Trump wants to ignore the effects of climate change when permitting infrastructure projects.
Trump wants to ignore the effects of climate change when permitting infrastructure projects.. President Trump signed an executive order Tuesday that he said will streamline the environmental review required to get large public construction efforts — like roads, bridges, and buildings — off the ground.
From the gilded lobby of Trump Tower, the president proclaimed that the executive order would repair our “badly broken” process for garnering permits for infrastructure projects.
The policy sets a goal of two years for finishing a permitting process and assigns a lead government agency to helm each approval.
The order also rescinds an Obama-era requirement that government-funded buildings take into account likely sea-level rise in design and construction.
(States and other local agencies, however, will still be able to establish stricter permitting practices.)
Updating America’s “crumbling infrastructure” became a central tenet of Trump’s presidential campaign — and he promised billions to the effort.
Trump called the current permitting process a “massive, self-inflicted wound on our country.” “It’s disgraceful,” the president said.
The White House argues the order will bring “accountability and discipline” back to the permitting process.
But many environmentalists decry it as an obvious attempt to skirt environmental rules — and cite it as further evidence of Trump’s anti-climate change agenda.
4 Clever Ways to Encourage Your Children to Recycle
4 Clever Ways to Encourage Your Children to Recycle.
Sort-the-Recycling Game To get kids started in the world of recycling, you first have to teach them how to sort.
With nothing more than cardstock, magazines, berry containers, scissors and double-stick tape, you can create a delightful game that allows your little ones to use their problem-solving skills and develop a love for sorting recyclables at the same time.
Nature Walk Recycling Game Nature walks have always been my go-to trick to get kids moving and interacting with their environment.
Take along two bags — one for trash and one for recycling.
Take some time to talk about why we shouldn’t litter and how it’s bad for our environment.
Start by explaining that the goal is to find as many recyclable metal items as possible.
Then, grab a child-sized metal detector and something to carry your finds in, and let your kids go exploring.
By turning trash into “treasure,” you’ll get your kids excited about cleaning up their environment — and if you happen to find something of value, that’s just a bonus!
Read these books together and talk to your kids about why you recycle, and why you think it is important for every member of the family to do so as well.
Ant Space: The Enlightened Ant Farm – Kickstarter Campaign
Ant Space: The Enlightened Ant Farm – Kickstarter Campaign.
“Each Ant Space is an ecosystem.
Play with the life inside.
The narrow habitat makes the game one of subtle manipulation.
Sculpt the scene only from above.
Drop in seeds and water, add more ants and colored sand.
Intelligently design a complex balance of creatures and plants.
The Ant Space will evolve over years as a co-creation between the life within and the hand that placed it there.” You’ll need an HTML5 capable browser to see this content.
Play Replay with sound Play with sound 00:00 00:00 Kickstarter Line icon alert icon Artboard Copy 8 arrow-down icon arrow-down arrow-left icon arrow-left arrow-point-left icon Fill 1 Copy 5 arrow-point-right icon Fill 1 arrow-right icon arrow-right arrow-up-right icon icon–arrow-up-right copy banner icon Rectangle 2 bar-chart icon Artboard Copy 6 bell icon Combined Shape Copy 5 book icon Artboard Copy 3 bookmark icon Fill 1 brand-assets icon Artboard Copy 13 cart icon Artboard Copy 4 chat icon chat check icon Fill 1 Copy 6 circle-back icon Fill 1 Copy 13 circle-forward icon Fill 1 Copy 16 circle-k icon circle-k circle-left icon circle-left circle-right icon circle-right clipboard icon Artboard Copy 12 clock icon Combined Shape close icon close closed-caption icon Fill 1 compass icon Combined Shape Copy 2 conversion icon conversion delta-down icon Fill 1 delta-left icon delta-right icon Fill 1 delta-up icon Fill 1 duplicate icon duplicate embed icon Combined Shape Copy 6 eye icon