This is the 602nd edition of the Spotlight on Green News & Views (previously known as the Green Diary Rescue). Here is the June 1 edition. Inclusion of a story in the Spotlight does not necessarily indicate my agreement with or endorsement of it.
OUTSTANDING GREEN STORIES
Besame writes—Daily Bucket: Western Washington now has its own wolf pack: “Wolves in Washington state, virtually eliminated in the 1930s, have now rebounded to record levels. The first confirmed wolf pack was documented in 2008 and numbers have increased by an average of 28% per year since then. The state released a 2018 report showing there are at least 26 individual wolves, 27 packs, and 15 successful breeding pairs (male and female adults who have raised at least two pups that survived through the end of the year). The biggest news is documentation of wolf pack west of the Cascade crest for the first time since the 1930s. A single male was trapped and radio-collared in Skagit County in 2017, and seen traveling in that area with a second wolf in late 2018. The confirmed presence of two wolves together is enough to confer pack status and WDFW biologists chose the name Diobsud Creek. The creek is near Mount Baker in the far northwestern portion of the Cascades. Five other packs formed in 2018 and one pack disbanded due to unknown causes. Pack sizes range from 2 to 11 members with most packs having 3 to 5.”
6412093 writes—The Daily Bucket--The Dinosaur Tree: “While rival armies swarmed over hapless China during and after WW II, dedicated scientists struggled to continue their own research. Despite the risks, intrepid researchers pursued the legend of the secret Valley of the Tiger, filled with magical trees that co-existed with dinosaurs, but went extinct about when the Andes Mountains rose, 20 million years ago. One researcher finally stumbled into the Valley. He staggered at the sight of the first of the 100-foot-tall living fossils, and summoned others. This Chinese valley was the only location in the entire world that still harbored these large and lovely trees; the Dawn Redwoods. Yet the ravaging armies and their artillery drew near. The Chinese researchers spread the word, the Save The Redwoods League kicked in a few bucks, and in 1948, an aging UC professor and others snuck into China, and brazened and bribed their way back out with an armful of seedlings. They generously distributed the seedlings, and now countless thousands of the verdant Dawn Redwoods brighten much of the globe.”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—New Study Puts a Price Tag on Lobbying for Climate Inaction: $60 Billion: “Over the last few months, Republicans have been foaming at the mouth about the supposed cost of the Green New Deal, with many citing a totally wrong estimate that claims the plan would cost 93 trillion dollars. As we all know by now, there is no cost for the Green New Deal since it's not actually a specific policy but a non-binding resolution. What’s more, the GOP’s focus on the cost of action distracts from the extremely high price we pay for not enacting climate legislation. And that cost could already be as much as $467 billion, which is the amount we would have saved had cap-and-trade passed in 2009. Using that figure, a new study published in Nature Climate Change this week and summarized by Carbon Brief concluded that lobbying efforts against the American Clean Energy and Security Act 2009, also known as the Waxman-Markey bill, cost society $60 billion. The Waxman-Markey bill, which passed the in the House in 2009 but ultimately failed in the Senate, would have established a cap-and-trade system with the aim of reducing carbon emissions 17% by 2020 and 80% by 2050. This is the only national legislation aimed at addressing climate change that a congressional chamber has passed, and more money was spent lobbying this bill than any other between 2000 and 2016.”
CRITTERS AND THE GREAT OUTDOORS
OceanDiver writes—BackyardBirdRace/TheDailyBucket combo - June tally: “Two of my new birds this month were heard only. Bird calls or songs might be the only way you know birds are around now trees have leafed out. It’s worth listening for melodies out there. Some are MUCH easier to distinguish than others, and my two were among the easiest: a Pileated Woodpecker and an Olive-sided Flycatcher. This flycatcher’s song is unmistakable: ‘Quick! 3 beers.’ If you hear something unknown repeated over and over you might try recording it with your phone and then sit down with the songs page of Cornell’s site; here’s the Flycatcher page: www.allaboutbirds.org/…. ”
OceanDiver writes—The Daily Bucket - wild rose love: “First week of June 2019. Pacific Northwest. Wild roses are in peak bloom this week. The luxuriant abundance of soft color and intense fragrance will fade over the next couple of weeks, with nothing but miles of thorny thickets left behind (though very occasionally, after a rainfall a faint scent of rose wafts up from wet foliage reminding us of this brief flowering season). But everywhere I go right now it’s roses and more roses, of every hue of pink, delicate curvy petals, rosy fragrance, each bloom unique, slowing my pace to breathe and delight in them. Roses stir all our senses and evoke pleasure. The intensity of that feeling has lifted roses into the heaven of our regard and it’s no wonder roses are traditionally a symbol of love.”
giddy thing writes—Dawn Chorus: A Golden Eagle's Final Journey: “At 20 years old, she lived a long life – a few years shy of the North American longevity record for a wild golden eagle. I found her dead in late winter some 50 miles northwest of Leadore, Idaho, where she was banded as an adult bird in 1994. But this would not be the end of her journey. [...] I packaged and shipped her to the National Eagle Repository near Denver, Colorado, one of about 3,500 bald and golden eagles received each year by this one-of-a-kind facility. Established by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) in the early 1970s, the repository serves as a central location to receive, salvage, store, and distribute eagles and eagle parts and feathers to Native Americans for use in religious and cultural ceremonies.”
Walter Einenkel writes—National Weather Service records enormous ladybug bloom on its radar: “On Wednesday evening, the National Weather Service in San Diego posted a GIF showing a large cloud that had shown up on its radar in the San Diego County area. It wasn’t weather; it was a bloom of ladybugs. The Los Angeles Times reported that the swarm was about 80 miles long by 80 miles wide, with a concentrate mass 10 miles wide. The bloom of ladybugs was flying at between 5,000 and 9,000 feet in altitude. According to SFGate, a ladybug blooms occur every year as the beetles move from the Sierras where they winter in order to find food.
