CRITTERS AND THE GREAT OUTDOORS

wacko liberal writes—Fish Farmed Salmon Disaster: “Here in the Pacific Northwest, salmon are a very big deal, integral to the economy and culture. This weekend, our Lummi Native fishermen discovered farmed Atlantic salmon in their territorial waters. Environmental Nightmare. Commercial fishing boats are scrambling to catch as many Atlantic salmon as they can after a net pen broke near Washington's Cypress Island. Fishers reported thousands of the non-native fish jumping in the water or washing ashore. Warren said his main concern is that Atlantic salmon could out-compete native Chinook salmon and steelhead for food and spawning grounds. ‘The Atlantic salmon bring with them pollution, virus and parasite amplification, and all that harms Pacific salmon and our waters of Washington,’ Beardslee said. Beardslee said this event should be of concern — especially because the same company, Cooke Aquaculture, is proposing a larger Atlantic salmon net pen in the Strait of San Juan de Fuca. ‘The majority of our salmon migrate through the straits when they're leaving as juveniles. You start having a viral or parasitic outbreak there, when our juvenile fish are moving through — it could be a disaster,’ Beardslee said.”

Ailanthus webworm (Atteva aurea) — a colorful species of ermine moth. These are getting nectar from a blooming mountain mint (probably Pycnanthemum incanum).

owktree writes—Daily Bucket: Observations in Philadelphia: “Observations and photos from walks along the Schuylkill River. Most photos taken around August 13th. [...] The area I walk is paved trails along the Schuylkill River in Center City Philadelphia and leading into the eastern edge of Fairmount Park on either side of the river. The terrain is fairly level with a bit of low river bluff and a few rocky outcrops. Grass along the trails is mown, with specific trees and shrubs planted along the trail — birch, cherry, winterberry, honeysuckle, etc. Near the Art Museum especially there are flower beds amidst some outdoor sculpture gardens. And just off the trails is “waste area” that hosts a wide variety of additional plants and wildlife including sumac, evening primrose, thistles, etc. The waste area plants are a mix of natives and invasives and actually a cross-section of ‘pioneer species’ that are the first into recently disturbed ground. And the there is the river itself. A dam is located right beside the old waterworks. Above the dam is a pool where boat races are held. The protective wire and rope barrier above the dam is a popular perching spot with gulls and cormorants. Below the dam the river has enough tidal variance that small rocky islands appear and disappear. And there is enough duck weed and other vegetation about to support a year-round population of ducks and geese.”

The Rocks are just packed right now. Some of those birds are baby gulls.

OceanDiver writes—The Daily Bucket - baby gulls on the rocks: “Nesting season for gulls means they are gone from the beaches for the whole summer. I can hear them in the distance, in the thousands, but they are offshore, safely on the rocks and islands where land animals like raccoons, dogs and cats, and humans can’t get to their nests on the ground. There’s not a lot of real estate out there though, especially when you have to share it with others. ”

Sylvanus Prince writes—Birds, trains, people. Where do I begin the Great Klamath Falls TSE Sojourn? Photo Diary.

CLIMATE CHAOS

Besame writes—Daily Bucket: Climate change serves up the hi carb diet grizzly bears prefer but is it healthy? ”Normally, the salmon run doesn’t overlap with the ripe elderberries so the bears feast first on fish and then later move upslope to eat the ripe fruits. But through examining historical data, the researchers saw that this timing had shifted. In Alaska, spring temperatures have increased and elderberries have been ripening earlier. In 2014, the berries ripened especially early, bringing them in sync with the spawning salmon. And it seems that whenever both items are on the menu simultaneously, the bears always choose berries. That grizzly bears would abandon the calorie-rich salmon in favor of berries didn’t make sense. Because bears are preparing for winter hibernation, the men thought the animals would choose the highest calorie food and that they only ate the elderberries because the salmon run was over. To help make sense of this, they talked to Charles Robbins who oversees the Bear Center at Washington State University. Robbins told them that bears need to get 17 percent of their energy from protein and if they ate more protein than that, the bears lose weight.”

