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Enshrining communities’ right to challenge the merits of large, environmentally destructive projects in law would drastically improve integrity in decision making, restore the public’s faith in a broken system, and lead to better outcomes for nature, according to a groundbreaking new expert report.

National organisations representing hundreds of thousands of Australians that want Australia’s natural environment protected from the ravages of climate change are dismayed after the Albanese Government said it was delaying substantive national environment law reform.

The news comes just as it is revealed today that coral reefs worldwide have been hit by one of the worst mass bleaching events ever recorded, caused by sustained marine heatwaves.

The delay means that close to 30 new coal and gas projects will likely now be approved under the very weak, current national environment laws which were introduced by John Howard more than 25 years ago, pouring yet more fuel on the climate fire.

Alex Fuller, National Director of the Australian Youth Climate Coalition said, “Young Australians will be bitterly disappointed by further delay from our government in doing what my generation and those who come after us need: decisive leadership to quickly and fairly phase out fossil fuels, just as Climate Minister Bowen promised at the last UN climate summit.

“From floods to bushfires, Australian communities are already living with the impacts of climate change. We cannot afford any more setbacks; we urgently need strong laws with the power to stop new coal and gas projects that are fueling this climate crisis.”

Kelly Albion, Acting CEO for 350.org said, “The Great Barrier Reef is experiencing never before seen coral bleaching. Forests in Western Australia are collapsing. Marine ecosystems, coastal ecosystems, iconic wildlife and the future of all Australians hang on decisions the Albanese Government makes right now. 

“This delay shows the government is not serious about climate change, not serious about intergenerational equity, and not serious about protecting Australia’s natural heritage. 

“Australians expect our government to protect nature and prevent catastrophic climate change and across the country we can expect to see people stand up and take action in response to this extraordinary failure.”

Carmel Flint, National Coordinator of Lock the Gate Alliance said, “Big coal and gas companies wanted this delay and they got it. 

“Instead of acting on the twin extinction and climate crises and protecting Australia, the Albanese Government has chosen, in the middle of one of the worst global coral bleaching events in history, to capitulate to the mining industry.”

“Delaying these reforms will cause untold environmental damage - more than 30 coal and gas projects are likely to be approved that will drain groundwater, bulldoze habitat for iconic endangered species like the koala and turbocharge climate change.”

At 9:00am on Wednesday morning, Lock the Gate Alliance and AYCC will appear at a hearing of the inquiry into Australia’s extinction crisis.

From 29 April, members of the Australian Youth Climate Coalition and 350.org will be participating in Rise Up - twelve days of protest action against expanding coal and gas mining. 

Alex Fuller, Kelly Albion and Carmel Flint are available for interview or further comment. 

 

ENDS

Guzman Energy and Holy Cross Energy (HCE) have entered a power offtake sharing agreement that delivers renewable energy generated by the Bronco Plains II Energy Center to both organizations’ respective power portfolios.

Bronco Plains II Energy Center, located in Kit Carson County, Colo., is a 200 MW wind facility developed, operated and owned by NextEra Energy Resources. The site began producing power from 72 wind turbines last year.

During winter months, 150 MW of the center’s output is set to go to HCE and 50 MW will go to Guzman Energy. In the summer months, HCE and Guzman Energy are expected to each offtake 100 MW. 

“The addition of energy generated by Bronco Plains II Energy Center to the Guzman power supply portfolio is a valuable contributor to providing our wholesale customers with price certainty as well as the option to source clean, renewable energy,” says Robin Lunt, chief commercial officer of Guzman Energy.

Guzman Energy became a wholesale power partner of HCE in 2019. 

The post Guzman Energy, Holy Cross Energy Partner for Bronco Plains II Power appeared first on North American Windpower.

Shelbyville, Mo. (April 16, 2024)  — The National Audubon Society proudly announces North River Ranch, owned and operated by Peter and Bess Allen, has earned distinction as an Audubon Certified...

Dominion Energy’s Charybdis, which the company calls the U.S.’ first Jones Act-compliant offshore wind turbine installation vessel, has launched from land to water.

To achieve this, welding of the ship’s hull and commissioning of the vessel’s four legs and related jacking system were completed.

“Charybdis is vital not only to CVOW, but also to the growth of the offshore wind industry along the U.S. East Coast and is key to the continued development of a domestic supply chain by providing a homegrown solution for the installation of offshore wind turbines,” says Bob Blue, Dominion Energy’s chair, president and chief executive officer. 

The 472-foot vessel, designed to handle turbine sizes of 12 MW, is being constructed at the Brownsville, Texas shipyard of Seatrium using domestically-sourced steel. Once complete, the home port for the vessel will be in Hampton Roads.

The post Dominion Energy Launches Jones Act-Compliant Offshore Wind Turbine Installation Vessel appeared first on North American Windpower.

The Sonso Lagoon is a hidden paradise in the Cauca Valley, 40 minutes from Cali, the third-largest city in Colombia. At more than 5000 acres, the laguna is the largest wetland in the region...

The Park Service Should Not Be Subsidizing Multi-Billion Telecoms to “Wire” Our National Parks

Legislation is advancing in Congress as part of the Explore Act to require the National Park Service to provide broadband and cellular access in every park where there is a perceived need for greater coverage. The Explore Act, which recently passed the House of Representatives by unanimous voice vote, is designed to bolster outdoor recreation in the United States. The bill now goes to the Senate, which could vote on the measure anytime this year.

However, several parts of the Explore Act need to be revised. One section, called Connect Our Parks, directs the Park Service to finance system-wide broadband and cellular through “the use of public-private partnerships.” It is somewhat bizarre that a federally tax-supported agency should subsidize multi-billion-dollar telecoms like AT&T and Verizon to better serve their commercial subscribers. The Congressional Budget Office has yet to put a price tag on this nebulous national joint venture.

According to the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources report, “the National Park Service has identified the lack of quality internet access as a barrier to hiring and retaining qualified personnel.” That is not quite true. Private park concessioners have trouble recruiting young employees to work for the summer at low-paying wages crammed into dormitories with no broadband access. Yet, the bill does not ask these private companies to help defray the costs of securing electronic amenities to entertain their underpaid workers.

