EARTH ACTION IN THE NEWS - June 19, 2024
OSC
EARTH ACTION IN THE NEWS
Welcome
to the people who have joined recently. This is a simple weekly newsletter. Your participation is encouraged. Please share information
and actions about climate change, climate justice, GMOs, toxic
chemicals, and Earth-related topics.
If you wish to reduce email volume switch your membership to the digest or abridged version.
Please refrain from posting petitions or donation requests without OSC approval. Thank you for joining us.
Go to our Facebook and Twitter pages to share these articles. Social media is currently limiting our posts so if there is an article here that you want to share please post it to our page as well as your own.
If you are uncomfortable clicking on links in an email you can cut and paste the link into your browser.
How a Petaluma Safeway controversy kicked off the spread of gas station bans across the Bay Area
https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/news/safeway-gas-station-ban/
"A movement that began with specific concerns about a station near a school campus in Petaluma is spreading beyond the North Bay."
A ‘Central Park’ for Santa Rosa: State approves land sale for Southeast Greenway
https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/news/southeast-greenway-santa-rosa-park-sale/
"The Friday vote marks a major step forward for the project, which envisions a mix of passive and active recreation on the 2-mile strip of land off Highway 12."
Germany’s new solar additions hit 3.7 GW in Q1
https://www.pv-magazine.com/2024/04/29/germanys-new-solar-additions-hit-3-7-gw-in-q1/
"Germany reached 86.2 GW of cumulative installed PV capacity at the end of March 2024."
Sunak takes sleeper train for election campaign
The UK Prime Minister slept on an overnight train instead of using his helicopter on his campaign trail. This is PR for his election campaign but still a good sign that taking a train can boost his popularity.
North Bay beekeepers abuzz with activity
https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/industrynews/honeybees-napa-north-bay/
"After decades of colony collapse and a long, nectar-filled road back, beekeepers say the bees have discovered the sweet spot between drought and torrential downpours."
How a DIY Santa Rosa couple built a climate-resilient garden, saving money in the process
https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/lifestyle/climate-change-sustainable-gardens-low-water/
The British Are Coming! The Invasion of California’s Forests?
https://rachelcarsoncouncil.org/british-coming-invasion-californias-forests/
"California’s forests face yet another incursion, one that perhaps is not all that new: British expansion. The world’s largest wood pellet producer, Drax, a United Kingdom energy corporation, is attempting to expand the industry into California."
Napa commission delays action on solar project
https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/napa/solar-napa-electricity-laketricity/
"A proposal to build floating solar panels on 56 acres of Napa Sanitation District ponds, enough to power thousands of homes, won’t be moving forward for now."
https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/napa/napa-transportation-bus/
"A new Napa transportation facility opened in April with the hopes to expand transit services with a greener approach."
Lake County to study impact of PG&E’s plan to remove Scott Dam
https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/news/scott-dam-lake-pillsbury-pge/
"The county will use a $700,000 grant to determine how PG&E’s Potter Valley project could affect the region."
Climactic Climate
https://bohemian.com/climactic-climate/
A salute to Sonoma County’s pollinators
https://www.sonomacountygazette.com/sonoma-county-news/bees-moths-pollinators-sonoma-county/
It’s rattlesnake season in Sonoma County. Here’s what to do if you see or hear one
https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/news/rattlesnakes-sonoma-county-what-to-do/
"Rattlesnakes come out when the weather warms up."
Could you nourish a carbon-neutral Sonoma County garden after death?
https://www.sonomacountygazette.com/sonoma-county-news/human-composting-green-burial-sonoma/
"Human composting and green burial present eco-friendly options for end-of-life care."