Walter Einenkel writes—With warming temperatures, the United States has a very disturbing and growing rat problem: “As temperatures rise and stay warmer throughout the year, the problems that major cities have with rats are growing. The New Republic reports that our country is looking down the barrel of a ‘ratpocalypse.’ Most cities know rat woes well. Washington, D.C., for instance, has burned through countless plans to stymie its longstanding ‘rat problem’ or ‘rodent crisis,’ in which disease-ridden critters are not only growing in number but ballooning to the size of human infants. What they don’t know is how this all will end. Houston, Texas, is seeing a rat spike this year, and so is New York City. In Chicago, rodent complaints for the early part of the summer have increased about 9 percent from last year, forcing city officials to start sprinkling the streets with rat birth control. Philadelphia and Boston were recently ranked the two cities with the most rat sightings in the country. And it’s not just this year; as USA Today reported last year, major cities saw spikes in rodent-related business from 2013 to 2015. Calls to Orkin, the pest control service, were reportedly ‘up 61 percent in Chicago; 67 percent in Boston; 174 percent in San Francisco; 129 percent in New York City; and 57 percent in Washington, D.C.’ Professionals believe that the warm weather is the main culprit as rats breed far less during the colder winter months.”

John Crapper writes—Climate Change Milestone - Break Out the Champagne: “Climate change is helping create new opportunities for shipping companies by melting the ice around the North Pole. A Russian tanker carrying natural gas has become the first merchant ship to sail across the Arctic without the help of an icebreaker, finishing the journey in record time. The ship, the Christophe de Margerie, traveled from Norway to South Korea in 19 days, about 30% quicker than the regular route through the Suez Canal, its Russian owner, Sovcomflot, said this week. The thinning Arctic ice due to warmer waters caused by climate change is opening up new shorter shipping lanes which will result in millions saved. Hurrah!! Greater profits for the fossil fuel shippers! According to NASA, many global climate models predict that the Arctic will be ice-free for at least part of the year before the end of the 21st century. Some models predict an ice-free Arctic by midcentury. That would have a direct impact on weather patterns around the world.”

Keith Pickering writes—Scientists now scrubbing "climate change" from proposals at Trump Administration insistence: “Jennifer Bowen is a professor at Northeastern University in Boston, specializing in microbial ecology. She doesn’t often post on her Facebook page, but her post yesterday is getting some traction. It seems she’s being asked by her University to scrub the words ‘climate change’ from a recent grant proposal, per Trump administration budgeting rules. Here’s the email.

Holy buckets. So now scientists are being asked to censor their work? Make Ignorance Great Again?”

Extreme Weather & Natural Phenomena

Kelly Macias writes—Hurricane Harvey poised to disproportionately impact blacks in Texas, but no one is talking about it: “As Texas braces itself for Hurricane Harvey, the Trump administration remains woefully ignorant and unprepared. The current FEMA director is working to rewrite the Federal Flood Insurance Program so that the federal government bears less of the cost when disasters strike and flooding occurs. On the surface, that might sound like a fiscally responsible move. But it’s loaded with inconsistencies and will most certainly not work out well for local cities, states or residents. Additionally, since Trump seems to be firing people weekly but taking his sweet time in hiring them, no one has been appointed to lead both the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). DHS oversees FEMA and the Coast Guard so it’s almost guaranteed that the response to this storm will be chaos. This is shaping up to be another Hurricane Katrina—complete with a devastating impact on black and brown communities. Southeast Texas and the coastal bend regions of the state are expected to be the hardest hit. While Hispanics make up about 40 percent of the state’s population, Texas has one of the largest black populations in the country. And they live concentrated in the areas that are predicted to be hardest hit.”

Mark Sumner writes—Harvey on land as Category 1 storm, some models now predicting 60 inches of rain: “Hurricane Harvey reached Texas on Friday evening as a Category 4 storm with sustained winds of 130mph and maximum winds over 150mph. Winds have declined as the eye of the storm has moved completely over land, but at 8:00 AM CDT, the storm remains a Category 1 hurricane with winds in excess of 85 mph. Harvey is expected to be downgraded to a tropical storm sometime on Saturday. Landfall for the storm took place some 30-40 miles north of Corpus Christi, near the small town of Rockport. Damage in that area is extensive. Approximately 130 were evacuated from a hotel where they were trying to ride out the storm, and numerous homes and business have been damaged. At least ten people in the Rockport area are known to have been injured when roofs collapsed both at the local high school and at a senior living facility. At the moment, there are (thankfully) no other known injuries.”

