At CNN’s seven-hour marathon climate crisis town hall Wednesday, the top 10 candidates for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination united on calls to recommit to the Paris climate accord, end subsidies to oil, gas and coal companies, and halt fossil fuel leasing on public lands.
But fault lines opened on issues like the future of fossil fuels, fracking, nuclear energy and the Senate filibuster, suggesting a debate on these differences should be at the forefront of the nomination process, not relegated to a sidebar....
Strong on fracking:
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)
Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.)
Weak on fracking:
former Vice President Joe Biden
Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.)
Pro nuke:
businessman Andrew Yang
Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.)
Anti nuke:
Sanders
Harris
Pro Green New Deal
Harris
Sanders
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.)
What You Can Do
NOAA is accepting public comments on recommendations from the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Team that aim to achieve a 60 to 80 percent reduction in mortalities and serious injuries of right whales in US waters. You can help by submitting written comments to Michael Pentony, Regional Administrator at NOAA.
The crystal blue waters of Ginnie Springs have long been treasured among the string of pearls that line (north) Florida’s picturesque Santa Fe River, a playground for water sports enthusiasts and an ecologically critical haven for the numerous species of turtles that nest on its banks.
Soon, however, it is feared there could be substantially less water flowing through, if a plan by the food and beverage giant Nestlé wins approval.
In a controversial move that has outraged environmentalists and also raised questions with authorities responsible for the health and vitality of the river, the company is seeking permission to take more than 1.1m gallons a day from the natural springs to sell back to the public as bottled water.
Opponents say the fragile river, which is already officially deemed to be “in recovery” by the Suwannee River water management district after years of earlier overpumping, cannot sustain such a large draw – a claim Nestlé vehemently denies. Critics are fighting to stop the project as environmentally harmful and against the public interest....
:cussing: I don't remember Ginnie Springs, but I've played in the area.
"Reject the attempt by Nestle Waters to renew Seven Springs Water's consumptive use permit. Drawing 1.152 million gallons per day from the fragile and valuable ecosystem of the Santa Fe River and its springs is clearly not 'reasonable and beneficial and with the public interest.'"
... North America has lost nearly 3 billion birds since 1970, a study said Thursday, which also found significant population declines among hundreds of bird species, including those once considered plentiful.
Overall, bird populations in the United States and Canada have declined by 29% in the past 50 years, according to the study, which authors say is a sign of a widespread ecological crisis....
The cause is primarily habitat loss, as birds are losing the places they need to live, find food, rest and raise their young.
Other threats to birds include deaths because of free-roaming cats, collisions with glass, toxic pesticides and insect decline. Climate change compounds all of these problems and also accelerates the loss of the habitats that birds need, experts say.
"These data are consistent with what we're seeing elsewhere with other (groups of animals) showing massive declines, including insects and amphibians," said study co-author Peter Marra, the director of the Georgetown Environment Initiative at Georgetown University....
Yeah, it could be. This does seem like a legitimate breakthrough. My prediction is that this knowledge will be used to achieve nuclear fusion and thus be directed to destructive ends. From what I understand the historical failure to achieve fusion is due to the extremely high heat required to initiate it. I guess we'll see what we'll see.
Fwiw, most of my reusable shopping bags are cloth and I haven't gotten a new one in years, EXCEPT that this year and last the Co-op has run a 30% off on everything deal for anything you can fit in a new reusable plastic shopping bag. I've filled 2 bags both years. Next year, I'll ask if I can use a used bag rather than buying a new one, didn't think of it this year.
