At SolveClimate News, Maria Galluci writes, In Seattle, Real Estate Sector to 'Green' Its Buildings as Economic Fix-It:
Seattle is greening its cityscape in a bid to boost its sluggish real estate market — all while cutting global warming emissions and slashing energy costs.
Industry leaders have banded together to spearhead a high-performance building initiative — the first of its kind nationwide — that sets ambitious sustainability and efficiency goals for privately owned buildings in the heart of the city.
The Seattle 2030 District aims to drive up property values, reduce vacancy rates, lower operating costs and create ongoing employment in retrofitted and newly constructed buildings downtown.
The idea is to rebrand the city as a hub for environmentally conscious businesses and residents and inspire similar urban development efforts across the country.
"Building owners and operators see it as a competitive advantage for the city," Brian Geller, the initiative's executive director, told SolveClimate News.
"Architects and engineers see it as an economic opportunity just to drive initial work. All of the stakeholders are excited about what it can do for the city as a whole," he said. …
Green Diary Rescue appears every Saturday afternoon at Daily Kos. Inclusion of a particular diary does not necessarily indicate my agreement with it.
HoundDog reported on the pitiful state of Congress in "Most Anti-Environment House of Representatives in History Tries to Do More Damage": "Frances Beinecke, President of the Natural Resources Defense Council, NRDC, warns us on their Switchboard that the Most Anti-Environment House In US History Tries To Do More Damage. Tea Party leaders in the House have dramatically stepped up their assault on America’s environmental and public health safeguards. Last week alone they used about 50 floor votes and more than 30 policy riders on spending bills to undermine the protections that keep our air safe, our water clean, and our public lands intact."
boatsie lamented the lethal impact of the drought in Somalia: This is the Children's Famine: "Today, amidst unconfirmed reports that drought has already claimed the lives of over 10,000 Somalis since June, heavy rainfall added to the misery in Mogadishu, where 10,000 families from the famine struck regions already reside in 50 camps. Thousands more from "Bay, Bakool, Lower Shabelle, Lower Juba and Upper Juba ... remain without shelter, food, water, proper sanitation and bathing," according to Speroforum World Africa."
Sofia, six, carries her little sister Suada, 24 months old, to the Save the Children outreach center in Lagbogol, Kenya. Their mother left with their surviving livestock and Sofia is now in charge of looking after her sister. Photo By Save the Children España
The Natural World & The Great Outdoors
Ojibwa gave us a look at Glacier National Park: Spiritual Water: "I recently had the honor of escorting two Kossacks (oke and rfall) a short distance into Glacier National Park, an area which has a spiritual history associated with at least three tribes (Blackfoot, Kootenai, Pend d’Oreille). What follows are simply some photos snapped during this short excursion. Those who follow Native spiritual paths may get a sense of the spirituality of water. Those who follow other paths may simply enjoy the beauty of the park."
ban nock took A hike at Brainard Lake: "Brainard Lake is a recreation area in the Arapahoe National Forest west of the north Denver metro area. Besides Brainard, there are numerous other small high altitude lakes accessed by foot trails. A short distance west is the Indian Peaks Wilderness. […]The snow is deep. Many people were expecting normal mid summer dry trails, conditions were more like spring with lots of snow. I think much of the snow will still be here when we get our first dusting of fresh stuff late in August."
In Grand Canyon Mining Update, passionateprotagonist said we may have prematurely breathed a sigh of relief: "The recently extended moratorium on uranium mining in the Grand Canyon appears to be in question, at least for now. Heralded as a huge victory for environmentalists, the decision by Secretary Salazar and the United States Department of the Interior has been blocked by a recently passed Interior and Environment Bill. The green light for uranium mining in the Grand Canyon joins 25 Republican sponsored anti-environment measures included in the House spending bill."
