This is the 512th edition of the Spotlight on Green News & Views (previously known as the Green Diary Rescue) usually appears twice a week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Here is the July 15 Green Spotlight. More than 27,415 environmentally oriented stories have been rescued to appear in this series since 2006. Inclusion of a story in the Spotlight does not necessarily indicate my agreement with or endorsement of it.
OUTSTANDING GREEN STORIES
The Climate MobilizatIon writes—The Planet Is Warming. And It's Okay to Be Afraid: “Last week, David Wallace-Wells wrote a cover story for New York Magazine, ‘The Uninhabitable Earth,’ on some of the worst-case scenarios that the climate crisis could cause by the end of this century. It describes killer heat waves, crippling agricultural failures, devastated economies, plagues, resource wars, and more. It has been read more than two million times. The article has caused a major controversy in the climate community, in part because of some factual errors in the piece — though by and large the piece is an accurate portrayal of worst-case climate catastrophe scenarios. But by far the most significant criticism the piece received was that it was too frightening. ‘Importantly, fear does not motivate, and appealing to it is often counter-productive as it tends to distance people from the problem, leading them to disengage, doubt and even dismiss it,’ wrote Michael Mann, Susan Joy Hassol and Tom Toles at The Washington Post.”
NewsPhotosFeatures writes—Trump’s Infrastructure Agenda Sends US Back to 19th Century: “Outside the city [of Pittsburgh], where we start our bike tour near the beginning of the 150-mile long multi-purpose railtrail, in the state which built its economy on oil, coal and gas, there are windmills on the hilltops and solar farms in fields. Where we camp one night, in Confluence below the Youghiogheny River Reservoir dam built in 1944 to control flooding, the outflow has been tapped for hydroelectric power. The biketrail—representing 150 of some 23,000 miles of similarly repurposed railtrails across the country—is a new lifeline for small towns like Meyersdale, which once supported six hotels, an elementary school and a high school, now all shuttered, and Dunbar, once a center for glassmaking and coal production. In Confluence, where the population today is 700, we add 200 to that roll during our stay. The Trump agenda—and his budget to back it up – would cancel out the line for funding such repurposing projects that has existed since 1991, while eliminating incentives that helped jumpstart America’s fledgling clean, renewable energy industry where jobs are growing at a rate 12 times faster than the rest of the economy.”
CRITTERS AND THE GREAT OUTDOORS
Angmar writes—The Daily Bucket: Stormy weather continues in Western NY [July 2017]: “University of Rochester assistant professor of earth and atmospheric sciences Lee Murray says Rochester is getting hotter. ‘Since 1901 we've warmed about one degree Fahrenheit here in Rochester,’ said Murray. One degree over more than a hundred years may not seem like that much, but it has made summer days hotter, going from averaging 21 days above 85° since records started, to 26° days today. A warmer Rochester is going to mean more evaporation and more evaporation is going to mean more rain in rainstorms. That is going to mean severe flooding in a warmer climate. Floods have increased across Western New York. This is not a trend that will be seen everywhere, but is a common trend for most of the United States.”
matching mole writes—Dawn Chorus: Loon Family Values: “I have to confess to a bias at the very start of this diary. I have the good fortune to see loons every winter in the Gulf of Mexico. However I would trade one hundred winter loons for one in breeding plumage in a northern lake. They are part of my childhood. Most of the lakes where we spent our summer vacations had loons and their wild laughter and mournful wolf howls are an integral part of my experience of the ‘north’. Imagine my delight last Tuesday when we encountered this loon family on Emerald Lake, in Yoho National Park in BC. They were not too far offshore but essentially out of reach of my camera. However, to my surprise, they actually swam towards the bridge at the downstream end of the lake, despite the swarms of tourists. The loons seemed exceptionally acclimated to humans.”
owktree writes—Daily Bucket: Mirror Alphabet - "V": “ ‘V’ was a pretty tough letter. Next week with ‘U’ will be hard too, but still a little easier. And then we get a couple of easy ones after that.”
OceanDiver writes—The Daily Bucket - playing around with clams: “Sunny and breezy today in the Salish Sea. Southwest wind at 10 knots this morning. Temperature 68ºF. Clams were the theme at a recent stroll on a nearby beach.”
