Environmental Issues

[Legacy]

Thanks, Mike.

What happened when an industry-friendly EPA leader in the ’80s went too far

Neil Gorsuch’s mother once ran the EPA. It didn’t go well.

The Superfund law was passed by Congress in 1980 and became law with 160 sites designated for priority cleanup. Gorsuch was cited for contempt of Congress in 1982 on a 259-105 vote. Gorsuch was the first Cabinet-level federal official ever cited for contempt of Congress. She was threatened with impeachment. https://library.cqpress.com/cqalmanac/document.php?id=cqal82-1163135. (Congressional Quarterly)

The Reagan Justice Dept refused to prosecute because, citing executive privilege, the department argued that production of the documents sought by the House would “unconstitutionally contravene” the privilege of the executive branch to “ensure the confidentiality of its law enforcement files and its deliberative process.”

Reagan, in a Nov. 30 communication to Gorsuch, wrote:

“Because dissemination of such documents outside the executive branch would impair my solemn responsibility to enforce the law, I instruct you and your agency not to furnish copies of this category of documents to the subcommittees in response to the subpoenas.”

The constitutional question of executive privilege was not resolved at the time. Executive privilege and Congress' subpoena power is the basis for a Trump appeal to SCOTUS on which her son sits.

Executive privilege, Congress’ subpoena power, and the courts: A brief overview of a complex topic (SCOTUS blog)

That decision may well impact any Congressional attempt to obtain documents relating to the Midland cleanup overseen by Dow's "dioxin lawyer" to "ensure the confidentiality of its law enforcement files and its deliberative process” in Reagan's Justice Department's words.

 

[Legacy]

Trump Overhauls Key Environmental Law To Speed Up Pipelines And Other Projects (NPR, July 15, 2020)

Excerpts:

In Atlanta today, President Trump announced a "top to bottom overhaul" of the regulations that govern one of the nation's most significant environmental laws. The aim is to speed up approval for major projects like pipelines and highways, but critics say it could sideline the concerns of poor and minority communities impacted by those projects, and discount their impact on climate change .

The 50-year-old National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA, was signed into law by President Richard Nixon. It requires federal agencies to consider the environmental effects of proposed projects before they are approved. It also gives the public and interest groups the ability to comment on those evaluations.

The administration's new regulations are expected to reduce the types and number of projects that will be subject to review under the NEPA, shorten the timeline for reviews, and drop a requirement that agencies consider the cumulative environmental effects of projects, such as their contribution to climate change.

The changes weaken a law that's played a major role in limiting the Trump administration's agenda of "energy dominance." In just the last week, environmental reviews have sidelined a series of controversial oil and gas pipeline projects, including the Keystone XL, the Dakota Access and the Atlantic Coast pipelines.

But environmental groups warn the new rules will sideline the environmental effects of pipelines, highways and other projects.

"What the Trump administration is doing is fundamentally changing those regulations and really gutting them," says Sharon Buccino, a senior attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council.

What's more, Buccino says the law was designed to give a voice to communities long hurt by pollution from highways, pipelines and chemical plants that are disproportionately located in their neighborhoods./QUOTE]

(See results of legal challenges below)

 

[Legacy]

How Overreach by Trump Administration Derailed Big Pipeline Projects
The demise or delay of several major oil and gas pipelines in recent weeks, including the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, demonstrate how the Trump administration’s zeal for fossil fuel projects and flaunting of environmental laws has backfired and handed key victories to environmentalists. (360.yale.edu, JULY 15, 2020)

In early 2014, it took the Dominion Energy engineers just a week to map out the entire route of the 600-mile Atlantic Coast Pipeline. They studied the physical terrain, looking for the most efficient path to send 1.5 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day from the Marcellus Shale fields in West Virginia to markets in eastern Virginia and North Carolina.

What the engineers and executives at Dominion and Duke Energy, the other giant utility backing the project, didn’t account for was just how challenging the human, political, geographic, and economic terrain would prove to be.

