This is the 572nd edition of the Spotlight on Green News & Views (previously known as the Green Diary Rescue). Here is the September 1 edition. Inclusion of a story in the Spotlight does not necessarily indicate my agreement with or endorsement of it.
OUTSTANDING GREEN STORIES
Rei writes—The New Wave of Electric Cars: Infographics: “Sometimes it’s hard to keep track of how much the electric vehicle market has been changing year to year. Not only are growth rates spectacular — 54% annually globally— but the capabilities of each new generation of vehicles rises dramatically. It is this latter aspect that I wish to focus on today — or, to put it simply… the new generation of electric cars is awesome. ;) The cars we will be going into are the highest sellers in the US and Europe, as well as a couple new ‘rising stars’ from Hyundai and Kia. [...] All of the data discussed therein, including detailed price and package breakdowns, can be found in this spreadsheet. Let’s get started, with the sticky issue of price:
Kestrel writes—Dawn Chorus: Let's Eat! “One of the wonderful things about Dawn Chorus is that our visitors are birders and non-birders alike. Some folks stop by just to look at the pictures, some drop-in occasionally, and some of us are here every Sunday. Some are new to birding while others have been birders for years. That’s what makes it fun. Today I’m going to talk about bird diets and what birds eat. I think if you were to ask the average person what birds eat, you’d probably hear ‘birdseed.’ Or maybe ‘worms.’ Obviously, those are correct answers, but most of us know that bird diets are broader than that. Animals fall into three distinct groups based upon what they eat. This is a natural way to often group animals. Plant eaters are herbivores, meat eaters are carnivores, and animals that eat both plants and animals are omnivores. Those are simple and basic categories. But when researching bird diets, I came across several additional categories when talking about birds. The following info comes from Melissa Mayntz who writes for The Spruce. An avivorous bird eats other birds. This is a popular diet for many of the smaller raptors, such as accipiters, which often prey on backyard birds. In the picture below, which I got from the internet, a female American Kestrel has downed a pigeon. Several larger raptors will also prey on doves or pigeons.”
CRITTERS AND THE GREAT OUTDOORS
Mark Sumner writes—There are whales as old as America ... but their future may not be as long as their past: “There are whales living right now who still carry within their bodies the points of harpoons hurled during the days when the oil from their flesh lit the lamps of the world. There are animals in the Atlantic who were witness to not just the naval traffic of World War II, but the great liners of the early twentieth century and the naval blockade of the American Civil War. There are whales swimming today who were already sliding beneath the waves, when a former school teacher and sailor wrote Moby Dick. As Smithsonian Magazine reports, the Bowhead whale, known for frequenting the Arctic, is a chronological giant among giants. Individuals examined have been estimated at 211 years, making it entirely possible that there are still whales alive who are older than the United States. That age is humbling — if not staggering. But it also helps explain why the recovery of these animals from the period of heavy hunting of whales is still far from complete. These aren’t creatures who reproduce quickly and turn over generations like autumn leaves. They are centuries coming and going, and the recovery of their population is a thing of millennia.”
Attack Gardener writes—The Daily Bucket - Saving a Life: “If you’re a gardener, you know that a load of weeding is a beautiful sight, something to admire and congratulate yourself about. Round about Monday night, though, it was edging over into an eyesore. I was relaxing with a good book, with no intention of moving, but it kept drawing my eye and finally, with some grumbling, I took it out back to dump it. Now, our dumping area for yard waste is in the woods and we had recently dragged a bunch of storm-broken branches back there and piled them on top of the whole mess. We regularly see wildlife back there, mostly small birds and rodents and once in a while a fox, so when I saw something jump down off the pile, I wasn’t startled but I was a little surprised how big it was. I moved forward as slowly and quietly as I could and, peering over the top of the tangle, I saw a large raptor on the ground with his back to me. I don’t actually know what sex the critter was but call it a he for convenience — it struck me as a he and calling him ‘it’ seems disrespectful. :) He was beautiful. Gorgeous reddish brown feathers, a tan, somewhat speckled breast and silver-green eyes and a barred tail with white tips. My first thought was he’s a Cooper’s hawk who missed his strike. But then he tried to walk away from me and wobbled rather badly and didn’t have the strength to make the leap to fly off. Well, maybe he not only missed his strike but bashed his head on a branch or something. Have you ever seen one of the bird-hunting hawks maneuver? The wonder is they don’t break their heads very often, dodging and swooping the way they do.”
enhydra lutris writes—The Daily Bucket - August 2018 Yard Report: “Castro Valley, near Oakland, CA; approx 37.7N by 122W, 400 feet elevation. This is part of my ongoing project to document the changes in our yard from month to month.”
