Written by rjs, MarketWatch 666
This is a collection of interesting news articles about the environment and related topics published last week. This is usually a Tuesday evening regular post at GEI (but can be posted at other times). This week it was posted Wednesday evening.
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Note: Because of the high volume of news regarding the coronavirus outbreak, that news has been published separately:
- 14 Feb 2021 – Coronavirus Disease Weekly News 14February 2021
- 14 Feb 2021 – Coronavirus Economic Weekly News 14February 2021
The first collection includes news on the mutant strains of the virus, the vaccines, their efficacy and problems with them, and on disease demographics, whereas the 2nd collection includes related policy and politics as well as economic impacts. There is a lot on the economic stimulus package making its way through congress, and for reasons I don’t quite understand, maybe a couple dozen articles on problems encountered by school systems reopening in the middle of February.
All the important US Covid demographic metrics are now falling, and in some cases quite dramatically. New cases this week were down 19.4% from last week, and down 62.3% from the second week of January. The 7-day average of new cases is now the lowest since November 4th, but it’s also higher than every 7-day period before that date. Illustrative of the drop in new cases was a Thursday headline that new cases had topped 100,000 for the first time this week; that contrasts with new cases topping 300,000 on January 8th…
With the drop in new cases, Americans hospitalized with the virus is also near a three month low, and Covid patients in intensive care units is the lowest since November 17th. US Covid deaths have also decidedly turned lower, with the seven-day death average down 16.1% from a week ago and down 24.6% from the late January peak; however, Covid-19 still remains the leading cause of death in the US by some measure.
Bloomberg reports that 52 million doses of a vaccine have been administered in the US since December, without saying how many have received the required two doses. Furthermore, another 28,000,000 or so of us have already been infected, with the actual number probably much higher. Combined, those figures suggest that roughly a quarter of us should have some degree of immunity to the virus and the most common mutant strains that are circulating. As those numbers rise, that should slowly begin to reduce the population transmission risk for additional spread.m The problem will then become the more infectious strains that are still circulating, largely without being detected, and how fast they become dominant. As of Thursday, 981 cases of the UK strain, known as B.1.1.7, were confirmed in 37 states; that’s up from 471 cases at the end of January; while those counts seem small, they may just represent the tip of the iceberg, since just a small percentage of those who test positive are having the virus sequenced to determine if they’ve contracted a mutant strain.
Some of the COVID-19 graphics presented in the articles linked at the beginning of this post have been updated below.
Summary data graphics:
Below is a copy of today’s graph of new US cases from WorldOMeters so you can get a visuallization of what the growth and decline of this thing looks like.
New cases globally have started to decrease. (See Johns Hopkins graph below.) This graphic shows the daily global new cases since the start of the pandemic up through 17 February.
Globally deaths appear to have also started to decrease, although much more slowly than new cases. (See Johns Hopkins graph below.) This graphic shows the daily global deaths since the start of the pandemic up through 09 February.
Below are this week’s other environmental news items, with several stories emanating from Ohio’s nuclear bribery scandal at the end. It is noted that the U.S. Attorney who busted First Energy, then-Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder, and a bunch of other crooked Ohio politicians on racketeering charges was asked to resign by the Biden administration this week, presumably because he belongs to the wrong party. Here’s the news:
Nitrate in maternal drinking water may impair fetal growth – Women whose household drinking water contained nitrate had babies that weighed, on average, 10 grams less than babies born to mothers where household water had no detectible nitrate, according to a new study from researchers at the University of Illinois Chicago and Aarhus University. The study, which is published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, followed pregnant women living in Denmark. The researchers found that even low nitrate levels — about half of the allowable level set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA — caused an adverse effect. “While the effects of elevated nitrate levels on infant health are known, little research has been done on the impact of lower levels of nitrate in drinking water may have on neonates,” Drinking water becomes contaminated by nitrate when fertilizers seep into drinking water sources. High levels of nitrate in tap water can cause infant methemoglobinemia — a potentially fatal condition known as blue baby syndrome in which a baby’s skin turns blue — as nitrate prevents hemoglobin in the blood from carrying oxygen. For this reason, the EPA set standards for nitrate in drinking water at 10 parts per million, to reduce the risk of blue baby syndrome. In the largest study of the association between nitrate in drinking water and birth weight, Coffman and colleagues estimated maternal nitrate exposure for 852,348 live births in Denmark from 1991 to 2011. They linked home addresses with nitrate data from a national water quality monitoring database with data from Danish registries on infant birth weight, length and head circumference — these registries offer an unparalleled resource for epidemiologists, as they are some of the most complete in the world, with national health care data and robust individual demographics and environmental data spanning decades. The researchers found that levels of nitrate in maternal drinking water were associated with birth weight, but the weight differences were small but important. Babies born to mothers whose drinking water was estimated to contain about half of the allowable level of nitrates were on average 10 grams lighter than babies born to households where drinking water nitrate levels were undetectable. The researchers also observed a decrease in body length with increasing nitrate concentrations in drinking water. “This difference in weight and body length is small but could have an impact on health if the baby is underweight to begin with for other reasons. Birthweight is a critical marker for health, as it can have a life-long impact on health and development,” Coffman said.
Hacker Tried To Poison Entire Florida Town By Raising Chemical Levels In Water Supply – A town in Florida has been target of a hack which briefly altered chemicals in its water supply to “potentially damaging levels” according to local media reports. Federal and local authorities are currently investigating the computer network intrusion which happened last Friday morning, the alarming details of which are emerging Monday.Plant operators overseeing the small city of Oldsmar’s water supply began observing strange activity on their monitors. That’s when technicians noticed that sodium hydroxide levels (or lye), which is used to treat the city’s water in small amounts in order to control acidity while removing heavy metals, was being remotely pushed higher. Technicians noticed the chemical levels being subject of unauthorized external manipulation in real time and immediately moved to restore the sodium hydroxide input to its safe, correct levels. The AP detailed based on local reporting: “A plant worker first noticed the unusual activity at around 8 a.m. Friday when someone briefly accessed the system.” “At about 1:30 p.m., someone accessed it again, took control of the mouse, directed it to the software that controls water treatment and increased the amount of sodium hydroxide,” the report continued.The hacker or hackers have yet to be uncovered and apprehended. According to details announced by the county sheriff Bob Gualtieri and featured in Tampa Bay Times: Someone remotely accessed a computer for the city’s water treatment system and briefly increased the amount of sodium hydroxide, also known as lye, by a factor of more than 100, Gualtieri said at a news conference Monday. The chemical is used in small amounts to control the acidity of water but it’s also a corrosive compound commonly found in household cleaning supplies such as liquid drain cleaners.
EPA’s plan to test for lead in schools will do more harm than good – In the waning days of the Trump administration, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued its much anticipated revisions to the Lead and Copper Rule (LCR), which regulates heavy metals in drinking water. Lead and copper leach from plumbing materials like piping, solders and plumbing fixtures. This occurs in our homes, places of work, schools and anywhere else people expect to drink water. In the new rule, the EPA is requiring that water providers start testing for lead in elementary schools and licensed child care facilities. Lead is a potent neurotoxin, especially for children. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), even low-blood lead levels can irreparably harm a child’s IQ, academic achievement and ability to pay attention. Historically, testing in schools has not been required unless a school is its own water provider. Most are not. Where testing has been conducted, the only support from the EPA has been their nebulous 3Ts (Training, Testing, and Taking Action) manual. Revised in 2016, the 3Ts calls on schools and child care facilities to use testing results to reduce lead levels in drinking water “to the lowest possible concentrations.”At face value, the testing requirement seems necessary and long overdue. But the EPA’s new law has little to do with water safety. First, the EPA chose to ignore most drinking water locations in buildings during testing. Only five locations must be tested in schools and two locations in child care facilities. We guarantee such limited testing will miss instances of lead contamination. Our own experiences in Indiana and Iowa have frequently encountered schools with over 100 drinking water locations. Second, when lead is found, and it will be, the EPA provided no requirements for how schools should respond. Absent is an acceptable level of lead above which a school must act to improve water safety. Left to their own devices, most schools have been misappropriating the non-health based “action level” of 15 micrograms per liter or parts-per-billion (ppb) from the original LCR. But this is wrong; the value has no medical basis. Analogous to a car’s dashboard warning light, the 15 ppb action level is only to be used by water utilities to assess corrosion in their buried pipe network. Even EPA officials have stated, “there is no evidence to support a conclusion that lead levels in drinking water near the 15 ppb are safe, especially for sensitive populations.” The revisions to the LCR will enshrine unsafe water across the nation’s schools and child care facilities. Parents are right to be alarmed.
Study: Fossil fuel air pollution linked to 1 in 5 deaths worldwide -Fine particulate matter air pollutants were tied to more than 8 million deaths in 2018, or about 20 percent of deaths worldwide, according to research Harvard University released Tuesday.The study, conducted in collaboration with the University of Birmingham, the University of Leicester and University College London, found regions with the highest level of air pollution produced by fossil fuels also have the highest mortality rates. These include Eastern North America, Southeast Asia and Europe, according to the study, published in Environmental Research.Existing research has relied on satellite and surface data, which does not make a distinction between fine particulate matter from fuel emissions and naturally occurring sources such as wildfires or dust, according to the researchers.However, the research published Tuesday incorporated a global 3D atmospheric chemistry model that was less reliant on averages and enabled more precise estimates of emission sources.The results indicated a much higher level of air pollution-related mortality than earlier studies. The most recent Global Burden of Disease Study indicated a much lower number of 4.2 million deaths from outdoor airborne particulate matter, a figure that includes natural sources. “The big takeaway message here is that we have far more to gain from our health than we just realized yesterday from getting off fossil fuels,” Aaron Bernstein, a pediatrician and interim director of the Center for Climate, Health and the Global Environment at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, told The Hill in a phone interview.“We already had a tremendous amount to gain … but we now see a much bigger return not just from people’s lives … but the pollutants that they studied cause children to have asthma, they cause women who are pregnant to have babies that are born too soon and with more birth defects,” added Bernstein, who was not an author on the study.“This same air pollution we know causes pneumonia … we know that this air pollution is probably increasing the risk of people who are dying from coronavirus right now,” he added. “We can now see a much, much bigger gain to our health and welfare as we wean ourselves off fossil fuels.”
The invisible killer lurking in our consumer products – Our consumer products, such as food, cosmetics and clothes, might be filled with nanomaterials – unbeknownst to us. The use of nanomaterials remains unregulated and they do not show up in lists of ingredients. This is a cause of concern since nanomaterials can be more dangerous than COVID-19 in the long term if no safety action is taken: they are tricky to measure, they enter our food chain and, most alarmingly, they can penetrate cells and accumulate in our organs. Nanotechnology is appearing everywhere, to change our daily lives. These used to be the stuff of science fiction and Hollywood movies, but are now the reality we live in. The global market for nanomaterials is growing, estimated at 11 million tonnes at a market value of 20 billion euros. The current direct employment in the nanomaterial sector is estimated between 300,000 and 400,000 in Europe alone. Yet, nanomaterials and their use in consumer products is far from unproblematic. A new study published in Nature Communications today sheds light on whether they are harmful and what happens to them when they enter an organism. An international team of researchers developed a sensitive method to find and trace nanomaterials in blood and tissues, and traced nanomaterials across an aquatic food chain, from microorganisms to fish, which is a major source of food in many countries. This method can open new horizons for taking safety actions. “We found that that nanomaterials bind strongly to microorganisms, which are a source of food for other organisms, and this is the way they can enter our food chain. Once inside an organism, nanomaterials can change their shape and size and turn into a more dangerous material that can easily penetrate cells and spread to other organs. When looking at different organs of an organism, we found that nanomaterials tend to accumulate especially in the brain,” lead author Dr Fazel A. Monikh from the University of Eastern Finland says. According to the researchers, nanomaterials are also difficult to measure: their amount in an organism cannot be measured only by using their mass, which is the standard method for measuring other chemicals for regulations. The findings emphasise the importance of assessing the risk of nanomaterials before they are introduced to consumer products in large amounts. “It could be that you are already using nanomaterials in your food, clothes, cosmetic products, etc., but you still don’t see any mention of them in the ingredient list. Why? Because they are still unregulated and because they are so small that we simply can’t measure them once they’re in your products,” “People have the right to know what they are using and buying for their families. This is a global problem which needs a global solution.
Plastic Use Surging — February 8, 2021 –A new report shows that the COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted the environment due to increased plastic usage around the world – led by the United States with a 78% increase. India’s plastic use is up 55% and China’s 50%.While air travel, electricity usage and miles driven declined in 2020, increases in food delivery, online shopping, household trash and single-use personal protective equipment, has made the crisis of plastic in the ocean worse and it will nearly triple by 2040 to 29 million metric tons. [This is probably accurate; if hyperbole, the writer would have said, “30 million metric tons.”]ReUseThisBag.com today released a report, the Pandemic Plastic Waste Disaster, using the most recent data from the U.S. Transportation Department, Cirium data via FlightGlobal and the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago. The report found five factors during the pandemic devastating our environment:
- Food Delivery: An increase in high plastic usage food takeaway (plastic bags utensils and packaging) and e-commerce orders (plastic packaging).
- PPE: Massive spike in demand for single use personal protective equipment such as masks and gloves.
- Reusable Bag Ban: Many areas that banned single use plastic bags, temporarily reversed course, and did not allow people to bring their own reusable bags to stores.
- Recycling Centers Down: During lockdown, limited staff meant that recycling centers around the world were not operational, so trash ended up in landfills and the ocean.
- Cheaper Plastic Due to Lower Oil Prices: Decreased oil prices meant that producing plastic became even cheaper, hences driving up demand.
Countries with the highest increase in plastic usage during the pandemic: U.S.: 78% increase, Singapore: 65%, South Korea: 65%, Vietnam: 57%, India: 55%, China: 50%.
Essential Farmworkers Deserve Pesticide Protections — COVID-19 is having disproportionate impacts on our nation’s two million farmworkers, who as essential workers continue to toil in the fields despite numerous deadly outbreaks and no federal COVID-related workplace protections. COVID-19 has pulled back the veil on the strikingly poor workplace conditions of these essential workers, built by decades of insufficient farmworker health and safety policy, poor immigration policy, and limited health care access. As a consequence, at least 86,900 food workers have tested positive for COVID-19 – but with uneven data collection, exacerbated by businesses’ lack of transparency over workplace outbreaks and workers’ avoidance of testing due to fear of losing income, the figures we have are likely an underestimate. A new analysis does note that each additional percentage point of farmworkers per overall population in a county was associated with 5.79 more deaths from COVID-19 – but did not contribute to more deaths per 100,000 residents. The researchers concluded, “farmworkers may face unique risks of COVID-19 beyond issues of language, insurance, or economics.” The Biden Administration must issue a federal standard to protect workers from COVID-19 that includes farmworkers. But beyond COVID-specific actions for farmworkers, the Biden Administration also needs to urgently address the underlying health and workplace conditions that pre-dated COVID. One key way the Biden Administration can start to correct the course is by enforcing and safeguarding the Worker Protection Standard (WPS), the main federal regulation that protects workers from pesticide exposure. Pesticide exposure weakens the respiratory, immune, and nervous systems – exacerbating farmworkers’ COVID-19 risks. Unfortunately, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the Trump Administration made various efforts to weaken or eliminate key provisions of the WPS, which had been revised and improved at the end of the Obama Administration. The WPS is an outlier in occupational health standards – because pesticides, although they are a workplace hazard, are regulated by the EPA, instead of by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which covers occupational health in every other industry. This is just one example of how farmworkers are exempted from basic protections afforded to other workers.
EPA to Amazon: Stop Selling Illegal Pesticides – For the third time in three years, the U.S. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has ordered Amazon to stop selling illegal pesticides. The EPA’s Seattle office announced Tuesday that it had presented the online retailer with a “stop sale” order targeting products that were unregistered and potentially dangerous or ineffective. Some of them made false or misleading claims that they offered protection against viruses. “Unregistered pesticides in the e-commerce marketplace pose a significant and immediate health risk to consumers, children, pets, and others exposed to the products,” Ed Kowalski, director of the Enforcement Compliance Assurance Division in EPA’s Region 10 office in Seattle, said in the announcement. The EPA sent the latest order to Amazon on Jan. 7, The Seattle Times reported. The order added 70 products to a June 2020 stop sale order that targeted more than 30 products.. The new products include items marketed to clean homes and pools, bracelets claiming to repel mosquitoes and several products promising to kill viruses, The Seattle Times reported. “We have no idea what those products are made of,” Chad Schulze, the EPA’s pesticide enforcement lead in Seattle, told The Seattle Times. “And when you have people purchasing a product that says it will kill or control viruses in their personal space but it does not, that’s a huge risk as well.” Since the stop sale order was issued in January, Amazon has removed the products from its website, a spokesperson for the company told The Seattle Times. However, the online sale of unregistered pesticides is an ongoing problem. All pesticides sold in the U.S. are supposed to be registered with the EPA under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), the agency explained in its June stop sale order. The registration process allows the EPA to ensure all pesticides for sale are safe and do what they say they will do. Between 2013 and 2018, the EPA claimed that Amazon violated FIFRA almost 4,000 times, The Seattle Times reported. Amazon reached a settlement with the agency over these violations and said it would take steps to reduce the number of illegal pesticides sold on its platforms. Since then, the problem has decreased, but it has not disappeared.
Corn Tumbles From 7-1/2 Year High As USDA Projects Supply Woes –Chicago Board of Trade corn futures have faded 7-1/2 year highs after the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) projected supplies of the grain would be well above market expectations. “Corn led the sell-off as the USDA only minimally trimmed its U.S. end-of-season stocks outlook and raised its export forecast by less than many traders had anticipated following record-large sales to China,” according to Reuters.”The surprise in the report is that the government only took (U.S. corn) exports up 50 million bushels despite the fact that we had huge Chinese buying,” said Don Roose, president of U.S. Commodities.USDA projected corn ending stocks for 2020/21 were around 1.502 billion bushels. Analysts surveyed by Reuters estimated corn ending stocks of 1.392 billion.Corn futures have risen 87% from August to $5.74-1/4 per bushel on strong Chinese demand and unfavorable weather in South America.The question now remains with fundamentals deteriorating, tilting to supply woes, can corn prices hold their gains? If not, a correction is ahead.
