Texas Oil Companies Ready to Dump Waste Water

Texas oil and gas companies are finding it more difficult to dump waster water from fracking operations after the Texas Railroad Commission limited the amount of waste water that can be injected back into the ground,  Injection on a large scale caused localized earthquakes.  Now, companies want to dump treated waste water, called 'produced water" by the industry into rivers and creeks.   One proposed site is the Pecos River where the company Texas Pacific Water Resources is seeking a permit to dispose of 840, 000 gallons a day of oil field waste water.  Federal regulations governing disposal of this type of waste are not robust.  Texas' Environmental Quality Commission has already issued permits for dumping in the Eagle Shale Basin and is reviewing another. 

A wide range of chemicals have been detected in produced water since fracking operations use a multitude of chemical lubricants, hydrocarbons including benzene toulene and naturally occurring substances dislodged from the ground.  These substances include radioactive minerals and PFAS known as "forever chemicals".  Texas joins Pennsylvania and Wyoming in allowing the disposal of produced water into the environmnent. Colorado has authorized fourteen discharge permits. These are all have major oil and gas sectors.  New Mexico has decided to wait until more scientific information is available about the effects of these discharges.  Pennsylvania State researchers found elevated levels of salt and radioactive chemicals related to the Marcellus Shale deposit in rivers downstream from discharges. 

West of the 98th parallel the EPA allows states to set their own standards for the discharge of produced water.  EPA numerical standards only cover oil and grease in produced water discharges.  Texas water quality agency, TECQ has received four discharge application during 2023-24, granting two.  It is still reviewing applications.  In Texas the EPA has delegated its authority to issue discharge permits east of the 98th parallel.  The first discharge application in this area was granted to a company in Harris County.  Texas politicians back produced water discharges as a solution to forecasted water shortages.   The legislature created the Texas Produced Water Consortium to research reuse of produced water. Current research has identified over 1,100 chemical constituents of produced water,  EPA has established standards for only 90 in public drinking water.  

The Galapagos Drowning in Plastic Waste

A jewel of world-wide conservation efforts, the "mysterious isles" visited by naturalist Charles Darwin in the 19th century have a 21st century problem: plastic waste.   Plastic waste washed ashore by wind and currents is building up and posing a threat to indigenous wildlife unique to the island archipelago. [photo above] The shallow bays on windward islands are habitat for seals,  pelicans, penguins and marine iguanas.  Sea turtles nest here.   Research has shown that plastics have entered the food chain. Microplastics, partially degraded particles, are especially toxic since they can cause genetic damage from zooplankton to humans, and are often contaminated with chemicals.  A recent study found sea turtles have up to 86% plastic debris in their excrement.

The Galapagos were declared a World Heritage Site in 1978.  This designation and a marine reserve established by Ecuador has helped preserve the incredible biodiversity of the island chain.  97% of the islands remain uninhabited.  Located at the intersection of three major ocean currents that are responsible, along with prevailing winds, for bringing life to the originally barren volcanic land mass.  The Humboldt Current is the largest.  It brings cold nutrient filled water from the Antarctic sweeping along coast of South America before turning west to the islands.  These currents are now bringing plastic debris. About 40% of the debris come from Ecuador, Peru and China.

a refrigerated Chinese mother ship

China is a source because its giant industrial fishing fleets operate offshore of Ecuador's 200 mile exclusive economic  zone.  The ships used to fish much closer, but Ecuador took steps to push the fleet farther away.  China has built the largest fishing fleet in the world, numbering some 3,000 ships in the last few decades, after depleting its own coastal waters.  Their big ships operate non-stop, dwarfing the catch of other nations fishing in unregulated international waters.  In the summer of 2020 nearly 300 Chinese fishing vessels hugged the 200 mile limit to such a degree that satellite mapping outlined the boundary zone.  The Chinese accounted for 99% of fishing near the islands. This unsustainable exploitation of marine resources is not likely to stop given China's growing population and prosperity.  The illegal dumping of plastic waste from fishing vessels is a constant problem according to the national park's environment manager.  

