This is the 577th edition of the Spotlight on Green News & Views (previously known as the Green Diary Rescue). Here is the October 20th edition. Inclusion of a story in the Spotlight does not necessarily indicate my agreement with or endorsement of it.
OUTSTANDING GREEN STORIES
giddy thing writes—Dawn Chorus: Fly By Nights: “Perched a mile high on the Boise Ridge, at the toe of Idaho’s vast central mountains before they tumble to the Snake River Plain, is the Intermountain Bird Observatory’s Lucky Peak Research Station. The site is one of only a few known locations in the western U.S. where large numbers of diurnal (daytime) raptors, songbirds, and forest owls funnel during fall migration due to its unique geography and habitat mosaic. Woodland birds tend to ‘pile up’ on Lucky Peak to feed and rest before crossing the 50+ mile expanse of the Snake River Plain on their southbound migration. This natural phenomenon presents a unique opportunity to study the migration of many different birds in one location. From mid-July through October, research station staff and volunteers run a 24/7 fall migration project that includes banding of songbirds, diurnal raptors, and owls, as well as a Hawkwatch monitoring station. Each fall, Lucky Peak crews capture and band between 4,000–7,500 songbirds of about 60 different species, about 1,000 hawks and falcons, and as many as 900 owls. Observers at the Hawkwatch station count 5,000–9,000 raptors of 18 different species annually. These banding and migration studies provide important data on bird population numbers, age and sex ratios, reproductive success, breeding timing, migration movements, and individual bird longevity. This information is used to study the impacts of climate change, the importance of different habitat types, and changes in species populations.”
FishOutofWater writes—NW Hawaiian Island Vanished: Was Critical Breeding Ground for Turtles, Monk Seals & Birds: “Seven government scientists, who were on teams that had been studying and protecting endangered monk seals, green turtles and sea birds at French Frigate shoals East Island for decades, had to evacuate East Island on October 2 ahead of category 4 hurricane Walaka, one of the strongest hurricanes on record in the central Pacific. The island was the breeding ground for about half of Hawaii’s endangered green sea turtles and 30% of Hawaii’s highly endangered monk seals. When scientists recently examined satellite photos after the hurricane they discovered the whole half-mile long 400 ft wide island had vanished. Over time, when sea level is stable, storms, swells winds and overwash create islands. The northwest Hawaiian islands were once large islands like the main island, but erosion and the cooling and sinking of the crust submerges the volcanic bases of all of the islands over periods of ten million years of more. However, coral and coraline algae growing on top of the volcanic core have been able to maintain islands long after the volcanic base submerged. That is, until now.”
CRITTERS AND THE GREAT OUTDOORS
marsanges writes—The Daily Bucket: Late Autumn in the Dog Dunes: “There is no day on which it isn’t a good idea to go out and look at whats going on in nature. Even on a nondescript late autumn evening. I just had time for a quick run to the outside into our Dunes. Before the Sun went down. Now there is a break in the work and this might serve as Bucket for the people for this Sunday, 21 October of AD 2018. The Dog dunes are the Dunes behind my house, which are not part of the local National Park (and therefore overrun by Dogs ... people walk the dogs and themselves there). The general location is the Dunes behind IJmuiden in The Netherlands, Europe.It’s fall. So, nothing should be visible. But some flowers somehow seem to forget to wind down. [...] We have an absurdly warm fall. Maybe that is what confuses some plants.”
PHScott writes—The Daily Bucket: Some Call This a Widowmaker: “If I was married Widowmaker might be apt but I prefer the other name I saw for a tree or large branch hung up but ready to fall at any moment - a Fool Killer. [...] This is a Water Oak, a tree of disrepute well known for rotting from the inside whether at the base like this one or 30-40 feet up where the trunk splits into 3 or 4 major branches. I was lucky with this one right outside my bedroom. Hurricane Michael blew thru here at 40 MPH minimum, probably higher at treetop level. Winds were from the east initially, gusts in all directions. That's a beautiful Southern Magnolia it's leaning into. A great shade tree for me. I think the oak is resting on limbs on the side of the magnolia away from the house - maybe, hard to see up there. A mature tree at 16”-18" diameter, there's only 3-4 inches of living tissue around the oak. My cautious approach was to whittle away the torn pieces that were free and not under stress or holding weight. Mostly... there is the foolish part too.”
