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These offshore wind turbines are powering 3,000 homes in Europe and helping create a diverse and robust marine ecosystem.
These offshore wind turbines are powering 3,000 homes in Europe and helping create a diverse and robust marine ecosystem.
Posted by 350.org on Sunday, November 26, 2017
India driven by the sun! Read why we must act now: ecowatch.com/india-air-pollution
India driven by the sun!Read why we must act now: ecowatch.com/india-air-pollution
Posted by EcoWatch on Sunday, November 26, 2017
November 23, 2017 Happy Thanksgiving. Hoping our children will benefit from climate action instead of suffering from climate destruction.
Happy Thanksgiving. Hoping our children will benefit from climate action instead of suffering from climate destruction. via Healthy Air Campaign
Posted by EcoWatch on Thursday, November 23, 2017
Rob Waugh, Yahoo News UK November 24, 2017
The eruption could blanket large areas of America in ash – and possibly plunge Earth into a ‘volcanic winter’.
NASA has said that supervolcano eruptions are a bigger threat to life than any asteroid – but what would actually happen?
Yellowstone Volcano Observatory’s Scientist-In-Charge, Dr Michael Poland, told IFLScience that the eruption would shoot a column of burning ash and lava up to 16 miles into the air.
Poland said ‘If people were present in the vicinity of the eruption, say, within a few tens to perhaps a few hundred kilometers – they would be in peril.
But the real damage woould come from ‘volcanic fallout’, which would clog roads, short out electrical grids and make millions of homes uninhabitable, Poland says.
Nearby cities such as Salt Lake City would be buried in three feet of ash, and other cities such as Los Angeles would see an inch of ash rain from the sky.
Flights would be grounded across America and the knock-on effects would be felt across the world as a ‘volcanic winter’ began to bite, with years and possibly decades of cooling.
Yellowstone’s last super-eruption happened 631,000 years ago, and Poland says it’s highly unlikely to erupt now.
He says, ’Right now, much of Yellowstone’s magma body is partially solidified, and you need a lot of magma to feed a large eruption.’
John Hanno November 23, 2017
For last years Thanksgiving Day post, I recounted my pure joy and feelings of hopefulness after Barack Obama was elected in 2008. After 8 years of the Bush administration’s blunders in Iraq, the avoidable financial collapse and a major Republi-cession, most of America was ready for a political reset.
The new president was left with a monumental mess; but with help from Speaker Pelosi, Harry Reid and a Democratic controlled Congress, his administration reluctantly bailed out the banks, saved the auto industry, reversed the monthly loss of 800,000 jobs, cut the unemployment rate by half, tripled the stock market and spent a significant amount of good will and political capital, giving 30 million American healthcare, many for the very first time. And all that in the face of unprecedented opposition from the Republi-cons.
That all changed last November, when America’s rust belt states decided they had nothing to lose by voting for an egotistical flim-flam candidate like Trump.
I wrote then that I was afraid Trump would show us “who he really was”: ‘Like probably 80% of Americans who did not vote for Mr. Trump, I’m worried for America’s children and grandchildren, the poor, our middle class, labor, the environment, our Democracy and half of the rest of the world. And I worry that Trump will try to undo 60 to 75% of what President Obama accomplished. President Obama set the bar high with his performance in repairing the economy after the Republicans drove it into a ditch, by repairing our reputation around the world and by his integrity and concern for all human beings. If the Trump Administration can do half as well, I will be surprised. I sincerely hope I’m proved wrong.’
Unfortunately I was all too right! Trump proves daily why a 3 million majority of voters chose Hillary and not him. Every worry I had about how Trump would govern has come to fruition, including how he would attempt to undo every one of President Obama’s and the Democrat’s accomplishments. He has a sick and maniacal obsession with erasing every speck of President Obama’s legacy. Many of us realized early on, that the cabinet he would assemble, would not drain the swamp but would construct a diabolical cabal of self dealing, self absorbed, self interested billionaires and multi-millionaires, who couldn’t care less about 99% of American’s health care, employment, education, financial protections, environment; and who are so thoroughly incapable and unwilling to “Make America Great Again.” And the cowardly and unpatriotic Republi-cons in congress are willing to go along with any of Trump’s hair brained ideas, as long as they can pay back their rich campaign contributors with lucrative tax breaks favoring the rich and powerful.
