This is the 540th edition of the Spotlight on Green News & Views (previously known as the Green Diary Rescue) usually appears twice a week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Here is the Jan. 17 Green Spotlight. More than 28,300 environmentally oriented stories have been rescued to appear in this series since 2006. Inclusion of a story in the Spotlight does not necessarily indicate my agreement with or endorsement of it.
OUTSTANDING GREEN STORIES
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—New Study Finds IPCC Basically Accurate, Deniers Still Stupid: “If deniers are consistent about anything, it’s that climate models are useless. Except, of course, when they think they like what climate models say. A study published on Wednesday in Nature tightens the IPCC’s range for Estimated Climate Sensitivity (ECS), the amount of warming to be expected from a doubling of CO2 in the atmosphere. The study puts its best guess at 2.8C, which is pretty squarely in the middle of what scientists have thought all along. It also affirms that the best-case scenario of little-to-no warming, which deniers point to as justification for inaction, is unlikely, as are the worst-case, “black swan” scenarios. But because the AFP write-up was framed around the worst-case scenarios being ‘not credible,’ deniers are celebrating the study as some sort of win. Despite the study’s confirmation of the consensus that carbon dioxide will have significant impacts on the planet, Climate Depot trumpeted the AFP piece as its headliner and Drudge put a link to it in its center column near the top. WUWT published the press release (though didn’t embrace the study), while GWPF tweeted a link to it, saying simply ‘told you so.’ (In turn, we’d point out that GWPF have wrongly promoted the lower end ECS range this study finds improbable numerous times in the past.)”
Dartagnan writes—Department Of Energy Photographer Fired For Taking Photos of Rick Perry Selling Out Our Environment: “Robert Murray is the CEO of Murray Energy, this country’s largest privately held coal company. An ardent Climate Denialist, he is one of Trump’s chief advisors on energy ‘policy’ and is one of the key—if not the key—figures responsible for the anti-science dogma that permeates every action by this Administration relating to the environment: Murray said he has counseled President Trump to go further than reversing the power plant rule that is the Obama administration's signature climate change policy; he has also urged repeal of the 2009 finding that greenhouse gases endangered public health and welfare. That finding, grounded in peer-reviewed science, is the underpinning of the Environmental Protection Agency's actions on climate change under the Clean Air Act. Not coincidentally, he was also one of Trump’s biggest donors, contributing $300,000 to his Inaugural Committee. And also not coincidentally, he has funded Rick Perry’s political campaigns. Murray was in large part behind the Administration’s decision to gut a rule imposed during the Obama Administration prohibiting coal companies from dumping their toxic sludge into our freshwater streams, calling it a ‘top priority’ which, again, not coincidentally, was featured on the Trump transition team’s website (now deleted). Watching Perry embrace Murray in the March 2017 meeting, as the latter submitted an ‘Action Plan’ geared to profit himself and his company at the expense of the rest of us was apparently too much to ignore for Simon Edelman, who came to the DOE as an Agency photographer two years ago in the Obama Administration.”
CRITTERS AND THE GREAT OUTDOORS
Besame writes—Daily Bucket: jumping spider poop: “It’s the spiders who jump, not the poop. You knew that. But have you ever pondered their poop? Jumping spiders are little guys — the species in the photo above is about 1 cm long (0.39 inches). We mostly admire them for their amazing eyes … and for their courtship displays (and sounds as at 0:40 in the video). Don’t miss the previously undescribed peacock spider ‘sparklemuffin’ at 3:05 and the info about how (much larger) females handle the bad dancers at 4:02! [...] We usually don’t think about jumping spider poop, which is easy to overlook as it is also small. Sean McCann, a biologist and amateur photographer who studies arthropods and birds, posted a jumping spider poop photo on Twitter with an unusual question. Here is the answer to a question most of us never thought to ask. Also note the little spider dingleberry getting ready to drop off. ”
OceanDiver writes—The Daily Bucket - eagles are BACK: “The majority of our eagles depart in the fall for mainland rivers to gorge on spawned out salmon. I can understand why they’d make the trip. I sure miss them though. Salmon are done now, and our resident pairs and youngsters are BACK in a big way. Seeing them everywhere. The Salish Sea has among the highest density of Bald Eagles in the country, due to abundant and varied food sources: fish of course but more often road kill, carrion (like deer, raccoon, seals), invasive European rabbits and free range chickens. [...] We saw all these eagles in the past two weeks. Actually we see eagles every day now, but call this just a little taste of the Salish Sea eagles! Adult eagles are frequently in mated pairs, like these a few days ago. Photos by Mr O who had to stop the car to avoid hitting one who was working on something in the road. I’m happy he had the camera that day!”
OceanDiver writes—Dawn Chorus: My neighborhood Bald Eagles' nesting season has begun (I hope!): “Bald Eagles are common birds in the Salish Sea area, and there are 89 active nests in my county at last report, but up until last summer I’d never seen one occupied by a family. In my 30 years here I’ve checked out three big nests I’ve come across in my walks hoping to see some activity, and never have. The biggest problem in observing active eagle nests is that they prefer to locate close to shore: 97% of the nests (WDFW, Stinson, 2001) in Washington State are within half a mile of water (ocean, river or lake). That’s waterfront property, owned, guarded and intermittently occupied by the wealthy — which I’m not! How did I find this one? Believe it or not, it was the Book of Face: a local friend posted a photo a nestling last June, and I asked her privately if she’d mind telling me where it was. She checked with the property owner who said it was ok, and it turns out the nest is actually easily visible from a public road! Granted it’s a lesser-traveled road in my semi-rural county, but I’ve driven by there countless times over the years and never noticed it. A perfect example of the mindlessness of routine and our human bias toward seeing what’s at ground level. Heh — I need to take my own advice to look up more often.”
