This is the 631st edition of the Spotlight on Green News & Views (previously known as the Green Diary Rescue). Here is the February 8 edition. Inclusion of a story in the Spotlight does not necessarily indicate my agreement with or endorsement of it.
OUTSTANDING GREEN STORIES
Dan Bacher writes—New Study Shows Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Larger than Previously Thought: “Toxic and invisible oil spread well beyond the known satellite footprint of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, according to a new study led by scientists at the University of Miami (UM) Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science. ‘These new findings have important implications for environmental health during future oil spills,’ according to a press release from the School. The UM Rosenstiel School-led research team combine oil-transport modeling techniques with -remote sensing data and in-water sampling to provide a comprehensive look at the oil spill. The findings revealed that a fraction of the spill was invisible to satellites, and yet toxic to marine wildlife. ‘We found that there was a substantial fraction of oil invisible to satellites and aerial imaging’” said the study’s lead author Igal Berenshtein, a postdoctoral researcher at the UM Rosenstiel School. ‘The spill was only visible to satellites above a certain oil concentration at the surface leaving a portion unaccounted for’.”
CRITTERS AND THE GREAT OUTDOORS
6412093 writes—The Daily Bucket: The Great Cycle of Life Accelerates: “On February 3, 2020, several chorus frogs assembled around my back yard ponds and began singing, successfully, for mates. I dug out these ponds six years ago and frogs began breeding in them immediately. The frog’s numbers have increased every year for the last six years. A few outlier chorus frogs often appear each year in February, but this year there’s a dozen frogs in early February, despite last month’s frosts. They are already breeding. Most importantly, I can see a fertilized egg sac bobbing in the water, attached to a lily stem. Local colonies of chorus frogs and their eggs can tolerate a wide range of water and air temperatures. More frogs are apparently taking advantage of extra mating time compared to other years. Last year I found eggs in frozen water, that still hatched. I wonder if they will morph a month sooner, since they were begotten a month early? Usually the big morph is Bastille Day but that’s five months away.”
Besame writes—Daily Bucket: This micro moth increased my affection for spiders: “Late last night I noticed a dark speck high on a wall in my home. I thought it was a micro-moth because I’d had the windows open in the afternoon and suspected someone had flown in and found a dark spot to wait for night. Being indoors with artificial lighting, night didn’t fall when the sun set so perhaps the moth was still waiting for day’s end. I couldn’t get close enough to the speck to see any details, but by holding my phone/camera with my arm stretched out above my head, I could snap a few photos. [...] I uploaded my two funky photos to a bug ID group online and was told it is a case-bearing clothes moth larva (Tinea pellionella). Clever dude carries their home around with them and then hides out in it to pupate.”
Kestrel writes—Dawn Chorus: Flying In On A Wing And A Prayer: “Good morning, Dawn Choristers. Coming up with Dawn Chorus topics and original content is sometimes a challenge, especially when you’ve been doing it for a number of years. And sometimes, I’ll think of a topic but not have the knowledge to write about it, especially if it involves something technical. Such is the case with today’s topic which concerns how birds fly and how the shape of a bird’s wings affect flight. After doing my internet research, I found two sources of information that I’m presenting here today. One source I’ve drawn from is ‘How Birds Fly’ from the Science Learning Hub in New Zealand. The other is ‘London Zoo: Wing Shape Affects Flight’ published in the Arizona Desert Sun. Here is what these two sources tell us about bird flight and wing shape. Birds fly using the same principles as airplanes. Although, since birds were flying millions of years before humans, it's more accurate to say that airplanes use the same principles as birds. Both birds and planes fly differently depending on the type of wings they have. Different wing shapes represent trade-offs between various desirable features of flight such as speed, energy efficiency, and maneuverability.”
CaptBLI writes—The Daily Bucket - The LBB (little brown bird) issue: “Just when I thought I had a handle on bird identification, I photograph (or in this case, collaborated to guess at photographs of) a LBB, the little brown bird.”
CaptBLI writes—The Daily Bucket - Out of the rain, into the Sun: “After my best attempt at photographing the hawks, I decided to walk over to the lake (semi-large pond). I could see the resident Muscovy ducks perched on the handrail of the observation pier. The mated pair both display Leucism (a pigment issue where a lack of melanin reduces natural color of feathers and skin). Domesticated Muscovy ducks are renowned for this condition. These fat birds are fed by the ground-keepers and most visitors. They asked me for a morsel (out of habit).”
