This is the 601st edition of the Spotlight on Green News & Views (previously known as the Green Diary Rescue). Here is the May 25 edition. Inclusion of a story in the Spotlight does not necessarily indicate my agreement with or endorsement of it.
OUTSTANDING GREEN STORIES
OceanDiver writes—The Daily Bucket - life in the upper intertidal zone: “May 23, 2019. Salish Sea, Pacific Northwest. I went down onto one of our more exposed shorelines the other day to check out Rough-winged swallow burrows in the clay bluff (there were a few, looking active) and while there, sat for a bit on a rocky section at the water’s edge. I do very little exploring of our intertidal zones these days as I’m very fearful of falling, and that’s a real possibility with the unstable footing and slippery seaweed of the zone between high and low tide. Plus I’m so creaky these days, it’s hard for me to crouch down to see the small critters who live in the tidepools and crevices. Nevertheless, on this occasion the small rocky patch high up in the intertidal was fairly flat and not too slippery, so I spent some time checking out how lively the marine life was there. Generally speaking, the lower intertidal zone is far more densely packed with life because it’s under water most of the time, and aquatic creatures require water. Exposed to air, critters are not only at risk of drying out but they also have less access to food. It’s a very harsh life, choosing to live high up in the intertidal zone as the refreshing water drains away, and the few who populate that marginally marine world rely on all kinds of adaptations to survive there.”
Dartagnan writes—Administration prepares all-out assault on climate science for remainder of Trump's presidency: “The soul-killing damage that a minority of voting Americans in 2016 brought about to this nation’s culture, its institutions, its laws and its strategic and moral standing in the world is already visible to anyone who cares to look. But the most harmful and far-reaching legacy of Donald Trump’s tenure of despoiling the office of president may go relatively unrecognized for years, as atmospheric and water temperatures worldwide continue their steady and inexorable rise, thanks in large part to the shortsighted policies and wholesale U.S. abandonment of responsibility or leadership in the area of climate change. As pointed out by the New York Times, this purposeful abandonment of science owes itself more to the paranoia and insecurity of Donald Trump himself, rather than any coherent ideology.”
Dan Bacher writes—California's Biggest Secret? How Big Oil Dominates Public Discourse to Manipulate and Deceive: “On Earth Day 2019, fifteen activists from the Extinction Rebellion carrying brightly colored signs and banners gathered at 12th and L Streets in in front of the State Capitol in Sacramento and then marched at 10:30 a.m. to the looming offices of the powerful Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA), located at 14th & L Streets. For over an hour, they protested against the oil industry’s grip on California and U.S. politics both in front and back of the building, including blocking the back door of the offices of WSPA, the most powerful corporate lobbying group in California and the West. Imani Davis of Sacramento, who held a sign stating, ‘No More Oil’ in front of the office, said, “I believe in legislation and I believe in the Green New Deal, but to push this to actually happen, we have to put our bodies on the line’.”
CRITTERS AND THE GREAT OUTDOORS
Kestrel writes—Dawn Chorus: Dowitchers, Godwits, and Plovers, Oh My! Part 1: A through K: “Last Sunday’s fabulous Dawn Chorus by OceanDiver got me pining for more shorebirds. So I decided I’d use today’s Dawn Chorus to explore shorebirds a bit more. But once I got started, I realized the enormity of what I set out to do — and realized it’s too much for one Dawn Chorus. So I’m only doing birds a through K in this post. I’ll pick up the rest of the alphabet when I’m next up in the queue in mid-June. I hope you enjoy this half about shorebirds. Shorebirds are a diverse group of birds that include sandpipers, plovers, turnstones, knots, curlews, dowitchers, and phalaropes. This group does not include herons, gulls, or cormorants. North America has the greatest diversity of shorebird species and the largest numbers of shorebirds in the world. Shorebirds are amazing. They’re among the most incredible athletes in nature, with some making multi-day, non-stop flights to reach their wintering or breeding areas.”
