March 2, 2017

Oklahoma's earthquake threat now equals California's because of man-made temblors, USGS says

The earthquake risk for Oklahoma and southern Kansas is expected to remain significant in 2017, threatening 3 million people with seismic events that can produce damaging shaking, according to a new U.S. Geological Survey forecast released Wednesday.

The seismic risk is forecast to be so high that the chance of damage in Oklahoma and southern Kansas is expected to be similar to that of earthquakes in California, USGS scientists writing in the journal Seismological Research Letters said Wednesday.

In 2016 alone, Oklahoma experienced several damaging earthquakes, including a magnitude 5.0 temblor in November near the central oil town of Cushing — which proclaims itself the “Pipeline Crossroads of the World” — that dislodged unreinforced bricks in chimneys and storefronts, sending them tumbling onto the sidewalks.

Oklahoma also saw the largest quake ever recorded in the state in 2016, when a magnitude 5.8 earthquake struck near Pawnee.

The earthquakes are thought to be the result of the disposal of wastewater deep underground that are a byproduct of oil extraction. Injecting the wastewater underground is not thought to trigger earthquakes everywhere it is practiced — in North Dakota, for example — but is widely believed by scientists to be a problem in Oklahoma.


More: http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-oklahome-earthquake-20170301-story.html

March 2, 2017

Children's Climate Lawsuit Aims to Unearth Documents From Oil Group API

Young plaintiffs hope to uncover how the fossil fuel industry influenced government policies that accelerated climate change

Attorneys representing 21 children who are suing the federal government over its responsibility to slow climate change are seeking answers from the oil and gas industry. The plaintiffs want to uncover what role fossil fuel interests played in shaping government climate policies.

The plaintiffs in Juliana v. United States filed a request for documents from the American Petroleum Institute (API), the largest U.S. trade group for the oil and gas industry and an intervenor on behalf of the U.S. government in the case.

The request seeks a wide range of documents, including any from internal API groups related to climate change and government lobbying. Examples noted in the request include API's CO2 and Climate Change Task Force, its Environmental Strategy Team and its Climate Change Steering Group. It also seeks communications with Exxon and other oil companies discussing climate.

The request specifically seeks memoranda written by individual industry researchers, lobbyists, trade association employees and other fossil fuel advocates. Those people were engaged in early research into climate change and in attempts by the industry to sow doubt about the emerging consensus that global warming is caused by emissions from fossil fuels.


More: https://insideclimatenews.org/news/01032017/childrens-trust-climate-change-lawsuit-api

March 2, 2017

Whats should Nebraska's state reptile be? Public can vote for 6 animals

You may know the Nebraska state bird, the western meadowlark. Maybe you know the state flower, goldenrod.

Maybe you even know that our state fossil is the mammoth, and our state tree is the cottonwood, and our state gem is blue chalcedony.

So what’s the Nebraska state reptile?

Well, we don’t have one. At least not yet.

The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission is holding a public vote on which critter should become the state’s official reptile. Nebraskans are invited to choose from six options on the commission’s website, http://outdoornebraska.gov/reptilevote/


More: http://www.omaha.com/living/what-s-should-nebraska-s-state-reptile-be-public-can/article_e4cc6e78-5272-5edf-8bd4-07233a48279b.html

March 2, 2017

Puppies explain #RussiaGate to kittens

https://twitter.com/VicStoddard/status/835665784122781696

February 27, 2017

EPIC Oscar Mistake: Warren Beatty/Faye Dunaway Name La La Land As Best Picture, Not Moonlight

February 25, 2017

This system can purify 2000 liters of water per day with solar thermal energy

A startup out of Sacramento, California, recently hit its crowdfunding goal for a unique renewable energy system system that will initially be used for water purification in places such as Asia and Africa, but which can also be used to produce power for other applications as well. Tenkiv's larger goal is to democratize "sustainable water and energy access" with its modular system, which can not only produce enough power from the heat of the sun (solar thermal technology) to purify water at an affordable cost, but which can also be used to store, distribute, and convert solar thermal energy for use in a number of other ways, especially in areas where infrastructure is poor or nonexistent.

Instead of focusing on photovoltaic technology, which is what many solar energy systems use, and which can convert the sun's light into electricity (although at a higher cost and manufacturing complexity), Tenkiv has chosen to build its system around the use of the sun's heat as an energy source. And according to the company, its technology can "power anything for 1/13th the cost of existing solar panels and 1/5th the cost of fossil fuels without any subsidies," which could be a key factor for scaling up the systems to meet the needs of the estimated 1 billion people without regular access to clean water.

One of the arguments that Tenkiv makes in favor of using solar thermal instead of solar photovoltaic technology is the lack of a need to convert the heat energy collected by the system into other forms, such as electricity, which leads to conversion losses along the way.

