Month: February 2021

A third of all food in the U.S. gets wasted. Fixing that could help fight climate change.

Washington Post: A third of all food in the U.S. gets wasted. Fixing that could help fight climate change. The carbon footprint of food waste is greater than that of the airline industry.

I have a gross confession: Last week, when I cleaned out my fridge for the first time in I’d-rather-not-say-how-long, I found some slimy spinach, a jar of salsa gone moldy, the soured dregs of a pint of yogurt and a ball of leftover cookie dough I forgot to bake. All of it went in the trash.

I felt awful, because I’ve reported on how food waste contributes to climate change. More than a third of all food grown for human consumption in the United States never makes it to someone’s stomach, according to the nonprofit ReFED. That’s about $408 billion worth of food, grown on 18 percent of U.S. farmland with 4 trillion tons of water.

The carbon footprint of U.S. food waste is greater than that of the airline industry. Globally, wasted food accounts for about 8 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions. The environmental consequences of producing food that no one eats are massive.

Report: Climate Change Increases Flooding Risk For Some 230,000 Ohio Valley Homes

Ohio Valley Resource: Climate Change Increases Flooding Risk For Some 230,000 Ohio Valley Homes.

A new analysis of flooding risk that accounts for the effects of climate change finds many more homes in Appalachian communities in Kentucky, Ohio and West Virginia are at risk of flooding than the federal government’s emergency managers have indicated. In 12 Appalachian counties in the region, at least half of all residences are at risk, and in West Virginia one in five homes carry a high risk of flooding, according to an analysis of the data released by the nonprofit First Street Foundation.

“In Kentucky, West Virginia and Ohio — especially the Appalachian region — that risk has not been tracked properly,” said Jeremy Porter, head of research and development at First Street Foundation. Porter said the findings have implications for whether homeowners are properly insured against the risk of flooding damage. “People are not protected against the current climate environment.”

Solar panels and batteries on your home could help prevent the next grid disaster

National Geographic: Solar panels and batteries on your home could help prevent the next grid disaster. Even small systems like those that kept the lights on for some Texas homeowners could play a role in protecting the bigger electricity system, experts say.

The power went out in Mauricio Montoya’s snow-blanketed neighborhood at 5:30 on a Monday evening in February during the cold snap that devastated Texas. Night quickly fell, sinking his neighborhood in Pearland into eerie, near-complete darkness—except for his house. His lights stayed on, thanks to a solar panel array and a set of batteries that kept his home warm and lit until Thursday, when the power came back on for good.

Montoya’s home became a retreat during the disaster; neighbors came to warm up, his extended family who lost power came to stay. His children slept in their own beds, safe and warm.

“It was a lifesaver to have the panels and batteries,” he says. “We could have gone on forever that way, using just the system.”

Scientists see stronger evidence of slowing Atlantic Ocean circulation, an ‘Achilles’ heel’ of the climate

Washington Post: Scientists see stronger evidence of slowing Atlantic Ocean circulation, an ‘Achilles’ heel’ of the climate. The Atlantic meridional overturning circulation, a system of currents, is weaker than it has been in 1,000 years.

A growing body of evidence suggests that a massive change is underway in the sensitive circulation system of the Atlantic Ocean, a group of scientists said Thursday.

The Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC), a system of currents that includes the Florida Current and the Gulf Stream, is now “in its weakest state in over a millennium,” these experts say. This has implications for everything from the climate of Europe to the rates of sea-level rise along the U.S. East Coast.

Agency permanently bans fracking near Delaware River – 2 articles

NPR: Agency permanently bans fracking near Delaware River. A regulatory agency that’s responsible for the water supply of more than 13 million people in four Northeastern states voted Thursday to permanently ban natural gas drilling and fracking near a crucial waterway, asserting that gas development poses an unacceptable threat. The Delaware River Basin Commission cited “significant immediate and long-term risks” from gas extraction, asserting that drillers have “adversely impacted surface-water and groundwater resources, including sources of drinking water, and have harmed aquatic life in some regions.”

