This is the 585th edition of the Spotlight on Green News & Views (previously known as the Green Diary Rescue). Here is the most recent previous edition from December 15. Inclusion of a story in the Spotlight does not necessarily indicate my agreement with or endorsement of it.
OUTSTANDING GREEN STORIES
Lincoln Green writes—China crushes US in new power transmission infrastructure to carry renewable energy: “We interrupt the mainstream media narrative about fake infrastructure (Trump’s border wall) with news about real infrastructure. China’s main grid operator has powered up its biggest transmission line yet, one that “crushes world records for voltage, distance and power” according to a recent report by Peter Fairly in IEEE Spectrum. China has announced plans to use the line primarily to transmit renewable energy from wind and solar power plants in northwestern China to power-hungry cities in eastern China. In the past this renewable energy has often gone unused due to lack of transmission capacity. The new transmission line is 3,293 km (2,046 miles) long and can carry up to 12 gigawatts (GW), enough to power 50 million households.”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Trump’s Deregulatory Agenda Has A Dismal 5 Percent Success Rate In Courts: “Last week we talked about how the Trump administration is going to keep getting tripped up in courts by facts and reality. Seems like we dropped the ball: last week also saw the release of a new report by the lawyers at EarthJustice detailing their litigation efforts over the past two years. The report focuses on four key cases dealing with pesticides, toxic chemicals, the ozone and offshore drilling. While it’s sad they have to defend these things, it’s encouraging they’ve been so successful. With 118 lawsuits filed against the Trump administration's pro-polluter agenda, those EarthJustice folks have certainly been busy! More importantly, of the 17 cases that have had major decisions, EarthJustice won 16, giving the administration a stellar six percent win rate. Last October, the Brookings Institute put together a status report on Trump’s deregulatory agenda and came to a similar conclusion: of 19 court challenges, the Trump administration won only one case, losing or giving up on the other 18. For those of you keeping score at home, that’s a five percent win rate.”
CRITTERS AND THE GREAT OUTDOORS
giddy thing writes—Dawn Chorus: The Winter Wanderings of Boreal Birds: “The North American Boreal Forest isn’t called “North America’s Bird Nursery” for nothing. This vast biome, stretching from Alaska to the Rocky Mountains and eastward to the Atlantic Ocean, contains some of the most extensive, intact ecosystems on Earth. Diverse landscapes of conifer forest, wetlands, and peatlands support 325 species of breeding birds and nearly half of the 700 bird species that regularly occur in the U.S. and Canada. [...] Each spring, between 1–3 billion birds migrate to the boreal biome to nest and raise their young. And each fall, 3–5 billion adult and young-of-year birds fly south to favored wintering grounds. Some of the more cold-hearty species winter in their breeding range or may descend to lower elevations in more mountainous regions. These “non-migratory” boreal species make occasional erratic movements southward in winter, usually in quest of food. These birds are the feature of today’s Dawn Chorus.”
giddy thing writes—The Daily Bucket - Wolverines: Living on the Edge: “The Beaverhead Mountains are an imposing chain of snowy peaks on the Idaho-Montana divide with several 10,000-ft crests punctuating the skyline. In the middle of winter, my thoughts train on these alpine peaks knowing that deep within their recesses, a female wolverine is about to give birth to her litter of 1-3 kits. Her natal den is snug within a tangle of snow-covered fallen trees and boulder talus near timberline. The den and its branching snow tunnels are blanketed by 3-15 feet of snowdrift, creating an insulated and safe haven for mother and young. The snowdrift will last late into spring, about the time her kits are weaned and ready to follow her to high mountain hunting grounds. Few species live so close to the knife-edge of existence as the wolverine.”
Angmar writes—The Daily Bucket: Operophtera brumata (Winter moths): “ ‘It was a boys’ night out. Female winter moths are flightless, practically wingless, and unable to join this night-time swirling. By day, they often sit on the base of trees, waiting for nightfall, when they crawl upwards, releasing pheromones that attract the males to them for mating. The next morning the wood was still, except for a small flock of great tits and long-tailed tits flitting among the trees, which was a good sign, for they often feast on these moths. At the foot of an oak, there was a scattering of broken wings’.”
