This is the 597th edition of the Spotlight on Green News & Views (previously known as the Green Diary Rescue). Here is the April 27 edition. Inclusion of a story in the Spotlight does not necessarily indicate my agreement with or endorsement of it.
OUTSTANDING GREEN STORIES
FishOutofWater writes—Heat Dome over Greenland Causing Unprecedented Early Melting: “Greenland’s Snow and Ice started melting in early April this year, weeks earlier than normal. Unprecedented early surface melting is well underway on the southeastern coastline now. [...] Greenland’s ice cap, which hangs above the northern hemisphere like Damocles’ sword, started melting early this April, weeks earlier than the previous record date, and now another even stronger melt event is underway. Storms in the middle north Atlantic have driven up heat domes over Scandinavia and Greenland by winds that pull heat out of the warm ocean, warming the air above it. The previous extreme years for Greenland melting, 2010 and 2012 began early and were associated with similar domes of warm air that extended from the surface to tens of thousands of feet (greater than 5000 meters) above Greenland. It’s a weather feature called blocking and Greenland is one of the places in the world where blocking can be persistent. There’s a strong chance that this spring’s April blocking and warmth will continue through the summer months.”
6412093 writes—The Daily Bucket--Take-out Orders from the Frog Mitigation Area: “The heron doesn’t scare off as easy from my backyard as in past years. It visits 3 times a day or more. Yesterday it landed on the fence while I was outside, 20 feet away. The flapping whoosh of its 6 foot wingspan and burst of platinum and blue colors seemed to throw open the curtain to another reality, as it settled on the fence. I sat stone-still 20 feet away as it preened, ate a large bug, and eyed me, and then watched the small pond below.That pond was set aside for frogs to breed, and for tadpoles to grow. At that moment it was teeming with tadpoles. The heron watched the tadpoles for several minutes, glaring at me now and then. But the parent chorus frogs never appeared, and the tadpoles apparently weren’t worth the trouble of spearing. The heron flew a few feet to the fish pond, and promptly caught two fish in two minutes, belly-flopping for the second one. The heron rose from the pond, dripping water. The water emboldened the heron’s breast colors. The heron’s inner wing feathers flashed a garish red from under where its wing and body met. I’d never seen a heron from this angle, head-on, from slightly below, the heron with wings outspread. The mosaic of colors might be a seldom-seen mating display. Alas, the camera was 90 feet away.”
CRITTERS AND THE GREAT OUTDOORS
Kestrel writes—Dawn Chorus: The Cormorant Conducts the Chorus: “A little light-hearted fun and a chance for something different this morning. I didn’t have a lot of time available so I decided to leave the more carefully-researched bird topics for another day. Instead, I’m providing a bit of cheer and musicality with this take of a Double-crested Cormorant conducting his sunset chorus from atop a pier at Bodgea Bay, Ca. Do sing along and use this as an Open Thread for all things birdy. ”
enhydra lutris writes—The Daily Bucket - April 2019 Yard Report: “This is part of my ongoing project to document the changes in our yard from month to month. This month I am going somewhat by exception, only things that re blooming, significantly changed or otherwise of interest.”
OceanDiver writes—The Daily Bucket - baby Spotted drums in the Caribbee (+ bonus dad Jawfish): “April 2019. the Caribbee. Biodiversity in a healthy coral reef is pretty spectacular. My visit to the Caribbee immersed me in that, even this remnant under threat. Let me show you just two of the distinctive creatures I saw there this time. Spotted drumfish are native to tropical waters of the western Atlantic, not too common to see in the Caribbee but that’s mainly because they hide quite well. In fact the adults are rare sightings. If you keep an eye out you’ll see the juveniles in coral crevices — partly due to their stripey pattern, but mostly because of their movement. Spotted drums swim in circles, and the younger they are, the more circly their swimming.”