The Philadelphia Inquirer: Amid lawsuits, Deleware River Basin makes fracking ban permanent. The formal ban came a month after a federal judge set an October trial date to hear a challenge to the drilling moratorium. The Delaware River Basin Commission on Thursday approved a permanent ban on hydraulic fracturing of natural gas wells along the river, doubling down in the face of new legal challenges. The DRBC’s vote maintains the status quo — it formally affirms a drilling moratorium imposed in 2010 by the commission, the interstate agency that manages water use in the vast Delaware watershed. But environmentalists hailed the frack ban as historic.

North Anna quake safety questioned

The Central Virginian: North Anna quake safety questioned.

As Dominion Energy pushes to extend North Anna Power Station’s lifespan for another 20 years, critics are calling for a more thorough study of how the plant can withstand a future earthquake.

Beyond Nuclear, the Sierra Club and Alliance for a Progressive Virginia are seeking a formal hearing before an Atomic Safety and Licensing Board panel. They say that since a third reactor at North Anna would meet a new, higher standard for withstanding an earthquake, an upgrade may also be warranted for the two existing units.

North Anna Units 1 and 2 were licensed by the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission in 1978 and 1980 for 40-year terms. In 2003, the agency granted 20-year extensions to 2038 and 2040. Dominion’s current request is to continue operating at least until 2058 and 2060.

Yale Climate Connections, February 26, 2021

Articles include:  Neglect of power-grid and climate warnings set the icy stage; Climate lessons from Texas’ frozen power outages; ban fishing in fishless Central Arctic; Will jobs! jobs! more jobs!;  jobs for oil and gas workers;  His business is building ice castles;  COVID recovery packages should include climate solutions; Kentucky coal town fear return of devastating floods;  Why a Charleston woman decided to demolish her home

Interior Department halts seismic surveys for oil in Alaska’s Arctic refuge

Arctic Today: Interior Department halts seismic surveys for oil in Alaska’s Arctic refuge. The company proposing to survey parts of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge’s coastal plain missed a deadline for its plan to protect polar bears.

lans for seismic surveys to help find oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge have fizzled due to a lack of protection for polar bears, according to a brief statement Saturday from the Department of the Interior.

The Kaktovik Inupiat Corp (KIC), the Alaska Native-owned company that applied for permission to conduct the survey, failed to do the required work to identify polar bear dens in the region that would be surveyed, Interior spokeswoman Melissa Schwartz said in an emailed statement.

The likely demise of the seismic plan is the latest in a series of setbacks that have deflated the decades-long ambition to convert the refuge into an oil-producing frontier.

Alaska’s oil production has been waning since the late 1980s, when the state produced more than 2 million barrels of crude per day. Now its output is roughly 500,000 bpd.

Former President Donald Trump pushed tax legislation that passed in 2017 and would have allowed for drilling in ANWR, and the federal government held a lease sale in the last days of his presidency.

Report: Climate change, rising sea levels to increase cost of flood damage by $34 billion in coming decades

ABC News: Climate change, rising sea levels to increase cost of flood damage by $34 billion in coming decades: Report. The cost of climate change is becoming increasingly clear.

The cost of climate change is becoming increasingly clear as researchers study the adverse effects of rising sea levels on society.

As the climate warms, the glaciers and ice sheets around the world will melt, causing sea levels to rise and leading to disastrous consequences for coastal cities in the coming decades, according to a new report titled “The Cost of Climate” by research and technology nonprofit First Street Foundation.

By 2051, the cost of flood damage is expected to increase by 61%, or $32 billion, according to researchers, who analyzed the economic impact of underestimated flood risk to properties throughout the U.S.

Ky. Bill Would Allow Ban Of Large Solar Projects On Farmland

Ohio Valley Resource: Ky. Bill Would Allow Ban Of Large Solar Projects On Farmland.

A new bill in the Kentucky legislature could ban large-scale solar projects on farmland in the state, out of fears that the growing solar industry could be a detriment to the preservation of productive farmland. But a leading solar advocate in the state believes the bill is an overreaction and could significantly hamper the dawning solar industry.

Republican State Sen. Steve West said the bill filed Monday is his way to address a long-term problem of increasing development destroying prime farmland for future generations, with large solar installations adding to that pressure.