This is the 532nd edition of the Spotlight on Green News & Views (previously known as the Green Diary Rescue). The feature usually appears twice a week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Here is the Nov. 15 Green Spotlight. More than 27,045 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
Rei writes—Game Changer: Tesla unveils 500-mile-range Semi (and just for fun: 620 mile range Roadster): “For years, as electric cars have steadily shown that they’re on a path to replacing gasoline vehicles, the oil market has fallen back on the fact that freight shipping will continue to underpin its consumption. This vehicle is a missile aimed straight at that notion. Before the release of the Semi, leaks had suggested that it would be capable of trips of 200-300 miles. One report just a few days ago suggested 300-450 miles. The actuality blows away these expectations: the initial launch (with more variants to come) is a 500 mile-range day cab. That’s 500 miles at highway speed with 40 tonnes gross weight(maximum allowable on US roads). The range without a trailer was not stated, but should be several times higher. According to the website, a shorter-range 300 mile variant will also be offered. Oh, but it gets better.”
marksb writes—Further thoughts on Tesla's EV Truck announcement...from a former fleet owner: “As described in Rei’s diary, Tesla’s truck announcement is hugely important. I wrote a comment that turned into a diary… So here’s my view as a former owner of a medium-sized regional distribution business and fleet owner: 4. Think of the thousands of trucks you may see in a metropolitan area like LA, and realize that the vast majority are making LOCAL (under 200 miles) trips and deliveries. 5. Now, about finances: the majority of trucks are leased. Very large fleet owners may purchase their fleets, but honestly, leasing makes maximum sense for a business for tax, maintenance, and capital investment points of view. Now take a **million mile** lifetime on the Tesla rig with almost no maintenance and very few on-the-road breakdowns (which is one of the core advantages of EV design), and you are seeing significant return on investment even with a higher initial price, a longer lease period, which means that you may very well see a wash on costs, even the possibility of net lower costs. [...]”
Pakalolo writes—I've got some outrage for you right here - What they don’t tell you about climate change: “There is a lot of outrage privilege on this site recently. There I said it; finally got it off my chest. Some of the outrage I get and I can get whipped up into a lather with the best of them, but most of it I don’t understand, considering the freaking mess we find ourselves in the scheme of things. I am, for example, outraged by the lack of outrage on global warming, climate change and the humanitarian disasters it causes due to it’s mortifying impacts to life as we know it. See the thing is, people are suffering and dying by the millions throughout the world from drought, lack of clean drinking water, pestilence, acidifying oceans, unbearable heat and powerful storms (Remember, Hurricane Maria was made stronger from climate change, so was Irma and Harvey). Those who raise the issue of climate change have been unable to convince the majority of people to give a shit, let alone work to make sure environmental concerns are front and center in this country especially when such a hostile and chaotic regime is in power. Even the left appears to yawn when the subject of climate comes up. If the issue arises at all it is treated as a side dish to other issues deemed by some as much more worthy.”
CRITTERS AND THE GREAT OUTDOORS
Cape Crusader writes—Thank the dotard; It's a great day for the animal mutilators: “Yesterday the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service lifted the ban on bringing home the severed body parts of elephants hunted, killed and slaughtered overseas. Pandering to the international Safari Club, a Fish and Wildlife Service official announced the lifting of the Obama-era ban at a Safari Club co-sponsored event in Tanzania. This coincides with a ‘soft coup’ in Zimbabwe, not known for transparency in revenue usage, and wildlife preservation in the best of times. And the Zimbabwean Army is not exactly of monumental rectitude when it comes to quotas of dead of any species. Elephant slaughter for fun and profit is out of control. If you come to Africa with enough dollars or euro, you can easily kill or canned-kill pretty much anything, including children for juju. Poverty and desperation; war and injustice; colonization, exploitation and corruption have left a lot of Africa vulnerable to trump-quality exploitation.”
