[TheClimate.Vote] March 11, 2017 - Daily Global Warming News for All - EPA Pruitt’s main line, 202-564-4700
Richard Pauli
richard at theclimate.vote
Sat Mar 11 08:23:59 EST 2017
/March 11, 2017 Angry calls to EPA - Scott //Pruitt's main line is
202-564-4700 /
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/03/10/epa-administrator-scott-pruitt-call-your-office/
*Scott Pruitt's office deluged with angry callers after he questions the
science of global warming
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/03/10/epa-administrator-scott-pruitt-call-your-office/?utm_term=.fa7cd53c2d17>*
By Juliet Eilperin March 10 at 7:53 PM
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt's phones have
been ringing off the hook - literally - since he questioned the link
between human activity and climate change.
The calls to Pruitt's main line, 202-564-4700, reached such a high
volume by Friday that agency officials created an impromptu call center,
according to three agency employees. The officials asked for anonymity
out of fear of retaliation.
Interns were dispatched to answer some of the incoming calls, according
to one employee. At times, calls to that number ended up going to voice
mail.
http://climatechangepsychology.blogspot.com/2017/03/business-military-faith-leaders.html
*Business, Military, Faith Leaders & Electeds Slam Scott Pruitt's
Climate Denial on CNBC
<http://climatechangepsychology.blogspot.com/2017/03/business-military-faith-leaders.html>*
Posted by TENNEY NAUMER *
*
*Brigadier General Stephen A. Cheney, USMC (ret),**CEO of the
American Security Project:*
"Countries are going to pay for climate change one way or another.
The best way to pay for it is by tackling the root causes of climate
change and cutting greenhouse gas emissions. If we do not, the
national security impacts around the world will be increasingly
costly, and borne by our men and women in the armed forces."
*Andrew Holland, Director of Studies, American Security Project:*
"It is astonishing that EPA Director Pruitt said that he does not
believe that carbon dioxide is a primary contributor to climate
change. However, it does not actually matter what he "believes" – by
law (as decided by the Supreme Court), he is required under the
Clean Air Act to promulgate policies that reduce carbon pollution.
It is important that the EPA continues to regulate carbon pollution
in order to reduce the risk of serious national security
consequences of climate change."
*Mayor James Brainard of Carmel, Indiana:*
"I am not a scientist but I believe we need to pay attention to what
people who have dedicated their lives to a field of study have to
say. I am disappointed by the risky and extremely liberal approach
taken by Administrator Pruitt when he challenges the scientists
conclusions that humans contribute to global warming. A true
conservative would cautiously take the position carefully researched
by the scientific community as correct. A true conservative would
hesitate to risk our future on non-scientific opinions."
*Mayor Dawn Zimmer of Hoboken, New Jersey:*
"The EPA is supposed to protect Americans from pollution and the
impacts of climate change. Hoboken is a coastal community on the
front lines of climate change that was devastated by Superstorm
Sandy, which left our city underwater for days. EPA Administrator
Pruitt's denial of the basic cause of climate change is dangerous
and will put communities across the country at greater risk."
*NASA Chief Major General Charles Frank Bolden, Jr., (USMC-Ret.):*
"…2015's record temperatures are the result of the gradual, yet
accelerating, build up of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases
in Earth's atmosphere. Scientists have been warning about it for
decades and now we are experiencing it."
*Dr. Georges Benjamin, MD, Executive Director, American Public
Health Association:*
"Pruitt is just wrong. Carbon dioxide emissions pose an enormous
risk to human health. Carbon pollution is the leading contributor to
greenhouse gases that cause climate change. Climate change is
causing more heatwaves and drought, more intense extreme weather
events, expanded range of disease-carrying ticks and mosquitoes and
a host of other threats to health. In addition, carbon emissions
contribute to increased smog which triggers asthma attacks and
aggravates existing lung disease. The science is clear. We need
immediate action to reduce carbon emissions to protect public health."
*Aron Cramer, President and CEO, Business for Social Responsibility:*
"EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt's statement today questioning
climate science is deeply troubling. Businesses in the United States
and elsewhere are keenly aware that human activity is remaking the
climate in ways that create disruption and business risk. In
addition to the obvious and substantial human and environmental
damage that will result, his approach will undermine the conditions
that businesspeople need to innovate, create jobs, and compete in
the global marketplace."