OceanDiver writes—The Daily Bucket - Lake Crescent in October: “Pacific Northwest. This past week I was on the Olympic Peninsula for our annual trip to the open ocean. Ordinarily we go in midwinter to maximize the drama of big waves and big storms, not to mention fewer people on the beaches, it being generally cold dark wet and windy. But this year we scheduled our trip to coincide with a weekend family gathering out there, an event my 93-year old mom was wishing for, and it worked out well. Granted, the ocean drama was less and the people more numerous on the beaches, but there were some unexpected pluses (in addition to a glorious day playing with my grandkids on the beach, climbing driftwood, building sandcastles, splashing in the creek and waves and all). First, there was more daylight to enjoy the outdoors, and second, it was pretty much peak foliage color time. I know I know, we in Washington state have nothing like you folks east of the Mississippi, but it’s still pretty gorgeous. In coniferland, generally the only places we see deciduous color is in developed areas (including lots of nonnative trees like Japanese maples, Green ashes and such) or alongside waterways. Lake Crescent (not Crescent Lake) on the Olympic Peninsula is edged with native deciduous trees, predominantly Big Leaf maples, and Highway 101’s twisty 12 miles there are lined with them.”
OceanDiver writes—The Daily Bucket - PNW rainforest fungi: “Pacific Northwest. Fungal sightings out on the Olympic Peninsula for our Saturday Bucket. I have great respect for the fungi, living quietly down there in the soil decomposing and recycling spent plant and animal matter. Imagine what that dark aromatic world must be like, threads of countless thousands of entities entwined and proliferating when warmth and moisture allows. What sort of senses and communication must they have I wonder. When they decide conditions are ripe for spreading farther afield, they pop up out into the light as mushrooms or other fruiting bodies. The fall rains have started in the PNW, which wakes up the funguses underground and raises their interest in spreading their spores. There were quite of few variations on this type, what I think is an Amanita, based on the white spots. There’s a veil on the stem.”
CLIMATE CHAOS
Besame writes—Daily Bucket: California's fire and water year - scorched earth, not enough rain: “California’s Mediterranean climate has two seasonal phases: Wet and Dry. These used to coincide with fire risk seasons — Low and High — but now both wetness and the low fire risk are unpredictable. Yet tradition persists and the state Department of Water Resources considers October 1st the beginning of a new ‘Water Year’ and releases data on reservoir storage levels. Water Year 2017-18 wasn’t a high rainfall period but the reservoirs are near historic average levels. This is due, mostly, to the largest rainfall season (2016-17) ever recorded in the northern half of California the previous year that had reservoir levels far above normal. Except Lake Oroville because the lake levels were kept low enough during winter 2016-17 to reduce any likelihood of needing to use the spillway to release water. [...] Rainfall in the Water Year that just ended was below normal across the state. Although the northern half had more than the southern, ‘more’ doesn’t mean ‘normal’. [...] California had a record wildfire year (and it isn’t over yet). We set a record for the largest acreage fire complex this year — the Mendocino Complex (459,123 acres), comprised of two separate but adjacent fires, River and Ranch. At 410,203 acres, the Ranch Fire went on to be the largest single fire ever recorded in California. The Ranch Fire beat former winner, the Thomas Fire (measly 281,893 acres) in southern California, that occurred in December 2017.”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Farm Bureau Uses Farmers To Push Anti-Climate Agenda That Hurt Farmers: “Yesterday, InsideClimate News launched a series on how the American Farm Bureau Federation has, for decades, lobbied against climate action, generally in tandem if not direct coordination with the fossil fuel industry. The Farm Bureau is ostensibly a lobbying group serving America’s farmers, giving the impression that its constituents are the sort of small family farmer that’s enshrined in the American psyche. In reality, though, the Farm Bureau represents the sort of large-scale industrial agriculture that is heavily reliant on fossil fuels, not “American Gothic.” (The National Farmers Union is the group actually representing small family farmers, and is great on climate issues.) Their industrial agriculture focus is likely why the Bureau engages in anti-climate action lobbying that has left farmers less prepared for the changes in climate that they’re seeing--even if they’re not attributing the changes to human activity because of the decades of propaganda from the fossil fuel industry that’s been echoed by the Farm Bureau.”
