This is the 630th edition of the Spotlight on Green News & Views (previously known as the Green Diary Rescue). Here is the February 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—New words for a new world: Finding the right terms to describe mixed feelings about climate change: “We are enjoying early climate change impacts of warmer weather even when we know it’s wrong … and now we have new words to describe that sensation. Life in the Anthropocene, defined at Lexico as ‘the period during which human activity has been the dominant influence on climate and the environment,’ requires new words to describe novel experiences that combine the grim realities of climate catastrophe with pleasant results. Bringing this reality into daily life requires talking about its manifestations. We need to share our everyday experiences in a changing climate because people listen to friends and family more than they do a television voice, even (or especially) an expert scientist’s voice.”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—New Book Explains How Industry Corrupts Regulatory Science as A Key Corrupter Leaves EPA: “Good news, everyone! This week, Ryan Jackson, former Inhofe staffer turned Chief of Staff at the EPA, the one accused of bullying scientists over their congressional testimony and otherwise stonewalling the Office of the Inspector General, has decided to stop pretending to work on the public’s behalf and go work for the National Mining Association. Although he appears to have been taking direction from them already, according to emails obtained by E&E. Jackson is formally prohibited from lobbying under Trump’s ethics pledge, but because “Trump ethics pledge” is an oxymoron, that doesn’t mean much. While it prevents him from lobbying the EPA for five years, he’s allowed to be involved in court cases, regulation enforcement actions, and rulemakings.”
CRITTERS AND THE GREAT OUTDOORS
giddy thing writes—Dawn Chorus: Spring's Different Drummers: “One of the most welcome signs of early spring is the unmistakable sound of woodpecker drumming. Longer day length and surging hormones trigger the rapid hammering, which loudly asserts territorial and mating rights to other woodpeckers — ‘This is MY territory!’ Unlike other songbirds, woodpeckers don’t have a distinctive song as part of their avian vocabulary. Instead, drumming is the way woodpeckers communicate to establish and maintain their breeding territories. Drumming is also used to attract a mate, solicit sex, guard mates, maintain contact, and strengthen pair bonds. And drumming is not just the domain of males; females drum too, and pairs often engage in drumming duets.”
Michael Kal writes—Another Butterfly Protector Is Murdered: “From CNN: Raúl Hernández Romero, a part-time guide and conservationist at Mexico's largest monarch butterfly reserve, was discovered dead Friday in the Mexican state of Michoacán, local authorities said in a statement released Saturday. He was found with "blunt blows on different parts of the body and a head injury, caused by a sharp object," the statement said. His wife said he was last seen January 27… the second butterfly activist to be found dead in less than a week. Friday, the body of Homero Gomez Gonzalez was found, also in Ocampo, in a retention pond. According to authorities, he also had a head injury and died of drowning. He had been missing since January 13. Monarchs are under stress from chemicals, breeding areas being plowed under, and the over winter trees in Mexico threatened by illegal logging. Pollinators like butterflies and bees are critical to our food supply.”
CaptBLI writes—The Daily Bucket - Bird ID questions: “Oxford, Mississippi is my home. I am spending more time learning about the visiting and permanent wildlife here. I have more questions than answers, but am willing to explore and know other people are willing to do the same. This is one of the places I learn from. Thank you for participating. The bird in the title photo was flying with two other of it’s kind behind a doctor’s office. They flew into one of the few trees at the commercial office park. The birds possible came from the sparse woods surrounding the parking lots and lawns. I was able to get a still photo but no video. I did hear their song. When I got home, I started my search. Here are my best guesses. First, was Wood Thrush (but the song was not right). Second, was a Hermit Thrush. The song seemed right but the markings are off somewhat. I open the floor to discussion and speculation. I suspect winter coloring variation.”
Lenny Flank writes—Photo Diary: Some More Florida Critters: “Various critters seen lately around Palm Beach FL. Some native, some not.”
6412093 writes—The Daily Bucket--Tern, Turn, Turn: “We skedaddled out of Panama City heading kind of north on highway 2. But the paved road turned to dirt after 150 miles.By then we were as far south as you can go in the Northern Hemisphere. We’d driven to the tip of Panama’s southernmost peninsula. You could drive farther, but you would go through rivers every quarter-mile, and then into a National Preserve. In one day you could see both the sunrise and the sunset from the same seat on the beach without turning around. So we stayed at this magical place, 50 yards from the surf. At night we drank and danced with the staff. At dawn I walked the beaches with the gulls.”