*Pastor Leo Woodbury, Kingdom Living Temple, Peoples Climate March
Steering Committee Member:*
"People can choose to believe anything including that the earth is
flat, however for the people who suffer the impact of carbon
emissions, weather-related disasters and illness, climate change is
real.
*Aura Vasquez, Director of Climate Justice, Center for Popular
Democracy:*
"It's an atrocity to hear EPA Chief Scott Pruitt say that CO2 is not
the primary driver of global warming. Disregarding the science is
going to impact millions of people that are affected and struggling
with the impacts of climate change, especially those in the most
vulnerable communities. There is a real issue with the current
administration - they don't respect the sizable amount of research
on climate change attribution and that's an insult to the personal
experience of millions of Americans already feeling the effects of
greenhouse gas pollution. More than ever, we need to take to the
streets on April 29th for the People's Climate March in Washington,
D.C. to show that human-caused climate change is real and poses a
serious threat to our health, our families and our planet."
*Leah Seligmann, director of The B Team's Net Zero by 2050 Initiative:*
"The statements by EPA administrator Scott Pruitt questioning
whether CO2 is a pollutant are deeply troubling, and contrary to
globally accepted, empirical, scientific evidence. Furthermore, the
business case for transitioning to clean, renewable energy is clear
and compelling. Enlightened companies are already moving from an
economy powered principally by CO2-spewing fossil fuels to one
driven by clean energy. We encourage the US administration to stay
the course with policies which promote and accelerate this transition."
*Nigel Topping, CEO, We Mean Business:*
"This morning Scott Pruitt, the new EPA Administrator spoke to CNBC
and claimed that Carbon Dioxide (CO2) is not "a primary contributor
to global warming". With this statement the Administrator finds
himself at odds with science. The scientific community is clear.
Global warming is real, accelerating and caused by human activity
with CO2 responsible for between 75% and 80% of the greenhouse gas
emissions that cause global warming. This finding is backed by 97%
of climate scientists and is the consistent result of peer reviewed
scientific investigations going back three decades. The
Administrator is also at odds with political leaders around the
world. 196 countries have signed the Paris Agreement on climate
change, including the world's largest producers of fossil fuels,
because they understand that CO2 is the primary cause of global
warming and needs to be reduced. And the administrator is at odds
with the business community, who are making record commitments to
reduce their CO2 emissions. More than five hundred companies have
made commitments to address CO2 emissions through the We Mean
Business platform because they see reducing CO2 through clean energy
as the new market opportunity of the 21st century. We urge
Administrator Pruitt to recognize the scientific, political, and
business consensus, and lead the EPA in its vital mission to
safeguard people, planet and prosperity."
*Rear Admiral David W. Titley, United States Navy (Ret.):*
"Within the science community, the link between CO2 and climate
change is as well known as the consequences of stepping out of an
airplane and the effect of gravity. In both cases, if you ignore
the science, someone is going to get hurt."
*Patrick Carolan, Executive Director of the Franciscan Action Network:*
"Scott Pruitt's denial that CO2 is a contributor of climate change
confirms his disbelief of a century of fact based science, which
even Pope Francis supports. There should be no discussion;
protecting the climate is a matter of faith and morality. We should
be protecting God's creation, not destroying it. Denying climate
science goes against the teachings of Jesus and St. Francis of Assisi."
*Nathaniel Smith, Founder and Chief Equity Officer, Partnership for
Southern Equity:*
"It's disturbing to hear the person appointed as our chief
environmental steward has chosen to turn away from years of
scientific evidence. In vulnerable communities where the byproducts
of climate change are felt the hardest the "inconvenient truth" has
become a truth measured by life or death."
https://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/epa-chief-denies-basic-climate-science
*Commentary: Scott Pruitt a destructive choice for head of EPA
<https://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/epa-chief-denies-basic-climate-science>*
It's difficult to imagine a more destructive choice for the health
of Americans, the avoidance of dangerous climate change, and the
health of the American economy than Scott Pruitt as head of EPA. Mr.
Pruitt's denial of the basic science behind climate change makes him
as unfit for the office of EPA administrator as an astrologer would
be for head of NASA. Decisions based on the best science are
critical for the success of any endeavor, as summed up well by Mindy
Lubber, president of Ceres, in a March 10 editorial at CNBC:
"Businesses thrive when they make smart decisions based on the best
available information. The reality is that climate change is
happening now and is having wide-ranging ripple effects on
businesses. Ignoring risks and long-term trends for short-term
benefits is how to drive a company—and the economy—into the ground."..
