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ValleyWatch
Protecting Public Health and Environment of the lower Ohio River Valley
Introduction-Protecting your health and environment
Coal to Synfuels Primer
Ethanol News
Ozone Standard Tool Kit
Environmental and Health News
Environmental Health Resources
Environmental Organizations
Report finds Coal-to-Liquids and Oil Shale pose significant financial and environmental risks to investors
06 Nature Photo Album
Evansville, IN Photo Album
Forest Council Photo Album
Barbra Streisand releases "Don't Lie to Me" video attacking Trump
Posted on October 13, 2018 by John Blair
October 13, 2018 – By Barbra Streisand
A layman's utility primer
October 8, 2018-Now You Know with Zac and Jesse
On today's episode of "In Depth" Zac & Jesse talk about the overwhelming support by the public for going 100% renewable, and the what your utility isn't telling you. Please consider supporting us on Patreon. We have some pledge rewards you may be interested in, so go check that out. Now You Know! #nowyouknow #renewableenergy #tesla
Air pollution causes 'huge' reduction in intelligence, study reveals
Posted on August 28, 2018 by John Blair
August 28, 2108 – by Damian Carrington and Lily Kuo in the Guardian
Impact of high levels of toxic air 'is equivalent to having lost a year of education'
Air pollution causes a "huge" reduction in intelligence, according to new research, indicating that the damage to society of toxic air is far deeper than the well-known impacts on physical health.
The research was conducted in China but is relevant across the world, with 95% of the global population breathing unsafe air. It found that high pollution levels led to significant drops in test scores in language and arithmetic, with the average impact equivalent to having lost a year of the person's education.
"Polluted air can cause everyone to reduce their level of education by one year, which is huge," said Xi Chen at Yale School of Public Health in the US, a member of the research team. "But we know the effect is worse for the elderly, especially those over 64, and for men, and for those with low education. If we calculate [the loss] for those, it may be a few years of education.
Previous research has found that air pollution harms cognitive performance in students, but this is the first to examine people of all ages and the difference between men and women.
The damage in intelligence was worst for those over 64 years old, with serious consequences, said Chen: "We usually make the most critical financial decisions in old age." Rebecca Daniels, from the UK public health charity Medact, said: "This report's findings are extremely worrying."
Air pollution causes seven million premature deaths a year but the harm to people's mental abilities is less well known. A recent study found toxic air was linked to "extremely high mortality" in people with mental disordersand earlier work linked it to increased mental illness in children, while another analysis found those living near busy roads had an increased risk of dementia.
The new work, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, analysed language and arithmetic tests conducted as part of the China Family Panel Studies on 20,000 people across the nation between 2010 and 2014. The scientists compared the test results with records of nitrogen dioxide and sulphur dioxide pollution.
They found the longer people were exposed to dirty air, the bigger the damage to intelligence, with language ability more harmed than mathematical ability and men more harmed than women. The researchers said this may result from differences in how male and female brains work.
Derrick Ho, at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, said the impact of air pollution on cognition was important and his group had similar preliminary findings in their work. "It is because high air pollution can potentially be associated with oxidative stress, neuroinflammation, and neurodegeneration of humans," he said.
Chen said air pollution was most likely to be the cause of the loss of intelligence, rather than simply being a correlation. The study followed the same individuals as air pollution varied from one year to the next, meaning that many other possible causal factors such as genetic differences are automatically accounted for. Continue reading →
Posted in Uncategorized	| Tagged air pollution, Air Toxics, Coal, cognitive ability, fine particles, Human development, intelligence, Special education	| Leave a comment
Billions At Stake: Should We Invest In Struggling Power Plants Or Communities Facing Closures?
August 23, 2018 – by Sonia Aggarwal in Forbes. Editor's note: Coal-fired power plants in the Tri-State are experiencing similar issues in that they cannot compete in the marketplace of producing electricity due to a variety of economic and physical factors. None are less than 30 years old (Rockport 2 came online in 1988) and none were projected to have life over 40 years when built. Duke, Vectren, AEP, Big Rivers, IPL, Alcoa and TVA are all facing the same problem.
FirstEnergy Solutions' coal and nuclear power plants are facing serious economic challenges, along with the workers and communities that depend on them, and are hoping for a billion-dollar annual bailout from the Trump Administration.
The company filed a deactivation notice for three of their power plants in March, just submitted closure plans for those plants to the federal government, and filed for bankruptcy this spring – calling into question the future of at least three more power plants that are exposed to the competitive market.
New research shows FirstEnergy would be the recipient of an estimated $2 billion in subsidies over just two years if the Trump Administration's coal and nuclear bailout becomes reality . They'd be kept online through payments that contradict market economics, but the fundamental economics causing their distress won't change. And when these funds do dry up, the power plant workers and host communities facing economic distress would be right back where they are today – wondering what comes next after power plants close.
Perry Nuclear Power Plant, Unit 1, one of the FirstEnergy nuclear plants in danger of closingNUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION ON FLICKR
So what if instead of using billions to bail out FirstEnergy and other big power plant owners for a couple of years, funds were redirected to help communities with power plants that can no longer compete in power markets? What if those funds went to communities—rather than a few power plant owners —to support the inevitable transition, diversifying local economies and creating a longer-lasting solution?
The new reality of energy economics means coal and nuclear can't compete
Fast-falling clean energy costs are making many old power plants around the country unable to compete. Coal and nuclear are now more expensive than alternatives like natural gas, wind energy, and solar power in regional power markets designed to avoid expensive options and cut customer costs.
Natural gas prices are near the lowest they've been in 15 years, solar and wind power costs dropped below those of building coal and nuclear power in 2017, renewable energy costs are forecast to keep falling through 2050 while the cost of operating coal and nuclear plants keeps climbing due to needed upgrades as plants age.
Posted in Uncategorized	| Tagged AEP, Big Rivers, Coal, Duke Energy, Indiana coal, IPL, Kentucky coal, nuclear, obsolete coal plants, TVA, Vectren	| Leave a comment
UPDATE: Bucolic Indiana town to become mega industrial center
August 22, 2019 – by John Blair, Valley Watch president and editor of valleywatch.net
The State of Indiana did issue an air pollution and construction permit for the facility in the Spring. Valley Watch and Southwestern Indiana Citizens for Quality of Life have formally challenged the permit using the national environmental law firm, EarthJustice to represent us.
We remain confident that this plant will never be built due to its questionable economics and the fact that the sponsors seem not to understand exactly how to finance it, let alone build and operate it. In fact, Riverview Energy and LincolnLand Economic Development Corp both have failed to have any public forums where citizens can attend for free to ask questions of the sponsors.
A hearing was held at Heritage Hills High School last December where 47 people spoke in opposition to the proposal while only seven people, mostly those who promote economic development, spoke in favor. That did not deter the Indiana Department of Environmental Management from issuing a permit.
Every few years someone pursuing a "get rich quick" scheme comes up with an idea to use coal as a feedstock for other forms of energy like liquid or gaseous fuels. In my forty some years as an Evansville resident, there have been more than a dozen of these ploys proposed for using coal in the Illinois Basin.
Only one has been built.
That was the financial disaster at Edwardsport proposed in 2004 by Duke Energy to cost $1.4 Billion and would be "Carbon Capture Ready." Yes, today that plant is operating but at a level no where near what Duke claimed it would when they persuaded a proven corrupt Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission in 2007 to give them authority to spend $1.985 Billion to build a 630 Megawatt "Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) plant they promised would operate at greater than 80% efficiency. Duke, not only had their hands in ratepayer pockets, they also had $133 million in Federal Income Tax Credits.
Today, that plant has failed using nearly every criteria, especially regarding its cost which the IURC has allowed to increase to a whopping $4.5+ Billion lemon, that leaves Duke's ratepayers holding the bag for at least $3.65 Billion. And it is nowhere near capturing any of the voluminous Carbon Dioxide that is contributing to climate change. If Duke had captured CO2, that would have raised the capital cost for the plant by an additional 50% and also cut the efficiency of the plant another 25-40% by consuming that much of the power the plant was designed to produce.
At about the same time Duke was making its pitch, calling Edwardsport, "clean coal," another proposal was announced by then Governor, Mitch Daniels for Rockport, a town that was already one of the dirtiest communities on Earth for Toxic Emissions (approximately 30,000,000 pounds, according to USEPA's Toxic Release Inventory at that time).
It was called Indiana Gasification (IGLLC) and sponsored by a financial holding company named Leucadia National. Like Duke, they hoped to cash in on the generosity of Federal and State governments. The Feds were ready to give them a Department of Energy Loan Guarantee of $2.8 Billion to pursue their dream of riches. And the State of Indiana gave them their biggest plum, legislation that made the State of Indiana their only customer buying all the syngas produced by the plant but then would force Indiana residential and commercial customers (not industrial customers, of course) to buy the syngas from the state at a massive premium just for the honor of getting our home heating gas from coal.
Then indiana governor, Mitch Daniels gestures as he tries to explain why Hoosier residential gas consumers should pay a premium for the privilege of heating their homes from coal derived gas shortly after he signed a bill forcing them to do so. Looking on is the late Rockport Mayor, Nedra Groves. © 2009 John Blair
After following what I called the Communist Chinese "model of business," that plant was never able to reach financial and economic viability due to a variety of factors including cheap natural gas and loud protests from opponents like Valley Watch and the Citizens Action Coalition.
Finally, in 2014, Leucadia abandoned the project after I personally met with their CEO to discuss the enormous risks the company was taking even with all that taxpayer assistance.
But sadly, there is no shortage of stupid enrichment schemes for people when it comes to coal, especially around here, where in some circles, coal is God.
In 2010, a company of Connecticut carpetbaggers calling themselves Clean Coal Refining Corp. decided to exploit the hopes and dreams of economic development officials of Vermillion County, just north of Terre Haute. They promised a $3 Billion coal to diesel plant at the former US Army Newport Chemical Depot where deadly nerve gas had been stored since early in the 20thCentury for possible use in chemical warfare. Remote and secure, Clean Coal Refining took on another name Riverview Energy Corp. when it became apparent that coal refining was not the way to market a new project, even in coal friendly Indiana.
Once the name was changed sponsors promised Vermillion County officials the moon and more. After all, their project would be an economic panacea for the area, revitalizing a depressed section of the state. It gained full support of then Governor Daniels and his Lt. Governor, Becky Skillman who directed the State Center for Coal Technology Research at Purdue to provide support for the project.
But then, something went very wrong. Clean Coal Refining had optioned 1,500 acres of the Depot's 8,800 acre facility, promising a "feasibility study" of the process and proposal that would make financing of the project easy. But, the study was never made public and financing never materialized.
After six long years, in October 2015, the Depot's Reuse Authority decided they had had enough of the Connecticut's firm's empty promises and officially refused to renew Riverview Energy's option on the land, effectively shutting the project down.
Like most people hoping for large profit on small investment, Riverview went to the State of Indiana asking where else they might go to develop their ill-fated project. They were told to check out Spencer County that was already a heavily polluted venue that had a reputation for taking anything that promised jobs, big investment and lots of chemical emissions. They talked to LincolnLand Economic Development Corporation, which had sought not only the failed Indiana Gasification project, but also a more recently failed Ohio Valley Resources mega fertilizer plant.
In almost total secrecy, Riverview and LincolnLand set the stage for 512 acres of prime farmland to be annexed into the bucolic town of Dale for use in a scaled down $2.5 Billion project, that would nearly double the physical area of the town. Again, nearly secret meetings were held to negotiate the sale and annexation of the land for use by Riverview. But secrets are fairly hard to keep in a small town and as word filtered out about the secret meetings, town residents were skeptical of becoming home to a experimental project that had never been used commercially anywhere in the world using coal as a feedstock.
When the annexation was passed in August 2017, one of the town board members told a local resident that he voted on it even though he knew nothing about it or the process it would use.
That set off alarms for several residents who were already concerned with high levels of various diseases in the area, especially since this was an experimental technology at the proposed size not far from an elementary school.
It did not take long for Dale residents to organize a new grassroots group using the moniker NOC2D or No Coal to Diesel. They sponsored public forums and started posting yard signs all over the small community in direct defiance of the Town Board which still acts as if the plant's proposal is something that should remain as secret as possible.
LincolnLand and the sponsors pledged to hold their own public information forums in April but four months later have, at best, offered private, invitation only affairs where they control who attends and who asks questions. Continue reading →
Posted in Uncategorized	| Tagged Coal, coal to diesel, coal to liquids, Dale Indiana, Duke Energy, Governor Holcomb, Greg Merle, IDEM, Indiana, Indiana Gasification, Leucadia National, NOC2D, Riverview Energy, southwest Indiana	| 3 Comments
Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor joins Valley Watch in opposing huge Vectren rate increasing proposal
August 13, 2018- by John Blair, valley watch.net editor
Today, for perhaps the first time ever, the Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor came out against a proposal by Vectren Corporation that if approved by the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission would ultimately increase electric rates for southwest Indiana residential and commercial electric customers bills by nearly $1 billion.
While Valley Watch has fought for years for reduced usage of coal as an energy source, and was pleased when Vectren announced their intention to retire three coal units in the 2016 Integrated Resource Plan, we have had serious reservations about the sheer size and cost of their proposal build a giant natural gas facility at the AB Brown site in southeast Posey County at a cost to could cause significant economic harm to most of the residential and commercial customers.
Today's announcement by the OUCC sill surely set in motion a clash between Vectren, Valley Watch Citizen's Action Coalition and other intervenors as to the future of that plan.
OUCC Counselor, Bill Fine said in their announcement, "Any electric utility that seeks to overhaul its generation fleet today must evaluate all possible options. It must also carefully examine the ways its options would impact its customers in terms of both money and electric reliability. In this case Vectren has not evaluated all options or shown that that it is proceeding on the most prudent manner."
Source: Citizens Action Coalition
Earlier today, in a release sent out by the consumer watchdog, Citizens Action Coalition, Valley Watch president, John Blair asserted, "It is time for the IURC to finally step up, say no to Vectren, and deny this nearly one billion-dollar ratepayer rip-off. Vectren residential customers already pay the highest rates in Indiana. Ratepayers shouldn't be forced to subsidize alleged Vectren growth in the industrial sector. Why should residential customers subsidize industrial customers at all?"
Valley Watch, whose purpose is to "protect the public health and environment of the lower Ohio River Valley, is committed to fair, just rates for clean, safe energy. Currently, southwest Indiana and western Kentucky is home to nearly 15,000 megawatts off coal fired electric generating capacity that for decades has impacted the health of citizens of the region in very negative ways. All but around 4,000 of those megawatts are sent out of the region and that 4,000 serves to run the enormous electric needs of three of the USA's remaining eight aluminum smelters.
Alcoa Warrick Operations is the largest aluminum smelter in the US. It emitted more than 4 million pounds of toxic chemicals into the SW Indiana environment in 2009. © 2011 John Blair
Air pollution, water pollution and land pollution from these giant facilities permeate our environment and will have negative impacts for the region for years after they cease operation.
IEEFA update: Duke Energy's costly Edwardsport coal-gasification project continues to underperform
Posted on August 1, 2018 by John Blair
August 1, 2018-by David Schlissel in IEEFA News Editor's Note: Valley Watch has steadfastly opposed this plant since it's conception offering sage testimony at the original CPCN hearing in Bloomington in 2007.
Duke Energy's 5-year-old gasified coal power experiment in Edwardsport, Ind., has turned out to be a catastrophe for ratepayers.
Duke Energy's Edwardsport plant has been a financial disaster for Hoosier ratepayers.
That's the main conclusion of the testimony I submitted yesterday to the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission on the plant, which was sold at the outset as a cost-effective integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) project that burns gasified coal, or syngas.
The all-in cost of power from the plant, including financing costs and profits for Duke, averaged $145 per megawatt-hour (MWh) over the 55 months from its opening in June 2013 through December 2017, according to the latest available data. And that doesn't include the $397 million Duke collected from Indiana ratepayers for the plant even before it went into service.
Market prices, by comparison, averaged $32 per MWh over the same period.
This means that Duke's ratepayers paid in excess of $1.4 billion more for power from Edwardsport than they would have spent to purchase the same energy and capacity from the competitive wholesale markets in the 15-state region encompassing the grid managed by Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO).
Edwardsport will continue to burden ratepayers unless the commission takes some strong action.
A plant that by any empirical measure has fallen well short of expectations—and will most likely continue to do so.
My testimony explains how it is unreasonable—given Edwardsport's high O&M expenses—to expect that the plant will produce a net economic benefit for ratepayers at any time in the foreseeable future. Indeed, Edwardsport is likely to become even more of an economic problem for Duke's Indiana ratepayers as now-entrenched market trends persist.
Natural gas prices are expected to remain low, and design and technological improvements are driving down the costs of competing wind and solar resources. As more natural gas-fired generators and more wind and solar renewable resources are added to the MISO grid, Edwardsport will become even less economically viable. Two forces in particular are working against the plant: The fact that market prices can be expected to remain low, if not decline over time, and the likelihood that generation from Edwardsport will be displaced by lower-cost wind and solar energy.
BY ANY EMPIRICAL MEASURE, EDWARDSPORT'S OPERATING PERFORMANCE HAS FALLEN WELL SHORT of what Duke promised the Indiana commission it would be when the company sought permission to build it. Those metrics include heat rate, capacity factor, equivalent forced outage rate and availability of syngas.
And by any forward-looking empirical measure, the plant's performance, especially on syngas, should not be expected to improve significantly at any time in the foreseeable future.
Edwardsport is faltering persistently on several fronts:
The plant continues to lose a significant portion of its potential generation due to gasifier equipment problems, which explain its extremely poor 40% capacity factor on syngas during its first 55 months of operations, far below the 79 percent average capacity factor projected by Duke.
The plant continues to consume large amounts of power just to operate onsite equipment (known as "parasitic loads") and is often shut down due to unanticipated problems or forced to operate at less than full power.
The plant's heat rate, a measure of the efficiency with which it burns fuel, continues to be extremely high, meaning the plant must burn more fuel to produce the same power. This increases the fuel costs that ratepayers must bear.
The plant has had to be shut down for extended maintenance outages in the spring and fall of each of the last few years, a pattern that is expected to continue.
Duke has been unable to offer into the MISO markets the plant's maximum output of either 618 MW during the non-summer months or 595 MW during the summer months.