CaptBLI writes—The Daily Bucket - Sounds of Conflict (who the flock are you): “Hayseed shot a video to test his camera settings. He luckily captured good audio of bird interaction. While he tried to visually locate the culprits, he recorded a verbal conflict between two species common to Mississippi during the winter months. His video is the last one in this article. I first want to present a video from FrontYardVideo’s youtube account. Here is that 1:42 video for comparison. The video shows a Blue Jay sounding the alarm because the Hawk is hunting over a back yard feeder. The Hawk also gives a call during the hunt. These are the sounds I am focusing on in this diary.”
OceanDiver writes—The Daily Bucket - a rolling gull: “The last of this winter’s King Tides have lifted driftwood off beaches all over the SalishSea. One particular piece has wandered for at least a couple of months and a few days ago I watched a gull rolling on it as the driftwood floated in the swells approaching the beach. The gull was grooming intermittently but it didn’t appear too serious about it. More like Can I do these two things at once?”
Dartagnan writes—The Trump administration hopes that America's hunters and fishermen can be played for fools: “Over the first nine days of February, thousands of hunters, fishermen, gun aficionados, and other outdoor sports enthusiasts poured into an annual central Pennsylvania event: the Great American Outdoor Show. Prominently sponsored by the National Rifle Association, this sprawling exhibition features high-power firearms showcased by hundreds of national and international vendors—along with, to a lesser degree, standard hunting rifles, bowhunting gear, fishing tackle, and backwoods outfitting—and is explicitly billed by the NRA as celebrating ‘hunting, fishing, and outdoor traditions treasured by millions of Americans and their families’. [...] The ‘outdoor sporting’ nature of the event is now overshadowed by the sheer volume of sophisticated military-style weaponry on display, most of which bears no relationship to hunting or fishing, but is instead very clearly geared toward collectors and users of assault rifles and handguns. ”
Angmar writes—"Living organisms interacting with inorganic surroundings for synergistic life on Earth": “The Earth Is Just as Alive as You Are - The New York Times. Apr 20, 2019. Faced with this preponderance of evidence, it is time to revive an idea that was once roundly mocked: the Gaia hypothesis. James Lovelock’s ‘Gaia hypothesis’ has challenged conventional thinking about the nature of the earth as an integrated system. Gaia proposes that the earth acts like a living organism. [...] Lovelock struggled as much as any of us to arrive at a prescription for shifting industrial, consumer society toward an ecological society. Nevertheless, Gaia reframed the popular picture of Earth, as a single, living system, and helped launch the modern ecology movement.”
CLIMATE CHAOS
Pakalolo writes—Antarctica's Pine Island Glacier has yet another major calving event: “Pine Island Glacier is located in West Antarctica, has shed yet another major iceberg. The calving event is not unusual for this glacier. What is new is change over the years is that calving events have changed from a multi-year process to an annual process. The bergs from Pine Island historically have broken into one single chunk of ice into an iceberg but now shatters upon separating from the glacier’s marine extension. [...] The iceberg that broke from the Pine Island Glacier in western Antarctica on Saturday measures some 100 square miles. It is the second time in two years the glacier has lost such a large piece and scientists are concerned that the latest break signifies a considerable change in the behavior of the glacier. [...] Last year, a study led by Seongsu Jeong and Ian Howat of Ohio State University found that Pine Island Glacier was ‘breaking up from the inside out.’ The researchers noted that the ice shelf had developed a new way of losing ice, rifts were forming in the center of the huge glacier rather than along its edges, suggesting the warmer waters reaching the base of the glacier is undermining it.”
psychusa writes—Should Global Warming be the #1 Campaign Issue? “So what place should Global Warming have in our campaign to defeat Trump? If this is made a major campaign issue it will be an issue Trump is ill equipped to respond to. But it will bring the issue to a head. Trump only knows how to deny and lie about it. And does not really want to spend any time on the issue. The main downside is that the thought of and the potential reality of Global Warming will terrify and alarm many of us who have never before considered the possibility of this occurring in their lifetime. So it could boomerang as Trump uses all his resources to paint his opposition as a bunch of lunatics. One thing that gave me hope was the outpouring of support across the globe for Greta Thunberg.”