The Daily Bucket series
enhydra lutris: More Fledges: "Thursday, July 21, there was a great ruckus first at my newly revived fountain and then at my thistle feeder. Many (4 or 5) small goldfinch fledges doing the windglp and all that, who only shut up when a male Lesser Goldfinch arrived. Since I had suspected them as Lessers from what field marks I could see, I decided to call them. They could be a second brood for all I know, but they are the first LEGO (Lesser Goldfinch) fledges I've seen this year, at least in my yard."
bwren: concert season: "This year's pre-dawn concert season began towards the end of April. The concerts commenced every morning about an hour before dawn. The program was similar each morning. One robin would open with a question, Chirup?? . A moment later he would repeat, Chirup?? Chirup?? . Other robins would join in, one at a time, questioning, answering, elaborating their songs. Their combined voices would merge into a pulse, which appeared to be the cue for the house finches. The Chickadees would come in next, "feebeee." from the front yard."
bwren: weekly bird list: "Species counts are way down from early spring. I expect these lower counts to continue through the end of August, at which time some of the early migrants will start passing through. Many of the birds I'm seeing now are the usual suspects, the local year-round residents that I expect to see almost every time I go out. They are starred in the list below. Note that the House Sparrow doesn't have a star. I'm not sure why that is. I make a point of counting all of the birds I see or hear, so it could be that House Sparrows simply prefer backyard feeding stations that are out of hearing range from the count sites."
bwren : pears and apples: "Sitting on the back porch this morning I noticed nicely developing green fruit on both the apple and the pear tree. Usually they trade years - we get loads of pears one year, loads of apples the next. These are old trees, probably planted around 1910."
bwren: Diplolepis galls: "The next afternoon I found some odd spiky structures scattered over the leaves of one of the native Wood Roses (Rosa gymnocarpa) near the forest. There were maybe a half dozen of them."
bwren: 3 minutes in the life of a snail: "The snail's initial response to having a lens stuck in its face was to retract all four tentacles. As the minutes went by it seemed to become comfortable in the camera's presence, unfurled its horns one by one and began to investigate its surroundings. I particularly like the way its mantle ripples as it turns towards something of interest to its right."
bwren: First Hazelnuts: "Western Hazlenuts (Corylus cornuta) dominate the lower canopy in the forest. They throw out male catkins in late December or early January. By late January these have elongated into long dangly earrings. A week or so later the allergy season begins. Their female flowers appear late in the game, tiny bright magenta ribbons very like the flowers of their cousins, the Witch Hazel. By mid-April their leaves have begun to dapple the forest floor. Finding incipient hazlenuts is hard. The ripening nuts are encased in a green husk that matches the green of their leaves and the surrounding canopy."
Air, Water and Soil Pollution
Jan Barry reviewed a film about Uncle Sam’s Dioxin Cover-Up: "A new documentary, Mann v. Ford, that opened on HBO television channels this week highlights the painful reality for a Garden State community that was poisoned despite government assurances that safety measures were in place to protect people’s health from industrial pollution. In a stunningly symbolic scene, two leaders of the contaminated neighborhood walk along a path beside the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington on their way to the Capitol Building, their reflected figures weaving in and out among the long columns of names of soldiers who died in the war."
Agriculture, Gardening & Food
In a new installment of Macca's Meatless Monday, beach babe in fl explored the benefit of the grill: "Dr. James Hansen, Top world climatologist, Director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies and activist for action on climate change, speaks out on Meat Reduction To Curb Climate Change: His message: Be Veg; Go Green; Save the Planet."
She also wrote about legislation in This Will Affect You: "It is a behemoth of a bill currently funded at 283 billion (pdf) and is already in hearings in The Senate Agriculture Committee chaired by Debbie Stabenow, D.Michigan. The lobbyists representing the same interests who have been so successful in influencing for our present system are back at the table lobbying for big agriculture subsidies, fast food, factory farms, deregulation and all the policies that have given us an agriculture system that contributes to a massive health care crisis and is responsible for a chronic disease epidemic. It also contributes to Earth killing policies that make our system a major player in contributing to climate change."
Muskegon Critic reported on a USDA Pilot Program to Serve Up Local Foods at School Lunches: "A local fellow whom I had always wished to know better passed away last month. Chris Bedford. An amazing guy. He started the Sweetwater organic market in Muskegon, Michigan and found outlets for local, organic farmers and ranchers to sell their food. … One of his latest shared legacies came to fruition just recently, when Michigan became one of two states (Michigan and Florida) in a Federal pilot program to allow public schools to use Federal funds to purchase locally grown produce for school lunches. Chris Bedford was active in lobbying Senator Stabenow to approve the program, and push for Michigan to be part of the pilot program."
