Satyr Anglewing on viburnum. For more such photos, see OceanDiver's post here.
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 21,930 environmentally oriented diaries have been "rescued" in this weekly collection since 2006. Inclusion of a diary in the Spotlight does not necessarily indicate my agreement with or endorsement of it.
"Police will “guard” the water for those who can pay for it, while we die of thirst."—by
Pakalolo: "Ice shelves are floating tongues of ice that extend from a grounded glacier. These shelves of ice surround 75% of Antarctica. There is an approximate 19 mile crack that is hundreds of feet deep that is running though the massive Antarctica Larsen C ice shelf. A massive break up of this shelf is expected at any time. 'It’s a rift that now stretches from the Weddell Sea—where winds and currents have driven human-warmed ocean waters to up-well along the ocean-contacting faces of the great Antarctic ice sheets—and deep into the interior of this 49,000 square kilometer and 600 to 700 foot tall block of ancient, floating ice. Over the past few years this rift has been rapidly advancing at a rate of about 2.5 kilometers each year. Given that the rift has already traversed more than half of the Larsen C ice shelf calving face, a very large break-up could now occur at almost any time.'"
Antarctic ice shelves
You can find more rescued green diaries below the orange garden layout.
Eco-Essays and Eco-Philosophy
"We don't have time"—against bourgeois 'solutions' for climate change—by Cassiodorus: "We don't have time to do anything effective about climate change. So let's do something ineffective and call it a day. We can get the greenhouse gas emissions down 5% with a cap-and-trade scheme, buy an electric car and a solar panel, and 'build on our successes.' Right? Never mind that those global carbon dioxide emissions are accelerating—we're 'making progress'! Bourgeois green rules, and besides, there is no alternative, as Saint Margaret Thatcher told us all. (end snark) Where do we start with this argument? We might start by asking why the politicians of today are all so enamored of cap-and-trade schemes whenever the subject of climate change comes up. The main reason, of course, is that they promote more capitalism as a 'solution' for climate change. All the Important People like more capitalism. Cap-and-trade schemes create a new commodity, 'carbon credits,' and invest said commodity with 70 billion euros of value. That's 70 billion euros of commitment to the idea that carbon consumption doesn't go away."
On movement goals, climate change, and what to do—by Cassiodorus: "Overcoming 'fatalism' about climate change is of course important—but a more important goal of climate change activism is to project the right motivation (thus Queally's word, 'fatalism') to attract a critical mass of activists and thus to constitute a global movement. Telling people that climate change will result in the doom of civilization is a fair enough thing to do, by itself, but it doesn't provide them with appropriate motivation to seek efficacious solutions or to, in Naomi Klein's words, 'save the climate.' Importantly, Queally's short article is more generally about Naomi Klein's book This Changes Everything, which contains a number of ideas for providing the appropriate motivation to motivate activists to 'save the climate.' In that book Klein implies that, as people join social movements and become motivated activists, the movements will at some point come together around the issue of climate change. Thus the climate change movement is to work with already existing motivations of activists. Here I hope to push Klein's argument a bit further than Klein herself did. I believe that bringing movements together can be facilitated by suggesting a movement goal beyond that of merely improving the character of more capitalism. The movement goal I have in mind starts, but does not end, with the concept of 'food sovereignty.'"
Abolition, ten trillion dollars, and global warming—by cordgrass: "And with all urgency and terror and science I was asking myself, 'Why can't we get our shit together? I mean, even rich people want to avoid an apocalypse.' And then I found the answer at The Nation in an article by Christopher Hayes: The New Abolitionism: Averting planetary disaster will mean forcing fossil fuel companies to give up at least $10 trillion in wealth. And my eyes were opened. Sure I knew that fossil fuel companies would have to leave a lot of their assets in the ground, but it didn't really hit me until reading that article just how much money that implied."