EDWARDSPORT, IN SHORT, HAS OPERATED UNRELIABLY AND IS ENORMOUSLY EXPENSIVE TO RUN, with total operating and maintenance costs alone averaging $60 per MWh since it opened.
Its core problem, in technical terms, is that it is uneconomical unless both trains of its gasification plant operate as intended, in tandem, with both of its combustion turbines and its steam turbine producing electricity at a net capacity factor averaging 82% or more when operating on syngas. It is operating at barely half that factor.
By common regulatory standards, the plant simply cannot be considered fully "used and useful" as an integrated gasification combined cycle power plant due to its poor performance and excessive costs. The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission, as a result, should strictly limit the plant's operating and maintenance costs that Duke can pass along to ratepayers, thereby assuring that they pay only reasonable prices for the electricity, and only for power they actually receive from Edwardsport.
David Schlissel is IEEFA's director of resource planning development.
Full testimony to Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission
Posted in Uncategorized	| Tagged Coal, Coal gasification, Duke Energy, IEEFA, Indiana ratepayers	| Leave a comment
Should a Cincinnati-based, multi-state commission eliminate its standards for Ohio River pollution?
Posted on July 12, 2018 by John Blair
July 11, 2018, by Nick Swartsell in (Cincinnati) City Beat. For seven decades, the Ohio River Water Sanitation Commission has overseen the health of the roughly 1,000-mile-long waterway that provides drinking water to more than 5 million people. But it may soon shed many of its pollution standards.
Recreational use of the Ohio River is often overlooked by decision makers when it comes to water quality. Now, some fundamental protections for recreational users may be taken away by the very multi-state Commission that is supposed to protect us. Photo © 2014 BlairPhotoEVV
Two decades before the Environmental Protection Agency, an eight-state commission looked out for the health of the nearly 1,000-mile stretch of water that defines Cincinnati and provides more than five million people with drinking water. But it could soon walk back from a key part of that role.
Residents of Greater Cincinnati and elsewhere will get to weigh in later this month as the Ohio River Valley Sanitation Commission, or ORSANCO, takes final steps to back away from many of its pollution control standards it has provided states along the river.
A majority of the commission says many of the standards are redundant — rules from federal and state agencies are currently keeping water quality in the river at the level ORSANCO wants to see independent of its criteria. But critics of the proposal say a significant number of the standards aren't duplicated by federal or state agencies and that the commission needs to continue doing everything it can to ensure water quality, especially as the Trump administration works to roll back environmental regulations.
The commission began a regular review process of its standards back in January with an ad-hoc committee and calls for public input. Now, before the commission formally adopts its rollback on pollution standards, it is holding another round of public input, including a public hearing July 26 at the Holiday Inn near Cincinnati International Airport in Erlanger, Kentucky.
Formed in 1948, Cincinnati-based ORSANCO has worked to make the Ohio River clean and safe in part by setting standards for the maximum levels of various pollutants in the river. The commission's standards have long been used by states to ensure that the Ohio River is clean enough for recreation, drinking and other uses.
But now commissioners say that the federal EPA, founded in 1970, the 1972 federal Clean Water Act and state environmental agencies have made those standards redundant.
"The commission is considering this because, the thought is, with the robust state programs and the U.S. EPA's program, there are better uses of our resources than really having a potentially redundant third layer of standards," ORSANCO Executive Director Richard Harrison told WVXU earlier this year. "Our compact is not changing. I'm confident that our commission is not going to move forward with something that will harm the water quality of the Ohio River."
Some environmental groups, and a minority of the commission, however, strongly disagree. Some commissioners with ORSANCO have expressed "grave concern" with the move and argue that eliminating the body's standards when it comes to ambient levels of various pollutants can only hinder efforts to maintain and improve the river's health.
Recreational use of the Ohio River could be jeopardized if all pollution standards for the River are given to the various states. Indiana and Kentucky have both shown lax enforcement of standards in the past and ORTSANCO currently provides an extra layer of protection for water quality standards. Photo© 2016 BlairPhotoEVV
"ORSANCO, as a federally-sanctioned compact among several signatory states, possesses a degree of insulation from the vagaries of the political process, and is able to research, develop, propose and adopt standards tailored to the specific needs of the river in an atmosphere that stresses sound science and data-driven policy," dissenting commissioners said in their minority report opposing the elimination of the rules.
The minority cited recent moves by Congress and the Trump administration that they say raise concerns about commitment to environmental protection. The elimination of the federal Stream Protection Rule and proposals by the EPA to revise guidelines for what counts as protected bodies of water, they say, "reflect that the standards and scope of the Clean Water Act and regulations adopted pursuant to that Act are neither static, nor necessarily as broad or protective, as might be needed to address the specific needs of the Ohio River Basin."
There are roughly 600 permitted companies and other groups discharging into the Ohio River. The federal Clean Water Act, administered by the EPA, recommends maximum levels of pollutants these entities are allowed to discharge. States, however, make their own standards, which the EPA then approves. Continue reading →
Posted in Uncategorized	| Tagged Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio RIver, pollution, Pollution standards, Recreational boating.	| 1 Comment
Offshore Wind opposed by Trump begins producing power
Posted on July 3, 2018 by John Blair
July 3, 2018 – by Climate Action
A major offshore wind farm has generated its first units of electricity, despite the best efforts of the President of the United States.
The wind farm, located 1.5 miles off the Aberdeenshire coast, is fully visible from a golf course owned by Donald Trump
The US President fought the wind farm's construction for years, complaining that it would ruin the views from his luxury development. After losing every court case, including at both Scotland and the UK's highest courts, the President accepted defeat in December 2015.
Since then the wind farm has been constructed in double-quick time, with developers Vattenfall reportedly overcoming major engineering challenges to reach first power last week.
The project, officially called the European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre (EOWDC), is designed to test innovations in the offshore wind sector, and is part funded by the European Union. The wind farm consists of 11 huge turbines with a maximum height of 190 metres, more than twice the size of the Statue of Liberty. Two of the machines are rated at 8.8 megawatts, making them the world's most powerful turbines at the moment.
Scottish Government Energy Minister, Paul Wheelhouse, said: "This is a very significant milestone…I congratulate the project team at Vattenfall for not only a successful installation but also their achievement in generating electricity from the world's most powerful offshore wind turbines which, with each rotation, will generate enough energy to power a home for 24 hours."
Jean Morrison, chair of Aberdeen Renewable Energy Group added: "The timescale between the first installation and first power is remarkable. The techniques and innovations developed at the EOWDC will be hugely significant for the industry and should help to reduce the future costs of offshore wind. As energy demand grows, we need to maximise the returns from our natural resources and offshore wind can help us do that."
Photo Credit: Vattenfall
Posted in Uncategorized	| Tagged Scotland, Stupid, Trump, wind power	| Leave a comment
Trump Prepares Lifeline for Money-Losing Coal Plants
Posted on June 1, 2018 by John Blair
May 31, 2018 – By Jennifer Dlouhy in Bloomberg News
AEP's Rockport power plant has become uneconomic to operate of late but since it uses coal, a plan by the Energy Department is designed to use a World War 2 era regulation to make sure that it keeps operating even if it requires higher rates for customers just so Trump can keep his campaign promise to revive the coal industry. Photo © 2003 BlairPhotoEVV.
Trump administration officials are making plans to order grid operators to buy electricity from struggling coal and nuclear plants in an effort to extend their life, a move that could represent an unprecedented intervention into U.S. energy markets.
The Energy Department would exercise emergency authority under a pair of federal laws to direct the operators to purchase electricity or electric generation capacity from at-risk facilities, according to a memo obtained by Bloomberg News. The agency also is making plans to establish a "Strategic Electric Generation Reserve" with the aim of promoting the national defense and maximizing domestic energy supplies.
[Read the memo here]
"Federal action is necessary to stop the further premature retirements of fuel-secure generation capacity," says a 41-page draft memo circulated before a National Security Council meeting on the subject Friday.
The plan cuts to the heart of a debate over the reliability and resiliency of a rapidly evolving U.S. electricity grid. Nuclear and coal-fired power plants are struggling to compete against cheap natural gas and renewable electricity. As nuclear and coal plants are decommissioned, regulators have been grappling with how to ensure that the nation's power system can withstand extreme weather events and cyber-attacks
Although the memo describes a planned Energy Department directive, there was no indication President Donald Trump had signed off on the action nor when any order might be issued. The document, dated May 29 and distributed Thursday, is marked as a "draft," which is "not for further distribution," and could be used by administration officials to justify the intervention.
While administration officials are still deciding on their final strategy — and may yet decide against aggressive action — the memo represents the Energy Department's latest, most fully developed plan to intervene on behalf of coal and nuclear power plants, pitched to the president's top security advisers.
Energy Department representatives did not respond to an emailed request for comment.
Always-On
Trump administration officials who advocate taking action say they want to preserve nuclear and coal-fired plants that have fuel on site and provide reliable, always-on power capable of snapping back after intense storms and emergencies.
"Too many of these fuel-secure plants have retired prematurely and many more have recently announced retirement," only to be replaced by less-secure, less-resilient natural gas and renewable power sources, the memo said.
Over dozens of pages, the memo makes the case for action, arguing that the decommissioning of power plants must be managed for national security reasons and that federal intervention is necessary before the U.S. reaches a tipping point in the loss of essential, secure electric generation resources. U.S. Defense Department installations are 99 percent dependent on the commercial power grid, one reason that electric system reliability is vitally important to national defense and homeland security, the memo asserts.
For two years, the Energy Department would direct the purchase of power or electric generation capacity from a designated list of facilities "to forestall any future actions toward retirement, decommissioning or deactivation," according to the memo. The proposed Energy Department directive also would tell some of those facilities to continue generating and delivering electric power according to their existing or recent contracts with utilities. Continue reading →
Money pit or fuel hedge? In Midwest, it depends on who is paying
Posted on May 25, 2018 by John Blair
May 25, 2018 – by Jeffrey Tomich, E&E News. Editors note: Valley Watch, along with the Citizens Action Coalition, Save the Valley and the Hoosier Environmental Council, collaborating as the Indiana Clean Energy campaign worked tirelessly in the early years of this century to shut down the Clifty Creek facility that sits on the western edge of Madison, IN. We knew they were going to have to place controls for both Nitrogen Oxides and Sulfur Dioxide which would cost billions and it was our position then that this was money being wasted. But because all the owners, Including Vectren and Duke had their hands in ratepayer pockets, both Democrat and Republican Administrations in Indiana allowed them to go forth. This story shows how our predictions were, once again, correct.
When FirstEnergy Solutions Corp. sought bankruptcy protection this spring, included in the avalanche of legal filings was a motion to exit a partnership that runs a pair of 1950s-era coal plants on the Ohio River.
Clifty Creek power plant sits adjacent to Clifty Falls State Park, just outside Madison, IN. It serves no current useful purpose except to keep rates its owners charge higher than they need to be. File Photo © 2009 BlairPhotoEVV
The reason was clear: The 1,304-megawatt Clifty Creek plant in Indiana and the 1,086-MW Kyger Creek plant in Ohio are bleeding red ink and are a barrier to the financial turnaround of FES. Backing the plea was analysis from an expert, ICF International Inc. Managing Director Judah Rose, who forecast the company's tiny stake in the venture would produce a $268 million loss over the life of an agreement to keep the plants running.A year earlier, Duke Energy Ohio submitted very different testimony concerning the same coal plants in another proceeding, this one before the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio.
In that case, Duke asked regulators to require the utility's 700,000 electric customers in southwest Ohio to subsidize the plants on the basis that they provided a hedge against volatile, rising natural gas prices.
Backing up Duke's request was testimony from an industry expert: ICF's Judah Rose.
How can two companies tell a federal judge that the 60-year-old coal plants are a financial albatross and simultaneously argue to utility regulators that the plants are a good investment for consumers? And rely on the work of the same consultant? The answer depends on who's paying the bill.
Unlike industries vulnerable to disruptors such as Amazon.com Inc. and Uber Technologies Inc., electric utilities — even those in deregulated markets like Ohio — continue to press lawmakers and regulators to shield them from competition. And they're doing so by playing on fears that letting plants shut down will lead to a shortage that will result in a price shock — or, worse yet, the lights going out.
Ezra Hausman, an electric industry consultant who has analyzed the plants' economics, has a simpler explanation.
"They made a bad bet and they don't want to live with the consequences," said Hausman, a former vice president at Synapse Energy Economics Inc., who prepared a report on the plants for the Sierra Club last year.
So far, two Ohio utilities, American Electric Power Co.'s Ohio utility and Dayton Power and Light Co., have gotten approval from Ohio regulators to subsidize the plants in the name of stabilizing consumer rates until at least 2024.
Those decisions are being appealed. The Office of the Ohio Consumers' Counsel is challenging the AEP order at the Ohio Supreme Court, and environmental groups have asked PUCO to reopen the Dayton Power and Light case. The Duke request is still pending.
Other disputes involving the same troubled plants are playing out before the Ohio Legislature and state Supreme Court, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and the U.S. bankruptcy court.
Meanwhile, the group of seven Midwest utilities and electric cooperatives say they are contractually bound to run the money-losing plants for another two decades, until 2040, when each will be 85 years old.
Patriotic origin
Claudine Hellmuth/E&E News
The two plants weren't always controversial. In fact, they were built to support the federal government during the Cold War — a bit of history that utilities continue to play up a half-century later.
The plants are operated by a utility consortium known as OVEC, or the Ohio Valley Electric Corp. The group includes a handful of investor-owned utilities as well as two generating and transmission cooperatives.
The companies run the plants according to terms of an intercompany power agreement, under which each "sponsor" company shares in the plants' output and costs according to their ownership interest. The largest owner is Columbus-based AEP, which has about 40 percent interest through three utilities.
OVEC was founded in the early 1950s to supply power to the Atomic Energy Commission's uranium enrichment plant in Piketon, Ohio. For 50 years, they quietly served that purpose until the plant closed and the contract with the AEC's successor agency, the Department of Energy, ended in 2003.
The end of the relationship included a $97.5 million "termination payment" by DOE to OVEC to cover uncollected post-retirement and plant closure costs. Continue reading →
Mad as Hell
May 23, 2018 – Peter Finch in the MGM movie Network, 1976
42 years after the movie Network ran in theaters across America, we are now living its reality. Just watch and see how prophetic this movie was.
The Decline Of U.S. Coal Power Looks A Lot Like Henderson, Kentucky
May 22, 2018 – by Ryan Van Velzer, WFPL-Lousiville.
Henderson Plant 2 is part of this complex on the Green River near Sebree, KY. In the background you can see the Alcoa and Vectren's Culley power plants. File Photo © 2011 BlairPhotoEVV
Henderson, Kentucky's coal-fired power plant provided among the lowest electricity rates in the country for its residents just two years ago, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
But the country's energy grid is undergoing a transformation and market forces are pushing older coal-fired power plants like Henderson's into retirement, while alternatives like wind, solar and natural gas are taking its place.
For most of the last 50 years, Henderson — a small city on the Ohio River — has run on coal power. The coal is locally sourced: all of it comes from Western Kentucky coal fields from within a 30 miles radius, said Henderson Mayor Steve Austin.
"I grew up within a few blocks of the power plant. Plus, we had a coal burning furnace in the apartment house that we lived in and when you'd go out to your car it would have coal dust all over it," Austin said. "It would blow off once you drove, but the coal dust was every place in the downtown area."
The coal is burning a lot cleaner these days, but it's not burning as often. In the last six months, Henderson began purchasing most its electricity on the open market, only turning on the plant generators when necessary, said Austin.
The city is kind of unique in that it owns its own power plant, Station Two, which went online in the early 1970s. Historically, it's provided some of the cheapest electricity in the state.
The city pays the power company Big Rivers to operate Station Two. But earlier this month, Big Rivers cut its contract with the city, saying it was no longer profitable for it to keep running the plant.
Henderson historically has taken its cut of the power for the city and left Big Rivers to sell the rest on the open market. But right now, it costs about 33 times more to produce energy from Station Two than it does to buy it on the open market.
Big Rivers spokeswoman Jennifer Keach said the power company was running at a loss for several years, so it did a study that found "Station Two units are no longer capable of normal, continuous reliable operation for the economically competitive production of electricity."
Now, Henderson has to decide whether it wants to continue running the plant without Big Rivers, or just close it down all together.
Coal Power In Decline
All across the country, older coal-fired power plants are retiring. Continue reading →
Arctic sea ice maximum at second lowest in the satellite record
Posted on March 27, 2018 by John Blair
March 27, 2018 – by Arctic Sea Ice News and Analysis – Arctic sea ice appears to have reached its annual maximum extent on March 17. This is the second lowest Arctic maximum in the 39-year satellite record. The four lowest maximum extents in the satellite record have all occurred in the past four years. NSIDC will post a detailed analysis of the 2017 to 2018 winter sea ice conditions in our regular monthly post in early April.
Overview of conditions
Figure 1. Arctic sea ice extent for March 17, 2018 was 14.48 million square kilometers (5.59 million square miles). The orange line shows the 1981 to 2010 average extent for that day. Sea Ice Index data. About the data
Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center
High-resolution image
On March 17, 2018, Arctic sea ice likely reached its maximum extent for the year, at 14.48 million square kilometers (5.59 million square miles), the second lowest in the 39-year satellite record, falling just behind 2017. This year's maximum extent is 1.16 million square kilometers (448,000 square miles) below the 1981 to 2010 average maximum of 15.64 million square kilometers (6.04 million square miles).
The four lowest seasonal maxima have all occurred during the last four years. The 2018 maximum is 60,000 square kilometers (23,200 square miles) above the record low maximum that occurred on March 7, 2017; 40,000 square kilometers (15,400 square miles) below the 2015 and 2016 maxima (now tied for third lowest); and is 190,000 square kilometers (73,400 square miles) below the 2011 maximum, which is now fifth lowest.
In March 2017, we reported a new record maximum being set, with 2016 sliding to the second lowest, and 2015 the third lowest. In November 2017, we updated our calculation of the monthly average sea ice extent in the NSIDC Sea Ice Index, resulting in 2016 tying with 2015.
The date of the maximum this year, March 17, was five days later than normal compared to the 1981 to 2010 median date of March 12. Continue reading →
Cambridge Analytica-Trump's Dirty Tricksters
March 20, 2018- Undercover with Channel 4 in the United Kingdom. An undercover investigation by Channel 4 News reveals how Cambridge Analytica secretly campaigns in elections across the world. Bosses were filmed talking about using bribes, ex-spies, fake IDs and sex workers. This two part video explains the nefarious underworld of politics in the USA and elsewhere.
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


