This is the 617th edition of the Spotlight on Green News & Views (previously known as the Green Diary Rescue). Here is the November 2 edition. Inclusion of a story in the Spotlight does not necessarily indicate my agreement with or endorsement of it.
OUTSTANDING GREEN STORIES
Besame writes—One year ago the Camp Fire overwhelmed everyone's plans: “During the evacuation one year ago, I never thought I’d die in the fire. I only understood how marginal was my escape while watching two Camp Fire documentaries this week.1 I realized that I’d left at the literal last minute. I never considered I’d not make it out. My confidence wasn’t because the situation looked safe or easy but because I had a determined focus on progressing forward. (My evacuation full story is here: When Guy Fieri shows up, you know the disaster is serious - my life in the Camp Fire) Each day this week, I grew more divided with part of me here in my new home, new biome, and an increasing part of me in my burned home/biome. The one-year anniversary’s approach pulled me into memories of my final, safe, carefree day at home on November 7, 2018. Last night I went to sleep in a new bed in a new house in northwest California vividly aware that one year ago was the last night in my bed in my house. I’m pleased to be amidst the redwoods, but I still cling to the other home and biome that’s gone now. For me and 50,000 others, the fire divided our lives into Before and After. Over the past year, we’ve all participated in a world defining event. Paradise, the town, is a reference point now, even among people far away.”
bisleybum writes—The Last Elephant: “It is depressing for someone of a certain age (myself, at 70) to see so much of the world I grew up in threatened with biological loss on such a vast scale. I think back on my childhood, and remember a larger, more exotic world, a world where citizens of China wore silk costumes and lived in pagodas. Where primitive Africans lived in thatched huts, surrounded by elephants and giraffes. Thai dancers. Seal hunting Eskimos. It was geographical education by stereotype, and in the early 1950’s, it was what counted as social studies. I realize now that the view of the world taught to me at that age was a myth, a simplified story to give me a rudimentary image of a world vastly more complex than I was prepared to deal with. Even then, species were threatened, cultures were suppressed by colonialism, and co2 levels had been on the rise since the beginnings of the industrial era. Leaving the myth of an exotic world behind, not withstanding the many very real natural wonders still remaining, I attempt to revisit our modern predicament with a more open awareness, and I find an even starker truth to confront. Very likely within the lifetime of my son and granddaughter, the last elephant will die. [...] What does it mean to say that there will be a ‘last elephant’? A ‘last hummingbird’? A ‘last human’? When we read that 80% of Puerto Rican ground insects have disappeared, does that even register? That ocean life is disappearing at alarming rates? When the last elephant dies, that will herald the total disappearance of my childhood, along with my view of a world that never really existed.”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—WSJ Columnist Andy Kessler is Just As Wrong, Lazy and Biased As Michael Crichton: “On Sunday, the Wall Street Journal’s Andy Kessler used his Inside Views column to once again prove that the Journal’s opinion page is home to the stupidest and laziest takes around. Kessler’s headline advises readers to ‘Follow Michael Crichton’s Rule,’ based on a 2003 talk the famous science fiction (note ‘fiction’ here) author gave called ‘Aliens Cause Global Warming.’ Kessler explains that Crichton’s ‘first example was nuclear winter,’ the name given to the massive amount of cooling due to smoke in the air that some believe would occur after a nuclear war. Kessler, via Crichton, claimed that ‘no one could take the other side of the argument’ because, per a quote by famously climate-denying physicist Freeman Dyson, ‘who wants to be accused of being in favor of nuclear war?’ And that is the crux of Crichton’s (and Kessler’s) argument—that the public bends to social pressure rather than listening to ‘hard science.’ But that’s simply not true. There was a raging debate about nuclear winter, something Kessler would have learned had he simply looked at nuclear winter’s Wiki page or googled ‘nuclear winter debate’ and found, for example, this New York Times story from 1990.”
CRITTERS AND THE GREAT OUTDOORS
OceanDiver writes—The Daily Bucket - FOS trumpeter swans, a little early this year: “Late October 2019. Pacific Northwest. First Of Season Trumpeter Swans! I saw them a week ago Sunday but since we’d been away I didn’t know which day they’d actually arrived. Reports from neighbors indicate that day was the earliest anybody saw them hereabouts. First saw them as we drove past Otto’s marsh on our way home. Next day I heard them from my house. Checking the view down a neighbor’s driveway I saw the first swans had settled onto the pond across the way. [...] A closer look revealed they were all adults. Juvenile swans are grey, and will arrive by and by with their parents, who migrate as late as possible giving their youngsters time to build strength and skill. Some of the adults present here now are clearly pairs, who for whatever reason didn’t breed this summer. Swans maintain longterm relationships with their mates and you can see how close they are, even in a flock.”
OceanDiver writes—The Daily Bucket - up top at Washington Park: “November 8, 2019. Anacortes, Washington. We had some errands to do over on the mainland yesterday and with a few hours to fill before the next infrequent ferry could take us home, we went up to Washington Park, one of the many very nice Anacortes city parks (anacortes.org/...). It was a hazy cloudy day, in advance of the rain front that arrived later last night. [...] Washington Park is up on a steep headland, the bedrock being serpentinite, an unusual geological formation derived from deep below the earth’s surface. The rock breaks down into an infertile soil, an array of minerals only suited to some vegetation. The hillside up to the top is treed: Redcedar, Douglas Fir, Big Leaf maple, Madrona, various willows, and the usual Northwest understory.”
