This is the 608th edition of the Spotlight on Green News & Views (previously known as the Green Diary Rescue). Here is the July 20 edition. Inclusion of a story in the Spotlight does not necessarily indicate my agreement with or endorsement of it.
OUTSTANDING GREEN STORIES
Mokurai writes—Renewable Friday: Rest of World: “Renewables are cheaper than coal. Everywhere. Period. End of story. Except that poor countries can often get financing for coal plants, and not for renewables. Closing the deal on the end of coal. Coal is in many countries still seen as one of cheapest energy sources. This is due to the fact that the negative effects of burning coal on the climate and human health are not reflected in energy prices. In addition, developing countries in particular have the problem that financing costs of renewables remain high. The new MCC Policy Brief ‘Coal Phase-out’ shows what measures are necessary to phase out coal rapidly and in a socially acceptable way. However, like all obstacles to renewables, that is changing. Funding for renewables in poor countries has seen rapid increases, even if not rapid enough yet. Climate Finance. In 2018, the [World Bank Group] provided a record-breaking $20.5 billion in finance for climate action: doubling our delivery from the year before the Paris Agreement was adopted and meeting our 2020 climate finance targets two years ahead of schedule. [...] ”
sandbear75 writes—Daily Bucket-Welcome to the high country: “Let me take you on my little trip in my backyard. On Monday I took a 41 mile drive to hangout in a hammock some place cool. Here in Central Arizona, elevation rules all. It dictates temperature, moisture and vegetation. I live in a town that sits at the bottom of a valley at 3400 feet above sea level. On Monday our high was 106 degrees. That’s our average high of the year I’d say. The vegetation around here when not next to the river is native grass, invasive mesquite, varieties of Ephedra, Creosote, and Juniper. It’s in the Biome called Desert grassland, plant zone 8b. There’s not many chances to hang up a hammock in that.So, off I went with my cousin to hit the high country. Driving across the valley to the east edge is a small roller coaster. The highest point is only 3700 feet and there’s not much difference in the vegetation. But that’s when things change.”
Robert Flynn writes—A Clear and Present Danger: Trump's EPA Republication: “American fetuses are ‘soaking in a stew of chemicals, including mercury,’ according to a report by the Environmental Working Group (ewg.org). The group tested ‘umbilical cord blood that reflects what the mother passes to the fetus through the placenta.’ The tests revealed 287 chemicals; ‘180 cause cancer in humans or animals, 217 are toxic to the brain and nervous system, and 208 cause birth defects or abnormal development in animal tests,’ the report said. A Government Accountability Office report said the Environmental Protection Agency does not have the powers it needs to fully regulate toxic chemicals. (Reuters 7/14/05) Instead of increasing the power of the EPA to protect human life and well-being, the Trump administration and the EPA want to remove more regulations. '‘There’s a Toxic Weedkiller on the Menu in K-12 Schools Across the U.S.’ Monsanto’s glyphosate has been found in over 70% of oat-based breakfast cereals served to U.S. school children. (Common Dreams, 01/09/2019) Glyphosate, an herbicide that remains the world's most ubiquitous weed killer, raises the cancer risk of those exposed to it by 41%, a new analysis says.” (CNN-02/25/2019)”
CRITTERS AND THE GREAT OUTDOORS
6412093 writes—The Daily Bucket--The $100 Lotus: “Last Spring, I went to Washington DC to help AOC write the Green New Deal. /s/ I had a free afternoon so I went to the Kenilworth Lotus Gardens in the northeast corner of town. It was a misty and muddy February so I had the place to myself. Vultures glided overhead. Deer crashed through the bushes. I enjoyed the barren grounds because I could peruse the bare bones of the layout. There were dozens of ponds and lakes, all interconnected with pipes that moved water from pond to pond. This pond for lilies, that pond for lotuses. The multi-acre site drained into a River. I was the only one there. I was astonished at the waist-high windrows of desiccated lotus flower heads that the wind had piled up on pond’s edge. I picked up one the flower heads, and hmm, one of its round hard olive-sized seeds rolled out into my palm. Well, I put it onto my pocket. I picked up another seed head, and then another seed rolled out. And another. Who would miss a few seeds? There were thousands there. But as I left, with a dozen seeds in my pocket, my face burned with the guilt of the former Boy Scout who had shoplifted. Dang. I reversed course and walked into the Park Service office.”
6412093 writes—The Daily Bucket--Mom and Dad Junco: “The Oregon Junco is a locally abundant genus of sparrow, also known as a dark-eyed junco, and is the only bird sporting the Oregon State Name (Junco hyemalis). Its range includes most of North America, but the range I’m writing about is in my own side yard. I’d noticed a pair of juncos in the Frog Mitigation Area, where a fishless creek wends between two shallow ponds where frogs breed. The juncoes flirted in the nearby pear tree; shaking their white tail feathers. They checked out the low cover plants that were supposed to accommodate the frogs. The juncos enjoyed ducking in and out of the bushes, and took advantage of the abundant water supplies for drinking and bathing. They also feed in the nearby garden. I spotted the junco pair going under a fern next to a small heather, again and again. I parted the fern leaves and stole a look; there were several freshly hatched babies, eyes closed, nearly featherless, in a modest nest.”
