tagged w/ Mother Earth
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CNN...
Work halted at 4 more Ohio fluid-injection wells in wake of quake
From Maggie Schneider, CNN
updated 6:18 PM EST, Sun January 1, 2012
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Officials have shut down fluid-injection wells in eastern Ohio in the aftermath of heightened seismic activity in the area.
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STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Ohio officials order the closure of four fluid-injection wells near Youngstown
This comes amid a probe looking at links between "fracking" and recent quakes
"We need to get more information," an official says of any possible connection
A magnitude 4.0 quake struck Saturday, one of 11 to occur in the past year
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(CNN) -- Work has been halted at four more fluid-injection wells in eastern Ohio in the aftermath of heightened seismic activity in the area, a state official said.
Ohio Department of Natural Resources Director James Zehringer had announced on Friday that one such well -- which injects "fluid deep underground into porous rock formations, such as sandstone or limestone, or into or below the shallow soil layer," the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency explains -- was closed after a series of small earthquakes in and around Youngstown.
Then on Saturday, a magnitude 4.0 earthquake struck that released at least 40 times more energy than any of the previous 10 or more tremors that had rattled the region in 2011.
Andy Ware, deputy director of Ohio's natural resources department, told CNN on Sunday that Zehringer and Gov. John Kasich subsequently have ordered the closure of four other nearby injection wells as well.
The decision comes as authorities investigate a possible link between the earthquakes and hydraulic fracturing, better known as fracking. That controversial drilling technology involves injecting water, sand and chemicals deep into the ground at high pressure to crack the shale and allow the oil or gas to flow.
Last Friday's order affecting the first well in Youngstown came six days after a magnitude 2.5 earthquake that struck that area around 1:24 a.m. on December 24. After Saturday's larger earthquake, scientists recommended that operations stop at all wells within a 5-mile radius of that original site.
"We need to get more information," Ware said.
The epicenter for Saturday's tremor was 5 miles northwest of Youngstown, 6 miles southeast of Warren and 55 miles east-southeast of Cleveland, the U.S. Geological Survey reported. According to the preliminary estimate, the earthquake struck 1.4 miles deep.
There was a lot of shaking "and a rumbling sound," said Jimmy Hughes, a former Youngstown police chief running for sheriff of Mahoning County. "I could see the house move. ... It seemed like the ground was moving. "
Ohio is far from the edges of Earth's major tectonic plates, with the nearest ones in the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, the U.S. Geological Survey explains on its website. Still, there are many known faults in this region, with the federal agency noting that it is likely there are additional "smaller or deeply buried" ones that haven't been detected.
While earthquakes are not unprecedented in the area, the rate of them in the past year has been unusual. That fact led Zehringer, the Ohio department head, to act late last week.
"While conclusive evidence cannot link the seismic activity to the well, Zehringer has adopted an approach requiring prudence and caution regarding the site," the natural resources department said Friday in a press release, explaining its decision to shut the first well.
Ben Lupo -- CEO of D&L Energy, an independent natural gas and oil exploration, production and marketing group that oversees the first well that was closed -- recently told CNN affiliate WKBN that there's full cooperation with experts, though he expressed grave doubts that the injection wells were to blame for the quakes.
"We have approximately 1,000 wells between Ohio and Pennsylvania and we've never had a problem ... with an earthquake or spill," Lupo said.
Dr. Won-Young Kim, one of the Columbia University experts asked by the state to examine possible connections between fracking and seismic activity, said that a problem could arise if fluid moves through the ground and affects "a weak fault, waiting to be triggered." He explained the underground waste "slowly migrates" and could cause issues miles away, adding that the danger could persist for some time as the fluid travels and seeps down toward the fault.
"In my opinion, yes," the recent spate of earthquakes around Youngstown is related to a fluid-injection well, Kim stated -- though there has been no definitive determination, by the state or other authorities, indicating as much.
