This is the 592nd edition of the Spotlight on Green News & Views (previously known as the Green Diary Rescue). Here is the March 9 edition. Inclusion of a story in the Spotlight does not necessarily indicate my agreement with or endorsement of it.
OUTSTANDING GREEN STORIES
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—WSJ Prints Paul Tice’s Incoherent Attack On Children Because Nothing Is Beneath Them: “Despite being an adjunct professor at NYU and investment manager focusing on energy (which judging by context clues likely means oil and gas), Paul Tice is a regular on the Wall Street Journal opinion page--apparently his gigs afford him plenty of time to write lazy op-eds. He has already denied the validity of the endangerment finding, and has spent years railing against colleges and public schools for teaching kids the facts of climate science. It’s no surprise, then, that when the WSJ needed an op-ed attacking Friday’s kids’ climate strike, it turned to Tice. Unfortunately, the paper should’ve kept turning. The only thing weaker than the substance of Tice’s argument is the petty and shrill way he delivers it. Titled ‘On Climate, the Kids Are All Wrong,’ the pice quickly turns spiteful: the subhead calls the young people fighting for a livable climate ‘a band of ignorant brats.’ Perhaps if one of these kids ends up in Tice’s class, they can ask him why he resorted to name calling.”
Walter Einenkel writes—Trader Joe's is dropping 1 million pounds of single-use plastic from stores: “At the end of 2018, grocery store chain Trader Joe’s announced that it would be making moves to cut out one million pounds of ‘single-use’ plastics in its over 500 stores as soon as possible. Besides getting rid of all plastic bags, the company set out a list of the things it was going to take action on in this pursuit, including reducing plastic packaging, looking into renewable and recyclable packaging, and helping to educate its customers on how to best recycle the packaging being purchased at a Trader Joe’s store. However, Trader Joe’s has already taken steps far in advance of other large outlets. [...] The pollution of our earth is all of a piece. What happens in our skies and in our ground, deep under water and to our soil feeds the dangerous deterioration of our planet’s habitability for humans. This is one effort, while still a drop in the bucket, by a company that has shown itself to be more community- and worker-friendly than many have been so far.”
RonK writes—The Daily Bucket: Nurturing Nature - A Family Stewardship of a Forest Plot: “Northwest Washington State. Bellingham, WA. Given humanity’s penchant for exploiting the environment, Mother Nature needs a hand to protect it from further human encroachment and give its wounds a chance to heal. (Now there is an understatement!) One mechanism to help our dear Mother is through local land trusts that secure plots of land so as to reclaim, nurture, maintain and protect them from further human incursion. There are many types of land trusts, some centered on making affordable urban housing available and others on maintaining and preserving farm lands, forests, watersheds and natural habitats. The land trust that I work with is the latter type—Whatcom Land Trust. Its stated mission is to: To preserve and protect wildlife habitat, scenic, agricultural and open space lands in Whatcom County for future generations by securing interests in land and promoting land stewardship. The county was largely forested until the settlers arrived in the 1850s when it was cut for the timber and cleared for farmland. Its major industries have been and still are farming, fishing and forestry. Without NGOs such as the land trusts, this once pristine land and water is unlikely to be available for future generations.”
CRITTERS AND THE GREAT OUTDOORS
Pakalolo writes—Violence breaks out between fishermen over the Sea Shepherd's desperate effort to save the Vaquita: “ ‘If we stop operations, the vaquita will go extinct, It's just out here removing nets, if we stop removing them then there's no hope for the vaquita.’ Sea Shepherd first mate Jack Hutton. The vaquita is the smallest species of porpoise and is endemic to the Gulf of California (Sea of Cortez). The world’s most endangered marine species, the vaquita is around 4 feet long and weighs less than 110 pounds. The pod has just a couple other of their kind, and they are elusive and difficult to spot. They also have an aversion to boats which compounds the problem of efforts to save them from extinction. The population has always been small, but now there are only a couple dozen left of the species. The reason is pure greed, stupidity, and mythology on the part of humans. They are being caught in gill fishing nets dying a horrible death, and although they are not the intended catch, they are collateral damage to supply the “Mexican Cartels and Chinese wildlife traffickers’ with the bladders of totoaba ‘destined for the black market of Shantou in the Guandong province of China’.”
Besame writes—Daily Bucket: Young condor who visited Wyoming wasn't murdered: “Remember the two year old female condor who was released in Arizona last March and then spotted in Wyoming four months later? I wrote about T2 who spent several days in early July 2018 perched in the Snowy Range and then died. Unfortunately, the condor known as T2 was found dead days after leaving its perch on July 9. The Peregrine Fund — the organization that released her into the wild — can’t say what caused the giant bird’s demise. It’s under investigation by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. But the mystery of what made her fly more than 440 miles from her release site only adds to the long and storied tale of the California condor. The necropsy results for T2 released a few days ago show that her death was due to natural causes, not something humans did such as lead poisoning, powerline collision, or intentional shooting.”
