Excerpts from a very disturbing op-ed about the growing use of petrochemicals in producing the foods we eat…
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Fossil fuels are on track to be an even bigger presence in our food system. As sectors like transport are decarbonizing, the oil industry has its sights on food, particularly through petrochemicals. An estimated 74% of all petrochemicals are already used for agricultural fertilizer and plastic.

The International Energy Agency projects that by 2050 half of all oil and gas will be used for petrochemicals. Based on current levels, 40% of that will be going into our food system in the form of plastics and fertilizers.

Chemical companies are now introducing microplastic-coated pesticides and fertilizers. Along with increasing the presence of plastics in food production and threatening public health, microplastics used this way dissolve in the soil, impacting soil health, reducing how much water soils can retain, and destroying healthy microorganisms essential for nutrient cycling.
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FULL ESSAY -- https://civileats.com/2025/03/11/op-ed-the-food-system-cannot-become-another-fossil-fuel-industry-escape-hatch/

HT > @jblue

You couldn't write a dystopian novel with a grimmer plot than what we are witnessing in reality.

Here's how the story goes: Capitalism cuts down all the forests in search of profits, strip-mines the Earth in search of profits, pollutes our air and our water in search of profits... and now, what's left?

Oh, wait, say the capitalists, we haven't dug down into the deep sea yet in search of profits, er, um, minerals. And guess what, we can pretend we're doing that for the sake of the climate and environment!

Yeah, that's the idea. We need those minerals to make electric cars. So it's a win-win. We'll make billions more in profits, AND we'll make ourselves look good by promoting Green Growth!
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LEARN MORE https://www.theguardian.com/environment/ng-interactive/2025/mar/12/as-countries-scramble-for-minerals-the-seabed-beckons-will-mining-it-be-a-disaster-visual-explainer

“beautiful, clean coal” — an oxymoron like “Trump (is) brilliant”

In essence, politicians are abandoning the responsibility to reduce pollution for their own childrens, & children's children future (as they are the unsustainable business as usual culture, including farming agricultural animals for meat)

But, that's a sign of the times #Plutocracy

#Conservative party to ditch commitment to #NetZero in #UK by 2050 | #ClimateCrisis | The Guardian

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/mar/17/conservative-party-to-ditch-commitment-to-net-zero-in-uk-by-2050

> Break in cross-party consensus on issue to be announced on Tuesday

Holy Hell

““Now everything is dead, it’s like a totally dead river. Unbelievable. Overnight, this river died.”

“an acid spill at a Chinese-owned mine …contaminated a major river and could potentially affect millions of people after signs of pollution were detected at least 100 kilometers (60 miles) downstream.”

https://apnews.com/article/mining-pollution-china-zambia-environment-93ee91d1156471aaf9a7ebd6f51333c1

It turns out billionaires like Bill Gates care more about themselves and their money than about maintaining a livable planet for the rest of us.

Are you surprised? I’m not.
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In decades past, as the effects of climate change slowly became undeniable, some people looked to the super-rich for solutions. By the early 2020s, a few billionaires had positioned themselves as masters of climate change policy, taking advantage of their great fortunes to become indispensable to environmentalism.

Now, however, many of those same billionaires are pulling their support at an alarming rate. Microsoft founder Bill Gates, the sixth richest man in the world, is the latest among them. Breakthrough Energy — Gates' climate change nonprofit — has locked the doors on its policy and advocacy office, laying off dozens of employees throughout Europe and the US.

Ever since billionaire real estate mogul Donald Trump won his second presidential election, tech barons like Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Sundar Pichai, and of course Elon Musk have made no bones about shedding their progressive skin and embracing the new administration.

Gates, too, is cozying up to the returning president. In early January, the Microsoft founder spent three hours dining with his fellow billionaire, telling the Wall Street Journal he was "frankly impressed" by Trump's grasp on the issues dear to him.

Though many no doubt feel betrayed by what seems like a sudden rightward turn, billionaires like Gates have always behaved like wolves in sheep's clothing, prioritizing their fortunes above all.
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FULL ARTICLE -- https://futurism.com/bill-gates-gives-up-climate-change

SEE ALSO -- “Bill Gates Is Giving Up on Climate Change”
https://gizmodo.com/bill-gates-is-giving-up-on-climate-change-as-trump-drains-the-woke-out-of-washington-2000576270

Climate change not only means warming temperatures. It means a total breakdown in how we've always expected the climate to behave...
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Climate whiplash is hitting major cities around the world, bringing deadly swings between extreme wet and dry weather as the climate crisis intensifies, a report has revealed.

Cities across the world are affected but the data shows some regional trends, with drying hitting Europe, the already-parched Arabian peninsula, and much of the US, while cities in south and south-east Asia are experiencing bigger downpours.

The analysis illustrates the climate chaos being brought to urban areas by human-caused global heating. Too little or too much water is the cause of 90% of climate disasters.

