EnviroPolitics Blog

Extinction Rebellion protesters shut down London for a second time

How has this happened AGAIN? Fury as ‘outnumbered’ police simply look on as – despite publishing a full list of targets and Boris Johnson ordering officers to use ‘the full force of the law’ on the crowds

Climate activists shut Lambeth Bridge and Westminster Bridge in London at start of fortnight of protests
Celebrities were seen in Trafalgar Square, where the group are holding their protest ‘opening ceremony’
Demonstrators also block Whitehall, Trafalgar Square, Downing Street and Victoria Embankment today
Key traffic routes in Westminster face major congestion as buses are diverted and motorists are delayed
Thousands are ready to face arrest, go to jail and go on hunger strike in attempt to curb global warming

By MARK DUELL and SHEKHAR BHATIA and RORY TINGLE and MARTIN ROBINSON and WILLIAM COLE FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 09:01 EDT, 7 Oct. 2019 | UPDATED: 12:48 EDT, 7 Oct.r 2019

Climate activists from Extinction Rebellion lock together to stop traffic on Whitehall in Westminster as police (bottom of frame) stand and film the scene. The Met has been criticised after small numbers of officers were swamped by protestors

Fury has erupted after ‘outnumbered’ police simply look on as Extinction Rebellion protesters shut down London for a second time – despite the group publishing a full list of targets and Boris Johnson ordering officers to use ‘the full force of the law’ on the crowds.

A stone’s throw from Parliament on Westminster Bridge a solitary officer was filmed merely standing and watching as demonstrators planted a shrubbery across the road to bring traffic to a standstill.

Around the capital at more than a dozen protest sites hundreds of protestors easily overran a relatively modest police presence, prompting onlookers to suggest police were unable to cope with the huge numbers of activists.

On Millbank, outside the headquarters of MI5 in London, a group built a wooden house and climbed on top when the police attempted to pull it down

But the group’s intended locations and tactics were published in advance and this morning the senior officer in charge of the force’s response insisted: ‘Where behaviour is unlawful, and obstructing the highways for significant periods of time … we will deal with – and we will deal with robustly.’

This evening the Met has yet to confirm how many officers it has deployed, or why their numbers were insufficient to keep routes open and traffic flowing in the face of XR’s stated aim of a protest five times bigger than that in April, which saw more than 1,100 arrests.

Climate activists from Extinction Rebellion lock together to stop traffic on Whitehall in Westminster as police (bottom of frame) stand and film the scene. The Met has been criticised after small numbers of officers were swamped by protestors1.00Extinction Rebellion protesters built shrubbery in LondonLoaded: 0%Progress: 0%0:00PreviousPlaySkipMuteCurrent Time0:00/Duration Time0:09FullscreenNeed Text

Today was the first day of a planned fortnight of disruption by Extinction Rebellion, bringing chaos to London as they shut down key routes in the city.

Protesters were joined by eco-luvvies Daisy Lowe, Mark Rylance, Ruby Wax and Juliet Stevenson in Trafalgar Square as they shut down the landmark.

Actor Mark Rylance joined Extinction Rebellion protesters in The Mall today where supporters of the environmental group invaded during the Changing of the Guard

For the next two weeks XR – which has posted details and maps of its planned disruptions in advance – intends to cripple the capital with 148 protesters arrested already since the protests began at 7am today.

One senior member warned ahead of the protests that if police shut them down: ‘We have other plans that are more disruptive’.

Commuters vented their fury about long delays and miles of queues as they criticised the XR ‘hypocrites’ causing more pollution by forcing cars to sit idling, while others blasted the ‘nuisances’ who had ruined their journeys.

Today streets around Westminster were packed with police threatening to arrest anyone blocking roads – but witnesses said they were being swamped because of the number of eco-zealots gathering on streets and bridges.

One group locked themselves inside a car parked in the middle of Whitehall close to Downing Street and the Cenotaph – others chained themselves by the arms and head to a hearse parked in Trafalgar Square and glued themselves to scaffolding poles.

Like this? Click to receive free EnviroPolitics Blog updates

Social media users have complained that the protesters were taking up huge amounts of police resources in London today

It has become common for the detained protesters to be carried by police, because they try to cause maximum disruption by refusing to walk to the van – meaning it can take up to six officers for each arrest.

