Part of the Brooks range in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The Department of Interior
announced this week that its management plan for ANWR, including the petroleum-rich
coastal plain, will continue for the next 15 or so years. President Obama said he wants
98 percent of the 19.3 million acres of ANWR designated as wilderness, something only
Congress can do. That obviously won't be happening for the next two years.
Many environmentally related posts appearing at Daily Kos each week don't attract the attention they deserve. To help get more eyeballs, Spotlight on Green News & Views (previously known as the Green Diary Rescue) normally appears twice a week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
The most recent Saturday Spotlight can be seen here. More than
21,710 environmentally oriented diaries have been rescued for inclusion in this weekly collection since 2006. Inclusion of a diary in the Spotlight does not necessarily indicate my agreement with or endorsement of it.
An Open Letter To The Guys Who Run The World—by
Pope Buck I : "First off, congratulations. I'm told the top 80 of you now hold a full 51% of the world's wealth. Pretty sweet! And I want to reassure you, I'm not speaking from a place of resentment here. I'm not here to scold you, or pass moral judgement on you and your class. Seriously, I'm not. In fact, I'm trying to be the best friend you'll ever have. I'm no one special, by the way. Just another of the proles out here in Sector Twelve. Many of my friends, by the way, are convinced that you have no regard for us at all down here in the 99%—that we might as well all be cockroaches as far as you're concerned. I have no idea whether that's true or not (you may, however, want to talk to some of your friends who have been doing their best to reinforce this view), but I certainly hope it's not—that at least a few of you might be afflicted with the curse of 'empathy' or 'human feeling.' […] You really need to help us save the world. Not only that, it is in your best interests to do so! […] See, I don't know if you're aware of this, in whatever rarefied bubble you spend your days in. But those massive corporations that you guys control, those giant moneymaking machines you have set into motion? They are poisoning the earth, air, and water, accelerating climate change, killing off the animals and plants, and generally helping us all drown in our own collective waste."
"New," "Progressive" Obama Opens up Atlantic Coast to Offshore Drilling—by
Liberty Equality Fraternity and Trees: "Yesterday, the Obama administration announced its plans to put millions more acres of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. These lands would be designated 'Wilderness,' the highest level of protection for public lands which includes a ban on mining, drilling, roads, vehicles and permanent structures. However, no sooner that he curtailed drilling in one place, he threw the doors wide open elsewhere:
The Obama administration on Tuesday will announce a proposal to open up coastal waters from Virginia to Georgia for oil and gas drilling, according to a person briefed on the plan. […] Opening the Eastern Seaboard to oil companies is a prize the industry has sought for decades and is a blow to environmental groups. They argue that the move would put the coasts of Virginia, the Carolinas and Georgia at risk for an environmental disaster like the BP spill that struck the Gulf Coast in 2010, when millions of barrels of oil washed ashore after the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig."
The Daily Bucket - bathing eagle—by
OceanDiver: "
January 25, 2015. Pacific Northwest. I was en route to my dentist appointment yesterday when I spied movement in a puddle next to the road. This is a time of year when all the marshes and ponds are full to overflowing, and every low spot is a puddle. Water brings birds. But this was a lot bigger than a duck. I slammed on my brakes and pulled over onto the verge as far as I could. It was a young eagle, bathing! How cool is that?! Though wet, I got a good look at this eagle, and I think it is 2 or 3 years old, not a baby but not full grown either. Bald eagles are common here in the islands of the Salish Sea, I see them most days, but it is NEVER ho-hum. Soaring gracefully or perched sternly with that thousand-yard glare...I always stop what I'm doing to watch. Even the faint thin sound of their skreeking is a signal to look up. So you may be sure I didn't care if I was late to my appointment a minute or two :).
You can find more rescued green diaries below the orange garden layout.
Forests, Wilderness & Public Lands
Obama's War On Alaska—by RLMiller: "Obama declares war on Alaska, reported the Alaskan newspapers, not in the least over the top. 'Obama will negotiate with Iran—why won't he impose sanctions on negotiate with Alaska?' wailed Lisa Murkowski. I remember those halcyon days of planning the War On Alaska. 'We’ll seize the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from those oil companies. The polar bears will greet us as liberators!' said an unnamed Pentagon official. 'I delivered pizza during the #BlizzardOf2015—whaddya mean, Alaska's cold?' asked a three-fingered New Yorker. The naysayers, warning us that we'd be overextended fighting both this and the War on Christmas, were outshouted. In Seattle, our armies shone like leaping salmon. What a sight! - the EPA in the vanguard, the green groups tweeting: #ProtectTheArcticRefuge, Hillary positioning her troops one millimeter to the left of center with surgical precision in order to take credit should the battle rage into fall 2016."