OceanDiver writes—The Daily Bucket - snow virga: “Skagit Flats, Pacific Northwest. Returning from Mount Vernon the other day after an appointment, we crossed the Skagit River Delta flatland as we always do whenever we have the chance. Winter is an especially exciting time with migrant geese, swans and ducks congregating there in the hundreds and thousands, making use of farmland and wetlands. This winter we’ve had some spectacular skies there too, probably due to our unusually cold and stormy weather. This time the skies had something new and truly awesome to me: snow virga. We’d stopped at Hayton Reserve and found the Snow Geese working the field there under big towering clouds. Snow Geese are in constant motion during the day, progressing across dormant fields grazing and digging as they glean, periodically lifting as a big flock to shift into different fields. They talk constantly, so you can listen for them if they’re not in sight. The geese appeared fewer this time; perhaps they’ve begun their spring migration back to Siberia for breeding season. This was the only big flock we saw that day. As we watched, groups of several hundred at a time lifted off, heading in a northwesterly direction.”
CLIMATE CHAOS
Pakalolo writes—Rain acts 'like acid' burning Greenland's snow. Massive meltwater holding rooms found in Moulins: “A lot of damage is being done to the ice in the Arctic and particularly, the enormous ice cap that is Greenland. Researchers found the ice sheet is very vulnerable even in winter. Rain has caused the ice sheet to melt; in years past it would have fallen as snow. But no longer, there are new findings that need to be calculated into climate change projections. [...] Even if it falls during winter, and then quickly refreezes, the rain changes the characteristics of the surface, leaving it smoother and darker, and "pre-conditioned" to melt more rapidly when summer arrives. The darker the ice is, the more heat it absorbs from the Sun - causing it to melt more quickly.”
Pakalolo writes—The Arctic is locked in for 15 degrees warming this century, UN reports: “Change is clearly accelerating in the Arctic, and it has global implications for us all. We all have a stake in this future, but none more than the young people who are coming of age, living in the midst of this change. — The Arctic Council’s Snow, Water, Ice and Permafrost. It is no surprise that the Arctic is warming at alarming rates. It is in the news more often and, videos of calving glaciers, images of starving polar bears, and Orcas have gone viral. Now the United Nations Environment Assembly issued a report titled Global Linkages. A graphic look at the changing Arctic which summarized the situation as: “the Arctic’s climate is shifting to a new state.” We have left the refrigerator and freezer doors wide open portending disaster not only for the Arctic but for the world as we know it. [...] The press release is unnerving as it claims that even if we meet the goals of the Paris Climate Accords, there would still be warming ‘winter temperatures in the Arctic that would rise 3-5°C by 2050 and 5-9°C by 2080’.”
Angmar writes—Daily Bucket Saving Earth:"Scientists fear Arctic heating could trigger a climate ‘tipping point’": “Sharp and potentially devastating temperature rises of 3C to 5C in the Arcticare now inevitable even if the world succeeds in cutting greenhouse gas emissions in line with the Paris agreement, research has found. Winter temperatures at the north pole are likely to rise by at least 3C above pre-industrial levels by mid-century, and there could be further rises to between 5C and 9C above the recent average for the region, according to the UN. Such changes would result in rapidly melting ice and permafrost, leading to sea level rises and potentially to even more destructive levels of warming. Scientists fear Arctic heating could trigger a climate ‘tipping point’ as melting permafrost releases the powerful greenhouse gas methane into the atmosphere, which in turn could create a runaway warming effect.”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Getting to the Core Of Deniers’ Favorite Greenland Ice Core Graph: “If you’ve spent any time in the deniersphere in the last decade, you’ve probably seen this graph purporting that according to ice core data, current temperatures in Greenland are much lower than historical ones. We have known this graph is wrong for a while, but considering it's still being used, we thought we’d bring everyone’s attention to a new Carbon Brief factcheck. [...] There are several things wrong with the assumptions in the graph—the first being that the data relies on a single ice core measurement. Obviously it’d be ridiculous to base an argument generalizing about the global climate based on temperature records from one location. Yet a certain set of people, including Easterbrook in his blog post, use this graph to do just that. As Dr. Richard Alley, one of the first to use these GISP2 records, put it to the New York Times in 2010, ‘no single temperature record from anywhere can prove or disprove global warming, because the temperature is a local record, and one site is not the whole world.’ Perhaps the most misleading part of Easterbrook’s thesis, though, is that the now-viral graphs mislabels the x-axis. The graph claims to show temperatures up until the present time, when really the data ends in 1855. None of the current warming we’ve seen in the last century is represented, despite what the graph insinuates.”