Mark Sumner writes—Trumps never forget—to do the worst thing: The latest target? Elephants: “What could Donald Trump do to disgust you? Donald Trump. The guy who has been accused of sexually assaulting 16 women. The guy who trades middle school insults that could plunge the world into nuclear war. The guy who has hots for his daughter. The guy who thinks there are some very fine Nazis. That Donald Trump. How about this? The Trump administration plans to allow hunters to import trophies of elephants they killed in Zimbabwe and Zambia back to the United States, reversing a ban put in place by the Obama administration in 2014, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service official confirmed to ABC News today. Because nothing shows what a tough guy you are like the withered part of an elephant blasted from absolute safety simply for the holy hell of it. Meanwhile, in science land, where no Trump ever ventures … In the past 10 years, however, researchers have realized that elephants are even smarter than they thought. As few as eight years ago there were almost no carefully controlled experiments showing that elephants could match chimpanzees and other brainiacs of the animal kingdom in tool use, self-awareness and tests of problem-solving. Because of recent experiments designed with the elephant’s perspective in mind, scientists now have solid evidence that elephants are just as brilliant as they are big: They are adept tool users and cooperative problem solvers; they are highly empathic, comforting one another when upset; and they probably do have a sense of self. And they make excellent umbrella stands.”
Sarah Hogg writes—Sign now: Denounce the Trump administration for reversing the ban on importing elephant trophies: “The Trump administration will now allow rich hunters—like Donald Trump’s children—to import trophies of elephants killed in Zimbabwe and Zambia back to the United States. This egregious decision from the Interior Department reverses the trophy import ban implemented by the Obama administration in 2014. Trump will do anything he can to undo the work Obama did in office—even if it comes at the expense of endangered species. Zimbabwe claims that sport hunting ‘benefits’ elephant conversation. The Trump administration’s new regulations would allow for the import of elephant parts collected there. Elephant trophy imports will also be allowed from Zambia, where the elephant population has decreased from over 200,000 elephants in 1972 to just 21,000 in 2016. African elephants shouldn’t be the newest target in the Trump administration’s tirade of cruelty. Sign if you agree that Trump needs to keep his hands off the endangered species list. We must protect elephants, not kill them.”
Colorado Blue writes—Trump halts big-game trophy decision: “Whoa. I might die now, from shock. President Trump abruptly reversed his administration’s Thursday decision to allow elephants shot for sport in Zimbabwe and Zambia to be imported back to the United States as trophies, saying in a tweet Friday night that he was putting the decision ‘on hold’ until further review. ‘Put big game trophy decision on hold until such time as I review all conservation facts,’ Trump wrote on Twitter. ‘Under study for years. Will update soon with Secretary Zinke. Thank you!’ ”
Sean Litteral writes—Murdered Elephants: A Failure of Leadership in a Money-Driven Society: “The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was founded in 1940 with three objectives: (1) to further environmental stewardship and a sense of moral responsibility for life and the environment; (2) to guide conservation efforts; and (3) to administer a national program to further appreciation of wildlife. n why has this agency recently promoted the repeal of the 2014 ban on murdered elephants? answer to the question is related to a slew of destructive policy decisions – like the decisions to continue cancerous coal production in Appalachia, or the construction of the sovereignty-violating Keystone and Dakota Access pipelines on Native America territory, or environmentally-devastating oil exploitation in Ecuador. I argue that the reason stems from a failure of leadership in a capitalistic society concerned more with monetary value than the value of life itself. Although Trump postponed the repeal via tweet, this is policy speak for a later adoption when the public is distracted by a busier news cycle.”
committed writes—Trump making it safe for the rich to kill elephants again: “a pretty disgusting ‘sport’ made legal again. does this guy have any boundaries at all? trump jr will be next to a ‘trophy’ soon I bet: The Trump administration plans to allow hunters to import trophies of elephants they killed in Zimbabwe and Zambia back to the United States, reversing a ban put in place by the Obama administration in 2014, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service official confirmed to ABC News today. Even though elephants are listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act, a provision in the act allows the government to give permits to import these trophies if there is evidence that the hunting actually benefits conservation for that species. The official said they have new information from officials in Zimbabwe and Zambia to support reversing the ban to allow trophy hunting permits.”