OceanDiver writes—Dawn Chorus: Danger for Killdeer Chicks: “Early days are a dangerous time for bird babies. Between weather, hunger, predators, and accidents, the sad fact is a baby bird’s chance to survive its first year is about 50-50 in general. Yes, we know mortality is necessary to avoid an unsustainable population explosion but it’s especially hard knowing that human activity is adding to the risks present in nature. In the case I’m spotlighting today it’s a road that runs along the shore separating the beach (food) from the field behind it (nesting, shelter). We rarely actually see baby birds who die, and in fact I didn’t see that among the killdeer family that nested nearby this spring, but I did see diminishing numbers, and have good reason to think the road is a likely reason. Here’s what I observed over several days in May and June. On May 22 I heard a lot of killdeer alarm vocalizing as I bicycled along the road. You know how piercing their calls are. I stopped to see what was going on. An adult killdeer was pacing back and forth in the yard of a waterfront cabin. The road runs between the cabins and a medium bank beach.”
OceanDiver writes—The Daily Bucket - July berries: “The maritime PNW is a prime berry growing region, both commercially and in nature. I grow blueberries and raspberries (and a few strawberries) for us to eat. Strolling around my neighborhood I see many other berries are ripening too. [...] I used to net my rasps against the birds but it became impossible to keep the netting taut enough to avoid bird entanglement, which is a deal breaker for me. The bed is L shaped for one thing and for another, there isn’t a good way to secure netting along the bottom. So I gave up, and we share the rasps. Fortunately they are abundant and will continue ripening all the way to the start of the fall rains in October, at which time they’ll get moldy.”
Angmar writes—The Daily Bucket: Firefly Season: The Lampyridae are a family of insects in the beetleorder Coleoptera with over 2,000 described species. They are soft-bodied beetles that are commonly called fireflies or lightning bugs for their conspicuous use of bioluminescence during twilight to attract mates or prey. Fireflies produce a ‘cold light,’ with no infrared or ultraviolet frequencies. This chemically produced light from the lower abdomen may be yellow, green, or pale red, with wavelengths from 510 to 670 nanometers. Some species such as the dimly glowing ‘blue ghost’ of the Eastern US are commonly thought to emit blue light (<490 nanometers), though this is a false perception of their truly green emission light due to the Purkinje effect. Fireflies are found in temperate and tropical climates. Many are found in marshes or in wet, wooded areas where their larvae have abundant sources of food. en.wikipedia.org/...”
CLIMATE CHAOS
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—WSJ’s Latest Pair Of Pro-Gas Opinions Deny Realities of Racism And Climate Science: “The Wall Street Journal’s opinion pages are not exactly bastions of journalistic integrity, to say the least. This weekend provided a prime example of the Journal’s fundamental inability to reconcile opinions and ideology with facts, with a pair of opinion pieces promoting fossil fuels.The first of the two pieces (posted two minutes before the other) is an op-ed by Robert Bryce. It’s Bryce’s two dozenth op-ed in the WSJ over the last decade, each and every one of which attacks renewables, promotes fossil fuels or, in most cases, does both. But this is hardly a surprise, given that Bryce was long ago exposed as a paid tool of the fossil-fuel-funded Manhattan Institute. (Not that it was hard to connect the dots, as no one not funded by Exxon would seriously suggest putting the company in charge of the Energy department. At least not in the pre-Trump era...) [...] The second anti-human-surival-on-Earth piece the paper published Sunday was an editorial about Berkeley, California’s ban on natural gas. The Journal, totally known far and wide for its super-sincere positions to aid marginalized communities, came out against a policy that will prevent new buildings from being built with natural gas connections.”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Not-A-Lord-Monckton and That’s-Not-An-Exclusive-Mooney Think They’re Very Smart. They’re Not: “For the past four or five years, an eccentric British man named Christopher Monckton has been pushing a version of a climate model he believes disproves the whole consensus. Monckton’s model is, to put it lightly, stupid. Given that Monckton has also claimed to have discovered a cure for both AIDS and the common cold, was once outsmarted by a calendar, is worried about reptilians at the UN and has the prestigious honor of having received a cease and desist letter from the UK’s House of Lords to stop calling himself Lord Monckton because he’s not a Lord, it’s not surprising that Monckton is still sticking to his laughably wrong guns. At a recent post in WUWT, Monckton addresses the latest criticisms of his work and includes a plug attend Heartland’s conference on Thursday where he’ll present these years-old findings. What’s unique and noteworthy about the post is not that it provides a credible counter to the consensus, but that the entire thing is a response to one commenter who dared to dispute Monckton’s assertions.”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Infighting In Denial-land As Meteorologist Ryan Maue Dabbles With A Gorilla Mindset: “Yesterday, a story in the Guardian reporting on a trio of studies that show the current warming is unprecedented over the last couple thousand years caught our eye. The studies should, in the words of climate scientist Mark Maslin, “finally stop climate change deniers” from claiming warming is natural. But it won’t, because deniers aren’t motivated by the science. They’re motivated by money and ideology- that’s why they’re deniers, and not just skeptics. Because skepticism, as it turns out, is actually pretty rare among the community. And bizarrely, even deniers are starting to recognize that. At least bottom-tier denial blogger Brandon Schollenberger is, judging by some of his recent posts at Hi-Izuru. Back in June, he published a piece tracking down the origins of a fabricated climategate quote, part of his work looking into Mark Steyn’s book attacking Michael Mann by using other people’s quotes, which Schollenberger describes as ‘a lazy, dishonest smear campaign’.”
