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<font size="+1"><i>February 6, 2018</i></font><br>
<br>
[mercury]<br>
<b><a
href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2018/02/05/the-arctic-is-full-of-toxic-mercury-and-climate-change-is-going-to-release-it/?utm_term=.90c4668e77e9">The
Arctic is full of toxic mercury, and climate change is going to
release it</a></b><br>
By Chris Mooney<br>
We already knew that thawing Arctic permafrost would release
powerful greenhouse gases. On Monday, scientists revealed it could
also release massive amounts of mercury - a potent neurotoxin and
serious threat to human health....<br>
U.S. government scientists on Monday revealed that the permafrost
also contains large volumes of mercury, a toxic element humans have
already been pumping into the air by burning coal...<br>
There are 32 million gallons worth of mercury, or the equivalent of
50 Olympic swimming pools, trapped in the permafrost, the scientists
wrote in a study published in the journal Geophysical Research
Letters. For context, that's "twice as much mercury as the rest of
all soils, the atmosphere, and ocean combined," they wrote...<br>
The research was led by Paul Schuster, a scientist with the U.S.
Geological Survey, and was co-authored by 16 other federal,
university-based and independent researchers....<br>
Mercury, a naturally occurring element, binds with living matter
across the planet - but the Arctic is special. Normally, as plants
die and decay, they decompose and mercury is released back to the
atmosphere. But in the Arctic, plants often do not fully decompose.
Instead, their roots are frozen and then become buried by layers of
soil. This suspends mercury within the plants, where it can be
remobilized again if permafrost thaws....<br>
The study says that with current emissions levels through 2100,
permafrost could shrink by between 30 and 99 percent...<br>
"But the magnitude of this risk is as yet unknown," Natali
continued. "The best option for managing these permafrost-related
risks is to keep the permafrost - and the carbon and mercury
contained in permafrost - frozen, through immediate reduction of
fossil fuel emissions."<br>
<font size="-1"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2018/02/05/the-arctic-is-full-of-toxic-mercury-and-climate-change-is-going-to-release-it/?utm_term=.90c4668e77e9">https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2018/02/05/the-arctic-is-full-of-toxic-mercury-and-climate-change-is-going-to-release-it/?utm_term=.90c4668e77e9</a></font><br>
-<br>
[mercury study Geophysical Research Letters]<br>
<b><a
href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2017GL075571/full">Permafrost
Stores a Globally Significant Amount of Mercury</a></b><br>
<font size="-1">Plain Language Summary<br>
</font>
<blockquote><font size="-1">Researchers estimate the amount of
natural mercury stored in perennially frozen soils (permafrost)
in the Northern Hemisphere. Permafrost regions contain twice as
much mercury as the rest of all soils, the atmosphere, and ocean
combined...</font><br>
<font size="-1">Over thousands of years, sedimentation buried
mercury (Hg) bound to organic material and froze it into the
permafrost (Obrist et al., 2017). Permafrost is soil at or below
0 degreesC for at least two consecutive years. The active layer
is the surface soil layer on top of the permafrost that thaws in
summer and refreezes in winter (Figure S1 in the supporting
information). Hg deposits onto the soil surface from the
atmosphere, where it bonds with organic matter in the active
layer. Microbial decay then consumes the organic matter,
releasing the Hg (Smith-Downey et al., 2010). At the same time,
sedimentation slowly increases soil depth such that organic
matter at the bottom of the active layer becomes frozen into
permafrost. The organic matter consists almost entirely of plant
roots, and, once frozen, microbial decay effectively ceases,
locking the Hg into the permafrost. However, permafrost has
begun to thaw under a changing climate (Hinzman et al., 2005;
Romanovsky et al., 2008; Smith et al., 2010). Once the
permafrost and associated organic matter thaws, microbial decay
will resume and release Hg to the environment, potentially
impacting the Arctic Hg balance, aquatic resources, and human
health (Dunlap et al., 2007; Jonsson et al., 2017; Obrist et