CLIMATE CHAOS
Torilahure writes—Catchup With Kiribati - Climate Change Induced Plan - Migration With Dignity: “Kiribati, one of the nations that is at such an immediate risk from climate change impact that the government made a long term plan. This is a quick recap of the plan and progress as well as a catchup with what is happenning now. Kiribati plan of action to deal with the climate changes takes three distinct approaches. Mitigation, Adaptation, Migration. First the backdrop. What, who and where is Kiribati? Kiribati islands are a group of islands in the pacific ocean. According to the BBC country profiles here → BBC Country Profile: Kiribati : http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-16431122. Kiribati - pronounced Kiribas - won independence from the United Kingdom in 1979. Home to the South Pacific's largest marine reserve, many of the atolls are inhabited; most of them are very low-lying and at risk from rising sea levels as a result of global warming. [...] Kiribati is a immediate risk from rising sea level. Loss of available land surface increasingly susceptible to be submerged under the sea. Most of the land is less than 2 meters above sea level. Urban area of Tarawa is slightly higher but still less than 3 meters above sea level. So even a slightly higher tide would swamp the land. Climate change has been fundamental issue with the nation and its priorities.”
Pakalolo writes—E Antarctica takes advantage of W Antarctica's ice loss and nudges its softer mantle westward: “West Antarctica is in a lot of trouble, which means that we too, are in a lot of trouble from sea level rise. The West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) is the largest mass of ice on the planet.covering an area of 5,405,430 square miles and holding 30 million cubic km of ice. That represents 90% of the world’s fresh water and also holds 230 feet of sea level rise. East Antarctica rests on the bedrock. In West Antarctica the bed can extend to more than 8200 feet below sea level. [...] I had hoped that the Trump distraction would pause, at least briefly, and the media just might report on the news that our polar regions are unravelling. But as usual, the slow drip of news on the POTUS’s corruption and the stench of treason sucks all of the oxygen out of the room. But climate change, just like gravity, doesn’t care whether the media informs the citizenry on the rapid rate of global warming or not. It just is. Trump’s, and the media’s, lack of leadership on this existential crisis is stunning.”
Dan Bacher writes—Environmental justice & consumer organizations slam passage of Jerry Brown's cap-and-trade bill: “Over 50 environmental justice and consumer organizations are outraged by the California Legislature’s passage tonight of Big Oil’s cap and trade bill, Assembly Bill 398, while Governor Jerry Brown, legislators and the Western States Petroleum Association are celebrating at the State Capitol. Governor Brown, Senate President pro Tempore Kevin de León, Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon and Assembly Republican Leader Chad Mayes held a media availability following the Legislature's passage of what Brown’s Office described as a ‘landmark legislative package.’ [...] Food and Water Watch, another group opposing the bill, disagrees with Brown’s contention that the passage of AB 398 was ‘what good government looks like.’ The group pointed out that AB 398 ‘was written in consultation with the oil and gas lobby and is opposed by more than 50 of California’s leading environmental organizations.’ ‘This bill makes a bad cap-and-trade system even worse,’ said Adam Scow, California director, Food & Water Watch. ‘It was written with oil and gas lobbyists and keeps us dependent of fossil fuels. The climate crisis demands that the State regulate and reduce pollution, but this bill gives polluters massive loopholes.’”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Bringing Down the House (of Representative’s Animosity to Climate Science) (Hopefully): “...in a bit of legislative wonkery, the House of Representatives voted against an amendment that would have prevented the Department of Defense from studying how climate impacts threaten national security. To express that in a way that doesn’t double up on negatives, let’s unpack it. The National Defense Authorization Act is the annual bill to fund the Department of Defense. This is considered a ‘must-pass’ bill so everyone tries to slip in amendments, hoping that the bill’s size and scope means they pass without notice. One of these amendments, proposed by Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa), would have cut funding for a DoD study of how climate change will impact national security over the next 20 years. The military is already dealing with climate change, so it’s prudent that they are able to study what sorts of impacts are coming down the line. Perry argued said that there are plenty of other agencies looking at climate change, so the military shouldn’t. But in a relatively impressive display of intelligence, 46 Republicans joined Democrats to vote down Perry’s amendment, preserving the funding for the DoD study.”
OCEANS, WATER, DROUGHT
Dan Bacher writes—Goldman Sachs and Westlands to Hold Joint Meeting on Brown/Trump Delta Tunnels: “Goldman Sachs and the Westlands Water District, the largest water district in the nation and a persistent foe of the restoration of salmon and other fish, are holding a joint meeting today in Coalinga, California, to discuss the Delta Tunnels project now being fast-tracked by the Jerry Brown and Donald Trump administrations. Opponents of the project say Goldman Sachs invovlement in the California WaterFix suggests that the tunnels project is not for water reliability, but for profitability.”