Besame writes—Gray wolf found dead in NorCal (perhaps another killed by radical anti-environmentalists?) “Open aggression against wolves in California is escalating. A young wolf born in Oregon who traveled in nine northern California counties was found dead in Siskiyou County yesterday. She entered California two years ago and in her first six months traveled at least 638 miles and covered five counties. She was the daughter of famous traveling wolf OR-7, who visited California in 2011. He was the first wolf to enter the state since radical anti-environmentalist ranchers extirpated wolves nearly 100 years earlier. CDFW Press Release. OR-54, a female dispersing wolf approximately 3-4 years old, was found dead in Shasta County on February 5, 2020. OR-54 was born into Oregon's Rogue Pack most likely in 2016. She was the fourth Rogue Pack wolf known to have spent time in California.”
Besame writes—Daily Bucket: Coyote and badger buddy film: A trail camera documenting wildlife activity near major roads filmed a coyote and a badger traveling together. Peninsula Open Space Trust set up cameras near Gilroy California to learn more about how wildlife deal with the roads around the south end of the Santa Cruz Mountains. The camera recorded the pair communicating about a culvert underpass and sharing a moment like two predator people with complex lives (as they are). Coyotes and badgers are known to travel and hunt together but previously had not been seen doing so in this area. The two animals share some of the same prey species (rodents) but their hunting methods differ. Coyotes run fast but don’t dig well. Badgers run slowly but are great diggers. When hunting alone, a prey animal unable to outrun coyote might dive into a burrow to hide. When badger is hunting alone and digging into burrows, prey will jump out and run away. Coyote and badger don’t share the spoils when the hunt is successful, but the partnership boosts the chance that one of them will catch dinner.”
Magnifico writes—Overnight News Digest: Bumblebees Face Extinction: “Climate change has contributed to drastic declines in the population and diversity of bumblebees across North America and Europe, according to a new long-term study of more than 60 bee species published Thursday in the journal Science. In fact, the researchers discovered that bumblebees are disappearing at rates "consistent with a mass extinction.’ The scientists said that North America's bumblebee populations fell by 46 percent between the two time periods the study used – from 1901 to 1974 and from 2000 to 2014. […] ‘If declines continue at this pace, many of these species could vanish forever within a few decades,’ said study lead author Peter Soroye, a PhD student at the University of Ottawa, in a statement.”
OceanDiver writes—BackyardBirdRace/Daily Bucket combo - Let's start 2020! “To kick off 2020, I’m expanding my “backyard” to include not just my own property but also those places I go to on my daily walkies. That includes 4 different beaches within ¼-½ mile of my house. [...] Part of the reason I’m expanding my ‘backyard’ definition is I’m not able to be up and about as much as I used to be due to physical debility. My sampling will be more limited in time but more varied in habitat. I’ve been reporting my bird observations to eBird for some years now, so it’s easy enough to compare across years for the same locales. I’m looking on this project as a way of exploring the phenology of bird behavior in my immediate surroundings, where I can get to under my own steam.”
OceanDiver writes—The Daily Bucket - still rainin' still dreamin': “It doesn’t always rain in the PacificNorthwest but winter is the rainy season and wow have we had a lot in the past month. At my house, we’ve had 8.35” 8.94” (as of this morning Feb 7) since the beginning of January. That may not sound like much, but keep in mind our average annual precip is 20.5”, and we’re only 5 weeks into the year. Climate change models for the PacificNorthwest indicate this type of weather will become more typical in future. Specifically, according to the Climate Impacts Group, University of Washington, while our overall precipitation will not change much, summer precip will decrease and winter precip will increase. Every climate model forecasts an overall increase in temperature, between 5° to 10°F by 2100 depending on future emissions. Warmer winters means less mountain snowpack which will have severe consequences for this region. In summer, soil will be drier, vegetation more stressed and wildfires will worsen. In fall, with less snowmelt, stream flows will decline. All seasons will be warmer, so in winter we’ll see less snow and more rain.”
