[TheClimate.Vote] February 24, 2018 - Daily Global Warming News Digest
Richard Pauli
richard at theclimate.vote
Sat Feb 24 10:06:20 EST 2018
/February 24, 2018/
[keep laughing]
*Judge dismisses coal mogul's defamation lawsuit against John Oliver
<http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/375397-judge-dismisses-coal-moguls-defamation-lawsuit-against-john-oliver>*
A West Virginia judge dismissed a coal mogul's defamation lawsuit this
week against cable television host John Oliver and HBO.
In a decision dated Wednesday, West Virginia Judge Jeffrey Cramer
accepted HBO's argument that Bob Murray, CEO of coal mining giant Murray
Energy Corp., failed to show that Oliver had defamed him according to
the law.
*See the video: Coal: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aw6RsUhw1Q8>***24 minutes
https://youtu.be/aw6RsUhw1Q8
Oliver dedicated an extended segment in June to criticizing the coal
industry <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aw6RsUhw1Q8>, with a focus on
Murray, including his frequent criticisms of former President Barack
Obama's "evil agenda," his lawsuits challenging regulations and his
closeness with President Trump.
"If you even appear to be on the same side as black lung, you're on the
wrong f---ing side," Oliver said about one of Murray's lawsuit against a
federal rule meant to reduce black lung disease among coal miners.
Murray sent Oliver a cease-and-desist letter before the show aired and
threatened to sue him, taking the case up to the Supreme Court. Instead,
Oliver dug in.
"I'm not going to say, for instance, that Bob Murray looks like a
geriatric Dr. Evil, even though he clearly does," he said.
Oliver made extensive use of Mr. Nutterbutter, a squirrel character
inspired by a report - which Murray denied - that Murray once said a
squirrel told him to start a coal mining company...
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/375397-judge-dismisses-coal-moguls-defamation-lawsuit-against-john-oliver
[climate travel]
*3 'last chance' destinations drawing travelers worried about climate
change
<https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/23/climate-change-worries-push-travelers-to-these-last-chance-locales.html>*
Some bucket-list trips may be more about anticipating the destination's
demise than yours.
Certain countries susceptible to climate change have seen a spike in
travel interest over the past year, according to a new report from
travel insurance comparison web site Squaremouth
<https://www.squaremouth.com/>. People may be advancing their plans to
see these places in all their current glory, they note.
The report is based on data Squaremouth collects when people input their
destination and trip costs into the site to compare policies.
*Maldives*
Travel interest boost: 68 percent
The Maldives has seen the biggest spike in travel, as the island nation
uses mass tourism to raise the funds necessary to adapt to climate
change. That includes relocating thousands of people and building the
necessary infrastructure to accommodate them....
*Australia*
Travel interest boost: 25 percent
Tourists may be flocking down under to view the famously colorful Great
Barrier Reef before it bleaches further due to warming sea temperatures.
Last year marked the first year mass bleaching is known to have happened
to the 1,400-mile-long habitat two years in a row...
*Antarctica*
Travel interest boost: 17 percent
Increased tourism has helped fund scientific expeditions to Antarctica,
where researchers study the effects of climate change. Warming
temperatures have been chipping away at the Antarctic ice and
contributing to sea level rise...
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/23/climate-change-worries-push-travelers-to-these-last-chance-locales.html
[increasing news]
*HOW CLIMATE CHANGE IS ALTERING AIR TRAVEL
<https://ensia.com/features/air-travel/>*
Rising tides, icy air, melting permafrost and air that is too hot for
take-off are challenging aviation as the world warms.
https://ensia.com/features/air-travel/
[horse talk]
*Are horse owners ready for climate change extremes?
<https://www.horsetalk.co.nz/2018/02/24/horse-owners-climate-change/>*
..writing in the journal Rural Society, reported on the outcome of an
online survey taken by 69 horse owners in Australia. The questions
sought to get an understanding of how they had been affected by major
weather events.
Their responses suggest that while extreme weather has affected many
Australia horse owners, fewer are making preparations for next time.
Ninety percent of respondents reported being affected by major weather
or climate events in the last 10-20 years. Four out of five (78%) took
action at the time of the event and a similar proportion (80%) had taken
actions for the longer term.
Most (86%) had thought about preparations for future events, but had not
yet taken any action, due to lack of time, money, materials, or storage.
Thompson and her colleagues said the increasing recognition of climate
change meant that the concepts of sustainable horse-keeping and
sustainable equitation were becoming more commonplace.
"However, there is a need, to foster equestrian cultures which are
sustainable not only for the environment, but for the economy, humans,
and horses."...
