 Air
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Marathon Oil and Koch Behind Clean Car Rollback
Now it all makes sense. The car companies, long since on board with developing more fuel efficient and thus less polluting cars, were not in favor of repealing the clean car rule -- but of course, it was the oil companies that were pushing it all along. Marathon Petroleum, in particular, fronted the operation, which was backed by a "secretive" policy group financed in part by Charles Koch. The New York Times published an esposé yesterday revealing that "Marathon Petroleum, the country’s largest refiner, worked with powerful oil-industry groups and a conservative policy network financed by the billionaire industrialist Charles G. Koch to run a stealth campaign to roll back car emissions standards."
The lobbying collusion (we could not resist that word) described in The Hill was that dozens of lawmakers received letters from Marathon arguing that “[w]ith oil scarcity no longer a concern,” consumers should have a “choice in vehicles that best fit their needs,” according to a draft of the letter that the Times was leaked. The words of those Marathon letters closely mirrored -- using some exact phrases and sentences -- the industry group’s talking points.
But other oil companies were no better. The Times details another industry campaign -- this one led by lobbyists for Exxon Mobil, Chevron, Phillips 66 and big oil interests-- that urged citizens to write to regulators to support the clean car rule rollback by linking to a website that displayed a photo of President Obama, with the caption “Would YOU buy a used car from this man?” According to The Times, that Facebook-linked site seems to have generated a quarter of the 12,000 public comments received by the Department of Transportation.
Why This Matters: It's hardly shocking but reprehensible that big oil companies were behind a campaign to set the U.S. back on climate change, not to mention impede us clearing the air of toxic pollution, all just to line their pockets with more profits. And that Facebook is being used as a platform for corporate political manipulation is also not shocking given what we know now, but it is equally disturbing. Most Americans are "hooked" on gas (for now) and these companies will do anything to keep us this way. Good to know they are this desperate. They are on the wrong side of history.
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 Energy
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A Tale of Two Lease Sales
Only a few years after the first Atlantic offshore wind development struggled to get off the ground, yesterday the Interior Department's auction for the opportunity to develop wind turbines off the Massachusetts coast broke all records, with the "frenzied" bidding wars extending into today and four companies still trying in the running. According to Bloomberg News, 24 rounds of sealed bidding took place yesterday, and the U.S. government has already received commitments of $285 million toward the three offshore wind leases that are the subject of the bids, which is "more than six times the previous high-water mark: Norwegian energy company Equinor ASA’s $42.47 million bid in 2016 for the rights to build an offshore wind farm near New York." Nancy Sopko, the director of offshore wind policy at the American Wind Energy Association told Bloomberg, "[w]e’ve seen a massive uptick in momentum....Folks understand the U.S. is the next frontier for this technology.”
Meanwhile, the Interior Department's oil and gas lease sale on Wednesday's in western Alaska's National Petroleum Reserve was "disappointing," taking in only $1.5 million for 16 tracts, according to E&E News. Ecowatch reported that only three companies -- ConocoPhillips, Emerald House and Nordaq Energy -- made bids and they were all uncontested. The remaining 254 tracts received no bids in this year's sale. Why? It was "lack of access" (not enough roads) that caused the low interest in this sale, according to the Anchorage Daily News' report. But the liberal think tank, the Center for American Progress, called it a "major flop that shortchanged taxpayers" and said it "also puts the nearby Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) environment at risk."
Why This Matters: Wind and solar (see ODP from yesterday) have a bright future. As we said in the Marathon Petroleum story above, and these two sales make patently clear, it is only a matter of time before we wean ourselves off carbon fuels. What's more amazing is that wind turbines - that were seen as an eyesore less than 10 years ago - are the subject of bidding wars now. Can't wait to see where the bidding winds up. Wouldn't it be great if the proceeds of these offshore wind sales could go toward ocean exploration and conservation? Funding parks with the proceeds of oil and gas lease sales creates the wrong incentives, but just the opposite is true for offshore wind.
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 People
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Interview of the Week: Brooke Bessesen
Brooke is an animal rescue expert and wildlife author who has recently written a fascinating book entitled Vaquita: Science, Politics and Crime in the Sea of Cortez.
ODP: How close is the vaquita to extinction? What is the best hope for saving them?
BB: With perhaps less than 15 individuals remaining, including a mother named Ana and her calf, the vaquita is truly teetering at the edge of extinction. Thankfully, the recovery of other endangered species from low numbers gives hope that they can still be saved. There is no silver bullet, though. Success will require a collaborative multifaceted approach that includes both active protection for the vaquitas and humanitarian outreach for the communities. If anyone reading this, cares about keeping the world’s most adorable porpoise on the planet, see “5 ways you can help” at http://islandpress.org/save-vaquita.
