This is the 604th edition of the Spotlight on Green News & Views (previously known as the Green Diary Rescue). Here is the June 15 edition. Inclusion of a story in the Spotlight does not necessarily indicate my agreement with or endorsement of it.
OUTSTANDING GREEN STORIES
PHScott writes—The Daily Bucket: Buggy Delights! “Greetings from the eastern Florida Panhandle! This is a continuation of my comment yesterday: I am beset with bugs of all kinds - flying insects after nectar such as tiny bees, flies, and mimics and the larger bumblebees, wasps and more bee mimics. Then there are those that fly around and feed on the smaller insects. I step out the door and I will be buzzed by something within seconds. Green dragonflies follow me around knowing I attract insects of all sorts just by being there. Almost as big are the predatory Robber flies that totally rule. And it hasn’t happened yet this summer but there will be the big slow Assassin bugs that somehow always fly into me. Stink stink … There’s a constant flight of visitors so I thought I should document as best I could. Feeling lazy and not wanting to be in 90º direct sunlight, I sat back with telephoto lens. Idea was to get a fine quality wide image and crop any finds.”
Pakalolo writes—Exxon conducted cutting-edge climate research decades ago and predicted the CO2 milestone of 2019: “CO2 emissions continue to rise while tipping points in the Arctic horrify climate scientists. If we lose the Arctic, we lose the world. It's as simple as that. And the science and data confirm that the Arctic system has begun to collapse. What is disturbing to me is that oil companies knew humanity could not survive a 3C world and deliberately withheld the information from us when we could actually do something about it. And here we are, staring down into the abyss. Exxon fucking knew!! ‘Over the past several years a clear scientific consensus has emerged,’ Cohen wrote in September 1982, reporting on Exxon's own analysis of climate models. It was that a doubling of the carbon dioxide blanket in the atmosphere would produce average global warming of 3 degrees Celsius, plus or minus 1.5 degrees C (equal to 5 degrees Fahrenheit plus or minus 1.7 degrees F). ‘There is unanimous agreement in the scientific community that a temperature increase of this magnitude would bring about significant changes in the earth's climate,’ he wrote, ‘including rainfall distribution and alterations in the biosphere’.”
MorrellWI1983 writes—Modernizing the Antiquities Act- A Proposal: “The Antiquities Act was signed into law on June 8th 1906, granting the president the authority to create monuments by proclamation, the size and number of the monuments left to the presidents discretion. Section 1 of the law sets the penalties for violating the act, a misdemeanor with fines of $500 and/or a prison sentence of 90 days. Those penalties have not been changed in the century-plus since, and as acts by the Bundys in Malheur or the vandals who recently smashed a wooden hut display in Ocmulgee National Monument show, the penalties have not been an adequate deterrent. My proposal to change the Antiquities Act is 3-fold.”
CRITTERS AND THE GREAT OUTDOORS
6412093 writes—The Daily Bucket--They've got Equinox birthdays, they've got Solstice Legs: “For the fifth year in a row, the tiny native Chorus Frogs have returned with the Winter Solstice moon, to breed in my back yard ponds. The new generation of frogs were born as egg sacs on the Equinox moon. And now, they are morphing from tadpoles into full-pledged, if tiny, Chorus Frogs, on the Summer Solstice Moon. I am especially joyous at these many frogs, because now I can claim success for renovating this pond. This older, larger pond once had dozens of chorus frogs, but the hungry goldfish and bullfrogs wiped out most of the tinier chorus frogs. I hoped that removing the fish would allow the chorus frogs to successfully re-colonize this larger, now-non-fishless pond. I enjoyed wild success with the renovated pond, with several frog couples producing about 1000 eggs, followed by tadpoles, and now I have the cutest frogs in the County. I had to drain the pond to repair it, and that included moving out 70 fish up to 7 inches long, into a neighboring pond.”
OceanDiver writes—The Daily Bucket - more roundness (nod to Redwoodman): “June 2019. Pacific Northwest. Last week Redwoodman showed us globe-shaped....spherical…..rotund....planet-shaped nature sightings. That inspired me to look around and see roundness in my neighborhood too. Here are a few sightings of that configuration I’m seeing in my neighborhood these days. Interestingly, most of them are in or related to plants, as his were.”
Kestrel writes—Dawn Chorus: Dowitchers, Godwits, and Plovers, Oh My! Part 2: L through Z: “Back on May 26, I published the first episode on shorebirds which you can find here. www.dailykos.com/… Today I’m adding part 2. I’m borrowing heavily from All About Birds for this diary. Shorebirds are fascinating. They constitute a huge class of birds and have more diversity within them than just about any other grouping. From tiny (Least Sandpipers) to huge (Long-billed Curlews), shorebirds are real show-stoppers. Identifying them can be a bit daunting at first, but once you get a little experience, you’ll find them easier to ID. Sandpipers (“peeps”) are especially difficult and it takes a very practiced eye to discern the fine distinctions between several of them. This is where a good field guide or app comes in handy. Also, a note about shorebird migration. Shorebirds fly some of the longest migrations known, moving from nesting grounds in the farthest reaches of the north to wintering grounds in southernmost South America. Worldwide, there are 203 species of shorebirds in 12 families.”
Walter Einenkel writes—So many gray whales are washing up along our coasts the government is asking private owners for help: “Scientists believe that the high count of dead gray whales washing up on American coastal shores is due to climate change. According to the Huffington Post, over 70 gray whales have died this year, the highest number in 20 years. Most of the whales seem to have died of starvation due to a mixture of pollution, like plastics, and dwindling food resources for the whales, because of warming underwater climates.The problem is so bad that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is asking for help from private landowners. The kind of help the NOAA needs is space and places which will allow for a whale carcass to decompose. [...] As of June, 30 whales have washed up along Washington state and almost 40 have appeared along California’s coastline. According to NOAA gray whales usually grow to about 90,000 pounds, reaching almost 50 feet in length. They spend their time in the northern pacific and usually live about the same length of time as a modern human.”
