Spotlight on Green News & Views (previously known as the Green Diary Rescue) appears twice a week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Here is the most recent previous Green Spotlight.More than 24,410 environmentally oriented stories have been rescued to appear in this series since 2006. Inclusion of a story in the Spotlight does not necessarily indicate my agreement with or endorsement of it.
OUTSTANDING GREEN STORIES
The Real Zombie Apocalypse written by Bill McKibben via TomDispatch: “When I was a kid, I was creepily fascinated by the wrongheaded idea, current in my grade school, that your hair and your fingernails kept growing after you died. The lesson seemed to be that it was hard to kill something off—if it wanted to keep going. Something similar is happening right now with the fossil fuel industry. Even as the global warming crisis makes it clear that coal, natural gas, and oil are yesterday's energy, the momentum of two centuries of fossil fuel development means new projects keep emerging in a zombie-like fashion. In fact, the climactic fight at the end of the fossil fuel era is already underway, even if it's happening almost in secret. That's because so much of the action isn't taking place in big, headline-grabbing climate change settings like the recent conference of 195 nations in Paris; it's taking place in hearing rooms and farmers' fields across this continent (and other continents, too). Local activists are making desperate stands to stop new fossil fuel projects, while the giant energy companies are making equally desperate attempts to build while they still can.”
Fracking and tar sands industries facing ruin written by gjohnsit: “The price of Brent crude oil dropped below $28 today, a price that few would have predicted two years ago. While the shake-up in the industry (i.e. defaults and bankruptcies) from these low prices are on everyone's mind, it should be noted that sub-$28 is the price for high-grade crude oil. What comes out of Canadian tar sands is not high-grade. Think oil in the $20s is bad? In Canada they’d be happy to sell it for $10. Canadian oil sands producers are feeling pain as bitumen -- the thick, sticky substance at the center of the heated debate over TransCanada Corp.’s Keystone XL pipeline -- hit a low of $8.35 on Tuesday, down from as much as $80 less than two years ago. Producers are all losing money at current prices, First Energy Capital’s Martin King said Tuesday at a conference in Calgary. Which doesn’t mean they’ll stop. Since most of the spending for bitumen extraction comes upfront, and thus is a sunk cost, production will continue and grow.”
CRITTERS AND THE GREAT OUTDOORs
The Daily Bucket - the Elwha River runs free! written by OceanDiver: “Out on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington state something incredible is happening. A major river has been deliberately set free. Persistent public interest and action, using the rule of law, prevailed in taking down two dams that have been strangling the Elwha River for the past century. I cross the Elwha every time I go out to the open coast. Over the past few years I’ve been stopping to see how it’s been changing as the dams have come down. Join me on a trip down the river in pictures, with a brief description of what’s happening. First, some context. The river: The Elwha is one of a dozen big rivers draining tremendous rainfall and snowmelt pouring off the peaks and hillsides of the Olympic Mountains. This small range rises 8000 feet almost straight up from the sea, catching moisture carried onto the continent by prevailing westerlies. Most of the rivers flow into the Pacific Ocean (like the Hoh and the Quillayute) or Hood Canal (like the Dosewallips); the Elwha is one of the few emptying northward into the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Like most Olympic peninsula rivers it is relatively short — its mainstem 45 miles — but it carries a huge load of runoff through a variety of habitats.”
2016 Backyard Bird Race - Official Tally #1 and belated Grand Bragging Rights for 2015 written by bwren: “This is the the first official tally of the 2016 Backyard Bird Race and the belated final tally of 2015! We’ll list the final tally of 2015 today, with the results of this, the first official tally of 2016, to go up on Sunday, February 6. Welome to everyone who reported their first birds of the year on New Year’s Day, especially those who are just joining the race. Have fun, and good backyard birding to all in 2016! Here's what the race is all about: The Daily Kos Backyard Science Yardbird Race is a birding competition where, over the course of one year, participants strive to identify the most bird species - by sight and/or by sound - from the confines of their yards. Tallies will go up on the first Sunday of each month, with a summer break in July and August.”
Clam Pass Park in Naples FL written by Lenny Flank: “Clam Pass Park, in Naples FL, stretches from the Florida mainland across the intercoastal waterway to the offshore barrier islands and beaches. A boardwalk allows visitors to walk through mangrove forest and dunes to the beach.
The Daily Bucket - January 2016 in Castro Valley written by enhydra lutris: “Castro Valley, CA, 1/1/2016 thru 1/14/2016. Actually, it's mostly my yard and environs and only the first part of January, but such is life. Weather: The temperatures didn't get out of the fifties until the 12th, when they got to 61. That was the only day above the fifties through the 14th, and it had rained or drizzled for 7 of those 14 days. Several days of frost too. Foliage and such: We have a ton of oranges and lemons at various stages of ripeness and lots of chard.”
Daily Bucket: California honors lovely weird organismal partnership that isn't a species written by Besame: “Because we like to mix it up in California, relishing our reputation for being innovative and edgy, it’s only fitting that the newest state symbol defies simple description and is honored by no other state. It’s among earth’s oldest living beings; one organism that comprises a complex ecosystem; not a species. It is alive and able to take in water, photosynthesize and reproduce. It’s gorgeous, ecologically essential, used by fauna and humans, and faces the usual human threats of habitat loss due to disease and development, careless destruction, and climate change. Lace lichen became the California State Lichen on 1 January 2016 at the urging of the California Lichen Society (CALS). Hang on through the basic description below the green box. It will help you understand • why lichen is a strange not-species • amazing abilities of lichens, and • why California designated a state lichen.”