Combined Shape Copy 12 facebook-contained icon Facebook Contained facebook icon Facebook logo flag icon Fill 1 Copy 3 gear icon Fill 1 Copy 14 global-africa icon Fill 1 Copy 9 global-america icon Fill 1 Copy 10 global-asia icon Fill 1 Copy 17 graph-bar icon Combined Shape Copy 9 graph-line icon Combined Shape Copy 16 heart icon Fill 1 Copy 8 help icon human icon icon–human icon–alert icon icon–alert icon–arrow-down icon icon–arrow-down icon–arrow-left icon icon–arrow-left icon–arrow-right icon icon–arrow-right icon–arrow-up-right icon icon–arrow-up-right icon–arrow-up icon icon–arrow-up icon–bell icon icon–bell icon–bolt icon icon–bolt icon–bookmark icon icon–bookmark icon–calendar icon icon–calendar icon–check icon icon–check icon–circle-around icon icon–circle-around icon–circle-back icon icon–circle-back icon–circle-forward icon icon–circle-forward icon–circle-loader icon Page 1 icon–clipboard icon icon–clipboard icon–clock icon icon–clock icon–closed-caption icon icon–closed-caption icon–code icon icon–code icon–compass icon icon–compass icon–confirmation icon icon–confirmation icon–cross icon icon–cross icon–delta-down icon icon–delta-down icon–delta-left icon icon–delta-left icon–delta-right icon icon–delta-right icon–delta-up icon icon–delta-up icon–download icon icon–download icon–external icon icon–external icon–eye icon icon–eye icon–facebook icon icon–facebook icon–filter icon icon–filter icon–flag icon icon–flag icon–gear icon icon–gear icon–globe-africa icon icon–globe-africa icon–globe-america icon icon–globe-america icon–globe-asia icon icon–globe-asia icon–graph-bar icon icon–graph-bar icon–graph-line icon icon–graph-line icon–heart-outline icon icon–heart outline icon–heart icon icon–heart icon–home icon icon–home icon–human icon icon–human icon–humans icon icon–humans icon–image icon icon–image icon–inbox icon icon–inbox icon–info icon icon–info icon–instagram icon icon–instagram icon–lightbulb icon icon–lightbulb icon–link icon icon–link icon–lock icon icon–lock icon–mail icon icon–mail icon–menu icon icon–menu icon–message icon icon–message icon–mobile icon icon–mobile icon–pause icon icon–pause icon–pencil icon icon–pencil icon–pin icon icon–pin icon–pinterest icon icon–pinterest icon–play icon icon–play icon–plus-human icon icon–plus-human icon–plus icon icon–plus icon–prohibit icon icon–prohibit icon–question icon icon–question icon–reply icon icon–reply icon–search icon icon–search icon–sound-hi icon icon–sound-hi icon–sound-lo icon icon–sound-lo icon–sound-mute icon icon–sound-mute icon–star icon icon–star icon–trash icon icon–trash icon–tumblr icon icon–tumblr icon–twitter icon icon–twitter icon–unlock icon icon–unlock icon–upload icon icon–upload icon–video icon icon–video icon–youtube icon icon–youtube info icon Combined Shape Copy instagram icon instagram copy kickstarter icon Artboard Copy 5 leaf icon leaf lightbulb icon icon–lightbulb link icon Combined Shape Copy 8 loading-spin icon lock icon Combined Shape Copy 4 mail icon Combined Shape map-pin icon Fill 1 menu icon Group message icon Fill 1 Copy 12 mobile icon Page 1 Copy 2 pause icon pause copy pencil icon Combined Shape Copy 3 pin icon Combined Shape Copy 11 pinterest icon pinterest play icon play copy plus-human icon icon–plus-human plus icon Fill 1 Copy 7 question icon Combined Shape Copy 14 search icon Fill 1 Copy 11 share icon Fill 1 Copy solid-arrow icon solid-arrow sound-hi icon Combined Shape sound-lo icon Combined Shape sound-mute icon Combined Shape star icon Fill 1 Copy 2 stopwatch icon Group 2 thumbs-up icon Shape tools icon Shape trash icon Combined Shape tumblr icon tumblr copy twitter icon twitter copy user icon Artboard Copy 10 volume-up icon Artboard Copy 9 warning icon Combined Shape Copy 10 write icon Artboard Copy 11 x icon Fill 1 Copy 4 youtube icon Combined Shape
Australian government can’t be trusted with Great Barrier Reef, says parliament
Government loses vote on bill noting the government’s ‘failure to protect’ reef on day of chaos in Canberra Australia’s parliament has passed a bill admonishing the government for failing to protect the Great Barrier Reef from climate change.
In a rare event in Australia’s ultra-partisan parliament, the government failed to vote down its own bill on Tuesday evening, after the opposition Labor party attached the amendment.
