EARTH ACTION IN THE NEWS - July 7, 2018

[Emerald]

​EARTH ACTION IN THE NEWS  

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​1) New EPA Chief Andrew Wheeler, Former Coal Lobbyist, Aims to Continue to Dismantle EPA from Inside​ (video)
https://www.democracynow.org/2018/7/6/new_epa_chief_andrew_wheeler_former?utm_source=Democracy+Now%21&utm_campaign=f97ede2afb-Daily_Digest_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_fa2346a853-f97ede2afb-191276697

AND
Pruitt’s Replacement Andrew Wheeler Will Be ‘Much Smarter’ Threat, Environmentalists Fear
https://www.ecowatch.com/wheeler-pruitt-epa-2584262490.html?utm_source=EcoWatch+List&utm_campaign=a82fcde8b7-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_49c7d43dc9-a82fcde8b7-86095421

2) A Coder and a YouTuber Provide DIY Power for Puerto Rico
https://www.ecowatch.com/diy-power-for-puerto-rico-2582381234.html?utm_source=EcoWatch+List&utm_campaign=74d60fcec2-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_49c7d43dc9-74d60fcec2-86095421

Sierra Club: "Essentially, we use trash to turn on the lights. We use recycled batteries from dead laptops and other electronic devices to build solar generators. Oftentimes people discard batteries even though they are still working; they simply have a circuit board that went bad. So we give them a second, third or even fourth life. They're adapted, attached to solar panels, and used to store the energy the panels generate."

3) 8 Reasons Senate Farm Bill Is Better Than House Bill
https://www.ecowatch.com/senate-farm-bill-2583223717.html?utm_source=EcoWatch+List&utm_campaign=940ef19753-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_49c7d43dc9-940ef19753-86095421
Environmental Working Group: "In light of these differences, it's easy to understand why the House bill passed without any support from Democrats, while the Senate bill passed with 86 votes."

4) 11 Injured in Protests Over Water Scarcity, Pollution in Southwest Iran
https://www.ecowatch.com/protests-over-water-scarcity-pollution-in-southwest-iran-2583460853.html?utm_source=EcoWatch+List&utm_campaign=940ef19753-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_49c7d43dc9-940ef19753-86095421
"Al Jazeera pointed out that the current water issues are a more than local problem. They come as a drought has devastated 40 percent of Iran since December 2017, according to Tehran's Financial Tribune. The period from September to December 2017 was the driest in the country in 67 years."

5) 29 Wildfires Blaze Across the West, Fueled by Drought and Wind

https://www.ecowatch.com/wildfires-west-drought-wind-2583443975.html?utm_source=EcoWatch+List&utm_campaign=940ef19753-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_49c7d43dc9-940ef19753-86095421

​"2018's fire season could rival 2017's record-breaking season for devastation, The New York Times reported Monday."​

​6) 5 Crazy Ways the House Is Pushing Extreme Drilling on Public Lands ​

https://www.ecowatch.com/public-lands-oil-gas-drilling-2583199957.html?utm_source=EcoWatch+List&utm_campaign=9d904493e5-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_49c7d43dc9-9d904493e5-86095421

​The Wilderness Society: "New legislation is being considered by the House Natural Resources Committee that would hurry the selling of public lands by punishing states and citizens opposed to drilling. It would also relax safety requirements."​

​7) 'Watershed Moment for Climate Liability' as Rhode Island Files Historic Lawsuit Against 21 Big Oil Companies ​

https://www.ecowatch.com/rhode-island-files-historic-lawsuit-against-21-big-oil-companies-2583480560.html?utm_source=EcoWatch+List&utm_campaign=9d904493e5-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_49c7d43dc9-9d904493e5-86095421

​Common Dreams: "In what advocates are calling a "watershed moment" for climate litigation, Rhode Island's Democratic Attorney General Peter F. Kilmartin announced on Monday that the state has filed a lawsuit against 21 major oil companies—including BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil and Shell—"for knowingly contributing to climate change, and causing catastrophic consequences to Rhode Island, our economy, our communities, our residents, our ecosystems."​