The EPA's mission is to "protect human health and the environment --
air, water and land," and the regulations the EPA issues should be
guided by the best science we have. But in his first speech as EPA
administrator, Mr. Pruitt envisioned an EPA that can be "pro-energy,
pro-jobs and pro-environment." EPA's mission statement has no
requirement that the agency protect the profits of industry, though,
nor should it, since there are plenty of pro-business and pro-job
interests out there. Apparently, though, science and protection of
people's health at the EPA are increasingly going to take a back
seat to protecting the profits of industry. An early example of this
came on January 30, in a shift of the mission statement by the EPA's
Office of Science and Technology to stop issuing "science-based"
standards for water pollution, and instead develop "economically and
technologically achievable standards" ...
Mr. Pruitt, the Attorney General of Oklahoma from 2010 - 2016, is a
self-described "leading advocate against the EPA's activist agenda",
and is apparently contemptuous of the law in pursuit that goal.
Three examples of this have surfaced:
1) Mr. Pruitt illegally withheld emails from an open records request
in 2015, and was finally forced to turn them over last week. Those
emails revealed that he worked closed with the fossil fuel industry
to promote their interests, including such groups such as the Koch
Industries-funded Americans for Prosperity. Additional emails are
still being withheld, and are scheduled to be released pending
review by a judge...
2) As reported by Fox News in Oklahoma City, Mr. Pruitt used a
private email account to perform government business, in direct
contradiction to his sworn testimony at his January 2017 Senate
confirmation hearing before Congress...
3) As reported by businessinsider.com, Mr. Pruitt may have made
another false statement under oath to the Senate: he said he filed
briefs in support a case where 12 poultry companies had allegedly
dumped waste into the Illinois River. Investigators found no
evidence that he or his office had filed any such briefs...
Mr. Pruitt is packing EPA management with fellow fossil fuel
industry-friendly staffers. Two former staff members of Sen. James
Inhofe (R-Okla.), the most outspoken climate science denier in
Congress, have already been added. A third, Andrew Wheeler, who now
works as a lobbyist for the fossil fuel industry, awaits Senate
confirmation to be Pruitt's deputy EPA chief. ...
Preliminary plans
<http://www.oregonlive.com/environment/index.ssf/2017/03/here_are_42_of_president_donal.html>
have been leaked on Trump's intention to cut EPA's $8.1 billion
budgetc by 26%, laying off about 3,000 of the agency's 15,000
workers. This would be the biggest cut in EPA since the 35%
reduction that the agency endured in 1981, the first year of the
Reagan presidency. The EPA's budget peaked in
<https://www.epa.gov/planandbudget/budget> 2010, at $10.3 billion.
As with all of the Trump administration's proposed budget, these
major EPA cuts must get through Congress before becoming law, and it
is quite possible that the scale of the cuts would be reduced in the
appropriations process....
Take Action! These escalating assaults on our health and on the
air we all breathe must be protested, and I urge you to write your
Senators and Representatives on this issue:
Contact your House Representative <https://www.house.gov/>
Contact your Senator <https://www.senate.gov/>
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/science/ct-oceans-heat-climate-change-20170310-story.html
Oceans storing up staggering amounts of heat: 'the memory of all of
the past*climate change*'
<http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/science/ct-oceans-heat-climate-change-20170310-story.html>
Chicago Tribune -1 hour ago
The world is getting warmer every year, thanks to*climate change*- but
where exactly most of that heat is going may be a surprise.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/10/climate/donald-trump-global-warming-views.html
Trump's*Climate*Views: Combative, Conflicting and Confusing
<https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/10/climate/donald-trump-global-warming-views.html>
New York Times -8 hours ago
In 2009, he joined some 50 business leaders in signing a full-page
advertisement in The New York Times calling for "meaningful and
effective measures to combat*climate change*." More recently he has
referred to*climate change*as a hoax or a joke.
http://www.climatesignals.org/headlines/events/great-plains-wildfires-march-2017
*US Current Large Wildfire Incidents
<http://www.climatesignals.org/headlines/events/great-plains-wildfires-march-2017>*
Large incident map currently updated on Fridays or as fire conditions
warrant.
Fire locations are based on data provided by the National Interagency
Coordination Center and are subject to change.
https://lance.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/firemaps/
*NASA - Global Fire Maps <https://lance.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/firemaps/>*
The NASA earth data fire map accumulates the locations of fires detected
bymoderate-resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS)
<http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/> on board the Terra and Aqua satellites
over a 10-day period. Each colored dot indicates a location where MODIS
detected at least one fire during the compositing period. Color ranges
from red where the fire count is low to yellow where number of fires is
large.
