I was just reading a fact sheet on the contributions that Aichi (Japan) Biodiversity Targets can make to land-based climate mitigation. My son Ivan Wei brought it back from COP21 – the Paris climate talks that happened in December 2015. It brought out some quite interesting points:
Old growth forests provide better greenhouse gas mitigation than newly planted ones. Meaning, let’s take care of our trees.
Organic, eco-friendly agriculture is a great way to sequester carbon and get it out of the air, where it causes climate change.
1/3 of food is being lost to spoilage and waste. By sharply reducing food waste, we will reduce the amount of new cropland that gets planted, which will in turn dramatically mitigate climate change.
We need to manage livestock growing much better and probably reduce our meat consumption.
The facts are pulled from the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020, a multi-country 10 year framework adopted by the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity. Here’s the full Aichi Targets & Biodiversity Plan Synopsis.
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Justice, on behalf of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, today filed a civil complaint in federal court in Detroit, Michigan against Volkswagen AG, Audi AG, Volkswagen Group of America, Inc., Volkswagen Group of America Chattanooga Operations, LLC, Porsche AG, and Porsche Cars North America, Inc. (collectively referred to as Volkswagen). The complaint alleges that nearly 600,000 diesel engine vehicles had illegal defeat devices installed that impair their emission control systems and cause emissions to exceed EPA’s standards, resulting in harmful air pollution. The complaint further alleges that Volkswagen violated the Clean Air Act by selling, introducing into commerce, or importing into the United States motor vehicles that are designed differently from what Volkswagen had stated in applications for certification to EPA and the California Air Resources Board (CARB).
“With today’s filing, we take an important step to protect public health by seeking to hold Volkswagen accountable for any unlawful air pollution, setting us on a path to resolution,” said Cynthia Giles, assistant administrator for enforcement and compliance assurance at EPA. “So far, recall discussions with the company have not produced an acceptable way forward. These discussions will continue in parallel with the federal court action.”
“Car manufacturers that fail to properly certify their cars and that defeat emission control systems breach the public trust, endanger public health and disadvantage competitors,” said Assistant Attorney General John C. Cruden for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. “The United States will pursue all appropriate remedies against Volkswagen to redress the violations of our nation’s clean air laws alleged in the complaint.”
“VW’s illegal defeat devices have resulted in thousands of tons of excess NOx emissions in California, a state where more than 12 million people live in areas that exceed air quality standards set to protect public health,” said CARB Chair Mary D. Nichols. “The California Air Resources Board is fully coordinating its investigation with the federal EPA and DOJ to address the environmental harm VW has caused.”
Consistent with EPA’s Notices of Violation, issued on September 18, 2015 for 2.0 liter engines, and November 2, 2015 for certain 3.0 liter engines, the complaint alleges that the defeat devices cause emissions to exceed EPA’s standards during normal driving conditions. The Clean Air Act requires vehicle manufacturers to certify to EPA that their products will meet applicable federal emission standards to control air pollution. Motor vehicles equipped with illegal defeat devices cannot be certified.
The complaint alleges that Volkswagen equipped certain 2.0 liter vehicles with software that detects when the car is being tested for compliance with EPA emissions standards and turns on full emissions controls only during that testing process. During normal driving situations the effectiveness of the emissions control devices is greatly reduced. This results in cars that meet emissions standards in the laboratory and at the test site, but during normal on-road driving emit oxides of nitrogen (NOx) at levels up to 40 times the EPA compliance level. In total, the complaint covers approximately 499,000 2.0 liter diesel vehicles sold in the United States since the 2009 model year.
The complaint further alleges that Volkswagen also equipped certain 3.0 liter vehicles with software that senses when the vehicle is undergoing federal emissions testing. When the vehicle senses the test procedure, it operates in a “temperature conditioning” mode and meets emissions standards. At all other times, including during normal vehicle operation, the vehicles operate in a “normal mode” that permits NOx emissions of up to nine times the federal standard. In total, the complaint covers approximately 85,000 3.0 liter diesel vehicles sold in the United States since the 2009 model year.
NOx pollution contributes to harmful ground-level ozone and fine particulate matter. These pollutants are linked with asthma and other serious respiratory illnesses. Exposure to ozone and particulate matter is also associated with premature death due to respiratory-related or cardiovascular-related effects. Children, the elderly, and people with pre-existing respiratory disease are particularly at risk of health effects from exposure to these pollutants. Recent studies indicate that the direct health effects of NOx are worse than previously understood, including respiratory problems, damage to lung tissue, and premature death.
Today’s filing of a civil complaint under Sections 204 and 205 of the Clean Air Act seeks injunctive relief and the assessment of civil penalties. A civil complaint does not preclude the government from seeking other legal remedies. The United States will seek to transfer its case and fully participate in the pretrial proceedings now initiated in the related multi-district litigation in the Northern District of California. The United States’ investigation is ongoing, in close coordination with CARB. EPA and CARB have been in active discussion with Volkswagen about potential remedies and recalls to address the noncompliance, and those discussions are ongoing.