However, 25 percent of participants were thinking about preparing for
future weather events in relation to land care, pasture management and
improvement. Nineteen percent were thinking about improving their water
management and 16% were considering improving the infrastructure on
their properties, including sheds to store feed bought in bulk.
Nine percent were considering changing their fodder and feeding practices.
Survey participants saw several areas where education, research, or
government policy could be of help. More than one in four thought
support for land care, pasture management and improvement would be
desirable.
Some felt there was a need for better welfare legislation to protect horses.
"Over-rugging was mentioned, as was knowledge around riding in heat,"
the researchers noted.
There was also the potential changes in disease risk arising from an
altering climate...
https://www.horsetalk.co.nz/2018/02/24/horse-owners-climate-change/
[Rural Society study]
*Too hot to trot? How horse owners in Australia have responded to major
weather events
<http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10371656.2018.1441854>*
Kirrilly Thompson
ABSTRACT
This article commences by outlining five perspectives on the
sustainability of equestrian cultures covering the environment, the
economy, human health, horse welfare, and social licence. Next, it
presents findings from an online survey developed to understand how
horse owners in Australia have been affected by major weather and
climate events, how they responded in the short and long term, their
considerations for the future, and the support they might require.
Sixty-nine horse owners participated. Most (90%) reported being
affected by major weather/climate event(s) in the last 10-20 years,
four out of five (78%) took action at the time of the event and a
similar proportion (80%) had taken actions for the longer term. Most
(86%) had thought about preparations for future events, but had not
yet taken any action, due to lack of time, money, materials, or
storage. Almost all participants (93%) perceived a need for
education, research, government policy*. Since findings suggest
horse owners may be less likely to engage with climate adaptation
and sustainable horse keeping public education initiatives when they
are related specifically to "climate change", and more likely to
engage when they are related to "land care, pasture management and
improvement", and "horse health and welfare", an alternative
rhetoric is recommended*.
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10371656.2018.1441854
[News release]
*BLM's methane waste rule back in force following court decision
<https://westernlaw.org/blms-methane-waste-rule-back-force-following-court-decision/>*
Late last night, a U.S. District Court granted a preliminary
injunction striking down Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke's attempt to
delay for one year implementation of the Bureau of Land Management's
methane waste rule. A coalition of government watchdog groups filed a
lawsuit in December 2017 to prevent Zinke from delaying implementation
of measures to reduce waste of methane by oil and gas companies on
federal public lands.
This marks the fourth failure to scuttle the BLM methane waste rule,
which enjoys support from 75 percent of Westerners and in principle from
at least one oil and gas giant-ExxonMobil, since the present
administration took office. About $330 million worth of gas is wasted
every year, $100 million of that in New Mexico. Wasted gas would rob
taxpayers of $800 million in royalties over the next decade, cause
unacceptable damage to public health, and exacerbate climate change...
"The court's decision means the BLM Methane Waste Rule is again the law
of the land, representing yet another example of the courts stopping
this administration's clear agenda to aid oil and gas industry at the
expense of the public," said Darin Schroeder, an attorney with Clean Air
Task Force. "This significant decision also sheds doubt on other
attempts by the Trump administration to rescind rules without any
factual justification for the policy change," said Schroeder.
"This ruling shows the courts won't allow the Trump administration
to flout the law to reward the fossil fuel industry," said Michael
Saul, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity.
"Unchecked methane waste hurts our lungs, rips off taxpayers and
cooks the planet."
Before even receiving comment on the rule, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke
represented to a federal court that he would delay the rule. The BLM
then conducted a go-through-the-motions notice-and-comment
process-featuring a lightning-fast comment period, next-to-no
stakeholder outreach, and blocked comment on key points, culminating in
a final rule that largely ignored citizen concerns. This is not how the
law is designed to work. The law requires a reasoned give-and-take
between the affected public and the agency that is designed to infuse
democratic legitimacy into agency rulemaking. Here the court found that
BLM failed to adhere to this required interplay by failing to consider
all of the comments it should have and relying on "opinions untethered
to evidence." BLM's 1-year delay was therefore not grounded in a
reasoned analysis as required by law...