Corporate Concentration in the US Food System Makes Food More Expensive and Less Accessible for Many Americans – Agribusiness executives and government policymakers often praise the U.S. food system for producing abundant and affordable food. In fact, however, food costs are rising, and shoppers in many parts of the U.S. have limited access to fresh, healthy products. This isn’t just an academic argument. Even before the current pandemic, millions of people in the U.S. went hungry. In 2019 the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimated that over 35 million people were “food insecure,” meaning they did not have reliable access to affordable, nutritious food. Now food banks are struggling to feed people who have lost jobs and income thanks to COVID-19. Consolidation has placed key decisions about our nation’s food system in the hands of a few large companies, giving them outsized influence to lobby policymakers, direct food and industry research and influence media coverage. These corporations also have enormous power to make decisions about what food is produced how, where and by whom, and who gets to eat it. We’ve tracked this trend across the globe. It began in the 1980s with mergers and acquisitions that left a few large firms dominating nearly every step of the food chain. Among the largest are retailer Walmart, food processor Nestlé and seed/chemical firm Bayer. Between 1996 and 2013 Monsanto acquired more than 70 seed companies, before the firm was itself acquired by competing seed/chemical firm Bayer in 2018. Some corporate leaders have abused their power – for example, by allying with their few competitors to fix prices. In 2020 Christopher Lischewski, the former president and CEO of Bumblebee Foods, was convicted of conspiracy to fix prices of canned tuna. He was sentenced to 40 months in prison and fined US$100,000.In the same year, chicken processor Pilgrim’s Pride pleaded guilty to price-fixing charges and was fined $110.5 million. Meatpacking company JBS settled a $24.5 million pork price-fixing lawsuit, and farmers won a class action settlement against peanut-shelling companies Olam and Birdsong.Industry consolidation is hard to track. Many subsidiary firms often are controlled by one parent corporation and engage in “contract packing,” in which a single processing plant produces identical foods that are then sold under dozens of different brands – including labels that compete directly against each other.Recalls ordered in response to food-borne disease outbreaks have revealed the broad scope of contracting relationships. Shutdowns at meatpacking plants due to COVID-19 infections among workers have shown how much of the U.S. food supply flows through a small number of facilities. With consolidation, large supermarket chains have closed many urban and rural stores. This process has left numerous communities with limited food selections and high prices – especially neighborhoods with many low-income, Black or Latino households.
Vegetable Plots Are Growing in Popularity for Home and Apartment Buyers – WSJ – Some people took up running during the pandemic, others turned to baking or bought a pet. Graham and Caralyn King found solace in growing their own food, a pastime to which the British have historically turned in times of crisis. During World War II, for example, the British Government urged those left at home to “dig for victory” by growing produce in backyards and public parks to beat food shortages. The pandemic has cultivated a similar zest for homegrown fruit and vegetables – which hasn’t gone unnoticed by property developers. With only a modest backyard at their home in the market town of Darlington, in northeast England, Mr. and Mrs. King gained more space for food growing by securing a $55-a-year allotment. Allotments are small tracts of land that have traditionally been made available by local governments. They got their plot in April, when the U.K. had just entered its first national lockdown. Before that they had been confined at home, venturing out only to buy food and or take a walk. Their allotment gave them a reason to spend six to seven hours out of the house every day, preparing their plot, planting seeds, tending existing plants and digging a wildlife pond. By the summer, they were harvesting courgettes, beans, potatoes, celery and leeks. “It got us out of the house, and it is good exercise,” said Mr. King, who now writes a blog detailing their progress. “Without it, we may have imprisoned ourselves, and I dread to think of the state of mind that would have led to.” Real-estate developers are increasingly offering allotments and the multifamily alternative, “grow gardens,” to new residents, alongside more urban lifestyle offerings, like movie theaters and spas. “We are all considerably more health conscious than we have been in the past,” said James Hyman, head of residential agency at Cluttons estate agents. He says it is trendy, particularly in cities as a distraction from urban living, and it feeds into our interest in sustainability. Over the past two decades, Di Appleyard, a spokeswoman for the National Allotment Society, said growing interest in sustainability and organic food had led to an enthusiasm for allotments. Even pre-pandemic, the average waiting time for an allotment was up to 18 months, according to the Association of Public Sector Excellence. Some local governments have such long waiting lists they are no longer accepting new allotment candidates. In the borough of Camden, in northwest London, some 1,000 people have their names down for 200 plots.
Vietnam Culls 100,000 Poultry As Bird Flu Spreads To 14 Provinces — Reuters reports Vietnam has culled more than 100,000 chickens this year as an outbreak of the avian flu hits poultry farms in more than one dozen provinces.The Vietnamese government released a statement on Monday outlining how the highly pathogenic H5N1 and H5N6 bird flu strains have spread across 14 provinces in 39 days. To mitigate the spread, the government has culled more than 100,000 chickens. “The risk for the outbreaks to spread on a larger scale is very high,” the statement said.Vietnam’s total poultry flock is around 460 million birds. So the outbreak is not sizeable but definitely notable as bird flu outbreaks have been reported in the country over the last few years. Meanwhile, the country culled tens of thousands of pigs in late 2020 to curb the spread of African swine fever. The outbreaks have been manageable for the country’s Department of Animal Health. If there is more spreading, readers should be on the lookout for government travel restrictions around outbreak areas. So far, none have been posted.Last week, we reported that China, a country that borders Vietnam, has had what one farmer told Reuters African swine fever contagion “is bad” right now. This has kept Chinese pig prices elevated, with possible meat shortages later in the year.
Artificial Border Walls Impede Wildlife Adapting to Climate Change – As parts of the world become drier and hotter, wildlife adapt by moving to more suitable habitats. But human-made borders could stand in the way, researchers warn.A first-time study published by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA examined how human-made barriers could restrict wildlife movement as their habitats become uninhabitable due to climate change, Bloomberg Green reported.”Species all over the planet are on the move as they respond to a changing climate,” Professor Stephen Willis of Durham University’s Department of Biosciences and the joint-study lead, told Durham University, according to Phys.org. “Borders that are fortified with walls and fences pose a serious threat to any species that can’t get across them.”Researchers at Durham University in the UK studied about 80 percent of climate niches for land mammals and birds, and which temperature and precipitation pattern best suits their preferences, Bloomberg Green reported. Researchers then predicted where these niches would be if greenhouse gas emissions continued to rise, showing how they will dramatically shift over the coming decades.By 2070, under a high-emissions scenario, 35 percent of mammals and 29 percent of birds are expected to have half of their climate niches in countries they are not currently found in, study authors wrote.Researchers examined aspects that could restrict wildlife from moving to more suitable areas. Human-made physical borders, such as walls and fences, could be an “overlooked obstacle to climate adaptation,” they noted.Durham University reported that borders between the U.S. and Mexico, China and Russia and India and Myanmar pose the biggest ecological threats.While past research has identified ecological damage caused by the U.S.-Mexico border wall, researchers said their findings show this damage could be worse than previously expected and that this border could be “one of the worst international borders on the planet along which to build such a wall.”Researchers predict that the U.S.-Mexico border wall could prevent 122 species from finding a new climate niche. These barriers could also “destroy habitats, fragment populations, [and] prevent dispersal and migration,” the authors wrote.The Mexican gray wolf is among the most threatened, Sierra reported.As of early last year, the U.S. contained about 131 Mexican grey wolves, while the Mexican population numbered around 20 to 30, Maggie Howell of the Wolf Conservation Center told Sierra. Although these numbers were at a population high since the wolves were reintroduced in the 1990s, Trump’s border wall hampered their ability to grow, Sierra reported.”The fact that something everybody in the recovery of Mexican gray wolves is working toward is now literally being blocked off… I’m feeling the devastation to this subspecies,” Howell told Sierra last year. “We are blocking off a chance for these animals to one day be a self-sustaining, healthy, recovered population.”
COVID Has Reached Antarctica, and Scientists Are Extremely Concerned for Its Wildlife — In December, Antarctica lost its status as the last continent free of COVID-19 when 36 people at the Chilean Bernardo O’Higgins research station tested positive. The station’s isolation from other bases and fewer researchers in the continent means the outbreak is now likely contained. However, we know all too well how unpredictable – and pervasive – the virus can be. And while there’s currently less risk for humans in Antarctica, the potential for the COVID-19 virus to jump to Antarctica’s unique and already vulnerable wildlife has scientists extremely concerned. We’re among a global team of 15 scientists who assessed the risks of the COVID-19 virus to Antarctic wildlife, and the pathways the virus could take into the fragile ecosystem. Antarctic wildlife haven’t yet been tested for the COVID-19 virus, and if it does make its way into these charismatic animals, we don’t know how it could affect them or the continent’s ecosystem stability. The COVID-19 virus is one of seven coronaviruses found in people – all have animal origins (dubbed “zoonoses”), and vary in their ability to infect different hosts. The COVID-19 virus is thought to have originated in an animal and spread to people through an unknown intermediate host, while the SARS outbreak of 2002-2004 likely came from raccoon dogs or civets. The World Organization for Animal Health is monitoring cases of the COVID-19 virus in animals. To date, only a few species around the globe have been found to be susceptible, including mink, felines (such as lions, tigers and cats), dogs and a ferret.While mink, dogs or cats are not in Antarctica, more than 100 million flying seabirds, 45% of the world’s penguin species, 50% of the world’s seal populations and 17% of the world’s whale and dolphin speciesinhabit the continent.In a 2020 study, researchers ran computer simulations and found cetaceans – whales, dolphins or porpoises – have a high susceptibility of infection from the virus, based on the makeup of their genetic receptors to the virus. Seals and birds had a lower risk of infection. We concluded that direct contact with people poses the greatest risk for spreading the virus to wildlife, with researchers more likely vectors than tourists. Researchers have closer contact with wildlife: many Antarctic species are found near research stations, and wildlife studies often require direct handling and close proximity to animals.
Green Coalition Threatens to Sue Biden Admin Over Trump Permits That Endanger Wildlife – A coalition of environmental advocacy groups on Monday threatened to sue the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for failing to ensure that Trump-era development permits “will not jeopardize endangered species and critical habitat across the country.”The Center for Biological Diversity, Center for Food Safety, Natural Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club, Waterkeeper Alliance, and other groups filed their formal notice to the Biden administration regarding Nationwide Permits reissued during the final days of Donald Trump’s presidency.At issue are 16 permits that, according to the Center for Biological Diversity, “will allow hundreds of thousands of discharges of dredged or fill material into the nation’s waters and wetlands from oil and gas development, pipeline and transmission-line construction, and coal mining.””The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service have previously found that these activities – which are approved with little or no environmental review – threaten iconic species including whooping cranes, Florida manatees, and the hundreds of migratory birds that need wetlands to survive,” the center said.Last May, a federal judge ruled that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers violated the Endangered Species Act when it issued Nationwide Permit 12, which allows companies to construct energy projects – including the highly controversial Keystone XL pipeline – at water crossings.”Rather than comply with a court order to ensure that endangered species are protected from further death and destruction, the Trump administration doubled down on its original violation by issuing even weaker Nationwide Permits with fewer protections for these species,” Daniel E. Estrin, general counsel for Waterkeeper Alliance, said in a statement. “It’s long past time for the Corps to rethink its approach to dredge-and-fill permitting and to ensure that these activities will not put endangered species or their habitat in jeopardy,” Estrin added. Jared Margolis, senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement that the Trump administration “flagrantly violated bedrock environmental laws when it reissued the Nationwide Permits, without regard for the people, places, or wildlife that are affected by this deeply flawed program.” “I’m hoping President Biden will prevent the Corps from continuing to use the permits to rubber-stamp major projects like oil pipelines that leak and spill, degrading the clean water that people and wildlife need,” added Margolis.
In the Oceans, the Volume Is Rising as Never Before – NY Times -Although clown fish are conceived on coral reefs, they spend the first part of their lives as larvae drifting in the open ocean. The fish are not yet orange, striped or even capable of swimming. They are still plankton, a term that comes from the Greek word for “wanderer,” and wander they do, drifting at the mercy of the currents in an oceanic rumspringa.When the baby clown fish grow big enough to swim against the tide, they high-tail it home. The fish can’t see the reef, but they can hear its snapping, grunting, gurgling, popping and croaking. These noises make up the soundscape of a healthy reef, and larval fish rely on these soundscapes to find their way back to the reefs, where they will spend the rest of their lives – that is, if they can hear them.But humans – and their ships, seismic surveys, air guns, pile drivers, dynamite fishing, drilling platforms, speedboats and even surfing – have made the ocean an unbearably noisy place for marine life, according to a sweeping review of the prevalence and intensity of the impacts of anthropogenic ocean noise published on Thursday in the journal Science. The paper, a collaboration among 25 authors from across the globe and various fields of marine acoustics, is the largest synthesis of evidence on the effects of oceanic noise pollution.“They hit the nail on the head,” said Kerri Seger, a senior scientist at Applied Ocean Sciences who was not involved with the research. “By the third page, I was like, ‘I’m going to send this to my students.’”Anthropogenic noise often drowns out the natural soundscapes, putting marine life under immense stress. In the case of baby clown fish, the noise can even doom them to wander the seas without direction, unable to find their way home.“The cycle is broken,” said Carlos Duarte, a marine ecologist at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia and the lead author on the paper. “The soundtrack of home is now hard to hear, and in many cases has disappeared.”
Sahara sand covers European ski resorts and cities – in pictures – This exceptional meteorological phenomenon is linked to a powerful southerly airflow that brings spring temperatures – and a large concentration of Saharan dust suspended in the atmosphere.
Widespread Arctic air mass with frigid temperatures and brutal wind chills affecting the United States — (numerous The main theme this coming week will be the continuation of the widespread arctic air mass with frigid temperatures and dangerous wind chills consuming the Central U.S., especially the Upper Midwest, the National Weather Service (NWS) warns. This dangerous winter weather is affecting 100 million people. The bitter cold will gradually advance southward to Texas and the western Gulf Coast region, spread into much of the Northwestern U.S., and may begin to reach the East next weekend.Residents across the Northern Plains and Upper Midwest will start off the work week with continued below-average temperatures and brutal wind chills, NWS meteorologist Snell noted early Monday morning, February 8, 2021.Wind Chill Advisories and Warnings remain in effect from Montana to the U.P. of Michigan, with wind chill values well below zero and as low as -45 °C (-50 °F) at times across this region.While not as extreme, this cold airmass stretches as far south as Oklahoma and as far east as the Ohio Valley, Snell said.Thanks to a strong high-pressure system and constant flow of bitter Arctic air from southwest Canada, widespread temperatures 10 – 15 °C (20 to 30 °F) below average are expected across these areas.Unfortunately, these below-average temperatures don’t appear to moderate or exit the region in the foreseeable future. With cold air in place across the northern U.S. and a stalled frontal boundary bisecting the middle of the country, multiple rounds of wintry precipitation are expected from the Southern/Central Plains to the Northeast.Winter Weather Advisories and Avalanche Warnings are in effect across much of the mountainous terrain in Montana and northern Idaho. Light snow will also be found across the Central Plains and Midwest today as a wave of low pressure develops along the frontal boundary and moves toward the Northeast by Tuesday. Generally, around 5 – 10 cm (2 to 4 inches) of snow can be expected for these locations, with higher amounts up to 15 cm (6 inches) possible across the Northeast. A mix of sleet, snow, and freezing rain will be possible across northeast Oklahoma and southern Missouri through tonight as well. By Wednesday morning, another round of wintry weather is expected to develop across similar regions from the southern Plains to Midwest. More impactful freezing rain accretion will be possible and this time stretch from northeast Oklahoma to northern Kentucky.
Record cold temperatures hit Canadian Prairies – Polar vortex continues to bring piercing cold to the Canadian Prairies — Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta — since Sunday, February 7, 2021. According to Environment Canada, 22 cold weather records were smashed throughout the three provinces, while the Northwest Territories recorded the coldest temperature for the whole country in nearly four years with -51.9 °C (-61.4 °F).On Sunday, the coldest temperature was in Uranium City, where the mercury hit -48.9 °C (-56 °F), breaking the previous record of -40 °C (-40 °F) set in 2019.In Alberta, the coldest temperature was in Fort Chipewyan, where the mercury plummeted to -47.3 °C (-53.1 °F), smashing the past record of -45.6 °C (-50 °F) in 1936.Edmonton International Airport was close to setting a daily temperature record with -43.8 °C (-46.8 °F). The previous record set on the same day was -43.9 °C (-47 °F) set in 1994.In Manitoba, the Roblin community set a new record of -42 °C (-43.6 °F), beating the past record of -40.6 °C (-41.08 °F) in 1972.Canada also logged its coldest temperature in almost four years as the Northwest Territories confirmed a reading of -51.9 °C (-61.4 °F). Environment Canada meteorologist Terri Lang told CTVNews that the last time such cold temperatures were recorded in Canada was in March 2017, when the mercury hit -54.7 °C (-66.5 °F) in Mould Bay.”The spinning up of the cold air up around the North Pole deepens and strengthens in the winter because of the lack of sunshine,” said Lang. The polar vortex contains Arctic air that sits over the poles for most of the winter, which falls into Canada when the weather systems break down heading into spring.”Across [the] Prairies, we’re just getting some of that cold air that’s coming down because the jet stream has looped far enough south. This is what happens every winter, and it’s what gives Canada its cold weather.””It’s going to be here for a while,” Lang added. “Once that really deep, cold air settles in, it’s kind of hard to move out. It’s very dense, it’s very heavy, so it’s really hard to get it out of there.” The remnants of the polar vortex will stay between Alberta and Manitoba for the week and then move into some regions of British Columbia as the wind chill makes the weather even colder.
Pileup shuts down Texas road; icy weather in store for many (AP) – Dozens of people were taken to hospitals after a massive car crash Thursday morning on an icy interstate in Texas as a winter storm dropped freezing rain, sleet and snow on parts of the U.S., officials said. First responders took about 30 people to hospitals after the crash near downtown Fort Worth, MedStar spokesman Matt Zavadsky told the Star-Telegram newspaper. He said some of those people were critically injured. Farther south, in Austin, more than two dozen vehicles were involved in a pileup on an icy road, and one person was injured, emergency officials said. Elsewhere, ice storm warnings were in effect from Arkansas to Kentucky, while another winter storm was predicted to bring snow to Mid-Atlantic states, the National Weather Service said. More than 125,000 homes and businesses were without electricity Thursday morning, largely in Kentucky and West Virginia, according to the website poweroutage.us, which tracks utility reports. Meanwhile, officials in central Kentucky were urging people to stay home due to icy conditions. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said state offices would be closed due to the weather. He declared a state of emergency, which he said would free up funding and help agencies coordinate as they respond to reports of slick roads and downed power lines. Crews were responding to numerous calls of downed icy tree limbs and power lines, Lexington police said in a tweet that urged people not to travel “unless absolutely necessary.”