OceanDiver writes—The Daily Bucket - quivering seafoam, and another climate change warning: “October 2019, and past winters. Olympic Peninsula, PacificNorthwest. We saw some nice seafoam at the ocean on our recent visit in October. The weather was unusually calm that week, with the ocean as flat as it gets there and almost no wind, so the seafoam — aka spume — was quivering rather than blowing. I’ve always loved the wildness and drama of ocean beaches, including the drifts of winter seafoam. Unfortunately it appears global climate change is sabotaging even that beautiful and beneficial feature of our coast. Seafoam is a natural phenomenon. It’s formed when the organic material of offshore algae gets churned up in surf and wind. In this video you can see foam where waves are breaking offshore and onto this Olympic Peninsula beach. [...] Seafoam is masses and masses of fluffy bubbles. Why doesn’t all surf generate bubbles? Why do only some bubbles persist on the beach?”
Marissa Higgins writes—In animal rights victory, the Senate unanimously passes bill making animal cruelty a federal felony: “In a major win for animal rights, the Senate unanimously passed a bill making animal cruelty a federal felony. Next step for the bill? Donald Trump’s desk. The Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture (PACT) Act is a very necessary expansion on the 2010 Animal Crush Video Prohibition Act. You might remember this 2010 bill because, as the name suggests, it refers to and banned both creating and distributing “crush videos” of animals, which is as disturbing as it sounds. However, that 2010 bill did not actually ban the act. The PACT Act includes the horrific acts themselves, like crushing, burning, drowning, suffocating, impaling or sexually abusing animals, and applies to mammals, reptiles, and amphibians. It basically works to close a huge loophole. If Trump signs the bill, authorities will have federal jurisdiction to pursue suspects without being bound by state laws. Authorities would also be able to prosecute criminals if the abuse occurs on federal property. If you’re convicted under the bill, you’d face a maximum of seven years in prison, fines, and the felony charge.”
AKALib writes—Let's Celebrate World Jellyfish Day: “Today, November 3 is celebrated as World Jellyfish Day. It is day to celebrate and learn about these unique and fascinating coelenterates, billions of which bloom in the oceans and sometimes infest our favorite beaches. We present here a few distinguished tweets many of which have links to additional information about these beautiful and complex creatures.”
Kestrel writes—Dawn Chorus: The Eyes Have It: “Peer into the world of birds, and eyes of many different colors peer back. There are shades of light and dark - yellows, whites, greens, and the red eyes of certain hawks, ducks, loons, herons, and songbirds. These colors really pop because birds have no white around the iris like we do. So the yellow eyes of a Great Horned Owl or a Herring Gull seem to give the birds a fierce, penetrating glare. If you picture them with soft brown eyes, though, suddenly they seem much less intimidating. While eye color isn’t tied to one group of birds or another, a pattern common to many birds is a change in eye color as immature birds grow to adulthood. Bald Eagles, Ring-billed Gulls, and ducks such as goldeneyes and scaup have brown eyes as youngsters, and yellow as adults. Red-tailed Hawks reverse this pattern, with their eyes changing from yellow to brown, while the yellow eyes of a young Cooper's Hawk turn deep red as it reaches maturity. Not all birds’ eyes change color as the birds age. But for those whose eye color appears to signal adulthood, this is likely an adaptation that helps them gauge the maturity – and suitability – of potential mates.”
Besame writes—Daily Bucket: surprise condor: “Two ‘notoriously secretive’ California condors surprised biologists with their newest offspring. Check out the video of the trio (below). The re-introduced condor population hit a milestone this year when the Central California population exceeded 100 and more will be released soon. In the coming months, the Ventana Wildlife Society, which co-manages the central California condors with Pinnacles National Park, plans to release six more captive-bred condors, says Kelly Sorenson, the society’s executive director. The park also plans to release two, pushing the regional population to 111. ‘To have more than a 10 percent increase in condor population in one year is just amazing,” Sorenson says. “The story of the condor is a hopeful one and shows we can make a difference if we work at it.’ Their successful re-establishment has benefited from the state’s lead ammunition ban signed into law in 2013. Lead poisoning is the number one cause of death for juvenile and adult condors, with 83 condors dying from lead poisoning since their re-introduction in 1992. On July 1, 2019, the lead ammo ban took full effect.”