AmericaAdapts writes—PODCAST: Women + LGBTQ + People of Color Adapt to Climate Change – Rewind: “In episode 106, a ‘rewind’ of episode 76 of America Adapts, Doug Parsons takes a journey with the Freedom to Breath bus tour on location in New Orleans. During his visit, Doug attends a town hall on women and minority groups talking about climate resilience; a visit to Africatown to learn about the legacy of racism and environmental pollution and a visit to a protest community that is also serving as a gateway for refugees fleeing storm events and climate change. Women, tribal members, people of color and members of the LGBT community talk about how climate uniquely impacts them and what steps they are taking to adapt to climate change. It’s an exciting episode, with interviews with minority voices on the front lines of climate change. Bonus material, Doug interviews Marc O’Brien of The Determined podcast on the new climate podcast web site they’ve created to highlight the growing number of climate podcasters!”
Angmar writes—Antarctica logs hottest temperature on record with a reading of 18.3C (about 65F): “A new record set so soon after the previous record of 17.5C in March 2015 is a sign warming in Antarctica is happening much faster than global average. Antarctica has logged its hottest temperature on record, with an Argentinian research station thermometer reading 18.3C, beating the previous record by 0.8C. The reading, taken at Esperanza on the northern tip of the continent’s peninsula, beats Antarctica’s previous record of 17.5C, set in March 2015. A tweet from Argentina’s meteorological agency on Friday revealed the record. The station’s data goes back to 1961.”
Angmar writes—Global Warming vs. Solar Cooling? Grand solar minimum: “Solar physicists have suggested the Sun may evolve into a period of very low activity this century; such a ‘Grand Solar Minimum’ was last observed in the 1600s and coincided with cold winters in Europe. Our work shows that a recurrence of these solar conditions would not offset the expected rise in global mean surface temperature this century due to human activities. However, we find a larger cooling effect from low solar activity on regional climates, particularly over Europe in winter. Here, the cooling effect of the solar minimum amounts to around one third of the difference between a medium and high-end emissions scenario for future greenhouse gases.”
Extreme Weather & Natural Phenomena
e2247 writes—2020-02-10 416.08 ppm CO2 Daily Average Mauna Loa: “We have officially hit 416.08 ppm #CO2 in Earth’s atmosphere on February 10, 2020. Highest ever actually measured daily average... ever. It’s up from 411.97 ppm a year ago. This is mostly horrible news. Source: https://esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/ccgg/trends/monthly.html… ”
ECO-ACTION & ECO JUSTICE
e2247 writes—Armed RCMP invaded sovereign Unist’ot’en Territory today to enforce CGL injunction. 7 arrests: “Transport Canada approved restricted airspace during the invasion of Unist'ot'en camp today, 2-10-20, insisting that they stop using drones to monitor or film the raid. It's likely Unist'ot'en drones will be taken down by RCMP. Injunction is being read and RCMP are moving in on snowshoes.”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—New ‘Anti-Greta’ Naomi Seibt Already Denying Her Role As Funding Pawn By Heartland Institute: “Remember late last year, when we mentioned the surprise appearance of a young woman at Heartland’s international denial conference? In the 18 year old, far-right German YouTuber Naomi Seibt, we suggested that Heartland had ‘found its anti-Greta.’ Welp, we were right! Two reporters from the German media outlets CORRECTIV and Frontal21 were undercover at the conference, posing as PR professionals representing the automotive and energy industry who were interested in funding Heartland. The resulting story (in German, Google translated version here, video version in German here) shows that when enticed with a potential pot of money, Heartland’s James Taylor was all too eager to funnel corporate money into promoting Seibt. Though the piece reads like a spy-thriller, it’s not without its moments of levity. When one Heartland attendee shows the reporters the hidden pen camera she planned to use to secretly record the UN climate conference, turns out it’s the same exact model, ‘even in the same color,’ as the pen camera the journalists used for the story!”
