This is the 524th edition of the Spotlight on Green News & Views (previously known as the Green Diary Rescue) usually appears twice a week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Here is the Sept. 2 Green Spotlight. More than 27,690 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
pierre9045 writes—Reminder: FL Scientists Banned From Mentioning Climate Change - But State is Now Relying on Them: “I would like to point out for the record that the Governor of Florida, Rick Scott — under whom state scientists have been banned from using the term “Climate Change” in any official capacity — is now bracing for Hurricane Irma, ordering evacuations and declaring a state of emergency, and effectively ordering the entire Florida government to rely heavily on the knowledge of modern climatology and weather science, as well as the sophisticated predictive models that are the culmination of all the research of climate scientists, that is based on the exact same science and research that have largely driven the broad consensus within the science community that human-caused climate change is occurring.In other words, what Rick Scott and his climate change-denying administration are largely denying and claiming has not yet been fully proven, which is the scientific findings that are the evidence for Climate Change, they will turn around and show they believe — when their lives are on the line.”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—It’s That Time of Year: Is Arctic Sea Ice Stabilizing? Still Nope: “As the east coast of the United States hunkers down for Irma (and maybe Katia and Jose), the Gulf continues Harvey clean up, LA puts out the largest fire in the city’s history helped by a record-breaking heatwave in California, and ash from a dozen wildfires falls like snow in Seattle, it’s easy to forget things are happening around the rest of the world. But since Labor Day marks the end of summer, we thought we’d prepare you for the annual tradition of denier drivel claiming the Arctic isn’t melting. As Bob Ward at the London School of Economics reminded us, last week marked thethird anniversary of a story by David Rose in the Mail on Sunday claiming that Arctic ice melt was slowing or leveling off. Of course, melting has continued, and Rose’s use of the extreme melt in 2007 as a starting point is easily debunked by Skeptical Science’s Arctic Sea Ice escalator. More simply: you can draw short trend lines all sorts of ways to mislead your audience, but the longer trend is what matters, and it clearly shows melting.”
Dartagnan writes—Trump Admits President Obama Was Right About "Rising Seas": “My, how a couple Hurricanes can change things: Three weeks ago, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that reversed an Obama-era requirement that future construction in areas likely to flood need to be built at a higher elevation. But after the devastation Hurricane Harvey caused in Houston and with Hurricane Irma barreling toward Florida, the White House is now trying to walk back Trump’s order. In his senseless, manic quest to destroy the legacy of the best President of the Second Millennium, Trump found an easy target: federal regulations that burdened poor, struggling real estate developers by requiring them to account for sea rise in their construction plans if they wanted to receive federal taxpayer dollars: In 2015, the Obama White House updated flood-risk standards for the first time since the 1970s, incorporating climate models and sea-level rise into calibrations for building elevations. The new standard meant that any federally funded building in flood plains must be built at higher elevations, especially for critical infrastructure like hospitals and fire stations. On August 15, Trump erased those standards with one line buried in a broader infrastructure order. In one stroke he not only stuck it to the Black Guy but also poked a thumb in the eyes of those scrawny environmentalists, while simultaneously rewarding his developer buddies who could now push their lucrative shoreline properties without the costly hassle of having to plan for imaginary nonsense like ‘climate change’.
CRITTERS AND THE GREAT OUTDOORS
PHScott writes—The Daily Bucket: Fall Wildflowers in the Virginia Highlands: “Yellow Wingstem — this was flowering everywhere I went — sunny or shady, roadsides or hedgerows, in town or out in the hills. September 2017. Southwest Virginia has been my get-away destination for a number of years now. I go up there when I get sick of summer down here in Florida along the Gulf Coast near Tallahassee. My trip is never complete without a drive down Grey Branch Rd, even in winter. Here’s a bunch of wildflowers Jackie and I saw at the end of August which is the start of fall at 2500 feet. I’ll be quoting liberally from a wonderful website Virginia Wildflowers.org. Great Blue Lobelia is not an edible plant. It is an emetic meaning it will cause vomiting. Long ago it was thought to be medicinally useful as a cure for syphilis, hence the species name L. siphilitica.”
Besame writes—Daily Bucket: eclipse tricked some baffled wildlife and okra, but hibiscus knew it wasn't true night: “Chimney swifts dropped lower, vultures roosted in trees, flowers considered closing up, and owls emerged to call and hunt. Radar showed emptying skies as daytime birds abandoned heights while nocturnal and crepuscular birds and insects came forth. Nearly 8,000 bird reports were submitted to eBird and 2,741 wildlife and plant observations to iNaturalist for the August 21st eclipse. Cornell Lab of Ornithology compiled many of the eBird reports as descriptive points on an interactive map. Several people reported aerial feeding birds like swallows and swifts suddenly dropped lower in the sky when the light decreased, as if to roost. Jeff Shenot in Maryland saw fascinating behavior by 161 Purple Martins. ‘I looked out to check the solar eclipse, which started here about 30 minutes ago. After a few minutes I noticed a huge flock (for here) of Purple Martins that started dropping out of the sky. Many were so high up I couldn’t identify them at first, just specks. They came down and landed on a utility wire at first, and as they kept coming they began to also land in adjacent trees near the tree tops. It was mostly sunny and calm, and I thought it was very weird that they would suddenly drop down to here out of migration, in the middle of the day.’”
Dan Bacher writes—Indigenous California Women Leaders Join Forces to Protect Sacred Sites and Salmon Dan Bacher: “Ohlone leader Corrina Gould of the Confederated Villages of Lisjan and Chief Caleen Sisk of the Winnemem Wintu will hold a press conference at the West Berkeley Shellmound site (1900 4th Street – corner of Hearst Avenue) this Friday, September 8 at 2:00 PM. The two highly respected women leaders will announce their mutual alliance to protect California’s indigenous sacred sites and the state’s endangered salmon runs from development. Berkeley’s historically landmarked Shellmound Village Site at 1900 4th Street is threatened by a proposed five-story residential and commercial development. The West Berkeley Shellmound was at the heart of the oldest Ohlone village site on San Francisco Bay, believed to have been inhabited for at least 5,000 years. Local Ohlone oppose the proposed development, as do more than 1,800 Berkeley residents, community leaders and experts in anthropology, archeology, history, law and engineering who provided public comment opposing development earlier this year.”
OceanDiver writes—The Daily Bucket - late summer PNW colors (+ bonus turkeys): “Pacific Northwest. September 2017. Raining lightly in western Washington today — hurrah! The anxiously awaited marine push finally arrived, and has cleared the air of smoke. Late summer brings a different set of colors to this part of the country, not so spectacular as where there’s mostly deciduous woods. It’s subtle, but clearly marking the onset of fall. [...] 2017 has been a good year for turkeys in my neighbirhood. Families started appearing early and I’ve been seeing new families through the summer. Came across one in my driveway last week; they wander through my yard often to check out my midden (ie where I toss kitchen scraps) and garden — I’m happy to see them.”