Besame writes—Daily Bucket: Camp Fire continues setting records for extraordinary damage - now it's wetlands: “Forests and chaparral will regrow eventually, houses can be rebuilt, and roads repaired, but we don’t usually think of wildfires permanently altering aquifers and eliminating bodies of water like the reservoir (above) and mitigation wetlands in the valley miles beyond the burn scar. Yet the Camp Fire continues to set precedent for extreme consequences and by the end of 2019 the reservoir shown in the photo will be dry. The reservoir depends on water from six miles of flumes built 150 years ago to support the hydraulic mines at Cherokee*, another 3 miles further downstream of the reservoir. I know these flumes as do many other local residents because they are a favored hiking route and allow access to the river down steep trails. Newts use the canal in spring breeding time. Kunkle Resevoir’s upland edges and the mitigation wetlands in the valley are areas I’ve crawled through for years, exploring the plants and animals. They aren’t yet gone, but their death knell is sounding.”
PHScott writes—The Daily Bucket: Hatchlings at the Nest - 1 Wants to Fly! “These Red-shouldered Hawk chicks are 3-4 weeks old. The nest is 100' from my house and 60' up a Hickory tree. May 2019. There's a couple vantage points thru the trees from my back deck. Feeding goes on all day but quietly, no loud begging yet. Being there at the right moment to see anything is a bit of luck.”
Missys Brother writes—Saturday Morning Garden Blogging Vol 15.18 - South Africa: “P and I spent a month in five African countries. My first diary about the trip covered Zimbabwe and Zambia. My second diary covered a nine-day safari in Botswana. This third diary below will cover a week in Cape Town including two day trips spent in the South African countryside. Not part of this were two days spent in Johannesburg as that was our main point flying in and out of Africa. The fourth and final diary will be exploring Namibia in a rental car for a week.”
CLIMATE CHAOS
Meteor Blades writes—House Democrats pass bill to keep U.S. in Paris climate accord, Senate rejection almost certain: “Quite a number of Republican politicians have softened their erstwhile rhetoric on the climate crisis lately. They’ve stepped away from language like “hoax” and say they agree that the climate is changing and that government policy must address this. But when it comes down to actual legislation, even something as exceedingly modest as H.R 9—the Climate Action Now bill that passed the House Thursday—the words of most turn out to be nothing more than boilerplate to give themselves cover against being labeled scientific numbskulls. They aren’t really interested in effective action. This pathetic behavior was on full display Thursday when the House passed H.R. 9 by 231-190, with every Democrat present voting for it, but just three Republicans joining them. These were Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvnia, Elise Stefanik of New York and Vern Buchanan of Florida. That’s a whopping 1.5% of the Republican caucus in the House.”
Lefty Coaster writes—The British parliament declares a Climate Change 'EMERGENCY': “Britain’s parliament declared a symbolic climate change “emergency” on Wednesday, backing a call by opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn for “rapid and dramatic action” to protect the environment for generations to come. The measure was passed as an opposition motion, using a procedure typically ignored by the ruling party, and has no direct consequences for policy. But it is a nod to an increasing vocal activist movement particularly among young people in Europe, who have staged school strikes and civil disobedience campaigns to demand action.”
Angmar writes—UK Labour leader Corbyn launches bid to declare a "National Climate Emergency": “Labour will this week force a vote in parliament to declare a national environmental and climate change emergency as confidential documents show the government has spent only a fraction of a £100m fund allocated in 2015 to support clean air projects. Jeremy Corbyn’s party will demand on Wednesday that the country wakes up to the threat and acts with urgency to avoid more than 1.5°C of warming, which will require global emissions to fall by about 45% from 2010 levels by 2030, reaching ‘net zero’ before 2050.”
Angmar writes—Daily Bucket Earth: Great Lakes Ice Cover Has Been Decreasing Since 1970s Study Says (70% down to 40%): “The ice cover on the Great Lakes begins each year along shallower coasts during late fall and early winter. • The trend for peak ice cover on all of the lakes has gone from about 70 percent in 1973 to roughly 40 percent by 2018. • Lakes Superior, Huron and Erie have seen the greatest declines. • Ice cover on the Great Lakes and Lake St. Clair has been decreasing since the 1970s, impacting everything from fishing to shipping, a new study says.
