This is the 509th edition of the Spotlight on Green News & Views (previously known as the Green Diary Rescue) usually appears twice a week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Here is the July 1 Green Spotlight. More than 27,325 environmentally oriented stories have been rescued to appear in this series since 2006. Inclusion of a story in the Spotlight does not necessarily indicate my agreement with or endorsement of it.
OUTSTANDING GREEN STORIES
Pakalolo writes—Two gaping holes recently emerged in Siberia accompanied by explosions with billowing smoke and fire: “The indigenous reindeer herding Nenets people, who reside in the Yamal region of Siberia, alerted local media of two recent explosions in their remote and empty permafrost landscape. The Nenets reported what is believed to be methane explosions where they saw ‘fire in winter 2017, but it might mean January to March or April. In other words, it exploded when snow was still lying.’ The second explosion was documented on June 28, 2017. ‘The second bang was so loud it was picked up by seismic stations located in neighboring settlements and near a local gas field. The new hole is approximately eight meters (26 feet) in diameter and at least 20 meters (65 feet) deep.’ reports IFL Science.”
A Siegel writes—Trump Gaslights America about Gas prices to celebrate 4th of July: “Amid the mania of Trump tweeting, this one passed millions of computer screens on the 4th of July:
Gas prices [have been] lower than today’s prices several times in the past decade. Oh, the pain … There is an old adage: a lie goes halfway around the world before the truth gets out of bed. It is painful trying to chase down and refute deceit — far more hear and absorb the deceit than ever hear the truthful refutation. And, when the deceiver occupies the Oval Office and has the megaphone of a (bot-heavy) massive Twitter account … ”
CRITTERS AND THE GREAT OUTDOORS
Dan Bacher writes—California advertises Free Fishing Day... with a photo of a northern pike? “The Boat California Facebook page yesterday featured an uplighting message to promote the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Free Fishing Day: ‘It’s time to get your fish on! It’s #CAFreeFishingDay today. Find a hot spot and bring home a winner? www.wildlife.ca.gov/…’The only problem is that photo displayed on the Facebook post is of a woman happily holding a fish that appears to be a northern pike, a species native to the Midwest and Great Lakes region that is not found in California! To make things worse, the CDFW spent many years over the past three decades in two attempts, the second one successful, to exterminate the northern pike from Lake Davis near Portola by use of rotenone and electroshocking. After the population of toothy predators was finally eliminated, the Department restocked Davis in the spring of 2008. I was there for the restocking celebration.”
enhydra lutris writes—The Daily Bucket - The Habitat Network (More Citizen Science): “Habitat Network is a citizen science project designed to cultivate a richer understanding of wildlife habitat, for both professional scientists and people concerned with their local environments. We collect data by asking individuals across the country to literally draw maps of their backyards, parks, farms, favorite birding locations, schools, and gardens. We connect you with your landscape details and provide tools for you to make better decisions about how to manage landscapes sustainably. [...] So, your job is to map your habitat, to possibly improve it, and, if so, update your map. It is made quite easy because of the tool(s) provided. First, you download an app. I run it under both Chromium and Firefox running on an Ubuntu desktop. I'm pretty sure that it can handle almost anything mainstream.”
Kestrel writes—Dawn Chorus: Hummer Beats the Heat and Open Thread: “Happy 4th of July weekend, Dawn Choristers! I hope everyone is celebrating, especially those of you who are lucky enough to turn it into a four-day celebration. Since it’s a holiday weekend, I expect fairly light traffic here at Dawn Chorus which makes it a good time to offer up an open thread. But before turning things over to all of you, I want to take a moment to share with you some photos I took of an Anna’s Hummingbird cooling off in a bubbler fountain on my patio. I’m sorry the images are a little dark and not very sharp, but I took these through a window while sitting on the couch in my living room. That they turned out at all is a wonder given the conditions. I got this bubbling fountain specifically for this purpose — hummingbirds. A friend of mine has one and said that once the hummers find it, they’ll become regulars. Now that summer is here, so are the hummers and they now enjoy this fountain often. Given the heat we’ve had recently (we had a week of 105 -110 temps here in Sacramento) this bubbling fountain was a popular attraction.”
