August 11, 2016
Fossil Fuel Export Moratorium Issued on Cherry Point
Whatcom County, Washington, passed an emergency moratorium on new fossil fuel shipments through Cherry Point, a major export hub, citing environmental and safety issues. The ordinance does not affect current refining or oil shipments.
The county council is expected to hold public hearings during the 60-day moratorium as the county finalizes an update to its 20-year comprehensive plan, which could include a permanent ban on exporting coal or natural gas.
In May, the US Army Corps of Engineers denied a permit to build the country’s largest coal-export terminal at Cherry Point after objections from the Lummi tribe.
The local environmental community, which has been demanding such a ban,
celebrated the moratorium as a precedent-setting victory. http://www.bellinghamherald.com/news/local/article94774637.html Middle East Heat a Harbinger of Future Disasters
Recent extreme heat events in the Middle East have climate scientists worried about future climate-related catastrophes.
Temperatures have climbed above 115°F across the region this summer, and Kuwait and Iraq recently recorded most likely the hottest temperatures ever in the Eastern Hemisphere.
Record-breaking extreme heat -- estimated to have claimed more lives than wars -- has worsened over the years and recent studies have suggested future climate change
will make parts of the region uninhabitable.
A sergeant major in Iraq equated the heat wave to a weapon of mass destruction, saying, “It makes my skin crawl.
It is killing us.”
https://psmag.com/the-unique-burden-of-covering-climate-change-in-the-middle-east-73dd95c51860#.16l8zkgwdVolcano Eruption Masked Sea Level Rise
The temporary global cooling effect of a major volcanic eruption in 1991 could have slowed the rate of sea level rise,
but a “detectable acceleration” is likely in the next decade as its effects fade, new research shows. Scientists have recorded a steady 3 millimeters per year increase in sea levels since 1993, when satellite record-keeping began.
However, a climate model that negates the effects of the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in the Philippines showed a much quicker rise in sea levels. "Now that the impacts of Pinatubo have faded, this acceleration should become evident in the satellite measurements in the coming decade, barring another major volcanic eruption," the study’s lead author said.
http://www.climatecentral.org/news/volcano-hid-sea-level-rise-acceleration-20595 •In California's climate debate, state lawmakers push for more authority (LA Times $)
•Solar manufacturers pivoting away from big U.S. utility projects
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-08-10/solar-manufacturers-pivoting-away-from-big-u-s-utility-projects•Electric car charging station companies issue warning over VW settlement
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-volkswagen-emissions-settlement-idUSKCN10L038•California mayors voice support for climate proposal (LA Times $)
•Investors
have $100 billion to spend on oil assets
no one else wants http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-08-11/oil-busts-leery-bankers-and-100-billion-for-distressed-deals•Thousands of lives could be saved in California by stricter air pollution limits, study finds (LA Times $)
•With droughts and downpours, climate change feeds Chesapeake Bay algal blooms
http://phys.org/news/2016-08-droughts-downpours-climate-chesapeake-bay.html•Illinois leaders promote NY energy program as model
http://qctimes.com/business/illinois-leaders-promote-ny-energy-program-as-model/article_aca789d5-6c72-541d-9ead-b6865a98f8ed.html•Pilot Fire: School districts still closed, fire at nearly 7,800 acres
http://www.scpr.org/news/2016/08/10/63463/pilot-fire-school-districts-still-closed-fire-at-n/•Climate could be pivotal in this congressional race between two California Democrats (Grist)
http://grist.org/election-2016/climate-could-be-pivotal-in-this-congressional-race-between-two-california-democrats/•Sometimes art has to get gritty—especially when big oil provides the muse
https://www.nrdc.org/onearth/sometimes-art-has-get-gritty-especially-when-big-oil-provides-muse•Elon Musk's new solar project: 'It’s not a thing on the roof. It is the roof'
http://www.ecowatch.com/elon-musks-new-solar-project-1966820558.html•Growing Zika cases weigh on state lawmakers (E&E News $)
•This island in Russia's Arctic is vanishing into the sea
http://www.takepart.com/article/2016/08/10/this-island-in-russian-arctic-is-vanishing-into-the-sea-climate-change•
Scotland completely powered by wind turbines for a day [img width=60]http://us.cdn2.123rf.com/168nwm/lenm/lenm1201/lenm120100200/12107060-illustration-of-a-smiley-giving-a-thumbs-up.jpg[/img]
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/aug/11/scotland-completely-powered-by-wind-turbines-for-a-day•Solar and wind 'cheaper than new nuclear' by the time Hinkley is built (Guardian)
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/aug/11/solar-and-wind-cheaper-than-new-nuclear-by-the-time-hinkley-is-built•Sydney Opera House targets 'carbon neutral' status by 2023 (Business Green $)
•Scottish ministers appeal court ruling that blocks offshore wind
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-08-09/scottish-ministers-appeal-court-ruling-that-blocks-offshore-windEmma Thompson tells it like it is in this video:
Telegraph
, known attack dog for the fossil fuel industry, writes hit piece with BULLSHIT about Emma Thompson's 'inaccurate' climate change claims found' by 'watchdog'.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/08/10/bbc-let-emma-thompson-get-away-with-inaccurate-climate-change-cl/•Mountain biodiversity more vulnerable to climate change than previously reported
http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/montana/um-research-mountain-biodiversity-more-vulnerable-to-climate-change-than/article_dbc994ed-fb73-5d50-9aae-55bcea71d469.html•Three more ways climate change is going to change our lives
https://psmag.com/three-more-ways-climate-change-is-going-to-change-our-lives-eb563e5781d6#.jk3wvgto3•At least three dead in Portugal wildfires as flames creep into downtown Funchal
http://mashable.com/2016/08/10/portugal-wildfire-photos/?utm_cid=mash-com-Tw-science-link%23O4Smx57EK9q2#KAbHB2Davqqn•Rice farmers bracing for droughts, floods
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/28321/rice-farmers-bracing-for-droughts--floods/•Lake Tanganyika ecosystem sensitive to climate change
http://www.voanews.com/a/lake-tanganyika-climate-change/3458543.html•How climate change will hurt humanity's closest cousins
http://phys.org/news/2016-08-climate-humanity-closest-cousins.html•Tackling cities’ hidden climate footprint
http://ensia.com/notable/cities-hidden-climate-impact/ANALYSIS & OPINION
•Tax carbon, California — the rest of the nation will thank you (LA Times, Michael Wara, Adele Morris & Jerry Taylor op-ed $)
•Piecing together the Arctic’s sea ice history back to 1850
https://www.carbonbrief.org/guest-post-piecing-together-arctic-sea-ice-history-1850•If the US took its climate goals seriously, coal beneath federal land would stay there
http://www.vox.com/2016/8/10/12410048/coal-leasing-2-degrees•Unprecedented federal court ruling elevates environmental justice over demands of industry
http://fusion.net/story/335110/federal-court-elevates-social-cost-of-carbon-over-industry-demands/•The Galileo gambit and other stories: the three main tactics of climate denial https://theconversation.com/the-galileo-gambit-and-other-stories-the-three-main-tactics-of-climate-denial-63719?•ExxonMobil’s
latest campaign to stymie federal climate action (Huffington Post, Elliot Negin op-ed)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/elliott-negin/exxonmobils-latest-campai_b_11408752.html•Fracking ‘bribes’ raise problematic questions
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/aug/10/fracking-bribes-raise-problematic-questions