https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2020/03/the-trump-administration-is-just-flat-out-lying-about-climate-change
"The embedding of such misleading information is one of many attacks by the Trump administration on science—and comes amid a broader assault on expertise, whether coming from the intelligence community or the press. Trump has spent his first term rolling back environmental regulations, appointing fossil fuel company executives to environmental positions, and fostering a sense of uncertainty about the facts on climate change. Such deception could further erode public trust in the administration, including its scientific assessments that should, in theory, be apolitical. The Trump administration's fraught relationship to science has recently come to the forefront in its disorganized response to the coronavirus, with Trump’s mixed messages and self-serving politics helping create confusion at a moment in which the public is seeking answers."
Wednesday, March 11, 2020
Sunday, September 1, 2019
Scientists Astonished After Finding Microplastics In Arctic Snow
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/microplastics-snow-arctic-alps-precipitation_n_5d59289be4b0d8840ff48b4f?fbclid=IwAR1eI5E6A-9ABG_KoggDHLGxhq4QahqpJVpREs_7xZ8LEilo6pq5aCZWzYI
"Scientists in Germany are raising the alarm after finding a significant amount of microplastics in snow samples in the Alps and the Arctic — two of the most pristine locations on Earth. In a study published in the journal Science Advances last week, the researchers said their findings point to a troubling possibility: that plastics aren’t just polluting our lands and clogging our waterways, but befouling the air around us as well. “I was really astonished concerning the high concentrations” of microplastics found in Arctic snow, study co-author Gunnar Gerdts told the Los Angeles Times. Microplastics are tiny fragments of plastic that often originate from larger debris that have degraded over time. Gerdts’ team said it found up to 14,400 microplastic particles per liter of melted Arctic snow ― a staggering amount for a remote region where few humans reside. “We found a lot of microplastics, like record concentrations,” Gerdts said of the Arctic snow, “and the question arose: From where does the microplastic originate?” There are just two possibilities, he noted: “from the water or from the air.” While it’s known that microplastics and other plastic debris is transported by ocean currents, scientists have become increasingly convinced that small plastic fragments are also being carried through winds and precipitation."
"Scientists in Germany are raising the alarm after finding a significant amount of microplastics in snow samples in the Alps and the Arctic — two of the most pristine locations on Earth. In a study published in the journal Science Advances last week, the researchers said their findings point to a troubling possibility: that plastics aren’t just polluting our lands and clogging our waterways, but befouling the air around us as well. “I was really astonished concerning the high concentrations” of microplastics found in Arctic snow, study co-author Gunnar Gerdts told the Los Angeles Times. Microplastics are tiny fragments of plastic that often originate from larger debris that have degraded over time. Gerdts’ team said it found up to 14,400 microplastic particles per liter of melted Arctic snow ― a staggering amount for a remote region where few humans reside. “We found a lot of microplastics, like record concentrations,” Gerdts said of the Arctic snow, “and the question arose: From where does the microplastic originate?” There are just two possibilities, he noted: “from the water or from the air.” While it’s known that microplastics and other plastic debris is transported by ocean currents, scientists have become increasingly convinced that small plastic fragments are also being carried through winds and precipitation."
Giving 'Upper Hand to Corporate Polluters,' EPA Drops Surprise Inspections
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/07/19/giving-upper-hand-corporate-polluters-epa-drops-surprise-inspections?fbclid=IwAR0ab1h2Z_UbtGDcCPdP5q5S3ggVfLHHGDEgZpDFZlGntGFxeLWoXkxu1a0
"President Donald Trump's EPA is provoking criticism once again, this time over a new "no surprises" policy stopping unannounced visits to power, chemical, and waste facilities. "The Trump @EPA is just chucking aside any flimsy pretense that they care about upholding environmental laws, enforcing against big polluters, or protecting Americans," tweeted John Walke, Clean Air Director and senior attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council. "Giving a courtesy heads up to suspected *ongoing* lawbreakers is beyond the pale even for the Trump @EPA"."
"President Donald Trump's EPA is provoking criticism once again, this time over a new "no surprises" policy stopping unannounced visits to power, chemical, and waste facilities. "The Trump @EPA is just chucking aside any flimsy pretense that they care about upholding environmental laws, enforcing against big polluters, or protecting Americans," tweeted John Walke, Clean Air Director and senior attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council. "Giving a courtesy heads up to suspected *ongoing* lawbreakers is beyond the pale even for the Trump @EPA"."
Trump Pushes to Open the World’s Largest Remaining Temperate Rainforest to Logging and Mining
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/08/trump-open-alaskas-tongass-national-forest-worlds-largest-remaining-temperate-rainforest-logging-mining.html?fbclid=IwAR0NytRqVXRzb1UiqYAQik995vrnG-vZCsXq31shnAC8cxo8tGYe3Nuivw4
"There are many reasons the rise of right-wing populism is global threat, but perhaps the most lasting—and worrying—impact the ascendancy of this new breed of nihilist, know-nothing leader will have is on the environment. At the very moment when human ingenuity and collective will are required to stave off serious climate consequences, we have a rising tide of global leadership that believes in nothing. They certainly don’t believe in something they can’t touch or sell or kill—or understand. The deep cynicism of the likes of President Donald Trump and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro comes at a time when belief, political bravery, and transformative leadership are required. But instead of big, broad-minded thinking, we get a president in Brazil who’s setting fire to the Amazonian rainforest for sport and an American president who, well, doesn’t believe in anything he can’t pawn. It seems unsurprising, then, that a week after Brazil’s space agency announced that fires in the Amazon were burning at a record rate—an 83 percent increase from before Bolsonaro took power—to the tune of 72,843 fires detected so far this year, on Tuesday we hear that the Trump administration is reportedly pushing to open up Alaska’s Tongass National Forest, the world’s largest intact temperate rainforest, to logging, mining, and energy extraction. “President Trump has instructed Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue to exempt Alaska’s 16.7-million-acre Tongass National Forest from logging restrictions imposed nearly 20 years ago, according to three people briefed on the issue, after privately discussing the matter with the state’s governor aboard Air Force One,” the Washington Post reports."
"There are many reasons the rise of right-wing populism is global threat, but perhaps the most lasting—and worrying—impact the ascendancy of this new breed of nihilist, know-nothing leader will have is on the environment. At the very moment when human ingenuity and collective will are required to stave off serious climate consequences, we have a rising tide of global leadership that believes in nothing. They certainly don’t believe in something they can’t touch or sell or kill—or understand. The deep cynicism of the likes of President Donald Trump and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro comes at a time when belief, political bravery, and transformative leadership are required. But instead of big, broad-minded thinking, we get a president in Brazil who’s setting fire to the Amazonian rainforest for sport and an American president who, well, doesn’t believe in anything he can’t pawn. It seems unsurprising, then, that a week after Brazil’s space agency announced that fires in the Amazon were burning at a record rate—an 83 percent increase from before Bolsonaro took power—to the tune of 72,843 fires detected so far this year, on Tuesday we hear that the Trump administration is reportedly pushing to open up Alaska’s Tongass National Forest, the world’s largest intact temperate rainforest, to logging, mining, and energy extraction. “President Trump has instructed Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue to exempt Alaska’s 16.7-million-acre Tongass National Forest from logging restrictions imposed nearly 20 years ago, according to three people briefed on the issue, after privately discussing the matter with the state’s governor aboard Air Force One,” the Washington Post reports."
Trump moves to allow logging in the world’s largest intact temperate rainforest
https://thinkprogress.org/trump-moves-to-allow-logging-in-the-worlds-largest-intact-temperate-rainforest-3802173b038f/?fbclid=IwAR0aY0k_Vgi2qJ9wRS273SNUeJ--_IN6vEZe3oV4z-x06pVmukDxxa6ti4s
"On Tuesday, the president instructed Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue to allow logging in the 16.7 million acre Tongass National Forest in Southeast Alaska, the nation’s largest national forest. Together with British Columbia’s Great Bear Rainforest in Canada, the Tongass encompasses the largest intact temperate rainforest on Earth. The move would undo logging restrictions that have been in place for nearly 20 years, according to The Washington Post, impacting more than half of the national forest."
"On Tuesday, the president instructed Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue to allow logging in the 16.7 million acre Tongass National Forest in Southeast Alaska, the nation’s largest national forest. Together with British Columbia’s Great Bear Rainforest in Canada, the Tongass encompasses the largest intact temperate rainforest on Earth. The move would undo logging restrictions that have been in place for nearly 20 years, according to The Washington Post, impacting more than half of the national forest."