Besame writes—Daily Bucket: The Progress of Pasquale, a Condor Chick in a Redwood Tree: “Condor chick, Pasquale, hatched on Easter (April 1st, 2018) in the hollow of a Big Sur redwood tree to parents Redwood Queen and Kingpin. Parents feed condor chicks several times a day for at least the first few weeks. One parent stays with the chick constantly, while the other parent forages. After that, feedings are about once a day (every 10 hours) as the bird gets bigger. Both parents will leave the nest to forage, staying away longer as the chick gets older.”
OceanDiver writes—The Daily Bucket - going to seed: “September 1, 2018. Pacific Northwest. It’s late summer and plants are going or gone to seed now as days shorten and it’s cooler.”
OceanDiver writes—The Daily Bucket - final insect floral fall frenzy: “Both these Potter wasps and Paper wasps look a lot like Yellowjackets, but unlike YJs they are not aggressive toward people. I stood nearby watching them for quite a while, and their only interest was the flowers. Their natural histories are distinctive too. Potter wasps are solitary. The females build small mud huts stuck to a surface for laying eggs in. They’ll paralyze caterpillars and drop them into the pot for the larva to feed on once it hatches. Interestingly, the more caterpillars in the pot the greater the likelihood the adult wasp will be female (articles.orlandosentinel.com/...). Many caterpillars in your garden are foliage-munching pests, so having potter wasps around is win-win for a gardener. Adult potter wasps feed on pollen and nectar, and are pretty mellow. ”
PHScott writes—The Daily Bucket: Virginia Fall Wildflowers on Grey Branch Road: “A Virginia vacation always includes a trip down Grey Branch Rd to look for flowers. The gravel road runs along a meadow between 2 slopes, narrow at the start but the meadow widens as we go down. A small branch flows thru. The road is cut into one slope for most of the country mile. It's steep with exposed rock on the driver's side going down but plenty of spots for plants to root and the shoulders are fertile. While stopping often, only 1 ATV and 1 pickup passed during the 20 minutes - usually none. Spring summer fall, there's something blooming. Fall has lots of yellow, purple, white - and lots of them are in the Aster family. [...] Joe Pye Weed, having been kicked out of Eupatorium, is now Eutrochium. In Virginia, there are 3 species - Spotted, Sweetscented or Hollow. [...] A year ago, almost to the day, I posted this Daily Bucket about VA wildflowers. Some of the names are different but the flowers remain the same. For a wintery view of Grey Branch Rd, this bucket is way cool. ”
accumbens writes—Science or Spying? Tracking Animals from Space: “A 16-year effort to detect from space the movements of small animals tagged with radio transmitters got a boost last week when Russian cosmonauts unfurled an antenna on the International Space Station. The 3-meter-by-2-meter device should become fully operational in 2019, giving animal researchers more comprehensive movement data over larger areas than they can monitor with handheld receivers in the field. They say the data will aid conservation and understanding animal behavior. Members of the International Cooperation for Animal Research Using Space (ICARUS) group have designed 5-gram tags that can send the space-based antenna many kinds of data, including an animal's location and acceleration and the temperature and magnetic field in its surrounding environment. The antenna can scan 120 such tags over a 30- to 800-kilometer area every 3 seconds. Among many planned projects, the ICARUS team will test whether the behavior of goats on Italy's Mount Etna predicts its eruptions and track African fruit bats to better understand Ebola's spread. Interesting, huh? And undoubtedly this technology will be a big boon for animal behaviorists, environmentalists, ecologists and more. But the fact that the transmitter weighs 5 grams, something less than one-fifth of an ounce, and that it’s the Russians who have developed it and have the technology to monitor the signal from space, makes me wonder how easily it could be used to track human animals without them knowing it. Just sayin’.”