BL Hokie writes—The Uninhabitable Earth: Part II.b Elements of Chaos: Hunger: “This is the third installment of my ‘book report’ on The Uninhabitable Earth by David Wallace-Wells. [...]In addition to the problem of losing soil because of the above reasons, we are slowly losing areas where crops can grow because of climate change. The weather is getting too warm for certain crops to flourish, and it is only going to get worse. According to Wallace-Wells, the basic rule of thumb for heat and cereal crops, is the for every degree Celsius of warming, the crop yield will decrease by 10%. We are at approximately 1.1 degree Celsius of warming so far. As the climate warms, areas where we are growing crops right now will become unsuitable, and areas where it was once too cold for crops will open up. The problem is, the areas where we currently grow crops already have the ideal temperature suited to grow them. And the lands that are becoming warmer don’t have soils best suited to producing our current crops. The belt of land across the globe with temperatures best suited to growing wheat is moving poleward by 160 miles a decade. Thus, we are losing crop land to climate change as well. [...]As the climate warms, arable land is becoming desert. At 2.5 degrees Celsius of warming, the world could enter a global food deficit. The world simply could not produce enough calories to feed all of us. By 2080, without drastic emissions reductions, Southern Europe could be in “permanent extreme drought” worse than the ‘Dust Bowl’ of the 1930s. The same goes for Iraq, Syria, most of the Middle East, the densely populated areas of Australia, South America, and Africa, and the ‘bread basket’ region of China.”
AmericaAdapts writes—Climate Change Podcasters Unite! 8 Climate Pods, 8 Amazing Stories! “In episode 85 of America Adapts – a true event episode - Doug Parsons interviews the hosts of some of your favorite climate change podcasts! Warm Regards, Climactic, No Place Like Home, Climate Ready, Climate One, The Climate and Security Podcast, MIT’s Climate Conversations and Reversing Climate Change all join Doug on the pod to share their stories. Learn what inspired them to start their podcasts, the types of guests they host and their insight on why podcasts are a great platform to create awareness around climate change. This episode will truly inspire you as you go behind the scenes on what it takes to host a climate podcast. The hosts are scientists, journalists, activists and educators, all bringing their unique style to their shows. For the first time in a podcast, a single episode highlights some of your favorite climate podcasters. You’re going to love this episode!”
barskin writes—Trump Touts Fake "Greenpeace Founder" to Label Climate Change as "Fake Science": “From the files of: Oy Veh. The White House Squatter heard something he really liked on Fox and Friends this morning.
There you have it! The Climate Crisis is ‘fake news’ and ‘fake science.’ Phew! Glad we don’t have to worry about that any more. The ‘fake scientists’ of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recently reported that we have about 12 years left to prevent catastrophe on the planet. But...wow! The co-founder of Greenpeace says it just ain’t so. We can all relax. The problem is, however, that Moore actually is not the co-founder of Greenpeace. Who says so? How about Greenpeace.”
OAW writes—Climate Change – The CO2 will not go away! “The residence time for CO2 in the atmosphere is at least 1000 years. Itis believed that about half of the new CO2 is dissolved into the ocean (Raising the pH and endangering all the shellfish), but that does not mean that the old CO2 will be taken up next year. In fact the ocean would probably emit the some CO2 to make the CO2 higher if some of the atmospheric CO2 were to be removed! IF WE STOP EMITTING CO2 NOW, NOTHING WILL CHANGE. Well, it will not continue getting worse. We are at the point where tropical storms grow from minor to major overnight! We are at the point where the polar vortex has gotten very weak, permitting really cold air to cross the Canadian border! We are approaching the point where sea level rise gets serious. Where Mar-A-Lago is drowned. But, if we stop emitting CO2, we might save Mar-a-Lago. Well, maybe not. We probably cannot stop a few feet of sea level rise. We can only keep it from getting much worse! But WE CAN LIVE WITH THAT! The alternative is unthinkable!”
ivanserrano writes—AOC Is Right – Climate Change Is Upsetting Our Population: “AOC is right—climate change is upsetting our population and changing how young people are planning to have kids. Rather than waste our time on strawman arguments meant to defame her with a conservative voting base, we should be paying attention to how climate change is preventing Americans from having babies. 1/3rd of Americans are impacted. Americans are having fewer babies, much to the chagrin of many societal groups. Conservatives lament the ‘decline of civilization’ that they fear will naturally arise with fewer babies being born, whereas economist warn of labor shortages in the future. Left wing groups are often concerned about the relationship between the decline in births and women’s health and body autonomy. One thing is quite clear: global climate change is upsetting our population, and recent research indicates that as many as 1 in 3 Americans are impacted by this trend.”
Extreme Weather & Natural Phenomena
Angmar writes—Daily Bucket: "strengthening El Niño maybe making severe weather outbreaks more frequent /intense": “2019 severe weather season is off to a running start. Less than a week after devastating tornadoes hit the Deep South, two more severe weather threats are on their way within the next week. A strengthening El Niño may be making severe weather outbreaks more frequent and intense. One storm that was located over California as of Thursday will now move east into the Rockies and western Plain States late Friday into Saturday. It will be powered by an active Pacific storm track and atmospheric river from the Tropical Pacific.While a general thunderstorm risk will start during the day Friday in eastern Texas through the Tennessee Valley, the biggest risk of severe thunderstorms will be later Friday night into Saturday.”
