[GWSG] Obama on climate; obstructing the Bakken shale oil; 200 tribes win a pause; regenerative farming; communing trees

[Tilley, Al]

1.  In a NY Times interview President Obama gives his perspective on climate and the efforts by his administration to take action.  Ed Brock (and others) suggested the article.  http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/08/us/politics/obama-climate-change.html?emc=edit_tnt_20160908&nlid=43628374&tntemail0=y&_r=0



2.  The Dakota Access Pipeline threatens the Missouri River watershed and crosses several sites sacred to American Indians in the area.  They supplied the location of those sites to a judge in an attempt to have them protected.  A couple of days later oil line contractors plowed the sites, disrupting a survey of the sites.  When members of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe attempted to interfere with the desecration of the burial ground they were attacked with guard dogs and pepper sprays.  The pipeline is part of a project to develop Bakken Shale deposits.  http://www.ecowatch.com/sacred-burial-grounds-dakota-access-pipeline-1998932006.html  The Bakken formation is expected to produce 7.4 billion barrels of oil.  Shale oil is particularly dangerous to transport.  All of it should remain in the ground anyway for the sake of the climate.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bakken_Formation



3.  Around 200 tribes are involved in the Standing Rock protest.  It is one of the largest such actions.  They are defending nature's trust.   http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2016/09/dakota-access-pipeline-protest-timeline-sioux-standing-rock-jill-stein  A federal judge has denied an attempt to halt the pipeline, though construction in the vicinity of Lake Oahe has paused for reconsideration by the Corps of Engineers.  It was originally planned to run the pipeline near Bismarck but it was relocated to areas adjacent to Indian lands.  https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/sep/09/north-dakota-oil-pipeline-judge-denies-construction   The suit is still active; only the motion for a temporary injunction against construction has been denied.  Within fifteen minutes of the ruling, the Departments of Justice, the Interior, and the Army intervened to interrupt construction.  http://www.npr.org/2016/09/10/493436447/in-victory-for-protesters-obama-administration-halts-north-dakota-pipeline?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=environment



4.  Regenerative farming can sequester significant amounts of carbon.  It will also cut into the profits of agricultural corporations, and is the occasion for a vigorous conflict between visions of how we are to relate to the land.  (The same can be said for the Standing Rock protest.)  https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2016/sep/10/soil-our-best-shot-at-cooling-the-planet-might-be-right-under-our-feet



5.  In support of the spirit of regenerative farming, and of the Standing Rock statements on our relationship to the land, quite a bit of research now supports the view that essentially all trees communicate with one another and cooperate in sharing sunlight and nutrients.  (Do I stray a bit from climate?  No further than a tree can shout.)  https://climatecrocks.com/2016/09/10/the-weekend-wonk-how-trees-talk-to-each-other/  ?

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