The spotlight is a weekly, categorized compilation of links and excerpts from environmentally related posts at Daily Kos. Any posts included in the collection do not necessarily indicate my agreement with or endorsement of them. Because of the interconnectedness of the subject matter, some of these posts can be placed in more than one category.
NOTE: The spotlight will not appear on December 24 and December 31. It will return on January 7, 2024.
CRITTERS AND THE GREAT OUTDOORS
Think tank used trophy hunting misinformation to promote US ‘access to African mineral deposits’ by Jared Kukura. Catherine Semcer penned an article for Property and Environment Research Center that has been shared and celebrated by other sustainable use activists and members of the trophy hunting industry. The article comes across as pro-trophy hunting propaganda due to its misrepresentation of research but that’s only one aspect that I found concerning. I am much more concerned that Semcer used trophy hunting misinformation to promote US access to African countries’ mineral deposits. As concerning as it is, it shouldn’t come as a surprise given that Semcer’s job at PERC is to promote the business interests of the organization’s American oligarch donors. PERC is a known denial organization that that published climate change denial pieces like The Case Against the Hockey Stick.
The Daily Bucket: Friday Sequence—Who’s Hungry? by Mentha. About this time last year we were on South Georgia Island (The Daily Bucket: Antarctica was my Backyard in December: Part 1, South Georgia Island). One of our stops was the defunct Grytviken Whaling Station.
While wigeons are highly social, they’re pretty varied in their activity. I got a kick out of this moment when they were all looking out to sea briefly in unison. I didn’t catch what they were looking at.
The Daily Bucket - ducks in rough seas by OceanDiver. November 16, 2023. Salish Sea, Pacific Northwest: With November we start getting a series of storms rolling into the Pacific Northwest, and up in this part of the Salish Sea that means wind. On a day we were returning from a trip to the mainland the wind was kicking up some good size swells and chop, but the ducks didn’t seem to mind at all. While waiting for the ferry I watched both diving ducks and dabblers bounce around on the water, at two different sites. At a boat-launch park west of the ferry dock it’s exposed and gets deep fairly quickly. The birds there were all divers. Besides cormorants and grebes, there were Harlequin ducks and Surf Scoters diving and feeding. While both those kinds of ducks feed primarily on invertebrates, their different prey accounts for why their bills are not at all the same. It also means they aren’t competing directly for food as they hunt in the same spot.
Steller's Jay. The author’s choice for a new name: Forest Jay (along the Pacific) and Mountain Jay (Rocky Mtn interior).
Dawn Chorus: A Progressive Moment for Bird Names by OceanDiver. The birding community tends to be deliberate and conservative in its in its system of naming, but last month the American Ornithological Society (AOS) caused quite a stir when they announced that all American birds named after people will get new names. The AOS committee responsible for naming decided that nomenclature “stability” should be superseded in this case by the importance of replacing eponymous names honoring “offensive or unethical” individuals with descriptive ones, making birding more welcoming to everyone. AOS President Colleen Handel, Ph.D., said: “There is power in a name, and some English bird names have associations with the past that continue to be exclusionary and harmful today. We need a much more inclusive and engaging scientific process that focuses attention on the unique features and beauty of the birds themselves. The American Ornithological Society’s decision is having a big impact because unlike communities for other creatures like amphibians or plants, the AOS has the authority to standardize common names. While this authority isn’t legally established, the AOS names are used by everyone, including conservationists, eBird, and the federal government. The AOS doesn’t have the authority to change all bird names. [...] The entire realm of observation, naming, and learning is by definition an anthropocentric enterprise, since it’s all through our senses and minds. But the American Ornithological Society is saying that doesn’t mean we necessarily need to honor human beings when we do that. And the AOS is not exactly a bastion of progressivism, although their wheels do grind, if slowly.
A Quarter Of Freshwater Fish Risk Extinction by TheShortSwede. From Reuters 12.11.23. A quarter of freshwater fish risk extinction. About a quarter of all freshwater fish species are at risk of extinction due to threats from climate change and pollution, the latest Red List of Threatened Species showed on Monday. One of the main threats is the havoc climate change is wreaking on water cycles, such as falling water levels and rising sea levels causing seawater to move up rivers, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which compiles the list several times a year. In its first exhaustive analysis of freshwater fish, IUCN said that over 3,000 species out of nearly 15,000 were at risk.
Fox Sparrow. This one is feeding on dried blackberries.
