 Air
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CA Wildfires Caused As Much CO2 Pollution As A Year of Electricity
By Monica Medina and Cate Calogero
The Department of Interior, in a remarkable announcement, last Friday announced that, according to a study by the U.S. Geological Survey, the 2018 wildfires caused approximately 68 million tons of the harmful pollutant carbon dioxide (CO2), which is the same as the annual CO2 pollution as would be produced by generating enough electricity to power the entire state for a year. Secretary Zinke admitted that "wildfires can be deadly and cost billions of dollars, but this analysis from the U.S. Geological Survey also shows just how bad catastrophic fires are for the environment and for the public's health."
As the fire season in California finally draws to an end after the first significant rainfall since last winter, it is a good time to take stock of the damage. There were a total of 7,579 fires this season, however, the worst destruction came from just two: the Camp Fire and the Woolsey Fire. The Camp Fire tore through Butte County killing 88 people and torching tens of thousands of acres, and now heavy rains cause a risk of massive landslides on these burn scars, according to Accuweather. Wildfires erase roots and other vegetation that help to hold dirt in place so these burn scars are more prone to becoming massive mudslides than non-burnt ground. Storms last week dumped as much as 1.5 inches of rain Wednesday and 1.25 inches this past Thursday on the Camp Fire burn area. These heavy rains come just after the close of the 2018 water year (October 2017 – September 2018) which had been a dry water year with precipitation totals falling well below the annual average for most of the state. Butte County, where the Camp Fire broke out, is still conducting human remain searches from the wildfire, with an estimated 25 people still potential missing, while firefighters and swift water rescue teams were being deployed and people were being evacuated in southern California on account of massive flooding.
Why This Matters: We need to find ways (beyond the controlled burns and thinning suggested by Zinke) to prevent these wildfires as they become both more intense and more common. A study published by the University of Colorado looked at 1.5 million records of wildfire activity and found that 84% were human-started. Human activity has had a direct impact on the severity of wildfires as well. California is a hot, dry state but the population is growing and moving directly into some of the most fire-prone areas of the state. Long-term global warming trends will also have a direct impact on the severity of California wildfires. If California continues to shatter temperature records in the summer the state will continue to dry out, creating more kindling for these intense wildfires to spark again next summer.
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 Climate Change
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Little Diomedians going crabbing. Photo: Juan Herrero/NatGeo
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Native Communities Hit Hardest By Climate Change
As Grist explained, Native communities are one of the groups most impacted by a changing climate — and many of the human activities that have precipitated it. They are also a necessary part of the solution, according to the newest IPCC report. Indigenous peoples comprise only 5 percent of the world’s population, yet their lands encompass 22 percent of its surface. Eighty percent of the planet’s biodiversity is on the lands where they live which is likely due to their cultural tradition of conservation. While their knowledge could help us manage climate change, many tribes fear being exploited should they reveal their traditions to government agencies or environmental groups. Indigenous people don’t want platforms like the scientists who contribute to the IPCC to become a giant knowledge-mining expedition for Native culture.
In Alaska's tiny remote island of Little Diomede, Iñupiat communities have been struggling to survive using hunting traditions passed down from their ancestors. Nat Geo's exposé revealed how rapidly warming Arctic temperatures have drastically altered off-shore ice and the generational knowledge Native Alaskan people have used to hunt and sustain themselves can't prepare them for this new environmental reality. Without contributing to climate change in any significant way, indigenous communities are bearing the brunt of its worst effects. Melting permafrost is also causing widespread erosion along Alaska's coast and as the EPA noted, more than 30 Native villages are either in the process of or in need of relocating their entire village.
Why This Matters: We have a shameful history in this country of how our government has treated Native people and this certainly applies to our failure to safeguard their lands from pollution, resource extraction and other exploitation. We owe it to all Americans but especially to indigenous people who have been tireless stewards of their land for millennia to ensure that we work to drastically reduce our emissions and protect air, water, and land from polluters.
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 Politics
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Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez Talk Climate
Yesterday we had a chance to cover and attend Senator Bernie Sanders' town hall on climate change here in DC. The event brought in an influential panel (featuring Van Jones, Bill McKibben and Shailene Woodley) along with speakers such as youth climate activist Xiuhtezcatl Martinez and Congresswoman-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to discuss how we can address the global threat of climate change. The overall message of the town hall was that when you get down to the basics of how to solve climate change: moving to a clean energy future and creating jobs, helping communities improve their health, giving people more autonomy over their energy bills etc, then it ceases to become such a divisive issue.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez noted that any transition to green economy must be just and that no one can be left behind--which includes fixing infrastructure so that kids in Flint aren't drinking toxic water to ensuring that coal miners have their pensions paid and have access to education and job training for the renewable energy sector. She stressed that her proposal for a Green New Deal is the most comprehensive way to ensure that we fight climate change while also creating jobs adding that "we can put people so many people to work, there is no shortage of work but we need to decide to do it." Throughout the evening it was expressed several times (including by Republican mayor of Georgetown, TX, Dale Ross) that we have to continue fighting the false narrative that political action to help the environment and to bolster renewable energy comes at a great cost to the American economy. If you missed the live stream, you can check out a recorded version here.
Why This Matters: On the eve of a new Democratic-majority House of Representatives taking over it's important that there are members in both chambers fighting for bold action on climate change. Whether you agree with every point of the Green New Deal or not, it's critical that we push Democratic leadership to make climate change a top priority and talk about it as a jobs issue and opportunity. As the adage goes, the squeaky wheel gets the grease.
