tagged w/ Current Environmental News
-
Talisman Energy and other corporations have set their sights on the Achuar cultural lands in Peru. This video made by the Achuar shows their life in pursuit of living with nature and their resistance to the oil companies looking to drill there. This is part of a global assault being waged upon indigenous people by oil and mining companies intent on stealing their resources and their cultures while totally ignoring their imput. Below will be a link to a petition you can sign to show support for the Achuar and other ways you can become involved in standing with them to preserve this beautiful land.Talisman Energy and other corporations have set their sights on the Achuar cultural... more
-
-
My next installment of relevant Earth News that reports about the environmental issues most important to the health of our planet and each other.
In this issue, heatwaves, extreme climate events, deniers and their backers, the Keystone XL pipeline and community news on fracking.
Thanks for supporting this endeavor!
More to come.
I moved the introduction out and the report here now as it was getting buried.
Thanks for the comments.My next installment of relevant Earth News that reports about the environmental issues... more
-
-
What are some possible solutions to the BP oil catastrophe? Do you have any? If so list them and lets see where this goes.What are some possible solutions to the BP oil catastrophe? Do you have any? If so... more
-
-
THIS IS MY SOLUTION FOR SEALING THE BP OIL LEAK
Please note: This rod is approximately 20 to 25 feet long and quite heavy. The diameter is just under 2 feet right below the ball valve.
This image has been updated on 06/12/2010. The initial image is below in a following entry
.
If British Petroleum does decide to cut the "Blowout Preventer," that is just above the well, this will expose the raw shaft into the well. It is vertical without any bends or debris and this will give them a straight shot down the well. This metal rod is telescoped in design so that it is smaller on the tip and gradually graduated into a larger diameter. The final diameter is fairly close tolerance to that of the well pipe. This end, (the top), of the metal rod has a series of O-rings or seals that will assist in sealing the final stage but it is the tight tolerance of the final diameter that will actually accomplish the seal. The top of the rod will basically have an oversize head on it so it will stop the rod from descending any further down the well than is desired. The rod I have shown is tapered or telescoped so it will allow the oil pressure to bypass the rod initially upon insertion. Once it has entered the pipe, the weight of the rod is more than adequate to overcome any of the oil pressures being exerted as it is approximately 20 to 25 feet long, and about 21 inches in diameter at the sealing end. The well pipe will guide the rod accordingly down the throat due to the telescoping shape of the rod. Once it bottoms out against the head and the top of the fresh cut pipe, the seal will be complete. The well will be plugged permanently but the rod still has the ability to be removed if needed.
The rod can be made of stainless steel or whatever is best for this application. It can be solid or if desired it can be hollow for the purpose of still pumping oil. The ring on top would still need to be present for any continued modifications or repairs. A ball valve would need to be implemented into the design as shown in the diagram and a series of in-flow ports would need to be added along the lower extremities of the rod for the oil to enter and flow through the rod. It would be a good idea to have two ball valves, (not shown), one on top of the other in case of failure of one or the other.
If the rod is hollow, then it needs to be longer so the loss in weight would be regained. The weight needs to be sufficient to force the rod into the well pipe and cause it to seat. This would seal the well as there would be no place for the oil to find a by-pass.
I have other solutions that will work if the decision is to plug the up-riser and the pipe that has currently been the focus.
JuliusBC
Inventor/designerTHIS IS MY SOLUTION FOR SEALING THE BP OIL LEAK
Please note: This rod is... more
-
-
Target: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Governor
Sponsored by: Save The Bay
Plastic bags and other marine debris cause serious problems for the health of our coast and bay shorelines. Each year an estimated million plastic bags make their way into San Francisco Bay, where they pollute the water and endanger the 500 species of animals that live in the Bay.
Plastic litter never biodegrades. It is an eyesore for our communities and costs local governments millions to clean up. The Governor's Ocean Protection Council will vote soon on whether or not to support local efforts to reduce plastic bag litter. Please ask Governor Schwarzenegger to be a leader in the effort to eliminate plastic bags in our communities. Hurry! The vote is set for April 23. Choose the Bay over the bag!
AddThis
deadline: 4-23-2009
goal: 5,000
Plastic bags and other marine debris cause serious problems for the health of our coast and bay shorelines. Each year an estimated one million plastic bags make their way into San Francisco Bay, where they pollute the water and endanger the 500 species of animals that live in the Bay.