​8) Electric Vehicle Sales Foretell a Big Oil Crash ​

https://www.ecowatch.com/electric-vehicle-sales-promise-shock-for-big-oil-2584019017.html?utm_source=EcoWatch+List&utm_campaign=a82fcde8b7-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_49c7d43dc9-a82fcde8b7-86095421

​Climate News Network: "If the car manufacturers' projections of future sales of electric cars are correct, then demand for oil will have peaked by 2027 or even earlier, sending the price of oil in a downward spiral as supply exceeds demand, said Carbon Tracker (CT), an independent financial think-tank carrying out in-depth analysis on the impact of the energy transition on capital markets."​

​9) A Turning Point in NYC's Fight for Ocean Health ​

https://www.ecowatch.com/nycs-fight-for-ocean-health-2582092706.html?utm_source=EcoWatch+List&utm_campaign=53beac093e-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_49c7d43dc9-53beac093e-86095421

​Lonely Whale: "The introduction of bill No. 936 by New York City Councilman Rafael Espinal, Jr. marks a veritable tipping point in the spread of single-use plastic straw bans across the globe. From Taiwan to Portland, the city-wide takeover our team began with our Strawless in Seattle campaign has certainly taken off and created a global movement not only of citizens but also elected officials taking action to protect their waterways and their environments."​

​10) Carbon Handout for Airlines: 'An Awful Deal for the Climate' ​

https://www.ecowatch.com/airlines-fossil-fuels-climate-2582423324.html?utm_source=EcoWatch+List&utm_campaign=53beac093e-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_49c7d43dc9-53beac093e-86095421

​Climate Nexus: "The aviation sector, currently responsible for two percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, is on track to rise to a quarter of all emissions by 2050."​

​11) Wineries Around the World Grapple With Climate Change​

https://www.ecowatch.com/wineries-climate-change-2582382238.html?utm_source=EcoWatch+List&utm_campaign=53beac093e-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_49c7d43dc9-53beac093e-86095421

​12) TransCanada, Whose Pipeline Just Exploded, Wants Feds' Help to Beat Green Groups ​

https://www.ecowatch.com/pipelines-transcanada-green-groups-2582412733.html?utm_source=EcoWatch+List&utm_campaign=53beac093e-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_49c7d43dc9-53beac093e-86095421
"It's definitely not getting easier to build a new pipeline," Stanley Chapman, executive vice president and president of U.S. natural gas pipelines at TransCanada Corp, told the news service at the World Gas Conference in Washington

​. ​

"I'm seeing more already-approved pipeline projects that are under construction get held up by a judge in lawsuits and this has to be addressed either by FERC or with legislation," he added, referring to the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which oversees construction of new pipelines."​

​13) 5 Tips to Get Prepped For Plastic Free July (and Living with Less Plastic)
https://treadingmyownpath.com/2018/06/30/plastic-free-getting-started/?utm_source=Treading+My+Own+Path+updates&utm_campaign=7589ce60e6-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_55699d32b3-7589ce60e6-228761553&mc_cid=7589ce60e6&mc_eid=b45198eb05

Treading My Own Path: "Plastic Free July comes around on the 1st July and for the entire month of July, millions of people across the globe try to avoid as much single-use, unnecessary and wasteful plastic as they can. It’s a pretty amazing movement, built on the idea that we can all do something, and if we all do something, that can bring about huge positive change."​

14) 'Atlantification' of Arctic Ocean Speeds Up
https://www.ecowatch.com/arctic-ocean-climate-change-2581806529.html?utm_source=EcoWatch+List&utm_campaign=363a55881c-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_49c7d43dc9-363a55881c-86095421

Climate Nexus: "The Arctic Ocean is warming so rapidly that it may soon transform into an upper arm of the Atlantic Ocean, researchers say. A study published this week in Nature Climate Change shows how the Barents Sea in Scandinavia, where Atlantic waters enter the Arctic basin, has become a warming "hot spot," with temperatures spiking 2.7 degrees F since 2000."