The Daily Bucket: Let's do the Twitch by BrownsBay. The atmospheric river had already dropped over 3 inches of rain on southwestern Snohomish County over a span of 48 hours. Streamed directly from the tropics over a thousand miles away like a water cannon aimed directly at the Pacific Northwest. There would be a brief lull on day three and I intended to take full advantage of it. For the last several days, eBird had been reporting a Tropical Kingbird at the Everett Wastewater Treatment Plant. A nice paved trail skirts the plant and follows the riverbank of the Snohomish River. The Tropical Kingbird is an extreme rarity here, way out of range from the tropics. The pairing of a tropical stream of moisture and a bird from the tropics struck me as more than coincidental.
Paradise Lost by CorpFlunky. Vox posted an important story yesterday about the high rate of species extinction in Hawaii. Hawaii is off-limits for me now, but I have fond memories. Please, whenever you read something about the ongoing mass extinction crisis, write a story on DailyKos. We can’t be blind or silent or ignore the permanent end of most forms of life on earth, since we’re all responsible. The beginning of the story focuses on snails, then cats, and finally on the climate crisis. I would have edited it to read more like this. “There is an extinction crisis playing out worldwide — where as many as 1 million species are creeping toward the edge of existence — but the state of Hawaii is ground zero. It has lost more species than any other state, which is one reason why it’s been dubbed the extinction capital of the world.“
CLIMATE CRISIS (& COP28)
COP28 "Dream Outcome" For Fossil Fuel Industry; Disaster for Planet by boatsie. A day after nations agreed at COP 28 to a nonbinding transition away from fossil fuels, the UAE Consensus is being called a devastating failure for the planet and a dream come true for fossil fuel interests, The Guardian reports today. “The lack of an agreement to phase out fossil fuels was devastating,” said Prof Michael Mann, a climatologist and geophysicist at the University of Pennsylvania in the US. “To ‘transition away from fossil fuels’ was weak tea at best. It’s like promising your doctor that you will ‘transition away from doughnuts’ after being diagnosed with diabetes.” Mann said we need to “mend it not end it” in regard to the failure of nearly 30 years of negotiations at UNFCCC COPs to tackle global warming, saying they remain our sole method to negotiate global climate solutions. “But the failure of Cop28 to achieve any meaningful progress at a time when our window of opportunity to limit warming below catastrophic levels is closing, is a source of great concern.”
Negotiators @COP28 Agree to Historic UAE Consensus With “A Litany of Loopholes” by boatsie. Hailing it as an “historic package to accelerate climate action” COP28 President Sultan Al Jaber quickly gaveled in approval of the historic UAE Consensus Wednesday, leaving no time for comments from negotiators on the final global stocktake document. For the first time in nearly 30 years of UN talks, the official document text includes the words fossil fuels, reading: “Transitioning away from fossil fuels in energy systems, in a just, orderly and equitable manner, accelerating action in this critical decade, so as to achieve net zero by 2050 in keeping with the science.” A key accomplishment was getting Saudi Arabia to agree to the Consensus because up until Wednesday morning, they flatly refused to include the words fossil fuels in the text. They did, however, succeed in getting mention of carbon capture and storage (CCS) in the global stocktake (GST.) Detractors claim the text contains “a litany of loopholes.”
Overtime @ COP28 Fuels Fears of Potential Collapse in Talks by boatsie. In a Los Angeles Times opinion piece today,“ climate scientist Michael Mann and Susan Joy Hassol, the director of Climate Communication wrote “COP28 has become a shameless exercise in the fight against climate change. But can we afford to walk out?” They suggest changing the voting system from consensus to majority and banning oil executives and petrostates from hosting and leading future COPs. As Saudi Arabia and other fossil-fueled economies reject the “phase-out” of fossil fuels in the global stocktake (GST) document, The Guardian columnist George Monbiot called for the establishment of an International Climate Agency similar in format to the International Atomic Energy Agency. Referring to Paris and Kyoto as the only climate summits to be even halfway successful. “If any other process had a 3.7% success rate, it would be abandoned in favour of something better,” he said, while calling for a ban on beef and oil industry lobbyists and “binding treaties on fossil fuels and deforestation” with a different voting system.
COP28 on Verge of "Complete Failure" as Phase-Out of Fossil Fuels Removed from Text by boatsie. With just a half day of negotiations remaining, the current global stocktake draft no longer includes the call “phase-out of fossil fuels,” leaving COP28 on the verge of failure and angering scientists, activists, and negotiators from over 100 countries who support a deep and expedient cut in fossil fuels to limit GHG emissions from rising beyond the 1.5 degree Celsius agreed to in the Paris Agreement. There is pressure for a new more aggressive document and negotiators continued talks into Monday night and will resume work on Tuesday. Passage of the final document requires unanimous support. “The world desperately needs to phase out fossil fuels as quickly as possible, but this obsequious draft reads as if OPEC dictated it word for word,” Al Gore said. “It is even worse than many had feared.” The current draft has no timelines and employs watered-down language suggesting countries ‘could’ take action to reduce pollution which includes cutting back on the production and consumption of oil, gas, and coal.
