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Arkansas Accepts Medicaid Expansion, But Not Via Medicaid

by HarralGeidl697 Posted on February 28, 2013

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Ed Kilgore, once again directing his gimlet eye at goings-on in his native South, points us today to a report that Arkansas plans to accept the full expansion of Medicaid that’s part of Obamacare. The gotcha is that Arkansas’ Republican legislature is insisting that instead of receiving traditional Medicaid, all the new beneficiaries will get get benefits via private insurance purchased on Obamacare’s exchanges. This will almost certainly be more expensive, but apparently Republicans are so enamored of a private solution that they’re willing to accept this.

Ed is pretty gobsmacked by that, but I’m a little more willing to wait and see how it works out. In particular, I happen to think this may solve a legitimate problem. Here’s the tail end of an article in the Arkansas Times:

Department of Human Services Director John Selig speculated that things would actually run more smoothly. “The most difficult part of the exchange was going to be people going from Medicaid to private insurance, back and forth as they went up and down the income line,” he said. “Now, you just keep the private insurance company as you go up or down. In a lot of ways this simplifies what happens on the exchange.”

This really is an issue with the Medicaid expansion, and it’s a well known one. If you’re at 130 percent of the poverty level this year, you qualify for Medicaid. If you get a raise and go up to 140 percent next year, you no longer qualify and instead have to navigate the exchanges. If your hours are cut back and you fall to 130 percent again the year after that, it’s back to Medicaid.

How big a deal is this? That’s hard to say. But it’s not a made-up issue, and it’s possible that the Arkansas approach could legitimately be better. What’s more, I’m OK with allowing states to experiment within limits. It’s the only way to find out whether or not the exchanges really are more expensive, and whether or not the Medicaid ping-pong really is a serious problem. The ideology behind this decision might be misguided, but there’s a good chance we’ll get some useful data out of it regardless.

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Arkansas Accepts Medicaid Expansion, But Not Via Medicaid

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Shell to ‘pause’ Arctic drilling in 2013

by HarralGeidl697 Posted on February 27, 2013

Shell to ‘pause’ Arctic drilling in 2013

By Susie Cagle

After an epic string of screw-ups, Shell is pulling way back on its plan to conquer the far north frontier and drill the ever-loving hell out of it. Pause, baby, pause!

kullukresponse

Shell’s Kulluk drilling rig, which the company

ran aground in Alaska

in December.

Shell has spent more than $4.5 billion in its quest for oil in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas off the north coast of Alaska and so far has nothing to show for it but a series of embarrassing mishaps.

“Our decision to pause in 2013 will give us time to ensure the readiness of all our equipment and people following the drilling season in 2012,” Marvin Odum, director of Shell’s “Upstream Americas” operations, said in a statement.

The company pledges that it isn’t giving up on its quest for Arctic oil: “Alaska remains an area with high potential for Shell over the long term, and the company is committed to drill there again in the future. If exploration proves successful, resources there would take years to develop.”

But at least for now: Congratulations, Alaska!

Susie Cagle writes and draws news for Grist. She also writes and draws tweets for

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Pesticides are killing off America’s birds

by HarralGeidl697 Posted on February 26, 2013

Pesticides are killing off America’s birds

By John Upton

Flickr:

Len Blumin

This adorable burrowing owl could be killed by agricultural pesticides.

Q: How are burrowing owls like honeybees?

A: Both are being inadvertently slaughtered by massive applications of pesticides.

OK, so that wasn’t a funny joke, although it might have been nuanced enough to land me a job at The Onion. And truth be told, it wasn’t actually a joke.

A study published in the online journal PLOS ONE finds that the use of pesticides is the leading cause of a decline in grassland bird species in North America. From the Twin Cities Pioneer Press outdoors blog:

The loss of habitat is real in the corn belt, as are its potential effects on a host of grassland bird species, some hunted, some not.

But a new study concludes that declines of such birds, from the ring-necked pheasant to the horned lark, are more the result of pesticide use than any other factor, including habitat decline.

While the deadly links between pesticide use and bees have been widely reported in recent years, leading some European countries to suspend the use of certain products, less attention has been paid to the devastating effects of the poisons on bird populations. Species of owls, sparrows, and meadowlarks are on the long list of American farm-dwelling birds that are disappearing in part because they’re sucking down any of more than 100 types of pesticides. The pesticides also take a toll by killing the insects that the birds would eat.

