Spotlight on green news & views: Saying goodbye to the platypus? Davos hears from Trump

This is the 628th edition of the Spotlight on Green News & Views (previously known as the Green Diary Rescue). Here is the January 18 edition. Inclusion of a story in the Spotlight does not necessarily indicate agreement with or endorsement of it.

OUTSTANDING GREEN STORIES

geo3 writes—Climate Change: Sustainability Framework for Carbon Reduction: “This last summer of 2018, the cascading effects of climate change were very visible in the Pacific Northwest. The summer fires were on a mass scale, in a faraway place, impacting a local community. This was one of those outlier climate events, lasting for an unspecified time, that may just become part of the norm. Fires from British Columbia, Eastern Washington, and California brought a very visible smoke to the Puget Sound Region. The air quality was designated as unhealthy, solar panel electric production was reduced during this time. Yet, we in the Puget Sound Region had a fraction of the effects of some locations in British Columbia, where daylight was reduced to dusk and air quality was at the extreme levels Like many citizens I am concerned about climate change, this incident was an indicator that brought climate change very front and center. I have kids and am concerned about their future as well as future generations. I wonder whether our civilization has the wherewithal to do something about climate change while strategically building in resilience to our communities. In my lifetime (I am 54) what was originally “environmentalism” is now a cause of reducing carbon emissions, with the magnitude of the challenge, environmentalism seems like a quaint subset.”

CRITTERS AND THE GREAT OUTDOORS

Two weeks ago after farmer dug a few holes in the dam — it’s deeper right at the dam as that is where they shovel out mud. 

PHScott writes—The Daily Bucket: This is Not a Beaver: “Posted from the eastern Florida Panhandle where the temps got to 29º around 7 AM and will not make it to 50 today. Tonight is expected to be a bit colder. No complaints since a freeze is a good thing to knock back some bugs that persist into winter and weedy plants that do not belong here. Also a freeze helps in spotting the cold-hardy invasives as the more tender native plants like woodland ferns die back and prepare for spring – which is maybe 2 weeks away. […]Some of you may recall that I’ve had a beaver problem for a few years now. They have slowly expanded their way up a trickle of a stream from the man-made pond by building a series of dams. Some of the dams are near a foot high; the biggest right to my south across the fence at the bottom of my hill is over 2′ high. From there they built another in the middle of a woody pasture in an awesome U-shape that must have been 100 feet long.” 

OceanDiver writes—The Daily Bucket – in the waves: “A lot of birds make their living by the seashore, but some are more comfortable where waves are breaking on the beach than others. Glaucous-winged gulls prefer either the beach itself or the surface of deeper water further out. Mew gulls thrive in big waves and surf, where they snatch up food that’s gotten stirred up there. Mews are small, light and very maneuverable, in comparison to the larger bulkier GWs.We only get breaking waves on these shores of the inland sea in winter, when the wind frequently kicks up. This beach, where all these pictures were taken, is usually flat calm. Great Blue Herons are stealth hunters, stalking the edge of the water waiting for a fish or crab to come by.”

Sunset on the Salish Sea.

OceanDiver writes—The Daily Bucket – winter changing skies: “Typically in winter we have what the weather folks call “unsettled weather”, which along with intermittent rain means lots of convection and cool clouds. These days I’m catching skies in mid afternoon on my daily walkies. […] Sometimes it’s the water I notice varying, as from tide to tide. Lately we’ve been getting very high tides, the last of the King Tides for this winter, the only times big driftwood can be floated from where it’s been resting high up on the beaches.” 