al., 2017; USGS Fact Sheet, <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://www2.usgs.gov/themes/factsheet/146-00/">https://www2.usgs.gov/themes/factsheet/146-00/</a>,
2016). Model projections estimate a 30–99% reduction in the area
of Northern Hemisphere permafrost by 2100, assuming
anthropogenic greenhouse gases emissions continue at current
rates (Koven et al., 2013). In a novel approach, we make the
first-ever estimate of the storage of Hg in the Northern
Hemisphere permafrost soils using empirical relationships based
on in situ measurements of sediment total mercury (STHg)
combined with published maps of soil organic carbon (Hugelius,
Tarnocai, et al., 2013; Hugelius, Bockheim, et al., 2013).</font><br>
</blockquote>
<font size="-1"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2017GL075571/full">http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2017GL075571/full</a></font><br>
<br>
<br>
[Evidence Squared - audio]<br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://evidencesquared.com/ep20/">Ep
20: Dave Roberts on conservatives and climate change</a></b><br>
We talk to David Roberts from Vox about the intractability of
conservatives on climate change and whether polarization is
something to be avoided or embraced.<br>
You can listen to our episode at <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://evidencesquared.com/ep20/">http://evidencesquared.com/ep20/</a>
or download it directly from<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://evidencesquared.us15.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8a0f5ded9e53e63b39b708165&id=178a52dfb2&e=0b49e9050f">
iTunes</a> or <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://evidencesquared.us15.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8a0f5ded9e53e63b39b708165&id=b12f4afe19&e=0b49e9050f">Soundcloud</a>.<br>
You can also follow us on <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://evidencesquared.us15.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8a0f5ded9e53e63b39b708165&id=8247c41958&e=0b49e9050f">Facebook</a>,
<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://evidencesquared.us15.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8a0f5ded9e53e63b39b708165&id=87b6d22b33&e=0b49e9050f">Twitter</a>,
and <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://evidencesquared.us15.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8a0f5ded9e53e63b39b708165&id=ff66f6bcab&e=0b49e9050f">YouTube</a>.<br>
Links for this episode:<br>
<a href="https://www.outsideonline.com/1926796/reboot-or-die-trying"
target="_blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box;
color: rgb(204, 143, 82); text-decoration: none; transition: all
0.4s ease; outline: none !important;"><em style="box-sizing:
border-box; font-style: italic;">Outside</em><span> </span>magazine
on Roberts unplugging</a><br>
<a
href="https://niskanencenter.org/blog/episode-3-polarized-opinion-climate-change-messages-move-conservatives/"
target="_blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box;
color: rgb(204, 143, 82); text-decoration: none; transition: all
0.4s ease; outline: none !important;">Niskanen Center podcast on
polarization and framing</a><br>
<a
href="https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2017/11/10/16627256/conservatives-climate-change-persuasion"
target="_blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box;
color: rgb(204, 143, 82); text-decoration: none; transition: all
0.4s ease; outline: none !important;">Dave's<span> </span><em
style="box-sizing: border-box; font-style: italic;">Vox</em><span> </span>post
in response</a><br>
<a
href="http://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev-polisci-051215-022857"
target="_blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box;
color: rgba(204, 143, 82, 0.5); text-decoration: none; transition:
all 0.4s ease; outline: none !important; outline-offset: -2px;">Eagan
and Mullin climate opinion paper</a><br>
<a
href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1075547017715473"
target="_blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box;
color: rgb(204, 143, 82); text-decoration: none; transition: all
0.4s ease; outline: none !important;">Dixon value-based messaging
paper</a><br>
<a
href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/tops.12171/abstract"
target="_blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box;
color: rgb(204, 143, 82); text-decoration: none; transition: all
0.4s ease; outline: none !important;">McCright et al.
