What Will It Take to Stop Trump From Bulldozing Most Diverse Butterfly Center for Border Wall Section Already Funded?
21 December 2018
Facebook Videos
Bulldozers are expected to arrive at the National Butterfly Center in February or early March. A planned 5.5 mile section of concrete and steel border wall that is already funded will cut straight through the most diverse butterfly sanctuary in the U.S.
Marianna Wright, executive director of the National Butterfly Center believes most Americans are unaware that 33 new miles were funded in the 2018 Omnibus spending bill in March. The National Butterfly Center is on a segment of those 33 new miles, costing roughly $30 million per mile according to Wright.
<p>
EcoWatch <a href="https://www.facebook.com/EcoWatch/videos/345706262651120/" target="_blank">teamed up</a> with passionate individuals working on the border with the Center for Biological Diversity and the National Butterfly center on Wednesday to educate Facebook Live viewers on what is happening on the grounds. Viewers asked thought-provoking questions and left encouraging comments such as, "Calling my Senators right now."
</p><p>
"Nature knows no borders," said Laiken Jordahl, Center for Biological Diversity borderlands campaigner. "Animals have evolved to migrate freely for millennia and now we are proposing quite literally to slice the continent in two with the border wall. To think that we could do something like that free of consequence is delusional."<br>
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Wright states that the morale on the ground right now is "pretty bad." To date, 28 laws have been <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/border-wall-mexico-2540848560.html" target="_blank">waived for border wall construction</a> including the National Environmental Policy Act, the Endangered Species Act, the Clean Water Act and the Clean Air Act.
</p><div id="4c7ea" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="NPZE7R1576662594"><blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-version="4" style=" background:#FFF; border:0;
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<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Bqocw_MAUgx/" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif;
font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none;
word-wrap:break-word;" target="_top">National Butterfly Center on Instagram: “Some important information for those concerned with the future border wall.”</a></p>
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"The potential impacts are devastating," said Wright. "Especially for animals like the ocelot where we have fewer than 80 known in existence."<br>
</p><p>
Not only will migration routes be divided for hundreds of species, including those endangered such as the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/trump-mexico-wall-jaguars-2216942406.html" target="_blank">jaguar</a> and Mexican gray <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/mexico-border-wall-2468270508.html">wolf</a>, but the border wall will divide tribal nations and interfere with the flow of water in certain sections.
</p><p><em><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/trump-border-wall-endangered-species-2410320620.html" target="_blank">[Read to find out 93 endangered species threatened by Trump's wall.]</a></em></p><p>
"Border walls are horrifically damaging for the environment," said Jordahl. "If these plans do move forward they will certainly be met with vociferous opposition," said Jordahl.
</p><p>
As one viewer asked, "Can we stop the construction of what has already been funded?" Jordahl answered with a hopeful response, urging viewers to continue to weigh in to Congress and to show up on the ground and fight when the time comes. He states that we must continue to <a href="https://www.cbp.gov/contact" target="_blank">put pressure on U.S. Customs and Border Protection</a> and make them question the morality of their actions.
</p><p>
"No, we cannot stop this," said Wright in a comment sent to EcoWatch. "Nothing Trumps eminent domain, so they will seize the property."
</p><p>
Whether or not we can stop the already funded destruction of the National Butterfly Center is up in the air and resistance plans are pending. However, Jordahl remains hopeful about maintaining #NoBorderWall advocacy.
</p><p>
"I do believe that people can change and I do believe that if we make <a href="http://www.nowall.org" target="_blank">this project</a> so toxic and so unpalatable, they might reconsider."
</p><p>
The interview ends on a positive note as Jordahl urges viewers to remember to call their senators, regardless of who they are and to change the narrative whenever speaking about the borders. The borderlands are incredibly biodiverse filled with breathtaking flora and fauna—a true national treasure—and should not be viewed as a dangerous and out of control place.
</p>
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- Judge Allows Trump to Waive Environmental Laws to Build Border ... ›
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The destructive wildfires currently raging in the American West have produced so much smoke that it can be observed in the majority of U.S. states, the Weather Channel reported.
Varying concentrations of smoke have spread as far east as Lake Superior and Hudson Bay, and as far south as Baja, California, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said Monday.
<p>
<span></span><a href="https://weather.com/news/news/2018-08-07-wildfire-smoke-detected-majority-us-states" target="_blank">Aerosol index simulations</a> from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center from last Friday through Monday even showed smoke particles along the Southeastern coast and parts of upstate New York and northern New England, the Weather Channel noted.
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</p><div id="14647" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="LDF0ZK1576662724"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1026873319453339648" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">🔥Today's simulated wildfire smoke forecast across the West. This illustrates the total smoke in the atmosphere.… https://t.co/UPpk7DalII</div> — NWS Boise (@NWS Boise)<a href="https://twitter.com/NWSBoise/statuses/1026873319453339648">1533660652.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p>
The thickest smoke can be observed across much of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/california" target="_blank">California</a>, Oregon, eastern Washington, northern Nevada, northern Utah, southern Wyoming, northern Colorado and southwestern Nebraska, according to NOAA.
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<span></span>There are <a href="http://www.fire.ca.gov/general/firemaps" target="_blank">18 active fires</a> in California alone, including the Mendocino Complex Fire, which was recently <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/mendocino-complex-fire-now-the-largest-in-california-history-2593542567.html" target="_blank">declared</a> the largest in state history, and eclipsed last year's Thomas fire which burned 283,800 acres in Ventura and Santa Barbara.