Extreme Weather & Natural Phenomena
FishOutofWater writes—Category 5, Supertyphoon Yutu Devastating Saipan, 180 mph, winds gusting over 200mph: “Over 50,000 U.S. citizens on the islands of Saipan and Tinian, in the northern Mariannas chain are enduring sustained winds of 180 mph and gusts over 200 mph from supertyphoon Yutu, the strongest storm on record to strike these islands. Yesterday they were preparing for 120 mph winds, which would have been survivable. Yutu rapidly intensified over the past day to an unexpected monster strong category 5. Structures in the northern Mariannas are built to withstand supertyphoons, but Yutu is significantly stronger than any storm to strike this islands in recorded history. Moreover, island topography can intensify wind gusts. Gusts well over 200mph are likely. Downslope wind intensification will cause extreme gusts in the most heavily inhabited parts of Saipan on the western side of the island. The northern side of the storm which is hitting Saipan is the leading edge and thus likely the strongest side. Saipan is getting no breaks. The island Tinian, south of Saipan, is now almost wholly engulfed in Yutu’s eye. [...] This has been an extraordinarily active year in the tropics with about twice the normal amount of hurricane energy released in the northern hemisphere. Over the past decade records show that the strongest storms have been growing stronger. This is happening because 90% of the heating caused by increasing greenhouse gas levels has been taken up by the oceans. Because the surface layer of warm water has thickened in the tropical and subtropical oceans, less cool water wells up from below and category 4 and 5 storms become more likely. The U.S. is now suffering from the disastrous impacts of its failure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”
Walter Einenkel writes—Air Force lost jets worth around $6 billion due to Hurricane Michael and climate change denial: “Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida was hit hard by Hurricane Michael two weeks ago. Before the base was destroyed by the hurricane, the Air Force was able to get at least 33 planes, in a fleet of 55 F-22 stealth fighters threatened by the storm, to safety. However, with the short notice, and the nature of the sophisticated equipment, at least 22 military jets valued at around a third of a billion dollars apiece were possibly destroyed. ‘Currently we do not know the extent of any damage to the F-22s left behind due to maintenance or safety reasons, but more information will be available once crews are able to access the hangars and assess the aircraft,’ said U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fort Walton Beach, whose district includes nearby Eglin Air Force Base. Democracy Now had on the New York Times’ David Philipps to discuss updates. He explains that, based on what the Air Force has been able to assess, at least 17 of those planes are, in essence, destroyed, costing ‘somewhere around $5.8 billion.’ This doesn’t include the fact that the base itself will cost around $1.5 billion to rebuild. And it’s very important to note here that one of the reasons these planes were destroyed was that this storm was stronger than storms the base had previously seen.”
Xaxnar writes—Hurricane Willa has Made Landfall - Mexico is getting Hit Hard, the US will also be affected: “Via the Overnight News Digest for October 23, the BBC reports Hurricane Willa is moving inland. Willa has rapidly weakened but torrential rains are falling over west-central Mexico. The US National Hurricane Center has warned of potentially life-threatening flash flooding and landslides. It also warned of large waves and rough surf conditions on the coast of the states of Sinaloa and Nayarit and of continued strong winds. Like Michael, Willa underwent a period of intense growth, according to this October 22 bulletin from the National Hurricane Center. It had since begun to taper off, but the storm was still dangerous.”