idlemoments writes—Kamp Kos Creature Feature: Close Encounters of the Animal Kind: “I had sent my sons ahead to haul the first load of equipment to our cart-in site at Split Rock Lighthouse State Park on the north shore of Lake Superior, and was coming up a hill when my youngest came racing down the trail. ‘Dad, there’s a bear in our campsite.’ I thought he was joking, which was dumb because there are a lot of black bears in northern Minnesota; it’s just that in the 25 years I had been coming to that campground, I had never seen any, nor heard of any bear encounters at that park. ’Franklin,’ as my kids later dubbed the bear, wasn’t actually in our campsite, but across a ravine, on the other side of a small stream, about 120 feet from the edge of our site. We watched him for a while, before he eventually roamed up the hill deeper into the park, away from the campsites along the lake. Thereafter, Franklin would visit every morning, root around in the same spot, take a little nap, and then again head up the hill. The bear never came into our campsite, but I banned any food in the tent on that trip, and made sure we packed things away in the car at night. I also made sure my kids understood he was a wild animal and they shouldn’t mistake it as cute and harmless.”
foresterbob writes—Noble Fur and the Skeleton Forest, a Real-Life Horror Story (with a happy ending): “Please note: This is the story about a cat’s injury, rescue, and recovery. As such, it contains unpleasant details. If you are having a bad day, perhaps you should skip this diary. If you are squeamish by nature, you might want to skip it too, and be happy in the knowledge that Noble Fur is fine now. [...] It was a dark and stormy night It was a beautiful blue-sky day, the type of day where all is well in the world and nothing goes wrong. Noble Fur and I had completed the first leg of our trek from Oregon to Georgia, and were headed east from Reno. 500 miles down, 2,500 miles to go.”
Besame writes—Daily Bucket: ID skeeter sounds? An app for that is coming plus a way to track disease-carriers: “Shazam for mosquitoes is more than telling you the name of that blood-sucker on your arm by identifying the distinctive musical buzz. It’s citizen scientists conducting surveillance to help create the most detailed global distribution map ever made for mosquitoes. As global warming changes temperatures and precipitation rates throughout the world, habitat for disease-carrying mosquitoes changes too. Diseases like malaria, yellow fever, dengue, West Nile virus, chikungunya and Zika could be moving into your neighborhood and scientists want to know when the first batch of disease-vectors arrives.[...] ‘We could enable the world’s largest network of mosquito surveillance – just purely using tools that almost everyone around the world now is carrying in their pocket,’ said Prakash, who is senior author of a paper that demonstrates the feasibility of this approach, published in the Oct. 31 issue of eLife.”
OceanDiver writes—The Daily Bucket - sea duck by the beach: “It’s been gray and wet for the past week. On a sunny afternoon a couple of weeks ago I watched one Harlequin Duck hen hunting along the waterline, where small waves washed up onto a cobbly beach. Harlequins are considered ‘sea ducks’ since they typically dive beneath the water for prey and their winter habitat is in the ocean, away from shore. Sea ducks rarely walk up onto the beach. Harlequins are at home in the rough swirly fast-moving waters near rocky islands and reefs, and do come out to rest on rocks out there. The only time I see them by the beach in fairly quiet water like this is early in the season. Harlequin ducks migrate a short distance to the open coast for the winter, spending the summer on swift streams up in the mountains. A few non-breeding birds remain behind over the summer but most depart by April, to return at the end of summer. The books say the drakes form ‘clubs’ and migrate out to the coast first. They are less visible to me than the hens, who often come near shore when they arrive.”
