EARTH ACTION IN THE NEWS - August 3, 2024

[OSC]

EARTH ACTION IN THE NEWS  

This newsletter and listserv will be moving.  We will be joining the SoCoCAN! listserv and this newsletter will become theirs.  For more information about SoCoCAN! go to https://SonomaCountyCAN.org.

Occupy Sonoma County is no longer functioning as a group, but the newsletter will continue as part of SoCoCAN!  You don't have to do anything.  You will be added to the SoCoCAN! listserv and will continue to receive this newsletter.

You should have received an announcement with more information a few days ago, and you will be notified again before the change happens.  Stay tuned for further announcements.  

BREAKTHROUGH!

Hood Mountain Regional Park and Open Space Preserve links thousands of acres of public lands with key acquisition

https://parks.sonomacounty.ca.gov/hood-mountain-regional-park-and-open-space-preserve-links-thousands-of-acres-of-public-lands-with-key-acquisition

New Colorado law will ban sales of dental floss, clothes, & other household products containing toxic forever chemicals

https://www.cbsnews.com/colorado/news/new-colorado-law-ban-sales-dental-floss-clothes-household-products-containing-toxic-forever-chemicals/

Riders, drivers praise Petaluma’s fare-free bus program
https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/news/petaluma-free-bus-program-praise/

LOCAL REPORTS
US failed to clean up radioactive Superfund site, lawsuit claims
https://www.thenewlede.org/2024/06/us-failed-to-clean-up-radioactive-superfund-site-lawsuit-claims/
"The US government has failed dangerously in its duty to clean up a radioactive former naval shipyard in San Francisco, jeopardizing the health of community members for decades and potentially putting hundreds of thousands of people at risk if plans to turn the site into a residential area materialize."

More traffic changes near Santa Rosa’s Steele Lane Elementary planned
https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/news/steele-lane-traffic-school-safety/
"The changes near Steele Lane Elementary are part of a pilot program intended to test how school commute can be improved by providing more space between school traffic and cars traveling along the busy roadway."

Smart Cycling Classes
https://www.bikesonoma.org/our-work/traffic-skills-101/

Go Sonoma Commute Rewards Program
https://www.srcity.org/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=2695

NOAA Fisheries: Northern California steelhead maintain threatened status
https://mavensnotebook.com/2024/07/10/noaa-fisheries-northern-california-steelhead-maintain-threatened-status/

Kick-off for Learning Journey on Bioregional Learning Centers (video)
https://youtu.be/AiHkChcVwx4?si=RdregUv4faESiM7i
To get involved or learn more about the newly forming Sonoma/Marin Bioregional Learning Center contact 350Sonoma.org.

California SB 253 and SB 261: What Businesses Need to Know
https://www.persefoni.com/blog/california-sb253-sb261

"California has passed two new laws requiring businesses to disclose their carbon emissions and climate-related financial risks. The Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act (Senate Bill 253) requires large businesses operating in California to publicly report their greenhouse gas emissions. The Climate-Related Financial Risk Act (Senate Bill 261) mandates that companies disclose the threats they face as a result of climate change."

The Value of Your Water
https://www.srcity.org/3454/Value-of-Water
"Learn more about this essential and invaluable resource by watching the three-part Value of Water series from Santa Rosa Water."

GMOs, GLYPHOSATE & TOXINS

Lab-Grown Meat for Your Cat Is Coming to the U.S. This Year
https://www.thedailybeast.com/meatly-lab-grown-meat-for-your-cat-is-coming-to-the-us-this-year

Toxic food-like substances.

These ultraprocessed foods may shorten your life, study says
https://edition.cnn.com/2024/07/01/health/worst-ultraprocessed-food-early-death-wellness/index.html

After a 4-year legal battle, Monsanto drops lawsuit against Mexico’s GM corn ban
https://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/monsanto-drops-lawsuit-mexico-gm-corn-ban/

FOSSIL FUELS

California Still Has No Plan to Phase Out Oil Refineries
https://insideclimatenews.org/news/27072024/california-still-has-no-plan-to-phase-out-oil-refineries/
"The Golden State has the most ambitious climate goals in the country but can’t meet its targets, experts say, without making a plan to phase out harmful, climate-polluting oil refineries."

Marathon Oil to Pay Record Settlement for Pollution in Violation of the Clean Air Act
https://www.ecowatch.com/marathon-oil-clean-air-act-settlement-north-dakota.html

Conservationists to Be Blocked From Bidding on Oil and Gas Land Leases in Wyoming
https://www.ecowatch.com/wyoming-oil-gas-leases-conservation-bidders-restrictions.html

PLASTIC & POLLUTION
Plastic recycling: A deceptive solution to an escalating crisis
https://www.downtoearth.org.in/waste/plastic-recycling-a-deceptive-solution-to-an-escalating-crisis

"The notion that we can recycle our way out of plastic pollution is a dangerous illusion. Evidence shows that current recycling practices are insufficient and often counterproductive. By focusing on reducing plastic production and fostering a culture of reuse, substantial strides can be made toward mitigating the plastic crisis. It is time to abandon the myth of plastic recycling and implement real, effective solutions that prioritise the health of our planet and its inhabitants."

Drinking from plastic bottles can raise type 2 diabetes risk, study warns
https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/plastic-bottles-microplastics-diabetes-risk-b2568246.html

WAKE UP CALL
Opposition heats up over proposed wood pellet mill in western Washington
https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2024/06/20/opposition-heats-up-over-proposed-wood-pellet-mill-in-western-washington/
"Environmentalists and locals are worried about pollution from the planned Hoquiam facility and are asking for a state air quality permit to be rescinded."