CANDIDATES, STATE AND DC ECO-RELATED POLITICS
jeremybloom writes—Can coal baron Don Blankenship go straight from jail to the Senate? “Normally one runs for Senate FIRST and only AFTERWARD goes to jail, but these are not normal times.vIn yet another sign of the total destruction of norms and even human decency in the Trump era, convicted criminal Don Blankenship is mulling a bid for Senate. Notorious for flaunting safety rules (and human decency) when he ran the Massey Coal Company, he served time for the deaths of 29 miners in the West Virginia's Upper Big Branch mine disaster and just got out of jail last year.v Concern for the downtrodden. ‘I do have a lot of love and interest in West Virginia—when you see we’re still 50th after all of these years–it doesn’t seem like we are ever going to get off the floor. It does cause one to stop and think if he can make a difference or not," he told a West Virginia radio show this week.”
ENERGY
Walter Einenkel writes—Rick Perry and Donald Trump may have to doctor the 'study' they just did on the power grid: “One of unpopular President Trump’s glaring incompetencies was his choice to head the Department of Energy, Rick Perry. But upon closer review, Perry is only as incompetent as the rest of his Party’s leadership these days. On the one hand, Perry really does not know what the Department of Energy does. [...] Perry has a study of the United States’ grid in development that is slated to be released any day now. Critics of the plan say that this is clearly an attempt to create a false narrative to allow the Trump administration to push efforts to pull away from our support of renewable energy initiatives. The basic premise of the study is bogus.”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Rick Perry’s Acid Rain Talking Point Is as Smart as He Is: “Recently, Rick Perry has been referencing acid rain as a success story. He points to the smokestack scrubbing technology developed in Department of Energy labs as a major accomplishment, and more broadly uses it to defend ‘innovation’ as a governing philosophy. Translation: we shouldn’t worry about carbon pollution from coal plants because innovation will somehow solve the problem. This techno-optimist approach implicitly justifies the administration's praise for (failed) clean coal efforts, even as it guts funding for further clean coal research. The latest example of this talking point was on display at a press conference yesterday, where Perry was quoted by the Houston Chronicle saying, ‘All too often we want to take a snapshot in times, like we did 15 years ago with peak oil, and say this is where we are. Back in the 70s acid rain was a major issue on the east coast of this country, and now we never even hear about it.’ Perry may be disappointed to find out that 1990 Clean Air Act amendments created a cap-and-trade program that spurred the installation of the acid rain-reducing scrubbers on coal plants.”
Fossil Fuels
Wagwatwe writes—Trump says new Pennsylvania coal mine created 45,000 jobs. The actual number is 70: “Republicans have no problem lying to the American people and since the age of ‘fake news’ and ‘alternative facts,’ it seems the deception has only gotten worse. During a White House event called the ‘Made in America product showcase,’ Trump made some very inaccurate claims (to put it mildly). … you know, in Pennsylvania, two weeks ago they opened the mine -- the first mine that was opened in decades. Opened a mine. And you know all the people that were saying the mining jobs? Well, we picked up 45,000 mining jobs in a very short period of time. And everybody was saying, well, you won’t get any mining jobs. We picked up 45,000 mining jobs, and the miners are very happy with Trump and with Pence. And we're very proud of that. If you think 45,000 mining jobs in two weeks is a bit suspect, you are correct. In fact, NBC News did some fact checking and found the real numbers are nowhere nearly as impressive. In fact, they’re downright embarrassing. [...] the more accurate job creation number for the aforementioned Pennsylvania mine is about 70.”
Emissions Controls & Carbon Taxes
Walter Einenkel writes—Study shows that adding 2% seaweed to cow diet can reduce 99% of the methane they output: “If you’ve had a conversation over the past couple of years with someone regarding greenhouse gases, climate change, or global warming, there’s a good chance that you’ve heard about how much methane is produced by our bovine populations. When you have multiple stomaches and eat as much as cows do you’re going to be ‘gassy.’ That gas produces a lot of methane—truly. Actually, despite a lot of jokes about farting cows, the bulk of methane emissions— about 90 percent—come from their slightly less impolite burps. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), global livestock collectively burp and poot about seven gigatonnes (that’s seven billion metric tons) of CO2-equivalents each year. About 14.5 percent of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions come from livestock. That is more than global car and airplane traffic emissions combined. [...] According to the Irish Times, since 2012, there has been anecdotal evidence that suggests that cows who eat a little bit of seaweed are both healthier and less prone to producing so much gas. And now there are more than just a few examples told by farmers.”