As a first step in this effort, the bill calls for the Park Service to determine where it needs cell and broadband service within one year. Ironically, in response to a recommendation from a scathing Interior Office of Inspector General report, the NPS has been unable to produce a complete inventory of cell towers already within park boundaries. The Inspector General report confirms widespread mismanagement of these commercial wireless facilities by a badly overmatched bureaucracy.

Nor does the Park Service know what cell coverage these towers provide. For example, two-thirds of Yellowstone’s backcountry has cell coverage from towers located in developed areas. The park contends that it did not intend for this spillover coverage to be so widespread but also concedes that it has taken no steps to limit coverage from towers typically sited on mountain tops or ridges to maximize the commercial operator’ coverage footprint.

Placing many more towers throughout big Western nature parks (the apparent target of this legislation) will send signals ever more deeply into these parks’ wild and wilderness areas. The bill mentions the need to protect park “viewsheds” but does not mention natural soundscapes, wilderness, or the importance of maintaining places in national parks where the electronic tendrils of civilization cannot penetrate.

Studies demonstrate that the human voice is one of the most disruptive sounds for wildlife. Extending signals that project the human voice into the most remote recesses of nature’s cathedrals undermines the national park’s mission of providing sanctuary to wildlife.

Many of these same big nature parks are struggling with overcrowding. Endless traffic jams and crowded trails leading to popular vistas are common. Rather than help parks plan on how to prevent being loved to death, this myopic initiative will aggravate problems by continuing to blur the lines between our National Parks and Theme Parks.

Park planning should not be confined to the narrow band of telecommunications, as this bill does. Increasingly, national parks are eschewing statutorily required general management plans and establishing carrying capacities to protect park resources and the visitor experience.

This bill also limits consultation on these plans to tribes and “stakeholders” preselected by park superintendents. This exclusion further erodes the idea that parks are supposed to serve and involve the entire public in their planning. Further, the bill is written to suggest that these wireless plans can be conducted without compliance with bedrock environmental planning laws, such as the National Environmental Policy Act and the National Historic Preservation Act – statutes that national park managers increasingly try to avoid.

Our national parks are in dire need of system-wide planning to facilitate all the elements in these complex institutions to work better together. Single-issue congressional micromanagement of the type exemplified by this bill skews this synergy. “Can you hear me now?” should not be the guiding principle of national park management.

PEER is working with our partner organizations to try to introduce amendments to this bill to increase public participation and protect natural soundscapes and wilderness areas from wireless intrusions.

Tim Whitehouse is the Executive Director at PEER.

The post COMMENTARY | The Park Service Should Not Be Subsidizing Multi-Billion Telecoms to “Wire” Our National Parks appeared first on PEER.org.

EPA isn’t looking to keep farmers from spreading sludge as fertilizer as regulators clamp down on “forever” chemicals that work their way into the material, the agency’s top agriculture official said Monday.

Farmers in Texas are suing a biosolids management company over PFAS-contaminated material. And Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility said it will challenge EPA in court for allowing biosolids with PFAS to be spread on farmland.

Read the PEER Story…

The post EPA: PFAS response won’t imperil sludge spreading on farms appeared first on PEER.org.

Last week Earthworks, along with over sixty organizations from around the world, sent a letter to Guatemalan authorities calling for full respect for the self-determination, customs and traditions of the Xinka and Maya Kaqchikel communities (part of the Peaceful Resistance La Puya) as they participate in the Constitutional Court ordered consultation over the future of a U.S. owned gold mine. In March 2024, La Puya celebrated its twelfth year of defending water, health and the right to live in a healthy environment. 

The letter expresses concern about the various ways that the project owner, Kappes, Cassiday & Associates (KCA) may pressure the Guatemalan government to tip the scales of the consultation process in its favor. The company’s pressure tactics may include using the pending decision in a high-stakes international arbitration process that KCA initiated after Guatemalan courts suspended work on its gold mine in 2016. KCA brought its suit for more than US$400 million against Guatemala in the World Bank arbitration tribunal, the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) and under the terms of the United States-Central America-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR). 

The government’s own legal defense in the international arbitration recognizes the legitimacy of La Puya’s struggle against KCA’s Progreso VII Derivado mine and relied on documentation and studies from La Puya to argue that KCA’s mine failed to uphold Guatemalan or international standards and never should have been permitted to operate.

We urge the government to respect the decision of the Constitutional Court, as well as the customs, traditions and self-determination of the Maya Kaqchikel and Xinka communities as they start the design phase of the consultation process. The letter also calls on the government to appropriately limit the role of KCA in the consultation process to one of information-sharing, consistent with the government’s argument to the arbitration panel and the Constitutional Court decision. 

Read the letter in Spanish here.

The post Organizations Urge Guatemalan Authorities to Respect Self-Determination at La Puya appeared first on Earthworks.

First-time homeowners, first-time twins: How one mom relied on EWG to babyproof her house rcoleman April 15, 2024

“When we found out we were having twins, my husband was speechless with shock,” said Katherine Armstrong, who gave birth to two girls late last year. “While I was initially surprised too, I was also thrilled, because I feel like I’ve been preparing for this my whole life.

“I’m a twin myself, and had learned from my mom the strengths needed to be a mom to twins: being flexible but also very sturdy, organized and resilient,” she told EWG in a recent interview. From changing her buying decisions to filtering her tap water, EWG helped with baby proofing her home. 

Armstrong, who lives in Corte Madera, California, has a strong relationship with EWG – she mentors the founding chapter of the EWG+HS student club in San Francisco. EWG+HS is a new national student leader program educating teens on environmental issues and advocacy.

While her daughters were kept in intensive care for more than two months after being born preterm, Armstrong sprang into action. “My babies were coming home, and I just wanted to make sure they were safe. There wasn’t time to wait and think,” she told EWG.

She consulted EWG’s resources on reducing household hazards, including filters to tackle the “forever chemicals” known as PFAS and EWG’s healthier food and cosmetics databases. 

Her twins were in the neonatal intensive care unit, or NICU, for weeks. “At the NICU they give you lots of information, like saying you need sterile water to make formula. But what is that? And what about plastic bottles? Even pacifiers have a lot of plastic. Plastic and its contaminants freak me out, but thanks to EWG, I know how to find safe alternatives.” she said.