Mark Sumner writes—Why the next 18 months could decide the fate of the country, the climate, and our civilization: “The idea that what happens in the next year and a half could have consequences that spell out what will happen to the world in coming centuries seems not just daunting, but … a little ridiculous. Over the top. Exaggerated. It’s true, any day can be very consequential if Donald Trump should mistake the Coke button for that other button, and November 3, 2020, does fall within the next 18 months, and that’s a pretty big day on anyone’s calendar. But still … the future of planet? That seems like a big claim. Except that there are some pretty good reasons to believe it’s true. And one of those reasons is the fact that the temperature in Paris today was 109° F. It was just last month that France and the rest of Europe were boiling in an early June heatwave that brought temperatures across the region to all-time record highs. As it turned out, those records lasted a month. This week records fell again and new ones were set in country after country. Roads buckled. Water pipes failed. Trains were derailed. People died. And the heat has not stopped.”
gmoke writes—Six Climate Goals Before 2020: “A recent article in Nature has called for reaching peak carbon by 2020 rather than 2025 or later. The headlines derived from that article have expressed it as ‘we have 18 months not 12 years.’ What is useful to me is that the original article includes some guideposts to where we need to be in order to peak our carbon emissions by 2020 and then begin to reduce those emissions to what the natural carbon cycle can handle. By 2020, here’s where the world needs to be: Energy. Renewables make up at least 30% of the world’s electricity supply — up from 23.7% in 2015 (ref. 8). No coal-fired power plants are approved beyond 2020, and all existing ones are being retired. Infrastructure. Cities and states have initiated action plans to fully decarbonize buildings and infrastructures by 2050, with funding of $300 billion annually. Cities are upgrading at least 3% of their building stock to zero- or near-zero emissions structures each year. Transport. Electric vehicles make up at least 15% of new car sales globally, a major increase from the almost 1% market share that battery-powered and plug-in hybrid vehicles now claim. Also required are commitments for a doubling of mass-transit utilization in cities, a 20% increase in fuel efficiencies for heavy-duty vehicles and a 20% decrease in greenhouse-gas emissions from aviation per kilometre travelled. [...]”
Pakalolo writes—Scientific consensus grows that we have eighteen months to save the earth, not 12 years: “The IPCC gave us 12 years to set the wheels in motion to save ourselves from the apocalypse known as climate change. Now in the scientific community, a consensus is building that we have only 18 months to implement aggressive climate policy. Which means ‘that the decisive, political steps to enable the cuts in carbon to take place will have to happen before the end of next year.’ This does not mean we have 18 months before all hell breaks loose (at least for those in the temperate zones), but it does mean that steps to draw down carbon output to zero need to be in place to address the scale of the problem. Otherwise, our ability to save the biosphere will be completely out of our control. The Trump regime, of course, will still be in office in January 2021. If he wins the 2020 election our fate is sealed. His environmental policies along with his war on the fight against climate change will have made Make America Venus Again a horrifying reality.”
Pakalolo writes—Record high temperatures in Alaska have sent salmon into cardiac arrest: “Humans have been eating salmon in Alaska for 11,000 years. The cold-water fish is a protein powerhouse and Alaskan wild salmon is beyond delicious. In a heating Arctic, the consequences of our fossil fuel emissions are coming under intense scrutiny. This summer in the Arctic, heat records were smashed, sea ice loss and raging wildfires have been dramatic and more startling than in years past. River water in Alaska has been warming and any water temperature over 70 F is lethal for salmon. The warm water is a direct result of the changing Arctic climate. River water fed by the record-demolishing and horrifyingly warm surface water in the Bering Sea this summer provided the temperature boost via high tide to the principal drainage for an area of the remote Alaska Interior on the north and west side of the Alaska Range, flowing southwest into Kuskokwim Bay on the Bering Sea. Anna Rose Macarthur of KYUK writes: Residents along the lower Kuskokwim River from Tuntutuliak to Akiak reported dead salmon floating downstream. Salmon don’t function well past 70 degrees, and the water had pushed just above that limit.”
Pakalolo writes—Peat, the world's largest terrestrial carbon store, ignites into 'unprecedented' Arctic firestorms: “Peat is a carbon-rich soil, fires are of interest in the Arctic because they are quite rare due to cold and moist and waterlogged environments, conditions that should prevent a fire from starting. But high temperatures and drought, due to emissions from fossil fuels, lower the water table making the bog susceptible to combustion.
The Arctic is warming faster than the rest of the world and the loss of sea ice helped create this tinderbox. The phenomenon makes the entire Arctic vulnerable to wildfire (usually ignited by lightning). Under these conditions, peat (when ignited) creates slowly moving smoldering fires, with low-temperature and generally flameless burning of fuel. They release substantial amounts of concentrated smoke leading to the haze that darkens the ice diminishing the reflectivity back to space. This study provides in-depth detail of the emissions.”
Lefty Coaster writes—On Climate Change struggling Midwest Republican farmers embrace the notion 'Ignorance is Strength!' “This story ran on CBS this morning. Watching [it] I had to resist the urge to facepalm.”
Pretiare writes—Can The International Court of Justice have a role in Climate Crisis (and can crowd funding help)? “Does this idea have merit: Start a crowd funding effort (worldwide) to help fund the International Court of Justice at the Hague to start a trial against world leaders who are not taking appropriate steps to at least limit human effects on the climate crisis. If there are no penalties for not acting, then that is the easiest and worst route to take. Trump (I prefer drumpt) should be the first name on the list because he is acting to worsen the climate crisis. And while that court is at it, trying drumpf for other crimes against humanity, such as the handling of illegal immigrants should also rate a trial. Congress (due to Mitch McConnell in the Senate) isn’t going to punish drumpf, though voters certainly can. But time is of the essence. So put Mitch McConnell on the list of those who are committing crimes against humanity. In fact, put drumpf and McConnell at the top of the list and make an example out of them. If they choose to leave the USA, then they can face arrest if convicted. That’s a satisfying outcome.”