But I’m thankful the “Resistance” is as strong today (if not stronger) as it was when Trump was installed by hook or crook or collusion with a foreign evil doer last November.
In spite of the dread and chaos that has enveloped our Republi-con Federal governance, I’m thankful for special prosecutor Robert Mueller and his team of truth finders. Hopefully, they can prove to the world that America’s Democracy is not for sale and can’t be undermined by a ruthless despot like Vladimir Putin and his conspirators in the Ult-Right Grand Old Party.
I’m thankful there are patriotic professional athletes like Colin Kaepernick, who might be willing to forsake a lucrative career in order to stand up for what they believe in. And the NFL should be ashamed for not whole-heartedly standing by these thoughtful and principled young people.
I’m thankful my fellow Veterans will stand strong against Trump and the Republi-cons in congress attempts to privatize the V.A. health system.
I’m thankful the climate deniers pushing the Keystone XL, including Trump and his fossil fuel pandering EPA chief Scott Pruitt, will be tied up for at least 2 more years, because by then it will be obvious, this toxic tar sand pipeline is already obsolete.
I’m thankful women everywhere are now stepping forward and demanding they are more than just sexual objects to be exploited or abused.
I’m thankful some of the critters now populating the new GOP are finally standing by these women.
One of them is not serial abuser Donald J. Trump, who has enthusiastically endorsed sexual predator Judge Roy Moore. He and ultra-partisan Alabama governor Kay Ivey would rather vote for a man barred from shopping malls and high school sporting events because he prayed on under-aged girls, instead of a decent democrat like Doug Jones for U.S. Senator. They believe a reliable Republican Senate vote is more important than moral integrity; and this from the family values pretenders.
Alabama voters will ultimately prove how far we’ve come in healing America’s political, gender and racial divides, when it decides whether they want to be represented in the U.S. Senate by a pedophile who was booted off the Alabama Supreme Court twice or by a Democrat with a high moral reputation and long and honorable history of advocating for under-represented Americans, like the murdered little girls killed when Ku Klux Klan members planted sticks of dynamite beneath the steps of their church.
Repeated from last years post: I’m thankful for all the organic and sustainable farmers like myself, who feed their neighbors without spoiling the earth. And I’m thankful for the organizations like MOSES who promote and teach the next generation of protectors.
Also repeated from last year: ‘And in spite of how hard Mr. Trump, his exploitive cabinet, the fossil fuel pandering Republican controlled Congress and the evil doers in the fossil fuel industry work, to overturn progress made by the Obama Administration, to reverse climate change and global warming, they can’t stop the march to a cleaner more sustainable world. Alternative energy is cheaper than coal, oil and gas, it’s sustainable and 10’s of millions of people around the world are already enjoying it’s benefits. The world is using less coal, more wind, solar and alt energy, emitting less carbon dioxide and growing and farming more sustainably. More than 100 large corporations have pledged to become 100% renewable. Corporations, utilities, countries, states, cities and communities have promoted and invested in renewable energy. Even oil companies and insurance companies have woken up to the new sustainable world order. We are plodding forward. Trump, his fellow billionaires and the big banks who are heavily invested in fossil fuel assets will attempt to extract every ounce before America says, enough is enough. But they’re on the wrong side of preserving humanity.’
I’m thankful I’m able to post almost daily, stories about the progress entrepreneurs, cities, states, nations and businesses are making battling climate change and global warming. Countries on every continent, Including ultra-polluters China and India are taking serious the existential climate threats to humankind. In spite of the powerful and entrenched deniers, human progress will not be abated.