The savage wildfires in Los Angeles in January were an example of a single whiplash event, with a wet period spurring vegetation growth, which then fueled the fires when hot and dry weather followed. Such events are increasing due to human-caused global heating.
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FULL STORY -- https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/mar/12/global-weirding-climate-whiplash-hitting-worlds-biggest-cities-study-reveals

Trump Halted an Agent Orange Cleanup. That Puts Hundreds of Thousands at Risk for Poisoning.
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Diplomats in Vietnam warned Washington that halting USAID’s efforts to clean up the massive deposit of postwar pesticides would be a catastrophe for public health and relations with a key strategic partner in Asia.
https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-halted-agent-orange-cleanup-dioxin-vietnam-poison-risk?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post

ESO analysis confirms that the INNA industrial megaproject would have a devastating and irreversible impact on the facilities at Paranal Observatory in #Chile.

Light #pollution would increase by at least 35% above ESO's Very Large Telescope, by a minimum of 5% above ESO’s Extremely Large Telescope and by at least 55% above the south site of the Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory

Air turbulence would also increase, degrading seeing conditions by up to 40%

Vibrations from the project could seriously impair the functioning of the ELT and the VLT Interferometer, which are both extremely sensitive to micro-seismic noise.

Dust during construction is also problematic as it settles on the telescope mirrors and obstructs their view.

Full story here: https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2506/

More in the message below. 1/

As admin of sociale.network, an eco-pacifist community of the #fediverse, I warmly welcome @PaulaToThePeople and all the fedizens of https://ClimateJustice.social, a #Mastodon community for climate justice activists and those concerned about global warming and the current environmental crisis. Browse the profiles of their community to find interesting people to follow!

ClimateJustice.social is a Mastodon server for climate justice activists and those concerned about global warming and the current environmental crisis:

https://climatejustice.social

You can find out more at https://climatejustice.social/about or contact the admin @PaulaToThePeople

Special shoutout to the repair site iFixit who are now on the Fediverse, you can follow them at:

@iFixit

They provide repair forums and free repair guides for phones, computers, consoles, kitchen equipment, tools, medical devices, cars etc. They also review and tear down new gadgets to see how repairable they are.

Repairing your existing stuff is much, much better for the environment than buying replacements.

‘All the birds returned’: How a Chinese project led the way in water and soil conservation https://www.bocvip.com/794027/all-the-birds-returned-how-a-chinese-project-led-the-way-in-water-and-soil-conservation/ #environment

This is so gross.

~ #Trump admin sends a clear message to the oil and gas industry: ‘You’re the customer’

Interior Secretary D. Burgum & Energy Secretary C, Wright want to make it as easy as possible to drill on federal land & waters.

Companies developing resources on federal lands (includ. harvesting timber, mining for minerals, grazing cattle) are “customers” who are contributing to the national “balance sheet.”

#environment #USA #ClimateChange #energy

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/03/15/trump-administration-message-to-oil-and-gas-industry-youre-the-customer.html

Then and now…

This is so sad. And I can see no end to the ongoing tragedy...
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Whether they hop around the prairie, dabble in wetlands, flit through forests, or forage along the shore, birds are suffering rapid population declines across the United States.

That’s the finding from the latest State of the Birds report, a status check on the country’s avian life published every few years by a coalition of science and conservation groups. The 2025 report shows that birds across most habitats have suffered major losses since 1970. Grassland and aridland species have been dealt the heaviest blow: both groups lost more than 40% of their total populations over that period.

What’s more, the trends for many habitat groups have gotten worse. Even waterfowl, which had previously been a conservation bright spot amid the alarming declines, have seen their numbers drop since the last edition of the report. Overall, around one-third of U.S. birds, or 229 species, are of high or moderate conservation concern, according to the report — dealing with low population levels, declining trends, or other threats that call for conservation action to step up.
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FULL ARTICLE -- https://www.audubon.org/magazine/sweeping-new-report-shows-us-birds-declining-sharply-across-range-habitats

Oregon will continue ‘climate action’ despite EPA rollbacks, governor says
Troy Heie

Gov. Tina Kotek said on Thursday that her administration will continue to prioritize policies targeting climate-warming pollution, following an announcement by the head of the Environmental Protection Agency that it will repeal dozens of pollution limits and the legal basis for regulating greenhouse gases

https://rv-times.com/2025/03/14/oregon-will-continue-climate-action-despite-epa-rollbacks-governor-says/

Sorry for lack of posting for a few days, had field work (surprising, I know!) and so I made the most of a few days to study the Earth, leaving my computer at home.

Anyway, back to your regularly scheduled #MarshMadness ! It is now day 13! Enjoy this pretty marsh landscape on the edge of a forest from the southern US.

There is so much beauty here, so much life to protect, where the EPA is weakened let's get our states to step up! Nature access is bipartisan, everyone wants to partake, so make sure to be contacting even your republican reps on these issues. The only ones who want to destroy it are the billionaires.