OceanDiver writes—The Daily Bucket - winter wet woodland: “We’ve had a few weeks of unseasonably warm winter weather in the Northwest, kind of a surprise since this is still technically a La Niña year. Often we do get cold weather later on, in February and March, so this La Niña may still pan out. Mountain snowpack is not bad in the North Cascades and Olympics, but it is way below normal in the Southern Cascades of Washington right down into Oregon and California. The woodsy scene above looks quite damp, and it is, with spongey saturated ground and decomposing leaves. You might be surprised to know our total annual precipitation right here is 22”. But virtually all of that falls between October and April, and stays in the ground. All our vascular plants are dormant, so they aren’t drawing groundwater up into foliage to be used or transpired. It just gets wetter and wetter until spring wakes up the vegetation. Spring wakeup for plants is driven mostly by photoperiod: they need enough light to power photosynthesis, and that means both hours between sunrise to sunset and also how high up the sun is during the day. In those terms it’s still winter here at 48° latitude North. Animals are starting to move about though. I’ve been seeing newts, slugs and insects, all a bit early. After our surprising white Xmas, it’s been warmer than usual in January.”
OceanDiver writes—The Daily Bucket - calm and stormy: “Makes a difference what direction the wind blows here on the Salish Sea. My closest bay has entirely different personalities depending on whether the wind is out of the Southeast — as it is most often in winter storms arriving from the Pacific Ocean — or from elsewhere, since this bay faces SE. These are inland waters, not the open ocean, so most of the time we get no breaking waves. Standing at exactly the same spot, just before sunset, these were two different days in January. I’m up on an old seawall, with the bluff (compacted glacial sediment) eroding around it on both sides. Driftwood helps slow down the erosion but one of these days the seawall will fall over. On a calm day, mergansers feed along the shore in a pretty sunset.”
wesmorgan1 writes—Daily Bucket: Get More Science in Your Twitter: “I spend a lot of time on Twitter. It started because my employer wanted us to engage on social media — not only to talk about our company’s products and services, but also just to engage with folks in general on ‘related topics.’ So, given a reason to keep an eye on Twitter throughout my day, I’ve been using it for all sorts of things, from politics (including Daily Kos) and banknotes (I collect them) to history and science. I thought I’d take the opportunity to share some of the “science stuff” to be found on Twitter. Some of these will be good sources for ‘backyard science’ folks, while others lean more toward the theoretical and research areas of the sciences and some are — I admit — simply ‘wow, look at THAT’ or ‘Huh, who knew?’ sources to lighten up my Twitter day. So, without further ado, here are 40 or so ‘science Twitter’ sources. Most of these are organizational accounts, simply because they’re more likely to have a steady stream of information than are individual accounts. (Note: I’m also focusing on US sources; if you’re outside the US, please feel free to clue us in on Twitter resources in your area.)”
RonK writes—The Daily Bucket: Sharing a Salmon Lunch with a Bald Eagle: “Along the salmon spawning creeks and rivers of the west coast, winter is spawning time for salmon and gorging time for eagles. And it is great for us as well to watch them play out their age old sustenance routines in their natural habitat. Granddaughter Ava and I drove up the Mt. Baker Highway along the Nooksack River where chum salmon were still spawning and steelhead abound. We started at the Nooksack River Salmon hatchery at Kendall Creek adjacent to the river. There are typically salmon around the nearby spawning streams this time of year, especially those close to the Nooksack River. Where there are salmon spawning, there are spent carcasses and where there are salmon carcasses, there are Bald Eagles. Who can blame them? These relationships were crystal clear to Northwest Coast Indians who featured these two icons in much of their art and totem creations. [...] Salmon is a near perfect food for humans, and from what I see of eagles around here, it is pretty nutritious for them too. A salmon a day is good for keeping the eagle feathers glossy.”
Lenny Flank writes—Photo Diary: Florida Everglades, Anhinga Trail: “OK, I confess—despite living in Florida for almost 20 years, I never visited the Everglades. So now that I am in Miami, I had to fix that. The Everglades is in effect three separate parks, each with its own entrance and primary areas. The most popular by far is the Royal Palm area, near Homestead FL. Most of the species here will already be familiar from other areas of Florida. But the Everglades itself is a unique system—there is nothing like it anywhere else in the world. As southern Florida’s heavy rainfall builds up, it flows through the southern tip of the state to the Gulf Of Mexico, forming what is in effect a very wide, very shallow and very slow-moving river.”
