Our World and Everything in It

 

After eight long years of more hits on the environment and animals than not, president Bush officially designated three different U.S.marine national monuments

 

Mariana’s Trench Marine National Monument. This trench is five times longer than the Grand Canyon and the deepest area of the earth. It is home to underwater volcanoes and thermal vents. The Marianas are located north of Guam, SE of Japan, and west of the Marshall Islands.

Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument south and west of Hawaii. This monument will help preserve irreplaceable trees, grasses, and birds from near the equator to monk seals, sea turtles, whales and coral reefs. 

Rose Atoll Marine National Monument an island east of American Samoa is home to giant clams, reef sharks, and an abundance of beautiful rose-colored corals—Rose Atoll.

 

There won’t be any oil drills in these areas at least. No “resource destruction or extraction, waste dumping, or commercial fishing,” will be allowed, according to an Environmental New Service article. The areas will be free passage areas however, and allow research and recreation.

 

This couldn’t happen at a better time because it was reported this evening on the news that the Great Barrier Reef off of Australia is showing the biggest decline in its coral ecosystem in 400 years!

 

http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/jan2009/2009-01-06-02.asp

 

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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

Recently I caught someone’s smart remark after reading that scientists are studying shrimp, putting them on treadmills, that’s right, on treadmills to find how they are coping with toxic algae. It probably doesn’t sound important to most people other than their favorite food may disappear. I answered the remark that the study is important, because first the shrimp, then us.

Then yesterday I watched a Nova presentation on PBS about a marine animal rescue facility in CA that is seeing a surge of Domoic Acid poisoning in the past 3 years after a rise beginning in 1998. In 1998 tests were done to determine the effects of this natural occurring marine neurotoxin. It is found in algae/plankton and was formerly believed to be cyclical. Until this Nova presentation.

Nova showed satellite pictures of the coastline of California. Heavy concentrations of plankton that produces Domoic Acid showed up as a specific color on the map. Satellite images viewed after large storms that carry an overabundance of groundwater and stream/river water to the coastline also showed an increase in the plankton growth immediately afterward. This Nova presentation shows the connection of heavy runoffs of inland water that usually contains high concentrations of agricultural fertilizers and the resulting increase of “natural” plankton growth. It’s not looking so natural. Gee why would there be a steady rise since 1998, coinciding with the very anti-environmental, deregulation happy Bush administration?

The poor sea lions that are suffering seizures on the beach from this stuff were sad to watch. They were pretty much paralyzed, aware of humans but listless. Domoic Acid poisoning has no antidote. Plankton is a natural food source for sea lions and they are literally dying from too much of it. The poisoning was formerly thought to affect short-term memory. Now it’s believed that it is literally eating holes in the brain of the sea lions. Most of the poor animals we viewed will die.

Now the bad part. Humans and their pets can suffer the same poisoning. Rarely, for now anyway, Domoic Acid poisoning has sickened and killed humans in the past. Sardines, and all types of seafood eat plankton. And studies even before the Nova presentation have already ascertained that this over abundance of toxic algae is around the entire coastline of the U.S. Remember first the shrimp, then us.

The Nova presentation about the CA rescue facility is so new it isn’t available yet on this website. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/ocean911/.

National Geographic’s previous info on Domoic Acid. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/06/080617-sea-lions.html

When we think of Oregon, we think of lush forests and the shores of the Pacific; forests that have been in tact long enough to call ancient. These ancient forests of cedar and fir trees are along the western side of Oregon. After all the devastating fires we’ve had out west, it’s good to know that this ecosystem still stands. Its trees, wetlands and miles of rivers are a respite for the environment, an oasis compared to the scorched California terrain.

Oregon’s ancient forests are also home to black bear, and deer, as well as endangered species like the spotted owl. But that may change quickly. Bush is planning on handing out last minute offerings to his industry buddies, like two million acres to big lumber who will mow through the middle of Oregon’s ancient forests. The Wilderness Society said: “It would fragment this old growth ecosystem with the desolation of stumps and logging roads.” Two million acres would indeed look like desolation from the air.

