This is the 586th edition of the Spotlight on Green News & Views (previously known as the Green Diary Rescue). Here is the January 26 edition. Inclusion of a story in the Spotlight does not necessarily indicate my agreement with or endorsement of it.
OUTSTANDING GREEN STORIES
Besame writes—Mexico monarch population 144% greater than last year! “Encouraging news from Mexico's overwintering monarch forests was released today. Fourteen colonies occupied 6.05 hectares (15.95 acres) this winter, a 144% increase over the 2.48 ha (6.13 ac) occupied last year. Population size in Mexico is derived by assessing how much area is occupied rather than by direct census of individuals. [...] Monarchs have been imperiled throughout North America for at least two decades. This year’s population census of the western subpop that overwinters in California were dismal (28,429 monarchs counted, an 86% decline from 2017). During summer 2018, monarch abundance was observed, particularly in the north central US. But whether or not this abundance would be confirmed by an overwintering population increase was uncertain. Would monarchs die during migration and overwintering numbers still be low? Were the summer observations not representative of the entire eastern subpopulation of monarchs? The only official count for both the western and eastern subpopulations are in winter, so summer observations are anecdotal although they can suggest trends. This year’s anecdotes became an official WOW.”
jamess writes—Climate Scientist who put 'Polar Vortex' into the Vernacular explains her Findings in plain English: “Greenhouse gas emissions from human activities have warmed the globe by about 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit (1 C) over the past 50 years. However, the Arctic has warmed more than twice as much. Amplified Arctic warming is due mainly to dramatic melting of ice and snow in recent decades, which exposes darker ocean and land surfaces that absorb a lot more of the sun’s heat. Because of rapid Arctic warming, the north/south temperature difference has diminished. This reduces pressure differences between the Arctic and mid-latitudes, weakening jet stream winds. And just as slow-moving rivers typically take a winding route, a slower-flowing jet stream tends to meander. Large north/south undulations in the jet stream generate wave energy in the atmosphere. If they are wavy and persistent enough, the energy can travel upward and disrupt the stratospheric polar vortex. Sometimes this upper vortex becomes so distorted that it splits into two or more swirling eddies.”
CRITTERS AND THE GREAT OUTDOORS
Angmar writes—Daily Bucket: The Yellowstone super-volcano: “"The super-volcano that lies beneath Yellowstone National Park in the US is far larger than was previously thought, scientists report. A study shows that the magma chamber is about 2.5 times bigger than earlier estimates suggested. A team found the cavern stretches for more than 90km (55 miles) and contains 200-600 cubic km of molten rock. The findings are being presented at the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting in San Francisco. Prof Bob Smith, from the University of Utah, said: ‘We’ve been working there for a long time, and we’ve always thought it would be bigger... but this finding is astounding.’ If the Yellowstone super-volcano were to blow today, the consequences would be catastrophic.”
Angmar writes—Daily Bucket: Saving Earth Series - If you love Earth, don't give up on her (Here's what you can do): “* Turn out the lights *Don't waste water *avoid creating nighttime light pollution * avoid burning wood (or other things), as wood fires are both pollutant and carcinogenic *Don't use harmful pesticides *limit your use of cars and planes (if possible) *Don't use gas powered vehicles *take out grass and put in a garden or pond (or xeriscape ) *Mow, blow, and whack with electric .* plant for the animals (bees, birds etc) *plant a tree *don't micro manage yards, go wilder *try to use solar* take a trolley or train *Use energy efficient products or products that work on clean fuels *Reduce dependence on non-biodegradable items* walk or carpool* Turn down the heat or AC* reuse items—give to goodwill or Craig's list rather than dumping* ride bikes instead of using cars* cut down or cease eating meat* use carry bags for groceries not their plastic* compost *save the bees*be informed* write your representative *electe pro-environment candidates and demand action*sign petitions*get involved *march *blog *tell a friend *”
Kestrel writes—Dawn Chorus: Everybody Loves Pelicans! “I had the good fortune to live in the San Francisco Bay Area for 35 years. There I would often see Brown Pelicans execute their dives into the bay waters targeting and securing fish. That they could spot their prey from so far above boggles the mind. More on this later with some video. I’ve also had the good fortune to observe American White Pelicans do their thing in completely different waters through completely different techniques. More on this to follow, too. There are eight species of pelicans in the world and all of them have the throat pouch for which they are known. Many pelicans fish by swimming in cooperative groups. They may form a line or a "U" shape and drive fish into shallow water by beating their wings on the surface. When fish congregate in the shallows, the pelicans simply scoop them up.”