Walter Einenkel writes—
One of the largest dairy farms exposed for animal abuses after horrific undercover video goes viral: “There is a reason that big agricultural companies spend tons of money lobbying against freedom of speech and civil liberties laws that allow people to secretly investigate what goes on in the agricultural business
supply chain. A new video, released by the organization
Animal Recovery Mission (ARM) on Tuesday, provides an illustration. ARM’s investigation is purported to have spanned three months, with its videos show widespread and nauseating abuses of cows and more specifically young calfs on the
Fair Oaks Farm, owned by Fairlife, in Fair Oaks, Indiana. In it, calves are thrown about, left separated from their mothers in inhumane temperatures, beaten, kicked, punched, slapped, stabbed, thrown, and frequently killed. Amongst other abuses reported by ARM is widespread drug use by employees on the farm, unbelievable levels of abuse, acknowledged covering-up of misdeeds, and an actual conspiracy by Fairlife to brazenly lie about its continued business connections with the veal industry. According to ARM, Fairlife is one of the largest dairy producers in the country, with its products distributed by the Coca-Cola Company. ARM is calling for Coca-Cola, which has promoted a pro-animal stance publicly, to
put its money where its mouth is and sever all ties with the dairy giant.”
hestal writes—
Who will save us from the onrushing catastrophe of global warming? “
I constantly search the Internet for some person or group who has a plan to save us from ourselves. I can’t find any. I found a website created by economists that is called, “Evonomics.” It says that by changing economics they will change the world. They have posted lots of articles by their members that contain good ideas about changes to our system of economics. But I don’t know if they have begun to design an actual system or merely intend to modify our current failed system of economics while leaving our failed system of government alone. I have sent them an email with a list of questions about their progress and how they plan to proceed and perhaps I will get an answer in the coming days. I hope so. I think they are serious, but I am not sure the are organized yet to actually do the work. I have written a book called “Faction-Free Democracy,” which has a description of new systems of government and economics. The last chapter explains how to implement these systems. Here is that chapter. It is copyrighted material.”
Dan Bacher writes—
FERC Launches Inquiry into Salmon Stranding on Feather River: “On May 29, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) sent a letter to the California Department of Water Resources inquiring into the stranding and deaths of thousands of spring run Chinook salmon on the Feather River in April, as reported by guides and fishermen out on the river.
The stranding began three days after the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) released 330,000 spring run Chinooks at Gridley and another 330,000 at Boyd’s Pump, a total of 667,000 salmon, according to James Stone, fishing guide and president of the Nor-Cal Guides and Sportsmen’s Association. Guides and fishermen reported thousands of juvenile fish were stranded up and down the river 3 days after the release when flows were dropped dramatically. ‘Three days after the fish releases, DWR dropped releases by 10,000 cubic feet per second (cfs), from 25,0000 cfs to 14,7500 cfs, within less than 24 hours. This made the river drop inside of its bank, leaving baby salmon in pools stranded outside of the river,’ said Stone. ‘Concerned anglers did fish rescues. They took the stranded fish from the pools back into the river. They rescued thousands of fish,’ said Stone.”
CLIMATE CHAOS
R Holloway writes—Connect the dots. Trump doesn't care about going back to the moon--he just hates climate science: “November 2016. Donald Trump is poised to eliminate all climate change research conducted by Nasa as part of a crackdown on “politicized science”, his senior adviser on issues relating to the space agency has said. 3 June 2019. Over the last two months, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine has repeatedly said the agency's ambitious new Artemis plan for sending humans to the Moon in 2024 will not require raiding other areas of its budget, such as its broad array of science programs, technology research, or aeronautics work. However, that may be exactly what happens. On Friday, during a meeting of NASA's Advisory Council, the agency's senior human spaceflight official characterized the challenge of paying for a plan to accelerate human landings on the Moon from the late 2020s to 2024, as Vice President Mike Pence has directed the agency to do.”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Still Not Dead Yet: Deniers Still Dedicated To A Red Team Attack on Climate Science: “The deniersphere’s dream that the Trump Administration will dismantle climate science remains alive, Scott Waldman reported at E&E yesterday. But (thankfully) it’s been whittled down to a shadow of its former self. What started in 2017 as a pitch for a full-throated Deniers vs Alarmists debate of climate science (albeit a rehash of the debate), potentially even broadcast on TV, was watered down to organizing comments on the Endangerment finding in 2018. Then in early 2019, it was reimagined with an executive order and national security flair, before now, finally, being envisioned as ‘a series of white papers from both sides, essentially establishing a formal record of climate contrarianism,’ per Waldman. One source told Waldman that such a set of papers would serve as a “correction” to the National Climate Assessment. This itself is an admission of deniers’ scientific failure and unseriousness given that they could have submitted comments to the NCA as part of the extensive public peer-review process it already went through.”
Hunter writes—The world's biggest companies have identified $1 trillion in climate risks, and that's just a start: Nobody important gives a damn whether the state of Florida ends up underwater a century from now. Let's be blunt about this. The whole state could be reduced to a flotilla of tied-together rafts and they'd still get two senators. The talk shows would still host pundits bobbing around in life vests muttering that this was all natural variation caused by an improper number of sunspots and there's no use in getting worked up about it. This has been established for a good long time now, and has been made into something close to the official policy of numerous state and local governments alike, and not even losing Mar-a-Lago to the incoming tides will make a dent in any of it. It's when corporate America, the names behind the symbols on the stock market tickers, begins to take hits to the bottom line that we'll begin taking truly urgent action on climate change. And the good and bad news is that we are very close indeed to that point. Last year's Carbon Disclosure Project reports show that the responding 215 of the world's 500 corporations expect to lose, by their own measures, $1 trillion in climate-related costs. The individual warnings suggest that corporate accountants, at least, are planning for a future in which climate change fundamentally alters entire regions and industries.”