Police remove a protester from the Extinction Rebellion protest at Trafalgar Square in London this afternoon

Police carry away a protester by the arms and legs on Westminster Bridge, which was blocked by XR members including some doing yoga

XR supporters pitched tents outside Westminster Abbey as they promised two weeks of chaos and gridlock to save the planet

MailOnline has asked the Metropolitan Police for comment about their handling of the protests.

On one end of Lambeth Bridge protesters started to build a house before climbing on top when police tried to dismantle it while Smithfield Market, London’s largest meat market, was ‘occupied’ by 500 people starting with a minute’s silence for the dead animals there and around the world.

Describing the scene close to Westminster Abbey, one onlooker told MailOnline: ‘Half of them are smoking weed, have cheap fold up tents that will just get binned and there is a bunch sitting in Pret’. Others wearing XR badges and carrying XR flags were seen getting lunch in McDonald’s on Whitehall.

Extinction Rebellion posted this graphic online before the protests began, showing where their intended targets would be

TV stars were at the environmental group’s ‘opening ceremony’ under Nelson’s Column as thousands closed major bridges, blocked numerous roads and even invaded The Mall during the Changing of the Guard where Rylance helped carry a giant banner saying: ‘extinction or rebellion’.

Lowe posed next to Big Ben with friends including actress Jaime Winstone, popstar Eliza Caird, best known as Eliza Doolittle, and TV producer Emily Ann Sonnet who said: ‘Life is already extinct. It’s just a matter of saving what life we have left’.

Ministers are understood to be looking at whether protesters who damage parts of London can be held financially responsible. In an Extinction Rebellion stunt last week, fake blood was sprayed over the Treasury – although much of it ended up going back over the demonstrators themselves.

One government source suggested a mechanism could be bringing a civil action to hurt demonstrators ‘in their wallets’. ‘There is discussion about whether we can ensure they are bearing the cost,’ the source said. ‘Democratic protests is one thing, but you cannot wreck listed buildings.’

Daisy Lowe (second left) posed next to Big Ben with friends including actress Jaime Winstone (far right), popstar Eliza Caird, best known as Eliza Doolittle (centre right), and TV producer Emily Ann Sonnet (far left) today

However, actress Juliet Stevenson called the protests ‘wonderful’, adding: ‘We can’t any longer allow governments to do this so we have to make it clear that there is no more time.

‘There’s a long tradition in this country of people saying governments are not acting, we have to make them realise how urgent this is.’

She told MailOnline that said she had been swayed to join the protests as she wanted a future for the planet and her four children. She siad she felt a duty to do what she could to help stop environmental damage and climate change.

Stevenson said: ‘My children are saying they are not sure they want to have children when the planet is in such danger. I have a one-year-old grandchild too and I want to help ensure all of their futures.’ We have 12 years before the planet is irreversibly damaged. The scientists have warned about it.’

Don’t miss stories like this Click to receive free updates

Extinction Rebellion protesters shut down London for a second time Read More »

It broke the first time but ocean cleanup device now successfully collecting plastic

Floating boom finally retains debris from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, creator says

Daniel Boffey in Brussels reports for the Guardian

Waste collected in the boom — The boom skims up waste ranging in size from a discarded net and a car wheel to tiny chips of plastic. AP photo

A huge floating device designed by Dutch scientists to clean up an island of rubbish in the Pacific Ocean that is three times the size of France has successfully picked up plastic from the high seas for the first time.

Boyan Slat, the creator of the Ocean Cleanup project, tweeted that the 600 metre-long (2,000ft) free-floating boom had captured and retained debris from what is known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

Alongside a picture of the collected rubbish, which includes a car wheel, Slat wrote: “Our ocean cleanup system is now finally catching plastic, from one-ton ghost nets to tiny microplastics! Also, anyone missing a wheel?”

About 600,000 to 800,000 metric tonnes of fishing gear is abandoned or lost at sea each year. Another 8m tonnes of plastic waste flows in from beaches.

Ocean currents have brought a vast patch of such detritus together halfway between Hawaii and California, where it is kept in rough formation by an ocean gyre, a whirlpool of currents. It is the largest accumulation of plastic in the world’s oceans.

Crew members sort through plastic onboard a support vessel in the Pacific. AP photo

The vast cleaning system is designed to not only collect discarded fishing nets and large visible plastic objects, but also microplastics.

The plastic barrier floating on the surface of the sea has a three metre-deep (10ft) screen below it, which is intended to trap some of the 1.8tn pieces of plastic without disturbing the marine life below.