Relentless Wintry Weather to Bombard Much of US into Next Week – If it feels like winter has been serving up more wild weather than usual lately, that’s because it has been. According to AccuWeather meteorologists, this recent frosty stretch of snow, ice and frigid temps has been the most active winter weather pattern across the country likely since the mid-1990s. And that pattern is not letting up as several weather systems are lining up and threatening more snow and ice for the Midwest and Northeast through the end of next week. Winter storms could arrive every two to three days amid the tumultuous pattern, which is due in part to a major buckling of the jet stream. The river of high winds aloft plunged southward over the central United States then swung up along the Atlantic coast in recent days, setting the path for storms to ride along. That active storm track will be fueled by the collision of Arctic air sprawling across the middle of the nation and milder air holding its ground in the Southeast. Two systems will come into play during the next storm late this week into this weekend, including on Valentine’s Day in the Northeast. One storm was already sweeping across Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa and northern Kansas with light to moderate snow on Friday. This storm and its snow will continue to shift eastward across the Midwest during Friday night and Saturday. Meanwhile, a secondary storm is expected to push northward up the Eastern Seaboard this weekend. This graphic shows the percentage of snowfall that has fallen this season compared to averages for this time of year. (AccuWeather) “Both weekend systems are forecast to remain weak with the snow portion of the precipitation on the nuisance end of the spectrum,” AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist John Feerick said. “But even a light amount of snow and especially a thin coating of ice can lead to dangerous travel conditions.” In general, 1-3 inches of snow is expected from eastern Wyoming to the to the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, but heavier amounts of 3-6 inches will occur across eastern Wyoming, southwestern South Dakota and Nebraska, where an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 8 inches is predicted. “Chicago is another spot where heavier snow on the order of 3-6 inches can occur from Friday night to Saturday due some enhancement from Lake Michigan,” AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Courtney Travis said. A few additional pockets of 3-6 inches of snow can develop around the Great Lakes as well. The snow in this 1,500-mile-long swath will be light and fluffy due to the Arctic air in place. This type of snow can be highly subject to blowing and drifting in a mere breeze amid the frigid conditions. Farther to the east, most of the moisture associated with the storm pushing northward along the Atlantic Seaboard may stay out to sea.
Major snowstorm hits Netherlands, Germany and UK – (w/ videos) Dutch authorities declared a rare ‘code red’ emergency for the entire country on Sunday, February 7, 2021, as a severe snowstorm, named Darcy by their meteorologists, hit parts of western Europe. This was the first major snowstorm to hit the Netherlands since January 2010. The storm also affected parts of Germany, disrupting road, rail, and air traffic, and the United Kingdom. Dozens of people were injured, with some of them severely. While the stormy weather will end today and tomorrow, most of Europe is now in for a significant cold outbreak. If models prove right, the cold will last through the end of February. This prolonged cold outbreak is associated with the Sudden Stratospheric Warming event in early January 2021 and the subsequent breakdown of the polar vortex. Darcy dropped temperatures to -5 °C (23 °F) on Sunday and brought heavy snow to the region. Most of the Netherlands received from 5 to 10 cm (2 – 4 inches) of snow, and locally up to 30 cm (12 inches) or more. Eindhoven airport in the country’s south was shut down while Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport delayed or canceled dozens of flights. All trains were canceled in the country, including international services to Germany, France24reports. At least 80 car accidents were reported on Sunday alone.The German Weather Service (DWD) issued an extreme weather warning ahead of the storm, saying emergency crews across the country have been put on standby. Darcy brought dense snowdrifts and limited visibility, causing major disruptions in parts of the country, including Hamburg and Hanover. The city of Muenster was among the hardest-hit places with so much snow on the streets that ambulances could no longer drive. Police officials said hundreds of accidents took place on German roads on Sunday. In North Rhine-Westphalia, a total of 222 car accidents were registered since Saturday. Police in NRW closed several motorways after they froze and turned into an ice rink. DWD issued its highest warnings for parts of NRW, Lower Saxony, and Saxony-Anhalt. Black ice was also forecast for parts of NRW, Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate, Thuringia, and Saxony. The country saw up to 30 cm (12 inches) with up to 40 cm (16 inches) expected in northern regions overnight Monday, February 8.
Storm Ciara cuts power to more than 500,000 in UK, brings travel to a standstill in northern Europe – Travel cancellations, power cuts and areas of flooding persisted across northern Europe on Monday as powerful Storm Ciara began to depart following a chaotic weekend. The name Ciara was given to the storm on Wednesday by the UK Met Office, which had warned ahead of time it could be the biggest of the season for the country. In Germany, the storm is known as Sabine. Ciara is the third-named windstorm of the season by the United Kingdom, Ireland and Netherlands. The windstorm season begins in September and continues through the end of April. A lifeboat passes white cliffs, as Storm Ciara hits Newhaven, on the south coast of England, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2020. Trains, flights and ferries have been cancelled and weather warnings issued across the United Kingdom and in northern Europe as the storm with winds expected to reach hurricane levels batters the region. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham) At least five people were killed in storm-related incidents, according to the Associated Press. Deaths were reported in the United Kingdom, Poland, Sweden and Slovenia. Many other injuries were reported across northern Europe due to trees falling on automobiles and flying debris from the fierce winds. Several news outlets reported a death due to the strong winds in the Netherlands. The full force of Ciara was felt across Ireland and the United Kingdom Saturday night into Sunday as powerful winds whipped across the region and downpours caused flooding. As of Monday, total power cuts have totaled nearly half a million across the United Kingdom, according to the BBC. Elsewhere, more than 125,000 homes and businesses were left without power from Sunday into Monday across France, according to the AP. An additional 290,000 power outages were reported in Czechia on Monday.
Scotland records coldest night in UK since 2010 as extreme cold snap continues – (videos) An extreme cold snap is ongoing in Scotland, which has brought record temperatures, heavy snowfall, and triggered severe weather warnings until Friday, February 12, 2021. On Tuesday, February 9, the coldest night in the UK since 2010 was recorded in the Scottish Highlands when the mercury dropped to -16.7 °C (1.9 °F). As the cold snap continues, many transport services have been disrupted, with snow showers forecast to bring further travel disruptions in some areas. At the start of the week, there were reports of 10 to 15 cm (4 to 6 inches) in southeast coastal areas. At Altanharra in the Scottish Highlands, the mercury plummeted to -16.7 °C (1.9 °F) on Tuesday, marking the UK’s coldest night since December 2010, the Met Office confirmed. Dubbed as the “Beast from the East 2”, the cold snap brought more than 2 m (6 feet) of snow to the area, leaving farmers in distress as they had to plow over the snow. Ramage Contractors headed out in tractors to clear roads following some blizzards. On Wednesday morning, February 10, Stagecoach East Scotland canceled many of its early morning Fife services. Rail services between Edinburgh and Glasgow were delayed due to the weather, while all Edinburgh tram services have been halted. More than 380 classes across the country were also canceled. Authorities in Norfolk warned of blizzard-like conditions, adding that many roads have had snowdrifts and blockages. According to Met Office spokesperson Nicola Maxey, “cold air crosses from Russia and eastern Europe, crosses the sea, picks up some moisture, then when it hits the land you see rain or because the air’s so cold you see snow.” A yellow warning for snow and ice is in place for much of the country until Friday. The Met Office forecasts snow showers in the far northeast on Thursday, February 11, while it will be mostly dry and very cold on Friday. Through the weekend, outbreaks of rain and snow will move slowly eastwards as the weather becomes less cold and increasingly windy.
‘Snow apocalypse’ blankets frozen Moscow (Reuters) – Heavy snowfalls have buried Moscow in massive snow piles, disrupting transport, delaying flights and making it tough to get around for pedestrians braving strong winds and temperatures of minus 15 Celsius (5 Fahrenheit). The snowfall started late on Thursday and was expected to end on Sunday. Russia’s emergency service advised people to stay away from trees, warning of winds gusts of 18 metres per second (40 mph). “It’s a real snowstorm, a snow Armageddon, a snow apocalypse. This is not a practice alert, but a combat alert,” Evgeny Tishkovets from the weather service Fobos was quoted by RIA news agency as saying before the snowfall began. By early Saturday, snow depth in the city reached 56 centimetres (22 inches), Fobos said. This was close to exceeding a record high of 60 cm for accumulated snow on a Feb. 13, it said. On Friday Moscow saw record snowfall for a Feb. 12, breaking the previous record set for the date in 1973, Russian news agencies reported citing the national meteorological service. There have been multiple flight delays at the airports in Moscow, a city of more than 12 million people. Unusually for a weekend, traffic was jammed in many places. Around 60,000 people were working to clear the streets, the Moscow mayor’s office said.
Strong hailstorm hits Abha, blanketing the desert in ice, Saudi Arabia (videos) A strong hailstorm hit Abha in Asir Province, Saudi Arabia, on Tuesday, February 9, 2021, turning the desert into icy roads. The hailstorm struck the city on Tuesday afternoon, accompanied by cold winds and thunderstorms. Photos and videos on social media show roads covered in hail and the desert blanketed in ice.
Shimla sees heaviest snow in 30 years as whiteout conditions hit Himachal Pradesh, India – Himachal Pradesh in India received fresh and heavy snowfall on Thursday and Friday, February 4 and 5, 2021, resulting in whiteout conditions in several areas. State capital Shimla received 50 cm (19.7 inches) of snow in 24 hours — the city’s highest in the last 30 years. Kufri, Manali, and Dalhousie were engulfed in a white blanket of snow as the cold wave intensified across Himachal Pradesh, as well as in neighboring Uttarakhand and Jammu and Kashmir, where whiteout conditions were reported. On Thursday, Kufri received up to 61 cm (24 inches), while Shillaro and Khadrala received 55 and 49 cm (21.6 and 19.3 inches), respectively. Heavy snowfall led to the disruption of transport and power supply in portions of the state, especially in the capital city. Officials said three national highways– one state highway and 461 link roads in the state– were blocked with snow. The primary roads of Shimla were cleared of snow on Friday, but authorities warned drivers to take precautions due to a layer of black ice on the road.
Southwest France hit by heavy floods, Paris area on flood alert (Reuters) – Southwestern France was hit by heavy flooding on Monday following days of torrential rain, and several other regions including eastern Paris were on flood alert ahead of a cold snap expected later this week. The worst flooding was in Saintes, 115 km (71 miles) north of Bordeaux, where the river Charente stood at a near-record level of 6.20 metres (20 feet). The waters were at waist level in several streets and knee-deep in large parts of the town. Hundreds of people were evacuated as water seeping into cellars knocked out power supplies. Local authorities laid beams on cinder blocks so residents could walk from flooded houses to dry land. Fire brigade chief Pascal Leprince said his services had evacuated about 400 people in Saintes and he estimated that up to 800 people had left their houses on their own. To the southeast of Bordeaux, where the river Garonne last week flooded large areas between Marmande and La Reole, floodwaters were receding, but the waters of the Charente were not expected to fall before Wednesday. “We are at a peak level now. We expect water levels to rise a little more in coming days, and to subside from mid-week,” a Charente-Maritime spokeswoman said. The city of Cognac, centre of brandy production on the Charente river, also saw several streets flooded. The France Meteo weather service put seven departments on flood alert on Monday, including Charente-Maritime, two areas along the Loire river, the Somme and Oise regions in northern France and the Seine-et-Marne region east of Paris. In Paris, parts of quays on the river Seine have been inaccessible for days after the river broke its banks, but water levels, at 4.35 metres on Monday morning, remained well below recent highs of 5.88 metres seen in January 2018 and 6.10 metres in June 2016. Along the river Marne, which flows into the Seine on the eastern edge of the capital, the river broke its banks in several towns, notably in Conde-Sainte-Libaire and Esbly, where several streets were flooded.
Floods send carpets of plastic waste down river to Hungary – (Reuters) – Flooding has sent carpets of waste plastic down river into Hungary over the past few days, officials say, despite earlier pleas to its upstream neighbours Ukraine and Romania for an end to the pollution. As of Monday, floating garbage disposal units have removed 500 cubic metres of waste from the Tisza and Szamos rivers, Gabriella Siklos, a spokeswoman at the Hungarian Water Authority said. Plastic bottles are streaming in on the Tisza from Ukraine, where it rises, and on the Szamos river that flows from Romania, said Gabor Molnar, an engineer at the authority, adding that colleagues up river were counting them as they entered Hungary. “At Tivadar (a village on the Tisza) there are still 50-70 bottles flowing every minute and there are similar numbers on the Szamos River,” he said. While much of the debris flowing downstream is organic when water levels rise, household waste, including slippers and even televisions, appears alongside the plastic bottles, Molnar said. The floating waste reached Hungary’s border late last week, requiring the deployment of disposal teams for the sixth time over the past year and a half, Siklos said, adding that the amount of debris was similar to previous instances. Last July Hungarian President Janos Ader called on Ukraine and Romania to stop polluting the two major rivers that flow across Hungary after floods brought in “dirty carpets” of plastic bottles from its neighbours.
Flash flood claims 24 lives in an illegal underground factory in Tangier, Morocco – At least 24 people were killed in an illegal underground textile factory in the port city of Tangier after heavy rains brought widespread flash floods on Monday, February 8, 2021. According to local authorities, rescue workers recovered 24 bodies on Monday and rescued 10 survivors. Rescue operations continue as it’s still not clear how many people had been in the building at the time of the incident. Local media reports mention at least some of the victims were electrocuted, but there is still no official confirmation of those reports.Although destructive and deadly, heavy rains affecting the country in recent weeks brought much-needed rain after 2 years of drought. According to reports from Morocco’s Ministry of Equipment, Transport, Logistics, and Water, the country was in dire need of water resources as dams and reservoirs were depleting. In 2020, the country reported its lowest level of rainfall since 2015. But this year’s heavy rainfall helped alleviate the problem, the ministry said.
Flash floods leave at least 4 fatalities in Jordan and Saudi Arabia – Heavy rainfall has been affecting western Jordan and neighboring Saudi Arabia since February 5, 2021, causing flash floods that resulted in four fatalities and property damage. Heavy downpours particularly affected Al Mafraq and Ma’an governorates in Jordan, as well as Tabuk and Al Jawf provinces in Saudi Arabia.In Jordan, four fatalities were reported in the area of Ruwaished Town, according to local media on February 8. The civil defense said the victims were in a vehicle that was swept away by floodwaters.Several roads were inundated and impassable across Al Mafraq and Ma’an. In neighboring Saudi Arabia, the streets of Tabuk were heavily inundated, which caused traffic disruption. Civil defense teams used a helicopter to rescue four people after their car was swept away. Drier conditions are forecast over the affected areas across both countries on Tuesday, February 9.
Western Australia lashed by ‘once-in-10-years’ flooding, roads and highways destroyed — Highways and roads in Western Australia were destroyed in what was described as a “one-in-10-year” flooding event triggered by a slow-moving tropical low from Friday, February 5, 2021. As of Monday, February 8, a severe weather warning for heavy rainfall is in place over the East Kimberley as the low has moved offshore to the south of the state. The tropical low dumped up to 176 mm (6.9 inches) of rain in Carnarvon in a 24-hour period on February 5. The WA Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) issued flood warnings for Midwest-Gascoyne, particularly for areas of Geraldton, Mullewa, Kalbarri, Northampton, Overlander Roadhouse, and Wooramel Roadhouse. DFES said moderate flooding occurred along the Gascoyne River– which stood at 6.98 m (22.9 foot) on Friday– to Jimba. On Saturday, February 6, the Gascoyne River at Nine Mile Bridge reached 7.06 m (23.1 feet), which was above moderate flood stage. Dozens of people were rescued from flooding in the Gascoyne region, including some by helicopter. DFES said there were 50 calls for assistance in the Carnarvon area, and some evacuations were conducted at the site. Many highways and roads were damaged or destroyed, which will take weeks to repair. “The advice is that this is a one-in-10-year flood,” noted WA Premier Mark McGowan. “Road building crews are ready to deploy as soon as flood levels recede sufficiently to make an on-the-ground assessment of the damage.”
Floods trigger power outages, evacuations in Indonesia’s capital (Reuters) – Floods, heavy rain and power outages led people to evacuate their homes in parts of Indonesia’s capital on Monday, with the conditions – worsened by the La Nina weather pattern – expected to continue until March or April. More than 1,000 people in east and south Jakarta were evacuated after torrential rain overnight, local media reported, with households along the winding Ciliwung River among the worst affected by the floods. “If the flood gets bigger, we will have to take refuge elsewhere, but if it remains this high, then I think we will decide not to evacuate,” said resident Isti Barokah, whose home was flooded. “Most of our stuff is already on the second floor.” Wooden homes along the river were partially submerged in muddy brown water. Children played waist-deep in the water in front of their homes. Fire department officials dressed in red life jackets inspected the affected areas, where they said some elderly residents and small children were evacuated. The country’s meteorology, climatology and geophysical agency (BMKG) had issued heavy rain alerts across populous Java island, Bali and parts of eastern Indonesia. President Joko Widodo in October warned of the hazardous impact of the La Nina weather pattern, like flooding, landslides and agriculture losses, after BMKG indicated monthly rain volume could increase by 20%-40% above normal levels. The flooding came days after a factory manufacturing batik, a traditional method of creating dyed material and fabrics, was inundated, flooding a nearby village and producing surreal, blood-red waters.
Severe flooding hits Belo Horizonte as more than a month’s worth of rain falls in 72 hours, Brazil – (videos) Torrential rains lashed Belo Horizonte in Brazil over the weekend, causing damaging floods that prompted the Civil Defense to issue alerts for the West, Pampulha, and Venda Nova regions on Sunday, February 7, 2021. In the south-central, about 234.6 mm (9.2 inches) of rain fell in a 72 hour period, which exceeded the February average of 181.4 mm (7.1 inches). Persistent heavy rains caused severe flooding in Belo Horizonte, affecting many houses and buildings. Locals said as streams overflowed, floodwaters dragged away vehicles on roads. The Civil Defense issued flood alerts for the West, Pampulha, and Venda Nova regions on Sunday afternoon. Avenida Vilarinho in Venda Nova was flooded twice on the said day, first in the morning and then in the afternoon.In the Vila Suzana I neighborhood, at least 47 people were stranded and rescued by firefighters, including families. In Santa Luzia, Rio das Velhas overflowed, forcing about 300 people to flee their homes.In the south-central region alone, around 234.6 mm (9.2 inches) of rain fell in 72 hours, which surpassed the February average of 181.4 mm (7.1 inches), according to Inmet.The Civil Defense reported that 301 people were left without homes in the state due to the severe weather. Another 2 849 had to evacuate due to the risk of collapse. A geological risk alert has also been issued for Belo Horizonte, which is in force until Tuesday, February 9.