CANDIDATES, STATE AND DC ECO-RELATED POLITICS
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Trump’s Budget Shows Depth Of His Denial, But UCS Reminds Us That Lives are at Stake: “President Trump released his proposal for the government’s budget this week. Given that Congress controls the power of the purse, even with a functioning democracy these budgets are really a messaging document, meant as a signal to the president’s party about what they want to prioritize. Since the House is controlled by the Democratic party, and even the GOP-controlled Congress has repeatedly shrugged off Trump’s budget, this one is particularly pointless. But if President Trump wanted to prove to us skeptics that he prioritizes clean air and clean water, he could have suggested big budget increases for those issues, knowing full well that Republicans in the Senate wouldn’t accept those funding levels anyway. Trump would get the free publicity and the appearance of concern about environmental issues, without having to actually do anything or otherwise inconvenience his industry backers by limiting their ability to profit off of pollution. But even that symbolic gesture towards the clean air and clean water he claims to care about (in an attempt to shore up support among suburban women and young conservatives) seems to be too much.”
Dan Bacher writes—Elected Officials to Ask Gov. Newsom to “Show Love for CA” and Phase Out Fossil Fuel Production: “With Australians reeling from apocalyptic fires and California’s increasingly deadly fire season stoked by the looming climate crisis, a bipartisan group of elected officials across the state will stand in solidarity with the people of Australia and urge Governor Newsom to take emergency action at a press conference on the south steps of the State Capitol in Sacramento tomorrow at 11 a.m., according to a press advisory from Elected Officials to Protect California: The bipartisan group of mayors, county supervisors, and local elected officials will ask Governor Gavin Newsom to ‘show love for California’ and enact a comprehensive Climate Emergency Plan to phase out the production and burning of oil and gas in California. Fossil fuel production drives the climate crisis and kills 12,000 Californians each year. Governor Newsom’s recent moratorium on new fracking permits and partial moratorium on steam-injection oil drilling is important, but is only a first step. The officials will urge the Governor to end permits for all new oil and gas drilling, enact 2,500 foot public health setbacks, and fast-track the transition to 100% clean, renewable energy in all sectors — now.”
ENERGY
Nuclear
Laura Clawson writes—Trump's budget asks for $1.5 billion over 10 years to prop up uranium mining industry: “It’s all about the priorities, people! Donald Trump’s proposed 2021 budget would cut $292 billion from Medicaid, federal housing assistance, and food stamps, and $70 billion from federal student loan forgiveness, but uranium mining? That’s a different story. Trump is asking Congress for $1.5 billion over 10 years to prop up the U.S. uranium mining industry. The claim is that the move is about energy security—that the nuclear industry shouldn’t be dependent on foreign uranium—with Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette telling reporters that the $1.5 billion is part of a plan ‘to put the United States back in the nuclear game around the world.’ But this is the Trump administration we’re talking about, so you don’t want to believe the first things you’re told. National security? The Energy Department’s own budget presentation admits that “no immediate national security need has been identified’.”
Fossil Fuels & Emissions Controls
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Big Oil Really Doesn’t Want To Talk About Why They’re Being Sued in California: “Last week, two coalitions of California cities argued before the 9th Circuit Court that their cases against the fossil fuel industry should remain in state courts, as they are suing over local issues: the costs of adapting to climate change. More specifically, these cases use the industry’s denial campaigns as evidence that companies were aware their product caused climate change, and hold that they should be held accountable for these costs. Richard Wiles of the Center for Climate Integrity told the Desert Sun that there’s precedent, as “these are simply cost-recovery cases like the opiods cases or tobacco cases or lead paint cases.’ Big Oil’s defense team, though, very much does not want to talk about that, and would really rather these cases be moved to a more friendly federal court.”
Renewables, Efficiency, Energy Storage & Conservation
RustyRobot writes—Wind Turbine Cargo Surges in Minnesota Port While Coal Shipping Dwindles: “One challenge facing wind energy is how to transport the huge components. A port near us has been successfully gearing up to handle that challenge because the steady shift to renewable energy is happening. A record amount of cargo containing components used for generating wind power moved through the Twin Ports during the 2019 shipping season. The surge in wind traffic comes as Duluth-Superior handled the lowest amount of coal in more than three decades. Around 8 million tons of coal moved through the Twin Ports last year, marking the lowest volume Duluth-Superior has seen since 1985. Jayson Hron, spokesperson for the Duluth Seaway Port Authority, said the decline comes as demand for renewable energy sent a record 306,000 freight tons of wind turbines and other components through the port. [...] ‘It’s really a competition between coal, natural gas, and renewables. Over the last 10 years, natural gas especially has been the winner. In the last five years, renewables have really been the winner,’ said Nemet. ‘Coal really can’t compete with either of those’.”