The super rich will soon have their Russo-Baltique Vodka martini chilled by thousand year old ice—by Pakalolo: "Just imagine. Dining at the Burj Al Arab flagship Al Mahara restaurant in Dubai, delighting in your Wagyu Carpaccio appetizer while sipping a $10,000 martini in a glass of Swarovski crystal that has been served on the rocks with ice mined from the melting Svartisen glacier in Norway's polar circle. Can't imagine it? Me either. [...] Extracting the ice will require specially developed heavy and robust mechanical/hydraulic equipment for use atop the glacier and the ice blocks will be removed and flown by helicopter to a Oslo warehouse where it will be distributed to the world's most exclusive and luxurious restaurants and bars in Dubai, London and New York. [...] Yes indeed , the filthy rich have it made. In addition to potential access to glacial ice cubes for their vodka, they also are able to access some other pretty amazing perks. I suppose that removing ice from Svartisen is not a big surprise and that bigger environmental crimes occur on a daily basis from those who profit from environmental degradation, climate change and human misery. But I just find it galling."
Fifty Years After Selma, We Still Need To Organize to Protect Our Civil Rights and Environment—by Food and Water Watch: "The same big corporate interests that are behind the legislative push to deregulate our environmental laws and prevent any meaningful action to protect our planet are the same ones pushing to restrict access to the ballot, effectively rolling back 50 years of civil rights gains. The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), made up of corporations including Koch Industries and ExxonMobil, lobbies for reactionary state legislation around the nation like backing restrictions on voting including voter ID laws. It is no wonder that these powerful interests are working to restrict the vote—their agenda is unpopular and they can only continue to push their regressive policies by preventing popular democracy from flourishing."
Gaia and God: As Global Warming News Ramps Up—bydirkster42: "I've spent the weekend feeling fairly depressed, much of which I think is a reaction to recent news about how imminent a real global warming catastrophe is, about the fact that for Brazil, it's already here. I think of my students, the future I am hoping to help them create, and everything that's coalescing to deny them that future. Of course, depression is not going to do anything to stop this. And I think back to the wisdom of one of my teachers: What we need is neither optimism nor pessimism ... but committed love. This means we remain committed to a vision and to concrete communities of life no matter what the 'trends' may be. Whether we are immediately "winning" or 'losing' cannot shake our rooted understandings of what biophilic life is and should be. These words come from Gaia and God: An Ecofeminist Theology of Earth Healing, by Rosemary Radford Ruether. Published in 1992, her argument followed the World Conference on Environment and Development in expecting that the trends of modern society give us until about 2030 to make major changes in how we live before a series of disasters forces changes on us."
Naomi Klein Spells It Out: Reshape the Global Economy Now, or Kiss The World Goodbye—by xaxnar: "The Guardian has part 2 of excerpts from the Introduction to This Changes Everything by Naomi Klein, [where] the author calls the climate crisis a civilisational wake-up call to alter our economy, our lifestyles, now—before they get changed for us. The quick version: if we do not radically change the world economy, by 2017 we will have passed the point of no return. A tipping point is at hand, where changes will be locked in. We had three decades to make gradual adjustments—now only two choices remain: sweeping changes to our global economic systems ASAP, or global environmental disaster."
Arithmetic, Population and Energy—by rktect: "Most Americans have difficulty comprehending exponential growth. A few years ago Dr. Albert A. Bartlett professor emeritus of the University of Colorado at Boulder explained it well in this video entitled 'Arithmetic Population and Energy.' The greatest shortcoming of the human race is our inability to understand the exponential function. The exponential function is used to describe the size of anything that is growing steadily, for example at 5% a year. We are now in a position where we need to understand the difference between a steady arithmetic growth series and an accelerated geometric series of exponential growth in which the rate of change increases at an increasing rate."
Climate Chaos
A global climate agreement is emerging—by Mattias: "Global politics is not an easy game, and the UN climate talks is probably one of the best examples of processes which goes on and on, with difficult to reach a final agreement. 2015 is the year where a global climate agreement should be adopted, and we are now counting down to the climate summit in Paris, in December. However, the content of the agreement is actually emerging already now, and we better pay attention. The traditional way of reaching a global agreement, involves negotiation, and a final compromise where the commitments of different parties are agreed. This approach has had difficulties to deliver results during previous climate talks, and therefore a different approach was agreed this time. Parties are presenting their contributions to a global agreement already now, thus making the actual content of the agreement, visible long before the framework is agreed. Each party should submit an 'Intended Nationally determined Contribution,' a so-called INDC, describing how they would like to contribute. The two first INDCs have now been published, and we can thus start to see the shapes of the global agreement."