Catastrophic rock and ice avalanche hits Uttarakhand, leaving more than 150 people missing, India — A catastrophic rock and ice avalanche took place in the Chamoli district of the Indian state of Uttarakhand at around 05:00 UTC on Sunday, February 7, 2021. The event took place around 500 km (310 miles) N of New Delhi, leaving more than 150 people dead or missing.At first sight, it appeared to be a glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) but it was later determined to be a rock and ice avalanche caused by a landslide. “The question as to the cause of this event has been solved by the availability of a Planet Labs image collected today,” Dr. Dave Petley of The Landslide Blog wrote in his analysis of the event. PlanetLabs images posted on his website show the source of the disaster – a large rockslope detachment from Trishuli. “It has moved northwards onto the glacier, and turned into a rock and ice avalanche that has moved toward the northwest.”The Rishiganga Hydroelectric Project in the Tapovan-Rini area, with more than 150 workers believed to be in the facility, was completely destroyed.Only 10 bodies have been recovered so far.The debris also swept away homes, bridges, and livestock along the way and trapped 16 people in a tunnel near Tapovan who were later rescued.Rescue efforts are underway to rescue more people trapped in another tunnel, the federal ministry said early Sunday.State utility NTPC said a part of its Tapovan Vishnugad hydropower plant that was under construction was also damaged.The event played out so fast there was no time to alert anyone, one of the locals told Reuters.
Search on for more than 200 after India glacier fractures, sweeping away all before it (Reuters) – Indian rescuers searched on Monday for more than 200 people missing after part of a remote Himalayan glacier broke away, sweeping away bridges, breaking dams and sending a torrent of water, rocks and construction debris down a mountain valley. Sunday’s disaster below Nanda Devi, India’s second-highest peak, swept away the small Rishiganga hydro-electric project and damaged a bigger one further down the Dhauliganga river being built by state firm NTPC. Eighteen bodies had been recovered so far, officials said. Most of the missing were people working on the two projects, part of the many the government has been building deep in the mountains of Uttarakhand state as part of a development push.“As of now, around 203 people are missing,” state chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat said. Mohd Farooq Azam, assistant professor, glaciology & hydrology at the Indian Institute of Technology in Indore, said a hanging glacier fractured. “Our current hypothesis is that the water accumulated and locked in the debris-snow below the glacier was released when the glacier-rock mass fell,” he said. Videos on social media showed water surging through a small dam site, washing away construction equipment and bringing down small bridges. “Everything was swept away, people, cattle and trees,” Sangram Singh Rawat, a former village council member of Raini, the site closest to the Rishiganga project, told media. Experts said it had snowed heavily last week in the Nanda Devi area and it was possible that some of the snow had started melting and may have led to an avalanche.
At least 15 dead as the U.S. sees the deadliest week of avalanches in over a century – At least 15 people lost their lives due to avalanches in the U.S. from January 30 to February 6 this year– the worst and deadliest in the country since 1910, according to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center (CAIC). It included avalanches in Alaska, California, Colorado, Montana, New Hampshire, Utah. The U.S. had its deadliest week of avalanches in over a century after at least 15 people lost their lives. The most recent one was in Utah, where four skiers lost their lives in an avalanche in Millcreek Canyon on Saturday, February 6, 2021. Four other skiers survived. On February 1, three backcountry skiers died in an avalanche in San Juan Mountains, Colorado. Four people were initially trapped, while others in the group managed to set free one skier who sustained minor injuries. “This is a tragic week for all of us in the United States, with more deaths in avalanches than we’ve seen since 1910 and three accidents that killed three people or more,” the CAIC said in a statement on Monday, February 8. “Monday’s (February 1) accident near The Nose in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado is a painful reminder of the danger of multiple people exposed to a large avalanche path and the way terrain traps amplify the consequences of an avalanche.”
California’s aging dams face new perils, 50 years after Sylmar quake crisis – – It was a harrowing vision of the vulnerability of aging California dams – crews laboring feverishly to sandbag and drain the lower San Fernando Reservoir, as billions of gallons of Los Angeles drinking water lapped at the edge of a crumbling, earthquake-damaged embankment that threatened catastrophe on the neighborhoods below. The 1,100-foot dam, which began construction in 1912, held 3.6 billion gallons of water on the morning of Feb. 9, 1971. Due to earthquake concerns identified five years earlier, the reservoir was ordered to be kept below full capacity, and on that morning the water level measured 36 feet below the lip of the dam. The top 30 feet of the rolled earth dam crumbled and sank into the reservoir, leaving the water only 6 feet from the top with fresh chunks of earth falling off with each aftershock. Not since 1925, when a 6.8 magnitude quake destroyed the Sheffield Dam and sent 30 million gallons of water coursing through Santa Barbara, had California faced such a seismic-related crisis. Although the 1971 San Fernando earthquake and the near failure of the Lower Van Norman Dam have given rise to construction improvements – the much newer Los Angeles Dam survived an equivalent shaking in the 1994 Northridge quake – the overwhelming majority of California dams are decades past their design life span. And while earthquakes still loom as the greatest threat to California’s massive collection of dams, experts warn that these aging structures will be challenged further by a new and emerging hazard: “whiplashing shifts” in extreme weather due to climate change. “The biggest issue facing dam safety in California is aging infrastructure and lack of money to fund repairs and retrofits of dams,” said Sharon K. Tapia, who leads the Division of Safety of Dams at the California Department of Water Resources. “Many older dams were built using construction methods considered outdated by today’s standards.” Federal engineers have found that three major dams in Southern California – Whittier Narrows, Prado and Mojave River – are structurally unsafe and could collapse in a significant flood event and potentially inundate millions of people downstream. Each has been reclassified as “high urgency structures” amid growing concerns that they were designed and built on 20th-century assumptions and hydrological records that did not anticipate the region being hit more frequently by storms that were previously regarded as once-in-a-lifetime events. “Even if engineers had made risk assessments that were accurate at the time these structures were built, they aren’t accurate now, and won’t be anymore due to climate change,”
Aviation Color Code for Semisopochnoi volcano raised to Orange, Alaska – A high-resolution satellite image acquired on February 7, 2021, shows a second small ash deposit extending at least 3 km (1.8 miles) to the northeast from North Cerberus Crater on Semisopochnoi Island, similar to the first observed on February 6.Clouds obscured views into the crater and the southern side of the volcano. Any ash clouds associated with these deposits have not been observed and are likely low-level (below 3 km (10 000 feet)) and short-duration, the Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO) said. Because of evidence for continued low-level ash emissions, AVO has raised the Aviation Color Code to ORANGE and the Volcano Alert Level to WATCH at 23:11 UTC on February 8.
Large lahar at Semeru volcano, Indonesia (video) A large lahar flow formed on the slopes of Mount Semeru volcano in East Java, Indonesia during heavy rains on February 8, 2021. The flow took place at around 08:39 UTC (15:39 WIB), sweeping away a car. Fortunately, the driver managed to get out of the vehicle and survive.
Increased explosive activity at Pacaya volcano, Alert Level raised to Yellow, Guatemala – Volcanic activity at the Guatemalan Pacaya volcano has increased over the past few days, prompting authorities to raise the Alert Level to Yellow. INSIVUMEH reported a significant increase in Strombolian activity with constant moderate and occasional strong explosions on February 9. This activity is generating dense columns of ash and gas, reaching a height of about 3.8 km (12 500 feet) above sea level. Ash columns spread in a radius of 10 to 68 km (6 – 42 miles), mainly to the N, NW, W and SW, affecting the communities of El Patrocinio, El Rodeo, and El Caracol. Active effusive activity is generating several lava flows up to 1.2 m (0.7 miles) in length.People who live in areas near the Pacaya volcano are recommended to attend to the information shared by local authorities, review their Family Response Plan and have the 72-hour backpack ready for each member of the family. To the residents and tourists, avoid approaching the Pacaya volcano area
Climate Crisis Is Pushing California’s Great White Sharks North -The climate crisis is driving young great white sharks up the California coast, and it’s causing problems for the endangered wildlife that live there. Juvenile great white sharks have historically spent their time in Southern California waters, but after a marine heat wave started in 2014, they began to spend more time further north in Monterey Bay. This is bad news for prey animals such as sea otters, whose area numbers have fallen 86 percent since the sharks moved in, The Guardian reported. “White sharks aren’t just another species – they’re an apex predator and all eyes are on them in the ocean,” Kyle Van Houtan from the Monterey Bay Aquarium, who co-authored a new study on the phenomenon, told The Guardian. The study, published in Scientific Reports on Tuesday, used data from juvenile great white sharks tagged in 2002 to monitor their movements, according to a Monterey Bay Aquarium press release published inEurekAlert! Researchers used 22 million electronic data records from 14 sharks and compared them to 38 years of ocean temperature data to find the coldest temperature the sharks could stand. Juvenile sharks range between five and nine feet long and often prefer warmer water, where they feast on fish, rays and squid, according to The Mercury News.. After two or three years the sharks set out for colder, deeper waters after growing more than ten-feet long and developing wider, more serrated teeth. Between 1982 and 2013, the young sharks never ventured further north of Santa Barbara, at 34 degrees North, according to the press release. However, after the marine heat wave in 2014, their range shifted 4.5 degrees North to Bodega Bay. The sharks’ current range limit remains at 36 degrees North near Monterey Bay. The cold water limit for the sharks moved about 373 miles north between 2014 and 2020, according to The Guardian. At the same time, the sharks’ suitable water temperature range actually shrank by five percent. This is a problem for their prey. “It doesn’t seem big in the overall scheme of things but predators and prey are now compressed into a smaller place, where prey have fewer places to hide. So you’re seeing a really rapid decline in fish, including salmon,”
Limiting warming to 2 degrees Celsius will require far-reaching emissions cuts in coming years, find University of Washington researchers – The pledges countries made to reduce emissions as part of the 2015 Paris agreement are woefully inadequate, and the world must nearly double its greenhouse gas-cutting goals to avoid the most catastrophic effects of climate change, according to research published Tuesday.“The commitments are not enough,” said Adrian Raftery, a University of Washington statistics professor and co-author of the study, published in Communications Earth & Environment.The study found that even if countries were to meet their existing pledges, the world has only about a 5 percent chance to limit the Earth’s warming to “well below” 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) over preindustrial levels – a key aim of the international agreement.Raftery and a colleague calculated that global emissions would need to fall steadily – about 1.8 percent each year on average – to put the world on a more sustainable trajectory. While no two countries are alike, that amounts to overall emissions reductions roughly 80 percent more ambitious than those pledged under the Paris agreement, he said.In many respects, the race to slow the Earth’s warming is a daunting math problem. Emissions have risen about 1.4 percent annually on average over the past decade, not including the abnormal plunge in 2020 driven by the coronavirus pandemic.In 2019, the world logged the highest emissions ever recorded, at 59 billion tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions, a category that includes not only carbon dioxide but also methane and other climate-warming agents. If that trend continues unabated, scientists say, the world could begin to cross troubling climate thresholds within the coming decade.The architects of the Paris accord and numerous world leaders have long underscored that the pledges made in 2015 were not enough to limit warming to acceptable levels. The expectation was always that nations would grow more ambitious with time, and there is evidence that is happening.
WVU biologists uncover forests’ unexpected role in climate change – New research from West Virginia University biologists shows that trees around the world are consuming more carbon dioxide than previously reported, making forests even more important in regulating the Earth’s atmosphere and forever shift how we think about climate change.In a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Professor Richard Thomas and alumnus Justin Mathias (BS Biology, ’13 and Ph.D. Biology, ’20) synthesized published tree ring studies. They found that increases in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere over the past century have caused an uptick in trees’ water-use efficiency, the ratio of carbon dioxide taken up by photosynthesis to the water lost by transpiration – the act of trees “breathing out” water vapor.”This study really highlights the role of forests and their ecosystems in climate change,” said Thomas, interim associate provost for graduate academic affairs. “We think of forests as providing ecosystem services. Those services can be a lot of different things – recreation, timber, industry. We demonstrate how forests perform another important service: acting as sinks for carbon dioxide. Our research shows that forests consume large amounts of carbon dioxide globally. Without that, more carbon dioxide would go into the air and build up in the atmosphere even more than it already is, which could exacerbate climate change. Our work shows yet another important reason to preserve and maintain our forests and keep them healthy.”Previously, scientists have thought that trees were using water more efficiently over the past century through reduced stomatal conductance – meaning trees were retaining more moisture when the pores on their leaves began closing slightly under rising levels of carbon dioxide. However, following an analysis using carbon and oxygen isotopes in tree rings from 1901 to 2015 from 36 tree species at 84 sites around the world, the researchers found that in 83% of cases, the main driver of trees’ increased water efficiency was increased photosynthesis – they processed more carbon dioxide. Meanwhile, the stomatal conductance only drove increased efficiency 17% of the time. This reflects a major change in how trees’ water efficiency has been explained in contrast to previous research.
Climate “emergency” claims falsified by real world data – The Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF) – Contrary to popular belief there is little evidence of harmful trends from the impact of global warming. According to the paper’s author, Dr Indur Goklany,“Almost everywhere you look, climate change is having only small, and often benign, impacts. The impact of extreme weather events ― hurricanes, tornadoes, floods and droughts ― are, if anything, declining. Economic damages have declined as a fraction of global GDP. Death rates from such events have declined by 99% since the 1920s. Climate-related disease has collapsed. And more people die from cold than warm temperatures” And even sea-level rise – predicted to be the most damaging impact of global warming – seems to be much less of a problem than thought. According to Dr Goklany, reviews of historic maps and satellite imagery have shown that the places predicted to disappear are in fact still with us. “A recent study showed that the Earth has actually gained more land in coastal areas in the last 30 years than it has lost through sea-level rise. We now know for sure that coral atolls aren’t disappearing and even Bangladesh is gaining more land through siltation than it is losing through rising seas.” Empirical data also shows that food production per capita has increased by 30% since 1961 despite a more-than-doubling of the global population. Hunger and malnutrition have declined, area burnt by wild fires has declined, and since 1950 poverty has declined, people are wealthier and global life expectancy has increased from 46 years to 73 years. Dr Goklany’s paper Impacts of Climate Change: Perception and Reality is published by the Global Warming Policy Foundation and can be downloaded here (pdf).
Joe Biden’s executive order on refugees matters a lot for climate migration – Joe Biden’s administration is crafting a report that will include proposals for how the US might respond to global migration due to climate change. Biden commissioned the report as part of a broader executive order he signed yesterday aimed at overhauling the US refugee resettlement program, which was gutted under the Trump administration.“I’ve worked on this very intersection of issues for over a decade, and I never thought that this would be a part of any American president’s priorities, especially within the first 30 days of their administration,” says Kayly Ober, climate displacement manager at the humanitarian organization Refugees International. “So I am delighted and surprised.”If Biden’s report, due in 179 days, leads to an actual pathway to resettlement in the US, it could be a game-changer for people who’ve fled their homes because of climate change. There are currently no policies that allow someone who’s been displaced by climate-related disasters to apply for a visa, green card, or refugee protections in the US. It’s a gap that’s, for the most part, missing globally, too. International institutions literally don’t even have the words to tackle the issue: there’s still a debate over whether to consider displaced people “migrants” or “refugees” since the terminology could affect what legal protections a person is entitled to. Meanwhile, an average of 21.5 million people are pushed from their homes each year because of climate-related hazards. That includes people who’ve survived disasters like storms and floods that have grown more intense as the planet heats up. For comparison, that’s almost nine times as many people as those who apply for political asylum because of the fear of persecution in their home country. What’s more, 21.5 million people is likely an underestimate of how many people climate change is actually pushing to the brink. That figure doesn’t include people on the move because of the slower-moving consequences of climate change like drought and rising sea levels. The number of people seeking new homes as global temperatures rise is only expected to grow. So governments and international organizations need to start acting.
Big Business squirms as Biden tightens climate regulations – Corporate America is entering the Biden era with bold public pledges to fight climate change. But as Democrats seek to hold businesses to those promises, they’re facing a big battle. Democrats are vowing to go through the Securities and Exchange Commission to impose sweeping financial disclosure rules on climate risk that would force thousands of businesses including banks, manufacturers and energy producers to divulge information to investors. Lenders are set to get even more scrutiny from their own regulators like the Federal Reserve, including potential stress tests to measure their resiliency to rising sea levels and extreme weather. Now, the backlash is beginning. BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, who has been hailed by some as a corporate leader in fighting climate change, is putting his weight behind a call for companies to abide by a voluntary global standard instead and is warning against the potential shortfalls of government intervention. And Republican lawmakers are emerging as allies to businesses resistant to the looming transparency rules. “This is about solving a societal problem that does not align simply with the SEC’s mission,” said Rep. Patrick McHenry, the top Republican on the House Financial Services Committee. “I’d like the Securities and Exchange Commission to stick to what they do and then for us in the elected class to make these large-scale societal decisions.” At the heart of the clash is a broader argument about how much control the government should have over business, a debate that will get more heated as President Joe Biden’s administration moves to impose stricter regulations on the economy after four years of rollbacks by former President Donald Trump. The reluctance to embrace the government’s growing role in climate policy is echoed by business groups in Washington, D.C., that are calling for flexible disclosure requirements. The campaign by Democrats is expected to trigger a lobbying blitz as companies try to shape regulations that could require them to publicly quantify their carbon footprints, potential financial losses from climate-related risks and their plans for making their operations more environmentally sustainable. An increasing number of corporations are responding to the pressure by releasing more climate data voluntarily, though industry representatives say companies are split on the issue. “There are some who care, but they don’t want to be told what to do,” said Stephen Brown, a veteran energy industry consultant who ran the federal affairs office of oil refiner Tesoro for 12 years. “There are others who would like to be told how to do it.”