There have been "moderately frequent" reports of earthquakes in northern Ohio since the first recorded one was reported in 1823, the federal agency noted. A 1986 tremor, measuring magnitude 4.8, caused some damage. Another in 1998 measured a 4.5 and was centered in northwest Pennsylvania.
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CNN's Susan Candiotti and Ross Levitt contributed to this report.
.CNN...
Work halted at 4 more Ohio fluid-injection wells in wake of quake
From... more
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This is a non-commercial attempt to highlight the fact that world leaders, irresponsible corporates and mindless 'consumers' are combining to destroy life on earth. It is dedicated to all who died fighting for the planet and those whose lives are on the line today. The cut was put together by Vivek Chauhan, a young film maker, together with naturalists working with the Sanctuary Asia network (www.sanctuaryasia.com).This is a non-commercial attempt to highlight the fact that world leaders,... more
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A "Suck You" Halloween Message from the Vampires at Rio Tinto/Kennecott Minerals: Suck the Anishinaabe and the Environment.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8DZPyUFiB8
Happy Halloween from your friends at Rio Tinto - Kennecott.
We’re celebrating the holiday by blowing up a frickin rock
The Eagle is sacred you say – we think not.
When money’s at play – the Anishinaabe can rot
To the Indians we say – just go away - suck the tribe
To the elected we say - money’s at play – offer the bribe
Mass murder and what not – that’s how we roll.
The fun of raping Eagle Rock – right in the hole.
We’ve told our kids it’s no fun to camp
It’s more fun as a blood sucking vamp
To us the Upper Peninsula is a place to trash.
At Rio Tinto Kennecott – we’re monsters that mash.
Suck you………
This is ArchAngel: The Environmental Hitman
Evil is as Evil Does
This is ArchAngel: The Environmental Hitman does not encourage or promote violence against the evildoers – but we will expose them….A "Suck You" Halloween Message from the Vampires at Rio Tinto/Kennecott... more
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Obama to Breathers: Sorry, Wait Until 2013
—By Kate Sheppard
| Fri Sep. 2, 2011 10:00 AM PDT
urbanfeel/Flickr
On Friday, in a move that shocked enviros and public-health advocates, President Obama asked the Environmental Protection Agency to withdraw its proposal to tighten a key air-quality standard. The request, Obama said, is part of the administration's efforts to reduce "regulatory burdens and regulatory uncertainty."
The EPA has been at work on new rules on ozone pollution, better known as smog, since September 2009. The agency rolled out new, tougher draft standards in January 2010, only to have the release of the final rules repeatedly delayed. In a statement, Obama said he has asked the agency to wait until 2013—you know, after the next election—to improve the standard.
The decision to single out this rule is significant. Back in 2008, the Bush administration EPA issued smog rules that called for limits of 75 parts per billion, which were weaker than those that the agency's own scientists said was necessary to protect human health. Improving the standard has been a top priority for environmental and public-health experts, so when the EPA said in January 2010 that it was considering lowering the limit to between 60 and 70 parts per billion, those groups were cheering.
According to the American Lung Association, the weaker standard means that as many as 186 million Americans are currently breathing in unhealthy levels of smog. The EPA's own figures are even more shocking. If the Obama administration set the lower standard of 60 parts per billion, it would prevent 4,000 to 12,000 premature deaths a year by 2020. Even the higher standard of 70 parts per billion would save between 1,500 and 4,300 lives per year. Improved air quality would bring down the number of deaths and hospitalizations every year due to asthma, bronchitis, and other heart and lung conditions.
The EPA also noted that while compliance with the new rule would cost polluters between $19 billion and $90 billion a year by 2020, the benefits to human health will be worth between $13 billion and $100 billion every year.
EPA administrator Lisa Jackson issued a terse statement on Friday morning, citing other major improvements that the administration has made on clean air and promising to "revisit the ozone standard." And the White House circulated a blog post from Deputy Assistant for Energy and Climate Change Heather Zichal touting all the other things it has done on air quality.
But environmental and public-health groups are, as you might guess, flabbergasted at Obama's announcement. "This is a huge win for corporate polluters and huge loss for public health," said Gene Karpinski, president of the League of Conservation Voters, in a statement. The statements from pretty much every other group have expressed similar outrage.