Dan Bacher writes—Record chinook salmon, steelhead returns reported on Mokelumne River: “For many years after Camanche Dam was built, the Mokelumne River, a major tributary of the San Joaquin River and the Delta, hosted small runs of Chinook salmon. The historic runs of steelhead after the construction of the dam averaged only 100 fish and no steelhead returned to spawn many years. But both steelhead and salmon runs have rebounded in recent years, due to a number of factors. In welcome good news for Central Valley salmon populations, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) and the East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) report record fall spawning returns of Chinook salmon and steelhead to the Mokelumne River, a tributary of the San Joaquin River. Over a three-hour period Thursday, staff at the Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Mokelumne River Fish Hatchery in Clements spawned and processed over 1400 fall-run Chinook salmon as school children toured the hatchery and photographers and TV cameramen from a variety of media outlets captured the activities.”
Lenny Flank writes—Study: Fungicide May Be Linked to Bumblebee Decline: “Several species of bumblebees have recently experienced range contractions and possible extinctions. While threats to bees are numerous, few analyses have attempted to understand the relative importance of multiple stressors. Such analyses are critical for prioritizing conservation strategies. Here, we describe a landscape analysis of factors predicted to cause bumblebee declines in the USA. We quantified 24 habitat, land-use and pesticide usage variables across 284 sampling locations, assessing which variables predicted pathogen prevalence and range contractions via machine learning model selection techniques. We found that greater usage of the fungicide chlorothalonil was the best predictor of pathogen (Nosema bombi) prevalence in four declining species of bumblebees. Nosema bombi has previously been found in greater prevalence in some declining US bumblebee species compared to stable species.”
Lenny Flank writes—Study: Recent Genetic Changes Make "Killer Bees" More Docile: “A genomic study of Puerto Rico's Africanized honey bees - which are more docile than other so-called "killer bees" - reveals that they retain most of the genetic traits of their African honey bee ancestors, but that a few regions of their DNA have become more like those of European honey bees. According to the researchers, these changes likely contributed to the bees' rapid evolution toward gentleness in Puerto Rico, a change that occurred within 30 years.”
Steven Andrew writes—Zombie ants may be brain-locked by insidious fungus: “How would you like to be hacked at the neuro-cellular level? You’ll be completely aware, able to see and hear and even feel pain, but another agent will be running your body and its plans for your husk include slow starvation, being a living host for younglings, and death! According to a new article in The Atlantic by Ed Yong, that may be exactly what happens to industrious rain-forest insects infected by a rather nightmarish fungus: Once an infection is underway, he says, the neurons in the ant’s body—the ones that give its brain control over its muscles—start to die. Hughes suspects that the fungus takes over. It effectively cuts the ant’s limbs off from its brain and inserts itself in place, releasing chemicals that force the muscles there to contract. If this is right, then the ant ends its life as a prisoner in its own body. Its brain is still in the driver’s seat, but the fungus has the wheel. The zombie ant parasite is known scientifically as Ophiocordyceps unilateral and it sure takes the fun out of fungus. We’re lucky there aren’t similar slimy creatures out there looking to get behind the wheel of a mammalian brain, especially a human version. Imagine the damage that could do. But there are creatures that come close, and one of the best-known is rabies.”