Pandala writes—The Daily Bucket: Waterlily Dreams: “It’s my first year with frogbit. All three annual floaters grow fast and extract excess nutrients from the water, expanding into an enormous vegetative mass, composted in the fall. Please note they will never have the opportunity to invade any natural water sources. This tank is on high and dry land. Invasion is a non-issue here. Water lilies are the stars of the tank. If they strike you as ancient you are right. Originating deep in the Cretaceous, near the origin time of flowering plants, they apparently retain an ancestral condition. Gymnosperms package haploid endosperm to nourish their seeds, while modern angiosperms – flowering plants—employ triploid endosperm. Water lilies go diploid, thus occupying an intermediate state; not a concern to the dinosaurs that must surely have eaten them while grazing the shallows, but of interest to those researching plant evolution. Note that lotuses are not close relatives.”
CLIMATE CHAOS
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Tucker Carlson Asks Who The Climate Culprits Are On His Koch-Funded Website: “Last week, the co-founders of the Koch-funded Daily Caller, Tucker Carlson and Niel Patel, took to their website to ask a burning question: If climate change is our World War II, who are the real villains? According to these two men--who, just to be perfectly clear, created a website funded by the fossil fuel-dependent Koch network that regularly pushes climate change denial and runs cover for the fossil-fuels-first agenda of the Trump administration--the people who are ‘first on the list’ of enemies are ‘double agents… people who pretend to be on the side of righteousness but in fact are doing the work of dark forces.’ Specifically, they call out former NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg and his lavish billionaire lifestyle. Oddly, Carlson and Patel make only passing reference to the fact that Bloomberg has given hundreds of millions of dollars to projects to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. And it’s not like they’d have to go far to find examples of his climate philanthropy” the Daily Caller itself appears to have over 600 stories on Bloomberg and climate. But because Bloomberg flies in private jets, apparently all that is meaningless.”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Red Team Leader Steve Koonin’s Climate Concerns A Rehash Of Well-Worn Myths: “Earlier this month, we learned that the Trump administration is still looking for ways to use a red team of deniers to attack climate science. It’s been two years since Steve Koonin first proposed the idea--surely he’s spent this time developing a unique and razor-sharp argument to justify opening a new line of debate and taking the establishment by surprise. Or, he’s just been rehashing the same set of denial lies that have already been debunked by the de facto blue team of honest scientists. Fortunately, NASA’s Gavin Schmidt recently found a talk Koonin gave at Purdue, and dissected the many arguments Koonin made in a post at Real Climate. Surprising absolutely no one, it turns out that not only did Koonin fail to detail any actual concerns about the NCA being misleading, but the points he actually makes are, per Schmidt, ‘a few fallacious arguments, some outright errors, some secondhand misdirection, a scattering of dubious assumptions and a couple of very odd contradictions.’ On the fallacious front, Koonin makes a demand for perfect knowledge before justifying action, and a disbelief in future sea level rise projections because it hasn’t happened already.”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Is Tucker Carlson Getting Woke On Koch? Is It Because They’re Their Cutting Daily Caller Funding? “Just the other day we talked about how Tucker Carlson questioned who the climate culprits are on his Koch-funded Daily Caller website. So we’re reluctant to go back to that well quite so soon, but a new post on the Caller’s website cannot go without comment. The story is a clip and rehash of one of Carlson’s recent segments on his Fox News show, in which he attacks Koch Brothers and questions their undue influence over the Republican party. In the clip, Carlson hones in on criticisms that the Koch brothers are libertarian and that their philanthropic aims don’t reflect the wants and needs of everyday Republicans. Yes, you read that correctly. Tucker Carlson, whose Daily Caller website received 84%of its funding from the Kochs in 2016 and close to a million dollars in 2017, railed against the Kochs’ influence. Keep in mind the website with over a thousand Koch stories, few if any of which are anything but bootlicking.”
Pakalolo writes—Iceberg calving from Greenlandic glaciers surges as 2019 surface melt season may be record-breaking: “I was perusing my climate news feeds this morning and recoiled, yet again, in horror at another report on the human impacts from the climate crisis.Example A; entire villages in India have been evacuated due to lethal heatwaves and extreme drought. Only the sick and elderly were left behind. The climate crisis is so apparent and dangerous currently that you would have to have your head in the sand to believe otherwise. Example B; One of the more dramatic impacts so far this year in the United States have been the constant rainfall in the middle west and southeastern states. Farmers and small rural towns marvel at the destructive impacts on agriculture. Swamped flooded fields along with stinging tariffs, that their hero Donald Trump unleashed on them, have some farmers facing financial ruin. As the crisis continues to unfold our food supply is threatened.”
Pakalolo writes—Pentagon is afraid of climate crisis yet does next to nothing to stop their significant contribution: “We are a nation addicted to oil and addicted to war. From the beginning of the War on Terror to 2017, the Pentagon generated at least 1.2 billion metric tons of greenhouse gases. Just two and a half short years ago we had a President who understood the threat to the world from the climate crisis. Obama, of course, had to deal with a recalcitrant GOP controlled congress, so progress only went so far. They blocked every single green issue in Department of Defense plans to transition to a green energy future. Amid all of the obstruction, the Pentagon pushed forward with green energy anyways. Then 2016 happened. A President was elected with significant aid from our nations largest adversary. The war on solutions to the climate crisis and boosting carbon emissions began. The fossil fuel interests and the military complex rejoiced.”
occupystephanie writes—"We are Living Climate Change Right Now": “We are a nation addicted to oil and addicted to war. From the beginning of the War on Terror to 2017, the Pentagon generated at least 1.2 billion metric tons of greenhouse gases. Just two and a half short years ago we had a President who understood the threat to the world from the climate crisis. Obama, of course, had to deal with a recalcitrant GOP controlled congress, so progress only went so far. They blocked every single green issue in Department of Defense plans to transition to a green energy future. Amid all of the obstruction, the Pentagon pushed forward with green energy anyways. Then 2016 happened. A President was elected with significant aid from our nations largest adversary. The war on solutions to the climate crisis and boosting carbon emissions began. The fossil fuel interests and the military complex rejoiced.”