Angmar writes—The Daily Bucket: Insect collapse ‘We are destroying our life support systems’: “Scientist Brad Lister returned to Puerto Rican rainforest after 35 years to find 98% of ground insects had vanished. His return to the Luquillo rainforest in Puerto Rico after 35 years was to reveal an appalling discovery. The insect population that once provided plentiful food for birds throughout the mountainous national park had collapsed. On the ground, 98% had gone. Up in the leafy canopy, 80% had vanished. The most likely culprit by far is global warming. ‘It was just astonishing,’ Lister said. ‘Before, both the sticky ground plates and canopy plates would be covered with insects. You’d be there for hours picking them off the plates at night. But now the plates would come down after 12 hours in the tropical forest with a couple of lonely insects trapped or none at all’.”
OceanDiver writes—The Daily Bucket - bluffside woods: “January 2019. Salish Sea, Pacific Northwest. We get sunny days now and then in winter in the Northwest. If I can, I like to get outside to soak in the brief watery sunlight before the next big grey storm system rolls in. On one occasion recently we took a walk out to a rocky bluff we know where the woods meet the sea. The walk from the road takes us through a soggy stretch of mostly deciduous trees like alders, willows and wild fruit trees. After a while the trail takes us into a conifer forest of mostly Douglas and Grand firs, hemlocks and a few of other kinds.”
OceanDiver writes—The Daily Bucket - ducks at the spit: “January 21, 2019
Salish Sea, Pacific Northwest. I treated myself to a diversion over to the spit the other day on my way home after a long session at the dentist in the village. The spit separates the calm waters of a very sheltered bay and the choppy open waters of the channel. Especially choppy this day with a brisk south wind. The ducks in the bay were just chillin while those in the channel were bobbing around in wind chop actively hunting. Buffies were on both sides (they are the most abundant ducks around here in winter). Stopped for some observation and pics of the less common ducks.”
6412093 writes—The Daily Bucket--The Lotuses' Water Treatment Plant: “A month ago I transplanted five aged sprouting lotus seeds into a small aquarium filled with clay dirt. The five sprouts have become a dozen or more, and strive to grow leaves. However an oily sheen appeared on the water’s surface. I can’t just dump and change all the water in the aquarium, since the lotuses are rooted in a couple pounds of mud in the bottom. Iron oxidizing bacteria are probably creating the sheen. The low oxygen in the water allows an anaerobic reaction. So I fired up the aquarium pump. Its cool to watch the pump pull in the oily water and agitate it, adding oxygen and dissolving the sheen. I’m watching to make sure the turbulent water does not upset the lotuses. The pump also causes the solids to settle, allowing cool underwater pictures of the tangled sprouts.”
Otto the Mild writes—US drivers of gas guzzlers kill wild horses: “I am posting this to shame people. Specifically, people who drive gas-guzzling trucks, luxury cars, SUVs, and so on. They just helped kill more than 90 wild horses in Australia. Their big, carbon-spewing vehicles are murder weapons. Temperatures near Alice Springs are topping 115F in an unprecedented heatwave. This heatwave is drying up watering holes, which these wild horses depend on. These particular horses went to their usual watering hole, found it dry, and died of thirst. Adult horses and ponies died a horrific, cruel death. We know that climate change is raising temperatures in areas that were semi-arid already, causing deserts around the world to spread. We know that cars account for one-fifth of US emissions. We know that the US is the worst emitter of carbon on Earth. We know who the guilty parties are. We see them all around us and,in some cases, in the mirror each morning.”
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CLIMATE CHAOS
Marissa Higgins writes—Trump uses Winter Storm Harper as an opportunity to mock global warming: “Sunday morning, President Donald Trump hopped onto Twitter to share his thoughts on Winter Storm Harper, the intense winter storm which has hit the Midwest and is heading East. Mind you, five people have already died, thousands of flights have been canceled, and countless people are without power. Not to mention the dire impact severe weather conditions can have on vulnerable communities, like those who are homeless, can’t afford heat, or live with a disability. Of course, Trump can’t talk about the weather without making some extremely ignorant remarks about climate change. All under the guise of a joke!”
Lib Dem FOP writes—Attenborough At Davos: The Garden of Eden is No More: “Sir David Attenborough has been honored at the WEF at Davos with the ‘Crystal Prize’ for his documentary work. Accepting the award Monday he told the Forum that he is ‘literally from another era.’ I was born during the Holocene—the 12,000 [year] period of climatic stability that allowed humans to settle, farm, and create civilisations. That led to trade in ideas and goods, and made us the globally connected species we are today. [...] The Holocene has ended. The Garden of Eden is no more. We have changed the world so much that scientists say we are in a new geological age: the Anthropocene, the age of humans,’ he declared. In a stark warning to the world leaders and business chiefs flocking to the WEF this week, Attenborough warned that the only conditions that humans have known are changing fast. ‘We need to move beyond guilt or blame, and get on with the practical tasks at hand’.”