CLIMATE CHAOS
Meteor Blades writes—Pentagon strips 'climate change' from yet another essential defense planning document: “No surprise to anyone, in the second of three interlocking security reports—the National Defense Strategy—the Pentagon has eliminated any reference to climate change. Just as it did in the first of the reports issued last month and can be expected to do with the third, to be completed later this year. Alexander C. Kaufman, who has been following the issue at HuffPost, calls it ‘an Orwellian rhetorical shift away from a scientific reality at an agency that has long avoided the issue’s politics’: A summary document released Friday morning makes no mention of “climate,’ ‘warming,’ ‘planet,’ ‘sea levels’ or even ‘temperature.’ All 22 uses of the word ‘environment’ refer to the strategic or security landscape. The 11-page memo, signed by Defense Secretary James Mattis, is the first update to the policy in a decade. It’s unlikely the Department of Defense will release a full National Defense Strategy report; instead, the document is expected to remain classified.”
AKALib writes—NASA Data Confirms that 2017 Was the Second Hottest Year on Record: “Here is some more data from NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) confirming that Earth’s global surface temperatures in 2017 ranked as the second warmest since 1880. Continuing the planet’s long-term warming trend, globally averaged temperatures in 2017 were 0.90 degrees Celsius (1.62 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than the 1951 to 1980 mean. That is second only to global temperatures in 2016. 2016 held the previous record, 2015 was at par with 2017 - but those two years were affected by El Niño, while 1027 was not.”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—The Mörner the Merrier: Six Sloppy Sea Level Rise Denial Studies Seen in Sub-Par Journals: “It’s safe to say that deniers rarely get their work published in peer-reviewed literature. So longtime sea level rise denier Nils-Axel Mörner and his co-author Pamela Matlack-Klein must be celebrating having published six papers in actual scientific journals, written thanks to a funded trip to Fiji. Graham Readfearn reported last week in DeSmog that the pair got funding from the fossil-fuel-friendly CO2 Coalition to go to Fiji and produce studies disputing the consensus that sea level rise is happening due to human activity. The studies were, somewhat miraculously, published in the peer-reviewed literature instead of the usual dark-corner-of-the-internet blog posts we see from these types. Unfortunately for Mörner and Matlack-Klein, the journals publishing their studies aren’t much different than blogs--Australian National University’s Kurt Lambeck told Readfearn they’re ‘of little academic standing’.”
Pakalolo writes—Evidence of rapid climate change in the Arctic as permafrost erosion transforms the Arctic food web: “Over the decades, the sea ice has thinned and decreased in extent. The National Snow and Ice Data Center in a January 3, 2018 post notes the following, ‘Arctic sea ice extent in December 2017 was below average in both the far northern Atlantic and the Bering Sea, and notably high temperatures prevailed over most of the Arctic, especially over Central Alaska.’Recently, polar scientists have found that melting sea ice is increasing the flow of nutrients into the central Arctic from the continental shelf. Oceans Deeply writes on a study that confirms there is a huge threat below the sea ice in Eurasia, ocean warming. Russia – is becoming more and more like the ice-free waters of the Atlantic Ocean as warm currents creep in. This ‘atlantification”’has caused weaker stratification in the ocean’s unique water column, heating up the cold surface layer. The sudden shift has wide-reaching implications for everything from the ocean’s response to acidification to changes in nutrient productivity to sea ice loss.
ian douglas rushlau writes—For the second time today, we learn that global warming is likely to be worse than we thought: “And now it seems even the climate models that offer the least optimistic estimates of how much the earth is warming, may still be too optimistic: A new international analysis of marine fossils shows that warming of the polar oceans during the Eocene, a greenhouse period that provides a glimpse of Earth’s potential future climate, was greater than previously thought … Importantly, when modern climate models – the same as those used in the United Nations’ recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reports – were run under Eocene conditions, many could not replicate these findings. Instead, the models consistently underestimated polar ocean warming in the Eocene … ‘Yes, the tropics are warming but nowhere near to the same degree as the polar regions,’ Evans said. ‘That’s something we really need to be able to understand and replicate in climate models. The fact that many models are unable to do that at the moment is worrying.’ (emphasis added)”
Pakalolo writes—Global temperature targets will be missed in 17 years unless carbon emissions reversed: “A new study spells it out for humanity. A warming world will not be taking any prisoners. The year 2100 has provided to much cover for those who want to kick the climate change time bomb down the road for the grandchildren to deal with. Instead, we have 17 years to reverse the damage from greenhouse gases or our fates will be sealed. In their latest paper, published in the February issue of Nature Geoscience, Dr Philip Goodwin from the University of Southampton and Professor Ric Williams from the University of Liverpool have projected that if immediate action isn't taken, the earth's global average temperature is likely to rise to 1.5°C above the period before the industrial revolution within the next 17-18 years, and to 2.0°C in 35-41 years respectively if the carbon emission rate remains at its present-day value. Through their projections, Dr Goodwin and Professor Williams advise that cumulative carbon emissions needed to remain below 195-205 PgC (from the start of 2017) to deliver a likely chance of meeting the 1.5°C warming target while a 2°C warming target requires emissions to remain below 395-455 PgC.”
OCEANS, WATER, DROUGHT
Dan Bacher writes—Delta Tunnels Hearings for Jan. 18 through Feb. 1 are cancelled! ”The California Water Fix hearing team at the State Water Resources Control Board in Sacramento just announced that the Delta Tunnels project hearing days scheduled for January 18 through February 1 are cancelled. They cancelled the hearings to give the hearing officers time to review all four motions filed by counties, cities, fishing groups and environmental organizations yesterday asking for a 90 day stay in the hearings, due to alleged illegal ‘ex parte communications’ and meetings between the Department of Water Resources and State Water Board staff.”