Pakalolo writes—Video! Trump interview after a sit-down tea and lecture from Prince Charles on Abrupt Climate Change: “I didn’t want this British video gem (see below) on our climate crisis denying President to go unnoticed here in the states. [...] Trump sat down with Piers Morgan for an interview with Trump on Good Morning Britain and was asked about Prince Charles and his pleas to him for action on the existential threat that is climate change. Trump appears unconvinced that the U.S. is part of the problem. ‘I did say, “Well, the United States right now has among the cleanest climates there are based on all statistics.” And it’s even getting better because I agree with that we want the best water, the cleanest water. Crystal clean, has to be crystal clean air.”’The president really likes this ‘crystal clean’ line. Last year, at a rally in coal country in Charleston, West Virginia, he said: “’ want clean air. I want crystal clean water. And we’ve got it. We’ve got the cleanest country in the planet right now. There’s nobody cleaner than us, and it’s getting better and better.’ Politifact checked out these claims and called them ‘mostly false.”’No environmental ranking places the United States at the top of the list for cleanliness. We rank 29th in the world for water quality and 88th for air particulate matter, according to Politifact. ”
Pakalolo writes—Thaw of submarine permafrost is accelerating as Russian scientists discover a new reason to panic: “Submarine permafrost, however, is soil that has been submerged since the last interglacial. The inundated permafrost layer is also warming at a worrisome pace. Alfred-Wegener-Institut provides a brief explanation of the submarine permafrost. Subsea permafrost in the Arctic is generally relict terrestrial permafrost, inundated after the last glaciation and now degrading under the overlying shelf sea. Permafrost may, however, also form when the sea is shallow, permitting sediment freezing through bottom-fast winter sea ice. Although maps based on observations exist for parts of the Canadian Beaufort Sea, we know little about the distribution of submarine permafrost for most of the shallow Arctic Shelf, over 80% of which lies offshore of Eastern Siberia. Degradation rates of the ice-bearing permafrost following inundation have been estimated to be 1 to 20 cm per year on the East Siberian Shelf and 1 to 4 cm per year in the Alaskan Beaufort Sea. [...] Submarine permafrost is similar to its terrestrial counterpart, but lies beneath the coastal seas. And as with terrestrial permafrost, subsea permafrost is a substantial reservoir and/or a confining layer for gas and for gas hydrates. As submarine permafrost thaws, this gas is released and can perhaps increase atmospheric greenhouse gas concentration.”
Meteor Blades writes—Open thread for night owls. The 'single most important stat on the planet' is 'legit scary': “In another alarming signal that the international community is failing to take the kind of ambitious action necessary to avert global climate catastrophe, NOAA released new data Tuesday showing that atmospheric carbon dioxide levels—which environmentalist Bill McKibben described as the "single most important stat on the planet"—reached a "record high" in the month of May. ‘The measurement is the highest seasonal peak recorded in 61 years of observations on top of Hawaii's largest volcano and the seventh consecutive year of steep global increases in concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2),’ NOAA said in a statement on Tuesday. "The 2019 peak value was 3.5 PPM higher than the 411.2 PPM peak in May 2018 and marks the second-highest annual jump on record’.”
SninkyPoo writes—Save the Climate: Have a Nosh! (White Bean Dip Edition): “Are you a Democrat who is passionate about climate change? Are you a liberal — a progressive — a blue-bleeding warrior for hope and change? Did you attend that big-ass climate march a few years back, with hope in your heart and a hand-made sign? I am. And I did. I’ve also recently gone ‘practically vegan’ — for my waistline, my wallet, and most importantly, the world. Full disclosure: this is the 2nd time around for me. I was 100% vegan from 2001 to 2008, then slid back to omnivore status. In the past 10 years I didn’t each *much* meat, but I did eat it. I freely admit that humans are top o’ the foodchain omnivores. Pork tastes great. A juicy burger sometimes calls my name. But I can’t in good conscience eat meat any longer and say with a straight face that climate change is my number one issue for 2020 (and beyond). Did you know that beef eaters use 160 percent more land resources than people who eat a plant-based diet?”
Laura Clawson writes—Prince Charles joins entire scientific community in failing to get Trump to accept climate reality: “Charles, Prince of Wales, tried to talk sense to Donald Trump on climate change during Trump’s visit to the United Kingdom. It didn’t take. Trump came out of their talk and unloaded a pile of nonsense and lies about the climate and environment in an interview with former Celebrity Apprentice winner Piers Morgan. ‘I believe that there’s a change in weather, and I think it changes both ways,’ Trump said. ‘Don’t forget it used to be called global warming. That wasn’t working. Then it was called climate change. Now it’s actually called extreme weather, because with extreme weather, you can’t miss.’ See, when Donald Trump changes his language, it’s because he’s trying to find the lie that is going to work the best for his purposes. So when scientists use different language to describe subtly different things, or different aspects of the same overall phenomenon, he assumes they’re tailoring a lie.”
Xaxnar writes—Dollars, Cents, & Climate Crisis. While Business Ponders Bottom Line Impacts, Here's What's Up: “The New York Times reports that corporations are beginning to see the writing on the wall: Companies See Climate Hitting Their Bottom Lines in the Next 5 Years. Brad Palmer reports: WASHINGTON — Many of the world’s biggest companies, from Silicon Valley tech firms to large European banks, are bracing for the prospect that climate change could substantially affect their bottom lines within the next five years, according to a new analysis of corporate disclosures. Under pressure from shareholders and regulators, companies are increasingly disclosing the specific financial impacts they could face as the planet warms, such as extreme weather that could disrupt their supply chains or stricter climate regulations that could hurt the value of coal, oil and gas investments. Early estimates suggest that trillions of dollars may ultimately be at stake.”
Phoenix Rising writes—CNN Following Guardian's "Climate Emergency" Language? ”Yesterday’s news was about the “climate kids” lawsuit before the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. Google kindly provided me with a few links to read, and I popped over to CNN, where, surprisingly, I found the following lead-off: A group of kids are suing the Trump administration over the climate emergency, which they say is being handled so negligently that it violates their constitutional rights. I stopped in my tracks. Climate Emergency. Not “climate change”, “global warming”, or other scientifically useful but politically non-urgent term. On CNN. Maybe the mainstream media isn’t completely dead yet.”