Breaking: Obama To Propose Protecting 1.4 million Acres Of U.S. Arctic Refuge—by unapologeticliberal777: "The Washington Post is reporting today that President Obama will propose protecting 1.4 million acres of Arctic refuge from oil and gas drilling. The Washington Post reported, citing people who have been briefed on the plan, that the Obama administration plans to propose designating the area of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as wilderness, the highest level of federal protection that would ban oil and gas drilling. Alaska’s National Wildlife refuge is an incredible place—pristine, undisturbed. It supports caribou and polar bears, all manner of marine life, countless species of birds and fish, and for centuries it supported many Alaska native communities. But it’s very fragile,” said President Obama in a just released White House video on the move."
Republicans fuming over Obama's plan to make most of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge wilderness—by Meteor Blades: "In 1980, the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) added nine million acres to Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, bringing the total there to 19.1 million acres. Seven million of those acres are already designated as wilderness. On Sunday, the Interior Department together with the White House announced plans to give the other 12.3 million acres of the refuge wilderness protection for another 15-20 years. That would be 98 percent of the refuge and include the coastal plain of 1.5 million acres, an area known to contain massive reserves of petroleum. There is zero chance the Republican-dominated Congress will take action to make the land in question wilderness. And if they choose to overturn the administration's decision to manage the land as wilderness for the next couple of decades, the president will veto it. Thus, despite its potential temporariness, the president's move generated smiles among environmentalists."
Climate Chaos
Obama makes deal with India on climate change action, while Republicans continue to troll and deny—by Laurence Lewis: "While Republicans continue to deny the scientific reality of climate change, even when some admit it is happening but still refuse to acknowledge that people are causing it, President Obama continues to do something about it. First came the historic agreement he made with China to reduce emissions. Now comes this: President Obama and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on Sunday that the two countries will work together to fight global climate change, laying out a set of goals that the two countries hope 'will expand policy dialogues and technical work on clean energy and low greenhouse gas emissions technologies.' While not a concrete emissions reductions agreement like the one Obama reached with China this past November, the deal includes efforts to cooperate on reducing emissions of fluorinated gases, invigorate India’s promotion of clean energy investment, and partner to reduce the debilitating air pollution that has plagued many of India’s cities."
Have we reached the tipping point? 3 minutes to midnight because of global warming—by Shockwave: "Over the years I posted an image of what I believed the consequences would be if we reached the point of no return. A Mad Max world at best. The Pentagon knows this too: Pentagon Signals Security Risks of Climate Change. Thankfully Obama is doing something about it in his current trip to India: U.S. And India Make Climate Change Announcement On First Day Of Obama's Trip. But is it too late? Have we reached the tipping point when no matter what we do global warming is unstoppable? Will the defrosting of the permafrost become irreversible?"
A Couple (Million) Conflicts of Interest—by ClimateDenierRoundup : "Two recent stories take a look at two notable deniers' major conflicts of interest. The Boston Globe discusses how the recent Monckton paper, which claims to have developed a new and more precise climate model, holds that none of the authors have any conflict of interest, despitedenier-for-hire Willie Soon's $1M+ funding from the fossil fuel industry. Did Soon inform the journal of this before publication? It seems unlikely, and the Globe's source suggests that perhaps Soon's years of fossil fuel funding should have been mentioned. Across the pond, DeSmogUK exposes Matt 'King Coal' Ridley's clear conflict of interest. While not as prominent in the US, this British lord and science writer routinely publishes pieces promoting inaction on climate. While Ridley has been relatively forthright about the fact there are coal mines on his family estate, DeSmog adds an additional layer of interest. It turns out the local power plant that has been buying Ridley's coal can no longer use it, thanks to European climate regulations. So Ridley's railing against biomass energy production might just stem from the fact that one of his major coal customers is now switching to biomass. Maybe. Maybe it's just a coincidence and the $6 million annual profits from his coal mine have nothing to do with his climate change denial…"
Mocking Monckton's Climate Model—by ClimateDenierRoundup: "'Lord' Monckton and a band of the usual suspects have a new paper out in the Chinese peer-reviewed journal, Science Bulletin. The paper—covered by WUWT and the Daily Mail—concerns an 'irreducibly simple climate-sensitivity model' that purports to show that IPCC models run too hot. You can read the press release at phys.org or download the paper yourself courtesy of the Heartland Institute, which paid $3,000 for it to be open access. The Boston Globe points out that co-author Willie Soon failed to disclose the $1 million+ in fossil-fuel funding he has received, in seeming violation of the journal's conflict of interest policy. The end of the paper notes that none of the authors have any conflict of interest, but over $1 million in fossil fuel funding certainly seems like a conflict! As for actual content, Carbon Briefhas a lengthy debunking: from the basic physics of water vapor, to equating ice-age climate with the current one, to ignoring the warming oceans, the paper features many shortcomings. Meanwhile, the Imperial College of London has a short blog post saying the reason Monckton et al's model shows less warming than other models is because it uses an 'inappropriate' feedback value and with strategically chosen parameters. And Then There's Physics gets a little more technical, noting that Monckton's model uses a closed-loop gain feedback factor, which works on the grounds that 'we can't warm much over the coming century because the designers wouldn't have designed a system that would allow for this.'"
