Tree Hugger Thread

[O Really]

Yeah, it's a mess. Probably be cheaper to just build the Mexicans better treatment plants, or at least keep ours running better.

https://www.asce.org/publications-and-n ... %20Outfall.

[GoCubsGo]

Yeah, it's a mess. Probably be cheaper to just build the Mexicans better treatment plants, or at least keep ours running better.

https://www.asce.org/publications-and-n ... %20Outfall.

Seems like there should be some existing standards or international laws governing something like this.

[O Really]

Yeah, it's a mess. Probably be cheaper to just build the Mexicans better treatment plants, or at least keep ours running better.

https://www.asce.org/publications-and-n ... %20Outfall.

Seems like there should be some existing standards or international laws governing something like this.

There may be, but apparently no way to enforce. It's a bad problem, but largely affects Imperial Beach area. If it gets up to Coronado where the rich people live, they'll probably do something about it.

[GoCubsGo]

Yeah, it's a mess. Probably be cheaper to just build the Mexicans better treatment plants, or at least keep ours running better.

https://www.asce.org/publications-and-n ... %20Outfall.

Seems like there should be some existing standards or international laws governing something like this.

There may be, but apparently no way to enforce. It's a bad problem, but largely affects Imperial Beach area. If it gets up to Coronado where the rich people live, they'll probably do something about it.

I kind of figured it would be toothless.

I kind of remember reading about problems like this in neighboring countries in Europe and it taking years in international court to get resolved.

[O Really]

Problem seems to be that those directly affected, SD county and Tijuana, don't have much authority and those that would have to work together, US and Mexico, don't have it as a great priority

[Vrede too]

Problem seems to be that those directly affected, SD county and Tijuana, don't have much authority and those that would have to work together, US and Mexico, don't have it as a great priority

That sucks.

Now for some good news:

National Parks nonprofit receiving largest grant in its history

An Indiana-based philanthropic endowment will give $100 million to the official nonprofit of the National Park Service (NPS), the largest gift the organization has ever received.

The National Park Foundation (NPF) announced Monday it has received the award from the Lilly Endowment. The foundation has not yet determined details of how the grant will be applied across the hundreds of national park sites, but foundation CEO Will Shafroth said the group hopes to announce an initial round of grants by the end of the year.

“For over 50 years, private philanthropy has played a vital role in bridging the gap between park needs and available funding. This grant will allow us to supercharge our efforts to ensure our national parks are for everyone, for generations to come,” Shafroth said in a statement.

“The impact of this gift will be felt in our parks and in surrounding communities for generations to come,” NPS Director Chuck Sams said. “This is a truly visionary investment, and an example of how the power of philanthropy can amplify this crucial work that we all believe in so much.”...

x $100M.

[Vrede too]

Speaking of sewage . . .

Something’s Poisoning America’s Farms. Scientists Fear ‘Forever’ Chemicals.

For decades, farmers across America have been encouraged by the federal government to spread municipal sewage on millions of acres of farmland as fertilizer. It was rich in nutrients, and it helped keep the sludge out of landfills.

But a growing body of research shows that this black sludge, made from the sewage that flows from homes and factories, can contain heavy concentrations of chemicals thought to increase the risk of certain types of cancer and to cause birth defects and developmental delays in children.

Known as forever chemicals because of their longevity, these toxic contaminants are now being detected, sometimes at high levels, on farmland across the country, including in Texas, Maine, Michigan, New York and Tennessee. In some cases the chemicals are suspected of sickening or killing livestock and are turning up in produce. Farmers are beginning to fear for their own health.

The national scale of farmland contamination by these chemicals — which are used in everything from microwave popcorn bags and firefighting gear to nonstick pans and stain-resistant carpets — is only now starting to become apparent. There are now lawsuits against providers of the fertilizer, as well as against the Environmental Protection Agency, alleging that the agency failed to regulate the chemicals, known as PFAS....

Crap

[Vrede too]

Now for some good news:

As removal of dams frees Klamath River, California tribes see hope of saving salmon

... Over the last few weeks, crews have nearly finished removing the last of the four dams that once held back the Klamath River near the California-Oregon border.

On Wednesday, workers carved channels to breach the remaining cofferdams at the last two sites, allowing water to flow freely along more than 40 miles of the Klamath for the first time in more than a century.

Indigenous leaders and activists cheered, smiled and embraced as they watched the river slowly begin to pour through what was left of Iron Gate Dam. Some were in tears....

(the entire article is informative and heartwarming)

I've seen dam removal elsewhere. It's a beautiful thing.

