This is the 626th edition of the Spotlight on Green News & Views (previously known as the Green Diary Rescue). Here is the January 4 edition. Inclusion of a story in the Spotlight does not necessarily indicate my agreement with or endorsement of it.
OUTSTANDING GREEN STORIES
Besame writes—
Daily Bucket: fluffy wolf boi killed by radical anti-environmentalists: “
Two big wolf stories this week, one from California and another from Colorado, spotlight the fears and thrills of wolf re-introductions. A lone wolf who traveled from Oregon into northwest California was shot and killed (by ranchers?). In northeast Colorado, a wolf family was spotted and video’d last October. Although individual wolves have been reported now and then, this is the first evidence of a wolf pack in Colorado since the 1940s. Wolves had been killed aggressively by radical ranchers who thought they were in charge of everything because they’d lived there for a few decades. In 2018, a wandering wolf from Oregon was shot and killed with a .22-caliber weapon in Modoc County, California. This week, the USFWS announced that the dead wolf was found on December 5, 2018, less than a week after the tracking collar showed him entering California. Also on Dec 5, a rancher reported seeing a wolf feeding on the carcass of a 3½ month old calf. While OR59’s tracking collar documented him in the northern Lassen County area where the calf was found, CDFW’s review did not find evidence of wolf depredation. The Center For Biological Diversity, this week, increased the reward for information about the killing (that leads to a conviction) to $7500. Initially, USFWS, who decided to ask the public’s help, had offered a $2500 reward after a year-long investigation into the wolf’s killing ran low on leads.”
CAHughes writes—
Elected Officials Need To Say No To Big Sugar: “
My family first moved to Florida in the 1970s. We lived on Fort Myers Beach. I remember when the waters were blue and clear and full of life. A year later we moved to Cape Coral where I still have my home today. I remember when our dock walls were full of hundreds of crabs. I remember visiting friends who lived along the clear tea colored waters in the Cape throughout the '80s. My father won the Tarpon Tournament at Cape Coral Yacht Club. His tarpon and award hang in the Cape Coral Museum. Life by the water was happiness, until now. When I returned to Florida, I noticed something was very wrong with our local waters. When Lake Okeechobee was being released to prevent the dike from bursting, black nutrient- laden polluted water flowed into our canal, killing everything - dead fish, dead manatees, dead dolphins; the fallout these past couple years. When I last took my mother to the beach, there was a toxic algae bloom and she could not breathe. Tourists don't realize their health is at risk when they swim in these waters or eat the fish, which have been turning up with tumors. When I was a kid, we NEVER had toxic algae blooms here. Sanibel's waters used to be crystal clear sparkling blue every day. Think about it. “In his 2005 book The Swamp, author Michael Grunwald describes how the Everglades were contaminated by sugar growers.”*
CRITTERS AND THE GREAT OUTDOORS
CaptBLI writes—The Daily Bucket - Video experiments with old toys and new skills: “I have been experimenting with my and Hayseed’s video files. We have older equipment but are willing to learn and try new things. Using a number of devices and software, we have compiled a few items to share. Here we go. Hayseed set up a Trail camera on a tree overlooking a small pond that he had constructed on his property. While in night vision mode, a Barn Owl was videoed hunting. The original video was two minutes long. This is the finished product after editing, downloading to ‘Youtube,’ capturing the video and posting on this diary.”
BrushyCanyon writes—New Year's Day at the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge - A peaceful day of sanity: “The weather looked nice, so Ms Canyon and I loaded up with cameras, binoculars and some snacks and headed about 90 miles south from Albuquerque to the Bosque del Apache refuge for a day of birding, walking and photography. The BdelA is a must for any wildlife and/or photo fans if you are ever in New Mexico. Get the basic info here: www.fws.gov/...The day was beautiful, and there were 10’s of thousands of cranes and geese. Most visitors look for the cranes (we too) but there are many interesting other birds as well.”
OceanDiver writes—Dawn Chorus: Early Birds of 2020: “January 5, 2020. Pacific Northwest. In the New Year’s Day The Daily Bucket - New Year's open nature thread that I posted a few days ago I noted quite a few folks reporting their first bird or birds of the year. That’s always a fun thing to do: starting another year’s bird sightings, either standing at our window or walking around our neighborhood. I thought this first edition of the Dawn Chorus of 2020 would be a good time for us to compare notes about who we’ve seen around our homes in these early days of the year — and an encouragement to step out to see, even on stormy cold wintry days. Anyone been keeping track of first-of-year birds in prior years? — that would be really interesting to hear about too. We birdwatchers act as citizen scientists, monitoring and documenting our granular local natural history in a way experimental research studies can’t.”
