This is the 571st edition of the Spotlight on Green News & Views (previously known as the Green Diary Rescue). Here is the August 25 edition. Inclusion of a story in the Spotlight does not necessarily indicate my agreement with or endorsement of it.
OUTSTANDING GREEN STORIES
Pakalolo writes—Third species of algae, fueled by decomposing fish, is found blooming in Southwest Florida waters: “Red tide Rick has a lot to answer for as an even more worrying threat from the deadly algae blooms has emerged that may devastate Florida’s marine environments even more than the red tide and cyanobacteria have been able to do these past couple of months. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWS) reported an outbreak of Trichodesmium, sometimes called brown tide, in the seawater off the coast of Manatee County one of the hard-hit counties on Florida west coast. Scientists believe that these particular algae are not by themselves toxic to humans and marine life. But the FWS notes that the way the brown tide ‘grows and feeds could also feed the red tide organism Karenia brevis.’ When the brown tide collides with the deadly red tide, it could cause a ‘super bloom’ scientists fear. Brown tide algae form when iron-rich African dust blows across the Atlantic ocean and settles on water, making the algae unique in that it gets most of its nitrogen from the atmosphere. But in this case, the brown tide feeds off the decomposing bodies of fish. ‘This process is called nitrogen fixation. Because nitrogen fixation is limited by iron availability, new iron introduced into the water will stimulate Trichodesmium blooms,’ says an FWC statement on Trichodesmium.”
Dan Bacher writes—California Senate defeats bill that would hand over electric grid to Trump administration: “On Friday night, the California Senate defeated a regional grid proposal, AB 813 (Holden), that would have ceded California’s control over its electric grid to a regional agency controlled by federal regulators under the Trump administration. Food & Water Watch, Consumer Watchdog and over 100 environmental, consumer, community, and labor organizations waged the successful campaign in opposition to AB 813. ‘We commend the California Senate and President Pro Tem Atkins for protecting California's taxpayers and clean energy future by defeating AB 813,’ said Adam Scow, California director, Food & Water Watch, in a statement. ‘Californians suffered greatly from the electricity deregulation of the 1990s and are still paying the costs of excessive power plants and energy speculation today.’ ‘The Senate leadership was wise to not subject California to another deregulation scheme that would have empowered the Trump administration to stick California with more coal and fracked gas. California remains in control of its energy destiny and may now proceed with getting to 100% renewable energy without outside interference,’ Scow stated. The text and history of the bill is available here: leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/...”
CRITTERS AND THE GREAT OUTDOORS
Besame writes—Daily Bucket: Monarchs on the move: “Monarch butterflies are moving south, beginning their migration to Mexico overwintering colonies. Early reports indicate a large number of butterflies on the wing and gathered in tree roosts overnight. You can track their migration on the map at Journey North and report your own sightings. [...] Monarch Watch Director Chip Taylor sees 2018 conditions as similar to those of 2001, when spring migration and summer conditions (temperature) were favorable. He sent a message to a monarch email list explaining his observations.”
OceanDiver writes—The Daily Bucket: 2, no 3, out of 3 naturalists agree...it's a Coop: “It all started with a dive in a bush, and a rustle there. I was standing on the shore watching for action out to sea and out of the corner of my eye saw a bird whisk by the clay bank. Camera out, I snapped some photos as it dove headfirst into a wild rose shrub, and thrashed around in there. All I could tell was that it was a hawk, by its look. But it wasn’t acting like one. [...] A small bird of some sort, finch or sparrow most likely, darted out of the bush heading straight for the larger thicket at the edge of the bank. The hawk followed, alighting on a root below, peering into the branches of the thicket. [...] After a while, the hawk flew up and over the thicket, out of my sight, and a few minutes later off into the trees. The little bird had escaped. But the hawk was out a meal. Curious to learn more about this encounter I took a look at my pictures. The first thing I discovered was that the hawk was an accipiter, and second, that it was a juvenile (vertical streaks). Which explains why it had made such a clumsy and unsuccessful chase. Accipiters ambush their prey. Once the small bird knows a hawk is after it, the smaller bird can use its quick agility to get out of harm’s way. As it did in this case. I felt bad for this very young hawk, who likely had been getting food from its parents not long ago, and now is on its own. I’m sure it’s hungry.”