With Amazon in Flames, Trump Moves to Open 16.7 Million-Acre Alaskan Rainforest to Corporate Exploitation
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/08/28/amazon-flames-trump-moves-open-167-million-acre-alaskan-rainforest-corporate?fbclid=IwAR2nvpeSd_v2aCiJWcbjzg1xrNnWldf_GQA6jhGVMwa2HOsHQ4cMDkU8pZY
"President Donald Trump has reportedly ordered the U.S. Department of Agriculture to open Alaska's 16.7 million-acre Tongass National Forest—the planet's largest intact temperate rainforest—to logging and other corporate development projects"
"President Donald Trump has reportedly ordered the U.S. Department of Agriculture to open Alaska's 16.7 million-acre Tongass National Forest—the planet's largest intact temperate rainforest—to logging and other corporate development projects"
How Ohio’s Chamber of Commerce Killed an Anti-Pollution Bill of Rights
https://theintercept.com/2019/08/29/lake-erie-bill-of-rights-ohio/?fbclid=IwAR3njbcZDESAsjLJGCLlhU68QFeR-l555dOlMI3VAxD59nMEUIVH6ssrvbI
"EARLIER THIS SUMMER, environmental activists in Ohio were alarmed by the passage of a mysterious state budget amendment that would close a new avenue for residents to sue polluters. The provision invalidated a landmark anti-pollution initiative passed by Toledo voters just a few months before. Now, emails obtained in a public records request reveal that the Ohio Chamber of Commerce secured the cooperation of a key Republican lawmaker in a successful effort to slip the amendment into an appropriations bill at the eleventh hour. The emails depict the chamber’s environmental policy director requesting a last-minute meeting with state Rep. Jim Hoops to discuss the Lake Erie Bill of Rights, the newly minted ballot initiative allowing citizens to sue polluters on behalf of Lake Erie. A legislative aide responded quickly, scheduling a same-day meeting. Despite the chamber director’s admission that his proposal would need to be submitted after the legislature’s deadline, the aide produced draft amendment language to share with him three weeks later. The chamber’s subsequent revisions made their way into the final bill, effectively nullifying the Lake Erie Bill of Rights."
"EARLIER THIS SUMMER, environmental activists in Ohio were alarmed by the passage of a mysterious state budget amendment that would close a new avenue for residents to sue polluters. The provision invalidated a landmark anti-pollution initiative passed by Toledo voters just a few months before. Now, emails obtained in a public records request reveal that the Ohio Chamber of Commerce secured the cooperation of a key Republican lawmaker in a successful effort to slip the amendment into an appropriations bill at the eleventh hour. The emails depict the chamber’s environmental policy director requesting a last-minute meeting with state Rep. Jim Hoops to discuss the Lake Erie Bill of Rights, the newly minted ballot initiative allowing citizens to sue polluters on behalf of Lake Erie. A legislative aide responded quickly, scheduling a same-day meeting. Despite the chamber director’s admission that his proposal would need to be submitted after the legislature’s deadline, the aide produced draft amendment language to share with him three weeks later. The chamber’s subsequent revisions made their way into the final bill, effectively nullifying the Lake Erie Bill of Rights."
How This Brazilian City Became Ground Zero For The Amazon’s Deforestation Crisis
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/brazil-amazon-fires-altamira_n_5d697bcce4b0cdfe056fe726
"Rampant corruption, environmental indifference and a thirst for growth helped Brazil ignore a brewing crisis in Altamira."
"Rampant corruption, environmental indifference and a thirst for growth helped Brazil ignore a brewing crisis in Altamira."
Trump Wants to Log Alaska’s Tongass, World’s Largest Intact Temperate Rainforest
http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/08/trump-pushes-to-log-the-worlds-largest-temperate-rainforest.html?fbclid=IwAR3buDDTGRtpu2XWM1_NmNoxxk1PDbI3fcVT40HmNzHbS7Q8QUsKvMs1Ggc
"One Trump staffer who spoke with the paper said forest policy has become “an obsession of his,” while Trump himself has said he has recently taken an interest in “forest management.” But as with many of his interests, the president hasn’t taken all that much time to learn about forest health: In a visit to Paradise, California, after last year’s deadliest fire season in history, Trump suggested the U.S. could limit the state’s wildfire crisis by spending “a lot of time on raking.” Trump’s interest in forestry also involves his usual vindictiveness: Disapproving of California’s fire-management system, he reportedly wanted to cut its federal funding last year. Like other “obsessions” in which the president’s limited financial acumen crashes into his limited understanding of the natural world, his hope for Tongass National Forest is to open it up as a vast logging opportunity. But the timber industry represents less than one percent of southeastern Alaska’s labor force: Seafood processing and tourism, industries immeasurably benefited by an intact Tongass, represent 8 percent and 17 percent of the region’s jobs. The forest’s impact on salmon fisheries alone should be enough to let it be. Chris Wood, the president of the environmental group Trout Unlimited and a former Forest Service staffer who helped implement the “roadless rule” under Clinton, told the Post that the agency has “realized the golden goose is in the salmon, not the trees.” According to the Post, “about 40 percent of wild salmon that make their way down the West Coast spawn in the Tongass: The Forest Service estimates that the salmon industry generates $986 million annually. Returning salmon bring nutrients that sustain forest growth, while intact stands of trees keep streams cool and trap sediment.” Other wildlife rely on the massive forest — it is more than double the size of the next largest national forest — as the Tongass’s remaining old-growth trees provide critical habitat for brown bears, Sitka black-tailed deer, and northern goshawks."
"One Trump staffer who spoke with the paper said forest policy has become “an obsession of his,” while Trump himself has said he has recently taken an interest in “forest management.” But as with many of his interests, the president hasn’t taken all that much time to learn about forest health: In a visit to Paradise, California, after last year’s deadliest fire season in history, Trump suggested the U.S. could limit the state’s wildfire crisis by spending “a lot of time on raking.” Trump’s interest in forestry also involves his usual vindictiveness: Disapproving of California’s fire-management system, he reportedly wanted to cut its federal funding last year. Like other “obsessions” in which the president’s limited financial acumen crashes into his limited understanding of the natural world, his hope for Tongass National Forest is to open it up as a vast logging opportunity. But the timber industry represents less than one percent of southeastern Alaska’s labor force: Seafood processing and tourism, industries immeasurably benefited by an intact Tongass, represent 8 percent and 17 percent of the region’s jobs. The forest’s impact on salmon fisheries alone should be enough to let it be. Chris Wood, the president of the environmental group Trout Unlimited and a former Forest Service staffer who helped implement the “roadless rule” under Clinton, told the Post that the agency has “realized the golden goose is in the salmon, not the trees.” According to the Post, “about 40 percent of wild salmon that make their way down the West Coast spawn in the Tongass: The Forest Service estimates that the salmon industry generates $986 million annually. Returning salmon bring nutrients that sustain forest growth, while intact stands of trees keep streams cool and trap sediment.” Other wildlife rely on the massive forest — it is more than double the size of the next largest national forest — as the Tongass’s remaining old-growth trees provide critical habitat for brown bears, Sitka black-tailed deer, and northern goshawks."
The Trump Administration Has a Multi-Pronged Strategy to Make the Planet Uninhabitable
https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a28859487/trump-epa-methane-emissions-climate-crisis/?fbclid=IwAR2QDB_mpbaUpoX68JL7roUUfB7PJqGuALYKyD2WGJtIQmmAnfw52lKOpzI
"This is not the first example of this phenomenon, of course. You might have noticed that line in the Times piece about vehicle emissions standards, which the Trump administration is trying to gut, once again over the complaints of industry (in that case, auto manufacturers). Vehicle emissions account for one-fifth of U.S. carbon pollution, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists, so that is also extremely unhelpful. Add to that the administration's decision to kill the Clean Power Plan, aimed at reducing emissions from power plants, and replace it with a weaker plan, and you've got a truly multi-pronged effort to make the planet inhospitable to human life. We are running out of things to f**k up at this point."
"This is not the first example of this phenomenon, of course. You might have noticed that line in the Times piece about vehicle emissions standards, which the Trump administration is trying to gut, once again over the complaints of industry (in that case, auto manufacturers). Vehicle emissions account for one-fifth of U.S. carbon pollution, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists, so that is also extremely unhelpful. Add to that the administration's decision to kill the Clean Power Plan, aimed at reducing emissions from power plants, and replace it with a weaker plan, and you've got a truly multi-pronged effort to make the planet inhospitable to human life. We are running out of things to f**k up at this point."