Pakalolo writes—Alaskan climate shocks hinder migration of Bowhead whales through the Bering Sea to the Beaufort: “The Arctic has been warming faster than any other region on earth. The marginal sea of the Pacific which divides the most extensive landmasses on earth, Eurasia (Russia) and North America (Alaska), is named the Bering Sea. It is here that the most dramatic changes can be seen observed. Alaska has seen extreme climate changes over the past few years, including “sustained warmth, sea ice loss, coastal flooding, river flooding, and major ecosystem changes.” Alaska’s warming temperatures are consistent now. And these changes can be tied directly to human-caused greenhouse gas emissions. The climate crisis that is bearing down on us are a result of our relentless consumption of fossil fuel energy. Rick Thoman, a climatologist at the International Arctic Research Center at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, has been documenting the extreme changes occurring due to the breakdown of the Arctic climate. The report titled Alaska’s Changing Environment is worthy of reader exploration on the myriad climate crises unfolding across the state. ”
CLIMATE CHAOS
T C Gibian writes—Global Warming -- An Extended Perspective: “Global warming is not a hoax and it is not a joke. It is clearly a short term aberration with a conspicuous, immediate cause since the long term trend for temperature had been downward for millennia , declining from ca. 3000 B.C.E. toward another ice age several thousand years from now. (Graphic Data at this site. Scroll rapidly to see trend. Notice the kick after 1900.) There have been natural episodes of warming in the past, and we know now that the results were mostly disastrous for our form of life, so I am not sure we should have a casual attitude about possibly causing another on our watch. The insanity of the situation is highlighted by the very corporate interests loudly demanding that global warming not exist as they are salivating to exploit the resources to be made available when the ice disappears. For them, it’s only the money, not evidence, not risk of catastrophe, not anything else. I wrote this blog with considerable misgivings. It is not that our odds of survival have been changed by it, but that we can see that the price to pay for failure is much worse than we thought. However, I can offer this. Humans as a whole have shown a strong inclination to preserve their own interests, and most of us seem to know what is at risk now. Although many people think otherwise, I still see that we have enough time and ability to deal with the onrushing crisis, but as yet not the will.”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—No, Daily Mail and FoxNews, Scientists Are Not Warning Of Global Cooling and an Impending Ice Age: “The myth that scientists in the ‘70s were predicting a global cooling is a mainstay among deniers, and the idea that extreme cooling is the sort of climate change we should be worried about remains a recurring topic in denier outlets. Last week, for example, the Daily Mail ran a story by Stacy Liberatore with the alarming headline that ‘Earth is facing another ICE AGE: Scientists claim an increase in sea ice could block the release of carbon dioxide from the ocean and cause a global COOLING.’ The research was covered the same way by Fox News’s Chris Ciaccia, and then was picked up by GWPF, making its way around the deniersphere from there.The story showed up on the official website of David Icke, who believes Earth has been taken over by shape-shifting reptilian aliens, among other less frivolous conspiracies like Holocaust denial. The problem is, as you may suspect, the research cited was in no way claiming that Earth is facing another ice age.’ One of the report’s authors even said as much. Dr. Alice Marzocchi took to Twitter to point out that the Fox article, which was framed around the possibility of a new ice age, ‘utterly misrepresents our research,’ which ‘does NOT in any way suggest that we may presently be heading towards another ice age!”
Meteor Blades writes—More Democratic wins like Virginia's will weaken impact of Trump's pull-out from Paris climate pact: “When the Trump regime made the formal announcement Monday that the United States will withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement come November 4, 2020, the day after next year’s general election, it was hardly a surprise. The denier in chief made clear to everyone during his campaign for the presidency that he opposed the agreement. And in June 2017 in his infamous Pittsburgh-not-Paris address, he made withdrawal official in a 27-minute speech drenched in nonsense, fantasy, and outright lies. He would have withdrawn right then if he could have. But as intensely frustrating as the wait surely is for the squatter in the White House, the first legal opportunity for any signatory nation to pull out is three years from the November 2016 start of the agreement. While Trump’s expected move is depressing and damaging, it should be remembered that a U.S. withdrawal next November could be followed by a U.S. return come January 21, 2021, if there is a green Democrat in the Oval Office. There is no three-year waiting period to re-sign the agreement. Because of that, and for other reasons, Trump’s move should not drive us to despair. One reason can be seen in the Virginia election Tuesday night. Environmentalists reportedly spent a lot of money to get better results at the polls. The Virginia League of Conservation Voters, for instance, put up $1.5 million statewide. And the outcome paid off.”
Michael Brune writes—On Fire: “In January, teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg told an audience at Davos, ‘I want you to act as if our house is on fire. Because it is.’ Many Californians have no choice but to act like the world is going up in flames. My heart is with the 200,000 people forced to evacuate. It's with those who have lost their homes, or who worry they will soon. It's with everyone who is sleeping in their car or on a shelter cot. It’s with our first responders, including those who will be returned to cells once the fires are out. It's with the older, disabled, and medically fragile people who are struggling to breathe. For the moment at least, our politicians are acting like the world is on fire too. That can be a good thing. California doesn't need another blue-ribbon commission on fire safety. It needs leadership willing to spend money and political capital on pushing through the policies necessary to save lives, homes, and communities. And disasters, awful as they are, often open up a space of political opportunity to make substantive change.”
Chris Gay writes—The GOP's Ultimate Climate-Change Hypocrisy: “As with fiscal responsibility,” “small government” and “family values,” the Republican position on climate change tosses the party’s supposedly core values out the window the minute it conflicts with Republican interests. This is supposed to be the party of markets, and it’s supposed to defer to the verdicts of the marketplace in a way all those namby-pamby economic Luddites on the left do not. OK, well, the marketplace is telling Republicans that climate change is real, not some liberal fetish or Chinese hoax. Their response: pretend not to hear it. We don’t need any more evidence that the GOP has become the party of bone-headed denial when faced with inconvenient facts. But I supply some anyway.”