Nice real nice. But it’s not a done deal. Conservation groups have backed the president down and now he’s accepting public comments. So let him know that in view of all the fires, and what might be a lack of water out west, to waste 2 million acres of Oregon’s forests is just plain sinful. What I want to know is where is all the lumber going? No one is building right now because of the economy. This really does look like nothing more than a wasteful hand out with no foresight as to how it will affect the environment, animals, their habitat, and all of us in the future.

Take action against this last minute logging: http://action.wilderness.org:80/campaign/ognw/xwnke5kr1ent8k5?.

While many are busy trying to make change in this country through our upcoming elections, the Bush administration is feverishly trying to deregulate more. And some of this deregulation would not only have horrible consequences for the environment, but also public safety.

Think that it’s no problem because either Obama or maverick McCain will undo the Bush damage? Think again. The Clinton administration tried to put through regulatory laws a little too late at the end of his administration. When Bush took office he scrapped over 250 of Clinton’s regulations for the environment, public safety, etc., quite easily. So this time around the Bush administration is making sure there are no loose ends to their lobbyist loving deregulation push. It will take a heck of a lot of time, trouble, and interest to undo what Bush puts in place now. It affects farms, animals, our food, imports, fishing, environment, clean air, water, global warming, and public safety.

We’ve seen what deregulation has done with tainted food, toys, the sell off of our national parks, a spike in killing wolves, buffalo, and wild mustang horses, and many -other things that affect global warming like over fishing, which allows the growth of rotting plants that results in increasing methane explosions into the atmosphere. We’ve slowly learned that every little thing affects something else in a big way—a process that the Bush administration has never grasped. Their concern is for corporate gain at the expense of many things that directly and adversely affect us.  

Please read the entire article and contact your congressional reps to stop this last minute deregulation that could prove to be the last blow to the environment and our own safety!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/30/AR2008103004749.html?hpid%3Dtopnews&sub=AR

According to an article on ENS, “The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee held a hearing today to review the Bush administration’s record on public health and environmental matters, but it was conducted in the absence of Ranking Member Senator James Inhofe of Oklahoma, a Republican and former chair of the committee.”

It figures. Remember Inhofe, the senator waiving his own list of scientists that don’t agree with global warming, many of which belong to the “The Friends of Science Society,” a Canadian group I’ve blogged about before that seem to have ulterior motives:

So Inhofe boycotted this meeting, urged two witnesses not to appear, and the rest of the Republicans on the committee didn’t show either. It’s only a matter of time hopefully that we find out just how much environmental damage the Bush administration did. It affects our health and the future of our children. This is why I cannot understand people’s grasping at straws to avoid admitting and dealing with a rapidly growing global warming problem.

According to the article, the GAO or Govt. Accountability Office has already uncovered the following:

·         EPA political officials worked with the White House and the Pentagon to undermine the process for evaluating toxic chemical risks.

·         EPA has severely weakened its Office of Children’s Health Protection and largely ignored its Children’s Health Advisory Committee.

·         Despite the president’s campaign promise to regulate carbon dioxide emissions, the White House reversed course and rejected actions to control global warming pollution.

·         In one of its first official acts, the Bush EPA announced that it was suspending the newly strengthened standard for arsenic in tap water.

·         The EPA story is the same for soot, smog, and lead standards - all weaker than its own scientists recommended.

·         Over the last seven years, the pace of Superfund cleanups has dropped by about 50 percent compared to the last seven years of the prior administration, from about 80 cleanups per year to 40 or less.

·         EPA has decided that it will not set a health standard for the toxic rocket fuel perchlorate in our drinking water, even though EPA data show that up to 16.6 million people are exposed to unsafe levels.

I don’t know about anyone else, but with or without Inhofe and the Republicans presence on the latest committee, there is enough evidence above to show that more than likely we’ve been lied to about plenty relative to the environment. And the animals that have taken a hit because of Bush’s tampering with the Endangered Species List goes beyond polar bears.

I still have a qualm that when the Bush administration is over we’re going to hear these words regarding the state of our world and everything it it, “It’s much, much worse than we thought.”