Feather River Hatchery Steelhead Numbers Still Well Below Normal written by Dan Bacher: “The numbers of steelhead returning to the Feather River Fish Hatchery continue to be well below normal. The hatchery has trapped a total of 114 adult fish, including 56 males and 58 females, to date. That compares to 750 steelhead total last season to date. ‘We’ve spawned a total of 74 steelhead so far this season,’ said Penny Crawshaw of the Feather River Fish Hatchery. ‘We’ve taken 101,546 eggs to date.’ The hatchery’s production goal for steelhead yearlings is 430,000, so the hatchery has a lot of catching up to do.”
The Whales Are Back written by hobie1616: “This year’s whale watching season is getting off to a slow start. A number of reasons have been given but we’re finally starting to see a few. This guy let us know he was happy to be back in warm water.”
The Daily Bucket: A Tale of Two Cedars written by PHScott: “Eastern Red Cedar (Juniperus virginiana) is a common tree in North Florida; not common enough for me so when I find one in my woods I tend to keep an extra eye on it. It’s not unusual for a young cedar to die off for whatever reason - wrong soil, competition, or drought. A few years ago I spotted 2 cedars in my side yard. I think the one on the left is older but the other seems to be growing faster. BTW -- the Water Oak in-between is my Woodduck tree, the one with a hole about 30' up that I watched ducks fly into one winter to nest. That hole is also the one the Pileated Woodpecker has been excavating recently.”
Dawn Chorus: Shorebirds and debris open thread written by matching mole: “Greetings Dawn Chorusers! I hope no one else had plans for today. Yesterday we went down to coast southwest of Tallahassee to Bald Point State Park and Alligator Point. Lots of debris on the beach meaning a lot of stuff for beach combers to pick through including shorebirds. Bald Point. This big mat of red algae of some kind was about as deep as the smaller birds were tall. As you can see (hopefully, the image isn’t that great) there were a huge number of sanderlings, dunlin, ruddy turnstones, and willets going to town.”
Colorado Wildlife Commission Rejects Mexican Wolves written by ban nock: “Last Wednesday there was a big dustup over wolves down at our Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) state office in Denver. The issue was over which message our Wildlife Commission would send to the US Fish and Wildlife (USFWS) regarding the Mexican wolf in Colorado. The only choice was between no and hell no. It took a very careful reading for me to even figure out the differences in the two messages. One said that the Mexican Wolf’s territory has never even come close to including any part of Colorado and forget about including us in any proposed recovery territory. The other message said, besides all that don’t even let the thought of a wolf release here cross your little minds. Exact wording up at my ‘no and hell no’ link next paragraph up. Splitting hairs you think? That’s what I thought too. Mexican wolves? I thought they were all down by Mexico or something. Apparently things had been going on this fall while I was attempting to fill the freezer and dig post holes before winter.”
Photo Diary: Water Lilies written by Lenny Flank: “Is there anything more serene and relaxing than the sight of water lilies floating on a pond? No, my friends, I think there is not. ;) Some photos of the water lilies and lotus flowers at the Botanical Garden in Naples FL.”
CLIMATE CHAOS
There is something odd and ominous afoot in Greenland. Did a huge melt water pulse occur 1-16-16? written by Pakalolo: “After the last ice age, glacial melt caused sea levels to rise rapidly by 120 meters. Large expanses of land that were once migratory paths and habitations for prehistoric civilizations gradually submerged through a series of catastrophic floods and mega-tsunami. (Meltwater Pulse 1A and 2B are discussed in the video at the bottom of this story.) If this event in Greenland is the start of another Meltwater Pulse we are effed. From Robert Scribbler. The remnants of hurricane Alex were pulled into a storm system just south of Greenland on Friday January 15, 2016. An event that then flooded both Baffin Bay and Western Greenland with warm, tropical air. At the same time, Greenland observers both noted what appears to be ice mass losses over Western Greenland as well as a possible large melt water outflow issuing from the Disko Bay area. [...] Perhaps more ominously, this widespread clearing of ice from these Arctic bays occurs in concert with what appears to be a large ice-calving event along the ocean-facing front of the Jacobshavn Glacier.We see a large retreat of the glacier together with what looks like a major sediment outflow. Sediment hitting water in this way would be a sign that a very large volume of water had been expelled along the basal zones of the Jacobshavn. In addition, the ice itself appears to have been forcibly ejected. This apparent sediment flush, the concave bowing of sea ice away from Disko and Uummannaq and the inland recession of the calving face are all indicators that something terrible is afoot in Western Greenland.”
In Greenland, Zachariæ Isstrøm glacier has come undone and is flowing into the Atlantic written by Pakalolo: “’It’s one more side of Greenland that’s starting to lose mass … It’s like a boat that is taking on water from all sides.’ —Jeremie Mouginot of the University of California (UC), Irvine. Beneath the calm and ice covered waters of northeast Greenland is a massive flow of ice known as the Northeast Greenland Ice Stream that is flowing rapidly into the ocean. Greenland’s icy reaches are far more vulnerable to warm ocean waters from climate change than had been thought, according to new research by UC Irvine and NASA glaciologists. The work, published today in Nature Geoscience, shows previously uncharted deep valleys stretching for dozens of miles under the Greenland Ice Sheet. The bedrock canyons sit well below sea level, meaning that as subtropical Atlantic waters hit the fronts of hundreds of glaciers, those edges will erode much further than had been assumed and release far greater amounts of water.”