Mrmuni12 writes—Meanwhile, back in Arizona: Major study of the Risks to the State/World From Climate Change: “I am a huge proponent of the idea of weaponizing conservation and climate change issues for this year’s election to the greatest extent possible. Well, according to a major new study in the Journal of Science, led by scientists at the University of Arizona: Ecosystems across the world will dramatically transform as climate change's effects increase, a new study warns. Arizona's forests could retreat with rising temperatures and its deserts could turn hotter and more volatile in the coming century. The study says human-caused climate change could accelerate changes in vegetation around the globe, filling lush forests with flammable brush and worsening drought conditions where relief is needed most. [...] The findings are part of a University of Arizona-led report published in the journal Science, which warns that the earth could warm as much as it did in the thousands of years since the last ice age if greenhouse gas emissions are not substantially reduced. The good news in the Study is that, if everything Trump and the Rethugs are trying to do is reversed, there is still time to dramatically delay these patterns. I am also personally of the belief that if we get enough of a delay, some of the damage may be reversible by new technology. But we have to get the delay, which means fighting against everything Trump and his environmental saboteurs stand for.”
Lenny Flank writes—Wild Florida: The Fiddler Crab: “There are about 100 species of Fiddler Crab in the genus Uca, that can be found on virtually every tropical and temperate ocean shore. The name comes from the grossly enlarged claw of the male, which he waves around as a mating display and also as a territorial signal to other males. In South America, this waving action has led to the nickname “sewing crabs” or ‘tailor crabs.’ There are several species of Fiddler Crab found on the Atlantic coast of the US, distinguished by size and by the shape of the enlarged male claw. The most common in Florida is Uca pugilator. This is one of the smaller species, which ranges from Massachusetts Bay all the way down to the Florida Keys and up around the Gulf of Mexico to Pensacola, where it is largely replaced by the Sand Fiddler U panacaea. There is also a population of U. pugilator on the other side of the Atlantic, along the central African coast. The similar species U. pugnax and U. minax are less common in Florida. The minax species, known as the Red-Jointed Fiddler Crab, often enters fresh water, and is common in the aquarium pet trade.”
dot farmer writes—Thoughts on an old bird guide: “Yesterday, a friend showed me 2 copies of an old bird guide passed down to her - its title - Land Birds East of the Rockies, by Chester A. Reed. It was originally published in 1906. The copies I saw were printed in 1951 by Doubleday & Company Inc. Considering how long ago it was first published, the illustrations were pretty good. Not good enough to separate similar sparrow or wren species or individuals with juvenile plumage, but as good as many other guides published much more recently. Its species inclusion was pretty complete for the chosen parameters. It was those chosen parameters that made it seem odd. No water associated birds of any kind were included. No waterfowl, gulls, terns, shorebirds, waders or rails. Owls were included, but all diurnal raptors were omitted. Game birds were omitted. That left out Turkey and Bobwhite.”
CLIMATE CHAOS
Pakalolo writes—Warm ocean water has penetrated deep into the Arctic interior portending year round loss of sea ice: “New research by Yale University and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution warns of calamitous climate impacts, due to a doubling of Arctic Ocean ‘heat content’ in a massive pool of water that originated hundreds of miles away in the Pacific Ocean (‘via the Chukchi Sea and Alaskan Coastal Current’), and also from the retreating edges of the deep ( 1.2 miles) and year-round ice covered Canadian Basin, where there are an ebb and flow of melting Arctic sea ice each and every summer. This has been caused by the solar heating of ice-free surface waters in the N. Chukchi Sea. That particular area of the Chukchi is the pathway for stratified waters (halocline) entering the Beaufort Gyre. This is extremely complicated science, and researchers are doing all they can to figure out what is going on in the rapidly warming Arctic. In the Arctic, the surface waters are colder than the warmer temperatures below, by a few degrees. This stratification of the water column is what keeps the water from mixing, permitting sea ice to grow, and keeping the climate stable. The PRI, a consortium of Arctic climate scientists, writes that there is trouble occurring in the gyre, posing a threat to Europe and North America with even more severe winter cold and storms than in years past. Warming is also changing the jet stream, notes PRI, causing the ‘loopiness’ that allows bitter cold Arctic temperatures to penetrate south to the world’s temperate zones, and that zone’s temperatures to be sucked to the Arctic, melting ice during the winter.”