This is a superb pair of early tongs by Nathaniel Smith & Co. of Sheffield. They are of a lovely shape with crisp and clear bright cut engraving. they also have beautiful clear hallmarks for Sheffield 1787. The question is - are they damaged??
The tongs were sold to me by a highly reputable dealer who was concerned that I would not want them because of the damage. In fact if you look very closely, you can see that the apparent damage are imperfections in the silver that have been there since the day the tongs were made. They are actually not perfect, however I would not class these tongs as damaged. They were originally made, and sold, in this condition.
You could never state that these tongs are in perfect condition, however I would argue that they are just as good as an apparently undamaged pair of tongs - as they are not repaired and in fact have not been damaged during their life-time. They were not made to perfection - and perhaps a good quality control process might have rejected them when they were made.
Should they be classed as damaged? I don't think so.
Should they still be valued the same as an "un-damaged" pair - well, perhaps not quite the same - but not far off.
Do click on the pictures to get a better, enlarged view of the marks.


MOVO enables you to "Instantly send and spend money right from your phone, even if you don't have a bank account". The CEO and co-founder, Eric Solis will be discussing the MOVO project with us in this interview.
My name is Eric Solis, founder and CEO of MovoCash, Inc.. I am a full stack entrepreneur, which means that I take out the trash, move desks and chairs, dust, I am good with a vacuum and know how to mop floors. I can do most of the other tasks required of a CEO as well.
2) What is MovoCash, Inc.?
MovoCash, Inc. is a digital payments company that specializes in interoperability banking. This means that we build technology that is functional across multiple payment systems and protocols such as mobile, distributed ledger and blockchain technologies.
3) What are the major features of the MOVO e-wallet app that make it unique from others?
One example includes MovoChain™, which allows users to send money P2P using bitcoin as the store of value that is converted to cash, on the fly and spun into a debit card that can be spent anywhere credit cards are accepted worldwide. We also connect legacy systems together in unique ways enabling friends to send friends Real-Time Payment Cards right from their MOVO app. Just select the amount and send, and the receiver claims the funds and the payment card is presented, loaded and ready to spend. We are also developing a dollar denominated cryptocurrency that we call MOdallion™.
4) Could you give us a walkthrough of the MOVO ecosystem; how it works and the technology behind it?
At its core, MOVO empowers consumers to use mobile numbers, emails, social ID's and other unique identifiers to send Real-Time Payment Cards™ that can be redeemed anywhere Visa® cards are accepted through its global network. This means that we take an existing technology that most think of on a vertical access between a consumer and a merchant and we lay it horizontal and have turned it into a person to person payment system. For example, Square introduced a toggle which allowed a micro merchant to accept Visa payments. In essence, we have removed the toggle, allowed the transaction to happen in the cloud and opened it up to individual consumers for all practical purposes can receive Real-Time Payment Cards for peer to peer payments.
6) Do you have any investment opportunities at MOVO to share with us?
8) At what stage of development is the MOVO project and what is next on your roadmap?
MovoCash®, MovoCoin® and MovoChain™ 1.0 are launched and in the market. We have over 250,000 registered users with an ARR of 1,000,000 growing 20-30 percent per month. We are in proof of concept with our 3.0 HYPERBIN® technology which introduces a first-of-its-kind blockchain payments processor for Real-Time Payment Cards.
10) How Safe is MOVO, would you like to discuss your compliance and security measures?
From a consumer perspective, all of the funds held with MOVO are FDIC insured (Metropolitan Commercial Bank, member FDIC). We use issuing bank quality technology (PCI/DSS, 256 bit encryption) and comply with all applicable rules and regulations including the Patriot Act, AML, BSA, OFAC, et al.