Melting Glaciers Pose a Carbon Menace—by Pakalolo: "More heart breaking news from the slow motion train wreck that is climate change. A new study finds that melting glaciers are dumping massive amounts of carbon into the worlds oceans with the potential to cause the oceans ecosystems to collapse. 'That’s the focus of a new paper by a research team that includes Florida State University assistant professor Robert Spencer. The study, published in Nature Geoscience, is the first global estimate by scientists at what happens when major ice sheets break down': The organic carbon could be a temporary boon for tiny creatures at the bottom of the aquatic food chain that gobble the compound as food, but if this manna disappears because the glaciers have vanished, the overfed ocean ecosystems may collapse, the study authors warned. 'It could change the whole food web. We do not know how different ecological systems will react to a new influx of carbon,' study co-author Robert Spencer, an assistant professor of oceanography at Florida State University, said in a statement."
Extreme Weather & Natural Phenomena
Unprecedented Ocean Heat off East Coast is Fueling the Historic Hurricane Force Blizzard—by FishOutofWater: "This is not your father's blizzard. This is your father's blizzard on steroids. Weather records show that winter storms are stronger than they used to be. Winter storms have increased in frequency and intensity since the 1950s, and their tracks have shifted northward over the United States. The extraordinarily increase in heat content of the north Atlantic ocean along the east coast is providing the energy to make the blizzard of January 2015 an extremely intense and dangerous winter storm. This is climate change. This is what happens when Gulf Stream eddies jump northwards past previous limits providing vast amounts of heat to winter storms that derive much of their strength from the ocean's heat."
Deniers Snowed by Storm—by ClimateDenierRoundup: "News that the Northeast is getting hit hard by a massive snow storm is fodder for deniers. If you'd like to see the sort of arguments they'll be repeating, Climate Depot has a post rounding up previous posts that deny the connection between extreme snow events and climate change. There's also a quick post quoting denier-meteorologist, Joseph D'Aleo, who points out that the storm could make this decade the snowiest in the East Coast, according to NOAA's records. But of course, extreme weather events of all varieties are consistent with a warming world. Climate change is likely to have a hand in worsening precipitation events like this week's storm because as the atmosphere warms, it is able to hold more moisture. Additionally,sea surface temperatures are abnormally high, and the difference between the cold front and the warm ocean gives more fuel to the storm engine. This increase in extreme precipitation has already been observed, with the Northeast experiencing a 71% increase between 1958 and 2012. Humorist Alexandra Petri takes on the denier's twisted logic with a number of lines similar to 'snowstorm means no warming.' Our favorite: 'Today I saw no people. There are no people.'"
On Extreme Weather, We Are Told to Err on the Side of Caution. On Climate Change...—by pierre9045: "Living in Philadelphia these past several years, I have been able to see how well Republican Governor Chris Christie has responded to a number of extreme weather emergencies during his tenure. Counting a couple hurricanes and a handful of blizzards, including Superstorm Sandy and the current Super Nor'easter, they would be more than a handful for most any state executive. And for the most part, Christie has managed these weather emergencies quite competently. He and his administration do well to prepare for these storms well in advance. They heed the advice of their forecasters. They are quick to seek help from the federal government when it is clear that the threat exceeds their capabilities. There are not really any catastrophic death tolls as a result of their mismanagement. And for anyone who is paying attention, it is not hard to see why. They err on the side of caution."
Severe storms intensify need for climate change action—by Molly Weasley: "'While our understanding of how climate change affects extreme weather is still developing, evidence suggests that extreme weather may be affected even more than anticipated,' says an online report at Climate Communication, a nonprofit science and outreach project of the Aspen Global Change Institute. 'Global warming is increasing the frequency and intensity of some types of extreme weather. For example, warming is causing more rain to fall in heavy downpours,' the group says. 'There are also longer dry periods between rainfalls. This, coupled with more evaporation due to high temperatures, intensifies drought. Wet places have generally become wetter, while dry places have become drier. Heat waves have become more frequent and intense, while very cold days have decreased.' It’s not just environmental groups sounding the alarm."
Whoops! Republicans wreck their own argument that big snowstorms mean global warming can't be real—by Meteor Blades: Quite sad for Republicans. Up until last week, large numbers of them were still denying that climate change was happening. And then, in a bit of tricksy voting on an amendment to the bill that would fast track the Keystone XL pipeline, all but one Senate Republican said they accept that climate change is actually occurring. […] By taking this step, the deniers have robbed themselves of one their favorite canards: If it's freezing and snowing, how can there be global warming? It must be a hoax. This partial turnabout in Congress is bound to be confusing to scientifically illiterate and ideologically blinded Americans who themselves have found snowstorms and below-zero temperatures comforting evidence that all the climate experts must be wrong. They could argue that it should be 100 degrees in Duluth in January if global warming is real."