On Gravity and Snowballs—by ClimateDenierRoundup: "Today we have a special video edition of the Denier Roundup! Showing just how eager everyone is to mock Senator Snowball, the White House has joined in Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse's fun. Senator Whitehouse's riff is great, pointing out that when it comes to climate change, you can believe NASA and every scientific society ... or the senator with the snowball. You can believe the US Navy... or the senator with the snowball. You can believe the pope and the CEO of Shell... or you can believe the senator with the snowball. In a preview of a VICE interview with VP Joe Biden, Vice President Biden—when asked about Sen. Inhofe's antics—called climate denial' close to mindless' and 'like denying gravity.' Biden continued with an expression from his father that we find quite apt: 'reality has a way of intruding.' To illustrate that point, Biden pointed to Superstorm Sandy, which made clear the need to begin planning for 'another one of these storms, and another, and another, and another.' Hopefully this dismissive attitude towards deniers will continue to snowball."
Earth's climate is changing fast—in our lifetime fast—by Walter Einenkel: "Scientists from the United Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have recently finished a study analyzing climate changes over many decades. Most everyone knows that climate change is a real thing and an issue being accelerated by human activities. Researchers in this study looked at some of the potential present day, near future impacts: In this study, interdisciplinary scientist Steve Smith and colleagues at the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory examined historical and projected changes over decades rather than centuries to determine the temperature trends that will be felt by humans alive today. 'We focused on changes over 40-year periods, which is similar to the lifetime of houses and human-built infrastructure such as buildings and roads,' said lead author Smith. 'In the near term, we're going to have to adapt to these changes.' Many studies have been performed showing how our climate is changing in an earth-sized lifespan. All of these studies point to both natural global variances as well as those that have developed as a result of increased greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. This study is one of the first to try to investigate the potential temperature changes happening in human lifespans."
Rate Of Climate Change To Soar By 2020s, With Arctic Warming 1°F Per Decade—by VL Baker: "The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) study, 'Near-term acceleration in the rate of temperature change,' finds that by 2020, human-caused warming will move the Earth’s climate system 'into a regime in terms of multi-decadal rates of change that are unprecedented for at least the past 1,000 years.' In the best-case scenario PNNL modeled, with atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations stabilizing at about 525 parts per million (the RCP4.5 scenario), the four-decade warming trend hits 0.45°F (0.25°C) per decade. That means over a 4-decade period, the Earth would warm 1.8°F (4 x 0.45) or 1°C (4 x 0.25). This is a faster multi-decadal rate than the Earth has seen in at least a millennium. Because of Arctic amplification, the most northern latitudes warm two times faster (or more) than the globe as a whole does. As this figure from the study shows, the rate of warming for the Arctic is projected to quickly exceed 1.0°F (0.55°C) per decade."
Critters & the Great Outdoors
The Daily Bucket: A Walk on the Beach—by
Lenny Flank: "Some photos from a walk along Indian Rocks Beach, in St Pete FL:
The Daily Bucket is a regular series from the Backyard Science group. Here we talk about Mother Nature in all her glory, especially the parts that live nearby. So let us know (as close as you are comfortable) where you are and what's going on around you. What's the weather like? Seen any interesting plants, bugs or critters? Are there birds at your feeders? Deer, foxes or peahens in your yard? Seen any cool rocks or geological features? Post your observations and notes here. And photos. We like lots of photos."
The Daily Bucket - insects in the backyard today—by OceanDiver: "A quick Bucket with some early insects gorging on the nectar of early flowers in my backyard. Insects are largely terra incognita for me except for a few familiar ones, so any thoughts on the unknowns will be welcome!