AlyoshaKaramazov writes—Is the Tide Finally Changing on Climate Change? New AP Poll Suggests it Is. At least Opinion-wise: “I may be way off base here, but in a country (world?) where marketing is everything, calling this crisis ‘Climate Change,’ is a MASSIVE under-sell. It sounds like you’ve just taken a vacation from North Dakota to New Mexico. ‘Global Warming’ sounds quite pleasant as well. No, really, I’ve overheard people joke that ‘I could do with some of that global warming. I need to get more sun-screen.’ Why not re-brand the damn thing to ‘Climate Crisis,’ or ‘Global Overheating?’”
Ben Chapman writes—Vegetarianism Is Part of the Solution to Climate Change: “Reducing meat consumption must be a part of the solution to climate change because, simply, climate change is likely unsolvable without reducing our reliance animal agriculture. The Guardian reports that livestock and humans now make up 96% of all mammals, and livestock farming generates as many greenhouse gases as all the world’s cars, trucks, and airplanes combined. A 2018 report in Nature detailed these dangers and demonstrated that substantial swaths of the population transitioning to a vegetarian diet is not only be helpful to prevent the worst consequences of climate change, but in fact, it is potentially necessary.”
Jessica Sutherland writes—Huckabee Sanders dismisses AOC and Green New Deal, says climate change is in the hands of God: “Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Sean Hannity spent Tuesday evening bashing millennials in general, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez specifically, with the White House mouthpiece offering a unique counterproposal to the rookie congresswoman’s fight to save the planet. While the GOP spends as little time on efforts to save the planet as it can, it definitely feels like Fox News—and its roster of mouth-frothing screechers—spend most of their time on two tasks: raving about Donald Trump, and ranting about New York Democratic Rep. Ocasio-Cortez. This recent piece from The Onion was a little too on-point! Some days, the amount of time the right-wing propaganda factory spends gushing about Individual 1 and his border wall actually seems to pale in comparison to their wild-eyed and critical coverage of America’s most popular member of Congress. Tuesday night’s episode of “Hannity’s Funtime Fearmongering Story Hour” was no different, with the Trump Whisperer inviting SHS on to talk about those silly millennials and their completely unnecessary desire to save the planet from this whole climate change thing.”
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Extreme Weather & Natural Phenomena
OceanDiver writes—The Daily Bucket - Super Blood Wolf Moon tonight: “January 20, 2019/ Tonight we have a special astronomical event coming up for anyone in the Western Hemisphere who has clear skies after dark. This particular eclipse is the last that will be visible in the U.S. until 2022 Why does it have this special name? Super (slightly closer than average therefore relatively large). Wolf (the traditional name for a full moon in January). Blood (reddish hue from earthlight scattered during lunar eclipse). Moon (must be full, since lunar eclipses only occur at that phase) If the sky is clear, you will be lucky enough to see the eclipse for about an hour. For times, see the chart to the right. Space.com has a page of explanation as to why lunar eclipses occur and why they are somewhat rare. www.space.com/….”
OCEANS, WATER, DROUGHT
Dan Bacher writes—Senator Dianne Feinstein Drops Support for WIIN Act, A Big Ag Water Grab: “In a letter sent out to constituents on January 17, Senator Dianne Feinstein said she has withdrawn her support, at least for now, for the WIIN Act, a controversial federal law that would have weakened protections for endangered salmon and steelhead and other fish species and allowed more pumping of Delta water to corporate agribusiness interests. ‘I understand that you are concerned about a proposed amendment to fiscal year 2019 funding legislation that would have extended portions of the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation (WIIN) Act (Public Law 114-322) related to California drought,’ she wrote.’You may be pleased to learn that this amendment is no longer being considered for inclusion in any current legislative package.’ However, she noted, ‘I strongly believe that we must continue to look for ways to address the increasing threat of drought by investing in water infrastructure, ensuring a reliable water supply, and protecting our state’s fish and wildlife’.”