OceanDiver writes—The Daily Bucket - smoky waters: “Pacific Northwest. September 7, 2017. Yesterday we drove the boat around the island up to the marina. It needed hauling out, being so fouled with barnacles it’s been making barely 5 knots. There was a hint of onshore flow, something we’ve been hoping for these past few days but the sky was still dark and thick with acrid smoke. For the past week we’ve been living in dense smoky layer which has been blowing into western Washington from numerous wildfires in the Cascades, Eastern Washington, Idaho and Montana. For a couple of days ash was falling like snow. This extensive and unprecedented wildfire activity all over the Northwest is one inevitable result of Anthropogenic Global Warming. Forests are dry dry dry. Our air quality has been bad, but nothing near as dangerously unhealthy as the inland Northwest. I’ve been feeling nausea, sore throat, tight chest and stinging eyes breathing this smoke 24/7 for days….I can’t even imagine how horrific it is for folks where it’s really thick, and continuing, no end in sight. Folks up in B.C. have been suffering through this all summer.”
CLIMATE CHAOS
FishOutofWater writes—Alabama Republican Rep. Rogers DESTROYED Key Hurricane Monitoring Satellite: “The US Air Force (USAF) has maintained a series of defense weather satellites with microwave imaging technology since the 1960’s. This microwave imaging has multiple uses for seeing water and ice that would otherwise be hidden under canopies of clouds. Images, such as the one above of hurricane Irma taken from the F-18 satellite show the structure of the core of hurricanes and tropical storms that is hidden in the visible spectrum by clouds. These images are very useful to hurricane forecasters because they reveal developing eyes and other structures that may help them forecast the intensity of storms. Unfortunately, most of the existing F series satellites have exceeded their design lifetime and no replacements are in sight because Mike Rogers, chairman of the House Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee, forced the Air Force to destroy the F-20 satellite which had already been built and was scheduled for launch. He eliminated funding for launch and for storage giving the Air Force no option but to destroy the satellite. The media has already covered the potential impact of the destruction of the F-20 satellite on the measurement of sea ice extent, but I have seen no reports on the impact on hurricane forecasting. The premature failure of the F-19 satellite has created a potential situation where there will be a dangerous gap in microwave satellite imaging capabilities because Mike Rogers destroyed the F-20.”
Pakalolo writes—Greenland ice flow likely to speed up, as sediment becomes more slippery: “Greenland’s margin has many outlet glaciers that act as fast conveyor belts of ice. Thousands of surface lakes act as taps that deliver meltwater to the ice base, turning it into a slippery bathtub. Because it is difficult to see beneath them we surmised until recently that the glaciers slip over hard rock, but we realise now that they often slip over sloppy wet sediments instead. In a warming Arctic climate more ice will melt and make the sediments even sloppier and more slippery, so that fast ice flow can occur long into the future. This discovery leaves us concerned because we have so far accepted the exact opposite – that Greenland’s icy conveyor would slow down.” Professor Bernd Kulessa of the College of Science at Swansea University, lead researcher. Researchers at Swansea University and Norway, Sweden, UK and Canada found that Greenland’s glaciers are likely to speed up ice flow to the oceans. The seismic surveys concluded that the ice streams are not sliding over hard rock, as previously thought, but over sediment. As the earth’s fever continues to rise, more and more meltwater will be delivered to the base of the glacier via moulins and cracks in the ice. The sediment over time will get ‘weaker and even more slippery.’ The research was published in Science Advances.”
chewbacca writes—Hammer them on climate change, over and over and over: “I am a scientist, and I keep hearing many of the climate change professionals warn against sensationalizing this issue. I think, for one, it’s too late; the right has already sensationalized in by making it a “libtard” issue. Second, the real world does not work like the scientific community. Much as I would love to have slow deliberate debate by the public about these issues, you can’t expect someone with some applicable scientific training like myself to keep up with the climate literature. And definitely people, very smart people, who have no scientific training should not be expected to keep up. Instead, we need raw, unadulterated emotion. The right constantly taps into fear to make the public bend to their whim. Why are we not doing the same? Fear of a rising sea, fear of decimated crops, fear of, yes, streams of climate refugees. And guess what? In this particular case, we would win many voters in many of the places we are getting hammered.”
Walter Einenkel writes—New study says that while 97% scientists say climate change is real, the other 3% is full of sh*t: “While the Republican Party and their EPA want to pretend that there is still not a consensus in the scientific community surrounding manmade climate change—the rest of the world heats up. The Guardian published an article by one of the authors of a new paper that studied climate “contrarians. In it she explains that while climate deniers enjoy the “integrity” that comes with being an oppressed minority in the scientific community—they are less like Galileo and more like a bunch of guys who are bad at science and full of shit. One of the authors of the paper, Katharine Hayoe, wrote on her Facebook page. Here’s a highlight from her statement. So we took those papers and - thanks to the superhuman efforts of my colleague Rasmus Benestad - recalculated all their analyses. From scratch. And you know what we found? Every single one of those analyses had an error - in their assumptions, methodology, or analysis - that, when corrected, brought their results into line with the scientific consensus.”
Walter Einenkel writes—Scientist on climate change: 'That's not so much a future projection, but an observational reality': “With the fourth-largest American city under water, and fires raging all along the American West—Greenland has a wildfire for Godsakes—there are many people trying to explain to the people in power that climate change is happening now. You don’t even need a computer model to show you how bad it can get. This past week, people were evacuated from their homes and freeways were shut down as the hills around Los Angeles has been hit with raging wildfires. [...] InsideClimate News spoke with climate scientist Daniel Swain about what’s happening around us. ‘These unprecedented extreme events, on the daily to the seasonal scale, are exactly the types of events that are more likely due to the global warming that's already occurred,’ said Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at UCLA. ‘That's not so much a future projection, but an observational reality, and that's something we expect to increase in the future. When we get these extremes, there's a human fingerprint.’”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Levin’s Hysterical History Lesson and Monckton’s Lizardman Madness: “These days, it’s hard for us to find fresh angles and arguments to tell you about. Denial’s not exactly a creative or innovative approach, after all. But that’s not stopping deniers from growing increasingly outrageous, ignorant and unhinged. So when we saw Daily Kos blogger WCWatch’s headline from last week, ‘Mark Levin just made possibly the most hilarious climate denial argument ever,’ we were a bit skeptical. Turns out WCWatch is right and Levin delivers. As WCWatch recaps, Levin asked listeners of his radio program last week what great scientists of the past had in common, listing out Aristotle, Faraday, Galileo, Tesla, Newton, Pasteur, Edison, Einstein and someone named ‘Archie Medeez’ (who sounds like he was pretty good at math). The answer? They never talked about climate change. Why did these scientists, according to Levin, not talk about climate change? ‘Because ladies and gentlemen, man-made climate change is not about science,’ Levin crows. ‘It’s not about evidence. It’s not about knowledge. It’s not about facts. It’s about an ideology, imported in the United States from Europe, like Marxism itself.’”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—From Trump’s EOs to what Exxon Knows, Legal Questions Swirl Around Denial: “If people die because they listened to Rush Limbaugh, should he be tried for murder? Should ExxonMobil be held accountable for its share of warming and for misleading the public on climate change? Is it an abuse of executive power to impose a word count on environmental impact statements, or just a dumb move? These are all, unfortunately, relevant questions at the moment. [...] Less clear-cut though, is the issue of whether or not deniers can, will or should be held accountable for their public statements. In light of Rush Limbaugh sending his listenersthe message that the media over-hypes hurricanes to push the global warming narrative and sell bottled water, Brian Merchant’s essay in the Outline from last week suggesting that climate denial should be a crime is all too salient.”
