See citisven's
post about this anti-fracking protest in Oakland, California.
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
21,820 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.
The Mindnapped and the Evil Rays of Silence—by
James Wells: "Beware of the stations where the facts are based on lies/Some of them are run by aliens in disguise/They sneak up behind you and put your brain in a box./You can recognize the victims, because they're watching Fox ~Nursery rhyme. Certain people can stop a good conversation, especially if it involves reality-based topics like climate change, at a range of 10 yards or even more. They do this by sending out evil rays of silence that force people to talk about football, or a TV show, or nothing at all. For instance, your Fox-watching Uncle Bob, shown to the right. This harms progressive causes that grow and thrive on thoughtful conversation. To win, the ranks of the mindnapped don't need to prevail in a discussion—they just need to destroy it. Fortunately, the evil rays of silence can be mitigated and sometimes defeated. The latest research from scientists shows us how."
You can find more rescued green diaries below the orange garden layout.
Climate Chaos
Daily Tck: Day one of the UN climate talks in Geneva—by Joshua Wiese: "The year's first round of UN climate negotiations officially kicked off in Geneva on Sunday morning. Our partners' snowy walk to the historic Palais des Nations was only the first hint of contrast between this round and Lima’s warm but heated last days. According to Negotiator Tracker Federico Brocchieri,“The wind’s chill here in Geneva seemed to have cooled rival tempers and led negotiators to give up their moments on the opening podium to save time to get straight into negotiating.” Government delegates quickly moved through the opening plenary, and set their focus on their primary goal of shaping the Lima Call for Climate Action into a streamlined draft negotiating text (more on that in our curtain raiser); starting with the sections focused on the general objective of the new agreement and on mitigation. With the scope and scale of climate solutions increasingly affecting the lives of individuals around the world, some 240 organizations and networks joined a strong push to strengthen the role of human rights as a guiding principle, hoping to see governments champion the cause. And champions there were - Mexico, Uganda the EU and Chile stood up and called on Human Rights and Gender Equity to be included in the general objectives section. Switzerland, Norway and Brazil, however, pushed in the opposite direction. Other countries, like the US and Saudi Arabia, questioned the necessity of a general objections section altogether."
Daily Tck: Day two of the UN climate talks in Geneva—by Joshua Wiese: "Talks on pre-2020 climate action begin Tuesday; our partners push for focus renewable energy, energy efficiency and fossil fuel subsidy reform focus After a strong start to the UN climate talks in Geneva on Sunday, Monday seemed to move at an even more dizzying pace. With each breath, government delegates continued to suggest additions to the document they’ll use as a basis for negotiations this year; further ballooning a text that started at 38 pages Sunday morning. With general objectives and mitigation behind them, they started the morning adding to the slate of options on adaptation and loss and damage. The afternoon was filled with a rapid fire display of additional ideas on finance, technology transfer, capacity building and transparency measures. A larger negotiating text could complicate the path to a new global climate agreement in Paris, but many of additions are in line with efforts our partners have long pushed for. The International Trade Union Confederation, for example, celebrated the inclusion of ‘a just transition of the workforce that creates decent work and quality jobs;’ and developing countries suggested a number of additions that align with our partners’ efforts to the address loss and damage incurred by climate change we can’t adapt to."
Daily Tck: Day 3 of the UN Climate Talks in Geneva—by Joshua Wiese: "Government delegates had a chance to place additional ideas in the remaining sections of the Lima Call for Climate Action on Tuesday morning; ultimately turning the 38 page document into more than 70 pages of ideas and options on the shape and scope and structure of a new global climate agreement. Before they completed all of the additions this morning, we saw more of our partners’ priority issues being championed by countries. A number of youth-led organizations who have spent years trying to build traction around the principle of intergenerational equity - that our planet should be handed to future generations in no worse condition than those we inherited it from—were given reason to celebrate whenAILAC took up the cause. The bloc of six countries (Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Panama and Peru) have played a constructive role throughout the week, helping push for stronger links to human rights and gender equality as well. A second win came from Switzerland, who added language strengthening the link between climate action and our health."
