Exxon must reveal CO2 research

SUBHEAD: A Massachusetts judge has refused to block the climate fraud investigation of Exxon.

By By David Hasemyer on 12 January 2017 for Inside Climate News -
(https://insideclimatenews.org/news/12012017/mass-judge-ruling-climate-investigation-exxon-tillerson)


Image above: An ice sculpture fashioned by protesters slowly melts outside the Exxon Mobil shareholders meeting in Dallas. From (https://thinkprogress.org/50-years-ago-big-oil-bragged-about-being-able-to-melt-glaciers-while-they-knew-about-climate-change-728efe887daa#.6d54cpe8f).

Exxon had fought state Attorney General Maura Healey's demand for documents about potential climate fraud, but a Massachusetts judge backs Healey's right to the probe.  

A Massachusetts Superior Court judge has refused to block the climate fraud investigation of ExxonMobil opened last year by state Attorney General Maura Healey.

The ruling Wednesday means Exxon must comply with Healey's civil investigative demand for company records. Healey requested the documents as part of an investigation to determine if Exxon misled consumers about the risks climate change posed to its business.

Exxon had argued Healey lacked the jurisdiction to pursue the investigation and maintained Texas was the proper venue for any legal action because the company is headquartered in Dallas.

But Judge Heidi Brieger disagreed.

"This matter involves the Massachusetts consumer protection statute and Massachusetts case law arising under it about which the Massachusetts Superior Court is certainly more familiar than would be a federal court in Texas," according to Brieger's ruling.

The parallel legal battle Exxon is waging in a federal court in Texas to derail Healey's investigation remains under way.

The Massachusetts court ruling affirms the authority of the attorney general to investigate fraud, said Chloe Gotsis, a spokeswoman for Healey.

"Exxon must now end its obstructive tactics and come clean about whether it misled Massachusetts consumers and investors about what it knew about climate change, its causes and effects," Gotsis said.

A spokesman for Exxon did not respond to a request for comment.

Healey opened the investigation in April under the state's consumer protection laws seeking documents back to 1976 related to Exxon's understanding of climate change and the effects it could have on its business.

The civil investigative demand—similar to a subpoena—included a request for documents detailing the company's decades of climate research, how it was preparing for sea-level rise and materials prepared for potential investors.

The demand also sought statements by Exxon officials, including by the company's then-chief executive, Rex Tillerson, who was questioned Wednesday about climate change during his Senate confirmation hearing to become secretary of state.

The company argued that Healey's investigation amounted to an "arbitrary and capricious" abuse of power and was politically motivated.

But the judge said that under state law Healey was empowered to open the investigation based on her belief that a person or company was engaged in unfair or deceptive business practices in the state and that she should have "broad access" to Exxon records to determine if there were any violations of law.

Brieger also rejected Exxon's contention that the company was targeted by Healey because of its views on global warming.

"The court finds that the Attorney General has assayed sufficient grounds her concerns about Exxon's possible misrepresentations to Massachusetts consumers—upon which to issue the CID," said the 14-page ruling.

"In light of these concerns, the court concludes that Exxon has not met its burden showing that the Attorney General is acting arbitrarily or capriciously toward it."

See also:

Ea O Ka Aina: Exxon - The Road not Taken 12/25/16

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Sea Shepherd to obstruct Japanese

SUBHEAD: An attempt to stop Japan’s so-called “scientific research” program used to justify killing whales.

By Staff on 5 December 2016 for Sea Shepherd -
(http://www.seashepherdglobal.org/nemesis/)


Image above: Sea Shepherd ship Steve Irwin sets sail to meet Japanese whalers. From (http://www.maritime-executive.com/article/sea-shepherd-the-chase-is-on).

After final preparations in Australia, two Sea Shepherd vessels are now on their way to the Southern Ocean to intercept the Japanese whaling fleet in a bid stop their slaughter of Minke whales.

The marine conservation organization's flagship vessel the Steve Irwin departed Saturday from Seaworks, Williamstown in Melbourne, followed by its fast new patrol vessel the Ocean Warrior, which departed from Hobart, Tasmania on Sunday.