Dan Bacher writes—Stop the Trump water plan! “I strongly oppose the Trump administration’s draft plan to ‘maximize water deliveries’ and increase Delta water exports to corporate agribusiness interests in the San Joaquin Valley. Over 28 years ago a small group of anglers and environmentalists fought to get the Sacramento winter-run Chinook salmon listed for protection under the state and federal Endangered Species Acts. Historically, winter-run Chinook spawned in the upper reaches of Sacramento River tributaries, including the McCloud, Pit, and Sacramento rivers. Shasta and Keswick dams now block access to the historic spawning areas. Beginning in 1970, the remaining population experienced a dramatic decline, plummeting to a low of only 200 spawners by the early 1990’s, due to dramatic increases in water exports through the State Water Project and Central Valley water project pumps in the South Delta. A small but vocal group, including Chuck De Journette of the Tehama Fly Fishers and John Merz, then the executive director of the Sacramento River Preservation Trust, the Fish Sniffer publisher Half Bonslett and others, kept going to the Commission meetings and working on the federal level for the listing of the winter run Chinook as endangered.”
Dan Bacher writes—Treatment Plant Discharges 4.4 Million Gallons of Untreated Wastewater Into Monterey Bay: ”How is that ‘iconic network of jewels of the sea’ created under the ‘most open, transparent and inclusive process’ in California history, according to Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative proponents, working out? Not very well, it appears, if you consider a recent untreated wastewater spill that is likely to foul these so-called ‘marine protected areas” off the Monterey County coast, just like the Refugio Oil Spill fouled Santa Barbara County beaches and ‘marine protected areas’ on May 20, 2015. Approximately 4.4 million gallons of untreated wastewater have been discharged into the blue waters of Monterey Bay through an ocean outfall discharge pipe 2.5 miles off shore, the result of an ‘equipment control failure’ at the Monterey One Water Regional Treatment Plant in Marina, California, on January 19 and 20.”
Dan Bacher writes—Beach closures lifted, but all Monterey County beaches posted with rain advisory—“The Beach Closures due to the sewage spill have been lifted, according to an update from the Monterey County Health Department yesterday evening: However, all Monterey County Beaches have been posted with a rain advisory due to the current weather. The public is advised not to have ocean water contact for three days after today’s rain event. Monterey One Water (formerly the Monterey Regional Water Pollution Control Agency) reported to the Environmental Health Bureau that sewage had spilled into Monterey Bay due to an equipment failure (headworks bar screen) at their wastewater treatment facility in Marina. The release was stopped at 4:30 am on the 20th of January. The spill has been estimated to be as much as 4.9 million gallons.”
Dan Bacher writes—Restore the Delta calls for abolition of Delta Stewardship Council: “Today, Restore the Delta called for the abolition of the Delta Stewardship Council (DSC) in a powerful comment letter directed at the Council’s recently released Draft Program Environmental Impact Report (DPEIR) on the Delta Plan Amendments that would greenlight the Delta tunnels and other new storage projects around the state. In the letter, Restore the Delta disclosed that 65 of 75 impacts listed in the report were significant and unavoidable according to the DSC, which justified such harmful impacts as reflective of the DSC’s inability to control what other state and federal water agencies do.”
JessicaSutherland writes—In April, Cape Town could become the first major city in the world to run out of water: “It’s never been this bad here. Not in over a century. But it might just be the “new normal.” That’s the message Cape Town, South Africa’s political leadership is working hard to convey to the city residents after three years of persistent drought conditions have left the municipal water supply at historic, crisis-level lows. As the city struggles to identify and implement other methods of obtaining water, it’s expected that water will run out on April 21, unless residents drastically cut back consumption rates. But even as unwashed hair becomes proof of doing one's civic duty, not nearly enough residents are doing what needs to be done in order to slow things down. A full 46 percent are failing to comply, according to TIME.”
sfluke writes—Cape Town Is About to Have No Water: “The 4 million residents of Cape Town, South Africa, are about to experience climate change on a horrifying scale. Three years of unforgiving drought in Cape Town, South Africa, have led to the once-unthinkable: A great world city is about to turn off the tap to its municipal water supply. The long-feared ‘Day Zero’—the point when the reservoirs serving Cape Town drop below the minimum levels needed to provide water safely—will arrive April 21. What is “Day Zero”? After all, it’s only two and a half months away. ‘Day Zero is the day that the water resource system runs out of water,’ said Mark New, the AXA Research Chair in African Climate Risk at the University of Cape Town, in an email. What does this mean? ‘No water coming out the taps. Toilets cannot be flushed. Fire services cannot get water out of the fire hydrants. People will have to walk to water tankers to fill up drinking water bottles’. World empires have risen and fallen on the availability of water. Access to water has driven mass migrations and led to wars. In other words, this is no joke.”
CANDIDATES, STATE AND DC ECO-RELATED POLITICS
Ojeda4Congress writes—I hoped Trump would fight for coal country. I was wrong: “I had a choice between a candidate who swore he would help and an opponent who guaranteed more of my friends and family would lose their jobs. So in this election, I chose to vote Republican and give Donald Trump a chance. Now, he’s blowing it. Coal jobs in West Virginia have increased since President Trump took office. More men are going back to work, coal trucks are on the move and families are starting to rebuild. In the beginning, this was enough for most people to still support President Trump. And don’t misunderstand me here, thousands of West Virginians are still aboard the Trump train. But this is where I have to get off. [...] Again, these are my people. These are my friends and my family members. I backed President Trump because I thought he would help them. But I am beginning to realize that the only people he backs are just like him: wealthy, powerful, with no regard for people living paycheck to paycheck.”
