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Northwest states talk green, invest dirty

by SherriAmerson Posted on September 20, 2014

EXECUTIVE DISORDER

Northwest states talk green, invest dirty

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19 Sep 2014 8:39 PM

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Northwest states talk green, invest dirty

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You know those proposed coal terminals and the ramped-up oil-train traffic that many Washingtonians and Oregonians vehemently oppose? You know, the ones that, if they all were to go through, would carry five times the potential climate damage of an approved Keystone XL pipeline?

Well, some investigative reporting from the sustainability think-tank Sightline Institute shows that both Pacific Northwest states are stealthily financing these schemes to place the region at the center of the global carbon trade — even as their leaders lambast them.

Oregon’s climate-conscious Gov. John Kitzhaber publicly disapproved of a major coal export proposal that’s since been denied a crucial permit, and Gov. Inslee of the Evergreen State is sowing the seeds of post-carbon prosperity. Meanwhile, both states’ executive branches have been quietly investing in the climate-threatening infrastructure projects.

From the Sightline Daily post by Eric de Place and Nick Abraham:

The Oregon Investment Council (OIC) and the Washington State Investment Board (WSIB) oversee all public investments made for their respective states. … Normally, once invested, funds are very difficult to track. But private equity funds pitch investors like the OIC and WSIB on specific portfolios of investments, highlighting not only the overarching theme of the investment package but often specific companies. While state funds are combined with other monies, investors have a much more specific idea about where their dollars are going. They can’t claim ignorance about its final destination.

In other words, it allows us to follow the money.

Their financial spelunking revealed some outrageous examples of state money invested in fossil fuel ventures. Here are a few:

The two states have combined to pour $350 million into a fund that’s supporting an oil-by-rail facility sending North Dakota shale oil to West Coast refineries and a project aimed at barging coal down the Columbia river for shipment to Asia.
The Oregon Investment Council has invested hundreds of millions in GSO Capital, which recently bankrolled the purchase of an oil train facility on the Columbia River to the tune of $70 million.
OIC also invests heavily in Blackstone Capital, a company that recently sold $962 million worth of oil tankers to Kinder Morgan, the energy giant never runs out of plans to ship fossil fuels through the Northwest.
 WSIB dumped another $250 million in Global Infrastructure Fund II, which invests in pipelines and other fossil fuel transportation projects.

The original article is worth reading if you’re into the nitty gritty details.

There’s really no reason to believe the state governments are deliberately deceiving citizens; it’s probably a case of the governor’s office charged with managing the state not talking to the office down the hall that manages its money.

But the inconsistency will surely irk folks who don’t want dirty freight shipped through their state. Perhaps it’s time for a divestment campaign aimed at state governments.

Source:
How State Public Money Pays for Coal Exports and Oil Trains

, Sightline Daily.

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Northwest states talk green, invest dirty

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These 6 California Republicans Have a Snowball’s Chance in Hell of Reaching Congress

by ShannonGarner Posted on September 11, 2014

Mother Jones

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California has 53 congressional districts, but only a handful with competitive midterm races (we’re talking about party-vs-party battles here, not intra-party ones). This means there are plenty of safe districts where a powerful incumbent (usually a Democrat) has to flick away a doomed challenger (usually a Republican or “independent”). Some of these longshots hail from typical pre-Congress fields such as law and business. Others are not quite so orthodox. Here’s a roundup of six of the more interesting Golden State Republicans—and one tea party independent—in the pretty much futile running. Then again: Cantor!

Stephen “Stephanie” Meade: An 88-year-old World War II veteran, Meade claims to be the first-ever transgender candidate for Congress. He is running as a self-described conservative Republican in the 51st, a heavily Democratic district flanking the US-Mexico border. Meade has no campaign website (and no non-copyrighted photos floating around), so what we know comes mostly from scattered local media reports. The San Diego Union-Tribune reports that he has been happily married to his wife for more than four decades, and hasn’t worn men’s clothes since he turned 80. He wants to lower the minimum wage to $5 and also to re-introduce the metric system. Without money, name recognition, or party endorsement, Meade isn’t likely to unseat the popular Democratic incumbent, Rep. Juan Vargas. Yet he did manage to win 31 percent of the primary vote.
Tinfoil hat rating: 4 out of 5. Metric system? This is America, man!