They're now on their way to the vast Southern Ocean in an effort to prevent the Japanese whaling fleet, which left Japan on November 18th, from killing its self-allocated quota of 333 Minke whales.

"With all of the hectic preparations behind us, it's good to finally be on our way to the Southern Ocean," said Captain Adam Meyerson from the bridge of the Ocean Warrior.

Fast enough to outrun any whaling ship and equipped with a powerful water cannon, Sea Shepherd predicts the Ocean Warrior will be a game-changer for their 11th whale defense campaign, Operation Nemesis.

About Operation Nemesis
Operation Nemesis is Sea Shepherd’s 11th Antarctic whale defense campaign. In Sea Shepherd’s past ten campaigns over 6,000 whales have been spared the grenade-tipped harpoons of the illegal Japanese whaling fleet.

Japan’s so-called “scientific research” program used to justify the killing of whales has been rejected by the International Court of Justice and the International Whaling Commission’s scientific committee. In 2015 the Australian Federal Court fined the Japanese whalers $AU1 million for hunting within an Australian whale sanctuary, however it remains unpaid.

This is the second time the illegal Japanese whaling fleet has returned to the scene of their crimes in the Southern Ocean since the 2014 International Court of Justice ruling. at a press conference in the port of Hobart Saturday morning Australian Senator Peter Whish-Wilson said:

"Sea Shepherd shouldn’t have to be taking on the whalers again this summer. Australia won the International Court of Justice case against Japan, but unfortunately the government put trade deals ahead of whales and removed all diplomatic pressure. The Japanese whaling fleet might be able to escape and outrun the international courts but it won’t escape Sea Shepherd."

Jeff Hansen, Managing Director of Sea Shepherd Australia said:

"It's time that Japan respected the International Court of Justice, the Australian Federal Court, and the global moratorium on commercial whaling and ended their so-called scientific lethal hunting of whales off the Antarctic coast." 

The Japanese typically hunt whales from December until March, so Sea Shepherd's vessels have been equipped to endure four months of harsh conditions at sea to protect the whales of the Southern Ocean.

"The crew has worked really hard to get the ship ready and everybody is super excited to be on our way," said Steve Irwin's Captain Wyanda Lublink.

The two Sea Shepherd vessels are carrying a total of 50 crew members from eight different countries: Australia, Germany, France, UK, Austria, Spain, Canada and the United States. "They are very much looking forward to getting down towards the Antarctic and being able to experience firsthand the stunning beauty of this part of the world. A place where illegal whaling vessels from the other side of the world do not belong."


Video above: Video describing Sea Shepherd activity on its 11th seasonal journey to protect whales from Japanese hunting vessels. From (https://youtu.be/vZm-k9r3kus).

About Sea Shepherd Global
Established in 1977, Sea Shepherd is an international non-profit, marine wildlife conservation organization. Our mission is to end the destruction of habitat and slaughter of wildlife in the world's oceans in order to conserve and protect ecosystems and species.

Sea Shepherd uses innovative direct-action tactics to investigate, document, and take action when necessary to expose and confront illegal activities on the high seas. By safeguarding the biodiversity of our delicately-balanced ocean ecosystems, Sea Shepherd works to ensure their survival for future generations.

For more information, visit:
www.seashepherdglobal.org
For photos and interview requests, contact:

Heather Stimmler, Sea Shepherd Global Media Director
E-mail: heather@seashepherdglobal.org
Tel: +339 7719 7742 (EUROPE, GMT+1)

For Australia and New Zealand media requests, contact:
Adam Burling, Media Coordinator Sea Shepherd Australia
E-mail: adam@seashepherdglobal.org
Tel : +61 409 472 922 (AUSTRALIA, GMT+11)

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EPA uses GMO company studies

SUBHEAD: EPA using industry-funded research to determine if glyphosate causes cancer.

By Nadia Prupis on 3 May 2016 for Common Dreams -
(http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/05/03/epa-using-industry-funded-research-determine-if-glyphosate-causes-cancer)


Image above: Logo for the United States Environmental Protection Agency with a bit of mashup by Juan Wilson.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) used industry-funded research to conclude that the herbicide chemical glyphosate is not likely to cause cancer in humans—contradicting findings by the World Health Organization (WHO)—according to an analysis the EPA posted to, then swiftly removed from, its website on Friday.

