The Broken Promise of Recycling

Back in the sixties when recycling was heralded as a solution to pollution,  it was greeted with enthusiasm
by the public.  It was a process an individual could contribute to saving the planet, and was promoted widely by industry,  What these businesses were not telling consumers for thirty years was that recycling was never going to be an economic or technically feasible solution to product waste.  Plastics are made from hydrocarbons and are notoriously difficult to recycle, requiring meticulous sorting, cleaning and transportation  that requires labor and energy, which in turn increases product cost.  Also, plastic material degrades after a few re-uses making it unusable.  Now after decades of recycling, our planet and its oceans are drowning in plastic waste.  It is in our food chain and our bodies, now. 

The packaging and oil industry deliberately hid this information from consumers according to a report by the Center for Climate Integrity.  Their advertisement promoted the use of recycling as a viable solution to the waste crisis, In 1988 eight major plastic producers formed the Council for Solid Waste Solutions with a budget of $13 million annually to promote recycling.  Exxon Chemicals founded the Plastic Recycling Foundation at Rutgers University to research all aspects of plastic recycling in 1985. The problem was becoming acute even in the '80s. Landfills were reaching capacity, but Americans were producing ever more disposable waste. One estimate from the period was that one American produced 1240 lbs of solid municipal garbage every year, ninety percent of which went to landfills. Recycling was not considered a permanent solution since eventually the un-useable residue would have to be disposed. Markets for recycled material are limited. A director of the Vinyl Institute told a trade conference in 1989,“Recycling cannot go on indefinitely, and does not solve the solid waste problem.” What the recycling public relations campaign did was buy time for the industry to continue selling its plastic products.

Lately, industry has resorted to a new pitch, so-called "chemical recycling", which breaks down polymers to the molecular level.  This process is energy intensive and creates even more pollution than traditional recycling.  Critics call this approach another example of deception intended to prolong product life.  

The plastics industry is coming under increasing legal scrutiny. Two years ago, the California AG launched an investigation into the petrochemical industry's role in causing and exacerbating the current plastics pollution crisis.  The horrific toxic train derailment in Palestine, Ohio has ignited a movement to ban vinyl chloride.  EPA announced a health review of the chemical, the first step towards banning it from the market.  In 2003 New York State filed a lawsuit against Pest-Co of its single use bottles for violating its public nuisance laws.  Unless the companies producing plastics change the way they do business they can expect more public pressure to ban their products altogether.

Big Data, Big Polluter

The fields along the Columbia River in northeastern Oregon are sparsely populated. The largely agricultural region now has a new tenant: data centers. Amazon has built ten giant data centers in Umatilla and Morrow counties and is planning ten more. These installations run mostly on fossil fuels. The result of that is to propel one of the state's smallest electric utility, Umatilla Electric Cooperative that serves just 16,000 residents to the third largest polluters in the state.  The utility company supplying the data centers emits 1.8 million tons of carbon emissions. Its rise to the top began in 2018; by 2020 its emissions doubled; by 2021 it doubled again.

The state has been complicit in the emissions growth.  Amazon has taken advantage of enormous state and local tax breaks to subsidize a constellation of power-hungry data centers located around Hermiston and Boardman.  It saved about $100 million in local property taxes alone. Local officials have promised a billion more to keep Amazon growing. The problem is compounded by the lack of transmission facilities in the area, making a transition to renewable power sources difficult.  Climate activists say Oregon is far away from expanding its transmission facilities, which is ironic since it has abundant hydroelectric power generated by the Columbia River, and great potential for wind generation.  The company has done little to  invest in improving its access to clean energy.

Amazon has made a token effort (4%) to buy some of electricity needs from a neighboring wind farm in Gilliam County, but experts say what Amazon needs to do is lobby the statehouse for upgrades to the grid.  Amazon mounted an intense lobbying campaign when the legislature considered making the data centers subject to the state's clean energy rules last year. The company killed the bill in committee. Amazon and its power company Umatilla Electric spent more than $500,000 on lobbying in 2021. That is a lot money in small-town Salem for a part time legislature.