POPULATION, SUSTAINABILITY & EXTINCTION
cultureanimal writes—OVERPOPULATION IS THE PROBLEM: “7. At the rate we’re going now, the populations of the least developed countries will double at about the same time as science tells us that the earth will become unsustainable for human beings. Not exactly the lucky seven we would like to see, but we have to take off the blinders and listen to 97% of scientists who say that humans are a cause of climate change and can be the solution if we stop being so greedy and start protecting our home, Mother Earth. Even if we aren’t a cause and this is just a natural cycle, maybe we should fight for her anyway and live to say so! According to Population Connection, this global population growth pollutes our air, water, destroys forests and wildlife habitats, and drives climate change: ‘Global population soars by 82 million people a year — yet Donald Trump and our opponents in Congress are determined to slash international family planning funding!’”
ENERGY
Green New Deal
PoppaD writes—The Green New Deal: Why The GOP Doesn't Want To Save The Earth and Create Jobs: “Why would anyone be against a bill that creates American jobs and saves the planet? And why is Mitch McConnell so anxious to bring it to the floor only to crush it, exposing his and the GOP’s opposition to such an important bill? Pertaining to the first question, I can guarantee you, the answer is not because theGreen New Deal doesn’t have the potential to help accomplish those lofty goals. Rather it is because McConnell and his allies care far less about creating American jobs or saving the earth than they do about the large sums of money they receive from the fossil fuel industry. The senators poised to vote against the GND are on average, elderly. They know they might not be around in ten or 20 years when the ever-worsening climate and economic conditions they’re refusing to address will become unbearable. Better to live for the moment and enjoy the dark money campaign funds they receive fro the fossil fuel industry. Sadly, it’s not ‘America First’, it’s ‘Me First - Fuck Everyone Else.’ So they do the bidding of the upper echelon of the fossil fuel industry, jobs and environment be damned.”
NickEngelfried writes—Cows and Climate Change: Clearing Up the Confusion: “In a rather strange of turn of events, Republicans opposed to the Green New Deal have made beef and hamburgers a core part of their messaging. It’s strange because while the Green New Deal resolutions do call for reducing emissions from agriculture, they make no explicit mention of beef. The Green New Deal certainly isn’t designed to ban hamburgers. But then, maybe it’s not so surprising there’s a lot of confusion about this. After all the relationship between cows and climate change is probably one of the most misunderstood topics to come up frequently in discussions about climate policy. It doesn’t help that there’s a lot of misleading or blatantly inaccurate information floating around—some promoted by conservatives, but some of it propagated by the very people who actually do want to ban beef. Among the general public there seems to be a vague understanding beef somehow contributes to climate change and that cow farts are in some way involved. Beyond that most people have no real idea of the real connection between cows and planet-warming carbon emissions. This seems like a good time to try and clear up some of the confusion.”
Trenz Pruca writes—What is the Green New Deal: Specifics not Tactical Framing: ”I bet most people out there do not know the specifics of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s (D-N.Y. hereinafter AOC), “Green New Deal.” The reason they do not know is that they get most (if not all) their information about it from the Media. The Media, however, whether left-leaning or right generally dispenses its information about political proposals not by exposing the public to the specifics of the plans itself but by limiting its discussion to the feasibility of the acceptance of the proposals by the political decision makers. The Media insiders call this “Tactical Framing.” The reason for this, I guess, is because the conflict over a political issue they believe is more “newsworthy” than the actual proposals themselves. In an effort to remedy that particular general media bias, I include a link to AOC’s website containing the proposed resolution itself. AOC Green New Deal.”
Aldous J Pennyfarthing writes—GOP congressman says Green New Deal is 'tantamount to genocide': “Put this beside “Obamacare is ... the worst thing that has happened in this nation since slavery” in the Big Book of Stupid Republican Quotes. (The collection of non-crazy Republican quotes is a Little Golden Book for children … or the intellectual equivalent thereof.) Axios: Rep. Rob Bishop (R-Utah) said the ideas behind the [Green New Deal] are ‘tantamount to genocide. That may be an overstatement but not by a whole lot,’ Bishop said at a press conference Thursday morning on Capitol Hill. Yes, a proposal to save our planet is … genocide. Later, Bishop tried to explain, and it just got more embarrassing ... and much, much stupider: Axios: Genocide is defined as “the deliberate killing of a large group of people, especially those of a particular ethnic group or nation." How is the Green New Deal like genocide? Bishop: I’m an ethnic. I’m a westerner. Axios: And you think the Green New Deal is going to kill you? Bishop: If you actually implement everything they want to. Killing would be positive if you implement everything the Green New Deal actually wants to. That’s why the the Green New Deal is not ready for prime time.”