NHlib writes—There is no middle ground on climate: “Apprearing more relaxed and animated than in previous speeches, Greta Thunberg laid it out before the French National Assembly on Tuesday. She also sounds more angry. Be sure to catch what she says near the end about the new fad for declaring climate emergencies [transcribed below the video]:
‘Now political leaders in some countries are starting to talk. They are starting to declare climate emergencies and announcing dates for so-called “climate neutrality”. Declaring a climate emergency is good. But only setting up these vague, distant dates, and saying things that give the impression that things are being done and that action is underway will most likely do more harm than good because the changes that are required are still nowhere in sight’.”
Angmar writes—Saving the Planet: Green Living and Regenerative Culture: “Save the Planet: Turn out the lights *Don't waste water *Avoid creating nighttime light pollution *Avoid burning wood (or other things), as wood fires are both pollutant and carcinogenic *Don't use harmful pesticides *Limit your use of cars and planes (if possible) *Don't use gas powered vehicles *Take out grass and put in a garden or pond (or xeriscape ) *Mow, blow, and whack with electric *Plant for the animals (bees, birds etc) *Plant a tree *Don't micro manage yards, go wilder *Try to use solar *Take a trolley or train *Use energy efficient products or products that work on clean fuels *Reduce dependence on non-biodegradable items* Walk or carpool *Turn down the heat or AC *Reuse items- give to Goodwill or Craig's list rather than dumping *Ride bikes instead of using cars *Cut down or cease eating meat *Use reusable carry bags for groceries not their plastic; second choice, paper bags *Compost *Save the bees *Be an insect friend *Be informed *Write your representative *Elect pro-environment candidates and demand action *Support the Green New Deal *Sign petitions *Get involved *March *Blog about the environment *Tell a friend!”
Angmar writes—Climate Change Anxiety Support Group meeting: Sunday July 28th, 7:30pm edt "Weather and heatwaves": “Climate Change Anxiety Support Group meeting: Sunday July 28th, 7:30pm edt. The increasing visibility of climate change, combined with bleak scientific reports and rising carbon dioxide emissions, is taking a toll on mental health, especially among young people, who are increasingly losing hope for their future. Experts call it ‘climate grief,’ depression, anxiety and mourning over climate change. Last year, the American Psychological Association issued a report on climate change’s effect on mental health. The report primarily dealt with trauma from extreme weather but also recognized that ‘gradual, long-term changes in climate can also surface a number of different emotions, including fear, anger, feelings of powerlessness, or exhaustion’.”
Lib Dem FoP writes—Record High Temperatures Hit Europe, Flights From UK Badly Affected: “Temperature records have been broken all over NW Europe. Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium have recorded all-time national temperature highs for the second day running and Paris has had its hottest day ever as the second dangerous heatwave of the summer sears western Europe. The extreme temperatures follow a similar heatwave last month that made it the hottest June on record. Scientists say the climate crisis is making summer heatwaves five times more likely and significantly more intense. The UK had it’s second highest day and hottest July day on record, although this may be revised.”
POPULATION, SUSTAINABILITY & EXTINCTION
Angmar writes—"Biodiversity Crisis is about to put Humanity at risk, UN scientists to warn": “The speed of climate disruption is outstripping many animals’ capacity to adapt, according to a study that warns of a growing threat to even common species such as sparrows, magpies and deer. Scientists behind the research described the results as alarming because they showed a dangerous lag between a human-driven shift in the seasons and behavioural changes in the natural world. Previous academic work has shown that species respond to warming temperatures by earlier timing of biological events, for example egg-laying by birds, budding of plants and flying of insects. The new metastudy, published in Nature Research, examines how effective this is in terms of reproduction and survival.”
ECO-ACTION & ECO JUSTICE
mlarson59 writes—A climate change victim in Iceland is set to be memorialized: “A climate change victim in Iceland is set to be memorialized with a monument that underscores the urgent crisis. The victim is the former Okjökull glacier in Borgarfjörður, which scientists say is the nation's first glacier lost to the climate crisis. The memorial monument will be installed during a Aug. 18 ‘un-glacier tour’ and is entitled, ‘A letter to the future.’ It was authored by Icelandic writer Andri Snær Magnason. ‘Ok is the first Icelandic glacier to lose it status as a glacier,’ the text of the plaque reads. ‘In the next 200 years all our glaciers are expected to follow the same path’.”
NHlib writes—It is time to rebel: “A variation on one of Greta’s speeches, over music by the British band “The 1975.” “Everyone out there, it is now time for civil disobedience. It is time to rebel.”
Wilsonword writes—How great is Greta? “The answer to that, I think, is: it’s not very important how great she is or how great any such figure is. What matters are the issues. Greta Thunberg is saying and doing good things, but one cautionary thing to say here: it’s not good that we focus these issues so much on one person (of any gender or age or ethnicity). But that is what has happened in her case and many others. We see her face all over the place now, and pieces focusing on her personality, her family, her age, her background, etc. What about the actual ideas, the activism, the changes needed? It’s undemocratic to focus the attention on one person when the issues affect us all and require us all to be involved. It’s also a dangerous tactic as if that hero figure falls, for some reason, there is a good chance they will take the wider movement with them.”