CLIMATE CHAOS

geo3 writes—The Carbon Victory Garden In The Anthropocene: “In December 2018, I posted on LinkedIN Climate Change: Sustainability Framework for Carbon Reduction (Now a link to Daily Kos Post). This simplified, five-part framework for carbon reduction can be applied to any organization from a family residence to a larger organization, even a corporation. Within the framework, the concept of mass civic engagement in a manner reminiscent of the Victory Garden movement of WWI and WWII was explored as a method to create an impact of CO2 reduction through engaging a large percentage of the US population (or any country). What if we applied the framework to agriculture? Agriculture is a sector of society that involves backyard gardeners, small market farm producers, and large multinationals, with all of humanity as the consumers.”

Pakalolo writes—Adani gets it’s filthy hands on QLD’s Galilee Basin; Insurers feast on climate refugee misery: “Adani is a global company based in Ahmedabad, India. Adani and its CEO, Jeyakumar Janakaraj, have their fingerprints over some of the worst environmental extraction sites on the planet. The company builds power plants and operates them with coal and gas. They dabble in green energy technologies but, their claim to infamy is their bottom line of exploitation of fossil fuels that has massive impacts on the world’s climate. The burning of coal and oil are the fuels generating dangerous levels of CO2 so high that it has raised temperatures to levels that humans have experienced before.   Adani exploits the finite resources of Indonesia, India, and Australia. Controversial, to say the least, is a proposed mine in the Australian state of Queensland known as the Galilee Basin. The unspoiled basin has Australian politicians and fossil fuel corporations salivating over the riches ripe for exploitation. They have promoted cattle grazing in National Parks, repealed the Wild Rivers Act,  played God with the extinction of the Southern Black-throated Finch. The mine will cause abrupt fragmentation of local wildlife habitat, renowned forests, and marshland destroyed in the currently unspoiled basin.”

Pakalolo writes—The platypus, one of the world’s Gondwana ‘dinosaur’ lineages, face extirpation from climate change: “The raging bushfires and intense drought that has plagued the Australian continent for several months have taken a heavy toll on wildlife, particularly in the state of New South Wales. The images of burned koalas and kangaroos are chilling, but they are not the only species that are suffering. In the streams of the permanently wet Gondwana rainforests, along with other stream catchments in platypus habitat of New South Wales, climate change enhanced drought and bushfire has decimated aquatic habitat to the point where many now fear the local extinction of the species. According to Aussie Ark, the ‘platypus’ distribution range is throughout the entire fire ground on the east coast of Australia, including the Manning catchment, and the species is suffering from the effects of fire, and catastrophic effects of drought, climate change as well as the unregulated pumping of water from rivers’.Staggering numbers of deaths to this species are now estimated to be in the ‘thousands if not tens of thousands’.”

ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Trump And GOP Ignore Climate Forest For a Trillion Trees: “Responding to the same polling and young conservative pressure that’s pushing Trump to pay lip service to climate, House Republicans told Axios that their plan wouldn’t have an emissions reduction target, but would instead focus on capturing CO2 (with a focus on trees), funding clean-energy innovations, and cleaning up plastic pollution in the rivers of foreign countries. Now, putting aside the fact that cleaning up plastic pollution doesn’t have anything to do with climate change, as opposed to addressing plastic production, this is hardly worth the inevitable ‘GOP is coming around on climate’ coverage that accompanies every one of these fake-outs. Particularly considering Rep. Garret Graves (R-LA) said ‘it’s a mistake to set arbitrary targets like some folks are doing,’ which is presumably a reference to temperature targets. It’s hard to imagine anything less arbitrary than figures backed up by literally thousands of pages of science, but perhaps by ‘arbitrary’ he means ‘not approved by my fossil fuel industry donors’.”

ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Denier Sickened Over Supposedly Subliminal Suggestion That Deniers Are Pedophiles: “On Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal published an op-ed by Lawrence Krauss criticizing the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists annual “Doomsday Clock” warning. While it’s no surprise to see the Journal giving space to someone to pooh-pooh warnings about the  climate crisis and other catastrophes, it is somewhat shocking to see Krauss published in such a high-profile outlet: Buzzfeed published a damning 2018 expose of Krauss’s history of sexual harassment that led to his resignation from academia. You’d think that Krauss would want to keep a low profile these days, especially in the wake of revelations that pedophile Jeffrey Epstein helped fund Krauss’s Origins Project. Epstein even attended some of the project’s events, as evidenced by a photo of Epstein, Krauss and one-time-apparently-accidental-Epstein-Defender Steven Pinker from 2014, six years after Epstein’s 2008 guilty plea.” 

ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Deniers Double Down On Debunked-For-Decades Myth that ‘CO2 is Plant Food That’s Good For The Planet’: “While elected Republicans struggle to find a way to make it look as though they’re doing something about climate change without actually doing anything to upset their fossil fuel funders, for die-hard deniers it’s more of the same: repeating the decades-old myth that really CO2 is good for the planet because it’s plant food. There have even been whispers that deniers will use this approach to argue that the social cost of carbon should be negative—meaning we should actually subsidize fossil fuel use because higher CO2 levels are good for crops. In fact, fossil-fuel-funded Pat Michaels and Heritage Foundation’s Kevin Dayaratna just published a study with Ross McKitrick claiming exactly that. But given Michaels and McKitrick’s track record (they’re the geniuses whose 2004 study confused radians and degrees) and Michaels and Dayaratna’s positions in Koch–funded front groups (despite their acknowledgements section claiming that ‘no funding was received for this work’) odds are slim this study will fare well when real scientists get ahold of it.”     

Angmar writes—Davos: World leaders & Climate- “Reshape economy to fight climate crisis, says Prince Charles”: “The Prince of Wales has urged business and political leaders at Davos to embrace a radical reshaping of economies and markets in order to tackle the climate crisis. In a special address at the World Economic Forum on Wednesday, Charles outlined a 10-point plan to help the global economy become more sustainable including the imposition of green taxes and investing in environmentally friendly technologies. He argued that taxes, regulations and policies could all be changed, as part of a drive to reverse environmentally damaging subsidies such as financial assistance for the fossil fuel industry. He also cited the ‘polluter pays’ principle that requires those who create environmental damage to pay for the clean-upwww.theguardian.com/…” 

ECO-ACTION & ECO JUSTICE

Besame writes—Desaparecido in Mexico – monarch sanctuary manager: “Homero Gómez González, who manages El Rosario Sanctuary in the mountains of Michoacàn, Mexico, hasn’t been seen since January 13. His family reported him missing the next day and have received calls demanding money for his safe return. Relatives of Mr Gómez told local media that the conservationist had received threats from an organised crime gang. Rights groups had earlier said they feared that Mr Gómez may have been targeted because of his fight against illegal logging, one of the activities that criminal gangs in the area are involved in. Mr Gómez is a tireless campaigner for the conservation of the monarch butterfly and the pine and fir forests where it hibernates.”

Dan Bacher writes—Indigenous Youth Occupy Office of B.C. Minister of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources: “Lekwungen Territories/Victoria, British Columbia, Canada – Indigenous Youth in Solidarity with Wet’suwet’en today delivered a letter to NDP MLA Michelle Mungall and are now occupying Mungall’s Office. […] ‘As Indigenous youth we stand with Wet’suwet’en assertion of sovereignty because we understand that Indigenous Peoples will cease to exist without our land; our languages, cultures, and future generations cannot survive without our it. Indigenous youth are not only inheriting a climate crisis driven by fossil fuel projects like CGL, but Canada’s legacy of colonization, genocide, and gendered violence against Indigenous women, girls, and Two-Spirit people. In protecting the lands from industrial development, we are protecting our bodies from violence. Indigenous people defending their lands from destruction are not criminal or disposable. As Indigenous youth, we urge you to uphold Indigenous rights and Wet’suwet’en law by advocating for the removal of CGL and RCMP from Wet’suwet’en territories,’ the letter from Indigenous Youth in Solidarity with Wet’suwet’en continues.’” 

