• Vermont Gas Service: Ambitious Green House Gas Elimination Plan

  VGS Plans to Eliminate
  Greenhouse Gas Emissions By 2050

  Nov. 14, 2019  (vermontbiz) — Company unveils immediate plans to double energy efficiency savings and dramatically increase renewable natural gas for all customers.

  Vermont Business Magazine VGS announced today an ambitious and comprehensive strategy to transform the company and eliminate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050. The company outlined three key strategies to achieve the near-term goal of a 30% greenhouse gas reduction in customers’ homes and businesses by 2030: doubling energy efficiency savings with a $20 million upfront investment; significantly expanding renewable natural gas for customers; and strengthening partnerships to advance projects such as district energy in Burlington and Middlebury, and a net zero home pilot program.

  Ratepayers will be part of the process and would see an average $3 monthly increase on their bills. Rendall noted that ratepayers have seen their annual costs go down about $250 over the last 10 years, not even accounting for inflation.

• Learning From History’s Mistake on the Colorado River

  ‘Science Be Dammed’:
  Learning From History’s
  Mistake on the Colorado River

  Nov. 13, 2019  (The Revelator)— In late October we joined a group of academics and water managers who gathered at the University of Arizona to hash over a pressing set of questions: As water scarcity overtakes the Southwest, what do we know about the Colorado River, and what do we need to know?

  The meeting was a far cry from the way participants’ forebears approached this question nearly a century ago, when the leaders of the seven U.S. states that must share the Colorado River’s precious waters gathered in Santa Fe, New Mexico, to hash out the final details of the Colorado River Compact.

  The negotiators famously brokered a deal allocating far more water than the river has to offer — a deal we’re paying the price for today.

• California Landfills - Say "Excuse Me" When You Belch Methane

  California Landfills are Belching High Levels of Climate-Warming Methane

  Nov. 13, 2019  (ScienceNews)— Landfills, pipelines or dairy farms: The largest sources of methane released to the atmosphere can now be spotted from the sky.

  A team of researchers used airborne remote sensing to pinpoint the exact locations of some of California’s biggest belchers of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Of those concentrated “superemitters,” landfills were the biggest sources in the Golden State, followed by dairy farms and the oil and gas industry.

  About 34 to 46% of California’s methane emissions comes from 564 point sources, small surface features or bits of infrastructure no more than 10 meters in diameter that still emit large amounts of the gas, the team found.

• Not All Things Go Better With Coke Ovens

  Clean Air Group Calls
  for Stronger Rules for Coke
  Ovens in Allegheny County

  Nov. 8, 2019  (Allegheny Front)— An clean air advocacy group is calling for the Allegheny County Health Department to make good on a promise from May, 2018 to strengthen air regulations for coke ovens that would help reduce hydrogen sulfide emissions.

  Hydrogen sulfide, or H2S, is the gas with the infamous rotten egg smell that people all over the region notice. Even at low levels, the gas can cause eye, nose and throat irritation, headaches and fatigue and contributes to asthma attacks.

  Click now to read or listen to the story.

• What's That? Don't Like PFAS In Your Drinking Water?

  Neville Island Residents Could Have
  Been Drinking PFAS-
  Contaminated Water for a Month

  Nov. 8, 2019  (Allegheny Front)— Neville Township residents may have been drinking water contaminated with toxic levels of PFAS chemicals for as long as a month, township officials said at a working board meeting Thursday.

  Further immediate risk has been removed, according to township and state officials. But township and Allegheny County officials said they don’t know what chances there are of a similar accident happening again to the more than 1,000 Neville residents or in other municipalities across the county.

• We Warned You That Keystone Was Not Safe

  Keystone Pipeline Leaks
  383,000 Gals. of Crude Oil,
  Renewing Debate on Its Expansion

  Nov 1, 2019  (inhabitat)—About 383,000 gallons (1.4 million liters) of oil has leaked out into the environment from the controversial Keystone Pipeline system. It is the second significant Keystone Pipeline leak in the past two years along the line that transports Canadian tar sands oil 2,600 miles from Canada then southward into the United States. This particular oil leak occurred with the Keystone 1 Pipeline that runs in the northeast region of North Dakota.

  Once the leak was discovered, crews of the Alberta-based company TC Energy, formerly known as TransCanada, shut down the leak to investigate the cause.

  Click now for the full story and a slideshow.

• On Who's Side Is General Motors?

  General Motors Sides
  With Trump in Emissions Fight,
  Splitting the Industry

  Oct. 28, 2019  (NY Times Climate Forward)-Breaking with some of their biggest rivals, General Motors, Fiat Chrysler and Toyota said Monday they were intervening on the side of the Trump administration in an escalating battle with California over fuel economy standards for automobiles.

  Their decision pits them against leading competitors, including Honda and Ford, who this year reached a deal to follow California’s stricter rules. It represents the latest twist in one of the Trump administration’s most consequential rollbacks of regulations designed to fight climate change. It has also opened a rift among the world’s biggest automakers — the very industrial giants that the Trump administration maintains it was trying to help with regulatory relief.

  Think about it when you're considering your next automobile purchase.

  Click now for the full story

• Promises Mean Nothing When It Comes to Burning Away Natural Gas

  Despite Their Promises,
  Giant Energy Companies Burn Away
  Vast Amounts of Natural Gas

  Oct. 16, 2019  (NY Times Climate Forward)- When leaders from Exxon Mobil and BP gathered last month with other fossil-fuel executives to declare they were serious about climate change, they cited progress in curbing an energy-wasting practice called flaring — the intentional burning of natural gas as companies drill faster than pipelines can move the energy away.

  But in recent years, some of these same companies have significantly increased their flaring, as well as the venting of natural gas and other potent greenhouse gases directly into the atmosphere, according to data from the three largest shale-oil fields in the United States.

• America is Failing to Protect Its Rainforests

  Another Forest, This
  Time Alaska’s Tongass,
  May Be Destroyed — All for Profit

  Oct. 16, 2019  (National Resources Defense Council(NRDC))-Today the U.S. Forest Service announced it will be seeking public comment on a draft environmental impact statement (expected later this week) for its plan to open up protected areas of Alaska’s old-growth Tongass rainforest to logging and road-building.