In a time when plastics are infiltrating every aspect of human existence, it somehow still comes as a shock that plastics could end up in our poop. Until now, the idea of humans consuming plastic has been speculated by many and believed by some. In a recent report by National Geographic, a pilot study has confirmed that microplastics were present in the stool samples of eight participants.
"We live our lives surrounded by plastic. Our clothing is synthetic, as are the carpets in our schools and offices. We're living amongst this cloud of plastic; research has found it in our food, water and air, so I'm not surprised it's been found in these samples given how plasticised our lives have become" said Tim Silverwood.
What does this mean, exactly? Humans have consumed microplastics, possibly through their food. Plastic being an indigestible object, would have travelled through their digestive systems and been passed as waste. Could this be harmful? This has not yet been studied thoroughly and further research is required.
How does plastic end up in our food? Our ocean is suffocating under immense amounts of plastic. Annually, scientists have estimated that 8 million metric tonnes of plastic are dumped into the ocean. This plastic eventually is broken up into smaller and smaller pieces, creating 'microplastics'. The microscopic pieces of plastic are eaten by plankton, which are eaten by larger organisms and fish, which are then consumed by humans. The toxic microplastic that was first ingested by the plankton under the guise of food, enters the muscle fibers of the animals and eventually the animals that we humans eat. An example of how plastic can end up in our food can be found in Craig Leeson's distinguished documentary, A Plastic Ocean.
Plankton ingests microscopic plastic particles. Image Copyright Five Films.
The above example is just one way that plastics have entered the human food chain. The National Geographic report suggests that these microplastics could have ended up inside humans in numerous ways, "food packaging can shed small fibers. So can household carpeting, clothing, and other plastic-based items that populate our everyday lives" said Laura Parker of National Geographic.
"The fact that the global media industry are sharing these reports is a positive indicator of the widespread and pressing interest in this issue. People want to know how global plastic pollution is affecting them and the natural world. Take 3 are committed to delivering 'education that inspires action' with a focus on solutions to reduce plastic pollution in our oceans – and our bodies" said Tim Silverwood.
Tim Silverwood in natural swamp suffocated by garbage and plastic pollution. Image Copyright Blue The Film and Northern Pictures.


