Author Archives: JudithCedillo

Carbon dioxide pollution just killed 10 million scallops

by JudithCedillo Posted on February 26, 2014

Carbon dioxide pollution just killed 10 million scallops

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Scallops go well with loads of chili and an after-dinner dose of antacid. It’s just too bad we can’t share our post-gluttony medicine with the oceans that produce our mollusk feasts.

A scallops producer on Vancouver Island in British Columbia just lost three years’ worth of product to high acidity levels. The disaster, which cost the company $10 million and could lead to its closure, is the latest vicious reminder of the submarine impacts of our fossil fuel–heavy energy appetites. As carbon dioxide is soaked up by the oceans, it reacts with water to produce bicarbonate and carbonic acid, increasing ocean acidity. 

The Parksville Qualicum Beach News has the latest shellfish-shriveling scoop:

“I’m not sure we are going to stay alive and I’m not sure the oyster industry is going to stay alive,” [Island Scallops CEO Rob] Saunders told The NEWS. “It’s that dramatic.”

Saunders said the carbon dioxide levels have increased dramatically in the waters of the Georgia Strait, forcing the PH levels to 7.3 from their norm of 8.1 or 8.2. … Saunders said the company has lost all the scallops put in the ocean in 2010, 2011 and 2012.

“(The high acidity level means the scallops) can’t make their shells and they are less robust and they are suseptible to infection,” said Saunders, who also said this level of PH in the water is not something he’s seen in his 35 years of shellfish farming.

The deep and nutrient-rich waters off the Pacific Northwest are among those that are especially vulnerable to ocean acidification, and oyster farms in the region have already lost billions of their mollusks since 2005, threatening the entire industry.

So get your shellfish gluttony on now. Our acid reflux is only going to get worse as rising acidity claims more victims.


Source
10 million scallops are dead; Qualicum company lays off staff, The Parksville Qualicum Beach News

John Upton is a science fan and green news boffin who tweets, posts articles to Facebook, and blogs about ecology. He welcomes reader questions, tips, and incoherent rants: johnupton@gmail.com.

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Carbon dioxide pollution just killed 10 million scallops

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U.S. tries to have it both ways with solar trade policy

by JudithCedillo Posted on February 18, 2014

U.S. tries to have it both ways with solar trade policy

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Remember how the U.S. trade representative announced last week that he would haul India before the World Trade Organization to try to force the country to accept more solar-panel imports? It’s a reaction to India’s efforts to protect its own solar industry as it massively boosts its renewable energy capacity.

Darnedest thing: The U.S. government on Friday moved closer to imposing trade restrictions that would limit imports of Taiwanese-made solar components into the U.S. Reuters reports:

The U.S. International Trade Commission ruled on Friday that Chinese solar panels made with cells manufactured in Taiwan may harm the American solar industry, bringing it closer to adding to the duties it slapped on products from China in 2012.

The U.S. arm of German solar manufacturer SolarWorld AG had complained that Chinese manufacturers are sidestepping the duties by shifting production of the cells used to make their panels to Taiwan and continuing to flood the U.S. market with cheap products. …

The value of Chinese solar product imports in the United States fell by almost a third from 2012 to 2013, while imports from Taiwan rose more than 40 percent, although from a much smaller base, according to ITC data.

American solar-installation companies have denounced the move to slap new duties on Taiwanese-manufactured components. That’s because they rely on cheap Asian manufacturers to help keep the price of solar arrays low.

“Just this past week, the U.S. Trade Representative publicly condemned the protectionist solar policies of India because, in his words, protectionist policies would ‘actually impede India’s deployment of solar energy by raising its cost,’” said Jigar Shah, president of the Coalition for Affordable Solar Energy. “By raising the cost of solar for American homeowners, SolarWorld is poised to inflict critical damage on an industry which last year added more than 20,000 solar installation, sales, and distribution jobs to the U.S. economy.”