The American Lung Association filed suit against the EPA following the weak Bush standards but dropped it after the Obama administration said it was going to reconsider. The group issued a statement on Friday signaling that it will revive the suit now that the Obama administration has signaled that it is not going to improve the standard, which is a violation of the Clean Air Act, the group says.
My two cents: I don't think it's a coincidence that the announcement came on day when the Labor Department released the worst jobs report in 11 months. The move certainly plays right into the "jobs vs. the environment" frame that the opponents of any and all regulations have constructed. Worse, though, is that it feeds the idea that it's perfectly okay for the administration to ignore the advice of agency scientists.
It's also not clear whom Obama thinks he's going to win over with this. I'm pretty sure this won't send the American Petroleum Institute or the Chamber of Commerce rushing to donate to his reelection bid, or make Republicans start saying nice things about him.
So if he could do this, how far out is a decision to allow the Keystone xl pipeline to rape what's left of this country?Obama to Breathers: Sorry, Wait Until 2013
—By Kate Sheppard
| Fri Sep. 2,... more
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Following Bolivia’s passage of their domestic law “Recognizing Mother Earth as a living entity and giving Her the Same Rights as Humans,” the United Nations held a dialogue via an interactive webcast on its “Harmony with Nature” Day, April 20, and it is now working on adopting these rights worldwide. Change the 'frame' from rights of nature to harmony with nature changes the whole idea and negates the under-lying concept. It's just another way to keep control by the economic forces that rule how humanity relates to our one and only home. It's a home that we are taking down around our head with our massive increase of our numbers and our wild consumption of earth's resources. It's a zero sum game we are playing and the UN is getting played by the economic numbers players. Too Bad.Following Bolivia’s passage of their domestic law “Recognizing Mother... more
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Seriously these "natural" disasters have to be from something, Iceland Volcano,Haiti,Christchurch,Australia,Japan,,Phillipines,and now Afghanistan?? ...uhhhh.. I dunno think the Earth Mother is showing what she "could" do...? If she wanted she could wipe us out and be a paradise again... I think she may just be mulling it over hear her grumbling and spitting . i think we need to take some drastic action or we will suffer her wrath much more this is insane!!! i forgot the floods and mudslides and prob. more let me know lets compile a list and see for ourselves they keep coming to mind now that I think about it creepy ....Better lay down arms and live in peace w/nature i think we all need a day of mourning and reflection I am deeply effected and so many have died or lost so much of their lives and dignity ...but we go on creating more death more destruction we are bringing it on ourselves ....When Earth is saying we have enough uncontrollable forces in this Unknown Universe we must live in peace and harmony with Nature and each other or everything else is lost ...Please cease fire all over the world lets bury the ones that are already dead (before making anymore tragedy and misery) and find those missing NOW !!! humanitarian aid and peace missions only starting now DAY of MOURNINGSeriously these "natural" disasters have to be from something, Iceland... more
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A weekly radio program with Dr. Helen Caldicott.
Helen Mary Caldicott (born 7 August 1938) is an Australian physician, author, and anti-nuclear advocate who has founded several associations dedicated to opposing the use of depleted uranium munitions, nuclear weapons, nuclear weapons proliferation, war and military action in general. She hosts a weekly radio program, If You Love This Planet
http://ifyoulovethisplanet.org/
http://www.csaolympia.org/images/vision_globe.jpgA weekly radio program with Dr. Helen Caldicott.