OceanDiver writes—The Daily Bucket - pairs of swans: “December 2019. Pacific Northwest. We’re not seeing as many swans as usual here this winter. No idea why. Even at Otto’s Marsh, which is usually a vortex of swans, from 30-60 much of the winter. This year there have been 8-12 on any given day. No grey youngsters this year at all, which is different too. Over on the mainland there are a fair number, and youngsters too, but I have no way of telling whether numbers there are typical. There will be a swan count later in January. Still, even these few here are lovely, and I like stop to watch them when I can. This day it wasn’t too stormy, just some light rain, and the swans looked relaxed, intermittently grazing or cruising around the pond.”
OceanDiver writes—The Daily Bucket - ducks & geese: “Waterfowl are my most common wildlife visitors out on walkies these days. So that’s who are filling my buckets these days.”
Canasta The Loony writes—Revenge of the birds: Vultures defecating, puking on critical CBP radio tower: “As Dave Barry says, we are not making this up: U.S. Customs and Border Protection has a problem with vultures — specifically, roughly 300 of them that are defecating and urinating all over a radio tower that the agency needs to communicate. [...] ‘They will often defecate and vomit from their roost onto buildings below that house employees and equipment,’ said the spokesperson, whom Quartz did not name. ‘There are anecdotes about birds dropping prey from a height of 300 feet, creating a terrifying and dangerous situation for those concerned.’ Beyond the risk of vomit and prey falling from the sky, vultures have sharp nails and beaks that can cause deep scratches. The birds also “regurgitate a reeking and corrosive vomit” that kills bacteria on their legs but also slowly destroys metal, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.”
Lenny Flank writes—Photo Diary: Seacrest Scrub Natural Area, Boynton Beach FL: “Well, I had planned to visit the Green Cay Nature Center today, but when I got there I found it was closed for the winter so they can build a new Visitors Center. So instead I went to the Seacrest Scrub Natural Area, not far away. At 54 acres it’s a lot smaller, but also interesting: it’s set up as a refuge for endangered Gopher Tortoises. Alas the weather was kinda cloudy, which is not very good for tortoise-watching (they tend to stay in their burrows when it’s cloudy), so my hopes weren’t very high…”
Lenny Flank writes—Photo Diary: Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge, Florida: “Loxahatchee NWR is right outside of Boynton Beach, FL. There are three looping hiking paths, each in a different ecological zone (in Florida, a change in elevation of just a few inches makes a big difference in the plant and animal life). One loop runs through cypress wetland, one runs through open marsh, and the third runs along the eastern edge of the Everglades. There were all the usual Florida suspects—lots of egrets and herons and ibis and turtles (though oddly I did not see any Alligators), but also a few species that I don’t see very often. I was hoping to see some Sandhill Cranes and some Wood Storks, but alas no luck with either one. One couple I chatted with told me they had seen an Iguana hanging out in a tree, but by golly I hunted high and low for him and couldn’t find him either. But yes, this part of Florida is home to introduced Green Iguanas.”
Liberal in a Red State writes—Look for the helpers. How to help burned Australian wildlife and the kind humans helping them: “As we all sadly know, the last 2-3 months Australia has suffered hundreds of devastating bush fires, particularly along the eastern and southern regions. With vast areas of bush-land burning there has been a colossal loss of wildlife which will have serious long term implications. These infernos have translated into literally hundreds of millions of wild animals (mammals, marsupials, birds, reptiles, amphibians and insects) perishing on a mass scale. Due to the ferocity and massive extent of these fires, many marsupials such as kangaroos, walabies, koalas, wombats, numbats, possums, echidnas had little chance to escape the raging fires, particularly the slower moving species. For those who want to help but perhaps ensure that your help is going directly to an organization on the ground to maximize your impact, below is a list of reputable Australian wild life rescue organisations of which you may wish to contribute.”
Angmar writes—Insect Apocalypse: "Urgent new ‘roadmap to recovery’ could reverse insect apocalypse”: " ‘Essentially, we are thinking strategically and this is novel. Now and down the road, all to reverse insect declines.’ Urgent new ‘roadmap to recovery’ could reverse insect apocalypse. www.theguardian.com/… Phasing out synthetic pesticides and fertilisers and aggressive emission reductions among series of solutions outlined by scientists www.theguardian.com/… Scientists must urgently establish which herbivores, detritivores, parasitoids, predators and pollinators are priority species for conservation, according to a new paper published in Nature Ecology & Evolution. The animals are crucial to the healthy functioning of ecosystems by recycling nutrients, serving as pollinators and acting as food for other wildlife. The paper comes amid repeated warnings about the threat of human-driven insect extinction causing a “catastrophic collapse of nature’s ecosystems”, with more than 40% of insect species declining and a third endangered, according to the first worldwide scientific review, published in February 2019.”
Ojibwa writes—Oregon Coast Aquarium: Seapunk! (photo diary): “The Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport, Oregon, is dedicated to creating an experience that connects visitors to the Oregon coast and inspires ocean conservation. A special exhibit in the Aquarium takes visitors into fantasy world of Seapunk! with the explorer Phineas K. Brinker aboard his submersible, the HMS Argonaut. [...] According to the display: ‘Brinker is the last remaining crewmember from a submarine expedition stranded at the bottom of the North Pacific. Trapped within the rusty metal walls of the HMS Argonaut, this resourceful scientist has survived for months by rebuilding the crippled submarine into an undersea marvel of engineering’.”