Nuclear
MarineChemist writes—Insignificant Environmental and Public Health Risk from Fukushima in North America 8 Years On: “I am writing this post is to bring the public up to date on monitoring efforts of my research program into the impact of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) accident on environmental and public health here in North America. This post is part of an ongoing series summarizing work carried out by the Integrated Fukushima Ocean Radionuclide Monitoring (InFORM) project. Eight years since the peak in releases to the environment our project continues to measure radioisotopes released from the FDNPP that have the potential to present radiological health risks to living things. InFORM makes measurements of levels in seawater and common marine organisms as consumption of seafood is one of the most likely ways that residents of North America could be exposed to Fukushima derived contamination. We have found that: Maximum contamination levels in seawater from Fukushima measured in waters offshore (~1500 km) and onshore British Columbia are now known to be about 8 to 10-fold lower than levels present in the North Pacific during the height of atmospheric nuclear weapons testing in the 1950’s and 1960’s. These levels are roughly 1000-fold below the maximum allowable drinking water standards for these isotopes.”
Fossil Fuels
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Fossil Fuel Spox Says Fossil Fuels Good For Minority Communities, GND Bad: “The Green New Deal has garnered (misplaced) criticism from people like Jonathan Chait because it explicitly addresses historic power imbalances like racial inequity. But according to one fossil-fuel funded pundit named Derrick Hollie, writing in the industry-funded Heritage Foundation’s Daily Signal, this plan that takes great pains to protect minority communities would actually be bad for them. How? Hollie, whose group Reaching America has worked with oil and gas-funded campaigns, claims that the GND would raise energy prices. This, he argues, would ‘disproportionately hurt people of color.’ We should admit there is some merit to the concern that working-class communities, who often spend a higher portion of their budget on energy, would be disproportionately impacted by higher energy prices. But the GND’s explicit focus on ensuring a just transition addresses this exact problem. The GND’s inclusion of social issues is important. All over the country, it is the ‘rural and poor’ communities of color that get selected for polluting projects. And after a disaster, it becomes clear that FEMA is set up to help the (white and) wealthy to a greater extent than those who need the help far more. It only stands to reason, then, that climate action should be taken in a way that addresses, instead of ignores, these inequities.”
Dartagnan writes—With Democrats in control, the Koch Brothers and their stooges are hopping mad in Colorado: “Something very unusual occurred yesterday in the Colorado state legislature. As they were well on their way to passing a comprehensive bill that would overhaul gas and oil industry regulations within the state, Colorado state senate Democrats found themselves temporarily stymied by ranking Republican state senator John Cooke. Cooke invoked an arcane rule that forced a verbal reading of a wholly unrelated 2000-page bill, involving an obscure state statute, prior to resuming any hearings, debates or votes on the energy bill. This 2000-page tome enjoyed bipartisan support, so there was never any issue about its passage. Cooke’s goal was to delay passage of the oil and gas bill, because Republicans—and more importantly, the oil and gas industry—really, really hate it. As a result of this procedural maneuver, all business in the Colorado legislature immediately came to a grinding halt. As the reading of the bill by a hapless state senate staffer droned on, some estimated it would take several days to finish. Finally, after about three hours of this nonsense, some resourceful Democrats brought in five computers to read the Bill simultaneously at a speed far faster than humans can comprehend. And as the Denver Post reports, things are back on track. The machines finished their work at 5:30, and Senate Democrats planned a late evening Monday to get back on track. Hearings scheduled for Tuesday will proceed as planned.”
Renewables, Efficiency & Conservation
Mokurai writes—The First Green Terawatt Was the Hardest: “The MSM won’t tell you, but last year the world reached one terawatt of renewable energy capacity. I only just now found out while searching for something else. I checked, and it hasn’t been in any Daily Kos Diary either. We need something like 16 TW worldwide. More for EVs and economic growth in the poorest countries, less with improved efficiency and conservation, and so on. As the hook to 3 Ways to Invest in a Renewable Energy Future (out of date on details), The Motley Fool investment site stated: According to Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF), global capacity for solar and wind power generation has exceeded 1 terawatt. And it won't be long before we celebrate the next terawatt. BNEF estimates that the second terawatt of generating capacity will be installed in 2023 at a cost 46% lower than the first.”
Mokurai writes—Renewable Friday: Data Sources: “This is the first in a series of weekly Diaries I mean to keep up, on good news that the MSM won’t tell you about progress in Renewable Energy. Today’s focus is where you can learn much more of what I will be including. I included many links in my recent Diary The First Green Terawatt Was the Hardest, and I have set out to harvest many more. That Diary was based on news from August 2018 that I had missed for six months, so I realized that I have to get more serious and more systematic. Now, before we get into the details, I have another major complaint about the MSM. They endlessly repeat the bogus claims from the Right that the Green New Deal will cost tens of trillions of dollars, as they do on health care for all and either free or debt-free college for anyone who wants it. We know that this is not the case. So let’s start with that. North American Windpower, free newsletter: Wind And Solar Each Beat Natural Gas For New Generating Capacity In January EACH. Got that? Because they are CHEAPER.”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Fossil Fool In WSJ Dings Solar and Wind Power For Producing TOO MUCH Energy: “The winds of change are a-blowin on climate, but don’t get too excited just yet. Sure, a certain Republican and coal-state Democrat paid lip service to the reality of climate change with an op-ed Dave Roberts described as ‘weak tea BS’ (BS standing for ‘bipartisan solutions,’ of course.) But here’s a quick test: does the piece about the problem burning fossil fuels acknowledge the need to burn fewer fossil fuels? If so, it’s serious. But if it doesn’t address the core problem, then it’s probably not really talking about solutions. And if it suggests that more fossil fuels (yes, including natural gas) are a solution to the problems caused by fossil fuels, then it’s clearly not a serious proposal. Nevertheless, to see some evolution in the right’s climate rhetoric is an encouraging indication that the public is no longer tolerating outright denial. Even the stalwart home of climate denial, The Wall Street Journal opinion page, reflects the new reality. Yesterday, the WSJ ran an op-ed by fossil fuel defender Rupert Darwall that took a rather unique approach to criticizing renewables—complaining that they produce too much power.”
