Renewable Revolution

Sep. 25, 2016, 8:27 pm by Mike Polhamus



One of the most common bees in Vermont as late as the 1990s appears to have been eradicated from the state, but a University of Vermont researcher has provided the federal government with data that could prove critical to the bee’s recovery.


That bee, commonly known as the rusty patched bumble bee, and known to scientists as bombus affinis, is being considered for federal protection through the Endangered Species Act, thanks to work by UVM postdoctoral research assistant Leif Richardson.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Wednesday proposed listing the rusty patched bumble bee as an endangered species. Although scientists say the insect’s decline has been precipitous and well-documented, the exact cause remains uncertain.

In its report, the Fish and Wildlife Service says the data for its analysis came primarily from Richardson’s work.

A co-author of a North American bee identification guide, Richardson said he collected thousands of records of bee observation in the course of writing the book. This data constitutes all but a few hundred of the observation records on which the Fish and Wildlife Service relied in determining the species may need further protection, Richardson said.
bees
A rusty patched bumble bee. Photo by Dan Mullen/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
An ecologist who studies bee declines and the relationship between flowers and bees, Richardson said he collects thousands of bees every summer and caught one of Vermont’s last known rusty patched bumble bees.

He found it in Huntington in 1999, one of two bombus affinis specimens seen in Vermont that year, Richardson said.

“I’ve looked for it every year thereafter,” he said. “I collect thousands (of bees) every summer. It was never seen again.”

The Vermont Center for Ecostudies collected more than 10,000 Vermont bees in 2012 and 2013 to survey extant species, and researchers involved in the project found not a single bombus affinis. These researchers searched “nearly every town, every county, every eco-region” in Vermont and found “exactly zero” bombus affinis, Richardson said, “which strongly suggests it’s gone from Vermont.”

Rusty patched bumble bee populations have fallen precipitously across the species’ historical range, and not just in Vermont, Richardson said.

As late as the 1990s, when bombus affinis was still one of the most common bee species in Vermont, it was found throughout 28 states and one Canadian province, Richardson said. In the last five years, the bees have disappeared from seven of those states, and in that time only solitary bees have been observed in all but three or four of the remaining states.

“I think the evidence is very clear that this is a case where that law should be brought into play and can actually help preserve a species that’s declining and in danger of extinction,” Richardson said.

The bee could fall under endangered species protection within a year, Richardson said, and the Fish and Wildlife Service is soliciting public comments on the proposed listing until Nov. 21.

About 10 percent of the value of America’s agriculture results from pollination, Richardson said, and protection for the rusty patched bumble bee could go a long way toward preserving other important pollinators.

Vermont legislators, in response to widely publicized die-offs among this and other pollinators in the state, formed a pollinator protection committee this year, and members met for the first time at the Statehouse this month.

Richardson said it’s not yet clear what must be done to address the problem, but said it’s important to preserve bombus affinis and other pollinators not just because of their intrinsic value, but because of their utility to humans.

Across the globe, 75 percent of crops depend on pollinators, he said. Of the total value of American agriculture, 10 percent results from pollinators, he said.

“This is a substantial economic issue,” Richardson said.   

“When we lose these wild species, it’s concerning to ecosystem health, or ecosystem function, but it’s also (worrying) for reasons having to do with human food supply,” he said.

If bombus affinis gets federal protection, he said, the economic impact could go in several directions.

“The conservative estimate is, we’ve actually suffered financial cost from the loss of these species,” due to its role in agriculture, Richardson said.

But in some parts of the bee’s range, farmers and others might have to apply fewer pesticides, and in particular those belonging to a class called neonicotinoids. Municipalities and other governments will need to consider the endangered species before making land use changes. And, Richardson said, grant funding might get allocated preferentially to bombus affinis and away from other topics of research.

“Overall, I don’t think listing of the rusty patched bumble bee will cause a significant financial burden to anyone, and it could actually net us a return in financial terms from the recovery of this species because it’s so important to agriculture,” Richardson said.

It’s not clear that listing them as endangered species will bring rusty patched bumble bees back to Vermont, Richardson said, but it’s possible, and the bee’s not likely to come back without it. Protecting bombus affinis could protect other species too, he said.