</p><p>
<span></span>European Space Agency astronaut Alexander Gerst took photos of California's thick plumes from the International Space Station.
<span></span>
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"California burning. These fires are frightening to watch, even from space. Here's a shout-out from space to all firefighters on this planet, my former colleagues. Stay safe my friends!" Gerst tweeted Aug. 3.
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</p><div id="9bd77" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="Y4ZJ8Z1576662724"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1025291542674788352" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">California burning. These fires are frightening to watch, even from space. Here's a shout-out from space to all fir… https://t.co/5f57W8qS3r</div> — Alexander Gerst (@Alexander Gerst)<a href="https://twitter.com/Astro_Alex/statuses/1025291542674788352">1533283527.0</a></blockquote></div>
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Officials have issued air quality advisories to dozens of communities surrounding the wildfires.
</p><p>
The National Weather Service <a href="https://alerts.weather.gov/cap/wwacapget.php?x=CA125AB5D8B3C4.AirQualityAlert.125AB5F73844CA.HNXAQAHNX.aaa9814761ff77dbd5bb3a2a304e4a5f" target="_blank">warns</a> that exposure to particle pollution can cause serious health problems, aggravate lung disease, cause asthma attacks and acute bronchitis and increase risk of respiratory infections.
</p><p>
<span></span>The West's string of destructive wildfires has been attributed to <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-change" target="_blank">climate change</a>, as <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/drought" target="_blank">drought</a> and <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/heat-wave" target="_blank">heat waves</a> combine to increase the risk that dry vegetation will ignite.
</p><p>
<span></span>"It is our changing climate that is leading to more severe and destructive fires," deputy chief of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection Scott McLean told <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/california-wildfire-trump-tweet_us_5b685f22e4b0b15abaa5708a" target="_blank">The Huffington Post Monday</a>.
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A video posted to Facebook on Monday, in which a tree tapped by a frontloader releases a massive cloud of pollen, has gone viral, resonating with viewers in what experts say is an especially bad allergy season, partly because of climate change.
The video was taken by Eric Henderson of Millville, New Jersey, who drove the frontloader that released the pollen cloud, ABC News reported Wednesday. His wife, Jennifer, posted it on Facebook, where it has gotten more than five million views.
<p>"When my husband said the pollen's bad, I probably should've taken his word for it. Crazy!" Henderson wrote. </p><p>The video's popularity comes as the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (AAAAI) says that more and more Americans who didn't used to be impacted are suffering from seasonal allergies, <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/health/allergies/allergy-explosion-across-much-country-linked-climate-change-n872826" target="_blank">NBC reported</a> Thursday.</p><p>The allergy surge is especially bad in the country's North and Southwest, and spring and fall allergy seasons are lasting up to 27 days longer than they did in the past. </p><p>An <a href="https://www.aaaai.org/conditions-and-treatments/library/allergy-library/climate-change" target="_blank">AAAAI report</a> found that climate change might both increase the amount of pollen plants produce and the amount of time it spends in the air.</p><p>"Some research has suggested that the warming trend that we have in our environment is causing the pollen seasons to start a little bit earlier, and extend a little bit longer," Dr. Stanley Fineman, former president of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, told NBC. "Consequently, patients are suffering because they're exposed to pollen for longer periods of time," he said.</p><p>Medical Director of Allergy and Asthma Care of New York Dr. Clifford Bassett told NBC that climate change was one of several factors igniting an "allergy explosion" in the U.S.</p><p>"Climate change, globalization, air pollution, and over-sanitization of the environment in the early years of life are just a few of the causes that, taken together, have introduced new allergens into our environment causing needless suffering," Basset said. </p><p>According to the <a href="https://www.aaaai.org/conditions-and-treatments/allergies/rhinitis" target="_blank">AAAAI</a>, seasonal allergies, also known as hay fever or allergic rhinitis, are characterized by itching in the nose, mouth, throat and eyes, sneezing, congestion and tearing eyes. </p><p>Climate change can also trigger other allergies, the AAAAI found. For example, more frequent floods and more extreme storms can leave buildings damp and at risk for mold buildup, which can trigger both allergies and lung disease.</p>
<p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="1118b" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="OL9B6G1548947009"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="973976404411985920" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Climate Change Harms Human Health https://t.co/ChUuuQVVOD @NRDC @YEARSofLIVING @greenpeaceusa @billmckibben @CleanAirMoms</div> — EcoWatch (@EcoWatch)<a href="https://twitter.com/EcoWatch/statuses/973976404411985920">1521049045.0</a></blockquote></div>
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Goddard Media Studios / NASA
By Alex Kirby
The Gulf Stream is slowing, the North Atlantic is cooling. An international scientific study has found new and harder evidence that one of the planet's key heat pumps, the currents which exchange warmth between the tropics and the Arctic, are weaker today than at any time in the last thousand years.