Angmar writes—Sign the petitions to the DNC: "Hold a Climate Debate!" (Over 83,164 Signatures Collected): “A proposal from Washington Gov. Jay Inslee to have a presidential debate focused on climate change gained steam on Wednesday with backing from a rival 2020 candidate and a coalition of environmental groups. Inslee on Tuesday called on the Democratic National Committee to host an all-climate debate during the 2020 primary campaign season. The governor, who is centering his presidential campaign around climate change, said in an email to supporters that the Democratic nominee selected to challenge President Donald Trump needed to have a “concrete plan to address” the phenomenon, and that American’s deserved to hear it in advance of the primaries."www.huffpost.com/...”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Deniers Are Dumb, But They Can Still Teach Us A Thing Or Two About Self-Owns: “Denier blogger Tony Heller (who long operated under the pseudonym Steve Goddard, and whose temperature-adjustments-are-a-conspiracy-schtick is rejected even by other deniers) took to Twitter the other day to attack News-O-Matic, a children’s news service, as ‘propagandists.’ In response, News-O-Matic said it tries to cover the other side of climate change; Heller subsequently asked to write something for them. News-O-Matic said it would “love to hear” from him, which Heller apparently took as an agreement that the site would publish something he wrote. But that’s not what it meant. In an incredible display of self-ownership, Heller took to his ‘Deplorable Climate Science’ blog to complain about the “thuggery” of Drs. Michael Mann and Katharine Hayhoe, who tweeted warnings to News-O-Matic about Heller. That included a tweet from Hayhoe, who recalled when she met Heller in-person he was far from the loudmouth figure he strikes online and instead ‘smiled and nodded and acted like the sweetest little baa-lamb in the world’.”
TheCriticalMind writes—The UK Declares an "Environment and Climate Emergency" over Global Warming: “Months of protests by the Extinction Rebellion activist group and the opposition Labour Party have born fruit. The British Parliament has officially declaredan ‘environment and climate emergency.’ It does not define what that means, and it does not mandate any particular steps be taken. But as a symbol, it commits the government to do something about a problem too dire to ignore. The Trump administration, on the other hand, has taken to the head-in-the-sand, whistling past the graveyard, ‘what, me worry?’ approach of the short-term, profit-obsessed. Their mantra is that ‘climate alarmism’ is just a socialist plot to interfere in free markets underpinned by greedy scientists trying to protect their grant money. Hogwash. Science doesn’t work that way. First, peer review pits scientist against scientist with the reviewer looking to score ‘points’ by discrediting the paper-writer’s argument. Second, if scientists were people looking for cash, they would have gone into the money-making industries of banking, finance, or politics. Third, if money was the motivator, a climatologist could sell his soul for millions to the right-wing cabal of think tanks and other institutes. But the strength of the dissemblers cannot be denied. It starts at the top.”
Extreme Weather & Natural Phenomena
Pakalolo writes—Mozambique, flattened by two powerful cyclones in one month, now suffering from raging floodwaters: “Indonesia announced today that Jakarta, the capital city of 10 million souls located on the island of Java, will be relocated because the large metropolis is sinking rapidly into the sea. Jakarta is one of the world’s mega-cities. Newly elected Indonesian President Joko Widodohas has not named where the massive undertaking will be, but according to Indonesian state television, it is likely to be Borneo, the third largest island on earth (after Greenland and New Guinea). Borneo located southeast of the Malay Peninsula, the northern part of the island in Malaysia, the rest of the island by Indonesia. Straddling the Equator, Borneo is home to a diverse ecosystem and the remaining tropical forests on the island are one of the few places on earth where healthy rainforests still exist according to the World Wildlife Foundation.”
POPULATION, SUSTAINABILITY & EXTINCTION
Pakalolo writes—Jakarta is sinking into the sea, Indonesia plans to relocate it to Borneo's rainforest: “Indonesia announced today that Jakarta, the capital city of 10 million souls is located on the island of Java, will be relocated because the city is sinking rapidly into the sea. Jakarta is one of the world’s mega-cities. Newly elected Indonesian President Joko Widodohas has not named exactly where the massive relocation will be, but according to Indonesian state television, it is likely to be Borneo, the third largest island on earth (after Greenland and New Guinea). Borneo is located southeast of the Malay Peninsula, and the northern part of the island is part of Malaysia, the rest by Indonesia. Straddling the Equator, Borneo is home to a diverse ecosystem and the remaining tropical forests on the island are one of the few places on earth where rainforests can still be preserved according to the World Wildlife Foundation. Nature always bats last and unfortunately, a drowning megacity will likely take precedence over rainforest reserves despite the fact that the island has lost 50% of its forests over three decades. Like all of the world's rainforests, corporate interests such as agriculture, mining, and logging have pillaged the land and life in the jungle.”