Walter Einenkel writes—Largest chocolate maker to invest $1 billion into fighting climate change: “Mars is not simply the red planet tea party conspiracy theorists fear, it’s also the world’s largest chocolate company, producing favorites like M&Ms, Snickers, and of course Mars Bars. For some time now, the candy company has been very public supporters of fighting climate change and were one of the companies that signed the letter urging Trump to not pull out of the Paris climate change agreement back in June. They have just added even more chocolatey goodness to their progressive position. Mars, the maker of Snickers, Twix, and M&Ms, has pledged to invest $1 billion over the next few years to fight climate change. The sustainability drive includes investment in renewable energy, food sourcing, cross-industry action groups, and farmers. Grant Reid, CEO of Mars, explained the rationale behind the investment, noting that ‘most scientists are saying there’s less than a 5% chance we will hit Paris agreement goals…which is catastrophic for the planet.’ He argued that the global supply chain is broken, requiring ‘transformational, cross-industry collaboration’ to fix it. The company has already been investing in wind farms to help power their business for a few years now and this investment in fighting climate change is just another important step.”
Karen Hedwig Backman writes—Trump Now OWNS Climate Change. Totally: “Houston and environs are the nexus. Also Texas and its love deregulation and its rabid hatred of science (Texas textbooks). Also Oklahoma and its toxic elected officials who deny climate change. Trump’s selection of Oklahoma’s Scott Pruitt to head the EPA so that he could delay risk management regulations just in time to help toxify Houston and environs (exploding vats of organic hydroxides and stuff whoopee!): EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt signed a final rule June 12 delaying a final rule amending the risk management program regulations (RIN:2050-AG82) to Feb. 19, 2019, the agency said. The decision grants requests by industry trade organizations and companies such as Marathon Petroleum, LyondellBassell Corp., Western Refining, and Koch Industries, which met with the EPA on the issue this year. www.bna.com/...! And, more recently Trump has scooped up Jim Bridenstine, elected by the fools in the first congressional district of Oklahoma: WASHINGTON — Jim Bridenstine, the Oklahoma Republican congressman President Trump tapped late Friday as NASA’s next administrator, is someone who champions commercial access to space, thinks a return to the moon is vital to U.S. strategic interests, and has dismissed the science behind climate change.”
Extreme Weather & Natural Phenomena
terrypinder wrote several editions of Daily Kos WxCenter. Daily Kos WxCenter: Irma batters Cuba, heads to Florida. Daily Kos WxCenter: Pretty much the worst-case scenario is projected for all of Florida. Daily Kos WxCenter-Irma: Puerto Rico, Bahamas, Miami, Savannah. Daily Kos WxCenter: Irma approaches Leewards; Bahamas, Florida and Southeast next.
terrypinder writes—The "Florida evacuation not going well" diary is wrong. Also evening Irma update: “I really don’t have time for this. A diary I’ve spent time in has some disinformation, based on anecdote. This is how fake news gets spread. “I heard from someone”---no. Always verify information in an emergency. Incidentally (and using the same hurricane list no less) my town was flooded 6 years ago to the day during a tropical storm, and we heard all sorts of rumours that simply weren’t true, and lots of people were bugging town officials who were busy trying to keep folks safe. My little town’s officials spent tons of time debunking them, and it’s a bloody waste of time when they have work to do. At any rate the diary’s premise is millions are trapped on the roads and all of them are parking lots.They are not. We live in an age where: • traffic cameras are ubiquitous and accessible • everyone has a smartphone with a traffic app on it • everyone can pull up those maps on the internet • those traffic apps are interactive, so they’re updated better than automated government traffic counters.”
Dartagnan writes—Hurricane Irma Is Now The Most Powerful Hurricane Ever Measured By Satellite In The Atlantic Ocean: “No predictions, no projections (there are many Diarists on this site far more knowledgeable about such things). Just a data point some future generations may consider as they pore over the climate-related carnage wrought in the 21st Century: Irma has intensified to a ‘potentially catastrophic’ Category 5 storm. The hurricane is packing winds of a whopping 185 miles per hour, making it the most powerful hurricane to form in the Atlantic Ocean since satellite observations began. [...] According to the National Hurricane Center’s latest bulletin, the storm is moving west at about 14 miles per hour with maximum wind speeds of 185 mph, with some higher gusts. Irma is already closing in on the record for strongest hurricanes ever, and the first since 2005 (Wilma) to reach the wind threshold of 185 miles per hour. The hurricane is also tearing through extremely warm waters, meaning its wind speeds could intensify still.”
AKALib writes—How To Tame a Hurricane: “Over the past century, there have been a number of ideas and techniques that have been proposed and analyzed to stop, weaken or prevent dangerous hurricanes. It is a daunting task, given the astronomical amount of energy contained in a typical hurricane; no large scale successful experiment has been conducted yet. [...] Various techniques proposed over the years to prevent or weaken hurricanes include — 1. Seeding hurricane clouds with silver iodide, to cause freezing and disruption of the inner structure of the hurricane. 2. Nuclear bombs. 3. Pumping surface warm water to the bottom of the ocean. 4. Spreading substances to prevent evaporation. 5. Changing the radiational balance in the hurricane environment by absorption of sunlight with carbon black. 6. Lasers — to precipitate rain (similar to seeding) and trigger lightning. 7. Sonic booms. 8. Dropping water absorbing substances. 9. Dropping ice into the hurricane. 10. Cooling the ocean with cryogenic material or icebergs. 11. Wind turbines.”
Denise Oliver-Velez writes—Attention news media covering Hurricane Irma—Puerto Rico is part of the U.S.: “As the United States still reels from Hurricane Harvey, a massive threat is bearing down on us and our Caribbean neighbors. Hurricane Irma is now a Category 4 storm. I’m keeping all those in Irma’s path in my prayers, and am waiting to hear what the U.S. is going to do to assist with the devastation that is sure to follow when Irma hits. FYI — the English word ‘hurricane’ comes from the Indigenous Caribbean deity ‘Huracan.’ What has bothered me, and other people who are watching the storm closely is that many news reports state when they think Irma will ‘hit the U.S.’ — and refer to Florida, when the storm is bearing down on a part of the U.S. — Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.”
