DL Open Thread: Saturday, January 4, 2025
Battling Climate Change Via–Ocean Antacid?. It’s a matter of scale:
But in order for this to make a dent, it will need to be scaled up toremove billions, not hundreds of thousands, of metric tons of carbon per year, Yale associate professor of earth and planetary sciences Matthew Eisaman said.
Nancy Mace’s Bathroom Ban Disappears From House Rules:
The GOP-controlled House approved its rules package on Friday evening, including provisions targeting transgender and immigrant rights, but notably did not include the trans bathroom ban Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) had proposed.
The Republican introduced her controversial ban in November to restrict access to all “single-sex facilit[ies] on Federal property” based on “biological sex.” She admitted to HuffPost the ban specifically targeted incoming Rep. Sarah McBride (D-Del.), the first transgender woman to be elected to Congress.
Mace spent much of the last weeks of 2024 drumming up support for the ban while using anti-trans slurs and engaging in anti-trans theatrics. After protesters were arrested for staging a sit-in at a U.S. Capitol restroom, Mace loudly read their Miranda rights through a bullhorn at the jail where they were held.
Climate Change To Do To The Oil Industry What Regulations Don’t? As in oil ports underwater?:
Rising sea levels driven by the climate crisis will overwhelm many of the world’s biggest oil ports, analysis indicates.
Scientists said the threat was ironic as fossil fuel burning causes global heating. They said reducing emissions by moving to renewable energy would halt global heating and deliver more reliable energy.
Thirteen of the ports with the highest supertanker traffic will be seriously damaged by just 1 metre of sea level rise, the analysis found. The researchers said two low-lying ports in Saudi Arabia – Ras Tanura and Yanbu – were particularly vulnerable. Both are operated by Aramco, the Saudi state oil firm, and 98% of the country’s oil exports leave via these ports.
The oil ports of Houston and Galveston in the US, the world’s biggest oil producer, are also on the list, as are ports in the United Arab Emirates, China, Singapore and the Netherlands.
Delaware’s Pot Czar Steps Down. Well, he got it up and running:
DOVER — Delaware’s first marijuana commissioner, Robert Coupe, has left his post, the state Department of Safety and Homeland Security announced Friday.
Mr. Coupe stepped aside to take over as chief of staff at Rehoboth Beach’s CRx Construction. He led the Office of the Marijuana Commissioner since being confirmed by the state Senate in June 2023, preparing Delaware for its upcoming adult-use recreational marijuana market.
Avian Flu Comes To Kent County:
The Delaware Department of Agriculture announced Jan. 3 that preliminary testing of a commercial broiler flock in Kent County has returned presumptive positive results for H5 avian influenza from the University of Delaware’s Lasher Laboratory in Georgetown, part of the National Animal Health Laboratory Network. Additional samples have been sent to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Veterinary Services Laboratory for further confirmation.
You may not have heard, but we may get a pretty significant snow on Monday. Just thought you’d like to know…
What do you want to talk about?
“The world’s oceans stow vast amounts of carbon dioxide. Now, a growing group of scientists and companies say they’ve found a way to increase that storage capacity by tweaking ocean water chemistry. ”
This sounds exactly like the first act of a scifi disaster movie.
From the article: “Proponents of the technology say it’s one of the most promising forms of carbon removal, which experts say will be necessary to meet climate goals even as the world cuts emissions.”
The world has not cut emissions. Last year they were higher than ever.
https://wmo.int/media/news/record-carbon-emissions-highlight-urgency-of-global-greenhouse-gas-watch#:
The new Washington Post style “reporting” is a wisp of a shadow of its old self.
Cop turned Commissioner approved just 15 of 529 eligible weed licenses. Bye guy!
Given how many places have banned them, that’s all there’s room for.