We investigated the relationship between soil pH/calcium content and species richness of vascular plants in seven broadly defined Central European vegetation types, using Ellenberg indicator values for soil reaction and a phytosociological data set of 11,041 vegetation sample plots from the Czech Republic. The vegetation types included (A) broad-leaved deciduous forests, (B) meadows, (C) dry grasslands, (D) reed-bed and tall-sedge vegetation, (E) fens and transitional mires, (F) perennial synanthropic vegetation and (G) annual synanthropic vegetation. Relationships between local species richness (alpha diversity) and pH/calcium were positive for vegetation types A and C, negative for D and G, unimodal for E, and insignificant for B and F. Ellenberg soil reaction values explained 37% of variation in local species richness for vegetation type E, 24% for A, 13% for D, but only less than 4% for the others. Species pool size, i.e., the number of species that can potentially occur in a given habitat, was calculated for each plot using Beals index of sociological favourability applied to a large phytosociological database. For most vegetation types, the relationships between species pool size and pH/calcium were similar to the relationships between local species richness and pH/calcium, with the exception of meadows (weak unimodal) and perennial synanthropic vegetation (weak negative).
These patterns suggest that for those types of Central European vegetation that developed independently of human influence in the Pleistocene or early Holocene (dry grasslands, deciduous forests), there are larger pools of calcicole than calcifuge species. This pattern is also found at the level of local species richness, where it is, however, less clearly pronounced, possibly due to the predominance of a few widespread and generalist calcifuges in acidic habitats. The unimodal pattern found in mires may result from similar underlying mechanisms, but in high pH environments mineral-rich spring waters probably decrease species richness by having toxic effects on plant growth. By contrast, vegetation types developed under direct human influence (meadows, synathropic vegetation) show weak negative or no relationships of local species richness or species pool to pH/calcium gradient. These results support the hypothesis ofPärtel (Ecology 83: 2361–2366, 2002) andEwald (Folia Geobot. 38: 357–366, 2003), that the modern calcicole/calcifuge disparity in the species pool of Central European flora has resulted from historical and evolutionary processes that took place on high pH soils. In the Pleistocene, calcareous soils dominated both the dry continental landscapes of Central Europe and glacial refugia of temperate flora, which were mostly situated in southern European mountain ranges with abundant limestone and dolomite. The negative pattern of species richness along the pH/calcium gradient found in reed-bed and tall-sedge vegetation, however, is not consistent with this historical explanation.