Dawn Chorus: Let's Raise Some Money for Audubon!—by Senor Unoball: "It's springtime, and you know what that means.... Birds! It also means it's time for our annual fund-raising plea to help raise money for Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society. Yes, it's time for our Birdathon! As we did last year, we'll be doing a 'big sit,' in which our team will stay within a prescribed circle and count all the species we see from that point. We won't be counting the numbers of individual birds, as with the Christmas Bird Count, but just the number of species. Our team leader, Stephanie Ellis, says she hopes we will see about 45 different species in our 4-hour time slot. Count day for our team, the Data Sets, is Sunday, April 12."
The Daily Bucket - Lake Chabot Heron Rookery, or not—by enhydra lutris: "We went up to Lake Chabot yesterday to look for Great Blue Heron nests and found none. A jogger reported seeing a lone Great Blue foraging up near the boat dock a while before we arrived. What we did see were roughly 60 California Gulls. 1 California Towhee. A Whole Buncha Canada Geese. 20 Common Merganser, mostly female. 1 Great Egret. 1 White Pelican. 1 Mallard Drake. 1 Belted Kingfisher. 24 Double Crested Cormorants. 2 Pied Billed Grebes. The water continues to be low and full of algae. This may be having an impact on the Herons and be somehow causing them not to nest here this year."
Wading in Spillerburg Creek—by ruleoflaw:
"Roiled under screws and paddles
ribbons of mud roll too slow to turn,
too slow to turn aside the pull of big water.
Above the surface I breathe,
skip pulsed and pilled full of bite,
my mud-washed throat grinds words.
Deep in bullhead holes, spines and slime
guard the pale yellow belly.
Black oxbow stink clings to my legs.
Rising from the slow creek, scattering eelpouts,
fish-foul sun bakes the tar-black scum.
Check for leeches and lay in the marsh hay.
In the light, on the peat, hawkweed sings
to the hoppers and toads.
Black water and cedar, heal me."
Energy
Socialism for Coal—by oregonj: "This is brilliant. Large coal companies, massive railroads such as Burlington Northern owned by Warren Buffett, and a slate of supporting businesses have been trying to come to market with a terminal in the Pacific Northwest for shipping Wyoming coal to Asia for over a year. Nobody, absolutely nobody can come up with a way to make this a profitable business proposition. And this is despite the fact that they get most of the subsidized coal off of federal lands for royalties that are far below the market value of the resource. Yet, they still can't make it a viable business proposition. So what do they do—they turn to socialism for the coal companies by making Wyoming taxpayers pay for coal terminals in Oregon and Washington. Sightline makes this all too clear."
rig counts for February and the week just ended, and what are we gonna do with all this oil?—by rjsigmund: "Baker Hughes also released the current North American rig count, for the week ending March 6th, which gives the US rig count at 1192, down 75 from the week ending February 27, and inconsistent with the International rig count they released earlier ... it appears that the prior release, then, is an average of the February weekly rig counts, rather than a month end count ... nonetheless, operating oil rigs fell by 64 over this week, leaving 922, gas rigs fell by 12 to 268, and one miscellaneous rig was added, and there are now two such ... all the US rigs shut down this week were land based, leaving our land based count at 1,133, while offshore rigs were unchanged at 51 and 8 rigs remained on inland waters."
Emissions Control
MLPA chair/oil lobbyist takes Oregon's low carbon fuel standard to court—by Dan Bacher: "Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA) President Catherine Reheis-Boyd, who served as chair of the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative Blue Ribbon Task Force to create so-called 'marine-protected areas' in Southern California and now leads the campaign to frack California, is also engaged in legal action to eviscerate one of Oregon's key environmental laws, the newly-adopted low carbon fuel standard rule. 'The Western States Petroleum Association, through legal counsel, today asked the Oregon State Court of Appeals to review the state's newly adopted LCFS Rule,' said Reheis-Boyd in a statement on March 6. 'It is the position of WSPA and its member companies that Oregon's low carbon fuel standard program is infeasible and could do irreparable damage to the state's energy market. Through today's action WSPA asked the Court of Appeals to also recognize that the LCFS rules are illegal.'"