SemDem writes—Irma's Devastation Will Be Worse Thanks To Subsidies to Florida's Wealthy: “One group our state legislature always looks after is the wealthy. It’s why our state tax system, based on sales tax, is so freaking bonkers. If you’re working class, you pay. If you’re rich, you get exemptions (yacht repairs, skyboxes, tickets for the Superbowl, etc.) Well over a decade ago, our legislature created Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, (known simply as “Citizens”). This is a state-run insurer which was meant to provide property insurance for home-owners who could not otherwise obtain it. The goal sounded noble, but the motive was always to give subsidies to the uber-wealthy who wanted to build on the coast. That's not just me ranting, that's actual research: The policy subsidies offered by Florida’s state-run Citizens Property Insurance Corp. flow disproportionately to the wealthy and, in concert with similarly regressive subsidies from the National Flood Insurance Program, serve primarily to encourage more development in risky regions along the coast. To put that simply: Citizens is unfair, stupid, and a mess.”
Jen Hayden writes—Oregon's governor says the Trump administration refused request for help combating wildfires: “An estimated 8,000 people are battling a series of 24 raging fires in Oregon, most notably Chetco Bar Fire, which has engulfed nearly 180,000 acres, and the Eagle Creek wildfire which is threatening the eastern edge of Portland. The Eagle Creek fire has burned 33,000 acres and while Oregon firefighters are starting to make some headway, containing about 5% of the fire through burnouts conducted on Wednesday, more resources are needed throughout the state. Oregon Public Broadcasting reports that Governor Kate Brown previously asked the Trump administration for help and they flatly refused any assistance: But if there is wildfire management to second-guess, Oregon’s Democratic governor would direct it at the Trump Administration and its response to a request she made last month. ‘I talked with the federal authorities two weeks ago, asking for additional federal assistance, I was told point-blank “no”, said Brown.”
Walter Einenkel writes—After telling FL residents not to leave because hurricanes are a climate hoax, Limbaugh evacuates FL: “Last week, the wafting stench of Limbaugh went across the internet when Rush urged his Florida listeners to ignore warnings from scientists, meteorologists, and officials concerning the impending arrival of Hurricane Irma. Here’s a refresher of the hot-stench of wind Rush was pumping out last week. ‘These storms, once they actually hit, are never as strong as they're reported,’ Limbaugh claimed on his syndicated radio show. He added that ‘the graphics have been created to make it look like the ocean's having an exorcism, just getting rid of the devil here in the form of this hurricane, this bright red stuff.’ This set of beliefs is a part of Limbaugh’s attempts to create lucrative conspiracy theories so he can get back into the American con man underbelly position where he has been supplanted by Alex Jones. [...] As ThinkProgress reports, it turns out that Mr. Limbaugh and his ragtag crew of charlatans don’t want to be around to test his very unscientific theories.”
noweasels writes—Organizing Our Community for Hurricane Irma: “It is a long-standing tradition in this community to reach out to community members who are in distress. For more than a decade, we have posted community diaries during disasters with helpful links, news updates and support. This is what we do at Daily Kos. Because we care about each other. There are horrendous fires burning up our West Coast. And as our own terrypinder wrote tonight, in the midst of his amazing coverage of the unfolding disaster in Florida, I need someone to put up something about the wildfires.”
greenbird writes—Here it is: Wednesday's IRMA Check-In Diary, magically including last nights stuff!
TexMex writes—ShelterBox diary7: ShelterBox live feed!
Tevye writes—This Simple Act Of Self-Sacrifice Is An Example And Inspiration As The Hurricane Approaches: “Pam Brekke lives with her elderly father in Sanford, Florida. He is on an oxygen machine that runs on electricity. She drove to a Lowes after she found out that they had just received 200 generators only an hour before. And generators have been bought up as fast as they hit the shelves throughout Florida as the Hurricane approaches. So she immediately got in her car to drive the 35 miles to Orlando to buy one. She was literally one customer away from getting one. She was told that the customer in front of her had received the very last one. And she started to cry. That is when Ramon Santiago, until then a stranger, walked over to her. And insisted that she take his generator. Her reaction says it all.”
jbmsurfs writes—Four Texas Republicans & Two FL -voted against Harvey disaster aid: “Surprise! Late Friday four Texas Republicans and two Florida Republicans voted against the bill that included aid for Hurricane Harvey along with a debt limit extension. The House approved the legislation 316-90, in a vote that authorized $15.3 billion in aid for those affected by Harvey, raised the debt ceiling, and extended government funding for three months into December. No Democrats in the House voted against the legislation. The four Texas Republicans who voted no were Rep. Joe Barton, Rep. Jeb Hensarling, Rep. Sam Johnson, and Rep. Mac Thornberry, none of whose districts are in the region hardest hit by the storm. And yes, that is the same Joe Barton so famous for his trash science beliefs and famous lines such as 'wind is a finite resource and harnessing it would slow the winds down, which would cause the temperature to go up.' The Two Florida Republicans who voted against the legislation were Rep. Matt Gaetz and Rep. Ted Yoho.”
peagreen writes—Pacific Northwest-Where There are Fires There's Smoke-Continued: “Another air quality alert this morning. There will be a slight improvement through today ‘beginning in south central Washington and spreading northeast through the afternoon and tonight.’ A cold front is passing through and winds will increase and air quality will improve. However this improvement is temporary as the winds will weaken on Sunday and Monday allowing the numerous wildfires in the area to replenish the smoke and lead to potential air quality concerns. And from the Spokesman Review today. Spokane set a troubling record on Tuesday. Air pollution averaged during 24 hours reached the highest measurement on record and entered the ‘very unhealthy”’category for the first time since 1999, the same year records began to be compiled… For the third straight day, air quality reached ‘hazardous’ levels Wednesday in Spokane, the worst category in the air quality index, based on numbers compiled by the state Department of Ecology.”
unclechet writes—Hurricane EXXON terrorizes Florida: “Why do we demonize nice people named Irma and Harvey and Jose when we know the deadly storms terrorizing the Caribbean, Florida and the Gulf were caused by money-grubbing corporations and their billionaire owners? Couldn't we say: ‘Hurricane Exxon is now bearing down on Florida, going to cost taxpayers billions, just like Hurricane BP in Houston last week. BP dropped record levels of rain, just as climate scientists predicted it would, and that rain caused havoc killing some 60 people. It released toxic chemicals spilling into the Gulf of Mexico, rivaling the Deepwater Horizon caper’?’”
