Eco Report – June 23, 2022

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HEADLINES

 Members of the Morgan County Soil and Water Conservation District board received an update from chairman Doug Peine about the closure of a Duke Energy coal ash pond in southern Indiana. Peine said the Hoosier Environmental Council filed a lawsuit over the closure of the ash pits at the Gallagher Power Plant in New Albany, along the Ohio River.

—Norm Holy

The Midcontinent Independent System Operator, or MISO, a power grid that serves much of the Midwest, is at high risk of not being able to meet demand this summer. This year, MISO will have 2.3% less capacity than last summer together with a 1.7% increase in demand.

—Linda Greene

The New England Journal of Medicine is expanding its coverage of the intersection of climate issues and public health, starting with a series on fossil fuel–-driven health harms.

—Norm Holy

The latest greenwashing scheme the plastics industry has devised is called chemical recycling. The industry’s solution to its own pollution, a process promoted by the plastics industry as reducing plastic waste, is an environmental health risk that will make the plastic waste crisis even worse. It spews toxic pollution into the atmosphere and generates large amounts of hazardous waste.

—Linda Greene

Disposing of the millions of tons of plastics produced annually is a huge problem. Many plastics require centuries in landfills to degrade. Polystyrene is one type of plastic waste that also takes up a lot of space. The New York Times reports there is a larva that can digest polystyrene.

—Norm Holy

Congress is considering legislation that would authorize more subsidies for ethanol, a gasoline additive, and biofuels. The misleadingly named Renewable Fuel Infrastructure Investment and Market Act of 2021, H-R 1542, is likely to go to a vote soon in a larger food and agriculture committee package.

—Linda Greene

As the world seeks to respond to an energy crisis prompted by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and increasingly dire warnings about runaway climate change, the EU has announced a new plan to get off Russian fossil fuels and speed the transition to renewable energy.

—Norm Holy

Scientists have discovered a pernicious new pollutant on the beaches of the Canary Islands. They call it plastitar because it’s a blend of microplastics, plastic particles less than five millimeters long, with tar from oil spills.

—Linda Greene

In 2021, the International Energy Agency  warned that in order to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, no new oil and gas fields or coal mines could be developed. Now, a study published in Environmental Research Letters goes even further: In order to meet the 1.5 goal, we will have to abandon nearly 40 percent of “developed reserves” of fossil fuels.

—Norm Holy

Wildlife-killing contests, in which people receive cash or other prizes for killing the smallest, largest and the most carnivores on public lands, are legal in the U-S except in Washington, Maryland, Arizona, California and four other states where grassroots activists have halted  them. The Center for Biological Diversity is urging Congress to pass legislation that would ban the killing contests on the more than 500 million acres of public lands nationwide.

—Linda Greene

The Manatee Center and allies sued the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency  to force it to protect manatees and sea turtles from Florida’s water pollution. More than half of last year’s 1,100 manatee deaths in the state were caused by starvation after algal blooms killed off the seagrass the animals eat.

—Norm Holy

Native American tribes are demanding that U-S Department of the Interior Secretary Deb Haaland revoke the permits for the Thacker Pass lithium mine in Nevada and that House Natural Resources Committee Chair Raul Grijalva investigate the crimes being committed at Thacker Pass against Native American tribes.

—Linda Greene

 

CALENDAR

Are you a tree hugger?  If so, then join the naturalist at McCormick’s Creek State Park on Saturday, June 25th, at 1 pm, to learn more about how to identify trees that we have in Indiana.  Just maybe, you will hug a tree!  Meet at the Canyon Inn lobby.

Join Carol and Sheree on Spring Mill State Park Lake for a one- hour kayak trip on Saturday, June 25th, from 7 to 8 pm to discover how the CCC helped bring the lake to life.  You will need to bring your own kayak or canoe.  Registration is required.  Contact Sheree at 812-849-3534 or [email protected].  Meet at the Boat Ramp.

A Beginner Kayaking Class is being offered at the Paynetown State Recreation Area at Monroe Lake on Sunday, June 26th, from 10 am to Noon.  The class is designed for beginners, and you will learn basic paddling skills, safety skills in a quiet water area.  Sign up at bit.ly/begin-kayak-jun26-2022.

Join the naturalist on Monday, June 27th, from 10 to 11:30 am for a guided hike on Trail 7 around Ogle Lake at Brown County State Park.  Hear the history of the lake and about the animals that make the lake home.  This is a moderate hike.

Do you want to learn about the Emerald Ash Borer?  Then join the naturalist at the Paynetown State Recreation Area campground at Monroe Lake on Wednesday, June 29th, from 6 to 7:30 pm.  Find out what the insect looks like and how you can safeguard your trees from this invasive pest.