ENERGY
Kenneth DeBacker writes—What's with privatization of Puerto Rico's energy grid? “Caught this on Yahoo News about the governor Ricardo Rossell of Puerto Rico allowing for the electrical grid to be sold off to for profit corporations.”
Fossil Fuels
poopdogcomedy writes—VA-Sen: Tim Kaine (D) Fights Back Against Trump & Ryan Zinke's Offshore Drilling Plans: “Received this e-mail today from U.S. Senator Tim Kaine’s (D. VA) re-election campaign: It's been nearly a week since we last emailed you about our offshore drilling concerns, and we have nothing to report. That's right, we've gotten complete radio silence from the Trump administration. We can't say we're surprised. Avoiding responsible governing in favor of showmanship and Twitter? Not exactly a new and exciting tactic for these guys. But it's irresponsible nonetheless. Because Virginia's leaders -- and even more importantly, Virginia's citizens -- have spoken up on this issue. On Saturday, we sent you a key survey to get your take and thousands of respondents weighed in. It just couldn't be any clearer: Expanding offshore drilling will hurt Virginia, and everyone knows it. The move by the Trump administration to exempt Florida from this major change in policy while ignoring other states is hypocritical at best and brazenly partisan at worst. But of course, partisanship *isn't* actually the worst thing here -- negative impact on our coastal communities and naval operations is.”
christinelarusso writes—#ShutItALLDown: If Jerry Brown Won't Close Aliso Canyon, Will Our Next Governor? “Last weekend, several candidates vying for Jerry Brown’s position as Governor met for a public, KPCC-hosted Town Hall, held at USC. I heard about the event via Food & Water Watch California’s Facebook event, asking Los Angeles residents to show up and demand answers from the gubernatorial candidates: what is the plan to shut down Aliso Canyon for good, and will that plan become a priority on day one of their tenure, should they become Governor? A bit of background: Aliso Canyon is a gas storage facility located in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles County. The facility started leaking in 2015, and leaked so much that it has been called the worst natural gas leak in U.S. history. Approximately 8,000 residents were told to evacuate. SoCalGas, a subsidiary of Sempra Energy, claimed the leak was stopped, the facility was capped, residents should feel free to move back into their homes, nothing was wrong. According to the Los Angeles Times, ‘after a state appeals court lifted a temporary ban on operations, Southern California Gas resumed injections at the facility this past summer and has been conducting safety improvements. Use of the facility is now allowed on a limited basis, but opponents want the site shut down entirely’.”
Renewables, Efficiency & Conservation
Meteor Blades writes—That 30% solar tariff Trump boasts will protect U.S. workers will kill tens of thousands of jobs: “In yet another decision by the Trump regime to put obstacles in the path of renewable energy, the pr*sident announced the imposition of a 30 percent tariff on solar cells and modules Monday. The tariff will drop to 15 percent in its fourth year. The target: China, which currently produces 61 percent of solar cells and 71 percent of solar modules, according to a fact sheet issued by the U.S. Trade Representative’s office. [...] The tariff was presented by Pr*sident Trump as a means to ‘protect American jobs and American workers.’ In fact, it is widely seen in the U.S. solar industry as doing the opposite. For instance, GTM Research forecast new solar installations will fall 11 percent between now and 2022 because of the tariff. And while the tariff supposedly would give a boost to workers, only about 2,000 of the 38,000 workers employed in the manufacturing end of the industry make solar cells. The Solar Energy Industries Association, a trade group, predicts that some 23,000 solar jobs of a total of about 260,000 will be lost in 2018 as decisions are made not to install solar. China has about 1.5 million workers in the solar industry.”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Solar Tariffs Won’t Save Coal, But Will Temporarily Slow Solar Job Growth: “Like the Red Queen demanding skulls, Trump reportedly spent the first six months in the White House telling staffers 'Tariffs. I want tariffs.' Looks like Trump has finally gotten his chance to flex his isolationist muscles--and needlessly hurt a rapidly growing sector that employs five times as many Americans as his beloved coal industry. Unfortunately for this bumbling administration, by placing a 30% tariff on imported solar cells and panels, it’s really not accomplishing much. True, the move will piss off the majority of Americans who love solar power, including solar-happy red states, as well as the conservatives who love the free market. It’s not often that we agree with conservative ‘free-market’ groups- including the Daily Caller! For example, Heritage Foundation points out that Trump is pitting two solar companies against the entire industry, a bad deal if ever there were one. Though bad, it’s not that big a deal, it seems. Panel prices are only about a tenth of the total cost of a home PV system, so an increase in costs there will be marginal. And the federal Investment Tax Credit offers a 30% credit for solar installations, meaning a portion of this tariff will end up being paid by taxpayer funds anyway.”
wintire writes—Trump imperils fledgling solar industry with 30% import tariff on solar panel technology: “Taking a backseat to the shutdown news yesterday was an announcement that the Trump administration imposed a 30% tariff on imported solar panel technology: Via Time: In the biggest blow he’s dealt to the renewable energy industry yet, President Donald Trump decided on Monday to slap tariffs on imported solar panels. The U.S. will impose duties of as much as 30 percent on solar equipment made abroad, a move that threatens to handicap a $28 billion industry that relies on parts made abroad for 80 percent of its supply. Just the mere threat of tariffs has shaken solar developers in recent months, with some hoarding panels and others stalling projects in anticipation of higher costs. The Solar Energy Industries Association has projected tens of thousands of job losses in a sector that employed 260,000.”