Tap water concerns

“Even before my girls were born, I was worried about the quality of the water and the number of contaminants it contained,” she said. Armstrong turned for guidance to EWG’s Tap Water Database, which helps people figure out which contaminants are coming out of their home faucets.

“With the database, all I had to do was type in my ZIP code, see the results, and text our plumber a link” to show them the harmful chemicals in the water and the filters that might help reduce them, she said. “It was easy.”

Reading on EWG’s website about the health risks of drinking water contaminated with PFAS emboldened her to install water filters in her home that can get rid of these and other harmful chemicals from tap water. “The filter also eliminates sediment and extends the life of appliances, and it’s all clean water,” she said.

Armstrong and her husband had struggled with getting pregnant, and they finally – and successfully – pursued in vitro fertilization. As part of her fertility journey, she consulted the guides to rethink what she used for personal and home care products to avoid potentially harmful chemicals that might end up in her body. Even before the twins were born, she learned from EWG about the risks of exposure to toxic chemicals in the things we use every day.

Armstrong detailed how she and her husband got the pleasant shock they’d be having twins, followed by the stress of the babies’ stay in the NICU. All this while dealing with the first-time purchase of a home then using EWG tools to make it a safer and healthier place for the family.

EWG’s many resources

“I was interested in EWG’s resources for my home because as a first-time homeowner, I was overwhelmed with new information and to-do lists. EWG distills complex scientific information into digestible actionable information” to safeguard a home, she said.

Armstrong also read EWG articles about toxic chemicals in diapers, toys and much more. She also consulted EWG’s Healthy Baby Registry on reducing exposure to harmful substances, and Food Scores, a database that rates more than 80,000 foods based on nutrition, ingredient and processing concerns.

“I’ll [also] be thinking about the foods that [my kids] will be eating. We’ve started to use the Clean Fifteen™ and Dirty Dozen™ as we’re introducing solid foods and making our own purees,” she said.

The two lists are part of the just-released 2024 Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce™, which analyzes data from tests conducted by the Department of Agriculture and Food and Drug Administration on 47,510 samples of 46 fruits and vegetables looking for residues of potentially harmful pesticides. The Clean Fifteen lists the produce found to have the lowest amounts of pesticide residue and the Dirty Dozen represents the fruits and vegetables that were found to be most contaminated with pesticide residue.

Armstrong also plans to consult EWG’s guides when she shops for her twins. “I want to make sure the things I’m buying for them come from good brands and good companies [using few or no chemicals], because I’m sure they’ll be putting everything in their mouth,” she said. 

‘Hope’ with EWG’s advice

At one of the EWG+HS's San Francisco chapter meetings this year, Armstrong and the students went to a local Walgreens and used EWG’s Healthy Living app to evaluate different products. She said “everyone was surprised at the results.” Her favorite part of the app is that “it provides alternatives for a safer swap” for many personal care products.

The experience of juggling so many new priorities was a challenge but one EWG helped Armstrong manage, she said. “It was a really stressful time, but that’s why I appreciate what I learned from EWG’s website and apps – things like this give me hope.”

Areas of Focus Food & Water Food Water Family Health Children’s Health Toxic Chemicals Disqus Comments Authors Anthony Lacey April 16, 2024

This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections

The June general election in Mexico could mark a turning point in ensuring that the country’s climate policies better reflect the desire of its citizens to address the climate crisis, with both leading presidential candidates expressing support for renewable energy.

Mexico is the 10th-most populated country with the 15th-largest economy and is also the 11th-most climate-polluting country in the world.

In international surveys conducted in 2022 and 2023, Mexico had one of the highest percentages of citizens worried about human-caused climate change at 92%, compared to just 63% of Americans.* And 88% of Mexican respondents reported that they consider climate change an important issue that their country should address as a priority, compared to just 58% of Americans. This concern may reflect that Mexico is highly vulnerable to droughts, heat waves, hurricanes, flooding, and food and water insecurity worsened by climate change.

But the Mexican government’s climate policy record has been inconsistent. At times, the country’s leaders have taken steps toward reducing its share of climate pollution, but its current and outgoing president Andrés Manuel López Obrador, commonly known by his initials AMLO, has tended to prioritize domestic fossil fuel resources over low-carbon alternatives.

Mexico will hold its next general election on June 2, 2024. Voters will select the next president, who will succeed AMLO in October of this year.

A potential turning point

The leading presidential candidate, with about 60% support in polling, is Claudia Sheinbaum. She’s the former leader of Mexico City and an AMLO protégée, but also a scientist with a Ph.D. in environmental engineering who co-authored chapters in the Fourth and Fifth IPCC reports. She also plans to encourage private investment in renewable energy in Mexico.

Her closest opponent in the polls, with 35% support, is Xóchitl Gálvez, who has expressed an even more pro-clean energy position, declaring that she would end the country’s addiction to fossil fuels.

A brief history of Mexican climate leadership

Felipe Calderón was elected Mexican president for the 2006-2012 term (the Mexican constitution limits each president to a single six-year term). He had served as the country’s energy secretary in 2003-2004 and recognized the importance of addressing climate change. Under Calderón’s leadership, Mexico adopted a voluntary climate mitigation target in 2008 and passed a General Law on Climate Change in 2012. Among other provisions, the law set targets to generate at least 35% of power with clean technologies by 2024 and to reduce climate pollution 30% below business-as-usual levels by 2020 and 50% below 2000 levels by 2050. Unfortunately, the former two goals have slipped out of reach.

Calderón’s successor Enrique Peña Nieto had a more mixed record on climate and energy policy. His government passed a tax on carbon pollution, but it only applies to the additional emissions generated by burning coal or oil instead of natural gas. Peña Nieto signed a constitutional Reform on Energy that was aimed at loosening the state-owned Federal Electricity Commission’s (CFE’s) monopoly over the national power sector, which has historically relied heavily on fossil fuels. That move opened up Mexico’s electricity generation to private clean energy investment, and also its oil and gas reserves to external investors.