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Italian actor Gina Lollobrigida attends the unveiling of her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles, California, US, on February 1, 2018. (Reuters)
Famed Italian actress Gina Lollobrigida dies at 95
Agencies, Milan
Published: 16 January ,2023: 04:12 PM GST Updated: 16 January ,2023: 04:46 PM GST
Gina Lollobrigida, who for decades embodied the Italian stereotype of Mediterranean beauty and was dubbed "the most beautiful woman in the world" after the title of one her movies, has died in Rome.
Italian news agencies ANS and Lapresse reported Lollobrigida's death on Monday, quoting Tuscany Governor Eugenio Giani. Lollobrigida was an honorary citizen of a Tuscan town.
In September, the 95-year-old film legend had surgery to repair a thigh bone broken in a fall. She returned home and said she had quickly resumed walking.
Lollobrigida shot to fame in the 1950s as a sultry Mediterranean sex symbol and later became a photographer and sculptor after stepping away from the movie world.
In 1955 Lollobrigida starred in the film called 'La Donna Piu Bella del Mondo' (The World's Most Beautiful Woman), which became her signature movie.
The daughter of a furniture manufacturer from a mountain village outside Rome, Subiaco, she made over 60 films including some during the 1990s.
Since retiring from the cinema, Lollobrigida has tried her hand as a photographer, sculptor, photojournalist, and a fashion and cosmetics executive.
A sloe-eyed, buxom brunette, La Lollo's Hollywood breakout role came in the John Huston film 'Beat the Devil' (1953). In 1961 she won a Golden Globe with 'Come September' co-starring Rock Hudson.
With her earthy good looks she embodied the prototype of Italian beauty. Her distinctive short hairdo was especially influential. It quickly spread across Italy in the sixties and was referred to as the "lollo."
With The Associated Press & Reuters
Read more: Italy cinema icon Gina Lollobrigida, 95, runs as eurosceptic in next month's vote
Italy cinema icon Gina Lollobrigida, 95, runs as eurosceptic in next month's vote
An icon of Italian cinema, Gina Lollobrigida, will run for the nation's Senate in next month's elections after recently celebrating her 95th ... World News
Golden Globes slump to new ratings low after return from scandal
Golden Globes television ratings slumped to a new low of just 6.3 million viewers, even as the troubled award show tried to bounce back from its ... Entertainment
India celebrates historic Golden Globe award for best original song 'Naatu Naatu'
The Telugu language film RRR from India won its first Golden Globe as it picked up Best Original Song for 'Naatu Naatu,' catchy musical number by ... Entertainment
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Multiverse adventure 'Everything Everywhere' leads Oscar nominations
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text:
Saving our sharks foundation
saving and protecting sharks through conservation, education, research and eco tourism programs.
https://savingoursharksfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Sosf-�-Ing-�-Sub-En-Esp-1.m4v
For approximately 420 million years, sharks have lived on Earth, surviving five mass extinction events, however it is now obvious that many species of sharks are imperiled. The largest threat identified to sharks and rays is overfishing (Wild Aid, 2019). Sharks are extremely vulnerable to fishing pressure due to their life history characteristics; they grow relatively slowly, take years to reach maturity and produce very few young, which means they are not able to reproduce quick enough to replace those being caught, consequently the number of sharks is decreasing. If shark populations are to recover, there needs to be a reduction in fishing pressure, however this is not easy as small-scale shark fisheries support the livelihoods of a large number of coastal communities. Many fishermen do not choose to intentionally kill sharks for a living, it is a matter of living near the ocean and the need to catch anything that brings in the money to feed the family. If an alternative income to fishing would be provided, then there would be a much greater incentive to stop fishing sharks. Furthermore, it has been demonstrated that conservation policies are more likely to succeed if local communities are able to share the economic benefits of environmental protection. Ecotourism is thought to be one of the most effective ways of achieving this goal because it enables the long-term sustainability of protecting a species or area (Hill et al., 2016).
Over the last 70 years, sharks have experienced significant declines, with several species now listed as Endangered or Critically Endangered. Despite conservation efforts, many populations are still at risk because of the demand for shark products such as fins, meat, bycatch and loss of habitat.
Artisanal shark fisheries have provided employment and an important source of food on both coasts of Mexico for many years, with activities dating back to pre-Hispanic times (Applegate et al., 1993). However, with the steady increase in human population during the 1960's, sharks quickly became an alternative source of animal protein. This led to the promotion of shark fishing by the Mexican government in the 1970's, and consequently an increase in shark fishing (Castillo-Geniz et al., 1998). Over the years, Mexico has become one of the leading nations in shark exploitation and is among the top five countries in the world that exploit sharks and rays (FAO FishStat, 2019). Although commercial fishing is present in Mexico, it is the artisanal fishery that represents approximately 80% of the total elasmobranch landings in Mexico (Castillo-Geniz, 1992). Today there are approximately 130,000 artisanal fishing vessels operating in Mexico (Bizarro et al., 2007). Many of these fleets operate in coastal waters in the Gulf of Mexico, ranging from the US-Mexico border to Quintana Roo, in the southern Caribbean Sea. These vessels are part of a multi-specific fishery operating based on the seasonal abundance of certain species.
Intensive monitoring of the Mexican Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea showed that shark landings consisted of 34 species, including the scalloped hammerhead (Sphyrna lewini), and the smalltail shark (Carcharhinus porosus), which are both listed by the IUCN as globally 'Critically Endangered' with populations decreasing (IUCN, 2019). Other targeted species include the blacktip shark (Carcharhinus limbatus) and bull shark (Carcharhinus leucas), which are both listed as 'Vulnerable' and decreasing (IUCN, 2019). Today, the list of endangered shark species is long, with more than one third of all shark and ray species facing threat of extinction (IUCN,2021). New research, who analyzed nearly 1,200 species of Chondrichthyes (sharks and rays) describes that of those species studied, 37% were considered "Vulnerable", "Endangered" or "Critically Endangered".
Saving Our Sharks was formed in June 2010 by a group of concerned friends, divers and scientist that who felt an urgent need to act in order to protect and conserve the environment around their home in Riviera Maya, Mexico. They were especially concerned for the local shark population.
Their first and continuing initiative was a research project focused on tracking the migration of Bull Sharks in the Mexican Caribbean. The goal was to study the population movement and to determine its genetic background and health. For more than 10 years, SOS has tracked sharks and other species to better understand their migration patterns and overall numbers in order to protect and conserve the critical habitats they inhabit and use for mating and birthing.
As threats to the environment, the sea, and to area sharks continue to grow, the Saving Our Sharks mission has, likewise, continued to expand to meet challenges with accomplishments only dreamt of at its start. This includes programs ranging from expanded shark tagging with buoy and satellite tracking to the publication of the first Manual of Good Practices for Diving and Interactions with Bull Sharks.
The latter's goal is to teach safe encounters through education and scheduling to protect the bull sharks that return every winter to Playa Del Carmen.
Saving Our Sharks has been instrumental in promoting significant environmental legislation, overseeing the designation of conservation zones and protected areas for sharks and sea life throughout the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean side of Mexico to the Pacific side of Mexico, and piloting an Environmental Education Program that has reached more than 120,000 people since 2014 via talks in schools and in public venues.
Now, Saving Our Sharks is taking on its most ambitious plan:
The Isla Mujeres Shark Initiative. With the implementation of this initiative, Saving Our Sharks is poised on the cusp of another major accomplishment in the protection and conservation of sharks for the benefit of Mexico and the world.
Please support us by donating to Saving Our Sharks Foundation.
Savingoursharks.org info@savingoursharks.org
Saving Our Sharks Foundation is a 501(c)3 public charity in the USA Tax ID 87-0921468 donations are tax-deductible
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http://www.FloridaConsumerHelp.com OR BY CALLING TOLL-FREE (800-435-7352) WITHIN THE STATE. REGISTRATION DOES NOT IMPLY ENDORSEMENT, APPROVAL, OR RECOMMENDATION BY THE STATE. REGISTRATION # CH66878


Bite sized chunks of sugar, crunchy and plant-based goodies, this recipe is a staple for when I need a quick, crowd-pleasing treats. I used vegan Smarties, but unfortunately the only brand I could find locally didn't hold its colour, so they aren't as vibrant as I had hoped. Nonetheless, they're fun, easy to make and really tasty, which make them the perfect party treat!
*And if you know of a great brand of vegan Smarties or M&M's, comment on this post to let me know!
Preheat oven to approximately 190 degrees Celsius and line a large baking tray with baking paper.
In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar together until smooth.
Add remaining ingredients except for smarties and beat until mixture comes together.
Using a spatula, carefully mix in smarties until just combined.
Scoop dough onto prepared tray and bake for approximately 25 minutes, or until cookies start to brown on the outside and are cooked through.
Leave to cool before serving and store in an airtight container at room temperate or in the freezer until ready to enjoy.


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Julien Jabre (1976) is een Frans houseproducer van Libanese afkomst. Hij werd het meest bekend met zijn hit Swimming places uit 2005. Daarnaast vervult hij ook een belangrijke rol achter de schermen als producer voor anderen waaronder Madonna.