OceanDiver writes—The Daily Bucket - somebody otter put up a bucket: “An otter fishing — mostly for gunnels — then clambering out to have a scratch, then sliding back in the sea to paddle off again.”
OceanDiver writes—Dawn Chorus: Swallows say Farewell to Summer: “Are you feeling fall in the air? Sun setting earlier, not as hot at midday, with yellowing leaves blowing down in a sudden beeeze, thistledown drifting across a dry countryside? You likely have your own set of signs that summer is winding down, but I expect most Dawn Chorusters share one: the departure of their swallows. We all see many summer migrants, but there’s something especially iconic about the swallows. Their busy darting and swooping, skimming and flitting, chirring and twittering is enlivening (even exhausting!) to watch all summer. They fill the days, almost like a brightness in the background…. we get used to it, until one day notice it’s quieter. For me that was a few days ago. So this week I’m showcasing these special summer visitors, before they have all departed for their homes down south. Swallows are aerial insectivores, a lifestyle that requires quick maneuverable flight. Their supercharged activity is possible due to long thin wings and a streamlined body shape which uses energy very efficiently: ‘Metabolism during flight in hirundines (swallows) and swifts...is 49.3%–72.6% lower than other birds of similar size. (www.sciencedirect.com/...)’.”
Besame writes—Daily Bucket: A stroll in sick air: “Sunday began orange according to the air quality index, but when it turned to yellow I agreed to go for a walk with my daughter and her dog. Most of the past month I’ve been stuck indoors with the windows closed. We began a few miles away, at 2,800 feet elevation near a small lake/reservoir, and strolled along a flume that brings water to the lake. The air looked clear and the sky was pale blue. It wasn’t the deep blue I expect from a mild day in late summer, but neither was it the wildfire smoke scummy white we’ve had in the best of times during the past month. I had attempted to check the air quality at De Sabla, but there’s no monitoring data for that area. It looked safe enough[...]. But I awoke the following morning feeling breathless.The trail follows the flume up a nearly imperceptible gain in altitude, just enough to keep the water flowing to the reservoir from the source many miles upstream. The flumes were created to support mining activities in the late 1800s, often dug by Chinese laborers who were paid half the wages of the European workers. The 65 miles of flumes here is an amazing engineering feat. This particular flume, however, is all ditch and, unlike others in this region, doesn’t involve metal chutes with narrow catwalks attached across the top, the whole thing bolted into steep rocky cliffs like a shelf. This trail was mellow, easy, not strenuous.”
Angmar writes—The Daily Bucket: Long live the toads! In their natural habitats most American toads live for a year or significantly less. Successful (or lucky!) individuals, though, may live for 5 to 10 years in natural ecosystems and are thus able to reproduce (sexually maturity occurs after 2 to 3 years). In captivity, American toads are known to live much longer. One captive individual, for example, lived for 35 years before its unfortunate accidental death.”
Angmar writes—Daily Bucket: Study-"Upstate NY among first to have most heat waves due to climate change: “The Great Lakes region, including Upstate New York, will be among the first in the U.S. to have more heat waves due to climate change than to natural variability, a new study says. Climate change will be the biggest driver of heat waves in the western U.S. by the late 2020s and in the Great Lakes region by the mid-2030s, the study found. ‘These are the years that climate change outweighs natural variability as the cause of heat waves in these regions,’ said Hosmay Lopez, the lead author of the study and a meteorologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. ‘Without human influence, half of the extreme heat waves projected to occur in the future wouldn't happen.’www.newyorkupstate.com/...”
