store to see the critters and saw the little pug puppy we had admired three weeks ago was still there. Who could resist this face? [...] Whatever their origins, every dog needs regular exercise. Being the lazy louts we are, this is the one area of her life where Gracie has probably been shorted. So to try and redress this imbalance, last Friday we took an excursion to the wilds of a nearby park along the river. There was a lovely dock and the view of the river was fantastic. The dock rocked a bit too much for her, so we wandered around the rest of the park for a while."
Interior and Agriculture Appoint 18 to Wildlife and Hunting Heritage Conservation Council—by ban nock: "As the only official advisory group established under congress to advise Secretary of Interior Jewell (USFWS, Parks, USGS, BLM) and Sec of Agriculture Vilsack (Forest Service) on issues related to wildlife and hunting, the Wildlife and Hunting Heritage Conservation Council wields a lot of influence. Thank You President Obama for establishing the Council back in 2010."
Welcome to Flordia: The Slow Death of the Sunshine State—by PHScott: "Bits and pieces of Florida environmental news that drift in front of me. And yes I know, Florida is misspelled. "Flordia" goes back 2 decades to a sign at Faulk Landing on Lake Jackson put up by the Leon County Division of Parks and Recreation. This lazy mistake on a public sign seems appropriate and reflects the current attitude of those directing the destruction of Florida's natural beauty. The next 'Python Challenge' is Jan 16 thru Feb 14 and will include Everglades National Park. Last year with the parked excluded, only 68 pythons were caught. Obviously escaping notice for a looong time is the 18' 3" python captured July 9 at the Shark Valley visitor center. Naples Daily: the home of he I can not name but you can look it up. While a "Southwest Florida Cooperative Invasive Species Management Area invasive animal leader" was out looking for Argentine black and white tegu lizard (up to 4') he found a 4' Monitor lizard. Biologists are trying to stop the spread of both species from other areas. Good luck SWFCISMA IA Leader!"
The Daily Bucket--The Oregon Ducks' Odd Trick to Get Free Legal Weed—by 6412093: "Duckweed is part of the Lemnaceae family, which are the smallest flowering plants with no leaves or stems, although my Duckweed (species Lemna minor) does have hairlike roots [...] On June 5, 2015, The Frogs' Mitigation Area (FMA) pond had zero visible duckweed. The FMA is a small pond and 30 foot narrow creek I dug into my back yard to provide native frog habitat. In late Spring I witnessed a burgeoning population of native frog tadpoles, but abruptly, duckweed appeared and more than matched the growth of well, anything. Within a month, duckweed covered the pond. This picture, taken August 1, shows duckweed covering well over 90% of the pond surface, and it is even edging upstream into the tributary creek.internet pond advice columns claim that duckweed can double in weight in 16-24 hours. I've had duckweed in prior ponds, but it was never this dense. It can stick to animals' legs and feet and get transported to other water bodies, but I don't have any in my two neighboring ponds."
Eurasian eagle owl
Dawn Chorus: Raptor rehab photo op—by
etbnc: "I don't know if realalaskan ever wrote about the Alaska Raptor Center. Based on their web site information, I'd like to think it's a place he might have supported. The Center appears to be sizable facility with a comprehensive raptor rehabilitation program for hundreds of birds every year. They are releasing rehabbed bald eagles today, I see. As I mentioned, searching the web turned up more raptor rehabilitation sites than I expected. There may be one in your state or near you. Some of them offer tours and flight demonstrations by their resident birds. Smaller operations may offer to present education sessions featuring a bird or two at schools or events. Try typing "raptor rehab" into your favorite web search tool, perhaps with your state or location, to see what's available near you. My pictures are all from the Center for Birds of Prey near Charleston, SC. The entrance to this facility is on the road to the Bulls Island ferry dock. Bulls Island is part of the Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge. It's a wonderful day trip by itself, as documented by angelajean in a Dawn Chorus diary a couple of years ago."
Scientists around the world are attaching tiny 'backpacks' to bees to monitor colony collapse—by Jen Hayden: "Scientists with the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) are studying bee behavior and the impact of pesticides on bee colonies around the world by rolling out an unusual program that involves attaching small sensors to tens of thousands of bees: The sensors are tiny radio frequency identification (RFID) tags measuring 2.5 x 2.5 millimetres and weighing 5.4 milligrams. To attach one of these devices to a bee, the insect is briefly refrigerated in order to slow down its metabolism. Then the tag is secured to the bee's back with an adhesive. Dr de Souza said the tag weighs about one-third of the bee's body weight. He said the tag causes a slight change in the way a bee flies and results in it only being able to carry two-thirds of its normal payload of water, pollen and nectar. The sensors work much like an e-tag on a car. A reader fitted inside the hive is able to register as many as 50 tags simultaneous. The information is then transmitted back to the researchers."
An Australian honey bee with a small RFID chip.
The Daily Bucket - State of (the) Grapes—by
enhydra lutris: "On August 27, we went up to Sonoma Valley and saw harvesting and harvest preparations in various locales. We were told that Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc harvest and crush were in process or already completed and that some Pinot Noir was being harvested depending upon locale. An e-mail on the 28th from the Dry Creek Valley informed me that one winery's Sauvignon Blanc was harvested and crushed last Friday (8/21) and that they plan on harvesting & crushing one vineyard planted to Zinfandel on August 31 and September 1. All the fruit we saw on vines looked quite ripe and ready to harvest. I can't find my notes for prior years, but I'm pretty sure that this is early."
The Daily Bucket - End of Wildflower Season at Hurricane Ridge—by Milly Watt: "August 20, 2015, Hurricane Ridge, Olympic National Park. It's late summer in the Olympics. Last winter's low snowpack is long gone. The wildflower meadows are mostly brown. The views of the mountains are obscured by smoke from wildfires. There are just a few wildflowers still blooming. [...] I wrote earlier this summer about my personal project to record the blooming times of wildflowers on the Hurricane Hill trail over the last several years. Mr. Watt and I recently went up to the mountains for another day of data collection. Given the early Spring, I didn't expect a fantastic wildflower display, so I wasn't disappointed. Hiking in the mountains is always wonderful regardless. [...] The most common flower still blooming (and what you see in the foreground of the landscape above) is Pearly everlasting. Here's a closeup with an added attraction of a butterfly (ID assistance welcome)."
