Spotlight on Green News & Views (previously known as the Green Diary Rescue) normally appears twice a week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays. More than 25,920 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
Desert Scientist writes—The End of Civilization as We Know It: “Science is a product of civilization, as art, literature, music, cooking, and other common human activities are. For the most part these are important aspects of a civilized society and I have no interest in destroying them, but I do think we need to examine where we are going in light of the recent political chaos, and the destination we seem to be approaching is not a good one, based on the successful candidate’s own statements. Still, had a different outcome occurred, we still would be left with the struggle. How that struggle ultimately turns out we can only guess, but I’m with Kate McKinnon when she sang Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah." (See: www.cnn.com/...). I’m not religious, but the song still hit me like a ton of bricks. Never give in! Otherwise the crows and the ravens will get to feed on our bodies in our ruined cities, and civilization as we know it will truly end. [...] The end of civilization as we know it? Perhaps, but it is possible that the new civilization might be better, or it could be, given the current political climate, a dystopian mess. It is our choice. Meanwhile I think that I’ll associate with the trees, seals, woodpeckers and loons. At least I have a tiny (if pitiful) understanding of them. People are too weird to understand!”
FishOutofWater writes—Arctic Sea Ice Collapse Has Destabilized the Stratospheric & Lower Atmospheric Circulations: “Arctic sea ice extent, area and volume has collapsed to record low levels for November as warm Atlantic ocean water has pushed into Arctic seas that used to be ice covered. Sea ice cover is also low on the Pacific side. [...] The warm Arctic sea water has allowed warm storms to inject huge amounts of heat over the north pole raising surface temperatures to above freezing in areas that are normally twenty degrees below zero Fahrenheit. Temperatures today are 50ºF above normal near the pole. [...] But that’s not all. The lack of sea ice has dramatically affected the northern hemisphere’s atmospheric circulation for months. The heat this fall has formed a warm dome over the Arctic ocean and provided moisture for deep, early Siberian snow. A record deep Siberian snow pack for October pushed south of normal developing a deep pool of cold air over central Siberia.”
CRITTERS AND THE GREAT OUTDOORS
OceanDiver writes—The Daily Bucket - otters lighten up a grey day: “Lots of grey days this November. One thing I can do to shake off some of the gloom is to get outside into nature, even if it’s windy and wet. The quiet clean-smelling air brings me back to earth and the natural world calms my mind. Sometimes I get lucky enough to cross paths with wildlife like the otters above which perks me right up. I hope a few otter moments might lighten your day too :) Days are short now in the Pacific Northwest: it gets too dark to wander around outside by 5 pm now, especially when there’s a thick cloud cover. On this drizzly calm day last week it was already getting dark at 4 pm. In the monochromatic winter dusk often all you can see of wildlife is movement. That was the case when I stood on the high bank of a nearby bay: grey/brown shades of sea, sky, sand, driftwood, and…..otter.”
matching mole writes—Dawn Chorus: Kayak Open Thread: “Sorry to have been so remiss with my participation in Dawn Chorus. Pressures of life and lack of a camera suitable for bird photography are my pitiful excuses. Here are few pictures taken while kayaking near my house about ten days ago.”
owktree writes—Daily Bucket: Autumn Colors: “Full autumn colors descended on Philadelphia and the immediate area in the past few weeks. There had been hints over the previous month as various trees lost their green and leaves started to drop. A few colder evenings set the rest of the trees into their cycle and now there are a lot more reds, yellows, and russets to look at when taking a walk.”
owktree write—Daily Bucket: Hey, That's No Mallard! “=Morning walk with a friend along the old canal towpaths on both sides of the Delaware River north of Trenton. Nice morning to get out — a bit frosty, but it warmed up in an hour or so. Lots of leaves to look at, geese and ducks in the canal or river to see and hear. And a couple unexpected things encountered as well. Plus a nice café in New Hope, PA to stop at for a croissant and a coffee.”
