For what this photo is about, see James Wells' post below.
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 22,140 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.
If Only I Had the Official T Shirt—by
James Wells: "As we were walking along the shore, we saw a seal coming ashore. It was one of those moments you hope for on a seaside day. There are still wonderful animals like this in the natural world, and every so often you get to see one. We have not destroyed everything quite yet. The seal came ashore with obvious intention. It wanted to lay on the beach more than any vacationer. To warm up and rest, between bouts of strenuous activity in the ocean. But as the seal made its way ashore, the frenzy began. I got no pictures of the worst of the crowding and jostling. One person holding a telephoto lens 12 inches away from the seal's nose (hint - what does a telephoto do, buddy?). Someone trying to pet the seal's head - a bad idea as the seal made very clear.Another person pulling on its tail and yelling that it was going the wrong way—the ocean was back down the slope. A well-intentioned man throwing sand on the seal, believing that was somehow helpful. [...] What do you do? It's an interesting social question. If you are in a place where something wrong is going on, but you have no official appointment as the defender of what's right, are you willing to tell total strangers to stop what they are doing? [...] My wife Sara found the solution. We needed to build a boundary. We gathered rocks and placed piles of them at a reasonable radius from the seal, still close enough that people could get their pictures, but creating a little bit of room. Then my daughter dug lines in the sand between the rock piles. Virtual ropes. Voila!"
You can find more rescued green diaries below the orange garden layout.
Oceans, Water & Drought
Eating Animal Products is Causing the Drought in California—by Eleanor Ash: "51 percent or more of greenhouse gases are caused by animal agriculture according to World Watch Institute. The carbon footprint of a vegan is considerably less than that of someone who eats animal products. In a study by the University of Chicago, a vegan diet is responsible for 1.5 fewer tons of carbon dioxide a year more than a meat eater. By comparison, if you drive a Toyota Prius you are responsible for 1 ton less of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. About 30 percent of the Earth's land is involved in livestock production. Although the United States only has about 5 percent of the world's population, we grow and kill more than 15 percent of the world animals. This is nearly 10 billion animals a year. If you are a Beefeater you are using almost twice as much of the land resources that you would if you had a plant-based diet. Animal agriculture also uses huge amounts of water for crop production. One of the largest factors contributing to the drought in California is the eating of animal products. 70% of the worlds fresh water is being diverted to industrial agriculture. You can shower for a year for the same amount of water that is needed to grow two and a half pounds of beef."
Dear World: You're in Denial and Delusional about California's Drought—by delphine: "Let me start by saying that California has been living beyond our means in terms of water pretty much forever. Especially in Southern California, where about 85% of our water is imported. I mean, forget it, it's Chinatown, right? But ... you're in denial and delusional if you think that California's drought is simply California's problem, even beyond the availability of CA-grown fruit in your neighborhood grocery store. As Governor Brown pointed out, California's deepening drought is indeed the 'new normal.' It's not simply caused by overuse of water but by higher temperatures and lack of precipitation. The climate is changing. That's not a California issue; that's a global issue. [...] California is just another canary in the coal mine—almost literally—and if the rest of the world thinks they are not contributing to the problem, they are in denial and delusional about California's drought as well. We all need to rethink the way we live our lives and stop relying on politicians and corporations to do the right thing."
A reminder to all the western US folk about Great Lakes water—by coachtrenks: "I've been skimming the posts and comments about water use in the Colorado watershed, and every once in a while I see posts about supplying water from the Great Lakes out west. Two things: 1) The Great Lakes Compact would make such a thing darn near impossible without the agreement of the state and provincial governments of every state (edit: and province) bordering the Lakes. 2)The reason the Compact came to be was the disaster in the Aral Sea, where the Soviets (and their offshoots) diverted water from a seemingly inexhaustible fresh water supply."
California Desalination Plant to go Back On-line—by jamess: "The history of this plant raises some interesting questions. Is 'Necessity' really the 'Mother of Invention'—or is it really more like 'Desperation' Santa Barbara working to reactivate mothballed desalination plant [...] Santa Barbara owns a mothballed plant—built more than 20 years ago during another severe drought—that can turn seawater into drinking water. But it was never used beyond a tryout phase before steady rain began falling again. Now, officials are working to press the Charles E. Meyer Desalination Facility back into service as the city's reservoirs continue to diminish. [...] 'It has two big disadvantages: It's really expensive and it's energy-intensive,] said Henry Vaux Jr., a UC Berkeley professor emeritus of resource economics who contributed to a 2008 National Research Council report on desalination. It could also put elected leaders in the unenviable position of sticking customers with expensive desalination bills should stormy weather return."