foresterbob writes—The Daily Bucket - Camellias at Georgia's Massee Lane Gardens: “Rarely do I say good things about non-native species. We Bucketeers have had numerous spirited discussions about invasive plants and animals. But there are some species that pose no known threat, and they make our lives a little brighter. One such species is Camellia japonica, the Japanese Camellia. Its blooming season runs through the coolest months of the year, giving us showy flowers at a time when bright colors are otherwise scarce. I’ve lived in the same house for 20 years. Some of my neighbors have camellias. They bloom faithfully every winter, and I’ve never seen any evidence of invasive tendencies. My immediate reason for this diary is that, after driving past Massee Lane Gardens dozens of times, I finally took the time to stop and look around. That was on January 10, an unseasonably warm day with temperatures in the 70s. Let’s take a walk down the yellow red brick road to see what’s blooming.”
CLIMATE CHAOS
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—If Public Pressure Means Climate Denial is Fading, What’s Next? Innovation Denial: “There’s an argument emerging that both people who say climate change is a hoax and people who say climate change is real but fossil fuels are too good to give up are using: it’s impossible to come up with new solutions, and the solutions to climate change we have are actually bad. That’s the gist of Heartland’s latest policy brief (promoted by WUWT), that the Green New Deal would actually be an environmental disaster. Why? Because if you want to power the country on 100% wind or 100% solar, it may end up taking up a lot of space: the size of New York and Vermont for solar, or Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregan and ‘most of West Virginia’ for the 2.12 million wind turbines. That is, if you give Heartland the benefit of the doubt about the veracity of their admitted estimations of land use, which we will do, because we are both lazy and smart enough to know that the real point isn’t exactly how much space they’ll take up, it’s that new renewable developments wouldn’t all need to take up now-wild areas.”
Pakalolo writes—Satellites show Antarctica's doomsday glacier is 'coming apart at the seams': “Leading scientists have warned that nine of the tipping points identified over a decade ago are now active. One of those tipping points is the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS). Thwaites glacier, also known as the doomsday glacier, has been alarming scientists about a looming collapse that could raise sea levels, rapidly (not immediately). International scientists have been intensively studying this particular glacier for over a decade. When Thwaites glacier collapses, it will likely take the rest of West Antarctica’s glaciers with it. West Antarctica has glaciers that extend for miles into the ocean. These marine extensions provide the plug that keeps the Inland Ice from flowing into the sea. In the case of Thwaites, the glacier flow has doubled in just the past three decades. The fast flow of ice into the ocean is raising sea levels, and inland snowfall is not replacing the ice that's lost to the sea, according to scientists. They emphasize that this situation will only get worse.”
Angmar writes—"Sea level rise accelerating along US coastlines Worldwide rise being driven by melting glaciers": “The pace of sea level rise accelerated at nearly all measurement stations along the US coastline in 2019, with scientists warning some of the bleakest scenarios for inundation and flooding are steadily becoming more likely. Of 32 tide-gauge stations in locations along the vast US coastline, 25 showed a clear acceleration in sea level rise last year, according to researchers at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (Vims). The selected measurements are from coastal locations spanning from Maine to Alaska. About 40% of the US population lives in or near coastal areas. The gathering speed of sea level rise is evident even within the space of a year, with water levels at the 25 sites rising at a faster rate in 2019 than in 2018.”