Pam La Pier writes—Wildlife Rescue & Rehabilitation - Kendalia & San Antonio, TX: “This is a series of diaries highlighting animal rescues around the country and noting and celebrating the work they do to help animals who have no voices but ours to speak for them. WRR rescues orphaned, injured, and displaced wildlife and returns the majority to the wild. We also provide permanent care in large natural enclosures to farmed and unreleasable wildlife. Among the latter are native and nonnative wild animals who were victimized by the pet trade, held in roadside zoos or used in research. These include black bears, primates, mountain lions, other mammals, and numerous species of birds and reptiles.”
CLIMATE CHAOS
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Lomborg’s Latest in NYPost is a Predictable Misrepresentation of Nutrition and Climate: “Whether it’s publishing his own misleading analyses of the Paris agreement, or deceiving people about someone else’s report, Bjorn Lomborg doesn’t have a particularly trustworthy history. For example, his industry-funded organization, the Copenhagen Consensus Center, lists its contact address as a mail forwarding service to a P.O. Box in Massachusetts (a bit far from Denmark, no?). And before he was called out on it, his so-called consensus panel of experts, whose opinions form the basis of the group’s work, claimed to include Nobel-winning economists who, as it turned out, were dead. This is all to say that Lomborg’s organization is not a center, is not in Copenhagen, and doesn’t really represent any sort of real consensus. With that in mind, we turn to Lomborg’s op-ed in this Sunday’s New York Post, where he continues to misrepresent climate science. Specifically, he talks about the study on carbon pricing and food security we flagged a few weeks back. The study’s authors said specifically that it shouldn’t be used to argue against climate action, but should instead show the need for comprehensive policies that don’t treat a price on carbon as a single silver bullet. Guess what Lomborg does with it? If you guessed ‘exactly what the authors warned against,’ you’re right!”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Pollution Advocate Steve Milloy Snuck Pro-Radiation Proposal into Censoring Science Rule: “The EPA proposal to censor the science used to inform regulations is, to put it mildly, not popular. In addition to science groups, former EPA administrators, the EPA’s science advisory board, it turns out that even Trump’s own Department of Defense criticized the proposal in its public comment. Much of the scrutiny of the rule focused on how it came straight from the tobacco industry, via former tobacco lobbyist and coal executive Steve Milloy. But on Monday, Pat Michaels at the CATO institute as brought another troubling aspect of the rule to our attention (though he thinks it’s wonderful). And unsurprisingly, it has Milloy’s fingerprints all over it. In his post, Michaels (who admitted in 2010 that 40% of his funding comes from oil) points out the big ramifications of an otherwise banal sounding passage of the proposed rule: ‘EPA should also incorporate the concept of model uncertainty when needed as a default to optimize dose risk estimation based on major competing models, including linear, threshold, U-shaped, J-shaped and bell-shaped models.’ What does that mean? Well, it could mean a huge change in how the EPA regulates radiation and small particulate pollution PM2.5, that latter of which results from burning fossil fuels.”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Climate Deniers, Like Anti-Vaxxers, Are A Threat To the Public And Should Not Be Given a Platform: “We’ve written a lot about free speech: from organized denial using free speech as a front for disinformation, to a columnist’s right to be a bullshitter, to corporate donations as free speech, to the Koch’s campus crusades. But an open letter from 60 British climate experts that ran in the Guardian Sunday gets right to the heart of the climate denial-free speech issue. They formally announce what has pretty much already been accepted in the US: debating deniers is a false equivalence that does the public a disservice. Deniers, of course, chose to tell the world. Human pustule James Delingpole, who admitted back in 2011 that he’s just ‘an interpreter of interpretations’ that doesn’t consider it his job to read peer-reviewed papers, ironically chose to go after the credentials of some of the signers in his piece for the Breitbart. At the National Review, Wesley Smith claims that only presenting ‘alarmists’ side of the case… will not change minds’ and will actually cause more skepticism. Though that’s obviously dumb, Smith does probably knows about causing unwarranted skepticism in legitimate science, considering he works for the creationist Discovery Institute.”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Deniers Hope Climategate 4 is Just Around the Corner. 4tunately, It Shouldn’t Matter: “David Schnare has had a weird career. Back in the late 70’s and early ‘80s, as he was getting his start at the EPA, Schnare was a scientologist, and produced multiple reports justifying Scientology’s detox procedures that have since proven potentially fatal. After a few decades as a mild-mannered but conservatively-minded career staffer at the EPA, Schnare started a coal-funded group that attacks climate scientists by suing for emails. After the election of Donald Trump and Scott Pruitt’s rise to power, it looked like Schnare was poised to make the changes to the EPA in line with his conservative ideology and climate skepticism. Instead, he clashed with Pruitt and flounced out of the EPA in a huff. But that wasn’t the end of the drama. As the Daily Beast reported in April, and NY Times expanded on in June, Schnare has been embroiled in a scandal regarding the financial situation and leadership of the Free Market Environmental Law Clinic, leading to a unique situation where the group was both plaintiff and defendant. Schnare apparently accidentally registered the clinic as an LLC, which prevents it from taking tax-exempt donations from dark money groups like Donors Trust, who had an interest in the case.”