Fracking
What could possibly go wrong with armor piercing fracking explosions?—by TXsharon: "Today three men from the same family lost their lives when a pulling unit exploded in Upton County. It is unknown at this time what caused the explosion. But it could have been caused by armor piercing fracking explosions. What is known is that armor piercing explosives called 'perf guns' are required for fracking. Here are some things I've learned about 'perf guns.' These armor-piercing charges are used to blow holes through the steel casing pipe, cement casing and into surrounding shale. Sometimes the charges accidentally go off on the surface causing serious accidents. One study limited to 3 suppliers prior to the shale BOOM, found 94 accidents, 49 injuries and 29 deaths due to perf guns. Cell phones can set off a 'perf gun.' Pulling units lower 'perf guns' in place and retrieve them. This is happening in neighborhoods where children play."
Eco-Action & Eco Justice
Mayor of London told to divest £4.8bn pension fund from fossil fuels—by VL Baker: "The London assembly members voted today in support of motion calling for mayor Boris Johnson to support divestment from coal, oil and gas companies. Business Green is reporting that the assembly members called on the mayor to begin the divestment of fossil fuels from the portfolio of the London Pension Fund Authority. Although the vote is non binding, the mayor is bound to consider the proposal and to write a response. The motion was proposed by the Green party’s Jenny Jones and was unanimously supported by Labour and the Liberal Democrats. Six of the Conservative’s nine members were absent. Those who were present voted against."
Agriculture, Food & Gardening
Transparency in the Food System Should Include Political Giving—by
Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy: "Whether we like it or not, our taxpayer dollars go to many of the big corporations that dominate U.S. food and farming through government contracts. These same corporations use their considerable financial resources to support political candidates in a variety of ways, often without full disclosure. Is this a system of covert corruption? We need to find out. Last week, over 50 groups called on President Obama to require that any corporation receiving a government contract disclose their political spending. Giant food and agribusiness companies rake in big money from government contracts. For example, since 2010, Tyson Foods has been paid $2.3 billion from federal contracts; Kraft $1.2 billion; Nestle $700 million; Cargill nearly $700 million; and Pepsi $600 million. These same companies are players in both electoral campaigns as well as Beltway lobbying powerhouses (see chart for some of the top food and agribusiness recipients). But this is only part of the story. Not all political spending is required to be reported."
Oregon Legislature Steals Ball Then Drops It—by OccupyStephanie: "After Jackson County banned the open cultivation of genetically engineered crops and three other counties moved forward on similar bans, the Oregon legislature passed 863 which preempted local decisions about agriculture, reserving that privilege to the state. Governor Kitzhaber appointed a stellar taskforce at a cost of more than $100,000 over six months to study the matter, presumably to formulate a state plan to deal with the problems. News out of Salem indicates that the legislature is prepared to do nothing with the authority they granted to themselves. Two House bills, which grew out of the work of the taskforce, have received an 'icy reception' from the House Committee on Rural Communities, Land Use and Water. Currently, there is no way for Oregon farmers to know if their neighboring farmers are planting genetically engineered crops. These two bills would rectify that situation, carve out GE free areas, and bring the transparency necessary for all farmers to protect their respective market share."
Happy Meatless Meatball Monday!—by VL Baker: "Today is National Meatball Day and we are going to celebrate by incorporating it into Meatless Monday which is a weekly celebration of all foods healthy and Earth friendly. We now know that we (you, me and the rest of us humans) are poisoning our planet's atmosphere by our uber consumption of fossil fuel produced products. And we also now know that our diets can be the biggest climate culprits of all as meat production has an immense contribution (pdf) to climate change, water and land depletion, deforestation etc. But we can all be a part of solution to these issues by simply having a low carbon diet which consists of primarily plant products. Dr. Jason Box is a climatologist and former professor at The Ohio State University and is now conducting extensive climate research on Greenland melting which I wrote about in five separate diaries found here. He was featured in the must see recent documentary 'Chasing Ice' and is presently working on the Dark Snow Project. In this video, he gives us his take on how vegans can have a positive impact on climate."