Mokurai writes—Renewable Monday: Planetary Solutions at Yale: “The two US universities leading the public Global Warming discussion are Yale (Yale Program on Climate Change Communication) and Stanford (The Solutions Project). Today we are going to look at how Yale sees its climate research going forward. Yale and the climate. The university's initiatives to combat climate change. ‘Human-accelerated environmental change presents one of the greatest challenges of the twenty-first century,’ as identified in the 2018 University Science Strategy Committee report. “Planetary solutions” is one of the top five areas for scientific investment at Yale, and it is an area of focus across the university. Faculty and students in the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies (F&ES), on the West Campus, in the School of Management, and in the Peabody Museum of Natural History work with colleagues in law, health sciences, architecture, engineering, economics, and the natural sciences. Together, they are creating knowledge that informs cutting-edge policy and practice.”
Mokurai writes—Renewable Tuesday: Bloomberg Blasting Trump on Climate and Everything Else: “Multi-billionaire and would-be Democratic Presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg is running a whole slew of ads against Donald Trump on a wide range of issues. We will look here at his climate ads and personal appearances, and his book, Climate of Hope, written with Carl Pope, President of the Sierra Club. From Bloomberg's Web site: Getting It Done: Climate Trump abandoned the climate fight by pulling out of the Paris Agreement. Mike Bloomberg is a national leader in the fight against climate change, helping to shut down more than 300 coal-fired power plants. He helped spearhead a coalition of cities, states, and businesses committed to achieving the U.S. goals set by the Paris Agreement. As president, Mike will restore our global leadership on climate change and accelerate the transition to a clean energy economy.”
Mokurai writes—Renewable Wednesday: The Last Greatest Fossil Fools, or, Who Loses Biggest When the Music Stops? “Fracking runs on the Greater Fool theory of finance, making money in dud investments by unloading wells onto someone else. The Fossil Fool industries, with straight faces, want to take in tens of trillions of dollars for useless fossil fuel resources from the greatest fools they can find, just before those resources go over the financial cliff. We need to stop them. Buyers of fracked oil and gas wells are assured that the wells will yield enough product to pay back the investment before it runs dry. They rarely do, but it has taken Wall Street decades to figure out the scam being run on them.”
Mokurai writes—Renewable Thursday: The World's Biggest Carbon Polluters: “This is a simple Diary. We have data on the world's biggest carbon polluters. Here it is. You must go to the Climate Accountability Institute site and watch their animated graph of carbon pollution since 1965 as companies trade ranks, but get bigger and bigger. It's hypnotic, and scary. Then you must take action. Carbon Majors Update 8 October 2019: Accounting for carbon and methane emissions, Top Twenty investor-owned and state-owned oil, gas, and coal companies 1965-2017. The Carbon Majors Database. CDP Carbon Majors Report 2017. The Carbon Majors Database was established in 2013 by Richard Heede of the Climate Accountability Institute (CAI) to show how these emissions are linked to companies, or ‘Carbon Majors’. Now CDP works in collaboration with the CAI to maintain the Database and share its important data and insights with all stakeholders. Climate action is no longer confined to the direction given by policy makers — it is now a social movement, commanded by both economic and ethical imperatives and supported by growing amounts of data.”
Pipelines & Other Oil and Gas Transport
xaxnar writes—ICYMI, Canada is a having a Collision over Pipelines, First Nation Peoples, and Rail service: “I wrote this up for Solutionary Rail and thought I’d repost it here as I haven’t seen it getting much attention in U.S. news. (You can see posts like this if you follow us on Facebook or connect with us other ways.) What is happening in Canada brings a lot of issues together in one place: climate change, the rights of indigenous peoples, transportation policy, the folly of investing in fossil fuels as the planet burns, public interest versus private… Solutionary Rail is calling for getting carbon out of transportation and power generation by electrifying rail corridors with clean power from wind and solar, and connecting that power to the rest of America. Getting off fossil fuels ASAP is increasingly critical. Making the transition smoothly is also important if we are to build an economy that works for everyone.”