Why Do We Delay Addressing Climate Change?—by Ellen Moyer: "People are daunted by the gradual nature, incomprehensible consequences, and global scope of the problem. No siren blares “Act Now!” as the problem gradually snowballs. We respond to sudden, “bite-sized” disasters like hurricanes and tsunamis. But we leave a major cause of these events, climate change, unaddressed. This is partly because future scenarios—for example, our world after four feet of sea level rise—boggle our minds. Many countries responsible for creating the global problem refuse to act unless others act, stymying efforts to reach agreement, while the situation grows increasingly dire. The United States’ historical lack of leadership at global climate talks is particularly galling in light of U.S. cumulative greenhouse gas emissions that exceed those of any other country. American commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, which CNN news characterizes as 'intermittent,' may have changed in recent years and especially with last November’s historic emissions deal between President Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping. Many people blindly hope scientists are wrong about the climate or that we can afford to wait to act until we know more. The variable nature of climate makes it hard to squarely blame any event—such as a hurricane—on climate change, creating uncertainty."
Climate Change:Elevator Pitch video 2—by greenman3610: "The new video series, 'Climate Change: The Elevator Pitch,' has gotten some pretty good uptake, and I’m going to continue to bring them out on a regular basis for some time. The newest installment features Glaciologist Eric Rignot, who is succinct, passionate, and on point."
Canadian Climate Scientist Wins Defamation Suit—by ClimateDenierRoundup: "Remember the other day when we talked about Delingpole's "Forget Climategate" article, which promoted the laughable conspiracy theory that scientists are deliberately skewing the temperature record? Or back in August, when deniers got some coverage for their paranoid delusions that Australia's Bureau of Meteorology made up national temperature records? Or in June of last year, when the Telegraph went gaga for Goddard, accusing NOAA of temperature exaggeration--a theory which Fox and Drudge also promoted, even though NOAA debunks the claim in its FAQ? Well, they're still beating that drum. Faithful denier, Christopher Booker, has a column in The Telegraph repeating the same tired claims, which naturally warranted not one, but two write-ups by Delingpole... as well as a headline in the Drudge Report, a post at Fox News, a reference at the Heartland blog, and a shout out from Climate Depot. But the deniers' case is just as bad now as when PolitiFact gave the temperature tampering claim a "Pants on Fire" rating in 2014, or when the claim was debunked back in 2013, or explained in 2012, or when skeptics and a scientist got Koch money in 2011 to look at the temperature record, only to find that the official records were accurate. On a similar note, this most recent 'beating of the drum' has been debunked by none other than denier Steve Mosher, who literally wrote a book pushing the Climategate myth. So even hardcore deniers know this is ridiculous (see this post about Watts for another example, or Curry's blog for an expanded piece by Moser and others.)"
Gremlins 2: For Whom the Bell Tols—by ClimateDenierRoundup: "Bob Ward has a new piece at HuffPo UK detailing the latest in a long line of errors in the work of skeptical economist Richard Tol. As Ward explains, Tol has written several papers claiming that climate change will have some net benefit if kept under 2°C, but his papers are flawed. Turns out Tol improperly classified some of the papers as showing benefits, when they actually came to the opposite conclusion. This flawed result was then used by pundits to claim that warming would be good, despite all the other literature showing otherwise. When it came time to issue a correction, instead of acknowledging his oversight and redoubling efforts to make sure he got the details right, Tol inexplicably wrote that, 'Gremlins intervened in the preparation of my paper.' But even Tol's correction wasn't enough to actually get everything right, and the Journal of Economic Perspectives had to publish a new Editorial Note pointing out that Tol's correction was ALSO flawed (and not just because he blamed gremlins for his errors)."
Fed Climate Hail Mary: Time to examine purposely cooling the planet—by VL Baker: "The AP is reporting that what was once considered fringe is being put on the table for examination. It's time to study and maybe even test the idea of cooling the Earth by injecting sulfur pollution high in the air to reflect the sun's heat, a first-of-its-kind federal science report said Tuesday. […] In a nuanced, two-volume report, the National Academy of Sciences said that the concept should not be acted upon immediately because it is too risky, but it should be studied and perhaps tested outdoors in small projects. It could be a relatively cheap, effective and quick way to cool the planet by mimicking the natural effects on climate of large volcanic eruptions, but scientists concede there could be dramatic and dangerous side effects that they don't know about."