Maggiejean writes—Overnight News Digest: US Sea Level Rise Accelerating Edition: “The pace of sea level rise accelerated at nearly all measurement stations along the US coastline in 2019, with scientists warning some of the bleakest scenarios for inundation and flooding are steadily becoming more likely. Of 32 tide-gauge stations in locations along the vast US coastline, 25 showed a clear acceleration in sea level rise last year, according to researchers at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (Vims). The selected measurements are from coastal locations spanning from Maine to Alaska. About 40% of the US population lives in or near coastal areas. The gathering speed of sea level rise is evident even within the space of a year, with water levels at the 25 sites rising at a faster rate in 2019 than in 2018.”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—RCP8.5: World’s Stupidest Debate Makes Jump From Denialsphere To Mainstream: “It’s likely our readers are already aware of the conspiracy theory that claims scientists, media and activists focus on the worst-case climate scenarios where the world burns fossil fuels unrestrained, known as RCP8.5, in order to generate grants, drive clicks, or to scare the public into supporting climate action. When the Trump administration tried to downplay the terrifying possibilities laid out in the National Climate Assessment, for example, it (falsely) blamed the report’s focus on RCP8.5 as being alarmist. (And as Myron Ebell explained at the end of a story about Will Happer’s time in the Trump admin, undercutting the NCA with this argument was the precursor to an attempt undo the Endangerment finding, revealing the strategic purpose of their pursuit of this line of pseudoscientific attack.) Now, the Breakthrough Institute has successfully cleaned this narrative of its most obvious tinfoil-hat elements, and elevated this from the depths of the denialsphere, Twitter and the Daily Caller to the opinion pages of the WSJ, and now with an opinion piece in Nature.”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Roy Spencer Offers Prime Example Of Why Scientists Shouldn’t Work Alone: “When you use the correct baseline, it turns out that the models are exactly right. But Spencer remained undeterred in his quest to disparage models he clearly doesn’t understand, criticizing them (without evidence) for showing a decrease in the amount of CO2 the climate will absorb going forward. Spencer concludes with some well-earned humility, although the correction starts with “Well, as I suspected (and warned everyone),” as if this mistake was everyone else’s fault, and not his for publishing something he suspected was wrong in the first place. It’s just the sort of arrogance needed to believe your admittedly ignorant take on a complex issue is accurate and everyone else who actually studies the issue is wrong. ‘It can be claimed that my model is too simple, and does not contain the physics necessary to address how CO2 sinks change in the future,’ Spencer writes, using the passive tense to implicitly admit his model is useless because it fails to actually model the climate in any meaningful way.”
agnostic writes—Trump retasks NOAA: “Apparently someone on Faux made the mistake of explaining just how dangerous climate change is and how millions will be affected. But the biggest mistake was referring to how climate change would impact [Trump’s] golf courses and resorts. Perhaps that caused a rusty penny to drop and attracted the limited attention of our king, Impeached President Trump. Once again, he got pissed at his formerly favorite network. Then, he ordered his staff to assemble at 4 am, and laid out the new rules. All of NOAA resources will be concentrated on his golf courses around the world. With enough warning, he figured that dykes and sea walls could be built with money’s intended for Puerto Rico and infrastructure investment. You know, of course, this is nothing but snark, but it also is just one example of what an empowered post impeachment win Trump will try.”
ECO-ACTION & ECO JUSTICE
Dan Bacher writes—Environmental Justice Advocates Present Dangers of Oil Drilling to CA State Assembly: “On January 27, the California State Assembly held an oversight hearing to consider the sustainability and safety of California’s oil extraction industry in light of massive spills at Chevron’s Cymric oil field in Kern County over the last few years, according to a press release from the Last Chance Alliance. ‘We have a real opportunity to move California into a new direction, away from a dying, extractive economy toward one that protects our communities and our climate,’ said Ingrid Brostrom, assistant director of the Center on Race, Poverty & the Environment. ‘Nowhere else in the world allows for industrial oil operations in such close proximity to densely populated urban areas. California must do better to achieve our climate goals and protect communities, especially communities of color already overburdened with pollution across our state. We urge the State Assembly to enact sensible measures, like a 2,500 ft. health and safety buffer around extraction sites, to protect families and our environment’, said Brostrom.”
CANDIDATES, STATE AND DC ECO-RELATED POLITICS
ufw writes—UFW, UFWF leader urges U.S. climate crisis panel to protect farm workers from heat & pesticides: “Former United Farm Workers President Arturo S. Rodriguez is in Washington D.C. testifying today before the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis at a hearing entitled, ‘Creating a Climate Resilient America: Overcoming the Health Risks of the Climate Crisis.’ Following is the testimony presented by Rodriguez, who still serves the union as president emeritus, representing the UFW and UFW Foundation. While many of us work in climate controlled environments, farm workers across the nation toil under the scorching sun and during extreme weather events, to cultivate and harvest the food that reaches our tables. The danger farmworkers face due to heat exposure will only increase due to climate change. In addition to heat, farm workers are also on the front lines of exposure to a range of harmful pesticides. Not only is the use of pesticides expected to increase due to climate change, but the ways in which farmworkers protect themselves from harmful pesticides, such as by wearing extra clothing or personal protective equipment, can increase the risk of heat-related illness. Of the approximately 2.4 million farm workers across the country, roughly half of farmworkers are undocumented and roughly 10 percent are workers here on H-2A visas for temporary agricultural employment. To keep their employers happy and be invited back, H-2A workers will work to the limits of their endurance. The issues I speak of are not hypothetical. The farmworker communities that we serve are intimately and tragically familiar with the dangers of pesticide and heat exposure, as well as other impacts from climate change, such as wildfires.”