ENERGY
Chamber Watch writes—Don’t Believe the Hype: The Chamber’s “Cleaner, Stronger” Energy Agenda Is Merely a PR Stunt Chamber Watch: “In 2019, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has been reacting to the public catching on to its blatant partisanship and prioritization of corporations and ultrawealthy donors by undergoing some image rehab. Unfortunately, the Chamber’s substantive policy agenda remains as regressive as ever—anti-family, anti-worker, anti-consumer and anti-climate. For an example of the Chamber putting lipstick on a pig, look no further than its recently-unveiled ‘American Energy: Cleaner, Stronger’ agenda released through its Global Energy Institute (GEI). The agenda uses lots of buzzwords like ‘clean,’ ‘renewable,’ and ‘sustainable,’ and its acknowledgement that climate change is a clear and present danger demanding action could easily trick you into thinking that the Chamber has softened its historical opposition to meaningful climate action. But this is merely PR-driven smoke and mirrors. A closer look at what the agenda proposes reveals that it’s actually a continuation of that opposition, proposing that climate change be “resolved” through the private sector rather than through legislation and regulation, and advocating America’s continued reliance on fossil fuels.”
Green New Deal
annieli writes—Anti-Capitalist MeetUp: Environmental Communication must transcend RWNJs' anti-modern discourse: “If the limits of one’s language are the limits of one’s world, we can see the divisions that are signified by the current nonsense in US politics against the Green New Deal (GND). Recalling the media framing that came with changing global warming to climate change, we need to refine our understanding of environmental messaging. It’s more than about cow farts or plastic straws, and always about the modern against the anti-modern. This time it’s about the Green New Deal (GND), not simply as legislation but now as political meme. The ‘common clay’ of Blazing Saddles did signify the same racial, class, and gender divisions that will be contested in 2020’s US elections, and the GND will be a battleground if used not as a weapon but as long-term messaging. GND as a RW sign does not signify the Roosevelt New Deal, but seems to have been media-framed by the usual RWNJ sources to become familiar reactionary messages, as if taking away cows, airplanes, and pickup trucks was somehow imminent or even immanent. The latter is more important because as George Lakoff indicates it is a struggle between moral systems.”
Nuclear
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Republican Ohio Rep: Starve The Poor So We Can Fund Nuclear Industry: “Last week, Cleveland.com reported that one of the reasons an Ohio lawmaker supports a bill that would give hundreds of millions of dollars to two nuclear power plants is because it also cuts subsidies that help working class communities pay for energy-efficiency upgrades. Because that, apparently, is a good thing. ‘We are already paying for food, heating assistance, cell phones, child support’ and other apparently frivolous luxuries, Rep Nino Vitale (R-Urbana) wrote in an email to another lawmaker, but we shouldn’t because ‘a little hunger in the belly or being a little cold on some really cold days is a good incentive.’ Yes, according to Vitale, without that hunger or suffering, ‘what incentive is there for me to ever change and cover my own expenses?’”
Fossil Fuels
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—GOP’S Rhetoric On Climate Changing, But Policies Remain The Same: Fossil Fuels Forever: “We’ve started to hear recently that the GOP is considering a new approach to climate change:accept that it’s real, and offer their own policies that address it. For example, Lindsey Graham (R-SC) recently said that in order to credibly oppose the Green New Deal, it’s time for Republicans to “cross the rubicon” and accept that climate change is real. It appears as though there are now essentially two camps. On the one side there are the old-school deniers, epitomized best perhaps by James Inhofe (R-OK), whose Senate snowball stunt was probably one of the dumbest and most widely-mocked displays of denial to date, and who is hosting a climate denial event for the CO2 Coalition today. And we can’t forget, of course, former Inhofe staffer Marc Morano, who goes on Fox News to say laughably dumb things, and then brag about it when real media corrects him. On the other side of this supposed rift are moderate GOP Congresspeople. This rank includes Florida’s Matt Gaetz, who apparently thinks Holocaust denial is fine but climate denial isn’t, and Louisiana’s Garret Graves, who the GOP tapped as minority chair of the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis and who acknowledges that climate change is real. [...] Spoiler alert: there’s no indication the GOP is giving up on fossil fuels, and there’s still no sign this shift on climate is anything but empty rhetoric.”