The study “reminds us that the poisonings of birds and other wildlife chronicled a half century ago by famed biologist and author Rachel Carson are by no means a thing of the past,” Cynthia Palmer of the American Bird Conservancy said in a statement.

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Climate change could kill big U.S. reservoirs

by HarralGeidl697 Posted on February 26, 2013

Climate change could kill big U.S. reservoirs

By Susie Cagle

Western states fighting for each other’s water may be missing the big picture. As climate change continues, many regions of the U.S. will get hotter and drier, so much so that some of the nation’s most important reservoirs could dry up, according to a new study by researchers at Colorado State University, Princeton, and the U.S. Forest Service. From the study:

Although precipitation is projected to increase in much of the United States with future climate change, in most locations that additional precipitation will merely accommodate rising evapotranspiration demand in response to temperature increases. Where the effect of rising evapotranspiration exceeds the effect of increasing precipitation, and where precipitation actually declines, as is likely in parts of the Southwest, water yields are projected to decline. For the United States as a whole, the declines are substantial, exceeding 30% of current levels by 2080 for some scenarios examined.

The study includes a number of maps showing how water might dry up under different scenarios. Here are ones showing projected changes in water yields in 2020, 2040, 2060, and 2080 under a somewhat middle-of-the-road scenario:

More dramatic scenarios see reservoirs such as Lake Mead and Lake Powell drying up completely.

Think Progress points out that this is consistent with earlier research into coming water troubles. By 2050, one-third of U.S. counties may be at “high or extreme risk” of water shortages thanks to climate change.

“We were surprised to find that climate change is likely to have a much greater effect on future water demands than population growth,” Forest Service research economist Tom Brown told the Summit County Citizens Voice. “The combined effects of climate change on water supply and demand could lead to serious water shortages in some regions.”

You hear that, future dust-bowl states? Y’all might consider teaming up against climate change instead of fighting amongst yourselves for the last scraps here.

Susie Cagle writes and draws news for Grist. She also writes and draws tweets for

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Ashley Judd Is Not the Next Todd Akin

by HarralGeidl697 Posted on February 26, 2013

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Actress and public health activist Ashley Judd is seriously considering running for Senate as a Democrat next year against Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), the Senate minority leader. On Tuesday, the Daily Caller’s Alex Pappas waded through Judd’s essays and speeches to make the case that she just might be the Democratic Todd Akin—someone whose “comments are so outrageous and extreme that people can’t bring themselves to vote for her.”

This is a sentiment that is shared by, among others, Ashley Judd. “I am asked a lot if I will someday run for office, often enough, in fact, that if I had a nickel for each time I’ve been asked, I could fund a campaign,” she said in a 2006 speech at the University of Kentucky. “But a speech like this, such an unguarded chunk of my truth is very likely to completely disqualify me.”

The subject of that particular speech, and one she’s returned to quite often since, was feminism—what she considered to be the animating ideal behind her political life. “I’d like to propose that the society in which we live is, in fact, extremist and radical,” she said. “It is so skewed, massively out of balance; the result of one sex ruling and objectifying another for at least the last millennia.” The world’s religions were filled with “stunning misogyny,” Christianity included.

Among other incriminating quotes Pappas flags, Judd compared mountaintop-removal coal mining to the Rwandan genocide. (She added, “Naturally, I accept that I set myself up for ridicule for using such strong terms, or perhaps outrage from human victims of slaughter, but I do believe in the profound interconnectedness of all life, and, I agree with Einstein’s assertion that ‘you cannot pick a flower that you do not disturb a star.'”)

I’ve spent only a few days in Kentucky, so I’ll accept the premise that most of the state’s eligible voters don’t spend much time quoting Gloria Steinem and railing against the patriarchy. I’ll also accept Pappas’—and Judd’s—premise that she is substantially more liberal than the median Kentucky voter, given that the median Kentucky voter recently voted for Rand Paul. It’s not clear whether she’s running; it’s certainly not clear that she’d be a favorite to win.

But the Akin comparison seems to miss the whole point of Todd Akin—and Ashley Judd, too. The Missouri Senate candidate’s demise hinged almost entirely on his flip suggestion that some kinds of rape (i.e. non-“legitimate” rape) really weren’t so bad, as well as a basic ignorance of science; Judd’s most incriminating statements stem in no small part from the fact that, yes, actually, women have been held down for a while and still face serious obstacles today. (Case in point: Todd Akin.) In Kentucky, that might be a losing proposition, but there’s nothing “bizarre” about feminism.