Lenny Flank writes—Study: New findings about the deformed wing virus, a major factor in honey bee colony mortality: “In recent years, massive losses of honey bee colonies have occurred during winter in Europe and North America. It could be shown that the Varroa mite and the deformed wing virus are the main factors responsible for the alarming bee mortality. Researchers from the University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna have succeeded for the first time in simulating the course of disease using artificial genetic material of the virus. The symptoms of the so-called mite disease were reproduced in the laboratory without mites by the injection of synthetic RNA. This enabled the prudent development of new strategies in order to protect the bee population in the future. The results were published in the journal PLOS ONE.”
CLIMATE CHAOS
Meteor Blades writes—U.S. envoy at Morocco talks says nations will take climate action regardless of what Trump does: “Whatever Trump’s actual views on the subject of global warming, his public stance is an extremist version of denialism, the nutty claim that human-made change in the climate is an outright hoax. The starkly depressing example of American exceptionalism gone berserk has to make for some interesting conversations for Americans representing the United States at the Marrakech talks—officially the Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, or COP22. How does one keep a diplomatic poker face without grimacing when everybody knows the soon-to-be new boss has vowed to pull out of the Paris Agreement and open the doors to more, not less extraction and burning of fossil fuels?”
Mark Sumner writes—Paris climate deal is not safe from Trump: “Trump has completely internalized every facet of the right’s assault on the environment. He hates windmills, because he feels like they spoiled the view at one of his golf’s courses. As a result, Trump frequently repeats conspiracy theories about wind not only decimating bird populations but damaging health from “ultrasounds.” Trump encourages more drilling for oil and gas—even though supply exceeds demand—and brags about bringing back coal—even though there’s no market for it—simply because he believes that anything ‘green’ is automatically bad. He’s even convinced that power saving light bulbs cause cancer.”
Mark Sumner writes—China expects Trump to make a 'smart decision' on climate: “The nation whose name Trump seems incapable of pronouncing has what may seem like unrealistic expectations when it comes to Trump and climate change. Seemingly unfazed by President-elect Donald Trump's campaign promises to yank the U.S. out of the Paris pact on global warming, a Chinese delegate says he expects the new administration to stay committed to the deal. ‘We have to expect they will take a right and smart decision,’ Liu Zhenmin, the deputy leader of China's delegation, told reporters at U.N. climate talks. The cooperation between the United States and China was what made the Paris accords possible. Those would be the same accords that Donald Trump swore he would tear up during the campaign as he pursued his hatred of wind and fluorescent lightbulbs.”
Walter Einenkel writes—The 21 kids suing for a constitutional solution to climate change just won a big victory: “The children are our future and when you see what a lot of old people are voting for—it rhymes with Donald Trump—we can only hope they get here sooner than later. Young people like Kelsey Juliana, who is the lead plaintiff in a civil rights action along with 20 other children between the ages of 8 and 19, are fighting to save us all from ourselves. They are suing the United States saying that their rights to a stable climate are being infringed upon by our government’s policies. In a decision a couple days after the election of Trump, the 21 plaintiffs won the right to go to trial.”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Curry Denies Clear and Present Endangerment, Calls UNFCCC Hoaxsters: “ScienceDebate has a new site where scientists can document how the Trump administration has influenced science. There are already examples of the power of rhetoric. But one thing not (yet) mentioned is how a certain set of scientists will be emboldened by post-truth politics. Case in point: In the last couple of years, we’ve watched Georgia’s Judith Curry sink from lukewarmer to denier to consensus conspiracy theorist. With her latest post that is likely her attempt to cozy up to the new post-truth administration, she reaffirms denial and embraces conspiracy, but ups the ante by alleging the UNFCCC is perpetrating a hoax and by calling for a re-evaluation of the EPA’s Endangerment finding. Because the UNFCCC defines “climate change” as man’s influence above and beyond natural variability, and says emissions reductions will influence the climate, they’re apparently trying to mislead people.”