squid fishing off Galapogos

The waste is recent since it is devoid of attached marine life like barnacles. Twice a week the reserve
conducts waste clean ups on the inhabited islands,  The debris is shipped 600 miles to Guayaquil, Ecuador where it is recycled or put in a landfill.  Last year 13 tons were collected.  The effort is not logistically easy, or inexpensive.  The more remote  islands can take up to 15 days to reach.  Weather conditions make it impossible to clean up from May to November.  If the debris are not collected, the plastic will partially breakdown into microplastics.  Birds use shredded plastic debris as nest building material.  National laws are not enough to reduce the problem, international agreement and enforcement is needed.  [photos: The Guardian]

COTW: Arizona Indicts Trump Conspirators

More: The five-man Team Trump on the Supreme Court made it perfectly clear that they intend to further delay the criminal prosecution beyond the election at the oral argument about Trump's absurd absolute immunity claim on Thursday.  The Court already has caused at least six months of delay by scheduling argument for the last day of oral arguments in the current session, and refusing to take Trump's appeal directly from the DC District Court.  The Court has done this in other high-profile appeals (US v. Nixon, Pentagon Papers). Their questioning of appellate counsel did not concern the facts of the case before them, but rather scenarios involving "official" criminal acts.  At one point in the argument Justice Alito told the government's attorney that he was not interested in the facts of the case, but rather answers to his hypotheticals.  One respected law professor labeled the Trump Team's speculative questioning a "shameful display" of partisanship.  Apprarently they heard Trumpillini's 2am post for HELP!

The Boss' unprecedented attempted coup involved a string of acts related to his presidential campaign for life; these facts were pointed out by Justice Jackson. In fact the DC Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled in Blassingame that campaigning is not part of the president's official duties in a civil context. There is no need to create new jurisprudence concerning criminal immunity for official acts.. As originalists should know, the Court is supposed to address "cases" and "controversies" before it under the Constitution Article Section 2, NOT create a "rule for the ages"--a phrase coined by Justice Gorsuch. A remand to sort unnecessary factual distinctions in federal district court will take time, pushing trial beyond the election. Court observers do not expect a Court decision until at least the end of the current session in June. One silver lining to a remand order: the Special Prosecutor could publicly reveal evidence of Trumpilini's culpability not available to the January Sixth Committee at a lower court fact-finding hearing before the election. 

{25.04.24}The historic criminal trial of a former president got under way this week. The first witness was David Pecker, former publisher of the National Enquirer. Testified to an agreement between his tabloid magazine and Don Legit to "catch and kill" unfavorable stories about him before the election. A meeting took place in 2015 between Trump, Cohen and Pecker to discuss the arrangement after a Trump Tower doorman touting a story about Trump fathering an illegitimate child with a Tower maid. The prosecution emphasized in its opening address to the jury that the case is not about paying hush money to a porn star, but about falsifying business records to influence the election outcome.  Falsifying business records is a felony offense in New York if the records are used to commit other crimes.  In this case the other crimes are violations of campaign finance laws.

The prosecution has promised to submit corroborating evidence of how pay-offs were made to look like routine payments for legal fees from Michael Cohen.  Alan Weisselburg, former CFO of Trump.org took handwritten notes concerning the scheme to coverup the $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels.  Cohen took out a home equity loan in order to advance the sum to Daniels.

Justice Merchan has not yet ruled on whether the Ochre Menace should be held in contempt for violating his gag order that prohibits the defendant from speaking about jurors and witnesses.  A show cause hearing was held on Tuesday morning.  Apparently just hours before his attorneys argued in court that their client had not violated the order, the defendant taped an interview with an ABC reporter in which he criticized Michael Cohen as a "convicted liar without credibility".  Prosecutors have counted 16 instances of Donny Mouth violating the court order.  At the maximum fine of $1000 per violation, that is $16,000--  a healthy sum even for Donny Rich Kid.