“It is my pleasure to make you slightly uncomfortable,” Judd told her audience at UK, halfway through her feminist manifesto. For Judd, that’s a feature, not a bug.

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New York might allow public input on fracking study; Yoko doesn’t wait

by HarralGeidl697 Posted on February 8, 2013

New York might allow public input on fracking study; Yoko doesn’t wait

By Philip Bump

In addition to people who’ve worked in the fracking industry, the state of New York might also let the general public weigh in on whether or not to allow fracking.

From the AP:

A coalition of 65 state lawmakers is asking New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to release the Department of Environmental Conservation’s review of potential health impacts of shale gas drilling for public comment before deciding whether to allow drilling to begin.

The group headed by Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton sent a letter to Cuomo on Tuesday. They said the Health Department’s evaluation of DEC’s “health impact analysis” should be transparent, but the public hasn’t been given any information about it. It’s expected to be complete within a few weeks.

Let the public comment? Bold.

One New Yorker isn’t waiting for the governor to solicit input. Her name is Yoko Ono.

I, for one, am astonished that Gov. Cuomo hasn’t met with this science expert. The ad will air in New York City, where the governor doesn’t live.

Which reminds me of one of the best tweets of all time.

Philip Bump writes about the news for Gristmill. He also uses Twitter a whole lot.

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Find out which facilities near you are doing the most damage to the climate!

by HarralGeidl697 Posted on February 5, 2013

Find out which facilities near you are doing the most damage to the climate!

By Philip Bump

cm195902

In 2011, American industry produced the equivalent of 3.3 billion tons of CO2 emissions — 10.5 tons for every resident of these United States. Two-thirds of those emissions were from power plants, by which we of course mean fossil fuel power plants.

That’s the topline summary of the EPA’s new report on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions — the second time the agency has completed such a survey. The good news is that the GHG emission number from power plants is going down. From The Hill:

In all, 8,000 facilities across nine industry sectors put 3.3 billion tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions into the air in 2011. Power plants accounted for about 2.2 billion of those tons.

EPA said that was a 4.6 percent decrease from power plants compared with 2010, which it attributed to growing reliance on natural gas and renewable energy for electricity generation.

Those emissions could drop even more in the future, as low natural gas prices, expanded renewable electricity generation and an abnormally warm winter last year curbed coal-fired generation. …

EPA released its first report from the program last year, when it considered 2010 emissions from 29 sources. Emissions from those sources fell 3 percent in 2011.

Petroleum and natural gas systems were the second greatest emitters, clocking in at 225 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions. Refineries ranked third, at 182 million tons.

What’s really cool is the EPA’s interactive map, which lets you zoom in to regions and see what polluters are in any given neighborhood. You can also see where certain types of polluters are more common. Here is pollution from refineries, by state:

EPA

Click to embiggen.

But what the EPA’s map doesn’t show well is where the most pollution occurs. So we made a map that does.

Here’s how our map works: The 250 largest producers of GHG pollution are shown. The larger the orange circle, the more the facility pollutes. The icon over each location is actually a graph; dark orange represents the amount of pollution that is carbon dioxide, lighter orange is methane. Click on an icon and you can see the name, type of facility (see key below), and amount of emissions. (It may be easier to view the map in its own window.)

You won’t be surprised to see that many of the top polluters are in Texas and the old Rust Belt. This is in part because older power production facilities are still grandfathered in under pre-Clean Air Act pollution standards — one of the main gaps in attempts to curb emissions.

What does all of this tell us? Not much that we didn’t know. Power plants create a lot of carbon dioxide pollution. The U.S. creates a lot of greenhouse gases — in 2011, 0.5 percent of the total amount we can still create before tipping into climate catastrophe.

But at least now we know who’s doing it.