Dan Bacher writes—Assemblymember Frazier applauds Feinstein for withdrawing support, for now, for WIIN Act amendments: “Assemblymember Jim Frazier (D-Discovery Bay) yesterday released the following statement after U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein announced in a letter to constituents she is withdrawing support, for now, for extending portions of the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation (WIIN) Act, as first reported here on January 20 ( www.dailykos.com/...). ‘Senator Feinstein is listening to her constituents and that is to be applauded. The WIIN Act extensions are dangerous and irresponsible. In her letter, Senator Feinstein stated, “I strongly believe that we must continue to look for ways to address the increasing threat of drought by investing in water infrastructure, ensuring a reliable water supply, and protecting our state’s fish and wildlife.” I agree with the senator. I look forward to working with her to identify sustainable water solutions that won’t devastate the economy and environment of one third of the state to benefit the other two-thirds’.”
Dan Bacher writes—Jacobs Selected as Engineering Design Manager for California WaterFix/Delta Tunnels Project: “In spite of a multitude of lawsuits against it and the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) withdrawing its "certification of consistency" with the Delta Plan developed by the Delta Stewardship Council, the Delta Tunnels/California WaterFix proposal continues to limp forward.”
Dan Bacher writes—PG&E withdraws its application to relicense the Potter Valley Project and Eel River dams: “Today the outlook for salmon and steelhead migrating once again into tributaries of the Upper Eel River watershed to spawn — after being blocked by Scott Dam for many decades — became considerably brighter. In a move welcomed by fishing and environmental groups, the Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) today submitted a letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) notifying the agency of its intent to withdraw its application to relicense the Potter Valley Project (PVP) — and ending its efforts to sell off the project’s two dams and associated diversion works. The letter was sent at critical time for the embattled utility. On January 21, PG&E secured $5.5 billion in credit as it prepares to file for two-year Chapter 11 bankruptcy, according to CNBC (www.cnbc.com/...).
Dan Bacher writes—Hoopa Valley Tribe Wins Lawsuit to Expedite Klamath River Dam Removal: “A federal court of appeals today unanimously sided with the Hoopa Valley Tribe, ruling that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the states of California and Oregon, and PacifiCorp can no longer stall dam license conditions to protect fish. For decades, the Hoopa Valley Tribe has urged aggressive actions to address the degraded water conditions in the Klamath River. PacifiCorp’s FERC license for operation of the Klamath Project expired in 2006. Mandatory conditions and prescriptions for fish passage and water flows followed in 2007, but were disregarded because of delays by the State Water Board, Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, and FERC. ‘This case shows that states must not ignore the rights and interests of tribes with co-management authority regarding fisheries,” said Hoopa Tribal Chairman Ryan Jackson. “Present conditions in the Klamath River, the second largest river system in California, are on the verge of ecologic collapse given the chronic and degraded water quality caused by operation of the PacifiCorp-owned dams under the antiquated conditions contained in its expired 1956 FERC license. It’s a travesty to the communities in the Klamath Basin, that FERC has allowed the unlawful practice to continue’.”
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CANDIDATES, STATE AND DC ECO-RELATED POLITICS
Pakalolo writes—Kamala Harris well positioned to base her campaign on the urgency of action on the climate crisis: “ ‘Sen. Harris believes we are completely under-reacting to the crisis of climate change.’ Lily Adams, communications director. Like everybody else, I am excited about the presidential talent pool that we have in the Democratic party. As many of you know, my only issue is climate change. Our nominee needs to be and will be a climate hawk, we must insist upon it. I do not have a ‘candidate’ yet. But I do have a few favorites that I want to kick the tires with before casting my vote in the Florida primary. I must admit Kamala Harris is becoming a very attractive candidate to me since she announced her run for the presidency. So I went to the google machine and typed Kamala Harris Climate Change. I got a few hits, allow me to share.”