Earlier this month, after six years, dozens of legal challenges, and several billion dollars spent with no pipe laid in the ground, Dominion and Duke finally abandoned the controversial project. In a joint statement announcing the Atlantic Coast Pipeline’s cancellation, Dominion and Duke effectively acknowledged that those legal challenges had successfully delayed the project to the point that pouring more money into it had become untenable. “This announcement reflects the increasing legal uncertainty that overhangs large-scale energy and industrial infrastructure development in the United States,” it read.

“One of our huge tactical advantages was that the administration was working for these pipelines,” says a project opponent.

Indeed, in recent weeks, several major oil and gas pipeline projects — incuding the controversial Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines — have hit legal and regulatory walls. Energy analysts, activists, and attorneys who worked against these ventures say three factors played a role in their demise or delay. The first was the Trump administration’s zeal to push through new fossil fuel infrastructure, which led to rushed federal approvals that left large legal vulnerabilities for opponents to exploit. The second was overconfident, slipshod route planning by pipeline developers, fueled by unconditional support from Washington and a history of compliant state regulators. And the third was shifting political winds that have left some states to embrace more aggressive decarbonization targets, undermining the long-term economic viability of pipelines that would lock in large amounts of planet-warming emissions for decades to come.(cont)

If Trump couldn't win in court due to legal violations, he has moved to effectively change the law. He'll lose in court again. But the oil and gas industry has bought him and expect results. Keep on losing, Donald. The laws are the laws. They are there for the protection of our environment. You are costing taxpayers defending these violations - and paying legal fees for those entities who sue him and the fed gov.

 

[Legacy]

Chemical In Beirut Explosion Was Also Linked To 2 Texas Disasters
Chemical safety regulations were put in place after an explosion in the city of West, Texas, involving more than 80,000 pounds of ammonium nitrate. But those regulations were rolled back by the EPA in November.

For some, Tuesday’s deadly explosion in Beirut, which officials say was caused by thousands of tons of ammonium nitrate, was a grim reminder of a 2013 disaster in the city of West, Texas.

In April of that year, a fertilizer plant exploded after more than 80,000 pounds of ammonium nitrate caught fire, killing 15 people, injuring more than 200 and causing significant damage to nearby buildings. The explosion was so powerful that it was recorded as a 2.1-magnitude earthquake on the Richter scale.

In response to that tragedy, the EPA under the Obama administration finalized a new Chemical Disaster Rule that was meant to prevent similar disasters from occurring by strengthening chemical safety and storage procedures. But that rule was largely rolled back in November 2019, amid outcry from environmentalists and some local governments.

Now, the explosion in Beirut is bringing renewed scrutiny to chemical safety regulations in the U.S.

"We've gone backwards instead of forward in terms of addressing some of the underlying risks that exist with the storage of this kind of material," said Elena Craft, senior director of climate and health at the Environmental Defense Fund. "I think the bottom line is these incidents are preventable and we're not doing enough to prevent them." (cont)

Trump's Ransacking of Alaska
Inside the fight to protect Bristol Bay and the Tongass National Forest — the biggest wild salmon run on Earth and the largest intact temperate rainforest on the planet (Rolling Stone, August 19, 2020)
- On Pebble Mine, Bristol Bay and Tongas Nat Forest

Trump finalizes drilling plan for Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
Plan clears the way for an oil and gas lease auction on the refuge’s 1.6 million-acre coastal plain by December 2021 (WaPo, August 17, 2020)

That makes absolutely no sense with an oil glut, decreasing demand, increased use of natural gas and alternative energy sources. It's as if he is clearing his plate of wish lists for his donors in case he loses in November.

 

[NorthDakota]

Chemical In Beirut Explosion Was Also Linked To 2 Texas Disasters
Chemical safety regulations were put in place after an explosion in the city of West, Texas, involving more than 80,000 pounds of ammonium nitrate. But those regulations were rolled back by the EPA in November.