Saltwater and almonds: a California seder—by RLMiller: "Last night I sat down to a Passover Seder—a traditional celebration of redemption from slavery to the land of milk and honey. The plate included matzo; salty water, representing tears; charoses, a paste made from almonds and apples representing mortar used in construction of the Pyramids; and a small child wondering: 'is that all I'm going to get to eat?' Too many archetypes of the Passover story are being relived in California right now. We're overplanting almonds and stealing our groundwater to build empires for other people - hedge fund almonds. Would-be-Pharaohs like Kevin McCarthy think the answer is yet more massive infrastructure, dams that can only be filled if snow falls and melts. We stare at an ocean of salty water wondering why isn't desalination the answer to all of our water woes? We can remove the salt from seawater only by sacrificing on pricey altars and grinding into dust our renewable energy plans and visiting a plague of excessively briny water on the coast that we love."
Why did DWR drop the BDCP Habitat Conservation Plan?—by Dan Bacher: "Restore the Delta today responded to the California Department of Water Resource’s statements regarding abandoning the BDCP Habitat Conservation Plan, pointing out that the public deserves the right to know what in DWR’s analysis caused them to drop this plan. The group, opponents of the Bay Delta Conservation Plan to build giant water export tunnels, offered additional comments regarding the Department of Water Resource’s comment on the Bay Delta Conservation Plan from April 7, 2015. DWR now claims that they 'have invested eight years of exhaustive work producing a draft plan, including four years of hard-earned experience operating the State Water Project and Central Valley Project during historic drought. We now have a much better understanding of the tradeoffs associated with possible solutions and much greater sense of urgency.'"
Governor to meet with water, "environmental" and agribusiness leaders about drought today—by Dan Bacher: "Governor Jerry Brown will be be holding a meeting today in the Governor's Office at the State Capitol with 'water, environmental and agricultural leaders' regarding the drought. The meeting is believed to be a response to widespread and scathing criticism in local and national media about the Governor's hypocrisy in mandating cities and counties to slash water use by 25 percent, while imposing no new restrictions on water use by agribusiness, who use 80 percent of the state's water while contributing only 2 percent of the state's annual economy. I called the Governor's Office to find out what groups and leaders would be meeting with the Governor and I'm waiting for a response. As usual, the Governor appears to be excluding Tribal leaders and fishermen—who are among those hardest hit by the record drought—from the meeting."
Living with water—by rktect: "For some of us living with water relates to things like turning on the tap and discovering the water has a funny taste and further experimentation allows you to set it on fire, or you turn on the tap and everything below the basket falls off because its old and rotten and for the last decade nobody has been spending any money on replacing rotting infrastructure. Maybe for you its the roof leaks, or the basement floods, or last winter it just never stopped snowing and the drifts haven't melted yet. For California I'm aware that the water has packed up and left and taken the kids.West Texas, the southwest and soon the midwest would be in the same boat if there was any water left to float it. For the Great Lakes it's invasive species."
CA Drought: Nestlé’s Despicable Water-Crisis Profiteering—by unapologeticliberal777: "California Gov. Jerry Brown announced last week, and took a lot of heat, when he announced mandatory water reductions to cope with California's historic drought but exempted agriculture in the state, which uses 80 percent of the available water supply. Brown appeared on the talk show circuit and said that a lot farmers across the state lost state and federal water allocations, sacrificing hundreds of thousands of acres of farmland. Brown added, 'some people have more of a right to water than others.' [...] If Brown wants to survive what will become a major headache for him, and if California wants to survive/remain habitable for the foreseeable future, these 'special rights' and corrupt deals for corporations and BIG Agriculture have got to end. And there is no better example of a corrupt deal for big corporations than the sweetheart deal Nestlé Corporation has in the state, pumping California water in an historic drought and selling it in plastic bottles under the names Arrowhead or Pure Life bottled water. And Nestle gets away with it by doing what other big corporations do—by partnering with Native American tribes to conduct the water raid in sovereign territory."
Climate Chaos
ALEC Climate Denial: Corporate Bill Mill Threatens Lawsuit For Saying So—by Steve Horn: "The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) has threatened public interest group Common Cause with a lawsuit for pointing out what the public record has made clear: ALEC denies the scientific consensus on climate change. As first reported by The Washington Post, ALEC's lawyers Alan Dye and Heidi Abegg wrote a cease-and-desist letter to Common Cause president Miles Rapoport. Dye and Abegg demanded that Common Cause stop calling ALEC a cog in the climate denial machine. 'We demand that you cease making inaccurate statements regarding ALEC, and immediately remove all false or misleading material from the Common Cause, and related, websites within five business days,' they wrote. 'Should you not do so, and/or continue to publish any defamatory statements, we will consider any and all necessary legal action to protect ALEC.'"