Mark Sumner writes—Harvey has made landfall as a Cat 4 hurricane with winds in excess of 130mph: “Hurricane Harvey reached the Texas coast around 10 PM CDT after a day of slowly moving toward land while gaining strength. Harvey started the day as a Category 2 storm, but reached land at Category 4, with sustained winds in excess of 130 mph. The eye of the storm is now approximately 30 miles northeast of Corpus Christie, passing over San Jose Island near the towns of Rockport and Fulton. Storm surge between Port Aransas, at the north end of Mustang Island and Port O’Connor, 60 miles away on the south edge of Matagorda Bay, is expected to range as high as 13 feet. The strongest surge appears to be in the area facing Matagorda Island, which is mostly undeveloped. However, predicted storm surge for the area west of Padre Island National Seashore, including Corpus Christi itself, which had earlier ranged to 12 feet, has been lowered to between 5 feet and 8 feet.”

Mark Sumner writes—Hurricane Harvey to strike oil and gas facilities expanded by fracking boom: “Hydraulic fracturing of shale beds has led to a boom of oil and gas production in the United States, reversing a slow decline that had been underway for decades. To accommodate that growth, additional storage and processing plants have been built. Under President Obama, a long ban on export of US oil was lifted, leading to the construction of new export facilities. Unfortunately, many of these new structures—from storage tanks to port facilities—have been built on the Texas coast at a location that is now directly in the path of a strengthening hurricane and massive flood. As Eric Holthaus at Grist reports … Corpus Christi, a critical port for the Texas oil and gas industry, is also one of the most vulnerable places in America when it comes to coastal flooding. An analysis earlier this year by the South Texas Economic Development Center predicted that 92 square miles of the Corpus Christi metro area would flood with a six-foot rise in water, including all six of the city’s refineries. Harvey could bring up to twice that, with as much as 12 feet of storm surge potentially swamping refinery infrastructure, including huge tanks of crude oil, with saltwater.”

fladem writes—The most reliable Hurricane model predicts SIXTY inches of rain in Texas: “When I lived in Florida, I learned to watch the Gulf very carefully. I was a regular reader of Jeff Masters at the weather underground. I can still remember his writing on Katrina. Part of lving in Florida is learning to learn about the forecasts and the models. The two best are the Euro and the GFS. So consider below the prediction of 60 inches of rain. It is unimaginable. Cataclysmic.

x Let me translate this: the most reliable hurricane model is projecting 60 inches of rain for Texas - an unimaginable number. https:/t.co/VGFep0vv40 Ã¢ÂÂ dcg1114 (@dcg1114) August 25, 2017

I always recommend following Jeff Masters, who is here. He cites another piece that is worth reading. Pro-publica did a piece on the effect of a hurricane hitting Houston. This isn't likely to be a direct hit on Houston, but the size of the hurricane and the amount of rain may make some of what is described possible.”

nailkeg writes—Trump has promised Texas all the resources of the government for “Harvey” but right now, Right Now: “ shelters are already open; semi-trailer trucks are already headed for Texas; food serving trucks are already headed for Texas; volunteers from Red Cross are already on the way or staged in a safe place waiting for the storm to abate And I could go on and on. When Katrina hit, I was already on my way as a Red Cross Volunteer to Houston where 35,000 survivors came to stay in the Astrodome Stadium. Before Bush and FEMA decided there was an emergency…Before Katrina hit, the Red Cross had already asked permission for, and had been turned down, to set up a shelter in the Super Dome. The shelters that are open now don’t just appear out of thin air. Paid staff and volunteers for Red Cross research, map out and pre-arrange shelters across the nation because no one knows where a tornado will hit, where an earthquake will occur, a flood will happen and on and on. Whenever something happens, a few phone calls and the shelters will be open, already inspected and safe.”