"EPA's determination that glyphosate is non-carcinogenic is disappointing, but not terribly surprising—industry has been manipulating this process for years," said Nathan Donley, a scientist with the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD). "The analysis done by the World Health Organization is more open and transparent and remains the gold standard."

The agency's since-deleted analysis (pdf), which includes an October 2015 memorandum from its Cancer Assessment Review Committee (CARC), states:

The epidemiological evidence at this time does not support a causal relationship between glyphosate exposure and solid tumors. There is also no evidence to support a causal relationship between glyphosate exposure and the following non-solid tumors: leukemia, multiple myeloma, or Hodgkin lymphoma.

Groups cited in the analysis include private biochemical firms like Inveresk Research International, Nufarm, and Arysta Life Sciences.

WHO reported the exact opposite in a groundbreaking March 2015 study, which prompted a wave of measures against the use of the chemical. California placed it on the state's public 'cancer list' in September, while workers around the country lined up to sue Monsanto for conducting what they called a "prolonged campaign of misinformation" to convince farmers, consumers, and the government that its Roundup line of products was safe to use.

As CBD points out, because the studies cited in the EPA's analysis are unpublished, they have not been subject to public scrutiny. In addition, they focus on testing glyphosate as a singular ingredient, rather than looking at the effects of herbicides available in stores.

"Most products containing glyphosate have other ingredients that can make the pesticide more dangerous," CBD said.

Nor is this the first time that the EPA has been caught using biased research to approve of dangerous chemicals. Last November, the Intercept's Sharon Lerner reported that the agency used Monsanto's own research to determine that there was "no convincing evidence" glyphosate was an endocrine disruptor.

An EPA spokesperson said Friday that the document was posted to the website prematurely and was removed "because our assessment is not final," and that the agency would release a completed, peer-reviewed analysis by the end of 2016.

Meanwhile, as the agency played damage control on Friday, a lawsuit was filed in San Francisco alleging that glyphosate residues in Quaker Oats discredits the food company's claims that its product is entirely natural.

"Glyphosate is a synthetic biocide and probable human carcinogen, with additional health dangers rapidly becoming known," the lawsuit states. "When a product purports to be '100% Natural,' consumers not only are willing to pay more for the product, they expect it to be pesticide-free."

The news comes just as advocacy groups including Friends of the Earth and Beyond Pesticides plan a rally outside the White House on Wednesday to deliver 400,000 petitions to the EPA calling for a ban on the chemical.

EPA is currently undertaking a "registration review" of glyphosate, a process which determines whether chemicals can be used safely for the next 15 years based on scientific evidence.

"We shouldn't gamble with the risk of cancer and must take appropriate precautions until we get a conclusive answer about the true dangers of glyphosate," Donley continued. "The indiscriminate drenching of farms, ball fields, and backyards with glyphosate needs to end."


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Big Island Solar Research

SUBHEAD: Henk Rogers’ energy lab on the Big Islandis a sophisticated facility for solar research.

By Robert Rapier on 25 April 2014 for Energy Trends -
(http://www.energytrendsinsider.com/2014/04/23/renewable-hydrogen-on-the-big-island/)


Image above: The 360 solar panels on the roof of Henk’s energy lab. All photos from original article.

For the past five years, home for me has been on the northern end of the island of Hawaiʻi. For those unfamiliar with the Hawaiian islands, they consist of eight major islands. The biggest of these islands is the island of Hawaiʻi, also known as the “Big Island.”

The Big Island has a land area of 4,028 square miles — bigger than the area of Rhode Island and Delaware combined, and almost as large as Connecticut. It is also home to a couple of volcanoes that are over 13,500 high (and incidentally do see snow during the cooler months).

But the population density of the Big Island is much lower that the other small states at 185,000 people, versus around a million in both Rhode Island and Delaware, and 3.5 million in Connecticut.