You know, the Breitbart crew really are sleazy cretins, as attack on dying climate scientist proves written by Meteor Blades: “When astronaut and climatologist Piers Sellers announced this past weekend that he has terminal cancer but has decided to continue his life’s work, the climate-change deniers were johnny-on-the-spot to attack him. Sellers, acting director of NASA’s Earth Sciences division, has been diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer and made his announcement in an op-ed inThe New York Times on Sunday. He wrote that, after he scrutinized his ‘bucket list,’ he had decided to continue the research he loves as long as the disease will let him. While pretending to feel sorry about Sellers’ impending demise, one prominent denier, former Harvard theoretical physicist Lubos Motl—who has never published a peer-reviewed climate paper and calls those who have ‘climate fascists’—went so far as to suggest that Sellers is the type of person who would engage in eco-terrorism to create “fake natural catastrophes” to persuade people of the reality of climate change.”
How is this Journalism? written by Lefty Coaster: “During last night’s debate the rare occurrence of a question on Climate Change was posed but the responses were cut short, in an inexcusable way. NBC only permitted two of the candidates to answer, Hillary Clinton’s response was abruptly stopped before she could even begin so that the slew of commercials during the Halftime NBC created for advertisers could commence at length. [...] If the question on Climate Change was worth asking then common sense dictates all of the the leading candidates should have had an opportunity to answer it. Why wasn’t Hillary allowed to respond after NBC’s Halftime break? Were Iran or ISIS so much more urgent? This devalued the whole issue of Climate Change making it subordinate to some flashpoints de jour that are more interesting to these network talking heads.”
Any chance for a climate question or two at tonight's debate? Or will it remain a f'n side issue? written by Meteor Blades: “I know some people believe it doesn’t make sense to ask Bernie, Hillary or Martin their views about climate change since everybody knows they aren’t deniers. And besides, a climate-change question was asked in the first Democratic debate in Las Vegas. Isn’t that enough? What is the point of asking another when there are so many important issues to deal with? After all, it’s only the future of civilization at issue. Not something important like Hillary’s pantsuits or Bernie’s waist size. In fact, there are very good reasons for sussing out the nuances among the candidates on this subject.”
On climate change, are the children the future? written by Sninky Poo: “There’s a particularly irritating conversation underway in the climate change activist community. An increasing number of voices are lauding millennials for their energy, enthusiasm, and thinking outside the box about climate change. Some folks have gone so far as to say that millennials will ‘save us.’ Other, more sober voices, say that the jury is still out on whether or not the millennial generation will be the one to solve the climate crisis – and just in the nick of time, it must be said. But the conversation is happening, and the fact that this is even a discussion is more than a little troubling.”
2015 is the Hottest Year on Record by a Significant Margin written by Lefty Coaster: “This shouldn’t come a big surprise, but that this latest data may mean that the trend toward a hotter planet could be accelerating. Scientists reported Wednesday that 2015 was the hottest year in recorded history by far, breaking a record set only the year before —a burst of heat that has continued into the new year and is roiling weather patterns all over the world. In the contiguous United States, the year was the second-warmest on record, punctuated by a December that was both the hottest and the wettest since record-keeping began. One result has been a wave of unusual winter floods coursing down the Mississippi River watershed.”
2015 Was Hottest Year in History written by pontechango: “Forget the Trump-Palin clown show. Forget the primary wars. This is the number one story of the day. 2015 Was Hottest Year in Recorded History, Scientists Say. Scientists reported Wednesday that 2015 was the hottest year in recorded history by far, breaking a record set only the year before—a burst of heat that has continued into the new year and is roiling weather patterns all over the world.”
Extreme Weather & Natural Phenomena
Daily Kos Weather Center: The Big Storm and the Socialmediarologist written by terrypinder: “Confidence is growing that Friday through Saturday, a significant winter storm will affect the eastern United States, including all the big cities from Richmond to Boston. Right now, as I write this, it doesn’t look like it’s going to miss. If you like snow—and I mean if you really like big snow, feel free to get excited, although don’t ask me how much you're going to get until tomorrow night--I'm one to wait until 48 hours prior to the storm before I prognosticate on exact amounts. If you’re like me, better fire up your SAD lamps, pop your happy pills, and prepare to grumble a lot (all things I am doing!) If you really hate snow, you probably won’t like hearing we’ll probably be doing this again in the middle of next week.”
Forecast Confidence Growing for a Major Winter Storm written by skywrnchsr509: “The forecast models are showing good consistency on a potentially large winter storm that will move across Texas on Thursday with heavy rain across much of the South and ending with snow across much of the Northeast on Sunday. A lot will depend on the ultimate track of the system and more of this will come into focus during the next few days. I will not be going into the my usual in-depth focus on local regions as it is still far too early to be looking at those details (at least for the Northeast where I’m based) but this article is here to give you at least a broad outline of what we will be looking at over the coming days as more details for this winter storm come into focus.”
East Coast Snow Bomb 20 - 30 inches of Snow possible Fri - Sat from DC burbs to Philly written by FishOutofWater: “Both the European and American models are predicting a powerful winter storm developing this Friday in the mid-Atlantic region. The American GFS model is predicting that an area along the Maryland Pennsylvania border will get over 30 inches of snow. A corridor from the northern suburbs of the District of Columbia to Baltimore to Philadelphia is forecast to be hammered by twenty to thirty inches of snow driven by strong winds as a deep low bombs off the mid-Atlantic.”