Helen Mary Caldicott (born 7... more
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It is important that we remember the blessings of Mother Earth and the beauty she provides her inhabitants. The preservation of our water planet including her oceans and air are integral for our quality of survival in the universe as a whole. Watch this celebration of Mother Earths splendor of the Blue River in the state of Oregon.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xk7Bxc22iPs&feature=youtube_gdata_playerIt is important that we remember the blessings of Mother Earth and the beauty she... more
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http://pwccc.wordpress.com/2010/04/28/proposal-universal-declaration-of-the-rights-of-mother-earth/
Preamble
We, the peoples and nations of Earth:
considering that we are all part of Mother Earth, an indivisible, living community of interrelated and interdependent beings with a common destiny;gratefully acknowledging that Mother Earth is the source of life, nourishment and learning and provides everything we need to live well;
recognizing that the capitalist system and all forms of depredation, exploitation, abuse and contamination have caused great destruction, degradation and disruption of Mother Earth, putting life as we know it today at risk through phenomena such as climate change;
convinced that in an interdependent living community it is not possible to recognize the rights of only human beings without causing an imbalance within Mother Earth;
affirming that to guarantee human rights it is necessary to recognize and defend the rights of Mother Earth and all beings in her and that there are existing cultures, practices and laws that do so;
conscious of the urgency of taking decisive, collective action to transform structures and systems that cause climate change and other threats to Mother Earth;
proclaim this Universal Declaration of the Rights of Mother Earth, and call on the General Assembly of the United Nation to adopt it, as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations of the world, and to the end that every individual and institution takes responsibility for promoting through teaching, education, and consciousness raising, respect for the rights recognized in this Declaration and ensure through prompt and progressive measures and mechanisms, national and international, their universal and effective recognition and observance among all peoples and States in the world.
Article 1. Mother Earth
(1) Mother Earth is a living being.
(2) Mother Earth is a unique, indivisible, self-regulating community of interrelated beings that sustains, contains and reproduces all beings.
(3) Each being is defined by its relationships as an integral part of Mother Earth.
......http://pwccc.wordpress.com/2010/04/28/proposal-universal-declaration-of-the-rights-of-m... more
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Earth's animals face grim future
Major extinction event taking place, with many wondering what animals will disappear from the planet forever
Getty Images: Two of the most important and plentiful groups of marine animals 250 million years ago were corals and brachiopods, also called lamp shells. After the Great Dying, corals were almost wiped out
By Jennifer Viegas
updated 9/2/2010 2:34:41 PM ET
Corals, big mammals and many tropical species could all go extinct in the not too distant future, predict scientists who are attempting to forecast the fate of today's animals by studying what happened to those in the distant past.
A complication is that no prior mass extinction event on the planet was driven by a single species. In a period of more than a half-billion years, only three such extinction events appear to have been as devastating as the present one, which is being caused by humans.
"We're 100 percent responsible for it," John Alroy, a researcher in the Department of Biological Sciences at Macquarie University, told Discovery News.
"There is no precedent at all for what we're doing," he added. "All well-understood extinctions in the deep fossil record are tied to environmental changes that were not triggered by the behavior of individual species, such as the asteroid impact 65 million years ago that wiped out the terrestrial (non-avian) dinosaurs."
Alroy used the Paleobiology Database, which compiles data from nearly 100,000 fossil collections worldwide, to track the fate of major groups of animals during Earth's most massive extinction event 250 million years ago: the Permian-Triassic Extinction Event, also known as the "Great Dying."
Alroy, whose findings are published in the latest issue of the journal Science, focused on marine animals, since the fossil record includes many such species.
He determined that two of the most important and plentiful groups of marine animals 250 million years ago were corals and brachiopods, also called lamp shells. After the Great Dying, corals were almost wiped out.
"There are almost no early Triassic coral fossils in the world," explained Alroy, who added that corals "eventually recovered all of their lost diversity."
The lamp shells, on the other hand, never recovered. While they're still in existence, they exhibit little diversity and not many of them are around compared to other animal populations.
He said these are just a few examples from the past that demonstrate how a species-rich animal group may not necessarily fare well after a major extinction event. The rules governing their, and other animals', diversity change over time, and really go off the chart during and after mass extinction events.
Species-rich animal groups "could happen to be very vulnerable to the particular mechanism that creates a particular mass extinction," he said. They could also lose all of their subspecies, or "during the scramble to fill empty niches after a mass extinction, rival groups may get there first, making it difficult for a group to get back where it was."