CANDIDATES, STATE AND DC ECO-RELATED POLITICS

Meteor Blades writes—Trump pitches fossil fuels in Davos, as report puts climate crisis as world’s No. 1 risk: “The World Economic Forum’s annual conference in Davos, Switzerland, opened this week with the 15th edition of its Global Risks Report. The top 2 risks on the list are the climate crisis and biodiversity loss, two matters inextricably bound up with each other. And in struts Donald Trump playing pitchman for fossil fuels and taking swipes at climate activism. […] Trump’s Davos speech came on the heels of the White House’s move last month to hack the extension of tax credits for solar and electric vehicles out of the $1.37-trillion spending deal. Congressional leaders had come to agreement on keeping the credits, but reportedly, killing them was key to getting Trump’s signature. Only the production tax credit for wind got a temporary extension. Which is kind of amazing, considering Trump’s bald-faced hatred of and lying about wind turbines.”

Aldous J Pennyfarthing writes—Rand Paul worries about making planet habitable — but not our planet, of course: “Rand Paul isn’t too concerned about climate change on Planet Earth, but to his credit he does think we need to start creating livable ecosystems elsewhere. I guess he thinks humanity is on a cosmic pub crawl, and since we’re about to wear out our welcome here, we need to find new and better floating orbs to trash: Sen. Paul: With so many billionaires about, why not a private prize of $10 million for the scientist who genetically creates an O2 producing organism that will thrive in the frigid, methane lakes of Titan? “First of all, ‘hundreds of millions of years’? Modern humans have existed for maybe 300,000 years. If we manage to survive the Ocher Apocalypse, we can talk about adding another 2,000 or so, but it feels way premature to talk in terms of millions, much less hundreds of millions.”

ENERGY

Fossil Fuels & Emissions Controls

ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Taking A Peek At Upcoming Fossil Fuel Propaganda and Policy on Methane, Gas Bans, Coal and Protests: “We hit the ground running this year, so today we’re going to do a bit of stock-taking about what 2020 is going to bring us from the fossil fuel industry. Right now, the industry is not exactly in a happy place. Public polling from Yale shows that the “alarmed” portion of Americans is now the largest of the six segments at 31% of the population (compared to just 10% who are doubtful or dismissive of climate concerns). Last week, TIME’s Justin Worland published a piece based on an interview with Shell’s CEO, who’s feeling the pressure from climate activists and the realities of climate science. (Makes sense, given that last week Extinction Rebellion blockaded Shell offices.) The industry certainly has a problem with public perception, particularly but not solely among the youth, as protests from Harvard Law and Oxford, among others, show. Step one, then, for the fossil fuel industry is to make it harder for those pesky protestors to shine a spotlight on companies.”

Renewables, Efficiency, Energy Storage & Conservation

Mokurai writes—Renewable Monday: Oil Rigs to Reefs and Bases for Wind Turbines: “Several countries have turned oil drilling platforms into highly productive and diverse reefs. Now the idea is going around of replacing the above-water structures with wind turbines on 5,000 such rigs. California is hosting a conference on it. Many environmentalists want oil drilling platforms in the ocean totally removed, but it is much cheaper and more productive to leave the steel pillars. They become reefs supporting a vast diversity of ocean life, including fish and sea lions. Repurposing oil platforms Wonkette: In Long Beach, California, this weekend, the Aquarium of the Pacific hosted a conference to explore how California’s 27 offshore oil platforms might be used for good, not evil and oil slicks. A dozen of the things are likely to be retired in the coming decade, and since their underwater pilings have already created artificial reefs, there might be opportunities to repurpose the platforms for wind power, or as hotels for divers.”