Affected 2.0 liter diesel models and model years include:
Affected 3.0 liter diesel models and model years include:
Volkswagen Touareg (2009-2016)
Porsche Cayenne (2013-2016)
Audi A6 Quattro (2014-2016)
Audi A7 Quattro (2014-2016)
Audi A8 (2014 – 2016)
Audi A8L (2014-2016)
Audi Q5 (2014-2016)
Audi Q7 (2009-2015)
Virginia Tech professor Marc Edwards shows Flint water quality Source: Flint Journal via Michigan LiveFlint, Michigan has followed in *Detroit’s footsteps, attacking residents’ access to one of the two most important elements required for living: clean water (the other is air). Two city managers appointed by Gov. Snyder colluded to deprive 100,000 people of access to Great Lakes water via the Detroit Water Authority by switching to the Flint River, a salty source which has caused pipe corrosion and has resulted in lead poisoning in young children and health issues across the general population. The Ford factory also soon learned that Flint River water was ruining its equipment:
One of the most telling moments in this saga was when General Motors disconnected from the Flint River because the water was ruining its machinery, leaving some to wonder — if it was doing that to machines, what was it doing to humans?
On the Dr Boyce Watkins show, Roosevelt Mitchell III and Vanessa Lynn discuss the horrific situation Flint is confronting and residents’ hopes that the federal government will step in with a solution to this crisis.
…the Genesee County health department declared a public health emergency, recommending that people not drink the water unless it has been filtered and tested to rule out elevated levels of lead. More steps will be announced Friday.
County Commissioner Brenda Clack told residents that infants and children should not use the water coming from the taps in the city of Flint.
“Individuals who have respiratory conditions should not use the water, pregnant women should not use the water – it’s imperative that they not use the water,” she urged.
However, it is unclear what people were expected to drink and cook with. Early on, FEMA stepped in to provide some bottled water – but only a few thousand liters … General Motors and local non-profits donated to buy filters – but only for 5,000 residents. It remains unclear today how close the city government has come to fulfilling the promise made in October to provide filters for all homes and businesses, and when a source of clean water will be available again.
The Flint Water Board allowed the switch to be made without requiring adequate testing to ensure that residents’ health would not be compromised.
Credit: Editorial cartoon by Joel Pett – displayed at ClimateActionReserve.org
A Joel Pett character asks a bonafide good question on Climate Change: “What if it’s a big hoax and we create a better world for nothing?”
Source: White HousePresident Obama announces the global agreement to combat climate change that was just reached in the COP21 climate talks which culminated in Paris today, on Saturday 12 December 2015:
We cannot be complacent because of today’s agreement. The problem’s not solved because of this accord … it creates the mechanism, the architecture for us to continually tackle this problem in an effective way.
Former Gov. Jim Florio opposes Great Adventure’s forest destruction plan. Photo credit: Jennifer PeacockGreat Adventure has 100 acres of parking lots sitting out reflecting sunlight all year round helping to increase global warming. The perfect place for solar panels, as Clean Water Action NJ points out: “Green energy and shade for cars and people.” So why is the Texas based company planning instead to demolish 70 acres of 18,000 plus full-growth trees for its solar farm?
In May, the Department of Environmental Protection offered to buy the forest with Green Acres dollars for the state’s open space inventory, but the entertainment company wasn’t swayed. NJ Spotlight quotes assistant DEP commissioner Richard Boornazian, who wrote in a letter to Six Flags,
“We oppose large solar projects that damage or destroy previously undisturbed resources, such as the project you proposed … Such projects are entirely inconsistent with our mission and with our guidance for solar siting.”
100 Jackson, NJ residents residents turned out at a town hearing few days ago to ask why the forest destruction is still being considered. Help by raising your voice too! As CWANJ’s director writes in an email,
There will be another hearing and much more. You don’t have to be from Jackson to be involved…anyone can attend and speak at the hearings, write letters and (spread the word through) social media.
“The reputational risk for the company,” Gov. Florio added, “is very high. The whole idea of a facility that caters to young people, children, and doing the things that they’re doing and having the negative impact climate-change-wise is something that will not resonate well with the young people.”
Florida farm worker Olivia Flores. Foto courtesy Dave Getzschman for EarthJustice
15 years after the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) banned chlorpyrifos from residential use, the agency has agreed to expand the neurotoxic pesticide ban to agricultural fields as well. Exposure to to this health and memory harming drug has continued for farmworkers, their children and rural residents. Field workers have direct contact with the pesticide drug when they are forced to return to recently sprayed fields … it drifts easily into neighboring yards and farms … and over time, it has entered water sources from which local dwellers drink. Drinking water contamination is particularly harmful to infants.
The announcement was a response to an EarthJustice petition. Calling EPA’s delay in regulating chlorpyrifos “egregious,” the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the agency to take meaningful action by October 30 2015 on the 2007 legal petition to ban the chemical. The EPA had postponed the agriculture ban because of a flawed study by its manufacturer, Dow Agrosciences, which argued that the chemical was not toxic in agriculture environments.
“This is what we have been seeking for years. EPA’s and other independent findings show that chlorpyrifos causes brain damage to children and poisons workers and bystanders,” said Patti Goldman, the Earthjustice attorney handling the case. “At long last, the agency is signaling its intention to protect children, workers and their families by banning this hazardous pesticide. It is imperative that EPA move quickly to protect workers and children by finalizing this important rule.”