Serendeputy writes—Felony on Jericho Bay...a Whale of a Tale: “Lobster fishing in October is a mostly depressing endeavor, the huge catches of the summer have diminished to a fraction of the bounty of shedder season. The glut of lobster buoys recedes to a smattering as fisherman move their traps into deeper water or take them home for the winter. The amount of work, however, is only slightly less. It was one such day when I noticed off to the starboard rail, a cluster of buoys that we refer to as a ‘snarl’. That is, a group of traps that is tangled together. I yelled to my captain, “Hey Dan, check out the snarl...” (names have been changed to protect the guilty) I pointed to the area and the buoys were gone. I have not been prone to hallucinations since the 60’s and 70’s, so I was quite confounded. Could too much of the captain’s Rush Limbaugh and Howie Carr have addled my brain?”
PHScott writes—The Daily Bucket: Sunny Sunday Photo Review and Open Thread: “From this morning when I heard this juvenile RS Hawk crying outside my back window away from the nest. It was there for a few minutes, long enough to get photos thru window. Sounds like it is back over to nest now. Call this a Sunny Sunday open thread if you please — I’m off to play before it gets too hot (mid-90s for another week).”
PHScott writes—The Daily Bucket: Memorial Day in My Backyard: “Foggy morning in the Florida Panhandle which is about all the moisture we get in this rain-deficient month of May. We do have clouds now as the fog burns off in the 80º heat. 20% chance of rain so one of these clouds might sprinkle upon us. [...] This wall of Gardenias was planted a few years ago to block the neighbor on the other side. I don’t much care for them — or the Gardenias… Looking close — to left is a Sassafrass sapling that won’t live but a few more years. Center is small Spicebush, also in the dying Laurel family. After that is a good stand of Rice Button Aster. A small Devil’s Walkingstick is to the right and Live Oaks in the back.”
Dan Bacher writes—Breaking: Commercial Fishermen Intervene in Orca-Salmon Lawsuit: “On Wednesday May 29th, the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations (PCFFA), the West Coast’s largest trade organization of small-scale commercial fishermen and women, filed to formally intervene in a Seattle federal court lawsuit filed April 3, 2019, by the Wild Fish Conservancy (WFC) and the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), supposedly brought to protect endangered orcas. PCFFA says the suit is based on faulty premises and poor science, is unfair to salmon fishing-dependent communities and seafood lovers along the West Coast, and will be counterproductive for the region’s ongoing efforts to restore damaged salmon-bearing watersheds. The iconic Southern Resident Killer Whales (SRKW), which eat primarily Chinook salmon, are listed as ‘endangered’ under the federal Endangered Species Act.”
Besame writes—Daily Bucket: Surprises unfurl every day in my new life: “My new home in Seattle reveals floral gifts each morning. The front yard, in particular, is full of surprises as spring progresses and new plants appear, giving meaning to the term “picture window.” Monday morning when I pulled up the front window blinds I saw one perfect oriental poppy. Taking the photo later, I noticed the bug visitor. (Looks like a true bug but I’m open to a more informed ID.) I almost yanked out the oriental poppy in March when its rough hairy dissected leaves first emerged looking weedy. But I waited patiently. Not really, but that sounds more zen than the truth — the new growth looked tough to remove so I wasn’t motivated to scout out a shovel and dig. It’s a constant surprise because I have no idea what to expect here. The house is older (mid-century) and some of the landscaping plants are those more common in the past. Others are new to the home (planted in recent years), like this rose I saw below the window Monday morning.”