Biografie
Jabre komt voor het eerst in beeld als hij als Jamal het nummer La Seconde Marque maakt voor de compilatie Blake & Mortimer - The French Touch, een house-hommage aan de striphelden Blake & Mortimer. Hij vormt met DJ Deep ook de kort bestaande formatie The Deep, die in de periode 1997-1998 een handvol singles uitbrengt. Daarna brengt hij onder zijn eigen naam enkele ep's uit waaronder de The Jungle EP (1998), de Ruff Ol' EP (1999) en de Time EP (1999) en mixt hij enkele tracks voor het album Puzzle van Chateau Flight. Vanaf 1997 werkt hij ook geregeld samen met landgenoot DJ Gregory. Ze maken singles onder de namen Soha en Fantom en zijn ook betrokken bij de productie van het album In The Light van Shazz. Beide zijn ook onderdeel van het Africanism-project van Bob Sinclar, waarvoor ze tracks produceren.

In 2005 wordt het nummer Swimming Places een hit. Het blijft een eenmalig solosucces. De jaren daarna produceert hij weer de nodige singles. Met zijn vaste kompaan DJ Gregory brengt hij in 2009 de verzamel-cd House Masters uit, waarop de belangrijkste platen van beide staan verzameld. In 2011 produceert hij ook mee aan het succesalbum Smash van Martin Solveig. Met Solveig produceert hij ook het nummer I Don't Give A op het MDNA-album van Madonna, waarop ook Nicki Minaj meedoet. Na een tijd van stilte laat hij in 2019 weer van zich horen met de tracks Samana en Cavalcade en met de mixcompilatie Ibossim Selection.

Discografie

Compilaties

 Julien Jabre – The Disco-Tech Of... (2002)
 DJ Gregory & Julien Jabre – House Masters (2009)
 Ibossim Selection (2019)

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Frans muziekproducent
Franse danceact
House (muziekstijl)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Wellingborough is an Anglo-Saxon origin settlement but some archaeological findings and historical records shed light upon it being prehistoric populated with Roman Civilization. During the 6th century, "Wendeling burh" or "Wendelingburgh" meaning the stronghold of Waendel's people came out as a war-slogan of the Anglo-Saxon tribes. In fact, archaeological excavation has found a boar-mounted-crown at Wollaston near Wellingborough which dates back to Anglo-Saxon time. It is the only helmet found that relates us to proof of such tribes in the Wellingborough.
During the Domesday Book survey of 1086-87, a small area in Northamptonshire was mentioned as 'Wendleburie' with around 250 residents. In 1160, All Hallows Church, Wellingborough was built by monks. During the 13th century, Wellingborough was expanded to nearby area followed by renovation of the church as chapels were enlarged, tower's height was increased and few other structural modifications were made until completed in 1270.
Wellingborough was now a sub-district, a parish-town and prominent ancient market town in Northamptonshire. A little do people know that the Romans and preceding tribes were heavily involved in trade and therefore, Wellingborough market existed for a long prehistoric time. During 14th and 15th centuries, these markets were turned out big and attracted the nearby towns and villages for trade. The era of fenland monetary of Crowland ended in 1539 (from 948 A.D). In fact, the dissolution of the Monasteries handed back the ownership just to avoid violence.
Most of the buildings including Wellingborough manor were refurbished and renovated followed by population hike (in thousands). Sundial and open roofs were added in 1621 on houses and church. In 1682, the building was donated to form a free school for education. The Hind Hotel was opened in Wellingborough in the 1600s and it is one of the oldest hotels in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire. In 1719, a market cross was constructed in front of the Hind hotel but sadly was taken down before the 19th century (1798). Wellingborough Train station was built in 1857.
In 1861, one of the ancient churches was restored to life. The famous church of St Mary the Virgin, Wellingborough was built in 1908. Schools, colleges and regional offices were added in the Wellingborough to portray it as 'Emerging Market Town'.
Today, thousands of tourists and travellers visit nearest to Wellingborough for its scenic attractions such as the Wellingborough Museum, Sywell Country Park, Summer Leys, Jeyes of Earls Barton and many more.
Premier Taxis Kettering provides taxis in Wellingborough 24 hours a day to and from anywhere in Northamptonshire at quite reasonable prices.


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Zastenice is een plaats in de gemeente Čavle in de Kroatische provincie Primorje-Gorski Kotar. De plaats telt 363 inwoners (2001).

Plaats in Primorje-Gorski Kotar


I am so very honored to be accepted as a Battleaxe Warriors, I have always looked at Battlaxe as more of an adult organization. Yes being a Juggalo is cool and I will always feel it as growth in my Underground experience! i of course am older than most in the Underground, but i was just down there digging as one of the first to trail Blaze through the Underground Tunnels!


Great opportunity to own in the heart of Berkeley! 3 bedrooms and 1 bath on the main level. Some updating has already been done. Large sunroom off the front and back of home. Basement is finished with living area, non-conforming bedroom and 3 / 4 bath. Large detached garage. A little work will go a long way!


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The latest data: How coronavirus in Florida is trending right now
The most up-to-date numbers on COVID-19 in our state.
Langston TaylorTimes staff
Eli MurrayTimes staff
Published Apr. 9, 2020|Updated Apr. 15, 2020
After increasing exponentially through early April, the growth rate for recorded cases of the coronavirus in Florida has slowed, but the total number continues to climb.
How have cases grown so far?
This chart shows the total number of positive cases. The line will never go down, but it will become flat when there are no new cases.
The state updates this data twice a day, at roughly 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. You should treat the case count for the most recent day as partial, and sometimes the state adds cases with older dates, as well.
The virus has already spread to more people than are reflected here. Test results from some private labs are taking a week or more to come back and many people who have COVID-19 do not feel symptoms. Still, the number is climbing by the hour.
Experts say the most important question at this stage is whether the number of new cases of the virus is growing faster or slower than yesterday. But that can be hard to see without using a logarithmic scale, which is designed to show whether the growth in cases is speeding up or slowing down.
This is the number of cases announced each day, charted that way. It shows Florida alongside other hotspots, like New York and Louisiana, so you can see how well each state is slowing the virus. We also added a dotted line showing where that number will be if the growth rate stays the same for another week. The steepness of each line shows how fast the growth rate is right now — flatter is better.
What about deaths?
So far, deaths have lagged behind positive cases by several weeks on a similar trajectory. Here's the growth rate for the number of deaths in the same states. Again, flatter is better.
In most states, the lines are bending downward over time, as the increases in cases and deaths slow down. The dotted lines show the future if the lines don't bend at all, meaning the growth rate continues as it has been for the last week. But even as it continues to bend, it's similar to easing off the gas pedal in a car. It's not speeding up quite as fast, but that doesn't mean it immediately slows down.
How, exactly, is the growth rate changing?
We can measure growth by looking at the last week of data and seeing how long it is taking for the number of cases to double. If the line is going down, that means it's taking longer and growth is slowing. The more quickly the line goes down, the better. Here's the chart for cases:
Here's the chart for deaths:
Deaths in Florida were initially growing more slowly than in other states, but Florida's rate has been slower to drop off.
What factors could change those rates?
Governments have put increasingly stringent social distancing policies into effect, including a statewide stay-at-home order that was issued on April 1. That should help turn the number of new infections downward, although public health experts warn it takes several weeks for those effects to show up in the data.
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There is also a lot of uncertainty about how quickly labs are processing tests. If lots of people's outstanding tests come back positive at once, Florida's curve will shoot up again.
Medical experts also have warned that deaths may spike if hospitals become overloaded. Right now, both deaths and hospitalizations in Florida are growing exponentially. (This chart shows all people who have been hospitalized so far, not those currently in the hospital. Some of those people have died.)
Projected future rates are based on the past seven days of data.
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Up next:Florida inmates will begin making face masks for prison workers
Langston Taylor
Data Editor
Eli Murray