Read the article: http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/sep2008/2008-09-24-02.asp.

The lawsuit is the latest attack on the EPA for not regulating emissions again. This time it’s emissions from oil refineries. The New York Times article stated that 15% of all CO2 emissions comes from oil refineries. The other states are

New York atty. Andrew Cuomo leads the current fight, claiming it’s another example of the Bush Administration’s “do-nothing policy” regarding global warming.

Last year the Supreme Court ruled that it was the duty of the EPA to regulate greenhouse gas under the Clean Air Act. The NY Times article said, “Since then, the agency’s director has said it is the job of Congress to regulate them.” Don’t you love it?

The EPA is like Teflon. Nothing sticks. They’ve been sued to set standards for power plant emissions and recently by California to regulate emissions from autos.

As far as the EPA turning out any standards for any of the above, so far nada.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/26/us/26epa.html?_r=1&ref=environment&oref=slogin

At one hundred kilowatts per hour per for one device, Swell Fuels lever operated pivoting float is something we should be using right now. A World Wire article stated: “The patent-pending device uses a pivoting float and a lever arm that unfolds to capture the up and down motion of ocean waves, producing electricity in the process.” How ingenious.

Swell Fuels is ready to go with this product but guess what? Politics and special interest groups are blocking this and many more innovative ways of creating energy for the future. We’re being told by many different articles including one in the Detroit Free Press this weekend about wind power, that the costs and time involved in alternative energy is too much, that’s why we’re not moving forward. Baloney. Innovation is being blocked to say the least.

Read more about this curious but effective invention: http://world-wire.com/news/0808120002.html.

There was a reason Bush reluctantly put the polar bears on the endangered list but then curiously omitted protection for their habitat. Not so curious anymore. It seems in the latest round of attacks on the environment by the Bush administration and more than likely in support of oil, coal, and the natural gas industries, the president doesn’t find habitat protection necessary. To quote an article on NRDC’s website, the president will argue, “that studying and protecting the places that are essential to species survival is unnecessary. Specifically, the Department of Interior is planning to insert language into all future critical habitat designations that argues that these protections have no value in species protection.” Ah and Dirk Kempthorne, Secy. of Interior is at it again.

Protecting animals but allowing their habitat to go unprotected is so straight out of the dogma of big oil and other fossil fuel industries that we don’t even have to wonder why this underhanded push is happening. I say underhanded because the same article on Defender’s website stated that: “The first attack, contained in a rider on the House version of the Defense Department appropriations bill, would have arguably given the Secretary of the Interior sole discretion regarding where and when-and whether-to designate critical habitat for endangered species. Although the appropriations bill still contains a damaging ESA exemption for the Department of Defense, the more radical rider was defeated by the House on May 21.” Sneaky.

The Bush administration may not get their way the second time around either but there are other rotten ways of doing things.  The administration appears to be overly restricting funds for species protection by the USFWS. Bush only requested a measly $9 million dollars for it this year even though the agency knows it would take $153 million or more because there is a backlog. Congress even requested more money for the agency in the past to no avail. So no one is actually keeping track of or properly protecting our wildlife habitats because there is no money.

This is a “frightful” disregard for living things. If this administration can so ruthlessly overlook one natural resource for another, oil vs. animal habitat, than it’s not a stretch to think humanity is not being overlooked in the process either. We’re not suffering all that different a scenario from the animals on the endangered species list really. By continuing with the quest for oil and possibly more fossil fuels, our habitat won’t be around much longer either. What is it people don’t get? The earth is a closed system. If we put too much pollution into it, it will eventually break down. If we go on the way we are, we are no better than a cancer to our environment.  Yet this administration is destroying our habitat right under our noses while we go on believing someone is looking out for our best interests.

I hope that someone isn’t specifically Dick Cheney. Because when I watch what’s happening all I keep remembering is an article I read back in 2004 about Cheney. John Perry Barlow, a former Cheney supporter, said, “He has the least interest in human beings of anyone I have ever met.” That explains a lot.

http://www.nrdc.org/media/pressreleases/030528.asp.

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/6450422/the_curse_of_dick_cheney/.