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CURATED ECOLOGICAL NEWS Lawsuit to stop the Corps of Engineers wetland destruction
“Fossil fuel energy projects are being fast-tracked at the direction of President Mump’s* ‘Unleashing American Energy’ executive order, which calls on agencies to take action without complying with legally required environmental reviews. “In February the U.S. Army Corps reclassified nearly 700 pending wetland permits on projects from Alaska to Florida as requests for emergency permit approval, an action that likely violates the Clean Water Act and Endangered Species Act. Following pushback, including the Center for Biological Diversity’s notice of intent to sue, the Army Corps reversed course in March. “However, since that reversal the Army Corps has not provided the public with information on how, or if, it will again seek to use emergency review processes on any pending projects, or what criteria the agency would use to decide whether to allow a proposed project to get expedited review. “So the Center for Biological Diversity sued the Trump Army Corps of Engineers last week for failing to release information about its plans to rubber-stamp the destruction of wetlands to speed along the projects.” More at: * Mump regime — Musk plus Trump = Mu…mp. Musk’s reputation: over-promise, under-perform
“Critics have been charging, over and over again, that Tesla CEO Elon Musk turned the golden brand of Tesla into a textbook case of reputational crisis after he agreed to run point on the DOGE (pronounced DODGY) budget-cutting office. A new flashpoint for Tesla popped up when The New York Times reported that DODGY has saved just $160 billion, while costing taxpayers $135 billion, according to Partnership for Public Service (PPS). That works out to a final savings of $25 billion, which is nowhere near the $2 trillion Musk initially promised. “The PPS estimate of $135 billion does not include other expenses Musk dumped on the shoulders of the public, on top of the human costs — the ripple effect of staff cuts on federal services has yet to be toted up, along with the expense of answering the lawsuits raised by Musk’s cavalier attitude towards labor law. The impact on state-based expenses related to mass layoffs also needs a reckoning. “As for what this has to do with Tesla, well, everything. Musk built up the Tesla brand with investor-attracting goodies, including FSD, the Cybertruck, robotaxis, the Semi Class 8 truck, and a 50% EV sales increase every year. All of these have fallen short of expectations, seriously questioning Musk’s judgement. “For all of Musk’s genius-hood, Tesla is not a particularly good example of entrepreneurial bootstrapping. The turning point came in 2010, when Tesla nailed down one of the very first loans issued by the Loan Programs Office (LPO) in the US Department of Energy. LPO expected Tesla to produce affordable EVs for the mainstream auto buying public. Pfffffft went that mission.” More at: Degrowth; public policy or not, it’s coming
“We recently published our first paper, By Disaster or Design, to educate finance, sustainability, and economics professionals about the limits of the Neoclassical Economics we all learned in school (which largely leaves out energy as an input and waste as an output). We argue that Ecological Economics is a better model because it adequately accounts for the energy and material resources that go into the production process and the waste that such processes produce. “Because we have not been adequately managing these energy and material resources, we have pushed past six of nine planetary boundaries, damaging the very life support system on which not only our economies, but our very survival depends. “We introduce a degrowth path; with policies such as a four-day-work-week, universal basic income, universal basic services, reducing subsidies for oil and gas production, a just transition, anti-planned obsolescence laws, a right to repair, and other policies that can lead us to a post-growth world in which our decision making is guided by what keeps humanity within planetary boundaries and not what grows the economy.” More at: Disaster costs up: but hey, it boost the GDP, right?