In Arizona, a grand jury has indicted 18 supporters of the would be dictator including former chief of staff Mark Meadows, Trump lawyer Rudy Guiliani, Boris Epshetyn, and John Eastman.  Trump is described as an unindicted co-conspirator as is Ken Chesebro. Chesebro is known to have cooperated with the Arizona AG's investigation.  Eleven named conspirators are the those party activists who posed as electors for Trump despite Joe Biden's narrow victory in the state.  The indictment includes felony charges for fraud, forgery and conspiracy similar to what has been charged in Georgia.  The charging document says, “Defendants and unindicted coconspirators schemed to prevent the lawful transfer of the presidency to keep Unindicted Co-conspirator 1 in office against the will of Arizona’s voters."  It is unlikely that any of the defendants will go to trial before the election in November, although some may decide to plea guilty. 

credit J. Heller

Cats Down Under

Readers know that US Person is a "cat person":  he is the devoted father of his neutered Burmese.  But he is sympathetic to conservationists in Australia who face a huge feral cat problem. Cats kill an estimated 459 million mammals every year in Australia. The clever, resourceful little hunters are eating pocket-sized marsupials at an alarming rate.  An ecologist at Charles Darwin--yes, that guy--University told The NY Times that cats pose a catastrophic problem  because Australian "frana have not evolved to cope with cats."  Feral cats have been declared a "nationally significant pest" and has declared war on them more than once.

Even Australians who admire the predatory prowess of cats are coming to the conclusion that they need to be reduced by any humane means available.  Cats are too entrenched to be eradicated entirely.  There are two sides to the predator-prey relationship, so a partial solution may be to equip prey such as bandicoots, bilbies and bettongs with some survival skills besides trapping and shooting cats.  Most Australians support controlling feral cat populations, but lethal methods are still controvesial since cats enjoy a close relationship with man.

Bettongs died out on the mainland in the 20th century and now only live in predator-free, fenced reserves or on coastal islands.  Researchers see reserves as only a temporary measure, the goal being to establish a balance in the greater ecosystem.  Research has revealed that most of the killing is done by larger toms who are often serial killers.  Given this information, one approach is to subcutaneously  implant a toxin capsule that dissolves in the stomach of a killer cat.  Another is the traditional and less gruesome one of improving traps, but the best hunters are the most difficult to trap.  Cats are very reluctant to feed on human scraps that bait a trap, preferring their own fresh kills.  The Felixer is an AI-aided trap that senses the proximity of a feral cat and sprays it with a toxic gel that the fastidious animal will clean of fits fur by licking.  In one six week trial one Felixer appeared to kill thirty-three cats.  Two hundred have been deployed across the Outback.  

releasing a bilby

Dr. Katherine Moseby proposed an unusual idea. [photo credit NY Times]   She decided that since native fauna is naive when it comes to hunting cats, she would experiment with training prey to avoid their feline predators.  She put five feral cats into a fenced paddock with the bittongs and bilbies to see if they would learn.  After two years the prey species became more cautious than counterparts living in protected areas.  After five years the bettongs had larger heads and feet.  Apparently, selection is driving this development since cats are more likely to prey on smaller animals.  Dr. Moseby thinks reintroducing protected small marsupials to native quolls, a carnivorous marsupial, may help sharper their avoidance behavior against cats. Will these adaptive changes be enough to save the marsupials from eventual extinction?  No one knows at this point. No approach appears to be foolproof against the stealthy, intelligent and deadly Felis catus.

Protecting the Arctic

 The concept of "multiple use" has always been at the heart of public land management, but over the decades policy has been severely skewed towards development at the expense of conservation. That may change with the announcement this week of new rules for the BLM. The agency manages over 245 million acres, so the rules impact should be significant.

Under the new regulations restoration of public land and water is promoted. onservation goals are integrated into the agency's decision making process utilizing scientific data and indigenous knowledge, while broadening the use of land health standards. The changes intend to conserve healthy public lands to support wildlife, connectivity of habitat, old-growth forests, and ecosystem functioning. In short the new public land rule recognizes conservation on an equal footing with other uses.

melting permafrost forms grid pattern in NAPR

Recognizing the need to rapidly reduce fossil fuel burning significantly, the Biden-Harris government put out-of-bounds the western half (13 million acres) of the National Arctic Petroleum Reserve and the Beaufort Sea (3 million acres) to oil and gas development.  Biden drew intense criticism from environmentalists for approval of the massive Willow Project proposed by ConocoPhillips.  The Project plans 200 wells spread across three drilling pads with associated infrastructure such as roads and pipelines.   The administration considered the approval to be a trade-off for protecting the western portion of the Reserve. Conservationists do not consider the trade-off to be worthwhile.  Predictably the oil industry called the protection decision, "a step in the wrong direction". [photo credit: AP]

The Reserve was created about a century ago to provide the US Navy with an emergency supply of oil. Since the 1970's it has been managed by the Interior Department. It is home to polar bears, caribou, and millions of migrating birds. The rules announced Friday will place restrictions on future leasing and industrial development in areas designated for their wildlife or subsistence values and require BLM to regularly evaluate new areas or bolster protection of existing designations. The Arctic is undergoing rapid change due to global warming [see photo]. As a consequence plants and animals are significantly impacted.

