Planet of the Humans - new documentary by Michael Moore and Jeff Gibbs calls out the environmental movement

Michael Moore (Executive Producer) and Jeff Gibbs (Director) have released their new documentary, Planet of the Humans, to YouTube for free viewing for 30 days. The new film is sure to prove controversial, particularly with those supporting the green movement.

According to Moore's YouTube account's description of this documentary,   "...we are losing the battle to stop climate change on planet earth because we are following leaders who have taken us down the wrong road — selling out the green movement to wealthy interests and corporate America. This film is the wake-up call to the reality we are afraid to face: that in the midst of a human-caused extinction event, the environmental movement’s answer is to push for techno-fixes and band-aids. It's too little, too late."

Additionally, Gibbs warns, "No amount of batteries are going to save us."

Here is a link to the full film:

Feel free to leave your comments below.

Should farmers consider Wind Farming as an additional crop?

Is there enough wind for farmers here in the San Joaquin Valley to consider it a "crop?"




Here's a link to USA Today's original story by Elizabeth Weise on wind farming by farmers in Kansas, as posted by Frank Brill on EnviroPolitics.com:

Wind energy gives American farmers a new crop to sell in tough times

Trump administration warns that climate change will harm all of U.S. Did Trump read the report?

More bad news from Trump's own administration - too bad he apparently can't read...

Climate change will harm the entire nation if the U.S. doesn’t act now, federal report warns

Photo credit:  CC0 License pixabay.com

Trump's own people admit his deregulation actions will hurt more people as a result of those very actions

Guess who says that Trump's deregulation efforts will hurt people? The Trump administration itself says so!

Trump administration’s own analyses indicate many of its new regulations will hurt vulnerable Americans

Photo credit:  CC0 License pixabay.com

California's GHG emissions now below 1990 levels

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) announced today that statewide emissions of greenhouse gasses have fallen below 1990 levels for the first time since 2004.

The emission reductions are roughly equal to taking 12 million cars off of the road or saving 6 billion gallons of gasoline.

In 2006 California passed its landmark climate change law, AB 32, which requires the state to reduce its emissions to 1990 levels - 431 million metric tons) by 2020.  According to the state's 2016 Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory published today, California's emissions were 429 million metric tonnes.

Governor Jerry Brown made note of the achievement, saying, "California set the toughest emissions targets in the nation, tracked progress, and delivered results."

Added CARB Chair Mary Nichols, "This is great news for the health of Californians, the state's environment and its economy, even as we face the failure of our national leadership to address climate change.

Highlights from the inventory published today include:

• Carbon pollution dropped 13 percent statewide since a 2004 peak; meanwhile the economy grew 26 percent.
• Per capita emissions continue to be among the lowest in the country. They fell 23 percent from a peak of 14 metric tons per person (roughly equal to driving 34,000 miles) in 2001 to 10.8 metric tons per person in 2016 (roughly equal to driving 26,000 miles). That is approximately half as much as the national average.
• Carbon pollution dropped 3 percent between 2015 and 2016—roughly equal to taking 2.4 million cars off the road or saving 1.5 billion gallons of gasoline and diesel fuel.
• The “carbon intensity” of California’s economy – the amount of carbon pollution emitted per $1 million of gross state product – dropped 38 percent since the 2001 peak and is now one-half the national average.
• California now produces twice as many goods and services for the same amount of greenhouse gas emissions as the rest of the nation.

Electricity generation had the largest decline among the sectors. Emissions from this sector declined 18 percent in 2016, reflecting continued growth in renewable energy – such as solar, wind and geothermal – as a result of the state’s Renewables Portfolio Standard, and a corresponding drop in natural gas generation. Solar electricity in all forms, including rooftop generation, grew 33 percent, while natural gas fell more than 15 percent.

Check your California electric bill for a climate credit

Just in case you were unaware, your electric bill this month should be reduced a little bit by a "California Climate Credit."

Photo: California ARB


One of the consumer benefits of California's efforts to combat climate change, monies for the credit come from regulations that require power plants and other large sources of greenhouse gas emissions to purchase carbon pollution permits.

A share of those payments is returned twice a year to residential utility ratepayers and certain small businesses, who are customers of PG&E, SDG&E, and SCE Pacific Power and Liberty Utilities. Additionally, all Community Choice Aggregator (CCA) customers get the credit.

Depending upon what utility you use, the amount of the credits varies from  $29.46 to $126,90.

Here is how California's Cap-and-Trade program is helping the state

A new report just released by the California Air Resources Board details the benefits from the proceeds of its landmark Cap-and-Trade program, particularly for disadvantaged and low-income communities.

In the last year alone, more than $720 million generated by the program was reinvested in projects located in all 58 California counties. Over 75,000 projects have been completed, resulting in reductions of greenhouse gases, improved energy efficiencies, and nearly tripling the number of trees that have been planted.