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Mokurai writes—Renewable Tuesday: Decarbonizing the Yale Campus: “West Campus solar array  to generate 1.6 million kilowatt hours of electricity yearly. Yale University has begun to augment its renewable energy sources with electricity generated by a one-megawatt AC output photovoltaic solar array on roof space at the university’s West Campus. Yale is purchasing the solar power from SolarCity, America’s largest solar power provider, at a discount to current utility rates.  SolarCity designed and installed the system of more than 4,400 solar panels spread over 350,000 square feet of a warehouse roof. Multiple members of SolarCity’s team that worked on Yale’s solar project are also Yale alumni. The solar project is part of Yale’s effort to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, and is one of a number of sustainability initiatives announced by President Peter Salovey in August 2014.”

Mokurai writes—Renewable Wednesday: Arbitrage in the US Electrical Grid: “Renewable electricity needs the widest possible interconnections. There are two major US interconnections, and one smaller one for Texas. The Tres Amigas SuperStation proposed to intertie all three, but Texas pulled out, and the intertie between the Eastern and Western Interconnects was greatly reduced in size. Solar power is available at sunrise on the East Coast three hours before it reaches the West Coast, and continues on the West Coast three hours after sunset in the East. Wind power peaks at night, but with similar delays from region to region. Thus power is cheaper in one area than in another, a market failure. Whoever can connect them can balance prices across a much larger market, taking a bit of the difference as profit for itself. This issue is in the purview of NERC (North American Electric Reliability Corporation).”

Mokurai writes—Renewable Thursday: New Battery Technologies Drive EV and Grid Storage Markets: “Free of Heavy Metals, New Battery Design Could Alleviate Environmental Concerns—IBM. Dec 18, 2019 – Today, IBM Research is building on a long history of materials science innovation to unveil a new battery discovery. … Many battery materials, including heavy metals such as nickel and cobalt, pose tremendous environmental and humanitarian risks. Using three new and different proprietary materials, which have never before been recorded as being combined in a battery, our team at IBM Research has discovered a chemistry for a new battery which does not use heavy metals or other substances with sourcing concerns.”

Mokurai writes—Renewable Friday: California Leads the Nation, as Usual: “California breakdown of electricity imports upholds states’s clean reputation. Data released by the California Energy Commission shows wind as the largest source of electricity imported in 2017, and that even with imports the state’s mix is getting cleaner. California has been the national leader in the energy transition, and in many ways has even led the world — even if outpaced by smaller nations such as Denmark and Uruguay. However, critics have long pointed to the large amount of electricity imported by the state – nearly 1/3 of all power consumed – to allege that the state’s power is not as clean as claimed. Last week the California Energy Commission largely debunked those concerns with new data that shows that the state’s electricity mix remains largely clean, even with imports. According to Total System Electric Generation, in 2017 wind was the largest source of imports at 14.6 terawatt-hours (TWh), as part of 23.5 TWh of imported renewable energy.”

REGULATIONS & PROTECTION

cmax writes—Trump’s EPA is now the Environmental Pollution Agency: “The Trump family must be invested in bottled water our something. They have just made it harder to find clean water in the environment therefore putting a premium on clean water. They have rolled back every effort for the past century to keep our rivers and streams cleaner. Your neighbor can now dump human and animal waste plus whatever toxic chemicals he wants upstream from you and suffer no consequences. He has singlehandedly eliminated reporting for Environmental impact statements for new real estate developments. Since taking over, he has reduced or eliminated more than 90 environmental regulations about water pollution. He probably lays awake at night until he figure out another way to stomp on people. In other words, it will only get worse.”

Meteor Blades writes—Trump regime finalizes move allowing pollution and destruction of wetlands protected by Obama rule: “The retreat on wetlands protections has been in the works since Trump arrived in the Oval Office three years ago. Less than two months after taking the oath, he issued an executive order commanding the Environmental Protection Agency and Army Corps of Engineers to rework the 2015 Obama administration rule extending Clean Water Act protections to 2 million miles of streams and 20 million acres of wetlands. Last September, the rule was repealed. These moves were one more element in Trump’s and the Republicans’ extremist agenda to roll back environmental and energy rules, actions tracked by the Harvard Law School and Columbia Law School. Ninety such rules have been rolled back or are in the process, according to The New York Times’s analysis of the tracking. Many of those rollbacks are being fought in the courts.”