Mark Sumner writes—Irma shifts west, expected to cross the Keys, strike near Cape Coral; Tampa in sights: “From almost the moment it formed, expectations have been that Hurricane Irma would hook right as it approached Florida, carrying it north and east, away from the scalding waters that have nursed it’s unmatched intensity. That hasn’t happened. Irma has stubbornly held course, moving west northwest with barely a wobble in a course that’s taken it from near the coast of Africa to grind the north shore of Cuba. Michael Weissenstein reports: Early Saturday, the hurricane center said the storm was centered about 10 miles (15 kilometers) northwest of the town of Caibarien, Cuba, with maximum sustained winds of 130 mph (215 kph). Soldiers and government workers earlier had gone through coastal towns enforcing the evacuation, taking people to shelters at government buildings and schools - and even caves. [...] Forecasts on Friday still called for the storm to turn hard right as it crossed the home stretch to the US, but now that final directional change has been delayed again. Rather than strike near Miami, as forecasts indicated mid-week, or on the east side of Florida’s southern tip, it now appears that Irma will sail over the Florida Keys and actually strike the peninsula on the Gulf side, coming ashore near Sanibel Island then moving from the area around Cape Coral to Tampa. Wind speeds at landfall are still expected to exceed 150 mph.”
Mark Sumner writes—Irma passes north of Puerto Rico, expected to avoid Hispaniola, Bahamas next in line: “Hurricane Irma is currently passing just north of Puerto Rico, with hurricane force winds passing along the edge of the island and a significant storm surge. However, Puerto Rico seems to have been spared the extreme wind that would come from a direct hit from Irma. The current path suggests that both Haiti and the Dominican Republic will also avoid a direct hit, though both will be subject to tropical storm force winds and a storm surge up to 5 feet.”
Mark Sumner writes—Hurricane force winds reach Puerto Rico as Irma edges north, meanwhile Jose becomes a hurricane: “Hurricane force winds have reached the eastern part of Puerto Rico. Both storm surge and flash flooding from rain are a concern as the eye of Hurricane Irma passes slightly north of the island. At 4:30 EST, the eye of Irma was moving slightly further north, hopefully giving Puerto Rico a break from the very worst winds. But with top sustained winds still holding at 185 mph and gusts recorded up to 225 mph, even something less than a direct hit still stands to cause considerable damage. This is still a dangerous, life-threatening storm, and anyone on Puerto Rico should immediately seek appropriate shelter if they haven’t done so already.”
Mark Sumner writes—Irma continues to strengthen, approaches Leeward Islands, Puerto Rico remains in predicted path: “The intensity of Hurricane Irma can be expected to vary over the next two days, but at the moment that variation is all in the direction of increasing intensity. At 7 PM EST, the National Hurricane Center reports Irma was located about 90 miles east of the island of Barbuda. It’s sustained winds have increased to 185mph and the central pressure is down to 916mb. Hurricane force winds extend out for 60 miles. Put it all together, and this is among the strongest storms ever recorded in the Atlantic basin. Irma is moving westward at 15 mph, so the 1,600 people on Barbuda can expect to face the full wrath of this monster around midnight AST. Hang on tight, folks. The 80,000 people on nearby Antigua are also among the first who will get an all too close encounter with Irma.”
Mark Sumner writes—Irma now a very strong Category 5, likely to strike Puerto Rico on Wednesday: “Irma is currently carrying sustained winds of 180 mph. That’s far over the 157 mph minimum for a Category 5 storm. Winds at this level are likely to be devastating even for well-built structures generally regarded to be constructed to survive strong hurricanes. Irma has maintained an extremely distinct eye-wall and organization, clear signs of a storm that has unusual intensity and potential. Central pressure is currently around 931 mb.”
jrooth writes—Hurricane Irma: Shifting Fortunes: “What a difference a day makes. Hurricane Irma proceeded further west than anticipated by the consensus models yesterday morning. The mid-day run of the ECMWF led the parade of models shifting the track west. As a result, it looks like we in the SE Florida Metro Area are going to mostly dodge the bullet (although I hasten to say we will be seeing significant effects today through all day tomorrow including potential tornadoes, and any shift back east in track would bring stronger effects our way. But we will at this point almost certainly be spared the core of the storm. But our good fortune is at the expense of the people on the north coast of Cuba, which has been pounded by category 4 conditions all night. As of the 8am advisory, Irma has been downgraded to category 3 remains a category 4 storm with 130 mph winds and is still churning along the Cuba coast. The storm is expected to begin making the turn north today. Later on, our good fortune is at the expense of those on the west coast of Florida. They are now facing the dire threat we faced a short day ago.”
Jen Hayden writes—Florida sheriff threatens residents ahead of a deadly hurricane and unleashes a storm of his own: “Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd went on Twitter to issue a warning to Florida residents who might seek shelter from Hurricane Irma:
Sheriff Judd promised sworn law enforcement officials would be at each shelter checking identification. Needless to say, the reaction has probably not been what tough guy Judd was expecting.”
jrooth writes—Hurricane Irma is a Powerful Category 5 Storm: “As of the 8am AST advisory, Irma is now a powerful category 5 hurricane with sustained winds of 175mph. The storm has been moving in a steady west direction most of yesterday and last night. The expected WNW turn has not yet begun. The longer it continues on this track, the greater the risk to the northern leeward islands. At any rate, the islands should expect to see severe conditions from this storm. There is still hope that the impact on the US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico will not be disastrous, but it would not take a very large shift south for the north side of Puerto Rico to be in the eyewall, so interests there also need to be prepared for an extreme impact.”
lordnaarghul writes—ALERT: Hurricane Irma now an EXTREMELY DANGEROUS CATEGORY 5: “This is no joke anymore. If Hurricane Irma strikes any of the islands at this strength, or gets even stronger, those islands will not exist anymore. This is no joke. All hands on deck.”
OCEANS, WATER, DROUGHT
Walter Einenkel writes—While 83% of the world's tap water is polluted by plastic fibers, the USA is still #1 with 94%: “According to Orb Media, 83% of the world’s tap water is contaminated by microscopic plastic fibers. Yuck. Microscopic plastic fibers are flowing out of taps from New York to New Delhi, according to exclusive research by Orb and a researcher at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health. From the halls of the U.S. Capitol to the shores of Lake Victoria in Uganda, women, children, men, and babies are consuming plastic with every glass of water. More than 80 percent of the samples we collected on five continents tested positive for the presence of plastic fibers. Plastics pollution in our planet’s bodies of water has been known for some time, but more recently the level of that pollution has been quantified with alarming data. How pervasive microplastic fibers are can be seen in their appearance in all 24 German beers tested for a recent study. The Guardian explains that while this is really terrible news, the United States is still number one with a bullet! The US had the highest contamination rate, at 94%, with plastic fibres found in tap water sampled at sites including Congress buildings, the US Environmental Protection Agency’s headquarters, and Trump Tower in New York. Lebanon and India had the next highest rates.”