CLIMATE CHAOS
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—New Decade of Denial Begins With Same Old Dishonesty Regarding 2004 DoD Climate Reporting: “According to John Nolte at Breitbart on Friday, in 2004 the Department of Defense predicted that ‘climate change would destroy all of us by the year 2020.’ Though Nolte doesn’t reference it, his story cribs from denier blog Fabius Maximus, which was picked up at WUWT. (Maximus was also not cited by PJMedia’s version of the story.) The story even broke out of the blogosphere and joined the big denier leagues—it made it all the way up to a repost in The Wall Street Journal’s Opinion section. The collection of pieces are referencing a 2004 Observer story hosted by The Guardian about a leaked national security report that ‘warns that major European cities will be sunk beneath rising seas as Britain is plunged into a ‘Siberian’ climate by 2020.’ The grave predictions failed to materialize, deniers say, therefore we shouldn’t trust climate scientists who are currently warning climate change will have devastating consequences. So what’s going on here? As usual, deniers are banking on their audiences being too lazy or stupid to bother going to the source material, the report itself. Although they link to it, they apparently didn’t read it.”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—BuzzFeed Uncovers New Covert Online PR Efforts While Big Oil Makes Propaganda Obvious: “Yesterday, Buzzfeed published an investigation of the growing sector of seedy online public relations companies that use dishonest and misleading efforts to manipulate public opinion. From fake news to fake fact checks to fake Facebook groups, political parties and corporations are fully embracing the dark arts of propaganda. By automating bots to shape online discussions and using poorly-paid staff (including those with disabilities, whose salary is subsidized by government programs) to run an army of fake accounts, unscrupulous opportunists are ramping up their efforts to use Facebook and other social media platforms to serve the highest bidder. While the investigation is focused on international efforts, and the Guardian covers bot-assisted misinformation about the Australian fires, here in the US the fossil fuel industry has made these complex PR efforts look like child’s play.”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—With Zero Evidence, Deniers Blame Aussie Fires On Climate Activists In Two Ways. Both Are Wrong: “As Australia’s fires rage on, deniers are (of course) pushing back on the idea that this is what the climate crisis looks like. This opposition to the reality that climate change created these fire-primed conditions takes two main shapes. One is wrong but at least realistic, while the other is pure fantasy. Both, however, have found fertile ground in Reddit’s hub for climate denial. The particularly unhinged take can be seen in a screenshot of what appears to be a now-deleted tweet pointing out that around 200 people in Australia are being investigated for arson. ‘That’s a couple hundred people lighting fires & blaming climate change. Climate Terrorism perhaps? It seems way too coordinated to be 200 random decisions.’ To be fair, some in the Reddit comments are skeptical of this claim, seeing as how there’s zero supporting evidence. Yes, arson exists. No, no one anywhere has anything even remotely resembling evidence that anyone started a fire with the intent to blame it on climate change.”
xaxnar writes—Climate Change Burning Up Australia? Why no - it's just the usual seasonal plague of arsonists: “As Australia’s fires rage on, deniers are (of course) pushing back on the idea that this is what the climate crisis looks like. This opposition to the reality that climate change created these fire-primed conditions takes two main shapes. One is wrong but at least realistic, while the other is pure fantasy. Both, however, have found fertile ground in Reddit’s hub for climate denial. The particularly unhinged take can be seen in a screenshot of what appears to be a now-deleted tweet pointing out that around 200 people in Australia are being investigated for arson. “That’s a couple hundred people lighting fires & blaming climate change. Climate Terrorism perhaps? It seems way too coordinated to be 200 random decisions.” To be fair, some in the Reddit comments are skeptical of this claim, seeing as how there’s zero supporting evidence. Yes, arson exists. No, no one anywhere has anything even remotely resembling evidence that anyone started a fire with the intent to blame it on climate change.”
macknacat58 writes—beginning to see the Climate Crisis extrapolated from local weather data: “These findings, published Thursday in Nature Climate Change, could toss out the long-established narrative that daily weather is distinct from long-term climate change. Kind of buries Inhofe’s snowball under a still weightier avalanche of pesky ‘science’ and ‘data.’ ‘The new study, ... uses statistical techniques and climate model simulations to evaluate how daily temperatures and humidity vary around the world. Scientists compared the spatial patterns of these variables with what physical science shows is expected because of climate change.’www.washingtonpost.com/… Yes it comes with some caveats and yes it needs future , ongoing modeling as a verification — but the use of historical data as part of ‘detection and attribution’ technique gives them a lot of confidence.”
