How effed up it must be to not get approval with the trumpaloons pushing for it.
The Pebble Mine would be an undeniable catastrophe, which has led to:
... Late on Monday, Alaska's U.S. Senators Dan Sullivan and Lisa Murkowski, both Republicans, came out against the mine, saying it could cause significant damage to the state's Bristol Bay region popular for fishing and hunting.
Murkowski is the powerful chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and her opposition is likely to carry weight across U.S. federal agencies.
Other prominent Republicans, including Donald Trump Jr., son of President Donald Trump and a keynote speaker on Monday at the Republican National Convention, have opposed the project, saying it would destroy areas where they enjoy fishing and hunting....
I hate reducing wildness to its extraction worth, but ecosystem damage hurts everything. Or, maybe the bribes are lacking.
A clown with a flamethrower still has a flamethrower.
-- Charlie Sykes on MSNBC
1312. ETTD.
... Singapore's specially bred mosquitoes carry a bacteria that prevents eggs from hatching, and "compete with the wild type," leading to "a gradual reduction of the mosquito population," said Ng Lee Ching, the official heading the Wolbachia project, named after the bacteria.
Some areas with high mosquito populations have seen up to 90% declines using this technique, she added....
Likely safer, but idk about relative effectiveness.
A clown with a flamethrower still has a flamethrower.
-- Charlie Sykes on MSNBC
1312. ETTD.
... One project in Arizona would transfer federally-protected forest land to build a gigantic copper mine....
In Twin Bridges, located in Utah, the Trump administration wants to open up wilderness land for a helium drilling project....
Another project in northern Nevada, which is close to obtaining final approval, is planned to build an open-pit lithium mine near the site of a prehistoric volcano. And the administration wants to build a natural gas pipeline through Jefferson National Forest in Virginia.
And there are more, including a uranium mine in South Dakota....
Signaling he will move in a different direction, Biden has selected Native American Rep. Deb Haaland (D-N.M.) as his Interior Secretary nominee. And thankfully, Biden will have the power to stop at least some of the Trump administration’s last-minute attempts. But, the Times reports, other projects like the Nevada lithium mine might not be reversible....
It's not just the damage done, but also all of the potential progress that was forgone for 4 years.
A clown with a flamethrower still has a flamethrower.
-- Charlie Sykes on MSNBC
1312. ETTD.
"....a helium drilling project...." Fascinating; I submit that any helium drilling must be within an enclosed canvas or plastic dome so that if you strike helium all your equipment and men will start floating into the air and all the guys will be yelling about the big strike and sounding like Elmer Fudd.
"....a helium drilling project...." Fascinating; I submit that any helium drilling must be within an enclosed canvas or plastic dome so that if you strike helium all your equipment and men will start floating into the air and all the guys will be yelling about the big strike and sounding like Elmer Fudd.
An Illinois judge has ruled that the Trump International Hotel and Tower in Chicago is liable for violating two state environmental laws by sucking up millions of gallons of water daily from the Chicago River without a valid permit.
The Chicago Tribune reported in 2018 that Donald Trump’s building was the only major downtown user of the water that was ignoring state and federal laws aimed at protecting fish in the reviving river.
Total fines for the violations could be as much as $12 million, local WGN9-TV reported. State Attorney General Kwame Raoul is demanding the maximum penalty....
The riverfront Trump building has been using the water to cool the ventilating, heating and air conditioning system. It sucks up nearly 20 million gallons of river water a day before returning the water 35 degrees hotter, according to the suit, which was joined by the Sierra Club and Friends of the Chicago River. Fish are often killed as they’re sucked against filter screens, and also suffer the effects of the warmed water. There are some 30 different types of fish in the river.
“No one is exempt from compliance with the laws that protect Illinois’ environment and most valuable natural resources, and we will continue to seek to hold the defendants accountable for violations of state environmental laws that jeopardized the quality of the Chicago River,” said a statement from Raoul’s office....
Bleed him dry!
A clown with a flamethrower still has a flamethrower.
-- Charlie Sykes on MSNBC
1312. ETTD.
Deb Haaland won confirmation in the Senate to lead the Interior Department on Monday, making the Congresswoman from New Mexico the first Native American ever to serve in a presidential Cabinet.
Haaland's rise from poverty to Congress and now to President Joe Biden's cabinet ushers in a new chapter for the agency that once sought to extinguish the cultural identity of Native American who were driven onto reservations to open up vast areas of the country for settlers. As head of the Interior Department, she will oversee the agency that not only guides the federal government's relations with tribes, but manages 20 percent of the U.S. land and nearly a quarter of the nation's oil and gas production.
That fossil fuel production was the central issue in her contentious nomination process, since Haaland, one of the most progressive members of the House, had advocated a "keep it in the ground" approach for oil and gas production and participated in a protest against a pipeline in North Dakota. Those views drew sharp criticisms from Republicans, particularly those from western states whose economies depend on oil, gas and coal output, often from the federal acreage Haaland will now oversee.
In the final vote, only four Republicans joined all Senate Democrats present in the 51-40 tally that will install her as Interior secretary. Those votes came from Alaska's Lisa Murkowski, who said she "struggled" with her support, Susan Collins of Maine, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Dan Sullivan of Alaska....
Whack9, might be worth a thank you note to Lindsey.
Vote Summary Question: On the Nomination (Confirmation: Debra Anne Haaland, of New Mexico, to be Secretary of the Interior )
Don't know how I mangled this post and don't know how to fix it. I'll just get another beer.
Never heard of agarwood or "oud" before.