Trump's Ransacking of Alaska
Inside the fight to protect Bristol Bay and the Tongass National Forest — the biggest wild salmon run on Earth and the largest intact temperate rainforest on the planet (Rolling Stone, August 19, 2020)
- On Pebble Mine, Bristol Bay and Tongas Nat Forest

Trump finalizes drilling plan for Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
Plan clears the way for an oil and gas lease auction on the refuge’s 1.6 million-acre coastal plain by December 2021 (WaPo, August 17, 2020)

That makes absolutely no sense with an oil glut, decreasing demand, increased use of natural gas and alternative energy sources. It's as if he is clearing his plate of wish lists for his donors in case he loses in November.

If it doesn't make sense to drill then the companies won't drill.

Had you considered that oil gluts aren't permanent and natural gas might be up there as well?

 

[Legacy]

If it doesn't make sense to drill then the companies won't drill.

Had you considered that oil gluts aren't permanent and natural gas might be up there as well?

Yes. Here's an article for you.
The federal government will hold an ANWR lease sale. But drilling would be more than a decade away
(ADN)

Excerpt:

Led by Alaska’s congressional delegation, Congress in 2017 approved legislation calling for two lease sales by late 2024, at least 400,000 acres apiece in the coastal plain of the 19-million-acre refuge in northern Alaska.

On Monday, Interior Secretary David Bernhardt finalized a more than two-year environmental review that analyzed potential drilling in the refuge, signing a record of decision that puts all available land, or 1.6-million acres, on the table for possible leasing.

Congress mandated the lease sales, so they have to go forward, Benhardt said, in a meeting with reporters on Monday. The first lease sale will be held by late 2021, and the second by late 2024, he said.

“The question of whether or not there will be a program in ANWR has really been answered,” he said. “The issue now is how do we go about it, and how durable that is.”

A Democratic Congress would reverse those lease sales - unless they are completed prior to January.

It's just like selling leases in Utah that are not being mined until the economics make sense, if they ever. Not limited to American companies. A lot of the mining lease sales went to Canadian companies. As far as oil, it's future Demand.

Some North Dakota pipelines are losing their court cases and forced to shut down? Or is it that demand for shale oil from Canada is not favorable?

Another North Dakota oil pipeline ordered to shut down (Bismark Tribune)

A federal agency has ordered the shutdown of a pipeline that delivers oil to Marathon Petroleum's Mandan Refinery, seven years after an easement allowing the line to cross part of the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation expired.(cont)

Also, the Dakota Access Pipeline is struggling in court.

 

[NorthDakota]

Yes. Here's an article for you.
The federal government will hold an ANWR lease sale. But drilling would be more than a decade away
(ADN)

Excerpt:

A Democratic Congress would reverse those lease sales - unless they are completed prior to January.

Just like selling leases in Utah that are not being mined until the economics make sense, if they ever. Demand.

Some North Dakota pipelines are losing their court cases and forced to shut down? Or is it that demand for shale oil from Canada is not favorable?

Another North Dakota oil pipeline ordered to shut down (Bismark Tribune)

It isn't shut down for environmental reasons. Its a shakedown for money. Says it right in the article.

 

[Legacy]

It isn't shut down for environmental reasons. Its a shakedown for money. Says it right in the article.

Call it whatever you want.

The BIA’s order takes note of the seven years that the pipeline has operated “without the consent of the individual Indian landowners.”

“Due to the length of time it is clear that negotiations are not in good faith and it is not in the best interest of the landowners to allow Tesoro to continue to benefit from this trespass,” the agency concluded.

 

[NorthDakota]

Call it whatever you want.

its a shakedown for an easement. Thats not environmental by any definition.

 

[Legacy]

its a shakedown for an easement. Thats not environmental by any definition.

Did I ever say the Tesoro High Plains Pipeline it was environmental reasons?

You interpret it as a shakedown. If Tesoro was operating without a license and not reimbursing Native American tribes or at prices they set, that's not a "shakedown". The ruling also found the company responsible for $187 million in damages to the tribe.