But AMLO moved to reverse those reforms when he replaced Peña Nieto in 2018, and he worked to maintain CFE’s share of Mexico’s power generation at a minimum of 54%. Clean energy investments in Mexico often come from foreign companies, and AMLO has expressed a preference for national ‘energy independence,’ which tends to favor domestic fossil fuel sources, which are also significant contributors to the federal budget. In fact, his energy ministry published rules for the national grid that would have prioritized energy security and fuel reserves (fossil fuels) over economic efficiency (cheaper wind and solar power). The Supreme Court of Mexico recently voided those rules.

That decision leaves Mexico’s energy and climate path at an important inflection point with a big election just a few months away.

Mexico’s current climate status

Mexico’s climate pollution predominantly comes from three sectors: transportation (30%), power (29%), and industry (27%). The country’s power sector emissions have been rising, especially over the past two years as the government has prioritized fossil fuels and drought has reduced its hydroelectricity production. Mexico’s share of clean electricity generation fell below 22% in 2023 after peaking at 27% in 2021 and thus will surely fall short of the 35% clean power target by 2024 set in its 2012 climate law. Most of the country’s power comes from natural gas, and more than three-quarters is produced by burning fossil fuels. As a result, Mexico’s overall climate pollution has risen about 33% above 2000 levels.

Mexican annual fossil fuel greenhouse gas emissions. Created by Dana Nuccitelli with data from Global Carbon Budget.

Climate Action Tracker, an independent project that monitors whether governments’ actions measure up to the goals outlined in the Paris climate agreement, gave Mexico’s climate policies its worst rating of “critically insufficient” due to a lack of ambition and weakening of policies and targets under AMLO’s leadership. The project noted, “If all countries were to follow Mexico’s approach, warming would exceed 4°C” — a catastrophic level of global warming.

According to the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, Mexico is also highly vulnerable to climate change impacts, especially extreme heat and drought, which could lead to food and water insecurity. Mexico City, which is the seventh-most populated city in the world with over 21 million residents, is already in danger of running out of water. A 2021 study estimated that climate change has so far reduced Mexican agricultural productivity by about 25-30%, and a 2010 paper suggested that these effects could lead to millions of Mexican climate immigrants coming to the U.S. border by 2080.

A potential 2024 inflection

Mexico has made little progress toward reducing emissions from its transportation sector, and electric vehicles account for just 0.26% of new car sales. But that could change relatively soon, as Chinese electric vehicle maker BYD has announced plans to build a factory in Mexico. The median income in Mexico is only about $6,000, which is about five to 10 times lower than that in the United States depending on how it’s measured, and so bringing BYD’s relatively cheap cars to the Mexico market could significantly increase electric vehicle adoption in the country. Mexico’s energy regulator will also have to issue guidelines to allow for the installation of more charging stations.

A 2020 paper published in Nature found that Mexico’s climate policies have tended to follow its National Development Plans. These are plans published during the first year of the new government to specify the national objectives, strategy, and priorities for Mexico’s development. The 2006 National Development Plan was the first to characterize climate change as an unequivocal environmental problem and to include targeted actions, and the Calderón government followed suit. The 2012 National Development Plan somewhat de-emphasized climate change, and the Peña Nieto government had a more mixed climate record. The 2019 plan included a section about rescuing the CFE from an onslaught of private energy investments, which became a focus of AMLO’s government to the detriment of clean energy production.

“Right now, nongovernmental actors are creating a proposal for the Plan Nacional de Descarbonización y Resiliencia Climática 2024-2030 [National Decarbonization and Climate Resilience Plan],” the 2020 Nature study’s lead author Arturo Balderas Torres wrote in an email. “Ideally any candidate who wins the election should commit to this proposal that is being generated in an unprecedented participatory way and include its proposals in the new NDP.”

In short, Mexico is a highly climate-vulnerable country with a very climate-concerned population. Its leadership has thus far taken insufficient steps toward addressing the climate crisis, but 2024 could change the trajectory of Mexico’s climate policies and clean technology solutions.

Vermont’s iconic Camel’s Hump mountain. Photo: Petermann 2004 PRESS RELEASE, April 15, 2024 VERMONT SUPREME COURT RULES UNANIMOUSLY THAT THE PUBLIC UTILITY COMMISSION CANNOT BYPASS THE PUBLIC On April 12, 2024 the Vermont Supreme Court ruled on an appeal of a Public Utility Commission (PUC) order in the ongoing case regarding irregularities in the construction […]

The post Vermont Supreme Court Rules Unanimously That The Public UtilityCommission Cannot Bypass The Public appeared first on Global Justice Ecology Project.

This report examines Ontario's misguided plan to increase the burning of fossil gas in the midst of a climate crisis.  It shows how the Ford government's current plans will lead to a massive increase in climate damaging and air polluting emissions and outlines better alternatives, including tripling solar and wind power and investing in all

The post Going in the wrong direction: Ontario’s plan to ramp up gas power appeared first on Ontario Clean Air Alliance.

EWG statement on new California legal limit for chromium-6 in drinking water rcoleman April 15, 2024

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Today California’s State Water Resources Board voted to finalize a new drinking water limit for hexavalent chromium, the notorious “Erin Brockovich” carcinogen.

The water board set a maximum contaminant level, or MCL, of 10 parts per billion, or ppb, for the chemical, a toxic industrial byproduct. It is commonly known as chromium-6. 

The limit is dramatically at odds with the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, which has recommended an MCL that is 500 times lower, 0.02 ppb, to best protect public health from the dangers of chromium-6.

Environmental Working Group researchers have also recommended a 0.02 ppb target as necessary to guard against cancer risks from chromium-6 in drinking water. The board’s weak limit fails to provide adequate protections for Californians.

More than 35 million people in the state are exposed to chromium-6 at levels above 0.02 ppb in their drinking water, according to a 2022 EWG analysis.

For decades, scientists have linked exposure to chromium-6 with increased risk of cancer in people. Animal studies have found that chronic exposure to the chemical in drinking water can also cause other serious health harms, such as damage to the liver and reproductive systems. 

The following statement is a response from EWG Senior Scientist Tasha Stoiber, Ph.D.:

The water board has failed the people of California. Chromium-6 is a known carcinogen – even at exceptionally low levels. It has no place in drinking water. Yet tens of millions of Californians ingest this toxic chemical every day. 