Angmar writes—The Daily Bucket: Summer [For B]: Photo diary.
owktree writes—Daily Bucket: Mirror Alphabet - "X": Photo diary.
swizzle writes—Comment deadline 7/6 to save ocean critters and seafood: “As part of the Trump administration’s new push to drill everywhere including offshore, in areas currently immune from those horrors, they still have to go through the motions of soliciting public comment. Tossing out the current lease plan, which runs through 2022, and starting over to open up more areas (including much of the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, more Gulf, more Alaskan waters etc.) is a second current step, with the comment period just starting — I’m hoping to do a second diary about that if someone doesn’t beat me to it.) However, getting ready to close is the window to comment on permits for proposed seismic (very loud airgun) surveys in the Atlantic, which were requested before, in 2015, and resulted in the permits not being approved since these areas were not being opened for drilling leases. (However, it may have led to this new one being refined regarding proposed protections for whales etc.) Trump issued an executive order in April to expedite these airgun survey permits,)”
OceanDiver writes—The Daily Bucket - citizen science: Field Photo Weekends: “Many folks will be outside today; if you find yourself in the vicinity of some nature somewhere — like the beach, a field, a lake, the woods, a park, even your own backyard — consider snapping a photo of your natural surroundings to contribute to the national citizen science project Field Photo Weekends. Holiday weekends are good times to do this since folks are more likely to be out and about. This 4th of July weekend is an especially long one this year! This project was started five years ago by CoCoRaHS (Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network www.cocorahs.org), the largest collection of daily precipitation data in North America, generated by thousands of citizens using a standard protocol. The idea was to amass a larger number of data points than is possible by professional organizations. which can then be used by any entity interested in weather, climate or geography. I’ve seen the National Weather Service refer to CoCoRaHS data in their weather analysis. As local climates change with Anthropogenic Global Warming, it is valuable to see the effects unfold on the ground in a granular way.”
CLIMATE CHAOS
Agelbert writes—Climate Change, Blue Water Cargo Shipping and Predicted Ocean Wave Activity: Part 3 of 3 parts: “Climate Change, Blue Water Cargo Shipping and Predicted Ocean Wave Activity. Whatever is finally determined by scientists as the exact combination of factors that forms these monster waves, it is well known that wave height and ferocity is a function of the ferocity and duration of the winds. ΔT = plus 2C or greater guarantees ferocious winds of long during over wide areas in a consistent direction. We are already experiencing the beginning of the abrupt climate change that is bringing these destructive winds due to the increase in frequency and severity of cyclonic movements over the oceans. Hurricanes and typhoons are the DIRECT result of overheated ocean surface water. As heat increases, so will they continue to increase in frequency and severity, setting new records. As soon as the surface temperature of the ocean is at or above 27.8C (82F), they can form. And the sea surface temperature (SST) continues to steadily rise.”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—I Scream You Scream We All Scream About an Idiotic Red Team: “Well, don’t say we didn’t warn you. Emily Holden of E&E News confirmed on Friday that Scott Pruitt has started the process to create a ‘red team’ on climate science. According to a ‘senior administration official,’ Pruitt has begun the process ‘to recruit the best in the field’ for a back-and-forth process to evaluate climate science. Did he announce this openly to the public and scientific community? Of course not. He told 30-some board members of the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity. (We’re wondering how those folks must be holding up this week, since the announcement that the much-touted Kemper clean coal plant failed and is now a monumentally expensive natural gas power plant) This disclosure to coal executives and not the American people or scientific community is a clear indication as to where Pruitt’s loyalties lie.”
Shockwave writes—5 miles per year climate change: “Relentlessly and for the foreseeable future until anthropocentric global warming stops, the impact of climate change will move north 5 miles per year. 3 years ago I posted this diary: A bug ON my computer. I did a bit of research for it and I came across this scientific study: Crop pests advancing with global warming: ‘Many studies have shown that climate change is affecting the distribution of wild species populations. This is the first one to show that a similar process is happening in pest species,’ says Gurr. She highlights the worrying finding that fungi and oomycetes are moving particularly quickly, at 7 and 6 km per year respectively. Her team's study is published today in Nature Climate Change6. So fungi and oomycetes are doing it.”
OCEANS, WATER, DROUGHT
Dan Bacher writes—LA ratepayers protest water shutoffs; more rate hikes expected with Delta Tunnels: “The groups said these water agencies could soon subject their customers to additional rate hikes to pay for Governor Brown’s Delta Tunnels, a multi-billion dollar project that would force higher water rates throughout Southern California. Research by EcoNorthwest reveals that the average LADWP customer would see their water bills rise up to $393 annually. San Joaquin Valley Central Valley agribusiness interests, including The Wonderful Company owned by Beverly Hills billionaires Stewart and Lynda Resnick, would primarily benefit, while Southern Californians would get no additional water. ‘Low income families are struggling to survive in Los Angeles and cannot afford to be subjected to additional rate increases to subsidize billionaire corporate farmers,’ said Leo Vilchis of Union de Vecinos. Water advocates say that instead of investing in the tunnels—the most expensive and environmentally destructive water project in the state’s history— the City and County of Los Angeles ‘should shore up aging infrastructure.’”