Angmar writes—"Climate scientists: We may only have 30 years before complete environmental catastrophe": “In the past week, the world has experienced chaotic weather phenomena, from deathly Indian heatwaves to snow inundating parts of Queensland. Now, the Breakthrough National Centre for Climate Change has issued a report predicting the end of human civilisation as we know it. The report, terrifyingly entitled Existential climate-related security risk, glimpses 30 years into the future to the year 2050 — and the results are grim. Authors David Spratt, a researcher into climate change, and Ian Dunlop, former chairman of the Australian Coal Association and chair of the Australian Greenhouse Office Experts Group on Emissions Trading, propose a scenario in which global emissions and climate threats are ignored, and the trajectory of environmental collapse goes unchecked. Their conclusions spell out a dire warning’.”
Angmar writes—"96% of registered Democrats list climate change as a very important issue": "By far the most important concern of all issues listed." A new CNN poll conducted by research firm SSRS shows that 96% of registered Democrats list climate change as a very or somewhat important issue when evaluating potential presidential candidates. If the 2018 midterm election was about health care, 2020 may hinge on what candidates intend to do about the fact that the Earth is warming to unsustainable levels: 82% of those polled saw it as a “very important” issue—by far the most important concern of all issues listed.”
Angmar writes—World Environment Day- "This Is An Emergency, And We Have Run Out Of Options": “World Environment Day (WED) is celebrated on the 5th of June every year, and is the United Nation's principal vehicle for encouraging awareness and action for the protection of our environment. First held in 1974, it has been a flagship campaign for raising awareness on emerging environmental issues from marine pollution, human overpopulation, and global warming, to sustainable consumption and wildlife crime. WED has grown to become a global platform for public outreach, with participation from over 143 countries annually. Each year, WED has a new theme that major corporations, NGOs, communities, governments and celebrities worldwide adopt to advocate environmental causes.”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Filled With Pride, Trump Says Climate Change Goes “Both Ways”: “President Donald Trump said a lot of dumb things in an interview with Piers Morgan this week while visiting the UK, giving our friends across the pond the full Trump experience. At some point during his visit, Prince Charles apparently spent an hour and a half trying to drill some sense into President Poobrain’s skull about climate change--to, of course, little effect. For example, as he explained to Morgan why the Prince’s lecture failed to sway him, Trump claimed that the US ‘has among the cleanest climates there are based on all statistics.’ In another interview, Trump claimed we’re ‘setting records’ when it comes to clean air and water. Obviously there are no actual statistics that deal with how ‘clean’ the climate is, since that makes absolutely no sense, but there are statistics about how much carbon pollution is in the atmosphere. Turns out we are setting records! Just…not good ones. For example, NOAA tweeted on Tuesday that ‘Carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere hit a record high in May.’ Whoops.”
SheebieAZ writes—How to get the Government on Board Fighting Climate Change Right Now: “Despair not, there is a pragmatic approach to decelerating climate change that will have unequivocal support at the highest levels in DC, and can be pushed through Congress to be enacted with full force and effect by the US Government before the winds of this hurricane season taper to whispers.The plan is modeled on Social Security, where a tax will be placed on all earnings to create a new fund along with the establishment of a clear, aggressive, impactful milestone schedule for CO2 concentrations at specific intervals (e.g., 1, 2, 5, 10, 25, 40, 80yrs, etc...). Who among us would balk at a levy dedicated to survival? As each milestone is met on schedule, the Trump family will receive payouts from the fund, with bonus payments defined for significantly exceeding established milestones. This Make Earth Great Again Trump Forever Fund will be for exclusive benefit of the Trump family, in perpetuity, cross-our-hearts-in-hope-we-survive.”
gmoke writes—Daily Reminder Calendar for the Next Decade of Climate Change: “Scientists tell us that we have about a decade to do something to reduce climate calamity. Let's schedule out the next 10 years 3,650 days for climate action month by month, week by week, day by day, to do what is ecologically necessary to restore the atmosphere to 270 ppm CO2 ASAP.
This is a reworking of the end of My Approach to Climate Change (www.dailykos.com/...) which I was reminded of by reading a paper on “German Energiewende: Power System” I received at the NE - Germany Energy Transition Forum (https://www.eventbrite.com/e/new-england-germany-energy-transition-forum-tickets-59674085797), at Harvard Law school on May 16, 2019. In it I saw goal figures for greenhouse gas reductions (ghgs) and renewable power increases for both Germany and the EU. My daily reminder climate catastrophe calendar would have these kinds of things on each page: Climate goals for the EU: 80-95% reduction greenhouse gases (ghg) by 2050 (compared to 1990 levels, the agreed upon standard it seems), 32% renewables by 2030, 32.5% increase in efficiency by 2030.”
AmericaAdapts writes—Cli-Fi Research: Can Climate Fiction Influence Behavior + MIT’s Today I Learned: Climate Podcast: “In episode 89 of America Adapts, host Doug Parsons interviews Yale-Nus College Asst. Professor of Environmental Studies Dr. Matthew Schneider-Mayerson about his recent literacy research on how ‘Cli-Fi,’ or climate change fiction, can influence a reader’s behavior. Doug is joined in this interview by Cli-Fi expert, Dr. Amy Brady, a previous guest on America Adapts. In a bonus conversation, Doug interviews Laur Hesse Fisher, host of a new podcast, Today I Learned: Climate (TILClimate), based out of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Discover how this new podcast is teaching climate fundamentals in short, science driven episodes.”
Chamber Watch writes—Members of Congress, Online Influencers Rail Against the #ChamberofCarbon for Climate Obstructionism: “The climate crisis did not happen on its own. Powerful, wealthy interests have deliberately spent decades denying, obfuscating, and mischaracterizing the evidence presented by climate scientists in order to mislead the public. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, with its deep coffers bankrolled with funds from fossil fuel companies, auto manufacturers, and other corporations with a financial stake in the status quo, has long been one of the leading obstructionists on responding to our climate emergency.For the past several weeks, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, along with congressional climate allies and other influential figures and groups, have been using the social media hashtag #ChamberofCarbon in a campaign to call out the Chamber’s role in opposing meaningful climate action. This campaign has continued to grow momentum, and it’s been great to see new allies joining the fight to expose the Chamber’s true stances when it comes to fossil fuels and climate change.”
