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August 6, 2018
California's Death Valley experienced the hottest-ever month in recorded history this past July. Photo courtesy of wikipedia.org.
President Trump announced his nomination of Kelvin Droegemeier to be the director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), filling a top executive position that has been vacant since Trump took office. Droegemeier, a meteorologist, has a strong reputation as a defender of science. He has been a professor at the University of Oklahoma for nearly 33 years, and currently serves as the school’s vice president for research. Droegemeier also has extensive experience in public policy, as he was nominated to the National Science Board by President George W. Bush and reappointed by President Obama. So far, his nomination has been well received. John Holdren, the Director of OSTP under President Obama, said, “[Droegemeier] has experience speaking science to power…I expect he’ll be energetic in defending the R&D budget and climate change research.” The OSTP director is viewed as the nation’s “chief scientist” and is tasked with advising the president on technical issues while overseeing the coordination of federal science policy.
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Science Magazine
On August 1, acting EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler appeared before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee for a hearing on his nomination to replace outgoing Administrator Scott Pruitt. Committee Chair Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY) expressed his support for Wheeler and how he has managed the agency since being promoted. Ranking Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE) said, "What we do need to hear from Mr. Wheeler today is how he plans to differentiate himself from Mr. Pruitt across a range of environmental policies that are far more consequential,” referring to Pruitt’s refusal to participate in an oversight hearing with the committee about ethics conflicts. Senators specifically called for Wheeler to take aggressive action on reviewing toxic chemical regulations where they felt Pruitt had failed. During the hearing, Wheeler said he was “not at all ashamed” of his work as a coal industry lobbyist, citing his family ties to West Virginia. Wheeler had previously worked in EPA’s Pollution Prevention and Toxics office and the Senate Environment Committee. In general, Wheeler said he would continue with the policy agenda already set by Pruitt and the White House.
ABC News
On August 1, the Trump Administration announced a plan to freeze fuel efficiency standards for vehicles at 2020 levels for the next six years. The move, put forth by EPA and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, dismantles one of the Obama administration’s key policies for reducing vehicle emissions. The move would also repeal California’s exclusive authority among states to set its own more stringent vehicle emission standards, ensuring a legal battle between the Trump administration and California. Twelve states have also voluntarily implemented California’s emission standards. The administration has cited traffic safety concerns for its decision, claiming efficiency gains would increase vehicle costs and discourage consumers from driving the latest (and purportedly safest) models. Many dispute these claims, arguing that vehicle emissions standards do not come at the expense of safety. David Friedman, vice president for advocacy at Consumer Reports, said, “Given this administration's dramatic lack of progress on auto safety, and the auto industry's proven ability to improve safety and fuel efficiency at the same time, it is troubling at best that this rollback was made under the guise of safety.”
NPR
New research in the journal Nature Communications projects extreme, deadly heatwaves later this century for the north plain of China. This region is one of the most densely populated in the world and is a key food-production hub for China. The study projected the combination of heat and humidity known as “wet bulb” temperature (WBT). A WBT of 35 degrees Celsius prevents people from cooling themselves through sweating and can lead to death within six hours, even among healthy individuals sitting in the shade. According to the projections, northern China would experience fatal WBTs of 35 C numerous times between 2070 and 2100 unless the effects of climate change are lessened through greenhouse gas reductions. The conditions would expose 400 million people to deadly heat, including the cities of Beijing and Shanghai. The researchers hope their findings may assist the Chinese government in developing public health measures and support for farmers to deal with the extreme conditions.
Guardian
The world’s largest solar energy farm is on track to open in 2019. The $2.8 billion Benban complex, located 400 miles south of Cairo in Egypt’s Western Desert, could single-handedly jump-start the country’s renewable energy industry. Egypt has long been reliant upon inexpensive, state-subsidized fossil fuels and currently generates more than 90 percent of its electricity from oil and natural gas. Assistance from an International Monetary Fund program has made a clean energy transition more palatable for the Egyptian government as they scale back fossil fuel subsidies and try to revive an economy weighed down by political clashes. The dropping cost of solar and wind energy technology has made renewables more appealing than ever. The government’s goal is to generate 42 percent of Egypt’s electricity from renewables by 2025. Benban will consist of 30 separate solar plants and will be operated by a group of major international energy companies. The U.S. government is sponsoring a program to train hundreds of Egyptian technical school students in renewable energy trades.