Big tech companies like Apple, Google and Facebook have also followed the subsidies. These all operate large data centers in Prineville, Hillsboro, and The Dalles. Bonneville Power Administration estimates that demand for power by data centers in the Northwest will double by 2041.   Installing new upgraded transmission facilities requires planning and coordination among private companies and government, resulting in a process that takes decades according to a state legislator working on the problem.  Transmission constraints will make it impossible for private Oregon utilities to transition off of fossil fuels by 2040.

TWIT: Justice Delayed

credit: D. Whamond, Cagle.com

Update: DA Willis has forcibly fired back against the proposed evidence of cell phone communications, seeking to exclude the information from the record on the grounds that the evidence does not conform with the Judge's standing order for introduction of evidence, and that the records do not meet the Daubert standard for scientific reliability.  The defense also admits that Mittelstadt does not qualify as an expert in order to offer opinion testimony.  

Willis argues in her response that the type of cell phone data presented does not pinpoint a cell phone's location.  The fact is that hundreds of businesses and residences are located within the range of a particular cell phone tower.  Willis also presented calendar evidence to show she was not at her Hapville residence when Wade was allegedly there according to the cell phone data. Further, Willis argues that the salacious allegations made against her and Nathan Wade are a cynical attempt to smear her reputation in public and further delay trial proceedings.  Judge McAfee made an error by hearing this irrelevant evidence in open court before determining whether it is admissible at all.  He has a chance to correct his error by excluding it altogether at a hearing on legal arguments scheduled for Friday.

{23.02.24}  Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis may have a problem. The defense, using a discovery subpoena, has uncovered numerous phone records showing her in communication with her boyfriend  before she hired him to be a Special Counsel in her office.  The defense argument is that her relationship disqualifies her and her entire office from prosecuting Trumpilini.  Perhaps more importantly the evidence may contradict her sworn testimony that she did not have a sexual relationship until after he was already working for her.  Now, it is not necessarily unethical to hire a friend especially if that friend is qualified for the job, but possible perjury may be since the relevant standard for conflicts of interest is "an appearance of impropriety".

According to an Atlanta media outlet,  the defense hired Charles Mittelstadt, a private investigator, to track her activity on-line and over the phone.  He filed an affidavit saying Willis made over 2000 calls and 12,000 "interactions" in an eleven month period before Nathan Wade was hired.  Some of those calls occurred in close proximity to Willis' home. Willis and Wade do not deny a romantic entanglement, but both testified it began after he was working in her office.  The new evidence tends to corroborate a witness who owned the condo where Willis lived, and testified their relationship began before he was hired.  It is not clear how her relationship, before or after she hired Wade, conflicts with her duties as Fulton County District Attorney.  Two separate grand juries found probable cause that crimes were committed by Don Legit and his co-conspirators. Four guilty plea deals by co-conspirators have already been entered into the record. Defense attorneys have not shown a vested interest, financial or personal, in the outcome of the prosecution according to a Georgia legal authority.  However, the Fulton County Board of Ethics said it will hear two ethics complaints against Willis next month.  Either way Don Legit is winning the delay game, 3 to 1.

{23/02/2024} The pro-MAGA Supreme Court is taking its sweet time deciding whether the Ocher Menace had carte blanch to commit crimes while serving in the Room Without Corners.  Most legal observers think the case is a slam dunk for the Appellees, but in these days nothing is certain.  The former criminal-in-office is seeking a stay of the unanimous judgement of the DC Circuit Court of Appeals that made mincemeat of his arguments for blanket immunity,  The glaring fact is that such immunity is totally foreign to our constitutional republic of co-equal branches.  That does not stop the part-time sneaker salesman from propagating BS to his slavish fans who bleed dollars for him.  It is worse than a WWF Friday night smack- down.

Of course the leaderless, sane Repugnants are desperate for someone other than the chaos clown to lead them to victory in November.  But they are stuck with 'The Chosen One' because he has a base that denies reality.  They deserve him.  You have to give Trumpilini's lawyers credit, they do not give up on bad legal arguments.  