lava20 writes—SHOCKER! TX Senators who voted against aid for Hurricane Sandy ask for fed asst ahead of Harvey: “From The Hill: GOP Texas Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz pressed President Trump in a letter on Friday to grant Gov. Greg Abbott's (R) request for a major disaster declaration for the state as Hurricane Harvey barrels toward it. ‘Given the potential catastrophic impact that the Hurricane may have on Texas communities, we strongly support this request and urge you to provide any and all emergency protective measures available by a major disaster declaration,’ the senators said. [...] The pair voted against a disaster relief package after Hurricane Sandy slammed the U.S. in 2013, causing severe damage to the region. Cruz said at the time he voted against the package because it was filled with spending that was unrelated to storm relief.”

NonpassiveVoice writes—Hurricane Harvey: A Plea to My Fellow Kossacks: “Lots of people in Texas and Louisiana might be effected by this storm. And even people we don’t agree with might suffer damage and/or loss of life. That said, if Texas and Louisiana suffer devastation, they should of course get all the government help they need, regardless of their opinion regarding other people receiving government help. For me, the hallmark of liberalism is compassion. I don’t pray much, but I’m holding all my Kossacks in the Gulf of Mexico region in my thoughts and prayers tonight.”

jrooth writes—Southeast Texas Facing an Extremely Serious Storm Threat: “The threat to SE Texas from TS Harvey has increased dramatically overnight and this morning. Harvey is currently rapidly intensifying at a rate of over 2mb per hour. It is on the cusp of becoming a hurricane. It has a closed eye and nearly ideal structure and is moving slowly over extremely warm water. The latest NHC advisory predicts this will be a Category 3 hurricane at landfall tomorrow evening. The rule of thumb is to always expect one full category greater than forecast, so folks in SE Texas should be preparing for a Cat. 4. Worse yet, this storm is forecast to be moving very slowly at landfall. It may stall on the coast and/or move NE to NNE up the coast. And this storm has lots of moisture. There will be large parts of the coast to possibly 30 to 50 miles inland that have on the order of 2 feet of rain or more. This is a critical, life-threatening flood potential.”

ENERGY

Meteor Blades writes—Rick Perry presides over bogus rewrite of energy report that contradicts its own findings: “The Department of Energy has released its 187-page Staff Report to the Secretary on Electricity Markets and Reliability. Ordered by DOE Secretary Rick Perry in April, it’s quite the piece of work. Not that it doesn’t have a valuable array of good data. It’s replete with helpful information and charts. But its major conclusions don’t sync with reality. It states that the closure of many power plants over the past few years has raised the risk that people won’t have access to reliable electricity; and it recommends that the government make permitting easier, quicker, and cheaper for “such as nuclear, hydro, coal, advanced generation technologies, and transmission.” These conclusions are generally as wrongheaded as they are wholly expected. [...] The most serrated assessment of the report was posted online Wednesday night by climate and energy activist and author Joe Romm. He was an acting assistant secretary at DOE during the Clinton administration and the founder of the ClimateProgress section of ThinkProgress, the news project of the policy and advocacy-oriented Center for American Progress. Romm compared the final reworked report with drafts that had leaked their way into the public domain over the past few months. He found that some heavy editing produced the kind of upside-down results we’ve come to expect on just about every subject the Trump regime has been engaged in for the past seven months.”

ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Perry DOE’s Grid Study Lays Groundwork to Bail Out Sinking Coal, Nuclear: “ ‘Government shouldn’t pick winners and losers,’ we’ve heard, over and over. But the Department of Energy's long-anticipated grid study, released Wednesday evening, makes us think that isn’t the priority it used to be. The study, commissioned in order to support Perry’s baseless belief that renewables threaten grid security, ultimately found that cheap natural gas and energy efficiency measures are simply outcompeting coal and nuclear. Regulations and renewables play only a marginal role in coal’s decline, the report states clearly. Oh, and renewables are bringing down prices and keeping the grid flexible and reliable . To no one’s surprise, the report mostly ignored the benefits of renewables and renamed them ‘Variable Renewable Energy’ in a transparent attempt to frame them as unreliable. Fortunately, it didn’t quite go as far as some had feared in attacking clean energy to prop up dirty, though it does make some recommendations to that effect. But no matter how hard Perry wanted the report to justify killing renewables to save the grid, the facts just don’t support it. This is a surprise to no one who’s been paying attention. Earlier this week, Joe Romm at ThinkProgress compiled a bunch of examples of how, as one Houston Chronicle columnist put it , ‘environmentalists didn’t kill the nuclear power industry, economics did.’ Cheap renewables mean mining and exploiting radioactive materials isn’t as appealing as it was once promised to be.”