  “As a global climate crisis demands that we take urgent conservation and climate-mitigation measures, the Trump administration wants to do the opposite—and lay waste to some of our country’s most unspoiled wildlands that absorb massive amounts of carbon,” says Niel Lawrence, Alaska director for NRDC.

  The Tongass stores more carbon per acre than almost any other forest on the planet, which makes preserving it a matter of real urgency in the fight against climate change.

• Florida Coral Reefs In Trouble - Can an Rx Save them?

  Proposed Florida Bill Could
  Require Prescription For Sunscreens
  In Effort To Save Coral Reefs

  Oct. 18, 2019  (inhabitat)-In a bid to protect the Sunshine State’s reefs from coral bleaching, a new legislative bill has been proposed that requires a physician’s prescription for sunscreens containing oxybenzone and octinoxate, on grounds that these chemicals are harmful to marine coastal environments. The two ingredients are found in roughly 80% of all commercially available sunscreens. Discouraging their widespread use can help protect Florida’s fragile coral ecosystems.

  Following in the footsteps of Hawaii and Key West, all over-the-counter sunscreens will need to be free of both these ingrdients. If approved, the bill will take effect in 2020.

• To Lower Greenhouse Gasses, Consider a Heat Pump

  Heat Pumps Could
  Help Lower Greenhouse Gasses

  Oct. 16, 2019  (NY Times Climate Forward)-It was a long, blistering summer, but many of us will soon be turning the heat back on. That means a lot of greenhouse gas emissions.

  In the United States, heating homes and businesses produces about 560 million tons of CO2 per year, or about a 10th of the country’s emissions. But there’s something that might drastically cut down on both your heating bills and your carbon footprint, no matter where you live: a heat pump.

• Curious About Auto Emissions? Check the Map

  The Most Detailed Map of
  Auto Emissions in America

  Oct. 10, 2019  (NY Times Climate Forward)-Transportation is the largest source of planet-warming greenhouse gases in the United States today and the bulk of those emissions come from driving in our cities and suburbs.

  The map will show a year’s worth of CO2 from passenger and freight traffic on every road in the country. A dropdown allows you too select the area you wish to examine.

• Don't Like Plastics in Your Seafood? Neither do Otters and Orcas

  Plastic In Your Seafood?
  Otters and Orcas
  Have the Same Problem

  Oct. 2, 2019 (Oregon Public Broadcasting)- It was a dark and slippery early morning on the Oregon Coast when researchers scrambled down the rocky shore in the small town of Yachats. M

  They kept one eye on the crashing waves while scanning for two species of Pacific Northwest sea life that are now being checked for microplastics — fibers and fragments less than 5 millimeters long. A very low tide on Saturday accounted for the pre-dawn alarm to collect mussels and whelks that prey on the mussels.

  Click now to read or listen to the story.

• They're Saying My Laundry is Not So Smart?

  One Thing You Can Do:
  Smarter Laundry

  Oct. 2, 2019 (NY Times Climate Forward)-On average, American households do about 300 loads of laundry every year. Heating the water and running the machines can consume enormous amounts of energy, and that means plenty of greenhouse gas emissions.

  While efficiency has improved significantly in the past couple decades, one study estimated the nation’s residential laundry carbon dioxide emissions at 179 million metric tons per year. That’s equal to the total annual energy use of more than 21 million homes.

• San Jose Says Bye-Bye to New Natural Gas Lines

  San Jose Becomes the Largest City in the US to Ban New Natural Gas Lines

  Sept. 18, 2019 (GIZMODO)-In California, more and more cities are moving to ban the expansion of natural gas lines in a bid to prevent further climate change. On Tuesday, San Jose became the latest—and also the largest—city to issue a ban, which will go into effect come 2020.

  Mayor Sam Liccardo and city council members unanimously approved a proposal to ban new gas lines in residential buildings, a move comes just a few months after the nation’s first natural gas ban in new buildings in Berkeley. Since that vote in July, other cities like Menlo Park and Santa Monica have done the same. These bans have typically only covered new buildings, which prevents cities from growing their long-term dependence on gas. If cities want to be serious about decreasing their greenhouse gas emissions, this is a necessary first step toward eventually cutting off gas completely.

  Click now for the story.

• Why Wildlife is Not Shouting, “Build That Wall!”

  How the Border Wall
  Could Harm Wildlife

  Sept. 13, 2019 (LOE.org)-Amid outcries about its immigration policy, the US government is moving forward with an expansion of the border wall with Mexico. Biologists are raising the alarm that the wall can be a dead-end for migrating animals, including some bird species. Living on Earth Host Bobby Bascomb reports from the border on how construction of the wall can disturb nesting birds and damage sensitive habitat.

  Click now to read or listen to the transcript.

• Bad News for Alaska's Birds: Alaska Is Open For Drilling.

  Alaska’s Last Vast Wild
  Place Is Open For Drilling.
  Will the Birds Survive?

  Sept. 10, 2019 (National Geographic)- In late June our floatplane lifted off from Deadhorse, Alaska, at the top of the state, and arrowed west. As it gained altitude the industrial spraddle of the Prudhoe Bay oil field shrank beneath the plane’s pontoons. Soon there was nothing below but land the color of wet cardboard, an earth still waking from its long winter.

  About 110 miles to the west, the plane skidded down on a half-frozen lake. We pitched our tents and ringed the camp with an electrified bear fence against curious grizzlies. Then, Martin Robards and Peter Detwiler—a scientist and a senior field technician for the Wildlife Conservation Society, respectively—headed out across the tundra. Robards wore a Remington 870 shotgun slung over his shoulder (bears, again).

• Why Would Want Our Beaches to Be Safe for Swimming?

  Study: Hundreds of beaches Found
  Not Safe For Swimming

  Sept. 9, 2019 (Environment Florida )- A study published this summer by our national research partner, Environment America Research & Policy Center, found that more than 500 beaches across the country had pollution levels that could make swimmers sick on at least one-quarter of the days tested.

  “We must invest in water infrastructure that prevents pollution so that all of our beaches are safe for swimming,” said John Rumpler, senior director of our national network's Clean Water program. “Rain barrels, rooftop gardens, more green space—these simple measures absorb stormwater and prevent pollution of our waterways.”