Energy
Coal, Oil, Gas & Nuclear
High Wind and Enormous Waves Force Shell To Stop Drilling in the Chukchi-Walruses Stranded Again—by Pakalolo: "Royal Dutch Shell PLC spokesman, Curtis Smith, announced in an email stating “Due to high wind and sea states, we have paused all critical operations in the Chukchi Sea.' On 7-31-15, the semi-submersible Polar Pioneer and drillship Noble Discoverer connected to pre-set anchor chains at Shell’s 'Burger J' and 'Burger B' well sites. The rig sent a drill bit into the floor of the Chukchi Sea about 5 p.m. Alaska time, ending an 8-year battle with environmentalists and triumphantly ending any obstacles in Shell's quest to exploit and threaten the very survival of the Artic ocean. The Obama administration gave final approval to drilling plans once the Fennica arrived at the drill site in the Chukchi Sea after having suffered a large gash in it's hull. After deciding to follow a fishing vessel into 12' of water the Fennica hit an unchartered shoal. Alaska Dispatch reports that critical operations were "proactively" shut down prior to the storm's arrival. Severe flooding in Barrow has resulted in the relocation of up to 100 workers. Some of these workers will be flown to Anchorage and others to Dead Horse. Essential personnel will remain in Barrow. Ships at the drilling site remain and are riding out the storm. Sustained winds of 35 mph with 16 foot waves battering the rig and shipping vessels are being reported."
Shell Oil Arctic Exploratory Drilling—by rktect: "It would seem like what we should be doing is leaving all the carbon in the ground and protecting the arctic, but let's face it the world is hungry for energy and will remain so until solar and wind get the sort of subsidies and tax breaks that have made fossil fuel companies wealthy and powerful enough to push through and do what they will regardless of the environmental costs. One problem is Republican legislators have made the rules for inspections favor approval as a default unless there is already a disaster underway."
King Coal Dethroned—by patbahn: "It's something that should have happened a decade ago, if not 3 decades ago, but Coal is now starting it's death throes. I don't think Coal consumption will drop to zero, but i think it will drop some 70-90%. As a feedstock for certain chemical industries and steel production, that part will continue for a long time, but, the last chapter will be a lot smaller then this one. In China, which burns half the world’s coal, consumption in the first four months of 2015 was down by 8% year-on-year; imports by a stonking 38%. The market capitalisation of America’s four largest coal companies is $1.2 billion, down from $22 billion in 2010. America will shut 12.8GW of coal power-generating capacity in 2015, triple the 2014 figure."
Irony on Japan's Nuclear Generation—by maksinaliveros: "Along with the commemoration of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki’s 70th anniversary, another issue has started to surface regarding Japan’s take on nuclear use and production: the restart of Japan’s Sendai 1 reactor. [...] In one of his interviews, Malwin Kiewe, spokesperson for the organization stated, 'Ironically, Japan has set to restart the program when only a few days ago, the hatred for anything nuclear has been eminent in the Prime Minister’s claim of never being involved in nuclear projects. Why then was Sendai permitted to operate?' It seems like the country has not learned its lesson for being the first victim of nuclear bombings back in 1945. They seem to also forget the recent destruction nuclear has brought when Fukushima exploded in 2011."
Fukushima: Mutated Trees & Imposed Scientific Deception—by Joieau: "Fukushima: New Research Documents Biological Harm: After the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (F1NPP) in March 2011, much attention has been paid to the biological consequences of the released radionuclides into the surrounding area. We investigated the morphological changes in Japanese fir, a Japanese endemic native conifer, at locations near the F1NPP. Japaneses fir populations near the F1NPP showed a significantly increased number of morphological defects, involving deletions of leader shoots of the main axis, compared to a control population far from the N1NPP. The frequency of the defects corresponded to the radioactive contamination levels of the observation sites. A significant increase in deletions of the leader shoots became apparent in those that elongated after the spring of 2012, a year after the accident. These results suggest possibility that the contamination by radionuclides contributed to the morphological defects in Japanese fir trees in the area near the F1NPP."
Coal companies are collapsing as top executives fill their pockets with more cash than ever—by Meteor Blades: "It's a grotesque system that penalizes workers, investors, taxpayers and the planet itself while rewarding a cabal of numbskulls whose myopic policies have kept us headed into the ever-growing climate crisis long after critics warned us and them it would happen. As Anderson told McDonnell: 'The smart thing would have been to diversify their portfolio so they wouldn't be so vulnerable.' And the smartest thing would have been to diversity into renewables."
CEO pay accelerates climate change—by mygreekamphora: "Everything really is connected. The Institute for Policy Studies has just released an important report illustrating how CEO pay at oil companies is actually accelerating climate change. It is called 'Money to Burn' and you can find it here. Upton Sinclair once wrote, 'It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.' The human nature obtuse denial (and political funding of more such) is definitely real. But it is worse than that and IPS methodically goes through the corrupt cycle, and how it could affect all of us."
At Hearings Across West, Public Demands Federal Coal Leasing Reform—by Mary Anne Hitt: "In the Powder River Basin (PRB), everything seems larger than life. The impossibly blue skies stretch on forever over rolling grasslands speckled with buttes. At the height of summer, herds of pronghorn antelope mix with ranch cattle seeking shaded gullies in the almost-endless sagebrush. Come around a bend in the road, and you’ll suddenly come upon another oversized part of the landscape: the largest coal strip mines in the United States, where giant shovels (some over 10 stories tall) scrape away soil to reach their dirty product. The PRB, stretching from northeast Wyoming into southern Montana, generates 40 percent of our nation's coal, more than any other region. Much of this coal comes from taxpayer-owned public lands. So why are coal companies being given a sweetheart deal to extract it? That was the focus of public listening sessions across the West that just wrapped up, as the Obama Administration considers making changes to the federal coal leasing program."
Breaking: Oil Companies Take Responsibility For Their Actions—by PhillyWill: "So this afternoon one of the investment sites I follow published a link to this article: Shell, Exxon Ordered to Pay Groningen Earthquake Compensation. It seems that a joint venture of Royal Dutch Shell and Exxon Mobile called NAM (Nederlandse Aardolie Maatschappij BV) has been pumping natural gas from the Groningen gas field. This resulted in a gradual subsidence of the gas bearing layer and a continuing series of earthquakes: Earthquakes in the region began in 1991, and hundreds have been recorded in the subsequent period; a total of 119 quakes were recorded in 2013 alone. The joint venture between the two companies has been ordered to compensate property owners who have suffered damage, including a decrease in property value."