Fossil Fuels

Dan Bacher writes—Big Oil lobbyist lauds results of pollution trading auction: “If anybody had any illusions that the passage of Governor Jerry Brown’s cap-and-trade bill, AB 398, was good for the environment, one only has to read the statement issued by Catherine Reheis-Boyd, President of the Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA), on August 23 praising the results of the state's carbon auction: ‘Today’s successful carbon auction quarterly results prove that reforming and extending California’s cap-and-trade program was the right thing to do. The passage of AB398 has reinforced carbon market certainty, helping the industry compete in the world’s most stringent regulatory environment.’ Oil and gas companies, utilities and other corporations spent a total of $935 million to buy greenhouse gas pollution permits. State officials said the auction was sold out.”

T C Gibian writes—Unexpected Results from Fracking: “The bad effects of fracking are beginning to be seen—earthquakes where there never were any before, water coming out of the tap catching fire. However, there have been profound economic changes which have been largely ignored. Some beneficial. Fracking has allowed the U.S. to step up domestic production of both oil and natural gas, changing the economic environment for the large scale consumers, such as power plants. About a year ago the report was that that one kilowatt-hour of electrical output from coal cost about six cents to the four and a half cents for gas. If you were running such a business, and you could secure a 25% decrease in input costs without having to lower rates, which fuel would you prefer? Businessmen are entirely predictable in this regard. Since most of the coal mined went to power plants, the market has largely collapsed. The prices for gasoline here in California have dropped considerably, and the same is true elsewhere. Fracking has increased domestic production of oil, decreasing our need for imported oil and lowering prices. Now we find that the current prices will not support tar sand extraction, a dirty and expensive form of oil. Royal Dutch Shell, a major investor, has just pulled out.”

REGULATIONS & PROTECTIONS

Pakalolo writes—Trump's EPA deregulations will compound Harvey disaster in the heart of the petrochemical industry: “A New Republic piece by Emily Atkin, reports that Trump has left a key EPA position unfilled and his deregulation of polluting industries, as well as it’s potential deadly consequences from that injustice, is alarming public health officials. Oil and chemical companies are concerned too. LyondellBassell, one of the largest chemical and refining companies, said in a statement that it is preparing for “potential flooding” of its many Houston-area sites. Anadarko Petroleum and ExxonMobil have started evacuating workers from the region’s offshore oil drilling platforms, which together spilled a total of 741,000 gallons of oil during Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. One analyst told industry publication ICIS that five or six refineries could be directly hit by the storm. Environmental advocates are also worried that Harvey will create long-term public health problems due to accidental toxic substance releases, and not just from refineries and power plants. In the 30 counties where a disaster has been declared, there are dozens of Superfund sites , many of which are essentially waste pits containing harmful chemicals.”

Mark Sumner writes—While Texas braces for flooding, Trump's FEMA chief wants to cut flood insurance—and he may be right: “Texas residents hunkering down as Hurricane Harvey approaches the coast won’t be comforted by this proposal from Trump’s FEMA chief. President Donald Trump’s emergency management director said he’s pushing for an overhaul of disaster relief so that states, cities and homeowners bear more of the costs, and less of the risk falls on the federal government. The Federal Flood Insurance Program is currently being rewritten, with a new version expected next month. Even under the Obama administration, there were suggestions for tightening up the rules on homes built in areas subject to frequent flooding. States and localities have sometimes been lax in enforcing rules about building in flood plains, counting on federal insurance to take the brunt if anything goes wrong. Environmental groups have also supported toughening the rules to help protect wetlands and critical habitat near streams.”

