Trump Attorney sues Greenpeace over Dakota Access in $300 million racketeering case – “This is the second consecutive year Donald Trump’s go-to attorneys at the Kasowitz law firm have filed a meritless lawsuit against Greenpeace”

By Steve Horn 22 August 2017 (Desmog) – Energy Transfer Partners, owner of the Dakota Access pipeline, has filed a $300 million Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) lawsuit against Greenpeace and other environmental groups for their activism against the long-contested North Dakota-to-Illinois project.In its 187-page complaint, Energy Transfer alleges that “putative not-for-profits and rogue […]

19 wildfires have merged to create the largest wildfire ever recorded in British Columbia – Single blaze is estimated to be more than 467,000 hectares

By Mike Laanela and Brady Strachan Aug 22, 2017 (CBC News) – Hundreds of firefighters and dozens of aircraft are working to contain the largest wildfire ever recorded in British Columbia’s history. Nineteen wildfires have merged in the province’s Interior, creating a single blaze that’s estimated to be more than 467,000 hectares [1.15 million acres] […]

State Department science envoy quits with not-so-secret message For Trump: ‘IMPEACH’

By Dana Liebelson 23 August 2017 WASHINGTON (Huffington Post) – A science envoy for the Department of State sent a resignation letter to President Donald Trump on Wednesday with a not-so-subtle secret message: “IMPEACH.”Daniel Kammen, a professor of energy at the University of California, Berkeley, told Trump in a letter dated Wednesday that his decision […]

“Solar eclipse” tide not responsible for release of 300,000 Atlantic salmon into Puget Sound

22 August 2017 (Puget Soundkeeper) – On 19 August 2017, Cooke Aquaculture’s net pens near Cypress Island reportedly released over 300,000 farmed Atlantic salmon into Puget Sound waters. The company’s statement blames “exceptionally high tides and currents coinciding with this week’s solar eclipse.” But the release occurred Saturday afternoon, when charts show that tides and […]

Coal mining health study is halted by Trump’s Interior Department – “Stopping this study is a ploy to stop science in its tracks and keep the public in the dark about health risks as a favor to the mining industry”

By Lisa Friedman And Brad Plumer 21 August 2017WASHINGTON (The New York Times) – The Interior Department has ordered a halt to a scientific study begun under President Obama of the public health risks of mountaintop-removal coal mining. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, which was conducting the study, said in a statement […]

Solar eclipse’s tides blamed for broken net, up to 305,000 Atlantic salmon dumped into waters near San Juan Islands – “It’s a devastation. We don’t want those fish preying on our baby salmon.”

By Lynda V. Mapes 22 August 2017 (Seattle Times) – It’s open season on Atlantic salmon as the public is urged to help mop up a salmon spill from an imploded net holding 305,000 fish at a Cooke Aquaculture fish farm near Cypress Island. Lummi fishers out for chinook on Sunday near Samish, south of […]

Super-heatwaves of 55°C to emerge if global warming continues – “Humid-heat waves with these conditions were never exceeded in the present climate, but are expected to occur every other year at 4°C global warming”

8 August 2017 (JRC) – Heatwaves amplified by high humidity can reach above 40°C and may occur as often as every two years, leading to serious risks for human health. If global temperatures rise with 4°C, a new super heatwave of 55°C can hit regularly many parts of the world, including Europe.A recently published study […]

Trump disbands federal advisory committee on global warming – “We’re going to be running huge risks here and possibly end up hurting the next generation’s economic prospects”

By Juliet Eilperin 20 August 2017 (The Washington Post) – The Trump administration has decided to disband the federal advisory panel for the National Climate Assessment, a group aimed at helping policymakers and private-sector officials incorporate the government’s climate analysis into long-term planning.The charter for the 15-person Advisory Committee for the Sustained National Climate Assessment […]

Scott Pruitt is dismantling EPA in secret for the same reason the GOP health care bill was secret

By David Roberts 14 August 2017 (Vox) – The New York Times had a big story on Friday about EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt’s propensity to operate in secret. It offers a detailed and damning review of the evidence, but it stops short of drawing the broader conclusion: namely, that the approach of serving industry under […]

Record breaking aerosol index values from Canada forest fires – “These are remarkably high values”

By Colin Seftor 15 August 2017 (NASA) – I plan to post more about smoke from the fires burning both in Canada and Russia. But I did want to post this particular item. Over the last couple of days, OMPS has recorded the largest aerosol index values ever seen since TOMS measurements started in 1978 […]

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