This is the 526th edition of the Spotlight on Green News & Views (previously known as the Green Diary Rescue) usually appears twice a week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Here is the Sept. 13 Green Spotlight. More than 27,760 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
skralyx writes—Welcome home, Black Feet! Wild-born black-footed ferret kits found at Meeteetse, Wyoming: “In 1979, the last black-footed ferret in captivity died, and the species was declared extinct. [...] But then, this happened: MEETEETSE, Wyo. — At about 3 a.m. on Sept. 26, 1981, cattle rancher John Hogg and his wife, Lucille, were awakened by furious barking by their dog just outside the bedroom window. ‘I figured Shep got in a tangle with a porcupine, so I went back to sleep,’ Hogg recalled recently. Later that morning, Hogg investigated. He found the carcass of a strange little animal. [...] When the taxidermist examined the carcass, however, he looked up and said: ‘I can't touch this. This is an endangered species. It's a black-footed ferret.’ [...] Further examination showed that there was a small population in and around Meeteetse that numbered possibly over 100. [...] As late as 1985, the colony was thought by some to be potentially viable. But by 1987 it had declined perilously, and conservationists worried we were about to lose the black-footed ferret again, so they rounded up all that were left. [...] In 1991, forty-nine of the [captive bred] ferrets were ready for reintroduction into the wild, which first occurred at Shirley Basin, Wyoming. Within a year, some wild-born kits were spotted there. It began to look as if the species was going to have a shot. Fast forward to 2017, and the wild population is now thought to be 1,400 individuals, across several states where reintroduction has taken place over the years. Their recovery has been much faster than many other reintroduced species, thanks to good reintroduction methodology — and peanut-butter-flavored sylvatic plague vaccine tablets!”
ClimateBrad writes—Trump's Latest Lie, or The Time to Talk Climate Change Is NOW: “Yesterday after the fossil-fueled storms killed at least 164 people and caused billions of dollars in destruction, Trump was asked if he’d change his tune about climate change being a ‘hoax.’ Instead, he flip-flopped. He dismissed climate change by dismissing the hurricanes, claiming ‘we've had bigger storms than this.’ EPA administrator Scott Pruitt, under investigation for covering up secret communications with the oil industry, said it’s ‘insensitive’ to talk about climate change now. To ‘have any kind of focus on the cause and effect of the storm,’ he said, ‘is misplaced.’ Nothing could be further from the truth. Hurricanes and wildfires are ravaging communities and uprooting millions of people across North America and the Atlantic. Decisions are being made right now on how to spend billions of dollars in rebuilding and recovery. And fossil-fuel polluters are sitting on billions upon billions of ill-gotten wealth, while the Republicans they finance vote against disaster relief. This is the moment when we need to come together to talk about who is responsible for climate change, bring the polluters to justice, and build a renewable economy that works for all people.”
CRITTERS AND THE GREAT OUTDOORS
Photo of winter-run Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) reared to adulthood in a captive broodstock program at Bodega Marine Laboratory courtesy of UC Davis.
Dan Bacher writes—Only 1,123 adult winter Chinook salmon returned to Sacramento River in 2017: “Only 1,123 adult winter Chinook salmon, once one of the biggest salmon runs on the Sacramento River and its tributaries, returned to the Sacramento Valley in 2017, according to a report sent to the Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC) by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW). ‘This is the second lowest number of returning adult winter run salmon since modern counting techniques were implemented in 2003, undercut only by the 824 that returned in 2011,’ according to a statement from the Golden Gate Salmon Association. The estimated run back in 1969 was 117,000 back in 1969, but had plummeted to around 200 fish by the late 1980s.”