Besame writes—Daily Bucket: Watch a condor chick grow up: Video diary.
CLIMATE CHAOS
billofrights writes—Greta Thunberg dares Davos: "...act as if our house is on fire" in the Climate Emergency: ”Dear Citizens and Elected Officials: A good conservationist from Western Maryland sent around two articles this morning, Sunday, January 27, 2019. One was a description of the hopes of the Governor of West Virginia, Jim Justice, to turn his state into a fracked gas storage and manufacturing hub, the state’s destiny, he declared; the other was the speech by a 16-year-ld climate activist, Greta Thunberg, of Sweden, who has led school strikes and spoken at the UN, and now at Davos, which is a pretty remarkable thing in itself, already, isn’t it? I didn’t know this until I checked her bio at Wikipedia this morning, but she is also related, on her father’s side, to Svante Arrhenius, a Nobel Prize winner in Chemistry who was among the first to investigate the role of carbon dioxide in warming the earth.”
Pakalolo writes—The murder of Mayan activists portends a Human Rights crisis; climate change devastating Guatemala: “Already suffering from climate change impacts such as hunger, thirst, diarrhea, vector-borne disease, Mayans are now facing extreme violence in their historical homeland of Guatemala. There is a reason to be alarmed, according to the Houston Holocaust Museum, genocide has happened here before during the early 1980s. And there are some players still in the government today. [...] Today, the violence and murder of social and green activists is being perpetrated by trans-national corporations. [...] According to Velásquez, Guatemala has entered ‘a new stage of repression’ — one focused on ‘assassinating community leaders who defend their territories from invasion by transnational companies bent on depriving indigenous peoples of the resources they have in the soil and the subsoil.’ Numerous conflicts over land and mineral rights have surfaced in indigenous communities throughout Guatemala.”
Pakalolo writes—Climate disruption is coming and, the super rich know it - prep themselves to survive doomsday: “The rich have deluded themselves they can escape the repercussions, temporarily avoiding some of that life-ending heat that some on earth is currently experiencing. Can they survive economic collapse and migration? The jury is out. Those that have benefited most from our fossil fuel addiction, who lied to us for years that we can always fix the problem later, the media, the cowardly politicians and other elites (but not all of them) have sticked us good. Many of the elites, like Trump, who is dumb as shit and Mike Pence, who is a religious zealot, are unable to see the proverbial elephant in the room. But many of them do believe, and the knuckle-draggers in the Trump base know what’s coming too. They believe economic and social collapse will happen, they’ve been preparing for it in white nationalist enclaves for years. They don’t call these disasters what they are — climate change impacts to our human civilization. No never that, libtards believe that, not true Americans like themselves. They are convinced that city folk will be roaming the countryside looking to rape and pillage and, they are making sure they have enough supplies and weaponry to survive the onslaught.”
Pakalolo writes—The mid-west will be colder than Antarctica. The perfect time for Trump to showcase his cruelty: “The midwest will have temperatures colder than Antarctica including major American cities. Trump should reflect on what that means for those living in this emergency. But he won’t. Slate has the story. Susan Matthews writes. Where to begin. Let’s set aside the fact that wind chill is a meaningless way to assess cold weather; I don’t actually expect Trump to know that. We can also ignore the fact that he misspelled warming. The obvious thing to focus on is that he once again said something mind-numbingly incorrect about climate change. Except, we don’t have to focus on that, either, because Trump tweeted something similarly idiotic last week, too. (He managed to spell warming right that time.) That tweet kicked off a round of patient fact-checks explaining for the one-zillionth time that climate and weather are different, that cold weather will continue to happen even as the planet warms, and that, in fact, it might get even colder in some places sometimes thanks to climate change. As Trump himself said in last week’s tweet, it’s ‘amazing how big this system is.’ He’s a monster. Matthews continues.”