Why should Wisconsin drain Lake Michigan for Foxconn?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/why-should-wisconsin-drain-lake-michigan-for-foxconn/2019/08/28/b717ed40-c99e-11e9-a1fe-ca46e8d573c0_story.html?fbclid=IwAR357WcIZQegvf9B1lyjTIoIA-Nc0pDEMUb9h8zBPzyYro13qBDmGNdb33I
"The Great Lakes — five inland seas holding one-fifth of all the fresh water on Earth — are vast, but they are not limitless. So it is alarming that Wisconsin intends to send water out of the basin not because public health demands it but because a private company wants it. This cuts against the understanding of the lakes as a public trust and, in an era of nationwide water insecurity, sets a dangerous precedent. Foxconn Technology Group, a Taiwanese electronics manufacturer, is building a plant to make LCD screens in Mount Pleasant, Wis. The state that landed Foxconn with environmental waivers and about $4 billion in incentives decided that it was fine for it to have Great Lakes water, too. In 2018, Wisconsin granted a permit for Racine and Foxconn to use 7 million gallons a day from Lake Michigan, taking it outside the area where water naturally returns to the Great Lakes watershed. The diversion sidesteps a key piece of water policy that is commonly called the Great Lakes Compact. The compact, along with Ontario and Quebec’s parallel agreement, is a protocol for when water can be taken outside the basin — which is to say, almost never. But there are exceptions for cities and counties that straddle the watershed boundary. With its groundwater contaminated by naturally occurring radium, Waukesha, Wis., went through an intensely scrutinized application to take water from Lake Michigan. It took seven years, including legal appeal, before the diversion was finalized. Mount Pleasant, a village of 27,000 people, is a straddling community, so the Foxconn diversion would be expected to go through similarly tough scrutiny. But Mount Pleasant didn’t make the diversion request. It was made instead by Racine, a neighboring city on the lakeshore. As an in-basin community, Racine merely asked the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to expand its service area, and the DNR agreed."
"The Great Lakes — five inland seas holding one-fifth of all the fresh water on Earth — are vast, but they are not limitless. So it is alarming that Wisconsin intends to send water out of the basin not because public health demands it but because a private company wants it. This cuts against the understanding of the lakes as a public trust and, in an era of nationwide water insecurity, sets a dangerous precedent. Foxconn Technology Group, a Taiwanese electronics manufacturer, is building a plant to make LCD screens in Mount Pleasant, Wis. The state that landed Foxconn with environmental waivers and about $4 billion in incentives decided that it was fine for it to have Great Lakes water, too. In 2018, Wisconsin granted a permit for Racine and Foxconn to use 7 million gallons a day from Lake Michigan, taking it outside the area where water naturally returns to the Great Lakes watershed. The diversion sidesteps a key piece of water policy that is commonly called the Great Lakes Compact. The compact, along with Ontario and Quebec’s parallel agreement, is a protocol for when water can be taken outside the basin — which is to say, almost never. But there are exceptions for cities and counties that straddle the watershed boundary. With its groundwater contaminated by naturally occurring radium, Waukesha, Wis., went through an intensely scrutinized application to take water from Lake Michigan. It took seven years, including legal appeal, before the diversion was finalized. Mount Pleasant, a village of 27,000 people, is a straddling community, so the Foxconn diversion would be expected to go through similarly tough scrutiny. But Mount Pleasant didn’t make the diversion request. It was made instead by Racine, a neighboring city on the lakeshore. As an in-basin community, Racine merely asked the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to expand its service area, and the DNR agreed."
'Sociopathic Disregard for Our Future': Trump EPA Set to Gut Restrictions on Planet-Warming Methane Emissions
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/08/29/sociopathic-disregard-our-future-trump-epa-set-gut-restrictions-planet-warming?fbclid=IwAR2ROZyo7E1pwLZZWhnVeUatyb4p96CVzbaqFtN66xdIc1IRdvN2BRHKGfc
"Amid dire scientific warnings that the international community must act immediately to slash greenhouse gas emissions, President Donald Trump's Environmental Protection Agency is reportedly set to take another step in the opposite direction Thursday by unveiling a rule that would gut restrictions on the fossil fuel industry's methane pollution."
"Amid dire scientific warnings that the international community must act immediately to slash greenhouse gas emissions, President Donald Trump's Environmental Protection Agency is reportedly set to take another step in the opposite direction Thursday by unveiling a rule that would gut restrictions on the fossil fuel industry's methane pollution."
Trump’s EPA Sides With Water Polluters In Major Hawaii Case
https://www.dcreport.org/2019/08/09/trumps-epa-sides-with-water-polluters-in-major-hawaii-case/?fbclid=IwAR3rqRIuwxsfH_DlIL3nOB713HSX4hRFWhkK8GVWXNt6adWiw9LIzqVGBtw
"If you like sewage, chemical wastes or radioactive molecules in your drinking water the Trump Administration has your back. It’s part of Team Trump’s determined efforts to remake the Environmental Protection Agency into the Environmental Pollution Agency. Soon the U.S. Supreme Court, urged on by Team Trump, may give its stamp of approval to effectively undo many benefits of the 1972 Clean Water Act in a case from the Hawaiian island of Maui. Environmental groups are seeking to stop Maui County from injecting pollutants into the ground, where they mix with groundwater and then flow to the ocean. The groups say the practice evades current pollution laws that bar the fouling of surface waters. The Trump Administration, reversing the Obama Administration’s stance, is on the polluters’ side."
"If you like sewage, chemical wastes or radioactive molecules in your drinking water the Trump Administration has your back. It’s part of Team Trump’s determined efforts to remake the Environmental Protection Agency into the Environmental Pollution Agency. Soon the U.S. Supreme Court, urged on by Team Trump, may give its stamp of approval to effectively undo many benefits of the 1972 Clean Water Act in a case from the Hawaiian island of Maui. Environmental groups are seeking to stop Maui County from injecting pollutants into the ground, where they mix with groundwater and then flow to the ocean. The groups say the practice evades current pollution laws that bar the fouling of surface waters. The Trump Administration, reversing the Obama Administration’s stance, is on the polluters’ side."
Groups Sue Trump's EPA in Response to 'Nauseating' Approval of Bee-Killing Pesticide
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/08/20/groups-sue-trumps-epa-response-nauseating-approval-bee-killing-pesticide?fbclid=IwAR25135GyxOr0ObKMqZh72s5i-RVpD0qtsZDzE7KrGleiNYf03lmEOeODVs
"A pair of environmental groups on Tuesday filed suit against the President Donald Trump administration over the Environmental Protection Agency's recent approval of expanded use of the bee-killing pesticide sulfoxaflor across 200 million acres in 12 states. The Center for Food Safety and the Center for Biological Diversity filed the suit (pdf) in the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals against the EPA and agency administrator Andrew Wheeler."
"A pair of environmental groups on Tuesday filed suit against the President Donald Trump administration over the Environmental Protection Agency's recent approval of expanded use of the bee-killing pesticide sulfoxaflor across 200 million acres in 12 states. The Center for Food Safety and the Center for Biological Diversity filed the suit (pdf) in the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals against the EPA and agency administrator Andrew Wheeler."
Some Men Just Want to Watch the World Burn
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/trump-methane-rule-climate-crisis-878427/?fbclid=IwAR0Sxl1kTRgTYFBAJnIkqx_46qe0QchEIS54V9Gu7kXinqO-eoeLYkeQBH4
"The EPA is proposing to deregulate the oil and gas industry, to no longer require that new natural gas wells, pipelines and storage facilities include technology to detect and limit leaks of methane — a powerful greenhouse gas, with 28 times the heat trapping effect of carbon dioxide. (Methane is the primary component of natural gas. Thanks to fracking, the United States is the global leader of natural gas production.) The Trump EPA is now governed by climate deniers. Anne Isdal, a former deputy to the Texas land commissioner, is acting administrator for the EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation told the Wall Street Journal that the purpose of the proposed rule “is to get to the fundamental basis of whether [methane] should have been regulated in the first place,” telling the paper, “I don’t see that there’s going to be some big climate concern here.” The proposed rule would undo methane limits finalized by the Obama administration in 2016. Since those leak monitoring rules were imposed, scientists have discovered that the U.S. oil and gas industry is leaking 60 percent more of the dangerous gas than previously understood — enough to “substantially erode the potential climate benefits” from substituting natural gas for coal. An analysis by the Wall Street Journal earlier this month found that the leaks create the greenhouse equivalent of 69 million cars — not nice. That figure relied on the EPA’s formulas for measuring methane’s climate impacts. Using metrics favored by the United Nations’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the automobile-equivalent rises to 94 million — or nearly a third of the cars now on the road in the United States."