As the water board’s own scientists have acknowledged, a legal limit of 10 ppb in tap water is far too high to protect people from the devastating effects of chronic chromium-6 exposure. 

The board must honor its legal obligation to prioritize public health when setting the MCL for chromium-6. 

### 

The Environmental Working Group is a nonprofit, non-partisan organization that empowers people to live healthier lives in a healthier environment. Through research, advocacy and unique education tools, EWG drives consumer choice and civic action.

Areas of Focus Food & Water Water Toxic Chemicals Chromium-6 Regional Issues California Disqus Comments Press Contact Sarah Graddy sarah@ewg.org (202) 939-9141 April 17, 2024

Ignitis grupė subsidiary UAB has submitted a bid for rights to develop 700 MW of offshore wind capacity in the Baltic Sea under Lithuania’s second offshore wind tender.

Winning the tender would grant the right to use a secured grid connection and the maritime area, located approximately 30 km offshore, for 41 years. 

It is expected that the winner will be announced by the National Energy Regulatory Council by May 31 on their website. In case of a successful tender, a partner selection process will be started.

The project is set to be implemented by 2032. 

Photo source

The post Ignitis Group Submits Bid for Second 700 MW Lithuanian Offshore Wind Tender appeared first on North American Windpower.

DEME’s flagship “Orion” vessel has completed monopile installation works on Ocean Winds’ 882 MW Moray West offshore wind farm project in Scotland, installing 29 monopiles in approximately two months. 

Orion transported the monopiles weighing up to 2000 tons each, from the port of Invergordon and installed them in full DP mode. The company’s motion compensated pile gripper, in combination with its 5,000-ton crane and vessel ballasting techniques, enabled operations. The company says dedicated novel tools were deployed such as a Quad Vibro Hammer and pioneering bolting equipment for M90 bolts. The company’s DP2 jack-up vessel, Apollo, is installing the project transition pieces.

“I am proud of our fantastic team and Orion’s impressive capabilities,” says DEME’s Lucien Romagnoli. “With the deployment of the new installation technology, we were able to complete this part of the DEME scope smoothly and efficiently. It truly demonstrates Orion’s efficiency, particularly its double-stage motion-compensated gripper. We are eager to continue the momentum with ‘Apollo’ and seamlessly complete the transition piece installation, delivering another project to the full satisfaction of our client.”

The post DEME Offshore Installation Vessel Completes Scotland Foundation Project appeared first on North American Windpower.

Cold-blooded sea creatures seeking refuge from warming ocean waters may find themselves at increasing risk of deadly cold shocks due to changes in ocean currents, new research warns. 

Climate change is pushing species to higher latitudes in an attempt to stay within their range of comfortable temperatures, but this migration can come with unforeseen consequences.

The new study, published in Nature, documents a mass mortality event in March 2021 that saw at least 260 dead sea creatures wash up on the shores of South Africa.

Using satellite data, ocean observations and data on the movements of bull sharks, the researchers link the event to a sudden influx of cold water coming up from the deeper ocean. 

They also show that such events have been increasing in frequency over the past three decades and forecast that this trend may continue into the future as the world continues to warm.

One of the study authors tells Carbon Brief that “we predict this is going to become a more regular phenomenon and could impact a lot of different species”.

Marine migration

As the Earth warms, many species that are able to do so are migrating to higher latitudes, allowing them to maintain their place within their “thermal niche” – the set of temperatures at which they can comfortably survive.

Nowhere is this effect more pronounced than in the global oceans, where there are fewer barriers to migration than there are on land. On average, highly mobile marine species have been moving polewards by nearly 60km per decade since the 1950s, according to the latest report on climate impacts from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

But this migration comes with its own risks.

These shifting ranges due to climate change can introduce species to new, unfamiliar stressors – such as shipping lanes or fisheries, says Dr Natalie Posdaljian, a bioacoustician at Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, California, who was not involved in the study. 

One of these risks is what the researchers describe as a temperature “bait and switch” – where creatures seeking warmer waters can instead be trapped by a sudden cold event. Posdaljian tells Carbon Brief that the new study is the first time that she’s seen evidence of this hazard.

Mass mortality

On 2 March 2021, dead sea creatures started washing up on the south-eastern shores of South Africa between Port Elizabeth and East London. In all, more than 250 individual organisms and 82 separate species were found, including large, migratory species such as manta rays and bull sharks. 

In deducing what had happened, the team of researchers examined the temperature data in the days leading up to the event. Using satellite and other observational data, they found that the temperature of the surrounding ocean had dropped by up to 9.2C in less than 24 hours. 

The cold event persisted for seven days and had “severe physiological consequences” for the marine organisms there, including hypothermia, malfunction and death, the paper says.

Similar cold shocks have previously occurred in south-eastern South Africa, dating back to at least 1989 and affecting a wide array of creatures, according to the study. But this instance was “probably the biggest cold-water shock [mass mortality event]” ever recorded, Dr Ryan Daly, a marine scientist at the Oceanographic Research Institute in Durban, South Africa, tells Carbon Brief. Daly is one of the authors of the new study.

The influx of cold water was due to a process called “upwelling”, which carries cold, nutrient-rich water from the ocean depths to its surface. 

The study identifies three factors that make rapid upwelling events likely to happen: strong currents interacting with the continental shelf, strong winds blowing from the east to the west and meanders in the current. Such winds occur predominantly during the southern hemisphere’s summer, between October and April. They often act as a harbinger of temperature drops occurring in the coming 0-72 hours, the study notes. 

All three of these factors are characteristic of both the south-eastern coast of South Africa and the eastern coast of Australia, where strong currents known as the Agulhas and the East Australian Current, respectively, run up against the continental shelf.

‘Trapped’

Dr Camrin Braun, an ocean ecologist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts, finds it surprising that even large, migratory species such as rays and bull sharks were killed by the cold snap. Braun, who was not involved in the new research, tells Carbon Brief that these animals “can move really far and really fast”. 

Daly says that this surprised the research team as well. But it’s possible, he says, that the onset of the cold temperatures was quick enough and large enough that the animals got “trapped” instead of being able to escape.