Critters & the Great Outdoors
A Short Film About Elephant Poaching, Last Days—by Eric Nelson: "'Last year I was made aware of the very real connection between elephant poaching and terrorism,' Bigelow tells TIME: 'For me it represented the diabolical intersection of two problems that are of great concern—species extinction and global terrorism. Both involve the loss of innocent life, and both require urgent action.” —Kathryn Bigelow. I thought the drawings really told the story, an awful story and its dangerous connections that has been under reported. A chain of violence from once side of the world to the other Although this: 'sadly, there is no way to make extinction go backwards'—should be enough to tell it—imo. An elephant is killed every 15 minutes, 96 a day, 33,793 a year. Elephants in the wild could be extinct in 11 years."
What is causing the mass deaths of seabirds on the West Coast?—by Jen Hayden: "Birdwatchers and researchers in the Western U.S. are sounding an alarm about the mysterious deaths of seabirds: 'This is just massive, massive, unprecedented,' said Julia Parrish, a University of Washington seabird ecologist who oversees the Coastal Observation and Seabird Survey Team (COASST), a program that has tracked West Coast seabird deaths for almost 20 years. 'We may be talking about 50,000 to 100,000 deaths. So far.' What's causing the deaths? The gruesome auklet deaths come just as scientists around the globe are seeing a significant uptick in mass-mortality events in the marine world, from sea urchins to fish and birds. Although there doesn't appear to be a link to the virus that killed tens of millions of sea stars along the same shores from California to Alaska over the past 18 months, some scientists suspect a factor in both cases may be uncharacteristically warm waters. The U.S. Geological Survey and others have performed animal autopsies, called necropsies, on several of the emaciated Cassin's auklets. They've found no evidence of disease or trauma—no viruses or bacteria, no feathers coated with spilled oil. The birds appear simply to have starved to death."
The Daily Bucket - Butterflies I have Known—by
Attack Gardener: "It's cold, there's snow, it's dark too early, there's ice, it's cold (did I mention it was cold? Gah! I hate winter!) Seems like a great time to talk about butterflies. […] It always amazes me, though, when a butterfly find me to be an acceptable perch. This lovely creature landed on my arm and would not be dislodged. Crossing my fingers, I went into the house to summon my personal photographer, aka the Darling Spouse, taking Ms. Thing with me. She did not object. We returned outdoors for the photo shoot and I was thankful we had a digital camera. If we had to pay to have all those shots developed, we'd be bankrupt. Here's one of the best before she flew off. We identified her after the fact as a female Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, Papilio glaucus. The caterpillars of this species display two defensive mimicry strategies during their lives. When they are very tiny, they mimic bird droppings, much as the giant swallowtail. As they get older, they turn a uniform pale green and develop eye spots just behind their heads. It makes them look much bigger than they really are and may scare away predators."
Putah Creek: A Wild Trout Fishery Reborn—by Dan Bacher: "The Pleasant Valleys Road Bridge over Lake Solano, a still-water section of Putah Creek above the Solano Diversion Dam, used to be a popular spot where anglers from throughout the area would congregate to catch rainbow trout on a variety of offerings. But the bridge is nearly deserted now any day you cross it. On weekends, families, including many farmworkers from the Winters area, would spread throughout the river and accesses on the creek, to catch trout. The Department of Fish and Wildlife planted the lake with lots of rainbow and brown trout for decades, providing a good put-and-take fishery. Many of the fish would grow to become big, fat holdovers. […] Although the popular planted trout fishery is no longer, the creek has been reborn as a trophy trout fishery and there is now a wild, self-sustaining rainbow population in the creek and lake. The California Fish and Game Commission, responding to a request by Putah Creek Trout, other angling groups, and the Department of Fish and Wildlife, designated the fishery as a trophy 'Wild Trout' stream in December 2014."
Dawn Chorus: Subspecies Southeastern American Kestrel—by JupiterSurf: "Subspecies: The Southeastern American Kestrel (Falco sparverius paulus). I had no idea a subspecies of the American Kestrel existed here in Florida. Its a non migratory falcon of central Florida and the southeastern U.S. It is threatened here in Florida due to decline of its habitat and nesting areas, which is open savannah, sandhills, prairies and pasture land and dead snags. […] Male American Kestrels have blue-gray wings, while females are slightly larger and have brownish wings. Both sexes have brownish backs and buffy-white, or off-white, undersides with a black flecking, and have distinct black marks extending downward below the eyes. A high-pitched call, 'klee-klee-klee' or 'killy-killy-killy,' is frequently given in flight."