"The EPA is proposing to deregulate the oil and gas industry, to no longer require that new natural gas wells, pipelines and storage facilities include technology to detect and limit leaks of methane — a powerful greenhouse gas, with 28 times the heat trapping effect of carbon dioxide. (Methane is the primary component of natural gas. Thanks to fracking, the United States is the global leader of natural gas production.) The Trump EPA is now governed by climate deniers. Anne Isdal, a former deputy to the Texas land commissioner, is acting administrator for the EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation told the Wall Street Journal that the purpose of the proposed rule “is to get to the fundamental basis of whether [methane] should have been regulated in the first place,” telling the paper, “I don’t see that there’s going to be some big climate concern here.” The proposed rule would undo methane limits finalized by the Obama administration in 2016. Since those leak monitoring rules were imposed, scientists have discovered that the U.S. oil and gas industry is leaking 60 percent more of the dangerous gas than previously understood — enough to “substantially erode the potential climate benefits” from substituting natural gas for coal. An analysis by the Wall Street Journal earlier this month found that the leaks create the greenhouse equivalent of 69 million cars — not nice. That figure relied on the EPA’s formulas for measuring methane’s climate impacts. Using metrics favored by the United Nations’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the automobile-equivalent rises to 94 million — or nearly a third of the cars now on the road in the United States."
EPA Moves to Loosen Methane Rules as Trump Opens Alaskan Rainforest
https://truthout.org/articles/epa-moves-to-loosen-methane-rules-as-trump-opens-alaskan-rainforest/
"Climate disruption is not lurking in some faraway land of maybe; it was here yesterday and the day before, and last week, and last year. It is here today, and will be here tomorrow, and for the rest of our lives. It will never get better, and is going to get worse, but if we heed the stop signs, we have the chance to, perhaps, keep it from driving us into extinction. Clearly, the president of the United States doesn’t see it that way. “I’m an environmentalist,” said Donald Trump after blowing off a G7 meeting on the climate crisis. “A lot of people don’t understand that. I think I know more about the environment than most people.” In his mind, nuking hurricanes and buying Greenland to plunder its newly ice-free resources is what environmentalists do. Now, Trump the “environmentalist” has also reportedly ordered Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue to open Alaska’s 16.7 million-acre Tongass National Forest — the largest intact temperate rainforest in the world — to logging, energy and mining projects. Not satisfied with his quest to erase Barack Obama from the history books, Trump has begun erasing Clinton-era environmental protections like the one that has defended Tongass for 20 years. “Trump has taken a personal interest in ‘forest management,’” reports The Washington Post, “a term he told a group of lawmakers last year he has ‘redefined’ since taking office.” Trump did not stop with Tsongass. On Thursday, his administration announced it intends to roll back regulations on the release of methane by the oil and gas industry. Methane is a highly dangerous greenhouse gas that has “80 times the heating-trapping power of carbon dioxide in the first 20 years in the atmosphere,” according to The New York Times. There is near-universal fear among environmental scientists that melting Arctic permafrost — exacerbated by the ongoing fires — will release a methane bomb into the atmosphere, creating a feedback loop that will drastically worsen climate disruption."
"Climate disruption is not lurking in some faraway land of maybe; it was here yesterday and the day before, and last week, and last year. It is here today, and will be here tomorrow, and for the rest of our lives. It will never get better, and is going to get worse, but if we heed the stop signs, we have the chance to, perhaps, keep it from driving us into extinction. Clearly, the president of the United States doesn’t see it that way. “I’m an environmentalist,” said Donald Trump after blowing off a G7 meeting on the climate crisis. “A lot of people don’t understand that. I think I know more about the environment than most people.” In his mind, nuking hurricanes and buying Greenland to plunder its newly ice-free resources is what environmentalists do. Now, Trump the “environmentalist” has also reportedly ordered Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue to open Alaska’s 16.7 million-acre Tongass National Forest — the largest intact temperate rainforest in the world — to logging, energy and mining projects. Not satisfied with his quest to erase Barack Obama from the history books, Trump has begun erasing Clinton-era environmental protections like the one that has defended Tongass for 20 years. “Trump has taken a personal interest in ‘forest management,’” reports The Washington Post, “a term he told a group of lawmakers last year he has ‘redefined’ since taking office.” Trump did not stop with Tsongass. On Thursday, his administration announced it intends to roll back regulations on the release of methane by the oil and gas industry. Methane is a highly dangerous greenhouse gas that has “80 times the heating-trapping power of carbon dioxide in the first 20 years in the atmosphere,” according to The New York Times. There is near-universal fear among environmental scientists that melting Arctic permafrost — exacerbated by the ongoing fires — will release a methane bomb into the atmosphere, creating a feedback loop that will drastically worsen climate disruption."
Look No Further Than Brazil’s Amazon Fire for the Dangers of Deregulation
https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2019/08/look-no-further-than-brazils-amazon-fire-for-the-dangers-of-deregulation/?fbclid=IwAR3dYNTQkfod8G2nXHszl5VR2xaUlR4hKqQLmfK2uwvjsGd5Ru2uDZtCxCc
"Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro took power this year promising to open the Amazon rainforest to industry, roll back environmental and indigenous protections, and stack his Cabinet with ideologues who dismiss climate change as a Marxist hoax. But the record wildfires now raging in the Amazon offer a terrifying rebuke and serve as a stark reminder of what’s at stake as Bolsonaro’s policies allow ranchers, loggers, and miners to destroy the world’s largest forest and repository of carbon dioxide at an unprecedented pace."
"Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro took power this year promising to open the Amazon rainforest to industry, roll back environmental and indigenous protections, and stack his Cabinet with ideologues who dismiss climate change as a Marxist hoax. But the record wildfires now raging in the Amazon offer a terrifying rebuke and serve as a stark reminder of what’s at stake as Bolsonaro’s policies allow ranchers, loggers, and miners to destroy the world’s largest forest and repository of carbon dioxide at an unprecedented pace."
Beyond Brazil, Unprecedented Fires Are Engulfing Bolivian Forests
https://truthout.org/articles/beyond-brazil-unprecedented-fires-are-engulfing-bolivian-forests/
"Up to 800,000 hectares of the unique Chiquitano forest were burned to the ground in Bolivia between August 18 and August 23. That’s more forest than is usually destroyed across the country in two years. Experts say that it will take at least two centuries to repair the ecological damage done by the fires, while at least 500 species are said to be at risk from the flames."
"Up to 800,000 hectares of the unique Chiquitano forest were burned to the ground in Bolivia between August 18 and August 23. That’s more forest than is usually destroyed across the country in two years. Experts say that it will take at least two centuries to repair the ecological damage done by the fires, while at least 500 species are said to be at risk from the flames."
Of Course Trump Praised Jair Bolsonaro While the Whole World Condemns His Treatment of the Amazon
https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a28832920/president-trump-praise-jair-bolsonaro-amazon-wildfires/?fbclid=IwAR1bwxAlGhTz1iyI1hD6TuAkjaUZBR6wT4GQ8ypTsJhGzsraYZLubarUNrY
"The United States president also found time to offer his public support for Jair Bolsonaro, the Brazilian president who's under international pressure now that the Amazon is on fire after he embraced a program of ruthlessly exploiting the rainforest, which is a giant carbon sink that produces 20 percent of Earth's oxygen. It's no surprise to see Trump backing another authoritarian leader—it's kind of his thing. We scarcely talk about it anymore, but the President of the United States almost exclusively attacks the democratic leaders of nations that are our traditional allies while paling around with brutish strongmen. The list of the latter includes Kim Jong-un of North Korea, who orchestrates a system of human-rights abuses against his citizens, but also wrote Trump a beautiful letter; Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines, who's backed extrajudicial executions of anyone accused of running drugs, but whom Trump said is doing an "unbelievable job"; and of course, his Good Friend Vlad. Bolsonaro, for his part, is a real nasty piece of work. He's spoken of "cleansing" the Brazilian political left, the kind of terminology that never ends well. He told a female Brazilian lawmaker that he "wouldn't rape you because you're not worthy of it," which of course echoes our own president's dismissal of women who've accused him of sexual assault: "She wouldn't be my first choice." More than all that, he openly embraced Brazil's legacy of fascist military dictatorship."
"The United States president also found time to offer his public support for Jair Bolsonaro, the Brazilian president who's under international pressure now that the Amazon is on fire after he embraced a program of ruthlessly exploiting the rainforest, which is a giant carbon sink that produces 20 percent of Earth's oxygen. It's no surprise to see Trump backing another authoritarian leader—it's kind of his thing. We scarcely talk about it anymore, but the President of the United States almost exclusively attacks the democratic leaders of nations that are our traditional allies while paling around with brutish strongmen. The list of the latter includes Kim Jong-un of North Korea, who orchestrates a system of human-rights abuses against his citizens, but also wrote Trump a beautiful letter; Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines, who's backed extrajudicial executions of anyone accused of running drugs, but whom Trump said is doing an "unbelievable job"; and of course, his Good Friend Vlad. Bolsonaro, for his part, is a real nasty piece of work. He's spoken of "cleansing" the Brazilian political left, the kind of terminology that never ends well. He told a female Brazilian lawmaker that he "wouldn't rape you because you're not worthy of it," which of course echoes our own president's dismissal of women who've accused him of sexual assault: "She wouldn't be my first choice." More than all that, he openly embraced Brazil's legacy of fascist military dictatorship."