Defense counsel in the Mar-a-Lago espionage case are using the same bogus immunity argument to convince Trump minion Aileen Cannon to dismiss the case against their client.  For pity's sake, he was out of office when the indictment begins!  For some unknown reason--probably their client's insistence--they keep pushing the looser argument that because the Presidential Records Act allows a former President to keep his personal papers, Trump did nothing wrong in retaining classified material after leaving office.  That is a total twisting of what the federal law provides.  It is a federal crime to retain classified material outside of official duty, period.  Trump not only did that, but obstructed attempts by the federal government to recover the material from him.

credit: Bramhall, New York Daily News

Noise Pollution Interferes with Whale Communication

A new study published in the journal Nature by an international team of scientists shows that baleen whales use a special form of larynx as opposed to toothed whales that use a nasal organ to produce sound.  Complex whale melodies were first recorded fifty years ago.  Scientists think that the "songs" are a form of communication between individuals.  The study of minke, sei and humpback whales found a novel adaptation that allows these toothless filter feeders to produce sound underwater while holding their breath.

Unfortunately for whales the sounds they produce are in the same frequency range as ships--up to 300 Hz and a depth of 100 meters. Whales cannot outcompete the noise occurring from shipping by diving deeper or singing louder.  Consequently noise alters their behavior often requiring more exertion, which threatens their long term survival.  Noise at mating sites may disrupt reproduction. Conservationists are concerned that the rush to exploit the sea bed for rare minerals will have a devastating effect on a wide range of marine creatures not just large marine mammals.     More research needs to be done on the effects of noise in the ocean so effective regulations can be promulgated. [whales feeding; credit Stanford U.]

Africa Bans Donkey Skin Trade

About two-thirds of the world's donkeys estimated 53 million donkeys live in Africa.  A donkey can mean the difference between a modest living and destitution for Africa's poorest.  Despite their utility to humans they are subjected to a cruel trade in the their skins. Once again the trade is there to supply China with an ingredient for traditional medicine. Eliao is an ancient medicine made from donkey skin, which is believed to have anti-aging properties.  When Chinese companies making the substance ran out of donkeys in China, they began to look elsewhere.  Africa was an obvious source.

Cash short African governments at first saw the trade as a source of revenue, and many legal slaughterhouses opened. In Kenya, hafe the nations donkeys were killed. However, due to the advocacy of protection groups, the African Union declared a ban on the trade at its summit in Ethiopia on Sunday. It declared the trade inhumane and unsustainable. An advocate told BBC that, "donkey slaughter for its skin has eroded livelihoods in Africa, robbing the continent of its culture, biodiversity and identity."

US Person can testify that African donkeys are very personable and friendly animals, willing to cooperate with humans. He was allowed to ride one in Thebes, Egypt. He still remembers the quickness of the little animal and its obvious strength as it transported him through the streets of the ancient city.  It is encouraging that officials finally recognized their true worth to African people. [photo credit: BBC]

COTW: Brand X

Don 'Legit' constantly brags about the value of his "brand".  The value goes up and down depending on his unstable mood.  He pegged it as high as $3 billion.  As usual reality makes him a liar.  LOOK at this chart:

Even at his flagship tower on Fifth Avenue, condominium prices have tumbled 49% since 2013. Competition from other high-priced real estate in the neighborhood has had an effect, but so have regular protests outside the building.  In buildings where Trump identification was removed--sometimes after legal action--asset values have recovered.  

Admittedly brand value is a significant chunk of market valuation for most companies.  The Economist reported after a study, that brands account for more than 30% of value for companies listed in the S&P 500 stock index.  Don the Con insists his company is worth $10 billion, but that figure is based on inflated assets values, as we have learned from the latest lawsuit against him for persistent fraud.  Forbes highest estimate for Trump Org value was $4.5 billion in March 2016, which was based in part on information provided by Trump.  The publication said he was constantly pushing for higher valuations and "relentlessly lying to reporters".  For example, he lied about the size of his penthouse apartment in Trump Tower.  So, a generous brand valuation could be in the neighborhood of $1 billion or less.  Just ask Trump's condo owners!