Three-day-old Southeastern American Kestrels
As Delta Smelt Plummets to Extinction, New Rules Allow Increased Kill—by
Dan Bacher: "A recent Obama Administration decision allows more than twice as many endangered Delta smelt to be killed by giant government pumps than was previously allowed, according to a joint news release from the California Water Impact Network and the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance. The groups said the policy was adopted days after the annual California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) population abundance survey confirmed that populations of the tiny, once-abundant fish have crashed to new lows. Fishery and water policy reform advocates emphasized that the development is about more than the Delta smelt, a small and innocuous fish endemic to the Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta. The smelt is considered a prime indicator species for the health of northern California’s Bay/Delta system, the largest estuary on the west coast of the continental United States."
The Daily Bucket: A Walk in the Arboretum—by Lenny Flank: Some photos from a walk at the St Pete Arboretum and Botanical Garden:
Turtle yoga. Stretch that neck.
Energy
Obama administration announces 5-year oil-lease plan: eco-activists want less, industry wants more—by Meteor Blades: "The Department of interior on Tuesday released its five-year draft plan for the Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program for 2017 to 2022. A 60-day public comment period ending March 28 begins Wednesday. […] What we really need is a serious draft plan to get us out of the "all of the above" approach the administration has taken up until now. While its pushing for renewables and conservation has been better than anything since the Jimmy Carter administration, its support for developing fossil fuels moves us in the wrong direction.
A fresh energy policy is required, one that makes global warming a centerpiece and moves us—quickly—toward less reliance on fuels that add to the greenhouse gases already burdening our atmosphere. Clean, green energy should be the No. 1 priority of that policy, with No. 2 being a move away from fossil fuels. We should be reducing offshore drilling, not adding to it."
Obama opens Atlantic coastline to oil drilling for first time—by VL Baker: "Oh jeez, not good news. The Obama Administration was in the process of opening up the Atlantic coastline for fossil fuel drilling right before the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Needless to say, that idea was scuffed. But looks like not for good as here it is again. President Obama will open parts of the Atlantic and Arctic oceans to new oil and gas drilling under a plan unveiled Tuesday. The Interior Department's five-year lease plan would allow drilling in three areas off the coast of Alaska and one in a portion of the Mid- and South Atlantic for the first time in nearly four decades. […] The plan angered green groups who have supported Obama's decision to restrict other areas from drilling, and raises questions about whether the administration will eventually approve the Keystone XL pipeline. The Interior Department is portraying the plan as one that seeks to balance environmental stewardship with expanding the U.S.'s energy sources."
Atlantic Coast Open to Drilling for Fossil Fuels—by Agathena: "Just as the glow from the protection of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge was burning, this plan arrives on the scene. (I find it strange to call this area a Wildlife Refuge when hunting has been going on for centuries.) But all those years of hunting did not harm the flora and fauna of the Refuge in the way that fossil fuel extraction would have done. Now the plan that the President first introduced a week before the BP death gusher in 2010 is being resurrected to appease the Republicans & Democrats in Southern states."
Cuts in the Utica & Marcellus; 2 big spills on the same stream; pipeline updates, et al—by rjsigmund: "While we've seen plenty of evidence of cutbacks in the tar sands and by oil drillers in Texas and in the Bakken over the past several weeks, this week brought the first confirmation of cutbacks in the gas areas of the Marcellus and Utica shales, in the face of natural gas prices that have generally stayed below $3 per mmBTU so far this year … Antero Resources of Denver advised inestors that it was slashing its budget by 41% to $1.8 billion, and planned to defer completion of 50 wells they've already drilled in the Marcellus until 2016 … they also plan to idle another 7 of the 21 drilling rigs that were still operating at year end, leaving 9 operating in the Marcellus in West Virginia and 5 in the Utica in Ohio, while currently planning just 130 Marcellus and Utica wells in 2015, down from 179 they drilled in the area last year … their announcement followed on the heels of an announcement by Stone Energy of La. that they would nearly halve their operating budget in 2015, from $875 million in 2014 to $450 million this year, with 13% of that to be allocated for abandonment expenditures, as they intended to wrap up their Appalachian work in the 1st quarter and concentrate on thei Gulf Coast assets … earlier, Gastar Exploration said they would slow down their Marcellus operations and concentrate on those areas with access to the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, while ConocoPhillips cut its drilling budget by 20 percent for 2015, intending to defer spending in North American shale plays, and Colorado based PDC Energy said they're eliminating their funding for Ohio drilling altogether this year."
Renewables & Conservation
Offshore drilling today, Offshore Windpower...., "Yesterday"?—by LamontCranston: "Many of us that follow and are advocates of alternative power not just on the small scale, but for also on the very large scale always knew that the potential for this type of power generation capability was always there offshore of not only NC, but also off the shoreline of South Carolina, Virginia, and Georgia, which: The four coastal states of North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and Georgia have 82 percent of the total Atlantic coast wind potential in shallow water (defined as being at least 12 miles offshore, so not too shallow). These four states also have some of the lowest construction costs for offshore wind turbines all along the eastern seaboard, and they’re among the largest and fastest-growing electricity markets."
