Prince Charles: rewire the global economy to stop climate change

© 2015 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies.
Heir to the throne calls for end to ‘business as usual’ approach that does nothing to avert catastrophic global warming – and praises Guardian’s climate campaign


 Prince Charles has called for profound changes to how businesses are run and economies are managed. Photograph: William Deshazer/EPA

Prince Charles has said that “profound changes” to the global economic system are needed in order to avert environmental catastrophe, in an uncompromising speech delivered in front of an audience of senior business leaders and politicians.

The heir to the throne – often criticised for his meddling in political affairs – argued that ending the taxpayer subsidies enjoyed by coal, oil and gas companiescould reduce the carbon emissions driving climate change by an estimated 13%.

Although the prince’s passion for environmental causes is well known, the speech delivered on Thursday evening in St James’s Palace, London was particularly pointed in its criticism of companies that protected vested interests and came with a report that proposed raising taxes on them.

Speaking at a event for the University of Cambridge’s Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL), of which he is a patron, the prince complained that “the irresistible power of ‘business as usual’ has so far defeated every attempt to ‘rewire’ our economic system in ways that will deliver what we so urgently need”.

Full story: http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/jul/02/prince-charles-climate-change-rewire-global-economy?CMP=ema-60

G7 leaders agree to phase out fossil fuel use by end of century

© 2015 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies.

German chancellor Angela Merkel announces commitment to ‘decarbonise global economy’ and end extreme poverty and hunger

The G7 leading industrial nations have agreed to cut greenhouse gases by phasing out the use of fossil fuels by the end of the century, the German chancellor,Angela Merkel, has announced, in a move hailed as historic by some environmental campaigners.
continue reading at: http://gu.com/p/49tgx/sbl

The full text of the declaration (18 pages) can be downloaded here.

100% is Now

http://100.org?akid=8.2995.az0clm

Hello Friend,

Since our launch, the Solutions Project has been spreading the word that our country can get 100% of its energy from clean, renewable sources. We have the technology, we just need to build the political will.
Now we’re taking things one step further with the launch of our 100% campaign -- which is dedicated to making the 100% clean energy future a reality for everyone.
The campaign kicked off two weeks ago in the heart of New York City’s East Village. With community partners, inspired performers, and solar-powered pizza, we showed what’s possible when clean energy and human energy come together.
Oh, and we got to hear some inspiring words from Mark Ruffalo, Leonardo DiCaprio, and grammy winner Malik Yusef too!  
Check out this video featuring our launch event and partners around the state, then please share it with your friends and family to let them know: #100IsNow.

Our event in New York City was just the beginning. The 100% Campaign is gearing up for a big summer highlighting the work of community leaders, helping you go 100% in your home or business, and giving you ways to make clean energy more accessible and affordable for 100% of us.
Check out the launch video (and share it with your networks) to build momentum for what’s coming next!

http://act.100.org/go/2?t=3&akid=8.2995.az0clm

Yours,
Sarah

Lake Erie Harmful Algal Bloom Early Season Projection

Sent from my iPhone

Pope Francis just delivered a game-changer on climate change

Yossi Cadan - 350.org

This morning Pope Francis released an unprecedented call to action on climate change, in a letter to 1.2 billion Catholics worldwide.

That's right: one the world's most prominent moral voices just cast climate action as a moral imperative. Whether or not you're Catholic, this is huge news, and you can help make sure it sends ripples near and far: 

Will you call on faith leaders in your community to join the call for climate action?

The Vatican’s stance couldn’t be clearer: climate change impacts us all, especially the poor. To prevent its catastrophic consequences we need an ethical and economic shift, a revolution in hearts and minds. Pope Francis’s encyclical letter puts the link between climate change and human activity center stage at a crucial moment for the climate movement:

"Humanity is called to create awareness of the need to change styles of life, production and consumption, to combat this warming or, at least, the human causes that produce or accentuate it.”

First Page of the Pope's letter. Link to full text below.

Dan Misleh, Catholic Climate Covenant:

Early this morning, the Vatican released Pope Francis's encyclical letter on ecology, Laudato Si'.  It is a beautiful document.  It says all of the best and truest things that could be said about our place here on Earth, "our common home," in the words of Pope Francis.

Pope Francis calls us to understand our role among the deeply connected creatures of God's creation.  He calls us to lead simpler lives that are more authentic and less driven by consumption.  Most of all, he calls us to care for the Earth and its people.

As you know, we've been hard at work on activities to support this incredible moment.  