ban nock writes—Wild Horse and Burro Summit: “Rangelands meant for 27,000 horses now contain 73,000, and that number increases by 15% to 20% a year. A hundred groups representing all interested parties took part in the meeting in Salt Lake hosted by the National Horse and Burro Rangeland Coalition, to discuss just what in the heck to do. There are currently another 45,000 animals held in off range facilities costing $50,000 dollars per horse over their lifespan. Wild horses aren’t really ‘wild’ in a wildlife sense, they are feral, which means a domestic animal that lives in the wild. True wild horses of North America have been extinct for thousands of years. Amongst the sweeping environmental issues passed into law in the early 70s was the Wild Free Ranging Horse and Burros Act, as if giving an official name of ‘Wild’ might somehow change biology. It didn’t. That act called on our government to care for 27,000 horses, and to euthanize or give away excess. Every prior year, funding has been specifically denied for anything leading to euthanizing horses, or providing inspectors for a slaughterhouse. (Europeans and others like horsemeat.) This congress might just be different, the appropriations bill does not forbid euthanasia, and there are fifty some odd thousand horses extra. To say this is a contentious issue is like saying deserts are dry. Then again advocates have had 45 years to come to reality. I’ve never heard of a group raising money to buy land and feed all those horses. ”
The ford over Thornton Creek at Kingfisher Natural Area, Seattle, September.
Assaf writes—The Daily Bucket: Mediterranean in Seattle: “We moved from Israel to Seattle in summer 2002. At first, there seemed no connection between the mostly-parched piece of Earth we’d left, straddling the boundary between the Mediterranean climate zone and the world’s largest contiguous hot desert — and the mild, wet Pacific Northwest between the Cascades and the Ocean. The dominant native tree in Israel-Palestine’s Mediterranean woodlands, usually takes the form of a bush no more than 3-5m tall. I love that ‘Common Oak,’ but it’s a far cry from the awe-inspiring giants of PNW forests. Then, after a while, I realized that the two climates are in fact siblings: both have dry summers and rainy mildly-cold winter. Yup, according to the great Köppen, both are members of the Mediterranean climate family! Siblings: Israel-Palestine, with its long bone-dry, often scorching hot summers, and mostly-clear winters interrupted by violent storms, would be the rugged, burly sibling. The PNW, with its short beautiful summers, and long, moody-gray, drizzly winters, definitely the spoiled pretty one. Gender them as you wish :)”
RonK writes—The Daily Bucket: August Wildflowers on the Mountain: “Wild Flowers are usually aflame in mid August around the Mt. Baker - Snoqualmie National Forest, and so they were to the extent to which we could reach them. After a snowy winter and a near record snow pack, the snow had not yet melted from one of my favorite mountain trails. [...] After visiting Picture Lake, we continued up to Artist Point that at 5,100 feet elevation typically affords panoramic views of Mt. Baker to the southwest and Mt. Shucksan to the east. Unfortunately Artist Point was totally shrouded in clouds. Further, much of the trail beyond the parking lot was still buried in snow. [...] We then retreated down the mountain a bit to Austin Pass area where we took the “Fire and Ice” trail that led us down into the Bagley Lakes. As you will see below, the slopes there were alive with wild flowers even with the low hanging clouds.”
You can see a tinge of pink color from the field of Spiraea down to Bagley Lake.
owktree writes—Daily Bucket: Insect Activity in early September: “A quick photo-diary on insect and flower sightings in western New York over Labor Day weekend. Photos are from a variety of places including Selkirk Shores State Park, Black River Trail (Watertown, NY), and Geneseo, NY. A few of these were included in other diaries relating to this trip.”
CLIMATE CHAOS
m2c4 writes—Rising Carbon Dioxide Levels May Be Putting Entire Planet On A Junk Food Diet: “Global warming is creating junk food for every animal on the planet. That’s the theory described in an incredible Politico article about the declining nutrient quality of the entire food chain. For years, one of the climate deniers arguments was that carbon dioxide was necessary for plant growth and that increasing levels of carbon dioxide would lead to more and higher quality food. Lamar Smith, the ignorant Republican chair of the House Committee on Science, explained, “A higher concentration of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere would aid photosynthesis, which in turn contributes to increased plant growth. This correlates to a greater volume of food production and better quality food.” Greater volume, yes. Better quality, well, it turns out, no. For years, scientists have know that the nutrient quality of what we eat is declining. Mineral, vitamin and protein levels in fruits and vegetables have dropped considerably in the last half century or more. Another study of fruits and vegetables ‘found that everything from protein to calcium, iron and vitamin C had declined significantly across most garden crops since 1950.’”