OCEANS, RIVERS, LAKES, GROUNDWATER, DROUGHT
mettle fatigue writes—Jordanians, Palestinians & Israelis save the river & build the peace. Should we do less? “Stanford’s 2018 top environmental award given to Jordan River peacemakers, Gidon Bromberg and Munqeth Mehyar, 1994 co-founders of EcoPeace Middle East, a project-oriented NGO [non-governmental organization] bringing together Jordanian, Palestinian and Israeli stakeholders in ‘cooperative efforts to protect our shared environmental heritage.’ The Stanford Law School’s $100,000 Bright Award for an organization in one of 10 rotating regions each year, was created by Stanford Law School alumnus Raymond E. Bright Jr., a lifelong conservationist. ‘Ray’s vision was to recognize important contributions to sustainability around the world and provide an international platform to showcase smart environmental solutions.’ ...Originating in Mount Hermon (Jabal al-Shaykh) at the Lebanon-Syria border, the Jordan runs a 223-mile course, meandering southward through the Kinneret and emptying into the Dead Sea. Along its route, the river flows between Golan Heights and Jordan to its east and Israel and the West Bank to its west. The river is one of the main sources of water for all the surrounding [area]. Although it is culturally, historically and spiritually important, the Jordan has been damaged by pollution and diminished by water diversion. [Rehabilitating it is] especially complicated because it lies in a conflict zone.”
Dan Bacher writes—Public Comment on Delta Stewardship Council's Delta Tunnels Hearing Begins Tomorrow: “The California WaterFix Public Hearing before the Delta Stewardship Council that started today will continue on Thursday, October 25 at 9:00 a.m. ‘The Presiding Officer anticipates public comment to begin after noon on Thursday,’ according to Wednesday’s announcement from the council. ‘Public comment will continue on Friday beginning at 9:00 a.m.’ Update: The public comment period for the Delta tunnels hearing begins today, after lunch about 1:00 - 2:30 PM. For those attending the hearing in person, free public parking will be available in the lot across the street from the Ramada Inn. The hearing will also be accessible via webcast.”
Dan Bacher writes—Delta Caucus Opposes Federal Loan for Construction of Jerry Brown's Delta Tunnels: “Members of California’s Legislative Delta Caucus, including its co-chairs, Sen. Bill Dodd, D-Napa, and Assemblymember Jim Frazier, D-Discovery Bay, sent a letter today to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency objecting to a $1.6 billion federal loan for construction of the state’s controversial twin tunnels project on the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta known as WaterFix. ‘This project poses devastating environmental consequences for the state’s most important waterway while threatening the economic vitality of the entire region,’ said Dodd, one of nine lawmakers to sign the letter, in a press release. ‘Since it won’t produce one new drop for central and southern Californians – and project estimates appear to be skyrocketing -- it seems highly inappropriate to spend to spend this money on it now. We should instead be investing money in efficiency, reuse and storage efforts that provide real benefits without jeopardizing the health of the Delta.’ ‘The WaterFix plan would be a catastrophic boondoggle for the Delta region and the entire state, while not creating a single drop of new water,’ said Frazier, who represents the Delta region in the Assembly. ‘Its environmental and financial impacts would ruin the Delta region’s small-town communities, devastate local farmers, degrade water quality and worsen the quality of life in already disadvantaged communities’.”
CANDIDATES, STATE AND DC ECO-RELATED POLITICS
pines of rome writes—California Democratic Candidate Gavin Newsom's Comments on High Speed Rail and Twin Delta Tunnels: “Because it’s likely that Gavin Newsom will be the next Governor of California, it’s important to review his thoughts on two of the large infrastructure projects that Governor Jerry Brown has been pushing fervently, but which have run into financial and political stumbling blocks. These are the High Speed Rail and Twin Delta Tunnels projects. [...] he’ll keep building the state’s two contentious public works projects: the bullet train and twin water tunnels. But he’ll scale back both. Newsom will concentrate on completing a high-speed rail line from the San Joaquin Valley to the San Francisco Bay Area. The southern half of the ambitious project, from the valley into Los Angeles, will be delayed until the initial line proves to be financially feasible and can attract more money from taxpayers or private investors. As for the embattled water project in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, Newsom will try to reduce its size to one tunnel. That would ease northern fears of a Southern California water grab.”