Angmar writes—
Breaking: "Pope Francis declares 'climate emergency' and urges action": “
"Pope Francis has declared a global ‘climate emergency,’ warning of the dangers of global heating and that a failure to act urgently to reduce greenhouse gases would be ‘a brutal act of injustice toward the poor and future generations.’ He also endorsed the 1.5C limit on temperature rises that some countries are now aiming for, referring to warnings from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change of ‘catastrophic’ effects if we crossed such a threshold. He said a ‘radical energy transition’ would be needed to stay within that limit, and urged young people and businesses to take a leading role. ‘Future generations stand to inherit a greatly spoiled world. Our children and grandchildren should not have to pay the cost of our generation’s irresponsibility,’ he said, in his strongest and most direct intervention yet on the climate crisis. “Indeed, as is becoming increasingly clear, young people are calling for a change’.”
Angmar writes—
"POLL: MAJOR DEM VOTER SUPPORT FOR CLIMATE DEBATE": “Democratic voters overwhelmingly support devoting one of the Democratic National Committee’s four televised presidential primary debates to climate change, according to a new poll. An online YouGov
survey, commissioned by the left-leaning think tank Data for Progress, polled 1,030 registered voters over two days last week to ask if they’d ‘support or oppose setting side” one of the debates ‘to focus specifically on the issue of climate change.’
Democrats and independents who lean blue supported the idea by 64%, with 42% strongly in support and 22% somewhat in favor. That compares to just 11% of Democrats opposed, 6% not sure and 20% neutral.
www.huffpost.com/...”
Angmar writes—"Climate Grief: The growing emotional toll of Climate Change" (And a new support group on DK): “According to a Yale survey taken this year, anxiety is rising in the U.S. over the climate. Sixty-two percent of people surveyed said they were at least ‘somewhat’ worried about the climate, up from 49 percent in 2010. The rate of those who described themselves as ‘very’ worried was 21 percent, about double the rate of a similar study in 2015. Only 6 percent said humans can and will reduce global warming. Dr. Lise van Susteren, a psychiatrist in Washington and co-founder of the Climate Psychiatry Alliance, said it’s becoming harder for patients to ignore the threats of climate change. ‘For a long time we were able to hold ourselves in a distance, listening to data and not being affected emotionally,’ she said. ‘But it’s not just a science abstraction anymore. I’m increasingly seeing people who are in despair, and even panic’.”
Angmar writes—"Scientists shocked by Arctic permafrost thawing 70 years sooner than predicted": “’Thawing permafrost is one of the tipping points for climate breakdown and it’s happening before our very eyes,’ said Jennifer Morgan, executive director of Greenpeace International. ‘This premature thawing is another clear signal that we must decarbonise our economies, and immediately. Permafrost at outposts in the Canadian Arctic is thawing 70 years earlier than predicted, an expedition has discovered, in the latest sign that the global climate crisis is accelerating even faster than scientists had feared. A team from the University of Alaska Fairbanks said they were astounded by how quickly a succession of unusually hot summers had destabilised the upper layers of giant subterranean ice blocks that had been frozen solid for millennia. “What we saw was amazing,” Vladimir Romanovsky, a professor of geophysics at the university, told Reuters. “It’s an indication that the climate is now warmer than at any time in the last 5,000 or more years.“www.theguardian.com/...”
avatarabbiehoffman writes—My Anxiety and Depression Over Climate Crisis: “I grew up in a small farming community in East-Central Illinois. Through my formative years, my everyday view of the world looked something like this ===> At least in the Spring and Summer, the colors that surrounded me were predominantly green, sky blue, green, yellow sun and more green. We lived in a house built in 1908 by a rich farmer whose wife was a horticultural enthusiast who couldn’t get enough variety. The story around town was that the rich farmer loved his wife dearly and supported her hobby, and on their anniversary, every year for 56 years, he gave her a different tree on their special day. As a result, I catalogued 84 different species of trees for a freshman Biology project, just from our 4-acre yard alone. Growing up in a yard like that, in a town surrounded by millions of acres of corn and soybean fields, set my expectations for how the world looked, should look, should always look. Yes; I grew up spoiled, entitled and privileged; I freely admit that. I was probably 9 before I understood that much of the world that humans inhabited looked like the header photo or like [the photo above.”
occupystephanie writes—Eco-Anxiety Support Group: Speaking Truth to the Willfully Deaf: “Eco-anxiety is a diagnosis taken seriously by the American Psychological Association (APA) which released the report Mental Health and Our Changing Climate: Impacts, Implications, and Guidance (March 2017) describing eco-anxiety as 'a chronic fear of environmental doom'. Victims in climate disasters--such as the Katrina Hurricane in Louisiana--suffered increases in suicide and suicidal ideation and develop pre-PTSD which develops into full-blown PTSD after the initial shock subsides. The effects following climate disasters were expected; however, they are also finding that people who have not undergone climate assault and live removed from these regions also have significant impacts on their mental health. One section of the APA report that attracted my attention (and likely may resonate with many other kossacks) is how the climate emergency affects what the report terms individuals who are ‘Cassandras’. The APA report gives this as the meaning: With origins in Greek mythology, the Cassandra Syndrome occurs when valid warnings or concerns are dismissed or disbelieved.”