Stop Corporate GMO Projects—by PriceRip: "About 500 years ago we performed Earth's Great Evolution Experiment. We inserted the smallpox genome into the biological system known as the New World. This succinct, data-driven, scientific case provides the foundation of my concern with the push for NOT regulating the likes of the Koch brothers, Monsanto, et alii. History is clear (unless your name is Rand Paul, Ted Cruz, Inhofe, et alii) poking chaotic systems leads to unpredictable results. For evolution to function biological systems must not be too stable. Another way to express this notion is; A viable biological system is virtually chaotic. So, letting irresponsible people slop their potentially dangerous 'product' over my neighboring farm is unacceptable."
On the labeling of GMO foods—by tytalus: "Consumer Reports published an article in the March magazine covering some FAQs about GMOs. I was somewhat surprised to learn that they support the mandatory labeling of GMO products, that people have the right to know. While their answers don't demonstrate either safety or harm from eating GMO foods (instead, they show why we don't know), they do make a good case for the labeling of GMO foods, an issue that has come under heavy fire from the industries that produce and use GMOs and prefer the status quo of people not knowing what's in the food they're eating."
Transportation & Infrastructure
It's back to the Circuit Court for Amtrak—by terrypinder: "Last week I wrote about what I thought would be a summer SCOTUS decision regarding Amtrak. The case was decided today. SCOTUS voted 9-0 to vacate and remand. I actually expected this, but didn’t expect the 9-0 vote. If you recall, in 2013 the DC Circuit declared Amtrak was a private entity and that the non-delegation doctrine had been violated. SCOTUS has said otherwise, that Amtrak is indeed an arm of the government, and they’ve sent the case back to the circuit court to reconsider, as there are several unresolved issues. We’ll see what happens. Full decision is here. I highly recommend reading it, especially Alito's concurrence."
Sunday Train: On Amtrak, I've got some good news, and some bad news.—by BruceMcF: "Just when you thought it was a good news week ... From NPR: The Passenger Rail Reform and Investment Act passed on a vote of 316-101 (132 Republicans joined 184 Democrats in voting for the bill; 101 Republicans voted against). It keeps spending for Amtrak at nearly current levels â about $1.4 billion a year â for the next four years, and includes other reforms aimed at improving the railroad's fiscal performance. ... so that is a majority of the Republican majority voting for a bill that both Heritage Action and Club for Growth were scoring, looking for a 'No' vote to gain their approval, and which the White House gave qualified approval to (though perhaps it helped some of those Republicans that they can point to parts of the bill that the White House did not approve of). And so the Northeast Corridor trains and long haul trains, alongside most of the state approved corridor services under 750 miles in length, can continue running. But this was not an entirely 'good news' week, since we also heard that Indiana DOT scuttles Amtrak Hoosier State."
Trade & Eco-Related Foreign Policy
British MPs: EU Must Protect Their Environment From US In TTIP—by Phoebe Loosinhouse: "While I have been more focused and aware of the TPP, there is also the TTIP which is a trade agreement between the US and the European Union that is also currently being negotiated. The Guardian reports that the UK is urging the EU to reject the same sort of Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) that is at the heart of most peoples legitimate concerns about the TPP—ceding over a nation's or state's ability to pass any new legislation or regulation over foreign corporations doing business in their jurisdiction without facing the potential retribution of a 'lost profits' lawsuit to be decided by an international arbitration panel. As Public Citizen points out in the ISDS link, some critics feel such tribunals would be inclined to favor corporations over nations due to what is often referred to as "regulatory capture' where the same participants are sometimes the judges and sometimes the lawyers bringing the suits."
Trash, Pollution & Hazardous Waste
40 Corporate Polluters Exposed - Citizens Demand Federal Investigation Of Rick Scott & Koch Deal—by Leslie Salzillo: "'The same companies that are polluting our rivers with toxic chemicals are also polluting our politics with their spending.'—Jennifer Rubiello, Environment Florida Campaign Organizer. Some call them 'polluters'—others call them sociopaths. They are the greedy corporate and political racketeers who care nothing about the safety of other human beings, animals, the environment or democracy. It's all about getting their products made, packaged, and out to consumers for profit. That's it. Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil - just do, be, and live by evil. Then get rid of waste wherever you can. Environment America released its 'Polluting Politics Report' shortly after the introduction of a House bill (H.R.5078) to block the EPA’s clean water rule to restore Clean Water Act meant to protect thousands of waterways in Florida—and across the country."