And speaking of fraud, US Person, aka "Brand X", says look at this:

TWIT: With Friends Like These

credit: N. Anderson
Wackydoodle sez:  And he hates NATO!

Update: Judge Engoron ordered Don 'Legit' and his companies to disgorge $354 million plus interest for persistent financial fraud.  His verdict falls short of the "corporate death penalty" predicted by some prominent on-line pundits.  Trumpilini is barred from conducting business in New York for three years, and his sons barred from being officers of a New York company for two years. Allen Weisselberg, former CFO was ordered to pay $1 million penalty. Judge Engoron wrote that their, "complete lack of contrition and remorse borders on pathological.”  The penalties are not required to be paid while appeals are pending, which may take years. Court ordered monitoring of the company remains in place for three years. The state Attorney General had asked that Trump be penalized at least $370 million and suffer a lifetime ban on doing business in New York.  What the verdict means for his campaign finances is unclear, since he now has the backing of the Repugnant Party.  He has installed his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, as co-chair of the national committee.  According to her the party's sole purpose is to elect Donald Trump president again.

Most informed commentators, including his former fixer Michael Cohen, think he will have to begin selling assets, possibly at distressed prices to meet his judgments and/or appeal costs.  He faces more civil damage suits in DC from officers injured by Boss Trump's mob on January 6th.  When all is said and done, he could be facing more than a billion dollars in judgements and legal expenses as a result of his egomanical malfeasence, 

More: In a classic defense counsel move, Trump attorneys put the prosecutor on the stand and tried her for alleged extra-legal misconduct that would disqualify her from prosecuting Don 'Legit' for election interference and RICO in Georgia. The claim is that her affair with special prosecutor Nathan Wade that she hired constitutes a conflict of interest. Willis testified that she reimbursed Wade for joint vacations in cash.  Some of the amounts reached $2500, which illicited a snicker from one of the co-defendants listening to her testimony. He was promptly admonished by Judge McAfee.  Willis explained that she was taught by her attorney father to always keep a six months worth of cash in her household for contingencies. Her father testified that keeping that amount of cash in the house, "is a black thing".  The unusual transaction aside, defense counsel failed to produce significant evidence of financial gain from Willis hiring Wade as a special prosecutor in her office. Wade testified that the romantic relationship did not begin until after he was hired in November 2021 when investigation of Trumpilini was already underway. It is obvious to US Person that this defense tactic is intended to distract from the trial of the actual defendants in the case with salacious details of the prosecutor's private life.

{15.02.24}Perhaps the most inept judge in the Southern District of Florida, and an obvious pro-MAGA minion, has finally committed reversible error in her continuing efforts to postpone trial for her leader.  Judge Eileen Cannon ruled that the government must provide personal indentification information for its 12 witnesses to the defense.  In doing so she applied the wrong legal standard to the issue.  The government has argued strenuously that it has compelling reasons for keeping the witness' personal identity information confidential.  Witnesses in this and other Trump cases have received threats to their safety-- typical mob and even fascist behavior, attempting to intimidate those who would testify against 'the leader' Don Trumpilini.

Jack Smith could file an appeal now, but has given the jurist an opportunity to withdraw her erroneous order in a motion to reconsider.  If he appeals--and he should given her record in the prosecution--the Eleventh Circuit will likely overrule her given prior controlling precedent in the Circuit.  It would be the third time Cannon would be overruled. Prior practice in the Circuit has been removal of a judge from a case in these circumstances.  Special Prosecutor Smith would be well rid of her given her demonstrated--albeit inept-- bias in favor of the defendant. 