The device is fitted with transmitters and sensors so it can communicate its position via satellites to a vessel that will collect the gathered rubbish every few months.

Slat told a press conference in Rotterdam that the problem he was seeking to solve was the vast expense that would come with using a trawler to collect plastics.

He said: “We are now catching plastics … After beginning this journey seven years ago, this first year of testing in the unforgivable environment of the high seas strongly indicates that our vision is attainable and that the beginning of our mission to rid the ocean of plastic garbage, which has accumulated for decades, is within our sights.

“We now have a self-contained system in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch that is using the natural forces of the ocean to passively catch and concentrate plastics … This now gives us sufficient confidence in the general concept to keep going on this project.”

The plastic gathered so far will be brought to shore in December for recycling. The project believes there may be a premium market for items that have been made using plastic reclaimed from the ocean.

“I think in a few years’ time when we have the full-scale fleet out there, I think it should be possible to cover the operational cost of the cleanup operation using the plastic harvested,” Slat said.

The plan is to now scale up the device and make it more durable so it can retain plastic for up to a year or possibly longer before collection is necessary.

The Ocean Cleanup project’s system retains plastic in front of an extended cork line. Photograph: AP

During a previous four-month trial the boom broke apart and no plastic was collected. Since then, changes have been made to the design including the addition of a “parachute anchor” to slow down the device’s movement in the ocean, allowing for faster-moving plastic debris to float into the system.

The latest trial began in June when the system was launched into the sea from Vancouver. The project was started in 2013 and its design has undergone several major revisions. It is hoped the final design will be able to clean up half of the debris in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

• This article was amended on 4 October 2019 to clarify system location details.

Like this? Click to receive free EnviroPolitics Blog updates

It broke the first time but ocean cleanup device now successfully collecting plastic Read More »

Delaware enacts changes to Coastal Zone Act regs

From the law firm of Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr

On June 28, 1971, the Delaware Coastal Zone Act (the “Act”) was signed into law in order to protect the coastal areas of Delaware from the effects of heavy industry uses and offshore bulk product transfer facilities. The protected area is the coastline of Delaware, along the Delaware River and Delaware Bays, extending from the Delaware-Pennsylvania line in a southerly direction to the Maryland line. The Act prohibited the construction of new heavy industry uses in Delaware’s Coastal Zone and generally prohibited new offshore bulk product transfer facilities outside of the Port of Wilmington. The Act regulates existing heavy industrial uses and new and existing manufacturing uses in the Coastal Zone.

On August 2, 2017, the Coastal Zone Conversion Permit Act (“CZCPA”) was enacted to permit the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (“DNREC”) to issue Conversion Permits for new heavy industry uses within fourteen (14) existing heavy industry sites in Delaware’s Coastal Zone, as well as for the bulk transfer of products. DNREC was charged with the development of regulations in connection with the CZCPA which regulations became effective on October 1, 2019.

In developing regulations for the CZCPA, DNREC also made certain changes to the regulations already in effect pertaining to the Act. In that regard, DNREC made the following revisions:

The information required for permit applications under the Act is significantly more robust, requiring, among other things, data to support any analyses provided including citations to published peer review articles, models and modeling results and data sources.
The required Environmental Impact Statement accompanying an application now must:
- Be certified by a Delaware registered professional engineer or professional geologist;
- Provide, on an annual basis, the probable air, land and water pollution likely to be generated by the proposed use;
- The person certifying the Environmental Impact Statement must provide an opinion as to whether the project or activity will in any way result in any negative environmental impact on the Coastal Zone;
- Show the impact on the watershed for the proposed project rather than simply on the drainage in the area; and
- Show the effect of project site preparation and facility operation on the quality and quantity of surface and groundwater resources, including withdrawals and discharges, identification of potentially affected water supply sources and public and private wastewater treatment facilities.
An Economic Effects Analysis is now required showing the number of jobs created, their classification as part-time/full time/temporary/permanent, along with their wages and salaries and the amount of tax revenues that will accrue to state and local governments.
Any permit to be granted under the Act will now have a duration of no greater than twenty (20) years (or less at the discretion of the DNREC Secretary) – permits granted to date have no time limit.
Renewal of a permit under the Act is now subject to the same requirements as for the issuance of an initial permit.
A new process is established for modifying a permit under the Act.
- A minor modification is available for administrative changes such as corrections of spelling or grammatical errors.
- A major modification is required in order to change ownership, control or any substantive term of a permit. A major modification requires public notice and a comment period as well as a public hearing at the discretion of the DNREC Secretary. Prior to the adoption of these regulations, transfers of permits under the Act merely required the submission of a written request to the DNREC Secretary.