<p style="">The currents, known as the Atlantic overturning—its scientific name is the <a href="http://www.rapid.ac.uk/" target="_blank">Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation</a> (AMOC)—bring warm water north from the tropics and return south with cold water.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image" style="">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xNzU0NDY2Mi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0NjcxMTc5OH0.gCjeGxunjnmJf4VkgkUfN3gQFn8W8Iz-Dn7QistnHlA/img.jpg?width=980" id="24766" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="397d87e17ce610db4d7274c68d92de33" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
</p><p style="">Earlier studies suggested strongly that any weakening of the AMOC would <a href="https://climatenewsnetwork.net/ocean-current-chilling-warning/" target="_blank">speed sea level rise on the U.S. east coast and cool north-west Europe</a> by up to 5°C.</p><p style="">Those studies made use of computer simulations. But the latest research is radically different. It is based on direct observation of what is happening in the ocean. And it is, in non-scientific language, hard evidence that the Gulf Stream is slowing down.</p><p style="">A team from Germany's <a href="https://www.pik-potsdam.de/" target="_blank">Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research</a> (PIK) and the U.S. <a href="http://www.noaa.gov/" target="_blank">National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration</a> has found evidence which it says not only supports the earlier predictions, but makes them hard to dispute.</p><p style="">In a study published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-018-0006-5" target="_blank">Nature</a> the researchers say analysis of sea surface temperature data shows that the AMOC has slowed down by roughly 15 percent since the middle of the 20th century, with human-made climate change a prime suspect.</p><p style="">"We detected a specific pattern of ocean cooling south of Greenland and unusual warming off the U.S. coast—which is highly characteristic for a slowdown of the Atlantic overturning, also called the Gulf Stream system," said the lead author, <a href="https://www.pik-potsdam.de/members/caesar" target="_blank">Levke Caesar</a> from PIK. "It is practically like a fingerprint of a weakening of these ocean currents."</p><p style="">For decades, computer simulations have generally predicted that the AMOC will weaken in response to human-caused global warming. But whether this is already happening has until now been unclear, because of a lack of long-term direct current measurements.</p><p style=""><strong>Most Robust</strong></p><p style="">Not any more, though. "The evidence we're now able to provide is the most robust to date," said <a href="https://www.pik-potsdam.de/members/stefan/prof.-dr.-stefan-rahmstorf" target="_blank">Stefan Rahmstorf</a> of the Potsdam Institute, who conceived the study. "We've analysed all the available sea surface temperature data sets, comprising data from the late 19th century until the present."</p><p>"The specific trend pattern we found in measurements looks exactly like what is predicted by the computer simulations as a result of a slowdown in the Gulf Stream system, and I see no other plausible explanation for it."</p><p style="">The Atlantic overturning is driven by the differences in the density of the ocean water: when the warm, lighter water flows from south to north it becomes colder, denser and heavier, making it sink deeper and flow back southwards.</p><p style="">Global warming is not the only influence on the AMOC. Increased rainfall and meltwater from the Arctic sea ice and Greenland ice sheet are also diluting the waters of the northern Atlantic, reducing the salinity. Less saline water is less dense and so less heavy, making it harder for the water to sink from the surface to the ocean depths.</p><p style=""><strong>Second Study</strong></p><p>There have been long debates about whether the AMOC could collapse, which would constitute a <a href="https://climatenewsnetwork.net/cut-carbon-now-to-avoid-climate-tipping-points/" target="_blank">tipping element</a> in the Earth system. The PIK study does not consider the AMOC's future, instead analysing how it has changed over the past century.</p><p style="">A <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-018-0007-4" target="_blank">second study</a>, by a team including <a href="http://www.geog.ucl.ac.uk/people/academic-staff/david-thornalley" target="_blank">David Thornalley, from University College London</a>, in the same issue of Nature, looks into the Earth's past climate to reconstruct Atlantic overturning changes over the past 1,600 years.</p><p>It provides independent confirmation for earlier conclusions that the weakness of the circulation today is unprecedented for more than a millennium at least.</p><p style="">"Several lines of evidence are coming together to a consistent picture now, all pointing at the same weakening since the 1950s," said Prof. Rahmstorf. "[They include] sub-polar Atlantic cooling, the warming inshore of the Gulf Stream, Thornalley's proxy data for subsurface Atlantic temperatures, and earlier proxy data from deep sea corals showing water mass changes in the Gulf of Maine."</p><p style=""><em>Reposted with permission from our media associate <a href="https://climatenewsnetwork.net/north-atlantic-ocean-currents-are-slowing/" target="_blank">Climate News Network</a>.</em></p>
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Giant Sloth Fossils, Mayan Relics Discovered in World's Largest Flooded Cave
20 February 2018
Popular
Archaeologists exploring the world's largest flooded cave—discovered last month just outside of Tulum, Mexico—have found an impressive treasure trove of relics.
The vast, 216-mile cave actually connects two of the largest flooded cave systems in the world, the 164-mile-long Sistema Sac Actun and the 52-mile-long Dos Ojos system. Aside from an extensive reserve of freshwater and rich biodiversity, the cave also contains an 11-mile-long, 66-food-deep cavern dubbed "the mother of all cenotes." Cenotes are natural pits, or underwater sinkholes, that are often holy sites in ancient Mayan culture.
<p style="">
<span></span>Since its discovery, the cave explorers have uncovered an elaborate shrine dedicated to the Mayan god of commerce with a staircase accessed through a sinkhole in the middle of the jungle, <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/news/archaeologists-fossils-mayan-relics-giant-underwater-cave-mexico-021518022.html" target="_blank">AFP</a> reported.
</p><p style="">
They also found human remains dating back at least 9,000 years, and the bones of extinct <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/animals" target="_blank">animals</a> such as giant sloths, bears and gomphotheres—an ancient elephant-like animal—that roamed Earth during the last Ice Age (the Pleistocene period).