Chamber Watch writes—Feeling the Heat on Climate Policy from Members, Public, U.S. Chamber Announces Climate Task Force: “A decade ago, Apple Inc. and three large power utility companies famously ended their membership with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce over its policy of obstructing any and all meaningful climate action. This may have stung for the Chamber, but not enough to move the dial: Under President and CEO Tom Donohue, the Chamber has done little over the years to change its antagonistic stance toward meeting the demands of our climate emergency and has continued lobbying on behalf of fossil fuel interests. Just two years ago, the Chamber was instrumental in pushing President Donald Trump to pull the United States out of the Paris Climate Agreement. The Chamber has spent much of 2019 reckoning with the reality of a Democratic-controlled U.S. House of Representatives as well as growing consensus among even many corporations about the climate emergency, by making efforts to clean up its image and present a climate-friendly face. In April, the Chamber unveiled its American Energy: Cleaner, Stronger agenda, which we demonstrated to be an attempt at image rehab rather than a substantive change in climate policy. Now, however, the Chamber may have found itself backed into a corner and pressured into making more significant changes—ones that, of course, deserve scrutiny and skepticism given the Chamber’s history on the issue.”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—For A Safe Climate, We Don’t Need Population Control, We Need Gender Equality: “Yesterday afternoon, Drudge’s main headline, which can drive millions of clicks, claimed that “SCIENTISTS CALL FOR POPULATION CONTROL.” The link was to a story by Bloomberg’s Eric Roston, with the headline “Earth needs fewer people to beat the climate crisis, scientists say.” Judging by the all-caps Drudge headline, one might suspect that this is another example of an obvious hoax, a la the whole let’s-eat-babies thing. But unfortunately it’s not: the source for this claim is an open letter signed by over 11,000 scientists published Tuesday in BioScience. In the letter, the scientists provide two images of the climate’s vital signs, one of human changes like population growth, GDP, energy consumption, deforestation and other indicators of our consumption. The second figure is a suite of graphs showing how the planet has been responding, showing CO2 and other emission concentrations, temperatures, ice melt, sea level rise, etc. [...] Unfortunately, Roston’s relatively brief write-up, like most of the other coverage of the scientists’ letter, quoted the part about stabilizing populations, but not the part making it clear that they’re not talking about imposing draconian one-child policies. Bloomberg’s headline compounded that limited view.”
LokiMom writes—6 critical steps to lessen worst effects of climate change: Alliance of World Scientists’ Warning: “Here are ‘six critical and interrelated steps that governments, businesses, and the rest of humanity can take to lessen the worst effects of climate change.’ To secure a sustainable future, we must change how we live, in ways that improve the vital signs summarized by our graphs. Economic and population growth are among the most important drivers of increases in CO2 emissions from fossil fuel combustion; therefore, we need bold and drastic transformations regarding economic and population policies. We suggest six critical and interrelated steps (in no particular order) that governments, businesses, and the rest of humanity can take to lessen the worst effects of climate change. These are important steps but are not the only actions needed or possible. This paper is free to read here academic.oup.com/… The six areas are: Energy • Short-lived pollutants • Nature • Food • Economy • Population.”
Angmar writes—"Climate crisis: 11,000 scientists warn of ‘untold suffering’": “Most countries’ climate plans ‘totally inadequate’ – expertswww.theguardian.com/... ‘We declare clearly and unequivocally that planet Earth is facing a climate emergency,’ it states. ‘To secure a sustainable future, we must change how we live. [This] entails major transformations in the ways our global society functions and interacts with natural ecosystems.’ There is no time to lose, the scientists say: ‘The climate crisis has arrived and is accelerating faster than most scientists expected. It is more severe than anticipated, threatening natural ecosystems and the fate of humanity.’ The statement is published in the journal BioScience on the 40th anniversary of the first world climate conference, which was held in Geneva in 1979. The statement was a collaboration of dozens of scientists and endorsed by further 11,000 from 153 nations. The scientists say the urgent changes needed include ending population growth, leaving fossil fuels in the ground, halting forest destruction and slashing meat eating’.”
simongunn writes—Can California Survive The Climate Crisis? “It goes without saying that the problems facing Californians seem to be growing worse by the day; widespread evacuations and economic turmoil stemming from wildfires and similar ecological crises are making it harder and harder for everyday people to live unimpeded by natural disasters. Despite the growing severity of the challenges facing us, however, there are still reasons to believe that our capacity to address these issues is also growing at the same time. [...] As long as we harness the power of modern technology to demand the nation’s attention and possess the political courage to make harsh but necessary changes, we can overcome the crises facing our state. It won’t be easy, especially since so many people are inhumanely rooting for California’s failure in the major political battles to come. Nevertheless, this state has never shrugged before adversity before, and we can’t start now. Can California survive the climate crisis? By coming together and combining our talents, there’s no political hurdle we can’t overcome on the path to a brighter future.”