NBBooks writes—Bids to build renewable energy in Colorado point to a bright future: “In Colorado, an electric utility's request for proposals to build new generating capacity resulted in stunning evidence that renewables are now cheaper than fossil fuels—even with storage capacity included for when solar and wind are ‘down.’ This merely confirms that there is a boom in renewable energy underway, but judged from the perspective of the task at hand--putting the entire global economy on a renewable energy basis and eliminating the burning of fossil fuels altogether--this boom is merely a blip. Bloomberg New Energy Finance, which has been tracking global investments in the sector for the past ten years, reported that renewable energy investment in 2017 totaled $333.5 billion worldwide, up three percent from 2016. The 2017 numbers were the second highest yet recorded, and brought cumulative investment in renewables since 2010 to $2.5 trillion. This may sound like a lot of money--and it is--but it should also be viewed in the context of fossil fuels being subsidized $1.9 trillion a year. And that number is from five years ago.”
gmoke writes—Zero Net Energy: “Clovis, CA net zero energy development; The Zero House - Zero net energy, Zero carbon footprint, Zero toxins, Zero construction waste; slide show; Transforming the Real Estate Market: Scaling Net-Zero Energy Homes at No Additional Up-front Cost [...]”
SouthernLeveller writes—Green Energy News: Week 4: “In the wake of *45’s weakness and the U.S. retreat from global leadership, China continues to be the world’s leader in the renewable energy transition. (I’m sure the Chinese people will rejoice when this quickly leads to better air quality in their cities!) CNBC’s website profiles six (6) of China’s most ambitious green energy projects this morning. [...] In a cautionary note, writing in Forbes, contributing writer Ken Forbes outlines how many companies are ‘riding the renewable energy wave,’ but are neglecting obvious and cheap energy-saving measures. The article cites Bill Brewer, Vice Pres. of Energy and Sustainability Services at Schneider Electric, ‘There is a lack of coordination and strategic planning and an inability to share budgets to get greater buying power. There is also insufficient knowledge that these programs are out there, and it all takes expertise and time’.”
Pipelines & Other Fossil Fuel Transport
6412093 writes—Sanction-busting tanker ship of laundered Russian LNG chugging towards Boston: “On a dark and stormy December 9th last month, the tanker ship Chris. De Margerie snuck out of Novatek’s marine export terminal in Yamal, Russia, its storage tanks brimming with LNG. But the United States has active sanctions imposed against trafficking with Novatek. The US imposed the sanctions against Novatek, Russia’s largest non-state gas company, after Russia’s Crimean and Ukraine aggressions. So the Chris De Margerie needed to disguise the origins of its illicit cargo from Novatek. On December 28, it offloaded the fuel at a terminal near London, England.Just two days later, the Engie SA Gaselys tanker appeared at the same terminal, loaded up with LNG, and set sail for Boston, estimated arrival January 22. While it had diverted course towards the Mediterranean, the Engie tanker is still scheduled to dock in Boston on the 22nd. Engie has operated an LNG terminal north of Boston for almost 50 years.”
MINING
Winter Rabbit writes—Black Hills Gold Mining Permit Granted 2 Mineral Mountain Resources w/ NO Tribal Consultation Update: “Ruth Hopkins informs us, ‘A new gold exploration permit has been approved for the sacred Black Hills. Lakota tribes were not consulted nor did they consent. [...] Gold is not just what the United States through Mineral Mountain wants to extract in the Black Hills - tribal sovereignty is with everything that means. Company's plan to drill for gold angers some Rochford landowners. Mineral Mountain has said in company documents that it considers the Rochford area to be under-explored for gold and similar to the geological environment of the former Homestake mine in Lead, where much of the 45 million ounces of gold mined in the Black Hills since the 1800s was found. The fascist Tr*mp Administration wants tribes to lose. To illustrate, this push toward privatization, commercialization, and development will strip many native tribes of their sacred lands in the process.”
REGULATIONS & PROTECTIONS
committed writes—In one year, dollar amount of pollution-control equipment and cleanup activity dropped by 85%: “One year in, Trump's environmental agenda is already taking a measurable tollOne year in, Trump's environmental agenda is already taking a measurable toll. One year into the Trump administration’s unrelenting push to dilute and disable clean air and water policies, the impact is being felt in communities across the country. Power plants have been given expanded license to pollute, the dirtiest trucks are being allowed to remain on the roads and punishment of the biggest environmental scofflaws is on the decline. The real-time impact of the most industry-friendly regulatory regime in decades is at times overshadowed by policy battles that are years from resolution.”