Meteor Blades writes—EPA-hating EPA administrator blows off local media, but gives interview to beef lobby's 'news' arm: “Scott Pruitt has been on a listening tour of the United States to talk to local stakeholders about the Waters of the U.S. rule. You would think that the Environmental Protection Agency administrator—who is shielded by armed body guards at all times, even in the EPA offices—would be eager to give interviews to local media to get the word out. But no. Here’s Natasha Geiling: [F]or local media, securing access to Administrator Pruitt during the tour has proved a difficult task, with city and state newspapers from Colorado to South Carolina reporting a marked lack of transparency—and in at least one case, overt threats—when Pruitt came to town. But for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, which spent $117,375 in lobbying last year, getting an interview with Pruitt was apparently not a problem, with the administrator appearing in a recent video for the organization’s policy arm, Beltway Beef. In the video, Pruitt uses industry talking points to incorrectly state that the Obama administration rule redefined federally-regulated waters as a ‘puddle, a dry creek bed, and ephemeral drainage ditches across the country.’ In reality, the 2015 rule, which sought to clarify which waters fall under protection of the Clean Water Act, redefined federal waters as anything having a ‘significant nexus’ to navigable waters —that definition included things like wetlands or seasonal streams, but not puddles.”

Galtisalie writes—Trump's Big Energy problem: friends in the deep$ oil and gas state think he's going too far on dereg: “Político has an important story on an underreported ironic weakness through political strength in Trump’s corporate coalition—he's doing things so recklessly and sloppily even his Big Oil and Gas buds are getting heartburn. (www.politico.com/...) Among their fears: Laxer rules could set the stage for an environmental disaster like 2010’s BP oil spill in the Gulf, which blackened the industry’s reputation and spurred a regulatory clampdown. ‘Every industry wants regulations that make sense, but you don't need to roll things back so far that it opens an opportunity for outsiders to criticize, or something bad happens,’ said Brian Youngberg, an energy analyst at the investment firm Edward Jones. A person at one oil and gas company expressed similar worries. ‘It's not helpful if regulations are streamlined so as to allow something to happen — say, a methane explosion or a spill — and we'd be painted with it as an entire industry,’ said the person, who requested anonymity to speak freely.”

WILDERNESS, NATIONAL FORESTS AND PARKS, OTHER PUBLIC LANDS

Meteor Blades writes—Interior Secretary Zinke's review may be recommending a 90% cut in Bears Ears Nat'l Monument acreage: “Secretary of Interior Ryan Zinke handed over his recommendations for changing national monuments to Pr*sident Donald Trump Thursday afternoon. The secretary announced that none of the 27 national monuments he reviewed would be rescinded, and only a ‘handful’ would be reduced in acreage. This would allow mining and other activities prohibited by the national monument status. No details were provided to the public, but Zinke did release a two-page summary of his review of the monuments, which Trump ordered in April. [...] Environmentalists, ranchers, tribal governments and Western lawmakers had been watching closely to see if Mr. Zinke would propose changing the borders of the Bears Ears National Monument, which President Barack Obama established at the end of his term, and other scenic and historic areas under federal protection. In recent days, Mr. Zinke had been considering a dramatic reduction to Bears Ears, to approximately 160,000 acres from 1.35 million, according to multiple people familiar with the process. No president has ever reduced a monument by such a large amount.”

jeremybloom writes—Trump admin won't eliminate national monuments (but Bears Ears still on the chopping block): “We don't have an official release yet, but word is that NONE of the 27 national monuments under review by the Trump administration will be completely eliminated. But that was always an extreme option, probably tossed out there as a smokescreen to let Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke give away millions of acres to his millionaire oil and mining buddies, then say ‘But look, this is just a minor change compared to the disaster we COULD have perpetrated.’ [...] ‘Zinke's sham review was rigged from the beginning to open up more public lands to fossil fuel, mining and timber industries,’ said Randi Spivak, public lands program director for the Center for Biological Diversity. ‘He and Trump will not be allowed to rob Americans of their public lands. Any effort to change national monument boundaries or reduce protections will be challenged.’”