Schools for Climate Action writes—No Educator or Educational Institution Needs to Be Silent Witness to Harm Caused by Climate Inaction: “Since December 2017, twenty-three school boards in California, Colorado, and New York have passed climate action resolutions. Together, these resolutions do 3 things: 1. Drive a paradigm shift so that individuals and institutions recognize climate change as a generational justice issue; 2. Clearly articulate non-partisan political will for Congress to act on climate, such as passing a bipartisan carbon-pricing policy; 3. Celebrate and expand intra-district responses to climate change such as curriculum, school food, and school transportation initiatives. Here are some example passed resolutions: Sonoma County Office of Education; Albany (CA) Unified School District; Harmony Union School District; San Lorenzo Unified School District; Tamalpais Union High School District. Schools for Climate Action is a youth-adult, non-partisan, grassroots campaign with a mission to empower school communities to speak up for climate action to protect current and future students.”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Two New Studies Show Engagement With Climate Allows Deniers To Move Beyond Heuristics: “One of the key social and political drivers of climate denial is political polarization: most conservatives see the issue as a liberal concern, and therefore don’t care. It’s a heuristic, a mental shortcut the brain uses to maximize efficiency and speed in decision-making. Any information they hear about the subject gets filtered through that lens, making it all but impossible for the GOP to treat the issue seriously. This has long been a key strategy of organized denial, and explains why the far right still reference Al Gore at bizarre and unrelated times. Since there’s little chance of changing deeply held ideological beliefs like this, it’s been a tough spot for climate change activists. But two recently published studies provide something of a common sense answer of how to get people to care about climate change: find a way to make them engage with the science, impacts and solutions. One study, published in PLOS One last week, had research subjects participate in a mock UN climate negotiation with an interactive climate policy simulator. The researchers found that the simulator led to a greater understanding of the issue, more feelings of hope and urgency, and a desire to find out and do more about climate change.”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—B-List Deniers Hold Climate Denial Conference in Portugal: “Today and tomorrow, Porto University in Portugal will be home to some of the most laughable deniers on the planet as they gather for a two day conference on the Basic Science of a Changing Climate. We don’t recommend taking these jokers seriously. Before the event even started, DeSmog UK [...] reported on the conference’s first embarrassment. The banking giant Santander’s logo is presented as a sponsor on the (poorly designed, barebones) website--but the company told DeSmog UK point blank that it “is not a sponsor of this conference.” As it turns out, Santander’s name was only on the website because it’s a general sponsor of the University’s international conferences program. Smart move by Santander to disavow this circus: the few folks in attendance whose names we recognize aren’t even top tier deniers, much less top tier scientists.”
ECO-ACTION & ECO JUSTICE
Dan Bacher writes—Local Climate Justice Advocates to Protest Expansion of Tar Sands Refining Without Proper Review: “As thousands get ready to march in the Rise for Climate Day of Action in San Francisco September 8 and the city gears up to host the Governor Jerry Brown co-sponsored Global Climate Action Summit next week, area climate and environmental justice advocates say local air regulators mandated to protect air quality and the climate are taking significant steps to allow increased tar sands refining and creeping refinery emissions in the Bay Area, Major public protest is expected tomorrow, September 5, at the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) Board of Directors meeting at 9:30 a.m. at the agency’s headquarters at 375 Beal St., San Francisco. The event will preceded at 8 a.m. by an Idle No More SF Bay-led prayer circle and teach-in outside BAAQMD headquarters, according to a press release from the Communities for a Better Environment, 350 Bay Area and the Sunflower Alliance. The local climate and environmental justice advocates say they plan to ‘sound the alarm about the widening gap between lofty California climate goals and the reality on the ground here in the Bay Area and other refining centers in the state’.”