OCEANS, WATER, DROUGHT
Dan Bacher writes—Winnemem Wintu Tribe and W.A.T.E.R. Challenge Crystal Geyser EIR in Opening Brief: “In Northern California, the Winnemem Wintu Tribe and the grassroots organization W.A.T.E.R. (We Advocate Thorough Environmental Review) filed an Opening Brief in Superior Court on February 22, continuing a six year community challenge to the flawed EIR for Crystal Geyer Water Company’s bottling plant project at the base of Mount Shasta. The Crystal Geyser bottling facility project ("Project") Environmental Impact Report (EIR) was approved by Siskiyou County on December 12, 2017 without any upper limit on the amount of water CG may pump out of the ground and with a faulty and inadequate environmental review of water supply, water quality, traffic, noise, hazards and hazardous materials, air quality, climate change, aesthetics, light and glare, and land use. In doing so the County violated fundamental mandates of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and its own land use plans and ordinances. The Project's significant environmental problems all stem from its location on the lower slopes of Mount Shasta, a major water source area for all of California, well known for its incredible beauty and extreme environmental sensitivity and within the historic aboriginal territory of the Winnemem Wintu Tribe. The massive bottling facility is adjacent to a quiet, residential neighborhood and upslope from pristine natural springs that are sacred and significant in Winnemem Tribal culture.”
CANDIDATES, STATE AND DC ECO-RELATED POLITICS
Lefty Coaster writes—Jay Inslee calls for an end to the Senate Filibuster to tackle Climate Change: “Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, a Democratic presidential candidate focused on climate change, argued Sunday that the Senate will have to abolish the filibuster in order to tackle the issue. ‘We’re not going to get anywhere as long as Mitch McConnell has the keys to the car,’ he said during an interview at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas. Whereas other Democratic candidates are not running for the White House as single-issue candidates, Inslee’s campaign prioritizes the existential threat of global warming. The ‘first and paramount duty of the next president has to be to tackle climate change,’ he said on Sunday. He warned that progress won’t be made unless the Senate removes the 60-vote threshold for passing legislation known as the filibuster, a long-standing procedural hurdle that requires 60 senators to agree to move legislation to a vote. Inslee, who noted he is the only 2020 candidate who supports ending the filibuster, called on other Democratic presidential contenders to join him.”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Can Trump’s Fox News Fixation Get Any Moore Stupid and Shameful? “Yesterday, while he was supposed to be doing his job running the entire country and ostensibly leading the free world, the man whose brain has been reduced to a broken mass of bile and Big Macs by a lifetime surrounded by sycophantic yes-men did the only thing he actually knows how to do: watched good ol’ reliable Fox and Friends. In between tweets about a made-up movement of Jewish people leaving the Democratic party, and a bizarre anti-Einstein rant about how planes are too fancy these days, our very stable genius of a president took a minute out of his super important and not-at-all-euphemistic “executive time” to tweet a quote from Fox and Friends guest Patrick Moore, citing him as they do, as the ‘co-founder of Greenpeace.’ On the show, Moore told panel of ad hoc presidential advisors that the ‘climate crisis’ is ‘Fake Science’ [per Trump’s recounting]. There ‘is no climate crisis’; instead, ‘carbon dioxide is the main building block of life.’ [...] About those Greenpeace ‘creds’--like most everything else this paid industry hack says, this bio is a lie. Moore joined a year after the group was founded, then left in 1986. He’s since done PR work for the nuclear, fossil fuel, and pesticide industry.”
TRADE AND ECO-RELATED FOREIGN POLICY
palop writes—EU refusing trade talks with the US due to environmental policies: “...the European parliament just voted to not enter trade talks with the US because of our environmental policies. More specifically ‘our’ decision to leave the Paris agreement.”