Anti-fracking coalition responds to Senate Hearing on oil regulations—by Dan Bacher: "The California State Senate today held an oversight hearing in Sacramento to examine why California oil regulators issued hundreds of illegal permits that allowed the oil industry to inject toxic wastewater directly into protected aquifers. Speakers at the Joint Hearing of the California Senate Natural Resources and Water and Environmental Quality Committees included Mark Nechodom, Ph.D, Director, Department of Conservation; Jonathan Bishop, Chief Deputy Director, State Water Resources Control Board; Matthew Rodriguez, Secretary, the California Environmental Protection Agency; and John Laird, Secretary, the California Natural Resources Agency. 'We all fell down on the job,' admitted Director Nechodom. He also said engineers at DOGGR monitoring wastewater injection were 'not fully qualified.' The hearing, 'Ensuring Groundwater Protection: Is the Underground Injection Control Program Working?,' took place as California continues in a record drought and the oil industry is planning to expand the environmentally destructive practice of fracking in California."
Oceans, Water & Drought
California agencies admit failure in protecting water from oil industry pollution—by Walter Einenkel: "California is dealing with serious water pollution issues. It's not a surprise if you've been following the reports coming out of California for the past few years. The people being charged with protecting Californian drinking water have been doing a terrible job. So yesterday. During a testy two-hour oversight hearing, officials from the California Department of Conservation, the department's Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources and the state Water Resources Control Board promised senators a top-down overhaul of their regulation of the disposal of oil field wastewater. Of course, many of the Democratic senators on the oversight committee found these agencies' promises pretty dubious."
Mining
Scott Walker's Wisconsin Mining Bill Not Working Out Quite Like He Promised—by Doctor Jazz: "Almost exactly two years ago Gov. Scott Walker signed Republicans' polarizing mining bill into law in an effort to jump-start a giant iron mine in far northwestern Wisconsin. The legislation dramatically re-shaped Wisconsin's mining regulations to ease the permitting process for the open-pit mine Gogebic Taconite planned to dig just south of Lake Superior. Environmentalists complained the measure would gut the state's environmental protections, but Republicans said it would create thousands of jobs. [...] One problem though. The jobs thing just doesn't seem to be materializing. A few months after signing the bill, Caterpillar, which in 2010 bought longtime mining equipment maker Bucyrus in South Milwaukee, started laying off workers in the state. Hundreds of workers, basically half the factory, have lost their jobs."
Another Dead Coal Miner in West Virginia—by Buckeye BattleCry: "One coal miner is dead at the Marshall County Mine in Cameron, WV due to a roof collapse. Two more are injured. Marshall County EMA Director Tom Hart confirmed there was one fatality at the Marshall County Mine Cameron Portal owned by Murray Energy. One injured miner was transported by helicopter to Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown. [...] My uncle worked at CONSOL Energy's McElroy mine for many years before retiring. My 25-year-old cousin works in that mine now as a roof bolter. Murray Energy purchased McElroy as part of a 3.5 billion-dollar purchase of 5 CONSOL mines in 2013, and the names of the mines were changed. The workers are represented by UMWA Local 1638—the change in ownership didn't affect a current contract."