Nonlinear writes—Hope for the Future: A diary for everyone with climate change anxiety: “I have been reading a lot of diaries here and blogs elsewhere that are filled wtih doom and gloom about the global heating crisis. People experiencing anxiety and depressionbecause of the looming catastrophe is becoming common. I thought you might like a little good news. Usually when people talk about technological solutions to reducing CO2 levels the ideas are long on theory and short on real world application. I am about to explain not an idea but an ongoing real world experiment that I am conducting (with a huge amount of help). But before I go on here is a National Geographic article explaining the ideas behind what I am attempting to do. www.nationalgeographic.com/… The following quote is the last line from the article linked above."’Everyone in the U.S. needs to know: We largely have the technology to solve the problem,’ Pacala says. ‘All we have to do is start.’ I have gone ahead and started.”
kailaHI writes—
There’s a new act at New York’s Apollo Theater: Climate change: “Around the world, more and more young people are
demanding action on climate change, and the teens assembled at the Community Church of New York on Park Avenue this past Saturday are adding their voices to that chorus. But this is a different kind of protest:
Climate Speaks is a spoken-word youth poetry performance that gives students the
chance to express their grief and hope through art. The show is put on by the Climate Museum, a new nonprofit in New York City that aims to raise awareness and educate the public about the climate crisis. ‘Art is essential in shifting our culture on climate,’ said Miranda Massie, the director of the Climate Museum and organizer of the event. ‘It reaches us at the visceral, the emotional, the communal. Art is absolutely essential to reaching people through their feelings of being connected to others’.”
xaxnar writes—Which American Cities Will be Saved, Which Won't as the Seas Rise? The Unacknowledged Carbon Tax: “This is a de facto carbon tax being imposed on us, while the rich and corporations get their taxes cut. We are paying so the fossil fuel interests and their shareholders can keep cashing in as long as possible. Every dollar for disaster relief, every dollar to repair and reinforce infrastructure that wasn’t built for the ‘new normal’ is a carbon tax. Every move by Republicans to deny and reverse climate policies is a carbon tax increase. Mind you, this is talking about just dealing with storm surge — and rising seas mean the problem will continue to get worse. What’s adequate in 2040 will not remain so; we are going to end up in a Red Queen’s Race. Building sea walls only addresses part of the problem too. There’s a whole range of infrastructure issues that will have to be addressed. Read the whole thing. Then ask the DNC again why at least one debate just on Climate Change is not worth doing.”
NHlib writes—Why declared climate emergencies are pointless: “Canada’s legislature is among the latest to declare a ‘climate emergency,’ reinforcing their commitment to meeting their Paris Agreement goals. Then they turn around and do this: ‘Hypocrisy, Thy Name Is Canada. Trans Mountain Pipeline Profits To Fund Green Energy Projects.’ Thunberg calls it ‘shameful’. On May 1, the UK Parliament also declared an emergency, but put no teeth in the proposal. This was right after Thunberg had strongly criticized UK climate policy and there had been 10 days of street protests in London. The UK thinks they can acheive ‘net zero’ emissions by 2050 without causing substantial economic damage. Good luck with that. And 2050 is probably too late. In a speech before EU lawmakers, Thunberg criticized Norway: Norway has decided to stop drilling for oil outside the scenic resort of Lofoten islands, but will continue drilling for oil everywhere else for decades.”
ENERGY
Robert Rapier writes—The World Is On An Unsustainable Path: “Last week BP released its Statistical Review of World Energy. I always do a series for Forbes on this annual data release, and I always like to start out with the most alarming trend in the data: Rising carbon emissions. This year, BP subtitled the report ‘An Unsustainable Path,’ noting that despite the Paris Climate Accord and rapid penetration of renewables, global carbon dioxide emissions still grew last year at double their ten-year average. I covered this news for Forbes in BP Warns Of An Unsustainable Path. Quoting from the article: Emissions were driven by increases in consumption of all the major fossil fuels. Coal consumption increased for the second year in a row in 2018, following three years of decline. Global oil consumption increased by 1.5% to a new all-time high. And natural gas consumption was up over 5%, one of the strongest rates of growth for over 30 years. Thus, even though renewables grew by 14.5% -- near the record-breaking pace of 2017 -- they only accounted for 26% of the total global increase in global energy consumption. To put it another way, modern renewable energy consumption (mainly wind and solar power) grew by 71 million metric tons of oil equivalent in 2018. But fossil fuel consumption grew by nearly four times that amount, hence the increase in carbon dioxide emissions.”
Green New Deal & 100% Clean Energy
gmoke writes—Jimmy Carter's Old Green Deal: “Jimmy Carter’s energy plan called for "20% of our energy coming from solar power by the year 2000" in 1979. Renewables, wind, solar and hydro, are at just about that level now, 20 years behind his schedule. Carter also wanted to insulate 90% of American homes and all new buildings and use solar energy in more than 2.5 million homes by 1985. There are now 1.3 million solar installations in the USA and all low-rise residential buildings in CA will be built to net zero energy standards starting in 2020. Carter was thinking in terms of his next four years in office. Extinction Rebellion is demanding that ‘Government must act now to halt biodiversity loss and reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2025.’ The Green New Deal has a 10-year timeframe.”
Nuclear
Ccwright writes—Renewable Energy Is Not the Answer; Nuclear Is: “António Guterres, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, has called on global leaders to ‘demonstrate how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 45 per cent over the next decade and achieve net zero global emissions by 2050.’ They’re supposed to meet in New York in September 2019 to answer this call.The only conceivable way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions on the scale called for is to aggressively embrace nuclear power. It is cost-competitive with all other forms of electricity generation except natural gas—although if you take into account the long-term environmental costs of using natural gas (or oil or even renewables), nuclear is probably the cheapest of all. A worldwide rollout of nuclear power plants on the scale necessary to save civilization would certainly take longer than eleven years, but we can at least make substantial progress by then. If, that is, we pressure our governments to stop subsidizing oil, natural gas, and the renewables they go hand-in-hand with and instead massively invest in nuclear.”