Larry Palmer writes—Mother Jones’s greenish fantasy: “The January-February issue of Mother Jones gives the cover to a story which is as delusional as any right-wing denialistic writing. Yes, the left can do it, too. The author, Kevin Drum, starts with the observation that taking life-style sacrifices to avoid global-warming catastrophe is unpopular. He cites previous ecological collapses among pre-historic cultures and hypothesizes that they saw it coming but couldn’t get their act together to avoid it. He concludes that 21st century earth-wide culture won’t make sufficient sacrifices to avoid the coming collapse. Never fear, he has a solution; it’s military-level investment in research that will produce technological solutions to allow us to continue our current western lifestyle --- and spread t to the third world – while achieving zero carbon footprint in time.”
xaxnar writes—ICYMI, PBS has some must-see TV on the Climate Crisis: “PBS has a four-part series looking at 4 major coastal cities and how they are dealing with rising seas in the age of Climate Change. These shows have been out for a while, but if you didn’t see them the first time, here’s your chance to see them now. It’s more important than ever to understand what’s at stake with the U.S. government under Donald Trump rolling back every environmental policy as fast as possible. There’s also a show demonstrating how another global challenge was met — see it below — but first, the cities.”
paradox writes—Why is Acceptance of Climate Change So Difficult? “A headline scan revealed Greta Thunberg recently had a birthday, eliciting a moment of pity of her from me, she’s recently learned a brutal human lesson of rejection, even after all the righteous thundering truth, protests and attention to climate change essentially nothing’s happened, it didn’t work. It was the same lesson those Parkland massacre kids learned in Florida, they sat in the audience chamber of the Florida legislature two weeks after the event and wept as white old men easily rejected their horror and life to keep things just as they should be with assault rifles everywhere. As Paul Krugman noted today, even after Australia goes up in flames in a total climate catastrophe incredibly the political leadership there insists with an infuriating obtuse stubbornness that climate change isn’t happening. Why is this denial so obdurate, and if we know the answers does that lead forward to a real solution?”
Larry Lagarto writes—Climate Change? We can adapt! “Building: Move away from wood to nonflammable building materials like adobe, steel, and aluminum. There are two reasons for this: 1. The increasing wildfires will result in wood being in much shorter supply. 2. The increasing wildfires will endanger our structures. Better make them out of something that won’t burn. Cities: Move all our larger cities a few miles back from watersides, or elevate the cities above the new, higher flood levels. Relocate New York City a little bit upstate, move Boston closer to to Albany, and put Miami around Gainesville. Rebuild New Orleans on very tall stilts. Also we ought to elevate our roadways, put wind breaks along both sides of every road, and both raise and strengthen ALL our bridges. Conclusion: If we choose to do nothing to slow or stop climate change, we can just invest at most a few dozen times the combined annual economic product of the entire planet to adapt. For a few years.”
Climate Army writes—The United States must declare a climate emergency: “Australia is burning rapidly. New South Wales has been hit hard by the bushfires and there are so many fires around the nation that many smaller fires are left unchecked due to a lack of firefighters. Eventually, these fires grow and become large fires. The climate crisis is truly here, now. Something must be done to fight it. In the United States, declaring a climate emergency would allow activists to sue the government if it fails to act on climate and fight the delay of climate action in government. That’s why we’re petitioning the US government to enact the climate emergency resolution proposed by Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Earl Blumenauer. This resolution would declare that the climate crisis requires a rapid response and a war-like mobilization.”
Extreme Weather & Natural Phenomena
Pakalolo writes—Western Australia will experience the first cyclone of summer with heavy rain and strong winds: “Some good news for the north coast of Western Australia. A tropical Cyclone promises heavy rain and winds to the parched, tinder dry, NW region of the island continent. ‘The Bureau of Meteorology’s Neil Bennett said the cyclone’s expected path would take it into WA’s southeast and close to the fires which continued to burn.’ From Phys.Org reports: NASA finds heavy rain potential in Tropical Cyclone Blake. [...] Robinson Meyer writes in the Atlantic on how Australia is inevitably doomed by the heating of the globe. Australia is caught in a climate spiral. For the past few decades, the arid and affluent country of 25 million has padded out its economy—otherwise dominated by sandy beaches and a bustling service sector—by selling coal to the world. As the East Asian economies have grown, Australia has been all too happy to keep their lights on. Exporting food, fiber, and minerals to Asia has helped Australia achieve three decades of nearly relentless growth: Oz has not had a technical recession, defined as two successive quarters of economic contraction, since July 1991.”
Pakalolo writes—Australia's Burned Forests may never recover; Over one billion animals die in fires and heatwaves: “Though temperatures have cooled somewhat in Australia, providing much-needed relief for the overworked and exhausted firefighters, has provided some critical time to strengthen containment lines. The firestorms have not stopped and predicted to intensify in the next few days as yet another heatwave will desiccate the soils, plants, and trees of Australia to tinder. Many scientists now believe some of the forests may never recover. If the forests somehow can defy all odds in an increasingly warming world, it still may take burned forests around the globe decades to recover. Those are decades that we don’t have to save ourselves from the worst impacts of the climate crisis.”