ENERGY
Green New Deal & 100% Clean Energy
Nuclear
Fossil Fuels
Dan Bacher writes—Newsom Tours Kern County Oil Spill as Locals Call for Immediate Health and Safety Protections: “At a time when oil and gas drilling continues to expand in California, Governor Gavin Newsom on July 24 visited the site of a big oil spill in Chevron’s Cymric oilfield in Kern County, The spill has seeped 974,400 gallons of a hazardous mix of oil and wastewater into the surrounding area for over two months, according to the latest data from the Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources (DOGGR) of the California Department of Conservation, the agency responsible for regulating the fossil fuel industry in the state. In both the map of the incident (Cymric Surface Expressions) and the update on their website, they refer to the oil spill as a “surface expression” or ‘surface expressions.’ ‘I'm seeing progress,’ Newsom told reporters during a media availability during his visit to the site, where the oil and water mixture has spilled into a dry creek bed.”
Meteor Blades writes—Open thread for night owls: Mitch McConnell gives black lung-afflicted coal miners the brush-off: “A group of retired Kentucky coal miners suffering from incurable black lung disease slammed Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for brushing them off on Tuesday after they asked the Republican to commit to funding their medical care. Around 120 miners and their families traveled to Washington, D.C. this week to meet with the Kentucky Republican and pressure him to take action to finance the federal Black Lung Disability Trust Fund, which serves as a lifeline for an estimated 12,000 former coal miners nationwide. The miners said McConnell was ‘rude’ during their meeting and quickly left after delivering a brief statement. ‘We rode up here for 10 hours by bus to get some answers from him because he represents our state,’ George Massey, a miner from Harlan County, Kentucky, told the Lexington Herald-Leader. ‘For him to come in for just two minutes was a low-down shame’.”
Mark Sumner writes—Mitch McConnell digs coal miners' votes, but not enough to help them: “Coal miners still, for reasons that are not clear, believed they had a friend in Mitch McConnell. Maybe it was because of all the cheerleading McConnell has done for the industry. Maybe it was because of all the mock-turtle concern McConnell has expressed over the years. But when miners suffering from black lung disease came to visit the majority leader, they got a lesson: Mitch McConnell simply doesn’t care. According to the Lexington-Herald Leader, when he was face to face with the miners, McConnell gave the group vague assurances that they “would be taken care of.” For the 12,000 miners who are utterly dependent on funding from the Black Lung DisabilityTrust Fund, that’s a big deal—especially considering that the fund is $4.3 billion in debt and headed for collapse after the Republican tax bill slashed the taxes that pay for the fund. But McConnell waved away the miners’ worries, telling them ‘they shouldn’t be concerned.’ Then McConnell ducked out of the meeting almost as soon as it began, prompting one former miner who made the long trip to the Republican leader’s office to call him rude. Still, that wasn’t nearly as rude as what he did next. After the meeting, McConnell made it clear that he wasn’t going to reinstate the tax that funds the black lung payments.”
Renewables, Efficiency, Energy Storage & Conservation
RoyMorrison writes—Renewable Energy Transformation is Now a Simple Choice: “I build solar farms. It's now absolutely clear that a quick 100% renewable energy transformation is just a simple choice to move forward or not. New York and California are pursuing aggressive renewable plans. But Hawaii leads the way. Hawaii has just undertaken the largest renewable procurement accompanied by a schedule when existing fossil fuel plants will be shut down by date certain in the next few years. The combination of wind, solar, geothermal, tidal, water power and energy storage can quickly slash greenhouse gas emissions and then eliminate them from the energy sector. Each state or region can quickly come up with its own ten year renewable transition plan. Just considering solar energy alone, the total area of solar panels combined with storage to eliminate fossil fuels is trivial.”
Reinvented Daddy writes—Standing Rock Sioux Plant Solar Farm Next To Dakota Access Pipeline: “The Standing Rock Sioux tribe of Native Americans are still leading the way against the cancerous fossil fuel industry. It was announced yesterday that they will be building the largest solar farm in North Dakota a short walk from the Dakota Access Pipeline. Located just 3 miles (5 kilometers) from the pipeline, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe's solar project is meant as a first step toward clean energyindependence and a way to power all 12 of the reservation communities in North Dakota and South Dakota. It also shows that the protests that began in 2016 and ended in 2017 weren't for naught, even though the pipeline began carrying oil more than two years ago, said Cody Two Bears, the project leader and executive director of Indigenized Energy, which promotes energy within the Sioux Nation. North Dakota is at the heart of the carbon industry. A feudal extraction economy leaves nothing but empty towns, scarred land and sad stories but it is the only engine moving the economies in states like this and Wyoming and West Virginia. Whether you make it from coal or natural gas or solar cells the end product is electricity. All utilities and consumers care about is cost and the cost curve is bending towards the sun.”
TRANSPORTATION & INFRASTRUCTURE
Meteor Blades writes—California and four major automakers stick it to Trump on fuel-efficiency standards: “In an agreement announced Wednesday, California and four major automobile manufacturers have undermined the Trump regime’s effort to roll back automobile fuel-efficiency requirements that had been finalized in President Barack Obama’s first term. The automakers say they will push for an average of 50 miles per gallon across their entire product line regardless of what the federal government does. As a consequence, said Democratic Rep. Doris Matsui, who represents Sacramento in Congress, Trump’s attempt to freeze vehicle efficiency standards at the 2020 level is now ‘dead on arrival.’ That’s good to hear since the Trump plan is to set efficiency at 37 mpg. But whether it’s truly d.o.a. remains to be seen. California led 16 other states last year in suing the Environmental Protection Agency over the proposed rollback. EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler said at the Washington Auto Show in April: ‘I believe we are on firm legal footing and I believe that our standards will be upheld by the courts.’ Maybe. Or maybe he’s just whistling in the dark. California and the other state parties think there’s a good chance the feds will lose the suit. Whoever wins, the litigation could take a long time to work its way through the courts. Which is exactly what automobile manufacturers don’t want. Because delay means uncertainty. If there is one thing automakers—and other manufacturers—despise more than a tough new regulation, it’s not knowing what will be in a regulation nor when they’ll have to comply with it and how.”