  Environment Florida is urging Congress to pass the Water Infrastructure Sustainability and Efficiency (WISE) Act, which would fund projects that reduce runoff pollution and help prevent sewage overflows.

• Addressing the Major Cause of Climate Change (or Not)

  In Curbing Transportation
  Sector Emissions, Will States
  Prioritize Community Needs?

  Sept. 9, 2019 (The Baltimore Sun)-Transportation is now the sector most responsible for the carbon emissions that cause climate change and exacerbate extreme weather. And tailpipe pollution exposes communities of color disproportionately to harmful toxins, causing asthma, heart problems and even premature death.

  Yet, transportation is still critical to reach jobs, education, health care and other services. In Baltimore, communities of color continue to be stranded from economic opportunity and social mobility due to decades of discriminatory land use and transportation planning decisions, including the decision to cancel the Red Line project.

  The Red Line was a planned east–west mass transit light rail line for Baltimore. Although it had been granted federal approval to enter the preliminary engineering phase, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan declared on June 25, 2015 that he would not provide state funds for the project.

• Who's Got the Cleanest Air? Not the U.S.

  Trump Keeps Falsely Saying
  the US Has The 'World's
  Cleanest and Safest Air.' But...

  Sep. 4, 2019  (Business Insider)-Trump is, once again, falsely claiming that America has the cleanest air in the world: On Wednesday he tweeted that the US has the "purest air on the planet."

  US air is not the cleanest in the world. In fact, it's gotten dirtier on Trump's watch.

  Plus, air doesn't belong to any one country, making it tough to determine whose is cleanest. If there were a prize for cleanest air, it would probably go to Australia or New Zealand.

• Why Should There Still Be Lead Paint in NYC Schools?

  Lead-Paint Concerns Remain As
  NYC Kids Head Back To School

  Sept. 4, 2019 (gothamist)-Amy Wilder had felt lucky. After touring a number of public schools in her district earlier this year, her four-year old son got a pre-K spot at her top pick — P.S. 84 on the Upper West Side.

  Then, in July, the Department of Education released detailed data on hundreds of elementary-school classrooms with lead-paint hazards after conducting inspections over the summer, prompted by an investigation by WNYC that initially found loose lead-paint chips and high lead-dust levels in four schools. It was the first time the DOE had ever made a list of test results public

• Taming the Flame With Plant-Based Fire Retardants

  Plant-Based Fire Retardants
  May Offer a Less Toxic
  Way to Tame the Flame

  Aug. 26, 2018 (Science News)-Using compounds from plants, researchers are concocting a new generation of flame retardants, which one day could replace the fire-quenching chemicals added by manufacturers to furniture, electronics and other consumer products.

  Many traditional synthetic flame retardants have come under fire for being linked to health problems like thyroid disruption and cancer (SN: 3/16/19, p. 14). And flame retardants that leach out of trash in landfills can persist in the environment for a long time.

• Depressed About Air Pollution? You’re Not Alone

  Air Pollution Linked to Bipolar Disorder, Depression

  Aug. 20 2017 (National Geographic)-Air pollution takes a massive toll on our health. The World Health Organization links it to deadly diseases like lung cancer and stroke, and new research suggests that polluted regions see more cases of neurological disorders like depression and bipolar disorder.

  In the United States, scientists found counties with the worst air quality, as indicated by the Environmental Protection Agency, had a 27 percent increase in bipolar disorder and 6 percent increase in depression, when compared to the national average.

• Taxing Gas Drillers to Pay for Infrastructure

  Poll: Broad Support for Wolf’s
  Plan to Tax Gas Drillers
  to Pay for Infrastructure

  Aug. 16, 2018 (Allegheny Front)-A new poll from Franklin and Marshall College finds widespread support among Pennsylvania voters for Governor Tom Wolf’s plan to pay for infrastructure upgrades by taxing natural gas drilling companies.

  The poll shows more than two-thirds of respondents either “strongly” or “somewhat” favor Wolf’s Restore PA plan.

  The proposal calls for $4.5 billion in infrastructure initiatives over four years, funded by a severance tax on natural gas — a tax paid based on how much gas is produced from wells. It would target things like mitigating flooding, addressing blight and expanding broadband access.

• What the Climate Change Future Can Mean For Our Children

  The Climate Change Health Risks
  Facing a Child Born Today:
  A Tale of Two Futures

  Nov. 14, 2019  (Inside Climate News)— A child born today faces two possible futures. In one, the world continues to burn fossil fuels, making the child more likely to develop asthma from air pollution, at greater risk of vector-borne diseases, and more vulnerable to anxiety as extreme weather events threaten his community.

  In the other, those risks are diminished because the world has responded quickly and adequately to climate change, with a large-scale shift away from fossil fuels.

• Campers Owe it to Mother Nature to Clean Their Act

  This Coyote Almost Died
  Because Humans Can't
  Pick Up After Themselves

  Nov. 14, 2019  (MotherNatureNetwork)— No one knew exactly how long the coyote had been roaming the grassy fields and wooded ravines at Bronte Provincial Park.

  But everyone knew one thing for sure: Catching her was a matter of life and death.

  The plastic jug stuck to her head meant that she could neither eat nor drink. In the midst of a powerful Canadian snowstorm, it would assure a slow and painful end.

  Volunteers from the community, led by the Oakville & Milton Humane Society, scoured the park in Ontario, Canada — even as the storm raged, blanketing trails and roads in snow.

• Much More Plastic Than Baby Fish in Coastal Nurseries

  Plastics Outnumber Baby Fish
  7-To-1 in Some Coastal Nurseries

  Nov. 13, 2019  (ScienceNews)— Plastics can enter the food web at an unexpected point: larval fish as small the tip of a pencil.

  Larval fish congregate in ocean slicks — ribbons of calm water that form naturally on the ocean’s surface — to feast on an abundance of prey. Prey-sized plastics also accumulate in these fish nurseries, outnumbering the fish 7-to-1 and ending up in the stomachs of many, researchers report online November 11 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

  “This is perhaps the most vulnerable life stage of pelagic fish,” says Anela Choy, a biological oceanographer at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, Calif., who wasn’t involved in the study. She has documented plastic accumulation in the deep sea, and says this new study raises important questions about the effects of plastic ingestion at such a fragile life stage.