NourishingthePlanet talked about The Giving Trees: Five Trees You've Never Heard of that Are Helping to End Hunger: Black Plum, Ebony, Marula, Dika, Moringa.
Frankenoid post another Saturday Morning Garden Blog: "The most excitement this week has been parade of guys ringing the doorbell, wanting to inspect the roof for hail damage. After the fifth time, I put up the sign."
Animals
What Happens When The Terrapin Eggs Hatch? was organize's big question: "On June 29th, we all heard how 150 or more diamondback terrapins crawled out of Jamaica Bay, and onto the tarmac of JFK Airport, on their way to their nesting sites. I spoke with Dr. Paul Raiti, my herpetologist veterinarian about this. We were struck by two thoughts: 1. Given that this is a threatened species, it was heartening to know that there were still this many in Jamaica Bay of all places. 2. What will happen around 60 days from June 29th, or the last week of August, when the 150 or so eggs from the 150 mothers hatch? Presumably they would start crawling back across the tarmac. No one wants that."
In the Dawn Chorus, lineatus talked about cute Top-notch birds: "Actually, top-knot birds. That's what that little plume on their head is called, but I often hear people mistakenly refer to it as a top-notch. But that's really not too far off the mark — California Quail are excellent little birds. Though they do stray a bit beyond the state's borders, they are widespread throughout the state. We were smart enough to name them for us before one of those other states could claim them, and made them our state bird to seal the deal."
Michael Brune gave us reason to worry in Open Season on the Endangered Species Act?: "Last week, the bad news came from the state of Wyoming. The state is very close to having an approved plan that would put wolves under state management. Unfortunately, Wyoming's idea of a wolf-management plan may have more in common with the buffalo massacres of the 19th century than with responsible science. If state regulators have their way, most of the wolves outside of Yellowstone National Park would be on 'shoot on sight' predator status. Nearly half of Wyoming's endangered wolves could be killed. Tell the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that Wyoming's wolves should be managed at least as responsibly as in other Rocky Mountain states."
Muskegon Critic discussed Managed Ecosystems up in his neck of the woods: "I've started a bed of native mussels in Black Lake near the dock at my parents' house to peel the zebra mussels off their shells. Invasive zebra mussels attach themselves to the shells of native mussels in such numbers that the native guys die off. Here's a typical native clam:
Every year, every day, people are working to maintain the Great Lakes. Whole agencies are tasked with maintaining them so that the rest of us can imagine it's a beautiful, pristine, natural system. But it's not a self sustaining system."
Climate Change & Weather Anomalies
Magnifico teased us with what he said was coming up on the Countdown in Olbermann/Romm - News Corp hacking scandal meets climategate: "I think there's a good chance that the lede Olbermann is developing for tonight's Countdown is based on the pretty damning post Joe Romm at Climate Progress wrote linking News Corp with the release of the private emails from climate scientists last year—the so called 'climategate'."
Enter Keith Olbermann himself with the whole story: When MurdochGate Met ClimateGate: "The so-called "Climate-Gate" controversy—in which e-mails about Global Warming were stolen from researchers at Britain's University of East Anglia in November, 2009—now turns out to bear the stamp of Neil Wallis, one of the key figures in Murdoch's hacking of the phones, voicemails, and other electronic communications of thousands of people. Wallis is unique in this scandal. He had been the Executive Editor of Murdoch's "News Of The World" when hacking was at its peak. Yet in 2009 he wound up being hired by the police as a public relations consultant, while the police investigated the hacking scandal—and he wound up spying for Murdoch's people on what Scotland Yard was investigating."
Media Matters Studios did an analysis of our favorite Murdoch-owned media in A Climate of Deception: How Fox News Distorts the Climate Debate: "It's Hot! But Fox Only Talks About Global Warming When It's Snowing. Here's a mini-documentary exploring how Fox combines ignorance, distraction and deliberate disinformation to lie to its audience about climate change."
Ellinorianne was happy that deception is being squashed by another media outlet in BBC Makes Rational Decision Regarding Climate Change Coverage: "Although from the headline I read, you'd think it was the opposite, UPROAR AS BBC MUZZLES CLIMATE CHANGE SCEPTICS. Of course, no one is attempting to "muzzle" skeptics, what the BBC is going to do is actually what news organizations should be doing, putting the skepticism in its proper places, as it is a minority opinion and not the exact equivalent of mainstream science. We see this all the time in much of American Corporate Media, the false equivalency of two different issues, or opposing views which do not have the same weight."