Though"Drunk on Oil and Gas," US Supports Fossil Fuel Phase-out @ COP 28 by boatsie. With just 1 ½ days remaining, COP28 President Sultan Al Jaber Sunday called for the parties to exhibit flexibility as they reach an impasse in whether to call for the “phase-out” or “phase down” of fossil fuels in the global stocktake (GST). The UN talks end mid-day on Tuesday. “I want everyone to come prepared with solutions,” said Al Jaber, whose presidency has been controversial. “I want everyone to come ready to be flexible and to accept compromise. I told everyone not to come with any prepared statements and no prescribed positions. I really want everyone to rise above self-interests and to start thinking of the common good.” Ratification of the final agreement requires unanimous consent and Saudi Arabia is currently refusing any mention of fossil fuels in the text while also not cooperating with the goal of “tripling global renewable energy capacity by 2030,” according to New York Times reporting.
Al Gore
Al Gore was our Cop at COP28 and when COP stops, he does NOT by mikeymikey. If we survive this oncoming evolutionary convergence and eventually humanity gives Al Gore his due, he will be seen as one of the great figures in all of human history, specifically for the part he has played, not only in warning us early on to the impending dangers of climate collapse, but also for his tireless efforts to save our sorry asses, as this ongoing disaster unfolds.When he first spoke to Congress as the emissary of his environmental mentor James Hansen, who testified as his star witness, few listened, despite his statesman’s demeanor and eloquent oratorical skills. His integrity, coupled with the prescient evidence presented by Dr. Hansen, as well as the sincerity of concern exhibited, planted seeds in me that found fertile, well-prepared soil productively nurturing my climate awareness ever since.
Overnight News Digest: COP28 acknowledges the elephant in the room by Magnifico. From Nature: According to the latest estimates, the world would need to eliminate emissions of carbon dioxide in little more than a decade, while also slashing those of methane and other greenhouse gases, to have even a 50% chance of limiting average warming to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels. That equation changes, however, if humans are able to extract CO2 from the atmosphere on an industrial scale. Here lies the crux of the debate. […] In the end, the climate doesn’t care who emits greenhouse gases. There is only one viable path forward, and that is for everybody to phase out almost all fossil fuels as quickly as possible. More than 100 countries supported that message in Dubai, but their efforts to secure an agreement on a fossil-fuel phase out look to be coming up short. This runs counter to the core goals laid down in the 2015 Paris climate agreement. The time will come when fossil fuels must go. It is a question of when, not if. […] But no amount of clean energy is going to prevent further global warming without a concurrent phase out of fossil fuels or, at least, sequestering the associated greenhouse-gas emissions. Doing so will be neither easy nor painless.
Climate newspeak at COP28 by Jen Sorensen. "Polarization" has become a weasel word for bad actors to stop legitimate criticism. The fact that we're seeing it used by an oil CEO to deny climate science should set off alarm bells.
We Read 100 Stupid Stories About COP28 So You Don't Have To by ClimateDenierRoundup. During COP28, we read at least 100 stories published across a baker's dozen (13) frequently climate disinformation-publishing websites. This isn't a comprehensive list, as there are definitely more disinformation-filled articles out there, but it is at least a somewhat representative sample of what the climate disinformation landscape looked like over the last two weeks. Aside from a continuation of the meat ban fearmongering we saw at the start of COP28, the big story that generated multiple days of "news," reactions, and editorial coverage was that there was a fart noise while John Kerry was saying something important. That's a pretty good indicator of the level of seriousness with which these international negotiations are treated by the propaganda machine disinforming a significant block of people. At a minimum, over the past two weeks, 13 right-wing and mostly fossil-funded websites published at least a hundred stories about COP28. The majority (65 articles) came from just 4 outlets, while the remaining 35 stories came from the other 9.
Suspicious Accounts Spread Pro-UAE Propaganda Across X/Twitter And Reddit by ClimateDenierRoundup. Even after seemingly getting caught conducting a covert social media influence operation earlier this year, the UAE appears to be continuing to use coordinated inauthentic activity to bolster its reputation as the host of the COP28 climate conference. During COP28, suspicious accounts pushed pro-UAE content on both X/Twitter and Reddit. According to the Climate Action Against Disinformation (CAAD) coalition’s latest bulletin, a new potential bot network, ostensibly different from the other groups of bots identified back in June and earlier this month, is praising the UAE on X/Twitter. CAAD explains, “Many of the accounts claim to be Uganda-based environmental activists. They are repeatedly posting or retweeting videos of Sultan Al Jaber, using the same talking points [and promotional hashtags] as the official COP28 UAE account.” The Capitol Institute appears to be the only organization tweeting these suspicious clips. Although there is no proof that the Institute is directly involved in any unscrupulous activity, its content is very much on-message with the pro-UAE campaign.