AmericaAdapts writes—New York, New York: The Big Apple Adapts to Climate Change: “In episode 82 of America Adapts, host Doug Parsons interviews Signe Nielsen, a landscape architect based in New York City. Signe has been working on projects in NYC for decades and we discuss how climate change adaptation is being addressed in the city. We discuss the impact of Superstorm Sandy and the challenges of keeping people safe and ensuring the people of New York are not cut off from the coasts by rising seas and rising sea walls. We also talk about managed retreat, rethinking ecological systems, the new ethics of climate change for landscape architects and much, much more!”
Aldous J Pennyfarthing writes—NOAA tweets out children's cartoon to rebut Trump on climate science: “Well, he’s not going to read peer-reviewed scientific journals, that’s for sure. So …”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Trump’s Trolling On Warming Is Cold Comfort For Climate Change’s Victims: “It’s winter, and it’s cold, so you know what that means! Our comment section troll of a president is joking about global warming, and a mix of federal agencies, scientists, children, and celebrities are all dunking on dear leader. At this point in our Trumpian nightmare, his plea for global warming to “come back” during this cold snap is such a dumb and predictable line that folks had all sorts of cartoons and memes ready to go. But in case this is your first winter paying attention to climate change, here’s the basic rundown of how climate change, the jet stream and the polar vortex are all related. Most obviously, climate change doesn’t mean no more cold weather anywhere, ever. And while cold swings still exist, there is also a clear consistent warming. The past four years have been the hottest on record for the globe, and there hasn’t been a cooler-than-average year in three decades. We’ve been experiencing almost twice as much record hot weather than record cold, and cold snaps in the Upper Midwest have become much less frequent.”
Extreme Weather & Natural Phenomena
Canid Micturate writes—Minnesota's Xcel Energy can't handle the heat, er, cold...: “Xcel Energy in Minnesota is struggling to service its customers in the wake of a severe polar-vortex deep freeze gripping the region. Alarmingly, they are asking customers to turn down their thermostats to protect the natural gas supply, reported in the StarTribune: Utility spokesman Matt Lindstrom says the extremely cold weather is causing a strain on Xcel's natural gas system. So it's asking customers in the area of Becker, Big Lake, Princeton to Chisago City to turn down their thermostats to 60 degrees or lower…. He did not know how the cold weather is straining the natural gas system. Having a reliable gas supply is kinda important when the mercury drops like it has recently. More alarmingly, a swath of Xcel Energy customers in the southern MSP metro area were without electricity during the coldest night in many years.”
Marissa Higgins writes—The polar vortex can be deadly for homeless and low-income people. Here's how to help: “Whether you live in the Midwest (or Northeast) or not, you’ve likely heard about the polar vortex that’s slamming much of the country. Talking about the weather can sometimes take on a contagious hysteria, but according to meteorologists, these temperatures and conditions are absolutely no joke. In fact, they could be life-threatening, especially to people who are homeless, low-income, or otherwise don’t have access to proper shelter or winter attire. Before we delve into what is (and isn’t) being done to protect these vulnerable communities, let’s break down the details of this polar vortex.”