Meteor Blades writes—Union of Concerned Scientists sues EPA over Scott Pruitt's kicking scientists off advisory boards: “Back in October, Environmental Protection Agency-hating EPA chief Scott Pruitt announced a directive about who could advise the agency on its research and regulatory priorities. Scientists who received EPA grants for their research would no longer be permitted to serve on any of the agency’s 23 advisory committees. That, of course, applies to just about any scientist of note who has investigated anything having to do with the environment. The EPA claimed that this approach would ensure advisers are "independent and free from any real, apparent or potential interference with their ability to objectively serve as a committee member." But—surprise!!—advisers who have received grants or funding from industries notorious for the environmental wreckage they have created are not excluded by the directive. Now, the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) and an individual scientist represented by Protect Democracy have sued the EPA in the matter.”
woodguru writes—The Science Komity Investigating Scientist For Doing Science, This Is What Happens With No Brakes: “Make it stop, it hurts… the stupid it burns. The science committee head who has in fact worked for the fossil industry wants an anti fossil fuel scientist investigated for doing unpaid lobbying on behalf of anti industry organizations … this is cringe worthy Saturday Night Live comedy material here, except this crap isn’t funny anymore. When a political party is crossing the line of what’s acceptable and getting away with it, when the entity being affected or harmed isn’t making it stop, the violations keep getting worse. Further incursions into more damaging behavior becomes even harder to stop. In fact we see legal issues where when the early behavior wasn’t stopped the question becomes a narrative based on, ‘why did you allow this to go on if it wasn’t okay? A rape victim ends up held accountable for not saying no to the kiss, not saying no to the invitation to come up to the room, not saying no to having a drink. If you didn’t want this person why did you kiss him?’”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Will Trump’s 2017 Deregulatory Success Survive the Courts? “Nowhere has that pro-polluter agenda been more obvious than the EPA. In his latest piece for the Huffington Post, Alex Kaufman talked to former EPA administrators who have sharp words for how Pruitt’s run the agency. George W. Bush’s EPA admin, Christine Todd Whitman, called Pruitt and Trump’s single-minded anti-Obama approach ‘mindless,’ while Clinton’s admin Carol Browner noted that they’re ‘conscientiously tearing the place down.’ Heartland, of course, is pleased with this idea: in a newsletter sent last week, the institute tallies up its wins, referring to a scorecard with Trump’s actions on one side and its wishlist on the other. Ever-adverse to truth and reality, Heartland claims as “DONE” some things that are definitely not yet accomplished, like withdrawing from the Paris Agreement and repealing the Clean Power Plan. Even the other red-tape-cutting isn’t as clear cut as Heartland would like--(de)regulatory actions take a while, and are subject to litigation. For example, Danny Vinik writes in Politco this week about Trump’s claim to have cut 22 regulations for every rule he’s made, supposedly cutting costs by $8.1 billion in costs. But according to Vinik, ‘the vast majority of that $8.1 billion in savings came from the repeal of a single federal contracting rule’.”
SUSTAINABILITY & EXTINCTION
bobburnett writes—The politics of Sustainability: “As Democrats embark on a ten-month campaign to take back Congress, it's clear they need a unifying message. Because Republicans are defined by Trump, Dems could unite on the theme, ‘lock him up.’ While satisfying, this slogan doesn't capture the depravity of Trump's reign or the fact that Republicans have sold their souls uniting behind him. A better solution for Democrats would be to focus on sustainability. Within the environmental movement, sustainability means: ‘avoidance of the depletion of natural resources in order to maintain an ecological balance.’ The key notion is that we live within a system that, to function properly, has to be balanced. What is true for the environment is also true for the US economy and for our national security. Democrats must have a sustainable vision for each of these systems.”
WILDERNESS, NATIONAL FORESTS AND PARKS, OTHER PUBLIC LANDS
Laura Clawson writes—'We don't have a plan yet,' as Trump administration pushes to keep national parks open in shutdown: “How shocking. The Trump administration’s PR-driven plan to keep national parks kinda sorta open during a government shutdown hasn’t been fully planned or even thought through at the most basic level. Officials from three sites said Thursday they were unsure how to proceed. ‘We don’t have a plan yet,’ said Abby Wines, spokeswoman for Death Valley National Park in California, which is seeing 80,000 visitors a month. ‘We just got a memo about this yesterday. Today’s the first day we’re seriously thinking about this.’ [...] Theresa Pierno, president of the National Parks Conservation Association, said in an email that ‘the vague direction’ superintendents are receiving from headquarters puts them ‘in an impossible situation.’ But the important thing is that Trump not be blamed when people get turned away at the barricaded entries to national parks. Much better that visitors and parks alike be endangered by “open” but drastically understaffed parks, as long as the problems aren’t easy for news organizations to photograph.”