TWIT: Uncontrollable and a Lot Less Orange

Update: All twelve jurors and one alternate have been seated in the Manhattan trial today. Five more alternates have been selected.  Jury selection was notably rapid. Opening statements will begin on Monday.

US Person, aka Brand X, agrees with those pundits who have identified Donny as a "narcissistic sociopath". According to the DSM-5, the psychiatric manual used to diagnose those with personality disorders of various types, a person must be diagnosed with symptoms of both narcissism and anti-social personality disorder.  Trumpilini has publicly exhibited both types of disorders.  His anti-social behavior ranges from compulsive lying, cheating on golf, failing to pay business debts, to lack of concern for the safety of others. (Comparing COVID to the flu.)  He also has engaged in behavior considered criminal (sexually assaulting E. Jean Carrol in a Bergdoff changing room.) 

His narcissistic disorder is also unmistakable.  He has engaged in a life-long pursuit of money and power, which feeds his grandiose sense of self-importance (He is the 'Chosen One').  His sense of entitlement is off the charts. (Keeping national defense secrets as his personal property.)  Arrogance and willingness to exploit others for personal gain is beyond denial (From a record of numerous fraudulent business dealings to selling NFTs, Bibles, and sneakers to pay his legal expenses).  He has no guilt for these abusive behaviors. Mary Trump, his niece and a trained psychologist, reveals that Donny has a fragile self-esteem which makes him insecure and easily affronted.  He suffered under an abusive and domineering father, that has contributed to his famously thin skin. Falling asleep during voir dire and not standing for the jury are examples of his narcissistic contempt for others not considered his equal.

So, it is fortuitous that Justice Merchan has experience dealing with mentally-ill persons as a judge on the court handling mental health issues. He should exercise caution with a neurotic defendant attempting to disrupt and distract from his criminal prosecution by attacking witnesses and potential jurors. His goal is to delay and discredit the legal process, and provide basis for appeals. Trump's repeated attempts at intimidation may not be entirely under his control, but yet another symptom of his Cluster B personality disorder. Two of the seven jurors seated this week were removed for cause. One of them stated she was concerned about being identified after a Trump media hack exposed her identity on-line. That post was re-posted by bully-boy Trump. Proceed with caution at your contempt hearing next week, your Honor! Incarceration for contempt should be a last resort. Larger fines, say in the neighborhood of $10,000, or removal from the courtroom might be enough to get him to stop his damaging behavior.

On another legal front, the fifty million dollar 'ghost' loan that appeared in his company's financial disclosure documents and flagged by the independent court-appointed monitor in New York, has triggered a complaint from CREW, Citizens for Ethics and Responsibility in Washington to the DOJ. Tax experts have suggested the phantom loan may have helped him avoid taxes. Stayed tuned for developments.

credit: Britt

COTW: Nuclear Power Producers

The US is on top producing more that the next two countries combined, China and France. France is the most nuclearized country, producing 60% of its electric power from nuclear fission compared to only 29% for the US.  Its nuclear infrastructure is aging however, with many plants nearing their designed lifespans with no replacements coming on line.  Only major project is ongoing in Georgia and it is widely over budget War torn Ukraine is heavily dependent on nuclear power, but its largest plant (six reactors) has been captured by the invader and is currently off-line. Zaporizhzhia has been subjected to bombardment.

According to the to Lawerence-Berkeley National Laboratory the United States already has close to enough alternative energy seeking access to the national grid to meet Presidemt's Biden 2035 goal of zero carbon electricity production. But these sources of clean energy face enormous hurdles both economic and technical. According to the 2022 report 2,000GW of energy production and storage is in line to connect. These interconnection queues are an indication of the extreme need to modernize the power grid and reduce competition from vested utility interests, if the US is to successfully switch off fossil fuel power generation. Only 21% of projects reached commercial operation between 2000 and 2017

Coral Reefs Dying Across Globe

Coral reefs are experiencing more frequent and severe bleaching events. Bleaching occurs when the host coral organism ejects symbiotic algae that photosynthesize nutrients due to elevated sea temperatures.This global event stared in 2023 in the Northern Hemisphere summer when seas reached record warm temperatures. Prolonged and severe bleaching can kill coral animals, but they can recover if temperatures receed rapidly. Previously bleached corals are weaker and have difficulty reproducing. Coral reefs are hotbeds of diversity, providing habitat for a quarter of marine species while covering less than 1% of the ocean.