AKALib writes—Climate Change Visualizations: “There are several new and novel ways to illustrate the warming of the planet and climate change using dynamic visualizations and animations based on data collected over decades of climate monitoring. Here is a sample of a few that have gained prominence recently. These visualizations do not need many words to explain or to understand. The Global Warming Bubbles visualization shows the annual temperature departure from average broken down by country. The baseline is the average from 1951 to 1980. Created by Antti Lipponen, a research scientist at the Finnish Meteorological Institute. See www.washingtonpost.com/… and earther.gizmodo.com/… for some more info.
DrGlebTsipursky writes—When Truth Isn't Truth: Rudy Giuliani manipulates us using psychological tactics from climate change: “ ‘Truth isn’t truth’ according to Rudy Giuliani, a statement he made on August 19th on NBC’s ‘Meet the Press.’ The phrase was immediately derided as a verbal blunder embodying the Trump administration’s complete disregard for the facts. Yet a closer look at Giuliani’s message shows an underlying strategic approach to undermining the truth similar to that used by ‘scientists’ producing industry-sponsored studies rejecting human-caused climate change and links between tobacco and cancer. [...] A widespread consensus among climate scientists exists on the reality of substantial human-caused climate change. Unfortunately, less than 20 percent of Americans are aware of this consensus, despite extensive communication about this consensus by scientists. Why? Research shows this low level of awareness comes from economically and politically motivated challenges to the reality of climate change from groups with substantial access to resources that influence public opinions. Most notably, the fossil fuel industry has funded the research of a tiny minority of scientists in order to cast doubt on human-caused global climate change. Why do people believe this tiny minority of scientists? Because the fossil fuel industry then used its enormous financial and political resources to spread this paid-for ‘research’ widely.”
Extreme Weather & Natural Phenomena
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Infowars: John Kerry’s Antarctic Energy Beam Saved Hawaii from Hurricane Lane: “Media Matters posted a clip from Infowars on Friday that is truly something special. The video’s host is Owen Shroyer, a climate change denier who was named the defamation suit for his participation in Alex Jones’s Sandy Hook conspiracy theories--and starred in a viral video where a hero of a kid calls him “a fucking idiot” and flips him the bird. On Thursday’s show, Shroyer played a video showing an animated global map from the University of Wisconsin-Madison that visualizes the satellite data of how much water is in the atmosphere. It’s similar to the precipitation radar you see on TV, but showing all the water in the atmosphere and not just where it’s raining. Shroyer claims it shows an energy beam shot from Antarctica to split up Hurricane Lane, which was headed for Hawaii. The ‘energy beam’ is pretty obviously just a coincidentally timed electronic glitch and/or artifact of the data, a recurring line of dots shooting across what is otherwise a chaotic visualization of swirling water content in the atmosphere. The video Shroyer showed was uploaded in 2017 by SecureTeam, a channel describing itself as ‘your source for reporting the best in new UFO sighting news.’ The second half of the video is about UFO sightings, and ‘a massive spherical object sitting’www.dailykos.com/... on the Moon. Sounds legit.”