bitches4Hillary writes—Attention Seniors 62 and older! Fee for National Park's Lifetime Pass will increase on August 27th: “If you are 62 years or older and think you might be visiting our National Parks and National Recreation areas, one of the great last deals will end at 11:59 pm Eastern daylight time on August 27th. That’s when the National Park Senior lifetime pass is raised from $10 to $80. Passes can be purchased at National Park sites, but many have run out so they can still be purchased on line at this link for $20 . (for online purchase costs $10 more) store.usgs.gov/... The pass provides access to more than 2,000 sites managed by six Federal Agencies including: National Park Services; U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service; Bureau of Land Management; Bureau of Reclamation; U.S. Forest Service; U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; The pass covers entrance and day use recreation fees and provide possible discounts on some expanded amenity recreation fees.”

TRASH, TOXIC & RADIOACTIVE WASTE

bkopcho writes—Plastic Pollution Isn’t Healthy or Green: “There’s no evidence to support the contention that a federal ban on restricting plastic water bottle sales in national parks would [not] be ‘healthier and greener.’ ‘“The Park Service’s Botched Bottle Ban,’ Aug. 24) Neither of the two flawed studies cited supports that conclusion, despite claims by the bottled water industry. And the tons of plastic waste piling up in our oceans, landscapes, and landfills clearly call for action to adjust our throwaway consumer lifestyles. Single-use plastic water bottles are an obvious target because they are so easily replaced by tap water and reusable containers. Parks that have already gone bottled water free have dramatically reduced their plastic footprint, and park goers have seamlessly embraced the free, easily accessible tap water available at water-refill stations. The real reason for this top-down ban on local park districts setting their own policies – the kind of federal overreach usually opposed by the Journal – is pressure from Nestle and other powerful purveyors of bottled water. With Nestle’s former litigator now a top Interior Department official, denizens of the swamp that Trump promised to drain are now setting federal policy. Sad.”

AGRICULTURE​, FOOD & GARDENING

Peanut Butter Tree

estreya writes—Saturday Morning Garden Blogging, Vol. 13.34: The Gardens of Wine Country / The Solar Eclipse: “It may seem like wine drinking and solar eclipses have absolutely nothing in common. But when you think about it, both can lead to total black-outs under certain circumstances. This past weekend, hubby and i traveled through Oregon's wine country to taste the annual grape harvests and view a once-in-a-lifetime solar eclipse. As one might expect, we also saw some spectacular gardens along the way. Since it's too early for wine (As George Carlin said, "What kind of wine goes with Captain Crunch?"), shall we grab a proper morning beverage and have a look around at some of the gardens of wine country? One of my favorite things about staying in a Bed & Breakfast is having the opportunity to tour an ‘intimate’ garden space. Even before we pulled into the driveway of our B&B, colorful hanging baskets made it clear that our hospitable innkeepers were also enthusiastic gardeners …”

MISCELLANY

GreenpowerCA writes—This Week in the Environment 08.24.17: What is Our Energy Future? “5. Despite Low Solar Power, California's Electric Grid Ran Smoothly During the Eclipse. Los Angeles Times. As one of the largest solar-heavy electricity markets in the country, California used the recent eclipse to test the reliability of its grid—and passed with flying colors. One of the big criticisms of solar and wind is that they rely on time of day and weather to create electricity, so without any storage or backup generation they are unable to provide consistent round-the-clock energy. However, California’s grid managers were able to seamlessly ramp up other power sources to cover the brief loss of solar energy caused by the celestial event. The successful juggling of California’s complex energy market during a major disruption is a sign that the grid is more robust than previously thought. While the backup power sources were mostly natural gas and hydroelectric this time around, the rapid rise of renewables and electrical storage means that the state could be powered 100% renewably during the next solar eclipse. ‘I think the grid can handle a surprising amount of solar penetration — more so than we originally thought — and it will be able to handle more once we get more battery storage online.’ —HANDA YANG, UC SAN DIEGO CENTER FOR ENERGY RESEARCH.”