Links

https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/delta-fire-explodes-in-lakehead-california-forces-closure-of-i-5/70005981
Sept. 6, 2018
Firefighters rushed to slow the growth of the rapidly growing Delta Fire, which exploded in size to more than 15,000 acres with zero percent containment near Lakehead, California, on Wednesday.
The fire was initially reported as three fires. However, they merged into one fast-moving fire that exhibits extreme fire behavior with rapid rates of spread up to a mile per hour were observed.
The fire front was up to 3 miles wide on the northern side with approximately 300-foot flame lengths. The fire continues to burn in steep and rough terrain on both sides of I-5, according to the incident report.
"It has been very hot so far this month in the vicinity of the Delta Fire and [it] continues to be dry," according to AccuWeather Meteorologist Evan Duffey.
Thursday is the coolest day of the month so far with a forecast high of 93 F. Conditions may worsen tomorrow and into the weekend as temperatures are forecast to rise into the upper 90s F.


https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/sep/06/donald-trump-inauguration-crowd-size-photos-edited
Sept. 5, 2018
A government photographer edited official pictures of Donald Trump’s inauguration to make the crowd appear bigger following a personal intervention from the president, according to newly released documents.
The photographer cropped out empty space “where the crowd ended” for a new set of pictures requested by Trump on the first morning of his presidency, after he was angered by images showing his audience was smaller than Barack Obama’s in 2009.
The detail was revealed in investigative reports released to the Guardian under the Freedom of Information Act by the inspector general of the US interior department. They shed new light on the first self-inflicted crisis of Trump’s presidency, when his White House falsely claimed he had attracted the biggest ever inauguration audience.


https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/judge-orders-independent-candidate-brown-off-the-ballot-in-va-congressional-race/2018/09/05/222b427c-b11c-11e8-aed9-001309990777_story.html?utm_term=.3cf6fc3402a4
Sept. 5, 2018
A Richmond Circuit Court judge on Wednesday ordered independent candidate Shaun Brown removed from the ballot in Virginia’s 2nd District congressional race, finding that her qualifying petition was tainted by “forgery” and “out and out fraud.”
Many of those signatures were gathered by staffers working for the incumbent Republican, Scott Taylor, who is seeking a second term. Five current or former staffers for the congressman declined to answer questions in court, invoking their Fifth Amendment against self-incrimination. A separate criminal probe into the matter is ongoing; a state police investigator attended the civil hearing.
The Democratic Party of Virginia, which brought the civil suit against the State Board of Elections, submitted 41 affidavits from people who said their signatures were forged on petitions to get Brown qualified for the ballot. A handwriting expert testified Wednesday that of 377 signatures collected by Taylor’s staffers, at least 146 appeared to be false.
The Democratic Party had subpoenaed Taylor to appear at the hearing, charging that he wanted Brown on the ballot to siphon away votes from his Democratic challenger, retired Navy officer Elaine Luria.
But Judge Gregory L. Rupe granted a motion to quash Taylor’s subpoena under a state law that shields sitting members of Congress from being compelled to attend civil court proceedings while the U.S. House is in session.


https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/04/climate/outsourcing-carbon-emissions.html
Sept. 4, 2018
Over the past decade, both the United States and Europe have made major strides in reducing their greenhouse gas emissions at home. That trend is often held up as a sign of progress in the fight against climate change.
But those efforts look a lot less impressive once you take trade into account. Many wealthy countries have effectively “outsourced” a big chunk of their carbon pollution overseas, by importing more steel, cement and other goods from factories in China and other places, rather than producing it domestically.
Britain, for instance, slashed domestic emissions within its own borders by one-third between 1990 and 2015. But it has done so as energy-intensive industries have migrated abroad. If you included all the global emissions produced in the course of making things like the imported steel used in London’s skyscrapers and cars, then Britain’s total carbon footprint has actually increased slightly over that time.
Dr. Hasanbeigi is an author of a new report on the global carbon trade, which estimates that 25 percent of the world’s total emissions are now being outsourced in this manner. The report, written with the consulting firm KGM & Associates and ClimateWorks, calls this a “carbon loophole,” since countries rarely scrutinize the carbon footprint of the goods they import.
About 13 percent of China’s emissions in 2015 came from making stuff for other countries. In India, another fast-growing emitter, the figure is 20 percent.
The United States, for its part, remains the world’s leading importer of what the researchers call “embodied carbon.” If the United States were held responsible for all the pollution worldwide that resulted from manufacturing the cars, clothing and other goods that Americans use, the nation’s carbon dioxide emissions would be 14 percent bigger than its domestic-only numbers suggest.
The migration of industries like cement and steel overseas can also shift production to less-efficient factories governed by looser pollution rules. An earlier study that Dr. Hasanbeigi led at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory found that China’s steel industry, on average, emits 23 percent more carbon dioxide per ton of steel produced than American and German manufacturers do. One big reason? China’s power grid relies more heavily on coal.