OCEANS, WATER, DROUGHT
FoundFatherDAR writes—Coastal Cleanup Day - Sept. 15, 2018: “The International Coastal Cleanup began more than 30 years ago, when communities rallied together with the common goal of collecting and documenting the trash littering their coastline. The movement was catalyzed by the passion and spirit of two committed individuals. Back in 1986, Linda Maraniss moved to Texas from Washington, DC, where she had been working for Ocean Conservancy. She’d been inspired by the work her Ocean Conservancy colleague Kathy O’Hara was doing on a groundbreaking report called Plastics in the Ocean: More than a Litter Problem that would be published the next year. Oceans • Lakes • Rivers • Creeks • Parks Check here for a location of a cleanup event near you. Or set up your own location if none near you.”
Dan Bacher writes—MWD email reveals last minute legislative hearing on Delta Tunnels funding at State Capitol: “California Governors and the State Legislature have historically demonstrated a real problem with openness and transparency in government and a penchant for secrecy, whether it is regarding the Delta Tunnels, Big Oil-written cap-and-trade policies, the oil lobbyist-led Marine Life Protection Act Initiative or the current legislation, SB 834, that hand over California’s electricity grid to the Trump administration. This disdain for public input and transparency was demonstrated this week when the Legislature’s Delta Tunnels, under pressure from the Metropolitan Water District and corporate agribusiness interests, scheduled the Joint Legislative Budget Committee (JLBC) hearing on the State Water Project contract extension just two days before its scheduled date: tomorrow, August 30 at 8 AM. This was noted in a recent email communication from Kathy Cole of Metropolitan Water District’s Sacramento Office, according to a news release from Restore the Delta (RTD).”
Dan Bacher writes—Resnicks donate $100,000 to Prop. 3 water bond campaign: “Stewart and Lynda Resnick, the Beverly Hills billionaire owners of the Wonderful Company, and many of the same agribusiness interests that promote the Delta Tunnels are now funding the campaign to pass Jerry Meral’s water bond, Prop. 3, on the November ballot in California. The Resnicks’ Wonderful Orchards LLC has donated $100,000 to the campaign to date. The Resnicks, who are known as the Koch Brothers of California, contribute many hundreds of thousands of dollars to candidates from both sides of the political aisle and to proposition campaigns so they can continue selling back public water to the public at a huge profit while promoting legislation and other efforts to eviscerate laws protecting fish, wildlife and water. The Resnicks also contributed $150,000 to Governor Jerry Brown’s Proposition 1 water bond campaign in the fall of 2014. Timber industry billionaires, agribusiness organizations, oil companies and other corporate interests dumped $21.8 million into that campaign in a few short months. To read about how Brown broke his Prop 1 ‘promise’ to not spend any water bond money on the Delta Tunnels, read my East Bay Express article: www.eastbayexpress.com/…”
BYPRODUCTS, TRASH, TOXIC & RADIOACTIVE WASTE
pendylion writes—Seattle Takes a Decade: Banning Drinking Straws while Plastics Take Down our Food Chain: “As of July 1, restaurants, bars, and resorts on Pacific Northwest coastal city of Seattle could be fined up to $250 for use of disposable plastic utensils. However, the ban began in 2008 in response to concerns about plastic pollution. There are estimates that, at 8 million tons a year, there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish by 2050. While most of the decade was spent in due process for restaurant owners and the hospitality industry in Seattle, the majority of the extensions were from there being no practical way to implement the ban. Alternatives such as paper products were not cost effective for small businesses at the time. Further, they create other environmental problems since paper products require several times more energy to make than plastic. Opponents of the ban citing governmental waste usually begin their arguments with quality of life issues, such as use of utensils at homeless shelters or children still learning their way around utensils. Critics also cite that 90% of all plastic in the ocean are actually coming from 10 rivers, all of which are from countries in Africa and Asia that do not have the facilities for trash collection like the U.S does.”
