Our World and Everything in It

And it’s no surprise that half of the pollution cases that were neglected were oil spills. It also said that certain areas were inundated with unresolved violations like EPA Region 6, to include the states of NM, TX, OK, AK, LA, and Region 8, to include Montana, ND, SD, WY, UT, and CO. Interesting that most of the states are red states isn’t it? Republican support of big oil is coming back to bite them. Dallas reported dozens of oil spill cases that were either on hold or had no follow up for penalties. Denver’s office said they had hundreds of OPA’s (Oil Pollution Act) cases with no further action and a long list of violations no one intends to address. And the Kansas City office said that their “morale plummeted, employees lost hope, and the stress level is overwhelming, at critical levels.”

It was also revealed that the Asst. Secy. for the Army for Civil Works favored corporate lobbyists over scientific determinations of career officials in making Clean Water Act decisions for the Santa Cruz River in Arizona. Another non-surprise. It smacks of the rest of the Bush administration’s anti-environmental�appointments. It’s too bad besides being red states many of these SW states�may not have enough water in the future to sustain the populations of people. To pollute what is there is criminal.

This mess stems from the Supreme Court decision in June of 2006 that ruled for the Rapanos case which states that “federal agencies could assert jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act for many waters only after going through a time-consuming and resource-intensive process of demonstrating a ’significant nexus’ to ‘traditional navigable waters.’�It means�groundwater, small creeks, and streams have a habit of slipping through the cracks for any kind of protection. Michigan’s House and Senate go round and round about Michigan’s groundwater protection. The Great Lakes are protected, but inland it’s another story. A good portion of our groundwater doesn’t fall under jurisdiction for use. So the state’s aren’t protecting it, the feds aren’t protecting it, and this is where the problem lies.

This is a�pretty revealing story about the EPA in the Bush Administration leaving waters unprotected and hiding the mess from the public, while protecting corporate polluters.

http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/dec2008/2008-12-16-02.asp.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

President-elect Obama will have the first eco-friendly inaugural celebration in American history. According to an ENS article, a DC event planning company called Event Emissary will host the Green Ball on January 17, 2009 at Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium.

The co-founder said that so many thousands of people migrating to the area and all the celebrations would have a huge impact on our environment and their “goal is to create an unforgettable evening while treading lightly on the Earth.” Nice.

Every facet of The Green Ball is designed to reduce the impact on the environment. I guess so. From the food/beverages, to the waste like floral arrangements, lighting, to audio-visual productions, all will be used in a way that “minimizes environmental impact, and “[t]hat which cannot be reduced will be offset.” Interesting. It was explained, “”Energy usage will be measured closely and offset through the purchase of wind power credits. Transportation for deliveries to the event, as well as vendor and staff transportation will be offset through the purchase of carbon credits.”

The plan is to bring attention to the environment early on. Event Emissary hopes to lead by example. BRAVO!

www.greeninauguralball.com

http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/dec2008/2008-12-10-01.asp

A recent meeting between Obama, Biden, and Gore resulted in a consensus that the time for both delay and denial about global warming is over. They see that “addressing energy and climate policy can drive the nation’s economic recovery by creating jobs across the country in all the states to repower America,” according to ENS.
The ENS article stated: “The plan to Repower America outlines immediate investments in three areas: energy efficiency, renewable generation and transmission.”

? Energy Efficiency: A national upgrade to eliminate waste, save money, and improve comfort. Make every bit of energy we produce work harder for us.
? Renewable Generation: Accelerate the ramp-up of clean, renewable electricity sources through policies that support increased private and public investment in technologies that work, like wind, solar, and geothermal.
? Unified National Smart Grid: Modernize transmission infrastructure so that clean electricity generated anywhere in America can power homes and businesses across the nation. National electricity ‘interstates’ that move power quickly and cheaply to where it needs to be; local smart grids that buy and sell power from households and support clean plug-in cars.

Ur, um, the plug-in cars at this moment in time may or may not be from GM.

While American automakers are being pummeled for ignoring the competition, what about the rest of our industries that lag environmentally far behind? I’m reading an article about Cleveland’s race to be the first to set wind turbines in Lake Erie, and that there are no wind turbines off of our shores both in saltwater or fresh. Right now Cleveland has a task force measuring ice thickness and movement relative to turbine towers, a whole new ball game for us.