Angmar writes—The Daily Bucket: Worms need love: “An earthworm is a tube-shaped, segmented worm found in the phylum Annelida. They have a world-wide distribution and are commonly found living in soil, feeding on live and dead organic matter. An earthworm's digestive system runs through the length of its body. It conducts respiration through its skin. It has a double transport system composed of coelomic fluid that moves within the fluid-filled coelom and a simple, closed blood circulatory system. It has a central and a peripheral nervous system. The central nervous system consists of two ganglia above the mouth, one on either side, connected to a nerve cord running back along its length to motor neurons and sensory cells in each segment. Large numbers of chemoreceptors are concentrated near its mouth. Circumferential and longitudinal muscles on the periphery of each segment enable the worm to move. Similar sets of muscles line the gut, and their actions move the digesting food toward the worm's anus.”
CLIMATE CHAOS
dougld writes—Embracing Capitalism in Order to Impact Climate Change (or Evolution of a Solution): “...I had created a presentation about how greenhouse gases do their work. It did not seem to go over very well since people seem to watch it for only about 2 minutes and then abandon it. (Youtube has statistics that tell you about that sort of thing.) I realized that part of the problem was that I did not have a captive audience and that for someone to watch something educational all the way through was a tough sell. That brings me back to the billboard and banner.
After the election I painted the billboard with the Keeling curve and asked a question meant to elicit curiosity. The idea behind that was that they would go home and research it and maybe learn something about climate change in the process. The people driving by are a captive audience in a sense unless they are driving with their eyes closed or talking on their cell phone.”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—
New Studies Confirm Deniers Donked Up Their Warmest Year Attacks: “
Last week, NASA published a pair of studies concerning the validity and reliability of global temperature observations. The announcement garnered little attention, which makes sense. The data in the studies weren’t exactly new findings, but rather confirmation of widely-accepted science: the global temperature network is accurate, lines up well with the satellite record, and reassures us that 2016 was the warmest year on record. Though this sounds fairly technical and in the weeds, as NASA GISS head Gavin Schmidt tweeted, ‘This is a big deal actually.’ The studies prove that we’ve been warming, and that recent years are undoubtedly the warmest. For years deniers have contested the official observational temperature records, and if they were the sort to operate in good faith, these studies would be quite the condemnation.”
Mark Sumner writes—
This is the climate crisis, it's happening now, and here is what it looks like: “Twelve straight nights of raging storms have produced 365 reported tornadoes across 22 states. Where the total for May averages 276, this year has seen that number almost doubled … and May isn’t over yet.
CNN had a word for this. They called it ‘unprecedented.’ Those storms have brought record floods to Oklahoma and Texas, but those aren’t the first states to suffer floods this year. The Midwest, from Minnesota to Missouri, has spent much of the spring fighting other record floods after parts of the Mississippi Basin received more than 200% of the normal levels of rain and snow and a ‘bomb cyclone’ exploded like a cold hurricane over the center of the nation. Some of those towns that went under back in March or April are
still underwater today.”
Mark Sumner writes—Trump climate adviser compares Jews to carbon dioxide, as Pompeo looks for Lebensraum in the Arctic: “Over the weekend, the head of Donald Trump’s planned climate review panel had this to say about the climate crisis: ‘The demonization of carbon dioxide is just like the demonization of the poor Jews under Hitler.’ It’s the sort of remark that would instantly result in dismissal in more reasonable times. Under Trump … it’s exactly where policy is going. William Happer and his comparison of Jews to a polluting gas are just one aspect of a policy that’s focused not only on denying the climate crisis, but also on attacking science and scientific reasoning. As a physicist, Happer might be expected to have some deference toward his scientific colleagues, and some knowledge about the rigor and review that shape their work. But there are more important factors that shape Happer’s reasoning. Millions of them. As in the millions that have come from the fossil-fuel billionaires Robert and Rebekah Mercer to fund Happer and his anti-science pogrom.”
kailaHI writes—CLIMATE EMERGENCY NOW: “After Years of Abuse, the Earth Has Sent Its Bill Collectors. Read Truth Out! You get to learn about the Lone Star Tick and what it will do to us. Ironic. The lone star tick carries a little-known disease—alpha-gal syndrome. The lone star tick is spreading a meat allergy. It’s severe, too. And you get to learn about how much climate change is costing us and the entire world due to climate changes disastrous events. Remember … Republicans say we cannot afford to fight climate change (and then there are many who don’t believe it anyway.)”
kailaHI writes—My Letter to the Editor today re Climate Change: “My Letter to the Editor today in West Hawaii Today. My suggestions for climate denier Dave Chrisman's letter 5/26. Put on your critical thinking cap (that is NOT a MAGA cap.) Get out of your information bubble for awhile.