NAT’L FORESTS, PARKS, MONUMENTS & OTHER PUBLIC LANDS
David Neiwert writes—Bureau of Land Management director's deference to 'constitutionalists' creates chaos in the West: “Christopher Ketcham’s recent profile of Pendley in The New Republic laid bare the open hostility the man in charge of America’s largest portfolio of public lands has toward their very existence. The resulting policy, as another report from Type Investigations and Politico lays bare, has led the BLM to repeatedly ignore its own regulations, leading to ‘a culture of lawlessness’ in the West. Trump himself sent a clear signal fairly early on in his presidential tenure that he was sympathetic to “constitutionalist” claims when he issued a pardon for two Oregon ranchers, Dwight and Steven Hammond. The two men’s ongoing battle with the BLM had long been a focus of antigovernment groups’ recruitment efforts, culminating with the early 2016 standoff between federal authorities and a group of “constitutionalists” who led an armed takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—GOP’s Trillion Tree Bill To Subsidize Logging Is Sponsored By Rep Funded By Logging Industry: “Two years ago, when California’s deadly Camp Fire killed 85 people, President Trump and the GOP responded with a strategy that came straight from the logging industry: that the solution to fires is to cut down more trees. Since then we’ve heard and talked about how the administration exploited the crisis to help the industry. At the time, Sludge’s Alex Kotch made the connection between the denial rhetoric and seven-figure GOP donations from the Emmerson family, which owns the Sierra Pacific Industries logging company. One of the key proponents of this strategy was a representative from Arkansas named Bruce Westerman, who has received twice as many campaign donations from the timber industry as he has from any other industry over the course of his career. Coincidentally, Westerman has a history of introducing logging-friendly bills under the guise of protecting forests. As usual, time is a flat circle. Yesterday the GOP went to Axios to preview its Trillion Trees Act, which would subsidize buildings made of wood as part of its new climate denial 2.0 strategy of appearing to take action on climate change. The lead sponsor? Bruce Westerman.”
POPULATION, EXTINCTION, SUSTAINABILITY
Mokurai writes—Renewable Friday: Population vs. Climate in Niger: ”Niger has the highest fertility rate in the world, estimated at almost 5 children per woman, or possibly even higher. Much is happening to bring that down below replacement (2.1) and prepare to stabilize the population at a sustainable level. Much is also happening to prevent it. As indicated in the graph above, in 60 years the population of Niger has gone from 3 million to 22 million. Many organizations and countries are attempting to help, so far without bending the growth curve downward at all. Fewer children, fewer climate risks? Niger ponders a controversial option. Abdulaziz, Aminatu, Absatu, Abdulmanaf. Fahad. And, well, also Mansour. They are the names Zeinab Garba has in mind for any future children she has. But for now the mother of two has decided to set aside plans for more offspring by using a contraceptive, to give a better future to Rachid, her restless 3-year-old boy, and her newborn son Bilyaminou, mostly a passionate sleeper for now.”
Angmar writes—"#NOFUTURENOCHILDREN:HUNDREDS OF YOUNG PEOPLE ARE PLEDGING NOT TO HAVE CHILDREN FOR THE ENVIRONMENT”: “’Leaders across the world are getting ready to gather together to discuss climate change—and what to do about it—at the UN Climate Change Summit in New York next week, hundreds of young people across the world are going on birth strike to pressure policymakers into action.’”
TRANSPORTATION & INFRASTRUCTURE
Lib Dem FoP writes—UK - Government Go-Ahead For High Speed Rail Line Plus £5billion for Buses and Cycling: “As widely expected, the UK government has given the final go-ahead for the first stage of the high speed rail line between London and Birmingham with planned completion between 2028 and 2031 at a revised estimate of £108 billion (US$140bn). The scheme has broad all-party support This will be the second dedicated high speed rail line for the UK and is designated HS2. HS1 is the link between London St Pancras International and the Channel Tunnel and for commuter routes from North Kent using Javelin trains capable of 140mph (their name derives from their use as high speed shuttles for the London Olympics in 2012). Here is where the US definition of ‘high speed rail’ becomes confusing as the UK has several lines which already run at those speeds. The “workhorse” of the main passenger routes, the 45 year old British Rail Class 43 “InterCity 125’ trains are in the final stages of withdrawal from main line service. (At least one will be retained by Network Rail for line survey purposes others may be used on other routes) They were capable of 200 Km/h (125mph) and were diesel-electric trains.Some electrified routes used the later electric traction “InterCity 225” Class 91 which were capable of 145 mph (225 Km/h) although in practice the curves on the existing lines meant that they were limited to 125mph.”