CLIMATE CHAOS
Walter Einenkel writes—Fed appeals court says it will hear the children's climate change lawsuit at beginning of new year: “At this time last year, the 21 children who had filed a lawsuit back in 2015 against the federal government for their right to have a stable environment, Juliana et al v. United States, won a major victory when an Oregon judge gave a preliminary judgement that their lawsuit could continue forward. In May the heat was turned up on the kids’ lawsuit as industry insiders began freaking out that if this trial goes through, companies like ExxonMobil might have to reveal how much they’ve potentially known of their industries affects on the climate. Then in July, the Trump administration stepped in to slow down the case by asking for a review of the lower court. Jeff Sessions’ Department of Justice recreated the same argument that companies like ExxonMobil have made except they stuck the words ‘federal government’ in place of say ‘BP,’ or ‘ExxonMobil.’ Inside Climate News has some great … news! A federal appeals court announced that it will hear oral arguments on December 11 on whether a groundbreaking climate change lawsuit brought by 21 children and young adults against the Trump administration can proceed to trial.”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Haliburton Loophole Shows Dangers of an Industry-Subservient EPA: “As Emily Atkin writes in her latest piece about current EPA nominee Bill Wehrum, who failed to be confirmed by the Senate in 2006, Trump and Pruitt have shown thus far that they are following in the George W. Bush’s anti-science footsteps. While we’re far from knowing the full consequences of the current administration’s pro-polluter agenda, the legacy of the Halliburton Loophole sets a disturbing precedent of what can happen when an industry-captured EPA puts polluter well-being before public health. Named for the former VP Dick Cheney’s company, due to his perceived influence and their exploitation of the rule, it exempts frackers from Clean Water Act requirements regarding disclosing the chemical composition of fluids pumped underground. As two stories in NPR’s Marketplace and a feature at InsideClimate News show, the health impacts of fracking’s use of the loophole are only beginning to rear their ugly head. And it is ugly. Congress enshrined this loophole into law in the 2005 Energy Policy Act, using an EPA study claiming there’s no evidence of health risks from fracking as justification. But as Neela Banerjee at InsideClimate News describes in painful detail, that Bush-led EPA study was hardly reliable. In fact, the study was so significantly changed by Bush’s EPA, including erasing its original conclusion pointing to some potential health risks, that the contractors who wrote it removed their names, as the only form of protest they had available.”
GreenpowerCA writes—Dr. Conway's Climateside Chat: Signs of Danger? “Welcome back to the Climateside Chat, cross-posted as always from our Greenpower blog. And now, the soothing voice of Dr. Jon Conway…. I, like many others, had taken the three-year plateau in global carbon emissions as a sign that humanity’s collective efforts were finally turning the tide against the existential crisis we created. Now, new research from the Global Carbon Project predicting a 2 percent jump in carbon emissions shows that the water, figuratively and literally, is still rising. How did this happen? Is 2017 just a fluke (or a bad dream)? Will emissions flatten back out next year? Do we still have a shot at limiting warming to less catastrophic levels? With questions as big as these I prefer to not rely on the interpretation of the media if I think I can grok the underlying data. Read on to join me as I dig into the two studies and see what’s there. (If you would like to read the main paper yourself, it’s open access and—at only five jargon-less pages long—quite readable for a scientific paper.”
AmericaAdapts writes—Landscape Architects adapt to Climate Change - A Podcast: “Listen here. In episode 54 of America Adapts, Doug Parsons attends the 2017 American Association of Landscape Architects conference in Los Angeles. In this episode, we discover the burgeoning role of landscape architects in adaptation planning. Doug talks with a wide swath of landscape architects, from living legend Martha Schwartz, to young graduate students just entering the field, gearing up to dedicate themselves to addressing climate change. Listen in to some of the leading voices in this sector and their insights and advice on how landscape architecture as a field can step up to the challenge of adaptation.”
gmoke writes—"How free enterprise can solve climate change": “I came across this in my archives and thought I’d bring it out. Bob Inglis is probably the most outspoken climate realist on the Right. He and his organization, RepublicEn, are ‘energy optimists, climate realists.’ I tried to start a conversation with him about Solar IS Civil Defense when last he passed through MIT but haven’t heard anything back. Long ago, back in the 1980s when Reagan had killed the solar boom(let) and gasoline was cheap, some of the national environmental groups talked about ‘No Regrets’ strategies, things people could do that would pay off whatever you thought about energy or the environment. Nobody ever pushed it that hard, in my estimation, although the ideas of energy efficiency and energy conservation (not necessarily the same thing) have paid off over and over again but still haven’t changed enough minds to shift the deadlocked politics on energy and climate change in the USA.”
