Graphs of sea surface temperatures have been circulating almost daily over the last year, and seeming more concerning as weeks go by. “Gob Smacking Bananas” was the description global temp expert Zeke Hausfather famously applied last fall. Now, as the warming El Nino gives way to the “cooler” La Nina phase, it could be that some of those ridiculous high peaks will level out a bit. Michael Mann posts a recent graph with the reminder, we don’t need dooms, the truth is bad enough.
As El Nino gives way to La Nina, we’re seeing a drop-off in global sea surface temperatures (as some of us said would happen). The problem was never about one or two years–it’s about the TREND. Planet will continue to warm until carbon emissions reach zero. Truth is bad enough!
Laborers’ International Union of North America has 500,000 members and has been an important ally in the fight to site clean energy. I’ve seen LIUNA leadership and members show up at critical moments in Counties and Townships where local boards are formulating ordinances and permits critical to wind and solar projects. Above, a new ad give some refreshing support from blue collar workers to President Biden’s energy and infrastructure bills.
Below, LIUNA rep Paul Prebay showed up, along with a few dozen members, at a critical permitting meeting for Little Trout Solar farm in Northeastern Michigan. The local board granted the permit.
Above, a few sobering data points about Tritium, a critical fuel component for fusion reactors.
Below, book review.
Arjun Makhijani is someone I’ve interviewed in relation to the economics of small modular nuclear reactors. Makhijani is a PhD electrical engineer with a specialization in nuclear fusion – so not a health professional, but conversant with technical literature. He’s written a book, Exploring Tritium’s Danger – about the health effects of tritium, a little known but very significant isotope of hydrogen – that’s all kinds of inconvenient for a whole lot of nuclear narratives that I honestly thought had been settled.
A radioactive isotope of hydrogen, tritium is one the most expensive, rare, and potentially harmful elements in the world. Its rarity is underscored by its price—$30,000 per gram—which is projected to rise from $100,000 to $200,000 per gram by mid-century.
Although its rarity and usefulness in some applications gives it a high monetary value, tritium is also a radioactive contaminant that has been released widely to the air and water from nuclear power and spent nuclear fuel reprocessing plants. Makhijani points out that “one teaspoon of tritiated water (as HTO) would contaminate about 100 billion gallons of water to the US drinking water limit; that is enough to supply about 1 million homes with water for a year.”
Where tritium comes from. Since Earth began to form, the radioactive isotope of hydrogen known as tritium (H-3) has been created by interactions between cosmic rays and Earth’s atmosphere; through this natural process, the isotope continues to blanket the planet in tiny amounts. With a radioactive half-life of 12.3 years, tritium falls from the sky and decays, creating a steady-state global equilibrium that comes to about three to seven kilograms of tritium.
Tritium initially became a widespread man-made contaminant when it was spread across the globe by open-air nuclear weapons explosions conducted between 1945 and 1963. Rainfall in 1963 was found in the Northern Hemisphere to contain 1,000 times more tritium than background levels. Open-air nuclear weapons explosions released about 600 kilograms (6 billion curies) into the atmosphere. In the decades since above-ground nuclear testing ended, nuclear power plants have added even more to the planet’s inventory of tritium. For several years, US power reactors have been contaminating ground water via large, unexpected tritium leaks from degraded subsurface piping and spent nuclear fuel storage pool infrastructures.
Since the 1990s, about 70 percent of the nuclear power sites in the United States (43 out of 61 sites) have had significant tritium leaks that contaminated groundwater in excess of federal drinking water limits.
The most recent leak occurred in November 2022, involving 400,000 gallons of tritium-contaminated water from the Monticello nuclear station in Minnesota. The leak was kept from the public for several months. In late March of this year, after the operator could not stop the leak, it was forced to shut down the reactor to fix and replace piping. By this time, tritium reached the groundwater that enters the Mississippi River. A good place to start limiting the negative effects of tritium contamination, Makhijani recommends, is to significantly tighten drinking water standards.
Just got a rave review from a good friend on this movie – profiling tribal resistance to the Enbridge Pipeline as it passes near Lake Superior. Understand they just won a critical legal battle.
BAD RIVER is a riveting new documentary about the Wisconsin-based Bad River Band and its ongoing fight for sovereignty. The Canadian corporation Enbridge and its Line 5 crude oil pipeline threaten the Great Lakes and the Band’s way of life.
The story unfolds in a groundbreaking way through a series of shocking revelations, devastating losses, and a powerful legacy of defiance and resilience. This inspiring film brings us through an epic sweep of history into the present, with a David vs. Goliath battle to save Lake Superior, the largest freshwater resource in America.
“We gotta protect it… die for it, if we have to.” – Eldred Corbine, a Bad River Tribal Elder
This powerful new documentary film is written and directed by award-winning filmmaker Mary Mazzio (I Am Jane Doe, A Most Beautiful Thing) and narrated by Indigenous activist and model Quannah ChasingHorse and award-winning actor Edward Norton (Primal Fear, American History X, Birdman).
The bloodthirsty leader of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia loves his dictatorial soul-mate Donald Trump and is today setting the stage to intervene in November’s election in a big way, much like he did with a smaller test run during the fall of 2022 when he drove US gas prices up above $5, forcing President Biden to release oil from the US strategic petroleum reserve.
Saudi Arabia, the de facto leader of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, said Sunday that it would extend cuts in oil production through June, noting that it was acting “in coordination with some” other states. Saudi allies including Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates said Sunday that they would also continue their reductions.