Mark Sumner writes—Trump gives oil companies $1.5B gift by removing regulations that protect against oil spills: “When the Deepwater Horizon drilling platform exploded in April 2010, it not only immediately killed 11 workers; it also spilled an eventual total of more than three million barrels of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico. That record spill destroyed the fishing and tourism industry in the area for years, and left an environmental scar that’s still visible. It took more than three months to cap the well and staunch the flow. Following that disaster, President Obama directed the Interior Department to develop new guidelines for oil companies conducting drilling for oil under deep water. Which seems reasonable. But as the Associated Press reports, Donald Trump is ‘easing’ those regulations. As in, removing them. The Interior Department will give oil companies ‘flexibility’ that allows them to take any approach they want to drilling so long as they maintain safety levels. If that sounds like permission for drilling companies to select their own level of risk and walk away with fat profits—so long as disaster doesn’t hit—it’s because that’s what it is. Reports the AP, ‘We’re more open to invention,’ Scott Angelle, a safety regulator at the Interior Department, told the crowd. ‘We tell them what to do,’ he said. ‘How they do it is up to them’.”
Renewables, Efficiency & Conservation
Mokurai writes—Renewable Friday: TBucks in Real Money™ for All: “The moldy old lie that renewable energy will destroy the world economy is still circulating among Republican politicians and Fox, um, whatever-they-ares. Because of course it will destroy fossil fuel fortunes, which apparently are the only things that count as “the economy” in their estimation. In particular, they are all shrieking to whoever will listen that the Green New Deal will cost at least two grillion dollars (HT Douglas Adams and Zippo Bibbox 104). OK, they only said $93 trillion on Fox, and on the RWNJ side of Congress. That includes their bogus figures for Medicare for All and other programs, which would also, in the reality-based world, save us all Real Money™. They got it by adding the maximum back-of-the envelope estimates for made-up versions of programs that are only suggested in the Green New Deal resolution before Congress. A 23-Year-Old Went on Fox News and Schooled Their Hosts on the Green New Deal.”
dailynooze writes—Add Windmills To The List Of Things Trump Hates: “There are many things Donald Trump hates: Mueller’s probe, the media, health food, Hillary Clinton, and, yes, even Meryl Streep. Add windmills to the list. Trump has publicly stated he hates windmills because: 1. The noise from windmills may cause cancer. 2. Windmills cause a drop in property values. 3. If wind powers our electricity, TVs will go off when the wind stops blowing. But the number one reason Trump hates windmills is because of the effect they have on his iconic floppy coif! (Hey, the man is vain … and do you have any idea how long it takes to glue that piece into place?)”
OCEANS, WATER, DROUGHT
Dan Bacher writes—Governor Newsom Directs State Agencies to Prepare 'Water Resilience Portfolio' for California: “As climate change continues to threaten the state’s water infrastructure and reliability, Governor Gavin Newsom today signed an executive order directing his administration to think differently and act boldly by developing a comprehensive strategy to build a climate-resilient water system. The order seeks to broaden California’s approach on water as the state faces a range of existing challenges, including unsafe drinking water, major flood risks that threaten public safety, severely depleted groundwater aquifers, agricultural communities coping with uncertain water supplies and native fish populations threatened with extinction. ‘California’s water challenges are daunting, from severely depleted groundwater basins to vulnerable infrastructure to unsafe drinking water in far too many communities. Climate change magnifies the risks,’ said Governor Newsom. ‘To meet these challenges, we need to harness the best in science, engineering and innovation to prepare for what’s ahead and ensure long-term water resilience and ecosystem health. We’ll need an all-of-above approach to get there’.”