Wood pellets production boomed to feed EU demand. It’s come at a cost to Black people in the South
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/mississippi-biomass-wood-pellets-pollution-b2587574.html
"Wood pellet production has skyrocketed across the US South to feed the European Union’s push."

Forest Service failing to protect old growth trees from logging, critics say
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/aug/01/us-forest-service-old-growth-trees-deforestation-logging
"Biden’s efforts to save mature trees are not getting enough Forest Service support."

Tribes and Environmentalists Press Arizona and Federal Officials to Stop Uranium Mining Near the Grand Canyon
https://insideclimatenews.org/news/17072024/arizona-activists-press-officials-to-stop-uranium-mining-near-grand-canyon/
"Activists hope to shut down an existing mine within a new national monument and to prevent the transportation of uranium on state and federal roads across Navajo Nation lands."

New Images Show Largest Uncontacted Indigenous Tribe on Earth Dangerously Close to Loggers in Peruvian Amazon

https://www.ecowatch.com/indigenous-tribe-amazon-peru-logging.html

Battling Censorship, Propaganda, and Nuclear Colonialism by Eleanor Goldfield (Audio)

https://www.projectcensored.org/censorship-propaganda-nuclear-colonialism/
"Leona Morgan, Dine anti-nuclear agitator joins the show to outline the current and historic fight of her people against nuclear colonialism. Leona explains the myriad ways in which the US government fails and tricks Indigenous communities and how new mines, including one in the Grand Canyon, could move forward thanks to massive loopholes in legislation supposedly meant to ban new uranium mining in the region."

Warning: may contain adult language.

‘Low level’ ionizing radiation, and the history of debate about its effects
https://nuclear-news.net/2024/07/21/2-a-low-level-ionizing-radiation-and-the-history-of-debate-about-its-effects/

Rain-fed streams lacking federal protections are vital for water quality, study finds

https://www.thenewlede.org/2024/06/rain-fed-streams-without-federal-protections-are-vital-for-water-quality-study-finds/

Scientists discover ‘dark’ oxygen being produced more than 13,000 feet below the ocean surface
https://edition.cnn.com/2024/07/22/science/dark-oxygen-discovery-deep-sea-mining/

Days Are Getting Longer Due to Climate Change, Potentially Affecting Navigation and the Internet, Study Finds

https://www.ecowatch.com/days-getting-longer-climate-change-science.html

THINK TANK & STRATEGY
When transit riders refuse to just sit back
https://inthesetimes.com/article/transit-rider-union-transportation-labor-negotiations-big-idea
"Though public transportation is a vital resource for many, governments don’t always adequately invest in it. Transit rider unions can get us back on the right track."

Japan, China top diplomats agree to deepen dialogue to solve disputes

https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20240726/p2g/00m/0in/032000c
"The foreign ministers of Japan and China confirmed Friday that they will continue communicating with each other, as bilateral relations remain strained over the release of treated radioactive water from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the sea."

Can AI Help Fight Climate Breakdown? A Conversation With MIT’s Priya Donti
https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change-ai-priya-donti-ecowatch.html

Scientists Call for Including Oxygen Loss in Bodies of Water as New Planetary Boundary
https://www.ecowatch.com/oxygen-loss-water-science-planetary-boundary.html

Heat pumps are expensive. What if billionaires bought them for everyone?
https://grist.org/energy/heat-pumps-expensive-bought/
"It would cost more than $1 trillion, but the savings from lower bills and cleaner air would be just as high."

DIRECT ACTIONS
Climate protesters won’t be deterred by fines, jail or political mixed messages on the environment
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/commentisfree/article/2024/jul/09/climate-protesters-wont-be-deterred-by-fines-jail-or-political-mixed-messages-on-the-environment

Warning: adult language

Florida’s Wetlands Win Protections in Court
https://earthjustice.org/brief/2024/floridas-wetlands-win-protections-in-court

SUSTAINABLE LIVING

Organic Food is Integrity | Featuring Melody Morrell (audio)

https://podcast.mountainroseherbs.com/organic-is-integrity-melody-morrell

Mountain Rose Herbs Radio podcast with Cornucopia Institute on organic certification and the prevalence of fraud in the organic industry.

Will Two of the World’s Greatest Wildlife Conservation Success Stories Be Unwritten?
https://rewilding.org/will-two-of-the-worlds-greatest-wildlife-conservation-success-stories-be-unwritten/
"Chris Servheen and Doug Smith, both eminent scientific experts, say carnivore management in Western states and Congress threaten recovery of wolves and grizzlies."

ENDING ON A POSITIVE
Cool Petaluma, ReLeaf Petaluma, and the City of Petaluma have teamed up to give you FREE TREES!
https://www.coolpetaluma.org/canopy-project
"Did you hear how Petaluma got $1 million from the Inflation Reduction Act and the USDA Forest Service, Urban and Community Forestry Program? This tree-planting initiative is part of the Petaluma Canopy Project, a collaborative partnership between the city and local nonprofits including ReLeaf Petaluma, Cool Petaluma, Daily Acts, Rebuilding Together Petaluma, and Point Blue Conservation to expand our tree canopy over the next three years.
Cool Petaluma is excited to be a part of this new residential tree planting opportunity coming this fall to help cool our homes and neighborhoods!
Trained ReLeaf volunteers will plant the tree(s) and offer care consultations for up to 3 years!"

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

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.