To underscore this, the researchers use data on bull shark movements and ocean temperatures from tags attached to sharks before, during and after the event. 

Bull shark (Carcharhinus leucas) at the Protea Banks dive site in Margate, KwaZulu Natal, South Africa. Credit: Alamy Stock Photo

They find that the sharks consistently demonstrate “attempted avoidance” of lower temperatures – moving closer to the surface while swimming through upwelling areas and only travelling at deeper depths once they reach warmer waters. 

The team also observe one shark taking up residence in a sheltered bay during one upwelling event to escape the cold waters. The researchers write that these actions “probably represent behavioural strategies to avoid/survive intense temperature declines”.

On its own, the shark-movement data is “kind of limited” and does not “make a very convincing case”, Braun says. But combining it with other data “really up[s] the ante on the importance” of the research, he adds.

Climate patterns

The researchers also look at several decades’ worth of sea surface temperature and wind data to understand whether these upwelling events are changing in frequency or intensity. 

They identify clear increasing trends in the proportion of winds that favour upwelling events across three sites in South Africa. (Previous research has shown a similar increase in such winds in south-eastern Australia.) 

Then, for the three South African sites and three Australian sites, they compare temperature data from three locations: “inshore”, defined as between 0-15km from the shore, “midshelf”, which is 15-30km from the shore and “offshore” – located within the warm “core” of the current. The inshore and midshelf locations fall within the upwelling zone, but the offshore ones do not.

If, as they hypothesised, upwelling events were becoming more frequent, the number of cold events inshore would increase over time, while the number of such events offshore would stay the same. Similarly, an upwards trend in the intensity of cold snaps would be revealed in the inshore and midshelf, but not the offshore, data.

The chart below shows that the proportion of upwelling-favourable winds (top left) at three sites in South Africa has been steadily increasing since the “upwelling season” – the period of upwelling-favourable winds stretching from October to April – of 1988-89. 

The other three charts show increasing trends in the number of cold events (top right), the average intensity of cold events (bottom left) and the average rate of onset of such cold events (bottom right) for a single site, Port Alfred, over the same period. All three characteristics increase over time for the inshore (blue) and midshelf (pink) locations, but not the offshore (green) one, supporting the idea that the cold snaps are linked to upwelling. 

Percentage of winds favouring upwelling (top left) at three sites in South Africa: Plettenberg Bay (orange), Port Alfred (blue) and Port Elizabeth (red) over the period 1988-2021. Over the same period, the number of cold events (top right), the average intensity of cold events, in degrees Celsius (bottom left) and the average rate of onset, in degrees Celsius per day (bottom right) for inshore (blue), mid-shelf (pink) and offshore (green) locations at Port Alfred. Source: Lubitz et al. (2024)

These increases persist over long enough time periods, the authors argue, to be clear evidence of long-term trends, rather than natural variation. Furthermore, the study points to previous research – dating back more than 30 years – that shows evidence of climate change increasing upwelling intensity due in part to increasingly strong winds driven by the land warming faster than the ocean. 

This trend analysis is one of the most valuable contributions of the new study, Posdaljian says. She tells Carbon Brief:

“It’s often hard to be able to have that kind of concrete evidence about how something could be increasing in intensity or frequency over time.”

The idea that climate change could lead to an increase in cold snaps may seem counterintuitive. But those increased temperatures “mean more energy in the climate [system] too”, Daly says. He explains:

“This wind-driven upwelling, linked to climate change, is essentially an extreme event – just like we might have more flooding and stronger cyclones and hurricanes.

“If you think about equivalent on land, that might be fires being fuelled by more intense wind. It takes an existing natural phenomenon and basically supercharges that to become [more] intense.”

He adds:

“Going forward, we predict that this is going to become a more regular phenomenon and could impact a lot of different species.”

The researchers “did a really good job of creating this foundational understanding” of how such cold events could hit marine ecosystems in future, Posdaljian says. 

Looking ahead, she adds that she would like to see more work focusing on projecting future trends in cold snaps and perhaps even being able to predict them. She tells Carbon Brief:

“A lot of these animals are not just dealing with one stressor from climate change…We can’t necessarily mitigate these [extreme events], but what we can do is maybe reduce the other stressors that we can control.”

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The post Climate change ‘bait and switch’ threatens sharks and rays appeared first on Carbon Brief.

Vòng 33 Ngoại Hạng Anh, màn so tài giữa Crystal Palace vs West Ham sẽ là trận derby London tiếp theo. Sau khi cả hai đội cùng có những kết quả trái ngược ở vòng đấu trước, cuộc đụng độ lần này càng trở nên kịch tính. 

Nhận định phong độ Crystal Palace vs West Ham

Cùng chuyên gia 90phut nhận định trận đấu giữa Crystal Palace vs West Ham

Nhận định phong độ Crystal Palace Phong độ gần đây của Crystal Palace

Crystal Palace đang có phong độ không thật sự ổn định với chỉ một chiến thắng trong năm trận gần nhất. Dưới sự dẫn dắt của HLV Oliver Glasner, đội chủ sân Selhurst Park cho thấy sự phụ thuộc vào lối chơi phòng ngự phản công. Tuy nhiên, điểm yếu rõ ràng của đội bóng này là khả năng dứt điểm còn thiếu hiệu quả và hệ thống phòng ngự thường xuyên mắc lỗi.

Trận thắng trước Liverpool ở vòng gần nhất có thể chỉ là “tai nạn” khi The Kop đã suy yếu quá nhiều. Palace gần như đã trụ hạng nên họ có thể thả lỏng trước trận đấu này.

Nhận định phong độ West Ham Phong độ gần đây của West Ham

West Ham cũng không thể hiện được nhiều sự ổn định hơn so với đối thủ, nhưng họ lại có những yếu tố tích cực riêng. Mặc dù chỉ thắng một trong năm trận gần đây, nhưng phong độ trên sân khách của họ lại tốt hơn so với khi thi đấu trên sân nhà.

Dưới sự chỉ đạo của HLV David Moyes, đội khách đã phát huy tốt lối chơi phòng ngự phản công, đặc biệt là sự sáng tạo từ Lucas Paquetá ở khu trung tuyến. West Ham ghi được 52 bàn thắng từ đầu mùa với sự xuất sắc của các cầu thủ vệ tinh chơi xoay xung quanh tiền đạo cắm như Bowen, Kudus hay Ward Prowse.