Dan Bacher writes—A must-read before the Rise for Climate March Sept. 8: Big Oil and WSPA's Grip on California: “In all of the press releases, announcements and reports I’ve seen regarding the Brown’s Last Chance campaign and the Rise for Climate Day of Action in San Francisco on September 8, I have not seen any serious discussion of the reason for the expansion of oil drilling in California and the state’s pro-oil and gas industry policies in recent years: Deep Regulatory Capture by the Western States Petroleum Association and Big Oil. Speakers at the events I’ve covered to date have not discussed this key issue that we must address if we really want to stop Big Oil, Big Gas and other corporate interests from ravaging California and the planet. In order to better educate activists and the public about why things are the way they are in California politics now, I am sharing an expanded and revised version of a short presentation that I made on June 14 along with four other panelists at a Poor Peoples Campaign (PPC) teach-in entitled: “This Is What Money Buys: Who Controls California?" in Sacramento last night. For more information about the PPC, go to the national website at: www.poorpeoplescampaign.org. Who Owns California: the Western States Petroleum Association and Big Oil.”
birches writes—RISE! For Climate, Jobs, and Justice! on September 8th: “Saturday, September 8th is the Rise for Climate, Jobs, and Justice March. This event formally kicks off a week and a half of climate change and environmental justice activities and demonstrations happening in San Francisco and worldwide, centered around the Global Climate Action Summit being held September 12-14 in San Francisco. You don’t have to be in San Francisco to participate! There are marches and events happening everywhere on the 8th. Find one on this map or start an event yourself with a couple of friends! Assistance in establishing your own local event can be found here. If you can be in San Francisco for the March, you can find information and links to what the March is and who’s involved here. Make sure you click on the list of partners to see who’s participating — it’s massive. The March will start at the Embarcadero and end at Civic Center where all the surrounding streets plus the street between the Main Library and the Asian Art Museum will be turned into a giant mural.”
birches writes—Come to SF for the 8th!! And if you can't be here...: ”There’s a march in Sacramento; There’s a forum in Ukiah; There are 6 events happening in LA; Reno and Vegas are in on the action; And Phoenix, and Flagstaff; Las Cruces and Waco; Fayetteville and Mobile; Tampa and Savannah; Knoxville and New Bern; Ottawa and D.C., Lansing and Wichita; Denver and Grand Forks and Winnipeg and Regina, Mexico, Jamaica, Brazil, Colombia, South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, Egypt, India, Australia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Tajikistan, Japan, South Korea, Russia, Spain, Iceland, Norway, Papua New Guinea, New Zealand, and so many more! Why? Because we RISE for Climate, Jobs, and Justice! It’s time for a fast and just transition to a 100% renewal bee economy that protects workers, Indigenous peoples and frontline communities. Environmental, racial, and economic justice for all!”
Meteor Blades writes—Activists everywhere will Rise for Climate, Jobs & Justice in marches on Saturday. Join one: “The importance of the concept laid out in the [The Rise for Climate, Jobs & Justice] name cannot be overstated. Addressing climate change the way it ought to be dealt with means disruption. But not dealing with it, or dealing with it in a half-assed manner, means much greater and deadly disruption. Focusing on climate, jobs, and justice can mean trillions of dollars in savings and trillions of dollars of private and government investments that produce clean energy and related jobs. It also means taking environmental justice seriously.The poorest, most vulnerable people on the planet will face the biggest climate-related problems with the fewest resources to ameliorate them, just as has been the case with other environmental issues throughout the industrial age. Environmental justice is not an add-on. It must be an integral part of the transformation we make. And that means listening to the needs and concerns of people who usually only get talked at or flat-out ignored.”
FoundingFatherDAR writes—Coastal Cleanup Day - Next Sat., Sept. 15: “The International Coastal Cleanup began more than 30 years ago, when communities rallied together with the common goal of collecting and documenting the trash littering their coastline. The movement was catalyzed by the passion and spirit of two committed individuals. Back in 1986, Linda Maraniss moved to Texas from Washington, DC, where she had been working for Ocean Conservancy. She’d been inspired by the work her Ocean Conservancy colleague Kathy O’Hara was doing on a groundbreaking report called Plastics in the Ocean: More than a Litter Problem that would be published the next year. Oceans; Lakes; Rivers; Creeks; Parks. Check here for a location of a cleanup event near you. Or set up your own location if none near you.”
POPULATION, SUSTAINABILITY & EXTINCTION
birches writes—Pretty birds you got there...: “The Spix’s macaw, the bird that starred in the kids’ movie, Rio, was just declared extinct, along with 7 other bird species. These are not isolated island species, susceptible to small pressures pushing them over the edge. Five of these species, including the Spix’s macaw, were Brazilian rainforest birds and their extinctions have been attributed to human-caused deforestation. Do you know where your fast food hamburger comes from? Most likely it’s from cattle raised on land that was formerly rainforest in Brazil. [...] Find a RISE for Climate, Jobs, and Justice march or event near you and attend! If there isn’t one near you, make an event.”