counter-messages negate framing</a><br>
<a
href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0175799"
target="_blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box;
color: rgb(204, 143, 82); text-decoration: none; transition: all
0.4s ease; outline: none !important;">Inoculation paper</a><span> </span>and<span> </span><a
href="https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/5/31/15713838/inoculation-climate-change-denial"
target="_blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box;
color: rgb(204, 143, 82); text-decoration: none; transition: all
0.4s ease; outline: none !important;"><em style="box-sizing:
border-box; font-style: italic;">Vox</em><span> </span>write up</a><br>
<a
href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211368117300700"
target="_blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box;
color: rgb(204, 143, 82); text-decoration: none; transition: all
0.4s ease; outline: none !important; font-family: -apple-system,
BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans,
Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif;">Technocognition
paper</a><br>
<a href="https://creationmuseum.org/creation-science/"
target="_blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box;
color: rgb(204, 143, 82); text-decoration: none; transition: all
0.4s ease; outline: none !important;">Creation Museum and science</a><br>
<a href="https://fonts.google.com/specimen/Arvo" target="_blank"
rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(204, 143,
82); text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.4s ease; outline:
none !important;">Arvo (font)</a><br>
<a
href="https://www.theaussieenglishpodcast.com/ep006-slang-word-arvo/"
target="_blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box;
color: rgb(204, 143, 82); text-decoration: none; transition: all
0.4s ease; outline: none !important;">Arvo (Australian slang)</a><br>
Follow Evidence Squared on <a
href="https://www.facebook.com/evidencesquared" style="box-sizing:
border-box; color: rgb(204, 143, 82); text-decoration: none;
transition: all 0.4s ease; outline: none !important;">Facebook</a>, <a
href="https://twitter.com/evidencesquared" style="box-sizing:
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border-box; color: rgb(204, 143, 82); text-decoration: none;
transition: all 0.4s ease; outline: none !important;">Soundcloud</a>.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://evidencesquared.com/ep20/">http://evidencesquared.com/ep20/</a><br>
<br>
<br>
[<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/rnnawEw1dUFY3VdJHQJwt-i2V-U=/0x0:720x480/620x413/filters:focal%28303x183:417x297%29:gifv%28%29:no_upscale%28%29/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/58540011/theewatersklooof_oli_2018014.0.gif">animated
map</a>]<br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://www.theverge.com/2018/2/1/16961258/cape-town-reservoir-water-shortage-climate-change-drought">This
disappearing Cape Town reservoir is a preview of climate
nightmares to come</a></b><br>
Just <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="video%20https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/rnnawEw1dUFY3VdJHQJwt-i2V-U=/0x0:720x480/620x413/filters:focal%28303x183:417x297%29:gifv%28%29:no_upscale%28%29/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/58540011/theewatersklooof_oli_2018014.0.gif">three
years of drought have dried Cape Town's biggest reservoir</a> to
just 13 percent capacity<br>
In less than 100 days, Cape Town - a South African city of about 4
million people - could run out of water, in what officials call "<a
moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/opinionista/2018-01-22-from-the-inside-the-countdown-to-day-zero/#.WnM6_ZM-dE6">Day
Zero.</a>" A view of the crisis from space shows the city's
massive reservoirs drying up after just three years of drought - a
preview of the nightmares climate change could bring, unfolding
right now.<br>
<font size="-1">video
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/rnnawEw1dUFY3VdJHQJwt-i2-U=/0x0:720x480/620x413/filters:focal%28303x183:417x297%29:gifv%28%29:no_upscale%28%29/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/58540011/theewatersklooof_oli_2018014.0.gif">https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/rnnawEw1dUFY3VdJHQJwt-i2-U=/0x0:720x480/620x413/filters:focal(303x183:417x297):gifv():no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/58540011/theewatersklooof_oli_2018014.0.gif</a></font><br>
<font size="-1"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://www.theverge.com/2018/2/1/16961258/cape-town-reservoir-water-shortage-climate-change-drought">https://www.theverge.com/2018/2/1/16961258/cape-town-reservoir-water-shortage-climate-change-drought</a></font><br>
-<br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.sixdegreesnews.org/archives/22447/what-southern-africa-can-learn-from-other-countries-about-adapting-to-drought">What
southern Africa can learn from other countries about adapting to
drought</a></b><br>
by The Conversation<br>
Andrew Slaughter and Sukhmani Mantel Some arid countries have been
forced to develop novel technologies and strategies to survive
extremely dry conditions. Australia and Israel, for example, have
become more resilient as climate change has brought more frequent
droughts. Rainfall in South Africa is naturally highly variable with
total amount of precipitation very different between years and […]<br>
<font size="-1"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://www.sixdegreesnews.org/archives/22447/what-southern-africa-can-learn-from-other-countries-about-adapting-to-drought">http://www.sixdegreesnews.org/archives/22447/what-southern-africa-can-learn-from-other-countries-about-adapting-to-drought</a></font><br>
<br>
<br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.rgj.com/story/life/outdoors/2018/02/05/global-warming-makes-winter-olympics-risky-bet-many-bidders/1089015001/">Global
warming makes Winter Olympics risky bet for many bidders</a></b><br>
<font size="-1"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://www.rgj.com/story/life/outdoors/2018/02/05/global-warming-makes-winter-olympics-risky-bet-many-bidders/1089015001/">http://www.rgj.com/story/life/outdoors/2018/02/05/global-warming-makes-winter-olympics-risky-bet-many-bidders/1089015001/</a></font><br>
<br>
<br>
[Children's Book Review]<br>
<b><a href="https://www.worldsavingbooks.com/">The Tantrum That
Saved The World</a></b><br>
This picture book about climate change won't freak your kids out<br>
Instead of highlighting the bleak stuff, author Megan Herbert
focuses on the solutions<br>
By Alessandra Potenza <br>
"Some of those images and some of those ideas can really be too much
for a kid to take onboard," says Herbert, a writer and illustrator.