Lịch sử đối đầu giữa Crystal Palace vs West Ham Thành tích đối đầu Crystal Palace vs West Ham

Cuộc chạm trán giữa hai đội bóng này luôn chứa đựng nhiều cảm xúc và không kém phần căng thẳng. Trong sáu lần đối đầu gần nhất, mỗi đội có hai chiến thắng và hai trận hòa, cho thấy sự cân bằng trong tương quan lực lượng giữa hai đội. Trận hòa 1-1 gần đây nhất càng làm tăng thêm sự kỳ vọng về một trận đấu đầy kịch tính và cân bằng. 

Soi kèo châu Á Crystal Palace vs West Ham Tỷ lệ kèo trận đấu Crystal Palace vs West Ham

Crystal Palace được đánh giá cao hơn nhờ lợi thế sân nhà, nhưng sự thiếu ổn định trong phong độ khiến cho kèo châu Á West Ham + 0.25 trở nên hấp dẫn. Với khả năng phản công sắc bén và sự kết hợp ăn ý giữa các tiền vệ, West Ham có đủ điều kiện để khai thác những khoảng trống của đối thủ đặc biệt trong những tình huống phòng ngự lỏng lẻo mà Crystal Palace thường xuyên mắc phải.

• Chọn West Ham +0.25 FT

Soi kèo tài xỉu Crystal Palace vs West Ham

Kèo tài xỉu ở mức 2.5 bàn là khá thấp. Các chuyên gia nhà cái đánh giá cao khả năng có nhiều bàn thắng trong trận này. Với lối chơi phòng ngự phản công của cả hai đội cùng với kỹ năng cá nhân của các tiền đạo, không ngạc nhiên khi trận đấu này có thể chứng kiến từ 3 bàn thắng trở lên. 

• Chọn Tài 2.5 FT

Soi kèo tỷ số Crystal Palace vs West Ham

Trận đấu giữa Crystal Palace và West Ham dự kiến sẽ kết thúc với tỷ số hòa 2-2. Đây là kết quả phản ánh sự cân bằng giữa hai đội bóng, mỗi đội sẽ có những khoảnh khắc tỏa sáng nhưng không đủ để phân định thắng thua.

• Dự đoán tỷ số từ chuyên gia 90p: Crystal Palace vs West Ham: 2-2 FT

Đội hình dự kiến Crystal Palace vs West Ham

Crystal Palace: Henderson, Ward, Andersen, Richards, Munoz, Wharton, Lerma, Mitchell, Eze, Ayew, Mateta

West Ham: Fabianski, Coufal, Mavropanos, Zouma, Emerson, Ward-Prowse, Soucek, Bowen, Paqueta, Kudus, Antonio

Kết luận

Trận đấu giữa Crystal Palace vs West Ham tại Selhurst Park sẽ là một trận cầu đầy kịch tính và hấp dẫn, với kết quả hòa là minh chứng cho thấy sự ngang tài ngang sức giữa hai đội. Để có cái nhìn sâu sắc hơn về các trận đấu tương tự, hãy truy cập 90phut TV.

Xem thêm: Nhận định bóng đá Luton Town vs Brentford 21h00 ngày 20/04/2024

สล็อตออนไลน์ เข้าใช้งานได้อย่างมั่นใจ ปลอดภัย100%

สล็อตออนไลน์ เข้าใช้งานได้อย่างมั่นใจ ปลอดภัย100% เล่นเกมสล็อตออนไลน์ ถอนเงินไปใช้ได้จริง เข้าใช้งานได้ตลอด 24 ชั่วโมง รองรับการเข้าใช้งานเล่นเกม ทุกแพลตฟอร์ม ไม่ว่าจะเป็น โทรศัพท์มือถือ หรือคอมพิวเตอร์ จะอยู่ที่ไหน เวลาใด ก็สามารถสร้างรายได้ ทำกำไรในการเล่นเกมได้อย่างง่ายดาย สนุก เพลิดเพลิน คุ้มค่า มีเงินใช้ เพียงแค่ลงเดิมพัน ก็สามารถรับเงินรางวัลไปใช้ได้ทันที

เลือกลงเดิมพันเล่นเกมสล็อตออนไลน์ เข้าใช้งานได้อย่างมั่นใจ ลงเดิมพันเล่นเกมได้หลากหลาย อย่างต่อเนื่อง เลือกลงเดิมพันเล่นเกม กับเว็บไซต์ที่มีความมั่นคง ปลอดภัย เชื่อถือได้ และมีใบเซอร์การันตีการเปิดให้บริการ 1688upx เว็บตรง ถูกกฎหมาย ไม่ผ่านเอเย่นต์ ไม่ผ่านคนกลาง มีฐานการเงินที่มั่นคง พร้อมทั้งยังเป็นเว็บไซต์รายใหญ่อันดับ 1 ของเอเชีย ที่ผู้เล่น นักเดิมพันออนไลน์ไว้วางใจ

เปิดให้บริการมาอย่างยาวนาน มีการสำรองเงิน เพื่อจ่ายรางวัล ให้กับผู้เล่นอย่างเต็มที่ พัฒนาระบบการเข้าใช้งานเล่นเกม ให้ดียิ่งขึ้นอย่างต่อเนื่อง สร้างรายได้ ทำกำไรในการเล่นเกมได้อย่างอิสระ ไม่จำกัดทุน ไม่จำกัดประสบการณ์ ยิ่งเล่น ยิ่งรวย ยิ่งได้รับเงินรางวัล กับ1688upx สมัครเลยวันนี้ รับทันที เครดิตฟรีสุดคุ้มไม่อั้น

เว็บดังรายใหญ่ไม่ผ่านเอเย่นต์ สล็อตออนไลน์ เข้าใช้งานได้อย่างมั่นใจ ปลอดภัย100%

1688upx เว็บตรง มั่นคง ปลอดภัย มีฐานการเงิน และฐานผู้เล่นที่มั่นคง เข้าใช้งานได้อย่างมั่นใจ ลงเดิมพันเล่นเกมได้อย่างต่อเนื่อง คัดสรรเกมมาบริการความสนุก ให้ผู้เล่น ได้เลือกลงเดิมพัน รับเงินรางวัลสุดคุ้มกันเป็นอย่างดี เล่นเกมได้ทุกค่าย