Hawaii has abundant energy resources from wind, the sun, geothermal, water, and biomass. Yet Hawaii relies on petroleum for 80 percent of its energy, making it by far the most petroleum-dependent state. One major reason for this is that Hawaii is the only state that still gets a large portion of its electricity from oil.

Over the years the states on the mainland displaced oil with coal, natural gas, and nuclear power, and today are starting to displace some of these with renewables. But Hawaii doesn’t have coal trains or natural gas pipelines, so we continued to use oil for electricity even as everyone else switched. The cost of continued oil reliance to electricity consumers has been very high.

But because of the relatively low population density and the abundant natural resources, the Big Island has the potential to do something that will prove to be much more challenging elsewhere: Derive most or all of its energy from renewable sources. I recently visited a laboratory that is working hard to realize this vision.

Meet Henk Rogers
Last week I toured Henk Rogers‘ ranch (called the Pu’u Wa’awa’a Ranch) on the Big Island. I went there with my good friend, Big Island farmer Richard Ha.

[IB Publisher's note: Richard Ha supports GMO farming and experiments in Hawaii. He fought the Big Islands Bill 113 to regulate GMOs. He wrote on 12/18/13 "Someone suggested that my change of plans re: putting 264 acres into preservation land smells of sour grapes - that I made a knee-jerk decision because I was upset that the anti-GMO Bill 113 passed." (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/richard-ha/anti-gmo-bill-113_b_4454556.html). This is enough in itself to cast a shadow on this "techno-optimistic" use of solar energy to produce hydrogen fuel. In reading on it is obvious that Henk Rogers has not found it a sound investment to date. We maintain that the "Hydrogen Economy" is more "Green Smoke".]


Image above: Richard Ha and I at the Big Island’s only hydrogen refueling station.

 Henk Rogers is a fascinating character, best known for bringing the video game “Tetris” — the world’s most popular video game with over 125 million units sold — to handheld video game devices.

Henk also holds the exclusive intellectual property rights to Tetris. Having made his fortune in the video gaming world, Henk turned his attention to sustainable energy with his Blue Planet Foundation. (Incidentally, Henk Rogers also supports the Hawaii Space Exploration Analog & Simulation, a long-duration simulated Mars exploration habitat 8,200 feet above sea level on Mauna Loa.)

Henk Rogers’ Energy Lab
Richard and I were shown around the ranch by Vincent Paul Ponthieux, who is the Chief Technology Officer for Blue Planet Research. They have built an energy lab at Henk’s ranch where they are experimenting with a number of technologies for producing and storing energy. They are testing seven different solar photovoltaic (PV) technologies, as well as various energy storage and fuel cell technologies.


Image above: Testing Seven Different Solar PV Technologies at Henk Rogers’ Ranch.

The roof over the lab is host to 360 solar PV panels with a capacity of 85 kilowatts (kW) — enough to power about 17 average homes in Hawaii. But where it gets really interesting is that they are also using the electricity from the solar panels to produce hydrogen, which then supplies the only hydrogen refueling station on the Big Island.

As I explained recently in One More ‘Free Lunch’ in Energy, it always takes more energy to split water into hydrogen and oxygen than you can get back from burning the hydrogen. But such a scheme might make sense in some instances if the electricity is cheap, or if the hydrogen is desperately needed.

At times renewable energy installations may produce more power than a home can use or than the grid can absorb, and it could be directed into electrolysis of water to produce hydrogen for later consumption. In this way, the hydrogen is acting like an energy storage device — which could then be used to produce power even when the sun isn’t shining.

Hydrogen can be used either directly in a combustion engine (where the combustion product is simply water) or, more efficiently, in a fuel cell that converts chemical energy into electricity. Fuel cells are still quite expensive, but they can be used to provide backup electrical power or to power a vehicle. Henk’s lab is experimenting with fuel cells from several manufacturers, including Plug Power (Nasdaq: PLUG) — which incidentally has seen its share price rise more than 40-fold over the past 12 months.

Henk’s team is also experimenting with various battery storage technologies. They had a vanadium-redox flow stack, as well as a bank of lithium iron phosphate batteries from Sony. I discussed the problem of energy storage with Blue Planet Research’s Chief Technology Officer Vincent Paul Ponthieux, and we both agree that cost effective energy storage is a critically important enabler of a future powered by solar power, or by other intermittent power sources. I was really excited to see them focused on this problem.