Plastic litter never biodegrades. It is an eyesore for our communities and costs local governments millions to clean up. The Governor's Ocean Protection Council will vote soon on whether or not to support local efforts to reduce plastic bag litter.
Please ask Governor Schwarzenegger to be a leader in the effort to eliminate plastic bags in our communities. Hurry! The vote is set for April 23. Choose the Bay over the bag!
Thank you for making a difference to California's fragile ecosystems and wildlife habitat today.
Robyn E.
Care2 Petition Site TeamTarget: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Governor
Sponsored by: Save The Bay
Plastic bags and... more
-
-
In light of the recent ruling by U.S.D.A. Secretary Tom Vilsack to approve the release of inadequately tested genetically engineered sugar beets into the ecosystem, Sierra Club today sent a letter to President Obama calling for a change from the previous administration.
The Sierra Club has submitted numerous extensive science-based comments to the U.S.D.A. regarding the release of genetically manipulated (GM) crops, only to have these critical issues fall on deaf ears at the USDA.
Laurel Hopwood, Chair of Sierra Club's Genetic Engineering Action Team, explains, "This past decade we are seeing new releases into the environment that we have never before seen on this planet. Genetic engineering involves the artificial transfer of genes from one organism into another, made by crashing through the protective species barrier. These new life forms are spreading their GM traits on a massive scale, an event unprecedented in the 3.8 billion year history of life on this planet."
Neil Carman, Ph.D., scientific advisor for Sierra Club's Genetic Engineering Action Team, explains, "The ecosystem is not a dumping ground for untested GM crops. Mandatory environmental impact statements must be performed for every ecosystem into which any new GM crop is to be introduced, as required by the National Environmental Policy Act. To the dismay of the American public, the U.S.D.A. continues to fail to prepare Environmental Impact Statements."
The Organic Consumers Association agrees that the risks posed by the current trajectory of genetic engineering in the fields of agriculture are profound. Ronnie Cummins, Director of the Organic Consumers Association laments, "Pollen blowing in the wind or carried by pollinator species transfer genetically engineered traits to organic crops, posing enormous dilemmas for organic farmers."
Cummins adds, "The American people aren't the only guinea pigs in this huge, untested experiment. Mr. Vilsack intends to play GM promoter when he leads a delegation to the upcoming G8 meeting at talks to reduce world hunger. Gene technologies will destroy the diversity and the sustainable agricultural systems that farmers have developed for millennia and will thus undermine the capacity for those in developing countries to feed themselves."
Until rigorous research is conducted to identify and address the long term impacts of GMOs, such organisms should not be released into the environment. Sierra Club, with 1.3 million members and supporters, and the Organic Consumer Association, with 850,000 network members, urge President Obama to keep his word to protect the land and food for the people of the world.
Sierra Club's letter to President Obama:
http://www.sierraclub.org/biotech/whatsnew/whatsnew_2009-...
___________________________
I think it is time they received a lot of letters. I sent mine, and if I have to do it again I will. This is the wrong direction to take for sustainability. Carrying on the Bush doctrine of industrial agriculture and releasing these organisms into our environment without proper testing is truly negligable. I was hoping to see better from Obama and this USDA, but up to now I have been disappointed. It appears he only placed an "organic" supporter in the second position as another gesture.
This combined with pharma crops being planted where they can infect conventional crops, and calling for MORE ethanol which means more GM corn subsidies is exactly the same policy Bush had. So the question I ask on food policy is, besides the Obamas being able to eat organic while the rest of the poor who cannot afford it or have access to it are stuck with the same crap: WHERE IS THE CHANGE? If you can't stand up to these companies for the people President Obama, you lied about that change.In light of the recent ruling by U.S.D.A. Secretary Tom Vilsack to approve the release... more
-
-
Music to my ears.
1.Double-whammy hits genetically modified crops
2.Corn, soy crops gain little from genetics
3.Good old fashioned farming beats biotech, group says
4.Gene-Altered Crops Do Little for Yields, Group Says
5.Engineered Crops Won't Feed World, New Report Says
6.Biotech corn, soy does little to boost yield-studyMusic to my ears.