Weather was much on Steven D's mind this week, and he wrote three diaries on the subject:
Heat Wave "is unusual" Says National Weather Service: "What I want to know is when are the meteorologists going to stop calling all the extreme weather we've experienced over the past decade 'unusual?' To me, this is starting to look like the new normal. Droughts, heat waves, wildfires, 500 year floods every five years or so -- what we used to call unusual is what I now expect. But then I'm one of those heretical, devil worshiping believers in climate change."
And AZ: Multiple Dust Storms; Aus: Winter Gale Force Storms; Mongol herders: Climate Change Real: "Since July 5th Arizona has experienced three massive dust storms that have reached heights between 3000 to a mile high. The storms have coated the area with dust and winds associated with them have downed power lines and led to traffic accidents. Here's a video of the one from July Fifth:
Plus
Rush: "Worst Heat Wave in Over a Decade" Is A Government Conspiracy!: "Maybe this is why less people are listening to Rush Limbaugh than they used to: on his radio program yesterday Rush Limbaugh stated that the Federal Government is "manufacturing" (his word) the heat index data to make it appear that a heat wave exists when in his words everything is just fine. It's just like it always is."
deepsouthdoug offered us some Live Blogging the Great Midwest Heatwave, Heat Index Now 113: " Anyhow, are these kinds of scorching heatwaves going to produce any results on enacting policies that will begin to mitigate climate change? Certainly not with so many of the morons we've got in Congress right now, but climate deniers are going to have a hard time denying this extreme weather."
RandW was also on that beat with the scary Heat Wave: Welcome to the First Degree of Global Warming: "Sunday’s Heat Index for Newton, Iowa: Guess? Try 126. Madison, MN: 119.
Unusual, yes (but don't forget Europe's 2003 heatwave that killed tens of thousands). High temperatures will shift east."
weatherdude presented his own discussion on the topic with Killer Heatwave Extends To Megalopolis -- Temp. Forecasts & Safety Tips: "The massive heatwave crushing the middle part of the country is moving east, after claiming 22 lives over the last week. The National Weather Service has issued an Excessive Heat Warning for parts of 22 states for the next few days, with heat advisories extending to almost 30 states."
What we're seeing now i nothing, wrote xaxnar in You Think It's Hot Now? Wait for Thermogeddon: "Odds are, if you're in the U.S. right now, you're trying to cope with the record heat wave cooking most of the country. You're probably sick of cliches like 'Hot enough for you?' or 'It's not the heat, it's the humidity.' Well, if some informed speculation reported in New Scientist bears up, you ain't seem nothin' yet. In a century, parts of the earth may become too hot for humans to survive without air conditioning. Titled Thermogeddon: When the Earth gets too hot for humans, the article follows up on a study by Steven Sherwood, an atmospheric scientist at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia and co-author Matthew Huber of Purdue University in Indiana."
jamess explained Yet another unexpected, hidden cost, of a warming planet: "I suspect the wheat farmers in Texas, might care to differ with that assessment of the 'helpful benefits' of all that Heat for their crops ..."
The Global Press Institute informed us that Experts Are Linking Climate Change to Rising Health Threats in Botswana: "As Botswana studies its growing vulnerability to climate change, health risks associated with a changing climate have come to the forefront. Higher temperatures and less frequent and predictable rain have hurt crops and nutrition, which is essential for strengthening the immune system against HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis. Meanwhile, higher carbon dioxide levels are enabling the rapid spread of malaria to mostly women and girls."
Following up on her earlier report, boatsie wrote Famine in East Africa: "For the first time in my career .... I cried": "So far, there has been no loosening of restrictions by al-Shabab regarding allowing access from international agencies banned since 2009, a position condemned by the Somali government. Aid activists are calling for the U.N. Security Council to address the issue. U.S.-based Horn of Africa expert J. Peter Pham told Voice of America reporter Nico Colombant that loosening the rules which dictate US involvement with less radical militias in Somalia could enable more access to the region, where famine has currently been identified in two districts."