Emissions Control
NERA's Clean Energy Criticism Still Flawed—by ClimateDenierRoundup: "Media Matters takes a close look at a 2014 study from National Economic Research Associates (NERA)—which criticized the (draft) Clean Power Plan—and lays out the study's four big flaws. First and foremost, the study is out of date. It looks at the draft plan when the final plan includes significant changes. For example, it allows more time for implementation, changes targets and ups the emphasis on renewables and energy efficiency. Secondly, the NERA report makes assumptions about energy efficiency, using cost estimates that are 63% higher than those used by the EPA and 150% higher than those of the DOE. Third, the study's assumptions about renewable energy are out of date and far too conservative. As we all know, renewable energy costs are falling rapidly, something NERA failed to properly take into account. Finally, and perhaps most egregiously, NERA's report doesn't look at any of the economic benefits that arise from a switch to clean energy. The inclusion of the economic benefit figures alone would tip NERA's analysis from negative to positive, meaning that even if the other three errors were to remain uncorrected, properly accounting for the plan's benefits would make its benefits twice as great as the costs. If the remaining errors were corrected, benefits could exceed costs by as much as 23 times."
Renewables & Conservation
Solar Powered Math—by squarewheel: "This is not an exhaustive treatment of alternative energy and all the complicated issues associated with it, such as the grid infrastructure, storage requirements and even the fact that we're all better off with DC voltage rather than AC voltage. It's just some simple calculations with interesting factoids to demonstrate that WE COULD BE DOING SOMETHING, but we're drilling in the Arctic and blowing the tops off of mountains instead. The first thing you need to know is how much electricity the U.S. uses. The EIA site is good for answering those kinds of questions. There is a table entitled 'Electricity Net Generation: Commercial and Industrial Sectors,' and it reads that electricity net generation for 2014 was 144,261 million-kilowatt-hours, or 144terawatt-hrs, which converted to energy is 519 exajoules (144x10^12 joules/sec-hr x60 min/hr x 60sec/min)."
Fracking
oil prices rise 17% on short covering but the frackers are still zombies anyway…—by rjsigmund: "the changes in oil prices was again the overriding story affecting the fracking patch this past week, as they fell by more than 6% from last week on Monday, hit the same 6 and a half year lows on Wednesday, only to rise over 17% over Thursday and Friday to close higher for the first time in the last 9 weeks...after falling nearly 5% to $40.45 a barrel last week, oil prices crashed with the rest of the global markets on Monday, with the near term contract briefly trading with a 37 handle before steadying and closing at $38.24...oil prices then recovered Tuesday when the western stock markets rallied, closing at $39.31, only to slip back to close at $38.60 on Wednesday...with word of a Chinese stimulus and rising global markets continuing on Thursday, oil prices jumped 10% as "the shorts", or those who had sold oil that they didn't own earlier in the week, were forced to cover their positions (ie, buy oil to cover what they sold) at increasingly higher prices...the short covering rally continued on Friday, adding another 6% to oil prices, as the media attributed the price increase to Saudi military action in Yemen and a tropical storm approaching Florida as a threat to the Gulf of Mexico ..."
Keystone XL & Other Fossil Fuel Transportation
Why the delay Mr. President?—by Murfster35: "Excuse me Mr. President, but exactly where are we on the Keystone XL pipeline? Talk about a RWNJ exploding head Hiroshima! It's a shitty deal that would add virtually NO long term jobs in the U.S.. The possibility of an environmental disaster in the U.S. alone invalidates it from serious consideration. And boy! Talk about a feather in your environment friendly chops cap. It's not like you're not trying to do just that right now, tramping through the Arctic wilds and highlighting climate change impact to the coastal towns. Why the continued delay? It's not like your decision can sink either Hillary or Bernie, it's your call. And enlighten me, just HOW much money have the Koch brothers invested in smearing you both professionally and personally over the last 6+ years? You're gonna try to tell me that giving them a sharp stick in the eye, costing them literally billions every year wouldn't really light the good old warm and fuzzies pilot light? The clock is ticking. Pull the damn trigger, sit back in the Oval office, put your feet up, grab your extra butter popcorn, and enjoy the fireworks. You'll feel better for it, put another stamp on your environmental legacy, and give us another reason to love you."
Candidates, DC, State & Local Eco-Politics
Vote 'Em Out! Ron Johnson Edition—by SninkyPoo: "America needs to take the lead on climate change. It's that simple. While we of course cannot do what needs to be done alone, we remain a Super Power (I know that saying that makes me sound a teensy bit like Dick Cheney, but it's true), and we wield enormous influence in the world. We are also producing a vast per capita proportion of the carbon emissions that are causing global warming – these figures, from 2011, paint an alarming story of just how much carbon each individual American is responsible for pumping into the atmosphere. [...] I think it's time to start individually calling out every denier in Congress, one by one. I am randomly starting with Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson, who simply isn't having it on climate change."
POTUS, Jewell return Denali to its Rightful Name!—by akmk: "President Obama is heading to Alaska tomorrow for a three day working visit to address climate change and other significant issues. POTUS rocked it today by announcing that he is allowing Interior Secretary Jewell to officially return Alaska's highest peak to the name it is known by most all Alaskans already. With the approval of President Barack Obama, Interior Secretary Sally Jewell has signed a 'secretarial order' to officially change the name, the White House and Interior Department announced Sunday. The announcement comes roughly 24 hours before Obama touches down in Anchorage for a whirlwind tour of Alaska. Denali is the Koyukon Athabascan name for the mountain. Jewell’s authority stems from a 1947 federal law that allows her to make changes to geographic names through the U.S. Board on Geographic Names, according to the department."
President Obama to head into Alaska wilderness and appear on popular survival show—by Jen Hayden: "President Obama will join survival expert Bear Grylls in a trek through the Alaskan wilderness: NBC and Electus today announced that President Barack Obama will trek through the wilderness with survival expert Bear Grylls for a Special Edition of “Running Wild with Bear Grylls," during a visit to Alaska. President Obama will meet with Grylls while visiting Alaska to observe the effects of climate change on the area. The two will then come together in the Alaskan Wilderness. President Obama will become the first U.S. president to receive a crash course in survival techniques from Bear Grylls. The visit will be taped and aired on NBC later this year."