Some of the projects include:

A 44-unit affordable housing development in Tulare County with integrated vanpooling service and discount transit passes is among more than 1,600 housing units funded statewide.

The Cecchini Farm in Contra Costa County, whose fifth-generation owners decided not to sell after they were approved for a conversation easement, is among more than 250,000 acres of land statewide that will be preserved, from coastal watersheds and wetlands to mountain meadows.

Los Angeles County’s Foothill Transit is purchasing 15 zero-emission electric buses to advance the agency’s goal to go all-electric by 2030 to reduce GHG emissions and improve air quality in the inland communities it serves.

For all of the details, the full report may be reviewed here: 2018 Annual Report

Former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and four others receive prestigious air quality award

The California Air Resources Board on Thursday awarded five individuals a special 50th Anniversary edition of the Haagen-Smit Legacy Award for outstanding contributions to improving air quality.

Photo Credit: California Air Resources Board

The five honorees included former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger for his work in addressing climate change.


Previously known as the Haagen-Smit Clean Air Award, it was renamed as the Haagen-Smith Legacy Award in honor of its 50th Anniversary. The annual award is considered by many to be the Nobel Prize for air quality and climate change achievements.

“Our honorees span the past 50 years of progress toward clean air. Each played a leading role in this struggle for clean air and a healthy economy,” CARB Chair Mary D. Nichols said. “Individually our honorees have conducted ground-breaking research or shaped pioneering clean-air policies. Together, these five remarkable individuals are being recognized for their leadership, courage, and innovation. Californians owe them a debt of gratitude for their contribution to improved public health in California, across our nation, and throughout the world."
In addition to Schwarzenegger, others honored included:

• David G. Hawkings, Director, Natural Resources Defense Council’s Climate Center

• Henry Waxman, Former U.S. Congressman and current Chairman, Waxman Strategies

• Mario Molina, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego

• Gina McCarthy, Professor of the Practice of Public Health, Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health; Director, Harvard’s Center for Health and the Global Environment

For more details, including a summary of each honoree's achievements, click on the following link:

2017 Haagen-Smit Legacy Awards

Jerry Brown officially extends California's landmark cap-and-trade program

California’s Governor Jerry Brown yesterday signed into law the state’s revised cap-and-trade program, AB 398. The action extends and improves the state’s ambitious and world-leading climate change plan to effect reductions in greenhouse gases.

Photo: California Governor's website

"California is leading the world in dealing with a principal existential threat that humanity faces," said Governor Brown. "We are a nation-state in a globalizing world and we're having an impact and you're here witnessing one of the key milestones in turning around this carbonized world into a decarbonized, sustainable future."

The signing took place on Treasure Island, the same location where former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the state’s original cap-and-trade-program, AB 32 (the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006) over 10 years ago. The new program, which was approved with bipartisan support, is designed to ensure that California reduces its GHG emissions 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030 as required by AB 32.

"Thanks to bipartisan support California was able to extend its historic cap and trade program which protects our environment and preserves our nation-leading economic growth. Governor Brown and legislative leaders from both parties came together to ensure that California continues to march toward a clean, prosperous future. I want to especially thank Assembly Republican Leader Chad Mayes and his Republican colleagues for following in the footsteps of great Republicans like Teddy Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan, who both recognized the importance of fighting for clean air and water and natural spaces. I hope politicians around the country can learn from the example set in Sacramento last week. Republicans and Democrats were able to come together to pass legislation that helps clean up our environment for our children while at the same time supporting a booming economy," said former Governor Schwarzenegger.

"As the Trump Administration seeks to undermine our nation's climate leadership - the world is looking to California. We are proving that growing an economy and protecting the environment is not an either-or proposition; we can and will continue to do both. Today's extension of our landmark cap-and-trade program, coupled with our effective clean energy policies, will move us forward into the future and we plan to take the rest of the world with us," said Senate President pro Tempore Kevin de León.

Smoke from Mariposa Detwiler Fire to impact the Valley this weekend

The San Joaquin Valley APCD has issued an advisory related to smoke from the Detwiler Fire near Mariposa.

Photo: Cal Fire website

Because of the build-up of high pressure, lighter winds, and deteriorating dispersion conditions, smoke from the fire may affect air quality in the central and southern San Joaquin Valley through the weekend.

The smoke contains particulate mater (PM2.5) that can cause serious health problems including lung disease, asthma attacks, and may increase the risk for strokes and heart attacks. Those people with existing respiratory conditions, young children, and the elderly may be particularly impacted by these conditions.

The SJVAPCD urges residents to follow their doctor's orders when exposed to PM2.5 and to stay indoors if possible, particularly if they can smell smoke or see ash in the sky.