Dan Bacher writes—PPIC Water Forum Sponsored by Bechtel, Driscoll's, the Resnicks and Walton Family: “The Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) will holds its “Priorities for California’s Water” conference in Sacramento on Thursday, October 26, 2017, from 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Sheraton Grand Hotel, 1230 J Street, Magnolia and Camellia rooms, Sacramento, CA. [...] The invitation urges people to ‘Join PPIC Water Policy Center researchers and a diverse group of experts for a thought-provoking discussion about policy priorities for the coming water year.’ The ‘diverse’ group of experts are mostly representatives of water agencies, corporate agribusiness interests, PPIC staff and government officials, the same folks who are pushing the Delta Tunnels, the most environmentally destructive public works project in California history. No representatives of California Indian Tribes, recreational angling groups, commercial fishing organizations, family farming groups or grassroots environmental NGOS are scheduled to speak.”
ENERGY
Nuclear
Marine Chemist writes—How much Fukushima contamination is there in migratory Pacific fish? “The purpose of this post is to report on a recently published, peer-reviewed study that investigated the levels of Fukushima derived contamination in migratory Pacific predators. The post is part of an ongoing effort to inform interested members of the public what the scientific community is finding about the impact of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) disaster on environmental and human health. Madigan and colleagues looked for radiocesium (134Cs, half life ~ 2 years; 137Cs, half life ~30 years) in a variety of large, predatory organisms in the North Pacific Ocean between 2012 and 2015. Their results were as follows: • Fukushima derived 134Cs could not be detected in any of the organisms with the exception of a single olive ridley sea turtle with trace levels (0.1 Bq kg-1 dry weight) • Levels of 137Cs varied in the organisms but were generally unchanged compared with levels measured in organisms prior to the FDNPP disaster (pre-2011) • Levels of 137Cs were roughly 10 to 100-fold lower in the organisms than levels of naturally occurring Potassium-40 (40K) • Neither the levels of radiocesium or 40K approach levels known to represent a significant health risk to the animal or human consumers. These direct measurements of contamination levels in marine predators suggest that assuming that Pacific organisms will accumulate detectable FDNPP contamination is unwise. Similarly, anxiety and speculation about the dangers of radiocesium bioaccumulation in the face of such data seems unfounded.”
Fossil Fuels
Ivy Main writes—What Virginia candidates need to know about clean energy and fracked gas pipelines: “People who understand Dominion’s pipeline hate Dominion’s pipeline. The proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline would carry fracked gas 600 miles from inside West Virginia through the heart of Virginia and into North Carolina. Instead of following highways, it cuts across mountains, rivers, forests and farms, and requires land clearing 150 feet wide the whole way. Landowners along the route are furious, as are lovers of the national forests and the Appalachian Trail, people who care about water quality, people who care about climate change, and fans of caves, bats and other wildlife. The gas it will carry is extracted from shale formations deep underground using hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, a loud, dirty and dangerous practice that doesn’t poll well in Virginia. More quietly (but in many ways worse), leaking wells, pipes, and storage reservoirs are estimated to emit enough greenhouse gases to cancel out the climate advantages of burning gas over coal, and increase smog. An analysis using industry data found that building the ACP and a second controversial pipeline project, the Mountain Valley Pipeline, would more than double the carbon footprint of Virginia’s power sector.”
Dan Bacher writes—Big Oil defeats California bill to ban new offshore oil drilling: “Showing the enormous power of the oil industry in California despite the state’s “green” image, every bill except one opposed by the powerful oil industry has failed to make it out of the state legislature this year and during the 2015-2016 session. The latest victim of intense lobbying by Big Oil is Senate Bill 188, a bill authored by Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara) to prohibit new pipelines or other infrastructure needed to support new federal oil and gas development. Senator Jackson introduced SB 188 in response to President Donald Trump’s recent executive order opening the door to expanded offshore oil and gas drilling in federal waters off the California coast. ‘The oil industry killed that bill,’ Senator Jackson told the Sacramento Bee on September 1. ‘They are far too powerful.’The defeat of the bill is a big victory for the oil industry and the Trump administration. The Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA), the California Independent Petroleum Association, the California Chamber of Commerce and California Manufacturers & Technology Association spent big money lobbying to defeat the legislation.”
Victor Klemperer Respawned writes—Trump: "I love our coal miners" -- just not the ones who get killed. They lack imagination: “Why are more miners getting killed when fewer mines are open? Here’s a clue: The position for chief of the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration was vacant until August 22. That’s when White House adviser (and former Rick Santorum staffer) Wayne Palmer was put in as acting secretary. Now, I know this is going to surprise you, but Palmer has no experience with mining or health and safety. In other words, he’s perfect! In other words, things have gone down hill since August -- when no one was running the show. But what about the miners? Well, we got bad news. A rash of fatal coal mining accidents in the Ohio Valley region pushed the nation’s total number of mining deaths to a level not seen since 2015, sparking concern among safety advocates. Mine safety experts say this spike in fatal accidents is troubling because it comes at a time when far fewer miners are working compared with recent years, and during a presidential administration pressing to rapidly increase coal production and roll back regulations.”
Renewables, Efficiency & Conservation
gmoke writes—Is It Time to Talk About Solar Civil Defense? “Solar IS Civil Defense. Solar power for the flashlight, communications, and extra batteries we are supposed to have on hand in case of emergency and disaster is also entry level electricity for those billion and more people around the world who don’t have access to power. With solar lights now available at a retail price of $5 @ or less all around the world (this Mini Portable Hand Crank Dynamo 3 LED Solar Powered Flashlight Camping Torch CM for example), Solar Electric Power to the People is not only practical but affordable. [...] As we rebuild in the face of Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, Jose…. and the fires in forests in the Pacific Northwest and Greenland and other places… the floods, landslides, earthquakes…. we might want to start thinking about a solar civil defense, personally, socially, politically, economically, and culturally.”
REGULATIONS & PROTECTIONS
Mary Anne Hitt writes—Scott Pruitt Has EPA Ignoring Its Mission When We Need It Most: “At a time when we’re all still thinking of Hurricane Harvey’s survivors (and donating to their recovery efforts), Environmental Protection Agency head Scott Pruitt continues to steer his agency off a cliff by ignoring its mission and putting people at risk: An Associated Press story broke over the weekend demonstrating that the agency hadn’t been on site at the many toxic sites affected by Harvey around Houston. Pruitt and an EPA spokesperson’s response? They attacked the reporter who wrote the story, instead of responding to the real issue of actually showing up to the toxic sites for monitoring. Striking a similar tone, when asked to comment on how climate change is making these storms worse, his EPA attacked climate scientists - the very people we’re all counting on to help us understand these disasters - accusing them of ‘an attempt to politicize an ongoing tragedy.’ Pruitt’s latest bad moves add to an unfortunately already long list of steps he’s taken that make me fear for the ‘protection’ part of the Environmental Protection Agency. We also learned last week that there are now some political strings attached to receiving any grants from the EPA.”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Revolving Door Sweeps More Swamp Into Government: “We’re starting to wonder if Trump has hit the bottom of the barrel for people willing to work for him. The administration dumped a whole handful of fresh nominees on us ahead of the holiday, showing that they’re continuing to fill the Washington swamp with cranks, fossil fuel hacks, and deniers. While this batch is bad, the prize for the most objectionable swamp creature nominated thus far still goes, of course, to USDA pick Sam Clovis. Clovis’s racist and homophobic online rants are just some of the many reasons this climate change denying non-scientist is facing stiff opposition for the USDA’s top science position. Despite a lack of abhorrent birtherists in this group of nominees, the press has done a good job thus far taking a close look at their credentials and backgrounds. Trump’s recent pick for NASA administrator, Oklahoma congressman and climate change denier Jim Bridenstine, got some solid coverage this weekend (in part because even Marco Rubio has concerns about Bridenstine’s ‘political baggage’). But Bridenstine’s nomination is just the tip of the deplorable iceberg.”