OCEANS, WATER, DROUGHT
Dan Bacher writes—Fugro awarded geotechnical investigation for Delta Tunnels, even though project hasn't been approved: “Following the news that reports that Jacobs been named the engineering design manager for the California WaterFix by the Delta Conveyance Design and Construction Authority (DCA), the Fugro corporation has been awarded a major geotechnical investigation to support the Delta Tunnels/California WaterFix project. The Delta Conveyance Design and Construction Authority (DCA has awarded the geotechnical investigation to Fugro and selected Jacobs as engineering design manager even though the State Water Resources Control Board has not yet approved the petitions by the Department of Water of Resources and U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to change the point of diversion, a requirement for the project to be constructed. The project needs over a dozen permits in order for construction to begin. The awarding of contracts to Fugro and Jacobs by the DCA also takes place despite an avalanche of lawsuits by cities, counties, water districts, Tribes, fishing groups, environmental NGOs and other organizations against a project opponents consider to be the most environmentally destructive public works project in California history.”
ENERGY
Fossil Fuels
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Sure, Definitely ‘Not a Puppet’: Trump To Use Fossil Fuels As Rhetorical Cover For The Russia Factor: “Late last week, before Trump’s long-time advisor Roger Stone was arrested by the FBI, the administration told PoliticoPro that it is looking at using executive actions to further aid the fossil fuel industry. The goal of the administration’s plan to appease Trump’s fossil fuel backers while serving as an example that there’s at least one single way in which the Trump administration isn’t serving Russian interests. The increased oil and gas production in the US following more executive actions would compete with Russia, theoretically reducing Putin’s influence in Europe. But Columbia University’s Tim Boersma is skeptical that American companies would be able to capture much of the European market, particularly since the industry is more focused on Asia. ‘This is not up to the White House to decide,’ he told Politico. ‘At the end of the day, this is about private enterprise competing with one another.’ So weird to see this administration, with all its pro-free market boosters, use executive authority to try and force the invisible hand of the market…”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—150 Congressional Republicans Represent Fossil Fuel Companies Instead Of Their Communities: ”Last week, we mocked the fossil fuel industry’s use of an outlet it owns to brag about perverting democracy--but we didn’t actually call out the politicians in the industry’s pocket. Lucky for us, the Center for American Progress Action Fund did just that this week. A new analysis from CAP tallies up the climate deniers in the 116th Congress. As it turns out, there are a lot: 150. But that’s actually an improvement from last year, when there were 180. Of those 180, 47 are no longer serving: 22 were defeated in 2018, 16 retired, five resigned, and four went to other positions. This may explain why the industry was so keen last week to assert the influence their money has. As it turns out, taking the cash may actually be a bad move for a candidate, since fossil-fuel funded candidates lost 30 seats in the 2018 elections (not factoring in the myriad of other factors at play, of course).”
Dan Bacher writes—Oil Industry, Environmental Leaders Mark Fiftieth Anniversary of Santa Barbara Oil Spill: “Oil industry and environmental leaders in California both marked the 50th anniversary of the Santa Barbara Oil Spill, but they did it in very different ways. Catherine Reheis-Boyd, President of the Western States Petroleum Asssociation and former Chair of the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative Blue Ribbon Task Force to create so-called ‘marine protected areas’ in Southern California, used the fiftieth anniversary of the spill to claim that the oil industry’s “number one priority” is ‘maintaining the safety and environmental integrity in the communities where we operate.’ ‘As we mark the 50th anniversary of the tragic Santa Barbara oil spill, it is important that we remember our coastal communities most affected by this incident and how they’ve inspired not only reform and innovation but a global movement to support environmental protection,’ said Reheis-Boyd in a statement.”
Michael Brune writes—Exactly Wrong: “By now it’s clear that when Donald Trump decided to shut down the government, he didn’t realize the suffering it would cause -- for the oil and and gas industry. Although hundreds of thousands of government workers were furloughed, Bureau of Land Management employees were soon called back to work -- without pay -- so that they could relieve the industry’s distress by approving lease applications for drilling on our public lands. That’s right, even as we learn that oceans are warming 40 percent faster than we thought and that glaciers relied on by millions for drinking water are disappearing, the Trump administration is still racing to do exactly the wrong thing. It’s hard to say which is more astonishing: the greed or the stupidity. A new report from Oil Change International makes it clear: Current levels of fossil fuel extraction are already too high if we want to avoid a climate disaster, so we should immediately begin a carefully managed and equitable decline in production.”