ทุกรูปแบบเกม หลากหลายรูปแบบ หลากหลายความสนุกสุดคุ้ม แบบครบวงจร ไม่ว่าจะเป็น ค่ายเก่า หรือค่ายเกมใหม่ เราอัพเดทให้เลือกเล่นได้ก่อนใครทุกวัน

โดยในปัจจุบัน ผู้เล่น นักเดิมพันออนไลน์ทุกท่าน สามารถเข้ามาร่วมสนุก เล่นเกมสล็อต สร้างรายได้ ทำกำไร ผ่านเว็บไซต์ 1688upx ได้อย่างเพลิดเพลิน มากกว่า 1000+ เกมเลยทีเดียว จะค่ายใหญ่ ค่ายเล็ก สามารถร่วมสนุกกันได้แบบไม่จำกัด ร่วมลงเดิมพัน รับเงินรางวัลกันได้อย่างเต็มที่ เป็นผู้เล่นมือใหม่ ก็สามารถชนะรางวัล บนเว็บไซต์ 1688upx ได้อย่างผู้เล่นมืออาชีพ

ลงเดิมพันง่ายๆ ไม่ต้องใช้เทคนิคให้ยุ่งยาก กับเกมสล็อตออนไลน์ลิขสิทธิ์แท้ 100% ชนะรางวัลง่าย โอกาสในการรับเงินรางวัลสูงสุดคุ้ม ไม่มีประวัติในการโกง ไม่มีการล็อคยูสเซอร์ ไม่มีการล็อคผลรางวัล ร่วมสนุก ลงเดิมพันเล่นเกมได้ ไม่จำกัดทุน ทั้งผู้เล่นทุนน้อย ทุนหนา สามารถเล่นเกมกับเราได้อย่างจุใจ จะเล่นเกมไหนๆ ก็สามารถชนะรางวัลได้อย่างคุ้มค่า

โดยจะมีเบทเดิมพัน ในการเล่นเกมสล็อตออนไลน์ ขั้นต่ำ ที่เริ่มต้นเพียงแค่ 1 บาทเท่านั้น เพื่อเปิดโอกาส และมอบความสุข ให้กับผู้เล่นอย่างครอบคลุม ซึ่งจะสามารถปรับเพิ่มลดเบทเดิมพัน ให้เหมาะสมกับทุน ได้อย่างอิสระ ตามต้องการ รับเงินรางวัลได้อย่างเต็มที่ โดยจะมีเบทเดิมพันในการเล่นเกม สูงสุดถึง 2000 เลยทีเดียว

ปลอดภัย เชื่อถือได้ มีการบริการ มีการดูแล ผ่านเจ้าหน้าที่แอดมิน อย่างครอบคลุม และใส่ใจ ตลอดในการเข้าใช้งาน หากมีปัญหาในการเล่นเกม มีปัญหาในการเข้าใช้งาน ผู้เล่น สามารถแจ้งข้อมูล ผ่านเจ้าหน้าที่แอดมิน ของเว็บไซต์ 1688upx ได้ทันที มีการบริการ ดูแล เข้าใช้งานได้อย่างมั่นใจ พร้อมแจ้งข้อมูลข่าวสาร ให้กับผู้เล่นทุกท่าน ตลอด 24 ชั่วโมง

ระบบการฝากถอนรวดเร็วทันใจ รับวอเลท

แจ้งทำรายการฝากถอนเงิน ในการเล่นเกมได้อย่างอิสระ ผ่านหน้าเว็บไซต์ได้ทันที ด้วยระบบออโต้ จัดการเงินในการเล่นเกมได้ด้วยตนเอง ได้อย่างเต็มที่ ผ่านเว็บไซต์ 1688upx เว็บตรง สุดทันสมัย มาตรฐานสากล ที่มีการพัฒนาระบบการเข้าใช้งาน ให้ตอบโจทย์ผู้เล่นยุคใหม่ได้เป็นอย่างดี

สะดวก รวดเร็วทันใจ ใช้เวลาในการทำรายการฝากถอน ไม่เกิน 3 วินาที โดยมีการรองรับ บัญชีการฝากถอน ผ่านธนาคารชั้นนำ และรองรับบัญชีทรูวอเลท เพื่อเปิดโอกาส ให้ผู้เล่น ได้เข้ามาสัมผัสกับความสนุกกันได้อย่างครอบคลุม ไม่กำหนดขั้นต่ำ ไม่ต้องทำยอดเทิร์น ไม่ต้องแจ้งแอดมิน รับเงินรางวัลได้เต็มจำนวน ชนะรางวัลได้อย่างเต็มที่ ถอนเงินรางวัลไปใช้ได้ไม่อั้น

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The post สล็อตออนไลน์ เข้าใช้งานได้อย่างมั่นใจ ปลอดภัย100% appeared first on climateworkers.org.

RWE is set to start construction of onshore cable works for its Thor Offshore Wind Farm, scheduled to be carried out at and around the project’s onshore substation south of Lemvig, Denmark, from this month to the end of October. 

The first part of the cable work is set to take place through June, where horizontal directional drilling works will be carried out under the dune and a field immediately south of Tuskær. Further smaller horizontal directional drilling works will be carried out along the approximately 4 km cable route between the onshore substation at Volder Mark and the beach. 

The landfall works are being carried out to enable two ducts to run under the dunes and the nearby field to prepare for cable pull-in next year. Each drill hole is approximately 425 meters long and the ducts will have a 71 cm diameter. 

The onshore cables are expected to be laid and buried during June and July and lead to the onshore substation, where they will be connected. Joint bay, jointing and testing works are set to be carried out from July to October.

Subsea cables are scheduled to be installed and connected to the onshore cables next year.

Ground was broken at the project’s onshore substation last May.

The post RWE Begins Onshore Cable Construction for Thor Offshore Wind Farm appeared first on North American Windpower.