“According to a new analysis by Swiss Re Institute, insured natural catastrophe losses globally could reach $145 billion this year. This follows a 5% to 7% long-term annual growth trend, the institute said. “Since 2017, underlying risks have grown consistently, along with population growth, economic expansion and urban sprawl. The effects of climate change are also playing a part in compounding losses for certain weather perils and regions. “Estimates by the institute have found that some early 20th century hurricanes would result in losses of more than $100 billion if they struck today. Hurricane Andrew, for example, caused $35 billion in losses to those insured in 1992. Today, a hurricane on the same path would result in nearly three times the losses because of economic and population growth, as well as urban sprawl. “There are many factors that inform insurance premium rates, including inflation and local regulations. But across geographies over the long-term, the primary factor in determining the cost of premium rates and claims is the exposure to natural perils.” More at: As climate facts become undeniable, deniers switch the narrative
“Gone are the days when ‘Global warming isn’t real’ was the primary claim of those most vocally opposed to climate action. As more people experience the firsthand effects of climate-change-juiced-up heat waves, hurricanes, wildfires, and crop failures, a new kind of climate denial has emerged. “Rather than outright deny the problem, today, the most popular online influencers focus on other false or misleading messages like ‘Climate solutions don’t work’, ‘Climate change has some benefits’, and pollution reduction policies are ‘tools for governments to control people’. “These new forms of denial made up 70% of all such claims on YouTube in 2023, up from 35% in 2018. Of the 10 most popular online shows, eight have spread false or misleading information about climate change. Right-leaning influencers now dominate digital media like podcasts and streams.” More at: Overton Window slammed shut by Big media, PACs, fossil fuels, etc
“Joseph Overton observed that there is a narrow range of political ideas that are broadly accepted by the public as normal. Beyond that range of ideas politicians and others get labeled extremist which makes it harder to maneuver as most of the public has prejudged such people. This became known as the Overton Window. “Overton proposed that this window moves over time — women’s suffrage, the end of prohibition, and gay marriage all suggest dramatic changes are possible. But the forces that wish to limit public discourse to a narrow range are so powerful that the seeming changes in the Overton window on certain subjects can often obscure a stubborn intransigence. “Climate change went from an obscure scientific phenomenon to being recognized as a central threat to civilization. Despite a broad scientific consensus and worldwide treaties such as the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Accord, little actual progress has been made in addressing climate change. It is moving faster than ever. “In this context, two recent contrasting stories on climate change show how wide the Overton Window can appear to be without actually challenging anything fundamental in the current system.” More at: East coast wildfires on the increase
“The Jones Road Wildfire, which started two weeks ago in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey, is on track to become the worst in state history. Fueled by gusty winds, low humidity, and dry undergrowth — conditions increasingly common in the region. The blaze has scorched more than 23 square miles, forced thousands to evacuate, and threatened nuclear waste at a power plant. “It’s a stark reminder that conflagrations are not confined to the West. If you’ve got fuel, there’s a potential for a fire. Forest density, Weiskittel explained, is a major driver of mounting fire danger. For decades, aggressive suppression policies allowed vegetation to accumulate along the eastern seaboard, increasing the threat of more intense and unpredictable blazes. “While climate change is one driver of fire risk, it’s not the only one. An extensive outbreak of spruce budworm is killing trees. Meanwhile, invasive pests like the emerald ash borer and the hemlock woolly adelgid are creeping north as winters grow more mild.” More at: Can PFAS be cleaned up from 10,000 acres of farmland?
“The abandoned Galey & Lord textile mill in Society Hill, S.C., resembles an apocalyptic wasteland. Rusting tanks sit in pools of dark water. But the real danger, environmental officials say, lies in the surrounding fields, nearly 10,000 acres of contaminated farmland that South Carolina says should be part of an unprecedented federal Superfund cleanup. “Galey & Lord was once known as the King of Khaki. And for decades, it took the water that had been used in making its fabrics, treated it in wastewater lagoons, then gave the sludge to farmers as fertilizer. What those farmers and many others didn’t know: The sludge contained dangerous levels of ‘forever chemicals’ linked to cancer and other diseases. This would be the first known case of farmland being declared a Superfund cleanup site blamed on contamination from sewage sludge fertilizer. “Sludge from city sewage has been used as fertilizer for decades, a practice the federal government has long promoted. Last year, a New York Times investigation examined the widespread risks of PFAS contamination that resulted. And early this year, for the first time, the E.P.A. warned of the health risks of PFAS in fertilizer made from sewage sludge.” More at: $TRUMP meme coin: as unhinged from reality at its sponsor
“On the eve of his second inauguration, Donald Mump* launched a meme coin — $TRUMP — whose value hinges more on hype than utility. The next day, First Lady Melania Mump* dropped her own meme coin — $MELANIA. “These tokens, that are not tied to any real world assets, have proven lucrative for Trump and his family. Last month, the Financial Times estimated Mump* made upwards of $350 million from the project. While small traders have lost big, the Mump* Organization and its affiliates — controlling 80% of the token supply — have made hundreds of millions in just trading fees. “Even as the rest of the economy is on pretty perilous footing, a bunch of crypto companies have seen the SEC and other regulatory agencies drop investigations or lawsuits. Mump* has created a ‘bitcoin reserve,’ and in general, regulators and Congress are behaving much more friendly toward the industry.” More at: * Mump regime — Musk plus Trump = Mu…mp. | 