In the New York civil fraud case, state Supreme Court Judge Engoron is expected to hand down his decision this week.  Possible equitable relief for persistent fraud could put Trump.Org out of business in New York.  The criminal trial for the Stormy Daniel's payoff has been set for March 25th.

credit B. Bramhall

Badger--Two Medicine

The Blackfeet Nation along with the Wilderness Society have struggled for decades to protect an important wildlife habitat and sacred area along the eastern flank of the Rocky Mountains.  For forty years conservationists fought to retire existing oil and gas leases.  In 2006 Congress passed a law prohibiting new leases on the land.  One final lease remained, owned by a company called Solenex LLC.  The hold-out finally agreed to a settlement filed in federal court Friday to end protracted litigation. [photo credit: Wilderness Society]

The 130,000 acre region is an ecologically important piece of habitat connecting adjacent preserves: Glacier National Park, Bob Marshall Wilderness, and the Blackfeet Reservation.  It is home to elk, bear, wolves and trout.  Badger--Two Medicine area within the Helena--Lewis and Clark National Forest  has been a sacred place to the Blackfeet since before European colonization, and in their view was wrongly leased to energy developers during the Regan Administration. The tribe with bipartisan supporters were able to negotiate voluntary relinquishment of oil and gas leases over the years. Now, with the final lease gone and legal protection from new development, Badger--Two Medicine can be at peace. Green Kudos! go to the Blackfeet for their success.

England Goes Green

Long awaited legislation intended to increase biodiversity in England has gone into effect.  Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) requires all new building projects to result in a 10% net gain in habitat.  The gains may be on-site or remote through a system of credits.  England also experiences a housing shortage, so the government is plans 300,000 new homes year by the mid-2020s. So in a nation that has lost 97% of its wildflower meadows, this new scheme will have major impact on development.  A biology researcher at the University of Oxford said the plan was one of the most ambitious offset policies on an international scale. Other nations like Sweden, Scotland and Wales want to copy it.  BNG covers all development and all natural habitats.  [ a BNG pilot project in Sussex, credit UK Guardian]

Biodiversity markets around the world are underfunded due to the lack of demand for credits.  Making a scheme mandantory will provide the economic driver needed to increase participation.  Another problem seen by experts is under-enforcement of the rules.  Regulators lack the resources to monitor pledged offsets.  Effective enforcement of BNG is needed to make the program successful.  Some see the use of technology such as drones or satellite monitoring as a means to make enforcement work better.  A study found that a quarter of BNG projects are at risk for not producing the 10% increase in biodiversity expected.  

At first, farmland located on marginal soils are expected to be the target of withdrawals in favor of creating wetlands, woodland and meadows.  More private concerns are showing interest in voluntary biodiversity credits, however.  It is still early days in the process, but the recognition that biodiversity is a public good like law enforcement or national defense,  must be funded by government or private sector investment through policy, regulation and incentives.  Green Kudos! 

US Refuses to Protect Wolves in Northern Rockies

Federal wildlife officials refused to restore Endangered Species Act protection to Northern Rockies wolves despite states implementing hunting plans and repeated requests from conservation groups. Vigilantes in Idaho are again offering bounties ($1000) for dead wolves.  Wolves in the Northern Rockies were removed from the Endangered Species Act list at the end of the Trump regime.

California wolf near Yosemite

US Fish and Wildlife estimates 2800 wolves in the region stating that the species maintains high genetic diversity and connectivity that allows it to adapt to future changes.  Conservationists see a different picture  saying some western states are trying to renege on wolf conservation commitments made a decade ago. Because a few western states (Montana, Wyoming and Idaho) are aggressively culling wolves, they still need 
federal protection. As wolf numbers have rebounded, the ancient enmity between agriculturalists and wolves has reignited. Livestock owners claim the wolf has recovered and is not in need of further protection. [photo credit: AP]

Wolves are experiencing a better fate in Washington, Oregon, Colorado and California where wolf populations are expanding under management plans. Grey wolves are still federally protected in the Great Lakes region thanks to a ruling by a federal judge in 2022. When their federal protection lapsed, Wisconsin hunters far exceeded the number of permissible wolf kills in a single season. The issue of wolf recovery has become part of the culture wars ranging across the nation. One positive note is that the USFWS announced on February 2nd it will promulgate a nationwide wolf recovery plan in 2025, replacing the disasterous piecemeal treatment now in effect.