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HomeInterviews
Beth Lappen on the Soft Science of Helping Downtown's Homeless
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Milwaukee's efforts to fight homelessness are built on hundreds of small success stories, with each person moving to their own place of triumph. But it also had a major event this year: Homelessness in Milwaukee County reached its lowest level in at least 10 years last winter, with just 17 people sleeping on the streets, in parks or in their cars.
Most of these small success stories have the same beginning: a conversation with a homeless outreach worker like Beth Lapin.
She and her four colleagues in the Milwaukee County Department of Housing—plus about a dozen others with social service agencies—act as a bridge connecting shelters and housing to the people who need it most. The job involves finding people who sometimes don't want to be found, building trust to understand what they need, and figuring out how to get it to them – all within a selective order of scarce resources, which means people usually can't. Get help right away. Lappen has done outreach for five years, and since July 2019 has focused its efforts on an urgent need downtown area in a position funded in part by the Downtown Business Improvement District.
There is a dark undercurrent of good news for the year. The domestic portion of the $4 billion in federal aid that made so many of this year's gains possible — including hotel accommodations for more than 200 homeless people and an emergency and social distancing shelter at Clear Hall, a vacant seminary dormitory in St. Running out next year.
But for now, Labin and her colleagues focus on the streets and the people who live there.
Does last January's census reflect the reality you were seeing on the ground – was almost everyone in some shelter?
I think as a society we never really know every single person out there, because there are people sleeping in abandoned buildings, in moving cars. There are people we can't find, but we are very good at what we do, and we have a lot of partners who help us keep our eyes off the people who need help.
Last winter we saw a record low, and a lot of it has to do with our homeless system – the shelters, the Department of Health – the partnership to try to create different, unique safe places for people to be off the streets, socially distant.
What have you seen since then? How does this year look?
We see a regular increase in the spring. This year, it's not so early, but in the past four to six weeks [September through mid-October]We're seeing an increase in people on the streets, in cars, in parks, under bridges, things like that.
How big a factor were the COVID emergency measures?
With the suspension of the expulsion valid for as long as it exists [through late August], I don't think we yet know how that will affect the numbers. We'll definitely continue to see them rising, which worries us all as we head into cooler weather.
Have additional services from CARES Act – hotel coupons, Clare Hall – raised the standards for how to combat homelessness?
What the pandemic has forced us to do is not sustainable for us as a system with regular funding sources and regular members. The type of emergency hotels comes down to the issue of funding. We didn't want to spend all the money, and then everyone would be thrown out into the street if we didn't find something else for them. As of April 1, [we] It did not accept any new admissions into the emergency hotel voucher programs and essentially protected the status of these individuals there and continued to work with them on plans either to move to something else or to move into their own permanent residence. But we needed to make sure we could afford that, so people wouldn't have to go back to the street.
The main challenge is that in the end, there is not enough affordable housing, so for the financing we have, we don't want to put it into people's short-term options; We want to put him in long-term options. I think that's the balance our system always has to try to strike: How many emergency shelter beds can we provide, while still having permanent housing options for people who may not be able to afford their own place?
Your role is so much more on the front lines and the emergency side of things, so seeing that balance must be challenging.
It is very difficult. The honest truth is that people want to get off the streets, but they are more than that, "Yeah, but I need housing." Some people never accept shelter – they want to go directly from the street to the housing. It's cool and beautiful when that happens, but I don't have an apartment [available] To guide people to every day.
I think our system with everyone working together does a good job. There are almost no shelter beds that are not used on a daily basis because we all work together to identify the people who need them most – then the backups, so that if we can't get to that person or if they eventually refuse for whatever reason, we go and look for next person. Because it is such a valuable resource.
I have sometimes mentioned that people resist getting the help available. What are some of the obstacles they face in getting emergency help?
Obviously there can be as many obstacles as people are, but I think what I see a lot may just be feeling insecure or uncomfortable. They are asked to make the decision to suddenly live with a group of people they have never met before. It can be such a difficult environment because the people there are in a desperate situation. There is clearly a history of trauma, mental illness, and substance abuse. All of these things can get in the way because in order to help people feel safe – guests and employees – they need some kind of structure and rules, and these things can also be barriers.
This is where your turn comes in, and establish a one-to-one connection to try and help them.
It's a huge part of what I do, and probably the hardest part for people to understand because most of us happily settle in, and we can't imagine refusing to help, if we were in this situation.
The key is to be consistent and consistent. We don't have to give up, we have to keep showing up for the people. And just keep checking in, so they know we're here for them. The day they want to say yes, we want to make sure we're there. There are some people who if I see them walking and sitting anywhere, I stop and jump and talk to them, even if it's five minutes, because it's not easy to find everyone.
Obviously, the main key is empathy. People can tell if you're really interested or when you're kind of doing your job. Thus, being able to let them know that we really care, really want to help, is key as well.
And making sure we're listening. Sometimes their priority is not mine. I need to make sure I hear from them what is most important to them, what worries them most, and then help them with that thing. Even if it seems trivial to me, I need to make sure I really really meet them where they are and help them with the thing that bothers them the most.
Often, that's where harmony begins. They notice that you heard them, they notice that you're trying to help them with this thing, and if it works, that's great. Then, occasionally, the door opens wide.
This summer, I had the privilege of helping two men move from the street to a condo, and this was their first apartment. They were both in their fifties, and it was their first apartment they kept themselves.
This must be very satisfying.
Sure, but I think it's important for people to know if you tell me someone is homeless, I'm going to go there — well, me or a co-worker or another teammate — and we're going to talk to that person. But I think people often expect that they will get help right away. It is never that easy, and this is where awareness and empathy from the community come in handy, because even if they wanted shelter, there might not be space right away. We may prioritize someone who is over 70 or under 30, or has some type of physical health problem. But that doesn't mean we don't help. All of our services are voluntary; We can't force anyone to accept help, so we really have to make them want to work with us.
Our focus is and should be: What is the quickest way for you to get housing, how can we solve this problem for you permanently? Don't get me wrong, we always provide snacks and supplies like this, but that's not our focus. We want people to be safe on the street, but we don't try too hard to make people comfortable. We want them to get in, of course, because that should be the point at the end – on their way, when they're ready.
Are there enough resources to bring everyone who is on the streets, couch skating, or in a shelter into a dorm? Is zero an attainable goal now in Milwaukee?
I want to say yes I am forever optimistic. But it feels impossible. Our system, in accordance with federal requirements, must give priority to people on the street or in the shelter. We already have programs to prevent evictions and prevent homelessness, but the priority remains people who are already homeless, so we can't arrest everyone.
And if I could have everything I wanted on my Christmas list this year, it would be affordable lodging. There will not be enough housing vouchers for everyone who needs one and qualifies for one. I feel like our society needs to get creative in making sure that rents are safe, that it provides adequate housing and shelter, but it can also be provided to people who live, you know, on Social Security and things like that.
And we can't end homelessness without landlord partners, so we need people who are empathetic and willing to give people a chance, even if they end up homeless due to eviction – allowing us to work with them and try to support them and help them succeed in housing.
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This one about 2 1/2 years ago late on a winter afternoon looking out from a balcony on the Dallas Road waterfront, in Victoria, B.C.
Taken with a (now old) 1.5 megapixel Leica Digilux Zoom (same as the Panasonic 1700MX).
Hi Herb, very nice!! Love those sunbeams!!


The Harbour's mission would be to support the growth of the vibrant creative sector in Bristol, focusing on individuals and companies manufacturing locally-made products. The Harbour would encourage entrepreneurship and innovation, and create employment opportunities for a diverse local workforce.
Our vision is a more sustainable local creative economy, where entrepreneurs who design and manufacture products locally thrive, in turn, creating quality jobs for a wide range of people and contributing to the overall economic and social vibrancy of our City.
An active network connecting creative entrepreneurs & SMEs to relevant local resources and international experts.
To boost the local economy and provide employment.
All this would be paid for by the membership with an affordable membership fee and on a pay-per-use of the facilities. Commercial sponsorship and education grants could also supplement.
Creative manufacturers make up some of the most diverse, innovative businesses in Bristol. They design and manufacture products for consumers all over the world but can struggle to build sustainable, resilient businesses due to the lack of access to specialist advice and support and are often isolated in the way & places they create.
Creative entrepreneurs who manufacture locally have largely made a conscious decision to embrace local manufacturing as a vital component of their business strategy, and celebrate the eclectic and soulful social environs that embody Bristol. These businesses should be encouraged and supported to continue to do this as it has a positive impact on the wider community.
In addition to working with creative entrepreneurs the Harbour would engage with the larger community, offering educational workshops, studio tours, and other programmes designed to heighten the public awareness of creative manufacturing. This would provide an insight behind traditional and emerging creation practices and technologies and highlight the collective role craftspeople have in the local economy.
The Harbour would seek to develop and share a model for creative manufacturing incubation that other UK cities could use to catalyse their own local manufacturing sectors.
An excellent idea, I will soon be a graduate and will no longer have regular seminars with fellow students or a communal meeting space where like minded artists and makers come together to talk and exchange ideas. The thought of this is very isolating.
By continuing and strengthening this network into working life by creating a physical harbour where artists and makers can meet and work is very appealing.
Sounds like an excellent idea, definitely something I would be keen to be involved with, if it were to go ahead. I like the idea of access to affordable specialists such as accountants and PRs, it would be an excellent way for small and medium businesses like myself to streamline my business and work more efficiently utilising resources and services I would usually have to source myself.
As well as promoting the skills of creatives in the bristol area by helping their businesses grow whilst recognising most people being a one man band or small team have little time for the admin and marketing sides of their business which are essential for growth!
A truly brilliant idea that would benefit a lot of people and businesses in Bristol.
I think this is an excellent idea. I have been self employed a few years and have been largely self taught. I would love the chance to develop various areas of my business,particularly from people sensitive to the needs of creatives.
Temple Studios targets creative and digital companies, offering a unique office environment with a raw, industrial design and desirable extras, such as a large breakout area for like-minded businesses to connect and interact.
I am hugely in favour of this proposal! Bristol prides itself in its entrepreneurial creative industries, so it would be fantastic to have somewhere in this great city to tap into this sort of Business mentoring. I am a very new business, so any help in the proposed areas would be of advantage as we all want to step out with a firm footing.
I am 31 and am therefore 'too old' to get any funding from the Princes Trust, so any help I can get will be mighty fine by me!!
This is a brilliant idea - the creative industries are vitally important to the local economy and this would provide people who often work alone with the opportunity to network, share ideas and potentially establish new collaborations.


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