Brazil Isn’t the Only Far-Right Government Destroying the Planet
https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/08/26/brazil-isnt-only-far-right-government-destroying-planet?fbclid=IwAR36_cttzIGSwII4MK7aiAyJNHe50TnK2KLN1GvfX8Q5492W1hkWkNERZl0
"It’s no coincidence that forest destruction has increased under far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, who assumed office in January. Bolsonaro has promised to exploit the Amazon for agribusiness, mining, and other commercial activities. To do so, his administration has undermined laws protecting both forests and the people who live there—and launched openly racist attacks on indigenous peoples to marginalize them. When confronted with evidence of his own misdeeds, Bolsonaro has done what authoritarians always do—shoot the messenger. He’s called deforestation data from his own government “fake news” and fired the head of the agency that produced it. He is even claiming (without evidence) that the fires were started by NGOs to tarnish Brazil’s reputation. Sound familiar? Here in the United States, the Trump Administration has repeatedly attempted to undermine the science on climate change, spread misinformation about wildfires, and retaliated against government scientists who work on climate change. Where Bolsonaro deregulates the rainforest, Trump deregulates coal emissions (even as the government’s own analysis shows the extra pollution will kill up to 1,600 people). Where Bolsonaro demonizes NGOs, Trump-allied state governments are criminalizing peaceful protests against fossil fuel infrastructure. As in Brazil, the anti-extraction protests being targeted for criminalization in the United States are often indigenous-led. Meanwhile the Trump administration is systematically handing over sacred indigenous lands to oil and gas companies. And don’t forget about trying to sabotage international climate agreements. The United States is the world’s largest historical emitter of greenhouse gases, yet Trump walked away from the Paris climate accord early in his term. Joining us as a climate “rogue state,” Bolsonaro’s Brazil tried to undermine the global climate talks in Poland last December."
"It’s no coincidence that forest destruction has increased under far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, who assumed office in January. Bolsonaro has promised to exploit the Amazon for agribusiness, mining, and other commercial activities. To do so, his administration has undermined laws protecting both forests and the people who live there—and launched openly racist attacks on indigenous peoples to marginalize them. When confronted with evidence of his own misdeeds, Bolsonaro has done what authoritarians always do—shoot the messenger. He’s called deforestation data from his own government “fake news” and fired the head of the agency that produced it. He is even claiming (without evidence) that the fires were started by NGOs to tarnish Brazil’s reputation. Sound familiar? Here in the United States, the Trump Administration has repeatedly attempted to undermine the science on climate change, spread misinformation about wildfires, and retaliated against government scientists who work on climate change. Where Bolsonaro deregulates the rainforest, Trump deregulates coal emissions (even as the government’s own analysis shows the extra pollution will kill up to 1,600 people). Where Bolsonaro demonizes NGOs, Trump-allied state governments are criminalizing peaceful protests against fossil fuel infrastructure. As in Brazil, the anti-extraction protests being targeted for criminalization in the United States are often indigenous-led. Meanwhile the Trump administration is systematically handing over sacred indigenous lands to oil and gas companies. And don’t forget about trying to sabotage international climate agreements. The United States is the world’s largest historical emitter of greenhouse gases, yet Trump walked away from the Paris climate accord early in his term. Joining us as a climate “rogue state,” Bolsonaro’s Brazil tried to undermine the global climate talks in Poland last December."
Top Financier of Trump and McConnell Is a Driving Force Behind Amazon Deforestation
https://theintercept.com/2019/08/27/amazon-rainforest-fire-blackstone/?fbclid=IwAR0CRWv6MzYD4diOgngc1bC1sEMdmvGsckBqx7U7lduSQIezP8o5Sx8lQuY
"TWO BRAZILIAN FIRMS owned by a top donor to President Donald Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell are significantly responsible for the ongoing destruction of the Amazon rainforest, carnage that has developed into raging fires that have captivated global attention."
"TWO BRAZILIAN FIRMS owned by a top donor to President Donald Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell are significantly responsible for the ongoing destruction of the Amazon rainforest, carnage that has developed into raging fires that have captivated global attention."
The Amazon rainforest’s worst-case scenario is uncomfortably near
https://www.vox.com/2019/8/27/20833275/amazon-rainforest-fire-wildfire-dieback?fbclid=IwAR2cP6pmak_TYrrarMP-2S4faia0KCh87eFi7YEIS0bCl93ZEpYAWQJ7Hmw
"Wildfires and deforestation are pushing the Amazon rainforest toward a dieback scenario: an irreversible cycle of collapse."
"Wildfires and deforestation are pushing the Amazon rainforest toward a dieback scenario: an irreversible cycle of collapse."
Saturday, August 24, 2019
GOP Lobbyists Help Brazil Recruit U.S. Companies to Exploit the Amazon
https://theintercept.com/2019/08/23/gop-lobbyists-help-brazil-recruit-u-s-companies-to-exploit-the-amazon/?fbclid=IwAR0neg-wVjBRYB_HG6qnF8oxuWxi4Nd7Op5oD4d8vReoH1OTbm7gk6RGY4w
"THIS SUMMER, fires are being used to clear wide swaths of the Amazon at an unprecedented rate. One-fifth of the Amazon has already been destroyed in the past 50 years; further industrialization of the rainforest risks destroying another fifth, a loss that would be catastrophic for the global ecosystem. The disaster is widely blamed on interests seeking to clear the world’s largest rainforest for cattle ranching, mining, and export-focused agribusiness. Documents reveal that those interests are being pushed in the U.S. by Republican lobbyists, friendly with President Donald Trump’s administration, who entered into talks with the Brazilian government to promote corporate investment in the Amazon. The crisis in the Amazon comes as Brazil is now governed by an administration openly hostile to environmental concerns and Indigenous communities. President Jair Bolsonaro, a former Army captain once viewed as a fringe figure in Brazilian politics, has been referred to himself as “Captain Chainsaw” for his drive to promote logging and agribusiness in the Amazon."
"THIS SUMMER, fires are being used to clear wide swaths of the Amazon at an unprecedented rate. One-fifth of the Amazon has already been destroyed in the past 50 years; further industrialization of the rainforest risks destroying another fifth, a loss that would be catastrophic for the global ecosystem. The disaster is widely blamed on interests seeking to clear the world’s largest rainforest for cattle ranching, mining, and export-focused agribusiness. Documents reveal that those interests are being pushed in the U.S. by Republican lobbyists, friendly with President Donald Trump’s administration, who entered into talks with the Brazilian government to promote corporate investment in the Amazon. The crisis in the Amazon comes as Brazil is now governed by an administration openly hostile to environmental concerns and Indigenous communities. President Jair Bolsonaro, a former Army captain once viewed as a fringe figure in Brazilian politics, has been referred to himself as “Captain Chainsaw” for his drive to promote logging and agribusiness in the Amazon."
Brazil’s Amazon Fires Highlight The Threat Of Deregulation Amid Climate Change
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/brazil-amazon-rainforest-fire-climate-change_n_5d5dc2b5e4b02cc97c87eb98?fbclid=IwAR2rMUfXKTRUOWrAPIXL2JQYmbNuKrR-okI9P_RpPudxJDcfPBe6-TnkPZY
"Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro took power this year promising to open the Amazon rainforest to industry, roll back environmental and indigenous protections and stack his Cabinet with ideologues who dismiss climate change as a Marxist hoax. But the record wildfires now raging in the Amazon offer a terrifying rebuke and serve as a stark reminder of what’s at stake as Bolsonaro’s policies allow ranchers, loggers and miners to destroy the world’s largest forest and repository of carbon dioxide at an unprecedented pace."
"Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro took power this year promising to open the Amazon rainforest to industry, roll back environmental and indigenous protections and stack his Cabinet with ideologues who dismiss climate change as a Marxist hoax. But the record wildfires now raging in the Amazon offer a terrifying rebuke and serve as a stark reminder of what’s at stake as Bolsonaro’s policies allow ranchers, loggers and miners to destroy the world’s largest forest and repository of carbon dioxide at an unprecedented pace."
Leaked Documents Show Brazil’s Bolsonaro Has Grave Plans for Amazon Rainforest
https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/08/22/leaked-documents-show-brazils-bolsonaro-has-grave-plans-amazon-rainforest?fbclid=IwAR1Ts6UroBICrp0AK6YYKIgjTyJGLQzq7iSB5o27jH22bhIZB4YcWsBvjf4
"Leaked documents show that Jair Bolsonaro's government intends to use the Brazilian president's hate speech to isolate minorities living in the Amazon region. The PowerPoint slides, which democraciaAbierta has seen, also reveal plans to implement predatory projects that could have a devastating environmental impact. The Bolsonaro government has as one of its priorities to strategically occupy the Amazon region to prevent the implementation of multilateral conservation projects for the rainforest, specifically the so-called “Triple A” project."