'Beginning of End' for Fossil Fuels, 'The End' for Rudy Giuliani (We Hope): 'BradCast' 12/14/2023 by TheBradBlog. Among our many stories covered today… The last minute, final agreement between 200 world nations at the COP28 U.N. climate conference hosted by the United Arab Emirates this week, calls for a "transition" away from fossil fuels. It wasn't the call for either a "phase out" or even "phase down" that many had sought. But it was a first. Including the first time in 28 years of such annual conferences that the words "fossil fuels" even appeared in the final unanimous joint statement issued by the parties. What does it all mean? It's both good and bad. We delve into some of the details with Desi Doyen today.
Climate News 12.15.23 by TheShortSwede. From The Hill: Democrats revolt against Biden plan for expanded gas exports. The Biden administration’s plans for increased natural gas exports are causing a revolt within the Democratic Party. Despite the boom in renewables reducing domestic demand for fossil fuels, the administration is backing the gas industry’s plans to sell fuel at higher prices abroad, believing they will lead to less production of climate-warming chemicals like carbon dioxide by displacing dirtier-burning coal. But gas is itself a planet-heating chemical, and Democrats argue that the administration’s policies have done little to address a big problem for the climate: The U.S. fossil fuel industry plans to increase oil and gas production for decades.
A Round Up Of Today's Climate News by TheShortSwede. From The Guardian. What happens if the 1.5C target for global heating is missed? “Tipping points are tipping earlier than expected,” said David King, former chief scientific adviser to the UK government. “Ice covering the north pole for hundreds of thousands of years is receding instead of reflecting sunlight back into space.” The speed at which 1.5C is approaching has shocked many climatologists. Several influential scientists say it will be years rather than decades before the most ambitious Paris target is breached. Drought, storms and flooding become more frequent and severe with each extra fraction of a degree of warming. With half a degree less breathing space, the non-human inhabitants of the planet will suffer considerable losses, which adds to stress on pollination, water quality and other biological components of the planetary life-support system.
Climate scientist James Hansen testifying before Congress in 1988.
I'm Interviewing James Hansen on Sunday. What Should I Ask Him? by dannym999. As part of my weekly “Climate Chat” podcast, I’m interviewing climate scientist James Hansen on Sunday (December 17) at 10am Pacific. I want this interview to not be a typical climate science interview (that I typically do) that delves into the science and discusses the details. I’d like this discussion to be high-level and low-jargon so that it will be understandable by the widest audience possible. Please put your suggested questions in the comments below.
An intro and my ideas on how to tackle climate change by Dems and Thems9724. So here is my idea on how to curb climate change. What if we took all the space junk floating around out there and made it into a solar powered barrier that turns the rays from the sun into cool air that will help cool down the planet? I’m very tech savvy so I have alot of ideas to generate. But I’m keeping this entry short because I want it to be a rather introductory context about myself and also based on my many ideas. Thanks for listening and have a great day.
COPOUT. Why won't citizens take action on the climate? by the Gardening Toad. Now that we know “world leaders” don’t intend to do much about the climate, why won’t US citizens take action? Are they still hoping someone else will fix it for them? Or do they simply not know what regular folks can do? What do you think? Do you have any ideas about how we can encourage action amongst ourselves?
Remember this Climate Acronym WHDSF - It's your future! by Blue Notes. If people can remember societally important acronyms like LGBTQ + and an older generation can’t get toxic advertising acronyms like LSMFT out of their brains (BTW - It stands for “Lucky Strike Means Fine Tobacco”) we might all want to start remembering WHDSF whenever the issue of climate change comes up. WHDSF stands for ‘Wildfires, Heatwaves, Droughts, Storms and Floods,’ and is a handy way to remember the range of catastrophic change we’re going through. These are not all of the impacts from fossil fuel fired climate disruption of course (sea level rise and melting glaciers are two more that come to mind), but WHDSF are the most readily recognizable that scientists are able to measure in terms of growth, frequency and intensity.
Climate catastrophe in other words by CarmeninVermont. Here are four videos from three to five minutes each. They are from the Climate Science Breakthrough project that I think is valid. Anyway, these are real scientists sharing the real news RE climate issues and then comedians translating into human language. Also included is advise for what can be done at the political level. You may not love British humor but they are worth a few minutes of time I think.
FOOD, AGRICULTURE & GARDENING
South Dakota Ice Storm 2013. Location is Bethel Pioneer Cemetery.
