Earth Matters is a Daily Kos compendium of wonderful, disturbing, and hideous news briefs about the environment.
• NOAA reports that at most there are only 366 Atlantic right whales alive: In July, the International Union for Conservation of Nature updated its classification of Atlantic right whales from “endangered” to “critically endangered.” On Monday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported that as of January 2019, the species had dwindled to 366, with just 100 breeding females remaining. Since then, according to the Conservation Law Foundation, NOAA has tallied another 15 deaths. "These population estimates are devastating," CLF senior attorney Erica Fuller said. "The outlook is grim if we do not act today. We know human activities are decimating this population, what will it take for federal fishery managers to finally take action to protect these magnificent animals?" Right whales were hunted to near extinction until whaling was banned 85 years ago. After two decades of recovery, their numbers reached 480 in 2011, but the population has fallen by a quarter since then. One of the leading causes of their deaths is entanglement in fishing net lines. But there are other issues these days, including a low reproductive rate. Because of ocean warming, the whales’ food source—a plankton called copepods—have moved north and the whales must follow them hundreds of miles. In the waters off Canada, they run into more lines from nets and heavier shipping traffic than further south. Michaela Morris, Oceans Associate with Environment America Research & Policy Center, issued the following statement: “For centuries, people along the Atlantic Coast have marveled at right whales. It’s distressing to think that we may be the last generation to witness them. Federal judges have ordered NOAA to issue a rule to protect right whales from entanglements by May 2021. We encourage the public to share their concerns once the comment period opens.”
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• Solar, wind, and batteries already are changing the energy sector, but you ain’t seen nothing yet: A new report from RethinkX—Rethinking Energy 2020-2030: 100% Solar, Wind and Batteries is Just the Beginning”—states:
“By 2030 electricity systems comprised entirely of solar, wind and batteries (SWB) can provide both the cheapest power available and two to three times more total energy than the existing grid in the continental United States, and most populated regions globally, bankrupting coal, gas and nuclear power companies and slashing consumer costs dramatically.”
The report concludes that an energy system comprising 100% solar, wind, and batteries would have more generating capacity than is needed on most days. This means lots of electricity can be produced at “marginal cost close to zero.” RethinkX’s authors say this “Clean Energy Super Power” will lead to the development of “new business models and industries, create trillions in new value, and could help repatriate energy-intensive manufacturing,” the AP reports.
• Climate activists of the Sunrise Movement join campaign to turn Texas blue: The youth-led organization has been a major grassroots force backing the Green New Deal and is campaigning for the only two Democratic House candidates who also the support the GND. "They say everything is bigger in Texas. This year, we mean historic youth turnout for Biden to flip Texas blue," Evan Weber, the Sunrise Movement's political director, told George Cahlink at E&E Daily. If Democrats win the Senate, White House a "massive, green economic recovery package" will have a possible chance of passage. Sunrise has made 200,000 calls for progressive Democratic candidates Mike Siegel (Congressional District 10) and Julie Oliver (CD-25). They are running against Republican incumbent Reps. Michael McCaul and Roger Williams, respectively. Sunrise is also making calls for Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, and MJ Hegar, who is running for Senate against Republican incumbent John Cornyn. Said Cliff Walker, deputy executive director of the Texas Democratic Party, "Youth turnout is powering Texas right now, and we know that if this continues, we will flip the state. The Sunrise Movement is part of the present and future of the Texas Democratic Party, and their issues are issues near and dear to Texas Democrats."
• Trump regime’s chief of the federal Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy buries reports on … renewables: Dan Simmons is his name and he seems to think the office he’s in charge of shouldn’t even exist. Said Stephen Capanna, a former director of strategic analysis for the OEERE, “There are dozens of reports languishing right now that can’t be published. This is a systemic issue.” InvestigateWest in collaboration with Grist found that the Department of Energy has deep-sixed more than 40 reports and “has replaced them with mere presentations, buried them in scientific journals that are not accessible to the public, or left them paralyzed within the agency, according to emails and documents” and interviews with current and former employees at DOE and its national labs. Critics worry that burying or delaying the release of studies hurts efforts to fight the climate crisis and has a negative impact on investor decisions.
• Report: Banks lent $2.6 trillion to economic sectors driving the climate crisis and wildlife destruction: The report from portfolio.earth—“Bankrolling Extinction”—found that financial institutions had funded to the tune of $2.6 trillion projects that accelerate mass extinction and made no efforts to lessen impacts on the ecosystem. That’s more than the annual gross domestic product of all but the seven wealthiest nations. The economic sectors involved include food, forestry, mining, fossil fuels, infrastructure, tourism, transport, and logistics. Sir Robert Watson, the former chair of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services told The Guardian the world’s finance industry has responsibility to do its part to protect nature, but most don’t. “Bank by bank,” he said, “the report authors found a cavalier ignorance of—or indifference to—the implications, with the vast majority unaware of their biodiversity impacts, or associated balance sheet risks. In short, this report is a frightening statement of the status quo.” Liz Gallagher, director of portfolio.earth, told Reuters, "Banks are starting to realize that if they invest in sectors that cause climate change, that will hurt their returns. Banks need to understand that the same holds true for destroying biodiversity." The top 10 offenders? Bank of America, Citigroup, JP Morgan Chase, Mizuho Financial, Wells Fargo, BNP Paribas, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial, HSBC, SMBC Group, and Barclays.
• Much of the media fumbled coverage of the most substantial climate discussion ever in a presidential debate: With some outstanding exceptions, post-debate reporting mostly focused on the horse race, adopted faulty, often right-wing assumptions about the economic impacts of addressing climate change, and failed to accurately depict public opinion trends regarding climate action. Climate journalist Emily Atkin wrote in her newsletter Heated, that most coverage “[ignored] the fact that Trump doesn’t have a climate plan at all.” Atkin compared coverage in 30 articles appearing in mainstream outlets. While they all discussed the potential consequences of implementing strong climate policies, “only five discussed the cost of doing nothing,” she wrote.
• North Dakota legislative committee okays transfer $16 million in federal coronavirus relief funds meant to clean up abandoned oil and gas wells to companies fracking new wells. The money needs to be spent by year’s end or the state will lose it. Lynn Helms, director of the state's Department of Mineral Resources, made the proposal. Some lawmakers—Democrats, natch—said the funds would better be spent to expand contact tracing or helping nursing homes arrange safe family visits. But the committee voted to give money to frackers.