"Tenkiv Solar Collectors can quickly and efficiently distribute thermal energy harnessed from the sun. It doesn’t matter if you’re heating water for a bath, a cup of tea, or a pack of ramen noodles— all of these tasks require energy. The energy used in most modern systems is sourced from a complex and inefficient daisy chain where it takes power to make power. With the Tenkiv Nexus, we collect the heat directly from the sun without consuming any finite resources. There is no needless conversion between you and your energy." - Tenkiv


More: http://www.treehugger.com/solar-technology/system-can-purify-2000-liters-clean-water-day-solar-thermal-energy.html



The Tenkiv Nexus modular renewable energy system can also use the sun's heat to power anything "for 1/13th the cost of existing solar panels and 1/5th the cost of fossil fuels."

February 25, 2017

Germany's environment minister says no more meat at official functions

Barbara Hendricks has taken a controversial meat-free stance in order to set a good example for climate protection.

Germany’s environment minister Barbara Hendricks announced earlier this week that meat and fish would no longer be served at official functions held by the Ministry of the Environment. Because animal agriculture creates such a toll on the environment, and plays a significant role in climate change and degradation of water and soil, Hendricks argues that the German government needs to do the responsible thing:

“We’re not telling anyone what they should eat. But we want to set a good example for climate protection, because vegetarian food is more climate-friendly than meat and fish.”

A department email requested that event caterers prioritize the purchase of seasonal, organic products, preferably those that have traveled the shortest distance, as well as fair-trade goods.

In a country where meaty foods like bratwurst, schnitzel, and pork knuckles are synonymous with cultural identity, this announcement has, not surprisingly, created quite a stir. It’s made worse by the fact that Hendricks is a member of the Social Democrats party (SPD), which is currently ahead of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU) in the polls – and an election is just a few months away.


More: http://www.treehugger.com/green-food/germanys-environment-minister-says-no-more-meat-official-functions.html

February 24, 2017

Lawmakers renew push for drilling in Alaska wildlife refuge

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - Former U.S. Sen. Frank Murkowski in 2001 gave a speech urging colleagues to approve oil drilling in America's largest wildlife refuge. The Alaska Republican held up a blank sheet of paper to illustrate his point.

The field of white, he said, was all you could see each winter on the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, implying that such a barren landscape would not be harmed by oil rigs.

Sixteen years later, Murkowski's daughter is trying again. U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski is sponsoring legislation to open the refuge that takes up Alaska's northeast corner and is larger than West Virginia and Connecticut combined. With a Republican Congress and president, she's hopeful that the timing is right.

"If you ask me," she told The Associated Press by phone from Washington, D.C., "it's always been a good time to open it."


More: http://www.krgv.com/story/34581334/lawmakers-renew-push-for-drilling-in-alaska-wildlife-refuge



(U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service via AP). This undated aerial photo provided by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service shows a herd of caribou on the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in northeast Alaska.

February 22, 2017

House Democrats hit GOP over town hall protests in Twitter ad campaign

Source: The Hill

House Democrats’ campaign arm is launching Twitter ads that will target House Republicans in nearly two dozen districts over the backlash they’re facing at town halls over ObamaCare.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s (DCCC) ads, which were provided first to The Hill, will be running in 23 GOP-held districts ahead of the 2018 midterm elections. The digital ads will feature an image of a packed crowd at a town hall with an empty chair on the stage.

“Will Hurd voted to repeal the ACA with no plan to replace it,” one of the ads reads. “How he won’t hold a town hall with constituents.”

Protesters have been flooding town halls in lawmakers’ home states, particularly over the looming battle over ObamaCare and pushing back on repeal of former President Obama’s signature healthcare law.

Republicans — many of them in swing districts — are seeking to avoid protesters at these in-person gatherings and opting instead for virtual town halls.

Read more: http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/320575-house-democrats-hit-gop-over-town-hall-protests-in-twitter-ad-campaign

February 16, 2017

Wind power briefly sets record as source for electricity in U.S.

Wind briefly powered more than 50 percent of electric demand on Sunday, the 14-state Southwest Power Pool (SPP) said, for the first time on any North American power grid.

SPP coordinates the flow of electricity on the high voltage power lines from Montana and North Dakota to New Mexico, Texas and Louisiana.

Wind power in the SPP region has grown significantly to over 16,000 MW currently from less than 400 megawatts in the early 2000s and is expected to continue growing. One megawatt can power about 1,000 homes.

"Ten years ago, we thought hitting even a 25 percent wind-penetration level would be extremely challenging, and any more than that would pose serious threats to reliability," SPP Vice President of Operations Bruce Rew said in a statement.

"Now we have the ability to reliably manage greater than 50 percent wind penetration. It's not even our ceiling," Rew said.

More: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-southwestpowerpool-wind-idUSKBN15T269