ECO-ACTION & ECO JUSTICE
Dan Bacher writes—Bay Area Youth to Join National Day of Dedication for Climate Change-Themed Time Capsules: “On the heels of the first UN Climate Negotiations since Donald Trump pulled out of the Paris Agreement, Sunrise Bay Area is taking part in The Climate Legacy Time Capsule Project’s national Day of Dedication on November 18. California’s time capsule, which will be filled with citizen-contributed letters and other objects meant to represent California’s legacy on climate change, will be opened simultaneously with other time capsules across the country in November 2067. Today’s event will take place at the Elihu M. Harris State Office Building, 1515 Clay Street, Oakland, CA 94612. ‘The Climate Legacy Time Capsule Project was launched by Sunrise, a movement of young people to stop climate change and create millions of good jobs in the process,’ according to a press advisory from Sunrise. ‘In California, the goal of the project is to highlight the need to end the corrupting influence of fossil fuel executives as well as Jerry Brown’s legacy of crafting environmental legislation that caters to the oil and gas industries rather than the communities most affected by climate change and extraction’.”
ENERGY
Fossil Fuels
Douglas Lee writes—Drilling the American Serengeti: ”NOT MUCH HAS CHANGED HERE on the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska’s Far North—for about the past ten thousand years. Wolves knew this view in the Pleistocene. From where we sit, halfway up a mountainside looking due north, rolling foothills and the flat coastal fringe below us are alive with summer's nesting birds and grazing herds of large mammals, caribou and musk ox, Ice Age survivors improbably still at large in our manmade Anthropocene Epoch. The musk ox move like flouncing sable haystacks, coats flashing in the arctic sun. Caribou gather in brown pods and drift like cloud shadows over greening tundra. The hills and the narrow plain lie between the Brooks Mountain Range and the frozen coast of the Arctic Ocean, perhaps fifteen miles north of us, looking near in the diamond air and light. Pack ice covers the sea to the horizon, where pressure ridges stand tiny and sharp as knives. We are two hundred miles north of the Arctic Circle at the moment of the summer solstice. Here the sun last set in May, and won't set again until August.”
Pipelines & Other Fossil Fuel Transport
Meteor Blades writes—Company says public safety and environment its 'top priorities' after big leak in Keystone pipeline: “They’re calling it the ‘Amherst incident’ after the unicorporated town in northeast South Dakota where TransCanada’s Keystone I underground pipeline has leaked what the company said Thursday was 210,000 gallons of crude oil. That’s 5,000 barrels. Remember that number. Past experience with spills tells us that the count is likely to be revised higher. The company is also saying: ‘The safety of the public and environment are our top priorities and we will continue to provide updates as they become available.’ Puhleeeeez. Dave Flute, the tribal chairman of the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate, one of the Sioux bands, said: ‘We are concerned that the oil spill is close to our treaty land, but we are trying to stay positive that they are getting the spill contained and that they will share any environmental assessments with the tribal agency.’ At risk there is the aquifer that supplies the tribe’s water.”
Jennifer Hayden writes—An estimated 210,000 gallons of oil spilled from the Keystone pipeline in South Dakota: “Clean-up crews are busy in South Dakota today, cleaning up a large oil leak in the Keystone Pipeline. From KSFY: Crews are working to clean up a pipeline leak that has spilled at least 210,000 gallons of oil in South Dakota. Brian Walsh with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources tells KSFY News they were alerted to the leak at 10:30 a.m. Thursday morning by TransCanada. The leak was in the Keystone Pipeline located in an agricultural area in Marshall County. There have been no reports of the oil entering any waterways or water systems at this time.”
[Although the headline below references the not-yet-built, 36-inch Keystone XL, it was the 7-year-old 30-inch Keystone I pipeline that sprang a leak.]