Please educate yourself. Check ecowatch.com and search for "report". And read! At least the reports this year. Last year would be good too. Search youtube.com for David Attenborough's "1 BBC ONE N West Climate ChangeThe Facts" or
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuFsUQuWXio. Watch the Netflix series "Our Planet" with world-renowned naturalist Sir David Attenborough who serves as the voice. The ambitious series has been created in collaboration with Silverback Films, whose director Alastair Fothergill was the creator of the critically acclaimed original Planet Earth and Blue Planet series, and WWF, the world’s leading conservation organization.”
Angmar writes—Climate Emergency News Roundup: Climate Strike,Wildfires, New Media Terms, Heatwaves Storms & More: “96% of registered Democrats list climate change as very important "A new CNN poll conducted by research firm SSRS shows that 96% of registered Democrats list climate change as a very or somewhat important issue when evaluating potential presidential candidates. If the 2018 midterm election was about health care, 2020 may hinge on what candidates intend to do about the fact that the Earth is warming to unsustainable levels: 82% of those polled saw it as a ‘very important’ issue—by far the most important concern of all issues listed."
ForwardKY writes—How climate-change deniers are keeping up with the times: “Jordan Harris’s May 10 Courier-Journal column on the Green New Deal offers insights into the latest stage in the evolution of climate change denial. As executive director of the conservative Pegasus Institute, Harris is well qualified to represent the current thinking on why we don’t need to do anything about global warming. His first revelation shows that deniers will need a new name, now that, as Harris writes, ‘most of us who are literate accept that climate change is happening’” If that admission surprises you, it’s because Harris is rushing to jump on a reality bandwagon that’s getting increasingly hard to, well, deny. In March, Tennessee Senator Lamar Alexander announced a ‘New Manhattan Project’ (after the WWII-era work to make the atom bomb) as an alternative to the Green New Deal. Those new positions offer a second insight: the likes of Alexander and Harris now say ‘Well, duh, everybody knows climate change is happening, but it’s not so bad’.”
QtMCPO writes—Flooding and Climate Change in Virginia Beach QtMCPO: “Pictured above is my street the morning after Tropical Storm Matthew hit Virginia Beach. Hurricanes and tropical storms had hit us in the 20 years before, but none flooded our street and made it unpassable. One of my neighbors lost his car because the flood waters ruined his engine. His car was parked in his driveway. This past Virginia General Assembly session the city of Virginia Beach asked its state legislators to include money for flood mitigation efforts. Being a legislative assistant to my delegate gave me a front row seat to all of the hearings and sessions. I watched in horror as the four Republican delegates from the city voted to remove that money from the state budget. My Democratic delegate made an passioned plea, on the floor of the House of Delegates, to keep the money in the budget because so many residents have lost their homes and possessions to flood waters. The measure was defeated and Virginia Beach went without $50 million dollars for flood mitigation. As always, this is an election year in Virginia. All 140 seats in the legislature are on the ballot, 40 Senate seats and 100 House of Delegate seats. I cannot let another election go by without action.”
smithbm writes—
Gamification of Climate Change Education: “So I teach young people about
climate change. It’s a semester science elective class for high school students. It’s a good class; I don’t lie to them and they learn a lot — as much about politics, psychology, and social policy as about chemistry and physics, I think. [...] Once students understand the basic chemistry and physics of the climate system and they recognize that projections for the future (absent transformational efforts in every aspect of our lives) are shaded somewhere between charcoal and pitch, I used to have them play this lovely little game from the BBC called
Climate Challenge. The game (from 2006) does a reasonable job of laying out some of the many things a government could do to cut back on greenhouse gas emissions. Of course the time frames are now pretty wildly off, but that’s worth talking about, too. [...] Unfortunately, our school won’t be able to access the (Java-based?) applet next year.