ENERGY
Nuclear, Coal, Oil and Gas
Ending the Gravy Train for the Welfare Queens of Coal written by Th0rn: “On Friday, the Obama administration announced it would pause granting new federal coal leases and re-evaluate the price that coal mining companies have to pay to lease federal land. This is a big deal, because about 41 percent of American coal comes from federally-owned land, and the mining companies haven't been paying anything close to a real price for those leases for decades: The price industry pays to mine that coal hasn’t changed in more than 30 years. Now, the Interior Department plans for the first time to factor impacts on the environment and human health into the deal. The shift announced Friday aims to bring a decades-old leasing policy more in line with global efforts, recently solidified at UN-led talks in Paris, to cut planet-warming fossil-fuel emissions. ...Wyoming accounts for more than three quarters of all coal production from federal lands, with the rest mostly coming from Montana, Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico.”
New low oil prices and how they're set, Ohio HB 422, Canada adds 144 rigs, & a gasoline glut too written by rjsigmund: “[A]s the price of oil has continued to fall over the past several weeks, i've been expecting and waiting for the price of oil to stabilize, maybe even rise a bit, such that the ongoing drop in the price of oil would at least stop making headlines...but once again, that was not to be this week, when the news from the market started with stories of oil hitting new 11 year lows on Monday, only to see those stories later eclipsed by headlines that oil prices had hit a 12 year low...after closing last week at $33.55 a barrel, US crude prices started falling right out of the gate on Monday, dropping well below last week's lows to close at $31.41 at the end of the day [...]”
Major Catastrophe: Major Media Problem written by Walter Brasch: “On Oct. 23, Southern California Gas technicians discovered a leak of methane from a failed casing on one of the pipes in its Alisa Canyon storage facility, about 30 miles northwest of Los Angeles. The company estimates it will be the end of March until it can plug that leak from the pipe that is about 9,000 feet deep. About 77,000 tons of methane, a greenhouse gas that can widen the ozone hole in the atmosphere, have already gone into the air. [...] There is one critical question. Why have the mainstream national media not reported this catastrophe much earlier?”
Fracking
Leaked EPA Document Showing Water Contamination Could Be Smoking Gun in Federal Lawsuit written by Steve Horn: “A PowerPoint presentation obtained from a source and published by DeSmog in August 2013 has made its way into a major hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) related legal case, which is set to go to trial soon in the U.S.District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. That document was presented as a legal exhibit on December 30 as part of a motion by the plaintiffs in opposition to exclude some evidence during the jury trial made by the defendant, Cabot Oil & Gas. The motion cites the exhibit to reveal how the Obama Administration's U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ignored the evidence of its own staff scientists in declaring the contaminated water safe to drink in Dimock, Pennsylvania.”
Renewables, Efficiency & Conservation
Scientists have achieved a cheaper solar cell with very good efficiency written by Walter Einenkel: “Scientists from Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) have published a paper in Nature Energy outlining their engineering of a new hole-transporter for perovskite solar cells. They have been able to accomplish this while maintaining the solar cell’s efficiency above 20 percent—an important marker in the field of solar energy. As the quality of perovskite films increases, researchers are seeking other ways of improving the overall performance of solar cells. Inadvertently, this search targets the other key element of a solar panel, the hole-transporting layer, and specifically, the materials that make them up. There are currently only two hole-transporting materials available for perovskite-based solar cells. Both types are quite costly to synthesize, adding to the overall expense of the solar cell. To address this problem, a team of researchers led by Mohammad Nazeeruddin at EPFL developed a molecularly engineered hole-transporting material, called FDT, that can bring costs down while keeping efficiency up to competitive levels.”
Pipelines & Other Oil and Gas Transport
The Unregulated Oil-by-Rail Industry written by Justin Mikulka: “An investigation by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) into the Mount Carbon oil train derailment concluded that the cause of the accident was a broken rail. At that time, Sarah Feinberg, the FRA’s acting administrator, noted that, ‘Broken rail is one of the leading causes of accidents.’ So what are the regulations regarding rails becoming worn and increasing the risk of derailments? There are none. As the Associated Press (AP) reported in December, efforts to improve safety via rail wear regulations were stopped by the rail industry in 2013 in favor of ‘voluntary’ safety measures. Richard Inclima, head of the union representing rail inspectors, summed up the reality of what happened, ‘There was certainly a lot of pushback and a lot of political pressure put on FRA not to adopt regulations for rail wear. The industry doesn’t want to be regulated. That’s no secret.’ ”
OCEANS, WATER, DROUGHT
Ocean Warming has Doubled Since 1997 while Antarctic Deepwater Formation has Faltered written by FishOutofWater: “Since 1997 the amount of heat stored in the oceans has doubled the amount of heat stored since 1865. The so called “warming hiatus” was anything but for the oceans which have warmed as much in the past 20 years of accelerating greenhouse gas production as they did in the first 130 years of human industrial activity and forest destruction. The oceans have taken up over 90% of the excess heat resulting from skyrocketing greenhouse gas emissions leading to stronger storms over the oceans bringing heavier rains and larger floods to western Europe. Surprisingly, the deep oceans, over 2000 feet deep, are taking up about one third (35%) of the excess heat resulting from the global energy imbalance caused by increasing concentrations of atmospheric greenhouse gases. Measuring the heat content of the oceans, especially the deep oceans, is a very difficult problem and there’s uncertainty in the data before modern ARGO floats were deployed. However, because over 80% of the heat uptake has happened since the end of World War II, uncertainty in the early years does not appear to affect the analysis much.”
