Spotlight on Green News & Views (previously known as the Green Diary Rescue) appears twice a week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Here is the most recent previous Green Spotlight. More than 25,320 environmentally oriented stories have been rescued to appear in this series since 2006. Inclusion of a story in the Spotlight does not necessarily indicate my agreement with or endorsement of it.
OUTSTANDING GREEN STORIES
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—WSJ Ads Call Out WSJ’s Climate Denial: “The Wall Street Journal’s opinion page is perhaps the most influential outlet for climate denial and rarely gives its readers accurate information about how fossil fuels cause global warming. A new ad campaign from The Partnership for Responsible Growth seeks to fix that, giving readers real facts on climate change and driving them to pricecarbon.org to learn about solutions. Yesterday, they kicked off the campaign with a quarter-page ad in the Journal’s opinion section featuring the headline: “Exxon’s CEO says fossil fuels are raising temperatures and sea levels. Why won’t the Wall Street Journal?” (Good question!) [...] The Post story also points to a white paper that underpins the claims in the ad that the Journal’s editorial board has never acknowledged the reality of climate change. Turns out that in at least 201 editorials going back to 1997, not once has the editorial board explicitly admitted fossil fuels cause climate change.”
Mary Anne Hitt writes—Public Turns Out In Force to Demand Coal Leasing Reform: “In recent weeks, people have been turning out by the hundreds at public hearings demanding reform of the federal coal leasing program. For decades now, coal mining companies have ripped more than 400 million tons of coal from public lands every year. In fact, nearly 40 percent of all coal mined in the United States comes from land owned by the American people, and it’s given to coal companies at far below market value. Fortunately, in January the Secretary of the Interior, Sally Jewell, ordered an immediate halt to all new leases for coal mining on federal land (with a few exceptions) pending a review of how, when, and where the government should allow companies to extract coal from land that belongs to all Americans. The next step in that process, now underway, is a series of six public hearings being held across the nation this spring and summer. President Obama’s Administration has acknowledged the sorry truth behind the current state of the coal leasing program. Simply put, it’s broken and badly in need of updating. The government’s current program for leasing land to coal companies is more than 30 years old and ignores many of the critical risk factors now associated with mining, transporting, and burning coal for electricity.”
CRITTERS AND THE GREAT OUTDOORS
Lefty Coaster writes—Bramble Cay Melomys go extinct victims of rising sea levels: “While there have very probably have been other species that have gone extinct due to Global Warming this is the first one where the cause can be directly attributed to Global Warming, and documented. [...] Australian researchers say rising sea levels have wiped out a rodent that lived on a tiny outcrop in the Great Barrier Reef, in what they say is the first documented extinction of a mammal species due to man-made climate change. The rodent was known to have lived only on Bramble Cay, a minuscule atoll in the northeast Torres Strait, between Cape York Peninsula in the Australian state of Queensland and the southern shores of Papua New Guinea. The long-tailed, whiskered creature, called the Bramble Cay melomys, is considered the only mammal endemic to the Great Barrier Reef.”
OceanDiver writes—The Daily Bucket - otter amongst the seagulls: “It was a bit longer between our regular boat excursions than we like when we went out this time, and there were a couple of signs time had passed. First, the steering wheel pulls to the right, meaning there’s a buildup of weed and who knows what else on the rudder, and secondly, when we rounded Whale Rocks it was clear the big shift of the season had occurred in our absence. The Steller Sea Lions are completely gone, off to their summer rookeries on the British Columbia coast to breed. Whale Rocks, a mile offshore where tidal currents swirl and race as the ocean forces its way into the narrow passages of the islands, is their major haulout site in this area. It’s relatively safe and has great fishing, deep water on one side and a huge kelp bed on the other. The Rocks were almost quiet this day — no roaring, that booming Steller-sea-lion-sound that carries for miles even through the sound of waves. A few gulls were calling. About 30 of our resident Glaucous-winged gulls perched and soared there as they do throughout the year. As we rounded the southern rock, all the gulls lifted off, circling and screeching at something below. Following the direction of their interest, I saw a River Otter scrambling up the rock, heading purposefully to the top!”
matching mole writes—Dawn Chorus: Albatross: “Albatrosses have captured the imagination of humans despite the remote nature of their habitat. It is no surprise that peoples living in areas with albatrosses considered them important. The Maori consider them of immense cultural significance with albatross plumes denoting persons of the highest rank. Their myths speak of the albatross crying for its distant homeland – a reference to both the vast distances these birds travel and their habit of excreting salty water through special tubes on their beaks. The Hawaiians also venerate the albatrosses that breed in the northern Pacific. What is most remarkable is that albatrosses came to be so important in European (including North American) culture. Europeans would have encountered albatrosses very infrequently before the 18th century when extensive sailing in the far south and in the northern Pacific began. Yet in 1798 the albatross took a gigantic step into the collective consciousness of western civilization. William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge published Lyrical Ballads, a collection of poetry that put romanticism on the British literary map. Among the poems was a very long, strange piece by Coleridge: The Rime of the Ancient Mariner In this poem the mariner forces himself upon a guest late for a wedding and tells a long tale of fantastic and terrible events in the far southern ocean.”