And above all, I’m thankful (if we’re to believe the polls) America is waking up to the fact they elected a despot who would do anything, tell any lie, jeopardize any environment and demonize any opposition, in order to elevate himself and his families wealth and power, and his insatiable ego.
The Alabama election in December may portend what we have to look forward to in the 2018 mid-term elections. Most of America is standing firm against the assault on our democracy, by a GOP fully embedded with their incredibly rich and powerful patrons. And our journalists and free press are working overtime, uncovering the diabolical conspiracies that have replaced America’s once proud and principled leadership in the world. If they prevail, next Thanksgiving just might bring much more to be thankful for.
Meet the wind farm that’s using digital tools to connect 60+ turbines, helping it to run efficiently. #DRONEWEEK
Meet the wind farm that’s using digital tools to connect 60+ turbines, helping it to run efficiently. #DRONEWEEK
Posted by Axios on Monday, October 9, 2017
By Andrew Amelinckx November 23, 2017
The First Thanksgiving, painting by Jean Louis Gerome Ferris. Wikimedia Commons
Half-starved, sick from scurvy, suffering from exposure and a variety of diseases, the English colonists also had little in the way of practical farming experience as they tried to survive their first year in the Plymouth Colony. Worse, they had poor soil to contend with on the rocky Massachusetts coast that spring of 1621 when they began planting their crops.
After arriving in Massachusetts Bay in November 1620 following a harrowing 66-day Atlantic crossing, the 105 Pilgrims (as they are known today) spent the first winter aboard their ship the Mayflower. It’s likely we wouldn’t be celebrating Thanksgiving today at all if not for a saintly Native American named Tisquantum, also called Squanto, a member of the Pawtuxet tribe who spoke English and taught the colonists how to plant native crops (like corn), tap the maple trees for sap, and fish in the Bay. If he hadn’t befriended the Pilgrims it’s possible they would have perished before their first harvest in the fall of 1621. As it was, around half of the passengers and crew died their first winter in the New World.
The Wampanoag grew corn, squash, and beans—crops known as the “Three Sisters”.
Saintly is the only way to describe Squanto. He learned English after being kidnapped with other members of his tribe by an English sea captain named Thomas Hunt in 1614 and sold into slavery in Spain before he was able to make his way to England. From there, Squanto was able to secure passage back home to Massachusetts in 1619 only to find that his tribe had been decimated by smallpox, tuberculosis, or possibly some other disease contracted through their contact with Europeans (there seems to be some dispute on exactly what killed them).
Some folks might not have taken too kindly to the English after such rough treatment. Squanto apparently didn’t hold a grudge since he helped forge an alliance between the Pilgrims and a local tribe, the Wampanoag, another way in which he helped prop up the shaky colony. These skilled Native American farmers knew how to get the most out of the poor coastal soil and taught the Pilgrims to do the same. Unlike the soil of southern England, which is deep, nutrient-rich, loamy and easy to hand till, the soil in coastal Massachusetts is shallow, sandy and stony, making it hard to work by hand, according to the Soil Science Society of America.
Before learning the best crops to grow in their new home, the Pilgrims would have probably tried (and failed) to grow rye, barley and wheat and a variety of English garden vegetables, according to Soil scientist Tom Sauer, who is with the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service.
The Wampanoag grew corn, squash, and beans—crops known as the “Three Sisters” that make a potent growing team, especially in poor, sandy soil that doesn’t retain nutrients or water. The three plants work well together to create fertile soil. Beans are nitrogen fixers, pulling nitrogen from the air, and with the help of soil microbes, turning the nitrogen into plant food. The corn provides the beans a support on which to grow and the squash helps in water retention and with weed control.
The Wampanoag also used wood ash and fish as plant fertilizers. Sauer says wood ash “would have been a relatively concentrated nutrient source” that contains calcium, which acts as a liming agent to raise the pH level. It also contains potassium and smaller amounts of phosphorous and other nutrients.
“Since the yields weren’t very high, applying wood ash would probably have replaced quite a lot of the potassium and phosphorous removed with the crop,” Sauer tells Modern Farmer in an email.