​15)​ Mandatory Labels With Simple Disclosures Reduced Fears of GE Foods in Vermont

https://www.ecowatch.com/mandatory-labels-ge-foods-vermont-2582108502.html?utm_source=EcoWatch+List&utm_campaign=0ed3069508-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_49c7d43dc9-0ed3069508-86095421
The Conversation: "Our study provides evidence that a simple disclosure, one of the suggestions for the standards being developed at the federal level, is not likely to signal to consumers that GE foods are more risky, unsafe or otherwise harmful. In fact, it does the opposite. This national study cannot identify why this change occurred. But, the findings are consistent with some prior research that suggests labels give consumers a sense of control or autonomy."

16) U.S. Allows Nestlé to Keep Piping Water From Drought-Ridden Southern California
https://www.ecowatch.com/nestle-water-california-2582073595.html?utm_source=EcoWatch+List&utm_campaign=0ed3069508-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_49c7d43dc9-0ed3069508-86095421

17) World's First Offshore Wind Battery Installed at Floating Farm
https://www.ecowatch.com/offshore-wind-battery-scotland-2582099396.html?utm_source=EcoWatch+List&utm_campaign=0ed3069508-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_49c7d43dc9-0ed3069508-86095421

18) Disastrous BP Oil Spill 'Flattened' Microbe Biodiversity in Gulf
https://www.ecowatch.com/bp-oil-spill-flattened-microbe-biodiversity-2582346478.html?utm_source=EcoWatch+List&utm_campaign=0ed3069508-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_49c7d43dc9-0ed3069508-86095421

19) Minnesota Approves Controversial Enbridge Pipeline Rebuild
https://www.ecowatch.com/enbridge-pipeline-minnesota-2582329366.html?utm_source=EcoWatch+List&utm_campaign=0ed3069508-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_49c7d43dc9-0ed3069508-86095421

20) Loophole Could Exempt Over 10,000 GMO Foods from GMO Labeling Law
https://sustainablepulse.com/2018/07/02/insane-loophole-could-exempt-over-10000-gmo-foods-from-gmo-labeling-law/#.W0ColLjLezZ

21) This Indian start-up is turning trash into treasure

https://www.unenvironment.org/news-and-stories/story/indian-start-turning-trash-treasure

UN Environment: "We don’t think of a product and then collect waste, as that would not solve the problem and would encourage a certain type of waste. Rather we get waste first and brainstorm over what to do with it, depending on what’s available. So it needs  a lot of effort, research, playing around with the material and designing before transformation,” added Rangarajan. The company is also heavily invested in the well-being of its workers. They ensure responsible employment by providing livelihood opportunities to women from rural communities and giving them skillsets to bring them into the mainstream workforce. Rangarajan is now developing a workforce of women in different cities that specialize in handling specific kind of waste material and creating certain products out of them."

22) Kroger Sets 2020 Phase-Out of Bee-Toxic Pesticides on Its Plants, Costco Encourages Suppliers to Change; Both Commit to Carry More Organic
https://beyondpesticides.org/dailynewsblog/2018/06/kroger-sets-2020-phase-bee-toxic-pesticides-plants-costco-encourages-suppliers-change-commit-carry-organic/

Beyond Pesticides: "Kroger (which includes numerous other grocery chains, like Harris Teeter) announced in a press release last week — during National Pollinator Week —  a phase-out by 2020 of live garden plants treated with the insecticides most closely associated with the decline of bee populations, the neonicotinoids. In May, Costco updated its pollinator policy, which “encourages” its suppliers of garden plants, fruits, and vegetables to limit the use of bee-toxic pesticides and adopt ecological practices. The company in 2016 announced a policy to encourage suppliers to change their pesticides."

Call To Action!
We urge all groups including schools, neighborhood associations, organizations, clubs and groups of any kind to adopt a Climate Declaration.  Adopt ours or write your own.  Share your Climate Declaration with local governments, the media, write articles, and share information.
Occupy Sonoma County Climate Declaration

Occupy Sonoma County, along with concerned, forward thinking people all over the world, declares that climate change has reached catastrophic proportions as evidenced by the current level of CO2 in the atmosphere, the melting of polar ice caps, and the continual rising of global temperatures.  This is a global emergency, and we must act immediately.​  We invite all forces of life to join together for our survival.  We stand up for life.