m2c4 writes—Yellowstone May Proved A Glimpse Of Our Future Forests As The Climate Changes: “Since we’re talking about Yellowstone today, it also happens to be the site of an interesting analysis of the potential effects of climate change on lodgepole pine forests, which dominate Yellowstone, in particular but also forests in general. Seventeen years ago, a section of one of these old-growth pine forests was decimated by fire. Then, just last year, fire again roared through, but this time only in a much smaller section of the original burn. Research into how these two sections of the same forest regrow over the next few years may give us a clue as to how climate change will effect our forests in the future. Models of climate change show that there are expected to be many more wildfires as we have areas of extended drought, higher temperatures, and more storms with accompanying lightning. That may mean that forests will have far less time to recover from wildfires than they have in the past. In Yellowstone, those lodgepole pines usually are able to grow for at least a couple of hundred years before the next fire hits them. This extended period is critical because only older pines create cones that are covered with resin that protects them from flames and release their seeds as the fire sweeps through. The cones of younger pines are not flame resistant and release their unprotected seeds when the tree stops growing. If there are more fires over the same area, there will not be enough time for the lodgepole pines to create those resin-protected cones, meaning that there will be fewer seeds available for regrowth.”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Pair of Rising Denier Stars Already Breitbart Burn Outs: “Climate denial is by and large not exactly a growing field. Though Trump is a breath of fresh air, denial remains more of a last gasp than a second wind. Generally, we see very few young and up-and-coming denier scientists. But since there are always exceptions, we’d like to bring Duane Thresher and wife Claudia Kubatzki to your attention. They (particularly Duane) have burst on to the scene this year, plucked out of relative obscurity and thrust into the fake news spotlight by Breitbart. And why shouldn’t they! After all, Thresher and Kubatzki are, according to Thresher and Kubatzki, ‘the most qualified real climatologists to ever come out as global warming skeptics (including even more than Dr. Richard Lindzen and Dr. Judith Curry, although we acknowledge their revolutionary courage).’ [...] Thresher and Kubatzki’s arguments are only marginally more advanced than the garden-variety denial we know and love. The principles page of their website contains only the boring denier basics--models can’t predict the climate, paleoproxies are useless for figuring out temperatures, and the peer-reviewed consensus is due to funding bias.”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Columnist Tom Rogan Bravely Attacks Teenage Climate Activist For Things Never Said: “On Monday, Slate’s Sabrina McCormick argued that the judicial branch is now our best shot at climate protection under Trump. Tuesday’s #ExxonKnew ruling, where a judge denied the oil giant’s request to avoid handing over certain audited documents to the New York attorney general, gives us some hope that McCormick might be right, though a couple other rulings suggest her piece is perhaps a touch too optimistic. (Not that we can blame anyone for hoping for the best.) But these examples are far from the last word on the government’s responsibility to protect our collective right to a livable climate, and there’s at least one high-profile case brewing in that regard. While the 21 kids suing the government over climate change [edited per comment] won’t get their days in court until February, Xiuhtezcatl Martinez of Our Children’s Trust is doing the media rounds to discuss his book and the case itself. He was great on the Daily Show, and sharp on Bill Maher. This, of course, makes him a target. Though pundits might feel it beneath them attack the 17 year old Aztec-Mexican-American activist, Washington Examiner columnist Tom Rogan took a break from defending the American Nazi Party and offering advice for police dealing with those pesky anti-Nazi protesters to prove that no one is too young to be the target of a political hatchet job.”
Bob Johnson writes—Great interactive graphic from Bloomberg Businessweek on global warming: “Short diary, but if you want to see a powerful and simple interactive graphic on what is causing climate change, look at this piece from Bloomberg Businessweek. Great stuff: What's Really Warming the World?”