Dan Bacher writes—Nancy Vogel moves from Resources Legacy Fund to Director of Newsom Water'Portfolio' Program: “The Governor’s Office announced the appointmentof Nancy Vogel, 51, of Sacramento, to director of the Governor’s Water Portfolio Program at the California Natural Resources Agency. Vogel has been director of communications at the controversial Resources Legacy Fund since 2017. The Resources Legacy Fund Foundation was the funder of the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative to create faux ‘marine protected areas’ in California. Catherine Reheis-Boyd, President of the Western States Petroleum Association, chaired the MLPA Blue Ribbon Task Force to create ‘marine protected areas’ in Southern California. The organization’s website proclaims, “The Resources Legacy Fund Partnered with California to protect nearly 17 percent of the state’s offshore waters.’ However, the website fails to mention that the so-called ‘marine protected areas’ fail to protect the ocean from offshore oil and gas drilling, environmentally destructive energy projects, military testing, pollution by corporations and cities and all human impacts on the ocean other than fishing and gathering.”
Dan Bacher writes—CA Withdraws Delta Tunnels Permits, Takes Steps to Initiate One Tunnel Planning Process: “The Newsom administration today shelved the plan to build twin Delta Tunnels — and announced it will start a renewed environmental review for a single Delta Tunnel to facilitate the export of northern California water to San Joaquin agribusiness and Southern California Water agencies. As the Delta smelt moves closer and closer to extinction in the wild, the Department of Water Resources (DWR) reported that it is ‘taking formal steps’ to withdraw proposed permits for the WaterFix project and begin a renewed environmental review and planning process for ‘a smaller, single tunnel project that will protect a critical source of water supplies for California.’ Thus, this announcement marks the end of the twin tunnels project that Arnold Schwarzenegger began in 2007, itself a revival of the peripheral canal plan that the voters overwhelmingly rejected in the November 1982 election. After beginning his third term as Governor, Jerry Brown continued to pursue the Bay Delta Conservation Plan, as it was called, until it was renamed the California WaterFix in 2015.”
P Carey writes—Morning Open Thread: Plastic is Killing Our Oceans: “Good morning everyone. There are thunderstorms across the gulf coast of Louisiana and a tornado warning was just issued for a few Parishes (including mine). As someone who loves the waters around here, I want to remind all of us that we’re doing a piss-poor job of caring for our oceans. For so-called caretakers of this plant and rational being, we certainly are doing our damnedest to destroy it. The Ocean Conservancy estimates that each year ‘8 million metric tons of plastics enter our ocean on top of the estimated 150 million metric tons that currently circulate our marine environments.’ The Fact Sheet from Earth Day 2018 alone should make us all ashamed of the amount of garbage we dump into our oceans. There are five major massive patches of plastics in the oceans and the one between California and Hawaii is the size of Texas.”
Walter Einenkel writes—New study connects California drinking water with bump in cancer cases: “The results of a new study of California drinking water contains distressing findings. Published in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Health, the study analyzed data from over 2,700 California community water systems between 2011 and 2015 and found that pollutants in California water supplies could increase the number of cancer cases in the state by more than 15,000 in a 70-year span. The unique angle of this study was to analyze not simply the effect of a single pollutant in drinking water, but the cumulative effect that the numerous toxins found in the water would have on public health. The Environmental Working Group released a statement on April 30, stating that the “greatest risks tended to be in small to midsize communities, highlighting that these places are often the most in need of costly treatment systems and other infrastructure to ensure safe drinking water.’ Explaining that drinking water ‘rarely contains only one contaminant,’ the group said it is essential to study the combined effects.”
CANDIDATES, STATE AND DC ECO-RELATED POLITICS
Rikon Snow writes—O'Rourke releases climate change policy specifics: “News organizations are reporting that Beto rolled out his climate change proposals this morning. The best reporting I've seen so far is at the Texas Tribune in a lengthy article here: Beto O'Rourke unveils plan to fight climate change by Patrick Svitek: Democratic presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke on Monday unveiled an ambitious plan to combat climate change that spurs $5 trillion for the cause and aims to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. . . . O’Rourke’s proposal has four main components. On his first day in office, he would take executive action to reduce pollution by doing things such as recommitting the United States to the Paris climate accord that President Donald Trump withdrew the country from in 2017. He would also move unilaterally to strengthen waste limits for power plants and fuel economy standards. Then, O'Rourke's first demand of Congress would be to “mobilize” $5 trillion over 10 years to update infrastructure and speed up innovation to take on climate change. In his first 100 days, O’Rourke would work with Congress to devise a “legally enforceable standard” to get to net-zero emissions by 2050 and halfway there by 2030. And finally, O’Rourke would boost resources to help communities already facing extreme weather, including pushing a 10-fold increase in spending on pre-disaster mitigation grants and broadening the federal crop insurance program to cover more threats.”