hatrack writes—WMO - 2016 Will Be Warmest Year Ever; 1.2 C Above Pre-Industrial Records; 3rd Straight Record Year: “2016 will very likely be the hottest year on record and a new high for the third year in a row, according to the UN. It means 16 of the 17 hottest years on record will have been this century. The scorching temperatures around the world, and the extreme weather they drive, mean the impacts of climate change on people are coming sooner and with more ferocity than expected, according to scientists.The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) report, published on Monday at the global climate summit in Morocco, found the global temperature in 2016 is running 1.2C above pre-industrial levels. This is perilously close to to the 1.5C target included as an aim of the Paris climate agreement last December.”
hatrack writes—Arctic Ocean Beyond 80 North 30 To 36F Above Average; Late Summer Temperatures In Mid-November: “It’s going to be the hottest year on record — by a long shot. Just ask Gavin Schmidt at a NASA that the climate change denying Trump Administration has now imperiled. But in one region — the Arctic — the rate of heat accumulation has been outrageously extreme. And it is there that this new record warmth could inflict some of the worst damage to an increasingly fragile Earth System. For in the Arctic Ocean above the 80 degree north latitude line which encircles the crest of our world, temperatures today are around 17 degrees Celsius above average. These are the warmest temperatures for this region ever recorded. And they include numerous locations in which temperatures spike to well above 20 C (36 F) warmer than average.”
hatrack writes—Nature Advances Study: Climate More Sensitive To Carbon Forcing Than Thought; 4.8C to 7.4 C By 2100: “According to the current best estimate, by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), if humans carry on with a “business as usual” approach using large amounts of fossil fuels, the Earth’s average temperature will rise by between 2.6 and 4.8 degrees above pre-industrial levels by 2100. However new research by an international team of experts who looked into how the Earth’s climate has reacted over nearly 800,000 years warns this could be a major under-estimate, because, they believe, the climate is more sensitive to greenhouse gases when it is warmer. In a paper in the journal Science Advances, they said the actual range could be between 4.78C to 7.36C by 2100, based on one set of calculations. Some have dismissed the idea that the world would continue to burn fossil fuels despite obvious global warming, but emissions are still increasing despite a 1C rise in average thermometer readings since the 1880s.”
Bluebellrose writes—Global Warming- Let's use the Invisible hand against Trump:”If we are to convince people to use less cars and create less carbon monoxide and for us to be environmental friendly it needs to start with us as an individual. Republicans/Conservatives believe in the invisible hand and market demand. Let’s use that against them. Well, market demand and perceived market demand has china investing heavily in green technology and as a result they are leading the world in green technology We need to lead by example. My mother is a conservative lady. She bashes our efforts to help the environment saying environmentalists only tell people to do stuff and don’t do as they say. She asks why don’t we bus in the winter? Why do we drive? Thought I’d share the views of a skeptic I live with. From her bashing it looks like we need to lead by example. This is something we all can do.”
Extreme Weather & Natural Phenomena
hatrack writes—No End In Sight For TN/NC Forest Fires; Knoxville ER Admissions Spike, 40,000 Acres Burned In NC: “East Tennesseans once again woke to a dense cover of smoke Monday morning as forest fires continue throughout the area. The National Weather Service in Morristown said the situation is not expected to change soon. ‘Unfortunately, conditions aren't expected to change today,’ said Elyse Hagner, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Morristown. ‘We could get a little directional wind in the evening that could help a little with that. Tomorrow, winds could pick up a little more - not significantly but enough that it might stir up the smoke a little more and clear things.’”
hatrack writes—Southeastern Fires Pass 80,000 Acres; Chimney Rock Evacuated; 100s Hospitalized Thanks To Smoke.
OCEANS, WATER, DROUGHT
Dan Bacher writes—Governor Brown: don't undermine environmental laws to push Delta Tunnels: “Delta advocates are very concerned that Jerry Brown may work with the incoming Trump administration to weaken the Endangered Species Act and Clean Water Act to push through Brown’s ‘legacy’ project, the Delta Tunnels, before he leaves office. On November 10, Governor Jerry Brown offered his commitment to find ‘common ground wherever possible’ with the incoming Trump Administration, but to oppose the new administration regarding climate change policies Today, Restore the Delta issued a statement calling on Governor Brown to advocate for the’ ‘full protection of San Francisco Bay-Delta fisheries and river flows for the estuary,’ as he establishes his working relationship with President-elect Trump's transition team and administration.”