Saturday Morning Garden Blogging Vol. 19.50 - "hi babies!" Gardens are more than just plants by CWalter. See that tall headstone in the center of the photograph? That line of headstones were vandalized a couple of years after I took this photo. One headstone memorializes Harley, a dear son of some of the first pioneers who settled in this area. He was almost 8 months old.I used to take my children to this pioneer cemetery for picnics and quiet conversation. Death just is, you know? The cemetery is in a secluded area surrounded by farmland and smelled so pretty in spring, yet only a mile from city limits. A lilac was near the grave of Avis, who lived for one day. The lilac is enormous, a sweet tribute for a tiny baby who wasn’t long for this world. That is what I assume anyway, about the age of the lilac. I’m just going to continue to think the lilac was planted by someone who loved baby girl very much. It was planted to keep lovely company, regardless. I wish I knew their stories, these little ones who lived and died in 1880’s and 1890’s eastern South Dakota. So many small green hints left behind.
For your holiday viewing pleasure: a look at the NY Botanical Garden annual holiday train show by xaxnar. =A cousin sent me a link to a PBS show “Treasures of New York” featuring a look at the annual Holiday Train Show at the New York Botanical Garden. The PBS show is from 2013, but it’s an annual tradition and every year is different. The episode, hosted by Juju Chang showed how the event features classic landmarks from around New York City sculpted from botanical materials and fantastic bridges. Large G scale trains roam overhead and through the lush vegetation. There’s a look at how the materials for the show are made by incredibly talented people, and what it takes to set it up and keep it running. It’s 30 minutes of holiday viewing pleasure. If you happen to be in the New York City area, here’s the link to the 2023 train show event at the NYBC. It’s running through January 15, from 10am to 6pm. There are several pricing levels and pricing plans.
ACTION
Note: The climate strike action began at San Francisco City Hall in 2019. The following entries are excerpts from “letters” that were issued each week of the action. Although the strike was focused on San Francisco, many of the same issues affect countless U.S. cities.]
Imagine Survival -- Strike for the Planet week 159 by birches. What does survival look like? For SF, it rests on two things: water and energy. Everything else is secondary because, without those two things, the city fails and is abandoned. How does SF do water?
We do it the way other water-poor regions do it: recycling, conservation, and working with nature instead of against it. San Francisco needs to mandate blackwater recycling across the board, beginning with new, municipal and federal buildings, next moving on to all office and mixed use buildings, then mandating it in all housing, starting with apartment and condo complexes with more than 20 units, then moving on to include all smaller apartment and condo complexes, and then finally all housing. Building owners can avoid retrofitting in a blackwater recycling system if they have a graywater system that will reduce potable water use in that building by a minimum of 10% and use only composting toilets.
You've Made Your Choice -- Strike for the Planet week 158 by birches. Lack of action produces the same results as bad intentions. The topic this week: You’ve Made Your Choice. Not acting is a choice “Criminal omission is based on the theory that failure to perform a legal duty when one has the capacity to do so is a substitute for the commission of a defined offense when the harm done is the same. The causation requirement is essential to proving criminal omission. Sources of legal duty are duty based upon … (5) the voluntary assumption of responsibility, (6) creation of peril, and (7) rescue responsibility.” You have chosen not to act Even if you knew nothing about the environmental issues facing San Francisco in 2019, you’ve been thoroughly educated in them for the past 3 years. You have been given information on the dangers. You now possess massive amounts of relevant, local information relating to the specific environmental perils facing San Francisco and ways in which those perils can be reduced or eliminated. So what have you done?
Megadrought 101 -- Strike for the Planet week 157 by birches. This week’s topic is Megadrought 101. What exactly is a megadrought? According to The New York Times, it is “a period of extreme dryness that lasts for decades.” In the last 1200 years, we’ve had multiple megadroughts in the west: in the 800s, the mid-1100s, the 1200s, and the late 1500s. We are in the beginning of another megadrought now. 2000 to 2022 was the driest 22 year period in the last 1200 years. According to the above definition, we are in a megadrought. Why is a megadrought a problem?
Megadroughts amp up extinctions, destroy empires, lead to mass migration, cause famine, and bring about the fall of civilizations. We are not ready for this. We are still pretending that things are “business per normal,” and that all will be well with little tweaks to our current system. This is a lie and a path to ruin.
Three Years -- Strike for the Planet week 156 by birches. This letter represents the 3rd year of my weekly climate strike. It’s Earth Day. And teaching school during a pandemic keeps getting harder. So I figured it was time to remind you of exactly what I’ve been doing for the last 3 years. Because I know what you’ve been doing, and it’s not even an order of magnitude close to enough.