Jennifer Boddicker writes—Bringing Science Back to Fix Red Tide: “It’s time to make America, especially Florida, smart again. We've got some extremely complicated issues that need scientific expertise. Climate change and toxic algae are huge concerns, and not unrelated. Warmer waters encourage the growth of microbes. Covering one’s ears and saying ‘la-la-la’ to science (as my opponent does about climate change) won’t do the job. Myself—a microbiologist—and several other scientists running for the Florida Legislature vow to fight for environmental issues, especially water quality. Lax environmental enforcement for the past eight years has led to red tide and toxic algae catastrophe in our water and on our beaches. Rick Scott and his Legislature de-funded the Department of Community Affairs, responsible for growth management, and gutted the Department of Environmental Protection and Water Management Districts, responsible for water quality monitoring and enforcement. The results of Rick Scott’s gross mismanagement are clear: massive marine kills from harmful algal blooms–fed by fertilizer and sewage run-off. Human health and safety suffer, as well as Florida's beaches and tourism economy.”
BYPRODUCTS, TRASH, TOXIC & RADIOACTIVE WASTE
MarineChemist writes—Update: Fukushima Derived Contamination in Pacific Surface Water Up Until 2017: “The purpose of this post is to summarize a recently published, peer-reviewed study that documents levels of Fukushima derived contamination in surface waters of the Pacific Ocean. This post is part of an ongoing series aimed at communicating scientifically derived information about the impact of the disaster on marine environmental and public health. Michio Aoyama and colleagues measured the activity of Cesium-137 (137Cs, half life ~30 years) and Cesium-134 (134Cs, half life ~ 2 years) in seawater collected from the western Pacific Ocean including waters off the coast of Fukushima Prefecture from 2011-2017. They found the following: • Contamination decreased dramatically and rapidly in waters offshore of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) from maximum values of ~3000 Becquerel per cubic meter (Bq m-3) of seawater in 2011 to values in 2015-16 of ~2-3 Bq m-3. This precipitous decline is consistent with the ongoing but relatively low rates of release of radionuclides from the site compared to the bulk of contamination that was released in March-April 2011. • Levels of 137Cs close to FDNPP now are similar to levels of contamination present there before the disaster occurred (1.5-2 Bq m-3) owing to atmospheric nuclear weapons testing in the middle of the 20th century. • Levels in the western Pacific were around 1-7 Bq m-3 in 2011-2012 but stabilized at lower values in 2017. Levels being measured in nearshore and offshore waters in the western Pacific near to Japan do not approach levels known to represent a credible risk for ocean or public health.”
ENERGY
Fossil Fuels
Sher Watts Spooner writes—Coal is dying, and Trump knows it: “Of all the empty promises Donald Trump made on the campaign trail in 2016, perhaps the cruelest one was the vow he made to coal miners that the coal mining industry would come roaring back. It hasn’t. And it never will. In the first year of the Trump presidency, the administration announced with much fanfare that it would develop plans to prop up and subsidize both the coal and the nuclear industries. That was supposed to be a project run by Energy Secretary Rick Perry, who proposed several plans over the last year to force power companies to keep coal plants running, all in the name of national security. But none of the bailout plans went anywhere, and it seems that the administration has thrown in the coal-stained towel (at least for now) in the move to subsidize the failing industry. The main concern was who would pay for the multibillion-dollar bailouts.”