Even though Europe is still struggling, it seems problems with ice freeze, turbulent waters, and horrendous storms have been dealt with on some 26 wind farms in the ocean’s coastal areas that help meet power demands for 5 countries there. Where did they come from? Overall, we don’t pay a heck of a lot of attention to our competition do we? So who are we to point fingers at our auto industry?

We’re just getting into the swing toward wind and solar power. And even so, with the recent drop in gas prices, many major corporations with millions set aside for environmental projects have shelved them. Here we go again, yoyo’s running up and down the strings manipulated by the fingers of Big Oil.

America just doesn’t get the concept that investing in alternative energy sources is not about the cost and/or availability of oil. It’s about the environment and keeping up with the competition that is simply pulling away from us. To continue to argue about global warming and our part in it while the environment gets decidedly worse is a big part of the problem and the source is Big Oil. The global warming argument has kept people in their Hummers while others screamed for hybrids to the point our auto industry is damned if they do, or damned if they don’t. I wouldn’t be surprised if someone doesn’t complain that with oil prices so low, “Why are American car companies making crappy, little cars?” Remember, “Drill, baby, drill,” was a mantra for our problems during the campaign. The same mindset has thwarted thousands of new jobs a new green industry would offer. But most poignantly, it has caused us to ignore the green competition overseas in many sectors of industry besides the auto companies.

So while Cleveland scrambles to set the first wind turbine tower in windy Lake Erie, with the hopes of having at least 10 by 2011, we’re small potatoes and nowhere near the European forerunners with 26 farms in the ocean. And even though Ohio has some 90 factories involved in the production of wind turbines, and that industry is growing fast, as the article says, “It’s still constrained by a supply chain that can’t meet the demand for wind turbine components,” evidence that green companies still aren’t a big draw here.

Until we divorce ourselves from the notion that there is nothing we can do for the environment, and we simply can’t live without the crude, we’re going to keep coming up short every time the fickle finger of Big Oil pulls it’s strings, whether it’s our own oil or not. And while we’re busy being yo-yos, the competition moves even farther ahead, with greater savings, more sustainable energy and independence, and new jobs emerging with new invention.

http://blog.cleveland.com/business/2008/12/click_here_to_view_the.html

I caught a real hoot of an interview on Planet Green between Bob Woodruff and Laura Bush yesterday. She said one of her passions is our national parks. She’s hiked in many, mentioning Denali National Park in Alaska, the park Sarah Palin wants to run a natural gas line through.

Mrs. Bush talked about her geothermally heated ranch, with water collection system, and the fact that White House switched to LED holiday lights. She went on to say that oil is a limited natural resource that will run out, as all of our natural resources worldwide. She won’t admit anything about global warming however; opting to say that it doesn’t matter. We should be practicing conservation anyway.

About global warming, she said she reads the latest worldwide reports like everybody else. She evidently hasn’t read about her husband’s horrible environmental legacy that has had a devastating effect on the national parks she avows to love. There is something seriously wrong with this picture because it was also reported that the Park Service, Dept. of Energy, and Interior are trying to overhaul the parks for more sustainability, or greening them up so to speak. Doesn’t President Bush appoint these dept. heads? Bush is doing his best to further the opposite.

There are plenty of things up Bush’s sleeve before he leaves office. Environmentalists are calling it a Fire Sale for the Oil and Gas Industry. As CBS news website reported:

Late on Election Day, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management announced a Dec. 19 auction of more than 50,000 acres of oil and gas parcels alongside or within view of Arches National Park and two other redrock national parks in Utah: Dinosaur and Canyonlands. ‘We find it shocking and disturbing,’ said Cordell Roy, the chief Park Service administrator in Utah. ‘They added 51,000 acres of tracts near Arches, Dinosaur and Canyonlands without telling us about it. That’s 40 tracts within four miles of these parks.’
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/11/16/national/main4608048.shtml?source=RSSattr=HOME_4608048

Then there is the administration’s push to weaken Clean Air Act protections for “Class 1 areas” of national parks nationwide. According to the Washington Post, “[It] has sparked fierce resistance from senior agency officials. All but two of the regional administrators objecting to the proposed rule are political appointees.” The article also said, “In written submissions, EPA regional administrators have argued that this switch would undermine critical air-quality protections for parks such as Virginia’s Shenandoah, which is frequently plagued by smog and poor visibility.” http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/18/AR2008111803813.html. Poor visibility from pollution smog over a national park. Sure, man doesn’t affect the environment. Keep believing that until we choke everyone out of existence.