ENERGY
Fossil Fuels & Emissions Controls
Dan Bacher writes—Western States Petroleum Association Tops CA Lobbying Expenses with $8.8 Million Spent in 2019: “The Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA) the largest and most powerful corporate lobbying group in California, placed first in the annual lobbying “competition” in California in 2019 with $8.8 million spent on influencing legislators, the Governor’s office and other state officials, a position it captures most years. The San Ramon-based Chevron spent the third most money on lobbying in California last year, spending a total of $5.9 million. When you add the $8.8 million from WSPA and the $5.9 million from Chevron, that comes to a total of $14.7 million spent of lobbying between the two oil industry giants. Most notably, the money spent on lobbying by WSPA, Chevron and other oil companies was successful in preventing the Legislature from approving Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi’s AB 345, a bill to ensure that new oil and gas wells not on federal land are located 2,500 feet away from homes, schools, hospitals, playgrounds and health clinics,”
Angmar writes—Canada approves vast new tar sands mine which will pour carbon into the atmosphere through 2060s: “Bill McKibben. Canada elected a government that believes the climate crisis is real and dangerous – and with good reason, since the nation’s Arctic territories give it a front-row seat to the fastest warming on Earth. Yet the country’s leaders seem likely in the next few weeks to approve a vast new tar sands mine which will pour carbon into the atmosphere through the 2060s. They know—yet they can’t bring themselves to act on the knowledge. Now that is cause for despair. The Teck mine would be the biggest tar sands mine yet: 113 square miles of petroleum mining, located just 16 miles from the border of Wood Buffalo national park. A federal panel approved the mine despite conceding that it would likely be harmful to the environment and to the land culture of Indigenous people. These giant tar sands mines (easily visible on Google Earth) are already among the biggest scars humans have ever carved on the planet’s surface. But Canadian authorities ruled that the mine was nonetheless in the “public interest’.”
Renewables, Efficiency, Energy Storage & Conservation
gmoke writes—Net Zero Energy Buildings at the Poles: “The NYTimes published ‘The Coolest Architecture on Earth Is in Antarctica’ by John Gendall on January 6, 2020. (https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/06/science/antarctica-architecture.html) It was a general overview of new research stations and their designs to cope with the ‘world’s harshest environment.’ According to the story, designer architects are bringing ‘aesthetics — as well as operational efficiency, durability and energy improvements’ to the new buildings planned or under construction. The Halley VI research station of the British Antarctic Survey, designed by Hugh Broughton Architects, is credited with changing the state of the art. The Halley VI is built on hydraulic stilts, ‘allowing operators to lift it up out of accumulating snow drifts. And if the entire station needs to be moved — it sits on a drifting ice shelf — skis at the base of those stilts make that possible’."
Mokurai writes—Renewable Monday: New Desalination Technologies: “We looked at desalination, particularly using solar power, not long ago. (Renewable Thursday: Desalination) Almost all of it uses energy-intensive distillation or reverse osmosis. It turns out that there is a lot of research going on to find more energy-efficient methods of desalination, not only for seawater, but for far more salty "hypersaline" brines resulting from various industrial and oil well drilling processes. For example:
Each of these new technologies promises greatly reduced cost for desalination. I draw no conclusions about which of these will be commercialized, and which will win out in the variety of locations and applications out in the real world. But I have no doubt that one will.”
Mokurai writes—Renewable Tuesday: Deniers Have a Cow Fart: “Cows don't fart methane much. They mostly burp it. But spare a thought for the cows that have to live only on perennial ryegrass rather than natural mixed pasture. It is really bad for their health, besides making their gut bacteria generate all of that methane. There are several ways to fix that. So no, we aren't going to kill off all of the cows and make MAGA-haters eat vegeburgers with soy shakes. Reducing farm greenhouse gas emissions may plant the seed for a cooler planet. Cows produce methane when they belch, and manure also emits the gas. Farming operations can generate nitrous oxide in the soil, which is then released into the atmosphere. According to the researchers, these best farming practices to reduce these gases are focused on three types of farming operations—feeding animals, storing or processing manure, and cultivating crops. Specific practices include no-till farming, sealed flare storage for manure, and high feed efficiency that can reduce cow belches.”