Critters & the Great Outdoors
Mother Nature's Cupboard—by hannah: "In the state of Georgia, the Department of Natural Resources has the key. Good customers, who follow the rules, get to help themselves to free stuff. At the most recent meeting of the Board of Directors (who knew state agencies have boards of directors, just like private corporations?), the topic was alligators. Alligator management, it turns out, means deciding how many permits to issue to insure the right number get killed. And, even though the 'success' rate is only thirty percent, alligator hunting is developing into a team sport, increasing in popularity because it's an 'opportunity' for cameraderie and a "unique" experience. The communal kill!!! Now, there's progress!!!"
Alligator basking in the sun.
Whale Soup—by
LeftOfYou: "I cringed, too, when I heard the guide say that, but soon learned that he meant it in the best possible way. For many decades, I had pursued the occasional opportunities to observe whales in the wild that came my way, mostly through excursions. Way back when, despite years of sea duty with the Navy, I didn't encounter a single whale, and as sonar officer, I was in a position to find them if they were there. Alas, not where my ships operated. Even on the organized whale watching tours I had managed to get on, few and far between for someone who lives far from the sea, sightings had been few, sparse and distant, if any at all. But not this time. Last week, we spent a day visiting the quiet waters of a lagoon of Magadalena Bay, Baja California, Sur, near the fishing village of Puerto Adolfo Lopez Mateos, Mexico, on the Pacific coast. The trip was planned to coincide with the mid-Winter visit to the sheltered waters of Pacific Gray Whales who bear their young and breed before returning to their Summer feeding grounds in the Bering Sea. A beautiful whale and her calf and other Grays permitted us the privilege of observing at length their graceful patrolling of the calm, blue waters. Weighing thirty tons or more and about the size of a school bus, Gray Whales, while not the largest of their kind, are entirely large enough to render people golf-crowd quiet while observing in calm awe. We went out in a party of seven with a guide and fisherman operating the quiet outboard motor of the small Panga boat."
Almost 1 billion monarch butterflies have vanished—by Walter Einenkel: "The Washington Post reports a truly disturbing fact brought to light today by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service summed it up in just one grim statistic on Monday: Since 1990, about 970 million have vanished. It happened as farmers and homeowners sprayed herbicides on milkweed plants, which serve as the butterflies’ nursery, food source and home. In an attempt to counter two decades of destruction, the Fish and Wildlife Service launched a partnership with two private conservation groups, the National Wildlife Federation and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, to basically grow milkweed like crazy in the hopes of saving the monarchs. I went to an inner-city school in East Harlem, from elementary school through high school. To this day I remember, as do many children who are not such young children anymore, the activity of taking monarch butterflies from caterpillar through their entire lifecycle. We fed them sugar water on droppers and then went into the concrete yard off of Lexington Avenue and let them free. They were everywhere."
The Daily Bucket - Great Backyard Bird Count—by enhydra lutris: "WooHoo, Great Backyard Bird Count 2015! 02/13/2015 - 02/15/2015. The basic idea is pretty simple. You count all of the birds of each type you see for 15 minutes or more in some location, and then report the location, time spent and number of each type of bird spotted. As many times per day and as many days as you like in as many locations as you like. One report per session. There is a ton of info about this at birdcount.org home page and related pages."
Mountain Dreams -- Bears—by billpalto: ""Bears Starting To Emerge From Dens In Yellowstone. Blame the relatively mild winter weather for the early emergence of bears in the Greater Yellowstone area.' I guess this means our bears are going to wake up soon too. Yesterday was almost 70 degrees, and the snow is about all gone except up on the peaks. The chipmunks are busy scavenging bird food off of the deck. It looks like spring here now. I already posted how all the pine and fir trees died in my yard (except the ones over the septic), so it's as if we dropped a thousand feet in elevation. We're down to pinon pines and alligator junipers, at 8,000 feet. Now it looks like spring is a month early."
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker.
Dawn Chorus - A Cold Day at Montauk—by
nookular: " Lying at the eastern tip of Long Island's south fork, Montauk caters to hoards of vacationers in the summer months, and hides enclaves of the rich and famous trying to escape the Hamptons. During the winter months, though, you can still find the old Montauk, a sleepy fishing village surrounded by miles of scenic beaches, horses, and great birding spots. Last Saturday I birded the Montauk circuit, hoping to find a couple of local rarities that had been reported a week before, a Thick-billed Murre and a Barrow's Goldeneye. It turned out to be a rather brisk day, topping out at 18 degrees with a steady 20 mph wind. After an unsuccessful check for the murre and goldeneye at Lake Montauk, which is actually not a lake, but opens to Long Island Sound at it's north end, I headed east to the point. The high winds produced a heavy chop on the water, making it difficult to pick out birds on the ocean. Even in the more sheltered bays and sound whitecaps had me playing hide and seek with the loons, grebes and eiders hiding in the troughs. Checking some of the wooded areas just west of the point, I managed to find a couple of "half-hardies"- landbirds who make the sometimes fatal decision to linger into winter when most of their brethren have moved south."