I blogged about other attacks on our national parks by Bush/Cheney too like the repeal of the roadless rule. http://www.blogsmonroe.com/world/2008/04/were-about-to-lose-one-of-the-largest-forests-in-america-to-big-money-interests/

http://www.blogsmonroe.com/world/2008/03/pine-trees-in-danger-from-beetles-as-bush-looks-to-trample-our-biggest-forest/.

On top of this Bush just undid a 25 year old statute banning guns in National Parks. Yep, while hiking through one of them, minding your own business, a gunshot could ring out. Real nice place to take the kids and camp hey? The only reason for guns in national parks is for hunting or nuts. I thought critters in National Parks were protected? I thought humans in National Parks were protected from gunshots out of nowhere.

Right after this interview was a segment on Joshua Tree National Park. It’s getting harder to find older trees, and all the trees seem to be in decline. In some parts they are sure to be extinct soon. It was explained Joshua trees need a high desert environment, which is cooler. They also need a couple of nights of freezing weather that no longer happens due to global warming. Fires that weren’t as much a threat before in Joshua Tree Park have ravaged thousands of acres due to drier grasses. All it takes is a lightening strike. There are many more parks in danger of losing the very symbol for which they are known. The wetlands of Everyglades Park are retreating, and the glaciers of Glacier National Park are well…you know. Will we rename the parks? Will the parks even resemble places to preserve any more?

Scientists claim our National Parks are laboratories where effects of climate change are quick to appear. This does not bode well then, and further attacks on our parks by Bush/Cheney is just inexcusably the meanest turn any president has taken against our national treasures. If the First Lady is genuinely concerned she should take her passionate call for parks that are in peril to the source of that peril—her husband, oh and let’s never forget Cheney.

I just read an article on-line in the Freep. It was about the anniversary of Michigan’s bottle return law that turned 30 yesterday. It raised the question of adding non-carbonated beverages to the list of returnables, and problems with consumers returning bottles and cans that were purchased elsewhere. I immediately had visions of Kramer driving Newman’s mail truck to another state to return the huge load of returnable cans he had in the back. It seems Michigan has a Kramer problem. Too many people returning their out of state plastic here.

The problem may soon to be resolved. The article said that State Rep. Steve Bieda would introduce amended bills to stop the out of state bottle fraud with penalties for retailers who knowingly pay for them. And return machines will be keyed to reject any containers from out of state.

I don’t know why this hasn’t happened sooner. And I do not get that both Pepsi and Coke haven’t had to add their water bottles, which are the two most popular drinking waters, to the list of refundables. The amount of plastic water bottles that will take forever to break down in our trash dumps in inexcusable.

Adding non-carbonated beverages to the list of refundables, and curbside recycling at no additional cost to the consumer, would keep a huge amount of debris out of the trash dumps. I say “at no cost to the consumer” because some communities whose residents took the time to sort their plastic, metal, and glass actually saw their rates go up.

We have to think of something to do with the refuse that goes into dumps if we’re ever going to phase them out. I think we’re still pretty wasteful as a society that should know better.

The United Nations opened its annual climate conference in Poznan, Poland yesterday. It seems the U.S. delegation of youths that is attending the 2-week conference was embarrassed when U.S. negotiator, Ambassador Harlan Watson, avoided committing to emissions targets or funding for developing countries to address global warming. Again, it was the same old song and dance of the Bush administration.

Since a great deal of America’s youth were involved with our latest election and clearly view climate change as important as anything else that faces our nation, their disappointment is understandable. I’m saying this again. One of the worse acts perpetrated on the American public by the Bush administration was instilling doubt about global warming. It politicized something that affects every living thing on earth, which has nothing to do with U.S. party lines. I’m also sick and tired of people here pointing fingers at China. We have no control over China. But we have all responsibility for how we act here. If enough civilized nations reel in their emissions and begin to unleash the ingenuity that brings new invention and prosperity, China will do likewise or suffer trade embargoes in the future. We’ve already suffered from tainted imports from China, and stopped importing them.

It’s called being a model for the rest of the global community, something America has not been for quite awhile relative to the environment. The youth of this country and groups like 350.org have plans to make Americans more aware of global warming, and it doesn’t look like they will give in easily. A good thing and none too soon.

It’s funny that doubters about global warming think steering away from oil and fossil fuels is impossible and will cause some sort of financial collapse and an altered lifestyle where we would be deprived of conveniences. Doubters think we would go in reverse.