Wildfire Ready: Maintaining Weeds & Dry Grasses During Wildfire Season
https://www.srcity.org/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=2202
Worries in wine country: Napa Valley wrestles with chemical contamination controversy
https://www.thenewlede.org/2024/06/worries-in-wine-country-napa-valley-wrestles-with-chemical-contamination-controversy/
EPA enabled widespread contamination of farmland from PFAS in fertilizer, lawsuit alleges
https://www.thenewlede.org/2024/06/lawsuit-alleges-company-illegally-discharged-cancer-causing-tce-decades/
Federal government allows failing Mountain Valley Pipeline to go in-service
https://appvoices.org/2024/06/11/mvp-in-service/
Critics call out plastics industry over "fraud of plastic recycling"
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/critics-call-out-plastics-industry-over-fraud-of-plastic-recycling/
A different kind of youth activist: Meet the high schoolers who invented a microplastics solution
https://grist.org/looking-forward/a-different-kind-of-youth-activist-meet-the-high-schoolers-who-invented-a-microplastics-solution/
"At this year's International Science and Engineering Fair, students showcased projects aimed at tackling some of the world's biggest challenges."
IKEA blamed for Romanian forest destruction
Zombie Fire Season Is Here in the Arctic
https://www.wired.com/story/zombie-fires-arctic-causes/
"Every year, peatlands in the Arctic suddenly ignite. Smoldering subterranean fires from the previous summer were thought to be to blame, but now modeling suggests a worrying new cause."
Going glacier gone: How Venezuela lost its last glacier, why this matters
https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-climate/venezuela-glaciers-9337469/
"Venezuela has likely become the first country — it certainly won’t be the last — in modern history to lose all its glaciers. Scientists expected the Humboldt glacier to last another decade. However, it melted at a faster rate than expected."
NASA Analysis Sees Spike in 2023 Global Sea Level Due to El Niño
Landfills 101: Everything You Need to Know
https://www.ecowatch.com/landfills-facts-ecowatch.html
THINK TANK & STRATEGY
Meet the Vancouver scientist whose work could help fight forest fires, save old-growth
https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/vancouver-scientist-forest-fires-save-old-growth
"UBC forestry professor Suzanne Simard has been named one of Time magazine's 100 most influential people."
NYC’s Riders Alliance has a vision for a better, safer subway with less policing
https://wagingnonviolence.org/2024/05/new-york-city-riders-alliance-safer-subways/
Battles brew over radioactive wastewater discharge from shuttered nuclear plants
Chicago teachers demand climate solutions in their next contract
https://grist.org/accountability/chicago-teachers-want-climate-solutions-next-contract/
"That contract means nothing if our Earth is on fire."
Klamath River Dam Removal Is a Victory for Tribes
https://earthjustice.org/article/klamath-river-dam-removal-is-a-victory-for-tribes
"After a century of ecological collapse, steelhead and salmon in the Klamath River now have a fighting chance at a full recovery."
If this river could sue … the Mountain Valley Pipeline gets a ‘Rights of Nature’ hearing
https://www.bpr.org/2024-06-07/if-this-river-could-sue-the-mountain-valley-pipeline-gets-a-rights-of-nature-hearing
Wildfire Ready: Considerations for Using Mulch for Groundcover Around the Home
https://www.srcity.org/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=2617
An old growth forest comes alive 20 miles from downtown Cleveland
https://www.cleveland.com/news/2024/05/an-old-growth-forest-comes-alive-20-miles-from-downtown-cleveland.html
Organic Pest Control for the Garden
https://melissaknorris.com/podcast/organic-pest-control-for-vegetable-gardens/
Rainforest Justice
https://rewilding.org/rainforest-justice/
New Zero Waste Year-Round Compost Hubs
https://www.srcity.org/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=2570
https://zerowastesonoma.gov/resources/compost-giveaways
Russian River beaches reopen with shuttle service
https://www.sonomacountygazette.com/sonoma-county-news/russian-river-beach-shuttles/
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%!
What Earth Actions are you taking?
https://OccupySonomaCounty.org
https://OccupySonomaCounty.org/es (en español)
http://facebook.com/OccupySonomaCounty
https://twitter.com/OcSoCo
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmJoCP-ePUTPWNgHZwtBelg