Dan Bacher writes—Stop the Agreement Between the Feds & Westlands Water District! “Action Alert from Restore the Delta: We need California leaders to stop this destructive legacy where about 350 industrial irrigators will receive close to a million acre feet of a guaranteed water supply contract with no acreage limitations courtesy of the American taxpayer, and at the expense of needed flows to protect the San Francisco Bay-Delta estuary. What does the American taxpayer get for paying Westlands Water District's water bills forever at a cost of more than a quarter billion dollars? Some vague assurances that Westlands will keep millions of gallons of polluted water within their boundaries, and not belch it back into groundwater supplies, the San Joaquin River, and the Delta, when the Federal Government could not solve the same problem for decades.”
CANDIDATES, STATE AND DC ECO-RELATED POLITICS
gmoke writes—Environmental Groups Never Planned for a Trump Win: ”I publish a weekly listing of Energy (and Other) Events around Cambridge, MA at hubevents.blogspot.com and go to as many of them as I can stand. Over the last two days I’ve gone to Harvard Law School to listen to Trip Van Noppen of Earthjustice (earthjustice.org) and, tonight, also at Harvard, Bob Perciasepe of the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (www.c2es.org). Van Notten told the law students that he had urged the environmental community to start contingency planning for a Trump win in August but they didn’t and he didn’t. Earthjustice, ‘because the earth needs a good lawyer,’ is doing that only now. Tonight, the Harvard University Center for the Environment sponsored a talk by Bob Perciasepe on ‘Challenges for the New President.’ After the lecture, I was able to tell Perciasepe what Van Noppen had said the day before. He said he, too, advised the same thing back in August. I asked him if his group or any other environmental group he knew of actually did any planning for a possible Trump win. He grew still. Saying no was superfluous.
AndySchmookler writes—"Seek Peace While Preparing for War": Going to/after Trump about Climate Change: “Climate change deniers come in two main varieties: the corrupt and the ignorant. The corrupt are people who know the truth of what the scientists are saying, but choose out of greed and/or ambition to sacrifice the future of our planet to serve the interests of the fossil fuel industries. If Donald Trump is one of these corrupt deniers, then there is no chance for peace, and we will be compelled to fight him, to use Elizabeth Warren's recent mantra, ‘every step of the way.’ But if Donald Trump is ignorant, then it is at least possible that if his ignorance were to be replaced by greater understanding, he might be induced to take a different path.”
hatrack writes—Remember "Return Of The Coal Jobs"? Sen. McTurtle Lowers The Boom: “With Trump’s election and Republicans controlling both chambers of Congress, many in Kentucky are now waiting to cash in on the Republican promise of more coal jobs. U.S. Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, though, wasn’t making any promises Friday. ‘We are going to be presenting to the new president a variety of options that could end this assault,’ McConnell said at the University of Louisville. ‘Whether that immediately brings business back is hard to tell because it’s a private sector activity.’ The interim president of the Kentucky Coal Association was more direct about the future of coal mining in Eastern Kentucky. ‘I would not expect to see a lot of growth because of the Trump presidency,’”
ybruti writes—In 2009 Trump backed urgent action on climate change: “Seven years ago Donald Trump signed an advertisement in the New York Times urging action on climate legislation, but today he wants the U.S. to withdraw from the Paris Climate Accords. A June 2016 article in Grist titled Donald Trump once backed urgent climate action. Wait, what? reveals his views in 2009: As negotiators headed to Copenhagen in December 2009 to forge a global climate pact, concerned U.S. business leaders and liberal luminaries took out a full-page ad in the New York Times calling for aggressive climate action. In an open letter to President Obama and the U.S. Congress, they declared: “If we fail to act now, it is scientifically irrefutable that there will be catastrophic and irreversible consequences for humanity and our planet.” One of the signatories of that letter: Donald Trump. Also signed by Trump’s three adult children, the letter called for passage of U.S. climate legislation, investment in the clean energy economy, and leadership to inspire the rest of the world to join the fight against climate change.”