Extreme Weather & Natural Phenomena
Dartagnan writes—Gov. Newsom fires back at Trump's Twitter threat to cut off California's wildfire aid: Proving himself once again to be a monstrous excuse for a human being, Donald Trump vaguely threatened to offer ‘no more’ federal funding to aid California’s fire recovery. In a truly remarkable display of forest management knowledge (at least, for someone who has likely never visited the National Parks in his life, except, perhaps, as an uncomfortable campaign stop), Trump took advantage of the latest round of horrific fires in southern California to take political potshots on Twitter at California Governor Gavin Newsom. [...] For his part, Gov. Newsom gave Trump’s criticisms all of the consideration they merited. In response, he tweeted:
Climate Army writes—10-year-old Enzo Gilchrist to livestream election with the Climate Army: “10-year-old Enzo Gilchrist of the Climate Army will be livestreaming tonight’s election, starting at 8:30 PM EST tonight at twitch.tv/climatelive. His previous streams are at twitch.tv/sacstreaming, but as we are making the transition to YouTube, he is using a temporary Twitch account. The hope and persistence of even our youngest volunteers brings hope to the movement that we are building now. The election will have live commentary and results, and we hope to see you tonight during the livestream!”
old wobbly writes—there and back again - Northern California Fires: “We had a couple hours notice that the power was going out and we’d be under mandatory evacuation. It was complex and tense but we chose to look at it as A Grand Adventure. A ROAD TRIP! For far too many others, it is a hellish journey with no safe place in sight. We are all of us surrounded by ashes. We thought we were Evacuation Ready! You know — go-bags, camping gear, survival food, water straws, flashlights and so on. Fortunately we didn’t have to camp, which would have been a disaster/ dark comedy with no car, two cats, two huge dogs and two people who were not as skilled at ‘stuff’ as we’d hoped. We got a ride out with neighbors in the back of their truck to safe harbor just before midnight on Saturday. We had a wonderful time {5 people, 5 dogs, two cats in a tiny house with a lush vegetable garden}, watched the fire news, bitched at the coverage, read books out loud, watched Ocean’s 8, told stories, ate delicious food — managed to calm each other, love each other, give support to people around us who needed it. [...] This evening we’re back home safe. Everything’s fine. Except it really isn’t. Our hearts have huge chunks missing. People. Land. Forests. Animals and birds. Creeks and ponds and rivers — yeah we’re happy to be home. And we’re arranging our packs for the next time… before the next time there is so much to be done.”
Austin Bailey writes—After the Fire - We Learn that Change is Necessary: “Human behaviour has created the global climate emergency we now face. We have inadvertently placed our own existence in danger through ignorance and, more tragically, greed. Examining the aftermath of Northern California’s Camp Fire, it is possible to get a glimpse of the future as climate disasters become more frequent and more destructive. The Camp Fire’s destruction was magnified by years of climate change driven drought, but it was also the direct result of decades of human behaviour that placed whole communities in parlous locations without adequate protection. The town of Paradise was built over the decades in the wrong place and with little regard or provision for the potential fire peril it faced. There are hundreds (maybe thousands) of communities all over the world that are exposed to this sort of explosive wildfire danger. Just as there are even larger numbers of communities that now routinely face 100 year flooding ever few years. And, let’s not forget all the coastal regions that will be inundated by the ocean within the first half of this century. The question we now face is how can we mitigate the damage already done to our environment and, critically, how do we deal with the victims of the inevitable climate change driven disasters in the future?”
ECO-ACTION & ECO JUSTICE
Bethesda 1971 writes—Greta can take it: “Tomi Lahren has unleashed one of her trademark vile tweets, calling Greta Thunberg a ‘little [word that almost rhymes with merde but means the same thing].’ Liberal (and non-fascist) Twitter is correctly disgusted. Lahren is an idiot given a platform to mindlessly attack without the vaguest knowledge of anything except Fox News disinformation. She should be repudiated, especially for climate change denial and attacks on Greta, Gore and scientists. Every day this propaganda hastens the destruction of species and spread of global misery.But much of the disgust centers on ‘She’s just a child,’ or ‘How can you attack a kid like that?’ I strongly disagree. Greta has become an international symbol of courage and righteous fury. She may be a teenager, but she is making an appeal better and more effectively than most adults ever could. It diminishes her to call out even the worst criticism of her based on her age. Defending her because she’s a kid actually transmits the opposite message: If she’s immune from criticism because of her age, doesn’t that diminish the power of her message? Doesn’t it accept that her opinions are less valuable because she’s a teen.”
CANDIDATES, STATE AND DC ECO-RELATED POLITICS
boblite writes—Dear Ms. Pelosi, please censure Trump for withdrawing from Paris Climate Agreement: “He said he was going to do it, but today Donald Trump filed formal documents to withdraw from the Paris Climate Change Agreement. Can you not schedule hearings to consider whether the President is well advised in making this foolish move, and to censure him for this action? This could be used to focus attention on one of the stupidest aspects of the Trump presidency, of his complete disregard for the future of America.”
Dan Bacher Update: PG&E spends $1.3 million on lobbying in third quarter as bankruptcy proceeds: “As bankruptcy proceedings for the Pacific Gas and Electric Company continued and the utility sought rate increases, the embattled utility increased its spending on lobbying in the third quarter of 2019. The investor-owned utility, the largest one in California, spent a total of $1,321,776.76, including $945,095.17 on general lobbying and $376,381.59 on PUC lobbying, from July 1 to September 30, according to forms PG&E filed with the California Secretary of State on October 30. PG&E said it spent the money lobbying on an array of legislation, including the Wildfire Victim Recovery Bond legislation, Wildfire Risk Mitigation (Generators), Wildfire Issues and Wildfire Revenue Bond Proposal. The increase in spending took place after PG&E spent $876,445 on lobbying from January 1 to June 30 of this year. The utility engaged in this intense lobbying as it was cutting off power to millions of people and while wildfires ravaged the state over the past few weeks. The total of lobbying expenses by PG&E this year to date amounts to $2,198,221.76.”