Mokurai writes—Renewable Wednesday: Green Diary Howto I: “Can you write an environmental (or any) DK Diary? Sure, assuming that you know about something of interest and can tell a story at all. There are some mechanical issues, like the DK editor and scheduler, and search engines, and so on, that I can help with. • Some think they can't write. That can't be true if they can talk. • Some think they lack ideas, in spite of the fire hose of important news coming at us. • Some are afraid of the DK editor and scheduler. There you do need help, and you need to take it one step at a time. I'm going to focus today on the mechanics of creating and posting a Diary, with the bare minimum on the editor, and most of our attention on where, when, and how.”
Mokurai writes—Renewable Thursday: Germany Finally Going Off Dirty Brown Coal, Eventually: “Germany followed a strange path to renewables. It pushed solar and wind faster than other countries in Europe, but after Fukushima decided to shut down its relatively clean nuclear plants and replace them with highly-polluting lignite-burning plants. Now it is finally getting ready to start shutting down the brown coal plants and mines. However, Germany remains critically dependent on imports of natural gas from Russia. We also need to see a plan for electric vehicles of all kinds, including cars, trucks, buses, ferries, and regional aircraft, topics for another Renewable Day.”
Mokurai writes—Renewable Friday: Nine Active Climate Tipping Points: “I started Renewable Days with Ys in Them to tell you about solutions to Global Warming that the MSM ignores. But there are real disasters looming, like several meters of sea-level rise from collapsing glaciers in Antarctica and Greenland, enough to inundate much of Florida and Bangladesh, and all of several island nations. This could be the first and worst. Satellites show Antarctica's doomsday glacier is 'coming apart at the seams'. Leading scientists have warned that nine of the tipping points identified over a decade ago are now active. One of those tipping points is the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS). Thwaites glacier, also known as the doomsday glacier, has been alarming scientists about a looming collapse that could raise sea levels rapidly. The land ice of Thwaites has the potential to raise sea levels two feet, and if West Antarctica goes down with it, eleven feet of sea-level rise will occur. Nine climate tipping points now 'active,' warn scientists.”
NATIONAL FORESTS, PARKS, MONUMENTS & OTHER PUBLIC LANDS
Meteor Blades writes—Despite lawsuits against shrinking of Utah nat'l monuments, Trump regime OKs drilling, mining there: “Even though several lawsuits challenging the shrinking of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments by the Trump regime are working their way through the federal courts, the Interior Department on Wednesday signed off on plans issued by the Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service to allow mining, oil and gas drilling, and grazing on land that is within the Obama-set boundaries of the two monuments. Critics believe the courts will overturn Trump’s 2017 move to shrink Bears Ears from 1.3 million acres to about 228,000 and Grand Staircase from 1.9 million acres to about 1 million. A lower court decision could come this spring or early summer. When the draft plans appeared last July, Arizona Rep. Raúl Grijalva, the chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, called it a ‘cynical attempt’ to codify the shrunken monuments. He told Greenwire reporter Jennifer Yachnin, ‘President Trump's campaign to dismantle our national monuments is illegal and unpopular, and the courts are going to overturn it. This president is willing to inflict lasting damage on our country to benefit his industry boosters, and anyone who invests a dollar in drilling or digging in the newly opened areas should be prepared to lose their bet against public opinion and the strength of our legal system’.”
TRANSPORTATION & INFRASTRUCTURE
Assaf writes—EV Tuesday: "...but you can't deny Ghosn's Got Style": “Just like his flagship Nissan Leaf, Carlos Ghosn’s very vocal and visible presence in EV world was notable, but seemed to be no match, in terms of showmanship, to Tesla’s Elon Musk… ...until, on December 29 after spending a year in arrest and house arrest, Carlos managed to smuggle himself, tucked inside a musical-instrument box, through Japanese airport security (possibly with the help of American mercenaries), and flew to his birth country, Lebanon, which has no extradition agreement with Japan.Your turn, Elon. Well, much as we love to follow celebrity antics (and I personally don’t), why am I wasting an EV Tuesday diary on this? Because at Nissan, it seems that EVs were Ghosn and Ghosn was EVs. Once he was removed in late 2018, the company has all but abandoned its EV leadership role among major automakers. Worse, it’s gone backwards.”