Maher doesn't know from "what ass" Santorum pulls climate consensus attack. We do!—by ClimateDenierRoundup: "Presidential candidate Rick Santorum made some very bold statements about the climate science consensus (and the Pope) on Real Time with Bill Maher. Santorum tries a new tactic against the 97% consensus, citing a study that supposedly finds that 57% of climate scientists don't agree with the consensus on human causes of climate change. Maher, true to form, says to Santorum: 'I don't know what ass you're pulling that out of, but… you know that is not true.' Fortunately, we do know where he's getting that misinformation. It stems from a specific misreading of a 2012 survey (in a paper published in 2014) about scientists' views on warming. The survey asked scientists how confident they are that more than 50% of warming is man-made, and a problematic figure—which includes those that didn't even respond—arises from that question. The figure that Santorum is pointing to simply states that 97% of scientists agree climate-warming trends over the past century are very likely due to human activities, which uses a different benchmark than the survey question. To tackle any remaining confusion over the issue, the survey's lead author Bart Verheggen has a post explaining it; ATTP has a quick and easy post, if you're short on time; and Verheggen is interviewed about it in a video at Climate Crocks (along with another interview featuring John Cook, who authored the paper on the 97% consensus)."
Bill Maher ridicules Rick Santorum on climate change—by Egberto Willies: "Republican White House hopeful Rick Santorum appeared on HBO's 'Real Time with Bill Maher' Friday night, ready to push his polished narrative on climate change. But Maher didn't allow his misinformation to go unchallenged. When Maher told Santorum that the irrefutable evidence says climate change is mostly man-made, Santorum's response was predictable. 'There was a survey done of 1,800 scientists, and 57 percent said they don't buy off on the idea that CO2 is the knob that's turning the climate,' Santorum said. 'There's hundreds of reasons the climate has changed.' You'll want to keep reading below for Maher's perfect and hilarious retort. 'Rick,' Maher said slowly, 'I don't know what ass you're pulling that out of.'"
Trump is not the Problem for the Climate, it is the GOP—by Climate Coach: "New Hampshire Republican Senator KellyAyotte, who will be on the ballot next year, received a half million dollar campaign donation from Republican climate activist Jay Faison to fight climate change. Unfortunately, by working to re-elect Ayotte, Faison is helping Mitch McConnell in his efforts to derail any efforts to address climate change. Effectively reducing emissions will require binding international agreements and as we see here, McConnell is trying hard to sabotage efforts to forge an international agreement on climate. In fact, Faison also gave an undisclosed sum to McConnell's campaign super-PAC, the Senate Leadership Fund. If she gets re-elected, it is unlikely that Ayotte will be a climate champion and merit Faison's sizable investment. Earlier this year, Ayotte did vote for the Schatz Ammendment, which declared climate change is real and caused by humans. She also voted in favor of climate change science education, but she voted against the EPA Clean Power Plan, which is the most significant effort to reduce emissions and the centerpiece of President Obama's international efforts to reduce emissions."
Call to Action for CA Climate Bills NOW—by RandW: "Here are urgent actions for your organization and/or yourself to take now to influence the California Assembly California to pass historic climate legislation (SB 350, SB 32 and SB 185). The next few days will decide whether California will lead or allow the politics of corporate power and political calculation to jeopardize progress. Amendments to weaken the bills are in play. We cannot let this critical window of time slip by without making every effort possible to pass this legislation."
Oklahoma Is Being Destroyed By Republicans—by crxmeup: "As of this writing, a barrel of oil is up over three dollars to over forty two. Is this the beginning of the rebound in Oil? My guess is NO. The fact that the first number on oil has been a three or a four has sent shivers down the spine of every oil executive in the country. When oil was over a hundred, hundreds of thousands of jobs were created because you could make money even if you did not know what you were doing. Now at forty, not many companies are even breaking even. If you hear executives talk, everything is fine. They are more productive. The price will go back up. You just have to run a lean organization. These are all excuses. No one is telling the truth. These companies are in real trouble which translates that the States they operated in are in real trouble too. North Dakota, Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and even Kansas and Arkansas. They have depended greatly on income tax from the jobs and severance tax from the oil and gas. This is going down, like really down down."
Eco-Action & Eco Justice
Climate Action Rally in Anchorage as President Obama Travels to Alaska—by misterwade: "While President Obama was en route to Alaska yesterday, an upstart group called Alaska Climate Action Network (Alaska CAN) had its coming out party in the form of a rally on the downtown Anchorage Park Strip, nearly in the shadows of the oil company office buildings. The President has reportedly come here to highlight the impacts of climate change on the front lines here in Alaska, and spoke at The Conference on Global Leadership in the Arctic: Cooperation, Innovation, Engagement and Resilience, or GLACIER. [...] There were a solid 200 people, at least. Probably more, but we can safely say a couple hundred at a time during the 2 hour rally. That is not a huge turnout in a city of 300,000 (you shoulda seen Pridefest in the same park!), but the significance comes into focus when the context is understood. The context is that Alaska is a petro-State. Pretty much all of the state budget comes from oil revenue (though the low oil prices have put a multi-billion dollar hole in that budget). There is an investment fund worth about $53 billion whose seeds and many other deposits came from oil money. Pretty much all politicians have to, or at least sincerely believe they have to, bow down to the oil gods to get elected and stay in office. This includes Mark Begich, a good man (I think) who I voted and advocated for despite his flaws in this area. So many people in Alaska are on the oil teat that it is hard to guess their view on the issue even if you meet them on a trail deep in the wilderness."
This week in Alaska: Obama's 'Mission Accomplished' Moment—by elijahzarlin: "August 13th started as a typical day at CREDO Action. We launched new campaigns, shared our weekly Thursday team lunch together, and waited to see if President Obama was going to issue the final permit for Shell to drill into the 'oil-bearing' zones in the Arctic. Scientists have been crystal clear that Arctic oil especially needs to be left in the ground. But given all the other times the president has said yes to fossil fuel companies when asking to drill or mine in the U.S., we weren’t holding our breath. The President certainly did surprise us that day. But not in the way we were hoping. Our mouths basically dropped when we saw it: The White House video announcing the President’s trip to Alaska to talk about climate change. It contained stunning images of Alaska, along with strong words from the President: '...Alaskans’ are on the front lines of one of the greatest challenges we face this century - climate change... What’s happening in Alaska isn’t just a preview of what will happen to the rest of us if we don’t take action. It’s our wakeup call. The alarm bells are ringing. And as long as I'm president America will lead the world to meet this threat, before it’s too late.'"
#ActOnClimate: but how?—by SninkyPoo: "I don't know how many times I have typed the hashtag #ActOnClimate into my Twitter machine since February of 2011, when I opened my @SninkyPoo account. Since I have tweeted over 30,000 times (yikes!) since then, and since as @SninkyPoo I only tweet about climate change, it has to have been A LOT. But what do I mean? What does "acting on climate" look like? It's an awkward locution, to be sure, but it does have a concrete meaning, does it not? [...] I will gloss over the fact that we Olds CANNOT LEAVE IT TO THE KIDS and instead try to unpack what it would take to be the next 'greatest generation.' What, exactly, would we have to do?"