The reef, which stretches 2,300km down the northeastern coastline of the continent, has been severely damaged by consecutive bleaching events in the past two years.
The death of 22% of corals in 2016 was followed this year by a second bleach, leaving scientists questioning the survival of the wonder.
But the recovery of bleached reefs can be assisted by management of other pressures, including overfishing and pollution.
The Australian and Queensland governments have been criticised by Unesco, the UN body that oversees the World Heritage site, for failing to stop agricultural runoff from impacting the ecosystem.
A draft report released in June noted with “serious concern” that “progress toward achieving water quality targets has been slow”.
Climate Weekly: Sign up for your essential climate news update The bill and Labor’s amendment passed on a day of chaos inside and outside the parliament, during which the government accused the Labor party of a conspiracy with Labour in New Zealand after the deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce was caught up in a rolling citizenship row.
But several government members failed to attend the vote, which the government lost 69 to 61.
Australian parliamentarians hardly ever cross the floor to vote against their party, meaning it is rare for a government to lose a vote even when it carries the slimmest of majorities.
Planting community at the Hilyard garden
Planting community at the Hilyard garden.
So why wouldn’t you want to grow your own food and save a ton of money?
You can grow everything you eat and be more healthy for the exercise and for the good food you’re eating.’ Walking through the new Hilyard Community Garden, Klamath Tribes Food Security Program Coordinator Perri McDaniel sees a wealth of potential in the raised beds and greenhouse.
“Gardening is a permit to print your own money because food is so expensive these days, especially organic food,” said McDaniel.
“So why wouldn’t you want to grow your own food and save a ton of money?
The food security grant supported the construction of eight greenhouses to test the hypothesis of whether private ones were more successful than community ones.
For this project, they also received support from the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians and other local partners.
“Like the Klamath Tribes, San Manuel believes in sustainable lands and supports native communities in their efforts to produce healthy food options for their tribal communities.” While the new garden is available for all tribal members, McDaniel said she wanted to provide an opportunity for the elderly and their families to plant.
Weiser said this garden can aid members of the community, many of whom are low income, and gives young people a sense of responsibility.
Back to the source A community space “Some people shy away from eating healthy because of the cost, so the way that I see it, the more that we grow, the cost will decrease,” said gardener Weiser.
Recovery: Farm Bill Provides Hope for the Cerulean Warbler
Recovery: Farm Bill Provides Hope for the Cerulean Warbler.
But with funding from the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) available from the Farm Bill’s Regional Conservation Partnership Program the Appalachian Mountains Joint Venture (a partnership of state and federal agencies and NGOs including The Nature Conservancy) is helping private land owners restore cerulean habitat.
Fortunately, however, NRCS (which usually provides 75 percent under the Farm Bill’s Regional Conservation Partnership Program) allows the landowners’ share to be covered by partner contributions such as donation of potentially blight-resistant American chestnut trees by the American Chestnut Foundation.
“And white oaks tend to have more open canopy structure.
One of the things we’re looking at is how much of the canopy you can remove and still have good habitat for cerulean warblers.
“But because cerulean warblers breed in our eastern hardwood forests that’s the only place you can produce more of them.
The Conservancy’s niche is building relationships with landowners, helping them understand that good forest management can contribute to traditional values and spinoff benefits for species of conservation concern, maybe species these landowners are not aware of.” The Conservancy’s Working Woodlands Program, which protects private forests with conservation easements while still allowing sustainable timber harvest, doesn’t specifically target ceruleans.
But by promoting forest diversity and health, protecting hard-mast producing trees and encouraging desirable understory vegetation, the program helps foster forest conditions ceruleans require.
“The Nature Conservancy has worked with landowners who enrolled in Working Woodlands to continue active management that would make the forest healthier and that lines up well with our cerulean forest management guidelines,” says Todd Fearer of the American Bird Conservancy.
“The current Farm Bill’s Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) is how we’ve been able to accomplish almost all the private lands work.
Falmouth Farmers Market – August 17, 2017
Fromage a Trois offers freshly made mozzarella and burrata cheeses.
However you want to call them: “husk cherries, gooseberries or ground cherries” get this sweet fruit from Allen Farm along with their locally raised honey, cut-stem zinnias, nasturtiums, an assortment of fresh herbs, large purple and oriental eggplant, green peppers, and assorted heirloom tomatoes including sungold and indigo cherry varieties.