Work should be complete in Sept. O Really, if you stop on your way north in the Spring you could see the free-flowing Klamath in its first year.

[Vrede too]

Now for some good news:

As removal of dams frees Klamath River, California tribes see hope of saving salmon



I've seen dam removal elsewhere. It's a beautiful thing.

Work should be complete in Sept. O Really, if you stop on your way north in the Spring you could see the free-flowing Klamath in its first year.

Just weeks after Klamath River dam removals, salmon spotted in long-obstructed streams

For the first time since 1912, wildlife officials say salmon are returning to tributaries on the Oregon side of the Klamath Basin. It's the culmination of the largest dam removal project in the U.S.

Read more:
https://www.kgw.com/article/tech/scienc ... aeea77ca1c

112 years!

[Vrede too]

Drill, baby, drill:

Trump Taps North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum For Interior Chief, Energy Czar
The billionaire businessman ran against Trump for the GOP presidential nomination but has proved to be a loyal ally over the last year.




https://www.jameslovelessart.com/origin ... s/tear-new

[Vrede too]

Elon Musk Gloats as Trump Announces Billionaires Will Be Exempt From Normal Environmental Rules
"This is awesome."

[Vrede too]

Biden to ban offshore oil, gas drilling in vast areas ahead of Trump term

U.S. President Joe Biden will ban new offshore oil and gas development along most U.S. coastlines, a decision President-elect Donald Trump, who has vowed to boost domestic energy production, may find difficult to reverse.

The move is considered mostly symbolic, as it will not impact areas where oil and gas development is currently underway, and mainly covers zones where drillers have no important prospects, including in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

The White House said on Monday that Biden will use his authority under the 70-year-old Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to protect all federal waters off the East and West coasts, the eastern Gulf of Mexico and portions of the northern Bering Sea in Alaska. The ban will affect 625 million acres (253 million hectares) of ocean....

"My decision reflects what coastal communities, businesses, and beachgoers have known for a long time: that drilling off these coasts could cause irreversible damage to places we hold dear and is unnecessary to meet our nation's energy needs," Biden said in a statement. "It is not worth the risks."

... But the Lands Act, which allows presidents to withdraw areas from mineral leasing and drilling, does not grant them the legal authority to overturn prior bans, according to a 2019 court ruling - meaning a reversal would likely require an act of Congress. That order came in response to Trump's effort to reverse Arctic and Atlantic Ocean withdrawals made by former President Barack Obama at the end of his presidency.

Trump also used the Lands Act to ban sales of offshore drilling rights in the eastern Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Florida through 2032. Biden's decision will protect the same area with no expiration....

"Our treasured coastal communities are now safeguarded for future generations,” Oceana Campaign Director Joseph Gordon said in a statement.

[Supsalemgr]

A nice temper tantrum move for the left.

[Vrede too]

A nice temper tantrum move for the left.

Wrong, it's a reasonable, supportable and effective policy decision. Here's the impotent temper tantrum:

... "It's ridiculous. I'll unban it immediately. I will unban it. I have the right to unban it immediately," Trump said (lied) in an interview on the Hugh Hewitt radio program....

Project much?

A nice day a the beach according to Soupy Sales:

[Vrede too]

A nice temper tantrum move for the left.

Another "nice temper tantrum", pooor SoupySales.

These are the plants and animals that will benefit from the designation of largest corridor of federally protected land

Vast forests, desert land and even a volcano are among the landscapes included in what is now the largest corridor of protected land in the United States -- which will also protect numerous rare and threatened plant and animal species that live within the region.

The Biden administration announced on Tuesday the designation of two new monuments, which will establish the largest tract of protected land in the continental U.S....

Chuckwalla National Monument in Southern California

... The new monument also creates the new Moab to Mojave Conservation Corridor -- nearly 18 million acres of protected land spanning from Southern California to Utah -- the largest protected corridor in the continental U.S., according to the White House.

The corridor stretches from Bears Ears National Monument and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in southwestern Utah to the Baaj Nwaavjo I'tah Kukveni – Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument in Arizona and the Avi Kwa Ame National Monument in Nevada....

Sáttítla Highlands National Monument in Northern California's mountainous interior

About 224,000 acres of land in Northern California will now be protected under the designation of the Sáttítla Highlands National Monument....

GoJoeGo!

SoupySales loves wildland development, pollution and extinction.

[Vrede too]

Kingston Fossil Plant coal fly ash slurry spill

The Kingston Fossil Plant Spill was an environmental and industrial disaster that occurred on December 22, 2008, when a dike ruptured at a coal ash pond at the Tennessee Valley Authority's Kingston Fossil Plant in Roane County, Tennessee, releasing 1.1 billion US gallons (4.2 million cubic metres) of coal fly ash slurry.