Extreme Weather & Natural Phenomena
Angmar writes—The Union of Concerned Scientists And Hurricane Season 2019: “On May 21, the first named storm of 2019, Andrea, was recorded on the north Atlantic. This makes 2019 the fifth consecutive year that a named storm has formed before the official start of Atlantic hurricane season. Something caught my eye when I read that: the number five. That’s because, according to NASA, 2018 was the 4th warmest year in a continued warming trend since record keeping began in the 1880’s, with temperatures 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit (0.83 degrees Celsius) warmer than the 1951 to 1980 mean. And with it, a string of five consecutive years have been recorded as the five warmest on record. I will say this again: the last five years have been the five warmest years on record./… But it is not just the wind and strength of a hurricane that are amplified by climate change: global warming can also increase the amount of rain that hurricanes bring.”
POPULATION, SUSTAINABILITY & EXTINCTION
Walter Einenkel writes—Mass die-offs of millions of puffins linked to warming waters and changing ecosystems: “Over the past few years, climate change has been linked to the mass die-offs of a variety of animal and plant populations across the planet. Warming climates disrupt ecosystems everywhere, and when that balance is thrown off, a lot of death follows. One group of researchers recently published a study of mass die-offs of puffin populations over the past five years. They noted that over that time there has been an increase in frequency of these kinds of events. The researchers noted that the dead puffins studied showed signs of starvation, and that one of the events they studied had been preceded by “shifts in zooplankton community composition and in forage fish distribution and energy density [that] were documented in the eastern Bering Sea.’ In the researchers’ estimation, this links the puffin die-offs with the changing global climate and a ‘bottom-up shift in seabird prey availability’.”
ENERGY
Green New Deal & 100% Clean Energy
Lefty Coaster writes—SEIU Executive Board endorses Green New Deal: “This is great news. As a lifelong union member, I hope my own union soon follows suit. Major union endorses Green New Deal SEIU’s International Executive Board passed a resolution in support of the sweeping environmental proposal at its board meeting in Minneapolis. ‘We’ve been inspired by the fearlessness and courage of the climate change activists whose direct action and bold demands for change have put this issue front and center in the national conversation,’ said Mary Kay Henry, the international president of SEIU. ‘The Green New Deal makes unions central to accomplishing the ambitious goal of an environmentally responsible and economically just society.’ SEIU called the Green New Deal vitally important for people of color, saying their communities are most impacted by the environmental issues the proposal is intended to address. The union added that its members support “immediate, bold action” on climate change.”
Fossil Fuels
Dan Bacher writes—Governor Newsom Recommits to Closing Aliso Canyon Gas Facility, But Doesn't Commit to Timeline: “Porter Ranch area residents talked to Governor Gavin Newsom at the California Democratic Convention today and asked him to take swift action to close the Aliso Canyon gas storage facility, operated by SoCalGas, as he promised to do on the campaign trail a year ago. Gov. Newsom told Food & Water Watch volunteers and north San Fernando Valley residents Jane Fowler and Deirdre Bolona that while he still wants to shut down the facility, he could not say when. Fowler and Bolona, who along with hundreds of their neighbors continue to be sickened by the worst gas blowout in U.S. history, requested a meeting with the governor. View the exchange here: https://youtu.be/N4i8hYh6KHA On May 17, an independent report by Blade Energy Partners for the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and the Department of Conservation’s Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources (DOGGR), found that Aliso Canyon operator SoCalGas has been grossly negligent for decades, failing to investigate small leaks, before one of the aging pipe blew in 2015 releasing more than 100,000 tons of methane into the atmosphere. Thousands of families were relocated for months and many experience health symptoms to this day, according to Food and Water Watch.”
analemma writes—University of California faculty now voting to urge Regents to divest from fossil fuels: “This is the culmination of a five year campaign across all 10 UC campuses, begun by the students. Now, if a majority of the entire Academic Senate agrees, it will go to President Napolitano and the Regents. The Regents may not agree to divest, but the size of the faculty vote will be a factor as well as media attention, which is growing. If you are a member of the Academic Senate then please take a minute to vote yes on the divestment memorial, and encourage your eligible colleagues to vote. If you are a student, staff, non faculty researcher, then please encourage your academic senate faculty colleagues to vote, and print the flyer available at our website(https://fossilfreeuc.net) for posting around your department. Votes will be arranged separately at each campus, but in all cases will last at least 2 weeks, and be conducted during the month of June. The campuses now voting are: UCSD (June 4 to 19); UCR (June 6 to 20); and UCB (June 6 to 29).”
bluewill writes—Analysis: Oil market glut will lead to declining prices through 2020 by Dr. Daniel Fine: “With the OPEC-Russia meeting ahead, the price of oil is at a crossroad. The full article is here→ www.daily-times.com/… President Trump wants lower prices for gasoline at the pump and the Democratic Party wants a shortage to lift prices higher. This is the 2020 presidential election, to re-elect Trump or create a Democratic left-center White House. Is OPEC-Russia ready to sustain output cutbacks for $70 Brent Oil or continue revenue maximum against market share? Curiously, in the conversation at Vienna the Oxy purchase of Anadarko will resonate. Why? Oxy must now increase its export of oil to lower its debt (Warren Buffet and more) and prevent a serious management miscalculation of paying too much for Anadarko.”
mastergardener2k writes—Bloomberg Gives $500 million in Effort to Close All US Coal Plants by 2030: “Former New York City mayor and billionaire Michael Bloomberg said today he would give half a billion dollars in effort to close all coal fired US electric plants and promote renewable energy. The effort, named Beyond Carbon, will focus on local and state governments since the federal government headed by Donald Trump wants to increase coal use. Though spread over several years, the amount of money involved could be very helpful to environmental friendly candidates running for state legislatures and other offices. A spokesman for Mr. Bloomberg said most of the money would be spent over the next three years, though the time frame could be extended. It will fund lobbying efforts by environmental groups — in state legislatures, City Councils and public utility commissions — that aim to close coal plants and replace them with wind, solar and other renewable power. Part of the cash also will go toward efforts to elect local lawmakers who prioritize clean energy. The article in The New York Times reports that about 240 US coal plants have closed or have announced their closure since 2010, a trend caused by economics.”
