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August 27, 2018
Rising temperatures have led to the melting of glaciers and the degradation of climbing routes in the French Alps, leading to a decline in tourism opportunities for the region. Image courtesy of Tiia Monto via wikimedia.org.
On August 21, the Trump administration released a proposed rule to replace the Clean Power Plan, which was originally intended to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from existing power plants. The rule, named the Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) plan, would order states to set emission limits that could then be met through minor upgrades to existing coal-fired power plants. EPA is also pursuing changes to its New Source Review rule, which addresses emissions from new or modified sources, to further assist power plant owners in abiding by the ACE. Critics note that the combination of policy changes would enable utilities to upgrade their coal-fired power plants and run them more, despite the increase in emissions and the availability of cleaner sources of energy. EPA's own analysis of the proposed rule found that it could lead to as many as 1,400 premature deaths annually by 2030 and up to 15,000 new cases of respiratory problems due to an increase in fine particulate pollution. This type of air pollution has been linked to elevated rates of heart and lung disease.
For more information see:
New York Times, Utility Dive
On August 23, the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee heard testimony from Kelvin Droegemeier, the Trump administration's nominee to lead the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). Climate change was a prominent topic during the hearing. Droegemeier stated that "risk and resilience" were among the areas he would like to focus on and that he would like to see "improvements in climate models" and a reduction in "uncertainty" with modeling. In response to a question of whether he would protect scientists from intimidation, he replied, "Science must be conducted without political influence." Droegemeier did not mention climate change in his opening remarks and generally shied away from using the phrase in his testimony. In the past, he has advocated for an increase in federal science and research spending and remaining competitive with other countries in promoting scientific achievement. Droegemeier is a former University of Oklahoma meteorologist and has drawn praise from members of both parties who sit on the committee.
E&E News
The Texas government is trying to secure $12 billion to construct a 60-mile stretch of seawalls, gates, levees, and earthen barriers along the Gulf Coast to buffer homes, infrastructure, and ecosystems from future flooding. The immense investment would also protect most of the state's 30 petrochemical refineries. Texas is home to 30 percent of the country's oil refining capacity, including a significant concentration around Houston. A quarter of this capacity was temporarily knocked offline by Hurricane Harvey, leading to a 28 cent per gallon spike in gasoline prices nationwide. This has led Republican lawmakers, including vocal federal spending critics Sen. John Cornyn and Sen. Ted Cruz, to urge the federal government to protect Texas' oil infrastructure. In July, the state government fast-tracked an initial $3.9 billion for three small storm barriers to do just that. Initially approved proposals would have protected more of the coast, but plans were scaled back to focus primarily on refineries. Sheri Willey, the U.S. Army Corps' deputy chief of project management for upper Texas, said, "Our regulations tell us what benefits we need to include, and they have to be national economic benefits."
Associated Press
Smoke billowing from massive wildfires burning in Canada and the Cascade Mountains have been plaguing communities in the Pacific Northwest this summer. On August 20, a Puget Sound Clean Air Agency monitoring station in Seattle recorded the highest levels of smoke for a one-hour period ever since monitoring began 20 years ago. The conditions led parts of the Puget Sound region to be assigned "unhealthy" air quality ratings, leading to shortages of breathing masks and air filters at retailers. The smoke has also led to delayed flights due to poor visibility and the cancellation of outdoor recreational events. Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan urged residents to stay indoors and avoid driving to try and aid air quality. Dr. Coralynn Sack of the University of Washington Medical Center said the smoke brings relatively low short-term risks for healthy individuals, but cautioned, “The people who really need to be concerned are those people who are in those sensitive conditions,” such as infants, seniors, and people with respiratory conditions.