"You have to make the conversation something that's not
overwhelming."<br>
So, instead of highlighting the bleak stuff - the melting ice, the
rising sea levels, the more extreme weather - she focuses on the
solutions: the small steps anyone can take to try to solve the
problem. To help other parents to do same, she's releasing a picture
book that she illustrated and co-wrote with climatologist Michael
Mann.<br>
The book, titled <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://www.worldsavingbooks.com/">The Tantrum That Saved
The World</a>, tells the story of a girl named Sophia, whose life
is disrupted when a polar bear, a Kiribati family flooded by the
rising seas, a bee swarm, a fisherman, and others knock on her door
seeking help. Annoyed at first, Sophia then realizes she has to
help, so she organizes rallies to sway more people - and
policymakers - to act on climate change. It's a sweet story, and
Herbert says she designed the protagonist to be racially ambiguous.
Although Sophia is fair-skinned, she could be South American or
mixed race, so any child can identify with her. "I wanted to keep
that as vague as possible," she says.<br>
The picture book, which was <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/worldsavingtantrum/the-tantrum-that-saved-the-world-carbon-neutral-ki">funded
through a successful Kickstarter campaign</a>, comes with a
glossary of climate change terms at the end, such as coral
bleaching, ocean acidification, and ice sheet. It also has a section
that explains what's going on with polar bears, bees, and the <a
moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/03/world/asia/climate-change-kiribati.html">people
who live in low-lying islands that are already going under because
of rising sea levels</a>. It's for kids as young as four, but also
as old as 11, she says...<br>
Herbert says it took six months of brainstorming before settling on
the current story. Some initial story ideas weren't very relatable
to children; others were just too bleak. "The worst thing to do is,
'Here's this horrible problem. The end,'" Herbert tells The Verge.
"You can't give information to adults or children that makes them
feel powerless and overwhelmed, and then not give them any sort of
feeling that they can do something about this." That's where the
"World Saving Action Plan" poster comes in. Herbert hopes readers
will hang it in the living room so that the whole family -
especially children - can take little steps that will help solve
climate change. <br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://www.theverge.com/2018/2/4/16964414/climate-change-children-book-tantrum-that-saved-the-world-megan-herbert">https://www.theverge.com/2018/2/4/16964414/climate-change-children-book-tantrum-that-saved-the-world-megan-herbert</a><br>
<br>
<br>
[Climate Liability News]<br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://www.climateliabilitynews.org/2018/02/05/exxon-climate-action-stranded-assets/">Exxon
Claims Climate Action Poses 'Little Risk' to Its Business</a></b><br>
Exxon changed course slightly last week by acknowledging for the
first time that is core oil and gas assets face some risk of
becoming stranded due to policies that seek to limit climate change.
The oil giant, however, continued to paint a rosy future for its
core business, and downplayed the threat presented by international
climate goals, while research has shown that reaching those goals
requires leaving roughly three quarters of known fossil fuel
reserves in the ground.<br>
The report, <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://corporate.exxonmobil.com/%7E/media/global/files/energy-and-environment/2018-energy-and-carbon-summary.pdf">2018
Energy & Carbon Summary: Positioning for a Lower-Carbon Energy
Future</a>, along with the <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://corporate.exxonmobil.com/en/energy/energy-outlook/a-view-to-2040">2018
Outlook for Energy: A View to 2040</a>, includes Exxon's analysis
of several scenarios in which the world works to meet the goal of
the Paris climate agreement to hold global warming to 2 degree
Celsius through 2040. <br>
"Considering the 2 degreesC scenarios average, we believe our
reserves face little risk," said Exxon in a report released on
Friday that was prompted by a shareholder resolution that passed
last May...<br>
<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://insideclimatenews.org/content/Exxon-The-Road-Not-Taken">Investigations
by InsideClimate News</a> and the L.A. Times found that internal
communications show Exxon scientists warned management about risks
to the company decades ago, but the company failed to disclose those
risks to the public.<br>
New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and Massachusetts
Attorney General Maura Healey are <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://www.climateliabilitynews.org/2017/11/13/maura-healey-massachusetts-exxon-climate-investigation/">investigating</a>
Exxon for possible shareholder <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://www.climateliabilitynews.org/2017/08/08/exxon-climate-change-risk-report-fraud-investigation-new-york-ag/">deception</a>.<br>