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed" style="">
</p><div id="cbb9f" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="A9EQ861576662324"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="965782503104499712" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Archaeologists find "impressive amount of artefacts" in the world's largest underwater cave in Mexico, including fo… https://t.co/9RbGkZEYhx</div> — AFP news agency (@AFP news agency)<a href="https://twitter.com/AFP/statuses/965782503104499712">1519095466.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p style="">
According to Mexico's <a href="http://www.inah.gob.mx/en/" target="_blank">National Anthropology and History Institute</a> (INAH), water levels in the region rose 100 meters (330 feet) at the end of the Ice Age, flooding the cave system and leading to "ideal conditions for the preservation of the remains of extinct megafauna from the Pleistocene."
</p><p style="">
<span></span>"It is very unlikely that there is another site in the world with these characteristics. There is an impressive amount of archaeological artifacts inside, and the level of preservation is also impressive," said De Anda, a researcher at INAH.
</p><p style="">
"I think it's overwhelming. Without a doubt it's the most important underwater archaeological site in the world," <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mexico-cave/ancient-human-remains-ice-age-animal-bones-found-in-giant-mexican-cave-idUSKCN1G40V3" target="_blank">said</a> Guillermo de Anda who is also director of the Gran Acuifero Maya, a project dedicated to the study and preservation of the subterranean waters of the Yucatan peninsula.</p>
<p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="29cc5" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="GUY2V81576662324"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="950491099910549504" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Scientist at Work: I’ve Dived in Hundreds of Underwater Caves Hunting for New Forms of Life https://t.co/64uPRy5ZSM… https://t.co/JfB9S0NJ6e</div> — EcoWatch (@EcoWatch)<a href="https://twitter.com/EcoWatch/statuses/950491099910549504">1515449712.0</a></blockquote></div>
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Trump has dumped family farmers.
That's right, President Trump, who once claimed he's "fighting for our farmers," is passing policies that mostly benefit the big agribusiness corporations—not small farmers, and certainly not rural communities.
<p style="">Robert Reich, professor of public policy at the University of California at Berkeley, recently <a href="https://www.facebook.com/RBReich/videos/1832608086751779/" target="_blank" title="This external link will open in a new window">sat down with</a> [see video above] Michael Pollan to discuss food and agriculture policy and inequality under the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/trump-watch/">Trump administration</a>. He also talked about how far food corporations will go to protect their brands' images.</p><p style="">Pollan, a food policy expert and author of several books including <em>The Omnivore's Dilemma</em>, didn't mince words when it comes to Trump's impact on food and ag policy, or where the president's loyalties lie. Pollan explained how Trump is rolling back anything initiated under the Obama administration, including Michelle Obama's standards for school lunch. So instead of nutritionists deciding what kids should eat, we're back to allowing the food companies to decide.</p><p>So basically, we're back to anything industry wants, Pollan said.</p><p style="">Pollan pointed out the irony in Trump's agricultural initiatives, noting that the rural vote helped get him elected, but now he's taking steps that will be a disaster for American farmers. He talked at length about NAFTA and how if Trump pulls out of this trade agreement it will <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/07/us/politics/trump-farmers-agriculture-trade-taxes.html?" target="_blank" title="This external link will open in a new window">greatly impact</a> the industrial farming industry.</p><p style="">Pollan didn't discuss the impact NAFTA has on small, independent and/or organic farmers or workers, but dairy farmer Jim Goodman from Wonewoc, Wisconsin, sure did in <a href="http://host.madison.com/ct/opinion/column/jim-goodman-free-trade-should-benefit-people-not-corporations/article_64db12d3-41df-5db0-9f88-aa2242057233.html" target="_blank" title="This external link will open in a new window">this</a> recent blog post. He sums it up this way:</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"Anyone who supports the continuation of NAFTA without questioning who actually benefits really has no concern for the best interests of farmers or workers in the U.S., Canada or Mexico."</p><p style="">After talking a lot about what's gone wrong with our food system, Reich shifted the conversation in a more positive direction, asking Pollan what gives him hope. Pollan said he's "taking a lot of encouragement from some new developments in the labor movement around food." He spoke about the work of the <a href="http://ciw-online.org/" target="_blank" title="This external link will open in a new window">Coalition of Immokalee Workers</a> and their <a href="http://ciw-online.org/fair-food-program/" target="_blank" title="This external link will open in a new window">Fair Food Program</a> that has helped Florida tomato growers obtain humane wages and safe working conditions.</p><p>In explaining how the program got started, Pollan said:</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"They tried negotiating with the growers, they got nowhere. They marched across Florida, they got nowhere. They had a hunger strike, they got nowhere."</p><p style="">Finally, Lucas Benitez, a farmworker who helped start the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, said, as Pollan related:</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"Then we found the door in the castle wall. That door was the brand of the big companies, the consumer-facing big companies, that bought the tomatoes from the growers, everybody from Whole Foods to McDonalds and Burger King, and they went after the brands with boycotts and threats of boycotts. What they did was they created a pledge, called the Fair Food Pledge and they basically said you will sign this or we will shame you. One by one all the big brands in food signed it. And it's working."</p><p style="">Reich and Pollan agreed that big companies are spending a fortune on brand image and, now more than ever, if you organize or threaten a consumer boycott you can have a real impact. Pollan said:</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"It's the Achilles heel of American capitalism. They are not afraid of the government anymore, but they are afraid of their consumers attacking their brand."</p>
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Did you know that more than 500 million people watch videos on Facebook every day? That's over half a billion people—a lot of eyes on a lot of important content.