Climate Change of Heart: a response to DWG's diary—by Stuart Heady: "It may be that climate change is such an inscrutable issue because it is happening in the human heart as surely as it is happening in the atmosphere and in the oceans. It may be that we should be thinking of psychoanalysis for whole nations, a concept that as far as I know, has not developed much since Wilhelm Reich posed the idea in 1930s Germany. After he published his book, he had to run for his life. I hope writing can be a way to do more than describe problems, but to go further, to activate our minds towards solution making. I have been frustrated by the observation that poetry and literature operate in such a different way from politics that there is little hope that the deeper truth-seeking of the literary tradition can inform the more immediate and practical realm of politics. But it is urgently necessary to try. Our future may depend on it."
Another Story of Global Warming, Human Evolution, and David Koch—by liberaldad2: "the folks over at Climate Progress have been observing the evolution of the Smithsonian’s approach to science (pun intended) since Big Money joined the board. Five years ago, the Hall of Human Origins went up at the National Museum of Natural History, made possible by a $15 million grant from David Koch. Climate change and global warming feature prominently in the display. So what’s the problem?? The exhibit displays a graph that shows that the earth’s temperature fluctuations over the past 11,000 years and shows that the past few hundred years have seen some of the coldest temperatures in human history. What global warming?? No big deal, right? Of course the exhibit neglects to mention that the rate of increase over the past 100 years is the highest it has ever been in human history, and is highly correlated with CO2 emissions from human activity. But what may be most shocking of all is that the Smithsonian hasn’t fixed the misleading evolution exhibit at its National Museum of Natural History, which thoroughly whitewashes the dangers of modern-day climate change ... It has now been five years since Climate Progress exposed the myriad flaws in the exhibit, a story the New Yorker and others picked up."
Yes, Climate Change is a greater threat than Terrorism (And it contributed to the chaos in Syria)—by diligentbureaucrat: "President Obama received a lot of flak from the right wing media earlier this year when he non-controversially agreed with an interviewer that the media overstates the threat of terrorism, compared to things like climate change and epidemics. 'Climate change is one (story) that is happening at such a broad scale and at such a complex system, it's a hard story for the media to tell on a day-to-day basis,' said Obama, 'My first job is to protect the American people. It is entirely legitimate for the American people to be deeply concerned when you've got a bunch of violent, vicious zealots who behead people or randomly shoot a bunch of folks in a deli in Paris.' Clearly the President did not brush off the threat of terrorism, and unambiguously said that his job was to protect American people from whatever threats there may be. But the fact that he agreed to the threat of terrorism being exaggerated by the media was simply too much for some to bear. Presidential hopeful, Mike Huckabee, said in all seriousness 'I assure you that a beheading is much worse than a sunburn,' while Fox News host Andrea Tantaros asked, 'How many Americans have died from climate change?'"
That's Right, Climate Change Was (and Is) a Problem—by ClimateDenierRoundup: "JoNova just published a new post intended to serve as a 'take down' of those who have been sounding the alarm bell on climate change for decades. However, for those who actually read the news and are familiar with the emerging and severe impacts of climate change (have you heard of the California drought?), it ends up being more of a stark reminder of how long we've known about the dangers of rising greenhouse gases, and how the impacts we're already experiencing were anticipated a quarter century ago. In the piece, JoNova digs up a 1989 New York Times op-ed by Al Gore, in which then-Senator Gore warns about "record annual increases" in atmospheric CO2, record heat and predicted near-term warming of up to 5°C (the IPCC's most recent report similarly projects an increase of up to 4.8°C by the end of the 21st century). Referencing Gore's position, JoNova claims that climate change and 'alarmist rhetoric' have hardly changed in the 25 years since, saying, 'CO2 levels have gone up by 50ppm, global population has risen by 2 billion,' and yet we've 'spent more years without significant warming than we've spent with it.' Except this is completely false."
WUWT pushes the tired 'pause' narrative—by ClimateDenierRoundup: "Up to its old tricks, WattsUpWithThat (WUWT) has a post by Christopher Monckton 'updating' the number of years and months supposedly without warming. Once again, Monckton arbitrarily uses satellite surface temperature data (excluding ocean and observational data) to draw a trend line, using the exceptionally warm El Niño year of 1998 as the starting point for his "analysis." With these highly problematic parameters, Monckton is able to contrive a flat trend line showing that surface temperatures have 'not gone up in over 18 years.' So what happens if you add in the data Monckton purposefully left out? Here you have the full RSS satellite data since 1980, which shows a positive warming trend. Then you have NOAA's and NASA's combined land and ocean temperature indices, which show a 0.8°C increase in global temperature since the start of the 20th century. Now which version—Monckton's, or the combined temperature analyses'—seems more likely, given that 2014 was the hottest year on record and nine out of the then hottest years on record have occurred in the 21st century? Rather than accepting the steady increase in globally averaged annual temperature across recent decades, Monckton ignores how natural cycles like El Niño and La Niña events impact surface temperatures, takes a smoke-and-mirrors approach to long-term trends and disregards the heat going into the ocean."