ODP: The vaquita is a beloved porpoise -- why has the Mexican government been unable to put protections in place to halt their downward spiral?
BB: Mexico has actually done a good job of putting legislative protections in place—the problem has been enforcement. Not a single poacher has gone to prison. In addition to cartel crime, there is government corruption. With police failing to uphold law, struggling fishermen lacking legal income may be tempted or pushed into poaching. If Mexico’s new president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador ("Amlo") cleans up corruption, as he’s promised to do, protections for vaquita might finally be effective.
ODP: Will the ban on Mexican seafood imports have an impact on the new Mexican government's willingness to take tougher action against the traffickers and illegal fishers?
BB: The effect of the embargo on Mexico’s anti-poaching efforts remains to be seen. But already—after years of holding up permits for alternative fishing gear—Mexico’s national fisheries agencies are now preparing to authorize a vaquita-friendly form of equipment called suriperas, which are used to catch shrimp, the main seafood export from the Gulf of California to the United States. Shrimp is traditionally caught with gillnets, so this is a very positive step in response to the embargo.
ODP: The black market in China is fueling the extinction of several species like the vaquita. What, if anything, can the US government do to hold the Chinese government accountable?
BB: In theory, the U.S. could place an embargo on trade goods from China to apply pressure for compliance with laws protecting endangered species. But such action is unlikely. Taking a different tact, the U.S. can affect illegal trade by doubling down on its own border control, checking shipping containers and increasing penalties for wildlife-trafficking, while politically supporting China to do the same.
ODP: What can we learn from this tragic situation to prevent the future extinction of other fragile species like the vaquita?
BB: In the case of China’s Yangtze river dolphin, the baiji, decades of unproductive meetings squandered time and resources until that species was declared extinct in 2006. While action was initiated sooner with vaquita, experts tell me not soon enough. Going forward with other fragile species, on-site conservation should be launched right away, with a strong focus on social science to ask what local communities need—even polling them about their beliefs—to find the best ways to incentivize their help.
Thank you, Brooke, for sharing your thoughts about the scourge of wildlife trafficking and how it is impacting endangered species like the vaquita. We love your book and highly recommend it for its insights on wildlife and humanity. Our readers DO care about saving this wonderful porpoise! We know they will help.
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 Animals
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Photo: Brian Gratwicke/Flickr
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Slick City Frogs Outcompete Their Country Cousins
We read about the rural-urban divide amongst people in America but it turns out that this disparity also transcends into the animal kingdom. Scientists who study túngara frogs in the Panamanian jungle have noticed that the frogs' mating songs change when they move into cities and become more complex and ultimately more appealing to female frogs.
City frogs face fewer predators like bats and midges who are also attracted to their mating cries and therefore in an act of boldness have added vocal complexity to their calls. As Popular Science explained, a basic túngara call is kind of a whine, but they can turn up the charm by adding elements called “chucks.” Researchers even put the frogs to the test and transplanted a total of 112 males from forest to town or vice versa for at least four consecutive nights and monitored them to see how their mating calls changed. It turns out that the city frogs muted their calls when back in the jungle yet the country frogs kept their same demure calls when put in a city environment. Since female frogs prefer the urban ballads, researchers are speculating that city túngaras might take over.
Why This Matters: Humans along with our lights, noises, and pollution seriously interfere with animal behavior. Some animals are able to adapt more easily than others but for many species, human activity is a major threat to their survival. In addition to protecting wild spaces we have to focus on how we live and the impact it has on the animals around us.
Go Deeper: Take a listen for yourself to the túngara's love ballads here.
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 Hero
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Hero of the Week: Greta Thunberg
The UN climate conference wrapped up this week in Katowice, Poland and the stars of the meeting were young people who are not even old enough to vote, like 15-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg. In addition to attending the summit, Thunberg has made headlines for her now-weekly school strikes and one-child strike outside the Swedish Parliament to urge her home country to take bold climate action, according to Common Dreams. She said that despite the irrefutable evidence of the dangers posed by climate change, politicians still refuse to take the issue seriously and so her protests will continue and hopefully more students will join in around the world.
This past Wednesday she called for a global climate strike for all young people TODAY at "your school" or "anywhere you feel called." You can take a look at her emotional Ted Talk here. We're inspired!
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 Holidays
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12 Days of Earthmas: Gifts for the Skincare Guru
Self-care is important and this time of year especially our skin needs a little TLC. Check out our roundup of skincare products that come without questionable chemicals and will make you feel fresh as a sugarplum!
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Check Your Email Tomorrow For An ODP Bonus Feature! And Stay Tuned - We Have More Good Changes In Store for 2019! Happy Holidays and Have a Great Weekend!
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