City Lab
According to research by the advocacy nonprofit Public Citizen, the United States hosts 130 million outdoor laborers (including farmworkers and construction workers) who lack heat stress protections. Between 1992 and 2016, nearly 70,000 laborers experienced significant injuries from heat with 783 fatalities. The U.S. Department of Labor estimates 47 percent of the country's 2.5 million farmworkers are undocumented immigrants, which can lead to a reluctance to speak up about dangerous conditions or to seek out medical care. Exposure to extreme heat can lead to heat stroke, which can cause kidney and brain damage, as well as death. While federal law requires employers to provide a safe workplace, there are few rules governing protections for outdoor laborers. Currently, only three states have passed laws designed to protect employees from heat stress. Climate change will only elevate the risks faced by those who make a living outdoors, as scientific data shows that the 10 warmest years on record have all occurred after 1998.
Mother Jones
Property owners are beginning to feel the impact of rising sea levels and extreme weather on their real estate investments. A recent study has shown that the threat of sea level rise has led to a decline in coastal property values as prospective buyers express a preference for less risk further inland. Researchers compared properties whose primary difference was their distance from the shore and found homes that were at risk of flooding sold for 6.6 percent less. Properties that would be flooded after one foot of sea level rise were selling at prices 14.7 percent less than homes at higher elevations. The analysis also discovered that these price drops were largely driven by investors in the market for multiple properties or second homes. According to the Fourth National Climate Assessment (NCA4) published by the federal government, average sea level has risen by eight inches since 1900. The pace has picked up recently, with a three inch increase since 1993 and an additional three to seven inches predicted by 2030.
Washington Post
The Canadian firm Petroteq Energy is pursuing an oil sands mining project in Utah, with activities beginning as soon as September 2018. The heavy oil drawn from oil sands are among the most carbon-intensive fuels available. Although oil sands are prominent in the Canadian energy industry, some major companies have begun to shift their investments elsewhere. The now well-known Keystone XL pipeline was intended to transport oil sand product to American refineries. Previous attempts to mine Utah's massive oil sand deposits have failed. According to the Utah Geological Survey, the state has the country's largest deposit of raw oil sand, with a production potential of 15 billion barrels of oil. Petroteq executives claim their operation will succeed due to their use of solvents to separate oil from rock at a low cost. Traditional oil sands mining is extremely water intensive and creates significant quantities of toxic tailings. The company is also attempting to set up shop in Australia, Colombia, Venezuela, and Trinidad and Tobago.
New York Times
The Arctic's oldest and thickest sea ice has begun to break up for the first time on record. The ice normally remains frozen year-round, but warm winds and a northern hemisphere heatwave has caused the ice to break twice in 2018. Greenland's northern waters would typically be frozen in summer, providing an obstacle for ships seeking to cross the Arctic. This ice is typically compacted by the Transpolar Drift Stream, which moves ice from Siberia to the Arctic coastline. Over time, the compacted ice reaches an average thickness of four meters (13 ft), with some ridges more than 20 meters (65 ft) thick. Scientists are being forced to revisit their assessments of how parts of the Arctic may react to global warming, with one meteorologist calling the ice loss "scary." Scientist Walt Meier of the U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center said, "The ice is being pushed away from the coast by the winds," an unusual occurrence driven by warmer temperatures. The thinning is reaching even the coldest part of the Arctic with the thickest ice."
Guardian
Climate change is causing the glaciers of the French Alps to melt and parts of the mountains to deteriorate. Scientists observed that the range's glacier surfaces have decreased by half between 1900 and 2012, with a rapid acceleration since the 1980s. The largest glacier in France and a major tourist destination, the Mer de Glace, has lost 80 meters (262 ft) in depth over the past 20 years. Visitors must now use 100 meters (328 ft) of ladders to descend down to the glacier's current position. Rockfalls are also increasing dramatically, as the permafrost that normally stabilizes rock formations is melting away. Glaciologist Luc Moreau said that the changes to the fabled mountain range have been so dramatic that "a 1970s climbing and mountaineering guidebook to the 100 best routes around Mont Blanc isn’t useable any more as most of the routes have changed and can’t be used." Some climbing tour operators have scaled back their programs on Mont Blanc due to the dangers posed by rockfalls triggered by warmer temperatures.
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