Twitter "Censors" Tom Nelson—by ClimateDenierRoundup: "You may recall from a previous roundup that Twitter is starting to crack down on abuse and trolls. Last week, the service suspended Steve Goddard's account (it’s since been reinstated), and this week, it locked, suspended and then reinstated Tom Nelson's account after his sour exchange with climate scientist Gavin Schmidt. According to the way deniers are covering the story, Nelson was unfairly targeted for using the same word (crap) that Schmidt first tossed Nelson's way. But the actual conversation makes it clear that Nelson was hardly a victim. He first baits Schmidt saying '@climateofgavin still thinks Earth's climate sensitivity is 'around 3°C +/- a degree.; Nelson then tweets, 'Do you have a CO2 and temp. graph that implies sensitivity ~3C over 600M years?,' posting a graph saying, "This one doesn't.' In response, Schmidt says, 'because that one is crap as I've frequently pointed out. The temperature is hand drawn. Not even you can take it seriously, surely?' Nelson then criticizes Schmidt's 'comfortable fossil-fuel frequent-flying lifestyle' and for not 'caring about our children' in a series of badgering remarks. Nelson concludes by pointing to a graph from ThinkProgress saying, 'Joe Romm is still selling this graph. folks: is this 'crap'?' Twitter then locked Nelson's account until he deleted the posts that broke Twitter's rule."
Haywire Hayward's Hypocrisy—by ClimateDenierRoundup: "John Hayward at Breitbart has a new post that's just dripping with familiar denier tropes in an attempt to invalidate two recent news items: record high temperatures measured on the northern tip of the Antarctic peninsula and a new study presenting evidence of a slowdown in the Gulf Stream system (which pumps warm ocean water from the tropics and Southern Hemisphere north, while carrying cold water south). The post, titled, 'More tough times for the church of global warming,' paints climate scientists and the media as conspirators, advancing only the data that supports their 'political agenda.' Hayward tries to show foul play by saying that the high Antarctic temperatures were 'outside the Antarctic region,' and that the Gulf Stream study was based on model projections, while actual measurements display 'no such weakening.' In the first case, the record Antarctic temperature was measured at Argentina's Esperanza Base on the northern tip of the Antarctic peninsula. While outside of the Arctic circle, the Esperanza measurement still likely represents the warmest measurement on record for the Antarctic continent. As for the Gulf Stream, the study doesn't 'ignore or even replace [inconvenient data] using "projections: and "models"' as Hayward suggests."
Deniers React to US Climate Commitment—by ClimateDenierRoundup: "As deniers work to "wrap their heads around the emerging UNFCCC pledges" (as stated by Judith Curry), they are coming to the uncomfortable realization that, whether they're on board or not, this train is leaving the station. As a result, deniers are left pointing their fingers. A piece by Michael Bastasch at the Daily Caller is making its way around the deniersphere, targeting White House spokesman Josh Earnest who told reporters on Tuesday that senators who deny man-made global warming probably shouldn't have any say over an international agreement to cut carbon dioxide emissions. When asked by a reporter, Earnest was quoted saying, 'Well these individuals whom, many of whom at least, deny the fact that climate change even exists. So I'm not sure they would be in the best position to decide whether or not a climate change agreement is one that is worth entering into.' This discussion, however, ignores the fact that Obama's plan can be implemented with authority already granted to him by Congress!"
Curry "Defends" Impartial Climate Science—by ClimateDenierRoundup: "Mirroring an article posted last year, Judith Curry has a new piece where she once again laments the decline of free speech 'with regards to the climate change debate.' In this article, Curry argues that the institution of free speech is threatened because climate scientists are increasingly facing "enormous pressure…to conform to the so-called consensus [that climate change is real].' It used to be that deniers would just deny the very existence of the 97 percent consensus, citing the debunked Oregon Petition to argue against the overwhelming evidence of global warming. Curry's newer tactic, however, accepts the reality of the scientific consensus on climate change but attempts to paint the consensus as coercive, saying, "The lack of tolerance for opposing perspectives in the climate debate is just staggering." The trouble is, science is not a debate to which people lend their perspectives. The consensus is not a coercive agent (like fossil fuel interest groups that fund the information they want to hear). Rather, the consensus represents the agreement of over a thousand independent climate scientist's research."