Lefty Coaster writes—The Sunrise Movement backs Jay Inslee's Climate Plan: “A group that's one of the biggest proponents of the Green New Deal threw its support behind a climate proposal from Democratic presidential candidate Gov. Jay Inslee (D-Wash.), just days after criticizing an environmental plan put forth by former Rep. Beto O'Rourke (D-Texas). The Sunrise Movement, a youth climate organization, has been adamant that White House hopefuls adhere to a 2030 goal for reaching net-zero carbon emissions. The group praised Inslee for pledging to match that timeline. ‘Jay Inslee’s first policy proposal shows that he’s willing to put the full weight of the federal government behind a 10-year full-scale mobilization to move towards the 100% clean energy future we deserve,’ Executive Director Varshini Prakash said in a statementFriday. ‘This is the spirited commitment to bold climate action that young people are looking for in our next president’.”
Dem writes—Governor Inslee: An outstanding progressive candidate on All issues, especially Climate Change!! “Governor Inslee has been a true and consistent progressive where many others have faltered. He opposed the repeal of Glass-Steagall. He voted against the Iraq War ! He was one of the very first proponents of net neutrality! How many of our candidates can say those things ? He has chief executive experience at a high level and is a progressive. I can’t think of any other candidate who can say that. As governor, he is not one of one hundred or one of four hundred and thirty five. He has been in the fight against climate change from the very beginning. He has done that while helping the economy of Washington state grow faster than any other state’s economy.This is from the Atlantic: According to The Atlantic: On his watch, the state has boosted health care, increased access to early-childhood education and college, raised the minimum wage, expanded paid family leave, invested in infrastructure, and established in-state net neutrality, all while leading the country in job growth, overall personal-income growth, and GDP. What’s more: Governor Inslee started the Clean Energy Institute at the University of Washington, which is pioneering research into next-generation renewable energy technologies like solar and battery storage.”
jhecht writes—Governor Inslee releases bold plan to combat climate change: “Governor Jay Inslee today released his plan to combat climate change. Called the"100% Clean Energy for America Plan". It’s a bold plan that expands much of the legislation that he has brought to his home state of Washington to the entire nation. This link will give you some idea of his record on climate change. Climate change now polls as the number 1 concern for Democrats. Here are some of the highlights of his plan: The plan would meet, and even exceed the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change targets for carbon reduction -- which say that carbon dioxide emissions must be reduced by 45 percent by 2030, reaching near-zero by 2050. The policy rollout ties together the overarching thesis of Inslee's campaign -- allying the fight against climate change with national security, health care and the economy.”
Mark Sumner writes—Climate change scorecard: Beto O'Rourke and Jay Inslee: “With a still expanding field of new entrants and candidates making appearances across the nation, some of the 2020 Democratic hopefuls have begun to provide more detailed information on the policies they would support should they secure the nomination. As candidates make their positions on environmental and energy policy, Daily Kos will review their stated policy goals, review their proposals, and present them in a consistent manner in a series of “report cards” on climate change policy. What this is: An attempt to place environmental and energy concerns into similar ‘buckets’ so that they can be compared side by side for the depth and quality — to see what’s left when the rhetoric is gone. How this will work: Whether you support or oppose the Green New Deal, what’s actually in the proposed legislation is probably not what you think. The intention here isn’t to score candidates based on their support for the GND—or penalize them if they oppose it. Just to use the GND goals as the closest thing available to a “neutral” description of the broad issues against which to align the stated policies.”