In what has now become an increasingly frequent story these days, FishOutofWater pointed out that climate change seems to be moving faster than even the pessimists predicted in Cryocide: "Cryocide. Like bycatch. Like civilians killed in a drone raid. It's happening now, unintentionally, because no one important cares enough to do something. We have been warned repeatedly by polar scientists of catastrophic Arctic warming. In 2007 when Arctic sea ice levels collapsed, when polar bears neared starvation after long swims, a global alarm of was raised by scientists and environmentalists that all the models had woefully underestimated the rate of collapse of polar ice and the Arctic ecosystem."
teacherken commented on Five myths about extreme weather: "A Post op ed from Manish Bapna, interim president of the World Resources Institute, and Jennifer Morgan,director of the institute’s climate and energy program, is particularly relevant. It is titled Five myths about extreme weather and provides some important information relevant to any discussion of what so many are experiencing across the country."
Energy
PaulLoeb reviewed film in Making Mountaintop Removal Real: The Last Mountain: "It's easy for mountaintop removal to seem abstract to those who don't live in coal country. I just saw the powerful documentary The Last Mountain, about mountaintop removal, and it brings the issue home like no other portrayal that I've seen. I've followed the issue through friends active in the fight to stop this greed-driven assault on the earth, but I'd only seen the pictures on my computer, not on the large screen. The film makes it real. The landscapes of mountains blasted away for the coal seams beneath look like the moon."
LieparDestin reported on a BP Pipeline Leaking on Alaskan Tundra: "BP reported yet another pipeline leak at its Alaskan oilfields, frustrating the oil giant's attempts to rebuild its reputation after the Gulf of Mexico oil spill." br/>
The Anomaly explained how oil companies are putting speculative bets on oil prices in Crude Oil Casino: Chevron Made $360M Betting on Futures: "Chevron (like BP, Total, and Shell) is colluding with financial terrorists to drive up the price of oil. The Wall Street 'Crude Oil Casino' is costing consumers and retailers hundreds of billions per year."
Muskegon Critic bemoaned More Anti Wind Power Garbage from Russ Harding of the Mackinac Center: "Just imagine all the talking points a Koch, oil baron, Industries funded institution would use against renewable energy and you have a fairly good idea. Then throw in the same ONE debunked study by ONE quack scientist that Harding references almost singularly. As the years and decades roll on and wind power continues to provide consistent, safe renewable electricity for nations around the world and in the US, as it has been for nearly 30 years, it becomes increasingly clear that this technology just works. It just does. The dire predictions don't pan out, individuals feed their families with their jobs manufacturing wind turbine parts and solar panels, and life moves on."
HoundDog was delighted that North America's Largest Rooftop Solar Array, 25 Acres, Will Be Completed By Fall: "Isn't amazing when you read a story like this about an announcement of plans to build a 9-megawatt generating plant, on top of an existing 1.1 million square-foot roof top, and in the next paragraph, we read it is expected to be completed by this fall?"
fjgallagherThis Week in Natural Gas Leaks and Explosions - July 18, 2011: "Natural gas leaks and explosions occur with astonishing regularity all over the United States, often with tragic consequences. The environmental consequences of hydraulic fracturing aside, there are very real questions about the integrity of our country's natural gas infrastructure and its ability to handle the current load, let alone the extra burden presented by shale gas. Here’s a round-up of the events that drew media coverage over the last week or so."
Rod Adams via davidwalters wrote Gazprom profiting mightily from German nuclear exit: "The European Energy Review (available with a free registration) has published a detailed article titled Gazprom: back in the game – and ready to take on Brussels that paints a picture of Gazprom’s continued pattern of aggressive market actions aimed at locking European customers into long term contracts at prices that must make many US natural gas suppliers jealous."
gmoke gave us a list of how old nuclear plants were when they shut down in Aging Nuclear Power: USA and Around the World.
Several diarists pointed out New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's coal initiative:
Michael Brune did in The Coal Stops Here: "I'm usually skeptical of absolutes. But not when it comes to coal. Remember that Edwin Starr classic that Springsteen revived in the '80s? 'War, huh, yeah. What is it good for? Absolutely nothing!' In just about every way, that's how I feel about coal, which is why I was so excited when Bloomberg Philanthropies donated $50 million to the Sierra Club this summer to help us move America beyond coal."