Magnifico writes—Overnight News Digest: 1 billion animals dead in Australia, extinctions feared: “[…] More than 1 billion mammals, birds and reptiles nationwide — some of them found nowhere else on Earth — may have been affected or killed by the fires sweeping across Australia, according to a University of Sydney estimate. The potential toll is far greater when other types of animals are included. ‘We’re not just talking about koalas — we’re talking mammals, birds, plants, fungi, insects, other invertebrates, amphibians, and bacteria and microorganisms that are critical to these systems,’ said Manu Saunders, a research fellow and insect ecologist at the University of New England in Armidale. Individual animals might survive, but when their habitat is gone, ‘it doesn’t matter,”’Saunders said. ‘They’ll die anyway’.”
Liberal in a Red State writes—
Look for the helpers. How to help burned Australian wildlife and the kind humans helping them: “As we all sadly know, the last 2-3 months Australia has suffered hundreds of devastating bush fires, particularly along the eastern and southern regions. With vast areas of bush-land burning there has been a colossal loss of wildlife which will have serious long term implications. These infernos have translated into literally hundreds of millions of wild animals (mammals, marsupials, birds, reptiles, amphibians and insects) perishing on a mass scale. Due to the ferocity and massive extent of these fires, many marsupials such as kangaroos, walabies, koalas, wombats, numbats, possums, echidnas had little chance to escape the raging fires, particularly the slower moving species. For those who want to help but perhaps ensure that your help is going directly to an organization on the ground to maximize your impact, below is a
list of reputable Australian wild life rescue organisations of which you may wish to contribute.”
ECO-ACTION & ECO JUSTICE
Angmar writes—Climate Emergency: UK Terrorism police list Extinction Rebellion as'extremist ideology': “Exclusive: Police scramble to recall guide issued to teachers putting climate activists alongside far-right groups www.theguardian.com/… Counter-terrorism police placed the non-violent group Extinction Rebellion (XR) on a list of extremist ideologies that should be reported to the authorities running the Prevent programme, which aims to catch those at risk of committing atrocities, the Guardian has learned. The climate emergency campaign group was included in a 12-page guide produced by counter-terrorism police in the south-east titled ‘Safeguarding young people and adults from ideological extremism,’ which is marked as ‘official’.”
CANDIDATES, STATE AND DC ECO-RELATED POLITICS
ProjectsKid writes—Dems need to pitch the Green New Deal as a national security issue to get US out of the Middle East: “The democratic nominees for President need to sell the Green New Deal as a national security issue, mainly as a way to get us off of our oil addiction and out of the Middle East. Get away from needing to import oil (yes we still import a bunch of oil from the Saudis and others) and tell the whole Middle East to f*ck off. Why have sanctions on oil producing nations when you can eliminate the market for oil? Without a place to sell oil Iran, Saudi Arabia and Russia would actually have to develop their economies, and they will find that is very difficult without that easy money from sitting in those oilfields. Crater the price of oil and watch the attitudes of these countries change. ”
ENERGY
Fossil Fuels & Emissions Controls
Dan Bacher writes—Thirty-Seven Groups Call on Gov. Newsom to Halt New Fossil Fuel Drilling, Close Aliso Canyon: “On the anniversary of Governor Gavin Newsom’s first year in office on January 7, thirty-seven environmental and public health groups called on the governor to declare an “immediate climate emergency” and institute a moratorium on new oil and gas drilling permits. In a letter to the governor, the groups also called on Newsom to ban fracking, close the dangerous Aliso Canyon gas storage facility in Los Angeles, institute a 2,500-foot buffer zone between drilling and sensitive areas like schools and homes, and order a public takeover of PG&E, according to a press release from the groups. The letter notes that Newsom ‘has not lived up to his promises to take bold action to address the climate crisis in the state, and his efforts fall short of what is needed—and of what he promised as a candidate—to move California off of fossil fuel production and consumption’.”
maggiejean writes—Overnight News Digest: 26K Lives Saved w/Shutdown of Coal Power Facilities: “The human toll from coal-fired pollution in America has been laid bare by a study that has found more than 26,000 lives were saved in the US in just a decade due to the shift from coal to gas for electricity generation. The shutdown of scores of coal power facilities across the US has reduced the toxic brew of pollutants suffered by nearby communities, cutting deaths from associated health problems such as heart disease and respiratory issues, the research found. An estimated 26,610 lives were saved in the US by the shift away from coal between 2005 and 2016, according to the University of California study published in Nature Sustainability.”
billofrights writes—Too Little, Too Late: Maryland Gov. "Larry" Hogan's Green House Gas Reduction Plan for 2019: “Comments on the Draft Green House Gas Reduction Act Report from 2019. Submitted by Bill of Rights. At the Frostburg State University Hearing. Dear Governor Hogan, MDE Officials, Citizens and other Elected Officials:[...] I believe that ideas, however deeply buried and distorted, drive our two major parties. I believe that despite the public rhetoric, and a few decent environmental decisions, such as on fracking, and the Potomac Pipeline, that Governor Hogan, and the Draft Plan before us tonight, reflect traditional conservative Republican values, but not from the era of TR. These are well represented in the Governor’s plan to relieve Beltway and related highway congestion by having the private sector take on most of the funding to build not mass transit, but more highway lanes. It won’t work, but the “iron law” of more lanes leading to more cars and more congestion is not one of the iron laws this Governor believes in.”