1.Double-whammy hits genetically modified crops
2.Corn, soy... more
-
-
Imagine that. A majority of scientists do not believe politicians will bring us solutions in time to escape at least a 2 to 4 degree rise in temperature by end of century. I really have to be honest and state that I concur with them. I don't see much of anything coming out of Washington DC, as they still do not understand the __urgency__ of what scientists are talking about for all of their talk.Imagine that. A majority of scientists do not believe politicians will bring us... more
-
-
Good points made here regarding the moral issue of a carbon tax on industry that would take the place of the payroll tax which would make it revenue neutral. It would then tax what we burn not what we earn and hopefully work to move industries towards moving to alternate energy sources and becoming more responsible regarding their business practices. And it is a moral issue in that those responsible for the most damage to this planet's environment should pay for it. I believe a carbon tax is also easier to mandate and monitor, and does not have to result in higher prices for energy since again, it would be revenue neutral. It holds polluters accountable and responsible for [their] actions.
However, the Obama administration is pushing cap and trade, which is nothing more than a scheme to allow corporations to skirt responsibility for the pollution they create which is also no guarantee that they will ever move towards sustainable solutions, nor guarantee that the cost of it won't be passed on to the consumer as they will continue the same behavior. It would also in my view then be used as a way for this Congress to avoid adequate climate change legislation regarding caps on carbon emissions. It would be hard to monitor and would also not really do much in the end to lower emissions at the rates they must be lowered now to ensure we stay within the range of 350ppm-450ppm.
A carbon tax is simply the moral way to confront the rapacious burning of fossil fuels that is leading us over the climate cliff. However, if we are to pursue this avenue, it must be done with aggresive investment in alternate energies like solar, wind, electric vehicles , etc. that are AFFORDABLE for the average consumer in order to give them a choice to avoid any plans by industries to raise prices of oil and coal to demonize the positive effects of this. If consumers have another way to go, that along with a carbon tax on industries like oil and coal would in the end be a beneficial step in lowering carbon emissions to safe levels.
Of course, politically it is not seen as feasible due to the coziness of industry to our politicians. And that is the one obstacle to doing what is morally right. Politics and morality don't seem to mix regardless of party. Therefore, I think that consumers need to be more aware of exactly what cap and trade entails and actively look to those companies that are currently employed in running their businesses sustainably and giving them their business, and calling on their utilities demanding they switch to solar and wind. This could be one way without levying any tax at all for industries to understand that they will not get business unless they change their ways and lower their emissions. Of course, the best scenario would be that we were all so morally in tune with the crisis we face that we voluntarily adjusted our behavior accordingly. However, we are humans, a species that allows selfishness, greed, and the politics of fear to govern our actions.
In the end however, we will have to understand the immense responsibility that has been placed in our hands which is the continued sustainability of our only home and our survival. And we must also understand as well that it trumps any selfish inclinations we might have to dismiss the urgency of this simply because we are blinded by greed, fear, or political partisanship.Good points made here regarding the moral issue of a carbon tax on industry that would... more
-
-
Arline L. Bronzaft, Ph.D.
Chair of the New York City Council on the Environment.
Noises impinge on the child’s language, cognitive and learning abilities.
"We can do something about noise and when we do, children profit!"
Great Scientific Article on Noise and Children Development. Why it is so important for children to learn about hearing, acoustic pollution and noise.Arline L. Bronzaft, Ph.D.
Chair of the New York City Council on the Environment.... more
-
-
SFPD Central CHP Information Bulletin Presents
The CHP California Motorcyclist Safety Program
Motorcyclists need to be aware of the added danger they're in every day.
This video will show you how to ride safer, and arrive alive.
Viewers are advised this video contains graphic footage from actual crash scenes involving motorcyclists.
Viewer discretion is advised.SFPD Central CHP Information Bulletin Presents
The CHP California Motorcyclist Safety... more
-
-
A majority of Americans support a cap on carbon pollution -- but you wouldn't know it from what you read in the papers or see on the news.
Across the country, those who want to keep America addicted to fossil fuel are making gross misstatements about clean energy -- and the media has been playing right along.
In one case, opponents of clean energy misquoted an MIT study so badly that the author wrote to them in protest, saying their claims were "just wrong. It's wrong in so many ways it's hard to begin."
Of course, they didn't stop, and their misleading statements were repeated on TV and in newspapers across the country.
You know the truth, and right now your voice is the most powerful tool we have to set the record straight on the carbon pollution loophole.