Dale K. Mensing Democracy.com

Dale K. Mensing: Mensing is a grocery clerk who wants to destroy Obamacare and replace fossil fuels with “wave energy.” The 56-year-old Republican and former small-town postmaster is running against Democratic incumbent Jared Huffman in the 2nd District, which stretches from San Francisco to the Oregon border. Mensing told a local TV station, “I saw a variety of attacks on the integrity of the Bill of Rights and I thought, somebody needs to defend the Bill of Rights, someone needs to defend freedom, and that fell upon me.” And then there’s this, from Mensing’s campaign statement: “I will work to prevent Common Core’s One World Order education concepts from dominating our area’s famed independent way of thinking.”
Tinfoil hat rating: 4 out of 5. And we’ll take paper, since plastic is about to be banned in California.

John Wood John Wood for Congress

John Wood: Republican John Wood, a self-described writer, commentator, and musician, is running against longtime Democratic incumbent Maxine Waters in the 43rd District, which covers much of southern Los Angeles. He’s written for the Washington Times on the subject of being black and conservative: “Liberals can call white conservatives racist all day long for promoting policies of economic freedom, but they can’t call us that. Black Dems can try to call us Uncle Tom’s, but for the younger generation of black Republicans, those arrows don’t sting. Our blackness is wrapped up in our fiscal conservatism.”
Tinfoil hat rating: 2 out of 5, but we haven’t heard his music yet.

Adam Nick Facebook

Adam Nick: This GOP candidate is a mystery. He advanced to the general election in the 46th District, a Democratic-leaning section of reliably Republican Orange County, but has no campaign website. His online presence is a Facebook page left over from a Lake Forest, California, city council run in 2012. (That page says he’s a “local small business owner.”) The right-leaning OC Politics Blog smelled something fishy: It accused Nick of being a carpetbagger and suggested that Democrats planted him as a candidate to mess with the Republicans.
Tinfoil hat rating: N/A—too obscure.

Mark Reed Mark Reed for Congress

Mark Reed: This is Reed’s second bid for a seat representing the 30th District, which covers much of the San Fernando Valley. The 57-year-old businessman and “successful actor” has more bold-face endorsements than most lower-profile GOP candidates in California: In addition to the requisite local and state party officials, he’s got the backing of John Bolton, Sharron Angle, and actor Danny Trejo. In a district with a big bloc of Jewish voters, Reed has put forth a hard-line pro-Israel policy and questioned Democratic incumbent Brad Sherman’s support of Israel. He’s a bit off the mark, as Sherman, who is Jewish, is considered one of Israel’s staunchest allies in Congress and has a lengthy pro-Israel record.
Tinfoil hat rating: 2 out of 5. Hey, wait! John Bolton? Sharron Angle? Make that 5 out of 5.

Adam King Adam King

Adam King: Running in the heavily Democratic 37th District (West Los Angeles), King faces an uphill battle against Democratic Rep. Karen Bass. But his campaign website makes the case that if Congress doesn’t work out, he could win the title of “World’s Most Interesting Man.” He’s an entrepreneur and community organizer who runs an Africa-focused education charity. He is fluent in ancient Hebrew, Latin, and Aramaic. He has traveled to “much of the civilized world”—creating ties in “controversial places” such as France and Turkey—and become “a unifier of peoples.” His website claims he cannot be bought: “Money and influence does not sway him from his ideal, which has won him the respect of many of the world’s most formidable leaders.”
Tinfoil hat rating: 2 out of 5. He does, after all, seem kind of interesting.