US Bans Three Weed Killers

In a major setback to world agrochemical companies, a federal judge in Arizona has banned dicamba-based herbicides.  The court also found that the EPA violated the law by allowing them on the market.  The ban is specific to three herbicides manufactured by Bayer, BASF and Syngenta.  These are considered responsible for millions of acres of crop damage and harm to endangered species and their habitats.  The Ninth Circuit previously banned the products in 2020, but the Trump regime reapproved the products just one week before his camping swing through Georgia.

The suit to against the use was brought by farmers and conservationists. The EPA was found not to have followed public comment regulations before approval.  Dicamba was introduced in the US in 1967, but was not widely used because of its propensity to volatilize during warm weather.  As a gas the herbicide drifts widely causing extensive damage.  Monsanto and BASF produced crop seeds tolerant to dicamba and encouraged farmers to use their version of dicamba which the companies claimed was less prove to drifting off target.  About sixty-five million acres have been planted with dicamba resistant crops, about the size of Oregon according to the EPA.  Discovery documents in the suit show that the companies knew about the potential for drift damage and that scientists at EPA complained they did not have enough time to study the herbicides before approving them.  A year later EPA produced a report saying dicamba was still prone to spreading to adjacent areas.

The ruling affects Bayer's XtendiMax herbicide, which it inherited from Monsanto when it acquired the company in 2018, Syngenta's Tavium herbicide, and BASF's weedkiller Engenia.  The ban comes at a bad time for Bayer, which is coping with mass litigation over Monsanto's Roundup herbicide that contains glyphosate, a chemical found to cause cancer in humans.  So far Bayer has paid billions in damages and settlements.

TWIT: Citizen Trump

That is how three judges on the panel of the US Circuit Court of Appeals for DC referred to the Ochre Menace in the fifty-seven page opinion denying his claim of immunity from criminal prosecution.  The opinion was a comprehensive and authoritative dismantling of his claim based on separation of powers and double jeopardy principles.  One informed observer called it "certiorari proof", in reference to the expected appeal to the Supreme Court.  The per curium decision gave the deranged autocrat until next Monday to file an appeal with the high court.  After that date the mandate will be returned to the District Court and trial proceedings may recommence.  Don Legit needs five votes on the Supreme Court to obtain another stay of proceedings. Most Court pundits think that outcome to be unlikely even if the Court grants a review.

Two judges appointed by Democratic administration and one by Republican administration quoted Judge Chutkin of the lower court with approval.   After first finding interlocutory appeal jurisdiction by distinguishing the Midland Asphalt case, the panel addressed the two prongs of the Appellant's imunity argument.  The appeals court stated that his assault on the structure of our government was unprecedented.  Accepting his claim of unbounded authority to commit crimes would, "neutralize the most fundamental check on executive power--the recognition and implementation of election results...at bottom [his] stance would collapse our system of separated powers... since as Madison stated in Federalist No51,  "dependence on the people is, no doubt, the primary control on the government."  Denying his immunity claim based on separation of powers principles the judges concluded would be to maintain its proper balance.

Turning to the Impeachment Clause justification the court found it inapplicable for two reasons: one, Impeachment is a political process controlled by Congress not a judicial one in which criminal penalties could be imposed and, two the charges in his impeachment trial are not the same as those charged by the indictment.  The Constitution informs us of the authors' intent to not rule out criminal prosecutions for crimes committed in office. The Impeachment Clause limits its affect to removal and disqualification from office and goes on to state that, "the party convicted [in the Senate] shall nevertheless be liable and subject to indictment, trial, judgment and punishment according to law". The judges go on to explicit reject Trump's negative inference of conviction in the Senate as a prerequisite to prosecution for various contextual reasons, noting in the process that Alexander Hamilton in Federalist No 65 thought that the punishment of a dangerous officer as a criminal "remains within the province of courts of law...". Clearly the appellate judges are writing for the edification of the "originalists" on the Court.

The concluding paragraph of the opinion is forceful:

We have balanced [Citizen] Trump's asserted interest in executive immunity against the vital public interests that favor allowing this prosecution to proceed. We conclude that concerns of public policy, especially as illuminated by history and the structure of our government, compel the rejection of immunity in this case [citing Fitzgerald 457 U.S. 747.] Accordingly the order of the district court is AFFIRMED.