—–

Key to types of facility:

C: Stationary Combustion
D: Electricity Generation
E: Adipic Acid Production
F: Aluminum Production
G: Ammonia Manufacturing
H: Cement Production
I: Electronics Manufacture
K: Ferroalloy Production
L: Fluorinated GHG Production
N: Glass Production
O: HCFC–22 Production and HFC–23 Destruction
P: Hydrogen Production
Q: Iron and Steel Production
R: Lead Production
S: Lime Production
T: Magnesium Production
U: Miscellaneous Use of Carbonates
V: Nitric Acid Production
W: Petroleum and Natural Gas Systems
X: Petrochemical Production
Y: Petroleum Refining
Z: Phosphoric Acid Production
AA: Pulp and Paper Manufacturing
BB: Silicon Carbide Production
CC: Soda Ash Manufacturing
DD: SF6 from Electrical Equipment
EE: Titanium Dioxide Production
FF: Underground Coal Mines
GG: Zinc Production
HH: Municipal Landfills
II: Industrial Wastewater Treatment
SS: Manufacture of Electric Transmission and Distribution Equipment
TT: Industrial Waste Landfills

Philip Bump writes about the news for Gristmill. He also uses Twitter a whole lot.

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Top Conservatives Run PAC That Funded White Nationalists

by HarralGeidl697 Posted on January 29, 2013

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Two prominent conservative movement officials who hold leadership positions for several right-wing groups—Ron Robinson and James B. Taylor—run a political action committee that donated thousands of dollars to a white nationalist organization, according to public records. And for several years Taylor was vice president of another white nationalist organization.

Robinson and Taylor are each board members of Young America’s Foundation (YAF), which cofounded the annual Conservative Political Action Conference and runs the conservative youth group Young Americans for Freedom. (YAF owns and manages the Ronald Reagan Ranch, trains conservative journalists, and calls itself “the principle outreach organization of the Conservative Movement.”) And Robinson, YAF’s president, is on the board of two other conservative groups: Citizens United, which brought the landmark Supreme Court case of the same name, and the American Conservative Union, which operates CPAC.

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Fox News guy is mad that Obama talked about climate change instead of ‘pressing issues’

by HarralGeidl697 Posted on January 28, 2013

Fox News guy is mad that Obama talked about climate change instead of ‘pressing issues’

By Philip Bump

Over the weekend, Fox News once again allowed its employees to say things on-air, which the media company somehow fails to understand is generally a risky proposition. But Fox seems committed to letting them do so, and therefore you get things like this.

Ario

On “Fox News Watch” (which is not, as you might assume, a weekly catalog of all of the ways in which Fox News has failed), talkers worried that “cheerleading” from the media for Obama’s inaugural address “threatens to overshadow reporting.” And Fox News hates it when cheerleading obscures objective coverage.

From the Washington Post:

Jon Scott, host of “Fox News Watch,” made clear that he wasn’t part of the adoration crowd. Here’s his take on Obama’s speech:

We heard during the inaugural address, we heard about climate change, we heard about gay rights, we heard about lots of issues but nothing much about the deficit and some of the pressing issues, you know, the really pressing issues of our time.

Emphasis added, because if you watch the clip, he really emphasizes that “really.” After all, Jon Scott, formerly the host of A Current Affair, knows what’s an important issue and what isn’t. The deficit or whatever is a hella big issue. Climate change isn’t. (In 2011, Scott asked Bill Nye if moon volcanoes disproved global warming. Nye suggested that they did not.)

The most recent ratings numbers indicate that Fox News is still the most-watched news channel, nearly tripling its next-closest competitor. Because they cover the pressing issues of our time.

Source

Fox News host: Climate change, gay rights not ‘really pressing issues’, Washington Post

Philip Bump writes about the news for Gristmill. He also uses Twitter a whole lot.

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Explained in 90 Seconds: It’s Cold. That Doesn’t Mean Global Warming is Fake.

by HarralGeidl697 Posted on January 25, 2013

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At Climate Desk, we like to call them—affectionately—our “pet trolls.” (You know who you are. Hi!) They are regular readers that pepper us on Twitter and Facebook with one of several climate myths upon the publication of every article, sometimes with freakish speed. One of the most popular myths is this: Global warming isn’t real because it’s really cold outside; climate models are thus full of sh*t. So, here in 90 seconds, is our attempt to explain something we interact with every day, in all sorts of ways, from flying in a plane, to getting a loan, to betting on a horse: computer modeling.

Our video features Drew Purves, from Microsoft in Cambridge, UK, a statistics whiz specializing in modeling the climate and ecosystems. Think of him as the Nate Silver of carbon. You can read about his latest research project, a rallying cry to model the entire world’s ecology—that’s right, the entire world—in the latest edition of Nature.

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