Australia's Great Barrier Reef has experienced the most widespread bleaching event on record in 2024. GBR is suffering its fifth mass bleaching event in eight years. In 2024, 80% of the reef area is affected; previously the record was 60% in 2017. Prof Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, a pioneer of coral research among the first to link bleaching to global heating, told the Guardian: “It’s a shock. We clearly have to prevent governments from investing in fossil fuels, or we won’t have a chance in hell". Current climate models predict that every reef on Earth will experience severe, annual bleaching sometime between 2040 and 2050. They will not survive this assault.

TWIT: The Trial(s) To Come

Finally, Donny Boy will face a jury of Manhattanites beginning Monday in the historic first criminal trial of a former President. They will have to do their civic duty while looking at the Ochre Menace frowning at them for six or eight weeks. His last ditch efforts to delay the inevitable were unsuccessful. He even went so far as to sue Justice Merchan for alleged bias because his daughter has Democratic Party affiliations; that suit is going nowhere. Fortunately, Justice Merchan has not taken the legal bait laid at his feet by Trump, delaying the trial even more. Merchan rejected his fourth attempt to dismiss the case today.  Trial proceedings will start with jury selection in the city that knows him best.  In Georgia, Judge McAfee ruled that the RICO case against Don Legit should also go forward, rejecting an appeal from the defendant on free speech grounds.

His accounting minion, Allen Weisselberg, was sentenced to five more months at Rikers Island for perjury on Wednesday. He is accustomed to the food since he already served 100 days for tax evasion.  Weisselberg will not have to testify against his former boss in his campaign finance violations trial as part of the plea deal.

Another red flag for AG Letitia James as the civil fraud bond posted by Defendant Trumpilini comes under legal scrutiny:  Knight Speciality Insurance is backed by a reinsurer located in the Cayman Islands, notorious as a secretive tax haven.  One insurance specialist told the Daily Beast that the arrangement "stinks to high heaven" because collecting from the insurer becomes more difficult in the event of a default.
 

credit: M. Wuerker, Politico.com

A Very Sick Person

US Person received a disturbing e-mail this week. Susan Holmes of the Endangered Species Coalition

asked to share the sickening details of this cruel incident. On February 29th a mentally ill human in Daniel, Wyoming--land of the wolf haters--ran down a female yearling wolf with his snowmobile. He taped her mouth shut so he did not have to hear her cries of distress and pain. He loaded her up and took her to--where else--his local bar [photo credit: M. Koshmri]show the suffering animal to his equally sick and inebriated "friends". He finally killed her behind the bar and skinned the wolf since possession of a live wolf is a low-level infraction. What happened to this cruel torturer? He was fined $250 instead of being incarcerated for a felony offense of animal abuse.

This incident was condemed by the local sheriff and the Wyoming governor. Yet little could be done because wolves in the northern Rockies lost their federal protection under the Endangered Species Act. The head of US Fish & Wildlife or the Secretary of the Interior have said nothing about this horrendous incident. It is obviously past time to re-list the wolves in Wyoming, Montana and Idaho. These states have not exhibited a balanced approach to wolf reintroduction, but instead have created "preditor-free zones" for their own selfish interests. Outrage is not enough. Action is needed now before wolves in the Northern Rockies are against pushed to the edge of extinction.

US House of Representatives Passes Migratory Bird Legislation

On a bi-partisan basis, a rarity these days, the US House passed a bill to enhance protection for migratory birds in the Americas and their habitat. It reauthorizes funding for the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act programs. ;According to Audubon's chief conservation officer,  three billion birds have been lost since 1970. At the same time, interest in bird-watching has increased enormously. Ninety-six billion Americans engage in bird watching, contributing about $100 billion to the economy. ;The Senate has a similar bill pending passage.