Black-capped chickadee
The Daily Bucket - Kah Tai Lagoon—by
Milly Watt: "Kah Tai Lagoon is an estuarine lagoon and freshwater wetland in the middle of the town of Port Townsend, WA. After an errand that took us into town on February 4, we went for a walk in the park to see what we could see. There were definitely signs of spring in the foliage and in the paired-off behavior of the ducks. I may not have noticed the Willow flowers above if it had not been for the Black-capped chickadees flitting around and chowing down on the catkins. They drew my attention to the pretty flowers."
The Daily Bucket: Duckies—by Lenny Flank: Photo diary.
The Daily Bucket - Backyard Crows—by
bwren: "My neighbor feeds the crows every day. Every one of them, as well as the Steller's Jays, and anyone else who stops by as she tosses peanuts from her back porch. I know when she feeds by the cacophony of sound and the cloud of happy birds flying from all directions over the yard. I'm not as generous. I set out five pieces of dog kibble between 9:30 and 10:00AM every morning, lining them up along the top of the back porch railing. This began last spring, when I noticed that a family of crows had set up housekeeping in the big cedar in the wayback of our yard. Every morning I'd set out the kibble. Within minutes, a crow would appear, cautiously marching across the porch railing to pick up each piece, one at a time, then flying up to the nest. At first there would be silence when the food laden crow disappeared into the cedar branches. After a while there would be great anticipatory vocalizations from the top of the tree as soon as the crow landed on the railing. Later, one crow would come to the railing to pick up the morning kibble, and a clumsy cohort of red-gaped youngsters would follow, crying from the surrounding trees: 'Me! Me! Me!'"
Energy
weekly rig counts, oil & gas prices, fracker's quarterly reports & spending plans, et al—by rjsigmund: "For the second week in a row, the number of rigs actively drilling for oil and natural gas in the U.S. fell by more than 5%, as Baker Hughes reported the rig count on February 6th was at1456, down by 87 rigs from January 30th, with oil rigs down 83 to 1140, gas rigs down 5 to 314, and miscellaneous rigs up by 1 to 2 … the 1456 rigs running this week represented the slowest drilling activity since December 2011, with the count of land-based rigs falling by 85 to 1397, rigs working on inland waters falling by 3 to 9, while one platform was added offshore, to bring the offshore rig total to 50 … the count of horizontal well-drilling rigs was down by 80 to 1088, the number of directional rigs fell by 5 to 135, and the count of vertical rigs fell by 2 to 233 … this left the US rig count down 315 rigs from last February 6th's 1771, with oil rigs down 276, gas rigs down 37, and miscellaneous rigs down 2."
Oil prices likely to resume falling—by robertweller: "Network news warnings that oil prices would stop falling and in fact resume rising appear to be wishful thinking. "I actually doubt that we have (hit a bottom) what we've seen in the past week and a half or two weeks is a substantive rally from the lows but what is depressive to me is the fact that the carrying charge has not done what one would want to see the carrying charge do in a rally,' Gartman, the author of the 'Gartman Letter' told CNBC's 'Worldwide Exchange' Tuesday. Gartman said $20 a barrel oil is still possible as supply exceeds demand with so many nations’ economies weak. Prices ranged from about $50 to $56 after snapping a three-day surge."
Obama Protects Arctic Ocean Shoal From Oil Drilling-Republican Heads Explode—by Pakalolo: "A plateau in the Eastern Chukchi Sea, Alaska has just received protection from oil drilling from the Interior Department. The plateau is a walrus nursery where thousands congregate to give birth and feed. The move from the Department of Interior head, Sally Jewell, made Senator Lisa Murkowki, explode stating that 'This administration has effectively declared war on Alaska.' Chron reports: Hanna Shoal rises from the shallow Chukchi Sea and teems with plankton, clams and marine worms that attract walrus and bearded seals. The remote area lies 80 miles off the state's northwest coast, beyond even sparsely populated subsistence whale hunting towns such as Barrow, the northernmost community in the U.S. Federal estimates, however, show that the Chukchi and Beaufort seas could hold 26 billion barrels of recoverable oil, and many Alaska leaders are eager to begin drilling in the area to create jobs and fund state government projects and services."