The oceans are heating faster than some expected written by don mikulecky: “Making models is a real tricky business and can lead to fiction very easily. Given all that we are forced to acknowledge that we keep getting surprises and none of them are good. For example, we now have this study published in Nature Climate Change: World's oceans warming at increasingly faster rate, new study finds. The world’s oceans are warming at a quickening rate, with the past 20 years accounting for half of the increase in ocean heat content that has occurred since pre-industrial times, a new study has found. US scientists discovered that much of the extra heat in the ocean is buried deep underwater, with 35% of the additional warmth found at depths below 700 meters. This means far more heat is present in the far reaches of the ocean than 20 years ago, when it contained just 20% of the extra heat produced from the release of greenhouse gases since the industrial revolution.”
CA regulators plan to do regional reviews of MPAs only once a decade written by Dan Bacher: “State officials originally pledged to conduct a regional review of the so-called ‘marine protected areas’ created under the controversial Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative every five years, but they have now reversed course and plan to do the reviews only once every 10 years. George Osborn of the California Sportfishing League spoke at the California Fish and Game Commission meeting in December to challenge this change in plans. ‘As anglers know, the State of California designated over 800 square miles of the Pacific Ocean off limits to recreational fishing—in large part due to overfishing by the commercial fishing industry,’ according to Osborn. ‘However, the State said these marine protected areas would be temporary and after five years, they would conduct a regional review to determine when they open to recreational angling once again.’ ‘Well … that was then. Now, they want to extend this review process out another 5 years! Why? They don’t have the money,’ he said.”
WILDERNESS, NATIONAL FORESTS AND PARKS & OTHER PUBLIC LANDS
Signs of Hope: Eugene Rally for Malheur Wildlife Refuge written by koosah: “Despite the gloomy rain, we Oregonians grabbed our jackets and umbrellas today and gathered in several locations around the state to show our support for Malheur Wildlife Refuge, public lands, and the public employees who take care of those places. Four of my birding friends and I traveled 30 miles up I-5 to Eugene, where the Rally was respectful, passionate,peaceful, emphatic, and creative. Many of the supporters arrived with homemade signs that told the story of our collective frustration and our continuing commitment to OUR public places. [...] Several of the signs focused on the self-named ‘militia.’ They generally gave the impression that Oregonians don’t appreciate having parts of their state held hostage. Even though we typically are very friendly here in Oregon, these signs indicated we might be a bit unwelcoming towards people attempting to hijack our refuges and parks.”
Corporation Claims Yosemite National Park written by bobstandard: “There is a famous story about the Ahwahanee Hotel in Yosemite National Park involving Teddy Roosevelt. It seems that Roosevelt arose early one morning and walked out to fish the Merced River just a few hundred yards away. On his return, he was directed to a rear entrance because his fishing togs didn’t match the dress code for guests entering through the front door. Today poor Teddy would be met by a blank stare if his greeter was Yosemite National Park Superintendent Don Neubacher. ‘Sorry dude,’ Neubacher would say, ‘this isn’t the Ahwahnee Hotel, it’s the “Majestic Yosemite Hotel.”’ Earlier this week Neubacher announced that the Ahwahnee Hotel, the Wawona Hotel, and Curry Village would no longer be known by those names because the current primary concessionaire claims to own the trademark to those names. A new concessionaire has been chosen to take over operation of those places and the outgoing company wants to be paid $50 million for use of the names. That’s right, a corporation has claimed to own the trademarks to the names ‘Ahwanhee Hotel,’ ‘Wawona Hotel,’ ‘Yosemite Lodge,’ ‘Badger Pass’ and even—get this—to the name ‘Yosemite Natonal Park.’ This corporation, DNC Parks & Resorts at Yosemite, Inc (DNCY) or it’s predecessor apparently trademarked those names in back in 2002 without the National Park Service’s knowledge or assent or something.”
Rob Bishop's Grand Bare Ground: Desperate to Stop Utah National Monuments written by willyr: “Utah’s Rob Bishop has a Bargain for us: Bishop, who chairs the House Natural Resources Committee, will unveil his draft legislation affecting 18 million acres of public land in seven eastern Utah counties, according to an announcement released Friday. The initiative has been billed as a "grand bargain" designed to resolve long-running disputes over uses of Utah's public lands. The goal is to designate landscapes for conservation and others for mineral development, in hopes of putting an end to these fights and lift much of the uncertainty that surrounds the future of Cedar Mesa, Greater Canyonlands, San Rafael Swell, Book Cliffs and other areas where scenic vistas overlap with rich mineral deposits. [...] One of the initiative's main goals was to forestall President Barack Obama's use of the Antiquities Act to designate a national monument in Utah before he leaves office in a year. Many believe he is poised to designate one in San Juan County, where thousands of ancient American Indian sites are at risk from looting and ATV use.”