ENERGY
Fossil Fuels
Walter Einenkel writes—Republican Lt. Gov.-turned-oil-spokesman lies about BP oil spill not reaching 'shores of Florida': “Corporate greed was one of the many things that led to the April 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster that registered as the largest marine oil spill in the history of the world. The fallout from the spill is still being felt today, because that’s what happens when you pollute the earth. However, conservatives want the world to move on. In fact, Former Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamp wants you to believe that all of that terrible stuff that happened during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill was mostly fake news. A couple of weeks ago it was reported that Kottkamp, now an oil industry spokesperson and co-chair of Explore Offshore Florida (which is exactly what it sounds like), told a group of reporters in Tallahassee that the 2010 oil spill ‘didn’t even reach the shores of Florida.’ Which, besides not being true, is also a straight-up insane thing to say. After Kottcamp (sic) made the statement, a reporter asked about it again, and Kottcamp said ‘tarballs are naturally occurring.’ Oh, I’m sorry. ‘Tarballs are naturally occurring’ is even more insane. The responses to the statement were justifiably sharp.”
Dan Bacher writes—Bills to stop new federal offshore drilling approved, but offshore drilling expands in CA waters: “Two identical bills authored by Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson (Santa Barbara) and Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi (Torrance) to stop the Trump Administration from opening new federal oil drilling leases off the California coast are headed to the Governor’s desk, but these bills won’t stop the big expansion of offshore drilling in state waters under existing leases approved under Governor Jerry Brown. Senator Jackson’s bill, SB 834, passed the Senate Floor August 29 by a vote of 28 to 7, with 5 votes not recorded. Senator Muratsuchi’s bill, AB 1775, passed the Assembly Floor August 29 by a vote of 45 to 24, with 10 votes not recorded. As expected, the Western States Petroleum Association and the oil and gas companies opposed the legislation, while a coalition of conservation, fishing, Tribal and environmental justice groups supported the legislation. These two bills are only two of the three bills in the past three years that were able to make it through the Legislature to the Governor’s Desk despite strong opposition by the oil industry.”
Renewables, Efficiency & Conservation
Meteor Blades writes—Open thread for night owls: Calif. lawmakers OK bill calling for 100% renewable electricity by 2045: “As California released its fourth Climate Change Assessment, which predicts two-thirds less water from snowpack, more intense wildfires, a loss of at least one-third of the state’s beaches from erosion caused by sea-level rise, the inundation of at least $18 billion in commercial buildings, and a tripling of deaths from heat waves, among other impacts, the State Assembly passed a landmark bill Tuesday setting a goal of getting 100 percent of the state’s retail electricity by 2045. Just 27 years away. Only one other state, Hawai’i, has set such an ambitious goal for the near future. Combined with existing legislation—notably AB32, the California Global Warming Solutions Act passed in 2006—the transformation of the electricity sector would greatly reduce the state’s greenhouse gas emissions. Thanks to state Sen. Kevin De León and the relentless work of scores of climate activists, notably RL Miller—a long-time member of Daily Kos, founder of Climate Hawks, and chair of the California Democratic Environmental Caucus—the 100 Percent Clean Energy Act of 2018 (SB100) was approved by a vote of 43-32 in the heavily Democratic assembly.”
Pipelines & Other Oil and Gas Transport
Lefty Coaster writes—Canadian Court halts 715-mile Trans Mountain Pipeline (for Tar Sands) saying impacts were ignored: “This is very good news, especially here on the shores of the Salish Sea, which was slated to absorb a seven fold increase in tanker traffic winding through thousands of islands, rocks, and shoals. Federal Court of Appeal quashes construction approvals for Trans Mountain, leaving project in limbo. In a stunning blow, the Federal Court of Appeal has quashed the government's approvals to build the project — a major victory for Indigenous groups and environmentalists opposed to the $7.4-billion project. In the decision released Thursday, and written by Justice Eleanor Dawson, the court found the National Energy Board's assessment of the project was so flawed that it should not have been relied on by the federal cabinet when it gave final approval to proceed in November 2016. The certificate approving construction and operation of the project has been nullified, leaving the project in legal limbo until the energy regulator and the government reassess their approvals to satisfy the court's demands.”