The About Rapid Response Imagery page
<http://lance.nasa.gov/imagery/rapid-response/about-imagery/> provides
more information on usage guidelines, product quality, and algorithms
for the fire location data.
http://www.climatesignals.org/headlines/events/great-plains-wildfires-march-2017
https://www.nrdc.org/onearth/if-we-stop-collecting-data-will-climate-change-just-go-away
Week 7: If We Stop Collecting Data, Will Climate Change Just Go
Away?
<https://www.nrdc.org/onearth/if-we-stop-collecting-data-will-climate-change-just-go-away>
Natural Resources Defense Council -1 hour ago
In his seventh week in office, President Trump decides we should stop
measuring things.
Welcome to our weekly Trump v. Earth column, in which onEarth reviews
the environment-related shenanigans of President Trump and his allies....
https://news.mongabay.com/2017/03/many-tree-species-in-eastern-us-may-be-unable-to-adapt-to-changing-climate-study-finds/
*Many tree species in eastern US may be unable to adapt to changing
climate, study finds
<https://news.mongabay.com/2017/03/many-tree-species-in-eastern-us-may-be-unable-to-adapt-to-changing-climate-study-finds/>*
6 March 2017 / Justin Catanoso
Climate change is expected to alter the distribution of the most
iconic trees in the eastern US because of environmental challenges
related to growth, mortality, reproduction, and disease.
A Woods Hole Research Center study of 40 tree species finds balsam
fir, quaking aspen, black cherry, yellow birch, red maple, sugar
maple, and red spruce among the most vulnerable species to warming
temperatures.
The study's outcomes are designed to assist managers of the United
States' national parks prioritize how best to use limited resources
to battle climate change in their forests, or actively engage in
assisting tree species migration.
West Virginia forests, because of complex terrain and large, intact
tracts of land, were found to be more resilient to climate change
than other parts of the eastern US.
Evidence continues to mount for the toll climate change is taking on
the ecosystems of the United States' national parks and forests from
coast to coast...
The latest study, published in Global Change Biology by researchers
at Woods Hole Research Center in Massachusetts, predicts that
warming temperatures across the eastern United States will alter the
distribution of a range of tree species, leaving many too vulnerable
to adapt to changing conditions.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/gcb.13585/full
*Vulnerability of eastern US tree species to climate change
<http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/gcb.13585/full>*
Abstract
Climate change is expected to alter the distribution of tree species
because of critical environmental tolerances related to growth,
mortality, reproduction, disturbances, and biotic interactions. How
this is realized in 21st century remains uncertain, in large part
due to limitations on plant migration and the impacts of landscape
fragmentation. Understanding these changes is of particular concern
for forest management, which requires information at an
appropriately fine spatial resolution. Here we provide a framework
and application for tree species vulnerability to climate change in
the eastern United States that accounts for influential drivers of
future distributions. We used species distribution models to project
changes in habitat suitability at 800 m for 40 tree species that
vary in physiology, range, and environmental niche. We then
developed layers of adaptive capacity based on migration potential,
forest fragmentation, and propagule pressure. These were combined
into metrics of vulnerability, including an overall index and
spatially explicit categories designed to inform management. Despite
overall favorable changes in suitability, the majority of species
and the landscape were considered vulnerable to climate change.
Vulnerability was significantly exacerbated by projections of pests
and pathogens for some species. Northern and high-elevation species
tended to be the most vulnerable. There were, however, some notable
areas of particular resilience, including most of West Virginia. Our
approach combines some of the most important considerations for
species vulnerability in a straightforward framework, and can be
used as a tool for managers to prioritize species, areas, and actions.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/lyme-disease-seaso_us_58c1e704e4b0d1078ca584f5
*Climate Change*Could Be Increasing The Footprint Of Lyme Disease
<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/lyme-disease-seaso_us_58c1e704e4b0d1078ca584f5>
Huffington Post -3 hours ago
Dr. John Aucott loves to let his dog go off-trail when he hikes. But as
the director of the Johns Hopkins Rheumatology Lyme Disease Research
Center in Baltimore, he knows better than to do it in June and July -
the height of Lyme Disease season, when*...*
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/readersreact/la-ol-le-climate-change-density-housing-20170310-story.html
Angelenos want to fight*climate change*by building more livable
neighborhoods. Our leaders need to get on board.