WILDERNESS, NATIONAL FORESTS AND PARKS & OTHER PUBLIC LANDS
MorrellWI1983 writes—Trump signs Renewal of LWCF and Massive expansion of public lands into law: “In a move that creates 4 new national monuments, and expands several national parks. Trump signed The John Dingell Conservation, Management and recreation Act into law on Tuesday. in additions to the new monuments — Medger and Myrtle Evers in Mississippi, Mill Springs in Kentucky, Jurassic in Utah and St. Francis Dam in California—the bills add lands to Death Valley and Joshua Tree NPs in CA, Shiloh Military park in Tennessee Ocmulgee Historic park in GA, Acadia in Maine, along with several others. But perhaps most importantly, the bill permanently authorizes the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which provides money from offshore oil and gas drilling to protect federal, state and local lands, ranging from Yellowstone NP to to the local park campground. This is the biggest conservation law passed by Congress since the Omnibus bill in 2009 and conserves more than 2 million acres, ranges from new Recreation and Heritage areas to large chunks of new wilderness in Utah, New Mexico, California, Washington and Oregon.Under a president that has tried so hard to trash our natural lands, this is a rare, but very important, win!”
AIR POLLUTION
Walter Einenkel writes—New study shows white Americans produce more pollution, while people of color carry the burden: “Every new scientific study done on the health problems and stresses brought about by environmental pollution shows us how awful it truly is. However, what is not frequently discussed by traditional news outlets is the racial component of who is most affected by the abuses to our planet and how. As has been pointed out in a few diaries here, environmental justice is social justice is racial justice. A new study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) looks into the racial breakdown of who pollutes and who suffers the burden of that pollution. On average, non-Hispanic whites experience a “pollution advantage”: They experience ∼17% less air pollution exposure than is caused by their consumption. Blacks and Hispanics on average bear a ‘pollution burden”’of 56% and 63% excess exposure, respectively, relative to the exposure caused by their consumption. That is a terrible number, but not surprising. In November 2017, a study showed that black communities were 75 percent more likely to be situated right next to industrial sites that produce the kinds of air and ground and water pollution that is known to cause myriad health issues.”
BYPRODUCTS, TRASH, TOXIC & RADIOACTIVE WASTE
Dawn R Wolfe writes—Flint update: The water may be cleaner, but the situation remains murky: ”The good news is that the most recent tests of its water system show that Flint, Michigan’s water has less than half the level of lead contamination that would trigger state and federal action. However, between dozens of court cases, ongoing work to find and replace lead-contaminated pipes, and hundreds if not thousands of people still scared to trust the water coming from their taps, fallout from the Flint water crisis is far from over. On the court action front, newly elected Attorney General Dana Nessel announced several major changes on Feb. 21 to the way both the civil and criminal cases will be handled. During the press event, Nessel said that new Solicitor General Fadwa Hammoud will take the lead on the criminal cases alongside Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy, who is famous for successfully prosecuting former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, among other cases. Todd Flood, an outside counsel who was originally appointed by former Attorney General Bill Schuette, will remain on the team. Nessel further announced that she will take the lead on the 79 civil cases that have been filed against the state on grounds ranging from personal injury and property damage to alleged violations of the federal Clean Drinking Water Act. Nessel, a Democrat, also reversed course by announcing that she is in talks to settle many of those suits.”
REGULATIONS & PROTECTIONS
Dan Bacher writes—California Groups Warn Senators That David Bernhardt Is Acting on Behalf of Former Clients: “Fishing, water and environmental groups and tribal leaders from throughout California today brought up serious ethical questions about acting Interior Secretary David Bernhardt in a letter sent to Senators Warren, Blumenthal and Harris. In a joint press release, the coalition said, ‘A brutal confirmation fight is expected soon in the Senate as President Trump has now nominated Bernhardt to permanently lead the Department of the Interior. Bernhardt has served as deputy secretary since early in the Trump administration, and became acting secretary after Ryan Zinke resigned in December 2018 under an ethical cloud.’ According to a story I broke here in January, a fish survey that the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) conducts every autumn turned up zero Delta smelt — the very same fish that Bernhardt is trying to strip protections for — throughout the monitoring sites in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta in September, October, November and December 2018. (www.dailykos.com/...)”
ECO-ACTION & ECO JUSTICE
Alan Singer writes—Global Student Climate Strike Friday March 15: “On March 15, hundreds of thousands of high school and middle school students around the world will walk out of school to demand immediate government action to reverse the global climate crisis. As of Sunday March 10, over 950 protests were planned in more than 80 countries. A partial list is included below. In an op-ed published in the British newspaper The Guardian, the global coordination group of the youth-led climate strike wrote: • We, the young, are deeply concerned about our future. Humanity is currently causing the sixth mass extinction of species and the global climate system is at the brink of a catastrophic crisis. Its devastating impacts are already felt by millions of people around the globe. Yet we are far from reaching the goals of the Paris agreement. • Young people make up more than half of the global population. Our generation grew up with the climate crisis and we will have to deal with it for the rest of our lives. Despite that fact, most of us are not included in the local and global decision-making process. We are the voiceless future of humanity.”