Pakalolo writes—The Macaws who inspired the character Blu in the animated film 'Rio' have gone extinct in the wild: “A multi-year study conducted by BirdLife International, “the avian authority” for the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), has confirmed that the gorgeous blue-feathered macaw, which was the inspiration for the Disney Pixar film Rio, has been confirmed as extinct in the wild. The bird had been on the red list of threatened species since 2001, after vanishing from its dwindling habitat. IUCN believes that 26,000 species of animals and plants are on the threatened red list. This raises alarms that a sixth mass extinction may be accelerating. According to Wiki, the species had evolved in a specialized habitat—known as a gallery forest—that grows along a narrow drainage corridor as small as a few feet wide, along the Rio São Francisco, a river that abuts a landscape with very few trees and limited foliage, such as is seen in a desert or savanna. The bird nested, fed and roosted in the small Tabebuia tree. Logging in the specialized habitat doomed this magnificent creature to extinction, with only a known captive population of only 60-80 of the blue birds left worldwide.”
OCEANS, WATER, DROUGHT
diverdonreed writes—WHY REPUBLICANS CAN'T HANDLE ALGAE BLOOM: “You have seen the pictures of the Florida algae crisis: dead animals on the beaches, seawater so thick with glop you could pick it up with your hands—except you would not want to, because some of it is toxic like liquid poison oak. Getting rid of algae was once my job. From 1972-86, I worked as a professional scuba diver at Marine World Africa USA. Using scrub brushes and a vacuum hose, I cleaned algae off the walls, floors and windows of the giant aquarium tanks. The sharks, dolphins, eels, seals and killer whales produced waste, fertilizing the microscopic plants. Add the heat of Summer, and you could almost see it grow. [...] Unfortunately, Republicans don’t want to spend money (which might mean taxing the rich) and they hate government regulations for essentially the same reason. It is cheaper in the short run to just dump garbage in the ocean, and let somebody else worry about it—whereby we have the algae explosion. When Republican Governor Rick Scott came to office in 2010, Florida had a $700 million program for the state’s seven water districts, to fight algae bloom. With apparently zero thought for the future, Scott canceled the program’s funding. Since then he has been forced by public pressure to grudgingly restore a portion of the funds, but nowhere near what had been budgeted before.”
wade norris writes—Geo-engineering Ancient Lakes - off setting sea level rise and Mega storms: “The heat is causing too much water to enter the atmosphere, and the Earth's weather patterns are distributing that water back onto the mainlands and swamping the islands and coastlines. We must redistribute that water through technology, instead of letting Mother Nature do it through more and more fierce typhoons, hurricanes and rainstorms. How do we do this Fortunately,the technology already exists with us and has the potential to bolster low fresh water reserves around the World. Through technology, we have had the ability to create freshwater from Saltwater through desalination plants which are in use in several countries. They,however, have typically been powered by coal. Now however, through the usage of Concentrated Solar Power Plants – we can create rivers and lakes in places that are now deserts.”
Dawn R. Wolfe via Daily Correspondent writes—Pencils, paper, and bottled water: Children in Detroit, Flint return to class with the taps shut off: “Students returning to school this week in Detroit and Flint have a few things in common. Children in both cities are more likely to be living in poverty, most of them are people of color, and all of them will be using bottled water because of real concerns that the water flowing into their school's taps and drinking fountains isn't safe to drink. The Detroit Public Schools announced this week that the system would immediately be switching to bottled water after testing revealed elevated levels of lead or copper. ABC News reported that Nikolai Vitti, DPS's superintendent, expected the shutdown to go smoothly in all 106 schools because the district has experience with similar situations in the past. Previously, the taps were turned off in 18 schools when elevated levels of lead or copper were found. Earlier this year, Flint announced its school system had secured funding to continue providing bottled water to students through the fall 2018 semester as part of the enduring legacy of the Flint water crisis. While MLive reported in July that all tests of the school system’s filtered water showed lead levels below the federal action level, Flint's chief public health adviser, Dr. Pamela Pugh, told Daily Kos that the city is ‘following the recommendations of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)/Genesee County Medical Society (GCMS) and advising that filters are used and bottled water be made available while service lines are being replaced throughout the City’.”