Critters & the Great Outdoors
The Daily Bucket: Sparkleberries!—by PHScott: "Sparkleberry (Vaccinium arboreum) is a small tree in the Heath (Ericacea) family, closely related to Blueberry and found only in the Southeast. They are blooming now. It produces many small berries, mostly black and, despite my attempt every year to eat one of the berries, they have no flavor and leave you with a mouth of tiny seeds you really want to spit out. [...] The best part about Sparkleberry, other than the pretty blooms and seeing this understory tree almost everywhere I go in the North Florida woods, is that it makes a perfect walking stick. Strong, lightweight, often a curve to it that fits your hand. Here's a bunch I recovered from Spring Canyon after chopping down 100s (and 100s) from under the Longleaf pines as part of the restoration. I give these sticks away, leave them at trailheads, offer a few of the best as gifts, and some of the odd distinctive sticks I even sold for 10 bucks each. Especially desired are those were I leave a stub of a branch up near the top to use as a 'botany hook.'"
State proposes emergency fishing closure of Sacramento River to 'protect' winter Chinook—by
Dan Bacher: "The Brown administration, in collaboration with the Obama administration, has driven winter-run Chinook closer to extinction through the abysmal management of Northern California reservoirs and rivers during the drought. Over 95 percent of winter Chinook eggs and young fish perished last year, due to the virtual emptying of Trinity Reservoir on the Trinity River, Shasta Lake on the Sacramento River, Lake Oroville on the Feather River and Folsom Lake on the American River. These reservoirs were drained to supply water during a record drought to corporate agribusiness interests, Southern California water agencies and oil companies conducting fracking steam injection operations in Kern County. So what does the Brown administration propose to do to deal with this disaster? Yes, it is proposing to close a 5.5 mile stretch of the Sacramento River to 'protect' the winter run!"
Crayfish Killing Native Species in Mailbu Creek Watershed—by unapologeticliberal777: "Who knew? I certainly did not until I read this mornings Los Angeles Times. But crayfish are killing native species throughout the Malibu Creek Watershed. Apparently crayfish were introduced by anglers who used them as bait and now the nonnative 3-inch-long crayfish that have colonized and multiplied in the 109-square-mile Malibu Creek watershed over the last century. But a 29-year-old biologist, Kyle Troy with the nonprofit Mountains Restoration Trust has come up with a plan, funded by a grant of $600,000.00 from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, using volunteer students from local schools to get rid of the crayfish from the Santa Monica Mountains’ streams and rivers within three years."
Last Chance for Audubon Fundraiser!—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. We will be counting between Charleston Slough and Shoreline Lake in Mountain View on south San Francisco Bay."
The Daily Bucket - Backyard Update—by enhydra lutris: "Apricots 3/27. This is typical of the density on many branches, but some others are bare."
Energy
Doubling Down with Bloomberg Philanthropies to Replace Coal with Clean Energy—by Mary Anne Hitt: "Today, I had the honor of standing with Michael Bloomberg and dozens of Sierra Club volunteers, staff, and supporters in Washington, DC, to announce a new round of investment by Bloomberg Philanthropies in the work of the Beyond Coal Campaign. With this new support of $30 million over three years, we plan to double down on our past success and secure replacement of half the nation's coal plants with clean energy by 2017. It's been four years since I first stood with Michael Bloomberg, Sierra Club executive director Michael Brune, and our staff and volunteers in front of the polluting GenOn coal plant in Alexandria, Virginia, to announce the launch of our game-changing partnership with Bloomberg Philanthropies. The goal of that first round of funding: replace one-third of the nation's coal plants with clean energy by the end of 2015."
Renewables & Conservation
Clean Energy Election Victory for Illinois' Largest Public Utility—by Willinois: "Illinois' largest public utility will now be overseen by a mayor who pledged to keep renewable energy as part of its energy mix. Springfield's Democratic Mayor-elect Jim Langfelder deserves credit for talking about clean energy. Some candidates avoided the topic because it's controversial after a wind power contract became more costly than expected. With most local news outlets focused on utility finances and rate increases, Langfelder could have avoided taking a clear position on where our power comes from. But voters were given a real choice between a modern energy mix with renewable energy or "we've always done it that way." Scare tactics about clean energy causing rate increases didn't work this time. Springfield is already a better clean energy leader than Chicago and now the progress can continue."
Kochs exposed as free market liars in Florida solar debacle—by gnosticator: "The Koch network of liars and paid hacks have been caught lying their asses off in Florida. Cold busted. The Koch network of petrochemical industry protecting astroturfers, basically a bunch of industry hacks pretending to be free market protectors, have been utterly exposed in Florida, by conservatives no less. A Florida effort to expand access to solar power has become a face-off between two factions of the conservative movement. The group Conservatives for Energy Freedom is blasting Americans for Prosperity for what it called a 'campaign of deception' against a ballot initiative that would make it easier for businesses and individuals to install rooftop solar energy. Conservatives for Energy Freedom, along with the state group Floridians for Solar Choice and a number of other organizations from across the political spectrum, have been working to gather enough signatures to get a measure on the November 2016 ballot that would allow direct sale of solar power to consumers."