Agriculture, Food & Gardening
One of the nation's largest pork producers suspends seven employees because of brutal video—by Walter Einenkel: "A couple of weeks ago Last Chance for Animals released an awful video documenting animal cruelty and real human barbarism at Christensen Farms—the fourth-largest pork producer in the United States. The specific farm in question is in Luverne, Minnesota. [...] The group videotaped both surreptitiously and in the open for a four-month period this year in the spring. Christensen Farms & Feedlots, Inc. suspended seven employees a couple of days later and have said that they are launching an internal investigation. [...] “We were disappointed to learn of alleged violations of our animal welfare policies at one of our facilities,” Christensen Farms CEO Glenn Stolt said in a statement. 'At Christensen Farms, we take the health and welfare of our animals very seriously. It is our responsibility and we owe it to our packer customers and consumers to provide uncompromising care to our animals. There is no place in this industry for individuals who mistreat animals.' If you watch the video the word 'disappointed' is not one that comes to mind. 'Horrified,' 'disgusted,' 'furious,' are all much more appropriate words."
How Odd: A pioneering aquaponics farm in Port Angeles—by Diana Somerville: "The largest aquaponics operation in the state of Washington is in an alley in Port Angeles, way out on the Olympic Peninsula, best known for its rainforests and Olympic National Park. Aquaponics combines cultivating plants in water (hydroponics) in a symbiotic relationship with aquaculture, raising fish in tanks. The plants have their roots in water fertilized by the fish, producing food with no soil and 90 percent less water than conventional agriculture. Maureen Wall had no idea that her creative experiment in aquaponic farming was the state’s largest until she was contacted about providing aquaponic salad greens for a Seattle chef’s special fundraising dinner. Celebrity chef Hsiao-Ching Cho is serving up Chinese Soul Food at an August benefit for FareStart, a forward-thinking Seattle nonprofit. FareStart provides training to empower homeless and disadvantaged people to achieve self-sufficiency and find employment in the food service industry. FareStart runs a catering service and operates a downtown Seattle restaurant offering delicious lunches. The restaurant is also the venue for Guest Chef Night dinners, giving the students practical experience while benefitting special programs."
The Next Great GMO Debate—by raoul78: "This is the title of an article I stumbled across from MIT Technology Review. I've written previously about how the nature of GMOs is changing. Instead of taking a gene from bacteria and randomly splicing it into the genome of a plant (transgenic modification), scientists and breeders are becoming much more precise - adding a single DNA base pair to disrupt a gene with CRISPR/Cas9 technology (subgenic modification). Moving a gene from a wild potato to a commercial variety to provide resistance to pests (cisgenic modification) If someone makes a plant in this way, with the result being a genome that could easily have occurred randomly by chance, is it still a GMO? The answer appears to be no for US regulators, at least for subgenic modifications. In the next twist in the GMO debate, we're skipping genetic modification altogether; we're just going to start crop-dusting plants with RNA."
Saturday Morning Garden Blogging: Seeds Come Full Circle—by Merry Light: "April to August - we come 'round full circle with the final days of August - I'm usually out collecting seeds from the garden to either dry them and put them away for next year, give some to friends (haven't forgotten you, jayden and FindingMyVoice!), or scatter them where I want them to start next April. There's almost as much beauty in some seed heads as there is in the flower that preceded it. I try to keep a sharp eye out, because if you are too late, some seed heads dry and pop open before I'm prepared to gather them. Then I get little colonies of plants where I don't really want them (johnny jump-ups, I'm talking to you!)"
No More Whole Wheat Wiener Wraps!—by Robocop: "The response to research showing the detrimental effects of feeding children processed food has been moderate, but momentum is growing. While federal funding is still scant, the USDA does administer a Farm to School Program in which 43% of U.S. schools are involved. The Farm to School Program, however, is grant based and on their website they admit that 'the F2S grant program has already seen demand for funding far outweigh what is available.' As of this year, only $5 million was allocated for the program. The program is, however, a progressive attempt to 'increase local food procurement for school meal programs and expand educational agriculture and gardening activities.' But other non-profit organizations are stepping in across the country to change the food we serve our children. The Conscious Kitchen is one such organization that dedicates itself 'to a systemic transformation of school food programs' and has instigated a program in Marin City, California that services a small school where 95% of its students are eligible for free lunches. As of this month, the Willow Creek Academy will be the first school in the country that will serve food based on the five foundational terms of the Conscious Kitchen, which are 'Fresh, Local, Organic, Seasonal and Non-GMO (FLOSN).' It’s funded by local companies and sources 90% of all produce from local farmers."
Transportation & Infrastructure
Consumer Reports calls latest Tesla best vehicle they've ever tested, right wing goes nuts—by kos: "Last week, Consumer Reports declared the new $120,000 Tesla Model P85D the best car it has ever reviewed, so good in fact, that it broke its rating system, scoring 103 out of 100. Of course, few us can afford such a car, but that's not the point, as Consumer Reports clearly stated: “Let’s be clear about something,” he told me. 'We don’t test $120,000 cars. We’re not doing this because we want people to go out and find the best $120,000 car. This is really a glimpse into the future of what we can see in cars.' Consumer Reports could test high-performance cars, he said, but they all come with compromises, like poor fuel economy or harsher rides. 'This is the first time that a car increases performance with all-wheel-drive and energy efficiency. It’s unprecedented,' he said. 'It’s pushing the envelope in so many benchmarks that it really scored off the charts.' Which is all great news! Well, unless you are conservative and have a bug up your ass about clean air and renewable fuels that would eliminate dependence on petroleum from regressive regimes and lessen the need for wars. For those people, Consumer Reports now has a liberal agenda to destroy freedom."
Kossacks please help! Rick Scott is determined to pave over Florida's cities.—by Jasonhouse: "Anyone who lives in Florida, or who reads SemDem's great diaries on Florida, knows that this state and its people are under assault by its own government, led by climate change denier and corporate do-boy, GOP Governor pRick Scott. What I'm here to ask for your help with is a particularly malodorous agenda of Gov Skeletor, and that is his agenda to inflict every urban interstate in Florida with 'variable rate toll lanes.' These toll lanes are already spreading in Miami, and are being constructed in Orlando. Now, Tampa has been targeted for the worst incarnation of 'Lexus Lanes' yet. As folks in other states like VA, WI, TX, GA, NC and others can attest, this is part of a national agenda by the special interests to keep working Americans stuck behind the wheel of a car whether they can afford it or not, and taxpayers on the hook to secure debt obligations and P3 contracts behind these toll lane schemes for decades to come."