Cape Wind is dead. Long live Cape Wind.—by EdMass: "Well, it seems we can't get anything done. After a decade, and over the objections of blessed Ted (he's passed by the way), seems this ain't gonna happen.More doubt is cast on Cape Wind plan: Developer drops 2 land contracts: The developer of Cape Wind has terminated contracts to buy land and facilities in Falmouth and Rhode Island, the latest sign that the $2.5 billion effort to become the nation’s first offshore wind farm may never produce a kilowatt of energy. Could'a led the way. Could'a been groundbreaking. Yet the Enviros along with Ted killed it? Let's make up our minds, shall we? I am confused. Too much NIMBY?"
Global Warming: Pundit Wrong Again—by Mokurai: "David Roberts claims that going to 100% renewables costs too much, and is too hard. But he thinks he is on our side. He is wrong, and some of his claims along the way are flat-out ludicrous. [He says] It turns out every one of these scenarios—pretty much any scenario you can imagine that leads to rapid decarbonization—envisions 'historically unprecedented improvements in the energy intensity of the global economy' and therefore it cannot be done. Well, the premise is false, and the logic is fallacious, so there is not much hope for the conclusion, either from Roberts or from the authors of the paper he quotes from. The entire Industrial Revolution going back to the 18th century is a whole series of counterexamples. But the quoted study looks back no further than 1965."
Fracking
What the Frack? 41 House Dems Join GOP to Vote to Expedite Natural Gas Exports—by Liberty Equality Fraternity and Trees: "The House GOP decided to continue to show its love for the fossil fuel industry today by passing legislation to expedite the federal approval process for liquefied natural gas exports. The bill, named the 'LNG Permitting Certainty and Transparency Act,' would set an arbitrary 30-day deadline on the Department of Energy for approving LNG export terminals. Exporting natural gas would increase fracking by opening up new markets. More sensitive lands would be put at risk, more people would see their water sources poisoned, and more communities would experience earthquakes. There is no climate benefit to LNG, and it can, in some cases, be dirtier than coal in terms of lifecycle emissions. The vote was 277 to 133. One Republican--Chris Gibson (NY-19)--voted no, and 41 Democrats voted yes."
Keystone XL & Other Fossil Fuel Transportation
Pipeline explodes in West Virginia—by FaithGardner: "Another day, another gas pipeline bursts—this time in West Virginia, about an hour away from Pittburgh and near the Ohio River. A number of residents have said they saw what appeared to be a large fireball burning in the sky. Brooke County Sheriff Chuck Jackson said the explosion is near the former riding stables on Archer Hill Road in Colliers, WV. Jackson said no injuries have been reported and no structural damage has occurred, but several area roads have been closed because of burning gas. It appears only one home was evacuated and the fire eventually burnt off. At least one home and one power line has been damaged. There were no injuries. The cause of the explosion is still unknown."
A Single Oil Pipeline?—by owsleyskid : "Remember in the State of the Union address, when the President wheedled the Congress to pass a comprehensive infrastructure construction bill instead of wasting so much time and energy on 'a single oil pipeline?' Did you wonder why this particular pipeline is more important to the corporate lackeys that control both houses of Congress, right now, than any other facet of the people's business? […] Could it be that the Koch's control over a million acres of Alberta tar sands leases? Or that Valero Energy's Texas refineries, which is contracted for 100K barrels of tar sands crude from KXL a day till 2030, are in Foreign Trade Zones, from which they can export it tax free? Or that Valero plans to sell all the diesel refined from this dilbit to Europe? (While importing gasoline, made from cleaner, cheaper Saudi crude, from their refinery in Ireland!) You might want to read what Valero's telling their stockholders, and many other facts and dirty secrets in Oil Change International's fascinating report."
Enbridge Gets Another Federal Tar Sands Crude Pipeline Permit As Senate Debates Keystone XL—by Steve Horn: "On January 16, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers gave Enbridge a controversialNationwide Permit 12 green-light for its proposed Line 78 pipeline, set to bring heavy tar sands diluted bitumen ('dilbit') from Pontiac, Illinois to its Griffith, Indiana holding terminal. The permit for the pipeline with the capacity to carry 800,000 barrels-per-day of tar sands dilbit came ten days after the introduction of S.1—the Keystone XL Pipeline Act—currently up for debate on the U.S. Senate floor, which calls for the permitting of the northern leg of TransCanada’s Keystone XL. Griffith is located just south of Whiting, Indiana, home of a massive refinery owned by BP. In November 2013, BP opened its Whiting Modernization Project, which retooled to refine up to 85-percent of its capacity as heavy dilbit from the tar sands, up from its initial 20-percent capacity."