Using fish as a fertilizer was a common practice by many of the Native peoples of the East Coast and provided nutrients and amino acids to help in plant growth, according to tradition. Fish fertilizer, albeit in liquid form, is still in use today. Sauer, on the other hand, doesn’t believe fish is a great plant nutrient source, but says that it would have helped the soil somewhat since “any organic material will release some nutrients when it decomposes. It may have also added organic matter that helped retain water near the seed so maybe it was more than just a nutrient source.” Either way, Native American farming practices helped save Pilgrims from starving to death.
In November 1621, the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag celebrated the colonists’ first successful corn harvest. The festivities lasted three days and included a bounty from both field and sea, but unlike today’s typical Thanksgiving, there was no pumpkin pie—obviously, ovens weren’t yet a thing and sugar was in short supply. There was lobster, goose, and venison, though, along with the new crops that the English had learned to grow thanks to the original inhabitants of Massachusetts.
Turkey farmer Ike Horst is one of the independent businessmen caught up in the Trump administration’s government-wide deregulation frenzy. | M. Scott Mahaskey/POLITICO
By Christine Haughney November 22, 2017
Ike Horst raises 22,000 turkeys a year on his farm in the rolling hills of south-central Pennsylvania, selling them to a processing company that was providing him with enough of a nest egg that he hoped he could sell the farm and retire.
But a Trump administration decision to block proposed agriculture regulations may blow up those plans, preserving the multibillion-dollar meat industry’s power over the smaller turkey farmers whose birds will grace the tables in millions of American homes this Thanksgiving.
Horst is one of the independent businessmen caught up in the Trump administration’s government-wide deregulation frenzy.
Obama-era rules that had yet to take effect would have given smaller farmers more power to set the terms of their deals with massive meat companies, empowering the growers to sue and better define abusive practices by processors and distributors under federal law. Trump’s Agriculture Department killed two of the proposed rules, one of which would have taken effect in October.
Major agribusinesses like Cargill and Butterball fought the rules, saying they would lead to endless litigation between farmers and global food companies.
Trump’s deregulatory strike — lauded by big business — has consequences, even for the mom-and-pop turkey farmers who raise free-range, antibiotic-free turkeys that have seen increasing demand as Americans become more socially conscious about the production of their foods.
Horst is afraid a planned sale of his farm will fall through because Plainville Farms, a major organic food producer and the primary customer for his turkeys, is requiring the buyer to install upgrades including fans, tunnel ventilation and a stationary generator if it wants to continue supplying to the company.
Under the rules Trump killed, Horst’s buyer could have resisted such new costs.
“That was my retirement,” said Horst, who is selling his farm for health reasons and is scheduled to close the sale in January.
In the days leading up to Thanksgiving, some turkey farmers said the processing and distribution companies already have been setting tougher terms. Farmers who produce birds for Plainville received letters in October amending their contracts by cutting performance incentives and demanding that they invest in equipment upgrades. They blame the Trump administration.
If Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue hadn’t done away with the proposed rules, “the companies wouldn’t be doing things like this,” said Mike Weaver, a West Virginia poultry grower and president of the Organization for Competitive Markets, who has been contacted by Plainville’s turkey growers about their fears. “We think this has emboldened the companies to abuse the growers.”
Distributors and large poultry growers, for their part, have praised the decision to ditch the proposed Obama-era regulations, which were developed under USDA’s Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration and are commonly referred to as the GIPSA rules. If allowed to go into effect, they “would have opened the floodgates to frivolous and costly litigation,” said Mike Brown, president of the National Chicken Council.
Meanwhile, turkey farmers have fewer and fewer choices about where to sell their birds. Contract farmers account for 69 percent of turkey production, according to the USDA. As of 2011, 58 percent of turkey slaughter was controlled by just four companies: Butterball, Jennie-O, Cargill, and Farbest Foods.