Fossil Fuels
Walter Einenkel writes—The United States still spends 10 times as much on fossil fuel subsidies as they do on education: “Nothing signifies how backwards our country’s priorities are more than what we spend our money on. The International Monetary Fund (IMF), not known as a bastion of socialist sentiment, has released a report on fossil fuel subsidies around the world. Analyzing costs around the globe, spent by governments on energy in general, the IMF found that the United States spent the second most, behind China and just ahead of Russia, on subsidies with $649 billion in 2015 alone. Forbes points out that this number is more than the U.S. defense budget and “ten times the federal spending for education.” The IMF says “Globally, subsidies remained large at $4.7 trillion (6.3 percent of global GDP) in 2015 and are projected at $5.2 trillion (6.5 percent of GDP) in 2017.” And while the fossil fuel industry continues to argue that pulling back on fossil fuel subsidies would deal a devastating blow to the global economy, and we all need to slowly continue to poison our air and water and planet, while we move to renewables, the IMF’s Christine Lagarde says that this still has to happen.”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Utility AEP Knows Public Want Renewables, But Makes Them Pay For Coal Lobby Membership Anyway: “Yesterday the Trump administration released its Clean Power Plan replacement, the Affordable Clean Energy Rule. One thing to look out for is how the rule treats PM2.5 health benefits from reducing coal use--whether it acknowledges the thousands of additional deaths caused by coal or not, E&E’s Jean Cheminick wrote. On one side is basically all of the science not funded by polluters, and a 2001 Supreme Court ruling that says those lives should be included in a cost-benefit analysis. On the other side is the Trump administration using the arguments of pro-pollution lobbyist Steve Milloy, whom former EPA expert John Bachmann described as ‘full of shit.’ Because the odds that the rule will survive the courts are approximately zero, today we’re going to focus where the real action is happening: at the state level. New research from Dave Anderson at the Energy and Policy Institute revealed this week that American Electric Power, a major utility, uses ratepayer money to fund its membership in the American Coalition for Clean Coal Energy, a leading coal lobby group.”
Dan Bacher writes—California's oil and gas regulators get an "F' grade in environmental justice report: “The California Environmental Justice Alliance (CEJA) today gave the Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources (DOGGR), the state organization charged with regulating the oil and gas industry, an “F” grade for continuing to neglect the needs of environmental justice and low-income communities in the organization’s third annual Environmental Justice Agency Assessment for 2018. ‘These communities house a majority of the 8,500 active oil and gas wells that fall within 2500 feet of schools, homes, and hospitals,’ according to a statement from CEJA. In contrast with the reputation that California has acquired for being the nation’s ‘green leader,’ the report reveals that many state agencies are not ‘successfully integrating environmental justice into their decision-making and continually fail to prioritize long-standing health and quality of life needs of constituents’.”
Hydraulic Fracturing
Dan Bacher writes—Oregon Governor Kate Brown Signs Five-Year Fracking Ban Bill: “In contrast with California where every bill to ban or impose a moratorium on fracking has been defeated under heavy political pressure by Big Oil, Oregon Governor Kate Brown signed into law a five-year ban on fracking for oil and gas exploration and production on June 17. HB 2623, sponsored by Rep. Julie Fahey and Sen. James Manning, received final approval by the state legislature on June 5. The bill previously banned fracking for 10 years, but the Senate reduced that ban to five years. ‘The controversial process of oil and gas drilling has poisoned drinking water and caused widespread health problems in other states, and has been banned in Vermont, New York, Maryland, and Washington. Food & Water Watch was the first national organization to call for a ban on fracking everywhere, and has helped mobilize opposition to fracking in Oregon and across the country’, according to a statement from Food and Water Watch.”
Emissions Controls & Carbon Pricing
Mark Sumner writes—The Clean Power Plan has been replaced by the Trump power plan ... which is literally no plan at all: “The Trump EPA, now under the guidance of coal lobbyist Andrew Wheeler, has completed its review and replacement of the rules for coal-fired power plants that were put into effect by President Barack Obama. And that replacement is … do whatever you want. The new rules are that there are no rules. Instead, the federal government will turn over the regulation of plants to the states, allowing each to set its own targets. States will be allowed to decide how much restriction they want to put on coal emissions, including no restrictions at all. In all likelihood, states will choose to ride out the current requirements, just keeping things on cruise as coal plants cycle out of existence. This change could potentially allow coal plants to stay open longer. Many of the existing plants are over 40 years old, and well past the date when they were due for replacement or major upgrades.”
Renewables, Efficiency, Energy Storage & Conservation
Mokurai writes—Renewable Friday: The Trump Effect: “The Bad. You need to understand that for Trumpistas, Draining the Swamp does not mean getting rid of corruption in Washington. It is a Dog Whistle for several things. • The standard Republican program known as Starve the Beast, meaning cut taxes on the rich in order to force cuts to all social programs that help any of Those People. • Lock! Them! Up! • Take arms agin Federal gummint tyranny! • Throw out elitist, anti-Jeebus signtists and schoolteachers. • Human Rights come only from God, so abortion and gay marriage are Human Wrongs. • You will not replace us! Let me see…corporate greed, racism, White Male Privilege, misogyny, injustice, science denial, homophobia, nativism, Islamophobia, all-around bigotry,…Yes, that about covers it. The "Everything Terrible Trump Has Done So Far" Omnibus (Week 126).”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—CEI’s Citizen Guide to Climate: Fossil Fuel Industry On The Need To Eliminate Fossil Fuels: “The Competitive Enterprise Institute released what it calls ‘a citizen’s guide to climate change’ last week. While we would normally try to ignore the atonal screechings of industry-funded science guides, given reports last week that the EPA tapped CEI’s Myron Ebell to provide a defense for Scott Pruitt’s denial, odds are better than we’d like that Wheeler will make use of the document. The guide, by CEI’s Marlo Lewis Jr., starts off well, stating that ‘climate change is not a hoax’--certainly true. Unfortunately, that’s not the end of the sentence. Lewis continues: ‘as a political matter, [climate change] is a persistent pretext of expanding government control over the economy, redistributing wealth, and empowering unaccountable elites at the expense of voters and their elected representatives.’ According to Lewis, climate change isn’t a hoax, just a fake excuse for ‘bureaucratic power grabs and corporate welfare schemes.’ Overall, the guide doesn’t necessarily bring anything new to the argument. Most of its points can be rebutted by pointing to one of Skeptical Science’s list of debunked arguments. But CEI warns against the conservative instinct to “deny or doubt industrial civilization’s enhancement of the greenhouse effect, which puts them crosswise with nearly all scientists.’ So to ensure that conservatives opposed to climate solutions aren’t “vulnerable to attack as ‘anti-science” ‘ CEI recommends a more sensible alternative to denial: lukewarmism.”