Tom Conway writes—Double or Nothing on Infrastructure: “Bad news about infrastructure is as ubiquitous as potholes. Failures in a 108-year-old railroad bridge and tunnel cost New York commuters thousands of hours in delays. Illinois doesn’t regularly inspect, let alone fix, decaying bridges. Flooding in Nebraska caused nearly half a billion in road and bridge damage – just this year. No problem, though. President Donald Trump promised to fix all this. The great dealmaker, the builder of eponymous buildings, the star of “The Apprentice,” Donald Trump, during his campaign, urged Americans to bet on him because he’d double what his opponent would spend on infrastructure. Double, he pledged! So far, that wager has netted Americans nothing. No money. No deal. No bridges, roads or leadless water pipes. And there’s nothing on the horizon since Trump stormed out of the most recent meeting. That was a three-minute session in May with Democratic leaders at which Trump was supposed to discuss the $2 trillion he had proposed earlier to spend on infrastructure. In a press conference immediately afterward, Trump said if the Democrats continued to investigate him, he would refuse to keep his promises to the American people to repair the nation’s infrastructure. The comedian Stephen Colbert described the situation best, saying Trump told the Democrats: ‘It’s my way or no highways’.”
OCEANS, WATER, DROUGHT
Dan Bacher writes—CA Water politics takes a weird turn: FBI raids LADWP and LA City Attorney's offices: “California water politics took a strange turn today when FBI agents raided multiple government offices, including offices of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) and the LA City Attorney, as part of an investigation into the “disastrous rollout of a new customer billing system,” according to the LA Times. The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, established over 100 years ago, is the largest municipal water and power utility in the nation. It provides water to 681,000 water customers and electricity to 1.4 million electric customers.It is the utility known for building the aqueduct that diverts Owens River water to Los Angeles, destroying the once lush agricultural economy of the Owens of Valley in the process, and is also the utility featured in the classic 1974 movie Chinatown. ‘Wearing suits and navy blue FBI jackets, investigators searched the DWP headquarters on Hope Street and the offices of City Atty. Mike Feuer a few blocks away at City Hall. Search warrants were also served in two other locations—one in Beverly Hills, the other in an office tower that houses multiple city agencies,’ the Times said.”
Dan Bacher writes—Public process to negotiate amendments to SWP contracts for a new Delta Tunnel project begins today: “The Department of Water Resources on July 9 announced the beginning of the “public process” to negotiate proposed amendments to the State Water Project water supply contracts for a new Delta Conveyance facility, AKA Delta Tunnel. The Gavin Newsom Administration, after deciding to no longer support Governor Jerry Brown’s Twin Tunnels project, is forging ahead with a one Delta Tunnel proposal as part of Newsom’s Water Portfolio program. ‘The Department of Water Resources (DWR) and the State Water Project (SWP) Contractors plan to begin a public process to negotiate proposed amendments to the SWP water supply contracts for a new Delta Conveyance facility,’ according to DWR. ‘The announcement for the first negotiation session, which is scheduled for July 24, 2019 at 10:00 a.m. at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel, 2001 Point W Way, Sacramento, CA 95818 can be accessed here’.”
CANDIDATES, STATE AND DC ECO-RELATED POLITICS
TDGoddard writes—Trump Campaign Thinks Trolling Liberals Over Plastic Straws Is Amusing: “The Trump presidential campaign thinks it’s clever trolling liberals by selling 140,000 plastic straws over the last few days because ‘liberal paper straws’ don’t work. But as Green That Life shows, plastic straws are a much bigger problem than you probably think. They cannot be recycled and are harming wildlife and destroying our environment. If you’re convinced, here are four alternatives to the plastic straw.”
Mark Sumner writes—Ohio law forces everyone to bail out nuclear and coal plants, ends support for energy efficiency: “Everyone in Ohio will now get the privilege of bailing out noncompetitive nuclear and coal plants, even if they don’t use power from either of the companies that operate those plants. On Tuesday, Republican Gov. Mike DeWine signed new legislation that adds fees to every single resident’s electric bills in order to bail out nuclear plants operated by FirstEnergy Solutions and coal plants operated Ohio Valley Electric Corporation. And, as an extra-special bonus, the same legislation will end programs supporting increased efficiency along with those that promote wind and solar power. In fact, the legislation is being sold to Ohio consumers as a savings, because the $170 million in payoffs to failing plants is hidden behind the ‘savings’ generated by failing to take any steps to improve the money-losing system. It gets better. Getting enough money out of the system to cover up the cost of these old, expensive, and never profitable plants is considered vital enough that the legislation will actually phase out Ohio’s efforts to increase the use of renewable energy and energy-efficient approaches.”
Mark Sumner writes—Kirsten Gillibrand's climate change 'moonshot' includes carbon tax, end to drilling on public land: “Being a serious Democratic candidate for 2020 means having a plan for addressing the climate crisis. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand passed that hurdle on Thursday with the release of a plan that she labels a ‘Change Moonshot.’ The plan includes a hefty tax on sources of atmospheric carbon. And it goes beyond the plans put forward by many other candidates by not just ending further exploration for oil and coal on public lands, but also phasing out existing permits. The target for Gillibrand is to reach net-zero on carbon emissions by 2050. But there are other dates in her plan that come up much sooner, such as reaching net-zero on electrical production nationwide by 2030. Her plan also calls for updating the electrical grid to better handle more distributed, renewable sources and provide better service and reliability, particularly in rural areas. Unlike the Green New Deal, which doesn’t explicitly call for a carbon tax, Gillibrand is doing just that. Her plan calls for ‘a meaningful price on carbon — starting at $52 per metric ton,’ which would go toward funding a $100 billion a year fund for both moving the nation toward a green future and mitigating the effects that the climate crisis is already producing in the form of floods, fires, and storms.”