Renewables, Efficiency, Energy Storage & Conservation
David B writes—Bringing Rojava's Green New Deal to AOC: “I stopped by AOC’s Jackson Heights office this afternoon to bring her this. She wasn’t there, of course, and her staff is well trained to screen those who have no business being there, but they let me in anyway. I live in Brooklyn, so technically I am not a constituent. I spoke to her receptionist and told her this story, which I included in a note to the Congresswoman, as I expected her to not be there: [...] I moved to Vermont to study with the Institute for Social Ecology and its co-founder, Murray Bookchin, the brilliant social theorist who died in 2006 at the age of 85. The Kurds in Northeast Syria created Rojava based in part on the ideas of Bookchin. There they created a libertarian laboratory of egalitarian, ecological, ecumenical, feminist, face-to-face participatory democracy. Unfortunately, as you know, Turkey is attempting to ethnically cleanse Rojava as you read this. I enclose a copy of their book, Make Rojava Green Again. It is their own Green New Deal road map. [...] To bring this full circle, the foreword of the book was written by Debbie Bookchin, the daughter of Murray Bookchin. Debbie was Bernie Sanders’ first Press Secretary when he was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1990. Murray was born and raised in the Bronx.”
Mokurai writes—Renewable Monday: Sequestering Carbon in Wooden Skyscrapers: “Globally there are more than 2,000 skyscrapers in more than 100 cities, with more coming. One particular wooden skyscraper to be built with fireproof laminates will hold 18,000 tons of CO2 equivalent. So we could imagine getting to tens of millions of tons sequestered that way. Not the solution, but not piddling either. So what else can we build with engineered wood instead of carbon-intensive steel and concrete?There are, of course, environmental concerns about building with wood. [...] New wood construction techniques enable building taller wood-frame buildings. [...] Benefits: • Carbon sequestration in the building materials • Provides financial incentive for planting even more trees. • Reduces use of concrete. Concrete production is a significant carbon emitter.”
Mokurai writes—Renewable Tuesday: Jobs: “It is obvious to all but the terminally deluded that there are far more jobs in wind and solar than in coal, oil, and gas. But facts are better than the obvious, so we'll have a look. Also, we have to use local wind and sunlight. We can't export energy demand to China or Arabia. IRENA report, A New World: The Geopolitics of the Energy Transformation. PV investment can create more than twice as many jobs per unit of electricity generated than coal or natural gas, or that women make up 10-15% more of the renewable energy labor force than are represented in the conventional energy sector. Offshore Wind Industry Sucking Up Talent From Oil & Gas. File this one under D for Death by a thousand cuts. The US oil and gas industry is facing a workforce crisis in the next five years or so, and now here comes the red-hot US wind industry to add fuel to the fire. It seems that the offshore wind industry is beginning to steal talent from its fossil fuel cousins, as many offshore energy skills translate almost seamlessly from one resource to another. That is especially true for offshore wind turbines, which use the same construction and anchoring techniques as offshore drilling platforms.”
Mokurai writes—Renewable Wednesday: US DoD Threats and Responses: “The US DoD has been sounding the alarm for a long time on climate threats that affect it directly, and that could lead to wars involving it. At the same time, it is investing heavily in renewable energy and electric vehicles (even tanks) for its operations, and in research, especially on decarbonizing flight. U.S. Military Could Collapse Within 20 Years Due to Climate Change, Report Commissioned By Pentagon Says. The report says a combination of global starvation, war, disease, drought, and a fragile power grid could have cascading, devastating effects. U.S. Military Precariously Unprepared for Climate Threats, War College & Retired Brass Warn. Sea level rise, too. Too much analysis of past risks, not enough on foreseeable future risks—the well-known Fighting the Last War Syndrome.”
Mokurai writes—Renewable Thursday: Desalination: “Fresh water is often over-committed. The Colorado River and the Aral Sea are running dry. Shortages bring crop failures and health catastrophes. We need less population and less water for steam turbines, but we also need to desalinate seawater with renewable energy. Many islands and desert countries have especially critical needs. On the whole, I sometimes wish we had discovered water. Former Saudi Oil Minister Ahmed Zaki Yamani. The regular water cycle that gives us fresh water in the form of rain, snow, rivers, lakes, and groundwater is of course entirely solar-and-gravity powered. Unfortunately, humans have been messing with it extensively, changing the climate, spreading pollution everywhere, and mining aquifers beyond their capacity to recharge. Now we have to be careful with the concentrated brine remaining from desalination. Dubai turns to renewable energy for water production.”