Knives out for solar- ALEC & fossil fuel lobby gets MN House plan to gut clean energy—by HongPong: "Quick post to roust people on another impending political disaster in Minnesota. Nationwide the American Legislative Exchange Council politicians (ALEC—a corporate establishment coordinating body, essentially) are trying to kill decentralized rooftop solar panel systems and the policy apparatus that lets them trade extra electrons into the grid for cash. [...] In Minnesota the new energy omnibus bill here (PDF) which was composed by GOP Rep. Pat Garofalo, one of ALEC's point men, is trying to thrash the entire renewable energy standards system which sets clear targets for carbon reduction and deters utilities from buying environmentally dirty power from the region. It also obliterates the current program to promote 'made in Minnesota' local solar companies."
Fracking
Stop Wasting California’s Water on Fracking—by EARTHWORKS: "In 2014 alone, fracking in California used 70 million gallons of water. Most of that water is removed completely from the hydrologic cycle, never to be seen or used again. Fracking can also pollute California's rapidly depleting groundwater resources. Earlier this year state regulators ordered a dozen oil and gas wells to halt production because of concern that operations were contaminating drinking water. But Gov. Brown's mandatory 25% reduction in potable water usage doesn't apply to oil and gas operators. California cannot afford to waste valuable water resources on dirty fossil fuels. And our global climate can't afford it either."
Disclosure Fail: Industry Reps Testifying for Denton, Texas Fracking Bill Left Ties Undisclosed—by Steve Horn: "A March 24 hearing prior to the passage of a controversial bill out of committee that preempts cities in Texas from regulating hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) for oil and gas obtained from shale basins, featured numerous witnesses who failed to disclose their industry ties, including some with ties to the Koch brothers. The next day on March 25, Texas Senate Bill 1165—'Relating to the express preemption of regulation of oil and gas operations and the exclusive jurisdiction of those operations by the state'—passed in the Senate Natural Resources & Economic Development Committee unanimously. Its companion bill, HB 40, also only received a single dissenting vote, and it now advances to a full floor vote in both chambers. The legislation is seen by some as part of the multipronged effort to chip away and ultimately defeat the Denton, Texas fracking ban voted on by the city's citizens on Election Day 2014, with another prong being the lawsuits filed against the city."
Scientists have identified organic chemicals in fracking—can better test water contamination—by Walter Einenkel: "Two new studies have been able to identify the organic chemicals in fracking fluid. The research, published in Trends in EnvironmentalAnalytical Chemistry and Science of the Total Environment, reveals that fracking fluid contains compounds like biocides, which are potentially harmful if they leak into the groundwater. The authors behind the new study say it's time for the relatively new science to catch up with the extensive public awareness. They say an increasing research focus on contamination from fracking fluid will lead to more attention and regulation in the future. This is really great news. Whether fracking fluids are leeching into fresh waterways is always a concern. However, before now, scientists and regulators could only look for fracking-related contamination through the inorganic, scarier-sounding more obvious routes."
Keystone XL & Other Fossil Fuel Transportation
Bakken bomb trains are targeting Ohio and the Midwest—by
rjsigmund: "this week we have some definitive information on where and how many Bakken bomb trains are moving through Ohio daily, and by extension through Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, and Pennsylvania or West Virginia on their way to East Coast refineries ... first, in an analysis of Ohio Emergency Response Commission data previously kept from the public, the Columbus Dispatch has determined that 1.4 million Ohioans live within the half mile blast zone of rail tracks that carry explosive Bakken crude from North Dakota, mostly to refineries on the east coast, where much of it is refined for export...the total Ohio population in the 1/2 mile blast zone includes 15% of the residents of Columbus's Franklin County, and even a greater percentage of those in Cleveland and the other major cites connected by rail along the lake Erie shore...as you'll recall, it was a trainload of this same volatile and explosive Bakken crude that was responsible for the deaths of 47 people in a 2013 explosion in Lac-Megantic, Quebec, and a train of the same crude that that created the monstrous "seen on TV" explosion and fireball in West Virginia 6 weeks ago...the Dispatch notes that the CSX train that exploded in West Virginia at that time had passed through Columbus only hours earlier...damn, we might have lost Kasich..."