In addition to the changes outlined above, in order to obtain a Conversion Permit for any of the fourteen (14) designated sites or a bulk product transfer facility, there is a very robust permitting process that includes, among the other requirements already required for a permit under the Act: the submission of a Sea Level Rise and Coastal Storm Plan to prepare for the potential impacts of sea-level rise and coastal storms over the useful life of the project site; an Environmental Remediation and Stabilization Plan; the establishment and maintenance of financial assurance through an approved financial assurance instrument; and strict recordkeeping and reporting requirements following permit issuance.

The complete regulations can be found here.

Delaware enacts changes to Coastal Zone Act regs Read More »

Gov. Murphy says capping Keegan Landfill in the Meadowlands ‘is complicated’

Keegan Landfill looms over Harvey Field Complex in Kearny, NJ. Photo by Reena Rose Sibayan

By Teri West | The Jersey Journal

Making a rare public comment on the controversial Keegan Landfill, Gov. Phil Murphy said putting a cap on the 110-acre landfill in Kearny is “complicated” but that he’s committed to finding a solution “that works for everybody.”

The governor has remained mostly quiet on the landfill that’s owned and operated by the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, but promised residents a “good resolution” when asked about it on News 12’s “Ask Governor Murphy.’’

Harrison resident John Pinho submitted the question to the program, asking why Murphy has never commented on the landfill. Murphy said he does not comment on issues that are being litigated.

A Hudson County judge ruled Monday that the landfill must permanently close, writing that the landfill and the hydrogen sulfide gas it emits pose a “clear and immediate danger.”

“Are we committed full throttle, wholeheartedly whether it’s through the Sports and Exposition Authority the Department of Environmental Protection to getting a good resolution that we work through with the community in Kearny on this landfill? Absolutely. Period. Full stop,” Murphy said. “Apparently it is not just as easy as putting a cap on this thing. This is complicated.”

Like this? Click to receive free EnviroPolitics Blog updates

But a cap on the landfill is exactly what Mayor Al Santos says Kearny needs.

Even if waste is no longer deposited at the landfill, the existing waste will continue to emit hydrogen sulfide as it decomposes, he said, adding that a cap would protect residents from those emissions.

“If he wants to do something that works in a local community than he should speak to the local community and he hasn’t done that,” Santos said in response to the governor’s comments. “He knows full well that a liner would work. It’s worked at other closed landfills.”

Santos said that Murphy called capping the landfill “complicated” because the NJSEA will miss out on millions of dollars in annual revenue if the facility is permanently closed.

The state, however, should look for alternative ways to fund the agency, rather than a landfill that puts his constituents at risk, the mayor said.

The NJSEA has not responded to multiple requests for comment this week.

“We’ve been saying all along that the Sports Authority’s doing this for money,” Santos said. “They’re not doing this out of the good of their hearts to provide for the construction debris in this area. They’ve denied it, they’ve not cooperated, they’ve set up obstacles because they want to keep that money…If this agency is worth keeping then you have to fund it not at the public health costs of Kearny residents.”

Residents have complained about the intense rotten egg odors coming from the landfill for more than a year and raised concerns of the potential negative health effects that breathing in the hydrogen sulfide gas can have.

Exposure to varying levels of the colorless gas can cause irritation to the eyes, nose, and throat, as well as nausea, headache, dizziness, and confusion.

Monday’s decision to keep the landfill permanently closed was the latest news to come out of a legal battle that began in April when Kearny filed a lawsuit against the NJSEA and Murphy’s Department of Environmental Protection.

The DEP has since been dismissed from the case, but Hudson County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Jablonski decided that the landfill is a danger to the community and ordered its closure.

On Tuesday, the court set an April 2020 trial date for remaining claims in the case, including a demand for finances associated with the landfill, Santos said.

Very little of Hudson County’s waste was previously going to Keegan Landfill, said Norman Guerra, the CEO of the Hudson County Improvement Authority, which manages the county’s public solid waste.

The HCIA recently went out to bid for a new designated disposal facility to replace Keegan Landfill and is in the process of accepting a bid from Waste Management, which has two transfer facilities in Elizabeth and one in Fairview.