PHScott writes—The Daily Bucket: An iPhone Quickie: “Sitting outside in the shade and composing this bucket on my iPhone. It will be short of links and the usual filler and such but I have pretty pictures! [...] Can't do a bucket without a bug so here's another of those ‘litter bugs’ — this one gave itself a tail. [...] If you wondered what leaf that bug is crawling on, it's Beautyberry. And this is where I'd add a link to the Science article about how Bb has 3 chemical compounds that have been identified as mosquito repellants. Getting products to market will be a long slog but you can always break off a branch and wave it around your head like I did this morning. Or crush the leaves and let linger on you.”
CLIMATE CHAOS
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Small Win for Mann in The War on Climate Science: “If there's one mann with the most first hand knowledge of the war on science, though, it's Dr. Michael Mann. While the deniers' organized attacks on scientists are a method of intimidation designed to discourage scientists from speaking out (a topic he documents first hand with The Hockey Stick and Climate Wars), Dr. Mann has opted to fight back. One of the fronts in the Climate Science Wars is Dr. Mann's lawsuit against the National Review Online, Competitive Enterprise Institute and Mark Steyn. In a couple of intertwined blog posts in 2012, they accuse Dr. Mann's hockey stick of being a product of fraud, and since it's not, he's suing for defamation.”
OCEANS, WATER, DROUGHT
Dan Bacher writes—Greenwashing Extinction 2016: The Clear Links between Delta Tunnels Plan and MLPA Initiative: “One of the least discussed issues in California environmental politics – and one of the most crucial to understanding Jerry Brown’s Delta Tunnels plan - is the clear connection between the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative and the California WaterFix, formerly called the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP). The privately-funded MLPA Initiative and the California WaterFix to build the peripheral tunnels at first may appear to be entirely different processes. The MLPA Initiative, a process begun in 2004 under the Schwarzenegger administration, purported to create a network of ‘marine protected areas’ along the California coast. The network was supposedly completed on December 19, 2012, with the imposition of widely-contested ‘marine protected areas’ along the North Coast.”
Dan Bacher writes—State Water Board grants deadline extension for Delta Tunnels hearing objections: “The State Water Resources Board on Friday, June 10, granted a 27-day extension of the deadline requested by multiple parties for objections to documents submitted by the state and federal governments to make their case for Governor Jerry Brown’s Delta Tunnels Plan, now called the ‘California WaterFix.’ The Water Board also relaxed some of the requirements for objections, noting that the extension is for the deadline only and not the start of the hearing, still scheduled to begin on July 26. You can read the ruling here: State Water Board Cal Water Fix Ruling, June 1. An array of fishing groups, conservation organizations, environmental justice groups, family farming organizations, local agencies and San Joaquin County submitted the deadline extension requests.”
CANDIDATES, STATE AND DC ECO-RELATED POLITICS
Meteor Blades writes—Paul Ryan releases regulatory portion of his six-part agenda. It shouldn't fool anybody: “While megatons of attention are understandably being paid to Donald Trump’s latest fascist spew, another Republican is laying out an agenda showing anyone who temporarily forgot why it’s not just The Donnie that needs to be defeated come November. Consider the six-part agenda under the rubric of "A Better Way” that Speaker of the House Paul Ryan has been laying out. Previously, we’ve been handed what House Republicans have in mind for national security and poverty. Today, in a 57-page paper, they provide the blueprint for taking several steps backward in government regulations. Unlike the two previously released parts of the agenda, the regulatory proposals focus on existing legislation or rules—particularly regulations on net neutrality, the financial industry, and dealing with climate change. But not just those. The plan is to roll back, weaken, and otherwise undermine regulations in several arenas.”
poopdogcomedy writes—CO-Sen: "Conservationist" Jon Keyser (R) Is In Bed With Companies That Pollute The Environment: “For the past few months, the 34-year-old Keyser has been touting his time in the military, his ‘rock solid fiscal conservative’ beliefs, and even his time as a roughneck who worked on oil and gas rigs to partly pay for his education. Keyser also promotes himself as a conservationist who ‘will work hard to preserve Colorado’s natural beauty for future generations,’ and an ‘advocate for clean air, clean water, outdoor recreation and access to open space.’ But a ThinkProgress review of Keyser’s donations and personal financial disclosure documents shows that Keyser has strong financial connections to extraction industries like oil and gas corporations that often object to stringent environmental laws, or face lawsuits for polluting the air, water, and the open spaces. Moreover, Keyser doesn’t seem to be convinced about the role humans play in human-caused climate change. ‘The climate is changing, but the question is, how much, and to what extent human factors are contributing to that,’ Keyser said according to the Huffington Post.”