<http://www.latimes.com/opinion/readersreact/la-ol-le-climate-change-density-housing-20170310-story.html>
Los Angeles Times -12 hours ago
To the editor: The issue isn't that our state*climate change*goals are
too ambitious - our regional and local governments just aren't equipped
for the challenge.
https://www.nbr.co.nz/opinion/steak-could-be-cause-climate-change-peter-thiel
Steak could be cause of*climate change*: Peter Thiel
<https://www.nbr.co.nz/opinion/steak-could-be-cause-climate-change-peter-thiel>
The National Business Review -38 minutes ago
Peter Thiel's latest comments are unlikely to him on beef or dairy
farmer's Christmas card lists. The recently-revealed New Zealand citizen
and Trump advisor says our love of steak could be behind*climate
change*. "I'm not sure I'm an extreme skeptic of*...*
http://www.npr.org/2017/03/08/519170712/effects-of-global-warming-on-display-in-antarctica
(audio) Effects Of*Global Warming*On Display In Antarctica
<http://www.npr.org/2017/03/08/519170712/effects-of-global-warming-on-display-in-antarctica>
NPR -Mar 8, 2017
James McClintock, a marine biologist, talks with David Greene about
how*warming*temperatures have had a dramatic impact on the glacier near
the U.S.
http://www.ipsnews.net/2017/03/unhealthy-environment-causes-1-in-4-child-deaths-who/
*Unhealthy Environment Causes 1 in 4 Child Deaths: WHO
<http://www.ipsnews.net/2017/03/unhealthy-environment-causes-1-in-4-child-deaths-who/>*
Unhealthy environments - both inside and outside the home - cause the
deaths of more than 1.7 million child under the age of five every year,
according to twonew reports released by the World Health Organization
(WHO) <http://www.who.int/ceh/en/>Monday. http://www.who.int/ceh/en/
https://www.desmogblog.com/2017/03/10/trump-agency-staffers-koch-fossil-fuel-industry-employees
*Former Koch Agents, Fossil Fuel Industry Hired Guns Now Staffing
Trump's Federal Agencies
<https://www.desmogblog.com/2017/03/10/trump-agency-staffers-koch-fossil-fuel-industry-employees>*
On March 8, ProPublica obtained "beachhead team" rosters with the
names of hundreds of temporary staffers the Trump administration has
installed in federal agencies, including the Department of Interior
(DOI), Department of Energy (DOE), the White House Office of
Management and Budget (OMB), and others..
A DeSmog investigation shows that this list of staffers, largely
undisclosed before this week, includes former operatives allied with
Koch Industries, oil and coal industry employees, a former employee
of a prominent climate denial group, and an advocate for a
pro-trophy hunting organization funded by oil and gas. The
background and connections of these staffers may serve as a preview
to potential priorities these agencies may take on related to
energy, climate, and environment under Donald Trump...
Koch and Coal Allies at Energy Department, Office of Management and
Budget
ProPublica's reporting yielded many new, previously unreported names
of those filling the ranks and making the calls at the Department of
Energy.
https://www.propublica.org/article/meet-hundreds-of-officials-trump-has-quietly-installed-across-government
*Meet the Hundreds of Officials Trump Has Quietly Installed Across
the Government
<Meet%20the%20Hundreds%20of%20Officials%20Trump%20Has%20Quietly%20Installed%20Across%20the%20Government>*
We have obtained a list of more than 400 Trump administration hires,
including dozens of lobbyists and some from far-right media.
A Trump campaign aide who argues that Democrats committed "ethnic
cleansing" in a plot to "liquidate" the white working class. A
former reality show contestant whose study of societal collapse
inspired him to invent a bow-and-arrow-cum-survivalist multi-tool. A
pair of healthcare industry lobbyists. A lobbyist for defense
contractors. An "evangelist" and lobbyist for Palantir, the Silicon
Valley company with close ties to intelligence agencies. And a New
Hampshire Trump supporter who has only recently graduated from high
school.
These are some of the people the Trump administration has hired for
positions across the federal government, according to documents
received by ProPublica through public-records requests.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/japans-nuclear-meltdown/*
This Day in Climate History March 11, 2011
<http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/japans-nuclear-meltdown/> -
from D.R. Tucker*
The Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan takes place over many days.
Radiation leaking into the ocean continues to this day.
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