"Leaked documents show that Jair Bolsonaro's government intends to use the Brazilian president's hate speech to isolate minorities living in the Amazon region. The PowerPoint slides, which democraciaAbierta has seen, also reveal plans to implement predatory projects that could have a devastating environmental impact. The Bolsonaro government has as one of its priorities to strategically occupy the Amazon region to prevent the implementation of multilateral conservation projects for the rainforest, specifically the so-called “Triple A” project."
On the Front Lines of Bolsonaro’s War on the Amazon, Brazil’s Forest Communities Fight Against Climate Catastrophe
https://theintercept.com/2019/07/06/brazil-amazon-rainforest-indigenous-conservation-agribusiness-ranching/?fbclid=IwAR1Atn4BB3GhYxUMA3Ux9GtyyG87MVIxStARCB8NMGMNoKwZAst8HxojCOI
"Imazon, a Brazilian research center, reports deforestation in the first months of 2019 jumped more than 50 percent compared to the amount during the same period in 2018. Half of this deforestation has occurred illegally in protected areas, including hundreds of Indigenous lands that cover a quarter of Brazil’s Amazon and provide a crucial buffer for much of the rest. (In the rainforest bastion state of Amazonas, Indigenous lands account for close to a third of the standing forest.)"
"Imazon, a Brazilian research center, reports deforestation in the first months of 2019 jumped more than 50 percent compared to the amount during the same period in 2018. Half of this deforestation has occurred illegally in protected areas, including hundreds of Indigenous lands that cover a quarter of Brazil’s Amazon and provide a crucial buffer for much of the rest. (In the rainforest bastion state of Amazonas, Indigenous lands account for close to a third of the standing forest.)"
The Amazon Is Dying and Bolsonaro Is Fanning the Flames
https://truthout.org/articles/the-amazon-is-dying-and-bolsonaro-is-fanning-the-flames/
"According to INPE, deforestation across the Amazon had already accelerated by 60 percent in June, compared to the same time period last year, as radical right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro’s horrific environmental policies began to take effect. Last month, Greenpeace labeled Bolsonaro and his right-wing government a “threat to climate equilibrium,” while the World Wildlife Fund, like many scientists, has warned that if the Amazon reaches a tipping point, it could become a dry savannah and will no longer be capable of supporting much of the wildlife that exists there today. Instead of sequestering carbon and generating water and rainfall, the Amazon will instead become a net emitter of carbon, and the planet will lose most of its oxygen-producing function. Meanwhile, the loss of the Amazon’s biodiversity will be beyond devastating for the planet. Bolsonaro, like Trump in the U.S., has worked at breakneck speed to eliminate environmental regulations. He has opened up the Amazon for logging, agribusiness and mining since he took power this January."
"According to INPE, deforestation across the Amazon had already accelerated by 60 percent in June, compared to the same time period last year, as radical right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro’s horrific environmental policies began to take effect. Last month, Greenpeace labeled Bolsonaro and his right-wing government a “threat to climate equilibrium,” while the World Wildlife Fund, like many scientists, has warned that if the Amazon reaches a tipping point, it could become a dry savannah and will no longer be capable of supporting much of the wildlife that exists there today. Instead of sequestering carbon and generating water and rainfall, the Amazon will instead become a net emitter of carbon, and the planet will lose most of its oxygen-producing function. Meanwhile, the loss of the Amazon’s biodiversity will be beyond devastating for the planet. Bolsonaro, like Trump in the U.S., has worked at breakneck speed to eliminate environmental regulations. He has opened up the Amazon for logging, agribusiness and mining since he took power this January."
'Our Lungs Are on Fire': Climate Campaigners Rally at Brazilian Embassies to Protest Destruction of Amazon Rainforest
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/08/23/our-lungs-are-fire-climate-campaigners-rally-brazilian-embassies-protest-destruction?fbclid=IwAR1yT--Wbh-DEHLQNz89OFUDgALmeWZedGDHinlv-8upwHeMGYMmcC7CQYg
"Climate campaigners demonstrated outside the Brazilian embassies in London, Paris, and Madrid on Friday to protest what they say is the Bolsonaro regime's role in dozens of fires that have ravaged large swathes of the Amazon rainforest over the past three weeks."
"Climate campaigners demonstrated outside the Brazilian embassies in London, Paris, and Madrid on Friday to protest what they say is the Bolsonaro regime's role in dozens of fires that have ravaged large swathes of the Amazon rainforest over the past three weeks."
Can humanity survive without the Amazon rainforest?
https://www.salon.com/2019/08/22/can-humanity-survive-without-the-amazon-rainforest-maybe-not-experts-say/?fbclid=IwAR0xUJ5jPabscd0WEPpuFVDdkEd0rOJ-kraF92q3nYc96NGPHeuTvSfgOpw
"In July alone, the Amazon lost 519 square miles of rainforest, an area more than twice the size of Tokyo, due to deforestation. “This devastation is directly related to President Bolsonaro's anti-environmental rhetoric, which erroneously frames forest protections and human rights as impediments to Brazil's economic growth,” Christian Poirier, Amazon Watch's Program Director, said in a statement. “Farmers and ranchers understand the president's message as a license to commit arson with wanton impunity, in order to aggressively expand their operations into the rainforest"."
"In July alone, the Amazon lost 519 square miles of rainforest, an area more than twice the size of Tokyo, due to deforestation. “This devastation is directly related to President Bolsonaro's anti-environmental rhetoric, which erroneously frames forest protections and human rights as impediments to Brazil's economic growth,” Christian Poirier, Amazon Watch's Program Director, said in a statement. “Farmers and ranchers understand the president's message as a license to commit arson with wanton impunity, in order to aggressively expand their operations into the rainforest"."
Amazonia is burning—because that's exactly what 'Brazil's Trump' promised
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/8/23/1880843/-Amazonia-is-burning-because-that-s-exactly-what-Brazil-s-Trump-promised?fbclid=IwAR1UrgQVgkyrbM35FiSGGWJOGjZ6ZnXr6UTGrtyGjLrdtARl2cS9SqMrnCA
"The very first rule of understanding an autocracy is to Believe the Autocrat. When someone promises that they will destroy whole peoples and intentionally wreck the environment—believe them. When Jair Bolsonaro was running for president of Brazil, he told people to call him “Captain Chainsaw,” saying openly that he would promote the destruction of the Amazon rain forest. Now he’s destroying the Amazon rain forest."
"The very first rule of understanding an autocracy is to Believe the Autocrat. When someone promises that they will destroy whole peoples and intentionally wreck the environment—believe them. When Jair Bolsonaro was running for president of Brazil, he told people to call him “Captain Chainsaw,” saying openly that he would promote the destruction of the Amazon rain forest. Now he’s destroying the Amazon rain forest."
The right-wing populist wave is a threat to the climate
https://www.vox.com/2019/8/22/20828297/amazon-rainforest-fire-bolsonaro-brazil-populism?fbclid=IwAR0v_LUCjg9AKw3MSAGtV5RzwbFJiFmceWUY_H8_ptNcFe0XDEddmZBOm0A
"The Amazon rainforest is on fire — and the consensus is that Brazil’s far-right populist leader, Jair Bolsonaro, is to blame. Bolsonaro, who took office in January and has been referred to as “Captain Chainsaw,” gutted funding for agencies protecting the massive rainforest, essentially giving wink-and-nudge approval for illegal loggers to do their thing. Fire is used as a tool for clearing Amazon land for ranching, and the more trees are cut down, the more vulnerable the rainforest is to wildfires. There have been almost twice as many fires detected in 2019 so far as there were in the entirety of 2018. It’s hard to overstate how threatening this policy is to the climate. The Amazon is the world’s largest rainforest: its trees scrub the Earth of a significant amount of CO2 and have captured a huge amount of carbon and methane within their branches and roots. If you lose the trees, a lot of greenhouse gases get released and it becomes harder to capture emissions from other sources. Continued fires and clear-cutting in the Amazon could cripple the fight against climate change. All of this goes to underscore an important and poorly understood point: The wave of right-wing populism sweeping the world is not only dangerous for the countries who succumb to it, or even to immigrants wishing to move to those nations. It’s a fundamental threat to progress against climate change — and thus the entirety of the human race."