The Atlantic Coast Pipeline was shut down by Dominion Energy and Duke Energy.

 

[NorthDakota]

Did I ever say it was environmental reasons?

You interpret it as a shakedown. If Tesoro was operating without a license and not reimbursing Native American tribes or at prices they set, that's not a "shakedown". The ruling also found the company responsible for $187 million in damages to the tribe.

Its the environment thread.

Its a shakedown. I didn't say they were wrong to shake an oil company down. But thats what it is. I would do the same thing. They want money.

 

[Legacy]

Its the environment thread.

Its a shakedown. I didn't say they were wrong to shake an oil company down. But thats what it is. I would do the same thing. They want money.

Ok. I would call it compensation.

Lawsuit filed in October 2018. Most of the tracts are owned by individual Indians though some portions are also owned by the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation. BIA ordered the compensation.

Perspective: Government orders Tesoro Pipeline to shut down, pay landowners millions

In a long awaited, yet surprising turn of events, the federal government recently ordered the Tesoro High Plains Pipeline in North Dakota to shut down and pay a group of landowners on the Fort Berthold Reservation millions of dollars for trespass violations.

A mediation was being scheduled to take place in August between representatives of Tesoro and American Indian landowners given years of failed negotiations and two federal lawsuits. But, on July 2, the U.S. Interior Department’s Bureau of Indian Affairs, preempted the meeting and served a formal notification of trespass to Tesoro officials.

“The BIA has determined that a pipeline owned and utilized by Andeavor/Tesoro Pipeline is encroaching on trust lands without an approved right of way, resulting in trespass,” wrote Tim LaPointe, regional director for the BIA.

 

[Legacy]

With the Army Corp of Engineers setting regulatory hurdles reversing their stance, the opposition of both Alaskan Senators and other Republicans and the residents of Alaska opposed to the mine, the Pebble Mine development may be dead. The Canadian company relied on heavy lobbying money and Trump's approval and pushing it.

 

[Bluto]

Multiple areas in the arctic and western US have reported record shattering high temperatures. If we don’t get our collective shit together we are fucked.....

 

[Old Man Mike]

Old Environmental Studies prof here: Yes, we might have screwed up badly enough that there will be a big price to pay (for particularly the people in water-poor countries today, the people in several "formerly" highly productive food growing areas "tomorrow", and our own grandkids by about 2070 or so.)

This is hardly alarmist, as much of the "happening" has already started for anyone truly interested to see. A former student of this myself, I've given up on the issue of the poor water-challenged countries. I can only pray for them. That issue is a slow-painful dying and the chance of salvation is over. We'll just sadly watch that, say that it's always been that way, and turn away.

The issue of the shifting of pressures on high-production grain belts is almost just as "done." Even in the high-tech high-money USA the only real thoughts being slung about are giant water diversions. I get the pain, but the only gigantic water diversion possibility is "The Great Lakes solution." Frankly, if the south and west come for the Great Lakes, I hope that "radical environmentalism" bombs every pipe-laying, pump-creating, earth-gouging piece of technology brought North --- without killing any workers.

As to our grandkids: we don't know the extent of the really big picture impacts. Everyone talks of dried up continental midsections, increased monster storms, globally-displaced populations leading to more wars and more terrorism. That's peanuts compared to worst case scenarios. And since worst case scenarios are NOT zero-percentage scenarios (no matter what whistlers in the dark might want), they should be looked upon as Moral Issues involving conscious choice. Our choices ARE Moral here, whether the results of them are crystal obvious or not.

So what Chicken Little BS am I slinging? That note above about the continuance of heightening temperatures holds a possible monster hidden within it. That note of rising temperatures doesn't make clear (despite the geographic scientists trying to do so for two or more decades) that the greatest temperature rise shifts take place not at the equators but grows increasingly as you go toward the poles. So what? The so what? is the Tundra. That tundra is supposed to stay frozen. It's no longer doing so, and the frozen line retreats further north as we speak, taking in more and more surface. Again so what? Unfrozen tundra releases trapped gases (it also releases trapped long isolated viruses but lets drop that as being too much to contemplate.) If we get a big extra release of CO2 etc, whammo, there go our CO2 mitigation hopes.

