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IN TODAY’S RADIO REPORT: Standing Rock Sioux tribe vows to keep fighting against Dakota Access Pipeline; New study finds owners of the pipeline reported 69 spills in the last 2 years; Air pollution linked to increased risk of dementia; More Americans now work in solar jobs than in coal jobs; PLUS: Sweden votes to go zero emissions by 2050… All that and more in today’s Green News Report!
Green News Report
with Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen
2/9/2017
‘Green News Report’ – February 9, 2017 | With Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen... · · · · · ‘Green News Report’ – February 9, 2017 | With Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen...
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IN ‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (see links below): House Science Committee Hearing Renews Battle of Science Vs. Denial; Reality finally sets in for the media: Trump’s presidency will be a disaster for the climate; At least 7 tornadoes touch down in Louisiana, state of emergency declared; Conservation success: Canary rockfish no longer considered overfished; Scientists are figuring out how to lower L.A.’s temperture; The state of residential solar power; ‘Whistleblower’ says protocol was breached but no data fraud… PLUS: U.S. utilities seek solar power as Trump sides with coal, fossil fuels… and much, MUCH more! …
STORIES DISCUSSED ON TODAY’S ‘GREEN NEWS REPORT’…
- Standing Rock sues to stop Dakota Access Pipeline construction re-starts:
- Native American Tribe Files 1st Legal Challenge Over Dakota Access Pipeline Easement (ABC News) [emphasis added]:
The Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, which has joined the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s lawsuit against the pipeline, filed a motion at the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia this morning seeking a temporary restraining order “to halt construction and drilling” under and on either side of the land surrounding Lake Oahe. The tribe argues that the Dakota Access Pipeline “will desecrate the waters upon which Cheyenne River Sioux tribal members rely for their most important religious practices and therefore substantially burden the free exercise of their religion,” according to court documents obtained by ABC News.
- VIDEO: A Violation of Tribal & Human Rights: Standing Rock Chair Slams Approval of Dakota Access Pipeline (Democracy Now!):
“And what’s happened is our treaty rights are violated, our human rights are violated. Our legal law””the laws are being violated. Federal laws are being violated. And this is just a complete disregard for the environment, for what keeps people safe. And it’s just unfortunate, sad. But we need to get that out there. We need to be heard by decision makers. And it seems like the process is trying to expedite and facilitate something that’s unlawful.”
- Dakota Access pipeline construction begins (AP):
Construction of the final segment of the Dakota Access pipeline has begun, and the full system should be operational within three months, the developer of the long-delayed project said Thursday, even as an American Indian tribe filed a legal challenge to block the work and protect its water supply.
- Standing Rock Sioux chairman: ‘I was slighted. I was disrespected.’ (Washington Post)
- Standing Rock will challenge any suspension of pipeline’s environmental review (Stand With Standing Rock):
We stand ready to fight this battle against corporate interest superseding government procedure and the health and wellbeing of millions of Americans.
- Senator: Army Corps told to approve Dakota pipeline easement (Columbus Dispatch) [emphasis added]:
“If it does become a done deal in the next few days, we’ll take it to the judicial system,” Archambault said. He added: “This is a good indicator of what this country is going to be up against in the next four years. So America has to brace itself.”
- Does Trump still owns stock in DAPL? (CBS)
- Solidarity: Native Nations March set for March 10, 2017:
- Native Nations March set for March 10, 2017, in Washington DC (Stand With Standing Rock):
The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and Indigenous grassroots leaders call on our allies across the United States and around the world to peacefully March on Washington DC. We ask that you rise in solidarity with the Indigenous peoples of the world whose rights protect Unci Maka (Grandmother Earth) for the future generations of all. Standing Rock and Native Nations will lead a march in prayer and action in Washington D.C. on March 10th 2017.