Meteor Blades writes—Open thread for night owls: Climate crisis demands Herculean effort; Inslee lays out plans for one: “The desperately needed acceleration of the transformation of our systems of energy and transportation, not to mention agriculture, is going take us deep into unprecedented territory. Anyone who thinks the climate crisis can be dealt with by a bit of tweaking around the edges, by slowballing new policy, by pretending that we can keep burning for another half century or so all that oil the U.S. is producing more of now than any other nation, or who thinks it just too darned expensive to make that rapid transformation really needs to get an attitude adjustment. This is like no other crisis humans have faced since our ancestors emerged in Africa 200,000 or so years ago. For decades after the climate trajectory became clear, taking action on the crisis has been delayed, and whatever policy managed to get passed was watered down before adoption. Now, having wasted that time, we have no choice but to implement massive and what will often be draconian changes in how we do things, make things, consume things, how we live. Anything less won’t cut it. Inslee’s timeline may feel shockingly unrealistic to many people. The proper question to be asking isn’t whether his timeline moves too fast but whether it’s fast enough. After all, climate change has a timeline, too, and it has been speeding up. Every minute of delay takes us 60 seconds closer to the time when nothing we do will make a difference.”
REGULATIONS & PROTECTIONS
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Trump Admin Finds Back Door For Tobacco Industry’s Plan to Censor Science: “Last October, we were thrilled to find out that Scott Pruitt’s tobacco-protecting ‘sound’ science ‘transparency’ policy was put on the back burner at the EPA, essentially relegating it to regulatory purgatory. But if the Trump administration is committed to anything, it’s attacking science and reality. The policy has reared its ugly chimera head again in a memo the White House sent out to federal agencies last Wednesday. As Marianne Lavelle reported at InsideClimate News, the memo echoes Pruitt’s proposed plan. But by going through the White House’s Office of Management and Budget, this memo manages to bypass the formal public peer review process that held up Pruitt’s version of the policy over at the EPA. Ironic, given that the memo itself emphasizes the importance of public peer review...”
TRANSPORTATION & INFRASTRUCTURE
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Steve Forbes Continues Fossil Fuel Industry’s Campaign Against Electric Vehicles: “Back in February, we called out Senator John Barrasso (R-WY) for citing a misleading, industry-funded report from the Manhattan Institute in his argument against policies supporting electric vehicles. The report, titled ‘Short Circuit: the high cost of electric vehicle subsidies,’ is a year old at this point and relies on data even older, making it fatally outdated for a present-day discussion. Somehow, though, that hasn’t stopped folks from coming back to the Manhattan Institute’s work attacking EVs. As Maxine Joselow at E&E recently reported, the group’s ‘research has found a prominent place in the public discourse.’ That place, of course, is the bottom of the barrel, where deniers scrape up all their oil-funded arguments. Because, as Joselow reports, the Manhattan Institute is funded by plenty of industry actors with a stake in the electric vehicle fight, including hundreds of thousands of dollars in 2017 from the Kochs and Exxon Mobil (who promised to stop funding denial in 2007.) ”
MISCELLANY
Leslie Salzillo writes—Favorite Irish beer goes a step further to help environment: “More than a million marine creatures and other birds and animals die from plastic trash each year. Many get caught up and strangled by the plastic 6-pack rings, or die from trying to consume/digest the material. Landfills are filled with non-degradable plastic. Now one of Ireland’s most loved beer/breweries is joining several other beer companies by trading out plastic packaging for 100% biodegradable materials. Good News Network reports the parent company of Guinness beer, Diageo, will be investing$21 million to bring its goal of eliminating shrink-wrapped and six-pack plastic products into fruition. Presently, less than 5% of Diageo products are plastic. In efforts to go further, the Diageo brewery will reduce plastic in landfills and by 529 tons by using 100% bio-degradable cardboard. The new packaging will appear on shelves in Ireland in August and by the summer of 2020, Diego will introduce its newly packaged product packing to Britain and markets around the world.”
Karen Feridun writes—Is This the Way the World Ends?
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper.
“Maybe T. S. Eliot was wrong. Maybe the world ends in localized bangs that are easy to ignore until one of them sounds where you live. Cyclone Kenneth in Mozambique, an unheard of amount of snow followed by a bomb cyclone in the Midwest, mudslides in South Africa, wildfires in California, and two thousand-year storms in the space of two years in Ellicott City, Maryland are but a few examples of the bangs of the climate crisis as it intensifies. They’re getting closer. Pennsylvania saw devastating floods last summer and 14 tornados last month, 7 times the normal number. Our Hollow Men (and women) are politicians who respond by telling their bases what they want to hear.”