The Elephant in the room is that the global climate is a chaotic system governed by myriads of feedback loops which have for centuries taken stray atmospheric temperature excursions and forced them back to a dynamic but limited-variable, mean base, condition. In statistical terms, this mean "control point" is called a "Strange Attractor." The Strange Attractor is far too complicated to be manipulated by us. We aren't anywhere near understanding the forces behind its governance. But we do know something about Strange Attractors in general --- if you stress them, they will allow further and further deviations from normal --- in all imaginable directions. And if you stress them TOO much, they will "shatter" and the attractor (in this case the mean temperature of the planet) will reform after a particularly chaotic period, somewhere with wildly different properties. To make a simplest concrete possibility ---> Earth mean temperature would not just slowly slide upwards but Jump a few degrees "all at once."

Scientists don't talk about that. "We" have taken enough ignorant crap when just rain-pattern changes and glacier loss and ecosystem geographical shifts are described. As close as we get is speaking of the permafrost. ... and keeping fingers crossed that no Strange Attractor shift is imminent. Vaguely, intuitively(?) AMAZON seems to be a little aware of this among the transportation-intensive companies and is pushing non-gasoline fleets and solar energy, harder than we've seen. Nice. I doubt they'll make it in time. So long Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, even Phoenix might not get all their swimming pools filled and gaily dance over the cliff. But hey! What Games are you watching? What exotic foods are you eating? What guns are you firing --- please don't bring them to The Great Lakes.

... and Please GOD: Make our Strange Attractor Flexible and Strong!!!

 

[Irish#1]

Saw on the news that one of the big fires in Cali was started by someone having a gender release party.

 

[Old Man Mike]

I saw that a NYT article was talking about Climate Change and Finances from a White House report from some finance and trade committee there. I don't swallow pop reports on reports, so I went to the actual document and read it.

This committee is chaired by a Republican politician and has five members. (3Rs and 2Ds). Subcommittees are required to have some similar hoped-for balance and also front line business people, environmentalists, and other issue "shareholders" for wide spread viewpoints. The conclusions of this report were striking given this source, and it will unlikely please the current WH and probably won't splash much elsewise (for greater than the American 45 second attention span) due to the "Oh THAT again" attitude of even the media. Here are some of the major quotes:

"We recommend that:
The United States should establish a price on carbon. It must be fair, economy-wide,
and effective in reducing emissions consistent with the Paris Agreement. This is the
single most important step to manage climate risk and drive the appropriate allocation
of capital. (Recommendation 1)" (this is a HUGE statement if you understand these politics and this history.)

"The report, which presents 53 recommendations to mitigate the risks to financial markets posed by climate change, concludes that:
Climate change poses a major risk to the stability of the U.S. financial system and to its ability to sustain the American economy;

Climate risks may also exacerbate financial system vulnerability that have little to do with climate change; including vulnerabilities caused by a pandemic that has stressed balance sheets, strained government budgets, and depleted household wealth;

U.S. financial regulators must recognize that climate change poses serious emerging risks to the U.S. financial system, and they should move urgently and decisively to measure, understand, and address these risks;

Existing statutes already provide U.S. financial regulators with wide-ranging and flexible authorities that could be used to start addressing financial climate-related risk now;

Regulators can help promote the role of financial markets as providers of solutions to climate-related risks; and

Financial innovation is required not only to efficiently manage climate risk but also to facilitate the flow of capital to help accelerate the net-zero transition and increase economic opportunity."

"Climate change poses a major risk to the stability of the U.S. financial system and to its ability to sustain the American economy.

Climate change is already impacting or is anticipated to impact nearly every facet of the economy, including infrastructure, agriculture,
residential and commercial property, as well as human health and labor productivity.