Mishima writes—Student Climate Strike In NZ/AUS: “On Thursday, the federal Labor leader, Bill Shorten, also told students to protest on the weekend rather than a school day. But on Wednesday, the NSW Labor leader, Michael Daley, who is gearing up for the state election on 23 March, told students he supported them. No, he wasn’t the only conservative politician complaining about the students protesting during school. When they should be doing this at the weekend.”
tjlord writes—Will a 15-year-old climate warrior get the chance to really chap the Drump chaps? “I understand it is official that Greta Thunberg is a candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize. Talk about a trifecta — a young women, green warrior, and anti-Trumper getting the Peace Prize he seems to believe he should get. PLEASE, PLEASE let her win. Though the the Twittler would be appoplectic and the content would be guaranteed to be a disgrace to the US.”
eeff writes—Greta Thunberg has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize: “This is a BFD! Greta Thunberg nominated for Nobel peace prize. Greta Thunberg, the founder of the Youth Strike for Climate movement, has been nominated for the Nobel peace prize, just ahead of the biggest day yet of global action. Thunberg began a solo protest in Sweden in August but has since inspired students around the globe. Strikes are expected in 1,659 towns and cities in 105 countries on Friday, involving hundreds of thousands of young people. ‘We have proposed Greta Thunberg because if we do nothing to halt climate change it will be the cause of wars, conflict and refugees,’ said Norwegian Socialist MP Freddy André Øvstegård. ‘Greta Thunberg has launched a mass movement which I see as a major contribution to peace.”
durrati writes—Watch Laura Ingraham and Guest on Her Show Mock A Nine Year Old Climate Activist: “Well, I suppose there are bigger stories to weigh in on today, but perhaps none so indicative of the poison being pumped into the brains of Fox views as this:
NHlib writes—The climate marches went on anyway: “The numbers seem to be past 1,000,000 people worldwide now. 2052 locations in 123 countries. But Europe is far ahead of anywhere else.Rather than reposting all the pictures and videos of marches all over the world, I just direct you to Greta Thunberg’s Twitter feed, where you can see them all.”
Frida Berrigan via TomDispatch writes—A Mother Swept Away by Climate Change: “Young people across the world are striking to draw attention to the ravages of climate change. They are demanding -- with their bodies and their voices -- that the catastrophe each of them will inherit be a priority for the grown-ups around them. They are insisting that we adults make some sacrifices to keep their planet from becoming uninhabitable. ‘We are the voiceless future of humanity... We will not accept a life in fear and devastation. We have the right to live our dreams and hopes.’ You know who said that? A teenager. Actually, lots of them, since it’s part of a letter, a call to action, from the organizers of Fridays for a Future. I’m hearing them loud and clear and it’s driving me crazy! The map of activities that those teenagers planned for their March 15th global day of action represented a mind-popping collection of locations, including Tromso, Norway; Port Louis, Mauritius; Diliman, the Philippines; Osorno, Chile; Whitehorse, Canada; Bamako, Mali; and Tehran, Iran. You don’t have to be a cartographer to notice that there are way more actions planned around the world than in Donald Trump’s United States. This clarion call comes from teenagers, the crew we characterize here in America as eye-rolling creatures suspended in a helpless state of consumerism, hyper-sexualization, and crushing academic pressure. Of course, there are kids in the streets (and sitting in at congressional offices) for climate change (and for a host of other issues) here, too, but, there are far more doing nothing but playing Fortnite on their phones or tablets and uploading DIY lip-balm videos on YouTube.”
AGRICULTURE, FOOD & GARDENING
DownHeah Mississippi writes—Saturday Morning Garden Blog Vol. 15.11: Let's Talk Gardening: “I am currently active in 4 (mostly tomato) gardening forums. All of them have their attributes, but one, in particular, has become my absolute favorite. They have built a very nice community of like-minded folks who love tomatoes (and peppers), and who are very comfortable with each other. It’s a cool place! Their members are from all over the globe: The U.S….Germany...The Netherlands...France...Russia...The Philippines...Australia, and Canada. They swap information, and seeds (LOTS of seeds!)...and they collectively ‘grow out’ interesting new tomato (and pepper) varieties, whether they be accidental or intentional crosses. I volunteered to participate in 4 of their ongoing ‘grow outs’ this season; 3 peppers and 1 tomato. The one that most fascinates me is a segregate of a Giant Marconi Pepper (here) that exhibited ‘stripes.’ One plant out of six produced striped fruit. Seed from that plant were saved and grown out through multiple generations.”
MISCELLANY
Grey Fedora writes—A Plastic Bag Epiphany: “I had mine a few years ago. I bought a candy bar, which I was going to eat immediately. The cashier absentmindedly tossed the candy bar into a plastic bag. I walked out of the store, tossed the bag into a sidewalk trash bin, and popped the candy bar into my mouth. The bag was in my possession for thirty seconds…. and will take a thousand years to decompose in a landfill. We’re not going to save the planet just with reusable bags, but actions become habits, habits become character and character becomes destiny. Here’s what’s been working for me.”