Rmuse writes—As Environmental Disasters Mount Pruitt Cuts Hundreds of EPA Jobs: “This week, while Texas, and now Florida and possibly Louisiana face environmental disasters as a result of historically monstrous hurricanes predicted by climate scientists, Pruitt proudly announced he is cutting close to 500 EPA jobs. It’s glaringly apparent that it is more important to Pruitt to advance Trump’s deregulatory crusadethan adopt an ‘all-hands-on-deck’ approach to the several environmental disasters still emerging. In announcing that close to 500 hundred EPA employees are being ‘pushed out’ in a ‘smaller government’ effort, Pruitt boasted about hard-working and long-serving staffers leaving the agency. Pruitt has been very busy pushing ‘voluntary buyouts, early retirement and good old fashioned agency budget cuts’ as preparation for Trump slashing EPA funding by 31 percent. Pruitt said in a statement: ‘We’re proud to report that we’re reducing the size of government, protecting taxpayer dollars and staying true to our core mission of protecting the environment and American jobs’.”
Hunter writes—Under Scott Pruitt, the EPA has been heavy on propaganda, light on transparency: “It's not particularly surprising that the Environmental Protection Agency, now under the direction of Scott Pruitt, would lurch toward indifference to actual environmental concerns. The extent to which Pruitt has turned the agency's public statements into a Breitbart-style fake news and outrage factory, though: that's a level of childishness and propaganda-peddling more suitable for a banana republic than, well, whatever we here in the United States once aspired to. This degradation has been on full display in the agency's official responses to an AP report noting that the EPA had yet to dispatch teams to survey any of the Superfund sites affected by catastrophic Harvey flooding. The next day the EPA followed up with an even more accusatory press release. Without challenging any of the facts in the AP report, the release attacked one of the bylined reporters, Michael Biesecker, personally [...] Attempting to further discredit Biesecker’s previous reporting, the EPA release went on to cite Breitbart and the Oklahoman‘s editorial board. Breitbart, where Trump’s ex-adviser Steve Bannon has returned to the helm, followed up on the AP-bashing press release, calling the report ‘fake news’.’”
CHEMICAL AND RADIOACTIVE HAZARDS
Walter Einenkel writes—Experts analyze Texas petrochemical air pollution during Harvey and say most of it was preventable: “Natural disasters, even if we are guilty of creating the man-made climate change conditions causing their extreme manifestations, are still by nature out of our control. Besides the never-ending diligence in ending our impact on climate change, there are many things all societies must do to lessen the impact of natural disasters, including upgrading our infrastructure, and creating comprehensive and actionable emergency protocols that save the most lives. But, as the Texas Observer found, after analyzing the amount of air-pollution released by Texas coastline petrochemical companies during Hurricane Harvey, one of the most obvious problems is greed and/or incompetence of corporations and their safety procedures. According to the Observer, at least 5.5 million pounds of hazardous pollutants were released into the air during Harvey, and much of that was not simply the storm’s fault. For one, companies could have shut down in advance of the hurricane. At least seven facilities that emitted about 1.8 million pounds of chemicals chose to shut down on or after August 27, two days after Harvey made landfall near Rockport. ‘Shutting down earlier with a slower shut down leads to less air pollution releases,’ said Shaye Wolf, the climate science director at the environmental group Center for Biological Diversity. ‘Shutting down during a storm is more dangerous for worker safety and flaring when there’s high winds is more difficult because you have to keep the flare lit.’”
POPULATION & SUSTAINABILITY
John Legry writes—"Mommy and Daddy, where are we getting water for Earth's runaway human population?": “The prime question is, where are we getting water for Earth's runaway human population growth? We are one good drought away from disaster, and drought is inevitable. Water is the game changer. Water is a human right. Bottom line: the Earth is running out. Depletion of global groundwater resources due to global warming and growing human demand has caused world water supply to drop to dangerous levels and changed distribution of available freshwater. Global population without access to potable water will likely increase. We need to get our heads together on how we manage it, because we’re running out. Capiche? https://www.commondreams.org/news/2015/06/16/nasa-earth-running-out-water. What are local, regional, state and national governments doing collectively to cope with climate change? Are they involving citizens in their own survival? ”
ECO-ACTION & ECO JUSTICE
chicagagof writes—We need a Harvey CCC - making opportunity out of tragedy: “In a crisis like this, there should also be opportunities. People will be frantically trying to renovate their homes and will not be able to find contractors or qualified people to help them. Meanwhile, we have a glut of people who are in dead end jobs often with few skills. A helper/apprenticeship/skilled trades program that uses this crisis to begin training people who are stuck in low wage jobs or out of work would be a win/win situation. It would resemble the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps — started during the Great Depression). Briefly it would look like this: I expect a lot of people will be out of jobs as their factories, stores, and places of business are closed down. Recruiting these people first and then from a broader area, invite people to participate in an apprenticeship program to learn skilled trades. The first step would be a quick training — probably a week or less teaching the basics of building recovery after a flood. This includes such things as how to make a flood cut on drywall and remove it, how much insulation to remove, how to be safe working around electricity, and how to clean and sanitize after a flood. Having lived through a flood, I know that even these steps are overwhelming and need knowledge to do them right. Trainees would have supervision from contractors who would otherwise be doing the work themselves. Recruits would work alongside home and business owners getting the buildings ready for renovation. They would receive living wages coming out of flood recovery funds.”
AGRICULTURE, FOOD & GARDENING
ColoTim writes—Saturday Morning Garden Blogging, Vol 13.36 *? Heck, it's 9/9/2017: “The following is the reason I asked to write this diary. In clearing out my parents’ house, I ran across a printed copy of the following poem by Rudyard Kipling. My mother was a member of a Garden Club and it was partly through her that I gained my appreciation for gardens and the natural environment that helped formulate how I grew up. I enjoyed wandering through the back yard, growing things in flower and vegetable gardens, and flowering bushes and trees, including some trees that actually produced some fruit. We would take May flowers around the neighborhood and we cooked mulberry tarts for sale in the front yard. My father was the professor of English, so he knew all things Rudyard Kipling, along with several other authors who were the subject of books, lectures and classes. Both my parents passed away this year, and I miss sharing with them the discoveries I find in my yard and on trips near and far to natural and cultivated places. Please enjoy this — I’m sure the copyright is long expired, as this was originally published in 1911. It has been republished several times since then. I could have retyped the whole thing, but instead found it at www.kiplingsociety.co.uk/… and there are useful background notes that I encourage people to go read.”