Renewables, Efficiency & Conservation
Mokurai writes—Renewable Friday: Cato Abandons Its Denialists: “Or is it the other way around? The Cato Institute, once the Koch Institute, has been having trouble with its Global Warming Denial program. For example, their leadClimate denier Pat Michaels [is getting] punked by Swarthmore students in the photo above with a fake award. Apparently Michaels left first, and Cato then decided to get rid of all of the people who worked for him. However it happened, The Cato Institute, once the Koch Foundation, founded on lies, has disbanded its Global Warming Denialism "research" center. But they don't want you to get the idea that they have come to accept the facts in the issue. tl;dr: Hooray! As we have been going along from Friday to Friday, I have pointed out particular ancient Denialist lies that have failed, but maintain a zombie existence on the Web and in Republican talking points Today we go wholesale.”
Pipelines & Other Oil and Gas Transport
Dan Bacher writes—Yurok Tribal Council Reaffirms Opposition to Jordan Cove LNG Pipeline Proposal: “On Wednesday, the Yurok Tribal Council reaffirmed the Tribe’s opposition to the Jordan Cove LNG Project in response to a request made directly from Pembina Pipeline Corp. ‘The Tribal Council categorically opposes this project,’ said Joseph L. James, the chairman of the Yurok Tribe. ‘This project poses a serious threat to the Klamath River and our way of life. It also puts many other salmon-bearing watersheds and communities in jeopardy.’ During the meeting, a representative from the Canadian company brought up several mitigation measures as well as other incentives in exchange for the Tribe’s support for the ill-advised project, according to a statement from the Tribe.”
CANDIDATES, STATE AND DC ECO-RELATED POLITICS
Mark Sumner writes—Joe Biden's embrace of the Green New Deal is the best news of the week: “Former Vice President and 2020 presidential candidate Joe Biden has issued a 22-page plan to address the climate crisis. As part of that plan, Biden’s website states that he ‘believes the Green New Deal is a crucial framework for meeting the climate challenges we face. It powerfully captures two basic truths, which are at the core of his plan: (1) the United States urgently needs to embrace greater ambition on an epic scale to meet the scope of this challenge, and (2) our environment and our economy are completely and totally connected.’ This is seriously good news, and not just because of Biden. Here’s why this is critical news in addressing our global climate crisis: Kamala Harris is a co-sponsor of the Green New Deal. Bernie Sanders is a co-sponsor of the Green New Deal. Elizabeth Warren is a co-sponsor of the Green New Deal. Cory Booker is a co-sponsor of the Green New Deal. Kirsten Gillibrand is a co-sponsor of the Green New Deal. Amy Klobuchar is a co-sponsor of the Green New Deal. Eric Swalwell is a co-sponsor of the Green New Deal. Of the remaining candidates, both Jay Inslee and Beto O’Rourke have issued their own extensive plans for dealing with the climate crisis. And now Joe Biden has signed on to the Green New Deal.”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—“Freedom Gas”: Trump DOE Compares Nat Gas With Defeating Nazis: “On last Tuesday night, E&E’s Ellen Gilmer tweeted a screenshot of a Department of Energy press release about liquid natural gas exports. In the press release, Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy Steven Winberg is quoted as saying that DOE is ‘doing what it can to promote an efficient regulatory system that allows for molecules of U.S. freedom to be exported around the world.’ Others subsequently noticed that elsewhere in the release, US Under Secretary of Energy Mark W. Menezes bragged about how an expanded export terminal “is critical to spreading freedom gas throughout the world.’ Like freedom gas itself, the jokes quickly poured out on Twitter: Jay Inslee harked back to freedom fries, and Politico’s Ben Lefebvre answered Perry’s past question ‘What’s the cost of freedom?’ (About $2.60 per MMBtu, apparently.)”
Meteor Blades writes—DNC says climate crisis is 'top of our list' of issues, but not worth a separate candidates' debate: “The leadership of the Democratic National Committee let Washington Gov. Jay Inslee know Wednesday that it does not plan to hold a separate presidential candidate debate on the climate crisis that he had requested, and that at least five other Democratic candidates have supported. In that request, Inslee wrote: Defeating climate change won’t be easy. If it was, it would’ve been done a long time ago. Powerful special interests will do everything they can to keep their profits and the status quo. We need to demonstrate to the millions of Democrats around the country who care deeply about the future of our planet that we are ensuring our next president is equipped to deal with this crisis. Although Inslee has positions on many issues, he’s running for president to ensure that climate crisis gets lots of attention during the campaign. In the election seasons of 2014, 2016, and 2018, most prominent Democrats up and down the ballot barely mentioned climate, if at all, during their election runs. In the six hours of debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, five minutes and 27 seconds were spent on climate matters.”
Meteor Blades writes—Jay Inslee might ignore DNC edict on climate crisis debate. DNC members appeal leaders' decision: “As noted here Thursday, the top leadership of the Democratic National Committee turned down Gov. Jay Inslee’s request that one of the first four debates of the Democratic presidential candidates be solely focused on the climate crisis. Inslee joined the race for the Democratic nomination specifically to ensure that the crisis gets the attention that in the past most Democratic candidates up and down the ballot have failed to do. The DNC not only told Inslee that it would not hold such a debate, but also reminded the governor of the committee’s rule that any candidate who participates in a non-DNC debate, whatever the topic, will not be allowed to join future DNC debates. The rejection and what Inslee and others have labeled a ‘black-listing’ by the DNC has put Inslee on the edge of defiance. Rebecca Leber reports: ‘I cannot rule out any other debate that would highlight both the necessity of defeating the climate crisis and calling for the candidates to step up to the plate,’ Inslee said in an interview with Mother Jones on Thursday, while calling from the road in Seattle, Washington. ‘Sixty-second sound bites, which is all you’ll be able to get in a party debate, is grossly inadequate to the task.’ [...]”