Ronald Kabat Tea Party Cheer

Ronald Kabat: A longtime tax accountant, Kabat is mounting his second run in the 20th District, which covers Monterey and Santa Cruz on the Central Coast. While officially running as an independent, Kabat has been a tea party member since 2009, according to the website Tea Party Cheer. There isn’t much press on him, and his chances of ousting 21-year incumbent Rep. Sam Farr are, well, zero. He does, however, have an awesome cartoon dog named Wilbur Woof to explain his positions. True to his profession, Kabat’s platform centers around reforming the tax code and lowering the national debt—he pledges to return 15 percent of his congressman’s salary to the Treasury. Tinfoil hat rating: 3 out of 5. Perhaps Woof would make a suitable representative? Woof for Congress!

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These 6 California Republicans Have a Snowball’s Chance in Hell of Reaching Congress

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The U.S. firefighting budget is almost gone, but the forests are still burning

by MyraWetter Posted on August 6, 2014

The U.S. firefighting budget is almost gone, but the forests are still burning

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On Tuesday, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said we’ll likely use up our annual budget for fighting wildfires by the end of August, months before the fiscal year ends in October.

As apocalyptic as the fires that have raged in California, Oregon, Washington, and Idaho this year may seem, it isn’t the first time we’ve found ourselves in this lamentable spot. In fact, it’s the seventh time we’ve burned through the budget over the past twelve years. And yet, the budget has stayed the same.

Which means that we’ve had to dip into the funds reserved for preventing fires. Which, along with climate change, means that we’re seeing bigger and bigger fires. Which means that fires end up costing more to put out. Which means … well, you get the picture. We’re creating a feedback loop that only serves to screw us over.

Given that wildfires are predicted to get bigger and badder, if we don’t rethink the budget now, that cycle will only intensify.

From Vox:

There are a couple of reasons why wildfires might be growing. Poor forest management has arguably played a role. In some areas, managers have suppressed smaller fires to protect nearby homes and let brush build up — making the forests more susceptible to massive blazes. Inadequate budgets are another big factor.

But the researchers noted that global warming is also a likely culprit, not least because wildfires are growing in virtually every region in the West.

“The really amazing thing is that we don’t just see an increase in one or two regions,” lead author Philip Dennison, a geographer at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, told me in May. “We’re seeing it almost everywhere — in the mountain regions, in the Southwest. That tells us that something bigger is going on, and that thing appears to be climate change.”

But, as Grist’s Greg Hanscom wrote, “it’s more than just climate change that’s stoking these flames.”

More than a century of logging turned forests that were built to survive fires into tinderboxes of small, tightly packed trees. And many of our fire fighting efforts have only exacerbated the problem by allowing the fuels to build up further. Add a few hots days, a spark, and a little wind, and all hell breaks loose.

Given the rising costs of managing fires, Obama and some members of Congress have proposed that we prioritize preventing fires over extinguishing them. One thing is sure: If we don’t properly budget and manage our forests now, we’re only borrowing from our future.


Source
The US Forest Service is running out of money to fight wildfires, Vox

Samantha Larson is a science nerd, adventure enthusiast, and fellow at Grist. Follow her on Twitter.

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Feds move to restrict neonic pesticides — well, one fed at least

by PennyMerritt Posted on July 20, 2014

Listen up, EPA!

Feds move to restrict neonic pesticides — well, one fed at least

By

Byron Chin

Hawaii’s Kealia Pond National Wildlife Refuge

So far the EPA has refused to ban use of neonicotinoid insecticides — despite mounting evidence that they kill bees and other wildlife, despite a ban in the European Union, despite a lawsuit filed by activists and beekeepers.

But if the EPA is somehow still unclear on the dangers posed by neonics, it need only talk to the official who oversees federal wildlife refuges in the Pacific Northwest and Pacific Ocean.

Kevin Foerster, a regional boss with the National Wildlife Refuge System, directed his staff this month to investigate where neonics are being used in the refuges they manage — and to put an end to their use. Foerster’s office is worried that farming contractors that grow grasses and other forage crops for wildlife and corn and other grains for human consumption on refuge lands are using neonic pesticides and neonic-treated seeds. There are also fears that agency staff are inadvertently using plants treated with the poisons in restoration projects.