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Fossil Fuel Industry Successfully Bought 2018 Elections, Says Fossil-Fueled Daily Caller: “It’s no secret that the fossil fuel industry spends oodles of money to influence the public. Rarely, though, do they take credit for manipulating democracy so that it may serve their private profit better than the public interest. After all, admitting that your industry has more or less bought off the political establishment is a little...dystopian. But in their dystopian myopia, that’s exactly what’s happened. In an apparent ‘exclusive’ (or so the headline says), the Daily Caller’s Michael Bastasch does his job as a scribe for the fossil fuel industry, and ‘reports’ that most of the candidates in 2018 who signed the ‘No fossil fuel money’ pledge were not elected. (Those who signed and were elected, Bastasch notes, includes 11 of the 33 Dems who flipped the House, like progressives Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Ro Khanna of California, and a relatively unknown young upstart you probably haven’t heard of who goes by the name of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.) The source for Bastasch’s ‘exclusive’ is the Environmental Policy Alliance, a front group run by public relations firm Berman & Co. The firm’s namesake is Rick Berman, the PR man known as ‘Dr. Evil’ for his career spent working on behalf of big business.”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—AOSay Can you AOC The End Of The World In 12 Years? No, You Can’t, Because She Wasn’t Being Literal: “To say that the right is obsessed with freshman Rep from New York, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, would be an understatement. The Koch’s Daily Caller, for example, ran sevenstories about her in two days, including one particularly pitiful opinion piece by a conservative PR guy complaining that Saturday Night Live isn’t attacking AOC. So as much as we’d like to talk about amusing and silly deniers (like this random piece that puts the UN and Greenpeace on the same level, calling them ‘Green Overlords’) it’s becoming clear that the right’s going to be spending a lot of time attacking AOC. Which means we have to deal with the fact that the right wing echo chamber spent the week attacking a woman of color for comments she made at an event on Martin Luther King, Jr. day. Everywhere from Fox to Axios to the Daily Caller’s three pieces (not included in the above list of seven), to the American Thinker to USA Today trumpeted a quote of hers, that ‘the world is going to end in 12 years if we don’t address climate change’.”
R Holloway writes—Why in (climate) hell are so many senior House Dems being such godawful climate-change wimps? “Young people have figured out that whether it be from the threat of school mass shootings, rising wealth inequality, or (most especially) unmitigated climate change, their parents’ generation has failed them miserably: if they are to be saved, they are going to have to do it themselves. And that means that all right-thinking oldsters should get of the way, let the youngsters lead, and back them up with all the power and experience they (the oldsters) have. So once again, what is Speaker Pelosi doing today? Pelosi looks to ease concerns of incoming chairmen over climate panel. [...] Incoming Energy and Commerce Chairman Frank Pallone (D-N.J.), Homeland Security Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) and Natural Resources Chairman Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.) — all of whom have expressed concerns over the jurisdiction of the select committee — huddled privately with Pelosi (D-Calif.) over the issue on Tuesday afternoon.”
A Siegel writes—For 2020 and beyond, pay attention to @JayInslee: U.S. (and humanity) needs a #ClimateHawk @POTUS: “For 2020, the Democratic Party is rich in good to extremely good options for nomination to be the next President of the United States of America. From Kamala Harris to Cory Booker, from Jay Inslee to Elizabeth Warren, from … to …, we literally have dozens of (potential) candidates who almost all in the Party would find a good person to vote for and not simply ABT (Anyone But Trump). With candidates announcing seemingly every day, this is a call to pay very serious attention to Governor Jay Inslee during the primary season and beyond. This is not an endorsement of Inslee (even as I have great respect for him and am taking seriously the potential of supporting him in the primary), but a call to take his core message seriously: “The next president must make climate change the top priority. My op-ed in the Washington Post.” For far too long, far too many have consider ‘environment’ a special-interest area, divorced from the rest of policy and that ‘climate’ needs to wait its turn in the policy agenda rather than something truly critical that requires action (now) and is intertwined with virtually every other policy arena and where failure to act dooms progressive agendas (across the board) to failure. And as that ‘far too long’ has been going on, the challenges of and risks of climate change have simply worsened, making aggressive action even more imperative with each passing moment. And, of course, the #CultOfTrump GOP regime is moving the nation the wrong way just when aggressive action is required and becoming ever more feasible.”
WILDERNESS, NATIONAL FORESTS AND PARKS & OTHER PUBLIC LANDS
Ojibwa writes—Public Lands: Along the Lake (Photo Diary): “December 31, 2018. Clear blue skies with the snowclad mountains of Western Montana shining and calling people to enjoy the winter grandeur of Glacier National Park. Heeding this call, we set out to spend my birthday in the Park. With the government shutdown, all visitor services in the Park were closed. The roads in the Park were snowpacked and icy and the temperature was steady at about 16 degrees. Shown below are photographs taken along Lake McDonald between the Lodge and Apgar.”