Go Deeper: 24 Hours of Reality was officially kicked off last night! Hosted by The Climate Reality Project and former Vice President Al Gore, 24 Hours of Reality is a day of eye-opening stories and compelling conversations about the climate crisis and how we solve it, broadcast live to millions around the world. There are so many amazing guests this year, like Jeff Goldbloom and singer Robyn (I (Miro) and very excited for this one!).
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 People
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George H.W. Bush's Conservation Highs and Lows
President Bush's environmental legacy goes beyond his championing the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, but the rest is more of a mixed bag. He will also be remembered for an offshore oil and gas drilling "moratorium" that lasted twenty years until his son lifted it, for dealing with the devastating impacts of the Exxon Valdez oil spill, for his pledge on "no net loss of wetlands," and for his proposal to drill for oil and gas in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).
- 1990 Offshore Drilling Moratorium -- In June of 1990, Buch '41 issued an Executive Order directing the Interior Department to limit offshore drilling to areas off the coast of Texas, Louisiana, Alabama and limited parts of Alaska for 10 years. In 1998, President Clinton extended the order for another decade. Ironically, Bush '43 lifted this executive order in July 2008. President Obama took those areas out of the plans for drilling again, but President Trump reversed this decision and so these areas are now open for drilling, and indeed, the Trump Administration recently permitted seismic testing along the Atlantic seaboard to determine where drilling should take place.
- Exxon Valdez Oil Spill -- The spill, which took place in June 1989, was the greatest environmental disaster to date, in which more than 10 million gallons of oil spilled into the pristine Prince William Sound, and it the botched response resulted in the oiling of 11,000 square miles of ocean. President Bush personally did not become at all involved in the response and kept the federal government from leading the response -- a reaction which would be unthinkable today.
- No Net Loss of Wetlands -- While campaigning for the Presidency in the summer of 1988, then Vice President Bush, in order to criticize his opponent's record on cleaning up the Boston Harbor, pledged that if elected, his administration would set a national goal of "no net loss of wetlands." Ultimately, as E&E News explains, conservative forces within his administration watered down that promise by redefining what is a wetland limiting them so as to make it possible to still liberally allow development permits.
- Supported Drilling In ANWR - Mr. Bush's background as an oilman also made him a strong supporter of the oil industry on most issues, including drilling in ANWR and the development of the Alaska oil pipeline. About both, he once said "I am going to continue to support environmentally responsive access to ANWR, the Alaskan refuge, for energy production. We need it. And if you're worried about the caribou, take a look at the arguments that were used about the [Alaskan] pipeline. They'd say the caribou would be extinct. You've got to shake them away with a stick." Congress did not authorize drilling in ANWR then because of the Valdez oil spill, and it remained off limits until President Trump got Congressional approval to do so a year ago, and as of now, ANWR drilling is imminent.
Last, but not least, President Bush also approved the creation of several National Marine Sanctuaries (ocean parks) -- two off the coast of California, one in the Gulf of Mexico, and in the Florida Keys.
Why This Matters: President George H.W. Bush may not have agreed with environmentalists on every issue, but he campaigned, and for the most part governed as a pro-conservation President. He steered the country back onto a course of environmental protection because he sensed that the Reagan Administration's commitment to deregulation may have led to excessive cutbacks in environmental rules. We need Republicans like George H.W. Bush now more than ever. Will any Republicans who eulogize President Bush praise him for his environmental accomplishments? We hope so, but we are skeptical.
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 Oceans
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Soda Stream's Continuing Commitment to Plastic Pollution
SodaStream has always held reducing plastic pollution as a company value and in October it announced the launch of the "Holy Turtle"- a massive ocean contraption designed to clean plastic waste from open waters. According to the company's press release, the innovative device [was initially piloted] in the Caribbean Sea, off the coast of Roatán, Honduras, as part of a bold ocean clean-up lead by CEO Daniel Birnbaum. This is the first-known attempt of a commercial company to undertake a physical clean-up of trash from open waters. SodaStream’s clean-up delegation includes 150 SodaStream executives from 45 countries, international environmental specialists, NGO Plastic Soup Foundation and hundreds of children from 7 different local schools with local Honduran government officials.
This week SodaStream look another step in fighting plastic waste and launched a new video campaign (take a look above) and FightPlastic.com to use celebrities like Sir Rod Stewart as a sea turtle singing alongside Thor “The Mountain” Bjornsson to help spread awareness about plastic pollution in the oceans.
Why This Matters: Disposable plastic bottles create so much litter because they're cheap and convenient. We're all guilty of using them from time to time (or even more often, not naming any names!) when it's usually just as easy to bring a reusable water bottle. SodaStream makes it even easy for those of us who love bubbly water to make it ourselves! If we're going to save the planet from drowning in plastic then we're going to have to forgo a bit of convenience and opt for reusable products whenever possible. Check out yesterday's Holiday Gift Guide for some great products to help get you started.
Go Deeper: Check out the comedic science podcast called "Ologies" hosted by Alie Ward where she interviews our friend Dr. Ayana Johnson about the state of the world's oceans. You won't regret it!
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 Holidays
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12 Days of Earthmas Holiday Gift Guide For Kids
Still trying to find the perfect gifts this holiday season? Want to save money too?? Then look no further than ODP's official holiday gift guide! We've got your back with 12 days of Earth-friendly gifts so follow us on Instagram to get each guide -- as well as some special discount codes that we're offering. Here are our gift picks for kids:
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