This July 17, 2012 photo released by the U.S. Geological Survey shows adult female walruses on an ice flow with young walruses in the Eastern Chukchi Sea, Alaska.
Tell Pres Obama, Please Don't Let Another Gulf Coast Oil Spill Happen!—by
rebel ga: "Scientists found 10 million gallons of oil; the size of Rhode Island in area, settled on the sea floor, under the Gulf of Mexico. Feb 4, 2015 Business Insider OilPrice.com. Tell Pres Obama, "Stop offshore drilling!" Jan 27, 2015 CNBC. Democratic Senators from states along the East Coast roundly criticized the Obama administration's plan to allow offshore oil and gas drilling in the Atlantic Ocean. Jan 27, 2015 CNN."
Renewables & Conservation
Global wind power installations rose by 44 percent in 2014. China led again, but the U.S. improved—by Meteor Blades: "The Global Wind Energy Council has released results of its survey of wind energy installed across the planet in 2014, and it's impressive: 51.5 gigawatts for a worldwide total of 369 gigawatts. In 2013, global installations of wind totaled 35 GW. In the United States, 4.9 GW were installed in 2014, a big step up from the 1.1 GW installed in 2013, but well below the record of 13.2 GW installed in the United States in 2012. The U.S. total is now 65.9 GW. That's more than the Department of Energy forecast in 2005 that the United States would have installed by 2030. At the top of the heap for installed wind turbines in 2014 was China, with 24.4 GW added. The European Union and rest of Europe installed 12.8 GW. Germany led there with 5.2 GW. While wind still constitutes a very small fraction of the world's installed electricity-generating capacity, analysts are forecasting that this continued growth means wind turbines could constitute good portion of the planet's total capacity by 2030. In its "advanced" scenario, for instance, GWEC's Global World Energy Outlook calculates that there could be 2,000 GW of wind power installed by 2030, providing 19 percent of the world's electricity. By 2050, the estimate is 25-30 percent. But when you start forecasting possibilities three and more decades away, there are of necessity many caveats."
Fracking
Waterboarding Nature: Fracking in Maryland—by billofrights: "It's been a very strange process since Governor O'Malley issued his Executive Order in 2011 to begin the development of fracking regulations in Maryland. If you look closely at the announcements and wording, it doesn't seem as though his office or administration ever thought an outright rejection or ban was needed - or possible. Much of the same logic, however, he applied to oppose oil drilling off the Atlantic Coast applies to fracking in Western Maryland. It's the precautionary principle which New York State applied so simply and powerful on December 17t, just three weeks after the Governor's Green Light." (The diarist then posted his letter to the Department of the Environment regarding fracking regulations.)
Coalition urges Gov. Brown to shut down illegal injection wells—by Dan Bacher: "Just two days after over 8,000 protesters marched through the streets of Oakland in the largest anti-fracking protest in U.S. history, documents released by state regulators revealed that thousands of oil and gas wells and hundreds of illegally operating oil industry waste-disposal wells are injecting fluids into aquifers in violation of state law and the federal Safe Drinking Water Act. 'California state agencies had until Feb. 6 to submit a plan to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency detailing how the state agencies will protect water resources associated with oil development,' according to a news release from Californians Against Fracking. 'The plan submitted by the Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources last Friday allows oil companies in California to continue injecting wastewater into aquifers for several more months and, in some instances, until 2017. State regulators have already allowed aquifers that were suitable for drinking water and agriculture to be contaminated.'"