Will you send a message to your local paper using our simple tool?
Your "Letter to the Editor" will make a powerful impact when it is published: These letters are read by millions of people each day. Your letter will show that Americans across the country support a clean energy future and will help news outlets shape their coverage of this issue.
These letters are also a good way to reach your members of Congress since many read the newspaper opinion pages every day.
Our opponents want to scare Americans out of supporting change. Your letter will show that it won't work. That we're not afraid and that the most costly mistake we can make is doing nothing at all.
By using our simple online tool, you can write and send your letter very easily. And we've provided all the talking points you need to make it effective.
We can't let opportunities for a better future be derailed by fear and misinformation.
Stand up for clean energy in your community. Get started now:
http://www.RepowerAmerica.org/page/speakout/carboncap?js=true&zip=94105
Thanks,
Steve Bouchard
Campaign ManagerA majority of Americans support a cap on carbon pollution -- but you wouldn't... more
-
-
A documentary was aired on French television - a documentary that Americans wont ever see. The gigantic bio-tech corporation Monsanto is threatening to destroy the agricultural biodiversity which has served mankind for thousands of years.A documentary was aired on French television - a documentary that Americans wont ever... more
-
-
Target: Interior Secretary Ken Salazar
Sponsored by: The Wilderness Society
At the tail end of the Bush administration, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) worked overtime to rush through "midnight" regulations - making huge tracts of public lands in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming available for commercial oil shale development with sweetheart terms and few environmental protections.
Using current technologies, commercial oil shale development would result in one of the dirtiest fossil fuels the world has ever seen. It would require an extraordinary amount of water and energy in order to turn the waxy kerogen embedded deep within the rock into a synthetic oil substitute. This highly polluting process literally bakes the rock at 500 to 1,000 degrees for more than a year just to liquefy and extract the synthetic crude.
Luckily, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar is making efforts to overturn Bush administration policies, but he needs to know that his actions have full public support! Tell Secretary Salazar that you oppose reckless oil shale development.Target: Interior Secretary Ken Salazar
Sponsored by: The Wilderness Society
At the... more
-
-
THE lives of millions of Britons are being blighted by noisy neighbours, a survey has found.
By Laura Clout
Daily Express, UKTHE lives of millions of Britons are being blighted by noisy neighbours, a survey has... more
-
-
Join over 67,591 people who have sent a message.
Sign our petition below and we will deliver it to your members of Congress:
"Congress must support bold national policies this year to transition to a clean energy economy and help solve the climate crisis. We urge you to cap carbon pollution to help create the jobs and businesses that will Repower America."
If you care, it is time for you to act. Please sign the petition.
Thanks!Join over 67,591 people who have sent a message.
Sign our petition below and we... more
-
-
Extreme Ice Survey is an ambitious project to capture global warming-induced glacial retreat in the act. Beginning in December 2006, photographer James Balog and his colleagues set up 26 solar-powered cameras at glaciers in Greenland, Iceland, Alaska, the Alps, and the Rocky Mountains. Each unit will take a photograph every daylight hour until fall 2009. In 2008, Balog's team began to return to each of the camera sites to collect images. In the end, they will have more than 300,000 images to analyze and stitch together to produce more dramatic videos like this one. This kind of multiyear effort, says Balog, is necessary to 'radically alter public perception of the global warming issue.'"Extreme Ice Survey is an ambitious project to capture global warming-induced glacial... more
-
-
Perhaps it should be the true caretakers of our planet and those who truly care for preserving the sustainability of this planet like Dr. Wangari Maathai of the Greenbelt Movement who should formulate the global strategy regarding saving the world's forests. It seems to me that any other scheme is only going to be used to try to make someone a profit over finding longterm solutions simply because it must be done to save our planet's ability to sustain ours and other species.
This is what angers me about such 'meetings.' A room full of governments and 'experts' who sit there wasting precious time over how this should be handled when we should already be in the DOING SOMETHING stage. Hell, give me the means to do it and I will plant trees for nothing. I will ask for nothing in return because I already know that the trees themselves are the reward. Let's face it, governments are simply not going to do what is necessary to meet this challenge. They don't want to truly regulate any industry and they only wish to formulate bogus schemes to keep corporations happy while using carbon now to manipulate world markets. Cap and trade is the last thing we need now. Unfortunately, what we do need, moral will and courage and ACTION seems to be in very short supply at these meetings.