Mokurai writes—Renewable Friday: Divestment Toolkit for Cities: “NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio and London Mayor Sadiq Khan want every city to divest from fossil fuels, and are offering a financial toolkit for doing so. This is the latest in a string of multi-trillion dollar divestment initiatives variously representing governments, investment funds, or the activist public. These are the ones I have reported on in these Renewable Days With Ys In. Feel free to tell us about others. • Fire Drill Fridays (Jane Fonda, Code Pink; $11T divested) • Climate Action 100+ (California State Controller Betty Yee; $32T in assets) • America's Pledge (Jerry Brown, Mike Bloomberg; cities and states with $10T economy) • The Investor Agenda, including the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change and the United Nations-backed Principles for Responsible Investment ($34T in assets) • C40 Cities (94 cities, 25% of global GDP). London and NYC Mayors Call on Every Major City in the World to Divest From Climate-Destroying Fossil Fuels.”
Lib Dem FoP writes—Trump "Right" Again - Renewable Electricity Generation DOES Kill Birds ....but...: “So do windmills kill birds? Well one would probably save birds because of the grain accidentally dropped as it is delivered for milling. The Dutch do not appear to have reported significant losses from the windpumps they traditionally use to drain their land. So let’s be generous and assume he is referring to wind turbines used to produce electricity, do they kill birds? Well yes, but not in the numbers he describes and importantly, fewer per GWh than electricity generated by fossil fuels. A study published in 2009 looking at the US and Europe estimated that wind farms were responsible for about 0.3 bird deaths for every 1GWh of electricity generated, compared with 5.2 deaths per 1GWh caused by fossil-fuelled power stations. It said this would equate to the deaths, every year, in the US, of about 7,000 birds caused by wind turbines, 300,000 by nuclear plants and 14.5 million by power plants using fossil fuels.”
REGULATIONS & PROTECTION
Mark Sumner writes—Anti-Earth Day: Trump drops requirements for environmental review of most mines, pipelines, industry: “Since taking office, Trump has repeatedly changed regulations to make it easier for industries—and in particular, fossil fuel industries—to get by without worrying about being fined for pollution. But allowing drillers to vent unlimited methane and coal companies to pour unrestricted trash into streams just isn’t enough. In his ongoing efforts to protect polluters from ever having to deal with their pollution, Trump has hit on what may be the ultimate strategy. Under the new rules, as proposed by Trump, major industrial projects—including pipelines, highways, mines, and large construction projects—would only have to complete an environmental impact statement if they receive what Trump described as “significant” amounts of federal funds. In the Thursday announcement, a new category of projects was created for those that fall below an as yet unstated level of “minimum federal funding.” Those projects would be relieved of review, and could launch without a study of environmental impact.”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Trump to Make Misguided Attempt to Weaken NEPA, the Bedrock of Environmental Regulation: “This week’s ruling that Dominion Energy’s Atlantic Coast Pipeline needs to do a better job of addressing the impact a compression station would have on the historically black town of Union Hill, founded by freed slaves after the Civil War, was a major win for environmental justice. Judge Stephanie Thacker’s ruling, which stated that ‘environmental justice is not merely a box to be checked,’ will require the fracked gas pipeline to go through an additional layer of scrutiny. The requirement that projects like the pipeline go through an environmental assessment is hardly new, and citizens have been complaining for years about its construction, so this shouldn’t come as a surprise. But perhaps the company was banking on President Trump to alleviate the need to figure out just how badly a pipeline would harm surrounding communities. After all, the president has promised to roll back such environmental regulations, and after prodding by industry groups last year, he appears poised to take a run at one of the most basic and fundamental rules: the 50-year-old National Environmental Policy Act.”
TOXIC PRODUCTS AND BYPRODUCTS
abluerippleinohio writes—What's in our beauty products? “This article from Environmental Working Group has a study on women of color and exposure to chemicals through beauty products. Which reminds of when I went to the store bought some shampoo and conditioner; I found Coumarin in both of the shampoo and conditioner. It was the last ingredient listed on the bottle. I am curious as to what purpose Coumarin is in the shampoo and conditioner. So I went on this website to see which other products have Coumarin in them. I'm shocked and stunned. So I did more snooping. I found Lyral in products. Lyral is baby products, men's and women's skincare products. Here are the ingredients in Nadinola Skin Lightening Cream.”
FORESTS, NATIONAL PARKS & OTHER PUBLIC LANDS
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Secretary Bernhardt Changes FOIA At DOI To Cement Koch Crony’s Authority: “The Freedom of Information Act is one of the most powerful public transparency tools at our disposal, allowing reporters and the public to pry open the inner workings of government to hold it accountable. FOIA requests for emails and other documents have provided evidence of the Trump administration’s corruption and incompetence, and embarrassing FOIA revelations were likely what led to the resignations of EPA administrator Scott ‘used Trump hotel mattress’ Pruitt and DOI head Ryan ‘$139,000 door’ Zinke. Which is exactly why, in the wake of their leaving, Pruitt and Zinke’s replacements have sought to clamp down on the public’s ability to FOIA records. After looking into the FBI’s notoriously restrictive approach last August, and receiving ample criticism that prevented some proposed changes last November, DOI secretary Bernhardt signed a Secretarial Order this week making changes to how the department handles FOIA requests.”