Keystone XL & Other Fossil Fuel Transportation
DC, State & Local Eco-Politics
Murkowski seeks bipartisan support for wrongheaded 'all-of-the-above' comprehensive energy bill—by Meteor Blades: "Murkowski told reporters in January that she wants a "refreshed, re-imagined policy" on energy. The comprehensive package she wants would be filled with "clever ideas," she says. This would include a range of measures that includes support of clean energy and efficiency, crude oil exports, nuclear waste storage and upgrading the nation's electricity grid. She also has said that she doesn't want to avoid climate talk in the bill. The problem is that what she is talking about doesn't sound a whole lot different than her Energy 20/20: A Vision for America’s Energy. That is just another grab bag, an "all of the above," throw-it-against-the-wall-and-see-what-sticks approach rather than one that addresses our real need: a policy designed to get us off fossil fuels as quickly as possible. Murkowski's 2-year-old plan pays considerable attention to renewables, but it mostly talks about their real-and-imagined problems. For instance, it downplays solar, saying the focus ought to be on niche roles like powering remote locations. And Murkowski makes a point of opposing broad subsidies that have been used to kickstart wind, solar and, to a lesser extent, geothermal sources. That presumably means the production tax credit that has helped give those three sources a boost will not be included in any package she proposes."
They are Really, Really Not Scientists—by dpepperw: "It’s been several weeks now since I last heard the phrase, 'I’m not a scientist…' Thank goodness, because I was becoming convinced that if I heard one more Senator or Congressperson (most especially John Boehner!), when asked about climate change, explain that, 'I’m not a scientist,” I was prepared to actually break my TV!! I mean, just how stupid do these people think we are?? We already know they’re not scientists (it’s really, really obvious), but they can read, can’t they? As members of the United States Congress or Senate, they have access to the most highly regarded scientists in the world! They have an abundance of staff to research in the most advanced libraries in the world! Or is the ability of our planet to support humankind not important enough to warrant their precious time to LEARN about? Every member of our government has some family or loved ones who will live beyond their term of office. Children or nieces and nephews, or lovers; they all have a future that will include breathing, drinking water, and eating food!"
Eco-Action & Eco Justice
FBI makes home visits to climate change activists—by Meteor Blades: "Tar sands activists in several states have been getting visits from the FBI, and no one knows yet exactly why. Targets seem to be protesters who have blocked roads and delayed the shipment "megaloads" of tar sands equipment. The FBI, of course, says it's not about politics. Because the bureau would never ever go after individuals or groups for that. Just like local cops would never ever to that."
We did it! Biggest Anti-Fracking Demonstration in U.S. History! (photos galore)—by citisven: "So a bunch of concerned citizens of all stripes came out to Oakland yesterday to talk some fracking sense. More specifically, according to 350.org's count, over 8,000 of us marched and gathered to call for a ban on fracking in California. To me, it seemed like a sea of people. The message was, specifically, for Governor Jerry Brown to put the kibosh on fracking, but more broadly, to use his smarts when it comes to California's energy policy. The good thing is that we know Governor Brown is a smart and caring guy who just called for expansive new environmental regulations and ambitious cuts to carbon emissions in his recent inaugural speech. We also know that Jerry knows something about We the People.The problem is that in the frack-of-war between The Oil Barons and The People, Jerry is currently being pulled dangerously close to the barrel."
After biggest anti-fracking march in history, coalition takes it to the governor—by
Paul Hogarth: "On Saturday, over 8,000 people marched in Oakland to call for a ban on fracking in California. It was the largest public protest against fracking in history. On Monday, we took it a step further when our coalition delivered 113,722 signatures to Governor Jerry Brown (including 34,000+ from California). Our online petition—sponsored by Daily Kos, 350.org, Courage Campaign, Food & Water Watch and others—was simple: Jerry Brown has made fighting climate change a top priority, so he must follow the lead of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and ban fracking in California. I arrived in Sacramento with a huge box of petition signatures and a 4 PM appointment in the governor’s office. Daily Kos users Curtis Paullins (cooper888) and Jann Dorothy (Kestrel) were there to give me a warm Sacramento welcome, as did Sacramento resident Kyran McCann. Dan Jacobson, legislative director of Environment California, gave us an invaluable pep talk on what to expect before going into the governor’s office."
Group shot as we leave the governor's office (L to R): Linda Capato of 350.org, Paul Hogarth of Daily Kos, Kyran McCann and Curtis Paullins (cooper888)
FBI makes home visits to climate change activists—by
Meteor Blades: "Katie Valentine reports:
Tar sands activists in several states have been getting visits from the FBI, and no one knows yet exactly why. […] “It’s always the same line: ‘We’re not doing criminal investigations, you’re not accused of any crime. But we’re trying to learn more about the movement,' he said. Targets seem to be protesters who have blocked roads and delayed the shipment 'megaloads' of tar sands equipment. The FBI, of course, says it's not about politics. Because the bureau would never ever go after individuals or groups for that. Just like local cops would never ever to that."