A Siegel writes—A #ClimateDebate matters: Lessons from Texas: “Now, some seem to agree with the DNC that ‘climate is just another issue’ that doesn’t merit its own debate. Climate Hawks Vote has a good way to consider this: DNC Should Look to Texas-07 for Leadership. Some assert that a focused Climate Debate isn’t worth pursuing since ‘few would tune into the debate’. This thought process fails to consider the system-of-system impacts from having a climate debate: it isn’t just about those who tune in live. For this, the 2018 Texas 7th District Democratic Party primary offers an interesting case study with lessons to learn and absorb. A dedicated group worked to set up a climate / environmental forum as part of the primary. They provided all candidates with a set of seven issues/questions and the candidates were able to say which questions they wished to engage in during the forum. During a competitive primary, more than 400 people showed up (after they had to secure a larger venue than first planned) for the event along with easily that many watching remotely. Hmm … in a competitive primary, perhaps 750-1000 people in a live audience … do you think that the candidates paid attention to that? That the candidates came prepared to engage substantively (so that they wouldn’t look like fools) on key issues in front of so many voters?”
Lefty Coaster writes—Jay Inslee: "Trump has chosen a Cowardly Path of Ignorance,"- The DNC nixes a Climate Debate: “Democratic presidential candidate Jay Inslee released a plan on Wednesday that looks to reimagine American foreign policy to combat climate change. Inslee squarely targets President Donald Trump's foreign policy with the plan, charging the President with choosing ‘cowardly path of ignorance’ by ‘withdrawing America from the global climate community as the world hurtles toward the brink of irreversible climate disaster’. [...] Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said Wednesday the Democratic National Committee informed him it will not dedicate one of its presidential primary debates to the issue of climate change. The decision comes despite a furious push from progressive and environmental advocates for a climate change debate, as well as strong support across the Democratic ideological spectrum. At least half a dozen Democratic candidates, including Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) and former Obama cabinet official Julián Castro, have backed the idea.”
Xaxnar writes—Democrats Should Not Hold a Single Debate on Climate Change. Not One: “The DNC has refused a to host a debate on Climate Change and will ban candidates who take part in a debate outside the DNC framework. "While climate change is at the top of our list, the DNC will not be holding entire debates on a single issue area because we want to make sure voters have the ability to hear from candidates on dozens of issues of importance to American voters," the DNC said. You know what? That’s okay. We shouldn’t hold just one debate. [...] Climate Change can’t be limited to a single debate. Going forward it must inform everything we do, every policy we craft, every bit of legislation we propose. It touches national security, health, employment, education, job creation, energy policy, social justice, economic development, foreign relations…It’s difficult to think of anything it doesn’t touch in some way. “
Angmar writes—"Why Is the DNC Stifling Climate Change Debate in 2020?" “At a time when the Democratic Party should be coalescing around general strategy, it has made yet another unforced error. Earlier this week, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) informed Washington governor and long-shot 2020 candidate Jay Inslee that it would not, despite his requests, host a climate change debate during the upcoming primary season. Even worse, according to Inslee, DNC representatives also told him that if he elected to participate in any unauthorized climate change forum convened by any other entity, the DNC would bar him from its officially-sanctioned debates as a consequence.”
liberaldad2 writes—“An existential threat to human civilization” – existential, as in tyrannosaurs and mastodons: “It’s easy to visualize a world with 7.5 billion people – that’s the world we live in today. It’s also easy to visualize a world that has become completely hostile to human life with no possible survivors due to anthropogenic warming. Think ‘Venus.’ Most climate models suggest plausible scenarios that eventually lead to conditions that will not support human life on earth. But what’s much more difficult to visualize is the progression, the process, the day-by-day timeline, that takes us from 7.5 billion people to zero. Climate experts David Spratt and Ian Dunlop have laid out one gruesome but not unlikely scenario that goes there if we continue on our current path. And within the lifetime of most people alive today. The authors describe a decade by decade timeline that relates one plausible scenario of our continued greenhouse gas generation and concomitant temperature rise to changes in conditions on earth.”
AstridJ writes—Trump Says Climate Change "Not a Hoax" but "It'll Change Back": “President Trump doesn’t believe climate change is an important issue to deal with. Trump has accused scientists who study climate change to raise fears in the public and hold a ‘political agenda’. Much scientific research has proven that climate change has been worsening over a period time due to manmade materials. Pollution in oceans due to plastics that float and are eaten partially by sea fish and whales, extensive drilling of oil and carbon gases that emit in the air, the wildfires that are ongoing in California caused by the dry climate and very little rain. Trump thinks humans are not at fault for the earth’s rising temperatures.”
occupystephanie writes—AOC Praises Presidential Candidate Jay Inslee's Climate Plan as "the Gold Standard": “US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the cosponsor of the New Green Deal, continues to prefer presidential candidate Governor Jay Inslee’s climate plan. The Green New Deal champion praised the Democratic governor of Washington's climate proposal Tuesday, calling it the ‘gold standard climate plan.’ ‘Jay Inslee’s I think is the gold standard climate plan that we have right now,’ Ocasio-Cortez told The Hill Tuesday. ‘I do think that Jay Inslee’s plan is a phenomenal blueprint and example of where we need to go. It’s got the scale, the jobs and justice,’ she added. Dismissing questions that this was a direct endorsement of Jay Inslee as a candidate, Representative Ocasio-Cortez was quoted as saying that she isn’t planning to endorse anyone ‘anytime super soon’.”