“The Pacific Region will begin a phased approach to eliminate the use of neonicotinoid insecticides (by any method) to grow agricultural crops for wildlife on National Wildlife Refuge System lands, effective immediately,” Forster wrote in a July 9 memo that was obtained and published last week by the nonprofit Center for Food Safety. “Though there will be some flexibility during the transition and we will take into account the availability of non-treated seed, Refuge managers are asked to exhaust all alternatives before allowing the use of neonicotinoids on National Wildlife Refuge System Lands in 2015.”

An information sheet attached to the memo notes that “severe declines in bee fauna have been a driving force behind the growing concern with neonics,” but that other species are also being affected. The information sheet also warns that pesticide drift, leaching, and water runoff can push neonics into wildlife habitats near farmed lands.

The use of the pesticides in U.S. wildlife refuges has triggered outcries and lawsuits from groups that include the Center for Food Safety. “Federal wildlife refuges were established to protect natural diversity,” said Paige Tomaselli, an attorney with the center. “Allowing chemical companies to profit by poisoning these important ecosystems violates their fundamental purpose and mission.”

Foerster’s move will help protect nearly 9,000 acres of refuges in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Hawaii, and the Pacific Islands from ecosystem-ravaging poisons.

But the memo has significance beyond that. It confirms that wildlife experts within the federal government are acutely aware of the dangers that the poisons pose. Now we just need the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and the EPA to talk to each other.


Source
Victory! Fish and Wildlife Service to Phase Out Neonicotinoids, Center for Food Safety

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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Exclusive Video: Kithkin’s Soundtrack for the Apocalypse:

by AudreyRaqendlu Posted on April 14, 2014

Mother Jones

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Civilization as we know it is going to collapse—someday at least. Judging by what climate scientists are saying—or what some are gleaning from the buffalo running around Yellowstone—it could be a lot sooner than we’d like.

The band Kithkin, hailing from the frigid (and fictitious), tree-worshiping Northwestern nation of Cascadia (consisting of Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia), plans to make the most of it by offering audiences the chance to go down dancing.

With their aptly named debut album, Rituals, Trances & Ecstasies for Humans in the Face of Collapse coming May 20, the (actually) Seattle band is hoping to highlight the role of humans in our own demise—and help us think about how we can prevent it.

Kithkin was inspired by Ishmael, a philosophical novel by Daniel Quinn that reframes civilization and its end by means of a Socratic dialogue between the narrator and a telepathic gorilla. “It talks about climate change, sustainability, resource distribution, food, and all these big, kind of hard-to-digest topics in a really engaging and streamlined way,” explains Kelton Sears, one of the band’s lead singers.

by Hayley Young

Though Kithkin was founded on a mutual affinity for drums and rhythmic music shared by Sears (who also plays bass) and his fellow frontman Ian McCutcheon, Quinn’s ideas shaped the band’s identity and moved its members to make positive music about negative things. “It is a very apocalyptic book that’s kind about how the way that humans live isn’t working anymore, and that things are going to crumble,” Sears says. “You don’t pay attention to because it is sort of hard to comprehend and think about.”

At Seattle University, the two met up with Alex Barr (guitar) and Bob Martin (keys and theremin), and Kithkin was born. Every member plays the drums as well as their other instruments, which explains the complex layers of rhythms that give their charged lyrics an upbeat quality.

But the bandmates aren’t all serious and earnest. They are self-proclaimed “fantasy nerds,” and Sears says a lot of the tree-centric Cascadia imagery is just for fun. Still, Kithkin hopes to get listeners thinking. “Singing about that stuff just makes us as honest with ourselves as possible,” Sears says. “You are naturally more passionate about it if it has that deeper meaning to you.”

The exclusive video at the top of this post, titled “W (Upturned Moon),” is set to Kithkin’s single “Altered Beast” and depicts a coven of women in a forest attacking a pile of trashed consumer goods—one metric ton of it, if you want to get specific.