REGULATIONS & PROTECTIONS
TXL writes—Trump Taps Pro-Pollution Member of Texas Environment Commission for EPA Panel: “Donald Trump has picked a member of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) to sit on the EPA’s Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee, the only remaining advisory panel focused on air quality as the Trump administration seeks to eliminate scientific voices from the policy-making process. Trump’s pick, Sabine Lange, is a toxicologist who participated in a 2015 panel meant to undermine newly-created EPA rules meant to reduce pollution from smog and ozone.On the panel, Lange tried to argue that the EPA’s ozone pollution standards—made by the same committee Lange now sits on—were too stringent because ozone exposure isn’t as bad for you as most scientists claim. As one critic pointed out, Lange based this ludicrous claim on average exposure in healthy people. That was an extremely problematic suggestion because air pollution of any kind, including from ozone, disproportionately harms vulnerable populations. Using average exposure in normal people as evidence that current standards are too harsh is a dishonest way of hiding the worst effects of air pollution on at-risk populations like children and the elderly.The Clean Air Act is clear that the EPA must regulate air pollution at levels adequate to protect public health—the public health of everyone, not just healthy people.”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Week of Drama In the Interior: Inspector General Report Out, Inspector Herself Still In: “The Trump team has never been known for its smooth operation, despite Trump’s insistence that his administration is a ‘well-oiled machine.’ Case in point: last week the Department of Interior’s Inspector General released a report about Secretary Ryan Zinke violating DOI travel policies, while the DOI’s Inspector General Mary Kendall’s job was itself a matter of contention thanks to administrative confusion. It all started last Tuesday, when the Hill reported that Ben Carson, Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, sent an email to the entire department bidding a “fond farewell” to HUD employee Suzanne Tufts. Tufts, a political appointee, would be leaving HUD to become acting Inspector General at Interior, per Carson’s email. Because of the 18 investigations into Zinke during his tenure so far, the replacement of a nonpartisan career staffer with a political appointee who had zero experience with ethics probes was important news on Wednesday. But apparently it was also fake news.”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Polluters Picked Pruitt’s Science Advisory Board Members, Will They Win Over Wheeler Too? “One of the ongoing fights we shouldn’t have to be having with the EPA is over particulate matter (PM2.5), and its risk to public health. While some of the PM2.5 denial-driven policies have been backburnered, it remains a pressing issue. A new study adds to the weight of evidence showing the importance of reducing PM2.5, finding that 40,000 lives were saved by regulations in 2010. News of this study came, of all places, from Watts Up With That, where Anthony Watts suggested that the reduction in deaths thanks to past regulations means that there’s less reason to implement new laws. Um, if policies are reducing deaths, wouldn’t that mean more policies would further reduce mortality? And wouldn’t that be a good reason for ramping up efforts, as opposed to winding down and letting more people die? Sadly, this sort of stupid reasoning may be even more welcomed at the EPA if polluters have their way and install even more of their own experts on the EPA’s Science Advisory Board.”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Trump Lies About Air Pollution With ‘Shopped Graphic As He Rolls Back Air Pollution Policies: “Not going to lie, friends: we hate having to address a Trump tweet. They’re always so dumb, so misleading, and such a distraction from the actual atrocities his administration is committing. (Not to mention the general skeeviness of scrolling through the responses to his tweet, and drowning in a river of obvious bots, losers with anime avatars, and #resistance grifters.) But the layers of irony and idiocy of Monday’s tweet falsely claiming the US has the cleanest air in the world warrants unpacking. First off, the US doesn’t have the cleanest air in the world. The World Health Organization report the graphic came from said as much--we rank #11. The question, then, is who added the lie, the big bold headline, to the image before Trump tweeted it out? But wait, there’s more! The country-level scale of the graphic glosses over all the local areas in the US that are much worse than others. By averaging the good places with the bad, it obscures how polluted some areas actually are.”
AGRICULTURE, FOOD & GARDENING
Katherine Paul writes—Decision to Uphold Verdict Against Monsanto Sends Bayer Stock into Tailspin: “When the judge in the Monsanto Roundup trial signaled she might overturn the jury’s verdict, we expected the worst. In the end, Judge Suzanne Bolanos slashed the amount of money the jury said Monsanto should pay its victim, Dewayne ‘Lee’ Johnson, from $289 million to $78 million. That may not sound like much of a win, but there was good news in her decision: The jury’s guilty verdict was upheld. What Monsanto really wanted was for Bolanos to throw out the jury’s unanimous decision that Monsanto’s wildly profitable flagship weedkiller caused Johnson’s cancer, and that Monsanto knew all along that Roundup is a carcinogen. That didn’t happen. That was good news for everyone who’s ever fought to get Roundup off the market, and for everyone who’s ever wanted Monsanto to be held accountable for its crimes.”