I have a confession to make—by mftalbot: "I HAVE A CONFESSION TO MAKE. I may have to give up my membership in the Democratic Party to say this, but I will no longer live with the secret shame: I think the pre-Oil Crisis cars made by American car companies up until the late 1970s were just wonderful. I know — they were almost 20 feet long and thus impossible to park in a place like San Francisco; they tipped the scales at almost 3 tons and had the aerodynamic qualities of a brick, so city gas mileage was usually in the high single-digits, and highway mileage not much better; they spewed pollution so profusely that in my neighborhood in Richmond, California I was sometimes unable to see the El Cerrito Hills that were perhaps a mile away; and in the days before airbags and crumple zones, they were not a good place to be in a car accident. So I understand their disadvantages. And yet … I still remember them fondly."
I drive a Nissan Leaf BEV every day, ask me anything—by plan9pub: "Thinking about getting an electric car but have questions? So did I, so I spent months looking into it before I bought a used 2012 Nissan Leaf SL back in December. I highly recommend the car for anyone who commutes less that than 60 miles a day (which is about 88% of Americans). Used Leafs are going pretty cheap right now ($8500-$15,000 depending on miles) since a ton of them are coming off leases and a lot of EV enthusiasts are waiting for newer models with bigger batteries and thus greater range. So, if you are interested in buying an electric car (or just curious) and have questions, I'd be happy to tell you what I have learned in the last year about the Nissan Leaf and it's competitors and what it's like to drive electric."
A Horrifying Test drive of an ICE automobile—by cdub24: "It is GENIUS. Please read and share the original. Snippets below: Having heard so much good about petrol cars, we decided to test drive one. They are said to combine cheap price with long range and fast charging. A winning formula on paper – but how are they in real life? [...] So we sat in the car and pressed the START button. The car’s gasoline engine coughed to life and started to operate. One could hear the engine’s sound and the car’s whole body vibrated as if something was broken, but the seller assured us that everything was as it should. The car actually has an electric motor and a microscopically small battery, but they are only used to start the petrol engine—the electric motor does not drive the wheels. The petrol engine then uses a tank full of gasoline, a fossil liquid, to propel the car by exploding small drops of it. It is apparently the small explosions that you hear and feel when the engine is running. The petrol engine consists of literally hundreds of moving parts that must have tolerance of hundredths of a millimeter to function. We begun to understand why it is car repair shops that sell the cars—they might hope for something to break in the car that they can mend?"
Paris officials imagine a car-free city, announce a one-day ban of all motor vehicles—by Jen Hayden: "Officials in Paris have announced a 'Day Without Cars' will happen on September 27, 2015. From Weburbanist: For a single day next month, locals and visitors will be able to experience Paris without motorized traffic, giving the city over to pedestrians and bikers. Free of traffic congestion, noise pollution and vehicle emissions, the Day Without Cars will transform the physical and auditory landscape, enabling views and revealing ambient sounds ordinarily drowned out by the urban cacophony on September 27th. Timed to coincide with a United Nations climate conference and European Mobility Week, the move is partially a display of possibilities for car-free cities as well as a statement about the environment. Other cities are planning smaller-scale bans."
The Case for Saving the Rails of the Adirondack Scenic Railroad—by Xaxnar: "The Adirondack Scenic Railroad is the only railroad into the Adirondacks all the way to Lake Placid. Back in July I wrote up proposed changes NY State is considering for the Remsen-Lake Placid Travel Corridor. (Utica to Lake Placid). Specifically, the state is considering a plan that would restore passenger service to the long middle section of the line through the wilderness, while removing the tracks on the end section to Lake Placid for conversion to trails. The current 1996 plan calls for restoration of service on the full length of the line—but the state, which owns the tracks, has never gotten around to funding it. Communities along the line have made investments; they have been waiting for over a decade for the promises to be kept. Of late, a very vocal and well financed group has called for complete removal of the line for conversion to trails only instead of the mixed use which prevails now. Needless to say, the proposed plan is a compromise that pleases no one. The state held hearings and accepted comments, but no decision will be forthcoming for a while."
Trade & Eco-Related Foreign Policy
The oil bust is a huge danger to the war against ISIS—by gjohnsit: " It's pretty rare for Americans to think about falling oil prices in any way except of how it affects the price at the pump (net positive). The reality is that it might just sideline all of our allies in the war against ISIS jihadists. A foreign-exchange crunch because of a drop in oil prices could force a devaluation of the dinar and risk making the fight against Islamic State militants even tougher. The nation, currently OPEC's biggest producer after Saudi Arabia, is dependent on oil revenue to fund its operations on the battlefield and quell growing unrest over the economy. Dollar reserves tumbled about 20 percent to $59 billion as of July 23 since the fighting escalated a year before, and the losses are accelerating. In the first 25 days of August, the central bank sold $4.6 billion of currency to keep the dinar at a pegged rate, a daily outflow of about $184 million, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Iraq's perfect storm means the country will continue to lose reserves until the government of Iraq decides to devalue the dinar, said Frank Gunter, author of The Political Economy of Iraq. The currency could weaken as much as 20 percent over the next year, he said."
Eco-Essays and Eco-Philosophy
Scenes From an Arctic Ocean Research Cruise—by MarineChemist: "This short diary is to share a couple of videos taken on the icebreaker CCGS Amundsen during our recent operations in the Labrador Sea and Arctic Ocean. You may recall that we were delayed when the ship was diverted for commercial icebreaking concerns in Hudson Bay. We were released from these duties and finally allowed to return to science operations after 11 days. I and the other lead scientists onboard calculated that a single additional days delay would have for all intents and purposes scuttled our expedition. While we did not get all the information we planned on and had wanted we did sample sufficiently to meet our objectives and get what we needed (maybe there is a song in there somewhere?). Follow below the fold for some more information and the videos. In the end we were at sea from the time we departed Quebec City on July 10 until August 20th when the science and ship crew were helicoptered to shore in Kugluktuk. Kugluktuk is the westernmost settlement in Nunavut. The ship covered ~11,000 km during this period of time. Our cruise track (including the diversion to Hudson Bay) is shown below."