Believers of global warming see a whole new frontier of invention yet to surface if the web of doubt could just be lifted long enough to allow all that inventiveness to progress. Believers feel like hostages to the big bucks of the oil and coal industry, which is mired in the past. To go green is to progress.

It’s the same old story all right. Doubters = reverse or reverting back to the usual. Believers = progress or advancing to the unusual. We’re in the 21st century for Pete’s sake. A little progress is due. Heck I’m still disappointed were not zipping around like the Jetsons.

http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/dec2008/2008-12-01-01.asp

There was a lot more car traffic this Thanksgiving than usual. People opted to either drive to their destination or simply stay home. On the news I saw some of the awful traffic backups around the country. It made me wonder about using roundabouts more because they not only relieve traffic congestion, but save gas, and idle time, which conserves on the amount of emissions in the air.

Roundabouts are used in place of an intersection where cars enter a circle until they exit onto another street. Because there is no stopping there is less gas used to accelerate, and/or idle. Everyone moves along at a steady pace.

Michigan is in the process of redoing many of their roadways. We should be seeing more roundabouts. A new single lane roundabout in Northville was completed earlier this year, one of 17 roundabouts in Southeast Michigan. Ann Arbor may soon see a roundabout at US-23 and Geddes Rd.

Roundabouts in other areas of the country like Carmel, Indiana have reported a “78% drop in accidents involving injuries, not to mention a savings of some 24,000 gal. of gas per year per roundabout because of less car idling.” According to a Time Magazine article called “You Want a Revolution,” Carmel’s mayor Jim Brainard received a climate-protection award this year from the U.S. conference of Mayors. Brainard thinks, “As our population densities become more like Europe’s, roundabouts will become more popular.”

That same article stated that the U.S. has about 1000 roundabouts in 25 states. With a lot of U.S. roads getting a makeover, it seems that roundabouts should be a no brainer.
The only problem is the fear of change many drivers feel. Anybody that has encountered a multiple lane roundabout like those in Boston knows the fear I’m talking about.

A single lane roundabout isn’t too bad, but more than one lane and “Oh Boy!” I got into a multiple lane roundabout on Hilton Head Island, SC and past the street I was trying to exit onto more than once. So there is a knack for navigating a sophisticated roundabout.

But there is an up side for “roundabout fears.” A report claimed that because the roundabout is a fairly new concept in the U.S. and a little confusing, the trepidation at entering one actually slows drivers down, and calls for a more alert approach to navigation, certainly a good thing. No wonder there are less accidents. It’s also very hard to enter a circle and get out of that circle while talking on a cell phone. But I bet we see drivers try to do it anyway.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1838753,00.html

http://www.mlive.com/annarbornews/news/index.ssf/2008/11/traffic_roundabouts_planned_at.html

http://sustainablemanitowoc.blogspot.com/2008/09/roundabouts-help-save-drivers-time-and.html

Looks like some enterprising people in Denver struck on a good idea. There is plenty of grease leftover after Thanksgiving especially when deep fried turkey is so popular. So the folks in Denver advertised for everyone with leftover grease from Thanksgiving to bring it to a particular place for storage. It will later be made into biofuel. Good idea Denver.

I wonder if the cars running on this particular biofuel will smell like roast Thanksgiving turkey all over again?

High tech gadgets are among the top favorites as gifts for Christmas. The news showed Christmas shoppers storming the stores this morning where one man commented that there were only 14 Wii’s on the shelf but he got one of them at a great discount. It would have to be worth it to get me there at 5:00 am. It looked like a herd trying to squeeze through the corral gate at once, then off and running through the store. These shoppers must have cased the place first. The man got his Wii, but Wii’s, Xbox, and the like rely on the latest laser technology. Laser technology can be expensive, and it’s not just the purchase price. He may have got a deal at the store but not on his future energy bills.

Laser technology uses a lot of juice, as much as two new refrigerators. Unbelievable. But one of the CBS affiliates I was tuned into said the average family that owns one of these units often leave them on costing that average family an extra $100/yr. in electricity for idle time. Nationally that cost is one billion dollars. It’s obvious we’ve barely begun to conserve energy and this is just one example.

Not only is it a waste of money to forget to turn these off, the environment takes a hit as well for nothing more than forgetfulness. A billion dollars annually is a lot of electricity. We need to remember to turn our techie things off. But the trouble is that nowadays we have so much more of the stuff in our homes it’s no longer the same old mantra, “Turn the lights out when you leave the room.” It now applies to the laptop, printer, cell phone charger, Plasma TV, DVD player…