Walter Einenkel writes—Germany to close all of its coal plants in the next 19 years, investing $45 billion to do it: “ It will take $45 billion in investment but Germany has come up with a plan to shutdown the country’s 84 coal-fired power plants by 2038. The Los Angeles Times reports that in order to meet its international commitments, a government commission made up of government officials, experts, scientists and industry leaders, agreed on a plan to make Germany a greener place. ‘It’s a big moment for climate policy in Germany that could make the country a leader once again in fighting climate change,’ said Claudia Kemfert, professor for energy economics at the DIW Berlin, the German Institute for Economic Research. ‘It’s also an important signal for the world that Germany is again getting serious about climate change: a very big industrial nation that depends so much on coal is switching it off.’ Germany is one of the world’s greatest coal consumers, accounting for 40 percent of the country’s electricity production. A big part of Germany’s coal problem comes not only from their dependence, but the fact that they burn the ‘dirtiest form of coal,’ lignite.”
Hydraulic Fracturing
A Siegel writes—Going, Going, GONE: Disappearing Rationale for (fracked-gas) Atlantic Coast Pipeline: “The Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) is supposedly designed to bring fracked natural gas to theoretical markets in Virginia and North Carolina. This environmentally devastating project (from cutting swaths through pristine forests to worsening climate pollution) is, at its core, designed to boost its owners profitability (Dominion Energy (48%), Duke Energy (47%), and Southern Company (5%)) on the backs of ratepayers. While the pipeline is theoretically a private concern, regulated subsidiaries of its owners have contracted for 96% of the pipeline’s projected capacity. Those contracts assure payments (assure outsized profits) even if the services aren’t ever required. Ever hear the term ‘privatize profits, socialize risks’? The ACP is a poster child for the term and the changing situation (increased risks) are making this clearer with every passing day. Just released by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis and Oil Change International, the report The Vanishing Need for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline makes a compelling case that should underpin regulatory decision-making that the ACP is simply not in ratepayer interests and is counter the interests of Virginia and its citizens — if it ever was.”
Renewables, Efficiency & Conservation
bluewill writes—Analysis: Things are flat in the Permian, and there's a push for renewables in Santa Fe: “Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico has announced a target of 50 percent renewable energy in 10 years. Electricity rate payers would bear the cost. She also placed New Mexico in the Climate Change Treaty Camp. However, if the Democratic Party wins the White House in 2020 there is no doubt that Washington will follow Santa Fe and our new governor. In the meantime, the new Secretary of Energy Minerals and Natural Resources, Sarah Cottrell Probst, is a world expert in carbon tax architecture to mitigate global warming. And there could be trade-offs with the super-majors in the Permian-Delaware basins.”
REGULATIONS & PROTECTIONS
Mark Sumner writes—Trump's EPA refuses to regulate pair of chemicals linked to cancer and multiple illnesses: “Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) are man-made compounds that do not occur naturally. They’re created during the manufacture of Teflon and in the creation of a type of fire-fighting foam mostly used by the military. Wide use over a period of decades means that they’re present in drinking-water systems in many areas of the country, particularly in regions containing military bases or chemical plants. They’re also directly linked to multiple kinds of cancer, to high blood pressure, heart disease, and a host of ailments. And ... the EPA is not going regulate them, despite requirements that such chemicals be regulated under the Safe Drinking Water Act. Preventing the regulation of these chemicals has been a long-term project for the Trump EPA. In 2018, then-EPA administrator Scott Pruitt blocked a public study of the chemicals. Preventing that study’s release meant that, in the most technical sense, the agency wasn’t required to move, even though other studies had already demonstrated the danger, and legislators, both Democratic and Republican, were urging the EPA to take regulatory action. And it wasn’t as if the EPA study hadn’t found a problem with these chemicals. It had. But Pruitt and Trump fought to keep those results under wraps, refusing to release the report for months before finally allowing it to escape in June.”