- The March for Science is Set to Happen on Earth Day, April 22, 2017 (Climate Central)
- People’s Climate March to Descend on Washington April 29, 2017 (Inside Climate News)
- After the Women’s March: six mass US demonstrations to join this spring (Guardian UK)
- Seattle to divest from Wells Fargo over DAPL investment:
- Seattle found a new way to resist the Dakota Access Pipeline (Climate Progress)
- Davis and Seattle To Pull More Than $3 Billion From Wells Fargo Over Dakota Access Pipeline (NPR):
Seattle’s City Council has voted to not renew its contract with Wells Fargo, in a move that cites the bank’s role as a lender to the Dakota Access Pipeline project as well as its creation of millions of bogus accounts. As a result, the city won’t renew its contract with the bank that expires next year.
- Seattle Votes to End $3 Billion Relationship with Wells Fargo Because of the Bank’s Dakota Access Pipeline Financing (The Stranger)
- Seattle City Council votes to cut ties with Wells Fargo over Dakota Access Pipeline lending (Seattle Times)
- Energy Transfer Partners: 69 spills in last 2 years:
- NEW REPORT: 69 Accidents by Bayou Bridge Company ETP (Lousiana Bucket Brigade)
- Spills plague Dakota Access pipeline builders, environmental groups find (Des Moines Register):
“It is a pretty sobering experience to go through these spreadsheets,” said Anne Rolfes, founding director of the Louisiana Bucket Brigade, an environmental group. “To sift through all these pages really gives you an idea of the destruction.”
- Records Show History of Safety Violations for Dakota Access Pipeline Company (KSTP Minneapolois)
- New study links air pollution to increased risk of dementia:
- The Surprising Link Between Air Pollution And Alzheimer’s Disease (LA Times):
With environmental regulations expected to come under heavy fire from the Trump administration, new research offers powerful evidence of a link between air pollution and dementia risk.
- There are now twice as many solar jobs as coal jobs in the US (Vox)
- China doubled its solar capacity in 2016:
- China’s solar power capacity more than doubles in 2016 (Reuters):
China will add more than 110 gigawatts of capacity in the 2016-2020 period, according to the NEA’s solar power development plan. Solar plants generated 66.2 billion kilowatt-hours of power last year, accounting for 1 percent of China’s total power generation, the NEA said.
- China is now the biggest producer of solar power: Its capacity more than doubled in 2016. (Engadget):
You probably don’t think of China as a clean energy champion given its frequent problems with smog and continued dependence on coal power, but you may have to rethink your views after today.
- Sweden binds all future administrations to go zero emissions by 2045:
- Is the Swedish deputy PM trolling Trump with this all-female photo? (Guardian UK) [emphasis added]:
Sweden has criticised the Trump administration’s approach to climate policy as it announced legislation binding future governments to a goal of phasing out greenhouse gas emissions by 2045, among the most ambitious by any developed nation…Là¶vin urged European countries to take a leading role in tackling climate change, now “the US is not there anymore to lead”…”2045 is a good year,” Là¶vin said of the target for reaching zero net emissions, adding: “I personally believe we could get there even earlier.“
- Sweden proposes to go carbon neutral by 2045 (Climate Home, 2/11/2016)
‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (Stuff we didn’t have time for in today’s audio report)…
- House Science Committee Hearing Renews Battle of Science Vs. Denial (Inside Climate News):
Rep. Lamar Smith revved up his campaign against the EPA’s “secret science,” and took particular aim at refuting a NOAA study that debunked a global warming “pause.”
- U.S. utilities seek solar power as Trump sides with coal, fossil fuels (LA Times) [emphasis added]:
The plunging cost of solar power is leading U.S. electric companies to capture more of the sun just when President Donald Trump is moving to boost coal and other fossil fuels….Sunshine-capturing technology has become so cheap, so quickly, that utilities are moving to preserve their core business against competition from household solar panels.
- Reality finally sets in for the media: Trump’s presidency will be a disaster for the climate (Climate Progress):
Memo to media: Start taking Trump seriously and literally.