Will the grievous injury to American democracy committed by Gerald Ford in 1974 giving a blanket pardon to Richard Nixon for the crimes he committed in office be finally rectified? Or will a partisan and corrupt Supreme Court deliver Citizen Trump from accountability? Our "long national nightmare" is far from over. So stayed tuned.

Boarder Wall Threatens Sanctuary

UNESCO, responsible for World Heritage sites, says the boarder 'wall' between the US and Mexico threatens the ecological connectivity between two wildlife reserves, El Pinacate and Gran Desierto Alta Biosphere Reserve and Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Reserve. A section of barrier cuts across the reserves impacting wildlife that depend on springs in Arizona for water. A representative of the Center for Biological Diversity said the 30 foot wall does not block humans from crossing, but does stop the passage of animals, causing damage to the biodiversity of the Sonoran Desert [photo below]. 

credit: S. Müller

Without remediation, the reserves could appear on UNESCO's list of endangered World Heritage sites. According to the CBD, the barrier now runs 87 miles along the border of El Picante with only a 14 mile gap in mountainous terrain. Animals accustom to traveling to springs in the north are now without a water source. Quitobaquito Springs [video] is the most well known and is also sacred to the Thohono O'odham people who live on both sides of the border. In September UNESCO published a document calling on the US and Mexico to cooperatively develop a mitigation plan whose aim is to restore ecological connectivity. It also called for conservation measures to be implemented as part of Mexico's new solar power array near Puerto Peñasco. The Mexican government published a report in 2022 finding that the border structure would cause habitat loss, degradation and fragmentation as well as reduced water resources.

Dead animals including peccaries, deer, and desert bighorns have been found in the vicinity of the wall, presumably dying of thirst. Adding the adjoining reserves to the UNESCO danger list would allow the release of World Heritage funds to the threatened sanctuaries. Currently, the Mogool Foundation, which was founded to improve social and environmental health, is providing water in the south by filling concrete troughs with water transported from neighboring municipalities. While the effort may sustain wildlife cut off from natural sources, it is an expensive and inefficient means of mitigating the problem.

Scientists Propose New Hurricane Category

To accommodate the mega-hurricanes generated by global warming conditions, scientists have proposed adding a "Category Six", expanding the Saffir-Simpson scale 1 through 5 rating now applied to storms. Hurricane Patricia reached wind speeds of 215 mph well beyond the 157 mph level classed as Category 5 as well as having the second lowest barometric pressure ever recorded. [photo] Rapid intensification of hurricanes is considered to be a consequence of very warm surface waters. Patricia escalated from a tropical disturbance to a Category 5 in just 24 hours. It made landfall near Jalisco, Mexico.

A category six cyclone would have sustained winds above 192 mph, speed almost impossible to imagine and as fast as a Formula One race car. The new study in which the new category was proposed is published in the Proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences. The Saffir-Simpson scale was developed by a civil engineer and a meteorologist. It classifies storms according to sustained wind speed. A wind speed of 74 mph is classified as a category one. Category five storms have caused incredible amounts of damage on shore. Katrina's ravaging of New Orleans, Maria's devastation of Puerto Rico and typhoon Haiyan's killing of 6,000 people are recent examples of their destructive power. 

The authors said their proposal does not mean a category six storm is likely in the Atlantic or Gulf of Mexico, but such a storm is certainly possible given the extraordinary heating of ocean surface waters due to climate change.Satellite data shows that storms are increasing in severity. The Saffir-Simpson scale is an imperfect measure of a cyclone's destructive power since most damage arises from intense rainfall and flooding.  But a category six storm would definitely produce a large storm surge that would inundate coastal zones. Wind speeds of that magnitude would collapse buildings, rip up trees, and severely damage infrastructure.

