 Energy
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Image: Richard Bartz and Kim Hansen via Wikimedia Commons
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Biden Announces Expansive Offshore Wind Campaign
By Natasha Lasky, ODP Staff Writer
President Biden announced a plan to develop seven new offshore wind farms along US coastlines. He aims to deploy 30 gigawatts of offshore wind power by 2030 — enough energy to power over 10 million homes.
Why this Matters: The proposed wind projects could avert 78 million metric tons of carbon emissions and create 77,000 jobs. However, getting offshore wind farms approved in the US has been a struggle. Vineyard Wind, off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard, stagnated for years during the Trump administration until Biden greenlit the project in May.
This major push for clean energy is unprecedented in the nation’s history and will be instrumental in Biden’s plan to reduce emissions to 50% of 2005 levels by 2030.
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 Land
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Image: Tiffany Bailey via Wikimedia Commons
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New WWF Initiative Supports Black Land Ownership
By Ashira Morris, ODP Staff Writer
Heirs’ property is a type of land ownership whereby property is passed down without a will, and it’s one of the main reasons Black families in the US are losing their land. But the Mobile Basin Heirs’ Property Support Initiative announced yesterday could help families in Mississippi’s Mobile Bay watershed protect and keep their land by legally clarifying ownership. The new, two-year initiative aims to build generational wealth for historically underserved families while promoting sustainably managed forestland. The project is a collaboration between the Center for Heirs’ Property Preservation (CHPP) and the Mississippi Center for Justice, with support from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and Kimberly-Clark.
Why This Matters: The initiative is an intersectional approach to ensuring people can keep inherited family land and protect the local forests. Forests in the Mobile Bay region face threats to biodiversity due to human development, and heirs’ property owners are more vulnerable to losing their land to those who want to build or harvest timber from it. The impacts of forest loss can ripple beyond trees and harm freshwater ecosystems and drinking water sources too. As Jennie L. Stephens, the Chief Executive Officer of CHPP put it: “Heirs’ property impacts everyone because once the land is lost, the community is impacted.”
Of the many harsh lessons learned by Hurricane Katrina, when hurricanes and floods strike heirs’ property, it can be incredibly difficult for residents to receive aid because federal programs almost always require clear proof of title.
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 Climate Change
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The Fellowship Feels the Heat
According to a new study published in Nature Climate Change, 85% of the global population is feeling the impacts of human-induced climate change. Meanwhile, the world’s most emitting nations are also some of its wealthiest but have lagged on taking decisive climate action as developing countries bear the brunt of climate fallout. If high emitters don’t step up to lead the charge and meet the goals of the Paris agreement, soon enough, no one, and nowhere, will be left untouched.
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 Weather
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Image: Frank Schulenburg via Wikimedia Commons
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Alisal Fire Only 5% Contained As Evacuations Ordered In Santa Barbara County
By Amy Lupica, ODP Daily Editor
As California’s summer fire season comes to a close, autumn’s Santa Ana winds have intensified a fast-moving wildfire now terrorizing Santa Barbara County. The Alisal fire began Monday afternoon. Since then, it has engulfed 16,801 acres and is only 5% contained, according to CalFire. As a result, a portion of Highway 101 has been closed, along with an Amtrak shutdown.
Why This Matters: Although the 2021 wildfire season has been less intense than 2020’s, this year saw some of the largest fires in the nation’s history, including July’s Dixie fire, which is still burning and not expected to reach full containment until the end of October. Experts say that intense fire seasons are becoming the new normal; more than half of California’s 20 largest wildfires have burned in just the last four years. What’s more — wildfire season is starting earlier and ending later each year. Neil Lareau, an atmospheric scientist and professor at the University of Nevada, finds climate change to be the primary culprit, stating: “It’s lengthening fire season. It’s giving us more days that are burning at a higher intensity. And the result of that is massive fires. They’re more intense, and they’re producing more extreme fire weather.”
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 Animals
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Image: Andrew Shiva / Wikipedia
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One Cool Thing: Where’s Walrus?
Do you have a good eye? Are you surprisingly good at Where’s Waldo and like Walruses? If so, we have great opportunity for you! The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) is seeking volunteers to help count Atlantic walruses…from space.
Sea ice is retreating fast as global temperatures rise, forcing walruses to crowd on smaller floes and limited land. “And that comes with a number of impacts,” explained Rod Downie, Chief Polar Adviser at WWF, “which include overcrowding with the potential for calves to be crushed in stampedes.” WWF estimates that there are approximately 21,400 animals left.
To confirm those numbers, the Walrus from Space project is recruiting citizen scientists. Scout groups, among others, have already started observing satellite imagery to determine the presence of walruses and once they do — they get to counting. “It’s fun to see the way they live and how many there are, and they are kind of really cool creatures,” said Charlotte Guise, a scout from the UK.
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