TRANSPORTATION & INFRASTRUCTURE
Lib Dem FoP writes—UK: Launch of First Hydrogen Train Conversion: “Trains pollute and can give off greenhouse gases. The UK has many miles of unelectrified railway lines. Up until now, the solution has been to use diesel electric trains for most services; some minor lines use pure diesel in what are effectively buses or rail tracks. Next Monday, Parliament is due to legislate a target of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The rail companies have already been told to eliminate the use of diesel traction by 2040.Retrofitting overhead electricity cabling is prohibitively expensive; the cost of converting the Great Western Main Line will be £2.8 billion. The works can also be very distruptive and take many years. The only solution is for the trains to carry their own electricity. In most cases, the length of lines they serve and their frequency mean that pure battery power is impossible. The solution being proposed is to use hydrogen cell generation. The German Railways already run hydrogen powered trains built by the French company Alstom, but are unsuitable for British tracks.”
OCEANS, WATER, DROUGHT
Nickjlicata writes—A Democrat Attorney General drops charges against Republicans who poisoned Flint Michigan’s water: “A Coverup of Who Caused Flint Michigan’s Contaminated Water May Have Continued During Its Investigation. For the first time in 16 years, Michigan elected a Democrat as their Attorney General and Dana Nessel’s first major decision was to dismiss all pending criminal charges against the state and city officials responsible for Flint Michigan’s polluted drinking water this past weekend. Mainstream media commentators were critical of her decision as well as Flint residents, who saw this move as further evidence that no justice would be pursued for the toxic water conditions which exposed up to 42,000 children under 2 years of age to lead poisoning. Nayyirah Shariff, a Flint resident who is the director of the grassroots group Flint Rising, told the Detroit Free Press reporter Paul Egan. that the announcement came as ‘a slap in the face to Flint residents’ and ‘it doesn't seem like justice is coming.’ But in reading through Egan’s article, additional pieces of this puzzling decision hinted that the coverup, by the accused officials, may actually have continued to the extent of endangering the investigation.”
CANDIDATES, STATE AND DC ECO-RELATED POLITICS
billofrights writes—Can the Democratic Party Ever Break the Grip of the Fossil Fuel Industry? A New Jersey Horror Story: “My former environmental colleague and friend from NJ, Bill Wolfe, is a tiger on the history of the regulatory process, such as it is—in our old ‘home’ state and the nation. He's currently on tour somewhere in the American West, in a converted bus with solar panels which he has christened ‘Climate Chaos’ on the front and ‘Green New Deal’ on the back. As I was reading his latest posting at WolfeNotes.Com (the link is below) this morning (Sunday) on an ugly, major, regulatory Trojan Horse for an LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) facility (using fracked gas) on the Delaware River in Gloucester County, on an old DuPont explosives site no less - I had a troubling memory flashback. Where had I just seen recent praise of New Jersey's decisive action, footage of a unanimous vote in the legislature on a big green bill and singing the praises of NJ's Democratic Governor Phil Murphy? Well, the light broke through an hour or so later: it was in the last stretch of the documentary mentioned above, now making the rounds: From Paris to Pittsburgh.”
occupystephanie writes—The Onion Does Jay Inslee on Ice: “The Onion just could not resist! News coming to you from Antarctica (filtered through The Onion...) DNC Committee Throws Bound Jay Inslee Onto Melting Iceberg Before Pushing Him Out To Sea. ANTARCTICA—Cackling as they stuffed a rag into the Democratic governor’s mouth and tied his hands behind his back, the DNC committee reportedly... Jay Inslee on Ice sounds like a new cocktail…”
occupystephanie writes—Jay Inslee/David Wallace-Wells: America's Destiny is to Lead the World to Defeat Climate Crisis: “Jay Inslee relates an interchange that David Wallace-Wells, who authored The Uninhabitable Earth, had with a questioner who asked David how he manages to get up in the morning when he sees so clearly all of this awful truth about the world’s climate: And [David Wallace-Wells] says, no, no, you don’t understand my book. My book is one based on optimism and confidence, which seems a little oxymoron. And he said, what you need to understand is this is a problem that is within our control. It’s the right kind of problem to have. It’s within our destiny to control. Jay Inslee makes exactly that case when he speaks to the CFR, and he has the policy plans to prove it. He highlighted a few of the 27 policy initiatives in his Global Climate Mobilization plan to the members of the Council on Foreign Relations; however, he prefaced that with his vision of how it can be done. Other candidates seem to me to put out laundry lists of separate issues which they tick off one by one. Jay Inslee has a whole-government, whole-world strategy with defeating climate crisis as the organizing principle which is something entirely new, drawing from United Nations resources right down to local NGOs and working on all scales.”