Solutions-Based Governance -- Strike for the Planet week 155 by birches. This week’s topic: Solutions-Based Governance. Because we need a script that works and we need it right now. Solutions-based governance requires action and defangs the denialists In three steps, solutions-based governance requires you to: 1. Identify the problem; 2. solicit solutions; 3. and adopt the solutions that solve the problem at the lowest environmental impact.
Efficiency and Conservation -- Strike for the Planet week 154 by birches. This week’s topic is Efficiency and Conservation. “Oh, come on! Too boring, not sexy.” Really? Real-life disasters are stress-filled while also being boring. Efficiency and conservation are a lot sexier than heat death. “Efficiency and conservation don’t make people happy.” The average American throws out 4.5 pounds of damaged and degraded resources every day, while the global average is only 1.6 pounds per day. Based on the World Happiness Report for 2022 and the evidence of mass shootings, racism, systemic injustice, misogyny, and economic inequality, wasting resources isn’t making Americans happy. Wasting resources means we suffer. Already, Hetch Hetchy’s water level has fallen dangerously low and, due to the megadrought and climate change, it’s likely to keep dropping. Less Hetch Hetchy water cuts into not only SF’s water supply but also SF’s energy supply. Who uses Hetch Hetchy for energy? All of SFUSD, our fire stations, hospitals, MUNI, and more. Hetch Hetchy produces almost 20% of SF’s energy.
ENERGY, EMISSIONS & TRANSPORTATION
John Oliver uses Thomas the Tank Engine to show why America's freight rail is a disaster in waiting by xaxnar. If you are thinking of railroads at all this time of year, you are probably thinking about the Polar Express, either watching the movie, reading the book, running the train around the tree, or maybe finding a railroad running Polar Express excursions. (Good luck with that — some of them sell out months in advance! If you can make it to Kingston, NY, there’s still a very few seats left last time I checked.). John Oliver recently took on a rail story that’s far less family-friendly: the way freight railroads are operating in America. The video — see below — is going viral. The comments on it Youtube are compelling — Oliver is getting high marks on it.
Consumer Watchdog Calls Out Oil Refiners’ Greed & Disinformation by Dan Bacher. Consumer Watchdog made a record of oil refiners’ profiteering in California and disinformation campaign in official comments before the California Energy Commission as it determines a price gouging penalty on oil refiners, according to press release from the group. The comments note the extraordinary growth in profits margins by California oil refiners in recent years and the fact that refiners made 30% more profit in California in 2022 than anywhere else in the world or nation. “Creating a maximum gross refining margin and penalty is the most effective way to keep gasoline prices in California in line with US gasoline prices and to better balance supply and demand,” CW president Jamie Court wrote. “Five oil refiners control 98% of the gasoline supply in California and this oligopoly has abused its market powers to keep gasoline prices artificially high to its great financial benefit.”
Occidental Petroleum to Acquire CrownRock for $12B, Spurring Scrutiny of Oil & Gas Mergers by Dan Bacher. Occidental Petroleum announced today that it has entered into an agreement to acquire privately-held CrownRock Energy, one of the largest producers in the Permian Basin, for $12 billion, according to a press statement from Fossil Free Media.“This marks the third multi-billion dollar merger in the oil and gas industry over the past two months, following ExxonMobil's $64.5 billion deal to buy Pioneer Natural Resources and Chevron's $53 billion takeover bid for Hess Corporation,” the group stated. “The rapid consolidation has raised serious concerns among consumer advocates and climate policy experts who argue the mega-mergers will reduce competition, lead to higher energy prices, and slow the transition to cleaner energy. Just last week, the Federal Trade Commission launched an in-depth investigation into Exxon's acquisition of Pioneer, following calls from Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and other members,” the group said. "These mergers are creating gigantic polluting empires with dangerous levels of political influence," said Cassidy DiPaola, Communications Director at Fossil Free Media.
$72 Million In Dark, Oily Money Fueling Groups Orchestrating Anti-Offshore Wind Campaigns by ClimateDenierRoundup. Hey, have you ever wondered how much money goes into the groups orchestrating opposition to offshore wind (OSW) projects up and down the East Coast? Well, it turns out it's something like $72 million — just between 2017 and 2021! That's the big figure from a new report out of Brown University's Climate Development Lab called "Against the Wind: A Map of the Anti-Offshore Wind Network in the Eastern United States." It does an excellent job of summarizing and visualizing the anti-offshore wind network with a map that "represents 18 local groups and businesses, 14 climate denial think tanks, 8 coalitions, 11 other established entities, and 16 key individuals." The "report reveals how these East Coast offshore wind opponents are not solely local – they are embedded in a network of seasoned fossil fuel interests and climate denial think tanks that have perfected obstruction tactics for decades."