For more air quality information about current wildfires, please refer to the SJVAPCD's wildfire page.

Trump's War on the Environment begins with an Executive Order to end Obama's Clean Power Plan and other environmental protections

As promised to his many followers, particularly coal miners who cling to the belief that their jobs depend upon it, President* Donald Trump signed an executive order today that aims to undo many of the environmental protections implemented and/or planned for by the previous Obama administration.

Video Credit: The White House

The main target is Obama's Clean Power Plan, which would reduce the nation's dependence upon coal fired power plants even more than current economic conditions (cheap natural gas, increased usage of renewable energy sources, energy efficiency, etc.) are already doing.

Trump and his supporters claim the new executive order will result in more jobs for those in the energy industry, particularly coal miners. The latter group was represented by several miners at the signing who stood behind Trump as he signed the measure.

Additionally, the new order will open up federal lands to coal mining, eliminate requirements to reduce methane emissions from oil and gas production facilities, and reduce the importance of climate change impacts on permitting decisions.

The ball is now in the court of environmentalists, the alternative energy industry, and individual states who will be impacted by the potential increase in emissions and environmental degradation expected.

Lawyers for climate scientists, what a shame

We just read the following post about how important it is for climate scientists to be aware of what they do from a legal standpoint.

How did we as a society come to this?

Here's a link to the article from our friends at RealClimate:

Defending Climate Science

Photo: RealClimate website - Fair Use

Millions appalled as Trump nominates oil industry lackey, Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, to head agency

Follow the money. For those who think our government is for sale, recent actions by our future President have done little to allay those fears.

The health and welfare of millions of Americans is about to take another hit with the news that President-elect Donald Trump has nominated Scott Pruitt to lead the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Photo: Scott Pruitt, www.ok.gov website. Fair use

Pruitt is the Attorney General for Oklahoma and for several years, with the backing of hundreds of thousands of dollars from the oil industry, has fought to prevent new EPA regulations from being implemented, particularly those that address man-made climate change.

Pruitt is a climate change denier and seemingly does whatever the fossil fuel industry asks him to do. Correspondence protesting environmental regulations sent on his letterhead to government agencies and officials, under his signature, has reportedly been actually written by energy industry lobbyists. These include letters to EPA, the Department of the Interior, and President Obama, among others.

Coupled with the previous announcement that the notorious global warming skeptic Myron Ebell will be leading Trump's effort to revamp federal agencies that deal with environmental issues, this latest nomination has raised a firestorm of protest among environmentalists.

Gene Karpinski, president of the League of Conservation Voters said that having Pruitt lead the EPA is "...like the fox guarding the henhouse."

Said Earthjustice President Trip Van Noppen, "Every American should be appalled that ...Trump just picked someone who has made a career of being a vocal defender for polluters to head our Environmental Protection Agency."

Is Trump empire angling to make millions from climate change? Ivanka to meet with Al Gore today.

The eyebrows of many who follow the topic of climate change and global warming were raised today with the news that Ivanka Trump, the daughter of President-elect Donald Trump, will be meeting with former U.S. Vice-President Al Gore today.

Ms. Trump has previously indicated her interest in the subject, reportedly hoping to make it her signature issue. Although her father was not scheduled to attend the meeting, CNN has just reported that both he and his daughter met with Mr. Gore.

Photo: Ivanka Trump - Facebook profile picture, Fair Use

Many observers have noted the spider web of potential business conflicts of Donald Trump's many family businesses with his upcoming responsibilities as President. Some have said that the Trumps may try to use their new position of power to influence contract negotiations involving their private businesses.

Indeed, Ivanka previously sat in with the President-elect's meeting with Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe last month. The meeting soon proved controversial when it became known that she was also in the process of trying to get a licensing deal with a Japanese retail firm, Sanei International. That firm's parent company is the Bank of Japan, which is owned by the Japanese government.

Given her father's previous descriptions of climate change as a hoax and a marketing tool, is Ivanka's interest in the subject one of environmental activism or one of a business person checking out all of the angles, using her new position as a close advisor to her President-elect father to "make a buck?"

Say goodbye to snow skiing in California - man made climate change to reduce Sierra snowpack by 50%

A new study led by UCLA climate researcher Alex Hall indicates that if we don't take climate change seriously and control greenhouse gas emissions, then we can expect a reduction in snowpack in the Sierra Nevada mountains by over 50%.

Dodge Ridge Ski resort in Pinecrest, CA

Photo By IanGad (DodgeRidge) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], via Wikimedia Commons

Utilizing some new modeling techniques, the researchers were able to make predictions on a relatively narrow geographical area. The study, published in the American Meteorological Society's online journal, found that temperatures could rise by 7 to 10 degrees Fahrenheit by the end of the century causing the decline in snowpack.