Walter Einenkel writes—Ocasio-Cortez and Levin co-sponsor bill to build out nationwide electric vehicle infrastructure: “While Donald Trump and his do-nothing-for-Americans Republican henchmen celebrate their corruption, Democratic officials like Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Andy Levin of Michigan are putting forward infrastructure legislation that would help build out a nationwide network of high-speed charging stations for electric vehicles. Bloomberg News reports that the EV Freedom Act, publicly proposed on Thursday, would create a mandate for the U.S. Departments of Energy and Transportation to figure out the details of how to “establish a network of chargers along public highways within five years’.”
OCEANS, WATER, DROUGHT
Pakalolo writes—Climate breakdown shock - Ocean circulation is ramping up significantly due to global heating: “Faster than previously expected. Those four words are horrifying when it comes to describing the changes to our climate. We have been reading about these phenomena frequently lately and, they haunt with such dire consequences as increasing permafrost thaw, marine heatwaves, climate migration, increasing pressure on our food systems, to name just a few. Every one is occurring much faster than climate models suggest. I suspect that there are so much feedbacks not accounted for in current climate models that we should not be surprised anymore. I try not to be a ‘doomer’ when I discuss climate change. I still believe we can save some of what is left, even when the shit hits the fan if we try. But with the faster than expected daily breaking news makes me think that perhaps, in actuality, I am a Pollyanna. Because I report almost exclusively on climate chaos, I am usually wrong about timeframes of tipping points. Tipping points always tend to be happening sooner than what is in my diaries. Anyway, I am scared to death to think of our immediate future.”
Dan Bacher writes—Tribal Members and Youth Ask for North State Hearings and River Protection at Delta Tunnel Hearing: “Today Northern California Tribal members, supporters, and members of the Hoopa High School water protector club traveled to Sacramento to ask the state of California to protect the Trinity and Sacramento Rivers, and to schedule meetings in Northern California on the Governor’s proposed Delta Conveyance Project, according to a press release from Save California Salmon. The group said the fact that the ‘Delta Tunnel hearings are only occurring in the southern part of the state and started even before the comment period ended on the water portfolio demonstrates that the governor needs to take more public feedback before moving forward on large, environmentally damaging water projects.’ ‘The governor’s water portfolio, Sites Reservoir plan, and Delta Tunnel proposal all threaten the Trinity, Klamath and Sacramento rivers, however the state is not having any public hearings in the North State,’ stated Regina Chichizola from Save California Salmon. ‘It feels like the governor wants the North State’s water, but not our opinions’.”
Dan Bacher writes—Reminder: Delta Tunnel Notice of Preparation Scoping Meetings Start in Sacramento on Monday, Feb. 3! “The Gavin Newsom Administration formally began the planning process for a controversial single tunnel under the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta when the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) released its Delta Conveyance Notice of Preparation on January 15, 2020. The first public scoping meeting on this process will take place on Monday, February 3, 2020 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at the California Environmental Protection Agency Building, 1001 I Street, Sacramento. Everybody who cares about the future of the Delta farms and fish and West Coast fisheries should attend. If you can’t attend this meeting, the list of public scoping meetings is listed below. The Department of Water Resources is holding seven public scoping meetings between February 3 and 20 on the recently released Notice of Preparation (NOP) for its proposal to “modernize water infrastructure in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta” — build the Delta Tunnel.”
AGRICULTURE, FOOD & GARDENING
robctwo writes—Saturday Morning Garden Blogging Vol 16.06: “Good morning gardeners and friends. I noted last week was Imbolc, or Brigid’s Day for Celtic people. Half-way between solstice and equinox, one of the fire celebrations. Imbolc means in the belly, referring to the large number of animals waiting to give birth in the Spring. It is the start of Spring in my neck of the world. The first crocus patch is in full Spring. [...] I got some more pruning done. I also got a good spray of sulfur on trees and shrubs. OSU extension has lots of information on sprays and pruning. I do not have my new electric sprayer set up, but that will happen soon. I will use copper, sulfur and mineral oil, nothing with a long name and warnings of death to fish.”