Over time, if significant action is not taken to check rising global average temperatures, climate
change impacts could impair the productive capacity of the economy and undermine its
ability to generate employment, income, and opportunity.

Even under optimistic emissions-reduction scenarios, the United States, along with countries around the world, will have to
continue to cope with some measure of climate change-related impacts."

"This reality poses complex risks for the U.S. financial system.

Risks include disorderly price adjustments in various asset classes, with possible spillovers into different parts of
the financial system, as well as potential disruption of the proper functioning of financial markets.

In addition, the process of combating climate change itself—which demands a
large-scale transition to a net-zero emissions economy—will pose risks to the financial
system if markets and market participants prove unable to adapt to rapid changes in policy,
technology, and consumer preferences.

Financial system stress, in turn, may further exacerbate disruptions in economic activity, for example, by limiting the availability of credit
or reducing access to certain financial products, such as hedging instruments and insurance."

The Report listed several GCC phenomena which are already sufficiently documented and which relate directly to the concerns of the committee. These include:
Regional drops in agricultural yields
Regional deficits in water availability (these guys are talking about the US not Bangladesh)
Loss of water quality
Loss of soil quality
Increased ranges of pests
Increased virulence of pests
Negative variations in fisheries (note that many food related businesses require PREDICTABILITY)
Negative variations in crops
Disruptions in distribution systems due to extreme weather
Loss of biodiversity and helpful ecosystems (easiest example is pollinators)
Unpredictability and stability of river water levels (transport issue)
Failing forests
Burning forests --- with biological sophistication this list can go on nearly forever.

The committee noted that the 2019 bankruptcy of a $71 billion dollar asset company (PG&E) was partly attributable to GCC related things.

The committee also noted that many commonly existing structural materials degrade much more quickly under the impacts of added heat, moisture, excessive changes.

As the once-upon-a-time GCC guy for Kalamazoo talks (way back in the 90s) all this "news" comes a bit bittersweet. ... and with no less doubt that we won't do a damm thing about it.

 

[Legacy]

Family has been dealing with the Oregon wildfires. The extent of the damage is astounding, fires merging, half a million Oregonians have evacuated theire. Scorched towns that I've driven through. Barely time to get out. Oregon is used to wildfires and the renewal of the land. These wildfires are behaving like no others, now merging into huge ones. High winds through the canyons blowing embers. Dry ground. Very scary. The Burn Unit at Providence in Portland is full, sending new patients elsewhere in the state who do not have Burn Units. There are undoubtedly admissions for people unable to breathe. People fleeing to their families elsewhere in the state or having to park their truck in fairgrounds or fairgrounds. Fire near the coast and one wiping out a town between Medfortd and Ashland. Weird red sky full of smoke with ash raining down. This is hitting hardest in rural areas much in heavily forested areas - but spreading towards nearby towns. So many people will have to rebuild in ashen areas or never will be able to return. No rain in sight. Fire in Clackamus County may be the biggest, but hard to tell. These may well top a million acres burned. All in the midst of Covid. They are having to open buildings that are enclosed with cots with four feet apart or less.

 

[Bluto]

Family has been dealing with the Oregon wildfires. The extent of the damage is astounding, fires merging, half a million Oregonians have evacuated theire. Scorched towns that I've driven through. Barely time to get out. Oregon is used to wildfires and the renewal of the land. These wildfires are behaving like no others, now merging into huge ones. High winds through the canyons blowing embers. Dry ground. Very scary. The Burn Unit at Providence in Portland is full, sending new patients elsewhere in the state who do not have Burn Units. There are undoubtedly admissions for people unable to breathe. People fleeing to their families elsewhere in the state or having to park their truck in fairgrounds or fairgrounds. Fire near the coast and one wiping out a town between Medfortd and Ashland. Weird red sky full of smoke with ash raining down. This is hitting hardest in rural areas much in heavily forested areas - but spreading towards nearby towns. So many people will have to rebuild in ashen areas or never will be able to return. No rain in sight. Fire in Clackamus County may be the biggest, but hard to tell. These may well top a million acres burned. All in the midst of Covid. They are having to open buildings that are enclosed with cots with four feet apart or less.