Alroy is particularly worried about today's corals.
"They don't seem to do well when there's a big environmental change," he explained. "It's possible that future reef builders won't be corals at all. At different times in the past, reefs have been built by such organisms as sponges and clams."
Mammals with big body sizes, highly endemic tropical species, and certain plants may also die out before this latest extinction event concludes, Charles Marshall told Discovery News. Marshall is a professor in the Department of Integrative Biology at the University of California at Berkeley, where he also directs the university's Museum of Paleontology. He wrote an accompanying "Perspectives" article in the latest Science.
Marshall agrees with Alroy that studying past extinctions and diversity patterns can help us to learn what makes different groups of animals more or less prone to dying out.
In terms of humanity's impact on the planet, Marshall also agrees that "we have no evidence of a single species causing such havoc."
"However," he added, "if you are willing to broaden the taxonomic scope a little, when cyanobacteria started producing oxygen in abundance, they basically poisoned the world, converting it from one that was primarily anoxic (without oxygen) to one that was oxic."Earth's animals face grim future
Major extinction event taking place, with... more
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Seventeen planets Earth would be needed to carry current world population if rest of countries adopt U.S. model. Sustainable development is only alternative for survival of humanity and planet.Seventeen planets Earth would be needed to carry current world population if rest of... more
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Photo: Crews worked Saturday on the failed top kill effort to stanch the leaking oil well in the Gulf of Mexico. BP will try another strategy.
May 29, 2010
BP Prepares to Take New Tack on Leak After ‘Top Kill’ Fails
By LESLIE KAUFMAN and CLIFFORD KRAUSS
NEW ORLEANS — In another serious setback in the effort to stem the flow of oil gushing from a well a mile beneath the Gulf of Mexico, BP engineers said Saturday that the “top kill” technique had failed and, after consultation with government officials, they had decided to move on to another strategy.
Doug Suttles, BP’s chief operating officer for exploration and production, said at a news conference that the engineers would try once again to solve the problem with a containment cap and that it could take four to seven days for the device to be in place.
“After three full days of attempting top kill, we now believe it is time to move on to the next of our options,” Mr. Suttles said.
The abandonment of the top kill technique, the most ambitious effort yet to plug the well, was the latest in a series of failures. First, BP failed in efforts to repair a blowout preventer with submarine robots. Then its initial efforts to cap the well with a containment dome failed when it became clogged with a frothy mix of frigid water and gas. Efforts to use a hose to gather escaping oil have managed to catch only a fraction of the spill.
BP has started work on two relief wells, but officials have said that they will not be completed until August — further contributing to what is already the worst oil spill in United States history.
The latest failure will undoubtedly put more pressure — both politically and from the public — on the Obama administration to take some sort of action, perhaps taking control of the repair effort completely from BP.
President Obama, who is spending the Memorial Day weekend in Chicago, issued a statement Saturday evening on the decision to abandon the top kill.
“While we initially received optimistic reports about the procedure, it is now clear that it has not worked,” Mr. Obama said.
He said that Rear Adm. Mary E. Landry of the Coast Guard had “directed BP to launch a new procedure whereby the riser pipe will be cut and a containment structure fitted over the leak.”
“This approach is not without risk and has never been attempted before at this depth,” Mr. Obama said. “That is why it was not activated until other methods had been exhausted.”
The president continued, “We will continue to pursue any and all responsible means of stopping this leak until the completion of the two relief wells currently being drilled.”
For BP, the besieged British company, the failure could mean billions of dollars of additional liabilities, as the spill potentially worsens in the weeks and months ahead.
“I am disappointed that this operation did not work,” Tony Hayward, chief executive of BP, said in a statement. “We remain committed to doing everything we can to make this situation right.”
A technician who has been working on the project to stem the oil leak said Saturday that neither the top kill nor the “junk shot” came close to succeeding because the pressure of oil and gas escaping from the well was simply too powerful to overcome. He added that engineers never had a complete enough understanding of the inner workings of drill pipe casing or blowout preventer mechanisms to make the efforts work.