Additionally, the loss of reflected heat due to the loss of snowpack will lead to additional warming, further exacerbating the situation.

Obviously, those who enjoy snow skiing and those who own and operate snow skiing facilities should be very, very concerned about this future situation.

Learn more here and at this link.

Trump picks "fanatical ideological clown" Myron Ebell to gut EPA, millions of lives may be at risk

President-elect Donald Trump has made one of his first moves to fulfill his many anti-environmental campaign promises. He has appointed Myron Ebell, one of the world's leading climate contrarians, to lead Trump's effort to redesign - some would say "dismantle" - the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and rebuild it in Trump's image.

Photo: Myron Ebell Facebook Page, Fair Use

Under Ebell's guidance, the new administration appears to be willing to throw in the trash existing and proposed EPA regulations that address not only climate change, but also those that protect the health and lives of millions of Americans.

This is all being done under the mistaken belief that environmental regulations are based on faulty science and do not benefit the public.

Ebell has been called a "fanatical ideologue" and a "nut" by David Doniger of the Natural Resources Defense Council and a "clown" by others who, to say the least, do not think highly of his expertise (or lack of it) or his opinions.

He directs environmental and energy policy at the Competitive Enterprise Institute. Much of the funding for that organization comes from the fossil fuel industry, in particular large coal producers such as the Murray Energy Corporation.

Ebell also chairs the Cooler Heads Coalition which refers to global warming as a hoax and a myth based on flawed scientific, economic, and risk analysis. Ebell is not a scientist but has referred to those who are experts in the field as third-, fourth-, and fifth-rate scientists.

Every single argument that Ebell has raised about climate change being a hoax or that there is no scientific consensus has been easily rebutted. For a comprehensive list of such nonsensical claims as his, try this link: Skeptical Science

Is climate change forcing Trump to focus on interplanetary colonization?

As the dust begins to settle and much of the shock starts to wear off, The Guardian reports that President-elect Trump plans to scuttle all NASA directed work on the environment in favor of deep space exploration.

Maybe he wants to get a head start on interplanetary colonization before climate change screws up everything on Earth?

Video: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

Read the full article here: 

Trump to scrap Nasa climate research in crackdown on "politicized science"

Climate change and national security, it's a real issue

As a bitter election year comes to an end in the United States, an issue that saw little discussion or debate by any of the major political parties nonetheless remains - human caused climate change.

It's real and it's a fact. Those who deny it need to get over their "beliefs" and listen to people who know what they are talking about - climate scientists - and stop their nonsensical claims that it is a hoax.

You're wrong. It isn't. Get over it.

Photo: The Madhouse Effect, Amazon, Fair Use

One aspect of climate change that is often given short thrift is its effect on international conflicts. Although one could argue that there are no climate change "models" that accurately predict when or if people will start fighting each other because the world is getting warmer, there are some things to consider seriously.

Like:

What happens if the world's population continues to increase faster than the production of food to feed everyone?

What happens if increased droughts and storms lead to a decrease in agricultural yields?

What happens when temperature increases adversely impact major agricultural areas?

And most importantly, what happens when nation states and/or political factions within those nation states see their food and water supplies diminishing compared to their neighbors?

All of these areas are addressed in a new book, The Madhouse Effect: How Climate Change Denial Is Threatening Our Planet, Destroying Our Politics, and Driving Us Crazy, by Michael E. Mann and Tom Toles. Mann, one of the foremost scientific experts in the field, and Toles, a Pulitzer Prize winning political cartoonist, have put together a unique product that utilizes both written text and cartoons to address the problem of climate change.

If you are looking for some exceptional reading on the subject, you should check it out. An excellent summary of some of the issues discussed in the book can be found here:

Why Climate Change is the Biggest Threat to National Security

Before the Flood - was DiCaprio too wishy-washy or not?

The new climate change film, Before the Flood, has making a lot of news lately. Currently being shown on the National Geographic Channel and available for free streaming on iTunes, the film features actor Leonardo DiCaprio as he travels the world searching for answers to what many say is the most pressing environmental problem facing the world today.


Some people have commented that the message of the film isn't harsh enough in warning of the dangers of uncontrolled anthropogenic emissions. Others say the film presents everything in just the right manner for the general public.

Have you seen it yet? What do you think? let us know in the comments section below.

The Arctic will be free of ice by 2040, impacting the rest of the world

Here's a very well done video discussing the impacts of man made climate change / global warming on ice in the Arctic and the resulting problems that can be expected worldwide. The makers of the video speculate that the Arctic will be ice-free at current melt rates as soon as the year 2040 - that's less than 25 years away!

http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/before-the-flood/videos/5-things-to-know-about-the-warming-arctic/