• The full encyclical is here.
• A list of quotations from the encyclical arranged by subject is here.
• A live stream of a press conference with Cardinal Wuerl and Archbishop Kurtz is here. The press conference begins at 8:30 AM EST. 

In peace,

Dan Misleh
Catholic Climate Covenant

Savoy Energy seeks to place underground injection well in Raisin Twp.

Hello everybody,

I just send the below email to William Tong, U.S. EPA Water Division, UIC Branch (WU-16J), 77 W. Jackson Blvd., Chicago, IL 60604-3590 tong.william@epa.gov to state my objection against issuing of such a permit, and to request a public hearing in Adrian, Michigan before the permit is issued. Please support that the EPA organizes a hearing by quickly emailing Mr. Tong and asking for it. Deadline is 6/30.

Thanks, Tom

William Tong U.S. EPA Water Division, UIC Branch (WU-16J) 77 W. Jackson Blvd., Chicago, IL 60604-3590 By Email to: tong.william@epa.gov

Date   June 13, 2015

Concern:          Permit application for a a Class II injection well by Savoy Energy L.P. off of East Valley Road and Breckel Highway in Raisin Township, Lenawee County, Michigan

Dear Mr. Tong,

I suggest that the EPA withholds the requested permit for a Class II injection well due to the risk of aquifer contamination (Bloetscher und Gao 2014; Maliva et al. 2007), especially in fractured geological strata and increased tectonic activity caused by multiple injection wells (Frohlich 2012). The major risk factors are failures of well casings, especially cement fatigue failures (Yuan et al. 2013). Such failures become more likely because current regulations require that operators maintain and monitor wells just for 2 years after plugging the wells. This is one of the reasons why the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) stated that the “EPA Program to Protect Underground Sources from Injection of Fluids Associated with Oil and Gas Production Needs Improvement” (U.S. Government Accountability Office 2014).

In addition, the applicant of the disputed permit application, Savoy Energy L.P. has a track record of cutting corners and running its operations not in accordance with best practices – as recently shown in their violations of the Clean Air Act (EPA-5-15-MI-04). It is therefore doubtful that the applicant will show more respect for the Clean Water Act.

I therefore request that the EPA should organize a public comment session in Adrian before issuing the permit.

Thank you in advance!

Dr. Thomas Waßmer

References:

Bloetscher F, Gao J. 2014. Analyses of Physical Data to Evaluate the Potential to Identify Class I Injection Well Fluid Migration Risk. Water Resources Management 28(15):5283-5296.

Frohlich C. 2012. Two-year survey comparing earthquake activity and injection-well locations in the Barnett Shale, Texas. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 109(35):13934-13938.

Maliva RG, Guo W, Missimer T. 2007. Vertical migration of municipal wastewater in deep injection well systems, South Florida, USA. Hydrogeology Journal 15(7):1387-1396.

U.S. Government Accountability Office. 2014. DRINKING WATER: EPA Program to Protect Underground Sources from Injection of Fluids Associated with Oil and Gas Production Needs Improvement. Washington DC: U.S. Government Accountability Office. p. 103.

Yuan Z, Gardoni P, Schubert J, Teodoriu C. 2013. Cement failure probability analysis in water injection well. Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 107:45-49.

After More Than 1 Year The EPA Finalizes Findings of Savoy's Violations of the Clean Air Act

The most important parts are on page 9 and 10:

65. Due to numerous odor complaints from citizens, the Savoy Adrian 25 Facility emissions of air contaminants have caused injurious effects to human health or safety, animal life, plant life of significant economic value, or property, or caused unreasonable interference with the comfortable enjoyment of life and property, in violation of Michigan Rule 336.1901 and the Michigan SIP.

66. Savoy’s above-referenced violations have caused, may and will cause excess hazardous air pollutant (HAP) and VOC emissions.

67. Excess HAP emissions can cause serious health effects, such as birth defects and cancer, and harmful environmental and ecological effects.

68.  Excess VOC emissions can cause eye, nose, and throat irritation; headaches, loss of coordination, nausea; damage to liver, kidney, and central nervous system. Some VOCs can cause cancer in animals and some are suspected or known to cause cancer in humans.

69. VOC emissions are a precursor to ground-level ozone. Breathing ozone contributes to a variety of health problems including chest pain, coughing, throat irritation, and congestion. It can worsen bronchitis, emphysema, and asthma. Ground-level ozone also can reduce lung function and inflame lung tissue. Repeated exposure may permanently scar lung tissue.

Unfortunately, the email to blogger function does not post attachments - and to post PDFs on blogger is unnecessarily complicated - therefore I post the document as PNG images.