• What's That? Don't Like PFAS In Your Drinking Water?

  Neville Island Residents Could Have
  Been Drinking PFAS-
  Contaminated Water for a Month

  Nov. 8, 2019  (Allegheny Front)— Neville Township residents may have been drinking water contaminated with toxic levels of PFAS chemicals for as long as a month, township officials said at a working board meeting Thursday.

  Further immediate risk has been removed, according to township and state officials. But township and Allegheny County officials said they don’t know what chances there are of a similar accident happening again to the more than 1,000 Neville residents or in other municipalities across the county.

• CO₂ Was Not Always the Cause of Monsoon Intensity

  Geology, Not CO₂,
  Controlled Monsoon Intensity in
  Asia’s Ancient Past

  Nov. 8, 2019  (Science News)— Shifting tectonic plates, not atmospheric carbon dioxide levels, controlled the strength of the powerful East Asian monsoon throughout its history, scientists say. The monsoon is a seasonal system of winds that brings heavy rains to a vast swath of Asia, from India to Taiwan, each summer. The rains are a vitally important source of water for agriculture. Some previous research has suggested that past eras known to have had high atmospheric CO2 levels and warmer temperatures might also have been times of fluctuating monsoon intensity. The implication that monsoons are far more sensitive to climate change than once thought is alarming in a warming world: Dramatic change in monsoon intensity in the near future would threaten food security for over a billion people.

  Click now for the full story.

• Hey, Canada - Get the Lead Out

  Lead in Some Canadian Water Worse than Flint, Investigation Finds

  Nov. 5, 2019  (USA TODAY)— Hundreds of thousands of Canadians have been unwittingly exposed to high levels of lead in their drinking water, with contamination in several cities consistently higher than they ever were in Flint, Michigan, according to an investigation that tested drinking water in hundreds of homes and reviewed thousands more previously undisclosed results.

  Residents in some homes in Montreal, a cosmopolitan city an hour north of the U.S.-Canada border, and Regina, in the flat western prairies, are among those drinking and cooking with tap water with lead levels that exceed Canada’s federal guidelines. The investigation found some schools and day care centers had lead levels so high that researchers noted it could impact children’s health. Exacerbating the problem, many water providers aren’t testing at all.

  But, it wasn’t the Canadian government that exposed the scope of this public health concern.

  Click now for the full story.

• The U.K. Doesn't Want the Country to Go Frack Itself

  Fracking Halted in the U.K. After Government Pulls Support

  Nov 2, 2019  (BBC News)—The government has called a halt to shale gas extraction - or fracking - in England amid fears about earthquakes.

  The indefinite suspension comes after a report by the Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) said it was not possible to predict the probability or size of tremors caused by the practice.

  Business Secretary Andrea Leadsom said it may be temporary - imposed "until and unless" extraction is proved safe.

  Labour, Lib Dems and the Green Party want a permanent ban.

  Click now for the full story.

• 'It's a Gas' Does Not Mean It's Funny in India

  Millions of Masks Distributed
  to Students in 'Gas Chamber' Delhi

  Nov. 1, 2019  (BBC News)-A Supreme Court-mandated panel imposed several restrictions in the city and two neighboring states, as air quality deteriorated to "severe" levels.

  Dangerous particulate levels in the air are about 20 times the World Health Organization (WHO) maximum.

  The city's schools have also been closed until at least next Tuesday.

  Click now for the full story.

• Danes Approve Russian Gas Pipeline to Europe

  Denmark Approves Russian Gas Pipeline to Europe

  Oct. 30, 2019  (ALJAZEERA)-Denmark on Wednesday gave the go-ahead to the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, removing the last major hurdle to completion of the Russian-led project that has divided opinion in the European Union.

  The Danish permit was the last needed for the 1,230-km-long (765-mile) pipeline from Russia to Germany.

  The U.S. and several eastern European, Nordic and Baltic countries have expressed concern that the project, led by Russian state-owned Gazprom, will increase Europe's reliance on Russian gas.

• Earthquakes in the Netherlands? Blame Gas Drilling

  Earthquakes Jolt the Netherlands.
  Gas Drilling Is to Blame.

  Oct. 24, 2019  (NY Times)-GRONINGEN, the Netherlands — Driving through fields of low-lying Dutch farmland you pass an occasional odd cluster of silvery pipes and tanks. They are the only visible sign that deep below this northeast corner of the Netherlands is one of the world’s largest natural gas fields.

  Unless you stop by one of the nearby farmhouses weakened by earthquakes linked to gas extraction. At her handsome home in the village of Appingedam, Nicole van Eijkern pointed to sagging external walls and cracked ceilings. Heavy beams buttress her house, inside and out, and it is scheduled to be torn down.

  “In 10 years it went from a good house to a ruin,” she said.

• The Cost of Desalination

  More Water Can Be
  Made From the Sea,
  but at What Cost?

  Oct. 22, 2019  (NY Times)- Desalinated seawater is the lifeblood of Saudi Arabia, no more so than at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, an international research center that rose from the dry, empty desert a decade ago.

  Produced from water from the adjacent Red Sea that is forced through salt-separating membranes, it is piped into the campus’s gleaming lab buildings and the shops, restaurants and cookie-cutter homes of the surrounding planned neighborhoods.

  Click now for the full story.

• Have You Ever Heard of Green Hydrogen?

  Unprecedented Momentum
  For Green Hydrogen

  Oct. 11, 2019  (Renewable Energy World)-Hydrogen from renewable energy could play a central role in the global energy transformation, according to the latest report by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).

  Hydrogen: a renewable energy perspective estimates that hydrogen from renewable power, so called green hydrogen, could translate into 8 percent of global energy consumption by 2050. 16% of all generated electricity would be used to produce hydrogen by then. Green hydrogen could particularly offer ways to decarbonize a range of sectors where it is proving difficult to meaningfully reduce CO2 emissions.

• Groundwater Pumping Threatens the World’s Rivers

  Too Much Groundwater Pumping Is
  Draining The World’s Rivers

  Oct. 9, 2019  (ScienceNews)-Humankind’s collective thirst is slowly desiccating landscapes worldwide, a study of groundwater finds.