Justus writes—DNC bigwigs apparently do not believe in the climate change emergency: “I just received this email from the DNC. My initial reaction is in the title of this story. Fly for free to meet Barack Obama. Because you're a key Democratic supporter, I wanted to let you in on something big: President Obama is joining us for a huge event in San Francisco -- and you and a friend have a chance to attend. Our team will cover your travel and hotel -- so, Gary, what do you say? Will you donate $3 to be automatically entered for your chance to meet President Obama in San Francisco? [...] No, Tom, I do not want to further contribute to greenhouse gas emissions by making a frivolous trip across the country to see President Obama in San Fransisco. Further, I do not see how my meeting him will advance any of the issues I care about, given that he is no longer holding public office. Just don’t do this!”
Bethesda 1971 writes—Tell MSNBC Debate moderators to ask questions about the life and death issue of climate change: “At the MSNBC website there is an option to submit a suggestion for a question at the November Democratic Presidential debate. Click on the link to have your question submitted. They need to be flooded (intended) with questions about climate change. Mine is below [...] It’s the media’s responsibility to educate and awaken people to the critical issues of our time, and yet none of the prior debates have asked a single question about climate change. People are throwing around phrases like ‘existential threat’ so much they lose their meaning. The public desperately needs to be educated to the specific threats inaction will do to their children and grandchildren. When the other side is actively working against any action, it’s essential that the Democratic candidates engage on this issue and the moderators formulate questions incorporating the life and death nature of the matter.It seems like 40-50% of prior debates have focused on health care and taxes — important issues, but not to the exclusion of climate change.”
ENERGY
Nuclear
jsmagid writes—Thorium, nuclear industry savior? “I had a bit of a back and forth with a few Andrew Yang supporters on the last DKos presidential cattle call poll thread. One of the items they brought up was Yang’s (and their) support for nuclear power using thorium as fuel. Now I have a BA in Physics from a top 10 physics department, and granted, I wasn’t hard core, nor did I pursue a Physics career (I taught HS for a spell), but I do very well remember the lab on radioactivity. Let’s just say I’m pretty sure highly radioactive waste is bad news, so I’m about as down as you can get on a process that generates a whole lot of the stuff with no viable answer for dealing with it. So I argued against ‘clean’ nuclear power both on the radioactive part as well as the capital intensive part, capital that would be much better spent on actual clean renewable sources.”
Fossil Fuels & Emissions Controls
Jakko writes—Deutch-Rooney, the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act, is a scam: “To every news organization and reporter and every congressperson I can reach: Please investigate Deutch-Rooney, the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act. I just read through it, twice: it is a scam and a hoax that will convince people that something is being done about climate change when it will do absolutely nothing, except give the fossils a get-out-of-jail-free card and let them run amok , wasting our last ten years to get ahead of planetary disaster. D-R would charge fossil fuels producers (the fossils), manufacturers of other greenhouse gasses like refrigerants, and of high-carbon products, taxes and fees which those fossils would be free to pass on to consumers: the cost of everything will go up. Even if we get money back from it every month, it will hurt people who live hand-to-mouth. There is no incentive, for most of us, in money taken from one pocket and put back into another at the end of the month, and no help in this legislation for people to reduce their consumption or switch to lower-carbon fuels.”
Lefty Coaster writes—New Zealand plans to go Carbon Neutral by 2050 joining 19 other nations: “This is welcome news. Some other countries have rational leaders, unlike the predicament we face in the US. under the infantile Donald Trump. New Zealand Commits To Being Carbon By 2050 — With A Big Loophole New Zealand lawmakers approved a bill Thursday that commits the country to being carbon neutral by the year 2050. The measure, which passed 119 votes to 1, demonstrates the cross-party support that climate protection has in the Pacific island nation. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern thanked lawmakers for supporting the bill — and said she was grateful that in the past 10 years, Parliament had progressed from debating whether global warming is real to discussing what to do about it. ‘We have to start moving beyond targets. We have to start moving beyond aspiration. We have to start moving beyond statements of hope and deliver signs of action. That is what this government is doing and proudly so,’ Ardern said Thursday. ‘We have made a choice that I am proud of, that will leave a legacy, and that I hope means the next generation will see that we in New Zealand were on the right side of history’.”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—As NY Case Ends and Others Begin, ExxonMobil Invests a Day’s Worth of Profits In Carbon Capture: “Yesterday, E&E’s Carlos Anchondo reported that Exxon “reached a $60 million agreement with FuelCell Energy Inc. to further develop carbon capture technology that aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from its industrial operations.” The aim is to use this technology at refineries and chemical plants to capture emissions, because “Exxon Mobil is committed to doing our part,” according to a spokesperson. But are they really? As Kathy Mulvey of the Union of Concerned Scientists told Anchondo, this is a ‘drop in the bucket’ of what Exxon spends on pumping more climate-killing oil out of the ground. The deal ‘certainly doesn’t absolve Exxon Mobil of responsibility for the negative climate impacts of its products.’ She’s right. While $60 million might sound like a lot, ExxonMobil earned $20.8 billion in 2018, or just shy of $57 million a day.”