DC, State & Local Eco-Politics
Keystone XL* to create thousands of jobs. Time to build! (* amendment)—by RLMiller: "Today, the Senate will take up 18 amendments to the Keystone XL bill, including at least one proposal that will create thousands - if not hundreds of thousands - of jobs and ease our dependence on foreign oil, not to mention dirty dangerous coal mining and fracked natural gas. Time to build, America!'I'm talking about Sen. Bernie Sanders' 'Ten Million Solar Rooftops," a bill he's introduced in the past and is now attaching as an amendment to the Keystone XL bill, S. 1. His amendment will be heard, along with 17 others, starting at 2:30 p.m. today. The bill would provide 15% rebates to homeowners who go solar until reaching a 10-million-home mark. Read it and the other Democratic amendments to be taken up today here (PDF)."
Playing politics with climate change in the Senate—by nicoleweddington: "In an obviously politically motivated effort, the vote was pushed forward to determine 'who the climate-change deniers in the U.S. Senate really are,' said Chuck Schumer (D-NY) prior to the vote. 'Do they deny that human activity has helped create climate change? Stay tuned—we’ll see.' […] The results from the maneuvering in the Senate had Republicans acknowledging that climate change is real but refusing to say that humans are to blame for it. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) summed it up his stance by saying that climate change is real and it is largely man-made, but the solutions being pushed by the Democrats are bad for the economy."
McConnell only gets four Democratic votes on losing cloture motion to fast-track Keystone XL—by Meteor Blades: "Just four Senate Democrats voted Monday with the Republicans for cloture on a bill that would have approved Keystone XL pipeline. The bill would have transferred authority from the president over the pipeline to Congress. Sixty votes were needed. The vote was 53-39. The four Democratic 'yes' votes were Sens. Mike Bennet of Colorado, Joe Donnelly of Indiana, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota and Joe Manchin III of West Virginia. (Four Democrats and four Republicans did not vote.)
In the run-up to Monday's vote, senators considered 24 amendments, three of which passed. There are still more than 140 amendments to be considered."
Republicans, Climate Change, and the Soft Bigotry of Low Expectations—by Liberty Equality Fraternity and Trees: "Over the past few days, I've seen a number of articles that play up the significance of the fact that 15 GOP Senators voted to acknowledge that 'human activity contributes to climate change.' They do not deserve a gold star for acknowledging reality, but people like grading Republicans on a (very steep) curve. Some articles have even tried to portray this as a 'rift in the party.' Let's instead review what these senators did—and did not—vote for. The amendment in question, offered by John Hoeven (R-ND), originally had little to do with climate change. In fact, it began as an amendment saying that building the Keystone XL pipeline would have a negligible impact on the environment. […] Basically, some Republicans, knowing that Democrats were going to make them vote on anthropogenic climate change, wanted weaker language that would still give them a way to deflect charges of being 'anti-science.'
Eco-Action & Eco Justice
Climate Action Hub: March for Real Climate Action Saturday, 2/7—by boatsie: "The February 7 March for Real Climate Leadership is being touted as the "game-changing moment for the climate movement in California" as scores of environmental groups from across the state and thousands of protestors convene in Oakland Saturday to demand Governor Jerry Brown to aggressively address fracking, climate change, and the California water crisis. The March is organized by a broad coalition of groups from all over California, including 350.org (and local 350 groups), Oil Change International, Greenpeace, RAN, IFG, Center on Race, Poverty and the Environment, Sierra Club (and Local Sierra Club chapters), Tar Sands Action Southern California, Food & Water Watch and ForestEthics. 'We intend to serve notice on Governor Brown that it is unacceptable to keep allowing fracking in our state, fouling our aquifers, endangering Californian’s health, risking more earthquakes and exploiting dirty oil that contributes to rising CO2 levels,' says Richard Gray of 350Marin. 'This will be a colorful and family friendly march with many bands, banners, Animals Against Extinction, Faith and Labor contingents and many others arriving by bus from all over California, bikers and even kayakers on Lake Merritt. Everyone is encouraged to wear blue to symbolize our precious water and air.' Over one hundred blue puzzle pieces presenting alternative ideas for clean energy solutions have been created by volunteers to request the Governor become 'a Piece of the Solution.; Participants are encouraged to create their own pieces of the puzzle."
Agriculture, Food & Gardening
Chipotle's Pig Problem—by Robocop: "On the heels of Carl’s Jr.’s announcement in mid December that they would offer a clean, non-industrial burger to its menu, Chipotle Mexican Grill let it be known last week that they were dropping pork products from their menu. The difference between the two decisions is that where Carl’s Jr. did market research in an attempt to bolster their bottom line, Chipotle Mexican Grill made a political decision, and dropped a product. CEO Steve Ells has temporarily pulled carnitas from their menu, citing the failure of their supplier, as Miller Tabak analyst Stephen Anderson said, 'to comply with the company’s pig housing standards.' And where the Carl’s Jr. move appears to have made a huge impact on the way beef will soon be produced in this country and was largely applauded, Ells decision was perceived as a negative, with the value of its stock falling, albeit temporarily. The reaction could also stem from the fact that CKE Restaurants Holdings, the parent company of Carl’s Jr., rakes in about $1.3 billion in profits, whereas Chipotle earns roughly $758 million. Nevertheless, this move by a smaller fast food chain will contribute to the growing consumer demand for sustainable products."