MISCELLANY
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—James Taylor’s Confusing Idaho For Iowa Doesn’t Inspire Confidence for Upcoming Heartland Conference: “Yesterday the Heartland Institute announced that its 14th annual climate conference is scheduled for May 7th and 8th, at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas. [...] And, of course, James ‘my brother Jerry has outed us all as liars for hire’ Taylor will also be presenting. For a sneak preview, we can look at a Powerpoint presentation he recently delivered to an Idaho House of Representatives committee. In it, Taylor hammers home the idea there’s a benefit to warming seen in a longer growing season, warmer winters and more rainfall. Instead of sitting through the presentation, though, we recommend reading some of the reporting on it, which was highly critical and extremely entertaining. Taylor made an attempt to push back on the criticisms, some of which were pretty scathing. One editorial began by describing his talk as ‘an embarrassment to every lawmaker who takes his organization seriously’ in the very first sentence, and later pointed out that Taylor’s presentation was ‘lies from the start’.”
Lib Dem FoP writes—Boris Johnson's Surprisingly Green Government: “Boris Johnson shares much of Trump’s character — a lazy womaniser with very little grasp of the intricacies of policy. Unlike Trump he is not a micro-manager, prefering to leave things to his subordinates while he blusters his way through not giving press conferences but arranging special appearances. Much of this involves giving lip service to those areas where the Tories picked up seats from the Labour party, in the “industrial” parts of the Midlands and North of England.Under the British ministerial system, this can lead to unintendedly radical policies.One is the much expected announcement of the approval of HS2, the high speed rail line between London and Birmingham and possibly its ‘stage 2’ of a West-East trans-Pennine route to serve the ‘Northern Powerhouse.’ HS2 is much easier to approve now Boris is not dependent on the ‘NIMBY’ seats in the Home Counties (the ex-urbs of London) for his Commons majority. HS2 is necessary for the London to Birmingham route at least because of severe overcrowding on the line. It would increase speeds from the existing 200Km/h (125 mph) to 300Km/h.”
Michael Brune writes—Heroes and Hypocrites: “You may not have heard of Amazon Employees for Climate Justice, but you’ve definitely heard of their employer: It’s the world’s largest online retailer, artificial-intelligence provider, and cloud computing platform. Its founder and CEO, Jeff Bezos, is the planet’s wealthiest man (last week, he actually made $13.5 billion in 15 minutes). Amazon, the company he started in his garage 26 years ago, is now so big and so powerful that its business practices have enormous consequences for our entire economy. No private enterprise on the planet has more opportunities to take meaningful climate action. No one is more conscious of Amazon’s potential than the people who work there, and many of them weren’t impressed with how its commitment to addressing climate change compared to that of other tech giants like Microsoft and Apple. So what did they do? They raised their voices and called on their company to do better.”
macknacat58 writes—Rush is dyin', the ecosystem is too and how the hell am I SUPPOSED to feel? “So yeah- turns out ‘ol Rush — whom I spent too many construction site hours having to endure — was Quite Anti Science when it came to the dangers of tobacco use. Just a bunch of intellectual and Ivory Tower geeks who certainly didn’t know about the “real’ world with ‘real’ men like Dear Ol “i’m a real man” Rush did… ‘Fake Science.’ [...] I kinda can’t give a shit about Rush and his feelings nowadays- he made his millions spewing the kind of hate that I feel sent us right down the divisive , fear mongering, violence prone path I see my country careening down today. So yeah- Rush- don’t let that door hit ya on the ass on yer way out… But I do sense a prelude to the kind of inner and outer dialogues we will encounter as our planet careens down its very apparent path of human caused eco self destruction …..unlike Rush, when these folk made their decisions to discount the science provided mega data of Climate Crisis reality, they included me and mine in those consequences…..think of it as second hand smoking writ very very large…. and guess what?- my thoughts will be even less charitable than they are towards Rush.”
Tevye writes—Australia Rejoices! In Just One Day, Rain Has Extinguished 1/3rd The Fires, More Rain Is On The Way! “Two days ago, there were still sixty-two active fires blazing throughout the Australian eastern coast. And then yesterday, what everyone has been hoping and praying for had finally, finally arrived. Torrential rain fell throughout the New South Wales region and up and down the coast and completely extinguished twenty of the active fires and put all but two below the moderate to low standings.There are seventeen fires that have yet to be contained.”