TRANSPORTATION & INFRASTRUCTURE

B12love writes—Recognizing the Tesla pickup ‘trusk’ as harbinger of the EV revolution and clean disruption: “The Tesla CyberTruck symbolizes the arrival of an economic disruption that is killing the market for gasoline-powered-anything. The competitive basis of both the transportation and energy industries will forever change this decade as a result of technology cost curves crossing critical thresholds. The cost-curve stuff is explained in a video at the end of the diary, but is based on the long-term rate of improvement of key technologies such as silicon chips and battery cells. The Trusk is a declaration of superiority by EV powertrains over ICE power, in it’s most demanding passenger vehicle use-case. Tesla is ‘going Daenerys’ on the work-hard/play hard macho image vehicle which is the heart of the GM and Ford brands. It clouds the emotional math of the purchase decision from on of Price/Features to one of Future/Past. Tesla is the only manufacturer ready for customers to sit in their products and have that conversation.” 

OCEANS, WATER, DROUGHT

Dan Bacher writes—Delta Counties: Single Delta Tunnel Project is No Better than Twin Tunnels Water Grab: “On January 15, in response to the Notice of Preparation by the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) for review of a single tunnel through the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, Don Nottoli, chair of the Delta Counties Coalition (DCC), made the following statement on behalf of the five jurisdictions that would be most negatively impacted including Contra Costa, Sacramento, San Joaquin, Solano and Yolo Counties: It’s been 11 years since the introduction of the Bay Delta Conservation Plan Twin Tunnels proposal, and nearly a year since Governor Newsom’s withdrawal of California WaterFix Twin Tunnels project. It appears DWR is pursuing another inadequate and scientifically flawed project with one tunnel. For several years, the Delta Counties have participated in good faith with the Natural Resources Agency and DWR, sharing why they don’t support an economically and environmentally costly Delta tunnel project, and suggesting ways to meet state water supply needs without harming the Delta. Today’s announcement does not reflect an understanding of the Delta’s core values or concerns. Clearly, a few meetings and a constrained stakeholder committee run by the tunnel construction joint powers authority are no substitute for real collaboration.”

Dan Bacher writes—Update: Bureau of Reclamation slashes flows on American River at critical time for salmon: “The Bureau of Reclamation issued an order on January 10 to reduce water releases on the American River below Nimbus Dam, the crown jewel of the Sacramento Region, from 2,500 cfs to 2,000 pubic feet per second (cfs) on January 15. Yet after issuing that order, the Bureau dropped the flows even lower, down to 1800 cfs, on January 16. The slashing of flows was made at a time when fall Chinook salmon eggs are incubating in the redds (nests), a critical period in the life cycle of the species. Over the past 18 years, salmon runs on the American River, the crown jewel of the Sacramento are, have declined dramatically from a record run of over 150,000 fish in 2003 to relatively small numbers in the past few years, as the above chart reveals. In only one year since 2005 – 2013 – did the run exceed 50,000 fish.”

AGRICULTURE​, FOOD & GARDENING

DownHeah Mississippi writes—​​​​​​​Saturday Morning Garden Blogging, Vol. 16.04: How To Use IT – Hot Peppers! “Good morning, Gardeners.  It’s been cold downheah this week, with several mornings in the low 20s, but Spring is right around the corner.  I started pepper seeds last weekend, so my 2020 garden is officially underway! I’ve been thinking about this diary for a couple of weeks, and, since I don’t have much going on as far as actual “gardening” at the moment, I thought I’d do one about how I make hot sauce.  Many inspirational thanks to estreya for her ‘How To Use It-Lemons!’ diary last December about making limoncello!  Y’all can revisit it here. I love hot sauce…as a current TV commercial says, ‘I put that sh#t on everything!’’”