England recommends all its schools go 'meat free' on Mondays!—by VL Baker: "England's Education Secretary, Michael Gove, has launched a new set of school food standards, with accompanying guidance, that recommended that all school children have a weekly meat-free day. In the School Food Standards: A practical guide for schools their cooks and caterers, one of the ‘Top Tips’ is: 'Encourage all children to have a meat-free day each week, using alternatives such as pulses, soya mince, tofu and Quorn.' […] Also included in the new standards, which will be mandatory in all English maintained schools, new academies and free schools from January, are requirements for one or more portions of vegetables or salad as an accompaniment every day, at least three different fruits and three different vegetables each week and an emphasis on wholegrain foods in place of refined carbohydrates. Will New York City be next? NY Council Member Helen Rosenthal has introduced a resolution calling for the City of New York to declare Mondays 'Meatless Mondays'."
Transportation & Infrastructure
Rebuilding the USA's infrastructure.—by DKAtoday: "The following was written in reply to a request for petition support. A petition forwarded in Bernie Sanders Name. Yes - America needs to rebuild it's infrastructure and along the way replace dirty fossil fuel technology with clean technology. And 1 or 2 trillion would not be amiss in being put towards a 50 state effort. But. GET THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ON BOARD. Educate on how this money would be spent. We need to replace all fossil fuel powered Power Plants. OK—no argument—NOW—with what? Solar farms and Wind farms are OK—but are not enough. How about also using Thorium Power plants. How about adding electrical storage to the power grid = making the power grid more flexible as well as efficient = LIQUID METAL BATTERIES."
Eco-Essays and Eco-Philosophy
Apology Re: KXL Pipeline Comments—by 6412093: "I get global warming. I've successfully advised unions not to invest in coal fired power plants. I did not attend meetings to support the coal export terminals in the Pacific Northwest. I wrote a favorable Kos diary about the strong public opposition to those terminals, and I diaried against other coal fired power plants. I understand that the KXL Pipeline is a powerful symbol of our odious addiction to petroleum vehicle fuels. I just wish folks didn't have to pick a symbol that would provide work for thousands of union construction workers. We need the work. We need strong unions. We need unions in those Red states, where the KXL will be built, as a base for those of us who want to see a 50-state campaign by Democrats. By now I've commented, and argued about KXL for too long on Kos. Finally a week ago, I recc'ed a Troll pro-KXL diary, just because. (I withdrew the Rec later that day.) If I'm reccing a troll diary, I've gone too far. I apologize."
The Solution to Perpetual Growth: Steady State Economics—by andrewrex: "Growth means growth of Gross Domestic Product (GDP): an increase in the output of goods and services from the economy. By growing our GDP, we accelerate the rate at which the natural world is converted into stuff (GDP even includes the cleanup closts of oil spills and stuff that we blow up, like bombs). It would be bad enough if unsustainable resource depletion was done to lift people out of poverty, but that's not even the case. We grow the economy to give that growth to the top 1%. It's even worse than that, though: we've grown the money supply so fast that it's become decoupled from GDP, meaning that we've also committed to an enormous amount of resource depletion in the future (just like the carbon emissions in the ocean and atmosphere will lead to a delayed temperature rise that will kick in over decades). I'm probably re-hashing a lot of what you already know, and we do that a lot: we talk about problems to get people's attention. We need to shift our attention to solutions. If perpetual growth is the problem, then the solution is to not grow—and do it at a 'size' that fits on the planet. That means we consume within the Earth's capacity to provide us resources and absorb our wastes. So how do we do that?"
"Killing Beavers is not Management"—by hannah: "That was the subject line of one of my missives in response to the Glynn County Director of Public Works entering into a contract with a trapper to deal with beavers that might presume to clog his culverts with sticks and debris. I was wrong. "Management," it turns out is the catch-all bureaucrats' euphemism for destroying and disposing of whatever inconvenience might impede their enterprise. 'Waste management' wasn't just an effort to enhance the social status of garbage men. It had functional relevance because where the latter were originally engaged in a recycling enterprise based on feeding garbage to hogs, waste management focused on incineration and/or burying stuff underground, like some dead body. 'Waste management' is a dead-end enterprise, not a matter of trade and exchange. Which, of course, is why our swelling landfills serve as testaments to an economy that's failed. Sad to say, our economists can't read the sign-posts 'cause they're not on a spread-sheet. Even the graphs from the Federal Reserve depicting the sluggish dollar don't register. Economists don't get pictures."