Susan Grigsby writes—When Joshua Tree National Park was my home : “It was late afternoon when we pulled into the Cottonwood Springs Campground on that September day in 1989. The only ones there, we sat outside of our motorhome and enjoyed a glass of wine and watched while the sunset turned the desert gold. Although this was not the Chihuahuan Desert of Big Bend, where we had been visiting friends, this expanse of the high Colorado Desert, part of the larger Sonoran Desert, was just as beautiful. This was our introduction to Joshua Tree National Monument. [...] We did not know then that we would fall in love with that desert and eventually settle there, happily spending the next 23 years in and near the national monument. We just knew we would volunteer to work there for the coming winter season.”
BYPRODUCTS, TRASH, TOXIC & RADIOACTIVE WASTE
Pakalolo writes—Fifteen charged in lead poisoning of Flint, MI. Key perpetrators skate, new AG promises justice: “The Guardian reports: Now newly elected Democratic Michigan attorney general Dana Nessel has taken over the investigation from 1 January. She enters office after a 2018 campaign in which she labeled the prosecutions ‘politically charged show trials’ designed to benefit her predecessor, Republican Bill Schuette, who ran for governor last year. Though Schuette’s special prosecutor, Todd Flood, initially charged suspects with felonies like involuntary manslaughter and false pretenses, he ended up negotiating seven plea deals for misdemeanors as minor as ‘disturbing the peace at a public meeting’.”
ENERGY
Fossil Fuels
Pakalolo writes—BFD - House Dem's writing legislation to ban Trump from oil drilling off all of our coastlines: “”With GOP control of the Senate, nothing will get past them or Trump for immediate implementation. But once the blue wave crashes on the GOP yet again in 2020, we can implement critical climate policies right out of the gate and eliminate his pro-death agenda from wreaking any more havoc to the extremely fragile climate system. From Oil Change International: The United States should be a global leader in winding down fossil fuel use and production. Instead, the U.S. oil and gas industry is gearing up to unleash the largest burst of new carbon emissions in the world between now and 2050. At precisely the time in which the world must begin rapidly decarbonizing to avoid runaway climate disaster, the United States is moving further and faster than any other country to expand oil and gas extraction.”
Meteor Blades writes—Democrats scrutinize Interior Dept's favoritism to big oil and other actions during shutdown: “On Thursday, the House Natural Resources Committee Democrats hosted a forum to look into the alleged favoritism shown to the oil and gas industry during the shutdown while operations affecting less powerful Americans are shuttered and federal employees try to make up for loss of their paychecks by driving for Uber. While this was not an official hearing since the committee has not yet been formally reconstituted, there were witnesses representing American Indians and environmental advocates. Several industry officials were invited to participate, but nobody from the Trump regime was there. At the forum, Democratic Rep. Alan Lowenthal of California said of the shutdown: ‘People are struggling and our neighbors are suffering. The oil and gas industry has remained unscathed’.”
Pipelines & Other Oil and Gas Transport
Dan Bacher writes—Environmental Leaders Demand Accountability for Gas Well Blowout in Marina Del Rey: “Environmental leaders from the Protect Playa Now! coalition issued a statement on January 22 demanding answers and accountability for a methane gas blowout at a well in the Playa del Rey Oil Field, operated by MDR Hotels, LLC and connected to a methane gas storage field operated by SoCalGas. The coalition’s call to action follow an emergency order released by the California State Department of Oil Gas & Geothermal Resources (DOGGR). Protect Playa Now is a watchdog coalition working to shut down the Playa del Rey gas storage field beneath the Ballona Wetlands and communities along the Los Angeles coast. The blowout shot liquids and 100,000 cubic feet of natural gas 60 feet into the air for 10 minutes on January 11, according to the emergency order and a report by the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services Hazardous Materials.”
REGULATIONS & PROTECTIONS
Walter Einenkel writes—EPA’s fines against big business 85% less under Trump—a historic low: “While the EPA has handed out an average of around $500 million in civil penalty fines per year (adjusted for inflation), the Trump administration only handed out $72 million in fines last year. That is an 85 percent drop in punitive fines handed out for environmental protections violations. As Giles points out, the point of fining businesses for violations is to create a clear financial deterrent, and send the message that it is more affordable for big business to follow the rules than it is to break them. On top of this staggering number, Giles found that the amount of money that big business needed to pay in order to be in compliance of federal laws dropped from $7.8 billion (on average) to $5.6 billion. ‘That represents the lowest amount of injunctive relief since 2003.’ An EPA spokesman told the Post that they were looking into Giles’ analysis and would get back to everybody on that.”