Sample and take home Martha’s Vineyard Smokehouse’s ever-popular Bluefish or Spicy Yellowfin Tuna Spread.
Sample the Rose Mermaid Water, Reel Red and Vineyard Sound White Sauvignon, among other popular varieties.
Farm-raised whole chickens and, this week, check out their sale on their locally raised ground beef.
Coming soon: puréed pumpkin pie.
This week, look for a new vegan treat to try!
You can also take home a small bucket to fill and bring back the following week.
That means fresh food for low-income families as well as increased revenue for local farmers.
We will double your SNAP card purchase at each market up to $10 in free tokens; visit the market information table before shopping to get started.
Demand Clean Air NOW; Stop Construction of Pipelines and Help to Resist Big Oil; Together We Can Move Away From Fracking; Label GMO’S; Protect Bees from Pesticides
Demand Clean Air NOW; Stop Construction of Pipelines and Help to Resist Big Oil; Together We Can Move Away From Fracking; Label GMO’S; Protect Bees from Pesticides.
Learn more or get involved now and sign the petition here!
Tell Administrator Scott Pruitt that the EPA’s delay on the methane rule is a direct assault on American people and the climate.
We are already seeing the very real impacts of climate change throughout the country…There are already low-cost and effective ways that these companies could capture methane before it leaks into the environment.
Protest Goldman Sachs Pipeline Conference!
That’s rights, Goldman Sachs is convening a conference for the corporations that invest in pipeline construction and the fossil fuel industry.
When: Thursday, August 10th, 8:30 to 9:30 am Where: 200 West St., downtown Manhattan The Peoples Climate Movement NY is joining with NY Communities for Change, American Indian Community House, 350NYC, Sane Energy Project, Food and Water Watch NY, Grassroots Action and other groups to send a clear message: Goldman Sachs must stop financing oil, gas, coal, and pipelines!
Join at the bank’s HQ to stand with indigenous leaders.
That’s why we’ve opened up our tools and trainings to build a volunteer-powered movement and to offer real support to folks across the country who want to take a stand against the impacts of climate change in their community.
The ball is in your court.” – Food and Water Watch Will you sign up here to volunteer to move OFF Fossil Fuels?
We’re nearing peak hurricane season and New Orleans’ pumping system is “broken.”
We’re nearing peak hurricane season and New Orleans’ pumping system is “broken.”.
ready or not More than a week after an intense rainstorm triggered a flood so bad locals called it a “mini-Katrina,” Mayor Mitch Landrieu said that the city’s drainage system has “never been fully operational.” A number of officials resigned when it was revealed that, contrary to their initial statements, 17 of the city’s 120 pumps were not operational during recent rains, and most of the power generating system to run the pumps was down, too.
While city officials are working around the clock to fix the pumps, local residents — many of them still dealing with the trauma of the 2005 hurricane — say help has been slow to arrive.
Louisiana’s governor, John Bel Edwards, declared a state of emergency to help speed up the repairs.
The pumping system is necessary to remove rainwater because most of New Orleans is below sea level.
The next two weeks are expected to be rainier than normal in the area.
On top of the city’s mismanagement of the crisis, Louisiana is dealing with heavy rainstorms more frequently thanks to climate change.
And with seven named storms so far, this year’s hurricane season is on a near-record pace — the fourth-fastest since records began in 1851.
Forecasters say the rest of the season could be “extremely active.”
Have a positive mercury retrograde: yes you can
Have a positive mercury retrograde: yes you can.
~ Buddha ~ I have ranted before about Mercury Retrograde.
I don’t really understand much about astrology, and I’m deeply skeptical about “horoscopes,” but I have experience with Mercury Retrograde and that is what this post is about.
If you are looking for technical, astrological aspects and interpretations, visit your favorite astrologer.
(please see this post for further explanation on what Mercury Retrograde is and ways to avoid the potential hazards).
timeout for introspection I have found that Mercury Retrogrades are great times to minimize my outward bound activities (business meetings, appointments, etc.)
and schedule more time to do the kind of work that requires some introspection or just alone, quiet time.
And if you think you can sit on the banks of this river of life and avoid getting wet, be prepared to miss all the fun too.
let the truth be told Sometimes we do our best to sidestep unpleasant truths, whether it is a lie we tell ourselves about our own destructive behavior or the bandaid of denial about a relationship or situation.
Lighten the load as it were and perhaps experience a bit more freedom from those things that have the potential to weigh us down.