MISCELLANY

Laura Clawson writes—Marriott’s ‘green choice’ isn’t so green, and it’s hurting workers: “Why would environmental organizations like the Sierra Club, the Union of Concerned Scientists, and 350.org have signed a pledge that they wouldn’t use a hotel chain’s environmental program? Because Marriott’s ‘Make a Green Choice’ program, in which hotel guests are asked to opt out of having their rooms cleaned during a stay, is a classic case of greenwashing, and one that hurts workers. According to Sierra magazine, Marriott won’t disclose the environmental benefits of not having rooms cleaned as often, while UNITE HERE Local 2 President Anand Singh told the magazine that ‘when housekeepers do get into a room that hasn’t been serviced in days, they report needing to use more water and chemicals, and they experience pain and injury from having to push their bodies to the limit to get the job done.’ At the same time, they’re losing work hours, and income, to people doing what they think is the right thing.”

This Carbon Based Life writes—Angry Earth: “Godzilla stomped across our movie screens in the 1950s breathing fire while destroying Tokyo and its mass transit system. Godzilla was spawned of nuclear radiation released by the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Making him, not monster but metaphor and the irony is, over dozens of pictures as the monster grew the metaphor shrank. In the 1950s & 60s nuclear annihilation was the great societal fear in Japan, it was a wound. Through cinematic mastery a guy in a rubber suit stomping on cardboard buildings in technicolor has become the oracle of our times. If we don’t take care of the things we do to our world, we might unleash monsters from hell upon ourselves. Our tanks and planes and missiles and bombs are useless against Godzilla. Godzilla laughs then breaths fire. Don’t say you weren’t warned, Godzilla warned you!” 

The Marti writes—New Day Cafe: It’s Easy Being Green! “Being brought up by older parents gave me more than a few advantages over some of my friends.  We were taught the mantra: Use it up, wear it out. Make it do, or do without. Like most people, I got a bit frisky when I started earning decent money, but I never forgot the lessons, and they are so very helpful now that I’m on a ‘fixed’ income. One of the things I read that helps is One Good Thing which is full of great ideas and how to’s. I especially liked the aritcle about green things our parents/grandparents used to do, that were green when green was just a colour.”

m2c4 writes—Systemic Failures—Climate And Democracy: “Certainly, there has been an ongoing discussion about whether democracy or autocracy is better suited to deal with climate change. In one camp there are those who think that ‘a crisis as severe (if man-made) as rising temperatures can be mitigated only by the firm smack of authoritarian rule.’ The autocrats believe that the short-term pressures of elections and the multiple veto points for powerful economic and special interests make democracy uniquely ill-suited to dealing with climate change. Only an autocrat can make the drastic and structural changes climate change requires while being able to withstand the pressures from their own citizens who may see those changes actually reduce their quality of life.”

mettle fatigue writes—Street Prophets: People Around the World Repurposing Plastics-As-Is For Necessity: “WORLD COAST WATER LEVELS ARE RISING, and at the same time, plastic waste across the globe is set to triple in this decade, shoving up to 12 million metric tonnes into the oceans and across the landscape, because the world’s material economy is mostly linear: we take a substance out of the ground, make something out of it, and then most of it gets thrown away. Closed-loop recycling that requires reprocessing isn’t enough to rely on — it’s necessary, but that’s a whole industry requiring fuel/energy, it’s still in its infancy, and even before used materials can reach it, those materials (e.g., plastic bottles) are still very expensive & footprint-heavy to collect and move from individual to industry, with maaaany kinks and glitches still to be worked out.And for most people in the world, its products may be unaffordable.Meanwhile, most people in the world also have urgent life needs that smaller closed-loop innovation can meet, by repurposing common plastic products at high speed, low cost, and zero carbon footprint.”

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