Since 2002 the NMBCA has funded 700 programs in thirty-five Western Hemisphere countries.  These programs benefit 250 bird species that utilize 5 million acres of habitat. Migration is arduous for birds that need stopovers, nesting and feeding grounds to support their lifestyle. Humans need to support them in drastically altered environments.

EPA's New Rule

The new rule concerning polyfluoroalkyl substances PFAS was announced yesterday.  EPA established enforceable rules for six PFAS present in drinking water.  The agency will give water supply companies five years to comply with near zero limits under the Safe Drinking Water Act.  The agency estimates about 6-10% of the 66,000 public drinking water supply systems will be affected.  EPA also announced the availability of $1 billion in new federal funding to help implement testing.  The announcement came in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Cape Fear River that was found by residents to be heavily polluted by PFAS from a nearby manufacturing facility in 2017.  The river provides drinking water for 1 million people in the region.

These chemicals are considered to be carcinogenic and damaging to immune systems.  They are long lasting in the environment and humans.  Their use was pervasive in industry beginning in the 1940s to repeall water and oil and resist heat .  PFAS is found in packaging, clothing, electronics, cookware and personal care products.  This family of chemicals are popularly known as "forever chemicals". 

The agency is also proposing two PFAS regulations under the Resource Recovery and Conservation Act.(RCRA). One would change the definition of "hazardous waste" as it applies to clean-ups at permitted facilities to include PFAS.  The other would include multiple PFAS compounds as hazardous constituents in Appendix VIII.  These rule changes will strengthen the protections for communities and drinking water supplies near the 1740 permitted hazardous waste facilities across the nation.  

COTW: Dump the Trump

Even at $36 TMTG is widely overpriced. The average stock share on the NASDAQ where DJT trades, trades at 5X revenue.  With reported revenue of $3.252 million, the company is reasonably worth $32 million. But the company has floated 136.7 million shares making each one worth 12¢! Even at 10X earnings granted some fast growing tech stocks, TMTG would be worth $32 million, or 24¢ a share.  Plenty of downside, and the Street is standing in line to short the stock.

The fact is that Trump Media was kept afloat in 2022 by a loan from Paxum Bank, a small entity located on the Caribbean island of Dominica.  It is best know for financing the pornography industry.  The bank is co-owned by Anton Postolnikov, a Russian-American businessman under investigation by the FBI and Homeland Security for money laundering.  Postolnikov apparently used a trust company with an account at the bank as an intermediary to funnel money to Trump Media since Paxum is not registered to do business in the US.  Postolnikov is the nephew of Alexander Smirnov, an ally of President Vladimir Putin.

Trump Media received two loans from ES Family Trust. A $2 million loan on December 23, 2021 and $6 million on February 17, 2022.  The company needed bridge financing as its planned debut on a public stock market via a SPAC merger was being delayed by an SEC investigation.  The Guardian reports that a close associate of Postolnikov, Michael Shvartsman, was indicted last month for money laundering.  A DHS investigation report said Sharvtsman told a confidential informant (CI) that, "a friend of his owns a bank in the island of Dominica and would be able to provide banking services to Russian and Ukraine Nationals if the CI had other clients in need of that service. "  Shady Russians are around every corner of Trumpworld.

Sign of the Times: The Humble Sponge

Admittedly, you do not think much of sponges, unless you enjoy the feel of a natural sponge in your bath. But members of the humble Spongia species tell a tale of woe for humanity. The long-lived creatures that create an exoskeleton we use. They live in well-oxygenated shallow seas around the globe. Consequently, the ratio of oxygen isotopes contained in their exoskeleton record the temperature level in the sea. 

Three hundred year old sclerosponges [photo left] from the Caribbean Sea predate the Industrial Revolution. Sponges that contain higher levels of Oxygen 16 (8 neutrons) compared to Oxygen 18 (10 neutrons) indicate warm sea temperatures, and vis-versa. Oxygen bonds with carbon to form calcium carbonate in their skeletons. These chemical variations show that sclerosponges experienced stable sea temperatures between 1700 and 1790. By the mid 1860s, sea temperatures began to rise after a period of some cooling probalby caused by volcanic eruptions blocking sunlight. By the middle of the 20th centrury the sponge record indicates that sea warming by one degree ℉ more than scientists expected using convential methods has occurred.