Attack Gardener writes—The Daily Bucket - Drying the Herb Harvest: “Drying is the main technique I use to keep the herbs I collect throughout the summer. While there are some that don’t dry well (basil, I’m looking at you!), the vast majority of the herbs I grow are easy to dry and store. I use a few different methods, depending on the end result I’m looking for. First, though, a few things to consider before you choose your method of drying. Preserving actually begins with the harvest. Be sure you are harvesting the best of the best. There’s no point in harvesting poor quality herbs — they won’t taste as good or be as medicinally active, if that’s what you’re after. Check the plant over for disease or insects. Diseased plants should be avoided completely or removed, if they’re in your garden. Insects can be relocated, if there only a few of them, but an infested plant is not one you want to harvest. Physical damage is not a huge problem as long as the source of the damage has departed — if the leaf has been munched, make sure the muncher is gone — and the damage is not excessive. Choose plants that are not covered in dirt or debris, as well. If you’re picking plants to dry, it’s better not to have to wash them. The excess moisture can mold your harvest before it has a chance to dry.”
Missys Brother writes—Saturday Morning Garden Blog V 14.43: diary of a mad watering can collector: “I spied a vintage watering can from a distance and started making my way toward it when a friend said ‘Don’t you even think about it.’ Surprised, I turned to face her and she said ‘Don’t you think you have enough watering cans already?.’ I had never really thought about it. I knew I had several cans but really had no idea how many until I actually started gathering them up for this diary. Guess what I’ll be selling at the flea market next year? Before I show you my hoard collection, just some brief history of early watering cans. The earliest watering pots were made from terra-cotta. This one is from the 16th century, 13 ½ “ high and recently sold for $5,647.00. [...] The earliest known implement for watering floors or gardens was the glazed fired clay thumb pot, in use from medieval times, when it was known as a 'water can', until the 17th century. This was a simple narrow topped pot with perforated base filled with water and controlled by the thumb placed over the mouth of the pot. Later all pots were made with roses, in copper and then iron or steel.“
TRANSPORTATION & INFRASTRUCTURE
Rei writes—Dear Established Automakers: So Electric Cars Can't Be Profitable Yet, Huh? “Go on, auto industry, analysts and old-school auto journalists. Tell us how electric cars can’t be profitable today and why we’re stuck with oil for the time being!*** ‘I want to be very clear here,’ Carlos Tavares, chief executive of PSA, the owner of Peugeot, Citroën and Opel-Vauxhall, told reporters at the show. ‘We are moving from a technology-neutral era into an instruction to go electric.’ He said interventions to getmore electric cars on the road are an unwelcome intrusion. *** ‘It’s no wonder, therefore, that carmakers have a tough time making a profit on EVs. Reportedly, Fiat loses $20,000 on each model 500e it sells. And according to credit agency Moody’s, overall returns on auto industry investments in EVs are likely to remain elusive until the 2020s.’ [...] Wait a second, I’m being handed some news here. [...] Huh? Tesla is now profitable? Who the heck, Tesla? This can’t be right; all the big names said you can’t make money on EVs, and they’re the experts! This must be wrong, let’s see where they’re getting this.”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Putting The “Lie” in Gliders: School Says Its Glider Study Is Flawed, Pro-Gliders Claim Vindication: “One of the lesser scandals of Trump’s EPA has been the glider truck issue. To quickly recap, glider trucks are big rigs with rebuilt engines inside new bodies. Because they’re not technically “new” trucks, gliders are exempt from pollution regulations, despite being hundreds of times dirtier than new engines. The Obama EPA tried to close this loophole so that companies couldn’t use glider trucks to evade pollution controls. But then, in November of 2017, then-EPA chief Scott Pruitt cited a study from Tennessee Tech that claimed that gliders perform just as well as new trucks. Pruitt used this study to justify proposing to repeal the rule that would limit the number of gliders a company could sell, and not enforcing it until it’s repealed. Unfortunately for Pruitt, that study was funded by glider manufacturer Fitzgerald. Tennessee Tech faculty later disavowed and expressed concerns about the lack of qualified experts involved in the research. Well, the school just completed an internal investigation and found that the conclusions drawn from the research ‘were not accurate,’ according to a letter sent to the EPA, Fitzgerald and Congresswoman Diane Black (R-TN).”