Hunter writes—Michigan drops out of lawsuits against the EPA after Democratic attorney general takes power: “Hey, look: Elections have consequences. New Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has announced that her office will be dropping the state from Republican-pushed lawsuits against the Environmental Protection Agency. ‘Michigan will not be a party to lawsuits that challenge the reasonable regulations aimed at curbing climate change and protecting against exposure to mercury and other toxic substances,’ Nessel said in a statement. Prior Attorney General Bill Schuette had signed the state up for a series of conservative lawsuits against the EPA's air regulations, most of which are seeking to bar the EPA from regulating the emission of greenhouse gasses such as methane. Those lawsuits were launched under the premise that methane, carbon dioxide, and other emissions did not count as ‘polluting’ even if they were slowly raising the temperature of the planet and threatening the very future of human civilization. Nessel is bowing out; the other states will have to continue on their own.”
Renewables, Efficiency & Conservation
mlarson59 writes—Green New Deal? How will we pay for it? (We’ll pay for it just like we pay for everything.): “Robert Hockett, Professor of Law and Professor of Public Policy at Cornell University, Senior Counsel at Westwood Capital and Fellow of The Century Foundation, writes at Forbes about the callouts from conservative pundits and scared politicians who would like to stop the Green New Deal in its tracks: ‘How will we pay for it?,’ they ask with pretend-incredulity, and ‘what about debt?’ ‘Won’t we have to raise taxes, and will that not crowd-out the job creators?’ Hockett notes that Green New Deal-backer Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), whose educational background is in economics, reveals the bad faith in these questions, asking why is it … these questions arise only in connection with useful ideas, not wasteful ideas? Where were the ‘pay-fors’ for Bush’s $5 trillion wars and tax cuts, or for last year’s $2 trillion tax giveaway to billionaires? Why wasn’t financing those massive throwaways as scary as financing the rescue of our planet and middle class now seems to be to these naysayers?””
ECO-ACTION & ECO JUSTICE
NHlib writes—Climate strikes increase: “The Guardian has a story today ‘School strikes over climate change continue to snowball.’ The number of students participating in school strikes for climate action is continuing to rise around the world. Last week more than 60,000 students refused to go to their classes, the largest number yet. Not that you would know from American media. Today in Brussels 35,000 students are striking. (video) The picture at the top is of Greta Thunberg sleeping in a tent last night at Davos, Switzerland where the outside temperature dropped to -18C (0F). She was participating with a group called @ArcticBasecamp that is speaking about Arctic research. Global warming is most noticable in the polar regions.”
AGRICULTURE, FOOD & GARDENING
gmoke writes—City Agriculture - January 22, 2019: “Oasia Hotel Downtown, Singapore—a building growing green a year and a half after being finished; Greenbelly, a vertical grow wall infill design for urban food production; 80 Acres Farms building first fully automated indoor farm in Hamilton, OH; Solar Foods—a Finnish start-up venture which will make food from electricity, water, hydrogen, and trace elements to feed microbes which have ‘a protein content of up to 60 percent and an amino acid composition similar to soybeans or algae’.”
MISCELLANY
AKALib writes—The Shutdown of Science and Scientists: “According to www.sciencemag.org/…, more than a half-dozen agencies that fund or conduct research, including NASA, the National Science Foundation (NSF), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), have been partly paralyzed since 22 December 2018. The shutdown could soon paralyze federally funded scientific facilities and research centers that have been insulated from the pain because they are operated by contractors who get paid in advance, often on a quarterly basis. The shutdown affects not just individuals and families that perform services for the government, but also affects millions nationwide that depend on these services.”
hlspencer writes—The Earth's Magnetic Poles Are Migrating Faster Than Predicted, Shutdown Delaying GPS Update: “According to a January 11, 2019 report from Will Brown of the BGS Geomagnetic Team at British Geological Survey, the earth’s geomagnetic poles, namely the magnetic north, are migrating at a much faster rate than predicted. At such a rate that scientists have had to update the World Magnetic Model much earlier than expected. The model is routinely updated every five years, but due to unpredicted rapid migration of the magnetic north, an update was requested by the US military ahead of the five year update, which was due at the end of 2020. Due to the government shutdown, the US update that was scheduled for January 15 of this month has been postponed until January 30th (it is unclear to me if this is a tentative date that is dependent on the reopening of the government or not). [...] For a better understanding of how it works and our dependence on it, Brown gives an excellent explanation here.”