“Simply too much of what we pumped in was escaping,” said the technician, who spoke on condition of remaining unnamed because he is not authorized to speak publicly for the company.
“The engineers are disappointed, and management is upset,” said the technician. “Nothing is good, nothing is good.”
The spill began after the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded on April 20, killing 11 people. Since then, it has dumped an estimated 18 million to 40 million gallons into the gulf.
After the announcement Saturday, the disappointment was palpable along the Louisiana shoreline, where the oil has increasingly washed up in sticky, rusty globs.
Michel Claudet, the president of Terrebonne Parish, 60 miles southwest of New Orleans, said that when he heard the news, he felt “sorrow, despair and like this ordeal will never finish. If you go around the parish, it is all our folks talk about.”
Mr. Claudet said that he was trying to remain hopeful, but that it was increasingly difficult. “As every item fails,” he said, “I am less and less optimistic.”
In New Orleans, Margaret Shockey, 67, a retired teacher, said, “One thing’s for sure, this is the last city that deserved this.”
Last week, BP described the top kill — which was an effort to pump heavy mud into the well to counter the flow of oil — as its best hope for stopping the spill. During the course of the operation, BP officials had often expressed optimism that it would work.
But on Saturday, Mr. Suttles said the operation had pumped 30,000 barrels of mud into the well and yet failed to stop it from flowing.
Admiral Landry called the failure “very disappointing.”
The new strategy is to smoothly cut the riser from which the oil is leaking and then place a cap over it. Pipes attached to the cap would take the oil to a storage boat on the surface.
Though a first effort at a containment dome failed, Mr. Suttles said BP had learned from that experience and now believed that this cap, which is custom fitted to the riser, would be more successful.
He said it would capture most but not all of the oil leaking from the well, which is believed to be gushing 12,000 to 19,000 barrels a day.
He would not give odds for the operation’s success, but said he had “a lot of confidence” that it would work.
Earlier in the day, Mr. Suttles said preparations for such an alternative plan were already under way, just in case. “That equipment is on stage and ready to go,” he said. Equipment is being deployed on land and on the seabed, he said.
If the new cap is not successful, the company has said it will look into attaching another blowout preventer to the one that already exists at the wellhead and has not functioned.
But officials emphasized that the real solution to the spill was the relief well. They said one of the relief wells was currently proceeding ahead of schedule, but was still at least a month away.
“It’s like a bad movie that just won’t end,” said Billy Altman, 45, a mechanic in New Orleans. “You know, you think they finally killed the bad guy, and then he comes back to life. It’s crazy.”
Clifford Krauss reported from Houston, and Leslie Kaufman from New Orleans. Robbie Brown contributed from New Orleans, and Sarah Wheaton from New York.Photo: Crews worked Saturday on the failed top kill effort to stanch the leaking oil... more
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BP's "top kill" attempt to stop the flow of oil from a ruptured well in the Gulf of Mexico failed, the company's chief operating officer said Saturday.
The oil giant has tried for days to stop the the largest oil spill in U.S. history by pumping heavy, mudlike drilling fluid into a ruptured oil well, a method known as "top kill."
The next option is to place a custom-built cap known as the "lower marine riser package" over the leak, the company's chief operating officer, Doug Suttles said. BP crews were working Saturday to ready the materials for that option should it become necessary, he said.
"We've been prepping that all along in case we need to move to that option," he said. "People want to know which technique is going to work, and I don't know."
And if "lower marine riser package" were to fail, he said, BP engineers would try placing a second blowout preventer on top of the first, which failed to cut of the oil flow after the April 20 explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig. The failed blowout preventer is a 48-foot-tall, 450-ton apparatus that sits atop the well 5,000 feet underwater.
Meanwhile, teams in Louisiana were working Saturday on a clean-up project aimed at protecting coastal marshes while BP continues its efforts to stop oil from gushing into the Gulf of Mexico.
Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser has said that machines would suck oil out of marshes Saturday after crews determined where to deploy them.