xaxnar writes—Oregon GOP Senator Threatens Armed Resistance Over Climate Bill; Calls Democratic Rule a Coup: “In another demonstration that Republicans will not permit Democrats to govern and are in militant denial of climate change, GOP State Senators in Oregon have gone into hiding to prevent a quorum for a vote on a cap and trade bill, after the governor called on the legislature to complete unfinished business. Per the NY Times report from Timothy Williams: Tensions boiled over in the Oregon Capitol this week as Republican state senators vanished in an effort to delay a vote on a climate change bill they oppose. On Thursday, Gov. Kate Brown, a Democrat, ordered the state police to find them and bring them back. It was only the latest chapter in a season of partisan division and frustration in the nation’s statehouses, where, for the first time in more than a century, all but one state legislature is dominated by a single party. In Oregon, where Democrats dominate both chambers, Republicans were unapologetic about their efforts to slow the state’s adoption of an emissions-reduction program by disappearing — and keeping the Democrats from having enough lawmakers present to call a vote.”
progressive2016 writes—OR Republican state senator threatens to kill police if they bring him back for vote on climate bill: “Is it just me, or is it a bit extreme for a state senator to threaten to fight state police to the death to avoid having to do his job as a state senator? Oregon Democratic Gov. Kate Brown on Thursday authorized state police to locate Senate Republicans and bring them back to the state Capitol after some left the state to block the chamber's proceedings. After more than eight hours of fruitless negotiations late into Wednesday night, Republican state senators in Oregon walked out of a session on Thursday over disagreements on HB 2020, a cap and trade climate bill. All 11 GOP senators failed to appear later Thursday for floor proceedings, leaving the legislative body two senators short of a quorum, according to Kate Kondayen, a spokeswoman for Brown. …. Brian Boquist met Brown's initial warning to lawmakers by telling TV station KGW: ‘Send bachelors and come heavily armed. I'm not going to be a political prisoner in the state of Oregon. It's just that simple’."
committed writes—This is how much the GOP denies and blocks climate change response: “GOP state lawmakers leave Oregon to avoid vote on high-profile climate bill: report. Republican state senators in Oregon left the state this week to deny Democrats the quorum to vote on a climate bill that is set to pass over GOP objections, The Oregonian reported on Thursday. According to The Oregonian, the measure, also known as House Bill 2020, has already passed the Democratic-led state House and has the support of Gov. Kate Brown (D). Although Democrats hold a supermajority in the state Senate, they are unable to vote on the measure if a certain number of the chamber’s 20 Republicans don’t show. GOP state senators reportedly threatened to walkout earlier this week over concerns about a number of “energy intensive, trade-exposed” businesses in rural communities that could be hurt by the measure, including timber companies.”
BYPRODUCTS, TRASH, TOXIC & RADIOACTIVE WASTE
Marianne Williamson writes—Statement on PFAS Contamination: “Yesterday while in NH, I visited one of the many communities across America that have been found to be contaminated by PFAS from an industrial polluter. I listened to the townspeople. I heard their stories. But what I really heard, underneath, was their fear. Fear for the safety of their children, anxiety about their future. And their bewilderment and heartbreak for a system that no longer works to look out for them and their families, but which puts the greed of multinational corporations first and foremost. PFAS or C8 is part of a family of toxic chemicals which scientists now call ‘forever chemicals,’ because they last in the environment an extended period of time. In addition, they bioaccumulate in the human body, meaning each exposure builds upon the last and continually builds up in the body, causing numerous health symptoms. Just a few of the documented health impacts of this family of persistent, unregulated toxic pollutants are thyroid disease, pancreatic, kidney and testicular cancers and a compromised immune system (ulcerative colitis). In addition, PFAS bio-persists in the environment.”
ECO-ACTION & ECO JUSTICE
Lib Dem FoP writes—UK: Government Minister Suspended After "Manhandling" Woman Climate Emegency Protestor: “Theresa May has suspended the Minister of State at the Foreign Office, Mark Field, after he was in an altercation with a Climate Emergency protestor at a ‘black tie’ speech being given by the Chancellor. Janet Baker was one of a number of ‘guests’ who had gained entry to the Mansion House. The women were all dressed in red. They approached the front from both sides of the room. One group had started to protest that the meeting was being attended by leaders of fossil fuel industries. Ms Baker was approaching from the other side of the room when this happened:
Field, who has been in the Army reserve forces, clearly grabbed her to control her using the ‘pressure points’ on her neck. He claims he tackled her because he ‘felt threatened.’ There have been a number of his supporters making ludicrous claims including that ‘she could be wearing a suicide vest.’ [...]Theresa May has suspended him. This is unusual.”
Alan Singer writes—Student Activists Win Portland Climate Change Curriculum: “In 2016, the Portland, Oregon school board unanimously passed a resolution mandating that climate change and climate justice be part of the curriculum in all district schools. The resolution called for curriculum that was ‘participatory, imaginative, and respectful of students’ and teachers’ creativity and eagerness to be part of addressing global problems’ and committed the district to promoting ‘Climate literacy’ to prepare its students to be effective ‘members of their communities and citizens of the world.’ The initial push for the resolution came from Bill Bigelow and Tim Swinehart. Bigelow was a former Portland public school social studies teacher active with the progressiveeducation magazine Rethinking Schools and the Zinn Education Project. He and Swinehart helped write a book, A People's Curriculum for the Earth, and worked with the environmental group 350 PDX to influence how schools teach about climate change. Unfortunately, after approving the original resolution, the Portland Public Schools did little to implement it. They even informed Swinehart that, ‘peripheral’ work like climate justice education would need to be put on hold.”
AGRICULTURE, FOOD & GARDENING
Attack Gardener writes—The Daily Bucket - The Grand Garden Renovation (Semi-) Completed: “Apologies for taking so long to tell you the rest of the story — this last month has been crazy! When last we spoke, the mess of tangled vines, shrubs and small trees had been cut down but was waiting for good weather to clean up. I still had a sense of humor about the weather which was preventing the project from moving forward. Eventually, we had a few days of dry weather in a row and the guys were able to come back and start cleaning up the mess. Luckily, we have a dumping area for garden waste at the back of our property so we didn’t have to pay to have it all hauled away. We only dump organics back there, branches, weeds, brush trimmings and the like and the critters love it. You’re almost guaranteed to see wildlife whenever you go back there.