‘A big promise’: Biden’s climate spending pledge faces early test – President Joe Biden has promised 40 percent of the benefits from the $2 trillion he’s aiming to spend on climate change will go to disadvantaged communities that have suffered the most from pollution. But figuring out how to spend that potential mountain of cash may vex the places vying for it and the lawmakers tasked with doling it out.People at the highest levels of Biden’s administration are huddling to try to meet the 120-day deadline Biden set out in his sprawling executive order on climate change to issue recommendations for spending that money. And figuring out the details while avoiding the blunders that could undermine confidence in the program will be crucial for generating political momentum for his climate agenda – something Biden’s former boss President Barack Obama struggled to do with his 2009 stimulus package.“That’s a big promise,” said Cecilia Martinez, who heads the environmental justice portfolio at the White House Council on Environmental Quality, one of the offices Biden tasked with crafting the blueprint. “When we talk about 40 percent to the most vulnerable and the communities that need it most, that’s a sign of achievement. And from the get-go that is what we’re all working on.” With much of the country struggling under the economic slowdown from the pandemic, there is no shortage of targets. Environmental organizers from low-income and communities of color across the country are linking up with mainstream green groups to identify their needs – and the list goes far beyond traditional environmental concerns to include things like personal protective equipment, community health centers and affordable housing.
Senate advances nomination of Biden EPA pick Regan – Senators on the Environment and Public Works Committee voted on Tuesday to advance the nomination of Michael Regan to lead the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The committee voted 14-6 to move Regan’s nomination to the full Senate. Regan was formerly North Carolina’s top environmental regulator. If he’s confirmed to lead the EPA, he’ll be tasked with implementing a number of Biden’s campaign pledges, including helping the U.S. reach carbon neutrality by 2050. While Regan had bipartisan support on the committee, the nominee also garnered opposition from some Republicans who took issue with the Biden administration’s policy agenda. “It is unclear whether Secretary Regan, if confirmed, would …. have the authority to stop the regulatory march towards the Green New Deal,” said Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), the committee’s ranking member. She added that it is “unclear” whether Regan would “set out on a different policy course” than Obama-era officials who have joined or have been appointed to join the Biden administration. However, all of the committee’s Democrats, as well as Republicans Lindsey Graham (S.C.), Roger Wicker (Miss.), Kevin Cramer (N.D.), and Dan Sullivan (Alaska) voted to support his nomination. “I believe that Michael Regan is someone who can help unite us in common purpose,” said Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.), the committee’s chairman. “That’s what he did in North Carolina and as an honest and thoughtful public servant, he brought people together to find solutions to some of the Tarheel State’s most pressing environmental challenges,” Carper added.
HOGSH*T: Michael Regan’s Disingenuous Claim Of Reining In North Carolina’s Factory Farms | Food & Water Watch –Michael Regan has a legacy of bowing to the factory farm industry even when it means sacrificing public health and contributing to pollution. Why is he being put in charge of the agency meant to protect our environment? In the opening statement of his confirmation hearing on Tuesday, EPA Secretary-nominee Michael Regan claimed to have “tackled the adverse impacts of hog farms” in North Carolina while serving as Secretary of North Carolina’s Department of Environmental Quality.I’m not so sure about that. I live in eastern North Carolina. My home was flooded badly by Hurricane Florence in September of 2018. After making landfall near Wilmington, the climate-change fueled superstorm crawled inland at a pace of three miles per hour, dumping nearly 30″ of rain on the coastal plain. Eastern North Carolina experienced catastrophic and record-setting flooding as a result. But in eastern North Carolina, floodwater also contains enormous amounts of untreated hog waste. North Carolina’s factory hog farms store untreated waste in large, often unlined “lagoons” until it is sprayed on nearby fields for disposal. This spraying results in horrific odors, significant health impacts and dramatically reduced quality of life for people living nearby. And these lagoons are also incredibly vulnerable to flooding, putting everyone downstream at risk. Hundreds of lagoons were built in floodplains, and extensive rainfall and the resulting flooding from Hurricanes Floyd (1999), Matthew (2016) and Florence (2018) caused many to leak, be inundated or to breach entirely, letting loose millions of gallons of untreated hog waste into downstream rivers and communities – and into our flooded homes. (Sometimes it doesn’t even take a hurricane, as was the case in December 2020and again in June 2020 when Smithfield lagoons failed, collectively spilling four millions of gallons of hog waste). In 2007 the North Carolina legislature imposed a moratorium on the construction of new hog lagoons. That moratorium held until last summer when the General Assembly bent to the will of Smithfield Foods and created an exception to the moratorium – hog farms would now be allowed to construct new lagoons in order to facilitate the installation of “manure digesters” to generate factory farm biogas. Don’t be fooled by this factory farm biogas scheme. It’s a false solution, and it won’t solve the climate crisis or our factory farm crisis. But the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, under the leadership of Secretary Michael Regan, is fully on board. There’s a reason the hog factory farm lobby is super excited about Regan’s nomination to lead the Environmental Protection Agency under the Biden Administration – it’s because he essentially allowed the industry to operate at status quo with only minimal attempts to increase oversight. DEQ under his leadership has largely failed to address the critical environmental and community impacts caused by factory farms – and the lagoon and sprayfield system in particular. Instead of working to phase out this harmful and polluting system, Secretary Regan’s DEQ is issuing permits that will only further entrench North Carolina’s factory farms by allowing Smithfield to profit from the waste they produce.
Biden’s auto dilemma: How hard to push for electric cars? – Los Angeles Times – After four years of bitter fighting, California and the federal government agree they need to set ambitious climate goals, and major automakers are increasingly betting that the future of their business lies with electric cars.But consumers aren’t there yet.Despite growing momentum for a national shift toward cleaner cars, less than 1% of vehicles on the nation’s roads are electric. A recent analysis found that Americans were buying so many gas-guzzling SUVs and pick-up trucks that they had effectively canceled emissions reductions from every electric vehicle in the United States.This divide between the reality of America’s auto market and what the federal government and some automakers hope it will become is certain to create dilemmas for the Biden administration as it sets out to negotiate a new set of fuel-economy standards.“The challenge for the administration is that they’re going to be faced with the car companies saying you can’t make the overall standards too strong because the consumers aren’t there,” said John DeCicco, research professor emeritus at the University of Michigan Energy Institute. “There’s a pretty severe misalignment between the market and the regulatory need.” At stake is President Biden’s ability to deliver on his promise of eliminating greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 to prevent the worst effects of climate change. Calculating backward, most environmentalists say the only way to meet that goal is to mandate all new cars be emissions-free by 2035.Biden is expected to replace the weaker tailpipe emissions standards put in place by the Trump administration with new regulations modeled on California’s voluntary agreement with five automakers. Under the state’s rules, car companies would be required to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by nearly 4% each year. But both federal and California regulators, as well as major car companies, are already looking ahead to the next set of standards that would apply to cars built after model year 2026. Finalizing these rules could take two years and prove the ultimate test of whether the administration is able to rein in the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions, most of which come from the transportation sector.
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Study reveals EV secret: They are driven less than gas cars — Monday, February 8, 2021 — Electric vehicles in California logged half the miles on the roads of gas-powered cars and didn’t draw the big quantity of energy that grid planners expected, according to a new study.The results of the study, published today by the National Bureau of Economic Research, feed into a topic of intensifying interest to the new Biden administration and in the states: How many resources should be devoted to supporting electric cars?Researchers, including Fiona Burlig, an energy and environmental policy professor at the University of Chicago, analyzed utility industry data to reveal how much EVs are actually driven compared with their gasoline counterparts.The findings surprised the academics. As of four years ago, EVs in the Golden State drove on average 5,300 miles a year, less than half the distance driven by an average gas-powered car. And their energy usage is a small fraction of what state officials assume.”If it turns out there are various reasons that people drive their EVs less,” Burlig said, “it means that the EV is a less-good substitute for the gas car than we thought.”Burlig acknowledged the study has limits. It looked at California’s use of EVs in a three-year period ending in 2017. EVs were less popular then; the Tesla Model 3, now the country’s hottest-selling EV, had just hit the streets.The study also didn’t consider why electric cars’ travel is so constrained. But the researchers have some ideas.It could be that the drivers, encountering few public charging stations and suffering range anxiety, didn’t trust their EVs for longer trips. It could be that households with more than one car look at their EV as an auxiliary. Or it could be that California’s electricity rates, among the highest in the country, made fueling too expensive. Whatever the reason, there is something about EVs that makes them less convenient.
SK Innovation loses U.S. battery trade case but gets temporary OK to sell to Ford, VW |(Reuters) – The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) on Wednesday sided with South Korea’s chemicals and electric vehicle (EV) battery maker LG Chem Ltd, which accused its cross-town rival SK Innovation Co Ltd of misappropriating trade secrets related to EV battery technology.The ITC said it was issuing a limited 10-year exclusion order prohibiting imports into the United States of some lithium-ion batteries by SK Innovation, but would permit SK to import components for domestic production of lithium ion batteries and other parts for Ford Motor Co’s EV F-150 program for four years, and for Volkswagen of America’s MEB electric vehicle line for the North America region for two years. The ITC added that SK Innovation can replace or repair its batteries in Kia vehicles sold to U.S. consumers. The move could effectively ban the company from supplying EV batteries in the United States unless the company can source all the needed materials there – a step analysts say is not feasible. The ITC said the decision would allow the automakers to transition to new suppliers for these programs. LG Chem’s wholly owned battery subsidiary LG Energy Solution, a EV battery supplier to Tesla Inc and General Motors Co, praised the ruling. “SKI’s total disregard of our warnings and intellectual property rights gave us no choice but to file this case,” Kim Jong-hyun, the CEO of LG Energy Solution, said in a statement. He said the company would “further strengthen the protection of intellectual property rights going forward.”
Exclusive: Amazon orders hundreds of trucks that run on natural gas – (Reuters) – Amazon.com Inc has ordered hundreds of trucks that run on compressed natural gas as it tests ways to shift its U.S. fleet away from heavier polluting trucks, the company told Reuters on Friday. The coronavirus pandemic caused delivery activity to surge in 2020, with truck volumes exceeding 2019 levels on average while passenger car traffic fell. But that increase in road activity means more pollution, as heavier-duty trucks emit higher levels of greenhouse gases than passenger vehicles. Transportation companies are building their stable of electric vehicles to reduce carbon emissions. Much of the nation’s freight is delivered via medium- and heavy-duty trucks, which account for more than 20% of the industry’s greenhouse gas emissions even though they make up less than 5% of the road fleet, according to U.S. federal data. “Amazon is excited about introducing new sustainable solutions for freight transportation and is working on testing a number of new vehicle types including electric, CNG and others,” the company said in a statement. Amazon has ordered more than 700 compressed natural gas class 6 and class 8 trucks so far, according to the company. The online retailer’s sales rose 38% in 2020; it plans to run a carbon neutral business by 2040. The engines, supplied by a joint venture between Cummins Inc and Vancouver-based Westport Fuel Systems Inc, are to be used for Amazon’s heavy duty trucks that run from warehouses to distribution centers. More than 1,000 engines that can operate on both renewable and non-renewable natural gas have been ordered by the supplier, according to a source familiar with the situation. Natural gas emits approximately 27% less carbon dioxide when burned compared with diesel fuel, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Electric-powered motors are considered less viable for heavy-duty trucks than for the average passenger vehicle. In 2019, Amazon ordered 100,000 electric vans from startup Rivian Automotive LLC. The first of those vans, to be used for last-mile delivery to customers, are to be delivered this year. The company also ordered 1,800 electric vans from Mercedes-Benz for its European delivery fleet.
Better ways to cross the pond -Transatlantic flights are positioned to get a little more eco-friendly in the next few weeks as airlines are given the green light to pursue their own flight paths. Since the pandemic has reduced flight traffic, air traffic controllers are experimenting with allowing pilots to choose their own paths across the sea, potentially saving airlines money on fuel and reducing emissions.NATS and Nav Canada, the flight controllers that are responsible for U.K. and Canadian airspace respectively, are going to let airlines select paths based on optimal speed and trajectories. A few years ago this wouldn’t have been possible, but new technology has allowed controllers to collect real-time data on planes over the ocean. With fewer planes in the air, the controllers believe they can safely eliminate the precaution of designated paths.That could mean much more fuel-efficient flights. Researchers at the University of Reading in England estimate that fuel use for transatlantic flights could be reduced by up to 16 percent if pilots take better advantage of wind patterns when flying east. With the airline sector accounting for about 2 percent of global CO2 emissions, any reductions in fuel use are helpful toward the global aviation industry’s target of cutting flight emissions in half by 2050.
The Dangers of Sustainability Metrics – Sustainability is the corporate issue of the day. It was the theme of the 2020 World Economic Forum in Davos, and the call for companies to serve the wider society – not just shareholders – has only intensified in the COVID-19 pandemic. A key challenge, however, is to measure the sustainability of a company. Accordingly, global consortiums are devising an ever-increasing set of sustainability metrics for companies to report. One example is the World Economic Forum’s framework, released in September 2020 in collaboration with the Big Four accounting firms. Policymakers, investors, and stakeholders are demanding that companies report sustainability metrics so that they can be held accountable for delivering social performance. Doing so increases the total amount of information in the market and reduces the cost of capital. However, real decisions depend on not the total amount of information, but the balance between ‘hard’ (quantitative) and ‘soft’ (qualitative) information. Since sustainability metrics only contain the former, they distort this balance – skewing managers’ sustainability investments to ones with short-term payoffs.
Vote Solar says Ameren pushing flawed, incomplete solar plan – Clean energy groups including Vote Solar say Ameren Illinois has proposed a critically flawed plan to compensate its solar customers, threatening Illinois’ clean energy transition. On Feb. 5, the Environmental Law & Policy Center, Vote Solar and the Natural Resources Defense Council filed testimony in the Illinois Commerce Commission’s ongoing investigation into compensation for Ameren solar customers. In the testimony, energy expert Curt Volkmann called Ameren’s proposal for how to compensate solar panel owners for the energy they provide the grid “overly complex and opaque, flawed, and too narrowly focused.” The core issue is how the utility plans to compensate solar panel owners after full retail net metering ends. When solar panels on homes, schools, churches and businesses in Southern and Central Illinois generate more power than the building uses, those excess electrons go back to the grid. Ameren then sells this electricity to other customers. Under state law, Ameren must compensate solar panel owners the same amount they charge other customers for the power, a 1:1 reimbursement rate called “full retail net metering.” That’s a foundational policy the General Assembly created to spur investment in clean power and help Illinois meet its clean energy goals. Once distributed solar generation makes up 5% of Ameren’s overall load, the utility – with ICC approval – can set up a new, more sophisticated compensation plan, one where Ameren must provide rebates to their solar customers for the value they provide to the grid. “If Ameren is unwilling or unable to show their math on the value they offer local solar customers, Illinoisans will have no reason to trust that they are getting a fair shake. Customers must be fairly compensated for the benefits they bring for the grid,” said Will Kenworthy, Regulatory Director, Midwest for Vote Solar. “And the Commission must be confident that the calculations are just and reasonable, but they can’t make that judgement without transparency.”
Wood heat tax credit gives New England industry ‘something to rally around’ – Congress included the new tax credit in December’s COVID-19 stimulus bill, offering 26% off the cost of installing high-efficiency wood boilers. New England’s wood heat industry is hoping a new tax credit and marketing campaign can convince more homeowners to buy a high-efficiency wood boiler. While more common in New England than other regions, wood heat is still a relatively small niche, especially beyond a handful of northern counties. About 3.5% of homes in the six-state region are heated by wood, according to the U.S. Census 2019 American Community Survey. Central wood heating systems can cost upward of $15,000 – twice the cost of typical oil or gas systems, which the region has long relied on. Clean energy advocates have been trying to increase the use of higher-efficiency heating systems, including wood heat as well as electric heat pumps. Several states offer rebates for wood heat, and a new federal tax credit could be a tipping point for customers still trying to make up their minds. Federal lawmakers included the credit in the stimulus and spending law passed in late December. The 26% credit is applied to the installed cost of home heating and hot water systems, including boilers and stoves, that use wood pellets, chips and cordwood at efficiencies greater than 75% high heat value. The credit drops to 22% in 2022 and 2023, after which it’s set to expire. Supporters had lobbied for the tax credit over the last decade, but it didn’t begin to gain traction until 2019, said Charles Niebling, a partner and principal at the consulting firm Innovative Natural Resource Solutions. While they’d been hoping it would find its way into the pandemic stimulus bill, they weren’t sure it would happen until the final bill was released in December. Wood burning for fuel has been a controversial practice, particularly for electricity. Proponents say burning wood for heat is more efficient than doing so for electricity. Many clean energy groups in the Northeast support the technology, saying it can complement building electrification, especially in cold climates where heat pumps alone may not meet homeowners’ needs. They say the wood pellets and other low-grade wood-based fuels used are the product of responsible, often local, forest management. When managed sustainably, they say, wood can be more responsible than electrifying with fossil fuels. “We cannot say that we will only accept perfect solutions because … there are no perfect solutions,” said Madeleine Mineau, executive director of Clean Energy New Hampshire. The forest products industry in the state is hugely important, she said, and the wood heat market stimulates local business.
Incinerators won renewable energy subsidies despite violations – POLITICO – New Jersey waste incinerators were allowed to collect millions of dollars in renewable energy credits even after racking up air permit violations that critics claim should have denied them the state subsidy. The state Department of Environmental Protection is investigating the allegations, POLITICO has learned. And environmental justice groups in New Jersey are using the regulatory failure to bolster their case that the program be shut down completely. They say incinerators, which tend to be located near lower-income communities, contribute to pollution and should not be considered sources of clean power. “We paid for our own disproportionate deaths,” said Maria Lopez-Nuñez, director of environmental justice and community development for Ironbound Community Corp., a Newark-based social services group. “People are losing their homes, their lives and their livelihoods, and we’re subsidizing a dirty industry.” Across the country, 23 states – including Oregon, Oklahoma, Massachusetts and Virginia – include energy from incinerators in their renewable portfolio standards, according to data from the Energy Recovery Council. For years, environmental groups coast to coast have asserted that burning garbage undermines governments’ green agendas. That argument is gaining ground as the environmental justice movement amasses influence across the U.S. and in Washington. A growing body of research has exposed the health and social costs paid by fenceline communities, which have long fought to evict sources of industrial pollution from their neighborhoods, with limited success. In New Jersey, the issue was raised in a letter obtained by POLITICO through a public records request. In it, lawyers for Ironbound Community Corp. and New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance presented data showing that the state’s five incinerators have violated federal and state laws, including the Clean Air Act, every year since 2004. An analysis of state data showed incinerators had been cited for more than 800 permit violations between 2004 and 2020, the groups said. Still, the incinerators continued to sell renewable energy certificates worth more than $30 million, an estimate based on data provided by the Board of Public Utilities and PJM, the state’s grid operator.
