New Rules

The case of the Mountain Valley Pipeline is instructive of how captive regulators bent on taking down pesky environmental rules change those rules to fit the project they want completed. Federal judges in the Fourth Circuit have turned down permits for this pipeline twice saying environmental opponents are likely to win on the merits. The same thing happened two years ago. So what to do? Instead of rethinking the environmental impact of the project, West Virginia's Department of Environmental Protection rewrote the construction rules so the pipeline could qualify for the 'streamlined' federal permitting process created by the regime. Business leaders in the state have enthusiastically embraced the natural gas industry as a replacement for the coal industry that has been in decline for decades. However, natural gas has not produced the economic renaissance they have been seeking. [photo credit: Pro Publica]

Billionaire governor Jim Justice promised a revival of West Virginia's fossil fueled economy at a gathering of Chamber of Commerce types a year ago. He hosted the event at his own Greenbrier luxury resort. Since then several key energy projects have run into delays or have been cancelled. Plans, dating back to 2013, for an ethane cracker plant in Wood County were canned; a promised Chinese investment of more than $80 billion in natural gas industry projects, announced in 2017, has not materialized; and efforts to land a massive underground storage facility for natural gas byproducts ran into congressional opposition, according to Pro Publica. The six hundred mile Atlantic Coast pipeline was scrapped after delays and questions arose about whether it was needed. The number of active drilling rigs was down from twenty in the second quarter of 2019 to just 5 by the third quarter. COVIO-19 has also had a massive depressing effect on the state's energy sector with a projected 20% drop in jobs for 2020. 

Much of the current legal controversy over the Mountain Valley project surrounds Clean Water Act "dredge and fill" permits from the Army Corps of Engineers, which constructors need to conduct work in streams affecting the right of way. Both the Corps and state regulators are in the process of again altering the projects parameters (pipe size) and regulatory requirements so the pipeline qualifies for streamlined permitting while the Fourth Circuit litigation goes forward on the merits. The courts have ruled that conservationists are likely to prevail because regulators have overruled scientific findings related to environmental impacts of the project. The pipeline owners are complaining about the mounting costs of delay caused by the granting of injunctive relief. Of course, conservationists are objecting to the exploiters moving the goal posts during the game.

COTW: Defunding the Police?

The first chart is courtesy of Jeffery St. Clair at Counterpoint. Incrementalist 'Obamarama' chastised progressives for the slogan, "Defund the Police", which is a snappy way of saying the police need to be demilitarized, and some of their bloated budgets diverted to alternative and less violent means of crime control. Updated data for 2020 has now been released which shows that U.S. police departments are still receiving an astronomical percentage of discretionary funds compared to other crucial community programs. Police budgets remain high in 2020, ranging from 20 to 45 percent of discretionary funding in major metropolitan areas. Look at these charts:

Under Stalin, the Soviet Union incarcerated 800 persons for every 100,000. The US is slightly behind at only 698 per 100,000. With a month to go in the year, US police have killed 864 people. 

 

US COVID-19 DEATHS (est.): 304,464

the insane rant never stops...

Australia Will Count Koalas

rescued mother and infant

Koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus)were decimated by this summer's wildfires in Australia. A study commissioned by the World Wildlife Foundation (WWF) found that 61,000 kolas were killed, injured or displaced by the flames. Even before the fires, koalas and other Australia wildlife were under threat from expanding human development. Agriculture is among the top contributors to deforestation in areas where koalas live. [photo credit: NYT]

Estimates of koala populations have varied over time. They range from 43,000 to 300,000. In 2019 the Koala Foundation estimated fewer than 80,000 remained. The need for an more accurate count is apparent as more koalas appear in urban areas, forced out of their wild homes. Koalas, unlike some species, do not do well in urban environments where they are run over by vehicles or attacked by domestic dogs. Populations under stress are more prone to diseases.

Counting the tree dwelling marsupial is not always easy, so wildlife officials plan to employ trained canine trackers and technological aids such as drones equipped with thermal cameras.  The environment minister said koala experts will gather next year to discuss the best methods for conducting the count. Some conservationists say the koala cannot wait to be counted, as evidence already exists that their numbers are in serious decline; one spokesperson likened the koala census to counting deck chairs on the Titanic (Should they have counted lifeboats instead?) Twenty-three groups demanded in a letter that the federal government do more to protect koala habitat. WWF has an ambitious goal to double koala numbers in eastern Australia by dropping tens of thousands of eucalyptus seeds on burned areas to promote reforestation. Koalas feed on eucalyptus leaves and live in their branches.

Tires and Coho Salmon Don't Mix

After years of studying why most adult coho salmon die when they reach Seattle's urban waters on their way to reproduce in streams connected to Puget Sound, a research team from the Universities of Washington and Washington State have isolated a cause among a witches brew of chemicals from roadway runoff poluting the Sound. The culprit is a globally common chemical used to preserve vehicle tires. When the tire antioxidant 6PPD interacts with atmospheric ozone it becomes toxic 6PPD quinone fatal to spawning salmon. Antioxidnats like 6PPD are added to tire compounds to inhibit oxidation of structural elastomeres. The research results are published in Science journal.