Mokurai writes—EV Tuesday: Tapping Electricity from Your Car: “Kossack I am not Arthur asked about using a car to power a home when the grid is down. I hadn't heard of it, but the answer is yes. Also yes for small businesses to make money even during emergencies. Also using all of our electric cars as grid storage, known as Vehicle-to-grid. It requires careful management to ensure that contributing cars are topped up in the morning for their owners to drive around, among other issues. We have been talking about it for years, and it is beginning to happen. I had not seen anything on using a car as backup for a house connection when the main power is out until I looked just now. It turns out that this has been a reality for several years.”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—SAFE to Say that Trump’s “Turducken of Falsehoods” Clean Car Rollback Won’t Survive Court Challenges: “Over the past couple of years, we’ve covered how Koch-funded groups have championed President Trump’s plan to make Americans buy more gas by rolling back fuel efficiency standards, how independent analysis showed the oil-industry-endorsed policy ignores basic economics, and the bizarre claim that not requiring more clean cars would lead to more clean cars.Yesterday, The New York Times reported that the rollback is again delayed, in part because of the fact that it is so full of errors, with people familiar with the documents justifying the rule changes as being ‘swiss cheese,’ sprinkled with glaring numerical and spelling errors (such as ‘Massachusettes’), with 111 sections marked ‘text forthcoming’. For even more, The Atlantic’s Rob Meyer published an incredible story detailing not only that the factual basis for the rollback is embarrassingly wrong in a number of ways, but also that the administration was made aware of these errors and proceeded anyway.”
AGRICULTURE, FOOD & GARDENING
gmoke writes—City Agriculture - February 13, 2020: “Sead microplanters—growing system using recycled plastic planters and chain link fence https://www.plantseads.com
https://inhabitat.com/sead-pod-offers-grassroots-solution-to-air-pollution-and-global-warming/ Car Parks 2.0 - asphalt parking lots transformed into gardens and charging terminals for electric vehicles
https://www.studionab.fr/car-park-2-0
https://inhabitat.com/studio-nab-wants-to-rehab-parking-lots-into-energy-producing-urban-gardens/
Editorial Comment: Car Parks 3.0 said to be coming soon from Studio NAB. Smart Forest City for Cancun, Mexico "conceived to be completely food and energy self-sufficient"
https://www.stefanoboeriarchitetti.net/en/project/smart-forest-city-cancun/
https://inhabitat.com/first-smart-forest-city-in-mexico-will-be-100-food-and-energy-self-sufficient/”
ninkasi23 writes—Saturday Morning Garden Blogging Vol.16.07: Signs of Early Spring: “February started out gloomy and gray but we have now started to dry out a bit and have had a few clear, cold and sunny days here in southern OR. I’m seeing a bit of the spring buds on trees and the forsythia and quince are popping out, almost startlingly, from tangles of blackberry vines and other unidentified bushes. Just outside our apartment is a large tree that has a carpet of miner’s lettuce every spring too:”
MISCELLANY
USExpat writes—Then and Now: War and Peace and National Parks (Tuesday mornings @TheVillage): “Our own 26th president, Theodore Roosevelt, saw the link between resources and democracy quite clearly. Here’s how he described it, back in 1916: The movement for the conservation of wild life and the larger movement for the conservation of all our natural resources are essentially democratic in spirit, purpose, and method. A Book-Lover’s Holiday In the Open. Now, it was actually Ulysses S. Grant, 18th president of the United States, who first signed the Act of Dedication law and created Yellowstone, our first national park. But Teddy Roosevelt is the commander and chief most closely associated in the public imagination with conservationism and our present day national park system, and he wrote and spoke quite prolifically (and sometimes poetically) on the subject, which makes his an authoritative perspective. Ok, that’s all well and good. But how do I make the leap from natural resources, whose importance to geopolitics is quite plain, to national parks, whose connection to matters of war and peace is less obvious?”