The Geogre writes—Planning for Global Warming and Pascal's Wager: “NPR has garnered complaints for its “bothsiderism” and its fascination with ‘Trump voters are still loyal’ stories, and for good reason. In general, NPR seems to be trying to feed the alligator, again, to try to keep it from biting. I suppose, if I were a contented or wealthy or stupid person, hearing that ‘both sides’ do it would be consoling, as it would give me a way to feel better about being on the sidelines, apathetic, or uneducated, and it would give me peace with my vote for the Republican congressman or governor. If I were a stupid person, it might make me confused into bafflement and inactivity. [...] What got me, though, was this morning, when they wondered whether the massive flooding in Houston might ‘start a conversation’ among ‘ruling politicians’ there over ‘climate change.’ First, ‘climate change’ is an especially odious term in this context, because we’re talking about warming, not ‘maybe a little cooler, little warming. . . who knows. . . just. . . you know. . . changes, like weather.’ Second, that ‘ruling politicians’ is a way to avoid saying ‘Republicans.’ The correspondents were breaking their tongues and teeth to avoid saying the party’s name. Third, no, it won’t, and the reason is the same reason that logic has never saved a soul.”
Extreme Weather & Natural Phenomena
dyna writes—Hurricane Irma: Revenge of the Everglades...”Back in1960 Hurricane Donna blew through southwest Florida, pushing salt water 30 miles inland… But only a couple thousand hardy folks lived in that storm’s path. Today metro Naples AKA Collier County is home to over 400,000, mostly 10 feet or less above sea level. To make infrastructure work where it shouldn’t requires hundreds of sewer lift stations with backup generators and a whole ‘nother system of natural gas pipelines to fuel the backup generators. Then there’s the usual water system plus a second water system to provide recycled waste water to irrigate the lawns of the numerous golf courses and Planned Unit Developments (PUDs). So there’s a lot of pipes in that few feet of fill between pavement and the salt water table, and a lot of buried conduit and vaults carrying electric and telecom wiring too. What could go wrong? [...] You’d think folks would learn and move upland beyond the flood plains, hurricane paths, and slosh zones. But the meme ”Naples Strong” is already being shouted by the local boosters and real estate scammers, as they plot another FEMA financed rebuilding where they shouldn’t have built in the first place. Will Florida and America ever learn not to mess with the Everglades?”
Marinade Dave writes—IRMAGEDDON? “I live just outside of Orlando. We got the dirty side of the storm as it worked its way up the west coast of Florida. It turned northeast and then the eye wall hit us. There are still lots of homes and businesses without electricity. Yet… I can't really complain all that much about Irma. Damage was minimal where I live. A few trees came down in the neighborhood and there's lots of broken tree and shrub branches and debris on my property, although I have been cleaning it. The roof on the house seems OK. I've yet to climb up there to see it. The roof on the shed is missing shingles, but I think I can repair it myself. We'll see. I'm hoping I don't have to file an insurance claim. [...]I filled the gas tanks on both cars before the hurricane came. I'm glad I did because, while some stations are up and running, their gas pumps are shut off. I found one station in Longwood selling the precious commodity. I needed it to fill the generator. In any event, I must say... a storm that takes away your electricity, running water, air conditioning, refrigeration, television, and God knows what else, sure does put the world in a different perspective.”
jrooth writes—As the Islands and Florida Struggle to Recover From Irma, Hurricane Season Roars On: “It’s shaping up to be an extraordinary hurricane season. Either Harvey or Irma by themselves would qualify 2017 as exceptional. Both of them together in one year gets 2017 in the conversation with the really big years like 2005. Unfortunately, it’s far from over. I will briefly mention Hurricane Jose, but frankly he is at worst a moderate threat to the northeast states. Jose has lingered in the western Atlantic for most of a week, making a good sized cyclonic loop, and is set to turn north on his way to a close brush with the northeast US coast. [...] But the system that has my stomach in knots right now is currently designated ‘Potential Tropical Cyclone 15.’ This designation of potential tropical cyclones is a new thing for the National Hurricane Center this year. The idea is that the old system of waiting until one had a developed tropical depression (closed circulation, sustained convection) meant that there were times when the warning given to threatened locations was inadequate in the case of a system which rapidly develops close offshore.”
ENERGY
Fossil Fuels
Colorado Blue writes—Oh goody. In the wake of two catastrophic hurricanes Trump looks for ways to drill in the Arctic: “The vandals have another target, a pristine wildlife refuge in Alaska. Yes indeed! After all we have a huge glut of oil, the world is moving away from fossil fuels and toward renewables so of course we must go and destroy a priceless and irreplaceable treasure—The Trump administration is quietly moving to allow energy exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for the first time in more than 30 years, according to documents obtained by The Washington Post, with a draft rule that would lay the groundwork for drilling. Congress has sole authority to determine whether oil and gas drilling can take place within the refuge’s 19.6 million acres. But seismic studies represent a necessary first step, and Interior Department officials are modifying a 1980s regulation to permit them.”