RMuse writes—Perfectly Safe KeystoneXL Pipeline Springs Another Leak: “For at least the second time in a few months a foreign corporation-owned oil pipeline leaked oil in South Dakota. The 210,000 gallon leak occurred mere days before neighboring Nebraska decides whether to issue a permit for the oil export pipeline’s construction across part of America’s agricultural heartland as well as a massive aquifer supplying water to millions of Americans and farmers. A spokesman for South Dakota’s Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Brian Walsh, said ‘this is the largest Keystone oil spill to date – in South Dakota’.”
thebarrel7 writes—SHUT THE DAMN PIPELINES DOWN NOW!! “Here we are, the pipelines are failing, dumping thousands and more thousands, (210000) of gallons of toxic crappy shale oil into the ground on it’s way across the land … Where next? These pipelines were supposed to be so solid and well made, installed with considerations made for all problematic land conditions … Even before the DAPL line went into full production flow, a control valve failed and leaked … WTF are we doing waiting for the next shoe to drop? Where did the steel pipe come from? Who decided and inspected the lines at time of installation to verify the integrity of the actual laying in the pipe as well as the welds, which are a different thing if inspected and union welders …”
WILDERNESS, NATIONAL FORESTS AND PARKS, OTHER PUBLIC LANDS
Pakalolo writes—The GOP's dream of drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge may become reality: “Since taking office 10 horrifying months ago, Donald Trump has been able to assemble a team filled with fossil fuel interests that is determined to destroy the livability of the planet and all for a quick buck. The chaos President, with it’s endless scandals of obstruction of justice and treason, has allowed the equally revolting GOP congress to enact their craven environmental agenda while the public’s attention is focused on the Mueller investigation. The Republicans in the senate lack the 60 votes needed to pass a bill to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to seismic testing and oil and gas drilling. The profits of this proposed environmental calamity if passed (they have the votes to do so) will be disbursed in the form of tax cuts to the richest people in this country. Does this sound familiar to the GOP plot to take away the health care of tens of millions of Americans?”
AGRICULTURE, FOOD & GARDENING
AuntieB writes—DK Preppers: An out-of-the-garden experience: Journaling your local wild foods as part of your prep: “This time of year is also when I locate new asparagus spots. The ferns turn a beautiful red-gold and are easy to spot. If the land is public, I’ll be there next spring to get some of the bounty, because I’ve put it in my book. I make notes about when to gather the invasive garlic mustard seeds that make such nice prepared mustard and goes so well in so many spice blends, and notes on which forest preserves allow people to gather the seeds. One local preserve even puts a sign up each year now when it is time to gather the mustard seeds, as a way to help control the weed. I also keep a list of all the fruit trees I find. I try to give general ripening times (when the fruit starts falling) and if I’ve discovered the owner of the property, and asked to pick on their land. I keep an eye on the trees, even if the owners say they don’t want them picked, just in case the land sells, or life changes or whatever. I also keep notes on where the oaks with big acorns grow, and hickory trees, butternuts, black walnuts and hazelnuts. Most of these are in forest preserves that make the nuts off limits, but if my family got hungry you can bet I would be out there fighting the squirrels for those little protein packed nuts.”
Pakalolo writes—Saturday Morning Garden Blog V 13.46 ~ Gardening with Bromeliads: “I live in S. Florida (Zone 10B) and gardening is a year round activity for me. I have a lot of specimen plants, mainly palm trees and a couple of flowering trees, one of which blooms year round. As a result, I have a canopy that is tropical in appearance, but creating an interesting and colorful understory is a challenge due to our 2 season weather of dry or rainy and also locating the right lighting conditions. In the dry season I prefer to not water much, just some spot watering on occasion. So any annuals and perennials that require moisture frequently, due to our dry conditions combined with beach sand, the plants always want to drink. My solution to my watering predicament has been to use bromeliads in my landscaping and lot’s of them. They are native to Central and South America and many are epiphytic and grow in the canopy of rainforests. They require water as well, being rainforest plants but just a small amount to fill a cup or a well in the center of the plant that holds water for awhile. Debris that falls into these reservoirs consist of dust, insect bodies, and leaves. This is how they fertilize themselves.”