DC, State & Local Eco-Politics
Kochs Throwing Shade on Solar in the Sunshine State—by ClimateDenierRoundup: "A couple of interesting stories out of Florida lately. First, there's the outrageous news that when Gov. Rick Scott took office in 2011, Florida's Department of Environmental Protection was 'told not to use the terms "climate change," "global warming" or "sustainability."' A pretty tall order for a state set to be swamped by sea level rise, which was another shunned term, replaced by 'nuisance flooding.' Miami's Fred Grimm has an amusing piece, but so far our favorite take on this has been from Tampa's John Romano (make sure you read all the way to the end!) Also at the Tampa Bay Times, Ivan Penn wrote about a case of strange bedfellows that seems to be getting more and more common—conservatives teaming up with greens to support clean energy. In Florida, a bi-partisan coalition called Conservatives for Energy Freedom has spearheaded a ballot petition to allow Floridians who produce electricity (via solar panels on their roof) to sell directly to others, instead of through a utility middle-man. This initiative, which is arguably a perfect embodiment of the libertarian preference for personal freedom from government interference, has been maligned and attacked by none other than Americans for Prosperity. AFP is one of the many groups built on the cash of the Koch Bros, who espouse the libertarian concept of personal freedom from government. But in this fight, AFP is siding against the side of personal freedom, with email blasts that Conservatives for Clean Energy called a "campaign of deception.' So here's a case where AFP is on the side of big money, and fighting against average Americans who just want to sell solar power to their neighbors without the government needlessly intruding on their quest for prosperity."
Rebranding Climate Change In Florida—by The Grace Kelly: "Lets have some fun helping Florida in their 'public relations' problem in talking about that-which-shall-never-be-named (climate change). We can call it the Venice solution in city planning, where cars become motorized boats and streets become canals. Bottom floors are sealed and weatherized, developing underwater views. The goal is increasing ocean front property through out Florida. Alligator habitat will also be increased. New development opportunities will come from rice paddies. Cargill will develop a new GMO rice designed for Atlantic water conditions. Disneyland will become Disney Underwater World. Miami Dolphins will have a new deeper meaning. There are serious plans to rebrand Miami as Atlantis. Instead of running marathons, there will now be water walking ski marathons. Parks will now feature water lilies instead of trees."
When asked, Florida Governor Rick Scott won't say if climate change is a problem—by VL Baker: "Today the press was all over Rick Scott; questioning him about the Florida Center for Investigative Reporting report which was released over the weekend. I wrote about the report here which uncovered the news that the Scott administration has banned use of the words 'climate change' and 'global warming' from official Florida documents. But when pressed Monday, Scott did not go into any specifics. He would not say whether the department considers global warming to be real, whether it's preparing for it or whether he thinks it's a problem. Instead, the Republican governor talked about his administration's work on the environment, without directly addressing which projects might have been needed to deal with climate change."
Florida Department of Environmental Protection told not to use term 'climate change'—by Walter Einenkel: "The Florida Center for Investigative Reporting: DEP officials have been ordered not to use the term “climate change” or “global warming” in any official communications, emails, or reports, according to former DEP employees, consultants, volunteers and records obtained by the Florida Center for Investigative Reporting. Well, that just sounds too crazy to be true. This unwritten policy went into effect after Gov. Rick Scott took office in 2011 and appointed Herschel Vinyard Jr. as the DEP’s director, according to former DEP employees. Gov. Scott, who won a second term in November, has repeatedly said he is not convinced that climate change is caused by human activity, despite scientific evidence to the contrary. Vinyard has since resigned. Neither he nor his successor, Scott Steverson, would comment for this report."
Rick Scott bans use of terms climate change, global warming from official Florida documents—by VL Baker: "The Miami Herald is reporting that the Florida Center for Investigative Reporting has uncovered former Florida officials who are accusing Florida Governor Rick Scott's administration of having an unwritten policy of banning the terms 'climate change' and 'global warming' from official correspondence and speech. In the US state most at risk from rising seas due to climate change, the officials, mainly from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) were silenced by the threat of retribution if they did not follow the unwritten policy."
Miscellany
RFK Jr. Attacks Science—by 6412093: "Robert F. Kennedy Junior parachuted into Oregon the other day, to pontificate against proposed pro-vaccination legislation. He showed legislators a video that propounded discredited anti-vaccination theories. He plans to take his anti-vaccine road show to at least five other states. I'm not a terribly scrupulous person when it comes to touting my own causes. I've asked people with a mere bachelor's degree to testify as 'experts' on my side on environmental issues. But RFK Jr. managed to limbo below even my not-lofty standards."