Dan Bacher writes—Protect California Water from Jerry Brown's Delta Tunnels Disaster, Take 3! “This is an urgent action alert from Brenna Norton at Food and Water Watch about stopping the Joint Legislative Budget Committee (JLBC) hearing regarding State Water Project (SWP) funding for Governor Jerry Brown’s Delta Tunnels, scheduled for the third time for Tuesday, September 11, at the State Capitol in Sacramento. The Governor, the Metropolitan Water District (MWD) of Southern California and corporate agribusiness interests including Stewart and Lynda Resnick, the owners of the Wonderful Company, have been leaning hard on legislative leaders to hold this hearing. I urge you to take action now and share this action alert widely: We did it! Thanks to your calls, last week we stopped Assemblymember Bloom's bad bill that we emailed you about below! But Governor Brown is STILL trying to force the cost of the corrupt water tunnels on California residents by getting the tunnel tax hearing rescheduled for a THIRD time to Tuesday, September 11.”
WILDERNESS, NATIONAL FORESTS AND PARKS & OTHER PUBLIC LANDS
Mark Sumner writes—Woman who shrank national monuments heads to oil and gas company to profit from her actions: “Downey Magallanes was a staffer for Roy Blunt, the daughter of Peabody Coal executive Fred Palmer, and deputy chief of staff for Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke. She’s also the woman you can thank for taking millions of acres out of two national monuments in Utah and opening them up for oil, coal, and uranium exploration. Now, with less than two years on the job, she’s done her job. And is ready to collect her reward. She’s moving on from Zinke’s Interior Department to the next best thing—BP. As the Salt Lake Tribune reports Magallanes left her role in the Interior Department last week to take an ‘incredible opportunity’ in the government affairs team at BP. For those who have worried that Trump was failing to drain the swamp, not to worry—this swamp goes both ways. Stephen Bloch, legal director for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, an advocacy group, said in an email: ‘Her prior work on behalf of oil, gas and coal, her family's ties to the coal industry, and the fact that she is headed to BP all point in one direction: that she came to Interior with an agenda to promote fossil fuel development over the interest of the American public’.”
ENERGY
Renewables, Efficiency & Conservation
gmoke writes—First Wind, Solar, Battery Utility Scale Energy Installation: Kennedy Energy Park: “’Kennedy Energy Park is a world-first wind, solar and energy storage facility located in Flinders Shire in central north Queensland [Australia]. The project is owned by Windlab and Eurus. Construction has commenced and it will be generating by late 2018.’ 43 [megawatt] wind from 12 Vestas wind machines (67 meter/ 220 foot blade length) 15MW solar with 2 MW/4 MWH battery.
Kennedy Energy Park will generate around 210,000 megawatt-hours of electricity a year, enough to power more than 35,000 average Australian homes.”
Lib Dem Fop writes—Wind/Solar Power Could Green Sahara, New Urban Turbine Design and BBC Bans Climate Change Deniers: “Researchers at the University of Illinois have modeled what would happen if very large scale wind and solar power stations were installed in the Sahara. If these covered 9 million square kilometres, it would mean lower temperatures, higher rainfall and more vegetation for the desert. Such a large installation is unlikely in the immediate future, if only because the power output would be four times the current world demand. The idea is also not new, in 2009 the Desertec organisation proposed a similar idea, integrating output from renewably resourced electricity production in a system that would power the Middle East, North Africa and Europe. The importance of this study is the impact on vegetation it has shown possible. ‘Our model results show that large-scale solar and wind farms in the Sahara would more than double the precipitation, especially in the Sahel, where the magnitude of rainfall increase is between 20mm and 500mm per year,’ said Dr Yan Li, the lead author of the paper from the University of Illinois, US. ‘As a result, vegetation cover fraction increases by about 20%’."