Renewables, Efficiency, Energy Storage & Conservation
Mokurai writes—Renewable Friday: The Trump Pullout from the Paris Accords has Officially Started: “Remember, remember,
The fourth of November,
Trump climate treason and plot.
I see no reason
Why Trump climate treason
Ever should be forgot.
Just before Guy Fawkes Day, November 5, 2019, the Trump Maladministration took action to try to blow up the Paris Climate Accords. This was the first day when the Accords let them start a one year process of withdrawal. So now what? What is the scope of the disaster? What can we do, personally, locally, nationally, globally? What are we doing? A lot, it turns out. Those who have been acting, in government, business, and civil society, see no reason to stop working, and indeed are taking this as an incentive to double down on renewable energy, electric vehicles, tree planting, sustainable agriculture, decarbonizing industry, greening buildings, and all the rest.
Pipelines & Other Oil and Gas Transport
eeff writes—383,000 gallons of crude oil leaked onto a half acre? “Leaked about 383,000 gallons of crude oil in North Dakota, covering an estimated half acre of wetland. So my question is how could 383,000 gallons ONLY cover a half acre. As teenager I worked in a gas station and the tanker that delivered the gas held about 7,000 gallons. So if you divide 383 by 7 = 54.7. I don't think you could stand on end 54.7 tankers on a half acre. Could someone help me out here?”
Penrose Papers writes a satire—Keystone Oil Leak Gains National Monument Designation: “With the stroke of a pen on Sunday, President Trump set aside a small section of land in Edinburg, North Dakota and renamed it the North Dakota Black Lake National Park. The designated area is the site of a 380,000 gallon Keystone XL pipeline oil leak that occurred last week. ‘It’s a beautiful, beautiful black lake. I’ve seen pictures,’ President Trump said after signing the bill establishing the national park into law. ‘The birds, they love it. They absolutely love it. They bath in it and it makes their feathers shine. A healthy shine.’ Environmental activists were quick to point out that additional oil would have to be regularly added to maintain the depth of the lake. While some estimates place this figure at an additional 30,000 gallons of oil per week – less in the winter months – the White House is downplaying the environmental concerns.”
TRANSPORTATION & INFRASTRUCTURE
SassyDemocrat writes—MN Clean Cars Meeting- Civility and Science were checked at the door...: “The current occupant of the White House is dumping the EPA’s tightening of auto emission regulations that would have reduced Greenhouse Gases (GHGs) via tightening MPG requirements over the next few years. In response to that gross unscientific stupidity, Minnesota’s Governor Walz proposed adopting the California standards, which are pretty much the same as the standards Trump killed. So it was that last night the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency held a meeting in my rural corner of the state to explain and get public feedback on the proposal…”
OCEANS, WATER, DROUGHT
Lib Dem FoP writes—Cleaning Up London's Not River: “This is a head’s up on a BBC podcast in their ‘Costing the Earth’ strand about the cleaning up of the main body of water that flows through London. Now this is not the River Thames. For a start, that is a tautology as ‘Thames’ is an old word for ‘River.’ Secondly, it is strictly not a river for most of its length through London but an estuary. There is also a flood barrier which provides a quite unique insight into how rising sea levels will affect the estuary. The Thames has gone from being effectively biologically dead to a thriving environment for fish, birds and mammals. In 1957 the River Thames through London was declared biologically dead. The retreat of industry from the city lifted the curse and today the river hosts more than 3000 seals, 156 species of fish, porpoises, dolphins and the occasional very confused whale. That’s just the start. Over the next decade more than £4bn will be spent radically reducing the pollution that enters the river and improving the riverbank habitat.”
Dan Bacher writes—AG Secures Settlement Against Westlands for Illegal Participation in Shasta Dam Raise Project: “It’s been quite a day for news on the Westlands Water District, the largest agricultural water district in the nation and a perpetual promoter of massive water exports out of the California to irrigate drainage impaired lands on the west side of the Valley, a primary factor in the collapse of Delta smelt, winter Chinook salmon, steelhead and other Central Valley and Delta fish population. After the Associated Press reported on a proposed sweetheart deal between Trump’s Interior Secretary David Bernhardt, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra today announced a proposed settlement against Westlands Water District (Westlands) resolving allegations that Westlands violated California law by illegally participating in a project to raise the height of the Shasta Dam. ‘The proposed settlement would bar Westlands from any attempt to move forward with the project that would pose significant adverse effects on the free-flowing condition of the McCloud River and on its wild trout fishery,’ according to a statement from the AG’s Office. ‘The river and fishery retain special statutory protections under the California Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. The Act prohibits any agency of the State of California, such as Westlands, from assisting or cooperating with actions to raise the Shasta Dam.’ The settlement, filed in the Shasta County Superior Court, resolves Attorney General Becerra’s lawsuit filed on May 13, 2019, alleging that Westlands’ participation in the project was in violation of the Act.”