Armed Oregon supporters make late-night raid to take children from family member after CPS called written by Jen Hayden: “When Ammon Bundy called, Cooper and his wife jumped at the chance to play fake soldiers and ‘patriots.’ They dropped their two children off with a family friend or family member and headed off to Oregon. Apparently Blaine Cooper’s parents became increasingly concerned about the long absence and the prospect that the children would soon be joining their increasing radical parents at an armed government standoff and they asked Child Protective Services to get in involved. They were seeking to have the girls move in with them or another family member so they could continue with school and have some normalcy. When Blaine and Melissa Cooper got wind of their parents’ plan, they freaked out. The militants were able to get a private plane to send Melissa, with the help of at least one armed man and a videographer, to take the girls in the cover of darkness.”
The Cowliphate gets a counter-protest! written by xxdr zombiexx: “Each night, these two tent camp in the rain and snow. Each morning, they wake up, warm up, and go down the road to protest the Bundy militia's daily press conference. They won't leave until the militants do, they say. They are here, they say, because our laws and public land deserve the dignity and protection of people standing up peacefully yet forcefully against those who would steal them at gunpoint (again, would note the Paiute). The center has offered them warm rooms for comfort but they have refused, insisting on roughing it properly, camping in tents in the cold and rain and snow. Hard core. Unlike those flaccid softies hunkering down in their hijacked gift shop, enjoying taxpayer-funded government amenities.”
"Birds Not Bullies!"written by redroof: “There is a wonderful way to express your disappointment with those turkeys hanging out in the bird sanctuary. At g.o.h.o.m.e you can pledge an amount per day for as long as those thugs remain there, and the money will go to four causes that are well worth supporting in their own right: Americans for Responsible Solutions (Gabby Giffords group), the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Burns Paiute Tribe and the Friends of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. The longer they stay, the more money goes to these excellent organizations. The occupiers have already raised over $50,000 in just a few days. That is very satisfying.”
The Bundystan insurgency celebrates East Oregon standoff week III% with an MLK day lecture written by annieli: “Week III% begins with the East Oregon bantustan outside Burns relatively quiet and no arrests of Fluffy Unicornists so far, despite the possible pre-staging of armored vehicles. However, following the arrival of the computer-repair guy/ US Superior Court (sic) judge from Colorado more law has ‘come to town.’ In a massive display of agential realism, sovereign mouthpieces have arrived to re-appropriate the legal discourse. No word yet on the official Unicornist PowerPoint presentation for their ‘exit plan’ postponed from Friday since the warmup act seems to be a legal workshop for the Harney County Committee of (public) Safety. One assumes that coffee and snacks with Freedom Vanilla creamer will be served at the gathering in town. (Now planned for 6pm in Crane, OR).”
The Bundy Standoff Could Screw Over Ranchers written by SphericalXS: “There is an interesting blog on ThinkProgress by Alex Zielinski and Alan Pyke. I’ll just quote a few paragraphs here so you can get a sense of the gist of it: Just a few years ago, however, stakeholders including ranchers, environmentalists, and federal agents unveiled an agreed-upon conservation plan for the wildlife refuge sitting in the heart of the basin. It had taken three years to negotiate, but the result — which took into consideration ranchers’ livelihoods, ecological concerns, and local economic sustainability — became a beacon of hope in the region, as well as in other rural communities wrought with similar conflict. Now, Ammon Bundy’s headline-grabbing occupation is imperiling that accord.”
BYPRODUCTS, TRASH, TOXIC & RADIOACTIVE WASTE
Open thread for night owls: By 2050, plastic in the oceans will outweigh the fish there written by Meteor Blades: “The weight of plastic waste clogging the world's oceans threatens to exceed all fish by 2050 if the world's seemingly insatiable appetite for the material continues at the current explosive rate, warned a new report presented on Tuesday. In fact, according to the study by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation along with the World Economic Forum, ‘plastics production has surged over the past 50 years, from 15 million tonnes in 1964 to 311 million tonnes in 2014, and is expected to double again over the next 20 years.’ The study—The New Plastics Economy: Rethinking the future of plastics—introduced at the opening day of the WEF's annual summit in Davos, Switzerland is the first of its kind to comprehensively assess global plastic packaging flows.”
The same guy responsible for the Flint Water Crisis is running Detroit Public Schools written by fladem: “In modern day America, incompetence is rewarded. The guys who destroyed the economy made millions from it and were not held responsible. But this really takes the cake: Flint switched water sources in 2014 to save money under the leadership of a Snyder-appointed emergency manager, Darnell Earley, who is now managing the financially beleaguered Detroit Public Schools. Words fail.”
Toxic waste (water being sold to the people of Flint) written by captainnorm: “WTF, in China they actually executed people who poisoned baby formula. Guess what’s going to happen here folks...well #1 if you don’t pay your water bill in Flint they will send cops out to evict you from your home and if you are black and have a cell phone in your hand you will be executed on the spot as a black man holding a cell phone is holding a deadly weapon, we all know that.”
Crime of the Decade: The Poisoning of Flint written by Mopshell: “I put a case to you that this is the crime of the decade. Michael Moore is right. Flint is a crime scene. Among the victims are not only human residents and visitors but also pets and wild life. The consequences of the crimes committed against these victims over the past 22 months are far-reaching and cruel in the extreme. These consequences are also under-reported and underestimated. If we are to comprehend the enormity of this crime, then we must understand what the consequences are. Begin here: the health consequences of lead poisoning for all Flint victims are life-long. The effects are also life-shortening and, in acute cases, continue to worsen even after the poisoning stops because there’s too much damage to organs, blood vessels and bones to reverse the effects.”