Pipelines & Other Fossil Fuel Transport
Karen Feridun writes—PA Senator Calls for Halt to ETP Mariner East 2 Pipeline Construction Citing Regulatory Failure: “Pennsylvania Senator Andy Dinniman has called for a halt to all construction on Sunoco’s Mariner East 2 natural gas liquids pipeline after a release of drilling mud contaminated several private water supplies in West Whiteland Township, Chester County. According to the Pottstown Mercury and Delco Times who reported it, a letter to Patrick McDonnell, Secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection, “outlined a number of concerns associated with the identification and notification requirements contained in Sunoco Pipeline L.P.’s (Sunoco) Water Obstruction and Encroachment Permit approved in February of this year. Specifically, Dinniman highlighted notification requirements for those citizens in the path of the pipeline who rely on private well water.’ ‘The bottom line is, Sunoco submitted an application using bad data, DEP approved it and it is the citizens that are suffering the consequences,’ said Dinniman. ‘I will continue to work to ensure that our groundwater is protected and I urge DEP officials to do the same.’”
WILDERNESS, NATIONAL FORESTS AND PARKS, OTHER PUBLIC LANDS
ban nock writes—Influencing Monument Status of Upper Missouri River Breaks (with a video): “Montana Senator Jon Tester released the vid below addressed to fellow Montana good ol boy Secretary Zinke who is reviewing all monuments created in the waning days of the Clinton Presidency and since. Go ahead, it’s only a minute and fifteen seconds you’d just waste anyway.
‘The Breaks’ as they are called have an unusual way of protecting their wild. Set amongst the flat prairies of eastern Montana the breaks are accessed either by river or by walking down any of the stream cuts leading down to the river. The dirt roads have a lot of clay and getting out after a rain can be impossible until things dry. There are a lot of places that if you went there, you’d be the only person you see until you walk out.”
Walter Einenkel writes—Republicans sneak in a budget roadmap to open oil drilling in Arctic National Wildlife Refuge: “Since President Jimmy Carter was in office, Americans have faced a crew of nihilists who really want to drill the hell out of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The issue comes up like clockwork, in some form or another, every few years. The Wilderness Society sent out a press release after the new Republican budget was released. In its just-released Fiscal Year 2018 budget resolution, the U.S. House of Representatives today included instructions that would enable the House Natural Resources Committee to authorize drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge through the federal budget process. The instructions for this committee to generate $5 billion over 10 years open the door for Congress to overturn protections against drilling in the Arctic Refuge through a budget reconciliation bill, which requires only a bare majority vote in the Senate. The coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is the wildest place left in America. This biological heart of the protected refuge provides vital denning habitat for polar bears, and is the calving ground of the incredible Porcupine Caribou Herd that sustains the communities and culture of Alaska’s indigenous Gwich’in people. The area is currently off-limits to oil and gas development.It isn’t a surprise as the Trump administration has acted the way any previous Republican administration has when it comes to the fossil fuel industry—wining and dining them in secret blood-letting rituals.”
MISCELLANY
John Feffer via TomDispatch writes—The Invisible Monster of Climate Change: “Today, in 2050, there is no Congress. There are no committee hearings. There are no intergovernmental panels or global gatherings. I might as well be telling them about Roman banquets or medieval jousts. And yet my little students always clamor for more stories of the vanished world of Washington, D.C., 2017, just as they would beg for yet another of Aesop's fables. But they don't quite see how these tales of long ago connect to their lives today. After all, they live in a post-political world.”
Galtisalie writes—Anti-Capitalist Meetup: Big Oil's rock bottom royalty rate and other ways we give away the farm: “When the former top executive of the world’s largest non-state oil company manages our foreign policy, a friend of Russia’s aim to convert the Arctic into a giant refinery, while climate change is so pivotal to humanity's future, will oil companies finally be questioned in a more comprehensive fashion than when a bland committee meets, stuff blows up and catches fire, or even a pipeline is built beneath sacred lands? Are we too busy looking at Donald Trump’s latest debasement to look to the really serious crimes he or, if impeached, his replacement is going to facilitate through transnational traitors like Wayne Tracker. I now am much more sure than when I gave my book away that we can't farm out mass democratic responsibility to confront them with their crimes in the making and that direct actions of conscience are our moral duty.”