The Earth experienced its hottest year in recorded history occurred in 2023.  NOAA said that 2023 was the hottest year in its 174 year data set.  The World MeterologicalOrganization confirmed the record setting year. Future generations may look back at this year as the indicator of when humanity failed to take action against global climate change. James Hanson the NASA scientist who alerted the world to climate change in 1988 testimony to the Senate, told The Guardian, 2023 may be considered one of the cooler years in the future record because failure will be built into the climate system due to the continued burning of fossil fuels.

Is Nuclear Power Officially Dead?

Nuclear power hucksters have lately been touting "small modular reactors" as the panacea of a dying industry.  It is dying for a simple reason: nuclear power is uneconomic compared to other less potentially dangerous power sources.  This reason did not stop the nuclear boosters from gathering in Brussels at a March 21st conference organized by the IAEA to cheerlead for nuclear power. Bankers, however, were much less exuberant.

Insiders know that SMR is, as the former CEO of NuScale at the forefront of SMR development called it, "a dead horse". He recently sold 59,768 shares of the company. NuScale is burning through $185 million per year developing its VOYGR project. Wells Fargo, hardly a progressive bank, declared investors to be "misguided". Motley Fool reported that VOYGR has no secure customers, and is not cost competitive.

not Fukushima, but San Onofre, CA

The captured Nuclear Regulatory Commission was unable to approve another SMR project known as Aurora because the application for a license contained significant gaps in information about potential accidents and safety systems.  It denied the application outright in January 2022, and a reapplication nine months later went nowhere. USAF cancelled its order for an Aurora unit destined for Eielson AFB in Alaska. Predicatably people with a financial interest in nuclear power are continuing to deny reality and sell nuclear power as the answerto Earth's climate crisis. [photo credit: Jelson25]

Of course nuclear supporters want and need ratepayers and taxpayers to foot the exorbitant bills associated with nuclear power development. Private capital is unwilling to finance the cost without subsidies. Depsite the reluctance of the private sector, the federal government appears to be willing to enslave US at the behest of nuclear interests. The House passed the ADVANCE act to encourage nuclear power development and do away with supposedly unneeded, burdensome regulations. Only 35 Democrats voted against passage. Making its way through the Senate is a forty-year extension of the Price-Anderson Act due to expire in 2025. The law limits liability of plant owners to just $16 million per reactor for accidents. This de-regulation push by industry is hardly consistent with claims that SMRs are "walkaway safe" and "meltdown-proof". Oh, the wonders of the techno-god! Sorry, we have heard this all before. Nuclear power is dying because its electricity is too expensive to safely build. Period.

A Survival Story

A  hatchery tanker caring thousands of young salmons an smolts crashed on a sharp curve when its driver lost control last Friday near Elgin, OR. Loaded with fish and water the tanker weighed 80,000 pounds.    Fortunately for the salmon, Lookingglass Creek was next to the road.  The 26,000 smolts died, but the young salmon managed to swim into the creek and survive.  The 100,000 fish were  supposed to restock the Imnaha River.  A fisheries spokesperson said that the salmon are now expected to reach the sea via the Grand Ronde River.  The incident reminds US how resilient nature is, and especially salmon.

Employees of the Union County Sheriffs Office and Nez Pierce tribe members cleaned up the spill and counted the fish.  The smolts were too young to flop into the water; 77,000 salmon did reach the creek   The state of Oregon spends considerable amounts on hatching salmon to repopulate depleted rivers and streams.  The Lookingglass Creek hatchery is one of thirty-three operated by the state.The dams on the lower Snake River seem to be a major choke point for migrating salmon.   It seems to US Person that money could be more effectively spent on removing unneeded dams, restoring riverine habitat and reducing pollution.  This  story reminds US Person of the time he assisted a spawning Chinook salmon over a weir in Alaska to reach his home lake.