<p style="">We took a trip down Facebook memory lane to check out the videos <a href="https://www.climaterealityproject.org/" target="_blank">Climate Reality</a> supporters watched most. They're an incredible reminder of how far we've come in the past year—and of how much work we have left to do in the fight against <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change">climate change</a>.</p><p style="">Take a look back at our top five viewed videos of 2017—and be sure to watch the ones you may have missed!</p><p style=""> <strong>5. A … Wind Energy Island?</strong></p>
<div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="3111619125f98b3d2197876aec76d480"><div class="fb-video" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/climatereality/videos/10154294653141479/" data-allowfullscreen="true"></div></div>
<p style="">Germany, the Netherlands and Denmark have worked together on plans for an island that would collect energy from thousands of new wind turbines at sea. This blustery island would provide clean energy to a whopping 80 million people! To top it all off, the island will also have solar farms—taking advantage of the sun for even more <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/renewable-energy/">renewable energy</a> generation. Working together sure pays off!<br></p><p style=""><strong>4. A Taiwanese Skyscraper Full of Thousands of Trees</strong></p>
<div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="544db33d1c2b3aa023d8714637c8a2e0"><div class="fb-video" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/climatereality/videos/10154690312386479/" data-allowfullscreen="true"></div></div>
<p style="">Twenty-one stories tall … 23,000 live plants … and the ability to absorb 130 tons of carbon dioxide per year. You have to watch the video to believe this incredibly sustainable skyscraper recently built in Taiwan—beautifully marrying design and sustainability.<br></p><p style="">With as many trees as New York City's Central Park, this groundbreaking new skyscraper is inspiring others in the built environment industry to follow suit with plans for forest cities—new developments that are also helping to fight climate change. Put our names on the waiting list for an apartment!</p><p style=""><strong>3. Norway Commits to Cutting Down Deforestation</strong></p>
<div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="6e5fba903e16a5759082ea5f6a1e6f20"><div class="fb-video" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/climatereality/videos/10154732891961479/" data-allowfullscreen="true"></div></div>
<p style="">Norway? More like No-Way! The Norwegian government is the first in the world to commit to no longer buying products that contribute to <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/deforestation">deforestation</a>. By saying no to these harmful products and yes to firms with real sustainability policies, the country's government is not only saving crucial habitat for endangered species around the world, it could make a huge difference in the fight for a safer climate for all. Here's hoping other countries go the same way!<br></p><p style=""><strong>2. Tesla's Solar Panels (and Batteries) Help Power Hawaiian Island, Even at Night</strong></p>
<div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="b3c4c84c238a36f4e3283ea75fcae1e9"><div class="fb-video" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/climatereality/videos/10154639942136479/" data-allowfullscreen="true"></div></div>
<p style=""><a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/tesla">Tesla</a> is supplying the island of Kauai with thousands of solar panels and hundreds of batteries on a new farm that will power the island, even at night—eventually saving roughly 1.6 million gallons of diesel fuel a year. Add this to the list of ways Tesla is changing the game when it comes to energy—lighting up the world sustainably day and night.<br></p><p style=""><strong>1. These High-Efficiency Solar Panels Roll Out</strong></p>
<div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="cb7ed95d11d2835cadf4e476e806cbbe"><div class="fb-video" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/climatereality/videos/175263259689300/" data-allowfullscreen="true"></div></div>
<p style="">Finally, for our most-viewed video of the year, we look to the UK-based renewable energy startup Renovagen. The innovative group has created rollaway solar panels that can be transported anywhere by vehicle—perfect for bringing instant power to disaster areas where they're needed most. It's no surprise our supporters loved this video.<br></p><p style=""><strong>Bonus Video!</strong></p>
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Sanders Introduces $146 Billion 'Transformation Blueprint' for Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands
28 November 2017
Politics
Sanders surveyed the damage done by Hurricane Maria with San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz in October. Cruz approves of the recovery package Sanders unveiled Tuesday. @Politics_Info / Twitter
By Julia Conley
Calling on the federal government to bring its "full resources to bear" on the crisis in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, Sen. Bernie Sanders (Vt.-I) unveiled a $146 billion recovery package for the U.S. territories on Tuesday, two months after Hurricane Maria left destruction across the islands.