Security risk,
software upgrade; whatever, I can’t use it. So I’m looking for other games that deal with the uncomfortable choices facing us regarding climate change.”
Extreme Weather & Natural Phenomena
Lefty Coaster writes—Northern Alberta is on Fire: “When I woke up today the region around the Salish Sea was enveloped by smoke again as it was yesterday. Roughly 800 miles to our north-northeast in northern Alberta, two dozen wildfires are raging in late May. In May! In northern Alberta! The combination of these northerly latitudes with how early in the season this is strikes me as bizarre. Like science fiction coming to life. 10,000 people evacuated, homes destroyed because of Alberta wildfires. The Alberta government said hot, dry and windy conditions fueling the northern wildfires aren’t going away soon and will make fighting them difficult, so people need to prepare themselves. ‘This fight is going to be a tough one,’ said Devin Dreeshen, Alberta’s minister of agriculture and forestry. ‘The weather is not co-operating for the long-distance forecast for the next two weeks. It’s more of the same’.”
terrypinder writes—Daily Kos WXCenter: Devastating Midwest Floods: “The Midwest has been inundated since late winter. A sudden thaw in March on top of a deep snowpack—and deeply frozen ground, started this disaster, that’s been rolling on ever since. I have a grave concern we may see the Great Flood of 1993 repeat. In addition a very persistent ridge of high pressure has set up near the Southeast, which has had the effect of channeling constant rainfall over the southern Plains and Central US. About the worst thing that could happen now is a tropical system in the Gulf becoming entrained into that flow. Aging infrastructure such as dams (Spencer, NE) and levees (all over the Midwest) are failing. They cannot handle it---and it’s only going to get worse as the years pass because of climate change.”
Fossil Fuels
Walter Einenkel writes—Trump's Department of Energy is calling fossil fuels 'molecules of U.S. freedom' now: “The Trump administration’s foreign policy has been mostly about making Donald Trump’s personal interests money, while making the fossil fuel industry a few more shekels as we all slowly boil in our environmental hotbox. On Tuesday, the Department of Energy released an article titled, ‘Advances commitment to U.S. jobs, economic growth, clean energy.’ In it, Trump’s DOE lays the track work to ‘rebrand’ some of our current administration’s business interests as patriotic interests. Quoting U.S. Under Secretary of Energy Mark W. Menezes on the expansion of the Freeport LNG facility, Menezes says, ‘Increasing export capacity from the Freeport LNG project is critical to spreading freedom gas throughout the world by giving America’s allies a diverse and affordable source of clean energy. Further, more exports of U.S. LNG to the world means more U.S. jobs and more domestic economic growth and cleaner air here at home and around the globe.’ Spreading. Freedom. Gas. But it’s even more than just gas, according to the DOE. This is freedom down to its smallest particles. As Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy Steven Winberg explained: With the U.S. in another year of record-setting natural gas production, I am pleased that the Department of Energy is doing what it can to promote an efficient regulatory system that allows for molecules of U.S. freedom to be exported to the world.”
Emissions Controls, Carbon Capture & Carbon Pricing
jamess writes—A Quick review of 'Mechanical Trees' Carbon-capture Tech as of 2019: “Trust me, I’m a huge fan of BIG Trees. I’ve spent much of my life photographing them. [...] I’ve also spent much of my career, trying to protect them. (Along with an Owl or two.) BUT, when it comes to Macro-Economic principles, there is just not enough of them, to do what future generations will need: Remove 40+ gigatons of CO2 from the air on an annual basis. There are far too many competing forces, that simply want to cut down far too many trees. Federal, state, and private land-owners all generally say ‘it’s their land’ … and ‘their trees’.”