‘Pre-emption’ bill clears House subcommittee – A Georgia House subcommittee approved legislation Wednesday that would prohibit local governments from adopting building codes based on the source of energy to be used. House Bill 150, which passed 12-2 and now moves to the full House Energy, Utilities & Telecommunications Committee, has drawn fire from environmental advocates who say it would make it harder for cities and counties to push renewable energy over dirty fossil fuels. In Georgia, the cities of Atlanta, Augusta, Athens, Savannah and Clarkston have set long-term goals of converting their buildings to 100% clean energy. Recommended for you 50 Black writers whose impact went beyond the page 50 Black writers whose impact went beyond the page This Stacker slideshow showcases some of the most prominent African American writers in history who’ve had impacts that reached far beyond the page. Some of the esteemed authors include James Baldwin, Zora Neale Hurston, Toni Morrison, Frederick Douglass, Maya Angelou, and others. Click for more. “I know a carbon-free energy goal is going to be a long haul,” Neill Herring, a lobbyist for the Georgia chapter of the Sierra Club, told the subcommittee Wednesday. “(But) cities should have the right to choose.” The two Democrats on the subcommittee who voted against the bill echoed similar arguments that the measure strikes a blow against local control. “I may have a preference for renewable energy, but that’s not what this is about,” Rep. Karla Drenner, D-Avondale Estates, said. “This is about pre-empting 535 cities (in Georgia) from doing what their elected people were elected to do.”
Amazon to buy half of the energy produced by huge offshore wind farm in the Netherlands – Amazon announced Monday it plans to buy half of the energy produced by a huge new wind farm in the Netherlands. Shell and Eneco secured the right to build the 759 megawatt wind farm in the North Sea last July, and Amazon said it would now purchase more than 380 MW of its output to power its operations in Europe. Amazon said the “Amazon-Shell HKN Offshore Wind Project” will be its largest single-site renewable energy project yet. The offshore wind farm is expected to be operational by 2023. Located 18.5 kilometers off the Dutch coast and covering an area of 125 square kilometers, the wind farm will be operated by the CrossWind Consortium, which is a joint venture between Shell and Eneco. It will reportedly feature 69 wind turbines from Siemens Gamesa that have a capacity of 11 MW and a rotor diameter of 200 meters. The offshore wind farm will include five technology prototypes that have the potential to be implemented at full scale in the future, including a floating solar park and “optimally tuned turbines.” Tech goes green Like other tech giants, Amazon is looking to use its billions to pay for more renewable sources of energy and reduce its carbon footprint. The company’s data centers around the world use vast amounts of electricity to perform computing tasks for Amazon and other companies. Over the years, Greenpeace has accused Amazon of being relatively secretive about the energy sources it uses to power the centers, which are operated by Amazon Web Services. AWS has denied the allegations. Amazon has also been criticized for increasing pollution with its planes and vans, and for using excessive amounts of cardboard when packaging its products. Amazon says that its packaging is 100% renewable and that it doesn’t use plastic clamshells and wire ties.
World’s largest utility-scale battery storage facility proposed for Morro Bay – – A Texas energy company is proposing to build the world’s largest utility-scale battery storage facility on the site of the old Morro Bay Power Plant. Vistra Energy presented its new proposal to the Morro Bay City Council on Jan. 26.Earlier this year the company went online with the world’s largest utility-scale battery energy storage system in Moss Landing, Calif. It’s capable of storing and transferring 300 megawatts of electricity with its lithium-ion battery storage system at the Moss Landing Power Plant.The proposal for Morro Bay is even larger. The company would like to build a 273,000-square-feet plant with lithium-ion batteries on 22-acres at the old power plant. It would be capable of storing 600 megawatts of electricity, the company says.Utility-scale battery storage systems can store electricity produced by renewable energy sources like solar and wind farms or pulled directly from the electrical grid and then redistribute the power later as needed. A 1,000-megawatt wind farm with 100 turbines is being planned for the coastal waters 15-20 miles from Morro Bay.
Power struggle: TVA distributors want access to transmission lines to bring in outside electricity – After relying on the Tennessee Valley Authority for more than 80 years, a handful of local power companies in Tennessee are looking for a new and cheaper source of power. Before such a split could occur within the Tennessee Valley, four of the local utilities say they need TVA to open up its transmission lines to bring the outside power into the region. Although such electricity transfers are allowed in most of America, TVA is balking, setting up a power battle that could shape the future of TVA and electricity prices in its seven-state region. Volunteer Energy Cooperative and Athens Utilities Board in East Tennessee and the Gibson and Joe Wheeler electric membership corporations in West Tennessee are asking the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to order TVA to transmit the outside electricity to them on TVA lines. They have not specified which alternative provider they might want to use. In a 55-page petition to the commission, attorney William DeGrandis said TVA is charging “excessive bundled rates” and using “draconian” measures in its power contracts to block open access to cheaper power. TVA President Jeff Lyash says the local power companies are free to leave TVA with the proper notice, but they should not be able to use TVA transmission assets paid for by all TVA customers to get power from another wholesale supplier. “If this were allowed to happen, outside power suppliers will cherry-pick the attractive power loads around the edges and leave stranded costs that would have to be picked up by the other local power companies in the valley,” he said. The local power companies must give TVA a five-year notice to switch to another wholesale electricity supplier under their contracts, and they claim they can reduce their electric rates collectively for more than 200,000 of their customers if they turn to another power source. “TVA’s wholesale power rates are just not competitive with others in the region at this point,” said Rody Blevins, president of Volunteer Energy Cooperative, which provides electric service in parts of Hamilton, Bradley, Polk, McMinn, Meigs, Bledsoe, Rhea and 10 other counties in East Tennessee. At the neighboring Athens Utilities Board in Athens, Tennessee, utility president Eric Newberry Jr. said TVA prices aren’t reflective of the wholesale bulk-power market and do not meet the “least feasible rate” requirement under the TVA act.
Georgetown residents concerned about TVA transmission lines being installed near property – Residents in a Georgetown, Tennessee neighborhood have been concerned about large power lines being placed by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) near their properties. The company started to build a new systems operation center in Georgetown with plans to use a 5.25-mile-long transmission line to increase power reliability. A spokesperson said the new lines have replaced wooden poles. Richard Welty, who purchased his home on Georgetown Village Lane in December 2019, said he believed the insertion would cause a health hazard. “I’ve read articles on both sides of that, for and against in regard to causing cancer. Second, this, I think, if you look at our neighborhood. We have a nice neighborhood here. Now our property value is taking a huge hit,” Welty said. Angie Plumley has been in her home across the street for 12 years. “I’m concerned about my 3-year-old. The precious family across the street, they have two little ones. The other family across over there has two little ones and so that concerns me more than anything,” Plumley said. Both Welty and Plumley told Channel 3 they reached out to TVA but got the runaround. They questioned why outer farmland was not considered. “It’s only a couple of yards away,” Welty said. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, studies have been inconclusive in regard to electromagnetic fields and health, including cancer.
CMP raises 1st pole as construction on contested $1B corridor begins – Dozens of workers braved temperatures in the low teens in rural Somerset County Tuesday morning, anticipating the first pole to be hoisted for a $1 billion hydropower project nearby. The 100-foot-tall pole near Moxie Pond is part of the New England Clean Energy Connect, a 145-mile project of a Central Maine Power-affiliated company and Hydro-Quebec to bring up to 1,200 megawatts of hydropower from the Canadian border to a converter station in Lewiston. The corridor has been embroiled in controversy for the past three years as environmentalists question its benefit to Maine and potential harm to the environment. It has been the target of two referendum efforts and multiple lawsuits, most recently one that halted construction on the last 53 miles of the corridor until at least mid-February. But proponents cite benefits including promises of up to 1,600 jobs during its 30-month construction and $200 million in upgrades to Maine’s energy grid. Some 200 Mainers already have been hired, according to NECEC Transmission, the company set up to run the corridor, which is scheduled to be completed in the second quarter of 2023.In April, CMP and its partners awarded $300 million in contracts to build the project’s infrastructure to Pittsfield-based Cianbro in a joint venture with Irby Construction of Mississippi, Sargent Electric of Pennsylvania and Northern Clearing Inc. of Wisconsin. The project will include union and non-union labor with average pay of $38 per hour plus benefits, said Tim Burgess, IBEW 104 assistant business manager. Tuesday’s pole installation occurred several weeks after the injunction stopping work from the Forks to the Canadian border. The injunction came on the same day that the project received its final major permit, and Burgess said about 50 IBEW 104 workers were ready to start work. They were shifted to an adjacent section of the corridor.
Canada plans hydropower push as Biden looks to clean up U.S. grid (Reuters) – Canada sees an opportunity in U.S. President Joe Biden’s push to achieve a carbon-free electrical grid by 2035: hydropower exports. With Canadian crude exports taking a hit from Biden’s decision to scrap the Keystone XL oil pipeline, Ottawa is increasingly focused on sales of clean energy. Around 60% of the 4 trillion kilowatt-hours of electricity consumed in the United States in 2019 came from fossil fuels, government data show. Biden’s push to convert that to clean energy gives Canada, the world’s third-largest producer of hydropower, a window to sell more hydro exports to its southern neighbour. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told Reuters last week the United States is interested in boosting hydro imports. In a separate interview Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said combining Canada’s clean energy with U.S. wind, solar and geothermal power was a priority for early talks between the two countries. “We do think that’s a big economic opportunity,” Wilkinson told Reuters. A White House spokesman, asked about Canadian hydro exports, said the new administration is “leaving no sources of renewable energy off the table.” Canada generated about 440 billion kilowatt-hours from hydropower in 2020, just over half its maximum installed capacity. Canada’s electricity exports to United States dropped in 2019 to a six-year low of 47 billion kilowatt-hours, worth C$1.9 billion ($1.5 billion), influenced by factors like water levels and domestic demand, Canada Energy Regulator specialist Matthew Hansen said. While a massive U.S. effort to build renewable energy infrastructure might meet Biden’s targets, an interconnected grid and sharing resources with neighbouring countries would keep energy more affordable, said Steve Clemmer, director of energy research and analysis with the U.S.-based Union of Concerned Scientists. “Having the hydro from Canada gives some more flexibility to control costs,”
GOP congressman pitches $34 billion plan to breach Lower Snake River dams in new vision for Northwest | The Seattle Times – For nearly three decades, the region has been stuck in unending litigation and spiraling costs as salmon in the Columbia and Snake rivers decline toward extinction. But in a sweeping $34 billion proposal from an unlikely source, at an auspicious moment, comes a chance for a fresh start.Could Congressman Mike Simpson, a Republican from a conservative district in eastern Idaho, have launched a concept that will forever alter life on the Columbia and Snake – and finally honor tribal treaty fishing rights in the Columbia Basin?His proposal includes removing the earthen berms adjacent to all four Lower Snake River hydroelectric dams to let the river run free, to help save salmon from extinction, while spending billions of dollars to replace the benefits of the dams for agriculture, energy and transportation. Such a colossal proposal coming from a relatively unknown Republican is a shocker and the delegation is already giving it a look.All four Democratic senators from Washington and Oregon issued a joint release Friday evening stating: “All communities in the Columbia River Basin and beyond should be heard in efforts to recover the Northwest’s iconic salmon runs while ensuring economic vitality of the region. Any process needs to balance the needs of communities in the Columbia River Basin, be transparent, be driven by stakeholders and follow the science.” Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Spokane, put out a statement in staunch opposition. “These dams are the beating heart of Eastern Washington,” she said in a press release. “Spending $33 billion to breach them – with no guarantee that doing so will restore salmon populations – is a drastic, fiscally irresponsible leap to take.” Washington’s three GOP House members also joined with a representative from Idaho on a proposed resolution supporting existing hydropower dams, and seeking expansion of hydropower in the region.
A $5 billion water project could drill through Anza-Borrego park. Is it a pipe dream? – It would be arguably the most ambitious public works project in San Diego history. The envisioned pipeline would carry Colorado River water more than 130 miles from the Imperial Valley – through the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, tunneling under the Cuyamaca Mountains, and passing through the Cleveland National Forest – to eventually connect with a water-treatment plant in San Marcos. An alternative route would run through the desert to the south, boring under Mount Laguna before emptying into the San Vicente Reservoir in Lakeside. Estimated cost: roughly $5 billion. New water delivered: none. Proponents of the modestly named Regional Conveyance System say the project has the potential to save ratepayers billions of dollars by the end of the century. The region has long received most of its water through a series of pipes and canals to the north via the Los Angeles-based Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, or MWD. The new pipeline would connect San Diego directly to the Imperial Irrigation District, or IID, and its All-American Canal outside of El Centro. Those pushing the project argue that MWD has long overcharged San Diego for delivering water, including supplies the region has purchased from IID. “If there’s a way to bring water to our region cheaper and more efficient, we owe it to our ratepayers to do our due diligence. It’s that simple,” said Jim Madaffer, who as a board member of the San Diego County Water Authority has worked tirelessly over the last two years to advance the venture. The idea of building a new pipeline to Imperial Valley just to bypass MWD has enraged environmental groups. They have vowed to block the massive, decade-long construction project, arguing it would needlessly generate new greenhouse-gas emissions, threaten endangered species such as big horned sheep and rip up pristine wilderness landscapes. “The environmental destruction that would happen to the backcountry, to the parks, the mountains, it’s ludicrous,” said Matt O’Malley, executive director and managing attorney for San Diego Coastkeeper. “We would use everything within our arsenal including legal remedies to stop this.
GOP Senators Backed An Extremist At Interior But Reject A Native American Woman | HuffPost – Republican senators have settled on their messaging for President Joe Biden’s historic pick to lead the Interior Department, Rep. Deb Haaland (D-N.M.): She’s “radical.” Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) announced his opposition Friday after a conversation with Haaland, who would be the first Native American to serve as the top steward of America’s public lands and waters. Montana’s junior senator signaled he would not only vote against her confirmation but attempt to block her nomination from advancing. “I’m deeply concerned with the Congresswoman’s support on several radical issues that will hurt Montana, our way of life, our jobs and rural America, including her support for the Green New Deal and President Biden’s oil and gas moratorium, as well as her opposition to the Keystone XL pipeline,” Daines said in a statement Friday. “I’m not convinced the Congresswoman can divorce her radical views and represent what’s best for Montana and all stakeholders in the West. Unless my concerns are addressed, I will block her confirmation.” Sen. John Barrasso (Wyo.), the top Republican on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, joined the mudslinging Monday, telling E&E News that Haaland’s “radical views are squarely at odds with the responsible management of our nation’s energy resources.” The two senators’ full-throated endorsement of fossil fuels is expected, as the oil and gas industry has been a top-five contributor to both over their careers, giving $1.16 million to each, But Daines’ attempt to paint Haaland, a 35th-generation New Mexican and by all standards a qualified nominee for the post, as an extremist threat to America is, well, extreme. Daines often portrays himself as a champion of America’s public lands. In contrast, though, he and Barrasso voiced no concern when President Donald Trump put William Perry Pendley, a conservative lawyer with a history of lobbying for the sale of federal lands and of ridiculing Native Americans over their religious beliefs, in charge of the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management. After Pendley’s backdoor appointment as acting director of the agency in late July 2019, Daines dismissed concerns about the new Trump official’s past support for pawning off federal lands as “overblown.” Barrasso said Pendley “knows firsthand the impact public lands have on our state” and that he was looking forward to “working with him to protect public access for those who live, work and recreate on public lands.”A few months later, Daines signaled he’d vote to support Pendley if Trump were to officially nominate the anti-federal-land extremist. Barrasso said he’d vote to confirm Pendley to lead a bureau that manages more than one-third of all federal land and 700 million subsurface mineral acres.
Ohio geologists study potential for geothermal in abandoned coal mines | Energy News Network -Geologists at Ohio University are exploring the potential to turn abandoned coal mines into sources of carbon-free heating and cooling.Ohio is home to thousands of abandoned coal mines, which have become both public safety and environmental hazards as they leach acidic pollution into nearby waterways. “We have a horrible legacy of acid mine drainage in Ohio that has destroyed the life in streams,” said Ohio University geologist Dina López, who has studied the problem for more than a decade. Lopez also has long studied issues related to geothermal energy at locations in both the United States and in El Salvador, where she grew up. That work led her to explore the possibilities for flooded coal mines. Those mines generally don’t present acid drainage problems, because oxygen doesn’t react with sulfides. And Ohio has lots of those sites.Geothermal systems take advantage of steady below-ground temperatures, usually by circulating fluid through a closed loop of pipes that run underground and then up through buildings on the surface. In the winter, the fluid is warmed as it passes underground. In the summer, it’s the reverse. Geologist Andreana Madera-Martorell worked with López and others while she was a graduate student to estimate the potential for energy from ground-source heat pumps for one flooded coal mine site. She presented the work at the Geological Society of America’s 2020 conference in October.The specific mine, located between Athens and The Plains in Ohio, sits roughly 99 meters below the surface. It’s one of 131 old, mostly flooded coal mines in the state that López’s former graduate student Joshua Richardson previously identified as candidates for geothermal energy production. Other old mines brought the total to 147 potential sites spanning 21 counties in Ohio. “There’s so many abandoned, not being used at all,” Madera-Martorell said. “They’re just taking up space.”While Ohio has even more old coal mines, the feasibility for geothermal energy calls for geographic proximity to a potential user. A facility probably shouldn’t be located right on top of a mine, due to the potential for subsidence. On the flip side, “there’s no use in using a mine that’s five miles away,” Madera-Martorell said. As the distance from the mine increases, so would capital costs for the piping system, along with losses in heating or cooling capacity.