TWIT: The Lessons of History

Several prominent historians and constitutional scholars have develed into the history of the Fourteenth Amendment and its Section 3 disqualifying insurrectionists from holding public office.  As US Person has already posted, the legislative history unequivocally supports these propositions:

• Don 'Legit' was an insurrectionist who sought to overthrow the peaceful transition of Executive power on January 6th;
• He was an officer of the United States at the time;
• He took an oath of office to support the Constitution;
• Insurrections include not just armed rebellion of the past but those that may occur in the future 

The so-called originalists on the Supreme Court ought to pay attention to these conclusions by eminent scholars in their amicus brief.  They claim to be interested in the intent of the authors in the context of history when interpreting the Constitution.  MAGAist constructions are unnatural and overly narrow, intended to only exculpate the perpetrator.  As many commentators have observed by now, this is a pivotal moment in our history.  Either we are a republic of laws fairly construed, or a deteriorating democracy on the path to dictatorship.

On another legal front Judge Engoron has paused his decision in the New York fraud case to consider the findings of the legal monitor, Barbara Jones, appointed to oversea the operations of Trump Org.  She found some glaring omissions, questionable practices, and irregularities in the organization's financial operations.  Most questionable is the existence of a $48 million internal loan reported in financial disclosure statements of 2018-2021 (so-called MAML disclosures), yet the company disputes whether the the loan existed in the first place.  This potentially fraudulent entry could be the straw that breaks the camel's back for Judge Engoron.  The Attorney General is asking for injunctive relief banning Trump and his sons from the real estate industry in New York.  She says such an injunction is needed because of a demonstrated propensity to use false financial filings, even during the criminal investigation and the appointment of a monitor.  Without such injunctive relief such fraudulent filings are likely to occur again. Bring the pain, judge!

He may also be waiting for the outcome of a potential perjury plea agreement by Alan Wiesselberg, Trump's former CFO, who lied on the witness stand about the size of Trump's penthouse apartment and was publicly called out for the lie by Forbes magazine.  It just keeps getting worse for Don 'Legit'

credit: H. Darko, Columbia Missourian

Brought to You Since 1954

Newly uncovered documents show that the fossil fuel industry knew of the effects of combustion on the Earth's climate since 1954.  Early research by Charles Keeling, sponsored by industry, measured CO₂ in the western US. He went on to establish the "Keeling Curve" [left], which shows the upward trend of carbon dioxide content in the world's atmosphere. This mathematical correlation has been acclaimed as one of the most important scientific achievement of modern times.

Companies formed the Air Pollution Foundation that donated $158,000 in today's money to the research effort, which included studying the smog plaguing Los Angeles at the time.  Keeling's research director, Samuel Epstein, wrote about a new isotope analysis that could track atmospheric changes caused by the burning of coal and petroleum. He wrote in November of 1954 that, “The possible consequences of a changing concentration of the CO2 in the atmosphere with reference to climate, rates of photosynthesis, and rates of equilibration with carbonate of the oceans may ultimately prove of considerable significance to civilization.” His prediction has materialized today. The documents are "smoking gun" proof that the industry was aware much earlier than previously known of the severe ecological effects from burning its products. 

Physicist Edward Teller, father of the hydrogen bomb, warned a symposium audience in 1959, "It has been calculated that a temperature rise corresponding to a 10 per cent increase in carbon dioxide will be sufficient to melt the icecap and submerge New York. All the coastal cities would be covered, and since a considerable percentage of the human race lives in coastal regions, I think that this chemical contamination is more serious than most people tend to believe." Incredibly the industry continues to deny in some respects the consequences of two centuries of carbon combustion. The oil lobby has launched an eight figure advertising campaign promoting the idea that fossil fuels are vital to global energy secuirty.  US oil production reached a record high in 2023, the hottest year on record.

Keeling and his researchers' work would lead to the continuous carbon dioxide measurements at Mauna Loa, Hawaii. Current CO₂ levels are at 442 ppm or a third higher than they were in 1958. They are 50% more than pre-industrial levels, higher than ever experienced by human civilization. Backers of the Air Pollution Foundatoin included the American Petroleum Institue, the main industry lobby, and eighteen car companies including Ford, GM, and Chrysler. The unearthed documents came from Cal Tech archives, US archives, the Universitiy of California at San Diego and Los Angeles, and newspapers from the 1950's. This newest revelation will add impetus to efforts to hold industry legally responsible for the impacts of climate change.