700 oil-train hazardous spill-reporting violations since November and company tardy to report them—by Walter Einenkel: "Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) has 700 hazardous-spill reporting violations over the past five months. In a report released Thursday, Washington’s Utilities and Transportation Commission (UTC) revealed that out of 16 reportable spills that BNSF had in Washington from November 2014 through February, BNSF was late or absent in reporting all but two of them—so late and so absent that those 14 incidents snowballed into 700 individual violations, worth up to $1,000 in fines apiece. The disregard for regulations and protocol is especially troublesome as the number of crude oil imports through Washington state has risen dramatically over the last decade."
BNSF Challenges Lawsuit From Engineer Who Ran For His Life From Exploding Oil "Bomb Train"—by Steve Horn: "Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) has responded defensively to the oil-by-rail lawsuit filed by former BNSF locomotive engineer Bryan Thompson, a case recently reported on by DeSmogBlog. BNSF — the top rail carrier of oil obtained via hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) in North Dakota's Bakken Shale basin — denied all charges. The company also argued that some federal laws protect the company from liability for injuries allegedly suffered by Thompson. The Answer to the Complaint signals the likelihood of a protracted legal battle ahead. Lee A. Miller, a Minneapolis, Minnesota-based attorney representing BNSF against Thompson, filed the company's response in Cass County, North Dakota."
Why not water rail trains to Calif?—by pasuburbdem1: "The North Dakota Bakken oil is being shipped to the Philadelphia refineries and elsewhere in mile-long trains of tankers containing crude oil. Daily, mile-long trains of tanker after tanker. I wonder what the economics would be of mile-long or miles-long trains of tanker cars filled with water to California's most parched cities and towns? Could be implemented a lot faster than years-long construction of ocean water desalinization plants—that are then energy-intensive and expensive to operate."
DC, State & Local Eco-Politics
Wisconsin treasurer bans climate change talk by public lands workers—by Paleo: "Wisconsin continues its southward slide. Discussing climate change is out of bounds for workers at a state agency in Wisconsin. So is any work related to climate change—even responding to e-mails about the topic. A vote on Tuesday by Wisconsin’s Board of Commissioners of Public Lands, a three-member panel overseeing an agency that benefits schools and communities in the state, enacted the staff ban on climate change. 'It’s not a part of our sole mission, which is to make money for our beneficiaries,' said State Treasurer Matt Adamczyk, a Republican who sits on the board. 'That’s what I want our employees working on. That’s it. Managing our trust funds.'"
Arizona is trying to ban plastic bag bans—by Walter Einenkel: "Last Thursday, Arizona lawmakers, always looking to create archaic legislation, passed a bill that would ban bag bans. State Senator Nancy Barto, the bill’s sponsor and a Republican, said that 'excessive regulation on containers creates more work and cost for retailers and other businesses—and leads to higher consumer cost and a drag on economic growth.' She added: 'Municipalities acting on their own to implement these mandates run counter to the state’s goal to overcome Arizona’s sluggish job growth and economic stability.' The only city to carry out any such rule is Bisbee, southeast of Tucson, which banned single-use plastic bags and requires a 5-cent charge per paper bag. Like the cold-war-communist domino theory, the ban bag ban movement is equally well-thought out. Like many Republicans, Arizona's lawmakers love to talk about state and local autonomy is the shadow of big government. Like many Republicans, this does not apply to laws they want to shove down their constituents' throats."
Why Democrats Could Lose in 2016—by BCain: "My home state of West Virginia has had many pro-coal Democrats, but that did not help them in the last mid-term when the GOP gained majority in both the House and the Senate for the first time in 80 years. Coal is a dirty fuel, there's no denying it, but modern coal plants are burniing coal cleaner and more efficiently than ever before using proven technologies to capture nitrous oxide (NOX), mercury, and sulfur dioxide (SO2). With the retirement of many plants that represented the worst and antiquated offenders, the increased awareness and understanding of the coal combustion cycle means that we can continue to develop targeted technologies to keep coal around in a safe and environmental friendly way well into the future. [...] The bottom line is that if Democrats can't be an active and positive part of this conversation, they stand to lose many of their organized labor assets that rely on fossil fuels for their daily bread. Something they may think they can afford, but can't. The exception has been West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin (D). Senator Manchin has managed to strike a balance in these areas and prove that, at least some Democrats, recognize this topic is of great importance."
Agriculture, Food & Gardening
Low Cost Hoop House Cold Frame- Gardening in the Frozen North—by flowerfarmer: "Farming and gardening in the cold northern states can be a challenge. Buying seed and starting your own plants enables us to choose those unusual varieties not available at the big box stores or local Agway, while saving us a great deal of money. Anyone with a sunny plot of land can assemble this simple and low cost temporary coldframe with materials available at every hardware store or big box home improvement store. No building skills necessary."