Urban runoff mortality syndrome, as the phenomenon of coho deaths is called, kills 40-90% of returning salmon before they are able to spawn. [photo: NOAA] Obviously this rate of mortality for a keystone species is not sustainable. The researchers used mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance to isolate the causative chemical in stormwater runoff. Detected concentrations of this chemical in receiving waters often exceeds the mortality thresholds for coho salmon during runoff events, which are quite common in the rainy Northwest. 

Globally, 3.1 billion tires are made annually that produce almost 1 kg of rubber particles per capita, making tires one of the most significant contributors of microplastics to the freshwater environment. Disposal of used tires also poses an environmental contamination risk. Research has shown that rainbow trout are more affected by used tires than new ones. It is unlikely, according to the researchers that coho are uniquely affected by the tire antioxidant. They recommend that non-toxic alternatives for 6PPD be utilized in tire manufacture, and more careful toxicological assessments be made of high volume commercial chemicals subject to pervasive discharges into the environment.

'Toontime: The Perpetual Candidate

BC Idonwanna sez, Send in the Kraken (aka Rudy Ghoully) too!

Killer has indicated to the RNC he plans to run in 2024, even scheduling his announcement for the day Biden is confirmed as the next President by the Electoral College vote on December 14th. His decision makes sense from a long con standpoint. He has already raised over $170 million for his cynical, corrupt legal campaign against the integrity of the popular vote. A four year political campaign will keep the extremist money rolling in and provide free media coverage of his narcissistic insanity. If he plans to pardon himself, US Person thinks his conservative implants on the Supremos will hand him a surprise. If there is a single founding principle of this nation, it is that no person is above the law. In the eyes of the revolutionists, King George III was a tyrannical monarch who could tax his colonists without representation, compell military service, and overrule legal process in his colonies. Even a so-called 'originalist' cannot deny that historical context. Allowing Killer to escape accountability for his crimes by granting himself a pardon cannot be allowed, if this nation intends to remain a republic, so NOT! Besides, a presidential pardon does not extend to a state criminal prosecution like the one going now in Manhattan.

 

A presidential meltdown in progress....

 

COTW: The Latest Surge

Update: US sets new record for daily deaths: 2,804 on Wednesday. (revised by John Hopkins due to data error.) Today's (Friday) record: 2,879.

{1/12/20} Because of the chaotic government response to the pandemic*, See e.g. Scott Atlas, random radiologist, and Mericans' notorious disrespect for public health restrictions, the country has the largest number of COVID-19 cases in the world and a 2% mortality rate, which puts it in the top ten per 100,000 people. USA!, USA!....The governor of California said the latest surge in his state threatens to overwhelm the hospital system, in which case unspecified "drastic action" will have to be taken.  To date no state has had to experience the complete quarantine mandated in countries like New Zealand and Australia; both of which have successfully controlled their infection rates. The US is on course for 300,000 deaths by the end of the year with daily mortality in excess of 800.

US COVID DEATHS (est.): 287,452

Donald, can you spare a pardon?...

 

*A recent CDC study of blood samples shows Americans were producing antibodies in response to the SARS CoV-2 virus in December, 2019. According to reports, “Of the [7,389] samples tested, at least 106 were found to have antibodies for SARS-CoV-2, including ones collected from California, Oregon and Washington from Dec. 13 through Dec. 16, 2019.... [CDC]also found 67 samples with antibodies in Massachusetts, Michigan, Wisconsin or Iowa, and Connecticut or Rhode Island,” US intelligence was briefing Killer in November of the potential "cataclysmic" pandemic brewing in China. The first identified case occurred in Washington in January 2020. International travel was restricted by the hapless regime, but only after some 40,000 people arrived in New York City from Europe. Killer's spociopathic personality has cost the country dearly.

A New Primate in Town

There is a new primate in the forest canopy, Myanmar's popa langur (Trachypithecus popa), a beautiful grey monkey living near an extinct volcano of the same name. It was recently described for the first time, [photo credit:T. Win] and is endangered with only 200 to 260 remaining in its native habitat. This langur is distinctive for its grey fur and bespectacled facial markings, making it a potential target of the illegal pet trade and hunters. Identification of the new species began in the laboratory where genetic researchers studied tissue samples from museums and fecal samples from the wild. After several years of analysis, scientists declared it a new species in the journal Zoological Research. Specimens of the monkey were collected over a hundred years ago, but no one thought to study them closely. There are twenty known species in the genus Trachypithecus and T. popa is closely related to T. phayrei, but it is morphologically different. 

The largest population lives in Mount Popa National Park in central Myanmar, but the protect forest is small, just 10 square miles and is completely surrounded by human agriculture, so it may not be large enough to support a growing population of langurs. A smaller population lives in Panlaung-Pyadalin Cave wildlife sanctuary, but it overlaps onto an adjacent limestone concession. For these reasons and the fact that it qualifies for listing as critically endangered under IUCN rules, the langur requires immediate conservation attention. Fauna and Flora International, a conservation group, said it would help with efforts to educate locals about the new primate and conduct more research. Myanmar has the largest extent of undeveloped forest remaining in Southeast Asia, so more discoveries probably await researchers there.