  Water stored in aquifers underground makes up the vast majority of accessible freshwater on Earth. Its abundance has fueled forays into drier locales, such as California’s Central Valley, enabling a boom in crop production. Overall, about 70% of the groundwater being used worldwide goes to agriculture. But surface waters — rivers and streams — rely on groundwater, too. When people pump too much too quickly, natural waterways begin to empty, compromising freshwater ecosystems.

  A study in the Oct. 3 Nature finds that this ecological tipping point, what scientists call the environmental flow limit, has already been reached in 15 to 21 percent of watersheds tapped by humans. Most of those rivers and streams are in drier regions like parts of Mexico and northern India where groundwater is used for irrigation.

• 20 Companies Are Responsible for 1/3 of All Carbon Emissions

  Revealed: the 20 Firms Behind
  a Third Of All Carbon Emissions

  Oct. 9, 2019  (The Guardian)- New data shows how fossil fuel companies have driven climate crisis despite industry knowing dangers:
  • Half a century of dither and denial – a climate crisis timeline
  • Why we need political action to tackle the oil, coal and gas companies - video explainer

  The Guardian today reveals the 20 fossil fuel companies whose relentless exploitation of the world’s oil, gas and coal reserves can be directly linked to more than one-third of all greenhouse gas emissions in the modern era.

  New data from world-renowned researchers reveals how this cohort of state-owned and multinational firms are driving the climate emergency that threatens the future of humanity, and details how they have continued to expand their operations despite being aware of the industry’s devastating impact on the planet.

• Is Geo-Engineering a Safe Approach to Fighting Climate Change?

  In a Climate Crisis, Is Geo-engineering Worth the Risks?

  Oct. 6, 2019  (Science News)- Geo-engineering ideas — tinkering with the climate to delay or halt the worst effects of global warming — have been around for decades. Few such ideas have progressed past the thought experiment stage, due in part to concerns that the cure could be worse than the disease. But as dire warnings about climate change’s impacts increasingly dominate the news, geo-engineering may once again be getting a closer look.

  Not everyone is sure this is a good idea. When it comes to ocean seeding, for example, “there is considerable uncertainty and disagreement … whether this would do more harm than good,” says David Karl, an oceanographer at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Vast algal blooms could alter the geochemistry of the deep ocean, he adds. “It is with great caution that anyone should be deliberating altering the nutrient balance of the sea for any reason.” Similarly, proposals to tinker with incoming solar radiation to cool the planet might significantly shift weather patterns and negatively affect crops.

  Click now to see what they are.

• Brazil Is Not the Only Place Failing to Proterct Its Forests

  Indonesian Enforcement Questioned
  As Fires Flare Up
  On the Same Concessions

  Oct. 3, 2019  (MONGABAY)- At least three companies whose concessions were burned in the 2015 fires that razed huge swaths of forest in Indonesia are also caught up in this year’s fires, prompting calls by the government for a stern crackdown on repeat offenders.

  The fires this year, mostly on Sumatra and Kalimantan, the Indonesian portion of Borneo, have burned 328,000 hectares (810,505 acres) of forest to date. They’ve also generated huge clouds of smoke that have sickened nearly a million people and caused the deaths of several, including a 4-month-old baby and a newborn.

• Eliminating Single-Use Plastics in Your Travels

  How to Take Your Next
  Trip Without Single-Use Plastics

  Oct. 1, 2019  (National Geographic)- By Marie Mcgrory

  Avoiding single-use plastics like bottles and bags is hard enough at home, and can be especially difficult while traveling. When you’re on the go and trying to pack light, it’s easy to grab a plastic-wrapped sandwich and bottle of water. But eliminating single-use plastics on a trip might be easier than you think—even in a foreign country without potable water.

  I took on this challenge in Belize, a country that is no stranger to ecotourism. Its government recently announced a ban on major single-use plastics like bags and straws to go into effect by Earth Day 2019. And UNESCO has removed the Belize Barrier Reef from its list of World Heritage in Danger, after years of efforts to restore the reef’s long-term health.

• Helping Animals Hurt By the Amazon Fires

  Inside the Efforts to Help
  Animals Hurt By the Amazon Fires

  Sept. 26, 2019  (National Geographic)- Nearly every day for the past 35 days, biologist Raúl Ernesto Rojas and a group of volunteers have been out looking for animals on the edges of the flames roaring around Santa Cruz, Bolivia. Mostly, they find only charred bodies or bones. For any unseen survivors, they leave corn and fresh water cradled in palm husks.

  The dead animals aren’t a surprise. Nothing in the Amazon is adapted to deal with the fires raging across parts of Bolivia and Brazil, as well as Peru and Paraguay—most set intentionally to clear forest for agriculture. To date in the Chiquitanía region around Santa Cruz, six million acres of forest—an area the size of Vermont—have burned, according to the city’s government. It’s not clear just how much of the Brazilian Amazon has burned this year, but the country’s National Institute for Space Research says the fires are unprecedented.

  Click for the story and some disturbing images.

• Preserving Plant Diversity

  Connecting Our Dwindling Natural
  Habitats Could Help
  Preserve Plant Diversity

  Sept. 26, 2019 (Science News)- An ecological experiment so big it can be seen from space suggests that connecting isolated habitats with natural corridors can help preserve plant diversity.

  The 18-year-long project revealed that linking fragments of restored longleaf pine savanna by a natural passageway boosted the number of plant species by 14 percent in those patches by the end of the experiment. This increase stems from higher plant colonization rates and lower extinction rates in connected versus unconnected fragments, researchers report in the Sept. 27 Science.

  “This study shows that corridors can, in principle, have lasting, positive effects on shrinking ecosystems,” says Jens Åström, an ecologist at the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research in Trondheim who wasn’t involved in the study. “It’s rare to have ecological experiments viewable from Google Earth,” he says.

• The Real Problem With Beef

  It Might Not Be Terrible
  For Human Consumption, But...

  Oct. 2, 2019 (NY Times Climate Forward)-An extensive study confirms that red meat might not be that bad for you. But it is bad for the planet, with chicken and pork less harmful than beef.

  The potentially unhealthful effects of eating red meat are so small that they may be of little clinical significance for many people.