Coal-Fired Power Took a Beating During the Pandemic, Study Finds – The share of energy generated from coal has dropped more sharply during the coronavirus pandemic than that of any other power source, according to a new report on Monday that looked at coal demand in some of the world’s largest emitters of greenhouse gases.The shift away from coal power had a significant impact on global emissions of planet-warming carbon dioxide, the researchers said, and could lead to an acceleration of the global shift toward renewable energy.The report, led by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany and published Monday in the journal Nature Climate Change, analyzed emissions and electricity demand in the United States, Europe and India.Ottmar Edenhofer, director and chief economist at the Potsdam Institute and an author of the study, said the findings were surprising because natural gas has traditionally had the highest operating costs of all power sources, so gas-fired plants are usually the first to be taken offline when demand for power falls. The sharp decline in gas prices during the pandemic, however, appears to have changed that calculation, making coal power more expensive than gas power.Coal releases more carbon dioxide than any other form of power generation, so even the relatively small decreases in demand that caused coal plants to go offline resulted in substantial decreases in greenhouse gas emissions. Burning coal for power also pollutes the air, releasing toxins that have been linked to heart and lung problems and some neurological disorders.In some regions studied, a 20 percent decrease in power demand from 2019 monthly averages corresponded with decreases in carbon dioxide emissions of up to 50 percent. Emissions declines in terms of coal demand were most pronounced in Germany, Spain and Britain.The trend away from coal could outlast the pandemic, the report said. That’s because power plants that use renewable energy, like wind or solar, are expensive to build. Once complete, though, it is not necessary to purchase fuels to run them.According to a separate study by Ember Climate, an energy research organization based in London, global wind and solar power capacity increased last year despite the pandemic. That, combined with the relatively low operating costs, means that when power demand rebounds, a greater share of the total energy will quite likely come from low-emissions or renewable sources.The authors of the Potsdam report noted, however, that so-called brown recovery plans that expand coal power are still a possibility. That is particularly a concern in parts of Southeast Asia, where energy demand is increasing quickly but high interest rates can lead to steep costs for renewable energy projects. “We are not saying we predict that coal will be phased out,” Dr. Edenhofer said. “What we are saying is, this is now a splendid opportunity, and it would be good if energy ministers and finance ministers around the globe will take advantage of the situation.”
Company in Marlin aiming to pull resources from coal ash — A Dallas energy company is making Marlin its headquarters, setting up offices in an old National Guard armory and announcing interest in making the troubled Veterans Affairs hospital there a research center. New Alternative Green Energy Inc., or New AGE, wants to remove toxins from coal and valuable metals from coal ash while producing hydrogen to produce cleaner electricity, according to a press release. It chose Marlin because of its central location in the state and its proximity to the coal-fired Sandy Creek power plant near Riesel, company founder Mike Wilson said. Wilson said the company hopes to work with Baylor University and Texas A&M University to develop a talent pipeline, while also collaborating with local leadership to provide training and job opportunities. Marlin Mayor Carolyn Lofton said New AGE presented its vision for the community several months ago, and she remains upbeat. “I hope it’s not something that will bring any negativity to Marlin. We don’t need that. We hope that it’s something good for Marlin. That is our prayer,” Lofton said.
Other states are making utilities dig up toxic coal ash. Indiana is letting it sit there. Ash from Indiana’s coal-burning power plants is contaminating groundwater across the state, rendering it unsafe to drink. But unlike some other states, Indiana is not requiring utility companies to remove the toxic ash from leaky pits. Indiana has more than 80 pits holding the cancer-causing coal byproduct. That’s more than any other state in America. The vast majority of them are unlined, in contact with groundwater and at risk of being washed into rivers or streams because they sit in floodplains. They’ve already rendered the groundwater around 14 of 15 power plants across the state no longer safe enough for drinking water, according to the latest monitoring data. Other states are making power companies dig up their coal ash and move it into dry, lined landfills where it can no longer pollute. Those states include Virginia and North Carolina, where a huge coal ash spill resulted in environmental disaster. Indiana has already seen some major spills of its own, but regulators and policymakers here are taking a different approach, letting much of the coal ash stay right where it is for decades to come. Indiana’s environmental agency has started to approve plans that would let utilities close their ash pits by putting a cap over them and leaving the ash in place, rather than excavating the pits and moving the ash to lined landfills outside of flood zones. The Indiana Department of Environmental Management told IndyStar that any plans for closing ash pits that it approves “are in compliance with all state and federal regulations, and are protective of human health and the environment.” But environmentalists and some community members from around the sites are left wondering why Indiana says it’s safe when other states have decided it isn’t. “Indiana has more coal ash ponds than any other state, and yet at least a handful of other states have managed to excavate their coal ash,” said Susan Thomas, a northwest Indiana resident whose neighborhood is next door to a coal plant. She is part of a grassroots group called Just Transition NWI that’s pushing for state leaders to close the pits in a safer manner.
North Dakota Legislature looks to ease taxes on coal industry — Energy is one of the biggest industries in North Dakota, and the Legislature is looking to support the coal industry with House Bill 1412. Rep. Jeff Delzer, R-Underwood, introduced the bill to members of the House Finance and Tax Committee on Feb. 3, and the committee voted unanimously send the bill on to the Appropriations Committee, where Delzer is chairman. It would reduce the current coal conversion tax by 60% and impose a lignite research tax. Lignite is a type of coal that is abundant in North Dakota. “We cannot afford to ignore the challenges the industry faces,” Delzer said, noting that the industry “has done many improvements” on environmental issues. “We in North Dakota enjoy some of the best air and water quality in the nation and likely the world,” he said. The bill would reduce general fund revenue for the 2022-23 biennium by $35.5 million, according to an attached fiscal note. The bill would be effective from June 30, 2021, to June 30, 2023. Delzer said the industry faces such challenges as requirements to reduce carbon emissions and competing with federally subsidized “green” energy. The state has been collecting a conversion tax from the coal industry since 1975, he said. “This [bill] will give the industry some relief to better compete with other forms of generation,” he said. “The end goal is to keep the thousands of our friends and neighbors who have [made] and will continue to make their living” in the coal industry. Jason Bohrer, president and CEO of the Lignite Energy Council, testified in favor of the bill. “Due to changing field markets, federal policies and regulations and distorted energy markets, the lignite industry greatly needs immediate economic relief,” he said. Bohrer said the North Dakota lignite industry produced more than $5 billion in regional economic impact and over 13,000 jobs. “The total amount of coal conversion taxes paid in 2019, which is the most complete data available, was $25.4 million,” he said.
Powder River Basin coal mine ceases operations, asks court to reject pension and health care obligations – A Powder River Basin coal mine has closed down for the first time in modern history. At the end of January, mining ceased at the Decker coal mine in Montana after the owner of the mine filed for bankruptcy late last year.Home to some of the world’s largest mines, the Powder River Basin is the epicenter for coal production in the country. But a dramatic decline in thermal coal demand has left many companies in trouble.Coal firm Lighthouse Resources owns the Decker mine in Montana’s Big Horn County, just north of Wyoming’s border. A majority of the mine’s workers live in Wyoming. The parent company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in December, citing dismal market conditions for coal. Continuing to operate the surface coal mine was no longer economically feasible, it stated in court filings. But before the doors of the Decker coal mine officially shutter for good, the company needs to send out the last shipments of coal, clean up the mining site and settle outstanding obligations to its workers. A battle over the details is now playing out in federal bankruptcy court. Upon filing for bankruptcy on Dec. 3, the company laid off 76 workers at the Decker mine. That left 28 active union employees and nine furloughed union employees. An additional 18 non-union employees held manager or administrative positions. But by Jan. 22, the company had stopped mining for coal and kept on only four union workers at the facility, according to court documents.
Arch Resources Reports Fourth Quarter 2020 Results -Arch Resources, Inc. today reported a net loss of $78.5 million, or $5.17 per diluted share, in the fourth quarter of 2020, compared with a net loss of $8.6 million, or $0.57 per diluted share, in the prior-year period. The net loss included a $45.0 million charge primarily related to the planned, accelerated closure of the Coal Creek mine in the Powder River Basin. Arch had adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, depletion, amortization, accretion on asset retirement obligations (ARO), and non-operating expenses (“adjusted EBITDA”) 1 of $4.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2020, which included a $2.0 million non-cash mark-to-market loss associated with the company’s coal-hedging activities. This compares to $43.7 million of adjusted EBITDA recorded in the fourth quarter of 2019, which included a $1.3 million non-cash mark-to-market loss associated with the company’s coal-hedging activities. Revenues totaled $360.6 million for the three months ended December 31, 2020, versus $549.5 million in the prior-year quarter.
Judge to Rule on Blackjewel Settlement for Wyoming Miners – Next month, about 600 employees suddenly laid off in July 2019 at two Campbell County coal mines formerly owned by Blackjewel, LLC, plus about 1,100 of the company’s employees in central Appalachia will learn about the fate of a proposed settlement of a federal lawsuit.On March 3, the judge of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court of the Southern District of West Virginia will decide whether to approve a settlement of a class action lawsuit, said Ned Pillersdorf of Prestonsburg, Ky., who was among the attorneys for the employees in the lawsuit.The proposed settlement was tentatively reached in March 2020, but sealed until Sept. 1.The class action lawsuit was filed against Blackjewel because it violated the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act, which requires large employers to give employees a 60-day notice when a plant closing and/or mass layoffs are pending.The employees of the Belle Ayr and Eagle Butte mines got no notice when the Milton, W.Va-based Blackjewel LLC, and related companies suddenly filed for Chapter 11 business reorganization Bankruptcy Protection onJuly 1, 2019.They and employees at about 30 mines and other operations in Kentucky, Virginia and West Virginia were sent home, and shocked them and their families and communities.In October 2019, the U.S. Department of Labor ordered Blackjewel to pay about 500 Belle Ayr and Eagle Butte employees nearly $800,000 in back wages for the last week of June 2019. But the class action lawsuit under the WARN Act was different, and took a long time to get to having the March 3 hearing set because of delays with some employees having medical issues and an insurance case among other issues, Pillersdorf said
WV senators push back against Biden environmental moves – West Virginia’s senators are sending out messages of disagreement with President Joe Biden’s climate policy. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., addressed a letter to fellow Democrat Biden on Tuesday in which he reaffirmed his support for the Keystone XL oil pipeline, asking the president to reconsider his executive order revoking a cross-border permit for the pipeline that was planned to carry about 800,000 barrels of oil daily from Alberta, Canada, to the Gulf Coast.Meanwhile, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, the top Republican on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, voted against the committee advancing Biden’s nominee to lead the Environmental Protection Agency for consideration by the full Senate.Manchin has long supported the Keystone XL pipeline. The new chairman of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources was one of 45 senators to introduce legislation that died in 2012 that would have approved the Keystone XL pipeline project. He also supported bills to approve it in 2014 and 2015, the latter of which was vetoed by then-President Barack Obama.Biden’s executive order revoking the Keystone XL permit said that leaving it in place would undermine U.S. leadership in fighting climate change as the administration looks to lead the country toward reducing emissions and creating clean-energy jobs.“The United States must be in a position to exercise vigorous climate leadership in order to achieve a significant increase in global climate action and put the world on a sustainable climate pathway,” Biden wrote in his executive order. “Leaving the Keystone XL pipeline permit in place would not be consistent with my Administration’s economic and climate imperatives.”Manchin wrote: “Pipeline infrastructure projects already undergo a rigorous permitting process that allows experts to weigh in on the security, safety, and environmental impacts of the project. I encourage you to let these processes proceed as intended and to not let politics drive the decisions on the development and operation of our nation’s vital energy infrastructure.”Manchin argued that pipelines are a safer mode of transport than truck and rail, referencing a 2019 U.S. Department of Transportation finding that rail incidents involving crude oil happen once every 50 million gallons of crude oil shipped but just once every 720 million gallons of crude oil for pipelines. Projects like the Keystone XL and the unfinished Mountain Valley Pipeline – planned to run from Northwestern West Virginia to Southern Virginia and provide up to 2 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas from the Marcellus and Utica shale formations to markets in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States – are crucial for the country to achieve energy security, Manchin said, viewing them as conducive to Biden’s economic recovery plan.
Eric Engle: WV delegation’s balk at climate plan senseless (Opinion) | Op-Ed – I’m chairman of an organization called Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action, a nonprofit voluntary association on file with the West Virginian Secretary of State’s Office and centered around Parkersburg and Marietta, Ohio.Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action was thrilled to see that a three-Judge panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the Trump administration’s Affordable Clean Energy Rule, effectively reinstating the Obama-era Clean Power Plan, with the Biden administration now taking the helm.President Joe Biden’s executive orders have caused some discomfort for our congressional delegation in West Virginia, it would seem. Reps. David McKinley, Alex Mooney and Rep. Carol Miller, all R-W.Va., along with Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., have expressed their chagrin at Biden’s revoking of the Keystone XL pipeline permit, rejoining the Paris climate accords and, of course, the D.C. Circuit Court’s decision. So, why are they so upset?Our House and Senate members, including Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., all have expressed concern about the effect on jobs with regard to these decisions. Fair enough. Let’s look at that.According to the National Resources Defense Council: “When TC Energy said the [KXL] pipeline would create nearly 119,000 jobs, a State Department report instead concluded the project would require fewer than 2,000 two-year construction jobs and that the number of jobs would hover around 35 after construction.” West Virginia’s congressional representation is worked up about 35 permanent jobs in another area of the country?The NRDC and its research partners also found that the majority of KXL oil would be sent to markets overseas, following a 2015 reversal of a ban on crude oil exports, so arguments about grid resiliency and gas prices fall flat. Same for natural gas.In the D.C. Circuit ruling, the judges stated in their opinion that the purpose of the Affordable Clean Energy Rule was, “to slow the process for reduction of emissions,” which the court called “arbitrary and capricious.” Did the Trump administration rule save any coal jobs or revitalize the industry in West Virginia? Data from S&P Global Market Intelligence shows: “Average quarterly coal mining employment fell 23.6% [nationwide] from the first quarter of 2017, when Trump took office, to the most recent quarter. Coal production is down 31.5% in the third quarter [of 2020], compared to the first quarter of 2017.” As of November 2020, when this report was issued, only 40,458 coal jobs existed across the country.
Fossil Fuel Air Pollution Linked to 1 in 5 Deaths Globally, New Study Reveals – Fossil fuel air pollution is responsible for roughly one in five deaths worldwide, a much higher death toll than previously thought, according to a new study published Tuesday.Poor air quality from burning fossil fuels such as coal and diesel was responsible for more than 8 million deaths in 2018, according to research published February 9 in the journal Environmental Research by Harvard University, the University of Birmingham, the University of Leicester, and University College London.This new research suggests that mortality from fossil fuel air pollution is twice as high as previously thought; an earlier estimate from the Global Burden of Disease Study in 2015, the largest and most comprehensive study on the causes of global mortality, pegged the number of deaths from all sources of air pollution at 4.2 million.“Our study adds to the mounting evidence that air pollution from ongoing dependence on fossil fuels is detrimental to global health,” Eloise A. Marais, a professor in the Department of Geography at the University College London, and a co-author of the report, said in a statement. “We can’t in good conscience continue to rely on fossil fuels, when we know that there are such severe effects on health and viable, cleaner alternatives.”The study’s high death toll is the result of an improved understanding and mapping of particulate matter, or PM2.5 – microscopic pollution particles found in the air which are 30 times smaller than the width of human hair.PM2.5 lodges in the lungs and contributes to respiratory illnesses, such as asthma, and can lead to lung cancer. The latest study looks at global mortality, but it is important to note that at the local level, air pollution is disproportionately felt by low-income communities and communities of color. Suffering from these types of respiratory illnesses also contributes toworse effects from Covid-19. The new study provides a more precise understanding of how fossil fuels specifically impact human health. Prior studies relied on satellite and surface observations of PM2.5, an approach that cannot discern the pollutant’s source; satellite data wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between pollution from a diesel engine or a wildfire. The new study overcomes this challenge by using a sophisticated 3-D modelling program of atmospheric chemistry calledGEOS Chem. The researchers used the program to divide up the world into small 50-kilometer by 60-kilometer boxes. They then incorporated data on emissions from industry, ships, aircraft, and ground transportation. This allows for a much more accurate portrait of what people are breathing, and where the pollution comes from.
Fossil fuel emissions responsible for 1 in 5 deaths: Harvard report — A report released Tuesday shows the emissions from use of fossil fuels was responsible for one in five premature deaths around the world in 2018 – significantly more than was previously thought.The study shows that burning fossil fuels have dire implications for the health of human beings, in addition to being a major contributing factor in climate change.”Our study adds to the mounting evidence that air pollution from ongoing dependence on fossil fuels is detrimental to global health,” co-author Eloise Marais, an associate professor at University College London, said in a statement. “We can’t in good conscience continue to rely on fossil fuels, when we know that there are such severe effects on health and viable, cleaner alternatives.” In 2018, 8.7 million people died prematurely as result of air pollution from fossil fuels, according to the new research from Harvard University in collaboration with the University of Birmingham, the University of Leicester and University College London. (2018 was the year with the most complete information, among other factors, according to Marais.) That is more than twice the previous estimate of 4.2 million deaths from a previous benchmark study (though that study also included deathsfrom things like dust and smoke from wildfires and agricultural burns, not just from fossil fuel).For the new study, the research team used a global 3-D model of the chemical make up of the atmosphere called GEOS-Chem, open-source software which allows a higher resolution study of the air and what is in it at any specific location.Previous methods of research do not distinguish between the type of particulates found in the air because they used satellite technology, according to a statement.”With satellite data, you’re seeing only pieces of the puzzle,” Loretta J. Mickley, senior research fellow in chemistry-climate interactions at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) and co-author of the study, said in the statement. “It is challenging for satellites to distinguish between types of particles, and there can be gaps in the data.” For the Harvard study, “we wanted to map where the pollution is and where people live, so we could know more exactly what people are breathing,” Karn Vohra, a graduate student at University of Birmingham and first author of the study, said in the statement.Broadly speaking, it is more dangerous to live in a country where there are more particulates in the air from burning fossil fuels. “There are higher death rates in countries where there are more fossil fuels burned,” Marais tells CNBC Make It. “These include countries such as India and China.” Of course, 2020 bucked almost every trend, and fossil fuel emissions were no exception. The coronavirus pandemic locked down travel across the globe, limiting greenhouse gas emissions.But “the studies focusing on air quality changes due to lockdown in response to the pandemic have also generally found that the improvement in air quality was dramatic, but short lived,” Marais says. “Studies looking at the effect of this short respite from poor air quality on health will only start to emerge now, as a full year of data is needed to relate long-term exposure to air pollution to health.” In response to the Harvard study, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) tells CNBC Make It the governmental agency does not comment on “reports by outside parties.”