Video: Fishermen woes
Video: BP CEO pledge: 'Stop the damn leak'
Explainer: Stopping the leak RELATED TOPICS
Gulf Coast Oil Spill
BP plc
Louisiana
Deepwater Horizon
"We will begin to clean up some of those areas that fell by the wayside for the last couple weeks," he said.
Oil giant BP's focus has been trying to put a stop to what officials say is the largest oil spill in U.S. history, with as many as 19,000 barrels of crude gushing into the ocean daily.
By Sunday morning the company could know whether the "top kill" procedure -- pumping heavy drilling mud into the breached oil well at high pressure -- is working, said Robert Dudley, BP's managing director.
"It's like an arm-wrestling match of two equally strong forces," he said.
Government scientists on Thursday said as many as 19,000 barrels (798,000 gallons) of oil were spewing into the ocean every day, making this disaster perhaps twice the size of the Exxon Valdez incident.
Previously, BP officials and government scientists had said 5,000 barrels (210,000 gallons) of crude were flowing out daily.
"This is clearly an environmental catastrophe," BP CEO Tony Hayward said Friday. "There's no two ways about it."
Under intense political pressure to take control of the situation, President Obama toured the region on Friday.
"We want to stop the leak, we want to contain and clean up the oil and we want to help the people in this region return to their lives and livelihoods as soon as possible," the president told reporters.
About 25 percent of the Gulf of Mexico exclusive economic zone has been put off limits, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and fishermen are worried the gushing oil will take a more serious toll than Hurricane Katrina did in 2005.
"Katrina was nothing but rain, water and wind. This is poison. It's gas," oysterman Arthur Etienne said.
Obama said Friday that federal officials were prepared to authorize moving forward with "a portion of" an idea proposed by local officials, who want the Army Corps of Engineers to build a "sand boom" offshore to keep the water from getting into the fragile marshlands.
That did not satisfy Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, who has advocated immediate construction of the booms. Noting in a written statement that 107 miles of the state's coast have been oiled, he said, "We continue to ask federal officials to approve our entire sand-boom plan from the northern Chandeleurs to the Isle Dernieres chain."
Obama said he has directed federal officials to triple the manpower in places where oil has hit shore or appears within a day of doing so.BP's "top kill" attempt to stop the flow of oil from a ruptured well in... more
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I have decided to get back to my blogging by suggesting each week how we can “pay our rent” to Mother Earth.
In the “How to Build a Community” poster by the Syracuse Cultural Workers, one line speaks so loudly to me: “Know that no one is silent though many are not heard.”
As The Lorax proclaimed: “I speak for the trees.” But why?
1. Trees Provide Oxygen (and Reduce Climate Change)
The equation is fundamental: During photosynthesis, a tree “inhales” CO2 from the air and then separates the carbon from the oxygen molecules. The carbon is absorbed by the tree, which then “exhales” pure oxygen back into the air for us to breathe. In the process just described, trees also serve as carbon sinks. Such carbon sinks offset carbon dioxide emissions and reduce climate change.
2. Trees Provide Food
Trees offer food like nuts and fruits for humans and other creatures. The folks at SavaTree add: “Many animals, including elephants, koalas, and giraffes eat leaves for nourishment. Flowers are eaten by monkeys, and nectar is a favorite of birds, bats, and many insects. Animals also eat much of the same fruit that we enjoy. This process helps disperse seeds over great distances.”
3. Trees Provide Homes
From nearly microscopic insects to camouflaged reptiles to feathered friends to wily primates and beyond, each tree is a vast, thriving eco-system in and of itself. The destruction of even a single small tree not only disrupts natural cycles, it also sentences countless creatures to death.
4. Trees Provide Medicine
For 5.1 billion people: 85% of the world’s population. Even in a modern society like the U.S, plants are the original herbs and the primary source materials for as many as 40% of the pharmaceuticals in use.
5. Trees Provide Shade and Protection
Due to ozone depletion, we now have to endure increased amounts of potentially dangerous ultraviolet radiation. Thanks to our tree friends, we get some shade and protection.