Blue Tsunami writes—Cowboy Z’s “policies to willfully destroy” national parks blasted by resigning board member: “Dr. Margaret Wheatley, one of eight members of the National Parks advisory board who resigned this past week to protest Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s “stonewalling” of the work the board is charged, by law, to do, blasted Zinke in a powerful op-ed published in today’s Salt Lake Tribune. Wheatley, an internationally recognized expert in organizational behavior, writes that, ‘sane, strategic planning has been overwhelmed by politics, opinions, and instant decisions that create more harm than good ...’ ”
ECO-ACTION & ECO JUSTICE
Michael Brune writes—Why the Sierra Club Will March Again: “This Sunday marks the first anniversary of the Women’s March that happened on the day after Donald Trump’s inauguration — the largest protest march in our nation’s history. The Sierra Club was there that day, and we’ll be there this year, too — at a significant moment for women’s rights and justice. Some people still ask whether ‘rights and justice for women’ qualifies as an “environmental issue.” In their minds, the Sierra Club, as an environmental organization, should stick to a prescribed list of issues that are “environmental” and otherwise mind its own business. I have two responses to this: one specific and one more general. First, women’s rights are absolutely an environmental issue. Among our most basic human rights are the ability to breathe clean air, drink clean water, and live in a healthy environment. Toxic pollution and climate disruption threaten those rights for everyone, but the consequences often fall hardest on women. After Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005, for instance, 80 percent of those left behind in the Lower Ninth Ward were women. For women, exposure to toxic pollution, the risk of sexual violence, and the denial of basic reproductive healthcare are not discrete threats; they are a knotted pattern of injustice that must be disentangled and eradicated. The more general problem, though, is this notion of ‘issues.’ Yes, the Sierra Club tackles social justice and environmental issues, but our work would be meaningless if it were not motivated by something deeper: values.”
ian douglas rushlau writes—Where all progressive lines intersect: A profile of the women of Standing Rock: “Orion Magazine gives us a remarkable profile of indigenous women, in prose and pictures, and including their original poetry, memorializing the efforts of these women to defend their land, their families and communities. The article is entitled Women and Standing Rock: The people of Standing Rock Reservation and their allies have stood solid in prayer to face lines of armed police who used attack dogs, tasers, tear gas, rubber bullets, water cannons, and sonic weaponry to silence this undeniable truth: Mni Wiconi. ‘Water is life.’ The Standing Rock standoff was a response to plans to build the Dakota Access pipeline, and represents the confluence of racism, misogyny, environmental degradation by billionaire carbon profiteers, and economic injustice backed by the force of law, and the firepower of law enforcement, with a global perspective.”
FreeSpeechZone writes—Diamond Oil Pipeline Opponents Get Churned through the Court System in Memphis, Tennessee: “Is this the First Amendment on trial, and self-described ‘water protectors’ are the proxy? More than a year after a bold action in front of Valero Refinery on MLK Day 2017, four remaining defendants who were chained to concrete-filled barrels have made five court appearances, going on seven. The jury trial of four Class C misdemeanor defendants who opposed the Diamond Oil Pipeline on Jan. 16, 2017, was continued until April 30 in Shelby County criminal court. Their day in court was bumped for an aggravated rape case—you know, an actual criminal offense—according to Circuit Court Division III Judge Bobby Carter. Pro bono defense attorneys dug in their heels as a First Amendment issue and are working the case hard for no money, even asking the court for a motion hearing on how the judge should craft jury instructions. It's pretty arcane stuff, but indicates they badly want to win an acquittal.”
AGRICULTURE, FOOD & GARDENING
Kishik writes—Saturday Morning Garden Blogging ~ Vol 14.3: I'm dreaming of a....: “Do you grow from seed? Or do you get starter plants? Do you plot out where you’ll plant things in your garden or are you like me — at some point get so rushed to put things in some go in willy-nilly… wherever there’s room? [...] But it’s catalog time!!! I’ve just started to peruse through them to get me through these cold winter days. Since I started this diary earlier this week, the new Plants Delights catalog has arrived. Purchasing plants online is more expensive, but it allows you to expand on plant variety — especially if your growing season is short or you have lousy local GCs that don’t stock variety. There have been a number of online plant sites I’ve purchased from — pretty much relying on Dave’s Garden reviews to great success. Delights has a good solid variety of plants. They’re well grown and packed great!”
MISCELLANY
Walter Einenkel writes—House Science Committee wants to investigate scientist for reporting science for the government: “Ever since the House Science Committee was taken over by the likes of Texas Rep. Lamar Smith, it has been using its powers to harass scientists, protect the oil and gas industry from climate change culpability, and generally attack the reasons we are supposed to have a House Science Committee in the first place. Now Smith and Arizona Rep. Andy Biggs—best known for being booed offstage by his constituents for denying climate change science—have decided to go after a government scientist for … practicing science. Linda Birnbaum, director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, wrote an editorial called ‘Regulating toxic chemicals for public and environmental health’ last month. In it she and co-author Liza Gross give a history of regulations in the United States since President Gerald Ford signed the United States Toxic Substances Control Act in the fall of 1976.”
ConnieGallant writes—Military to dictate land use in WA State, per HB 2341: “Washington State's HB 2341 allows the military to dictate what uses shall be allowed, and whether any development shall be allowed on any land in the State of Washington - including an expansion of military training exercises into private lands, forcing people to move. (Read article on Truthout.org) Any commander of any military installation operating within or adjacent to Washington State would have the sole authority to determine whether incompatibility in land use exists. This means, of course, that if a commander determines that your land is obstructing any military operations at all, the commander can impact pretty much what your outcome will be — and it can include forcing you to move. According to Truthout.org's reporter Dahr Jamail, ‘Washington State's HB 2341 essentially cedes control of land use to the commanders of military bases by way of granting the Department of Defense (DOD) the status of equal partner in planning, under Washington State's Growth Management Act. This creates a structure that solidifies the status of the DOD as an equal partner in any planning for land use, transportation planning and spending priorities’.”