BYPRODUCTS, TRASH, TOXIC & RADIOACTIVE WASTE
Hyde Park Johnny writes—Chicago Aldermen Demand Hearings on Lead Contamination in Schools: “In a growing concern for the safety of children and staff in Chicago Public Schools Alderman Chris Taliaferro of the 29th Ward and fellow members of theChicago City Council Progressive Reform Caucus held a press conference announcing the introduction of a resolution demanding City Council hearings on lead found in CPS drinking water at at least 14 CPS schools. On June 13, CPS announced five more schools tested for elevated levels of lead, bringing to 19 buildings where tests have uncovered lead levels that exceed a federal standard of 15 parts per billion. ‘In 2016 it is unacceptable that we’ve reached the risk of putting our children in harm’s way just by sending them to school,’ Caucus leader Alderman Chris Taliaferro (29th) said. ‘Lead shouldn’t be in our vocabulary in this day and age. We know how to get rid of it, we know how to test for it and we know how to keep our kids safe from it.’”
ENERGY
Nuclear & Fossil Fuels
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Bankrupt Coal Giant Peabody Funded Anti-Climate Groups: “It’s no secret that the fossil fuel industry funds climate denial organizations and pseduo-scientists. Regardless, it’s always nice to have proof that deniers are hired guns. The latest batch of evidence comes from Peabody Energy, the biggest coal company in the US. It’s gone bankrupt, and the related court documents list those to whom they still owe money. Try to contain your surprise: many of the usual suspects in the deniersphere show up. Unfortunately, the amounts owed and dates aren’t listed, so we don’t know how much money was supposed to change hands or when. But we do know there is a funding relationship between the coal giant and the climate deniers. There are individual scientists listed, ones we know and love, like Willie Soon, the denier who accused legitimate scientists of “prostituting science” when he’s the one that’s received over a million dollars for his work finding potential non-fossil-fuel excuses for climate change. There’s also Richard Lindzen, who was part of Peabody’s failed social cost of carbon lawsuit (which is probably what the company owed him money for).”
EARTHWORKS writes—12 million+ Americans live in the oil & gas threat zone: “Today, Clean Air Task Force and Earthworks unveiled a suite of tools designed to inform and mobilize Americans about the health risks from toxic air pollution from the oil and gas industry. For the first time, Americans across the country—from Washington County, PA, to Weld County, CO to Kern County, CA—can access striking new community-level data on major health risks posed by oil and gas operations. The oil and gas industry is the country’s largest and fastest-growing source of methane pollution. And its facilities emit numerous other hazardous and toxic air pollutants along with methane—including benzene, formaldehyde, acetaldehyde and ethylbenzene. That toxic pollution presents significant cancer and respiratory health risks, underscoring the need for the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to clean up existing sources of toxic air pollution without delay.”
Hydraulic Fracturing
Steve Horn writes—Internal Documents: MSNBC Show Worked To Promote Fracking: “Cable TV network MSNBC has made headlines in recent days for apparently moving away from its ‘Lean Foward’ progressive brand, catering instead to a more center-to-right-leaning crowd. ‘People might start accusing us of leaning too far to the right,’ the station says in a new advertisement featuring MSNBC's conservative personalities — an array of Republican identities such as Michael Steele, Steve Schmidt and Ben Ginsberg. But on the issue of hydraulic fracturing (‘fracking’) for shale oil and gas, documents from 2011 obtained under Oklahoma's Open Records Act demonstrate that the network saw itself as a promoter of both the controversial drilling method and natural gas vehicles. NBCUniversal, at the time, was owned on a 49-percent basis by the natural gas utility and electricity company General Electric (GE) and is now wholly owned by Comcast.”
Emissions Controls & Carbon Pricing
Meteor Blades writes—Supreme Court chooses not to block enforcement of mercury-curtailing rule at power plants: “Last June, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in favor of those challenging the Obama administration’s rule establishing its mercury and air toxics standard (MATS). The court majority decided in Michigan v. Environmental Protection Agency that the EPA had failed to consider the costs of compliance before it finalized the rule. But the court did not throw out the rule itself. Instead, it returned the case to the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals. In December, that court decided to let the EPA keep enforcing the rule while it dealt with the costs matter. On Monday, the Supreme Court chose not to review the Circuit Court’s decision. It was a major victory for the Obama administration and environmental advocates and a defeat for Michigan Attorney General William Schuette, who had brought both cases to the Supreme Court.”
MISCELLANY
Lenny Flank writes—Daily Bucket: A Walk at the Greenville Zoo: “The Greenville Zoo in South Carolina is a typical mid-city zoo, though it did have some species I had not seen before. It also had its contingent of locals who had moved in and made themselves at home.”