That's crazy. Stay safe.

 

[Bluto]

If anyone is looking for a good site to track fire activity I’d recommend caltopo.com. It utilizes info from several satellite sources for tracking fires and has a feature that shows wind plots up to 36 hours out.

 

[Legacy]

That's crazy. Stay safe.

Thanks. Only one family of us has had to leave their home with their animals except for a horse, but have relatives an hour away. They just built it a few years ago. Approaching quickly 1 million acres burned with two of the large fires up north merging with another one nearby to be merged a matter of time. Lots of pain. Lots of real heroes. Door to door alerts in the small rural towns in the forests, deputies risking their lives to alert campers, hikers and those along the Pacific Coast trail. All are good people who've lost so much. Air is almost unbreathable. I have a family member with the Forest Service Fire Suppression near Crater Lake. Some on the team have lost their homes.

There are a lot of these stories.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9ftNIsr978

Oregon wildfires: Details, maps, evacuation information for state’s 10 biggest fires

 

[Bluto]

Thanks. Only one family of us has had to leave their home with their animals except for a horse, but have relatives an hour away. They just built it a few years ago. Approaching quickly 1 million acres burned with two of the large fires up north merging with another one nearby to be merged a matter of time. Lots of pain. Lots of real heroes. Door to door alerts in the small rural towns in the forests, deputies risking their lives to alert campers, hikers and those along the Pacific Coast trail. All are good people who've lost so much. Air is almost unbreathable. I have a family member with the Forest Service Fire Suppression near Crater Lake. Some on the team have lost their homes.

There are a lot of these stories.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9ftNIsr978

Oregon wildfires: Details, maps, evacuation information for state’s 10 biggest fires

That is terrible. Fire and climate change were two of the focuses of the curriculum when I was in grad school. Unfortunately things that we were discussing back then as “worst case” type scenarios are coming to fruition.

 

[Legacy]

Oregon Wildfires: How the tiny Beachie Creek Fire blew up and ravaged the Santiam Canyon

Excerpt:

The transformation from a small puff of smoke into a historical inferno has brought frustration and confusion over why the small fire was allowed to burn in the first place, and how the original fire is related to several caused by downed power lines.

To explain the genesis of the fire, it helps to view them as they formed — the Santiam Fire, ignited by downed power lines, and the Beachie Creek, which spread from the Opal Creek Wilderness. Once they came together, fire officials decided to keep the original name.

Here’s what we know now about how they developed.

A million acres so far have burned in Oregon. Eight wildfires are expected to burn until the winter rains. Most are 0% contained. NYC covers just over 200k acres. The Beachie Creek fire (186k acres burned) and the Riverside fire (130k acres) are expected soon to merge. With a merger of fires that size, smoke plumes, it has the potential to create “plume dominated” fire behavior. This behavior is marked on the ground by down draft winds, erratic wind shifts and plunging humidity. Essentially, the fire could have its own weather. A plume-dominated fire creates updrafts and downdrafts amounting to a lot of erratic fire behavior, racing in different directions, creating fire whirls. Portland now has the worst air quality of all the world's major cities.

 

[Legacy]

Political Divide over Climate Change

Political Divide over Climate Change

A family member works with scientists on research to be published. This Administration oveersees environmental papers like no other, limiting what concepts and terminology can be included. The wording "climate change" in research papers will be rejected. "Changes in climate" will be accepted. Carbon tax or limitations on emissions are rejected.

In Oregon,
Oregon Republican walkout over climate cap-and-trade bill continues for a third day
Updated Feb 26, 2020;

These regular walkouts by Reps in the Oregon legislature prevents a vote by Dems.. The walkouts prevent votes on other important state's and the people's business. The Gov as in other states has also acted when limitations to carbon emissions are blocked from a vote by Rep. Those executive actions have limitations on how much the Gov can do. Mayors and City Councils have acted to reduce emissions and meet emission goals in their cities as Portland has.