At this point, the rain closed in again and work stopped for almost a week. My sense of humor began to evaporate. My goal had been to have all of this completed by Memorial Day weekend, which was fast approaching. This had been communicated to our contractor repeatedly but he did not have the same sense of urgency about it that I did, and honestly, I can hardly blame him. The rain put all his projects behind and most were paying better than I was, so I shouldn’t have been surprised to find myself as low man on the totem pole.”
Mahdalgal writes—Saturday Morning Garden Blog Vol. 15.25 The Good, The Bad, The Invasive Summer Solstice: “This was one of those weeks when I just wanted to give up and let the weeds take over. After more rounds of thunderstorms, exterior clean-up is still ongoing. Kudos to the City of Dallas sanitation crews for working as fast as possible to deal with all the downed trees. The week was filled with tornado watches. Fort Worth/Arlington were hit by tornadoes last Sunday and downtown Greenville (about 50 northeast of Dallas) was struck Wednesday with a mesoscale convective complex. We certainly will not be in drought this summer after this amount of Spring rain. Magical as it is, rain has both good and bad sides: good for veggies/flowers and unfortunately just as good for weeds (bad for gardeners). The fertile soil in the gardens makes a perfect landing place for weeds. Intermittent sunshine, 95o+ temps (105o+ heat index) and humidity create perfect growing conditions for them. They come from nowhere and everywhere and never seem to go away. The will to keep pulling a few every day is waning as rapidly as the heat is rising.”
MISCELLANY
Austin Bailey writes—Aspirational Recycling - Massive Failure: “Americans generate 34.5 million tons of plastic waste every year. That's 69 billion pounds of waste or to make it more personal—just over 200 pounds of plastic waste per year for every man, woman and child in the United States. Of that total, only 9% is recycled—and over half of that is being shipped to other countries. ...China and Hong Kong handled more than half: about 1.6m tons of our plastic recycling every year. They developed a vast industry of harvesting and reusing the most valuable plastics to make products that could be sold back to the western world. But much of what America sent was contaminated with food or dirt, or it was non-recyclable and simply had to be landfilled in China. Amid growing environmental and health fears, China shut its doors to all but the cleanest plastics in late 2017. The waste problem has become so acute that after China began to refuse our trash, many other countries tightened their standards as well. Leaving the waste to be shipped to the poorest countries with the lowest standards.”
Austin Bailey writes—"Just one word for you......PLASTICS!" “Plastics in one form or another have been around since the 1860s, however it wasn't until World War II that large scale manufacturing of various plastics (long chain polymers such as nylon) became an important part of the war effort. The post war economic boom combined with newly freed manufacturing capacity saw plastics make inroads in many applications. In 1950, 2 million metric tons (4.41 billion pounds) of plastics were produced globally. In 2015, 400 million metric tons (882 billion pounds) of plastics were produced globally. Today 40 percent of those plastics are for single use packaging. What happened? In the 1950s smoking was not just socially acceptable -it was cool, gasoline cost 22 cents a gallon, Ray Kroc began franchising McDonald’s fast food restaurants and the concept of the convenience of disposability had become well entrenched in society. In 1956, a member of the Society of thewww.dailykos.com/... Plastics Industry (SPI) named Lloyd Stouffer exhorted his colleagues in the industry to not think of plastics in packaging as reusable resources, but instead to see them as disposable. At an industry conference in 1963 he congratulated them on the great beginning that had made to achieve his vision.”
Angmar writes—Saving the Earth- (One person at a time): “What you can do * Turn out the lights *Don't waste water *avoid creating nighttime light pollution * avoid burning wood (or other things), as wood fires are both pollutant and carcinogenic *Don't use harmful pesticides *limit your use of cars and planes (if possible) *Don't use gas powered vehicles *take out grass and put in a garden or pond (or xeriscape ) *Mow, blow, and whack with electric .* plant for the animals (bees, birds etc) *plant a tree *don't micro manage yards, go wilder *try to use solar* take a trolley or train *Use energy efficient products or products that work on clean fuels *Reduce dependence on non-biodegradable items* walk or carpoole* Turn down the heat or AC* reuse items- give to goodwill or Craig's list rather than dumping* ride bikes instead of using cars* cut down or cease eating meat* use carry bags for groceries not their plastic* compost *save the bees* be an insect friend *be informed* write your representative *electe pro-environment candidates and demand action*Support the Green New Deal*sign petitions*get involved *march *blog *tell a friend.*”
Pretiare writes—Ethics for the Whole Earth: “How do we work towards an ethics for the Whole Earth? This is an imperative proposed by David Sloan Wilson, Professor of Biology and Anthropology at Binghamton University in his new book, The View of Life. I share this based on a conversation between Dr. Wilson and Ken Wilber on www.integrallife.com. Dr. Wilson proposes we are evolving as individuals, societies and cultures, and not just our biology evolving. We will evolve towards an Omega Point or global consciousness. What is the good we can all agree to? Helping the planet support life as we have experienced it? Helping humans adapt to a changing climate? It affects all the planet, so the time is ripe for developing a global ethic. Do we want to allow Russia to shoot down another commercial airliner? Do we want a country like the USA to have a leader who is a climate denier? Do we want China to give up some of its world dominance strategies and work towards the good of all humans, and not just the Chinese? Can even the USA do this? Can the Russian Mafia be convinced to legitimately work towards a global good? We must somehow come to a consciousness that supports life, even if it is not our tribe or our countrymen. Do we allow hoarding of water and food supplies? Do we allow poisoning of the environment and what happens to those who are doing the poisoning?”