<p style="">Sanders and the Democratic co-sponsors of the new bill argue it is necessary to treat the recovery as the emergency it is, but that rebuilding the islands' battered infrastructure should not mean simply returning to things as they were.</p><p style="">"It is absolutely without any sense at all to rebuild Puerto Rico's antiquated, centralized and inefficient electric grid that was dependent on expensive and dirty imported fossil fuels," Sanders said in a press conference where he introduced the bill, adding that with the nickname "La Isla Del Sol," the island could be leading the way in the use of solar power and other sustainable energy.</p><p>"Before the storm Puerto Rico only had two percent of its electricity coming from sustainable energy," remarked Sanders. "Beyond rebuilding damaged facilities, our bill makes a major proactive investment in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands' infrastructure."</p><p style="">The bill—formally called The Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands Equitable Rebuild Act—was referred to as "a Marshall Plan for Puerto Rico" by Ramon Luis Nieves, former lawmaker on the island. It would give $62 billion to the territory to help it pay off its debts, $51 billion for economic development, and $27 billion for infrastructure.</p><p style="">Sanders noted in his press conference with Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and other coo-sponsors, that more than two months after Maria made landfall, "half of the people there—American citizens all—still have no electricity, many are still struggling to get clean drinking water and more than 100,000 people have left Puerto Rico."</p><p style="">But despite the dire situation, Trump has requested just $29 billion for Puerto Rico, Florida and Texas combined, to help with the recovery from Hurricanes <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/hurricane-harvey">Harvey</a> and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/hurricane-irma">Irma</a> as well as <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/hurricane-maria">Maria</a>.</p><p style="">San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz, who has been sharply critical of the president's approach to Puerto Rico's recovery, expressed her approval of the bill in a statement:</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">The bill that Senator Sanders has introduced in the United States Congress is a comprehensive plan that provides the blueprint for the transformation of Puerto Rico. While dealing with all major areas of immediate concern: energy, health and education it also sets the foundation to make Puerto Rico a more equitable, just and fair society for all.<br></p><p style="">In addition to humanitarian relief and improved infrastructure, Warren stressed the need for full, true debt relief. As President Donald Trump <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/09/26/focused-debt-amid-puerto-rico-crisis-maria-fast-becoming-trumps-katrina" target="_blank">brought up</a> in the days after the storm, Puerto Rico's debt exceeds $70 billion, brought on partially by a lack of tax revenue after Congress repealed a tax break for businesses on the island in 1976. This caused companies to flee and take the economic growth Puerto Rico experienced following World War II with them.</p><p style="">The island fell further into debt as "vulture" hedge funds saw an opportunity to buy up the island's debt, only to sue its government when it defaulted on paying the funds back—forcing Puerto Rico to file for bankruptcy four months before Maria hit. Similar firms <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/10/18/despite-puerto-rico-disaster-vulture-firms-relentlessly-seeking-billions-debt" target="_blank">swooped in</a> following Hurricane Maria.</p><p>"Puerto Rico needs full debt relief," Warren said. "This is critical. The vulture funds that snapped up Puerto Rican debt should not get one cent from the island. Not one cent."</p><p>Warren also criticized Trump's callous and insufficient response to the island's crisis, and urged him and Congress to support the bill.</p><p style="">"From the start, President Trump's response to Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands has been too little, too late. I've been telling President Trump, 'Do your job.' Well, this bill is an opportunity for President Trump to step up and do his job."</p><p style="">The senators' press conference was broadcast on Facebook Live:</p>
<div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="0933a9d05a7664b2674f5cc5add087a7"><div class="fb-video" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/senatorsanders/videos/10156534441932908/" data-allowfullscreen="true"></div></div>
<p style=""><em>Reposted with permission from our media associate <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/11/28/sanders-intros-146-billion-transformation-blueprint-puerto-rico-and-virgin-islands" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>.</em><br></p>
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Mexico Creates Vast Marine Sanctuary Around 'Galápagos Islands of North America'
27 November 2017
Animals
Mexico has created North America's largest marine park—the size of Illinois—in the Pacific Ocean to protect hundreds of species including rays, whales and sea turtles, an area referred as the Galápagos Islands of North America.
<p style="">The announcement on Friday by Mexico's president Enrique Peña Nieto fulfilled an October promise to transform a 57,000-square mile swath of ocean holding four islands into a protected area. Mexico's National Commission of Protected Natural Areas took the largely uninhabited, volcanic islands 240 miles southwest of Baja California, and expanded a small reserve that extended six miles off their shores. The expansion came one year after the vast rectangular territory was declared a <a href="http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1510/" target="_blank">UNESCO world heritage</a> site. </p><p style="">Previously, the six-mile strip of protection didn't offer sanctuary to a variety of species in the path of fishers, leaving sharks, rays and whales as either commercial fishing bycatch or targets of illegal fishing. Friday's announcement means all fishing activities will be banned within the protected expanse.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="b5936" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="GMH22G1576663973"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="934218187624689664" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Con el Decreto del Parque Nacional Revillagigedo, el @gobmx reafirma su compromiso con la conservación del patrimon… https://t.co/JAlEWIiMwi</div> — Enrique Peña Nieto (@Enrique Peña Nieto)<a href="https://twitter.com/EPN/statuses/934218187624689664">1511569947.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p style="">On shore, the Mexican president's decree will ban the extraction of natural resources and construction of hotel infrastructure on all four islands. The Mexican Navy will maintain a small presence on the islands.</p><p style="">The Environment Ministry and Navy "will carry out surveillance, equipment and training activities that will include remote monitoring in real time, environmental education directed at fishermen and sanctions against offenders," <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-42120610" target="_blank">said President Peña Nieto in his announcement</a>.</p><p style="">The move was described as an "important precedent" by María José Villanueva, the director of conservation of WWF in Mexico, <a href="http://noticieros.televisa.com/ultimas-noticias/nacional/2017-11-24/reto-parque-nacional-revillagigedo-es-operacion-efectiva-wwf/" target="_blank">according to local media</a>. </p><p style=""> "With the goal of guaranteeing maximum protection of this World Heritage Site, our national legislation's strongest conservation category will be used, and all forms of fishing will be prohibited," Alejandro Del Mazo Maza, a representative of Mexico's National Commission of Protected Natural Areas, <a href="https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/10/mexico-revillagigedo-oceans-pristine-seas-conservation-environment-spd/" target="_blank">said in an October statement</a>. </p><p style=""> Commercial fishing interests met the statement with criticism given that the expansion will affect seven percent of the Mexico tuna fleet's Pacific range. </p><p style="">But there is a flip side for commercial fishing. Since the waters lie on the convergence of two ocean currents, the islands' waters are a gathering point for migratory species. It is hoped that the newly afforded status will help populations recover from commercial and illegal fishing's damage. This will mean an increase in fish stocks. The growing fish populations will likely spill over into commercial waters—in effect mimicking what happened in Galápagos when the Ecuadorian government enacted a similar ban on fishing in 1998, turning adversaries into supporters.</p><p style="">The protection status is also <a href="https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/10/mexico-revillagigedo-oceans-pristine-seas-conservation-environment-spd/" target="_blank">expected</a> to boost the dive industry, already worth an annual $15 million.</p>
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The grisly video above shows a coho salmon struggling to survive in polluted stormwater runoff on the Duwamish River in Washington. This contaminated water—filled with oil from cars, pesticides, dirt and debris—can kill this particular species of Pacific salmon in hours, according to Puget Soundkeeper Alliance, which posted the clip on Oct. 21.