Don’t miss stories like this Click to receive free updates

Gov. Murphy says capping Keegan Landfill in the Meadowlands ‘is complicated’ Read More »

Boston Globe series examines climate change impact on venerable Cape Cod

Click here for access to the series

Boston Globe series examines climate change impact on venerable Cape Cod Read More »

Pennsylvania looking to join other RGGI states

Pennsylvania is the nation’s No. 2 natural gas producer, and No. 3 in coal. Its governor says ‘we need to get serious’ about the climate crisis.

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat. Credit: Mark Makela/Getty Images — “If we want a Pennsylvania that is habitable for our children and grandchildren, where temperatures aren’t in the 90s in October … where flooding doesn’t destroy homes and businesses over and over again, we need to get serious right now about addressing the climate crisis,” Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf said. Photo credit: Mark Makela/Getty Images

Marianne Lavelle reports for Inside Climate News

Pennsylvania, one of the nation’s largest coal and natural gas-producing states, is moving to join the Northeast’s carbon market. It would mark the largest expansion of the multistate initiative since its inception a decade ago and a milestone in the drive-by states to counter the impact of the Trump administration’s retreat from climate action.

Pennsylvania would become the largest member in terms of carbon emissions of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), now a nine-state compact to curb pollution from the electricity sector.

Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf said Thursday that joining RGGI would be a necessary step for achieving the targets for cuts in greenhouse gas pollution he set earlier this year.

“If we want a Pennsylvania that is habitable for our children and grandchildren, where temperatures aren’t in the 90s in October … where flooding doesn’t destroy homes and businesses over and over again, we need to get serious right now about addressing the climate crisis,” Wolf said.

It is not clear how far Wolf can go to join RGGI without action by the Republican-controlled state legislature. As buzz grew in the state capital earlier this year on a possible RGGI move, the Wolf administration reportedly floated a proposal that indicated legislative action would be needed to authorize spending the hundreds of millions of dollars per year in proceeds from carbon fees that the state stands to receive from its involvement in RGGI. But Wolf signed an order Thursday to begin the process of establishing the rules to govern the state’s entry to the RGGI market without waiting for the legislature.

“This is the beginning of the process,” he said. “I’m looking forward to a robust conversation with environmental advocates, the General Assembly, Pennsylvanians all across the state to figure out how we do this right.”

Wolf said he expects Pennsylvania to be a RGGI member within the next two years.

Like this? Click to receive free EnviroPolitics Blog updates

New Jersey, an original RGGI member that dropped out under former Republican Gov. Chris Christie, is currently moving forward with establishing the rules to rejoin RGGI, a months-long process that it expects to have in place by Jan. 1, 2020. Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, also a Democrat, tried to bring his state into RGGI but was blocked earlier this year by the state’s Republican-controlled legislature.

Pennsylvania’s move is significant because it would bring the first major fossil fuel producer into the RGGI fold. The state is second only to Texas in natural gas production, and third behind Wyoming and West Virginia in coal. Because RGGI puts a price on carbon in the electricity marketplace, it reduces demand for those fuels—with coal taking the biggest hit at first.

Wolf talked about joining RGGI during his first campaign for governor, but after taking office in 2015, it has not been a priority for his administration. Even earlier this year, when he signed an executive order setting the state’s first economy-wide targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, he did not move to join RGGI. “What I try to make sure is that what I do is not too much, but not too little,” Wolf said at the time.

But a number of issues may have changed the calculus for Wolf, increasing the appeal of RGGI.

Chart: RGGI States' Electricity Generation

Pennsylvania gets 40 percent of its power from nuclear energy, about twice the national average, and the state’s nine nuclear power stations have struggled in the region’s competitive electricity market competing against abundant, cheap natural gas. Some Pennsylvania lawmakers have been pushing the idea of a direct ratepayer subsidy to bail out the nuclear industry—a move that would raise electricity prices throughout the state.

Participation in the RGGI market, in theory, would make it easier for carbon-free energy, including nuclear power, to compete against natural gas. And a recent analysis by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School found that electricity rates could decrease under RGGI. Wolf noted that electricity prices have fallen in the RGGI states, while rising overall in the nation.

Read the full story

https://enviropolitics.com/blog/avantlink_confirmation.txt

Pennsylvania looking to join other RGGI states Read More »