EnviroPolitics Blog

Heads up: Mercury to make a rare pass across the sun

Mercury last passed across the sun in May 2016.

Theresa Waldrop reports for CNN

Forget blue moons. Even more rare is when the planet Mercury passes right across the middle of the sun, and it’s happening Monday.

A Mercury transit, as it’s called, occurs only 13 times in 100 years, according to NASA, and it won’t be seen from North America again for another 30 years, or from anywhere until 2032.

Starting at 7:35 a.m. ET, it will take more than five hours for Mercury to pass from one side of the sun to the other. That means watchers on the East Coast will be able to see the whole thing, but viewers almost anywhere in North America won’t miss out, since Mercury will still be making its journey when the sun is up on the West Coast.

Stunning photos of the solar eclipse over South America. In fact, the only places it can’t be seen from are Australia and most of Asia and Alaska, according to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

But, just like during an eclipse, viewers will need a solar filter since looking directly at the sun can cause permanent eye damage.

Mercury, the smallest planet in our solar system, will be just a tiny dot on the sun, so NASA recommends using a telescope with a certified solar filter.

Don’t have any of those things? Try looking for a viewing party at a museum or planetarium near you.

According to NASA, the Solar Dynamics Observatory’s website‘ will be showing “near real-time” images of the transit, so you don’t have to miss this rare event, no matter where you are.

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More long-in-the-tooth creatures heading to Florida for the winter

KEY WEST, Fla. (AP) – Like snowbirds, there’s another group that’s moving to Florida for the winter.

Shark experts said the coast of Florida is starting to heat up with white shark activity. OCSEARCH, a research group, said the annual migration to warmer waters off the Florida and Carolinas coasts is underway.

The Palm Beach Post reports that eight white sharks tagged by the Utah-based research group were spotted from New Jersey to Florida in the last week.

Three other sharks that had been tagged were detected Wednesday in waters on North Carolina beaches. Two more sharks, Helena and the 2,076-pound Unama’ki, made their presence known with toothy grins just west of Key West in September.

Unama’ki had been tagged off Nova Scotia in September. She’s about 15-feet, 5-inches long.

It’s not unusual for great whites to call southern waters home during winter, and sightings are common near popular fishing and diving spots in Florida through spring.

We’re always looking for stories that might interest our readers. If you come across something so interesting that it cries out to be shared, please send it to editor@enviropolitics.com If we agree, you’ll see it here soon.

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NJ bill offers a smoother e-car ride

By Brenda Flanagan, Senior Correspondent, NJTV News

It’s called “range anxiety” — the fear among prospective purchasers of electric vehicles who love the idea of driving an environmentally friendly car but worry about running out of juice out on the road somewhere.

Environmentalists and some lawmakers say a bill pending before state Legislature offers a solution, authorizing $150 million to build a state-wide network of 1,000 community chargers and 600 souped-up charging stations over the next couple of years.

The measure would also make it easier for people to acquire electric cars in the first place, by offering rebates from Trenton to purchasers. But some worry about the costs associated with the bill.

Nearly half of New Jersey’s greenhouse-gas pollution comes from the transportation sector. The bill sets a state goal of getting 330,000 electric vehicles on the road by 2025. Initial estimates of the cost of the rebates, perhaps $5,000 per car, are $30 million a year.

For proponents, the benefits of championing electric vehicles are clear, as a big help in the battle against a warming planet. Electric vehicles have no tailpipe emissions, and are 70% cleaner than gas-powered cars, when all factors such as generating the electricity they run on are considered. But the vehicles are generally pricy, and inducements are needed to get people on board, advocates say.

“We also have to make sure that the rebate program is robust — and that people can afford these and feel comfortable about buying them,” said Sen. Linda Greenstein, the Mercer/Middlesex Democrat who’s a primary sponsor of the proposal. “But I think this bill is going to give us a giant step in that direction.”

At the same time, though, the state Rate Counsel and business interests have raised concerns about costs, specifically where the money for rebates and the charging network will come from.

The bill states electric utility companies can recover some costs with rate increases, overseen by the state Board of Public Utilities. The state will also get money from rejoining the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a consortium of states that work together to reduce emissions.

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Did Exxon Mislead Investors About Climate-Related Risks?

Closing arguments in the oil giant’s investor fraud trial presented two competing narratives.

Protesters outside court on the opening day of the Exxon trial in 2019. Credit: Eduardo MunozAlvarez/VIEWpress via Getty Images — Protesters held signs outside the courthouse on the opening day of the Exxon trial. Two and half weeks later, on Nov. 7, the trial ended. A judge expects to issue a ruling within weeks. Credit: Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/VIEWpress via Getty Images

NICHOLAS KUSNETZ reports for Inside Climate News

Lawyers for New York State and ExxonMobil wrapped up a landmark climate fraud trial on Thursday, shaping a tangle of testimony and evidence into competing narratives on whether the oil company misled investors about the risks it faces from climate regulation.

Jonathan Zweig, who gave the closing arguments for the New York attorney general’s office, described the case as a classic securities fraud trial that happened to be about climate change, which he said “may well be the defining risk for oil and gas companies like ExxonMobil in the coming decades.”

Zweig said the evidence showed clearly that Exxon had misled investors by downplaying those risks significantly.

Theodore Wells, the lead lawyer for Exxon, argued that the same evidence shows “that this case is meritless, that each and every allegation in the complaint is not true and not connected to the reality or the truth, and that ExxonMobil has done nothing wrong.”

The two sides actually agree on many of the core facts of the case, chiefly that Exxon used two different estimates for the cost to its business from future climate regulations.

The company disclosed one of those estimates in numerous public reports. A second estimate, which was lower than the public figure, was not disclosed to investors until 2014 when it appeared in one sentence in one report. Much of the case hinges on whether that disclosure was clear and adequate, or whether anyone noticed it at all.

The closing statements capped an investigation that began four years ago after reports by InsideClimate News and the Los Angeles Times detailed what Exxon knew about the impact of fossil fuels on global warming from its own climate science research decades ago. The proceedings have grown contentious at times—the attorney general’s office tried to have Justice Barry Ostrager removed from the case last year after learning he owned shares of Exxon stock. But Ostrager ended the trial by congratulating both sides for their diligent and professional preparations and performance. He has said he will issue a ruling before the end of the year.

While the case centers on discussion of climate change risks, the trial itself—and the legal questions the judge will decide—revolve around relatively narrow questions of New York securities law.

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Can nature beat tech on air pollution?

Restoring native vegetation could cut air pollution and costs

Newswise — Adding plants and trees to the landscapes near factories and other pollution sources could reduce air pollution by an average of 27 percent, new research suggests.

The study shows that plants – not technologies – may also be cheaper options for cleaning the air near a number of industrial sites, roadways, power plants, commercial boilers and oil and gas drilling sites.

In fact, researchers found that in 75 percent of the counties analyzed, it was cheaper to use plants to mitigate air pollution than it was to add technological interventions – things like smokestack scrubbers – to the sources of pollution.

“The fact is that traditionally, especially as engineers, we don’t think about nature; we just focus on putting technology into everything,” said Bhavik Bakshi, lead author of the study and professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at The Ohio State University.

“And so, one key finding is that we need to start looking at nature and learning from it and respecting it. There are win-win opportunities if we do – opportunities that are potentially cheaper and better environmentally.”

The study, published today in the journal Environmental Science & Technology, found that nature-based solutions to air pollution might, in many cases, be better than technology at combating air pollution.

The analysis found that for one specific sector – industrial boilers – technology is cheaper at cleaning the air than ecosystem upgrades. And for the manufacturing industry – a broad sector – both ecosystems and technology could offer cost savings, depending on the type of factory.

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National plastics draft bill gaining momentum

E.A. Crunden reports for WasteDive

Dive Brief:

Sweeping national plastics legislation could be inching closer to reality after two lawmakers debuted a draft bill this month. The effort would codify into federal law both extended producer responsibility (EPR) and a national “bottle bill” in the form of a 10-cent container deposit system. Certain lightweight products, including carryout plastic bags, disposable foodware made from expanded polystyrene, cotton buds, and straws would be banned from sale and distribution as of January 2022, with some exceptions for people with disabilities.
Revenue generated from a fee on non-reusable carryout plastic bags would also go toward recycling infrastructure and litter clean-up projects. In one potentially controversial measure, the bill calls for a moratorium on new plastics facilities, giving environmental agencies leeway to consider impacts on air, water and climate in assessing those sites. The bill would also update Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations to reduce plastic contamination in waterways.
The draft comes amid a push by beverage industry giants to capture more PET bottles through a new $100 million initiative, which has been presented as an alternative to federal legislation. But the proposed bill could gain momentum, especially given growing concerns about plastic pollution and increasing pressure to act. Jan Dell, an independent engineer with the Last Beach Cleanup, told Waste Dive the draft provisions “are cost-effective and proven approaches for reducing plastic pollution.”

Dive Insight:

Authored by Sen. Tom Udall of New Mexico and Rep. Alan Lowenthal of California, the bill is seen as the first of this magnitude in many years, with major implications for the waste and recycling industry. Big players like the National Waste and Recycling Association (NWRA) criticized the initial outline of the legislation when it was released in August, arguing that it would increase contamination and put too much pressure on MRF infrastructure.

Under the draft bill, plastics producers would be required to take responsibility for collecting and recycling materials. They would be encouraged to implement cleanup programs with EPA approval, in addition to covering the costs of waste management. This EPR plan would come coupled with a number of other measures, including a nationwide container deposit requirement, regardless of material. The 10 states that already have bottle bills would be allowed to continue their programs if they meet federal requirements.

Heidi Sanborn, executive director for the National Stewardship Action Council, told Waste Dive that the bill is a “game changer” with positive implications for public health and the environment.

“This is truly the circular economy, when the producer is held responsible for what they’re putting on the market,” Sanborn said.

Dell offered similar sentiments, emphasizing the national container deposit component in particular, which she said would create “a clean stream of PET bottles” that the beverage industry has repeatedly said it wants to use again.

But it is unclear whether the legislation will see any support from major industry players who have historically sought to undermine bottle bills and regulatory efforts.

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