Pope Francis' Encyclical on Climate Change - Fecal Reflections—by
John Crapper: "
anthropocentric: 1. Regarding humans as the central element of the universe. 2. Interpreting reality exclusively in terms of human values and experience. You don't get much more anthropocentrically centered than the Judeo-Christian belief that God created the entire world to serve man's every need. There are plenty of passages found in the Bible that lend support and rationalization for this belief. [...] It is not at all uncommon for ecologists to challenge anthropocentrism. Here at the Church of the Holy Shitters we steadfastly and routinely do just that. But it's something else for the pontiff of the Catholic Church to do it. But that is what Pope Francis did in his latest Encyclical Letter - Laudato SI'. The significance of this letter cannot be overstated."
Oceans, Water & Drought
Delta agencies object to potential perjury by state, feds in tunnels petition—by Dan Bacher: "Restore the Delta has just released a letter from the Local Agencies of the North Delta and the Central Delta Water Agency objecting to "potential perjury" by state and federal officials caused by misinformation contained in the Department of Water Resources/Reclamation petition filed to divert Sacramento River water from the estuary. The letter states, 'Please also be advised that, due to the numerous grievous factual misstatements in the Petition, we are requesting that the Office of the Sacramento County District Attorney review the Petition and associated documents to assess whether perjury has occurred. (Penal Code, §§ 118, 118a.) It is shocking that after nine years of planning this Project, that the applicants would provide such a deficient and misleading Petition to the SWRCB. The cavalier manner in which some of the most senior water rights in the state are dismissed as nonexistent (e.g., “N/A”) is disturbing given the major changes to Delta waterways being proposed.'"
Judge O'Neill denies Westlands' request to block higher Trinity River flows—by Dan Bacher: "A federal judge today denied a request by the San Luis Delta Mendota Water Authority and Westlands Water District for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction against the higher supplemental flows from Trinity Reservoir being released to stop a fish kill on the lower Klamath River. The releases that the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation began last week, resulting from requests by the Hoopa Valley and Yurok Tribe fishery scientists to release Trinity River water to stop a fish kill like that one that killed up to 78,000 adult salmon in September 2002, will continue. The two Tribes, the Pacific Coast Federation of Fisherman's Associations and the Institute for Fisheries Resources were intervenors for the defendant, Interior Secretary Sally Jewell and the U.S. Department of Interior, in the litigation."
Without Water in Waukesha?...Waaa—by TomFromNJ: "I haven't spent much time in Wisconsin...worked in the Milwaukee area some years ago. What I know about Wisconsin politics has been learned right here at DKos. I read with interest Walker's war on unions and education. I followed along during voting to recall Walker and the solid red support he apparently enjoys in the Waukesha area. Therefore, I read with interest an article in the NY Times about Waukesha's lack of water resources and their request to tap into the Great Lakes via Lake Michigan. WAUKESHA, Wis. — This city, once famous for its bubbling natural springs, sits about 17 miles from the shore of Lake Michigan. So when the state and federal authorities began demanding that the city address a growing contamination problem in its aquifer, the answer seemed simple: Get water from the big lake. Apparently, as people left the Milwaukee and/or the surrounding area for the suburbs they assumed there would be enough ground water to go around. Apparently drill, drill, drill isn't working well for Waukesha. The mayor apparently is perplexed why people wouldn't support pulling water from Lake Michigan... 'We cannot continue pulling from this aquifer,” Mayor Shawn Reilly said. “I don’t see any alternative that has less environmental impacts. It’s perplexing to me that environmental groups would be opposed.'"
URGENT Michigan Open Thread: Public Comments for State "Water Policy" Close Fri 8/28—by peregrine kate: "On Friday, August 28, the public comment period on a proposed state-wide water strategy to guide Michigan through 2045 will close. Please continue reading for details about how you can participate in this process, even at this late date. PUBLIC COMMENTS ARE DUE BY AUGUST 28 to: Mi-waterstrategy@michigan.gov From the DEQ webpage announcing the release of this draft, along with parameters of the public comment period: In November 2012, Governor Rick Snyder in his Special Message on Energy and Environment called upon the Office of the Great Lakes to lead the development of a comprehensive water strategy that takes an ecosystem approach, enhances our economic opportunities around water and strengthens connection to place. The Michigan Office of the Great Lakes has released the draft Water Strategy that provides a roadmap to achieve a 30-year-vision to ensure Michigan’s water resources support healthy ecosystems, citizens, communities, and economies. ..."
State, Feds Forge Ahead With Tunnels Permits Before Public Comment Completed—by Dan Bacher: "The new name that the state and federal governments have given to the former Bay Delta Conservation Plan to build Governor Jerry Brown's massive Delta tunnels is the 'California Water Fix'—and it appears that "the fix is in' on this plan, judging from the latest developments. Even though the public comment period for the environmental impact report for the Delta tunnels plan won’t end until October 30, the Department of Water Resources and US Bureau of Reclamation today jointly submitted a permit application to began clearing the path for the controversial water diversion project that imperils the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, the largest estuary on the West Coast of the Americas. The petition requests the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB)'s approval to add three points of diversion and rediversion from the Sacramento River to the existing water right permits and existing diversion authorization held by the State Water Project and Central Valley Project."
Bureau will reduce lower American River flows to only 800 cfs—by Dan Bacher: "Just in time for the first of the returning fall Chinook salmon run on the lower American River, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation announced this afternoon that it is dropping water releases from Nimbus Dam from 1500 cubic feet per second (cfs) to 800 cfs between September 1 and 4."
Trash, Pollution & Hazardous Waste
Boycott DuPont for poisoning the world—by Roadette: "I'll keep this short and sweet: DuPont engaged in decades of cover-up to hide their liability for continuing to use C8 (teflon, etc.) for many years after corporate executives knew of the extreme dangers posed by the chemical. Nothing I could possibly write could be a greater indictment than the article itself. You can read the entire story here. It is beautifully written by Mariah Blake with interweaved video by Emily Kassie. I am simply overwhelmed by this story. I just cannot imagine people who would act like this. Someone posted that a comment that the company should be tried for murder, since they are now "persons." I agree—I think we need a way to put companies like this completely out of business. How can we organize to make sure DuPont received maximum punishment, public shaming, and shunning for this insult to humanity?"