Pipelines & Other Oil and Gas Transport
Dan Bacher writes—Jury finds pipeline company guilty in Refugio Oil Spill off Santa Barbara Coast: “The jurors found the company guilty of a felony for failing to properly maintain its dangerous, highly-pressurized pipeline, which led to the discharge of crude oil into the Pacific Ocean, killing and injuring fish, birds, sea mammals and wildlife in the spill. Plains was also found guilty of eight misdemeanor charges in People v. Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. These include one count of failing to timely call emergency response agencies following this catastrophic oil spill; six counts of killing marine mammals, protected sea birds, and other marine life; and one count of violating a county ordinance prohibiting oil spills, according to the Attorney General’s Office. ‘Engaging in this kind of reckless conduct is not just irresponsible—it’s criminal,’ said Attorney General Xavier Becerra in a statement. ‘Today’s verdict should send a message: if you endanger our environment and wildlife, we will hold you accountable. At the California Department of Justice, we will continue prosecuting corporate negligence and willful ignorance to the fullest extent of the law’.”
REGULATIONS & PROTECTIONS
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—“Pruitt, Pruitt” “Yes Papa?” “Telling Lies?” “No Papa.” “Open Your Mouth!” “Hah hah hah!”: “If you’re either the parent of a toddler or Extremely Online, odds are you’ve come across the “Johny Johny Yes Papa” insane meme that took over the internet last week. Vox has an explainer for the uninitiated, but to quickly summarize, it’s a short, nightmarishly-animated nursery-rhyme-like clip meant for preschoolers with a very simple story. Little Johny [sic] eats sugar straight from the jar. Papa asks him if he’s eating sugar. Johny says “No Papa.” Papa asks Johny Johny to open his mouth, and Johny does, laughing while revealing his deception. While the various commentary, spin-offs, memes, deep dives into what horrors children’s YouTube has wrought, mash-ups and “Are you Johny Johny or Papa?” quizzes will be parsed by Internet historians for years to come, Johny Johny’s wanton disregard for truth and blase attitude about being caught in a lie couldn’t be a more apt representation of public discourse in the post-truth era. One person who exemplifies this brazen, post-truth era (besides the obvious) is our old friend Scott Pruitt. When Pruitt told CNBC that CO2 isn’t a primary driver of climate change, this was as blatant a lie as Little Johny has ever told. This ran afoul of the EPA’s scientific integrity policy, which is designed to, as the name suggests, ensure the agency is relying on science and evidence to make decisions, as opposed to the whims of political wills. It’s also meant to prevent the politicization, censorship or altering of science at the agency.”
Walter Einenkel writes—Inspector General confirms Trump’s EPA chief doubled security costs in the first 11 months: “A new report out of the Office of the Inspector General gives a good primer on how a corrupt official can quickly waste taxpayer money. According to the New York Times, Scott Pruitt spent his first 11 months as Trump’s head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) figuring out ways to beef up his security—doubling security costs in the process. During that time, ‘the agency failed to justify his requests for protection.’ Surprise surprise! The cost to taxpayers of protecting the E.P.A. chief grew from $1.6 million spent on security for one of his Obama-era predecessors, Gina McCarthy, to $3.5 million for Mr. Pruitt, the inspector general found. This goes along with what was reported over the past year, including his secure $43,000 phone booth—the one he used just once—and his lavish security detail and “secure” travel. Of course, anyone in Oklahoma could have told you that Scott Pruitt loves to spend taxpayer money, as his tenure there included more than doubling the state attorney general’s office budget. Everyone in the White House that was asked about Pruitt’s ballooning budget needs seems to insist that somebody else is at fault.
FOOD, GARDENING, AGRICULTURE
kishnik writes—Saturday Morning Garden Blogging Vol 14.36 ~ Wild Cats in the Garden: “Two years ago, I wrote a diary on raising monarch caterpillars inside. It was a thrilling and magical journey. This year, like last year, I let the monarchs be monarchs outdoors. I can firmly state that it is no less thrilling and magical. It starts with eggs… so tiny that they appear like white dots on a leaf. I’ve been on the lookout for monarch cats all summer long as I have been spotting monarchs flying around the garden here and there, but was finding no action. And then one day while checking things out in the frontyard where I stuffed some milkweed into a planter, lo and behold I find this one, munching calmly along… The following day, while checking on the hungry caterpillar, I saw it was already on the move. The restless traveling off the milkweed usually means the first step towards metamorphosis.”