TomP writes—Dem Climate Change Debate/Town Hall to be on CNN! “CNN will host a Democratic presidential town hall in September focused on the climate crisis. The event will take place on Wednesday, September 4, in New York City. CNN is inviting candidates who meet the Democratic National Committee's polling threshold for the September primary debate to participate, meaning they've reached at least 2% in four approved polls by August 28. Eight candidates so far have met the polling threshold: former Vice President Joe Biden, New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, California Sen. Kamala Harris, Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, former Rep. Beto O'Rourke, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren.”
Tailfish writes—How About a Green as EPA Administrator? “To be clear upfront, I am not advocating that anyone other than a Democrat win an elected office. [...] The Greens don’t like Democrats for a variety of reasons, but they’ve also never been offered the chance to have a real voice at the federal level. So how is this for an idea: Whomever wins the Democratic primary pledges to nominate a Green for EPA Administrator. That’s a Cabinet-level position that attends Cabinet meetings with the president like the other Cabinet officers. [...] There have been similar arrangements, most notably recently with Bernie Sanders. While he has spent his entire Senate career as an Independent, he has caucused with the Democrats. In turn, he received committee assignments (including his current stint on the Senate Budget Committee) that he could not have received without support from the Democrats. The hope would be that if offered the opportunity to gain a real voice in the government, on an issue they care about, some Green voters would support the Democrat.”
WILDERNESS, NATIONAL FORESTS AND PARKS & OTHER PUBLIC LANDS
Old Redneck writes—How about we destroy our national forests? “The Forest Service and Trump administration have put forward a proposal to end longstanding requirements that the Forest Service notify the public, allow for public comment, and analyze environmental impacts when approving logging, road building, pipeline construction, and other activities on 193 million acres of national forest lands across the country. Comments on the proposal are due by August 12, 2019. Please speak out to save our national forests while we still can. Link to the comment.”
Meteor Blades writes—Critics shred Interior Dept.'s management plan for downsized Bears Ears Nat'l Monument: “American Indian tribes, environmental activists, and eco-minded politicians are blasting the Department of Interior’s newly released management plan for the Bears Ears National Monument in Utah. Among other things, the plan allows extensive logging, widespread use of off-road vehicles, and chaining—the mechanical clearing of land by attaching a chain to two vehicles that drag it along the ground to rip out brush and other plants, a method that is cheap but especially damaging to sensitive areas. In a statement, Carleton Bowekaty, co-chair of the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition, said: ‘It’s like seeing that your grandmother’s house has been robbed. These lands are sacred to us and they are being destroyed—sometimes inadvertently—by people who don’t understand our culture and way of life.’ According to Rep. Raúl Grijalva, the Democratic chairman of the House Natural Resources committee, the 173-page management document is a ‘cynical attempt’ to bolster the Trump regime’s slashing of the monument from the original 2,112 square miles designated for it by President Barack Obama to just 315 square miles. That downsizing is being litigated against by several environmental organizations and the Hopi tribe, who, along with four other tribes, had a major hand over two decades in making the monument a reality. A ruling in the case now being reviewed by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia could be announced at any time. ”
TRASH & RECYCLING
Austin Bailey writes—The Plastic Recycling Scam: “Recycling became the ideal concept for the industry to use to yet again place the onus of plastic waste onto the consumer while relieving the industry of responsibility. The implication is simple: if people would just recycle more the problem could be resolved. The industry’s key players know that few of its products can be cost effectively recycled and that at its best less that 10% of the plastic they produce has ever entered into a recycling loop, let alone ending up being reused. But, they reason, if people believe that putting their daily collection of plastic waste into a recycle bin will save the planet, they will ignore the fact that nothing is really being done to keep plastic out of the oceans, off of our beaches, out of our parks and literally out of the air we breathe and the water we drink.”
REGULATIONS & PROTECTIONS
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—House Holds Hearing On ‘When Science Gets Trumped’ At The Department of Interior: “As a bevy of bald spots gathered in Trump’s DC hotel yesterday for Heartland’s climate denial conference (which as it turns out was not sponsored by Fidelity Charitable)--an event featuring mostly white men sharing their Boomer memes and rehashing myths about, say, the Little Ice Age--a different sort of gathering was taking place not too far away. Over in the House of Representatives, the Natural Resources Committee held a hearing on scientific integrity (or lack thereof) in Trump’s Department of Interior. At the hearing, Dr. Joel Clement, a former Interior climate scientist who was reassigned to be a casher-of-fossil-fuel-checks and then became a whistleblower, described his time at DOI. Clement described the total lack of accountability for the decisions made to re-assign scientists, and included a powerful quote from a colleague who lamented how ‘they broke it, they broke the agency.’ Republicans, predictably, were not pleased with this hearing. Ranking minority member Rob Bishop (R-UT) complained that the committee didn’t have jurisdiction over science integrity legislation, apparently deliberately ignoring Congress’s oversight authority and obligation. Bishop was flippant and dismissive, saying that it was going to be ‘cute’ and ‘fun’ and ‘partisan propaganda,’ which was undercut by Chairman Raul Grijalva’s counterpoint that Republicans held a similar hearing under the Obama administration.”