Last week, BLM officially proposed rescinding the methane waste rule
permanently. The public comment period for this proposal is 60 days. If
Zinke and BLM ignore public input in support of the rule as expected,
those changes to the rule will by BLM's own admission significantly
reduce natural gas production, valued at up to $824 million, because so
much waste will again be allowed, and reduce federal royalties by up to
$32.7 million. The proposal will also return methane waste controls to a
decades-old regime (called NTL-4a) that BLM admits is ineffective and
which led to the development of the 2016 rule. And in New Mexico, the
rollback will let existing operations off the hook for cleaning up their
emissions and leave the state holding the bag for cleaning up the
methane "hot spot" in the San Juan Basin.
https://westernlaw.org/blms-methane-waste-rule-back-force-following-court-decision/
- [Background: ]
The BLM waste rule, finalized in 2016, updates antiquated, 30-year old
regulations. It requires companies to fix leaky, faulty equipment and
reduce natural gas waste on public lands. Wasting methane makes no
sense, yet oil and gas companies routinely and deliberately vent methane
into the atmosphere, burn it as a waste product from oil drilling, and
allow it to leak from poorly maintained equipment. According to the U.S.
Government Accountability Office, enough natural gas was unnecessarily
wasted and leaked between 2009 and 2015 to serve more than 6 million
households for a year. The updated waste rule requires companies to
perform leak detection and repair with affordable, off-the-shelf
technologies, and restricts methane venting (deliberately releasing gas
into the atmosphere), and flaring (burning off gas unused at the
wellhead). The Trump administration's decision to delay implementation
of the BLM waste rule would allow industry to avoid these common-sense
waste reduction measures, and continue to unnecessarily waste our
publicly owned resources while the administration attempts to figure out
how to kill the rule outright as a gift to its oil and gas benefactors.
Methane waste not only shortchanges taxpayers, it harms public health
and contributes significantly to climate emissions.
*Waste:* According to Interior, in 2014, oil and gas companies
wasted more than 4 percent of the natural gas they produced on
federal lands, sufficient gas to supply nearly 1.5 million
households with gas for a year.
*Public health: *Methane released by the oil and gas industry comes
packaged with other toxic pollutants- benzene, toluene,
ethylbenzene, xylene - and smog-forming volatile organic compounds
that harm communities.
*Climate: *Methane is a greenhouse gas 87 times more potent than
carbon dioxide during the time it remains in the atmosphere.
*Taxpayers: *The BLM methane waste rule, if left in place, would
earn taxpayers about $800 million in royalties on publicly owned
methane resources over the next decade. Since 1980, lax provisions
have resulted in BLM rubber-stamping industry requests to vent and
flare natural gas and to avoid paying royalties. The U.S. Government
Accountability Office estimates lost royalties at nearly $23 million
annually under the antiquated regime.
https://westernlaw.org/blms-methane-waste-rule-back-force-following-court-decision/
[LA study]
*Common products, like perfume, paint and printer ink, are polluting the
atmosphere
<http://www.sixdegreesnews.org/archives/22720/common-products-like-perfume-paint-and-printer-ink-are-polluting-the-atmosphere>*
JENNY FISHER AND KATHRYN EMMERSON
RESEARCHERS FOUND THAT IGNORING VOLATILE ORGANIC COMPOUNDS FROM CHEMICAL
PRODUCTS HAD SIGNIFICANT IMPACTS ON PREDICTIONS OF AIR QUALITY. IN
OUTDOOR ENVIRONMENTS, THEY FOUND THAT THESE PRODUCTS COULD BE
RESPONSIBLE FOR AS MUCH AS 60% OF THE PARTICLES THAT FORMED CHEMICALLY
IN THE AIR ABOVE LOS ANGELES.
Picture the causes of air pollution in a major city and you are likely
to visualise pollutants spewing out of cars, trucks and buses.
For some types of air pollutants, however, transportation is only half
as important as the chemicals in everyday consumer products like
cleaning agents, printer ink, and fragrances, according to a study
published today in Science
<http://science.sciencemag.org/content/359/6377/760?utm_source=AusSMC%20mailing%20list&utm_campaign=9d3433ba95-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_02_15&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_90d9431cd5-9d3433ba95-137625618>...
Air pollution is a serious health concern,responsible for millions of
premature deaths each year
<https://theconversation.com/air-pollution-causes-more-than-3-million-premature-deaths-a-year-worldwide-47639>,
with evenmore anticipated due to climate change
<https://theconversation.com/climate-change-set-to-increase-air-pollution-deaths-by-hundreds-of-thousands-by-2100-81830>.