Exelon Generation’s Illinois nuclear power plants continue as clean energy workhorses – While Illinois and the world adjusted to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Exelon Generation’s Illinois nuclear fleet produced a record-breaking amount of reliable, carbon-free electricity to ensure hospitals, nursing homes, businesses and vital infrastructure had the power needed to help Americans combat the virus. “The reliable generation of electricity is important in any year, but in 2020 that job became even more vital as every facet of our lives was challenged by the pandemic,” said Dave Rhoades, Chief Nuclear Officer of Exelon Generation. “Our frontline, essential workers battled weather extremes of heat and cold and multiple storms in 2020, all while adjusting to new procedures and safety measures brought on by COVID-19. Our mission is to safely deliver carbon-free, reliable energy for customers and we’re grateful to our employees for accomplishing that goal.” In Illinois last year, Exelon Generation’s Byron and Dresden stations each set world records for shortest refueling outage duration for pressurized water reactors and boiling water reactors, the respective reactor type of each facility. The Braidwood, Clinton, LaSalle and Quad Cities stations also set annual records for the amount of electricity produced at each station. The company’s six Illinois nuclear plants generate more than half of the state’s electricity and nearly 90 percent of its carbon-free energy. Exelon Generation’s nuclear plants, which are located in Illinois, Maryland, New York and Pennsylvania, produced nearly 150 million megawatt-hours of zero-emissions energy in 2020, the equivalent of taking 32 million cars off the road. The units’ capacity factor, a metric used to measure the percentage of time units operate, was 95.4 percent, significantly higher than other energy sources. Planned refueling and maintenance outages account for much of the offline time.
U.S. Nuclear Waste Sites Face Sea-Level Rise Threat — Nuclear power is a source of low-carbon electricity, but producing it creates dangerous radioactive waste that needs to be stored safely and permanently. Recent research suggests that as seas rise, some nuclear waste storage facilities are at risk of flooding or storm damage. “We really focused in to say, ‘OK, well, how many plants might actually be subject to these risks?'” says Sarah Jordaan of the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University. Her team looked at 13 facilities along the U.S. coast. They found that if seas rise about six feet – which is possible by the end of the century – more than half of the waste storage sites would be directly along the water’s edge or even surrounded by water. So she says it’s critical to anticipate these long-term vulnerabilities and take action. “There are certainly ways that those risks can be managed now,” Jordaan says. For example, after five years, spent fuel can be moved to dry casks. This is a safer long-term storage method than the cooling pools where a lot of spent fuel is currently stored. So Jordaan says it’s critical for policymakers to understand the risks at nuclear facilities and create regulations and policies to ensure greater safety.
Texas on track to get even more nuclear waste as feds tinker with rules — A hazardous waste disposal company in Andrews County wants to handle more dangerous levels of nuclear waste. Federal agencies are pondering new rules that could allow more of it to come to Texas.To get rid of eight gallons of water, the U.S. Department of Energy spent $100,000. It’s little more than half a tank of gasoline in a midsize car, but the radioactive shipment from South Carolina to a West Texas company last fall marked one change that could lead to more nuclear waste traveling to Texas – waste that, until recently, was considered too dangerous to be disposed of. Much of the public debate surrounding Waste Control Specialists’ hazardous waste facility in Andrews County, on the New Mexico border, has focused on the company’s plans, with a partner, to store the riskiest type of nuclear waste: the spent fuel rods from nuclear power plants, which can remain dangerously radioactive for hundreds of thousands of years. Scientists agree that spent nuclear fuel should be stored deep underground, but the U.S. still hasn’t located a suitable site. Interim Storage Partners – a joint venture of Waste Control Specialists and Orano USA, a subsidiary of one of the world’s biggest nuclear power companies – proposed bringing the spent fuel to a 332-acre site next to the WCS facility in Andrews County until a permanent storage site is found. If the plan succeeds, it would be a big expansion for Waste Control Specialists, which has been disposing of the nation’s low-level nuclear waste – including tools, building materials and protective clothing exposed to radioactivity – for a decade. Interim Storage Partners’ website says it expects to get the federal approval for spent nuclear fuel storage, a major step in the plan, this year. The idea still faces significant legal hurdles and stiff opposition from environmental groups, local oil companies, some residents and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who wrote to federal regulators last year asking them to deny the license application, stating that the proposal presents a “greater radiological risk than Texas is prepared to allow.”
Audit raises concerns about wildfire risks at U.S. nuclear lab (AP) – One of the nation’s premier nuclear laboratories isn’t taking the necessary precautions to guard against wildfires, according to an audit by the U.S. Energy Department’s inspector general. The report comes as wildfire risks intensify across the drought-stricken U.S. West. Climatologists and environmentalists have been warning about worsening conditions across the region, particularly in New Mexico, which is home to Los Alamos National Laboratory and where summer rains failed to materialize last year and winter precipitation has been spotty at best. The birthplace of the atomic bomb, Los Alamos has experienced hundreds of millions of dollars in losses and damage from major wildfires over the last two decades. That includes a blaze in 2000 that forced the lab to close for about two weeks, ruined scientific projects, destroyed a portion of the town and threatened tens of thousands of barrels of radioactive waste stored on lab property. Watchdog groups say the federal government needs to take note of the latest findings and conduct a comprehensive review before the lab ramps up production of key plutonium parts used in the nation’s nuclear arsenal. “The threat and risks of wildfire to the lab and northern New Mexico will continue to increase because of climate warming, drought and expanded nuclear weapons production,” said Jay Coghlan, director of the group Nuclear Watch New Mexico. The audit released this month found that cutting back vegetation along power lines and other measures to reduce the risk of catastrophic fires were not always done, increasing the potential for another devastating fire like the Cerro Grande Fire in 2000. Federal auditors said not all fire roads were maintained to ensure safe passage for firefighters and equipment responding to blazes on lab property. The audit also cited federal policy that requires a comprehensive, risk-based approach to wildfire management – something the inspector general’s office said had not been developed by the contractor that manages the lab for the U.S. government. It also pointed to a lack of oversight by Energy Department field staff. “Without documenting planning and preparedness activities, there was no assurance that all prevention and mitigation options were considered and that the site was fully prepared for wildland fire events,” the audit says. The report included photos that depicted overgrown areas. In Los Alamos Canyon, for example, specialists indicated there were about 400 to 500 trees per acre. Auditors said the ideal number should be 40 to 50 trees per acre.
Nonprofit in alleged $60M bribery scheme to plead guilty (AP) – A nonprofit that authorities believe was used to funnel payments for a $60 million bribery scheme to win legislative approval for an energy subsidy bill and block a voter issue from reaching the Ohio ballot agreed to a guilty plea Friday in federal court in Cincinnati.The agreement calls for Generation Now Inc. to plead guilty to one count of racketeering, the seizure of nearly $1.5 million from two bank accounts and a sentence of five years’ probation.Federal authorities have said former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and others used the nonprofit as a conduit for $60 million secretly provided by Akron-based FirstEnergy Corp. The money was used to gain legislative approval of a $1 billion bailout for two nuclear power plants operated by a FirstEnergy subsidiary.Generation Now, Householder and four of his associates were indicted in July of last year on racketeering charges. Two of the men have pleaded guilty. Householder, who was stripped of his leadership post but remains a state representative, has pleaded not guilty and awaits trial.Generation Now attorney Robert Krapenc said Friday that a plea hearing would be held soon but otherwise declined to discuss specifics.U.S. Attorney David DeVillers’ office would “reserve comment” until the plea is accepted in court, spokesperson Jennifer Thornton said. The bailout legislation, known as HB6, was supposed to provide as much as $150 annually for the two nuclear plants, but also contained a provision that would guarantee FirstEnergy profits based on earnings from 2018, a year of weather extremes in its northern Ohio service areas. The Ohio Supreme Court in late December issued a temporary stay to stop the nuclear subsidy from being collected from Ohio customers starting in January. Earlier this week, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost announced that his office had reached an agreement with FirstEnergy for the company to forgo collecting revenues from the other ratepayer subsidy, which would have totaled more than $100 million this year. In addition, prosecutors said the nonprofit Generation Now used around $38 million of FirstEnergy cash to pay for a dirty tricks campaign to prevent an anti-bailout group from collecting enough signatures to get the issue on the ballot.
Householder bribery: Dark money PAC signs plea agreement — Representatives of a dark-money political action committee signed a guilty plea Friday admitting involvement in a massive bribery scheme in Ohio to protect a $1 billion nuclear plant bailout. The plea agreement comes seven months after the arrest of former Ohio House speaker Larry Householder and several others on charges of participating in what federal prosecutors describe as the largest political corruption case in Ohio history.Prosecutors say the political group, Generation Now, received tens of millions of dollars that Householder and others used to pay bribes, fund his own political activities and run a public campaign supporting the nuclear bailout.Generation Now was set up as a social welfare nonprofit, which allowed it to avoid disclosing donors. Federal authorities have said Generation Now’s real purpose was to protect the nuclear plant bailout and enrich Householder and others.A former Householder advisor, Jeffrey Longstreth, signed the plea deal on behalf of Generation Now. It acknowledges Generation Now was part of a criminal conspiracy with Householder and the others. As part of the agreement, the PAC will forfeit potentially millions of dollars in assets.Householder oversaw the controversial, Republican-led bailout of the two northern Ohio nuclear plants, both owned by FirstEnergy Solutions, now known as Energy Harbor. Known as House Bill 6, the measure was approved by state lawmakers and signed by Gov. Mike DeWine last July. House Bill 6 allowed FirstEnergy Solutions to use fees from Ohio ratepayers to cover the cost of the $1 billion bailout of nuclear plants in Perry and Oak Harbor. The bailout stirred an immediate backlash from consumer rights advocates, who attempted to repeal House Bill 6. Householder and Generation Now responded with a massive statewide campaign to protect the bailout, which included ads warning Ohioans that the Chinese would take over the state’s power grid if the repeal was successful. Prosecutors have said FirstEnergy Corp., which federal authorities have identified only as “Company A,” and related companies poured more than $60 million in secret payments over three years into Householder’s “criminal enterprise.”
Ohio lawmaker reintroduces bill to repeal nuke plant bailout (AP) – A bill to repeal a bailout of two aging nuclear power plants at the heart of a federal $60 million bribery probe has been re-introduced in the Ohio House by its Republican sponsor.The legislation known as HB6 was signed into law by GOP Gov. Mike DeWine in 2019. The Justice Department accused five individuals including former Republican House Speaker Larry Householder of shepherding $60 million in energy company money for personal and political use in exchange for passing the law and then derailing an attempt to place a rejection of the bailout on the ballot.Two of those five have pleaded guilty and a plea deal has also been reached with a nonprofit that authorities believe was used to funnel payments from the scheme.State Rep. Laura Lanese, a Republican from Grove City in suburban Columbus, introduced a repeal bill last week similar to the one she introduced last year. That died after some fellow Republicans in the GOP-controlled House disagreed on whether a repeal was necessary.“A full repeal of House Bill 6 would protect consumers from predatory pricing, restore our renewable energy policy, and instill public confidence in the legislative process,” Lanese said in a statement.
Owners of two Ohio nuclear plants may decline subsidies (AP) – The new owners of two Ohio nuclear power plants have given indications they are no longer interested in receiving as much as $1 billion in subsidies handed out in a tainted energy bill, according to two state lawmakers. One of the lawmakers, freshman GOP Sen. Jerry Cirino, last week cosponsored Senate Bill 44, legislation that would eradicate subsidies that would have been paid by electric customers across the state for the plants now owned by a privately held company called Energy Harbor. The plants, one of which is in Cirino’s district, were operated by a wholly owned subsidiary of Akron-based FirstEnergy Corp. when the bill known as HB6 was approved in July 2019 and quickly signed by Republican Gov. Mike DeWine. Messages were left Friday with Energy Harbor spokespersons seeking comment about the company’s plans. “I believe there is extremely broad support for Senate Bill 44 in the Legislature and broad external support as well,” said Cirino, who added that recent discussions with Energy Harbor officials lead him to believe they will not find any problems with SB44. Rep. Bill Seitz, a Cincinnati Republican who was a key player in pushing HB6 through the Legislature, said an Energy Harbor lobbyist told him in December that the company would like the option to decline the subsidies. Both Seitz and Cirino said Energy Harbor officials were concerned that accepting subsidies would put the company at a disadvantage competing with non-subsidized suppliers, given priority on pricing in the 13-state PJM energy markets where electricity is bought and sold. “You don’t have to be a genius to come up with some logical reasons for this,” Seitz said. Seitz also said early actions by the new administration of Democratic President Joe Biden taking aim at other energy sectors, such as rescinding a permit for construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline project, may have caught Energy Harbor’s attention because they could foster renewed interest in nuclear power. Cirino signed on as a co-sponsor of SB44 after years of unflagging support to keep the Perry plant in Lake County and the Davis-Besse plant in Ottawa County open. He served four years as a Lake County commissioner before being elected to the Senate in November.
13 FirstEnergy utilities paid $144 million for external affairs to service company involved in Ohio bribery scandal – FirstEnergy utilities in five states paid $144 million over three years for external affairs support from the central service company that’s alleged to be the source of tens of millions of dollars in bribes to a criminal enterprise led by indicted former Ohio House speaker Larry Householder. Ratepayers may be on the hook for much of the spending on external affairs, based on how the utilities accounted for the service company payments in annual reports to the nation’s top utility regulatory agency. State utility regulators in Ohio and New Jersey are investigating whether any money from ratepayers may have been spent in the bribery scandal in Ohio. The $144 million for external affairs support was paid to the FirstEnergy Service Company (FESC) between 2017 and 2019 by thirteen electric distributions and transmission companies that are subsidiaries of FirstEnergy Corp. The payments were reported as affiliate transactions on annual Form 1 reports to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) reviewed by the Energy and Policy Institute for this analysis. Copies of the Form 1 reports can be found here on DocumentCloud or via FERC’s eLibrary. The thirteen FirstEnergy subsidiaries include ten regulated electric distribution utilities and three transmission companies that together serve Maryland, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. The table below lists the utilities included in this analysis, and how much they paid the FESC for external affairs services for 2017 to 2019: “FirstEnergy Service Company provides legal, financial, and other corporate support services to all of FirstEnergy’s subsidiaries and affiliates,” according to FirstEnergy. The money from the utilities paid for a suite of services largely overseen at the time by Michael Dowling, the FESC’s vice president of External Affairs who was terminated last year by FirstEnergy in connection with the bribery scandal. The external affairs services the FESC provided to the utilities included support on local affairs and economic development, state affairs, federal affairs and energy policy, corporate affairs and community involvement, and rates and regulatory affairs. A now-removed bio once found on FirstEnergy’s website described Dowling as “responsible for FirstEnergy’s local, state and federal Governmental Affairs; Energy Policy; State Regulatory Affairs and Market Policies; Economic Development; Corporate Affairs and Community Involvement, and the FirstEnergy Political Action Committee.”
U.S. Attorney Who Launched Ohio Nuclear Bailout Bribery Probe Resigns – The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio has submitted his resignation. David DeVillers is one of 56 U.S. Attorneys appointed by former President Trump asked to resign by the Biden administration’s Department of Justice. DeVillers said in a written statement that he had hoped to stay on as U.S. Attorney until his successor was appointed. He urged the next U.S. Attorney to be just, apolitical, aggressive and impactful.”It is with a heavy heart that I announced my resignation,” DeVillers wrote. “I have been a prosecutor for my entire career, and it was my wish to remain a prosecutor until the end of my career, but that is not to be.”DeVillers, who was appointed by Trump in 2019 to replace outgoing U.S. Attorney Benjamin Glassman, was heading up several high-profile cases throughout the state. He made a splash last summer by announced racketeering charges against five individuals, including then-Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder, accusing them of funneling $60 million in bribes from a utility company in exchange for securing the passage of a nuclear bailout law.So far, two defendants and the dark money group Generation Now have pleaded guilty in the $60 million conspiracy. Householder has pleaded not guilty and remains in the Ohio legislature after winning reelection in November. DeVillers last year announced corruption cases against three current and former members of Cincinnati City Council, who are accused of taking bribes in exchange for favorable votes on development projects. One, Tamaya Dennard, was sentenced to 18 months in prison after pleading guilty to honest wire fraud.And in Columbus, DeVillers was coordinating the federal criminal and civil rights investigation into the killing of Casey Goodson Jr. by a Franklin County Sheriff’s Deputy, and another civil rights probe of the killing of Andre Hill by a since-fired Columbus Police officer.”While it was my hope to continue on for a few more months to finish some of the work we have started, I am absolutely certain that the AUSAs and investigators working for the people of the Southern District of Ohio will bring this work to a successful and just closure,” DeVillers said. The U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, Justin Herdman, resigned last month.
Ohio Ratepayer RICO Claims Advance Against FirstEnergy Corp. – Ohio ratepayers can proceed with their proposed class action against FirstEnergy Corp. over a $900 million bailout for two failing nuclear plants, even though a state court blocked the company from accepting fees, an Ohio federal court ruled. The bailout is still in effect because House Bill 6 hasn’t been repealed and the court’s injunction is temporary, according to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio. Individual and commercial ratepayers claim FirstEnergy violated the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act and Ohio Corrupt Practices Act by sending bribes to former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder (R)…
Nearly 20 elected officials from indicted state Rep. Larry Householder’s district seek his ouster –— Nearly 20 elected officials in state Rep. Larry Householder’s district are seeking the former Ohio House speaker’s ouster, saying his indictment on federal corruption charges is limiting their voice in Columbus.All three Coshocton County commissioners, County Prosecutor Jason Given, County Auditor Christine Sycks, County Recorder Susan Turner, County Engineer Fred Wachtel, Coshocton Mayor Mark Mills and Coshocton City Council President Cliff Biggers, as well as several county Republican Party committee members, are among those who signed a Monday letter asking House Speaker Bob Cupp to immediately replace Householder. Coshocton County contains the district’s largest city — Coshocton — and is one of the two whole counties Householder represents – the other is his hometown Perry County, with parts of Licking County also in his rural southern Ohio district.The letter notes two of Householder’s associates have pleaded guilty to federal charges, and a pro-Householder political group filed a plea agreement on Friday, admitting it participated in a $61 million bribery scheme that helped Householder become speaker in exchange for his agreement to pass House Bill 6, a nuclear bailout bill.It also notes that Householder received no committee assignments when the new state legislative session began last month, and said Coshocton County received less funding than other similar rural counties in last year’s state capital budget.“The United States Constitution guarantees citizens a fair trial and a presumption of innocence until proven guilty. This is a key pillar of our judicial system,” reads the letter. “That said, holding an elective office is not a right, it is a privilege and a sacred trust. The State of Ohio deserves to proceed with the work of the people and it is clear to us that Representative Householder cannot effectively serve the interests of Coshocton County while the criminal charges are ongoing.”
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