AGRICULTURE, FOOD & GARDENING
CharleyBarley writes—Roundup is killing us. Corporations are killing us. Do something. Do ANYTHING! “’I don’t think the store will like you putting up those signs,’ said the young woman working for the local gigantic home/hardware/garden big-box store. ‘I know,’ I said. I resisted the urge to point out that it isn’t the store that will object, but people — the ones who manage the store and execute the corporate mandate. I reeled off another length of tape and hung another sign as she headed off to get a manager. I snapped one final photo and walked at a normal pace out the front door.I’ve seen Freeway Blogger’s DK posts. He hangs big signs with wake-up messages, placed next to busy highways, in difficult-to-reach places. I am inspired. Several months ago, I placed a large sign reading “Trump Sold Out America To Putin” on a local overpass over I-25, several miles north of Denver. I found that it takes a lot of preparation and planning. It’s apparently not for everyone. Freeway Blogger, my hat’s off to you. I’m trying out a different approach: reach people at the point where they decide to purchase a harmful product.”
Mimer writes—Saturday Morning Garden Blogging. Vol 15.30: Daylily season arrives in our Northern gardens: “Good morning! For many of us gardeners, this has been a challenging summer, fighting both weather and physical ailments. For me personally, between flooding rains and extreme heat, the weeds have won the battle this year in my garden. Since it is my refuge and my therapy, it is hard for me to admit that in some ways my garden has become a burden too. I have always taken pride in keeping the weeds away, and actually enjoy weeding. In what other endeavor can you see such immediate improvement? ( I hired someone to help weed, but she quit after two sessions because of all the chiggers. I am covered with bites of various kinds, and the chiggers are the worst.) But now that the daylilies are blooming, I am trying very hard to shift my gaze from the garden floor to the blooms everywhere. If you have read any of my previous diaries, you know that irises are my first love. But, let’s face it, they bloom mostly in the spring, and here in the northern part of the country, we do not have a long enough gardening season (yet) to let the rest of the summer slip by without more flowers!”
MISCELLANY
Austin Bailey writes—5 Things: Sharks, Exile, Green Wall, Getting Hot, Meatless: “We can’t all keep eating beef or we are going to run out of resources just keeping the cows fed. The world's population will hit 10 billion in just 30 years and all of those people need to eat. To feed that many humans with the resources Earth has, we will have to cut down the amount of beef we eat, according to a new report by the World Resources Institute.The report makes several concrete recommendations, including cutting beef consumption. To feed a growing world, Americans will need to eat about 40 percent less beef and Europeans need to cut their consumption by 22 percent. That averages out to a burger and a half per week, as CNN reported.”
Austin Bailey writes—5 Things: Banning Plastic, Gasless in Berkeley, Original Sin, Who Belongs in Zoos, 1000th: “If They Can Do This, Why Can’t the US? Panama bans plastic bags made of polyethylene effective 2020.. Supermarkets, pharmacies and retailers in Panama must stop using traditional polyethylene plastic bags immediately, while wholesale stores will have until 2020 to conform to the policy approved in 2018. Fines can be applied for non-compliance but there are exceptions for the use of plastic bags for sanitary reasons, such as with raw food. Costa Rica bans the import or sale of polystyrene effective 2021. Signed into law earlier this week, it will come into effect in 2021, the same year the government has said the country will become the first plastic-free and carbon-free country in the world.”
Austin Bailey writes—5 Things: Ethics Shock, Whaling Reprieve, MAGA Sucks, Trophy Hunters, Coal's Winners?“This couple appears to be on a crusade to murder as many wild animals as possible. To bad their social media accounts caught them up. A French couple have been forced to sell their supermarket franchise after pictures of them hunting big game in Africa surfaced online, causing outrage. Jacques Alboud and wife Martine, who owned a Super U franchise inL’Arbresle, near Lyons, were pictured in Tanzania years ago standing above the corpses of lions, leopards, buffalo and hippos they had shot. The images appear to have been available on social networks since they were taken, but only began circulating in France this week, prompting people to call for a boycott of their store and send them death threats.”
Austin Bailey writes—5 Things: Life Without Plastic, "This Land", Hyperion, Car Era Ends, Bugs: “To whom do the hundreds of million acres of public lands in the American west belong? Apparently to whomever the Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service decides to allow to exploit it. Christopher Ketcham's new book tells the sordid story. Government agencies tasked with protecting our lands have failed. But how this happened is complex and has taken decades to unfold, as he explains. ‘The private interests that want the land for profit have planted their teeth in the government,’ he writes. "’he national trend is against the preservation of the commons. Huge stretches are effectively privatized, public in name only’.”
Austin Bailey writes—5 Things: Just Missed, Greta Thunberg, Extinction, the "c" Word, Rhino Bonds: “A study of five northeastern urban areas by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has discovered that these cities are leaking methane gas, a major source of CO2, at twice the rate originally estimated. The sources are leakage from both the natural gas delivery infrastructure and inefficient appliances. Based on their findings, the researchers estimated that these five large cities—which include about 12 percent of the US population—emit over 900,000 tons of methane each year. Recent Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates placed methane emissions at a little over 400,000 tons, the study said, or half this new estimate. The researchers attribute about 820,000 tons of those emissions to natural gas leaking, which isn't properly factored into EPA estimates, according to the study authors. To separate methane emissions from natural gas from other sources such as landfills, the researchers tracked ethane, which is found in natural gas but not other methane sources.”