Dan Bacher writes—Groups slam Trump administration's sweetheart water deal with Westlands Water District: “Conservation, environmental justice and public interest groups today responded with outrage to an Associated Press report that Secretary David Bernhardt’s Interior Department is poised to award one of the first contracts for federal water “in perpetuity” to the powerful Westlands Water District - Bernhardt’s former lobby client and largest agricultural water district in the U.S. A draft Bureau of Reclamation contract dated October 22 reveals that Interior plans to deliver Westlands up to 1.15 million acre-feet of water a year, more than double the water supply used by the City of Los Angeles in 2018, according to Roll Call. The contract is subject to a 60-day public comment period that will close over Christmas. ‘Other water districts have asked the department for similar deals but the bureau has so far only completed Westlands’ contract,’ according to Roll Call: www.rollcall.com/...”
Dan Bacher writes—Fishing Groups, Winnemem Wintu Condemn Water Board Plan to Continue Toxic Discharges into Delta: “On December 5, the state of California will hold a hearing to decide if irrigators in the San Joaquin Valley can continue to discharge toxic selenium, made infamous during the Kesterson Wildlife Refuge scandal of 1983, into the San Joaquin River, Delta and Bay for the next 25 years. In a letter sent to the Central Valley Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board today, the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations (PCCFA) led a coalition of fishing organizations, tribes, and environmental groups in condemning plans to extend permitting of the Grasslands Bypass Project (GBP). [...] ‘After two decades of promises to cease toxic discharges of selenium and other contaminants into the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, the Bureau of Reclamation and the Regional Board are poised to sanction a quarter century of continued toxic discharges into the Delta via the GBP,’ according to a statement from PCFFA. “These discharges frequently exceed numerous water quality criteria. Allowing decades of relaxed standards will impact the entire aquatic food chain, endangered and commercially harvested salmon, migratory birds, recreational fisheries, and communities that rely on the Delta for drinking water’.”
AIR POLLUTION
mettle fatigue writes—Research finds psychiatric disturbances linked to air pollution - including from wildfires: “From Medscape: analysis of large U.S. and Danish datasets revealed to researchers significant correlations between air pollution and bipolar disorder in both countries and between air pollution and depression, schizophrenia, and personality disorder in Denmark. ... The findings were published online August 20 in PLOS Biology. Heritability explains the development of psychiatric disorders to a large extent, but ‘it's never 100%,’ and it is increasingly evident that environmental insults play an important role. … Air pollution is a complex mixture of small particulate matter, gases, metals, and organic contaminants generated by natural erosion of stones and human-made materials, exhaust of transport vehicles, industrial activity, and fires.”
AGRICULTURE, FOOD & GARDENING
gmoke writes—City Agriculture - November 7, 2019: A collection of 15 links on the subject. “Net Zero plant-filled Singapore pavilion for Dubai’s 2020 World Expo; Forest planted in an Austrian stadium as an art piece: For Forest - the Unending Attraction of Nature; Curator getting death threats from far right because of it. [...]”
Womanthinker writes—Saturday Morning Garden Blogging, Vol. 15.45: Changes, Open Minds and Curiosity: “”Gone are the days of summer … The spirit of autumn seeped into every corner of our lives. The season invites us to clean up and let go of that which does not serve our purpose. The warm colors that brought a respite to the cool temperatures of the season are now buried under the snow winter sent this week. Almost five inches fell here in Southwestern Wisconsin. The peace sign of weeds and grass is still standing strong, but it is now hidden under the snow…
MISCELLANY
elenacarlena writes—This Week in the War on Women, 10/27-11/2/2019: Climate Change Women Continued, and Other News: “In previous WoWs, I have profiled some current and recent climate change women warriors. Tonight, let’s look at the lives of some early environmental warriors. Maria Sibylla Merian (1647-1717): German-born naturalist and scientific illustrator who spent years in Amsterdam, and traveled to Surinam in South America to study its flora and fauna; she was one of the first naturalists to observe insects directly. Her major works include Neues Blumenbuch (1675), three volumes of watercolors of flowers and insects; Der Raupen wunderbare Verwandlung (1679)(“The caterpillar’s wonderful transformation”), with another caterpillar book about 1681; and Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium (1705). She has been called the greatest insect artist of all time. She proved that insects came from eggs; this was in direct contradiction of the prevailing belief at the time that insects were spontaneously generated from mud. Her Surinam book has been republished several times since her death. Please see part of it below.”
Austin Bailey writes—5 Things: Paradise Lost, Faux Horns, Diesel Ban, 119 to 1, An Eagle Brought My Dingo: “One year ago, a massive wildfire started near the community of Paradise in the foothills of the California Sierra Nevada mountains. The Camp Fire, raged for days eventually burning 153,335 acres (62,052 hectare) before it was contained. The fire consumed 100,000 of those acres in the first two days, its wind driven flames were spreading at the rate of 80 football fields a minute. On this day one year ago the fire consumed the town of Paradise in four hours. The fire destroyed virtually every structure in the community. Nearly 19,000 buildings were destroyed including the homes of over 30,000 people. The fire also killed 86 people, often as they were trapped by the rapidly expanding blaze in their homes or cars struggling to escape. It would be of some comfort to blame "nature" for this horrific event, but it would also be a massive evasion of the truth. Human greed and political failures were the reasons for the devastation and loss of life. You can read the about both in this excellent article.”