So did kindler in A Rare Act of Political Courage: "We and the media especially tend to focus on the bad news, but there’s always progress being made too. Like, amidst the vast flock of politicians abandoning all principle and reason to kiss up to Big Oil and Big Coal and Big Kochs, there was one the other day who said 'Enough!' That would be New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who pledged $50 million of his own smackers to the Sierra Club campaign to stop coal-fired power plants. We’re talking real money here—as he put it in a tweet, 'Bloomberg is all in.'"
Willinois did in Sierra Club and Bloomberg show us the future of the climate change movement: "The coal industry may soon wish it had supported the failed cap-and-trade bill which was loaded with coal subsidies. The alternative will be something they like even less."
And Mary Anne Hitt did in Sierra Club Receives Major Donation to Fight Coal: "Today is a remarkable day. In the shadow of one of the nation's most notorious polluting coal plants, New York mayor and philanthropist Michael Bloomberg announced a game-changing gift to the Sierra Club—a $50 million commitment over four years to the Beyond Coal Campaign that will fuel the Sierra Club's effort to clean the air, move beyond coal, and accelerate the transition to cleaner, cost-effective energy sources."
She also introduced us to a Quiz: How Much Coal Is In Your Life?: "Well the Sierra Club has done just that with our new Coal In Your Life quiz. Simply go to CoalInYourLife.org, enter your zip code and answer the three questions regarding where you live, what you eat, and how you live, and you will learn how you and your family are being affected by coal pollution. Your answers will come in the form of a number from 1 to 10. The higher your score out of 10, the more your health is threatened by coal pollution. Your score could be even higher if you live near one of the 431 coal ash storage sites, 2,000 coal mines, or other toxic sites in the U.S. (information we were not able to incorporate into the quiz)."
Media Matters Studios took another hit at Foxaganda in the continuing saga of "Dim Bulbs": "Not only have conservative media falsely asserted that light bulb efficiency standards will require consumers to use compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs), but they have also spread false and misleading information about CFLs."
Cenobyte posted som Republican Light Bulb Jokes (please add your own!).
Jen Sorensen had a cartoon take on Bulb Wars
Click for larger version.
senilebiker offered a suggestion for how to achieve a25% reduction in US oil imports with no new technology: " In order to reduce the US consumption of oil, it is neccessary to do two things: 1) Improve the efficency of the use of petroleum products for transport; 2) Reduce the number of miles travelled. The way to achieve this most easily is through an increase in gas taxes"
Stuart H Smith itemized the The Top-10 Reasons to Never Allow Fracking in Your Backyard: "In a showdown that's playing out like an industrial take on Moses threatening the Egyptians with the 10 plagues, five of the most prominent environmental groups in the nation are warning of an impending catastrophic occurrence of, some would say, biblical proportions. It will contaminate your drinking water with carcinogenic chemicals. It will drain radioactive material, like radium, into your rivers and streams. It will, in fact, spread toxicity upon the land. No joke (biblical references aside). The pestilence is fracking, the ultra-aggressive natural gas extraction process that has been tied to everything from flammable tap water to exploding wells to dead cattle (see links to articles below"
ThirdandState Summed Up the News Coverage on the Marcellus Shale Industry Study: "This week, we blogged about new reports on the Marcellus Shale, the economic impact of state budget cuts, the latest Pennsylvania jobs report and a groundbreaking new study on the health and financial impacts of Medicaid."
Green Communities & Sustainability
DawnG introduced the Urban Homesteading group.: " Hi. My name is Dawn. I am NOT an urban homesteader. I am at best, a wannabe Urban Homesteader. If it were not for my husband, whom I love more than anything, I'd be up to my eyeballs in chickens and squash. I'd be walking harness trained dwarf goats through my neighborhood instead of a dog. I'd turn my front yard into an herb garden."
In the latest edition of Living Simply, cordgrass discussed Zero Waste and reality: "My standard disclaimer: Zero waste is not the most important thing a person can do to reduce their carbon footprint. Taking public transportation over driving, particularly for a daily commute, weatherproofing one's home and turning down the thermostat, cutting down on air travel, switching to renewable energy sources, avoiding factory-farmed meat and most importantly political action to get the Republican climate deniers out of Congress are all bigger priorities in fighting climate change. Don't use zero waste as an excuse to rest on your green laurels."