Paul C writes—WildEarth Guardians Score a Major Court Victory Against Trump's Coal Agenda: “The environmental group WildEarth Guardians is reporting that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit has sided with the Guardians in their lawsuit against Trump’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in its hasty awarding of massive coal leases to two of the largest coal companies, Peabody and Arch Coal. The leases were for two billion tons of coal situated on public lands in the Wyoming Powder River Basin. Guardians observed that: When burned, this coal stood to unleash more than 3.3 billion metric tons of carbon pollution. That’s equal to the amount of climate pollution released by nearly 1,000 coal-fired power plants. Neither was this a ruling on a technicality. The court blasted the BLM, labeling their actions ‘irrational,’ which might as well have been addressed to the maniac in the White House who is hellbent on killing us all.”
Emissions Controls & Carbon Taxes
Mary Anne Hitt and Bruce Nilles write—Paris Bound: New Sierra Club Analysis Shows Trend Toward Half-Billion Ton Carbon Pollution Reduction: “Regardless of who is in the White House, a new Sierra Club analysis has found dramatic reductions in carbon pollution from the U.S. electric sector are moving full speed ahead and will continue to grow, putting U.S. Paris climate targets within reach despite Trump’s intentions to exit the Paris Agreement. The analysis shows that ongoing advocacy to replace coal—and increasingly fracked gas—with clean energy can slash U.S. electricity sector carbon pollution by at least another half billion tons annually between 2017 and 2025, the deadline for the U.S. to hit its 2025 Paris commitment. In spite of Trump’s directive to repeal the Clean Power Plan and the absence of any national carbon reduction strategy, the U.S. is already approximately halfway to meeting its 2025 carbon reduction commitment under the Paris Agreement.”
Renewables, Efficiency & Conservation
m2c4 writes—US Solar Industry Keeps On Growing: “The US solar energy sector just keeps on rolling along. In the second quarter of this year, the solar industry added 2,387 megawatts, the largest second quarter growth ever. Solar installations follow a seasonal pattern of increasing growth throughout each quarter of the year, with the fourth quarter usually seeing significantly higher growth than any other quarter. Besides the usual suspects in the southern US sunbelt, the state of Minnesota was interestingly the fifth largest market. Texas added more capacity in this quarter than it ever had and is on track to become the 2nd largest solar producer in the next few years. In the first half of 2017, 22% of all new electrical power that came online was solar generated. That makes solar the second largest contributor to new electric capacity after natural gas. And the prospects for the future also remain positive. Solar energy is expected to triple its capacity over the next three years.”
REGULATIONS & PROTECTIONS
Meteor Blades writes—A big earthquake could turn Cushing, Oklahoma, into one of the worst oil-related eco-disasters ever: “Kathryn Miles, author of the new book Quakeland: On the Road To America’s Next Devastating Earthquake, has written a piece at Politico on the kind of subject most people don’t think about until after a disaster. She explores what would happen if a big earthquake struck at or near Cushing, Oklahoma, a crossroads of 14 major oil pipelines and hundreds of tanks holding, in the latest tally, nearly 60 million barrels of unrefined oil. In her investigation, she discovered the dirty little secret of this reservoir of fossil fuel—the minuscule federal agency that supposedly regulates safety standards for these tanks doesn’t regulate or set standards for them. And these tanks and the pipelines that feed them simply aren’t prepared to ride out a major quake. If there were a major one that broke pipelines and split, say, half those tanks, the environmental disaster would make the Exxon Valdez spill of 260,000 barrels of oil near the Alaska coast nearly three decades ago look like the results of a kid knocking over her uncovered juice cup. And, Miles writes, such an event would also have a major, if temporary, effect on the economy.”