…Since a livable climate was already on a knife’s edge after a quarter-century of ignoring increasingly dire warnings from scientists, another eight years’ delay would all but guarantee ruin for our children and the next 50 generations. - At least 7 tornadoes touch down in Louisiana, state of emergency declared (AP)
- Species success: Canary rockfish no longer considered overfished (CDFG News)
- L.A.’s mayor wants to lower the city’s temperature. These scientists are figuring out how to do it (LA Times):
One way to combat this heat sink is to replace the city’s streets and sidewalks with high-tech materials that reflect more sunlight and stay cooler during the day and at night. Some of these “cool pavements” reflect light only in the infrared part of the spectrum, which we cannot see.
- The state of residential solar power: Choosing solar in a vacuum now makes sense””but location and bureaucracy still loom In Real Life (Ars Technica)
- ‘Whistleblower’ says protocol was breached but no data fraud (E&E News):
The federal climate scientist hailed by conservatives as a whistleblower for allegedly revealing manipulated global warming data said yesterday he was actually calling out a former colleague for not properly following agency standards for research.
- Once-cautious climate economist reverses course, issues warning against the cost of inaction (Climate Progress):
William Nordhaus says social cost of CO2 much higher than he thought, while team Trump says it is zero.
- No country on Earth is taking the 2 degree climate target seriously (Vox):
If we mean what we say, no more new fossil fuels, anywhere.
FOR MORE on Climate Science and Climate Change, go to our Green News Report: Essential Background Page
“New study links air pollution to increased risk of dementia” – Desi’s link upthread
Yep.
It causes denial instead of good scientific criticism that brings progress (On Thermal Expansion & Thermal Contraction – 12).
Sweden will be free of fossil carbon by 2045 since European oil fields will be depleted by then. The North Sea (split between Norway and Scotland) peaked about two decades ago and is in sharp decline.
Whether they want to increase, decrease or stop using fossil carbon, depletion will happen whether sought or unsought. Climatology is a science. Geology is also a science.
I’ve never been to Sweden but I understand they have airports, cars, delivery trucks, lots of home heating systems and food imports from other countries. They may need to consider how to relocalize food and live without airplanes, etc.
I’ve used solar PV since 1990, it’s great but it’s not going to replace our current consumption (pun intended). The reason we use fossil carbon is it is more concentrated than living on our solar budget.
How will environmental groups respond to the arrival of energy rationing on the fossil downslope? And will the Trump crowd blame the greens for depletion or recognize that we passed the limits to growth on a finite planet?
Mark Robinowitz @ #2,
Good questions.
The Earth and its ecosystems have lived under the auspices of solar energy for billions of years.
No problem.
Humanity, the only species that does not really know where it is at did too for the most of its existence (You Are Here).
But according to the esteemed biologist Mayr, who argued that human “intelligence is a kind of lethal mutation” … that is changing (What Kind of Intelligence Is A Lethal Mutation?).
One of the fun things in the science of viruses is to trace the lethal ones back to their origin.
That has been done with the human lethal mutation too (The Universal Smedley – 2).
Good points, Mark @#2. It does seem quite daunting, doesn’t it?
In response, I would say that your somewhat pessimistic view appears to assume that we will never invent anything new or improved in the coming decades. But the renewable energy and energy storage industries are progressing much faster than projected already, despite the considerable market and political headwinds arrayed against them, and progress in energy efficiency is much further along than you may be aware. Literally no one has suggested that solar will be able to replace all of the energy we currently consume and waste today. But scientists and academic researchers are moving rapidly ahead on figuring out the path ahead in concrete practical terms, and the ways and means of how we manage this necessary challenge of transitioning to a low carbon society. Sweden is much, much further along on in managing this transition than you may be aware.
There is no doubt that we are only at the first baby steps on what is ultimately a very long road. But I am not as pessimistic as you sound like you are, and not ready to declare defeat. We haven’t really even started trying yet. All of the research that I have seen on the 3 sectors of renewables + storage + efficiency indicates we already have all the tools we need to succeed this. We only lack the one final ingredient: political will. We also need the politicians and officials to pull the big levers to make it happen.
Plus, failure isn’t really an option for younger people, who will have to live with the consequences of the choices society makes today. It’s clear the future will look quite different from today, but giving up on it or assuming we can’t do it based on our limited view from today, is not an option.