American solar-panel manufacturers have a different perspective, as you might expect. The dispute puts the U.S. government in a tight spot — is it best to protect panel installers or panel manufacturers? The New Republic recently explained the dilemma:

If the administration doesn’t ratchet up tariffs on Chinese solar makers, it will be accused of speeding the demise of what little solar-panel manufacturing remains in the U.S. That will further erode the administration’s claims that clean energy would bring the country lots of “green” manufacturing jobs. But if the administration ultimately imposes hefty new tariffs on imported Chinese panels … the price of solar power across the country could rise, slowing the advance of a fast-growing, though still niche, green energy source. And that would hurt the firms that are succeeding best in the U.S. solar business today — not those making the panels, but those bolting them onto American rooftops.

Whatever happens, it would be nice to at least see the U.S. show as much sympathy for solar manufacturers in impoverished India as it shows for its own.


Source
China calls for fair handling of escalating solar dispute with U.S., Reuters
CASE Calls U.S. ITC SolarWorld Decision Damaging to U.S. Jobs, Coalition for Affordable Solar Energy
The Next Battle in Our Trade War with China, The New Republic

John Upton is a science fan and green news boffin who tweets, posts articles to Facebook, and blogs about ecology. He welcomes reader questions, tips, and incoherent rants: johnupton@gmail.com.

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Climate change will make the Arctic a new battleground. Here’s how America will fight

by JudithCedillo Posted on November 25, 2013

Climate change will make the Arctic a new battleground. Here’s how America will fight

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The Arctic is melting, so the U.S. is rolling up there with its guns and ammo.

U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel laid out the Pentagon’s first-ever Arctic strategy — a military strategy designed to keep the fast-melting region peaceful and clean as it is plundered by drillers and traversed by shippers. From his speech on Friday [PDF]:

Climate change is shifting the landscape in the Arctic more rapidly than anywhere else in the world. While the Arctic temperature rise is relatively small in absolute terms, its effects are significant – transforming what was a frozen desert into an evolving navigable ocean, giving rise to an unprecedented level of human activity. Traffic in the Northern Sea Route is reportedly expected to increase tenfold this year compared to last year. …

With Arctic sea routes starting to see more activities like tourism and commercial shipping, the risk of accidents increases. Migrating fish stocks will draw fishermen to new areas, challenging existing management plans. And while there will be more potential for tapping what may be as much as a quarter of the planet’s undiscovered oil and gas, a flood of interest in energy exploration has the potential to heighten tensions over other issues – even though most projected oil and gas reserves in the region are located within undisputed exclusive economic zones.

Despite potential challenges, these developments create the opportunity for nations to work together through coalitions of common interest, as both Arctic and non-Arctic nations begin to lay out their strategies and positions on the future of the region.

Here is our summary of Hagel’s eight-point strategy:

1. The U.S. will not allow anybody to even think about messing with us. “We will remain prepared to detect, deter, prevent and defeat threats,” Hagel said.

2. The U.S., Alaska, and private industry will work together “to improve our understanding and awareness of the Arctic environment” — which provides the “first new frontier of nautical exploration since the days of Ericsson, Columbus, and Magellan.”

3. No pirates. “We will help preserve freedom of the seas throughout the region, to ensure that the Arctic Ocean will be as peacefully navigated as other oceans of the world.”

4. Boost infrastructure and military presence in the Arctic “at a pace consistent with changing conditions” and “balance potential Arctic investments with other national security priorities.”

5. Similar to No. 1, but with Russia and other partners. “We will enhance our cold-weather operational experience, and strengthen our military-to-military ties with other Arctic nations.”

6. Be better prepared to respond to disasters, both natural and those related to shipping, drilling and other human activities.

7. Protect the Arctic’s “environmental integrity.”

8. Support the development of the Arctic Council and other international organizations. “These engagements will help strengthen multilateral security cooperation throughout the region, which will ultimately help reduce the risk of conflict,” Hagel said.

“Throughout human history, mankind has raced to discover the next frontier,” Hagel said. “And time after time, discovery was swiftly followed by conflict. We cannot erase this history. But we can assure that history does not repeat itself in the Arctic.”


Source
Remarks by Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, E2

John Upton is a science fan and green news boffin who tweets, posts articles to Facebook, and blogs about ecology. He welcomes reader questions, tips, and incoherent rants: johnupton@gmail.com.

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Climate change will make the Arctic a new battleground. Here’s how America will fight

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