Sadly, it appears that this fish is one of many coho salmon in the Puget Sound Basin that have died, and will continue to die, from this man-made tragedy.
<p style="">
A new
<a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/eap.1615/full" target="_blank">study</a>, published in the <a href="http://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/hub/" target="_blank">Ecological Society of America</a>'s journal Ecological Applications, has found "that contaminants in stormwater runoff from the regional transportation grid likely caused these mortality events."
</p><p style="">
"Further, it will be difficult, if not impossible, to reverse historical coho declines without addressing the toxic pollution dimension of freshwater habitats," the authors note.
</p><p style="">
Stormwater runoff comes from rain that falls on streets, parking areas and other developed land and flows directly into waterways. As it flows, the water can collect a potentially toxic cocktail of oil, grease, animal waste, litter, pesticides, fertilizers and other potential pollutants.
</p><p style="">
The new analysis was compiled by researchers at National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/noaa">NOAA</a>) Northwest Fisheries Science Center in Seattle along with collaborators at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, local tribes and the Wild Fish Conservancy.</p><p style="">
For the study, researchers surveyed coho mortality rates at 51 spawning sites in Puget Sound and were able to positively link die-offs to increased road density and traffic intensity, among other variables.
</p><p style="">
Citing the study, the <a href="http://www.heraldnet.com/northwest/stormwater-pollution-killing-coho-before-they-can-spawn/" target="_blank">Herald Net</a> wrote, "The results show that in an estimated 40 percent of their range in the Puget Sound Basin, 10 to 40 percent of coho salmon die before they can even spawn because of pollution."</p><p style="">
Earlier experiments have also found that coho salmon swimming in untreated stormwater experienced 100 percent mortality, while coho swimming in stormwater filtered by soil, bark chips and gravel survived.
</p><p>
The team was able to generate a predictive mortality risk map for the entire Puget Sound Basin.
</p><p style="">
"It can be extremely useful for urban planning to know that if you develop this area and in an old-school way you are going to take out a lot of coho," Blake Feist, lead author on the paper, told
<a href="http://tdn.com/news/state-and-regional/washington/noaa-sound-stormwater-killing-coho/article_3ad5fb16-8b3d-5710-810e-73b7f085492f.html" target="_blank">The Seattle Times</a>.
</p><p style="">
"We have to act now," said Jay Davis, an environmental toxicologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service who coordinated field research for the study. Davis told the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2017/10/20/we-have-to-act-now-how-car-pollution-is-causing-the-rapid-die-off-of-this-salmon/" target="_blank">Washington Post</a> that the coho population could crash in as little as six years.</p><p style="">
Incidentally, coho is the only one out of the five salmon species—chinook, sockeye, pink and chum—that is experiencing this rate of mortality, a "great mystery that we are working on," Nat Scholz, NOAA research zoologist, told the Washington Post.
</p><p style="">
The solution could lie in "green infrastructure and similar clean water strategies could prove most useful for promoting species conservation and recovery," the authors <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/wol1/doi/10.1002/eap.1615/abstract" target="_blank">note</a>.</p><p style="">
Puget Soundkeeper Alliance also
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/pugetsoundkeeper/videos/1486997541335958/" target="_blank">suggested</a> that "smarter development of land and on-site filtering of stormwater, which helps control both pollution and flooding."
</p><p style="">
As it happens, four species of coho salmon are
<a href="http://www.westcoast.fisheries.noaa.gov/protected_species/salmon_steelhead/salmon_and_steelhead_listings/coho/coho_salmon.html" target="_blank">protected</a> under the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/endangered-species-act" target="_blank">Endangered Species Act</a> throughout the West Coast, including the Lower Columbia River (threatened), Oregon Coast (threatened), Southern Oregon and Northern California Coasts (threatened), and Central California Coast (endangered).