I wonder if anyone has tried to duplicate the extracted oil via chemistry.
Well, that's why it's so expensive.....nobody's ever seen any of it, made a chair from it, smoked pot in a pipe made of it. It's a goddamn scam tailor made for the feeble minded and gullible. trump has agarwood clogging his shitter; it's why he whines about flishing ten or twelve times. I myself figure on building a massive agarwood ark. Never mind that agar wood is the only wood that doesn't float. trumpagar.
Tracy Stone-Manning is an old greenie friend. I remember her being investigated for tenuous connections to Earth Firsters. Her husband of many decades, Richard Manning, used to be an environmental reporter for the local newspaper. He was fired for being too truthful in a big kerfuffle and went on to a far more successful and impactful career.
I hope that she gets confirmed, but it might be King Coal Manchin difficult.
A clown with a flamethrower still has a flamethrower.
-- Charlie Sykes on MSNBC
1312. ETTD.
All over the world, countries are confronting population stagnation and a fertility bust, a dizzying reversal unmatched in recorded history that will make first-birthday parties a rarer sight than funerals, and empty homes a common eyesore.
Maternity wards are already shutting down in Italy. Ghost cities are appearing in northeastern China. Universities in South Korea cannot find enough students, and in Germany, hundreds of thousands of properties have been razed, with the land turned into parks.
Like an avalanche, the demographic forces — pushing toward more deaths than births — seem to be expanding and accelerating. Although some countries continue to see their populations grow, especially in Africa, fertility rates are falling nearly everywhere else. Demographers now predict that by the latter half of the century or possibly earlier, the global population will enter a sustained decline for the first time.
A planet with fewer people could ease pressure on resources, slow the destructive impact of climate change and reduce household burdens for women.
... By the end of the century, Nigeria could surpass China in population; across sub-Saharan Africa, families are still having four or five children.
ut nearly everywhere else, the era of high fertility is ending. As women have gained more access to education and contraception and as the anxieties associated with having children intensify, more parents are delaying pregnancy, and fewer babies are being born. Even in countries long associated with rapid growth, such as India and Mexico, birthrates are falling toward or are already below the replacement rate of 2.1 children per family.
The change may take decades, but once it starts, decline (just like growth) spirals exponentially. With fewer births, fewer girls grow up to have children, and if they have smaller families than their parents did — which is happening in dozens of countries — the drop starts to look like a rock thrown off a cliff.
... In Japan, where adult diapers now outsell ones for babies, municipalities have been consolidated as towns age and shrink....
Demographers warn against seeing population decline as simply a cause for alarm. Many women are having fewer children because that is what they want. Smaller populations could lead to higher wages, more equal societies, lower carbon emissions and a higher quality of life for the smaller numbers of children who are born....
A clown with a flamethrower still has a flamethrower.
-- Charlie Sykes on MSNBC
1312. ETTD.
In about ten seconds, the right wing peanut gallery will seize on this as proof of their "replacement" theory and throw the blame for it on "radical left wing Democrats' socialist agenda."
Tracy Stone-Manning is an old greenie friend. I remember her being investigated for tenuous connections to Earth Firsters. Her husband of many decades, Richard Manning, used to be an environmental reporter for the local newspaper. He was fired for being too truthful in a big kerfuffle and went on to a far more successful and impactful career.
I hope that she gets confirmed, but it might be King Coal Manchin difficult.
My memory was a little shaky and it will be an even rougher road for confirmation. I sure wouldn't bet on it.
A couple has been fined $18,000 after uprooting 36 Joshua trees to make space for a home and then burying them in a hole. Authorities hope the fine discourages others from mowing down the crooked-limbed plant, which is an imperiled species being considered for protection under California’s endangered species act....
Officials filed a 36-count misdemeanor complaint against the couple on 7 June, alleging the “unlawful taking” of 36 Joshua trees. Each act of taking a Joshua tree can result in a fine of up to $4,100, and or six months in jail, officials said.
The couple, identified by authorities as Jeffrey Walter and Jonetta Nordberg-Walter, were “cooperative in the investigation”, the press release said. On 11 June, the San Bernardino county superior court placed the couple on a pre-trial diversion program.
Under their agreement with the court, Walter and Nordberg-Walter each have to pay a $9,000 fine. Part of this penalty has already been paid, and the couple could earn credit toward the fine if they volunteer for Joshua Tree national park, or the Mojave Desert Land Trust.
If the couple completes all of the pre-trial diversion requirements, their case will be dismissed. If they do not fulfill the requirements, prosecutors will proceed with the case against them, officials said....
The fine should be much steeper, there should be jail time and/or they should be precluded from building the home on the land. $18,000 is just a blip in the cost of a $250K, $500K or more CA home.
A clown with a flamethrower still has a flamethrower.
-- Charlie Sykes on MSNBC
1312. ETTD.
Way out where Joshua Trees grow I suspect one could build a mansion or something pretty modest, especially if it's partially DIY like these folks are doing.
A clown with a flamethrower still has a flamethrower.
-- Charlie Sykes on MSNBC
1312. ETTD.
I read not long ago that the LaBianca house of Manson fame was recently sold for nearly 2 million bucks. It's a house that would sell in my area for about $450,000 or even less due to the infamous nature of the place.
It's not just the damage done, but also all of the potential progress that was forgone for 4 years.
Bleed him dry!
The fine should be much steeper, there should be jail time and/or they should be precluded from building the home on the land. $18,000 is just a blip in the cost of a $250K, $500K or more CA home.