... The spill damaged multiple homes and flowed into nearby waterways including the Emory River and Clinch River, both tributaries of the Tennessee River. It was the largest industrial spill in United States history.

The initial spill, which resulted in millions of dollars worth of property damages and rendered many properties uninhabitable, cost TVA more than $1 billion to clean up and was declared complete in 2015....

17 years later:

Supreme Court upholds Biden administration's implementation of controversial policy: 'Legacy impoundments leak into the surrounding soil and groundwater'

The U.S. Supreme Court's latest ruling is sweeping coal ash pollution under tighter regulation.

As reported by The New York Times, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Environmental Protection Agency's authority to enforce stricter regulations on coal ash, a product created by coal-burning power plants. East Kentucky Power Cooperative initially pushed back against the EPA's plan in a federal appeals court before taking the matter to the Supreme Court.

This decision marks a potentially significant step in reducing pollution from coal plants, a move that could set a precedent, benefit public health, and protect ecosystems across the nation....

On a broader scale, the regulations help address the Earth's overheating by limiting harmful industrial practices. Cleaner coal ash management reduces the pollution of coal plants, signaling a shift toward prioritizing renewable energy and reducing reliance on dirty fuels....

[Vrede too]

Trump administration fires thousands of U.S. Forest and National Park Service workers
(3 minute video)

The Trump administration hit the U.S. Forest and National Park Services with major staffing cuts over the weekend. The administration fired about 10% of the U.S. Forest Service workforce and about 5% of National Park Service employees. Ashley Harrell, National Parks bureau chief at SFGate, joins CBS News to explain what the move could mean for the future of key environmental and tourist sites.

Crap, this will really mess with places I love.

[GoCubsGo]

Trump administration fires thousands of U.S. Forest and National Park Service workers
(3 minute video)

The Trump administration hit the U.S. Forest and National Park Services with major staffing cuts over the weekend. The administration fired about 10% of the U.S. Forest Service workforce and about 5% of National Park Service employees. Ashley Harrell, National Parks bureau chief at SFGate, joins CBS News to explain what the move could mean for the future of key environmental and tourist sites.

Crap, this will really mess with places I love.

GoDogeGo!

https://www.yahoo.com/news/long-lines-c ... 01658.html

At California’s Yosemite National Park, the Trump administration fired the only locksmith on staff on Friday. He was the sole employee with the keys and the institutional knowledge needed to rescue visitors from locked restrooms.

The wait to enter Arizona’s Grand Canyon National Park this past weekend was twice as long as usual after the administration let go four employees who worked at the south entrance, where roughly 90[

And at Gettysburg National Military Park in Pennsylvania, last week’s widespread layoffs gutted the team that managed reservations for renting historic farmhouses. Visitors received notifications that their reservations had been canceled indefinitely.

These idiots are operating with a hatchet where a scapel is required.

[O Really]

They're still finding damage to Joshua Tree from the last time the government "closed."

[Vrede too]

They're still finding damage to Joshua Tree from the last time the government "closed."

Crap, I love Joshua Tree.

The truth about American drinking water: Report shows widespread presence of hazardous chemicals

Between the ongoing controversy around fluoridated water and the recent discovery of a chemical in our water systems that may or may not be toxic, the safety of American drinking water is murky, to say the least.

And today, with a new report revealing that tap water is delivering harmful chemicals like PFAS (“forever chemicals”), heavy metals, and radioactive substances to millions of Americans—often at levels far beyond what scientists consider safe—it got even murkier.

The latest update to the Tap Water Database, from the non-profit Environmental Working Group (EWG), reveals that 324 contaminants were found in drinking water systems across the country, with almost all systems having some amount of detectable contaminants in its water. That’s according to safety data collected between 2021 and 2023 by EWG from nearly 50,000 water systems in every state (except New Hampshire, which did not provide its data).

“This is a wake-up call,” said EWG senior scientist Tasha Stoiber in a news release.

Consumers can search the database by zip code to see what specific contaminants were found in their local water systems....

EWG’s Tap Water Database
Know what’s in Your tap
WATER

Hooterville:
https://www.ewg.org/tapwater/system.php?pws=NC0145010
7 contaminants above EWG's Health Guidelines.
Fortunately, all are removed by the Britta activated carbon filter I've used for decades. It would be an expensive, time-consuming hassle to switch to a reverse osmosis system. Phew.