Solar Coldframe and First Planting in the Garden—by gmoke: "Planted the first bed of peas in my garden today with some lettuce and spinach sharing the space and set up a solar coldframe in which I planted cucumber, kale and rocket salad seeds. A few more beet seeds are planted outside around the bottles which act as heat storage for the solar coldframe, green water filled plastic bottles to the North, clear water filled bottles to the South. The water holds the solar heat into the night and modifies the temperature under the clear plastic bottle with its bottom cut off that sits in the center of the circle of recycled bottles."
The Daily Bucket: An orchard view—by Elizaveta: "I spent the last few sort-of-sunny days outside dividing my time between mulching the orchard and preparing the new veggie garden. Yesterday, it rained, so I put together this Bucket instead of getting busy with some indoor tasks that needed my attention. My orchard is overgrown with grasses and the ground is boney, so I'm making good use of a free supply of horse manure and wood chips to help add nutrients and retain moisture. I've been mulching a tree or two (or three) a day (eight done, seven to go)."
Transportation & Infrastructure
Sunday Train: The Hole in the PA Keystone West Feasibility Study—by BruceMcF: "One of the things I was waiting on last year was delivery of Pennsylvania's feasibility study for improvements on the 'Keystone West' corridor. The 'Keystone East' corridor connecting Harrisburg and Philadelphia was upgraded in 2006, with an electrified corridor with speeds of up to 110mph providing travel times competitive with driving, especially in the suburban Philadelphia area. So when a 'Keystone West' feasibility study was announced, there were high hopes in some quarters that some substantial improvements might be made on the "Keystone West" corridor, connecting Pittsburgh with Harrisburg, currently hosting only the Pennsylvanian between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. The feasibility study is was originally promised for substantially earlier, with a final draft completed in May 2013 but the trip from final draft to final report took more than a year, being finally published in August of last year. A quick review of the Executive Summary reveals that a range of things can be done to improve the Keystone West, which could trim something less than an hour from the current five and a half hour trip to Harrisburg (with a further hour and a half to Philadelphia). It also takes a look at, and quickly dismisses an Express HSR corridor. But for some reason ... while it considers an option to add a third passenger-only track on the Keystone West, it completely ignores the option of a Rapid Rail speed upgrade on that track ... despite the fact that a Rapid Rail speed upgrade was part of what made the Keystone East project successful."
Sustainability & Extinction
The polar ice caps are ground zero but the tropics will suffer the first body blow—by Pakalolo: "Another piece of the puzzle that is climate change has been identified, and it is disturbing as rainfall patterns will challenge the most ecologically diverse but sensitive eco-systems on the planet. A new study published in the Journal Nature found that increases of rainfall in the wettest areas of the tropics are due to violent expressions of deep, moist convection. The tropics climate, and particularly micro-climates, will be impacted very negatively by the rapid changes in Earth's airstreams. Most life in the tropics can not adapt to any slight change in their environment fast enough to avoid extinction. Many areas of the tropics will become dryer, the Amazon rainforest for example, is expected over time to transition to savannah for a myriad of reasons."
Trash, Pollution & Hazardous Waste
Monitoring Fukushima Impact on the Pacific: How We Process Citizen Scientist Seawater Samples—by MarineChemist: "In case you're interested (ICYI). A brief explanation of how seawater samples to monitor for Fukushima contamination are processed when they arrive at the University of Victoria."
Forests, Wilderness & Public Lands
Colorado River facing serious threats from Grand Canyon developments—by Walter Einenkel: "A new report from American Rivers says that the Colorado River is topping a list of environmentally compromised waterways in the United States. The Grand Canyon Escalade is a proposal to build a two-million square foot, industrial-scale construction project on the east rim of the canyon that includes a tram to the bottom of the Grand Canyon at the confluence of the Colorado and Little Colorado rivers. The Escalade project would forever damage the canyon’s remote, wild character. If the Escalade project moves forward, 10,000 people per day could crowd a pair of walkways along the edge of the river in the canyon. An additional construction project near river level would include a restaurant, gift shop, and restrooms that would irrevocably scar this national treasure. There are serious concerns about noise, pollution, and human waste."
Miscellany
Hawaiians Protest Desecration of Mauna Kea—by Karen from Maui: "After a week of peaceful "protectors" blocking access to construction crews on Mauna Kea (Big Island, Hawai'i) arrests began on Thursday. The TMT Corporation plans to build a 34,000 square feet and 18 stories tall telescope that will add to the existing 13 telescopes. In both videos below, one can see that the officers are reluctant to oppose the protectors and many share their beliefs that the mountain is being desecrated. This battle has been raging for forty years. [...] Protectors are concerned about polluted wastewater from the installations, environmental damage (which has already occurred) and interference with Hawaiian cultural observances. According to Cory Harden, 'Astronomy can occur in many places, but many Hawaiian traditions carried out on Mauna Kea cannot be carried out anywhere else in the world.'