<font size="-1"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://www.climateliabilitynews.org/2018/02/05/exxon-climate-action-stranded-assets/">https://www.climateliabilitynews.org/2018/02/05/exxon-climate-action-stranded-assets/</a></font><br>
-<br>
[Press release (edited for space)]<br>
<b><a
href="https://energyfactor.exxonmobil.com/perspectives/methane-regulation-stay-pragmatic/">ExxonMobil
publicly acknowledges need for oil and gas methane regulations</a></b><a
href="https://westernlaw.org/exxonmobil-publicly-acknowledges-need-oil-gas-methane-regulations/"><br>
</a>Today, ExxonMobil natural gas subsidiary XTO publically
acknowledged the need for government regulation of oil and gas
methane emissions. The announcement recognizes that voluntary
measures alone are not enough to control this dangerous climate
pollutant. Earlier last year, the American Petroleum Institute,
whose membership includes a broad swath of the industry, announced a
program of voluntary measures to help derail the mandatory methane
emissions rules adopted last year by the Obama administration. In
today's announcement, ExxonMobil endorsed the need for government
regulations to ensure that all oil and gas companies be required to
address methane emissions and reduce the industry's climate
impacts...<br>
The Western Environmental Law Center calls on ExxonMobil to
communicate forcefully to the administration that gutting federal
methane rules is not in the public interest, nor is it in the
interest of the oil and gas industry," said Thomas Singer. "For this
large oil and gas industry representative to succeed with its
support for these rules now under attack, it must show the Trump
administration the writing on the wall."...<br>
Today's announcement raises the stakes for the industry and the
Administration to recognize the danger to the climate, and to the
industry's social license to operate, from ignoring methane
pollution while promoting natural gas production and use...<br>
<blockquote>[ExxonMobil - Perspectives blog]<br>
<b><a
href="https://energyfactor.exxonmobil.com/perspectives/methane-regulation-stay-pragmatic/">Methane
regulation: Stay pragmatic and seek the possible</a></b><br>
...our methane emissions constitute a very small fraction of the
overall natural gas picture. The correct mix of policies and
regulations could help the entire industry raise the bar.<br>
So what would a framework for jurisdictionally appropriate
regulatory action with regard to methane look like?<br>
Ultimately, we think it should include five key elements:<br>
<blockquote><b>New wells should follow "green completion"</b>
procedures. After completion, rather than venting the methane
comingled with the well's "flowback" (a mixture of water, gas,
and some solids), capturing the gas for eventual sale or
combusting it with a flare can significantly cut down on
industry methane emissions.<br>
<b>The use of high-bleed pneumatic control devices should be
eliminated.</b> This means not using HBPs on new facilities,
and phasing them out from existing operations over a reasonable
timeframe.<br>
<b>Rules should promote Leak Detection and Repair programs.</b>
Initially, these efforts would focus on high-volume operations
or where higher concentrations of facilities exist, and be
performed on an annual basis. Leaks that are detected should be
fixed as soon as is practicable.<br>
<b>Manual well unloadings should be monitored by field personnel
to minimize the amount of gas vented to atmosphere.</b>
Personnel can be in nearby proximity so once water is removed
from the well tubing and gas begins to flow, they can resume
normal operations.<br>
<b>Basic data should be reported to regulatory bodies for
consolidation.</b> By growing the store of knowledge, we can
increase understanding of emissions profiles, better track our
overall progress, and enable the regulator community knowledge
capacity.<br>
</blockquote>
The beauty of these principles is that they could underpin a
regulatory effort that both encourages and keeps up with
continuous technological innovation. And they can be designed so
as not to unduly drive up costs on natural gas producers.<br>
As much as anything, we will need to stay pragmatic and seek the
possible....<br>
<font size="-1"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://energyfactor.exxonmobil.com/perspectives/methane-regulation-stay-pragmatic/">https://energyfactor.exxonmobil.com/perspectives/methane-regulation-stay-pragmatic/</a></font><br>
</blockquote>
Last fall ExxonMobil announced several voluntary measures it would
take to reduce methane emissions but the commitment included only a
few of the methane emissions control measures included in the
federal regulations. The company later joined with eight other major
oil and gas producers in adopting guiding principles for reducing
methane emissions from their operations and encouraging other oil
and gas companies to follow suit. At that time, the company said
that "Since natural gas consists mainly of methane, a potent
greenhouse gas, its role in the transition to a low-carbon future
will be influenced by the extent to which methane emissions are
reduced."..<br>