ECO-ACTIVISM & ECO JUSTICE
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Study Suggests Social Sharing A Surprisingly Simple Strategy for Securing Support For Climate Action: “On Monday, the journal Environment and Behavior published a new study from the Yale Climate Communications team (and GMU’s Ed Maibach) that found what a certain individual thinks the people around them think about climate change plays an important role in that individual’s perception of the issue. That sounds complicated, but it isn’t, really. What the idea boils down to, as lead author Matthew Goldberg tweeted, is that ‘Beliefs of friends and family play a HUGE role in climate change beliefs, worry, and policy preferences—especially among conservatives.’ Because conservative minds are generally more deferential to group unity than independent-thinking liberal brains, the study posits, conservatives are particularly prone to agreeing with their peers when they think everyone thinks the same thing. So conservatives who believe that all their friends and family accept the reality of climate change are much more likely to do so themselves compared to those who don’t believe there is a social consensus about climate science.”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Republican Favorite Patrick Moore Compares Young Activists to Hitler Youth: “In a recent piece for PJ Media, Tom Harris and Dr. Jay Lehr wrote about the ‘untold scandal’ of professional scientific societies accepting climate science. Harris and Lehr are with the International Climate Science Coalition (ICSC), the misleadingly named denier group that describes itself as a ‘highly credible alternative to the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’ and that has received funding from Heartland. The main argument of the piece is that radical environmentalists have infiltrated and taken over scientific societies. The authors claim that in the last few years, several professional societies, including the American Physical Society and the Geological Society of America, have put out statements that affirm the reality of human-caused climate change. The reason for this? The authors charge that these groups are more interested in making money than promoting science, and are simply ‘going along with popular concerns.’ On that final point, they’re not wrong: recent polling data shows that people are more worried than ever before about climate change.”
Alan Singer writes—Climate Kids Sue U.S. Government: “On Tuesday, lawyers for U.S. climate kids argued before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Oregon that the federal government was violating the Constitution by failing to protect future generations, posterity, from the impact of climate change. The group of 21 young people, some now in their twenties, have been pushing their case, Juliana v. United States, through the court system for four years. The Trump administration was able to delay the hearing since October while it is trying to have the case dismissed because it claims there is “no fundamental constitutional right to a ‘stable climate system.’” Lawyers for the climate kids respond “These young people deserve that chance to present their full case against those who through their governance harm them, and let the light of justice fall where it may.” The climate kids are also demanding that the government halt new fossil fuel projects until their case is resolved. Lawyers for the climate kids told the three-judge panel that immediate action is necessary to stop Trump administration anti-climate, anti-environment policies.”
AGRICULTURE, FOOD & GARDENING
Missys Brother writes—Saturday Morning Garden Blog Vol. 15.23: What's blooming in your world? “During our winter trip, we had an upstairs bathroom flood, coming through the library ceiling and down into the basement plus damaging two other downstairs ceilings. The renovations just finished this past week, except for a door replacement, and I’m now moving everything back into the rooms. We have not seen our dining room table since January. During the process, I’ve been decluttering and paying homage to Marie Kondo. I now have over 300 books ready to take to the flea market, as well as, many other items. I have also been eyeing my indoor plants as I have way too many. This ivy in the front parlor has been in this cloche for about four/five years and is still healthy. I wonder if I should set it free. Also in the same room is this Rex begonia that gets by with very low light. I like how this morning’s early light seen through the sheers highlights the asparagus fern fronds. It took me most of the week to move everything back into this room.”
MISCELLANY
Aldous J Pennyfarthing writes—EPA chief: The media need to do a better job of whitewashing environmental crises: “So earlier in the day I read this Vice article that seemed pretty doom-and-gloom. It’s about an analysis from the Breakthrough National Centre for Climate Restoration, an Australian think tank. The gist? The paper argues that the potentially ‘extremely serious outcomes’ of climate-related security threats are often far more probable than conventionally assumed, but almost impossible to quantify because they ‘fall outside the human experience of the last thousand years.’ On our current trajectory, the report warns, ‘planetary and human systems [are] reaching a ‘point of no return’ by mid-century, in which the prospect of a largely uninhabitable Earth leads to the breakdown of nations and the international order.’ Pretty horrifying, right? So thank God that we have EPA administrator and coal lobbyist extraordinaire Andrew Wheeler to soothe our savage breasts and set our flighty little minds right.”
NoFortunateSon writes—Tesla swooped in to save Puerto Rico. It was a disaster: “The subject of this diary isn’t just the destruction of Puerto Rico’s electrical grid from Hurricane Maria and the problems rebuilding it, but the pernicious meme plaguing infrastructure initiatives that tech billionaires could be a solution. [...] Tesla made good on its promise. The company selected a senior center in Vieques as one of 11 sites on the darkened island to equip as a microgrid with power-producing panels and batteries. Musk diverted production from his troubled Model 3 to provide his Powerwall batteries (when a line of car batteries would have worked just as well in an emergency). Tesla provided the solar panels and all the other necessary equipment. Construction of the microgrid was actually simple. ... inside the mint-green, one-story Ciudad Dorada senior center, fans blow cool air and refrigerators stocked with insulin and other medicines run cold even as the noon sun broils in a cloudless Caribbean sky. On its roof are a set of Tesla photovoltaic solar panels, attached via cable to a pair of Tesla batteries hitched to the wall beneath…. That sound’s great! Let’s check out back… ...And yet, a diesel generator growls on full blast behind the center. Needless to say, Tesla’s intervention was a complete failure.”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Report Exposes Real Reason Kochs Fund Regulatory Center at George Washington University: A little over a year ago, student activists at George Mason University successfully exposed just how much influence the Koch brothers had over the university and its Mercatus Center. But as we mentioned last month when the Kochs announced a supposed shift away from politics, Mercatus is just one of hundreds of academic institutions the brothers fund to protect their profits. (Okay, we will admit it’s not JUST about Koch Industry profits--it’s also about protecting the tobacco industry, and occasionally promoting white nationalists…) Now, a new report from Public Citizen digs into a Mercatus-like situation at George Washington University’s Koch-funded Regulatory Studies Center (RSC). As one should rightly assume about something that involves the Koch’s so-called philanthropy, Public Citizen revealed it as nothing but a cog in the Koch profit machine. Though RSC director Susan Dudley would like us to think its goal is to bring the public “an objective, unbiased look at the regulatory system,” Public Citizen examined RSC’s output, funders and personnel, and proves it is anything but unbiased. And Dudley herself, Public Citizen notes, has been involved with at least eight Koch-related groups, and once criticized the EPA for failing to take into account the benefits of smog as a skin-cancer-reducing form of sunblock.