We recognize that the root of climate change is a capitalist system run by money greedy corporations and the governments that they control.  We actively oppose greenhouse gas producers, nuclear power investors, and fossil fuel companies by boycotting their products, developing alternatives, divesting from corporations that endorse them and insisting that governments at all levels take action.  We call on all governments and corporations to adopt life-sustaining practices immediately.

The people must act now to stop this destruction from continuing and reverse the damage this has caused​.  The future is in our hands.  We are the 99%!

 

Take Action - Get Involved!

July 1-31
Occupy Sonoma County is participating in Plastic Free July
Sign up at http://PlasticFreeJuly.org to be counted and participate in this international campaign

Go to our website to join our campaign

FRIDAY, JULY 13, 12:00 - 1:00 PM
CLIMATE CHAT: A NEW COMPOST FACILITY FOR SONOMA COUNTY
Work Petaluma, 10 Fourth Street, Petaluma
There is a new compost facility being planned for Sonoma County. 
Monthly Climate Chats are presented free by WORK Petaluma. 
For more info: workpetaluma.com/climate-chat-a-new-compost-facility-for-sonoma-county

Saturday, July 14​, 3-5 PM
Sonoma Solidarity with Standing Rock Meeting
3:00-5:00 Main Meeting (no public banking meeting)
Peace & Justice Center - 467 Sebastopol Ave., Santa Rosa
For more info: www.facebook.com/SonomaNoDAPL/, Email sonoma.solidarity@gmail.com​
Look for Public Bank Santa Rosa on Facebook or email them at in...@publicbanksantarosa.com.  Be sure to read and endorse their new resolution.

Saturday, July 14

Healdsburg River Palooza at Veteran's Memorial Beach
B-Rad Foundation, Russian Riverkeeper, & Clean River Alliance
For more information contact rrke...@sonic.net or Sign up here.

Sunday, July 15 4-7 PM - Annual Summer Gathering with the Sierra Club Sonoma Group
Potluck Picnic at the Shady Oaks picnic site, Spring Lake Park; bring food/drink to share.
Contact 544-4582 or sc...@sonic.net.

 

Monday, July 16, 7-9 PM

Attend our next Earth Action Campaign meeting
Peace & Justice Center, 467 Sebastopol Ave., Santa Rosa
This campaign meets monthly on the 3rd Mondays. Meet in person or call in from home.
For more information go to http://OccupySonomaCounty.org or call 707-877-6650.

Wednesday, July 18, 7pm
350 Sonoma
Summer social with a Zero Waste potluck
For more info go to​ Facebook350 Sonoma or webpage 350sonoma.org. Email 350Sono...@gmail.com

Monday, July 30
Sonoma County Climate Activist Network (SoCoCAN!), 7-9 PM
Peace and Justice Center, 467 Sebastopol Ave., Santa Rosa
Climate activist groups and individuals working together to address and reverse climate change. We meet on months with a 5th Monday. 2018 Next Meetings: July 30, Oct. 29.
Please submit campaign proposals in advance to the SoCoCAN listserv.
For more info: (707) 595-0320 or SonomaC...@gmail.com (email preferred). Join us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/SonomaCountyCAN/.

Volunteer Opportunities

• Set up help is needed prior to our teach-ins

Help with taking down tables, setting up chairs, and bringing things in from the car.

Next event is July 23 - set up at 6:00 at the PJC.

• Spanish translations or recommendation of a professional to hire

This is an ongoing but intermittent need starting with our Earth Action handout and improvements on our Spanish website.

We have one volunteer who has been doing this for us - one more volunteer is needed to take turns.

What Earth Actions are you taking?

707-877-6650
http://OccupySonomaCounty.org
http://OccupySonomaCounty.org/es ​ (en español)
http://www.facebook.com/OccupySonomaCounty
https://twitter.com/OcSoCo
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmJoCP-ePUTPWNgHZwtBelg

Occupy Sonoma County embraces the egalitarian, deep democracy principles of the Occupy Movement with a regional strategy for effectively organizing countywide social justice campaigns that are globally relevant.