Agriculture, Food & Gardening
Junk food profits drop with McDonald's Food Quality Scares in Asia—by annieli: "Food safety's effect on profits in Asia sent a clear message to financial markets in areas where indigenous street food and corporate image commodities are contestable commodities. Corporate local relations in provisioning clearly seems to be failing in terms of quality control, symptomatic of so many intercultural elements of globalized consumer marketing. Food-quality scares are hurting McDonald's in China and Japan, where weakness contributed to a key global sales figure falling 1.8 percent. The world's largest hamburger chain said sales dropped 12.6 percent in January at locations open at least 13 months in the division that includes the Asia region. That overshadowed a 0.4 percent rise at U.S. locations and a comparable 0.5 percent increase in Europe. McDonald's shares fell $1.16 to $92.83 in morning trading. McDonald's Corp. said its performance in Asia was hurt by customer perception issues in Japan, where a human tooth, plastic pieces and other objects have been found in its food. In China, McDonald's is trying to recover from the ongoing fallout from another food-safety scandal."
Sustainability & Extinction
33 things to Eat, Drink, See and Do before climate change ruins everything—by
VL Baker: "The folks at The Center for Biological Diversity have good reason to be concerned about the loss of species. With the Earth losing half of our wildlife in the last forty years, our arrogant species has taken over most of the available land and resources of our planet and we're not leaving much room or unpolluted food for the other inhabitants. So they are on a quest to promote that we consciously slow down our breeding and they are even giving us the means to do so. The Earth’s population now tops 7 billion people. The rapid growth of our human population is pushing other species off the planet in what most scientists are calling the sixth mass extinction crisis. Yet this population explosion is too often ignored by the public, the media and even the environmental movement, while it continues to drive all the major environmental problems that plague our planet — including climate change, habitat loss, ocean acidification and resource depletion. That’s why the Center for Biological Diversity launched our Endangered Species Condoms project in 2009, and since then has distributed hundreds of thousands of free condoms across the United States. Wrapped in colorful, wildlife-themed packages (with artwork by Roger Peet), Endangered Species Condoms offer a fun, unique way to get people talking about the link between human population growth and the species extinction crisis."
Midwestern US Citizens: Grow some MILKWEED!—by SemperEducandis: "The Monarch butterfly population is down at least 85% in the last 20 years. An area about the size of Texas which used to support their SOLE food plant, in fields, fence rows, marginal land areas, and so forth, has been sprayed so many times with herbicides, has been planted with GMO crops containing pesticides (Which kills butterflies. Thank you Dow, Monsanto.) that they have no breeding grounds left. The Fish and Wildlife Service is considering listing them as "Endangered" and putting them on the protected species list. Also remember, MANY other species depend on these insects for food. They are also a significant pollinator, and the sole pollinator of a few plant species. (Butterflies are nowhere near as effective as bees in general, which are ALSO under the gun from all the spraying and GMO crap crops, but they are still a significant pollination vector.)"
Eco-Essays and Eco-Philosophy
The DR Congo Climate Factor, and the Road to 2016.—by rb137: "In terms of climate, the Congo Basin is the heart of Africa. A stable DR Congo is necessary to protect the fragile ecology there. The climate of the entire continent depends on the Congo Basin. The map below was generated by Mongabay. There is a larger, more readable version of the map here. The Congo Rainforest is the second largest in the world. The largest is the Amazon Rainforest. The Congo River (located entirely inside Democratic Republic of the Congo) is the second largest river by volume in the world. The largest is the Amazon River. The Congo Basin contains more than 18% of the world's rainforest. More than 60% of the Congo Rainforest lies inside of Democratic Republic of the Congo. 12.5% of the earth's remaining tropical rainforest lies inside of Democratic Republic of the Congo."
Oceans, Water & Drought
Will drought relief money be used to support overpumping Delta water?—by Dan Bacher: "Sacramento - Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell announced at a press conference on Friday, February 6, that the Bureau of Reclamation is making $50 million in funds available immediately for controversial "drought relief" projects throughout the West —including nearly $20 million for California’s Central Valley Project (CVP). The announcement drew criticism from Delta Tunnels opponents, who questioned whether $5.37 million in federal funds for alleged 'Delta needs' will support the overpumping of Delta water that threatens Central Valley salmon and other fish species with extinction. Jewell claimed the 'funding will help stretch water supplies in California’s Central Valley and throughout West during time of historic drought.'"