Mary Anne Hitt writes—Save the Environmental Protection Agency! “This week, I had the great honor of speaking at press conference at the National Press Club calling on Congress and the White House to fully fund the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and let its staff do their jobs free of political interference (you can watch ABC News coverage of the event here). The good public servants at EPA stand up every day for the health of our families, clean air and water, and our climate. The least I could do was to stand with them, and call on Congress and the White House to save the US EPA! The press conference also included Rep. Debbie Dingell of Michigan, National Wildlife Federation CEO Collin O’Mara, and leaders of the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents EPA staff. I want to share the message I delivered at the press conference with all of you - here are my remarks [...]”
AGRICULTURE, FOOD & GARDENING
estreya writes—Saturday Morning Garden Blogging, Vol. 13.37: A Bloomin' Scavenger Hunt: “I'll be honest with you, garden bloggers - this is not a great time of year for greenery and blooms in my Pacific Northwest garden. After a prolonged summer drought, the grounds are looking pretty stressed at the moment. The lawn is the color of Cheerios, and there are entire trees and bushes that have set their alarms for Spring and are calling it quits for the season. Finding something that looks healthy and supple at the moment is a bit of a scavenger hunt. But one thing's clear - nature can be full of surprises. Care to join me while i have a look around the yard? Much to my amazement, there are roses that actually seem to thrive on neglect. These two are really the only color I have in my garden right now … ”
TRANSPORTATION & INFRASTRUCTURE
Rei writes—"I shudder to think of evacuating in an electric car"- EVs in Disasters: Expectations Versus Reality: “It’s something you periodically hear whenever the topics of “electric cars” and ‘natural disasters’ meet: fear. There comes an image of electric cars stranded across the roads, endless impractical lines for charging, while their gasoline-driving compatriots escape to safety. In the aftermath, there’s an image of people in their powerless homes, stranded because their electric car is out of juice, while their neighbors drive around at will with gasoline. I found this concept curious, as I had heard very good things from EV owners in New York during Sandy. So — as reservation holder for a Tesla Model 3 - this year I’ve been paying close attention to Tesla owners’ experiences during Harvey and Irma, as well as the status of the Supercharger network. [...] Tesla is unique among car manufacturers in how they approach charging. Rather than scattered, low power (~50kW), poorly monitored / maintained DC charging stations located in random locations, Tesla supercharging stations are concentrated (4-20+ stalls), high power (up to 120kW per vehicle), and very well monitored and maintained by Tesla, with locations planned top-down from Tesla. This provides a number of things for users going on road trips: You can trust that when you get to a station, that it will actually work. [...]”
daynasteelcampaign writes—Writing an anti-gasoline post in oil & gas country: “I own a Tesla. There I’ve said it. I love my electric car. I tell people all the time, “it’s like driving a space ship.” And no, I’ve never driven a space ship but I just assume it would feel something like driving a Tesla. With that said, I also drive a 2012 Dodge Ram 1500 big ass pickup truck (official Texas phrase) that I think gets something like two miles to the gallon. Pickup trucks and gas are big bidness in Texas, especially in CD36 where I am running for Congress. So, when I write a post like this for my website, it raises some (ok, many) eyebrows: China just announced a plan to do away with gasoline powered cars and make strides towards more innovative sources of power starting now. This shift towards exploring new energy technologies should be a wake-up call for Southeast Texas – before we become the coal miners of the future.”
MISCELLANY
GreenpowerCA writes—This Week in the Environment 09.14.17: Counting Our Victories: “3. Obama’s Solar Goal Has Been Met, Trump’s Energy Department Brags. BloombergIn a fine example of ‘They said what?!!’ news, the Energy Department (headed by fossil fuel enthusiast Rick Perry) has proudly announced that the federal solar initiative SunShot has met its goal to cut solar costs ahead of schedule. The announcement has been met with criticism from both left and right, since the Trump administration has a stated preference for fossil fuels and has released a draft budget that would cut funding for programs like this by nearly two-thirds. Supporters of the SunShot initiative point out that the program was started by the Obama administration in 2011 and has survived in spite of the Trump administration. Opponents don’t want the current administration promoting government programs (and likely those that could reinforce the reality of anthropogenic climate change in particular). Regardless of any absurd claims for credit, our country has cleaner, cheaper electricity and is well on its way to a renewable future.”