Watch 1PM Weekly News - September 18, 2023
This week Shelby covers 7 breaking news stories--from a climate scientist running for President of Mexico to new legislation that will label water runoff from fracking as hazardous waste.
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Drilling in Alaska Canceled by Biden Administration
On September 6, the Biden administration announced it would cancel all remaining oil and gas leases in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge that were issued under the previous administration, and protect more than 13 million acres in the Western Arctic. In a statement, President Biden noted that "the climate crisis warms the Arctic more than twice as fast as the rest of the world, and we have a responsibility to protect this treasured region for all ages." This new legislation does not reverse Biden's March 2023 decision to allow ConocoPhillips to drill in Alaska's National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. The president's approval of what is known as the Willow Project generated widespread criticism on the part of environmental groups, especially young activists.
Climate Scientist Running for President of Mexico
Mexico's left-wing Morena party—one of the country's two major political parties, and its current ruling party—has selected Claudia Sheinbaum as its 2024 presidential candidate. Sheinbaum was the first elected female mayor of Mexico City; she resigned that position in June to begin her campaign for president. A scientist, Sheinbaum holds a doctorate in environmental engineering, and served as Mexico City's environmental secretary under a previous mayor. She was a contributing author to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. At campaign stops, Sheinbaum has emphasized the need to develop renewable forms of energy that, in turn, will promote development in Mexico. If elected president, Sheinbaum has said she would work to promote and expand the use of renewable energy. The main opposition party candidate, Xóchitl Gálvez, is also an advocate for renewable energy, and a woman, meaning that Mexico is likely to elect its first female president in 2024.
Legislation Labels Water from Fracking as Hazardous Waste
Pennsylvania State Senator Katie Muth, a Democrat, is the prime sponsor of Senate Bills 26 and 28, which seek to close Pennsylvania's hazardous oil and gas waste loophole, and Senate Bill 29, which seeks to keep radium out of drinking water. In a memo to members of the state senate, Muth noted that Pennsylvania residents "are exposed daily to potentially toxic and radioactive waste produced by the oil and gas industry." Through a 30-year-old loophole—which exempted oil and gas companies from the state's Solid Waste Management Act—those companies are able to skip "hazardous waste testing, tracking and disposal rules, even though their wastes contain a wide variety of hazardous components." An article published in Inside Climate News quoted Muth as saying that, while its unlikely there will be bipartisan support in Pennsylvania's Republican-controlled Senate for legislation that goes against the interests of oil and gas companies, there's reason to get "a lot of legislators on the record voting down clean water."
Global Climate Talks Expected to Stir Up Climate Deniers
According to Inside Climate News, climate disinformation threatens to erode trust and hamper progress at the upcoming United Nations’ COP28 climate summit, taking place in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, November 30 through December 12. In the three decades since the launch of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Conference of the Parties of the Convention or COP)has convened its member countries every year to determine ambition and responsibilities, and identify and assess climate measures. Its twenty-first session, COP21, led to the Paris Agreement, which mobilized global collective action to limit the global temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels by 2100, and to act to adapt to the already existing effects of climate change. In an interview with Carbon Brief, Jennie King, head of climate research and policy for the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, a nonprofit organization that seeks, in part, to reverse the rising tide of disinformation worldwide, stated, “In the past twelve to 18 months . . . denialism is making a real comeback, but in a way that is framed for the current conspiratorial universe. Rather than ‘don’t trust the science’, it is more ‘don’t trust the scientists’. It is much harder to tackle because it’s not grounded in the idea that there isn’t an evidence base or that climate modeling is unreliable. It’s much more a reflection of wholesale erosion of trust in institutions.” At COP28, said King, her organization will be looking for “sophisticated and potentially state-sponsored disinformation campaigns coming from petrochemical states, including the host country."
Utah Failed to Stop Great Salt Lake from Shrinking
Earthjustice, a nonprofit, public interest environmental law organization, has filed suit against the state of Utah for its failure to ensure that enough water reaches the Great Salt Lake to prevent ecological collapse. The plaintiffs in the lawsuit are: Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment, American Bird Conservancy, Center for Biological Diversity, Sierra Club, and Utah Rivers Council. Zach Frankel, executive director of the Utah Rivers Council, said, “The baby steps Utah has taken at the Great Salt Lake are woefully inadequate to sustain the American West’s largest wetland ecosystem and we need the state to stop ignoring the upstream water diversions that are spiraling the lake and its wildlife into oblivion.” Dr. Brian Moench, president of Utah Physicians for a Healthy environment, warns that the drying up of other saline lakes has resulted in “public health disasters from clouds of relentless toxic dust.” Deeda Seed, of the Center for Biological Diversity, noted that more than “12 million birds, from more than 300 species,” depend on the lake.
Wild Flamingos in Ohio After Being Displaced by Hurricane
In the wake of Hurricane Idalia, flamingos, believed to have been blown off course from Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula and Cuba, were spotted as far north as Pennsylvania and Ohio. The American Birding Association’s (ABA) Rare Bird Alert reported that, the weekend after Idalia made landfall in Florida, a pair of flamingos turned up in Warren County, Ohio, near Cincinnati. In her “Hurricane Idalia Report,” published on the ABA’s website, Amy Davis noted, “Birders know that each hurricane season with its attendant destruction also brings the thrilling prospect of finding tropical birds far north or well inland of their usual ranges. But of all the storm birds, there is none gaudier or more glorious than American Flamingo, and perhaps no more absurd place for a pair of them to show up than Ohio.” According to Nate Swick of the ABA, as reported by NPR, flamingos are strong birds, more than capable of making their way home.
First Cultivated Meat Company to Generate Revenue - Omeat
A Los Angeles-based company called Omeat has become one of the first cultivated meat companies to generate revenue. The company has pioneered a sustainable, humane way to create real meat, offering a slaughter-free alternative to the traditional farming of animals. According to Omeat, its process starts with a small sample of cells and plasma humanely collected from a cow. The cells go into a cultivator that creates the ideal environment for cell growth. They are then immersed in nutrients and natural growth factors from the plasma, which allow the cells to grow and form into muscle tissue. In a week, says the company, it can harvest and package the cultivated meat product. Omeat owns its own farm and herd of approximately 75 cows, who freely graze on 30 acres. The company employs a full-time veterinarian and a number of vet techs, who oversee their well-being. According to Omeat, with one cow, providing plasma once a week, it can create many cows’ worth of beef annually. This means it can “feed the planet” with only a fraction of the number of animals currently used in meat production.