“Thinking about the video, we were also interested in this idea of the witch,” Sears explains. “This archetype is interesting to us, and this idea of women as agents of change, breaking all this stuff that is symbolic of all the stuff humans are doing that is contributing to the demise of civilization. And in a way, making it a celebratory thing instead of a scary thing.”

Check out the video and catch the band on its first official tour this spring. Who knows when civilization will collapse? In the meantime Kithkin has created an album of great songs, laced with ideas all need to ponder. If the Apocalypse is coming, at least it won’t sound that bad.

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Exclusive Video: Kithkin’s Soundtrack for the Apocalypse:

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Climate change means more wildfires, and that means lots more air pollution

by Bradly62Ea Posted on February 4, 2014

Climate change means more wildfires, and that means lots more air pollution

By

CAL FIRE

Wildfires not only jeopardize lives and property. They also cause air pollution — from planet-warming carbon dioxide to health-endangering soot and nitrogen oxides. This pollution can trigger hospital visits. It can also hamper agricultural output, and damage forests and other ecosystems.

This will be a particular problem in California, according to new research published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology.

Scientists analyzed future climate and population scenarios for the state and forecast that air pollution from wildfires in California could increase by between 19 and 101 percent by the end of the century. They found that the worst effects will likely be experienced in Northern California, particularly in the Sierra Nevada Mountains and in the Klamath-Siskiyou region at Oregon’s border.

“[I]ncreases in wildfire emissions due to climate change may have detrimental impacts on air quality and — combined with a growing population — may result in increased population exposure to unhealthy air pollutants,” the scientists write.

California’s current epic drought will likely lead to another year of epic blazes. The region is so tinder-dry that there have already been 400 wildfires in the state this year. “The conditions we are experiencing right now are similar to what we would be seeing in August — that’s how dry it is,” a Cal Fire spokesperson told The Fresno Bee. “Even though the calendar says it’s February and it’s winter, conditions are primed for wildfires.”

And wildfires are forecast to become a more severe problem as the climate continues to change.

Hold your breath, California.


Source
Projected Effects of Climate and Development on California Wildfire Emissions through 2100, Environmental Science & Technology
Calif. firefighters brace for hot year, more than 400 January wildfires, The Fresno Bee / Merced Sun-Star

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 means more wildfires, and that means lots more air pollution

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The state of water in America? It sucks, says activitst Whitworth

by Myrna Posted on November 13, 2013

Joe Whitworth is a freshwater conservation geek. That doesn’t mean he can’t see that eco-activism is a failed business. He’s also committed to massive eco-change. Source article:  The state of water in America? It sucks, says activitst Whitworth ; ;Related ArticlesOregon activists push for food instead of grass from farmersConvincing grass seed farmers to grow staple foods insteadChina and the Soybean Challenge ;

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The state of water in America? It sucks, says activitst Whitworth

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Crowdfunded science suggests that coal-hauling trains cause air pollution

by Prokippxv Posted on November 7, 2013

Crowdfunded science suggests that coal-hauling trains cause air pollution

By

Shutterstock

Coal dust is blowing off rail cars and over neighborhoods located near train tracks that are used to haul coal in the Pacific Northwest.

Air monitors placed near the tracks in a Seattle residential area detected spikes in large particles of pollution when coal-hauling cars chugged by. They also picked up an increase in diesel particulate matter. These preliminary research findings suggest that plans to increase the amount of coal hauled from mines in Montana and Wyoming to proposed new shipping terminals in Washington and Oregon will worsen air pollution.

How do we know this? Because 271 people donated $20,529 through the research-focused crowdfunding site Microryza to help buy air monitors and pay for the labor of researchers and a technician.

The work was led by University of Washington atmospheric sciences professor Dan Jaffe. He released the preliminary findings on Monday. A paper with the research results is still under peer review, but Jaffe said he felt he owed it to his donors to release his findings as soon as they were available.