Green Essays, Green Philosophy, Green Humor & Green Poetry
In words and photos, Muskegon Critic brought to life the Squeaking Sands of Lake Michigan: " The Great Lakes ecosystem isn't confined to the water itself. The Lakes have shaped the land and the weather around them, and have created unique ecosystems. The sandy dune habitats are one such system, formed over ten thousand years as the lakes push more and more sand up. The dunes form a series of dune ridges all along the 300+ miles of West Michigan coast, usually between one and four successive ridges extending from the beach itself. The dunes move and shift and grow week to week, year to year. Today we climbed a dune and could see where it has moved eastward."
BobboSphere explained what's being fought and who is losing in The Woman Scientist, The Union Man and The War Against Nature: "It’s humanity’s longest war. It’s the War Against Nature. Some say it began when the first plow broke the soil on humanity’s first farm. But however you reckon its beginnings, here in the 21st century, that war is reaching a critical stage. You see, humanity is an integral part of nature and when we make war on nature we make war on ourselves. Our weapons of mass destruction come from the very industrialization of death itself. When we level the forests, poison the air and water, exterminate whole species and change the very climate of the planet, we become the collateral damage."
Chaoslillith explored The power of two letters: No: "Reading about the weather really makes me nostalgic, I remember over and over when I grew up watching Nova, National Geographic and Discovery Channels how every single nature show ended with 'Man's continuing habitat destruction and fossil fuel burning will cause these creatures to go extinct.' I was too young to remember Carter but I have heard how he was telling people back then, 'We need to get off oil. We need to say NO to cheap oil.' He put solar panels on the White House. He lost his election and we forgot or never listened to his message."
Green Policy, Green Activism & Politicians
Christian Dem in NC gave us a window on the Religious right's new anti-environmental movement video: "A group of fundie leaders have put together a new 12-part video series attacking the environmental movement, called 'Resisting the Green Dragon.' […] It's produced by the Cornwall Alliance, a climate-change denial outfit. People For the American Way has put together a shorter version of the three-minute preview."
Lefty Coaster explained the flip-floppery of
Climate Coward Romney pandering to Climate Deniers: "I don't think carbon is a pollutant": "Mitt Romney says he accepts that humans are a cause of climate change, but he's not willing to take any government actions to curb emissions of greenhouse gases. Now he has walked that back claiming that CO2 isn't a pollutant that harms the environment."
So did I in Does Romney really think his retreats on carbon control will buy him climate-change denier votes?: "Every serious candidate for public office who has already held public office has something in her or his record to keep out of the public eye. That is usually some big screw-up, an on-the-record flame-out or a policy that had an unfortunate outcome. In Mitt Romney's case, however, what he'd like everyone to forget is something he did right."
Troubadour gave us the rundown on Elon Musk: A One-Man Industrial Revolution: "At the forefront of radical spaceflight development is one explosively-growing company, SpaceX, soaring head and shoulders above all competitors in price-to-orbit, that explicitly states as its ultimate corporate goal the human settlement of Mars. At the forefront of electric vehicle (EV) development is one company, Tesla Motors, that has already shattered prior myths about the inherent limitations of EVs, continues to pioneer battery technology, and is gearing up to surpass all prior EV production combined. At the forefront of decentralized solar energy design, installation, and financing is one company, SolarCity, that has expanded from a small startup five years ago to a full-system service with operations in twelve states and continues to grow. What do these amazing, inspiring companies have in common? They're all more or less simultaneously owned and operated (to varying degrees) by one man, Elon Musk."
Oceans, Wetland & Water
Noddy went Searching for Water: " We have zero chance of rain for the next 10 days, and an ongoing streak of triple digit heat. Our city has instituted water rationing in anticipation of possible water shortages - this is fine by me because I always felt it was wrong to water the streets. All those people with maladjusted water sprinklers just made my frugal soul cringe as they splashed over pavement."
Round-ups, Wrap-ups, Live Blogs & Summaries
Gulf Watchers #538 by Yasuragi: Judge Rejects RICO Charges Against BP - BP Catastrophe.
Gulf Watchers #539 by peraspera: Gulf Coasters beg Colbert for coverage - BP Catastrophe.