As the industry has consolidated, margins for turkey farmers have gotten thinner. Billy Turner, a Virginia-based grower who raises 54,000 turkeys annually for Cargill, noted that when he started working 25 years ago, he earned $2.25 to $2.50 for each bird he raised. Now he receives $1.35 a head. But he can’t get out of the business because Cargill asked him recently to make upgrades to his barns that he had to take out a $150,000 loan to pay for. He said those upgrades have raised his utility bills from $75 a month to $700 to $800 a month. He survives by raising corn and cattle as well. He said if he raised only turkeys, “I couldn’t do it. I would probably be bankrupt by now.”
Plainville is not a large-scale, mass-market distributor, but one that supplies the high-end organic food segment. It specializes in antibiotic-free and organic turkey meat for which consumers pay a premium. But Plainville’s farmers don’t get much of that: Farmers interviewed for this article said the new contracts cut what they receive on turkeys to 11 cents a pound from 13 cents. Cook’s Illustrated reported that these turkeys sell for more than 10 times more, for $1.19 a pound.
The farmers point out that Plainville’s parent company, Hain Celestial Group Inc., which promotes itself as a healthy food company and owns brands like Celestial Seasonings Tea, reported a 131 percent increase in profit in its most recent earnings statement.
When contacted by POLITICO, Mickey Baugher, vice president of operations for Plainville Farms, replied via a LinkedIn message that “our decision to modify the terms of our grower agreements were not influenced by any changes in GIPSA rules.” He noted that even with the updated contracts, growers make 20 percent more than the average industry grower. He added, “We do not believe that any modifications to our grower agreements will have any effect on the quality of our turkeys.”
The letter he sent to turkey growers also stated that “the decision to reduce grower pay was not made quickly or lightly” and that “having the best housing in the industry will benefit the welfare of our turkeys.”
Turkey farmer Ike Horst’s farm in Orrstown, Pa., is pictured. | M. Scott Mahaskey/POLITICO
Mike Lilburn, an Ohio State University professor and unit supervisor of the Poultry Research Center, explained that turkey farms are now raising larger birds much faster and require newer ventilation systems.
“It has to be done for the grower to be competitive, and it has to be done for the company to be competitive with other companies out there,” Lilburn said.
Several turkey farmers interviewed for this article, however, said that there are better, more cost-effective solutions. Horst, who has been raising turkeys since 1995, said that instead of installing expensive fans, he has let his turkeys go outside.
“The best thing is natural air,” he said.
Years ago, Horst said, the processing and distribution companies, known as integrators, would meet with farmers to discuss contract changes before implementing them. That no longer happens. “Integrators don’t want to hear the growers griping and complaining,” he said.
Despite his financial worries, he calls turkey farming a “low-stress job,” one made enjoyable by the comic antics of the birds. He talks to his turkeys and tells them he won’t eat them. Instead, this Thanksgiving, he’ll be eating an old German dish that involves stuffing a pig’s stomach with sausage and potatoes. He thinks his turkeys appreciate it.
“It’s like raising kids,” he said. “If you enjoy kids, they’ll do good for you. But if you mistreat your children, they’re going to be in trouble all the time.”
The Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation tweeted: “The Keystone XL must be stopped: commit to peaceful resistance on the route http://nokxlpromise.org #NoKXL #KeystoneXLPipeline #KeystoneSpill”
Lorraine Chow November 21, 2017
Yes, it’s true that the Nebraska Public Service Commission voted Monday to approve the long-gestating Keystone XL (KXL) tar sands pipeline. But don’t score it as a win for TransCanada—or as a “boost for Trump”—just yet.
That’s because the commission approved the “mainline alternative route,” and that’s not the route that the pipeline operator wants.
It could take years before the project finally gets off the ground (if it ever does), as the alternative route includes 63 miles of new pipeline not yet approved by the federal government and plenty of landowners could stand in the way.
As Crystal Rhoades, a commission member, wrote in her dissent: “The route violates the due process of landowners. There are at least 40 landowners along the approved route who may not even know that their land is in this pipeline’s path. Since they might not know that they are in the path of the pipeline, they may not have participated in this proceeding.”