Pipelines & Other Oil and Gas Transport
Karen Feridun writes—What It Was Like Living through a Pipeline Explosion & What PA's Government Should Learn from It: “Read Energy Transfer’s latest quarterly report and you’ll find this description of the explosion of its one-week old Revolution pipeline. ‘On September 10, 2018, a pipeline release and fire (the “Incident”) occurred on the Revolution pipeline, a natural gas gathering line, in the vicinity of Ivy Lane located in Center Township, Beaver County, Pennsylvania. There were no injuries, but there were evacuations of local residents as a precautionary measure.’ Neighbors of the Rosati family whose home was destroyed in the blast met with Auditor General Eugene De Pasquale in April to describe what happened that day and the lingering effects the explosion has had on the community. ‘The Rosatis ran out the door with only the clothes on their backs. The woman wanted to go back for a dog. The man said RUN. As they made their way up their driveway, they looked back and flames were on their roof. They lost everything,’ they said in a statement they read to the Auditor General.”
CANDIDATES, STATE AND DC ECO-RELATED POLITICS
Walter Einenkel writes—Jay Inslee is now one of 13 Democratic candidates to guarantee debate stage: “The climate is changing and that’s an enormous problem for everyone inhabiting the planet. This issue, while gargantuan in scope, is arguably the single-most important issue facing not only Americans but the world. All of the social and economic and healthcare decisions we all want pursued by the next set of elected officials will be directly affected by the pressures put upon humanity, business, governments, and communities by the extreme weather changes. It is this single issue that Washington Gov. Jay Inslee has made the focus of his campaign to win the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination. His campaign got a big boost on Friday when it was reported he had secured a 65,000th individual donor to his campaign, almost insuring a place for Inslee in the upcoming Democratic Party primary debates. While the DNC has said that the two ways a candidate can get a place on the debate stage is by either reaching 65,000 individual donors or receiving 1 percent of the popular vote in at least three ‘qualifying’ polls, Inslee is now only one of 13 candidates to achieve both. He joins, Joe Biden, Cory Booker, Pete Buttigieg, Julián Castro, Tulsi Gabbard, Kamala Harris, Amy Klobuchar, Beto O'Rourke, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Marianne Williamson and Andrew Yan’.”
occupystephanie writes—Candidate Gov. Jay Inslee Tops Greenpeace Grades with A-: ”Presidential candidate Governor Jay Inslee is a curve breaker when it comes to environmental grades from activist groups. Seems like there is always one in every class! Greenpeace released its climate grades for presidential contenders, judging their opposition to fossil fuels and support for the Green New Deal ideals over time since 2013. ‘We are in a climate emergency. Yet for the last several elections, even the majority of politicians who claim to care about our future have done little more than say they believe the climate crisis is real,’ Greenpeace USA Climate Campaign Director Janet Redman said in a statement announcing the grades. ‘That doesn’t cut it anymore. In 2020, true climate leadership means nothing less than saying 'yes' to a Green New Deal and 'no' to fossil fuels.’ Here are the class standings: 1. Jay Inslee, A-; 2. Bernie Sanders, B+; 3. Cory Booker, B+; 4. Kirsten Gillibrand, B; 5. Elizabeth Warren, B; 6. Tulsi Gabbard, B; 7. Beto O’Rourke, B-; 8. Marianne Williamson, C; 9. Pete Buttigieg, C; 10. Kamala Harris, C-; 11. Eric Swalwell, C-; 12. Amy Klobuchar, C-; 13. John Delaney, D+; 14. Andrew Yang, D+; 15, Julian Castro, D+; 16. Tim Ryan, D-; 17. Joe Biden, D-; 18. John Hickenlooper, D-; 19. Bill Weld, F; 20. Donald Trump, F.”