"The Amazon rainforest is on fire — and the consensus is that Brazil’s far-right populist leader, Jair Bolsonaro, is to blame. Bolsonaro, who took office in January and has been referred to as “Captain Chainsaw,” gutted funding for agencies protecting the massive rainforest, essentially giving wink-and-nudge approval for illegal loggers to do their thing. Fire is used as a tool for clearing Amazon land for ranching, and the more trees are cut down, the more vulnerable the rainforest is to wildfires. There have been almost twice as many fires detected in 2019 so far as there were in the entirety of 2018. It’s hard to overstate how threatening this policy is to the climate. The Amazon is the world’s largest rainforest: its trees scrub the Earth of a significant amount of CO2 and have captured a huge amount of carbon and methane within their branches and roots. If you lose the trees, a lot of greenhouse gases get released and it becomes harder to capture emissions from other sources. Continued fires and clear-cutting in the Amazon could cripple the fight against climate change. All of this goes to underscore an important and poorly understood point: The wave of right-wing populism sweeping the world is not only dangerous for the countries who succumb to it, or even to immigrants wishing to move to those nations. It’s a fundamental threat to progress against climate change — and thus the entirety of the human race."
Tuesday, August 13, 2019
The Trump Administration Just Gutted One of the Most Powerful Environmental Laws on the Books
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2019/08/the-trump-administration-just-gutted-one-of-the-most-powerful-environmental-laws-on-the-books/?fbclid=IwAR1BwV8LYV7B4onbI-VbnW4Ea_vO59f3fgDgGLTZBii8ruChRh0xhJMtM9U
"The Trump administration unveiled final regulations that weaken the Endangered Species Act (ESA) on Monday, just three months after the United Nations warned of the “unprecedented” decline in biodiversity around the world. “We are in the midst of an unprecedented extinction crisis, yet the Trump Administration is steamrolling our most effective wildlife protection law,” said Rebecca Riley, legal director of the nature program at the Natural Resources Defense Council. “This Administration seems set on damaging fragile ecosystems by prioritizing industry interests over science"."
"The Trump administration unveiled final regulations that weaken the Endangered Species Act (ESA) on Monday, just three months after the United Nations warned of the “unprecedented” decline in biodiversity around the world. “We are in the midst of an unprecedented extinction crisis, yet the Trump Administration is steamrolling our most effective wildlife protection law,” said Rebecca Riley, legal director of the nature program at the Natural Resources Defense Council. “This Administration seems set on damaging fragile ecosystems by prioritizing industry interests over science"."
Trump Administration Weakens Endangered Species Act Amid Global Extinction Crisis
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-endangered-species-rule_n_5cf7b7b4e4b01713bed4df9b?fbclid=IwAR2-WkOFunI0psLGwLi8TQJvPr6en9gKk1F0sTobp-mnXebfR4Ja8SklVxw
"Even as the administration was working to finalize the new Endangered Species Act rules, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which administers the act with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, was working to weaken or remove protections for threatened and endangered species, according to an internal 2018 memo obtained by freelance reporter Jimmy Tobias. A coalition of 10 state attorneys general was among the many groups that condemned the Trump administration’s proposal to roll back species protections. In a September letter to the administration, the coalition called the proposed changes “unlawful, arbitrary, and harmful.” The goal of the overhaul is clear: to “undercut the science” and reduce the number of listed species, according to David Hayes, the executive director of New York University’s State Energy and Environmental Impact Center and former deputy secretary at the Interior Department under President Barack Obama. The only reason to consider economic impacts when making ESA decisions is to “poison the well and obtain a sort of public reaction to the listing,” he said. “The unifying principle of all these regulatory changes,” he added, “is to lessen the effectiveness of the act and to move away from what science tells you to do"."
"Even as the administration was working to finalize the new Endangered Species Act rules, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which administers the act with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, was working to weaken or remove protections for threatened and endangered species, according to an internal 2018 memo obtained by freelance reporter Jimmy Tobias. A coalition of 10 state attorneys general was among the many groups that condemned the Trump administration’s proposal to roll back species protections. In a September letter to the administration, the coalition called the proposed changes “unlawful, arbitrary, and harmful.” The goal of the overhaul is clear: to “undercut the science” and reduce the number of listed species, according to David Hayes, the executive director of New York University’s State Energy and Environmental Impact Center and former deputy secretary at the Interior Department under President Barack Obama. The only reason to consider economic impacts when making ESA decisions is to “poison the well and obtain a sort of public reaction to the listing,” he said. “The unifying principle of all these regulatory changes,” he added, “is to lessen the effectiveness of the act and to move away from what science tells you to do"."
‘Poop every other day’ to save Earth says Brazilian president as he destroys the Amazon
https://thinkprogress.org/poop-every-other-day-to-save-earth-says-brazilian-president-as-he-destroys-the-amazon-8ebcfa298ed1/
"With a string of inane comments meant to distract people, Brazil’s president Jair Bolsonaro keeps re-earning the title of “the Brazilian Trump.” His latest crazy comment came Friday when he said that one way to save the environment is if people “poop every other day.” But many in the media missed the key context. Bolsonaro is not someone who cares about the environment. He is someone who is in fact accelerating the deforestation of the Brazilian rainforest, and who says crazy stuff just to get the attention or cause distraction."
"With a string of inane comments meant to distract people, Brazil’s president Jair Bolsonaro keeps re-earning the title of “the Brazilian Trump.” His latest crazy comment came Friday when he said that one way to save the environment is if people “poop every other day.” But many in the media missed the key context. Bolsonaro is not someone who cares about the environment. He is someone who is in fact accelerating the deforestation of the Brazilian rainforest, and who says crazy stuff just to get the attention or cause distraction."
Monday, July 22, 2019
Trump’s EPA clears pesticide tied to children’s health problems
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/trumps-epa-clears-pesticide-tied-childrens-health-problems?fbclid=IwAR1mRjHMwlv74_B-xEnhLzEk9Lsbi6oKSc82W50CeyE03iJHlLPwyq1dHgI
"This week, as the New York Times reported, we learned about Team Trump doing another potentially dangerous favor for the chemical industry. The Trump administration took a major step to weaken the regulation of toxic chemicals on Thursday when the Environmental Protection Agency announced that it would not ban a widely used pesticide that its own experts have linked to serious health problems in children. The decision by Andrew R. Wheeler, the E.P.A. administrator, represents a victory for the chemical industry and for farmers who have lobbied to continue using the substance, chlorpyrifos, arguing it is necessary to protect crops. Let’s circle back to our earlier coverage because it’s worth appreciating how we arrived at this point. The Obama administration originally proposed banning the pesticide’s use on food in October 2015. A risk assessment memo issued by nine EPA scientists concluded. “There is a breadth of information available on the potential adverse neuro-developmental effects in infants and children as a result of prenatal exposure to chlorpyrifos.” By all appearances, this wasn’t an especially tough call. There was, after all, “extensive scientific evidence” that even tiny levels of exposure to this pesticide “can harm babies’ brains.” And then Donald Trump took office. Just two months into the new Republican administration, officials reversed course, putting the federal ban on hold. This, not surprisingly, sparked a series of legal challenges, and as the Times’ article noted, “Those lawsuits culminated in April when a federal appeals court ordered the E.P.A. to issue a final ruling on whether to ban chlorpyrifos by this month.” That final ruling from the EPA came yesterday. The administration sided with the chemical industry."
"This week, as the New York Times reported, we learned about Team Trump doing another potentially dangerous favor for the chemical industry. The Trump administration took a major step to weaken the regulation of toxic chemicals on Thursday when the Environmental Protection Agency announced that it would not ban a widely used pesticide that its own experts have linked to serious health problems in children. The decision by Andrew R. Wheeler, the E.P.A. administrator, represents a victory for the chemical industry and for farmers who have lobbied to continue using the substance, chlorpyrifos, arguing it is necessary to protect crops. Let’s circle back to our earlier coverage because it’s worth appreciating how we arrived at this point. The Obama administration originally proposed banning the pesticide’s use on food in October 2015. A risk assessment memo issued by nine EPA scientists concluded. “There is a breadth of information available on the potential adverse neuro-developmental effects in infants and children as a result of prenatal exposure to chlorpyrifos.” By all appearances, this wasn’t an especially tough call. There was, after all, “extensive scientific evidence” that even tiny levels of exposure to this pesticide “can harm babies’ brains.” And then Donald Trump took office. Just two months into the new Republican administration, officials reversed course, putting the federal ban on hold. This, not surprisingly, sparked a series of legal challenges, and as the Times’ article noted, “Those lawsuits culminated in April when a federal appeals court ordered the E.P.A. to issue a final ruling on whether to ban chlorpyrifos by this month.” That final ruling from the EPA came yesterday. The administration sided with the chemical industry."