ENERGY
Nuclear
MarineChemist writes—Pushing the Limit: Fukushima Fingerprint Isotope Found in Pacific Salmon from 2015: “This post was co-written with Dr. Jonathan Kellogg and reports on the most recent efforts of the Integrated Fukushima Ocean Radionuclide Monitoring (InFORM) project to provide scientifically rigorous information regarding the impact of the Fukushima nuclear disaster on the Pacific Ocean off the west coast of North America. This post is part of an ongoing series dedicated to sharing scientifically derived information about the impacts of Fukushima on the environment and public health. For the first time, the Fukushima fingerprint isotope, cesium-134 (134Cs; half-life ~ 2 years), has been detected at an extremely low level in a Canadian salmon by the InFORM project.”
Fossil Fuels
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Tortoise and the Hair: McConnell Surrenders War on Coal, Trump Can’t Save It Either: “For years now, Senate Majority Leader and possible undercover turtle Mitch McConnell has been a stalwart defender of his Kentucky home in the so-called War on Coal. With Obama on his way out and energy lobbyists ready to move into the White House, McConnell is surely telling everyone the war is soon over, right? Not exactly. Which is why McConnell now says it’s “hard to tell” if jobs will return because coal mining is ‘a private sector activity.’ Turns out that cheap natural gas and renewables are the real enemy of coal, not all those pesky regulations that fight asthma, black lung or climate change. After nearly a decade railing against the war on coal, it seems regulations are secondary to the one force the right loves most: the free market. Which is why we now see a variety of stories that explain why Trump can’t stop the growth of clean energy.”
Emissions Controls & Carbon Pricing
Iberian writes—Sarkozy puts forward the idea of carbon taxing all US goods if The Donald kills Paris agreement: “So here comes former president of France and candidate for the next election, and very likely winner, Nicholas Sarkozy and proposes a solution to deal with The Donald: ‘Well, I will demand that Europe put in place a carbon tax at its border, a tax of 1-3 per cent, for all products coming from the United States, if the United States doesn’t apply environmental rules that we are imposing on our companies,’ he added.en.rfi.fr/... That deserves a BOOM or a BANG or any other onomatopoeia you can come up with.”
Pakalolo writes—Listen to 58 years of the deafening rise of carbon pollution: “In a fascinating twist on illustrating the danger of CO2 to our biosphere, University of University of Washington scientists have made it possible to listen to the planet’s CO2 change over the past 58 years. The haunting video below was created by Judy Twedt, a UW doctoral student in atmospheric sciences, and Dargan Frierson, a UW associate professor of atmospheric sciences.”
Renewables, Efficiency & Conservation
sharkmouth writes—Getting left behind in Clean Power: “In all the talk about Orange Julius’ (horrendous, disastrous) choice for EPA, and word from friends at the EPA who say that Climate Denier at the helm will pretty much destroy any last shred of chance we have for saving this planet… I keep wondering about the pitch, here. I’m not sure where else to ask this, so I thought I’d finally do the posting thing and ask. Maybe someone else has some insight I’m missing. Basically, China is leading the way in moving to Clean Power, as I understand it. From a business perspective, if they’re able to do that, the US will be left behind. I keep thinking of Y2K: at first, there were outliers who updated to ready themselves. Others dragged their feet, but eventually, those who didn’t update their technology had to update regardless, just to remain competitive. Is there some reason not to push the Clean Power agenda in that manner: that the US is going to be left behind, technology-wise? As much as I don’t like the notion of casting China as the Ultimate Enemy, in a business sense, they’re definitely a main competitor, and they’re moving ahead.”