TomP writes—Greenpeace Ranked the Major Presidential Candidates on Plans to Fight Climate Change: “Greenpeace ranked the major Presidential candidates on climate change plans. Governor Inslee got an A-. Not surprised that he was the best. Tied for a close second were Bernie and Booker with a B+. [Revised to correct an error — Originally erroneously said Gillibrand had a B+. She had a B]. Spoiler — Trump got an F! Most interesting news, Biden got a D-. Although that should not have surprised me after his ‘moderate’ plan. Well, better than Trump’s F.”
ECO-ACTION & ECO JUSTICE
RonK writes—The Daily Bucket: Training the Next Generation of Green Warriors - Earth Day 2019: “A rainy Earth Day 2019 found me and my trusty salmon creek restoration partner, granddaughter Ava, assisting a class of 2nd graders to plant willows along some wetlands from an overflowing Kendal Creek. This creek is a Nooksack River tributaryand is a prime spawning stream for several species of Pacific Salmon. We had been there just a month earlier in March on a work party planting Sitka Willows and Red-Osier dogwood in frozen ground. A month later by Earth Day in April, it was wet and soggy, just right for sticking cuttings into the muck. The land along this portion of the creek had been cleared and farmed for many years until donated to the Whatcom Land Trust. For the past 15 years, the Land Trust, along with the local Chapter of the Audubon Society have been restoring the creek and wetlands with native vegetation that continues to attract a wide variety of local birds. It is now designated as the Harrison Memorial Nature Refuge. This specific property is a five acre plot at the foot of Sumas Mountain in the foothills of the North Cascade mountains, about 30 miles northeast of Bellingham.”
eeff writes—September 20th 2019 Student Climate Crisis Strike: “Greta is leading a Student Climate Crisis Strike on Fridays, She has a plan to have the biggest event yet on Sept 20th. Join the Student Climate Crisis Strike. Greta Thunberg and leading youth strikers for climate action from across the world have called for all adults to join a global general strikeon 20 September. They are asking citizens to walk out of work just before a crucial UN summit at which nations are being urged to declare much stronger ambitions to tackle the climate emergency. The call was issued as young people prepared for what organisers have claimed will be one of the biggest student strikes so far on Friday, with protests expected in 1,594 cities and towns in 118 countries, according to the Fridays for the Future website.”
Mark Sumner writes—Study shows global warming is making income inequality worse for those who have no way to fight back: “In the current issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Stanford researchers Noah Diffenbaugh and Marshall Burke show that the impact of the climate crisis is already widening the gap between countries that are hot and poor, and those that are cool and affluent. The effects of global warming have driven a 25% percent increase in the difference between economic growth in these countries. Poor countries use far less energy. In fact, the wealth of a country might be most accurately measured in terms of the energy use per capita. But the countries that have been using all that energy are driving climate change—while the countries who are not, are suffering disproportionately from the consequences. The countries that are burning more oil, gas, and coal are saddling the remainder of the world with an altered environment and the health effects of their actions. And those effects are being most keenly felt have no way to fight back. If the use of fossil fuels to economically attack whole swaths of the planet isn’t an intentional act of war … it’s a pretty good substitute.”
occupystephanie writes—Why the Covering Climate Now Project is Critical: “Acknowledging the temerity of news bureaus to focus on climate news while realizing that humanity is quickly running out of time to act, the Covering Climate Now project is attempting to overcome competitive forces in journalism to foster cooperation and make a courageous stand to join in an intense week of climate coverage in the lead-up to the UN Climate Summit convening in New York on September 23. Nations are expected to show how they will limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius. They are proposing a week of concentrated climate coverage in the lead-up to the UN Climate Action Summit 2019: We Can Win this Race, beginning September 16.”