83 Environmental Rules Being Rolled Back Under Trump
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/climate/trump-environment-rollbacks.html?fbclid=IwAR2yhjy1wOaNgnomfXymQpUY29UZGrzLzkl97jjLtwrjbfq_KONh17hMaLM
"All told, the Trump administration’s environmental rollbacks could significantly increase greenhouse gas emissions and lead to thousands of extra deaths from poor air quality every year, according to a recent report prepared by New York University Law School's State Energy and Environmental Impact Center. Here are the details for each of the policies targeted by the administration so far."
"All told, the Trump administration’s environmental rollbacks could significantly increase greenhouse gas emissions and lead to thousands of extra deaths from poor air quality every year, according to a recent report prepared by New York University Law School's State Energy and Environmental Impact Center. Here are the details for each of the policies targeted by the administration so far."
USDA Under Trump Hides Studies Proving Effects of Climate Change: Report
https://www.thedailybeast.com/usda-under-trump-hides-studies-proving-effects-of-climate-change-politico?ref=home&fbclid=IwAR1ZdL0z4iH3nQzmVUZsFDKmjJ3Zg6IqbKoWra3ggu3lwaHXEDXHit3sglw
"The Trump administration has refused to publicize dozens of studies conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture that conclude climate change is having negative effects on everything from rice production to allergies, a Politico investigation revealed."
"The Trump administration has refused to publicize dozens of studies conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture that conclude climate change is having negative effects on everything from rice production to allergies, a Politico investigation revealed."
Trump’s EPA Just Made Its Final Decision Not to Ban a Pesticide That Hurts Kids’ Brains
https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2019/07/trumps-epa-just-made-its-final-decision-not-to-ban-a-pesticide-that-hurts-kids-brains/
"The pesticide in question, chlorpyrifos, is a nasty piece of work. It’s an organophosphate, a class of bug killers that work by “interrupting the electrochemical processes that nerves use to communicate with muscles and other nerves,” as the Pesticide Encyclopedia puts it. Chlorpyrifos is also an endocrine disrupter, meaning it can cause “adverse developmental, reproductive, neurological, and immune effects,” according to the National Institutes of Health. Major studies from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, the University of California-Davis, and Columbia University have found strong evidence that low doses of chlorpyrifos inhibits kids’ brain development, including when exposure occurs in the womb, with effects ranging from lower IQ to higher rates of autism. Several studies—examples here, here, and here—have found it in the urine of kids who live near treated fields. In 2000, the EPA banned most home uses of the chemical, citing risks to children. And here’s the dirt on the relationship between President Donald Trump and the company that markets the chemical: Dow AgroSciences’ parent company, Dow Chemical, has also been buttering up Trump. The company contributed $1 million to the president’s inaugural committee, the Center for Public Integrity notes. In December, Dow Chemical Chairman and CEO Andrew Liveris attended a post-election Trump rally in the company’s home state of Michigan, and used the occasion to announce plans to create 100 new jobs and bring back another 100 more from foreign subsidiaries. Around the same time, Trump named Liveris chair of the American Manufacturing Council, declaring the chemical exec would “find ways to bring industry back to America.” (Dow has another reason beside chlorpyrifos’ fate to get chummy with Trump: its pending mega-merger with erstwhile rival DuPont, which still has to clear Trump’s Department of Justice.)"
"The pesticide in question, chlorpyrifos, is a nasty piece of work. It’s an organophosphate, a class of bug killers that work by “interrupting the electrochemical processes that nerves use to communicate with muscles and other nerves,” as the Pesticide Encyclopedia puts it. Chlorpyrifos is also an endocrine disrupter, meaning it can cause “adverse developmental, reproductive, neurological, and immune effects,” according to the National Institutes of Health. Major studies from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, the University of California-Davis, and Columbia University have found strong evidence that low doses of chlorpyrifos inhibits kids’ brain development, including when exposure occurs in the womb, with effects ranging from lower IQ to higher rates of autism. Several studies—examples here, here, and here—have found it in the urine of kids who live near treated fields. In 2000, the EPA banned most home uses of the chemical, citing risks to children. And here’s the dirt on the relationship between President Donald Trump and the company that markets the chemical: Dow AgroSciences’ parent company, Dow Chemical, has also been buttering up Trump. The company contributed $1 million to the president’s inaugural committee, the Center for Public Integrity notes. In December, Dow Chemical Chairman and CEO Andrew Liveris attended a post-election Trump rally in the company’s home state of Michigan, and used the occasion to announce plans to create 100 new jobs and bring back another 100 more from foreign subsidiaries. Around the same time, Trump named Liveris chair of the American Manufacturing Council, declaring the chemical exec would “find ways to bring industry back to America.” (Dow has another reason beside chlorpyrifos’ fate to get chummy with Trump: its pending mega-merger with erstwhile rival DuPont, which still has to clear Trump’s Department of Justice.)"
Giving 'Upper Hand to Corporate Polluters,' EPA Drops Surprise Inspections
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/07/19/giving-upper-hand-corporate-polluters-epa-drops-surprise-inspections?fbclid=IwAR2EHNw8m_CXrxQQ17v0cWatTFtSiuHpOLyUwlooASIzVbzoJ9jKkeTqgsA
"President Donald Trump's EPA is provoking criticism once again, this time over a new "no surprises" policy stopping unannounced visits to power, chemical, and waste facilities. "The Trump @EPA is just chucking aside any flimsy pretense that they care about upholding environmental laws, enforcing against big polluters, or protecting Americans," tweeted John Walke, Clean Air Director and senior attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council. "Giving a courtesy heads up to suspected *ongoing* lawbreakers is beyond the pale even for the Trump @EPA"."
"President Donald Trump's EPA is provoking criticism once again, this time over a new "no surprises" policy stopping unannounced visits to power, chemical, and waste facilities. "The Trump @EPA is just chucking aside any flimsy pretense that they care about upholding environmental laws, enforcing against big polluters, or protecting Americans," tweeted John Walke, Clean Air Director and senior attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council. "Giving a courtesy heads up to suspected *ongoing* lawbreakers is beyond the pale even for the Trump @EPA"."
EPA Wants Minimal Limits On Poison In Drinking Water
https://www.dcreport.org/2019/06/25/epa-wants-minimal-limits-on-poison-in-drinking-water/?fbclid=IwAR1g9el-Oikn3D7WGv5sOKXeV4UxOwUvKttSKHaPNeqswmqa2LhPa5xXhzo
"The Trump EPA calculated recommended limits of a dangerous chemical sometimes found in drinking water that can harm babies’ brain development that were more than 9 times higher than those imposed by a few states by fudging a key number in the calculation. The Trump EPA recommended a limit for perchlorate, which can harm infant brain development, of 56 micrograms per liter, far above the limit of 6 that California imposed and 2 that Massachusetts set, more than a decade ago. “I guess they think it’s just fine to have children have IQ loss,” said Betsy Southerland, a retired EPA official who oversaw science and technology issues in the EPA Office of Water. Perchlorate, which a GAO study found in the water, soil or sediment of 45 states, is particularly dangerous to babies because it can harm infant brain development if their mothers are exposed to it in food or water while pregnant. Babies can also ingest perchlorate in their mothers’ breast milk or in formula."
"The Trump EPA calculated recommended limits of a dangerous chemical sometimes found in drinking water that can harm babies’ brain development that were more than 9 times higher than those imposed by a few states by fudging a key number in the calculation. The Trump EPA recommended a limit for perchlorate, which can harm infant brain development, of 56 micrograms per liter, far above the limit of 6 that California imposed and 2 that Massachusetts set, more than a decade ago. “I guess they think it’s just fine to have children have IQ loss,” said Betsy Southerland, a retired EPA official who oversaw science and technology issues in the EPA Office of Water. Perchlorate, which a GAO study found in the water, soil or sediment of 45 states, is particularly dangerous to babies because it can harm infant brain development if their mothers are exposed to it in food or water while pregnant. Babies can also ingest perchlorate in their mothers’ breast milk or in formula."
USDA Indefinitely Suspends Honey Bee Tracking Survey as States Get Approval to Use Bee-Killing Pesticide
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/07/08/usda-indefinitely-suspends-honey-bee-tracking-survey-states-get-approval-use-bee?fbclid=IwAR34952k6sSQKMzPoDHVrLVZMUDj8RGgaAmg2gPzCtPzofuVQS9tY7qs66Y
"On the heels of the EPA's June approval of a bee-killing pesticide, the White House said it would stop collecting data on declining honey bee populations—potentially making it impossible to analyze the effects of the chemical and the administration's other anti-science policies on the pollinators."
"On the heels of the EPA's June approval of a bee-killing pesticide, the White House said it would stop collecting data on declining honey bee populations—potentially making it impossible to analyze the effects of the chemical and the administration's other anti-science policies on the pollinators."
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