Pipelines & Other Oil and Gas Transport
igualdad writes—#NoDAPL Protests Occur in 300 Communities. Bernie Joins D.C. Protest to Demand Pipeline Not be Built: “On January 20, America will inaugurate a new president who is not only a tool of Big Oil, but (as is the case in a number of areas) is also a walking conflict of interest. Here's a brief explanation from Time magazine (which still exists): Trump has not announced a public position on the pipeline, but everything else we know about Trump suggests that he would support continuing the project. Trump has made scrapping environmental regulations a top priority and North Dakota GOP Congressman Kevin Cramer, a key Trump energy advisor, has said Trump will take particular aim at the Clean Water Act. That is one of the key rules that gives the federal government jurisdiction over the Dakota Access Pipeline. Beyond policy, Trump owns stock in the company building the pipeline, Energy Transfer Partners, as well as another company that will own a share of the pipeline once it is completed. He also received more than $100,000 in campaign contributions from the company’s CEO.”
Oligarchy writes—Our Revolution: #NODAPL:
Marina Asbury writes—Standing Rock Rally and Prayer Gathering: “On a beautiful fall day in Fort Collins, Colorado, with a light breeze and clear blue skies, I stood with a community that came together in solidarity and peacefully protest and to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL). The gathering was the Standing Rock Rally and Prayer Gathering of the Water Protectors. It was humbling to be a part of an event that talked about action, hope, love, forgiveness and unity. Right now pressing donations needed are winter coats, for the people in the camps, tents and financial donations. In addition their website has a list of the financiers of the project and they shared that a simple way to support their cause is to go to the website and divest from the companies listed.”
e2247 writes—NoDAPL solidarity rally at army corps of engineers in chicago today photos here: “For this paper, the research team constructed a pilot dataset to study how citizens organize against corporate human rights abuses and how corporations operating in Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria, and South Africa respond to civil resistance. The findings suggest that multiple coordinated citizen-led events were more effective at gaining concessions from targeted corporations; that corporations undergoing leadership changes were more open to making concessions; and, that corporations operating in effective rule of law settings were more willing to make concessions than those operating in countries with less legal accountability. ”
Dan Bacher writes—Sacramento No DAPL protest targets Army Corps of Engineers Office: “Sacramento Native American, environmental and other social justice groups Tuesday will join with others around the world in a mass international action calling on the federal government and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL). [...] The Army Corps of Engineers, the target of this demonstration, approved the pipeline without proper consultation or adequate environmental studies.”
Dan Bacher writes—Karuk, Yurok and Klamath Tribes Oppose Pacific Connector Pipeline: “The Karuk Tribe, located on the Klamath River in Northern California, today announced its opposition to the Jordan Cove LNG terminal and Pacific Connector Gas Pipeline projects, joining the Yurok and Klamath Tribes in officially opposing the controversial project. ‘The proposed pipeline would carry fracked natural gas across or under 400 bodies of water in the Klamath, Rogue, Umpqua, Coquille and Coos watersheds,’ according to a statement from the Karuk Tribe. ‘The 36-inch underground pipeline would travel from Malin, OR to a proposed terminal in Coos Bay and require a permanent 232-mile long and approximately 100-foot wide clear cut through these already impaired watersheds. The terminal, built in the tsunami zone, would export liquefied natural gas abroad.’ ‘With our fisheries and water quality already compromised, we simply cannot afford the risks associated with running a natural gas pipeline beneath the Klamath River,’ said Karuk Chairman Russell ‘Buster’ Attebery.”
ECO-ACTION & ECO JUSTICE
AprilR writes—We Need Asymmetrical Warfare to Stop T---- from Destroying the Planet: “I’m reading all the emails from the different environmental groups I support. They all say the same thing – we will fight. But no one is saying how. That’s unnerving. We need to figure out how. Right away.And we need to be SOB’s about this fight. In the meantime, what on earth happens to all the different species of wildlife during a wildfire?”
AGRICULTURE, FOOD & GARDENING
Mark Sumner writes—Trump's new EPA boss denies climate change, loves pesticides: “[Proposed EPA boss Myron] Ebell is behind the site SafeChemicalPolicy.org where you can learn that concerns about chemicals in the environment are ‘fearmongering’ and that since honeybees in the United States are a non-native ‘farmed species,’ that’s the real ‘tampering with nature.’ Kill them. Kill those nasty bees. Honeybees bad. Pesticides good. But Ebell’s group doesn’t stop there. He directly attacks scientists attempting to research effects of chemicals and pollution.”