Trash, Pollution & Hazardous Waste
A year after toxic leak contaminates West Virginia drinking water, GOP wants to lift protections—by Walter Einenkel: "So you contaminate about 300,000 residents' drinking water. It becomes clear that this is the result of criminal violations of the Clean Water Act. Should you: a) Investigate what could have and should have been done, take that information and apply it to law so that this type of thing doesn't happen again. b) Try to add amendments to bills that will gut water quality protections and stop citizens from holding environmental violators responsible. If you said 'a,' you are not paying attention to the political party that was voted into the majority this past November."
The sky didn't fall—by Old Redneck: "In 1997, we and the Ruskies signed an agreement to destroy chemical and biological weapons. These weapons are nasty stuff—chemical and biological agents in artillery shells, rockets, and bombs. Storage is a problem because, over time, these things can change composition and become unstable, or, they can leak. Transport is a problem—what happens if a train with one carload of chemical weapons wrecks? Our stockpile was in seven locations: Anniston, AL; Toelle, UT; Pueblo, CO; Lexington, KY; Umatilla, OR; Pine Bluff, AR; and Johnston Atoll. The incineration sites (Anniston, Umatilla, Pine Bluff, Johnston Atoll, and Tooele) all destroyed the weapons without incident or environmental harm. The Pueblo and Blue Grass sites have been extensively tested and their operations have been incident-free to this point. All communities got a lot of jobs and subcontracts, and the construction firms (Bechtel was the main one) made a tidy profit. And the sky didn't fall."
Forests, Wilderness & Public Lands
Update on push to Create Dorothea Dix National Monument—by MorrellWI1983: "Hi Guys. I'm posting this diary in an effort to help StargazerNC reach her goal of 500 signatures for her Change.org petition to preserve the Dix Hospital in Raleigh North Carolina as a national Monument, which would be the first monument in the state of North Carolina."
Rep. Robin Kelly 'thrilled' that Obama designates Pullman National Monument—by Reading on Walden Bookstore: "The National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) broke the great news this morning on its facebook page: 'Chicago’s Pullman site will join the National Park System!' Lynn McClure, NPCA's Midwest senior director, said 'Thanks to the president, Pullman’s story will soon be remembered and recounted for the millions of people that visit America’s national parks each year.' To seal the deal, President Barack Obama will visit the Pullman Historic District next Thursday, Feb. 19, in order to designate a portion of the Pullman neighborhood as a National Monument, according to the White House. Rep. Robin Kelly is 'thrilled' about the Pullman National Park designation. Kelly has a number of priorities as Congresswoman from the 2nd Illinois' Congressional district and these priorities are lofty and difficult to attain, but on Tuesday one of those priorities became reality, as President Barack Obama made the decision to designate the Pullman district on the Far South Side a national monument."
Miscellany
Accidental Terraforming—by thefarleftside:
"Terraforming is a process whereby a perfectly good planet has its atmosphere, temperature, and ecology altered to suit the needs of its intended host. Generally this is imagined occuring on other planets, not ours. Looking optimistically at the rapid changes in our environment it almost makes you kinda wonder if we're expecting company."
The Inoculation Project 2/8/15: Environmental Science & Chem Lab Materials—by nervousnellie: "The Inoculation Project, founded in 2009 by hyperbolic pants explosion, is a group of Kossacks who gather weekly to combat the anti-science push in conservative America by providing direct funding to science and math projects in red state classrooms. Our conduit is DonorsChoose.org, a fourteen-year-old organization rated highly by both Charity Navigator and the Better Business Bureau. Here's a little introductory video about DonorsChoose. DonorsChoose.org allows you to make direct contributions to specific, vetted projects in public school classrooms, resulting in tremendous and immediate impacts from small dollar donations. Each week, we focus on funding a single small-dollar project at a time, in a traditionally red state classroom and preferably in a high-poverty district. Project: Environmental Science Detectives. Resources Needed: 9 Clean Water Kits, 9 Weather Station Kits, 9 Green Sciene Torch Kits. School Poverty Level: Highest. Location: North Wayne Elementary School, Indianapolis, IN. (Fund-raising complete.)"