ENERGY
MIchael Brune writes—The Real “Energy Week” News: “In May, the Trump administration began staging weekly policy themes like ‘jobs,’ ‘technology,’ and ‘infrastructure.’ Not a bad idea, but inevitably each topic has been eclipsed by the self-generated cloud of chaos that is the hallmark of this presidency. Last week, while the president occupied himself with insulting the appearance and intelligence of a television news host, the administration’s official theme was ‘Energy Week.’ Of course, it would have been more accurate to call it ‘Dirty Fuels Week,’ since that’s the only energy source this administration actually cares about (President Trump’s plagiarized solar wall idea notwithstanding). Fortunately, real-world energy news has little to do with the dirty-fuels-first boosterism coming from the White House. On Monday of ‘Energy Week,’ for instance, President Trump met with India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi. Although Trump is keen to export more dirty fuels to India, that nation has announced that it plans to get nearly 60 percent of its energy from non–fossil fuel sources by 2027. In fact, India is not only on track to meet its commitments under the Paris Climate Agreement, it will probably exceed them. That’s because India — like China — is aggressively moving away from burning coal for electricity.”
Fossil Fuels
JohnRay writes—Saudi Arabia takes full control of the largest oil refinery in North America: “With the sale of its interests this May, Royal Dutch Shell made Saudi Arabia the sole owner of the largest refinery of gasoline in North America. Saudi Arabia now controls the massive Port Arthur Texas refinery and all of its assets. Saudi Arabia now has the ability to shut down the largest source of gasoline in the US overnight if so commanded by the Royal Family. The Saudi oil giant ARAMCO now also controls the huge network of Shell gas stations and presumably the prices set at those stations. [...] Saudi Arabia now controls the entire supply chain from the ground to the pump and can use this to economic and political advantage as they wish. We won’t know if this power will be abused for generations but we can be sure they will never sell the Port Arthur refinery back to the Americans.”
Emissions Controls & Carbon Taxes
Meteor Blades writes—D.C. court hands EPA's Pruitt a defeat for delaying enforcement of Obama-initiated methane rule: “In case you missed it, a divided three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Monday that Scott Pruitt, the Environmental Protection Agency-hating EPA administrator, overstepped his authority by delaying enforcement of the standards in a rule designed by the Obama administration to reduce methane emissions from new equipment at oil and gas operations. The court ordered Pruitt to begin immediate enforcement. [...] The court’s ruling definitely marks a defeat for the Trump regime's vow to aggressively roll back the EPA’s and other agencies’ regulations. And it’s a poke in the eye specifically to Pruitt, who, as attorney general for Oklahoma had joined a multi-state lawsuit against the methane rule. It was one of the 14 lawsuits against EPA regulations that Pruitt had initiated or joined in as attorney general.”
Renewables & Conservation
Mortifyd writes—A View From the Shore - Wind And Solar: “We already own the solar panels and the wind generator for the boat — they’re in storage, ready to be mounted as soon as we have a framework built. I worked with a friend to design a framework to hold them all — 3 solar panels and a wind generator, with a radar dome as well. The problem is we aren’t getting ahead enough to get the framework parts. They need to be 1in stainless steel tubing — which we can get locally — but we have been unable to come up with the funds ourselves, even saving up, we’re just not there yet. We spend about $300 a quarter on electricity which we pay to the port, along with a $40 metering fee — but for $900 we could mount the solar and wind generator and be shore power free. It would pay for itself in 9 months, giving us the freedom to cut the bills drastically to the port for the year.”
TRANSPORTION & INFRASTRUCTURE
Lib Dem FoP writes—Volvo: Only New Electric and Hybrid Models From 2019: “The Chinese owned car company Volvo has announced that it will introduce no new fossil fuel only cars after 2019 although existing lines of gasoline and diesel powered vehicles will continue. From 2019, only pure electric or hybid cars will be added to their range. To a large extent, this is a bit of publicity seeking on Geely, Volvo’s owner’s behalf. All the major manufacturers are developing electric and hybrid cars in response to legislative changes in the EU. As the BBC's Business correspondent explains: The problem is that emissions regulations are getting much tighter. From 2021, for example, carmakers in the EU will have to ensure that across their fleets, average CO2 output is no higher than 95g of CO2 per kilometre. That's a lot lower than current levels. Carmakers are reacting by developing fully-electric models. Some are already pretty impressive. But developing mass market cars that are affordable and have the right levels of performance is a research-intensive and expensive process, while persuading consumers to buy them in large numbers may also be time consuming.”