Although we typically picture pollution as coming directly from cars or
power plants, a large fraction of air pollution actually comes from
chemical reactions that happen in the atmosphere. One necessary starting
point for that chemistry is a group of hundreds of molecules
collectively known as "volatile organic compounds" (VOCs).
http://www.sixdegreesnews.org/archives/22720/common-products-like-perfume-paint-and-printer-ink-are-polluting-the-atmosphere
[tracking litigation]
*THE STATUS OF CLIMATE CHANGE LITIGATION A GLOBAL REVIEW
<http://columbiaclimatelaw.com/files/2017/05/Burger-Gundlach-2017-05-UN-Envt-CC-Litigation.pdf>*
The Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia University has *a
handy roundup of the state of climate change litigation
<https://climateliabilitynews.us17.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6242a34764fa77eef7d4d0262&id=43cfc7b43f&e=c9773beff6>*
in year 1 of the Trump era.
PDF 41 page report document
<http://columbiaclimatelaw.com/files/2017/05/Burger-Gundlach-2017-05-UN-Envt-CC-Litigation.pdf>
http://columbiaclimatelaw.com/files/2017/05/Burger-Gundlach-2017-05-UN-Envt-CC-Litigation.pdf
This report provides judges, advocates, researchers, and the
international community with an of-themoment survey of global
climate change litigation, an overview of litigation trends, and
descriptions of key issues that courts must resolve in the course of
climate change cases. One purpose of this report is to assist judges
in understanding the nature and goals of different types of climate
change cases, issues that are common to these cases, and how the
particularities of political, legal, and environmental settings
factor in to their resolution. Another goal is to contribute to a
common language among practitioners around the world working to
address climate change through the courts.
http://columbiaclimatelaw.com/
[Methane management]
Stunning new research finds fracking a major source of carbon pollution
in Pennsylvania
*Methane leaks in the state's oil and gas industry equal 11 coal-fired
power plants.
<https://thinkprogress.org/stunning-new-research-finds-fracking-a-major-source-of-carbon-pollution-in-pennsylvania-9d2bdb63f2ec/>*
JOE ROMM
The evidence is now overwhelming that natural gas is not part of the
climate solution, it is part of the problem.
A new study
<https://www.edf.org/energy/explore-pennsylvanias-oil-and-gas-pollution>
finds that the methane escaping from Pennsylvania's oil and gas industry
"causes the same near-term climate pollution as 11 coal-fired power
plants." And that is "five times higher than what oil and gas companies
report" to the state, according to analysis from the Environmental
Defense Fund (EDF) based on 16 peer-reviewed studies
<https://www.edf.org/energy/methodology-estimating-untracked-emissions>.
Natural gas is mostly methane, a super-potent greenhouse gas, which
traps 86 times as much heat as CO2 over a 20-year period. So even a
small leakage rate from the natural gas supply chain (production to
delivery to combustion) can have a large climate impact - enough to
gut the entire benefit of switching from coal-fired power to gas for a
long, long time...
Yet even though many earlier studies have found that natural gas
production spews out huge amounts of carbon pollution all across the
country, just last week, the Trump administration moved to undo an
Obama-era rule aimed at limiting the methane leakage from gas and oil
production on public lands...
Methane emissions are responsible for about a quarter of the
human-caused global warming the world is experiencing today.
Stunning new research finds fracking a major source of carbon pollution
in Pennsylvania: Methane leaks in the state's oil and gas industry equal
11 coal-fired power plants. New Mexico's equate to 12 coal plants
https://thinkprogress.org/stunning-new-research-finds-fracking-a-major-source-of-carbon-pollution-in-pennsylvania-9d2bdb63f2ec/
[press release]
It is my pleasure to inform you that Winrock International has recently
developed guidance on how to carry out Monte Carlo uncertainty analyses
in greenhouse gas accounting. It is available here:
https://www.winrock.org/document/guidance-on-applying-the-monte-carlo-approach-to-uncertainty-analyses-in-forestry-and-greenhouse-gas-accounting.
For more information, please contact anna.mcmcurray at winrock.org.
*GUIDANCE ON APPLYING THE MONTE CARLO APPROACH TO UNCERTAINTY ANALYSES
IN FORESTRY AND GREENHOUSE GAS ACCOUNTING (ENGLISH AND SPANISH)
<https://www.winrock.org/document/guidance-on-applying-the-monte-carlo-approach-to-uncertainty-analyses-in-forestry-and-greenhouse-gas-accounting/>*
*Summary*
When calculating greenhouse gas emissions, it is always necessary to
evaluate and quantify the uncertainties of the estimates.