Salmon spend about three years at sea foraging and building strength for the return journey to their spawning grounds. Smolts are around eighteen months old; they conserve their stregth by floating tail first on the spring run-off 650 miles to the Pacific Ocean.  Scientists think that salmon use their sense of smell to navigate their return. [photo credit: USFWS]

In Iowa, the Nishnabotna River was the scene of an another devastation of aquatic life last month.  An open valve on a storage tank allowed 265,000 gallons of liquid nitrogen to leak into the river.  The toxic chemical soon spread to the Missouri River.  An estimated 790,000 fish died in a stretch of rivers 60 miles long. Carcasses lined the banks of the Nishnabotna.  The dead were mostly smaller species, but large catfish and shovel nose sturgeon also perished.  The spill was the most deadly since 2023 when run-off from a dairy farm killed 800,000.  Iowa has struggled with controlling agricultural contamination of its rivers and streams.  Despite advocacy from environmentalists, no regulatory legislation has passed the Repugnant-controlled legislature.

Sign of the Times: Spinning Fish

Florida wildlife officials are baffled by the phenomenon of spinning fish.  Hundreds of fish including endangered saw fish are thrashing themselves to death with no apparent cause.  Experts have found no communicable diseases and water parameters such as toxins, temperature, salinity, and pollution levels are normal.  NOAA has declared an emergency response focused on the Florida Keys starting this week.  In late January state officials declared a mass mortality event for sawfish Pristis.s, a prehistoric looking creature related to rays and sharks.  These fish normally live extended lives, and their line goes back unchanged for millions of years, but they have been listed as endangered since 2003.  Some members of this family can grow up to sixteen feet, and were once found all along the Gulf Coast and south Atlantic coast.  [photo credit: AP]

It is not clear if the erratic behaviors are related to the lengthy marine heat wave attributed to global warming.  Researchers have discovered that captured spinning fish stop spinning when transferred to clean water.  Because of this discovery, scientists will attempt to capture as many sawfish in danger as possible and transfer them to a recovery facility.  Such a transfer, while done for manatees,  turtles and dolphins, has never been attempted for such a large, predatory fish with a beak full of pointy teeth. NOAA has set up a tip line 844-4Sawfish.

TWIT: Mathew 7, 24

Update: New York's Attorney General has questioned the legal sufficiency of the surety that put up the $175 million bond in the NY civil fraud case. A notice to the court stated that Knight Specialty Insurance Company does not have a "certificate of qualification" from New York, and has insufficient capital to secure the bond. The AG has given the defendant ten days to "justify" the surety. In a filing Knight said it only has $139 million in capital surplus (filed balance statement). The bond posted is far in excess of  ten percent of capital surplus imposed by NY state. If the surety is not justified to the AG's satisfaction, New York will be free to begin executing on Trump's assets, unless he finds yet another idiot to back him on appeal.  There will be a hearing before Judge Engoron later this month.

credit: P. Molina

Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. [24] For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. [25] Behold, I have told you before.

Only one presidential candidate has been charged with dozens of felony crimes ranging from fraud to obstruction, espionage and, at the same time, claims to be the "chosen one". His conduct is so hypocritically lawless that he need not be named.  Watching him tell a media person that "law and order" must be a foremost issue in the election is sickening.  More than that, it is an indictment of our degraded political system.

Judge Juan Merchan expanded his gag order to include family members after Big Don started in on his daughter who works for a public relations firm that has Democratic clients.  This unacceptable behavior is an intentional strategy to disrupt and discredit the judicial proceeding ascertaining his guilt.  He used the same strategy in Georgia by attacking the prosecutor for having an affair with her employee.  Neither gambit will work.  In Ft. Pierce, FL however, he has the assistance of a federal judge in his pocket, who will keep the federal trial on espionage and obstruction from occurring before the election.

As predicted, the 'King of Debt' managed to find a surety for the reduced bond in the NY civil fraud case. He is a billionare supporter, Don Hankey, who owns Knight Specialty Insurance, and is thought to be the largest shareholder in Axos Bank.  Henley is known as the "king of the subprime" auto loan, so he made his fortune lending money to bad credit risks at high interest.  Axos refinanced loans secured by Trump Tower and Doral National Golf Course. It loaned him $100 for Trump Tower and $125 million for Doral; both are not due until 2032.  In for a penny, in for a pound.  Shares in Trump Media Company fell by 15% after the street got a look at its 2023 financial statements filed with the SEC.  According to those statements, the company lost $58 million on revenues of just $4 million!  One observer called the company, "a money incinerator" in which investors will regret taking a stake. His shares are now only worth $4.25 billion.  This false Messiah is one hell of a businessman!

That his MAGA supporters are essentially deluded children seeking attention:

Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves--Mathew 7:15