Michael Shellenberger
Shellenberger Quiet On $60 Million Bribe For $1.3 Billion Nuclear Bailout In Ohio by ClimateDenierRoundup. Remember back in 2019, when Ohio decided to throw tons of money at FirstEnergy to bail out its coal and nuclear power operations? And then it turned out that the $1.3 billion bailout was clinched by a $60 million bribe? Well, following a 20-year sentence for the former Ohio Republican House speaker, Larry Householder, former Ohio public utilities chairman Sam Randazzo has now been indicted on 11 counts for allegedly taking $4.3 million to abuse his power on behalf of FirstEnergy's scheme to keep its nuclear plants running. But as former Obama-era Department of Energy Special Advisor Tyler Norris pointed out on Twitter/X, selling the promises of nuclear in this case extended beyond Householder and Randazzo. "Has the nature of [Michael] Shellenberger's entanglement in all this ever become clear?" Norris asked last week about the nuclear energy advocate and climate disinformer. "He states here that he testified in Ohio four separate times." Norris linked to a 2019 Forbes post in which Shellenberger praises the passage of the Ohio pro-nuclear bill for bringing "momentum to global nuclear expansion" and brags about having "testified before the Ohio legislature four times since 2016."
100% Wind Water Solar Not "All of the Above" by gmoke. Why We Must Focus on Clean, Renewable Energy and Storage, Not “All of the Above,” For Solving Global Climate, Air Pollution, and Energy Security Problems — A slide deck from Mark Z Jacobson presented at the American Geophysical Union meeting on December 11, 2023. Conclusion: Carbon capture, direct air capture, blue hydrogen, non-hydrogen electro-fuels, and bioenergy even when powered by wind-water-solar (WWS), all increase CO2, air pollution, and social cost and either fossil mining and infrastructure or land use versus using the same WWS to replace a CO2 source CCS [Carbon Capture and Storage], DAC [Direct Air Capture] always increase CO2 and new nuclear increases cost, time-to-operation, emissions, and catastrophic risk versus new wind/solar. However, a Wind, Water, Solar (WWS) Solution is practical and we can "electrify or provide direct heat for all sectors and provide [that] electricity and heat with 100% WWS." The book “No Miracles Needed” explains how to transition to 100% WWS.
Wind turbines generate electricity at the Block Island Wind Farm on July 07, 2022 near Block Island, Rhode Island.
Transition To Renewables: It's All About The Money by TheShortSwede. From Politico 12.10.23. Building wind power, canceling coal — it’s all drowning under borrowing costs: Climate projects around the world are sinking because of high borrowing costs driven by interest rates — jeopardizing a major plank of the international effort to prevent the most catastrophic damage from warming temperatures. Many of the nations gathered at this month’s COP28 climate summit in Dubai, including the United States, have set a goal of tripling global renewable energy capacity by the end of this decade. Such a pledge could be one of a handful of substantial climate actions coming out of the talks, which are embroiled in a standoff over whether governments should commit to phasing out fossil fuels. But rising interest rates have imperiled these goals.
Biden’s Offshore Wind Target Slipping Out Of Reach As Projects Struggle by TheShortSwede. From Inside Climate News 12.16.23. The Biden Administration’s Scaled-Back Lease Proposal For Atlantic Offshore Wind Projects Prompts Questions, Criticism. The Biden administration’s latest lease offering for offshore wind projects doesn’t allocate adequate acreage for Maryland and other mid-Atlantic states to achieve their legally binding emissions reduction and clean energy targets, industry groups and environmental advocates say. They believe the offering also further hobbles the offshore wind industry, which already faces supply constraints, a lack of new tax credits and high interest rates. “The Biden Administration had the opportunity to provide all the lease area needed to allow Maryland to achieve our goal of building 8.5 gigawatts of offshore wind, but they opted not to,” said Jamie DeMarco, Maryland director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network.
WATER & INFRASTRUCTURE
Delta Counties say final EIR for the Delta Tunnel is deficient and won't address climate change by Dan Bacher. While fishing groups, Tribes, environmental justice organizations, Delta residents, family farmers and others have blasted the Newsom administration for releasing the final environmental impact report (EIR) for the environmentally destructive Delta Tunnel project, so have many elected officials, including the members of the boards of supervisors of the Delta Counties. In response to Department of Water Resources’ release of a final Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the Delta Conveyance Project through the Sacramento‐San Joaquin Delta on Dec. 8, Patrick Hume, Chair of the Delta Counties Coalition (DCC), made the following statement on behalf of the five jurisdictions that would be most negatively impacted: “This tunnel project described in the Final EIR continues to be based on last century thinking and merely moves water from the north to the south without adding any new water to the system. It is a deeply flawed plan that does not improve statewide water supplies and would harm the Delta, the region, and California’s economy.