</p><p style="">
Elsewhere, the Central California Coast coho salmon—once plentiful in local rivers and streams—is now "<a href="http://santacruzsentinel.ca.newsmemory.com/publink.php?shareid=1ec8a6616" target="_blank">living on the edge</a>" as it faces challenges such as multiyear <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/drought">droughts</a> and the increased presence of fine sediment, rocks and fallen trees from damming and logging activities, according to the <a href="http://santacruzsentinel.ca.newsmemory.com/publink.php?shareid=1ec8a6616" target="_blank">Santa Cruz Sentinel</a>.</p><p style="">
And as <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2017/10/as-northwest-salmon-economy-teeters-on-brink-trump-gives-it-a-push/" target="_blank" style="">Mongabay</a> reports, northwest salmon fisheries have been struggling due to <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/ocean-warming-climate-change-1998229846.html" style="">warming oceans</a> and overdeveloped, dammed and silted spawning rivers and streams. While federally funded local, state and tribal programs administered by NOAA have helped declining salmon fisheries, <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/trump-watch/" style="">President Trump's</a> 2018 budget would cut all those programs. For now, Congress has restored them. </p><p style="">
You can learn more about the threat of toxic runoff and how you can help <a href="http://www.pugetsoundkeeper.org/programs/current-priorities/polluted-stormwater-runoff/" target="_blank">here</a>.</p>
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www.youtube.com
By Luis Martinez and Kit Kennedy
In a forceful show of climate leadership, Governors Andrew Cuomo (NY), Jerry Brown (CA), and Jay Inslee (WA) and former Secretary of State John Kerry came together in New York City Wednesday as part of Climate Week to celebrate the progress and growth of the U.S. Climate Alliance, the bipartisan coalition that has grown to 14 states dedicated to meeting the Paris agreement climate goal. The coalition was founded by Cuomo, Brown and Inslee after President Trump announced the U.S. intent to withdraw from Paris.
President Trump may prefer to pretend that climate change isn't real—Gov. Cuomo quipped that the Trump administration is in "the State of Denial"—but these leaders detailed the extraordinary strides they're making, in the absence of White House leadership, to slash greenhouse gas emissions and grow their economies at the same time. For New Yorkers, it's exciting to see Cuomo's leadership on clean energy and climate continue to accelerate, from setting strong renewable energy goals, to a successful push with other Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative states to further slash carbon emissions, to banning fracking.
<p style="">It was a privilege to attend Wednesday's event, where the governors announced that North Carolina has joined the alliance. North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said in a <a href="https://governor.nc.gov/news/north-carolina-joins-14-states-bipartisan-us-climate-alliance" target="_blank">statement</a> that "[i]n the absence of leadership from Washington, North Carolina is proud to join the U.S. Climate Alliance, and we remain committed to reducing pollution and protecting our environment." North Carolina has risen to No. 2 nationally for installed <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/solar">solar</a> capacity and is home to more than 34,000 clean energy jobs. And Gov. Cooper recently signed legislation that is expected to roughly double North Carolina's solar generation over the next four years. Kudos to Cooper for joining the alliance and ensuring that North Carolina remains at the forefront of the clean energy economy.</p><p style="">Other members of the coalition are Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. And we're counting on that list to grow even more!</p><p style="" rel=""><strong>Bright Statistics</strong><br></p><p style="">According to a <a href="https://www.usclimatealliance.org/reports" target="_blank">new report</a> issued by the alliance Wednesday the coalition represents 36 percent of the U.S. population; 40 percent of U.S. gross domestic product; at least $7 trillion of combined economic activity and 13 million clean energy jobs. These states are proving that climate leadership promotes economic growth:</p><ul class="ee-ul"> <li style="">U.S. Climate Alliance states are on track to reach a 24 to 29 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from 2005 levels by 2025, helping to achieve the Paris agreement targets that scientists say are necessary to try to keep the increase in global warming to 2 degrees Celsius and stave off the worst effects of climate change.</li></ul><ul class="ee-ul"> <li>Between 2005 and 2015, alliance states reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 15 percent compared to a 10 percent reduction by the rest of the country.</li></ul><ul class="ee-ul"> <li>During that same decade, the combined economic output of alliance states grew by 14 percent while the rest of the country grew by 12 percent. On a per capita basis, economic output in alliance states expanded twice as fast as in the rest of the country, showing that climate action and economic growth go hand in hand.</li></ul><ul class="ee-ul"><li style="">The alliance states have attracted nearly $100 billion in <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/renewable-energy/">renewable energy</a> investment since 2011.</li></ul><p style="">Alliance members' progress and the growth in their ranks is welcome news. With the Trump administration more interested in propping up its friends in the fossil fuel industry than confronting the existential threat of a warming planet, their leadership is crucial.</p><p style="">The <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/" target="_blank">Natural Resources Defense Council</a> (NRDC) stands ready to help these states and others in achieving their climate and clean energy goals. In our new report, <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/experts/roland-hwang/how-clean-energy-can-get-us-safer-climate-future" target="_blank"><em>America's Clean Energy Future: The Pathway to a Safer Climate Future</em>,</a> based on comprehensive modeling performed by internationally recognized consultants E3, we show that the U.S. can slash climate pollution by 80 percent by 2050 primarily by going big and fast on three key strategies: scaling up energy efficiency improvements to cut overall energy demand in half; scaling up renewable energy to provide 80 percent of our power; and electrifying vehicles and key building energy uses. Underlying these key strategies, we need to build a stronger, smarter, more resilient electricity grid. We can do all this at a cost of only 1 percent of annual energy costs—and by 2050 our pathway costs less than "business as usual."</p><p style="">Governors Cuomo, Inslee, Brown, Cooper and the other U.S. Climate Alliance governors are showing us what climate leadership looks like. Like NRDC, they're galvanized by the Trump administration's abject failure on climate and are ready to keep pushing forward. We know the clean energy pathway to meeting our U.S. climate goals—let's get going on our own. There's so much more to do and states and cities can lead the way until the federal government is ready to lead again.</p>
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