  This finding, just released in multiple articles in the Annals of Internal Medicine, is sure to be controversial. It should certainly not be interpreted as license to eat as much meat as you like. But the scope of the work is expansive, and it confirms prior work that the evidence against meat isn’t nearly as solid as many seem to believe. (While I had no role in the new research, I co-wrote a commentary about it in the journal.)

• Can Chinese Govt. Pledges Be Trusted?

  Chinese Firms To Build More
  Coal Power Plants In Asia
  Despite Beijing’s Pledge
  For Greener Initiatives

  Sept. 18, 2019 (South China Morning Post) - China, which has pledged that projects built under its Belt and Road Initiative will be green and sustainable, will fund more fossil fuel power projects in Southeast Asia even as western, Japanese and South Korean financiers increasingly walk away from them over sustainability concerns.

  This will be the case until the host nations – such as Indonesia – have come up with good enough financial incentives and expanded power transmission and distribution infrastructure to make mass renewable energy projects viable, according to Martin David, Asia-Pacific head of projects practice group at international law firm Baker McKenzie.

  Click now to read more
  about this discouraging news.

• Can a Climate Conscious Diet Include Meat or Dairy?

  Can a Climate Conscious
  Diet Include Meat or Dairy?

  Sept. 18, 2019 (Inside Climate News)-Two new studies are making the case that people in high-income countries need to cut back on livestock-based foods, but they're also suggesting that one-size-fits-all recommendations won't work in all cases.

  Though each advocates a major transformation in how the world eats and produces food in order to slow climate change—including a shift toward plant-based diets—they also say that consuming meat and dairy products in certain parts of the world, by certain populations, is critical for meeting nutritional goals.

  Click now to satisfy
  your climate news hunger.

• There's Womb For That Carbon Dioxide

  Air Pollution Can
  Reach the Placenta Around
  a Developing Baby

  Sept. 17, 2019 (Science News)- Breathing in polluted air may send soot far beyond a pregnant woman’s lungs, all the way to the womb surrounding her developing baby.

  Samples of placenta collected after women in Belgium gave birth revealed soot, or black carbon, embedded within the tissue on the side that faces the baby, researchers report online September 17 in Nature Communications. The amount of black carbon in the placenta correlated with a woman’s air pollution exposure, estimated based on emissions of black carbon near her home.

  “There’s no doubt that air pollution harms a developing baby,” says Amy Kalkbrenner, an environmental epidemiologist at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee who was not involved in the new work. Mothers who encounter air pollution regularly may have babies born prematurely or with low birth weight.

• Coral Reproduction May Be Hampered by Climate Change

  Climate Change May Be Throwing Coral Sex Out of Sync

  Sept. 13, 2019  (Science News)- Bad timing for coral sex might be an under-appreciated threat of climate change.

  Spawning is out of sync for at least three widespread coral species in the Red Sea, says Tom Shlesinger, a marine biologist at Tel Aviv University. And warmer seawater temperatures could be playing a role.

  Records from the 1980s suggest that whole swaths of corals from particular species typically let colorful egg-sperm bundles float out of their tiny mouths and up into the water on the same few nights a year, Shlesinger says. Released in a big synchronized cloud, the sex cells separate from one another, gaining a chance at fertilization during the brief time that they survive on their own in seawater. It’s “a wonder of nature,” he says.

• Bees Are Not the Flyers Affected By Neonicotinoids

  Birds Fed a Common
  Pesticide Lost Weight Rapidly
  and Had Migration Delays

  Sept. 12, 2019  (Science News)- The world’s most widely used insecticides may delay the migrations of songbirds and hurt their chances of mating.

  In the first experiment to track the effects of a neonicotinoid on birds in the wild, scientists captured 24 white-crowned sparrows as they migrated north from Mexico and the southern United States to Canada and Alaska. The team fed half of those birds with a low dose of the commonly used agricultural insecticide imidacloprid and the other half with a slightly higher dose. An additional 12 birds were captured and dosed with sunflower oil, but no pesticide.

  Within hours, the dosed birds began to lose weight and ate less food. Birds given the higher amount of imidacloprid (3.9 milligrams per kilogram of body mass) lost 6 percent of their body mass within six hours. That’s about 1.6 grams for an average bird weighing 27 grams. Tracking the birds (Zonotrichia leucophrys) revealed that the pesticide-treated sparrows also lagged behind the others when continuing their migration to their summer mating grounds.

• Key Facts About Safe Drinking Water

  Key Facts About Safe Drinking Water

  Sept. 12, 2019  (World Health Organization (WHO))-
  • In 2017, 71% of the global population (5.3 billion people) used a safely managed drinking-water service – that is, one located on premises, available when needed, and free from contamination.
  • 90% of the global population (6.8 billion people) used at least a basic service. A basic service is an improved drinking-water source within a round trip of 30 minutes to collect water.
  • 785 million people lack even a basic drinking-water service, including 144 million people who are dependent on surface water.
  • Globally, at least 2 billion people use a drinking water source contaminated with faeces.
  • Contaminated water can transmit diseases such diarrhoea, cholera, dysentery, typhoid, and polio. Contaminated drinking water is estimated to cause 485 000 diarrhoeal deaths each year.
  • By 2025, half of the world’s population will be living in water-stressed areas.
  • In least developed countries, 22% of health care facilities have no water service, 21% no sanitation service, and 22% no waste management service.

• China’s 2019 CO₂ Emissions: Gruesome

  Why China’s CO2 Emissions Grew 4% During First Half of 2019

  Oct. 3, 2019  (CarbonBrief)- China’s CO2 emissions from fossil fuels and cement production grew by an estimated 4% in the first half of 2019, analysis of preliminary data suggests.

  Power-sector emissions, which had driven the rebound in overall emissions since 2017, flattened off. However, there was a surge in real estate and infrastructure construction that saw emissions from steel and cement expand rapidly.

  Click now to learn why.

• Maps Showing How Much of the Amazon is Burning

  How Much of The Amazon Is Burning, How It Compares To Other Years

  Aug. 29, 2019 (National Geographic)-Thousands of fires are burning across a southern swath of the Amazon. They belch smoke and soot, blanketing those who live downwind with thick, dirty air, hurting wildlife in their path and destroying part of one the most important carbon storehouses left on the planet.