Oregon Governor Promises Executive Action On Climate. It Might Look Like This - March 6, 2020

 

[Irish#1]

Heard yesterday, these are the worst ever. NoCal, Washington and Oregon battling these. Pray for rain for the NW.

 

[Legacy]

Heard yesterday, these are the worst ever. NoCal, Washington and Oregon battling these. Pray for rain for the NW.

Glad you are up to speed with the headlines. In Oregon, the Beachie Creek and Riverside Fires have merged into a monster. The plume dominated behavior was last seen in Riverside. Family members were able to return to their home briefly and which they had to evacuate. The huge fire has not made any further advance, but they are still on Level 3 evac orders. The air there is unbreathable.

Thunderstorms expected on Thursday, which could bring lightning. Rain on Friday. Only regular winter showers will extinguish these.

 

[Irish#1]

Glad you are up to speed with the headlines. In Oregon, the Beachie Creek and Riverside Fires have merged into a monster. The plume dominated behavior was last seen in Riverside. Family members were able to return to their home briefly and which they had to evacuate. The huge fire has not made any further advance, but they are still on Level 3 evac orders. The air there is unbreathable.

Thunderstorms expected on Thursday, which could bring lightning. Rain on Friday. Only regular winter showers will extinguish these.

Glad your family is safe. Hopefully this ends soon.

 

[Legacy]

Glad your family is safe. Hopefully this ends soon.

Thanks for the thoughts. Oregon will never be the same. Fortunately, they have somewhere to live, which is not the case with so many people who lived in those small towns. The ash will pour into the streams and rivers. The carbon released into the atmosphere plus the loss of tree to absorb it will be extensive.

 

[Irish#1]

Thanks for the thoughts. Oregon will never be the same. Fortunately, they have somewhere to live, which is not the case with so many people who lived in those small towns. The ash will pour into the streams and rivers. The carbon released into the atmosphere plus the loss of tree to absorb it will be extensive.

Mother Nature is a pretty resilient lady and will bounce back. It won't be quick, but it will happen. I remember when Mt. St. Helens erupted. The general consensus from the experts was the are would never recover or it would be hundreds of years. Next thing you know, new growth was happening. Let's hope this has the same results.

 

[Legacy]

Mother Nature is a pretty resilient lady and will bounce back. It won't be quick, but it will happen. I remember when Mt. St. Helens erupted. The general consensus from the experts was the are would never recover or it would be hundreds of years. Next thing you know, new growth was happening. Let's hope this has the same results.

Oregonians, especially those that live in or near the Cascades, are used to annual summer wildfires. It's part of living there. Driving on Highway 22 you will see the burn scars and new growth on Mt Washington. A couple of years ago the Whitewater fire burned a portion of Mt Jefferson and you would drive through the smoke on Hwy 22 which gradually thinned out. As you say, wildfires are part of the renewal process and takes out the dried out vegetation from years of piling up. Whitewater also spread from high wings. If you live in those areas, you usually have to take out fire insurance. One also drives through those small towns - Mill City and Detroit - and now visualize them gone.

However, the combination of longer, drier summers, less snowfall, and more extreme fires are indicative of climate change.

Not confined to the Cascades, which is unusual. A wildfire on the Oregon coast near Lincoln City. Evacuation on the two land highway basically stopped. People could see the fire approaching at they waited. Fires along the I-5 corridor with one approaching Springfield-Eugene metroplex. As for Mt St. Helens, the reports are that the ash they are experiencing is much worse. After a day or two, you could spray the ash from St Helens off. This keeps raining down and dropping from leaves where it has collected. There will be that residual for a while, and wash into the waterways. Detroit Lake and the Santiam Canyon and River is the source of water supply for Salem.

On a positive note, one of our families plans to return to their home near Oregon City as the wildfire stalls and winds have changed.