LA Times
A survey of the top 10 U.S. electric utility companies revealed eight have no intention of investing in carbon capture and storage (CCS) equipment any time soon, with the remaining two declining to comment. The companies cited high costs and an uncertain demand for CCS as motivating factors. Congress passed bipartisan legislation earlier in 2018 to triple the value of a federal CCS subsidy, but industry has yet to embrace it. One example of a CCS project is the $1 billion Petra Nova plant in Texas, owned by utility company NRG and JX Nippon. Petro Nova is connected with Texas’ largest coal-fired power plant and uses captured CO2 for enhanced oil recovery. However, Petra Nova also had $440 million in financial support from the U.S. Department of Energy and the Japanese government. The expanded tax credit would give $35 per ton of captured and reused CO2 (up from $10) to any new industrial facility that has CCS come online before 2024. Spokesperson Melissa McHenry of American Electric Power said, “Although increased credits for CCS are positive, the amount still does not address the significant capital and operating costs.”
Reuters
A week-long stretch to close out July has left many parts of the Northern Hemisphere overwhelmed by heat. Wildfires have burned through the Western United States, Greece, and Scandinavia, while extreme heat waves have plagued the Southwest, Japan, and United Kingdom. A continuation of recent trends could lead to 2018 being one of the hottest years on record. Scientists are saying climate change is a contributing factor to these extreme weather events. Professor Jennifer Balch of the University of Colorado-Boulder said, “Fire season is about three months longer than it was just a few decades ago.” The year 2017 was the costliest ever for fire damage, exceeding $18 billion. Scientist Andreas Prein of the National Center for Atmospheric Research cautioned climate change could cause many moderate and light rainstorms to be replaced by very intense storms. Scientists admit that experiencing so much extreme weather in the span of a week is partly due to coincidence, but caution that climate change is still making the occurrence of such weather increasingly common.
In just 30 years, the world’s largest King Penguin colony has collapsed from 2 million to 200,000 individuals. A study published in the journal Antarctic Science documented this 90 percent decrease by using aerial photographs and satellite images to estimate the penguin population. Climate change may have played a significant role in this decline by amplifying the effects of El Niño events. These events drive fish and squid (the main components of the penguins’ diet) away from the colony’s remote island and further south, reducing the penguins’ food source and possibly contributing to their decline. The decimation of the colony could also be attributable to disease, overcrowding, or the introduction of invasive species. While researchers are still considering all possible factors, the collapse of the penguin population caught them off guard. Lead author Henri Weimerskirch, an ecologist at the Centre for Biological Studies, explained, “It is completely unexpected, and particularly significant since this colony represented nearly one-third of the king penguins in the world.”
California birds may already be adapting to climate change, according to a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The study found widespread behavioral changes across California bird species in response to rising average temperatures. The research team, led by Dr. Morgan Tingley, studied the current state of about 32,000 birds, detailing their behaviors and any changes in habitat. They compared their notes with similar field notes taken by Joseph Grinnell in the 1920s, and found that many birds are nesting earlier in the spring (when temperatures are cooler) than they did nearly 100 years ago. Because nestlings (baby birds) are extremely sensitive to external temperatures, adult birds may be nesting earlier in the spring to keep the temperature cooler for their young. Jacob Scololar, a postdoctoral scientist at the University of Connecticut, explained, “We realized that the amount of cooling [the birds] would gain by that behavior is as much as California has warmed up over the last century.”
New York Times
U.S. Supreme Court Declines to Suspend Proceedings of Youth Climate Case
Mexican Government Proposes Stricter Methane Controls for Oil and Gas Industry
Lake Erie Offshore Wind Farm Clears Another Permitting Requirement
Toyota to Expand Production of Hydrogen Fuel Cell Products in Effort to Lower Costs
California’s Death Valley Records Hottest-Ever Month in Recorded History
Mountain Cedes Title of Sweden’s Highest Peak After Severe Glacial Melting
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