And you can bet with last week’s 210,000-gallon oil spill from the existing Keystone pipeline in South Dakota that many landowners wouldn’t be thrilled about the project.
Even TransCanada seemed lukewarm about the commission’s decision.
“As a result of today’s decision, we will conduct a careful review of the Public Service Commission’s ruling while assessing how the decision would impact the cost and schedule of the project,” said Russ Girling, TransCanada’s president and chief executive officer.
Even though President Trump has issued a presidential permit for the KXL, it was based on an environmental analysis assuming that the pipeline would follow the route TransCanada preferred, The Hill reported.
A State Department spokesperson told The Hill that the agency “heard about a possible modified route, and we are in the process of gaining more precise information in order to determine if there will be any permitting impacts as a result of those changes.”
Many pipeline opponents stressed that the fight is not over.
“TransCanada has to now go back to the drawing board. They’ll need new plans, new permits, new agreements with landowners, new assessments, and more,” 350.org co-founder Jamie Henn tweeted.
“The decision to re-route the pipeline opens up *tons* of opportunities for legal challenges. To name a few: there was no tribal consultation, proper environmental impact studies haven’t been done, landowners weren’t consulted, etc.” Henn added.
Jane Kleeb, the founder of Bold Nebraska and a prominent anti-KXL activist, tweeted that the Public Service Commission’s decision means “years of new review and legal challenges are now on the table.”
Jane Fleming Kleeb@janekleeb Today was a victory for everyone working to stop Keystone XL. TransCanada did not get their preferred route which means years of new review and legal challenges are now on the table. #NoKXL #Resolute
Immediately after Monday’s announcement, environmental groups and Native American tribes launched a renewed effort to battle the controversial pipeline, including the “Promise to Protect” campaign to make “a concerted stand” against TransCanada’s $8 billion project.
Finally, Mother Jones pointed out that TransCanada’s biggest challenge might come down to economics:
“When TransCanada originally proposed the route, the energy economy was different. As gas has flooded the market and oil prices have come down, TransCanada has had trouble attracting buyers interested in the heavy viscous oil that is more expensive and energy intensive to extract and refine. The company wants enough customers to fill 90 percent of its capacity before it proceeds. In June, the Wall Street Journal reported the ‘oil producers and refiners the pipeline was originally meant to serve aren’t interested in it anymore.'”
As Henn noted: “Every bit of uncertainty and every day of delay makes Keystone XL less likely. The economics are already stacked against this project and it’s just a matter of time before the last few backers pull out, leaving TransCanada all alone.”
“Eólica” or wind power plant in Guanacaste, Costa Rica. ICE Group / Twitter
Lorraine Chow November 21, 2017
Costa Rica has charted another clean energy accolade. So far this year, the Central American country has run on 300 days of 100 percent power generation from renewable energy sources, according to the Costa Rican Institute of Electricity (ICE), which cited figures from the National Center for Energy Control.
With six weeks left of 2017 to go, Costa Rica could easily surpass 300 days.
This impressive feat bests its 2015 record of 299 days of 100 percent renewable production. The country went 271 days using only renewable energy production in 2016.
Costa Rica currently receives 99.62 percent of its electricity from five renewable sources, the highest proportion since 1987. This year, 78.26 percent of electricity came from hydropower, 10.29 percent from wind, 10.23 percent from geothermal energy and 0.84 percent from biomass and solar.
Costa Rica has emerged as an global environmental leader, with its frequent 100 percent renewable energy streaks and its 2021 goal of becoming carbon neutral—a deadline set a decade ago.
In June, Costa Rican government officials announced an ambitious plan to become the world’s first country to achieve a comprehensive national strategy to eliminate single-use plastics by 2021.
The ICE also noted that 2017 is poised to the biggest year for wind production in the country’s history, with 1,014.82 gigawatt hours generated by 16 wind farms.