ECO-ESSAYS & PROPOSALS
ECO-ACTION & ECO JUSTICE350 Bay Area writes—9 Days to RISE for Climate, Jobs and Justice: “We are 9 days away from the largest climate mobilization in history. Have you RSVP’d yetriseforclimate.org/… We encourage anyone who can make it to San Francisco to be there on September 8th as this will be the lead event of a global day of action to demand our elected leaders commit to no new fossil fuel projects and a just and fair transition to 100% renewable energy. It is set to coincide with the ramp up to the Global Climate Action Summit held by Governor Jerry Brown. We hope to demonstrate to the world and the leaders gathering in SF the massive support in the Bay Area and beyond for a plan to make immediate changes to prevent further devastation from climate change.”
”ian douglas rushlau writes—A Climate of Racism: federal response to severe storms increases wealth inequality: “Kyla Mandel, writing for THINKPROGRESS, provides an overview of research that exposes the structural racism in federal disaster aid programs: ‘Last year the United States suffered more than $260 billion in direct damages from natural disasters — mainly from hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria,’ said the study’s lead author, Junia Howell, a scholar at Rice’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research and an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Pittsburgh. ‘And there were also numerous wildfires, floods, and tornadoes.’ ‘Data show that since 2000, approximately 99 percent of counties in the U.S. have experienced significant damage from some type of natural disaster, with costs expected to increase significantly over coming years,’ Howell explained in a statement. ‘We wanted to investigate how these damages impact wealth inequality and accumulation.’ For those familiar with structural racism, and how it reinforces and magnifies the pernicious economic racial caste system in the US (most clearly seen in persistent wealth inequality between Whites and People of Color), the findings are shocking, but not surprising.”
AGRICULTURE, FOOD & GARDENING
mettle fatigue writes—Rising Carbon Levels Cut Food-Crop Nutritional Value for Global Poor: “Thomson Reuters Foundation via Medscape: Rising carbon emissions could make vital food crops from wheat to rice less nutritious and endanger the health of hundreds of millions of the world's poorest, scientists said on Monday. Certain staple crops grown in open fields with elevated carbon dioxide levels had up to 17 percent lower levels of protein, iron and zinc compared to those grown amid less of the gas, according to a study in the journal Nature Climate Change… ...The research found that by 2050, nearly 300 million people could lack enough zinc or protein and 1.4 billion women and children will be vulnerable to iron deficiency - all linked to carbon emissions - fuelling the risk of disease and early death.”
TRANSPORTATION & INFRASTRUCTURE
eric14850 writes—Will China "own" the Electric Vehicle Market? “Pei explains what he likes about China vs his home country of Sweden, “Things happen really fast over there. For instance, Shenzhen recently said that all taxi cars in the city need to be electric by the end of the year. In one more year all cars will have to be electric. When something gets decided, it really happens fast.” Things happen fast in China. Meanwhile the GOP is committed to continued investments in 19th and 20th Century technologies. China will own the 21st Century economy the way America owned the 20th Century economy. The ironies of arguments that: ‘capitalism’ is king and planned economies can’t compete, and “government doesn’t work,” in the face of what is actually happening in real life re the transition to a 21st Century economy is painfully poignant. It still may be possible for America to catch up, but right now it looks like America’s golden age is already a part of the past. China ‘owns’ the solar voltaic market. China will soon make its competence with electric vehicles known on the world stage.”
Assaf writes—#RbPi v8 (8/2018): AWARENESS has become the biggest obstacle to EV adoption: “I am fairly optimistic it will happen sooner or later, partly because West Coast cities set global consumer trends, and Chinese cities set global industrial production trends - and partly because most of the world's leading economies now take climate change very seriously. Don't get me wrong: EV sales *are* increasing rather fast (globally through July, almost +70% over 2017) . But the growth pattern in the US has become very odd and potentially problematic (see below). And believe it or not, we need EV adoption to accelerate even faster, and to start toppling the oil economy so that we won’t have to deal with nonsense like Keystone XL. Why isn't it happening sooner? There is not one single reason, of course. But as the diary title states, I think the main reason has become awareness. Mostly consumer awareness.”