MISCELLANY
ON CHOOSING A PRESIDENT: The Environmental Vote by diverdonreed. For 15 years, (1972-87) I was an oceanarium diver for Marine World Africa USA, in Redwood City, California. Every day I worked among the sharks, dolphins, eels, seals and killer whales; I swam through beams of underwater sun, interacting with the creatures of the sea. It was a joy and a privilege. For me and billions, even those who cannot swim a stroke, the environment has an almost religious significance; it is every breath we take, every drop we drink—the foundation of all life—and we must keep it safe. Soon America will vote on the next President; our chief environmental steward. Assuming a Trump/Biden race, who is more qualified for the job? I can think of nothing former President Donald J. Trump has done to benefit the environment. Has his attitude changed since he called planetary change ”a Chinese hoax”?
Twitter Files journalist Michael Shellenberger censored a Wikipedia editor by Jared Kukura. Michael Shellenberger proves that doing the right thing doesn’t necessarily pay, but going right-wing does. He turned a short stint of progressive advocacy into a lucrative career espousing anti-environmentalism and right-wing conspiracy theories. Elon Musk handpicked him to ‘report’ on the Twitter Files. His stories about government censorship won the hearts and minds of conservatives who felt their inability to say the N-word on Twitter was an attack on free speech. But his commitment to free speech is fickle. A Wikipedia editor stepped forward credibly accusing Shellenberger of verbally abusing and threatening them in an attempt to censor criticism and information about his public relations experience. Shellenberger wasn’t always the right’s culture war hero.
Earth Matters: $3bn Green Climate Fund pledge Harris announced will be tough to pry out of Congress by Meteor Blades. Even with phony George Santos gone, there are still 148 climate science deniers in Congress, plus a bunch of other members who claim to accept the science but don’t vote like it. They are intent on gutting efforts to prevent, mitigate, or adapt to climate changes, including assistance to nations who have contributed little to the atmospheric carbon burden, but face severe consequences from it. Addressing the climate crisis requires worldwide attention. Whether we acknowledge it or not, we are all linked to those changes now underway, those inevitably coming our way, and those that will come our way without serious action. Climate change doesn’t stop at national borders. Telling impoverished, vulnerable nations that it’s YOYO for them when it comes to climate change will come back to bite us all.
Photo (left to right): Winnemem Wintu Chief Caleen Sisk, CDFW Director Charlton H. Bonham, and Cathy Marcinkevage, Assistant Regional Administrator for NOAA Fisheries West Coast Region, sign the agreement between the Winnemem Wintu Tribe and the state and federal governments to restore winter-run Chinook salmon to the McCloud River. The signing ceremony took place on May 1, 2023, at the McCloud Bridge Campground on the McCloud River arm of Lake Shasta.
Decolonizing Wealth Project, Liberated Capital Award Over $1.7 million to Indigenous Led Initiatives by Dan Bacher. Today, the Decolonizing Wealth Project and their funding mechanism, Liberated Capital, announced that they have distributed more than $1.7 million in grants to over 25 Indigenous-led organizations and tribes across the US. The funding will support grantees’ efforts to expand Native American self-determination efforts through both the multi-year grantmaking initiative California Truth & Healing Fund (CATHF) and Indigenous Earth Fund (IEF). Since their inception, both funds have distributed nearly $4 million in capital to Native-led organizations in California and across the US. These grant-making initiatives are a testament to the Decolonizing Wealth Project and their mission to put resources back in the hands of the communities that philanthropy has traditionally historically overlooked or marginalized. In this case, the funds seek to center Indigenous leaders in the path toward healing and reconciliation with the State, and effective solutions to the climate crisis.
Dear Rich People, your money will not save you by 40ford. According to last April's Forbes Magazine there are 2640 billionaires in the world. There are an additional 128,000 people who control $50Million or more. These 130,000 (.016% of population) account for more than 50% of all the wealth and income in the world, more than the 4 billion people combined at the fiscal bottom. [They] that comprise the global economic top 10%, cause 48% of the greenhouse gases changing our climate. American oil and gas producers knew about climate change in the 1970’s. They could have started then investing in green energy technology and, by today, the entire world would be much closer to mitigating the climate disaster that is upon us. Those corporations could have been the heroes and would now be more valuable than Amazon. Instead, the leaders of those companies denied the science. They waged a disinformation campaign designed to discredit the evidence so they could continue to make short term profits. Air pollution kills 7 million people every year.
Michael Steele and right-wing Joe Walsh nail it on the Trump cult. Make oil companies pay! by Egberto Willis. Michael Steele and Basil Smikle slam the Speaker & GOP for protecting the Jan 6th insurrectionists. Former Right Wing Congressman Joe Walsh calls out the GOP as an autocratic cult. America wants oil companies to pay for climate change.
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