That “other state” would be their OPEC+ partner Russia, which also announced last weekend a simultaneous production cut of 471,000 barrels a day. Putin wants Trump back in the White House, too.
This time, though, because Trump refused to block the sale of America’s largest gasoline refinery to Saudi Arabia in 2017 (completed in 2019 with Trump’s blessing), no matter how much oil Biden releases from the reserves will be irrelevant: if the Saudis shut down their Port Arthur, Texas refinery this October “for maintenance,” US gasoline prices will explode.It’s the largest refinery in America, as Foreign Policy magazine noted in May 2017:
“Port Arthur, referred to as the ‘crown jewel’ of U.S. refinery infrastructure, can process 600,000 barrels of oil a day.”
That alone is enough to radically swing gasoline prices in the US.So, get ready: it’s coming this fall. And unless the administration acts quickly, there will be nothing they can do about it. Gas at $6 a gallon could easily throw the election to Trump, as Biden will take the blame (just like in November 2022) and Fox “News” and rightwing hate media will hang gas prices around his neck like a flaming tire.
With Biden we're pumping more oil than ever, but remember Trump cut production to help Russia and the Saudis. Probably one of the reasons Jared got $2B in bone saw blood money.pic.twitter.com/ClvpIwrzeW
Based in Florida, Space Perspective has unveiled a groundbreaking concept known as Spaceship Neptune. At the heart of this concept is the “SpaceBalloon,” an impressive structure made from over 18 million cubic feet of temperature-resistant material, standing a towering 700 feet tall when ready for liftoff.
Accompanying this towering balloon is the Reserve Descent System, a fail-safe mechanism consisting of four parachutes designed to ensure the safe return of crew and passengers in the event of SpaceBalloon failure. To round off the space voyage in style, Space Perspective offers the Neptune Capsule, a luxurious haven for both crew and passengers.
One distinctive feature sets Spaceship Neptune apart from traditional spacecraft: the human carrier capsule remains attached to the SpaceBalloon throughout the entire journey, from liftoff to splashdown. This deviation from the norm not only enhances the passenger experience but also contributes to the venture’s environmental sustainability.
Jane Poynter, the CEO and co-founder of Space Perspective, emphasizes the profound impact of viewing Earth from space on astronauts’ perspectives. She explains, “The entire company is predicated on this insight from astronauts that seeing Earth from the blackness of space changes you in a profound way.” After returning from space missions, many astronauts report feeling compelled to address environmental and societal issues. Their transformative experiences have spurred them to engage in environmental causes, striving for the betterment of our planet.
Good luck to these guys trying to explain themselves to their grandchildren.
Above, “Conservative Climate Caucus” member, Michigan Rep Time Walberg says God will fix climate change if it’s a problem. Rep Walberg raised his profile recently, when, speaking to a group of “fellow Christians” in Uganda, he praised a recently enacted “kill the gays” law.
John Curtis leads a rather unusual climate coalition.
The 63-year-old Republican congressman from Utah founded the Conservative Climate Caucus in the House of Representatives three years ago. Since then, the caucus’s main mission has been to get its members comfortable with thinking and talking about climate—regardless of where they are on the issue.
One member, Rep. Paul Gosar (R., Ariz.), famously boycotted a speech by the pope in 2015, after it became clear His Holiness would devote the bulk of the talk to climate change. Another was lambasted by environmentalists for telling constituents in 2017 that if climate change was a problem, God “can take care of it.” (The legislator, Timothy Walberg of Michigan, says his views were misrepresented and that he believes people need to take action.)
None of the caucus’s members voted for the Biden administration’s signature climate legislation, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. Many have lobbied fiercely against parts of it. Two members have scored zero on the left-leaning League of Conservation Voters’ tally of how frequently lawmakers have supported environmentally friendly legislation. The average score for the 80-plus members of the caucus hovers a bit above 8%.
Curtis, whose own score is 6%, is unfazed. The slim, amiable Mormon, a leading contender for the Senate seat being vacated by Mitt Romney, is known for his flashy sock collection and chatty videos on social media—including a post with Arnold Schwarzenegger and a series during last year’s House leadership battle titled “Friends don’t let friends become Speaker.”
“Part of our success is that we don’t judge people on where they’re at on this issue,” he says. “It doesn’t matter to me if they struggle with climate. It doesn’t matter to me if they don’t like the science. All that matters to me is that they’ll come and listen…. I have found that the more they come, the more they talk about this, the more comfortable they get with it.”
Meat analogs doing a “reset”. In fact, I had a Beyond Burger for lunch, and it was juicy and tasty. Also, the Impossible Whopper at Burger King is a pretty decent compromise if you are on the road just need something to stave off hunger. All that said, the biggest makers of these products have had some disappointing results lately, so going for a reshuffle, and trying to distance themselves a bit from some of their most militant veggie fans.
Somewhat undercovered by media, big changes taking place in Antarctic sea ice. While global temperatures have been steadily increasing for decades, Antarctic sea ice (floating ice as opposed the massive land based ice sheets) has stayed remarkably stable, or even slightly increasing. Then, in recent years, the ice area fell off a cliff. How much is natural cycle, how much climate change, is being teased out. The consequences of a new regime could be profound.
Below, I spoke to Atmospheric Scientist Jennifer Francis about this change a few weeks ago.