AGRICULTURE, FOOD & GARDENING
enhydra lutris writes—Open Thread: Rescue clover, help bees,soil, and water; boycott Scott's, and more: ”We developed the herbicide 2,4,D during WWII to use as a weapon, but decided not to. It was then further developed and marketed for agriculture, killing "weeds" but not grains (grasses). The next step was to market it to homeowners, first as a stand along product, then as part of Scott's ‘Feed and Weed’ fertilizer plus herbicide combo, and then as part of Scott's Turf Builder and similar products. Because it kills a vast spectrum of braodleaf plants, 2,4,D kills clover too. No problem. Even though it was once touted as a boon and even necessary to a good laws, a huge propaganda campaign was launched to decry, and classify it as a weed, using all the tricks available to top notch marketers and propagandists. So, we have traded a beneficial natural source of nitrogen, which also provides food for bees for poison, topical fertilizer with concommitant runoff, and profits for those peddling these types of products.”
nkgodfrey writes—Saturday Morning Garden Blogging. Vol 15.22: Fun with Foliage: “If I could go back in time and change one aspect of my garden, I would incorporate more white and yellow foliage. Most of my hillside is in the shade. I initially planted purple foliage to increase the visual interest which can create a focal point in a sunny garden. Unfortunately, I observed that this enhanced the darkness of a shade garden. Over time, I included more light colored foliage and saw how it brightened up my shadowy landscape. Using foliage is often overlooked as a way to enhance a garden. I know I took a haphazard approach until the last year. Although color is usually my first consideration, plants with contrasting leaf shapes, sizes, and texture also make interesting combinations. Monotonous — that is how I would describe the back yard in 2016.”
TRANSPORTATION & INFRASTRUCTURE
Mark Sumner writes—China claims to have 'cracked' low cost production of lithium, political implications could be huge: “The initial cost of electric vehicles still tends to higher than that of conventional internal combustion (ICE) vehicles, enough so that EVs are essentially priced out of the market for economy cars. But electric cars are actually easier to make, with electric motors costing much less to manufacture than their gas equivalents and requiring many fewer supporting systems. The reason that electric cars cost so much in 2019 is because lithium batteries cost so much. And the reason that lithium batteries cost so much is in large part because lithium costs so much. But if a report in the South China Morning Post is correct, that could be about to change.”
MISCELLANY
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—CATO Quietly Folds Center For Study of Science After Pat Michaels Finally Tells A Truth: “It looks like one of the last events for which [former director Patrick] Michaels used his Cato affiliation was at McLean, Virginia’s Lewinsville Presbyterian Church on March 20th. The church billed the event as a chance to ‘see a leading “merchant of doubt” in action.’ According to Adam Siegel, who runs the climate and energy blog GetEnergySmartNOW and attended the event, Michaels’ presentation was 90 minutes of exactly what one would expect from a professional deceiver. But there was one notable moment, one that we’d like to hope will be the last we hear from lifelong protector of polluters Pat Michaels. Per Siegel, an audience member confronted Michaels about his refusal to disclose the sources of his (now perhaps nonexistent) funding, and accused him of working for Heartland. ‘No, I work at Cato,’ Michaels shot back. ‘We’re quite different. You shouldn’t trust anything about science from Heartland.’ On that, Mr. Michaels, we can certainly agree.”
AKALib writes—Happy 112th Birthday to Rachel Carson, a Force of Nature: “Today, we remember Rachel Carson, marine biologist, author and environmentalist extraordinaire, who was born on this day on May 27, 1907, in Springdale, Pennsylvania. Her book Silent Spring and other writings are credited with igniting the global environmental movement. Shining a light on the dangers of chemical pesticides, the book led to a nationwide ban on DDT and other pesticides and ultimately led to the creation of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). [...] There are many excellent articles, books and videos documenting her life and her works. Please see the tweets and reference section below for links to some well-written articles. Here we present a short synopsis, culled from various articles and present some of the heart-warming tweets and tributes to her.”