Transportation
rhyfx explained how a proposed efficiency metric has already been met in 56 mpg been there done that!: "In 1995 Honda sold the Civic VX. The vtec e engine used variable cam timing and a hydraulically actuated secondary intake valve. Coupled with a 5-speed manual transmission and a nifty shift light it got 56 mpg or better."
The idea of a mandated improvement in engine efficiency got the thumbs down from RuralRoute in 56 MPG CAFE Standards: Be Careful What You Wish For...: "So what will be the consequences of the proposed 56 MPG 2025 CAFE standard? A devastated auto industry for a start, as most all consumers won't be able to afford $50,000 new cars no matter how fantastically efficient they are. Then there's the high maintainence costs of the technologies required to get to 56 MPG—the cost of replacing hybrid batteries, turbos, and diesel emmisions systems will insure that the 56 MPG cars have an early date with the scrapyard. Given that it frequently takes tens of thousands of miles for the latest high MPG car to make up for the energy used in it's manufacture, 56 MPG cars that end up in the scrapyard before their odometers turn 100,000 miles aren't going to save much energy. […]So while a 56 MPG CAFE standard sounds neat and progressive, in reality it would be a disaster."
Frank Palmer had a take on efficiency comparisons in The Passenger Miles per Gallon Fallacy: "So miles is a ridiculous measure of travel efficiency between cars and busses. People might be a more reasonable measure. How many people can you reach on a gallon of gas per passenger?"
WestTexasLiberal told us how he had gone VERY efficient with anElectric scooter: "Over three years ago, George Bush gave us all a check to make us forget about how bad things were getting and how much gas prices were rising. Remember? I used mine to buy an electric scooter. I'm not going to mention the brand, for reasons that will become clear. It was VERY hard to find anything at all that was actually legal to ride on the streets; it still is. Riding an electric scooter is still VERY much an early-adopter thing. Why is that? That's a shame. This solution is probably good for very few people, but for me, it's worked out great."
devtob reported on how Radical Republicans vote against rail projects in their own states: "The radical Republicans in the House voted Friday to redirect more than $1 billion in stimulus funding for 'high-speed' rail projects to flood relief in the Midwest. The scare quotes are around 'high-speed' because most of these projects are sorely needed infrastructure repairs and upgrades to tracks that will never see the kind of 150-mph-plus trains that have been running in France and Japan for years. Evidently, the richest country in the world just cannot do that."
That prolific fellow up Michigan way, Muskegon Critic, was glad to learn about The Quiet Ascent of a US Biking Interstate System: "While trains, electric cars, and other non-internal-combustion-engine of transportation cause partisan fights and get high news coverage, there's a quiet revolution happening right under our noses. Bike paths and trails are starting to link cities and regions together. Recently the American Association of State Highway Transportation approved the first United States Bike Routes in 30 years ."
Fukushima Nukes
HoundDog: 84 More Fukushima Cows Shipped To Consumers: " It is difficult to imagine how stressful and confusing this is for Japanese customers and farmers. It does not seem sufficient just to tell farmers they shouldn't feed cows food produced outdoors. Where else are they going to get hay from?"
HoundDog: Japan Plans to Ban All Fukushima Beef, Maybe More, Says BBC: "Radiation in food will be a problem for a long time. Cesium 137 has a half life of 30 years. And, a fairly wide region in northern Japan shows some evidence of contamination."
HoundDog: Where's The Radioactive Beef? 505 More Cows Fed Tainted Straw Shipped To Market in Japan: " Mainichi reports, 505 more cows found shipped after being fed tainted straw The case of rice straw contaminated with Cesium 137 has escalated everyday for a week. Now, an additional 505 cows fed contaminated rice straw in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, have been found shipped to market, despite the Japanese government's bans on feeding contaminated straw to cows, and sending contaminated cows to market. According to Kyoto News, this brings the total number cows suspected of contamination to 648."
HoundDog: Japan Halts Sell Of All Fukushima Beef, Culminating Week of Escalating Crises, Says WSJ: " While I'd like to be more positive about this announcement, it may more appropriately be relegated to the "too little, too late" category?" Is this not the third time the Japanese has announced this 30 year lar-scale radiation monitoring program, in the last month? Are they only going to measure the radiation once it is in people? Or, will the government make the easy and straightforward efforts required to prevent unnecessary radiation from getting into Japanese people?"