Image above: Vincent Paul Ponthieux showing us the electrolyzer that produces hydrogen from solar power.

But Isn’t That Expensive?
Given that this is a small experimental facility for hydrogen production, I didn’t expect it to be cost effective. However, it is worth mentioning the costs to keep things in perspective. To produce hydrogen from the solar PV panels at Henk Rogers’ ranch requires an electrolyzer that cost $125,000 (in addition to the cost of the solar panels). That electrolyzer is capable of producing 12 kilograms of hydrogen a day. Those 12 kilograms of hydrogen contain the energy content of about 12 gallons of gasoline. Thus, over the course of a year that $125,000 electrolyzer might produce hydrogen with the energy equivalent of $10,000 to $15,000 worth of gasoline. But these costs are expected to go down as the system is scaled up.

Conclusions
During my career, I have come across some amazing things in the most unexpected places. Prior to my visit to Henk Rogers’ energy lab on the Big Island, I wouldn’t have guessed such a sophisticated facility existed anywhere on the island. The research team there is working on some critically important problems in the field of energy, and success for them will mean a cleaner energy future for us all.
The world must eventually move to a solar economy, and the work of the team there could help accelerate that process. The sun is being utilized to produce electricity, as well as hydrogen which can be used to produce backup power and as a power source for automobiles. The technology is there; it’s mainly just a matter of reducing costs.

I want to note in closing that we were told on our visit that they are not looking for attention, as that tends to take time away from work. Nor are they looking for investors. Rather they are engaged in this mission because Henk Rogers has a passion and a vision for a cleaner energy future. I wish the team great success in this mission. It is related to my own mission in Arizona, where I am also working to realize a hydrogen economy.

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Angels don't play this HAARP

SOURCE: Nola Ann Conn (https://www.facebook.com/nola.conn) SUBHEAD: A video explaining the DARPA research project HAARP and some of the risks and dangers associated with it. By Dr. Nick Begich on 8 November 2010 for BrassTV - (http://www.brasschecktv.com/videos/offensive-technology/angels-still-dont-play-this-haarp.html) Image above: View of 180 element HAARP array. From (http://www.haarp.alaska.edu/haarp/photos.html). What is HAARP - High-frequency Active Auroral Research Project? Based on the best selling book "Angels Don't Play This HAARP", narrator Dr. Nick Begich presents a compelling discussion of one of the important military advances of the United States government. The technology is designed to manipulate the environment in a number of ways that can jam all global communications, disrupt weather systems, interfere with migration patterns, disrupt human mental processes, negatively affect your health and disrupt the upper atmosphere. The U.S. military calls this new zapper the High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program or HAARP. The rest of the story is revealed in the patents, technical papers and other documents that continue to emerge regarding this project. Begich has presented on the subject as an expert witness for the European Parliament, Committee on Foreign Affairs, Security and Defense Policy Subcommittee on Security and Disarmament, GLOBE and others. In a useful and important book, Manning and Begich have attacked many problems and told many stories. Best of all they have told how they and a gallant lot of nongovernment people in Alaska have fought battles to expose the HAARP project, which is the latest modernization of the Pentagon's electromagnetic warfare preparations, under test in the Alaskans' own backyard. HAARP has been a mysterious project, whose true nature has been hidden, they say, by lies and disinformation. It has posed as university ionospheric research, which it only partly is, so as to conceal its military character. The great service that Manning and Begich have done is to uncover just enough technical and organizational information to leave no doubt about the centrality of HAARP to the Pentagon's aims of perfecting electromagnetic warfare. HAARP stands for High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program. It follows upon a long line of ionospheric research, some of it military, in which bursts of radiofrequency radiation have been beamed up into the ionosphere in order to study the effects so produced. Installations that send high intensity electromagnetic waves into the ionosphere have been called ionospheric heaters. Some have been in Greenland, the Pacific, Japan, Norway, and Russia. What is new about HAARP and should give grounds for concern is the much greater power level contemplated and the hugely greater power flux aimed at in the projected transmission. Scientists often study a system by perturbing it, observing the processes that take place during the recovery to the original state of the system. HAARP, however, promises to perturb the system so drastically that it may never recover to its original state, even assuming that it is stable enough that it returns to its former state under less drastic bombardment. Furthermore, the very scientists planning the research do not know what the results may be. If Manning and Begich are to be believed, the nuclear explosions carried out by the Soviet Union and the United States outside the Earth's atmosphere, prior to the 1963 Limited Test Ban Treaty forbidding such detonations, did in fact damage the ionosphere in the long term. For example, there is now radioactivity in outer space that wasn't there prior to the nuclear explosions, so that in this one sense at least, the ionosphere certainly isn't the same as it was. HAARP threatens to blast the ionosphere again, but possibly in a new and very frightening way. Video above: "Angels still don't play this HAARP" by Nick Begich. From (http://youtu.be/mLZcaItj70U). See also: www.LayInstitute.org www.EarthPulse.com .