Today's announcement raises the stakes for the industry and the
Administration to recognize the danger to the climate, and to the
industry's social license to operate, from ignoring methane
pollution while promoting natural gas production and use.<br>
<font size="-1"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://westernlaw.org/exxonmobil-publicly-acknowledges-need-oil-gas-methane-regulations/">https://westernlaw.org/exxonmobil-publicly-acknowledges-need-oil-gas-methane-regulations/</a></font><br>
<br>
<br>
[withdrawn]<br>
<b><a
href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/feb/04/kathleen-hartnett-white-dropped-trump-environment-adviser">Climate
change sceptic Kathleen Hartnett White dropped as Trump
environment expert</a></b><br>
White House to withdraw nomination of controversial figure to chair
Council on Environmental Quality<br>
The nomination of Kathleen Hartnett White, a climate change sceptic,
to serve as Donald Trump's top environmental adviser is to be
withdrawn, the White House has confirmed.<br>
White was announced in October last year as Trump's choice to chair
the Council on Environmental Quality.<br>
But White's nomination languished and was among a batch of
nominations the Senate sent back to the White House when it
adjourned at the end of 2017. Trump would have had to resubmit
White's nomination.<br>
She made headlines in November last year when she had difficulty <a
href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/video/2017/nov/10/trump-environment-kathleen-hartnett-white-climate-change-video">answering
basic questions about climate change</a>.<br>
The Washington Post first reported late on Saturday on the plans to
pull White's nomination, citing two unnamed administration officials
who had been briefed on the matter.<br>
A White House official later confirmed the Post report. The official
was not authorized to discuss personnel decisions by name and spoke
on condition of anonymity.<br>
<font size="-1"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/feb/04/kathleen-hartnett-white-dropped-trump-environment-adviser">https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/feb/04/kathleen-hartnett-white-dropped-trump-environment-adviser</a></font><br>
- <br>
[10 min video November Hearing]<br>
<b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bIKZVWjKT0">Trump's
Environmental Top pick leaves Senators DUMBFOUNDED when
answering on climate change</a></b><br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bIKZVWjKT0">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bIKZVWjKT0</a><br>
-<br>
[video archive 2015]<br>
<b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xykBJLfxDFI">Kathleen
Hartnett White discusses the benefits of CO2</a></b><br>
Texas Public Policy Foundation<br>
Distinguished Senior Fellow-in-Residence and Director of the
Armstrong Center for Energy & the Environment The Honorable
Kathleen Hartnett White discusses the benefits that CO2 has
provided, from greener land and technological advances to a more
robust economy and smaller overall carbon footprint.<br>
<font size="-1"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xykBJLfxDFI">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xykBJLfxDFI</a></font><br>
<br>
<br>
[Not yet Fact-Checked]<br>
<b>EPA's Pruitt mistakenly meets with marijuana farmers</b><br>
"Pruitt was in Florida on Friday doing a number of events. One of
these was an (anti) environmental roundtable with trade groups at
May Nursery in Havana, Florida. <br>
It turns out "May Nursery" is the same company mentioned in this <a
moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/meet-floridas-medical-marijuana-moguls-9625984">Miami
Herald article</a> about "Florida's Medical Marijuana Moguls."
There is a ton of other media - including an article in the Cannabis
Business Times - describing the May Nursery's weed business
interests. EPA really didn't do their due diligence on the
venue/family, especially considering the Trump admin's hard stance
on weed, and Pruitt's known ambitions to become Attorney General.<br>
Late on Friday, Pruitt sent out a tweet that included a photo of him
and members of the May family. The tweet talked about the May
family's century of farming, and calling them
"#TrueEnvironmentalists". About an hour after we tweeted about May
Nursery's cannabis business, the tweet of Pruitt with the family was
deleted. <br>
No media on this yet, but lots of fun starting to pick up on social
media. Here is <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://twitter.com/NickSurgey/status/960578073862303744">my
tweet</a> if you want to re-tweet, or poke fun at Pruitt in your
own way." -NS<br>
<br>
<br>
<font size="+1"><b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://video.msnbc.msn.com/all-in-/54297487">This Day in
Climate History February 6, 2014</a> - from D.R. Tucker</b></font><br>
February 6, 2014:<br>
MSNBC's Chris Hayes reports on the effort by Charles and David Koch<br>
to buy the US Senate.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://video.msnbc.msn.com/all-in-/54297487">http://video.msnbc.msn.com/all-in-/54297487</a><br>
<br>
<br>
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