From KUOW:

“We did find an increase in large particles in the air when coal trains pass by and it does suggest that it’s coal dust and it’s consistent with coal dust from those trains,” said the UW scientist, Dan Jaffe. …

Jaffe gathered air quality samples at two sites next to train tracks in the Northwest. He tested 450 trains as they passed — roughly 10 percent of which were carrying coal.

A spokesperson for BNSF Railway raised questions about the crowdfunded research: “How is it being done? How is it being funded? What standards are in place? Who is involved in that? So [crowdfunding] is a really new concept when it comes to scientific research.”

This highlights a challenge that scientists will face when they pursue crowdsourced funding: Donors will desire quick results, but the peer-review system takes time.

Jaffe, though, isn’t worried about it. “I’ve published over 120 papers in the scientific peer reviewed literature,” he said. “I know the drill. If I didn’t feel our results would hold up to peer review scrutiny there’s no way I’d be releasing them now.”


Source
Coal Dust From Trains Adds To Pollution, New Research Finds, KUOW
Do coal and diesel trains make for unhealthy air? A project funded by over 270 individuals via microryza.com, Jaffe Research Group

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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Crowdfunded science suggests that coal-hauling trains cause air pollution

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Greens sue EPA over Pacific Northwest’s increasingly acid waters

by wojciechrak75 Posted on October 17, 2013

Greens sue EPA over Pacific Northwest’s increasingly acid waters

By

Daniel Powell

The rugged waters off Oregon are turning acidic.

Carbon emissions are turning seawater acidic, and environmentalists say that’s a violation of the Clean Water Act.

The Center for Biological Diversity filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the EPA, challenging the agency’s assertion that the increasingly acidic ocean off Oregon and Washington meets federal water-quality standards.

Perhaps a quarter of the carbon dioxide that we pump into the air mixes into the sea, where it reacts with water to produce bicarbonate. The byproducts of these reactions are loose hydrogen atoms, which lower the marine pH. The concentration of hydrogen ions in surface ocean waters has risen 26 percent since the Industrial Revolution, reducing pH levels by 0.1 unit.

Rising ocean acidity has hit the Pacific Northwest hard, and local shellfish hatcheries have been in crisis since 2005. That’s because the deep near-coastal waters experience extensive upwelling — in which waters rise and sink, carrying minerals and nutrients up and down like elevators. Strong upwelling zones off Chile and southern Africa are also being severely affected by acidification.

The Center is arguing in federal court that the acidic waters of Oregon and Washington should be defined by the EPA as impaired. If that were to happen, new pollution control measures may be required to repair the water quality, potentially prompting greater government urgency in clamping down on greenhouse gas emissions.

This is not the first time that the Center has taken such action. From EarthFix:

The Center for Biological Diversity filed a similar lawsuit in 2009. Back then, the EPA agreed with the center and determined that it should address acidification under the Clean Water Act.

But the environmental group says the EPA has not taken the necessary actions since then.

“We need fast action to save marine diversity, because when the harm of ocean acidification deepens we’ll realize how much we all depend on the ocean,” Miyoko Sakashita, the Center’s oceans director, said in a statement. “The Pacific Northwest is among the places getting hit hardest at the outset of this crisis. Although some state officials in Washington are taking it seriously, we need the EPA and the Clean Water Act to truly begin addressing it on a broader scale.”


Source
Lawsuit Asks EPA to Save Pacific Ocean Shellfish, Wildlife From Acidification, Center for Biological Diversity
Group Sues EPA To Address Ocean Acidification Under Clean Water Act, EarthFix

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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Greens sue EPA over Pacific Northwest’s increasingly acid waters

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A modern shoe made from ocean plastic

by Myrna Posted on August 23, 2013

The crew at Movmt are making lemonade out of lemons. Read the article:   A modern shoe made from ocean plastic ; ;Related ArticlesSurfrider chapter in Wisconsin? Yes.What do you do when you find 7 tons of debris on a beach?Is there anything more authentic than a child’s drawing asking us to preserve our oceans? ;

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A modern shoe made from ocean plastic

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