TRANSPORTATION & INFRASTRUCTURE
A Siegel writes—Tesla is not alone: Green4u large vehicle options coming soon: “Tesla is THE mark when it comes to electric vehicles. The brand name, sort of like Apple, which people immediately recognize and — with quality products — all too many salivate over. The announcement yesterday of a long-haul truck option (discussed extremely well in Rei’s and marksb’s diaries) truly moves the situation from dominated by soft benefits (who buys a Tesla roadster or plunks down a $1000 deposit to wait a few years for a car because they want to save some $s on their daily commute — as opposed to wanting the higher quality ride, to #ActOnClimate, to have a status symbol, to …?) f [...] There are others ‘on the road’ and others hitting the road shortly. For example, Green4u is an emergent firm with some pretty serious automotive design, racing and manufacturing pedigree along with some serious ‘business’/financial background at its helm. As per the image for this diary (a McSUV EV???) and the one to the right, Green4u’s target market isn’t the mass automobile but a slew of fleet vehicle types and markets.”
AKALib writes—Tesla Semi Truck Unveiling Tonight. Elon Musk says it will be Mind-Blowing: “The new vehicle will be a fully electric Class 8 truck, a category for vehicles that weigh more than 33,000 pounds, including tractor-trailer rigs that form the backbone of commercial road freight. The Tesla version is expected to have a range of 300 miles and will likely feature self-driving capabilities.But the freight industry seems ambivalent at best. Trucking leaders say they welcome Tesla’s entry into the market, while acknowledging that their industry as a whole is clearly trending toward some form of electrification. But they also point out that truck manufacturers and operators have already embraced alternative fuel technologies, from natural gas to propane to hydrogen fuel cells. And battery-powered electric vehicles will face steep challenges, from weight restrictions to the availability of convenient charging stations, before they can be widely adopted.”
MISCELLANY
Mark Sumner writes the—Abbreviated Science Round-up: Elk vs world's scariest disease, temporary shooters, axolotl endgame: “Measurements show that, while the whole world is warming, some places are definitely warming faster. At the top of the charts: The Arctic. The rapidly melting ice in the far north has made the polar bear symbolic of ecosystems threatened by climate change, but another threatened system is right under those bears’ paws. Arctic marine ecosystems are experiencing a rapid biogeographic change following the highest warming rates observed around the globe in recent decades. … We find that large body-sized piscivorous and semipelagic boreal species are replacing small-bodied benthivorous Arctic species, likely affecting biomass production in the benthic and pelagic compartments and their coupling. The not-a-fisheries-guy version of the above is that Arctic seas are warming quickly, and their populations are also making rapid changes.”
Tankman46 writes—Political Limerick - Paris Climate Accord:
“The USA is not aboard
The world Paris Climate Accord
It's in defiance
Of well-tested science
'Cuz Trump is right out of his gourd.”
Meteor Blades writes—Ryan Zinke's deputy blames Obama for Interior Dept's current failure to record travel costs: “Secretary of Interior Ryan Zinke has found plenty of time to decorate his office with dead animals and to look into enlarging and redesigning the Interior Department’s flag—but not much time, apparently, to keep complete records of his official travel. In fact, according to the agency’s watchdog, for some trips there are no records at all. Zinke has previously said his use of private planes is necessary and called the controversy about it “a little BS.” On the travel matter and much else, Zinke’s tenure so far is a whole lot of BS. Lisa Rein and Drew Harwell report: A rare alert sent by Deputy Inspector General Mary Kendall to the secretary’s office Wednesday, obtained by The Washington Post, said her investigation into allegations of improper travel practices by Zinke has been stymied by ‘absent or incomplete documentation for several pertinent trips.’”