6. Trees Provide Energy Savings
“All the farmhouses are surrounded by trees,” writes Josh Peterson. “You see, the farmers know that planting trees in the right places is good for their houses and it’s good for the land. The trees act as windbreaks and keep the snow from drifting up against the house. It also keeps that valuable topsoil in place. And in the summer time, there is no better place to beat that ridiculous Midwestern heat than in the shade of a tree. You can use the same principals to make your house more energy efficient with proper tree placement.”
7. Trees Provide Pollution Reduction
Trees absorb pollutants like sulfur dioxide, ozone, and nitrogen oxides through the stomates in the surface of their leaves. Up to a 60% reduction in street level particulates has been found on tree-lined streets and roadways. Trees also muffle urban noise pollution.
8. Trees Provide Erosion and Flood Prevention
Deforestation negatively impacts the amount of water in the soil and groundwater and the moisture in the atmosphere. Without tree roots to hold soil in place and fight erosion, we are seeing more runoff and less sediment deposit after storms. This result in higher levels of chemicals in our water and far more flooding. On a related note, mangrove trees protect coastal areas from ocean waves and work in smooth symbiosis with coral reefs.
(Read the rest on the original post at CL Green: http:cltampa.com/green)I have decided to get back to my blogging by suggesting each week how we can... more
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The weekly feature of the Sustainable Agriculture Group that seeks to bring us back to our Earth in reflection of the bigger picture. Mother Earth is calling us now, and we must answer.
The goddess names chanted in this song are:
Ishtar, Cerridwen, Agathe, Inanna, Isis, Artemis, Sophia, Athena, Coatilicue, Aphrodite, Mielikki, Astarte, Gaia, Saraswati, Kali, Pele, Pasowe, Demeter, Parvati, Hera, Diana, Nidaba, Chicomecoatl, Lilith, Shekinah, Morgana, Maya, Izanami, Shakti
http://current.com/groups/sustainable-agriculture/The weekly feature of the Sustainable Agriculture Group that seeks to bring us back to... more
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Gennifer Moss rides her bicycle through the town of Portland, Oregon, in the nude, in order to promote peace and to promote Mother Earth.
For Gennifer Moss aka Earth Friend Gen Portland, riding a bike or rollerskating nude is also part of her lifestyle.
Gennifer Moss is a fit, brown-haired beauty whose in-shape body should convince others to give up their cars for bikes.
Gennifer Moss aka Earth Friend Gen is not breaking any laws, despite the attention she garners.
Her public nudity is acceptable and legal according to the local police. "The exposure of genitalia, and their intent has to be to arouse another person and I clearly think in this instance, that is not being met," said Cathe Kent with the Portland Police Bureau, according to KGW.
Gennifer Moss rides her bicycle through the town of Portland, Oregon, in the nude, in... more
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...I watched a very interesting video of J Craig Venter in 2004.......his institute...now called jcvi was doing research with marine organisms that are capable of producing hydrogen......he sailed around the world collecting samples.....have not heard much about him lately.....hoping to get feedback and information.............Venter was also working on completely genetic mapping of human DNA.................I watched a very interesting video of J Craig Venter in 2004.......his... more
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....Planet Green is a great place to learn more about things we all can do to improve the quality of life and preserve natural resources.......very informative shows on their station...................Planet Green is a great place to learn more about things we all can do to improve... more
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Senator John McCain said Wednesday that he wanted 45 new nuclear reactors built in the United States by 2030, a course he called “as difficult as it is necessary.”
Currently there are 104 reactors in the country supplying some 20 percent of electricity consumed. No new nuclear power plant has been built in the United States since the 1970s.
He said his ultimate goal was 100 new nuclear plants.
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McCain, wrong on nuclear power, wrong for the country.
OBAMA FOR PRESIDENT (Obama, won't you consider returning that money to the nuclear power industry?)Senator John McCain said Wednesday that he wanted 45 new nuclear reactors built in the... more
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