“I thinking listing this species could help at the state level to preserve pollinators in general,” Richardson said. “It might be a good umbrella for other” species at risk.

Vermonters can encourage bumble bee preservation by planting flowers or vegetables and by avoiding pesticides, and neonicotinoids in particular, Richardson said.

More broadly, bee recovery is encouraged by preservation of Vermont’s natural ecosystem and its old farm fields and low-intensity agriculture.

There’s “convincing evidence” that climate change is harming bee populations as well, Richardson said, “so if you’re concerned about bees … do what you can to influence policy to prevent the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.”

http://vtdigger.org/2016/09/25/uvm-researchers-work-provide-salvation-bee-species/

Sep. 30, 2016 08:36AM EST

ExxonMobil is facing a first-of-its-kind lawsuit for failing to account for the risks from climate change to its fuel storage terminal outside Boston. The Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) claims that sea level rise and accompanying storm surges could damage the facility and lead to further pollution of the Mystic River.

"Communities were put in danger and remain in danger, all to cut costs for one of the most profitable corporations in the world," CLF president Bradley Campbell said. "It's time to make Exxon answer for decades of false statements to the public and to regulators and ensure that its Everett facility meets its legal obligation to protect thousands of people and the Boston Harbor estuary from toxic water pollution."


Exxon is already under investigation by the SEC and a group of state attorneys generals for allegedly misleading its shareholders and the public about climate change.

"As a mom and a representative of my community, I feel I have a responsibility to protect my kids and those I serve against the impacts of pollution in our water," Damali Vidot, Chelsea City, Massachusetts councilor-at-large, said. "I'm standing with CLF today because I believe Exxon must be held accountable for its actions."


Watch this short video about the case:


http://www.ecowatch.com/exxon-lawsuit-mystic-river-2024418598.html

Just 100 facilities out of more than 20,000 nationwide emitted a third of all industrial toxic air pollution in 2014.

A third of industrial greenhouse gas emissions came from just 100 sites as well, mostly coal-fired power plants, according to a nine-month investigation by the Center for Public Integrity.

There were 22 sites that appear on both lists. As many as seven coal plants within 30 miles of Evansville, Indiana contribute emissions “on par with Hong Kong or Sweden” and are leading to major public health issues in the region.

Indiana is suing against the Clean Power Plan, as are Ohio and Kentucky, which both house several of these “super polluters.” 

http://wboi.org/post/indiana-has-more-super-polluters-any-other-state#stream/0

Oct. 14, 2016 12:33PM EST


MUST READ!   

http://www.ecowatch.com/bill-mckibben-climate-change-2041759425.html

Energy| Nov. 01, 2016 09:10AM EST



and Dan Zukowski Dan Zukowski

SNIPPET:

Less than two months after the Colonial Pipeline in Shelby County, Alabama, spilled 336,000 gallons of gasoline, the same pipeline exploded, killing one and injuring at least five. The pipeline is shut once again, threatening gasoline supplies in the East and sending prices soaring.

Watch here:

Jeff Biss · Northern Illinois University

Overall, Americans don't give a **** about anything but themselves. While some of us have greatly reduced our footprint and have reduced our use of resources, most haven't even tried and continue to elect "pro-business" pols because they have been inured with a sense of entitlement, that the world consists of resources for our use. That is their baseline and anything that refutes that is seen as "communist" or some other such nonsense. They're wrong.

The universe was not created for our use. That we consider ourselves moral obligates us to not harm and to account for the needs of other living things and to act to ensure that their needs are met. We have no right to take their lives because we don't need meat to sustain our lives or health and their lives are their innate property. And, falling from that, we have no right to degrade the environment as we do to extract fossil fuels or to change the climate as we do through their use.

"Pro-business" ideologues are the problem because their world view is f'ed up and they have lost any claim to rights because they choose to elevate themselves above their victims and inflict their will upon others to the detriment of their victims. Events such as this are due entirely to the selfishness of enough Americans and will continue until we accept our obligations as moral beings.

http://www.ecowatch.com/colonial-pipeline-explosion-2074156930.html