Washington Coal Plant Forced to Stay Open By Emergency Order Isn’t Even Running

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Washington Coal Plant Forced to Stay Open by Emergency Order Isn’t Even Running (Maria)

The author writes, “The Energy Department used an executive order to block the closure of coal plants nationwide. … The Environmental Defense Fund checked the stats for the TransAlta Centralia Coal Plant in Washington State, the last remaining coal plant on its segment of the grid. According to Energy Information Administration data, coal contributed just 8 megawatt-hours in January and February — an amount of energy consistent with the plant simply maintaining capacity.”

‘Trump Is Aiming for Dictatorship.’ That’s the Verdict of the World’s Most Credible Democracy Watchdog (DonkeyHotey)

The author writes, “The US is no longer a democracy. One of the most credible global sources on the health of democratic nations now says this outright. The Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) Institute at Gothenburg University reaches the alarming conclusion in its annual report, that the US is hurtling towards autocracy at a faster rate than Hungary and Turkey. ‘Our data on the USA goes back to 1789. What we’re seeing now is the most severe magnitude of democratic backsliding ever in the country,’ says Staffan Lindberg, founder of the institute. Since 2012, Lindberg has led his small group of researchers in Sweden to become the world’s leading source for analysis of the health of global democracy. In their latest report, published on Tuesday, they conclude that the US, for the first time in more than half a century, has lost its long-term status as a liberal democracy. The country is now going through a rapid process of what the report’s authors call ‘autocratisation.’”

Americans Should Stop Using the Term Christian Nationalism (Sean)

From The Atlantic: “Religious beliefs have driven political change for centuries. The question today is which Christian values will prevail.”

Oil Regulators Found Hundreds of Wells Violating Oklahoma Rules. Then They Ignored Their Findings (Dana)

From The Frontier: “Oklahoma took on an ambitious project to catalog all of the state’s injection wells, which shoot toxic waste generated by oil drilling back into the ground. Despite records showing risk of drinking water pollution, the state chose not to act.”

Species Slowdown: Is Nature’s Ability to Self-Repair Stalling? (Laura)

From Yale Environment 360: “Nature is slowing down, and its ability to regenerate is failing in the face of climate change, according to the authors of a new analysis of the speed of species turnover in ecosystems across the world. The finding comes as a big surprise to many ecologists. They have long predicted that nature will respond to climate change and humanity’s other assaults by ramping up the rate of turnover, with existing species moving out and new ones moving in. Some studies have appeared to confirm this is happening. But the latest and largest analysis, published last month by researchers at Queen Mary University of London, has found the opposite. And the slowdown is big. Measured as comings and goings over a time frame of up to five years, species turnover is down by a third since the mid-1970s, when the current trend of rapidly rising global temperatures began.” 

He Survived 48 Hours Without Lungs and Lived (Mili)

The author writes, “A critically ill 33-year-old man survived an almost unimaginable scenario — living for 48 hours without lungs — thanks to a groundbreaking surgical approach. After a severe flu-triggered infection destroyed his lungs and caused multiple organ failure, doctors removed both lungs entirely to stop the spread of infection. In their place, they used a specially engineered ‘artificial lung’ system to oxygenate his blood and keep his body functioning while he stabilized.”

There Are Sharks in Las Vegas Feasting on Hundreds of Pounds of Fish Every Week (Reader Steve)

From the AP: “When Becky O’Brien dangles herring over a tank of over a dozen swimming sharks, it only takes seconds for a zebra shark to snatch the fish from her tongs. The lead aquarist said she always knew she wanted to work with marine life; she just didn’t think she’d be a shark dietitian at a 1.3 million gallon tank and Las Vegas casino. O’Brien’s team feeds 15 species of sharks three times a week at the Shark Reef Aquarium at the Mandalay Bay Resort, where they tend to over 3,400 animals. ‘They eat, I would say, better than the tourists on the Strip,’ O’Brien said, referring to the gourmet restaurants in Las Vegas’ biggest tourism hub. The aquarium is a major tourist attraction that has drawn over 21 million visitors to the resort and casino since it first opened in 2000.”