  About 76,000 fires were burning across the Brazilian Amazon at last official count, an increase of over 80 percent over the same time period last year, according to data from Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research (INPE). Since then, even more fires have appeared in the satellite imagery that scientists use to assess the extent and intensity of burning, and they expect the number to increase over coming months as the dry season intensifies.

  Click now for more
  on this burning issue.

• Yes, We Have No Bananas

  The Banana is One
  Step Closer to Disappearing

  Aug. 12, 2019 (National Geographic)- A fungus that has wreaked havoc on banana plantations in the Eastern Hemisphere has, despite years of preventative efforts, arrived in the Americas.

  ICA, the Colombian agriculture and livestock authority, confirmed on Thursday that laboratory tests have positively identified the presence of so-called Panama disease Tropical Race 4 on banana farms in the Caribbean coastal region. The announcement was accompanied by a declaration of a national state of emergency.

  The discovery of the fungus represents a potential impending disaster for bananas as both a food source and an export commodity. Panama disease Tropical Race 4—or TR4—is an infection of the banana plant by a fungus of the genus Fusarium.

  Click now for more on this story.

• Not the Thin Blue Line, But the Thick Gray Line

  The Thick Gray Line: Forest
  Elephants Defend Against Climate Change

  Aug. 19, 2018 (NY Times Climate Forward)-Poaching destabilizes nations, disrupts ecosystems and threatens biodiversity. A recent study suggests still another consequence: Some types of poaching may also accelerate climate change.

  Forest elephants — the smaller, endangered relatives of African savanna elephants — promote the growth of large trees that excel at storing carbon, according to research published in the journal Nature Geoscience.

  Click to read more.

• Satellite-based Emissions Monitoring (Not Just CO₂

  Beyond Carbon:Satellite-based
  Emissions Monitoring Can
  Track Much More Than CO2

  Aug. 19, 2019 (Energy Central) -This recent blog from environmental tech nonprofit WattTime brings up an important point: In addition to reducing emissions for the sake of climate action, millions of lives can be saved in the near-term and beyond by cleaning up the air we breathe to lower cardiac and respiratory illnesses.

  WattTime is embarking on a Google-backed global emissions monitoring project that will focus on CO2 in order to guide and enforce emissions-reduction regulations, but they also hope to expand that project to look at other pollutants—from sulfur dioxide to mercury—to improve health on a global scale.

  Click now to learn more.

• Mystery: Origin of the Oil Killing Brazilian Sea Turtles?

  Oil Is Killing Brazil’s
  Turtles. No One Knows
  Where It’s From

  Oct. 12, 2019  (TIME)- More than a month since oil started washing up on some of Brazil’s most touristic beaches, dotting sand with black patches, killing sea turtles and scaring off fishermen, the origin of the crude is still a mystery.

  “We don’t know the oil’s origin, where it came from or how it got here,” Energy Minister Bento Albuquerque said at an offshore exploration auction in Rio de Janeiro on Thursday.

  Click now for more details.

• One Dead in Gulf of Mexico Rig Accident

  One dead in Gulf of Mexico
  Rig Accident - But No Pollution

  July 21, 2019 (UPI) -There is no pollution associated with an explosion on a drilling platform about 12 miles off the coast of New Orleans in the Gulf of Mexico, a regulator said.

  The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement said it was notified by oil and gas operator Fieldwood Energy of an explosion on its Echo Platform.

  Fieldwood said one contract worker was killed and three other employees were treated for injuries at an onshore medical facility.

  Click now for the whole story.

• 14-Year-old Oil Leak in Gulf: Far Worse Than Taylor Energy Says

  New Estimate for an Oil Leak:
  1,000x Worse Than Rig Owner Says

  June 25, 2020 (NY Times Climate Forward) -A new federal study has found that an oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico that began 14 years ago has been releasing as much as 4,500 gallons a day, not three or four gallons a day as the rig owner has claimed.

  The leak, about 12 miles off the Louisiana coast, began in 2004 when a Taylor Energy Company oil platform sank during Hurricane Ivan and a bundle of undersea pipes ruptured. Oil and gas have been seeping from the site ever since.

  Click now to read all about it.

• It’s Been Nine Years Since the Deepwater Horizon Incident

  Nine Years After Deepwater Horizon

  April 16, 2017 (National Wildlife Federation) - It has been nine years since BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded off the coast of Louisiana, killing eleven men and unleashing an 87 day-long torrent of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico. National Wildlife Federation has taken an active role in Gulf recovery, advocating for science-based decision-making to benefit wildlife and their habitats as Gulf leaders invest recovery funds into restoration.

  While there are still decades of recovery ahead, significant strides have been made over the last eight years to restore the Gulf for coastal communities and wildlife. As we reflect on the lives lost and the damage wrought, we should also consider how we can prevent a similar disaster from happening in the future.

  Click now for the complete story

• Torrey Canyon Oil Spill - Learning From History

  Torrey Canyon Disaster –
  the UK's Worst-Ever Oil
  Spill 50 Years On

  Mar. 18, 2017 (The Guardian) - “I saw this huge ship sailing and I thought he’s in rather close, I hope he knows what he’s doing,” recalled Gladys Perkins of the day 50 years ago, when Britain experienced its worst ever environmental disaster.

  The ship was the Torrey Canyon, one of the first generation of supertankers, and it was nearing the end of a journey from Kuwait to a refinery at Milford Haven in Wales. The BP-chartered vessel ran aground on a rock between the Isles of Scilly and Land’s End in Cornwall, splitting several of the tanks holding its vast cargo of crude oil.

  Click now for the complete story

• The Prospect of Cuba Drilling In The Gulf Concerns Tampa Bay.

  Advocates of Gulf Oil-Drilling
  Ban Worried By Talks With Cuba

  Aug. 18, 2016 (Tampa Bay Times) - Progress in international talks over who owns a piece of the Gulf of Mexico has raised the specter of a Deepwater Horizon tragedy along local shores.

  A few hundred miles from the west coast of Florida is a 7,700-square-mile area of the Gulf of Mexico known as the Eastern Gap, thought to be rich with oil but with no clear owner.

  The U.S., Cuban and Mexican governments are now negotiating how to split the area among the three nations. Once that happens, each country can drill for oil in its allotted portion.