The most important article you might have missed today!—by Sierrareal1: "Today, I read Terrence McCoy's article in the Washington Post, which documents yet another aspect of how lead, with the help of the usual suspects, Greed, Corruption, and a host of despicable scum who lack any ethical or moral compass, is ruining lives and punishing those who were victimized by their exposure to lead 20 years ago, in new and inventive ways. [...] Lead poisoning victims, victimized again: I'm too full of rage at present, and I'm busily thinking of new and inventive ways that we might introduce into the criminal justice system to punish the scum who are engaging in these horrible actions against the most vulnerable in our society."
New York wants to give corporate welfare to GE, same GE that contaminated the Hudson River—by Walter Einenkel: "General Electric and Andrew Cuomo have been sitting in a tree for quite some time (about $466,000 in campaign contributions worth of sitting in a tree). They've been k-i-s-s-i-n-g in that tree as well. Cuomo, who is anything but shy about spending money in the name of so-called economic development, has jumped at the chance to cut a deal. Through an aide, he dispatched an offer to GE in early June, before the tax hikes had even been put to a vote. The governor himself quietly paid a courting call in Fairfield late last month. He declined to give the specifics of what was discussed, other than to say, 'A lot of love is on the table, I want you to know.' [emphasis mine] Eh, gross? Well, Cuomo wants to put a ring on it and announced as much. Cuomo says that it only took $50,000,000 in taxpayer subsidies to convince GE to move back to New York."
Miscellany
Shell Leaves ALEC, Is Still Terrible—by dcrowe: "Earlier this month, Royal Dutch Shell announced it would allow its membership in the American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC, to expire. ALEC is a major force behind the scenes in the effort to stall official policies that would combat climate change. Shell's extraction from ALEC is part of a larger ongoing effort to position the company as concerned about the environment, responsible, and supportive of efforts to mitigate climate change. Don't believe it for a second."
Much of China Is Now An Unrepairable Ecological Disaster—by TheOrchid: "This article from truth-out.org may be a couple of months old, but it describes in excuciating detail why China's ongoing ecological disaster is unprecedented, unending, and unrepairable. It is also a definitive answer to conservatives in this country who say they want a 'smaller government,' that is, a government with much-reduced (if not eliminated) power to regulate industry. [...] China has an ostensibly strong central government. China also has an environmental regulatory agency, the State Environmental Protection Agency, or SEPA. Why, then, is China's environmental problem so intractable? In four words: the Chinese Communist Party. An organization of ~86 million members run, according to the article, like a criminal organization."
EXCLUSIVE: Damning 2013 Court Opinion Alleged Possible Koch Industries Academic Fraud—by WeAreKochs: "A little noticed NY state appellate court decision in 2013, which appears to have been covered by only a single independent blog at the time, alleges that Koch Industries subsidiary Georgia Pacific (GP) submitted "science" for publication, designed to show that its Asbestos is not carcinogenic, without properly disclosing its financial support for and direction of the research. A subsequent PubMed-published study, which cites this appeals case, describes GPs possible motive: Recently defense lawyers have been involved in the production of studies, the sole purpose of which is to impact litigation. For example, it has been alleged that Georgia Pacific entered into a special employment relationship with Stewart Holm, its Director of Toxicology and Chemical Management. Separate from his regular duties, Mr. Holm confidentially performed research projects under the auspices of its in-house counsel, who also was involved in the pre-publication review process. When studies are conducted for corporate counsel, the results do not have to be produced during legal discovery and this allows the companies to selectively publish favorable results."
Can a Tick Bite Force You to Become a Vegetarian?—by Lenny Flank: "In the 1980's, allergist Dr Thomas Platts-Mills, at the University of Virginia's School of Medicine, began receiving a number of unusual patients: each of them was suffering from a severe allergic reaction known as anaphylactic shock, with hives, itching, and dangerous swelling of the airway. And each of them claimed that the reaction had happened a few hours after they ate red meat, in the form of a hamburger or steak. Dr Platts-Mills could find no cause for the reaction and no logical basis for the patients' claim that it was caused by eating meat. He privately concluded that it was all in their heads."
Another Anniversary—100 Years!—by Mongous: "Another Anniversary—100 Years! Wegener's 'The Origins of Continents and Oceans.'You can bet the climate deniers will hope this one passes without notice. Anti-evolution and climate denial and evangelical fundamentalism all correlate well. So why wasn't Alfred Wegener's theory accepted sooner? Wegener's 1912 paper and his 1915 book "The Origins of Continents and Oceans" were pretty convincing, but World War 1 interrupted research. Wegener was wounded twice, but soon continued his research after the war. He died in November, 1930 in Greenland while on the inland ice cap, and after measuring the ice thickness as 1800 meters. So, tremendous amounts of research, ignored mostly because the earth can't be more than 10,000 years old. As far as I can remember, I never heard the term "Ice Ages" in 12 years of Texas public education (1950s). Hooray for Alfred Wegener!"
Simple Device Might Ease Climate Change—by Rich Lyles: "Solar power is an obvious solution to the accumulation of Greenhouse Gases, however, the sun is not always out especially in extreme northern and southern latitudes. For this reason most utilities supplement energy production with fossil fuel burning power plants, natural gas turbines in particular. Nearly forty years ago, Robert A. and Edmund J. Kraus developed an idea that with some technical tweaks can increase the efficiency of all types of fuel burning power plants. Just as the mass flow of a gas turbine is used to operate rides at Disney World, this flow of pressurized hot air can be funneled through a Krause-like device to generate additional energy, thus increasing efficiency. Relatively low pressure steam can also be used to inject ambient air through the device for applications with coal or oil fired power plants. This device can also be used to sequester carbon emissions. Before I go on, this simple idea is not science fiction. The concept relies on the fact that we can get more energy out of an Isothermal expansion than an Isentropic one. The do-ability relies on the fact that the device is an add on, so existing hardware does not necessarily need to be replaced."
A Wasp's Sting Contains A Toxin That Specifically Targets Cancer Cells—by The Orchid: "The Guardian reported yesterday that the venom of the Brazilian wasp Polybia paulista contains a specific toxin, called MP1, that has anti-cancer properties. MP1 works by binding to certain molecules called lipids in the tumor cells' outer membranes. When MP1 binds to the lipids, it disrupts the membrane structure and creates large holes through which molecules vital to a cancer cell’s survival leak out. Interestingly, the anticancer properties of MP1 were known back in 2008, as reported in a paper by Wang et al. out of Lanzhou University (China). The abstract to the linked article concludes "polybia-MPI may offer a novel therapeutic strategy in the treatment of prostate cancer and bladder cancer, considering its relatively lower cytoxicity to normal cells." The same group in 2009 suggested that the mode of action of MP1 was at the cell surface, not within the cell."