Uncertainty analyses help analysts and decision-makers identify how
accurate the estimations are and the likely range in which the true
value of the emissions fall. This guidance is available in English
and in Spanish and serves as a technical guide for analysts who
desire to apply the Monte Carlo approach to quantify uncertainty,
filling information gaps that currently exist in international
literature on how to carry out uncertainty analyses in forestry and
greenhouse gas accounting.
https://www.winrock.org/document/guidance-on-applying-the-monte-carlo-approach-to-uncertainty-analyses-in-forestry-and-greenhouse-gas-accounting/
[opinion]
Let's not make Cape Town face of our water future
<http://www.sixdegreesnews.org/archives/22875/lets-not-make-cape-town-face-of-our-water-future>
RANJAN PANDA
According to the United Nations, water scarcity already hits more than
40 percent of the globe's population and is expected to aggravate
further due to global warming that will make one in four people face
chronic or recurring shortage of water by 2050. At Cape City, this
future has arrived, in much fiercer and scary way.
Drought stricken Cape Town of about 4 million people is facing severe
shortage of water due to low rainfall for a consecutive three-year
period. The city is working on a war footing basis to avoid a Day Zero
that was to come in mid-April but now shifted to 11th May, thanks to
water rationing both by domestic consumers and agriculture. Looking at
the disaster management plan of the City authorities, that is being
updated each day, one would realise how terrifying it could be for the
people of a city when a water emergency stares at their face. The city
administration say they are prepared to move mountains to solve the
crisis, but the question lies, 'can they really'? The Day Zero is only
about three months away....
Now the city authorities are desperately seeking from people to reduce
their water consumption to below 50 litres per person per day. This will
bring the collective consumption to 450 million litres a day. People
have so far cooperated as they are scared of the Zero Day for which the
city has made extensive arrangement of police to prevent water riots....
"Water inequality will also substantially grow as the city plans to let
rich people keep receiving normal water supply at household levels by
paying very high costs.
Common people will also pay a higher monthly tariff but have to fight
for water in long queues. More than 400 years of water planning and dam
building has not really helped the city avoid such a scary scenario...
Water inequality will also substantially grow as the city plans to let
rich people keep receiving normal water supply at household levels by
paying very high costs.
Common people will also pay a higher monthly tariff but have to fight
for water in long queues. More than 400 years of water planning and dam
building has not really helped the city avoid such a scary scenario.
http://www.sixdegreesnews.org/archives/22875/lets-not-make-cape-town-face-of-our-water-future
[Climate Change Monsters]
*Your Climate Change Monsters, Revealed
<https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/your-climate-change-monsters-revealed>*
The face of climate change, as chosen by Atlas Obscura readers.
BY NATASHA FROST
CLIMATE CHANGE IS SCARY. Climate change monsters, it turns out, are too.
For decades, people have been inspired by dramatic environmental changes
when coming up with creatures and horrorscapes
<https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/climate-change-monsters-inspired-frankenstein>.
One of the most famous is Frankenstein's monster, who emerged from the
mind of Mary Shelley during what was known as The Year Without a Summer...
Recently, we asked you to help us design a climate change monster
<https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/design-climate-change-monster>-what
beasts will emerge from a world ravaged by rising temperatures and sea
levels? Almost 100 Atlas Obscura readers reached out with creatures
scaly and slimy, humanoid and extraterrestrial. Some come from the top
of the planet, while others thrive at the bottom of the ocean. All of
them were inventive, and helped give a face or a name to a phenomenon
many people are still struggling to wrap their heads around...
Females will reach 12 feet long, males only six feet long, with
heavy shields around their faces, long nose spikes, and long spiked
tails that make them look like ancient rhinoceros. They will keep
their short thin front legs for manual tasks and will eventually
develop an opposed thumb on their front feet. Due to their weight,
they will lose their ability to fly, but they will not need to fly
with such an abundance of food dead and dying all around them.
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/your-climate-change-monsters-revealed
*This Day in Climate History February 24, 2002
<http://web.archive.org/web/20030122161530/http://www.rep.org/opinions/op-eds/19.htm>
- from D.R. Tucker*
February 24, 2002: In the Denver Post, Bruce Smart of Republicans for
Environmental Protection rips President George W. Bush's February 14,
2002 speech on climate change:
"...President Bush reaffirmed the nation's commitment to the U.N.
Framework Convention's 1992 goal 'to stabilize greenhouse gas
concentrations at a level that will prevent dangerous human
interference with the climate,' and he outlined an environmental
path for the nation to follow. A number of the specifics he
proposed, if forcefully pursued, can be helpful.
"But the medicine prescribed for the world's greatest environmental
threat—the malignant growth of atmospheric concentrations of
greenhouse gases—is only a well-packaged placebo. It is no cure for
global warming and the hazardous changes in climate that a great
majority of scientists believe it is likely to cause."
http://web.archive.org/web/20030122161530/http://www.rep.org/opinions/op-eds/19.htm
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