DARPA loses hypersonic weapon

SOURCE: Shannon Rudolph (shannonkona@gmail.com)
SUBHEAD: DARPA lost contact with a second hypersonic test plane (20x speed of sound) over Pacific.  

By Carlos Munoz on 11 August 2011 for AOL News - 
  (http://defense.aol.com/2011/08/11/darpa-loses-contact-with-hypersonic-weapon-again)
Image above: Rendering of HTS-2 in flight. From (http://www.darpa.mil/NewsEvents/Releases/2011/2011/08/09_HYPERSONIC_AIRCRAFT_READY_FOR_LAUNCH.aspx).

 DARPA, the Pentagon's advanced weapons division, lost contact with a test version of a new weapon designed to hit any target around the world in less than an hour. The Falcon Hypersonic Test Vehicle 2 test vehicle took off on top off an Air Force Minotaur IV rocket this morning at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. The rocket and its payload traveled successfully into the earth's upper atmosphere, where the Falcon separated from the Minotaur, DARPA said.

 Once separated, the Falcon should have glided through the atmosphere at nearly 13,000 miles per hour, while separate air, land and sea-based assets collected flight and performance data from the vehicle's on-board systems. But shortly after the Falcon began the glide phase of the test flight, DARPA officials say they lost contact with the vehicle.

 During the first HVT-2 test flight, DARPA lost contact with the vehicle nine minutes into the flight and it crashed into the Pacific. This time around, contact was maintained for "more than nine minutes" but the link was lost shortly thereafter, and the vehicle again crashed somewhere in the Pacific, according to a DARPA statement. "We know how to insert the aircraft into atmospheric hypersonic flight. We do not yet know how to achieve the desired control during the aerodynamic phase of flight. It's vexing; I'm confident there is a solution. We have to find it," HVT-2 Program Manager Air Force Maj.  Chris Schulz said.

DARPA has stood up an independent Engineering Review Board that will look into why the Falcon lost contact during the flight. Today's test flight was the final live demonstration scheduled for the Falcon vehicle, according to DARPA. "As today's flight indicates, high-Mach flight in the atmosphere is virtually uncharted territory," Schultz added. The speeds and distances the Falcon is built to travel are critical to getting a conventional prompt global strike into the field, according to Pentagon officials.

 Long championed by former Vice Chief of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Hoss Cartwright, the prompt global strike weapon is designed to hit targets anywhere in the world within an hour. Cartwright championed the technology, arguing it would provide the United States more flexibility in responding to global crises, allowing the U.S. to rely on weapons that could be delivered to a remote area quickly without relying on nuclear weapons. For some time it was touted as a weapon to use against high value targets such as the late Osama bin Laden. That use appears to fallen out of favor, largely because of the difficulties of getting excellent actionable intelligence with such a short timeframe.

   
Video above: Depiction of planned flight profile for the second of two planned flight tests of DARPA's HTV-2.

See also:
Ea O Ka Aina: DARPA & Super-Cavitation on Kauai 3/24/09

http://www.darpa.mil/NewsEvents/Releases/2011/2011/08/09_HYPERSONIC_AIRCRAFT_READY_FOR_LAUNCH.aspx
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