Flint water poisoning crisis has already developed GOP truthers who deny it happened written by xxdr zombiexx: “I, personally—in views not likely shared by many at Daily Kos—believe, strongly, that the GOP wants to “thin the herd.” That this poisoning crisis has made Republicans ‘happy’ because a lot of commoners got sick and some have already died. A great day for Republicans. They utterly deny that many kids have been poisoned and they want to wait for ‘a three to five year study’ so the ‘facts’ can come through. Three to five years will allow many more people to get poisoned. Perhaps this is spurred on by Obama declaring this an emergency: You know how Republicans react to Obama doing the right things.”
Cher buys over 184,000 bottles of water for Flint—Icelandic joins to increase the donation written by Leslie Salzillo: “Singer, actress, and activist Cher has been outspoken about the problem with toxic water in Flint, Michigan, and has donated close to 200,000 bottles of water to the community. Icelandic Glacial, a purified bottled water company that uses 100 percent natural green energy to fuel its production, had joined Cher and is committed to doubling her donation. Cher says: ‘This a tragedy of staggering proportion and shocking that it’s happening in the middle of our country. I am so grateful that Icelandic Glacial has come on-board to help the city of Flint. I cannot wait for the water to get there to help these people who have been poisoned because the water they’ve been getting out of their taps has been polluted for so long and remains that way without the state or the federal government stepping in with any substantial plan to resolve this problem,’ commented Cher.”
Please Mr Kamen, Help The People Of Flint Michigan Get Access To Clean Drinking Water written by NH LABOR NEWS: “Today the NH Union Leader posted a story about Manchester inventor Dean Kamenand his new machine, the Slingshot, that will revolutionize people's access to clean drinking water. The machine, which is currently about the size of a refrigerator, distills water removing any impurities. Kamen and Coca-Cola have teamed up to produce more of these machines and distribute them around the world. The Union Leader article tells the story of how Kamen received a call for help from a group of aid workers in the Dominican Republic asking if Kamen would ‘send a couple of his machines down.’ The Dominican Republic was hit hard by Tropical Storm Erika and the massive flooding contaminated their drinking water. Kamen called his friend, Fred Smith, CEO of FedEx and worked out a plan to get the machines to the Dominican Republic.”
#FlintWaterCrisis and #ArrestGovSnyder: Two ACTION EVENTS for Monday and Tuesday in Michigan written by Peregrine Kate: “The #FlintWaterCrisis has drawn the eyes of the nation to it. Now we need the attention of Michigan citizens to be focused on the ultimate culprit: Gov. Rick Snyder. Regardless of which Emergency Manager in Flint pushed for and then implemented the water changeover; regardless of the callousness and indifference of the MI DEQ director when the alarms were first raised; regardless of the hostility expressed by the state’s officials when confronted by angry and fearful Flint residents: the chain of command goes back to Rick Snyder and Rick Snyder alone. There are two opportunities this week for you to take to the streets in protest. One is displayed in the story image above. Buses are going to Lansing from Flint, Detroit, and (probably) Ann Arbor, at least. The (inaccessible) link in the screen cap above goes to the event’s FB page.”
AGRICULTURE, FOOD & GARDENING
World Game Notes: MOOCs, Global Displays, and Existing Technological Opportunities written by
gmoke: “MOOC [Massive Open Online Course]: Power Agriculture: Sustainable Energy for Food. Feb 1st - March 27, 2016
poweringag.org… Details:
Around one third of the energy used worldwide goes into the production and processing of food from field to table. Given the current energy system mix, the agrifood industry sector is however heavily dependent on fossil fuel inputs for production, transport, processing and distribution, and contributes significantly to greenhouse gas emissions. With a continuously growing world population the need for food and for energy to produce it is increasing. At the same time millions of farmers and processors in developing countries and emerging economies lack access to clean energy technologies for irrigation, drying, cooling, storage and other processes. Powering Agriculture: An Energy Grand Challenge for Development (PAEGC) seeks to identify and support new and sustainable approaches to accelerate the development and deployment of clean energy solutions for increasing agriculture productivity and/or value in developing countries.”
TRANSPORTATION & INFRASTRUCTURE
Cheese, Grommit! We can run our car on cheeeese! written by newmexicobear: “Remember the “Ah, The Power of Cheese” commercials a while back? Ah, The Power of Cheese! But Wallace and Grommit are right! It might sound like one of Wallace’s Rube Goldberg-ish inventions but electricity from cheese (yes, you read that correctly: electricity from cheese!) is a real, happenin’ thing, even if you think it’s cheesy. According to a story in The Independent (as reported in Think Progress), ‘In the French Alps, a cheese-based power station is producing enough electricity to supply a community of 1,500 inhabitants.’ How can this be? Are there holes in this cheese…um…story? Where there’s a will, there’s a whey. The community of Albertville in the southeast part of France, famous for its production of Beaufort (“one of France’s flagship food features”), is using the whey that is skimmed from Beaufort production to create a biogas mixture of methane and CO2. The result is electricity and warm water.”