“Given the incredibly strong science on the health harms of this pesticide, it’s absurd that EPA has taken so long to act,” said Dr. Margaret Reeves, Senior Scientist at PAN. “A ban will finally ensure that children, workers and families in rural communities are safe from this drift-prone, bad actor pesticide.”
In December 2014, EPA acknowledged the extensive body of peer-reviewed science correlating chlorpyrifos exposure with brain damage to children, including reduced IQ, delayed development, and loss of working memory.
Ordered by a court to take regulatory action based on its scientific reviews, EPA is now proposing to completely ban chlorpyrifos. This would end all uses of chlorpyrifos that result in residues on food, contamination of drinking water, or drift to schools, homes, and other places people are located.
“It’s a step forward on the path to environmental justice,” said Virginia Ruiz of Farmworker Justice. “Farmworkers and their families, who are predominantly poor and majority people of color, bear the brunt of poisonings from pesticides and pesticide drift.”
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Here’s why: South Dakota’s Bakken Oil fields ruin farmland. They kill 1 person every 6 weeks, workers may work 69 hours straight and OSHA only has 8 inspectors for both North and South Dakota so they’re unlikely to ever investigate any of this. The Petro-Hunt Company spilled 3000 barrels of oils and five months later, spilled 600 barrels (over 25,000 gallons) of oil – but got deep discounts on fines for promising never to do it again.
And by the way, the state of North Dakota has no ethics committee and allows oil companies indemnification against lawsuits. Listen to John Oliver and weep.
The New York Times ran a story on Bakken last November, “The Downside of the Boom: North Dakota took on the oversight of a multibillion-dollar oil industry with a regulatory system built on trust, warnings and second chances.”
Study links sugary drinks to a staggering amount of deaths per year, with low and middle-income countries bearing the brunt of the burden.
Harvard has plenty of bad stuff to report about sugary drinks too and cautions, “Fruit juice is not a better option. Even though it has more nutrients, it contains as much sugar (though from naturally occurring fruit sugars rather than added sugar) and calories as soft drinks.” Here are some of the heavy facts:
Two out of three adults and one out of three children in the United States are overweight or obese, (29) and the nation spends an estimated $190 billion a year treating obesity-related health conditions. (30) Rising consumption of sugary drinks has been a major contributor to the obesity epidemic. (31) On any given day, half the people in the U.S. consume sugary drinks; 1 in 4 consume at least 200 calories from such drinks; and 5% drink at least 567 calories—equivalent to four cans of soda. (32)…
The role of marketing
Sugary drinks (soda, energy, sports drinks) are the top calorie source in teens’ diets (226 calories per day), beating out pizza (213 calories per day). (34)
From 1989 to 2008, calories consumed in the form of sugary beverages increased by 60% in children ages 6 to 11, and the percentage of children consuming them rose from 79% to 91%. (35)
USEPA and New Jersey FutureCSOs are Combined Sewer Overflow systems put in place centuries ago when stormwater was considered to be as much a public inconvenience as sewage is – instead of being regarded as the asset it really is. After all, nobody can live without water and for various reasons, we have less clean water today than any other time in history, so there’s a growing awareness of how much we need to treasure and protect our water resources.
In the CSO model, both clean street stormwater and sewage waste are channeled through municipal pipes into the municipal sewage waste treatment facility. That’s a waste of taxpayer funds right out of the box, because there’s no need to treat street water that’s already, just about clean. And even worse, the CSO system becomes a huge public health hazard when there’s a big weather event and CSO-connected sewage plants close off their incoming pipes to avoid becoming overwhelmed and flooding. When this happens, both effluent and water in the municipal pipes are pushed out into nearby natural bodies of water.
This is not only a truly icky phenomenon. It’s also damaging to the waterways’ ecosystems and obviously makes using them for recreation while sewage is present, entirely out of the question.
The Romans developed a technology, now called combined sewers, to move sewage and stormwater off the streets and out of the city. London revived the use of combined sewers in the 1800s. Many cities in this country also built combined sewers from roughly 1860 to the 1920s, including 21 New Jersey municipalities, where they still exist. Initially, the combined sewage and stormwater were discharged directly to rivers, lakes, and bays, getting it out of the city as quickly as possible. Only later was treatment added – sometimes.
Both Rutger’s Water Resources Department in New Jersey and New York’s Riverkeeper recommend on-site treatments to contain stormwater where it falls by sequestering it in the leaves of plants and trees at street height or in green roofs, getting it to percolate into the ground or capturing it in cisterns and rainbarrels for later use.
Here’s a CSO factsheet from Riverkeeper showing on-site treatments effectively provide for stormwater management. This keeps stormwater away from sewage lines and consequently, reduces the incidents of CSO pollution.
I was just reading a fact sheet on the contributions that Aichi (Japan) Biodiversity Targets can make to land-based climate mitigation. My son Ivan Wei brought it back from COP21 – the Paris climate talks that happened in December 2015. It brought out some quite interesting points:
