Category Archives: Environment

A truly disgusting story

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An article in The Guardian by Dharna Noor called “Republican lawmakers attempt to shield big oil from climate lawsuits in ‘alarming’ bills” truly disgusts me. Americans need to know what the fossil fuel industry is getting for their investment in politicians. And, make no mistake they are looking for a return on their investment.

The subheading adds further clarity, “Climate experts and advocates warn House and Senate bills will protect polluters at the cost of the climate.” Now for more of this sad story:

“Republican lawmakers are attempting to shield big oil from having to pay for its contributions to the climate crisis, alarming environmental advocates.

New House and Senate bills, led by Harriet Hageman, a Wyoming representative, and Ted Cruz, a Texas senator, respectively, would give oil and gas companies broad legal immunity from policies and lawsuits aimed at holding the industry accountable for damages caused by its emissions.

Dubbed the Stop Climate Shakedowns Act of 2026, the proposal would protect the sector from liability. It is similar to a 2005 law that has largely blocked lawsuits against the firearms industry over gun violence.

The Republicans’ proposal is designed to stop a surge of climate accountability measures launched by states and municipalities – which Hageman’s office called ‘leftist legal crusades punishing lawful activity’, in a statement. In recent years, more than 70 state and local governments have sued oil companies for allegedly deceiving the public about the dangers of their products. Meanwhile, New York and Vermont have also passed climate ‘superfund’ laws requiring major polluters to pay for damages from past emissions, with other states considering similar policies.

If passed, the new federal legislation would dismiss pending climate accountability lawsuits, void all climate superfund laws and block similar future efforts.“

Please help spread this story. It is yet another example of how an oligarchy uses their clout to do a CYA at our expense and health.

Do you want some whipped cream with your toxic fruit?

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A scary headline on an article by Tom Perkins in The Guardian caught my eye called “Toxic Pfas residue identified on 37% of California produce, new analysis finds.” The subheadline does not get any better: “Peaches, strawberries and grapes were almost always found to be contaminated with ‘forever chemicals’ in the analysis.”

Here are a few paragraphs that tell the story: “A first-of-its-kind analysis has identified Pfas pesticide residues on 37% of conventional California produce, with peaches, strawberries and grapes almost always found to be contaminated with the toxic ‘forever chemicals.’

The analysis coincided with the introduction of California legislation that would by 2035 fully ban Pfas from being used as active ingredients in pesticides, and require warning labels and other restrictions in the meantime.

The Environmental Working Group (EWG) non-profit conducted the analysis of California department of pesticide regulation residue testing records. It found about 90% of peaches, plums and nectarines contained Pfas residues, while 80% of strawberries and grapes showed them. Those levels are especially alarming because children commonly eat fruits like grapes and strawberries, and children are most at risk from the chemicals’ toxic effects, said Bernadette Del Chiaro, senior vice-president of EWG’s California operations.

‘Most consumers don’t expect to find Pfas ‘forever chemicals’ on their strawberries – I think this information is shocking to most people,’ Del Chiaro added.

Pfas are a class of at least 16,000 compounds typically used to make common products that resist water, stains and heat. They are called ‘forever chemicals’ because they do not naturally break down and accumulate, and are linked to cancer, kidney disease, liver problems, immune disorders, birth defects and other serious health problems.”

There is not much more to add to this alarming story. If you want to get an idea of the danger of forever chemicals, watch the move “Dark Waters.” Or, just re-read the previous paragraph. Please pay attention to this story.

Western carmakers’ electric car retreat beckons irrelevance

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An article in The Guardian by Alex Daniel is unsurprising given recent decisions made by the US automakers in response to the attacks by Trump on the renewable energy market called “‘It’s stupid’: why western carmakers’ retreat from electric risks dooming them to irrelevance.” If that title is insufficient to catch your attention, then the subtitle might: “Iran war should be wake-up call about costs of not going full throttle towards EVs as Chinese have done, experts say.”

Here are a few paragraphs: “By the 1980s, Detroit’s once titanic carmakers were being upended by rivals from Japan. Ford, General Motors and Chrysler had grown rich selling gas guzzlers, but when oil prices rose and suddenly cheap, fuel-efficient Japanese models looked attractive, they were unprepared. The collapse in sales led to hundreds of thousands of job losses in the automotive heartland of the US.

Now western car manufacturers are making what one former boss calls a similar ‘profound strategic mistake’ as they pull back from electric vehicles (EVs) and refocus on the combustion engine just as oil prices are soaring once again. Experts say the industry’s future – and that of tens of millions of jobs – could be on the line. This time, however, the threat is from China.

Cheap, well-made electric cars from brands such as BYD and Leapmotor are finding buyers across Europe. BYD overtook Tesla as the world’s biggest EV seller this year. Chinese marques are fast seizing the market share once dominated by the likes of Volkswagen, Ford, Peugeot and Renault.”

If this were not enough, GM could have dominated the EV market beginning around 2003. They had a pilot effort leasing about 1,000 EV-1s to people in California. They then pulled the cars off the streets and “shredded” them focusing more on Hummers. The EV-1 lessees offered to buy the vehicles, but GM would not sell them. The Board of Directors even questioned management, but management said Hummers were the way to go. It should be noted the gas-guzzling Hummers fell out of favor and GM stopped making them after a few years. Shortly thereafter, Toyota started selling the hybrid Prius and have sold over 5 million vehicles globally.

Let me conclude with this thought. If the US had not bailed out the US automakers with TARP loans as a result of the housing crisis in 2007-08, GM and others may not exist today.

Just a short note about wind

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Courtesy of our friend Jill, here is a banner that caught my eye:

”SEVEN COUNTRIES – ALBANIA, BHUTAN, NEPAL, PARAGUAY, ICELAND, ETHIOPIA, AND THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO, NOW GENERATE MORE THAN 99.7% OF THEIR ELECTRICITY FROM RENEWABLE SOURCES.”

For those who take advice from the incumbent president, as of a couple of years ago, five US states in the plains states get over 1/3 of the electricity from wind energy and the leading producer of wind electricity is Texas who gets 20% of its electricity from wind. Why? Because they built the infrastructure to harness and transmit it. That number of states has likely increased as the percentages have risen.

About a dozen years ago, now deceased oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens said on “60 Minutes” that natural gas will buy us time, but the future of energy in the plains states is wind energy. This is yet one more reason to heavily discount whatever the incumbent president says. Wind does not pollute the environment, whether it is offshore or on land.

As for Trump, he could power a wind mill by his own repetitive written or spoken verbiage.

Lest we forget

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The following email (with the above title) was sent to me by my retired financial executive friend. He has tirelessly tried to convince a few MAGA friends that their fealty to the incumbent president is not steeped in the truth or facts. Here are a few of his encapsulating thoughts:

“OR , The More Memorable Quips , Actions and Social Posts of the Trump Era :

OR , 47 reasons you might THINK you have TDS 😁


1. You’re fired. 2. You can just grab ’em by the pu— . 3. I’ll end the war in Ukraine Day One . 3. She’s got a horse-face . 4. Stalking Hillary on debate stage . 5. Love letters to Rocket Man . 6. How about a syringe of Lysol and a very bright light ? 7. 130 drug runners blasted to smithereens in international waters . 8. He’s just a no-talent loser ( pick a guy ). 9. Demolishing the East Wing with no construction plans . 10. I cut some drug prices 6,000% ( ‘splain how ?).

11. His inept Bible reading technique . 12. Chief-of-Staff Marine Corps General Kelly said he was the most unfit person for the office of POTUS he’d ever known . 13. General Mad-Dog Mattis agreed . 14. The abduction of a foreign country’s president , and his wife . 15. And then maybe a good idea to do the same in Colombia. 16. Over a hundred social posts in a night many times . 17. The Obama “monkeys” slipped out , oops ! 18. They’re all shi- hole countries . 19. The alienation of all our allies. 20. So we’re going to make Canada our 51st state now .

21. You all go march down there on the Capitol and fight like Hell or you won’t have a country ! 22. I’ll be there with you . 23 . Getting played constantly by both Putin and Xi . 24. A non-targeted and not worst-of-the-worst as promised deportation tactics . 25. We’ll get Greenland , the easy way or the hard way . 26. The pitiful jobs market of 2025 after four years of growth. 27. Taking credit for decreases in crime rates though the decrease slope remains the same since Covid . 28. I passed my mental physical with flying colors , maybe the best results ever , stuff of genius . 29. Cabinet picks Hegeseth , Kennedy , Noem , Patel and Gabbard for starters. 30. He’s a sleaze ( pick one ).

31. The inexplicable tariff games and all the business and economic uncertainties they create as they swing about helter-skelter . 32. The new global trade partnerships driven by those petulant tariffs with China making huge strides in uncoupling from , and being less dependent on , the U.S. markets . 33. Imported beef from Argentina to fight inflation but taking away a good year from American ranchers . 34. Having to bail out the farmers who lost their export business due to the tariffs , reminding some of those numerous unsuccessful USSR five year agricultural plans . 35. Tulsi , you get your sweet ass down to Georgia now and find those damn’ 12,000 votes ! 36. The Kennedy Fine Arts Performing Arts Center becoming the Trump-Kennedy NON- Performing Arts Center. 37. I know more about war than all MY generals ! 38. I stopped eight wars so deserve the Nobel more than anybody , EVER . 39 . And so where shall I display that other person’s Nobel , among the other tacky gilt in my Oval Office ? 40 . Wanna’ buy a Trump toy train set ? A watch , Christmas tree , steaks , cell phone , meme coins? A seat on the Trump Peace Board for a billion dollars or a gold visa for one million USD ? Everything is transactional and has a price . Did I mention pardons , official Get Out of Jail cards , are an actual “thing ” ?

41. I never , ever , heard of Project 25. 42. Ford takes a $ 900 million tariff hit ! 43. Drill , baby , drill …even if global oil supply/demand are in balance and oil prices don’t warrant investment for expansion . Another USSR five year plan ? 44. Wrestling is coming to the White House Lawn and NASCAR is going to be racing across the 14th Street Bridge . 45.
My gut instincts tell me that climate change is a hoax , fake news , that the poles and mountain peaks are not melting and sea levels are not rising . Just look how cold it’s been this winter ! And wind power turbines are so ugly out on the sea’s horizon beyond hole # 16 . 46. Never before have grand juries refused to take up so many cases brought by the DOJ . 47 . BUT Trump WAS found guilty of 34 felony charges and 1 sexual assault charge , by juries of his peers ( sorta’) .

It kind of blows your mind when you try to absorb an overview like this not-yet-completed listing of Trump-era memories .“

I recognize there are many more, but I think he had the number 47 in mind. By the way, just to add more gravitas to his opinion, he was on a Business Advisory group to a Governor of North Carolina. Please let me know your thoughts.

House Republicans pass bill gutting protections from toxic chemicals

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The environmental correspondent, Tom Perkins, wrote the alarming piece in The Guardian called “Republican House bill guts laws protecting US consumers from toxic chemicals:
Bill limits type of science used to determine health risks and gives industry major role in chemical review process.” I have already shared my concern with my Republican Congressman asking for an explanation. Here are a few paragraphs:

“A new Republican House bill proposes sweeping changes to US toxic chemical laws that would gut protections for consumers, workers and the environment, public health advocates mobilizing against the legislation warn.

Among other changes to the Toxic Substance Control Act (TSCA), the bill would limit the type of science that is used to determine health risks, stop legally requiring the Environmental Protection Agency to ensure chemicals won’t harm people, give industry a prominent role in chemical review processes, and make it more difficult legally for the agency to ban toxic substances.

Congress in 2016 strengthened TSCA and the bill, drafted by Republican Alabama congressman Gary Palmer, would reverse many of those changes. Industry has been attacking the law for the last nine years and is seizing an opportunity to attempt to gut it with the GOP fully in charge of the federal government, said Daniel Savery, an attorney with the Earthjustice legal nonprofit, which is among hundreds of groups organizing against the proposal.

‘Industry has said it has a ‘historic opportunity’ to revise TSCA, or gut it, as we believe it to be,’ Savery said. ‘It’ll be interesting to see what shade of lipstick they’re going to put on this pig to sell it to their constituents, who are rightly concerned about the prevalence of toxic chemicals in food, water, soil, and everywhere else.’

The legislative assault on TSCA coincides with a flurry of rule changes within the EPA that also seek to weaken chemical oversight. Donald Trump campaigned on cleaning up the nation’s water and food supply, a priority for the Robert F Kennedy Jr-led Maha movement that helped propel the president to office.”

To be brutally frank, the incumbent president ran as a populist president, but the only groups of people he favors are the oligarchy, the petro-chemical industry and his major funders. The common person matters very little to this incumbent. Sadly, this bill is a continuation of the incumbent president and his followers taking the teeth out of environmental restrictions. Coupling these kinds of laws with appointed judges who often rule against class action suits, and our families and children are at risk. Trump followers shout out MAGA and wear hats/ shirts with that saying, but the MAGA slogan truly applies only to the haves, not the have nots.

Why Venezuela or Greenland?

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Per The Guardian, “Big oil spent a stunning $445m throughout the last election cycle to influence Donald Trump and Congress, a new analysis has found.

That figure includes funding from January 2023 and November 2024 for political donations, lobbying and advertising to support elected officials and specific policies. Because it does not include money funneled through dark-money groups – which do not have to reveal their donors – it is almost certainly a vast understatement, says the report from green advocacy group Climate Power, which is based on campaign finance disclosures and advertising industry data.”

I had read the figure $1 billion as an approximation of the oil industry funding to Republicans, but that may or may not be true. With Citizens United (one of SCOTUS’ more awful decisions), the industry can clandestinely fund as much as they like. Since this industry garners significant concessions from legislators, (and have for a very long time) they will likely be getting a return on investment. They even fund some to Democrats to cover their bases.

So, if one wonders why the incumbent president attacked Venezuela and talks about Greenland, it is all about what lues beneath ground. Oil, natural gas, rare earth metals, et al are desired. Our history is one of making political decisions are funders want us to do. One of the more famous ones is deposing Iran’s elected leader in 1953, and facilitating the rise to power of the US friendly Shah of Iran. Iranis have largely detested Americans since that time.

The Iran regime change was not right then, nor is the action in Venezuela. But, doing the right thing is not in the president’s list of priorities. Neither is doing things the right way.

Forever chemical polluters may get an exemption

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Money makes the world go around. Money also winds up in politicians’ campaign coffers and pockets. Fossil fuel and petrochemical money has been a major funder of the incumbent president and the Republican party. And, yes some money winds up in Democrat pockets as the industries play both ends against the middle.

With this context, an article by Tom Perkins in The Guardian called “Republicans aim to exempt major polluters from Pfas cleanup costs” should be heeded. The subheading tells more: “Water treatment and landfill companies given chance to make case that EPA rules should not apply to them.”

Here are a few paragraphs: “Republicans are attempting to exempt some major polluters from paying for Pfas ‘forever chemical’ cleanup. If successful, it could mark a major setback in US effort to rein in Pfas pollution.

The Republican-led House energy and commerce committee recently held a hearing at which it invited representatives from the water treatment and landfill industries, among others, to make the case about why they should be exempted from rules that hold polluters financially accountable for the cleanup of two types of dangerous Pfas.”

They call these chemicals “forever” because they never leave the body. They cause cancer and other maladies. In the movie “Dark Waters” about Dupont knowingly poisoning neighbors and employees by exposure to the pfa’s used in Teflon, the attorney Robert Bilott who fought them led the largest study of its kind of about 6,000 people proving a causal relationship between Dupont’s plant and people’s health problems. Sadly, there are more stories including how Marines and their families were poisoned at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina for decades due to water polluted with pfa’s.

The industries use their money to hide that they are exposing people to toxic waste that won’t go away. What bothers me about these stories is the companies knew they were doing this. They just did not want you to know. We should not have to rely on heroes like Bilott, Erin Brockovich and Sandra Steingraber to get justice for the unfortunate folks who are exposed. Bilott used to represent companies, but was fed up with their arrogant lying to protect their image. His health and marriage suffered because of this fight and Dupont reneged on paying damages after the study proved culpability – so Bilott won several successive court cases against Dupont before they settled for about $300 plus million.

Just to show this is serious business, former VP Dick Cheney (a former fracking executive) wrote the 2005 Energy Act which gave frackers a hall pass with the Clean Air Act and Safe Drinking Water Act. Now, why would he do that if fracking was so safe? We should not forget communities in Pennsylvania who could light their water on fire due to contamination from a fracking site nearby. Or, communities in West Virginia whose water was also contaminated.

These companies do NOT want you to know they are causing harm. So, they pay politicians to look the other way. Don’t let them. They are NOT on the side of the angels on this. These politicians represent you, even if they are in the White House. Please remind them of that.



Trump throws more money away canceling five wind energy projects

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A headline by Oliver Milman in The Guardian called “Trump officials halt offshore wind-farm projects over ‘national security risks’” is yet another attempt by Trump to stop renewable energy development to benefit his fossil fuel funders. The subheading adds “Interior department move affects five projects under construction in latest blow to industry targeted by Trump.”


Here are a few paragraphs: “The Trump administration has said it is immediately pausing all leases for offshore wind farms already under construction, in the heaviest blow yet to an industry that the administration has relentlessly targeted throughout the year.

Trump’s Department of the Interior said that it was halting the building of five wind projects due to ‘national security risks’. The department said it would work with the US Department of Defense to mitigate the risk of the wind turbine towers creating radar interference called ‘clutter’ that could in some way hamper the US military.

…All of the projects were reviewed and approved under Joe Biden’s administration, which found there were no undue national security concerns raised by the developments. Democrats have pointed to two assessments by the Pentagon of Revolution Wind that found the project ‘would not have adverse impacts to DoD missions in the area.’

Wind developers and regional grid operators have warned that Trump’s attack upon offshore wind will cost billions of dollars in investment, thousands of jobs, and a new supply of clean electricity that will help prop up grids facing heightened new power demand from the rapid advance of artificial intelligence.”

This is one more example of the incumbent making up his own story to align with a decision he wants to make. He has long had it against wind mills since he lost personal law suits trying to stop them. He has long contended they devalue his golf course investment. Investment is an interesting term as Trump is stopping investment in projects underway which are beneficial to the communities and the people therein.

Let me add one more thought. Before Trump became president in 2016, the US Department of Defense said climate change is one of the greatest risks to national security. They commented their concern over the number of bases and ports that would be impacted by rising seas not to mention the need to resettle people living on coasts. Wind energy is a way to combat this. Speaking of national security risks, to me Trump is one of the greatest global risks to our planet, not wind mills.

When the law works for people

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The following is an item from Jeff Jackson, the North Carolina Attorney General’s email newsletter. Some of you may remember Jackson as a US Congressman.

“Big win for our state to tell you about.

Here’s what happened:

Back in July, I stood at a sewage pump station in Hillsborough that had just flooded during a tropical storm. Millions of gallons of sewage spilled into the river.

What made this especially frustrating was that this same station had already been approved by FEMA for funding to fix the problem. FEMA had selected it for a grant to move the station up a hill so it wouldn’t flood again.

Then FEMA canceled the money.

And this wasn’t an isolated case. FEMA had pulled the plug on 60 water and sewer projects across North Carolina – projects it had already approved.Overnight, our state was set to lose $200 million in infrastructure funding.

So we took FEMA to court – and we just won.

Our argument was straightforward: this wasn’t FEMA’s money to cancel. When Congress gave FEMA these funds, it was very clear the funds had to be spent on water and sewer projects in disaster-prone areas. Congress basically said, ‘Here’s money for a specific program that we want you to administer.’ That meant FEMA didn’t have the authority to cancel the program entirely, which is what it did.

The court agreed with us – strongly. So strongly, in fact, that we won at the summary judgment level.

What does that mean?

It means the court essentially said, ‘Before we even go to trial, the evidence here is so strong that we believe there’s no way FEMA can prove that it didn’t break the law, so we’re making a decision without having to go through a full trial – and FEMA needs to pay what it owes.’

A huge thanks to our team at NCDOJ who took this case on and delivered a result that will make a difference for dozens of communities. A big win to lift our spirits as we head into the holidays.”

This is what an Attorney General does to make sure the law works for people as opposed to what the US Attorney General does on behalf of the illicit acting president. This is not the only time the incumbent president has broken the law. The fact it was so obvious a summary judgment was used is telling.