TRANSPORTATION & INFRASTRUCTURE
Mokurai writes—EV Tuesday News Roundup: “It's amazing how much is going on in the EV world. Here are some choice snippets that came my way recently. [...] Can't park at an electric charging station? Volkswagen is working on an autonomous robot to juice your batteryVolkswagen recently showed the world its dreamed-up future where robots with digital faces roam around parking garages to charge EVs using traveling battery packs. The autonomous robot would find your car, attach a charger to it and then move on to other vehicles while your battery juices up.The seemingly random unveil was meant to provide "a glimpse into the future in which the search for charging stations" comes to an end, VW said. The German automaker envisions you summoning the robot via an app. Once your car battery is fully charged, the yet-to-be-named robot would come to collect the ‘energy storage device’ and take it back to a nearby charging hub.”
OCEANS, WATER, DROUGHT
Dan Bacher writes—California's Delta Tunnel Planning Moves Full Speed Ahead: “The California Department of Water Resources (DWR) is moving full-speed ahead with its campaign to build the controversial single tunnels under the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, as demonstrated in the latest Delta conveyance update from the agency yesterday. Conservationists, Tribal leaders, recreational anglers, commercial fishermen, environmental justice advocates, boaters, Delta business owners and elected leaders oppose the single tunnel because it would drive already imperiled Delta smelt, long fin smelt, winter-run and spring-run Chinook salmon and other species into the abyss of extinction. It would divert massive quantities of water from the Sacramento River in the northern end of the Delta rather than letting the water flow naturally into the San Francisco Bay-Delta Estuary, depriving the estuary of the water that it needs to function as an ecosystem.”
Alonso del Arte writes—Flood watch in Detroit... in January: “This year it will become even more difficult to ignore climate change and the impending climate catastrophe. Yesterday, as I was out around town, I noticed a few people with their jackets partially off, or on their arms, or not wearing jackets at all. The outdoor temperate must have been 50° F, or close to it. It’s not unheard of to have a warm day or two in January. But the rain today sounds like summer rain, or at least it did when I woke up. However, there is still some sense that this is January after all. Now the sound, as I was writing these words, suggests the rain is changing to freezing rain.”
AGRICULTURE, FOOD & GARDENING
Missys Brother writes—Saturday Morning Garden Blog V.16.02: finally admitting that I needed yard help - a before and after: “I have owned my house for almost 33 years. The front section had been built in 1843, the rear in 1798 and it had been abandoned for many years when I purchased it. It was the cheapest house on the market at that time for good reasons. Vines were growing through broken windows, 55 gallon drums of unknown substances filled a room, snakes throughout, a groundhog in the basement and raccoons in the attic, a large section of the roof was missing and the basement was full of lead pipes and unidentifiable canned foods from the 1950s. Many plaster walls were cracked because the house had been slammed into by a speeding car in the 1960s. Yet almost all of the house’s original fabric were still intact and it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places because of both architecture and social history. There was no yard to speak of as the .92 acre consisted of tractor tires, metal cabinets, broken glass, various trash and discards, poison ivy and sumac. The first years were mostly work on the house as it didn’t even have a kitchen when I moved in. I found a discarded sink in the woods, cleaned it up and used it until I finally got a real functioning kitchen. I also slowly started getting the yard under control and the men at the town dump knew me by my first name as Saturdays were spent going back and forth. I was really doing great progress and in my opinion the house and yard were becoming spectacular from their prior condition.”
MISCELLANY
Aldous J Pennyfarthing writes—Donald Trump says he plans to read a book on the environment (spoiler alert: it's about him): “REPORTER: What is your position on global warming? Do you think it’s a hoax? TRUMP: No, not at all. Nothing’s a hoax. Nothing’s a hoax about that. It’s a very serious subject. I want clean air. I want clean water. I want the cleanest air, I want the cleanest water. The environment is very important to me. Somebody wrote a book that I’m an environmentalist. It actually called, the environmentalist [sic]. Actually, before I did this. But they wrote a book. I’d like to get it. I have it in the other office. I’ll bring it to my next news conference perhaps. I’m sure you’ll be thrilled to see it. I’m sure you’ll report all about it. No, I’m a big believer in that word. The environment. I’m a big believer. Let’s put aside for a moment that he appears to contradict himself in the span of two seconds (“I’d like to get it. I have it in the other office.” Uh, you mean you already have it? Or … what are you saying?) And that he says he’s a big believer in the word “environment,” if not the environment itself. And that for someone who — now, anyway — claims to believe climate change isn’t a hoax, he sure doesn’t seem to want to do anything about it.”