TRANSPORTATION & INFRASTRUCTURE
Proginoskes writes—Amtrak is still in danger: “Today, I got another email from NARP (the National Association of Railway Passengers). The Trump Budget proposal to eliminate Amtrak trains is back.Despite positive, bipartisan steps taken by House and Senate appropriators over the summer to increase investment in passenger rail, Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL) and Rep. Ted Budd (R-NC) are looking to make the Trump budget a reality by eliminating Amtrak’s National Network. Reach out to your representatives and tell them to vote NO on these amendments to H.R. 3354: Amendment #32. Rep. Ted Budd (R-NC) [Ellison (MN), Williams (TX), Mitchell (MI)]: Eliminates a $900 million allocation for the upgrade of an Amtrak rail line between Newark and New York City by increasing funding for national New Starts Projects by $400 million and applying savings from the elimination of the TIGER Grant program to deficit reduction. Amendment #33. Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL): Ends Amtrak's National Network through the elimination of $1.1 billion in grant funding.”
PeninsulaProgCHS writes—Power and Efficiency of Public Transit can save Low country lives before and after a Hurricane: “Charleston, SC- Public Transit is a critical tool for coastal areas like the SC Lowcountry when dealing with Hurricanes. Charleston and the surrounding areas need to be acting now to make sure public transit is organized to support a safe and complete evacuation of vulnerable areas and populations should Hurricane Irma strike the Holy City and surrounding areas.
Recent history has shown dramatic successes and failures by local authorities dealing with disaster. In Charleston in 1989, SCE&G had bus service running again the morning after Hugo. [...] Only four major roads run inland or North from Charleston: 78, 52, I26, 17 and 41. The dozens of additional lanes being added in Charleston’s suburban fringe all aim traffic at those five roads. Houston was apparently so “car bound” that local leaders resisted evacuation because they believed car accidents might kill more people than the storm. [...] Road construction advocates in the SC Lowcountry should look to the power of a muscular transit fleet to move large numbers of people, rather than raiding our bus transit funds for 11 million dollars to build more roads which will sprout subdivisions in areas prone to storm surge and flood.”
Major Kong writes—When you can't bring your bike with you: “Bike sharing apparently has been around longer than I thought, at least in Europe. In the US it has slowly been gaining popularity over the last two decades. I see more and more cities adopting it when I’m out and about. Most bike-share bikes seem to follow the same pattern. First off, they usually look different from regular bikes, probably to deter theft. They usually have wide tires, heavy frames and sealed components. Usually a three-speed internal hub. Most seem to have a basket or luggage rack of some sort. I’m sure you could hurt one if you tried, but they’re pretty beefy. To rent one usually involves putting a credit card into an ATM-type screen that unlocks a bike from the bike rack. I’ve seen other systems but this seems to be pretty common. Since these are meant as alternative to driving, there are usually penalties for keeping the bike out too long (30 minutes seems common). They want you to ride the bike to your destination and then turn it in. That ensures a constant supply of bikes at the bike stations. Long story short, these are great for getting around but not the best choice for a serious training ride.”
lbrasington writes—Waiting for your Tesla 3? Here's how to go electric Now: “So you submitted your application and $1000 to Tesla for your hot new electric car. But ya gotta wait — maybe years — to get it. Now if you want a Tesla solely because it’s cool, this post is not for you. But if you want a Tesla 3 because you want to go electric driving, you wanna be green, ya wanna save the environment, and/or you wanna an American made car — actually you don’t have to wait! Here’s what you do: 1) Go test drive a Chevy Bolt; 2) When you realize you can go electric Now in a very fun car; 3) Negotiate your best price to purchase; 4) Walk away! 5) Keep working with the salesman via phone to get the price down; 6) Towards the end of this month, start negotiating a 3-year lease; 7) When you've got your deal, go drive away all electric. You keep your Tesla 3 reservation and when your name comes up, defer until the date your Bolt lease ends. See "Deferral and non-transferability" at http://www.teslarati.com/details-behind-tesla-model-3-rese…/ I leased a Bolt last week. It is without a doubt the most fun car I’ve ever owned, in fact, it’s the most fun car I’ve ever driven.”
MISCELLANY
GreenpowerCA writes—This Week in the Environment 09.07.17: Drowning in Denial: “Hello, and welcome to this Thursday’s edition of This Week in the Environment (TWITE), cross-posted as usual from our Greenpower blog. [...] 1. How President Trump and the EPA's Scott Pruitt are Making America's Environment Deadly Again The Los Angeles Times. The LA Times’ brief editorial on Scott Pruitt’s rise as an enemy to the environment provides a neat summary of the death of the EPA. Here is a man who has spent a significant portion of his life trying to destroy the agency responsible for keeping the American people and land alive and healthy, an agency with the potential to be one of the single greatest champions of our country’s fight against devastating climate change. He has already tried to overturn regulations that he confessed protected children's lives, and he’s just getting started.”
rktect writes—Massive Antarctic Volcano Eruption: “‘We know that rapid climate change at this time was primed by changes in solar insolation and the Northern Hemisphere ice sheets," explained McConnell. "Glacial and interglacial cycles are driven by the sun and Earth orbital parameters that impact solar insolation (intensity of the sun's rays) as well as by changes in the continental ice sheets and greenhouse gas concentrations. [...] ‘We postulate that these halogen-rich eruptions created a stratospheric ozone hole over Antarctica that, analogous to the modern ozone hole, led to large-scale changes in atmospheric circulation and hydroclimate throughout the Southern Hemisphere,’ he added. ‘Although the climate system already was primed for the switch, we argue that these changes initiated the shift from a largely glacial to a largely interglacial climate state. The probability that this was just a coincidence is negligible’."
A Siegel writes—Trump's EPA to Flint: let the bed bugs bite (to scientists: don't study/mention climate change): “If Trump weren’t bad enough: The United States is currently experiencing a nightmarish epidemic of disgusting blood sucking parasites, and no, I am not talking about our politicians. There is a full blown bed bug epidemic happening all across America and it just seems to get worse with each passing year. What is Team Trump’s response to this epidemic? Especially when it comes to environmental justice and poor communities? Put a political hack in charge of reviewing all scientifically-reviewed and approved Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) research grants who then nixes a $20,000 award to the Midwest Pesticide Action Center to train Flint residents on how to combat bedbugs. Bedbug infestations have spread over time in the Michigan city — which has grappled with lead-contaminated drinking water since 2014 — and the center’s past sessions attracted packed audiences. ‘People really do need this,’ she said. ‘For low-income communities, it’s a really desperate situation.’ Just $20k, who cares … and, well, so what …?”