Isn't it time to talk about $1 tax on Gasoline and Diesel written by ProduceMan: “It is time for our entire political and pundit class to get on the bandwagon to raise gasoline and diesel taxes by the arbitrary amount of $1 per gallon at the Federal level. So instead of collecting a mere 18.4 cents per gallon on the 130 billion gallons plus of gasoline used in the United States, and 24.4 cents per gallon on the 40 billion gallons of diesel consumed in our nation, this proposal would add roughly $170 billion in additional Federal government revenues. Why do it now? Because the price of oil, and therefore gasoline and diesel, is at a twelve year low. Because all of us are on the hook directly or indirectly for the negative climate changing effects of the burning of these two fuels. Because these new revenues could be used to rebuild and improve America’s highway and public transportation infrastructure, thereby — increasing the demand for skilled work throughout the country and increasing economic activity [...] ”
Proposed transportation tax increase in Wisconsin is slanted against people who take the bus to work written by WI Budget Project: “Proposed legislation to fix local road repairs is a bad deal for poor Wisconsinites who don’t have cars. The proposal would authorize a sales tax increase that would fall more heavily on poorer Wisconsinites because the sales tax takes a higher percentage of their income. What makes that particularly inequitable is that the bill precludes using any of the new revenue for transit (e.g. bus and van service). The bill in question, AB 210, would create a local option for a 0.5% increase in the sales tax [...] • The sales tax falls disproportionately on low-income Wisconsinites. • The bill doesn’t allow any of the new revenue to be used for transit – which means that low-income transit users would get little or no benefit from the tax increase. • In contrast to an increase in the gas tax, the increased sales tax isn't a user fee and will fail to discourage energy use.”
CANDIDATES, STATE AND DC ECO-RELATED POLITICS
After Hillary Clinton champions lead issue, Flint mayor endorses her! written by First Amendment: “On the heels of reaching out to Flint’s Mayor and offering assistance to the people of her city, Mayor Weaver strongly endorses Hillary. As I mentioned in another diary, Hillary using her closing debate statement shined a light on this tragedy and the racial injustices that still exist today. I’m very proud of her commitment to right this injustice! [...] ‘She has actually been the only, the only candidate — Democrat or Republican — to reach out and talk about: “What can I do?" Weaver said. "What kind of help do you need?”’”
Hillary Clinton and the Environment written by jibrille: “I work for a federal laboratory, in Energy and Environmental Research, and we often do joint projects with the State Department. One of those projects, heavily promoted and supported by Hillary during her time at the State Department, was the U.S.-China EcoPartnerships program. I have mentioned in comments posted to other diaries, that Hillary is very supportive of environmental issues and has been for years, but I get pushback from those who do not have the personal experience with her interest and support of environmental issues. EcoPartnerships is not a program for the ‘general public,’ it is for collaboration between the US and China, so it is not something that the average person would probably see listed in the news. However, it has made a significant positive impact and this is just one of the many joint environmental programs Hillary Clinton supported during her tenure at the State Department.”
MISCELLANY
Calling All Sailor Citizen Scientists: The Indigo V Project written by MarineChemist: This is a quick diary to draw your attention to another useful citizen science initiative I have been involved with recently. Indigo V Expeditions is a project headed up by Dr. Federico Lauro and Rachel Jensen with the goal of equipping blue water sailors with scientific equipment to make fundamentally important oceanographic observations in under-sampled areas of the world ocean. In 2013 I was part of a ~6500 nautical mile expedition from Cape Town, South Africa to Singapore. S/Y Indigo V is a beautiful,Nautor Swan 61 that the team sailed in 4 legs across the Indian Ocean as a proof of concept expedition to determine how recreational sailors could contribute valuable scientific information toward understanding the diversity and activity of micro-organisms that make up the base of the marine food web.
Dirty-Fuel Funded Mudslinging at Clean-up of Clean Jobs Data written by ClimateDenierRoundup: “Those funded by dirty energy will stoop pretty low to defend the source of their income. In the case of Steve Everley, this not only includes making misleading claims about a new clean energy pathways report, written by Stanford's Mark Jacobson, but also manufacturing a conspiracy about the report. The saga began with Everley claiming that Jacobson's report shows a switch to renewables would lead to job losses. In response, Jacobson explained to Everley on Twitter that his evidence of job losses was based on test data. This exchange brought attention to Jacobson's data, prompting him to tidy up his enormous dataset by deleting the ‘dead test columns not used for anything.’
Realizing that he could no longer point to Jacobson’s dataset to justify patently false job loss smear, Everley doubled down and wrote another column that claimed, ‘[Jacobson deleted] data showing job loss from renewables transition.’”
Scientists have created a renewable wood foam to replace styrofoam written by Walter Einenkel: “Swedish scientists say they have created a renewable alternative to styrofoam—called Cellufoam. Researcher Lars Wågberg, a professor in Fibre Technology at Stockholm's KTH Royal Institute of Technology, says the wood-based foam material offers comparable properties to Styrofoam. ‘But even better, it is from a totally renewable resource—something that we can produce from the forest,’ Wågberg says. Cellutech is the company promoting their first cellufoam practical application—a bicycle helmet.”
The electricity tax we all pay for marijuana by BikingForKarma: “It is estimated that around 1% of all electricity usage in the USA goes to indoor growing of cannabis. The vast majority of cannabis is grown indoors to elude law enforcement scrutiny, though some medical MJ is outdoor, as well as some black market product. This extra burden on our states’ electricity grid, especially in already-taxed states like California and Arizona, raises prices on the rest of us. It creates a lot of inefficiency in a system. Just imagine a world where all of our tomatoes were grown indoors for some arbitrary reason; it would be a huge waste of electricity. ... around Denver, the overwhelming majority of growers are still producing cannabis in warehouses. Growing in warehouses has some advantages. Growers contend that they grow more harvests annually -- by some accounts up to five and a half harvests a year. However, that comes at a price. Some say as much as 10 percent of electricity in Denver is going to indoor grow operations.”