• Shell Oil Mimics BP With 90,000 Gal. of Crude

  Shell Oil Spill Dumps Nearly 90,000 Gallons of Crude Into Gulf

  May 13, 2016 (EcoWatch) -An oil spill from Royal Dutch Shell’s offshore Brutus platform has released 2,100 barrels of crude into the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.

  The leak—roughly 88,200 gallons—created a visible 2 mile by 13 mile oil slick in the sea about 97 miles south of Port Fourchon, Louisiana, according to the U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement.

  Officials said that the accident occurred near Shell’s Glider field, an underwater pipe system that connects four subsea oil wells to the Brutus platform, which floats on top of the water with a depth of 2,900 feet.

  Click now for more
  (if you can bear it).

• Blowout Highlights Gulf Drilling Dangers

  Blowout Highlights
  Gulf Drilling Dangers

  July 25, 2013 (Mother Nature Network) -Flames erupted from an offshore drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico, torching a natural gas plume that had been leaking since a blowout earlier in the day. All 44 rig workers were evacuated before the fire began, according to the U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, but the rig continued spewing gas until Thursday morning, when its scorched frame finally collapsed enough to cut off the leak.

  Click now for the whole story.

• Obama White House Lifts Deepwater Drilling Ban

  Obama White House Lifts Deepwater Drilling Ban

  Oct. 12, 2010 (CBS News) -The Obama administration on Tuesday lifted the deep water oil drilling moratorium that the government imposed in the Gulf of Mexico in the wake of the disastrous BP oil spill.

  The administration has been under heavy pressure from the industry and others in the region to lift the six-month ban on grounds it has cost jobs and damaged the economy. A federal report said the moratorium likely caused a temporary loss of 8,000 to 12,000 jobs in the Gulf region.

  While the temporary ban on exploratory oil and gas drilling is lifted immediately, drilling is unlikely to resume immediately. Drilling companies must meet a host of new safety regulations before they can resume operations, officials said.

  Click now for more
  if you can bear it.

• Enter the No-Spin Zone of the Deep: the BP Live Feed

  The No-Spin Zone of the Deep

  June 5, 2010 (Christian Science Monitor) - It was the last thing BP wanted: An open, high-definition live video feed – a "spillcam," if you will – showing in excruciating detail the massive oil geyser fouling the Gulf of Mexico, a situation admittedly caused by the giant extractive firm.

  But after a series of PR disasters – waffling, obfuscating, misplaced optimism, a gaffe-prone CEO – the decision by BP, under pressure from Congress, to put the live feed on the air reaped some unexpected plaudits for the company.

  Click now for the complete
  story from the archives.

• Can We Restore the Gulf of Mexico?

  Gulf Oil Spill:
  Dispersants Have Potential
  to Cause More Harm Than Good

  May 11, 2010 (CISTON PR Newswire) -The chemical dispersants being used to break up the oil leaking into the gulf following the explosion of British Petroleum's Deepwater Horizon offshore oil rig have the potential to cause just as much, if not more, harm to the environment and the humans coming into contact with it than the oil possibly would if left untreated.

  That is the warning of toxicology experts, led by Dr. William Sawyer, addressing the Gulf Oil Disaster Recovery Group, a group of lawyers working to protect the rights and interests of environmental groups and persons affected by the Deepwater Horizon disaster. The group represents the United Fishermen's Association and the Louisiana Environmental Action Network (LEAN), among others.

  Click now to learn more.

• Exxon Valdez: The Story That Never Goes Away

  20 Years After Exxon Valdez
  Oil Spill, Alaskan
  Coastline Remains Contaminated

  Mar. 24, 2009 (Democracy Now) - Today marks the twentieth anniversary of the Exxon Valdez oil spill, one of the worst environmental disasters in history. The Exxon Valdez spilled between 11 and 38 million gallons of crude oil into the fishing waters of Prince William Sound.

  The spill contaminated more than 1,200 miles of Alaska’s shoreline and killed hundreds of thousands of seabirds and marine animals. It also dealt a staggering blow to the residents of local fishing towns, and the effects of the disaster are still being felt today. We speak with Riki Ott, a community activist, marine toxicologist, former commercial salmon fisherma’am and author of two books on the spill. Her latest is Not One Drop: Betrayal and Courage in the Wake of the Exxon Valdez Spill.

  Click now for the story
  deep in the archives.

# 1 - Portland, Ore

The city of microbrewery mania and home to megastore Powell's Books — one of the few remaining independent booksellers in the country — is No. 1 in sustainability. Declared the most bikeable city in the United States for its 200 miles of dedicated bike lanes, Portland certainly makes forgoing gas-powered travel easy. And for lessons in DIY sustainable food sources, classes are available for container gardening and cheese making, or beekeeping and chicken keeping.

# 2 - San Francisco, Cal.

# 3 - Boston, Mass.

It's hard to think of this city without also thinking of tea — as a commodity, not a drink. Boston ranks high among the urban green elite. Sustainability efforts include a "Green by 2015" goal to replace traditional taxi cabs with hybrid vehicles, recycle trash to power homes, use more solar panels, and use more electric motorbikes for transportation.

# 4 - Oakland, Calif.

# 5 - Eugene, Ore.

# 6 - Cambridge, Mass.

# 7 - Berkeley, Calif.

A great place to find an abundance of organic and vegetarian restaurants is also on the cutting edge of sustainability. Berkeley is recognized as a leader in the incubation of clean technology for wind power, solar power, biofuels and hydropower.

# 8 - Seattle, Wash.

# 9 - Chicago, Ill.

# 10 - Austin Tex.

Carbon neutral by 2020 — it's an ambitious goal, but Austin Energy is the nation's top seller of renewable energy among 850 utility-sponsored programs, which makes its goal to power the city solely on clean energy within reach. As the gateway to the scenic Texas Hill Country, acreage in Austin devoted to green space includes 206 parks, 12 preserves, 26 greenbelts and more than 50 miles of trails.

The Guardian Sustainable Business

Gold Rush vs Salmon Habitat

Environmental Working Group

Click now to get there.

Your Cities, Yourselves

Virginia Dept. of
Environmental Quality

Companies Producing Cleaner Power

(More companies will be added to this page shortly)

1366 One Step Closer to
Opening US Solar PV Wafer Facility