The G20 is no exception to that. I wondered just this morning as I read up on the lavish meal being cooked for these 'leaders' if they were even thinking of the millions they claim to represent who are starving, homeless, hopeless, and desperate because of their policies as they sat there filling their faces with the best our money could buy. And now at this meeting they argue over what we are going to do about deforestation as if we are still in 1977.
I have a simple solution for them: PLANT THE TREES.Perhaps it should be the true caretakers of our planet and those who truly care for... more
-
-
Is Morgellons Disease the result of GMO exposure? Is it the result of our toxifying our environment? This article contains much useful information on this malady that is striking thousands of people across the US and around the world. This is not being covered by the MSM. Please read this and take it seriously.
From the article:
Yes, it`s been incredible. It took me three years to hear from approximately 600 people reporting their disease to me, and since the article I`ve heard from over 1,000 more, just in the matter of a few weeks. When it got to a thousand, I stopped counting. I really need to find a secretary. Wonderful people are also emailing me wanting to help.
People are reporting their disease from everywhere, Minnesota, Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Massachusetts, Texas, Georgia. I`ve heard from people in Canada, England, Scotland and Australia. I received an email that was in Chinese that I couldn`t read. Most of them want to find a doctor. I am trying to get more doctors to see these people. So far there is Dr. Amelia Withington in Virginia; Dr. Cheryl Reed, in Tampa, Florida; Dr. Jergens Winkler in Oceanside, California; Dr. James Matthews in Maryland; and also Dr. Gary Smith in Alabama. There is Dr. Susan Kolb in Atlanta, and Dr. Peterson in Citrus, Florida, and few others. These are all really good people, kind doctors who don`t have any problem getting their patients on homeopathic medicine or natural products.
I`ve also been trying so hard to find MD Naturopaths who will see these patients. All these sufferers are screaming out for validation. I`ve even been asked by the Social Security Administration to become an expert witness for people who need SSI/Disability and who are really suffering.
In your articles you put together a picture that makes sense. People feel better about coming out of hiding. Finally they can look beyond all the misunderstanding and see the misuse of Agrobacterium in our seeds and crops. They can get some understanding of why they are sick. Biochemists and scientists are playing around with horrible things. They are Frankenscientists. Monsanto should be shut down along with Dow Chemical.
Barbara: I am happy to hear that the last interview made so many people confident enough to email or call you. I am afraid there are still many more people who have just about given up on themselves. What are you able to do for people who call you?
Trisha: I ask them questions about their symptoms. Some of the symptoms that really suggest they have Morgellons are:
Hearing buzzing in the head or high pitched sound
Seeing floaters behind the eyes
A change in the sense of smell
A change in the sense of taste
Problems with time and space, and forgetfulness
Feeling like they are a magnet, and like they are attracting things
Feeling like they are surrounded by strange debris
Seeing fibers coming from the skin
Seeing flecks that glow like Christmas tree sparkles
These fibers and flecks are not planetary smart dusts implanted in our bodies by aliens or from chemtrails like some people imagine. They are PCBs from the environment as a result of toluene toxicity. Vectors carry this too, so it is transmitted not only by long periods of exposure to toluene and its relatives, but it is also vector borne.
Lastly, I ask them if they have seen parasites, and I tell them they can be very honest with me because I am not going to judge them. Ninety percent of the people who have called me have answered "yes" to this question. I am crying tears of joy here, because you came into my life and so have all the wonderful doctors who have stepped up to the plate to help these patients. These doctors love truth. More doctors will get involved in an honest way when we can take the voodoo and conjecture out of this disease.
end of excerpt.Is Morgellons Disease the result of GMO exposure? Is it the result of our toxifying... more
-
-
An effort to fight climate change through reforestation, seeded at the grassroots level, has now blossomed into a woodland of over 3 billion trees, with the confirmation that over 300 million were planted in Turkey in 2008, the United Nations announced today.
In response to its success, the Billion Tree Campaign, which is under the patronage of Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and Kenyan Green Belt Movement founder Professor Wangari Maathai and Prince Albert II of Monaco, has already set a new target of 7 billion trees to be planted by the UN Climate Change Conference to be held in December 2009.
The campaign was launched by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) in 2006 as a response not only to the threat of global warming but also to wide sustainability challenges from water supplies to biodiversity loss.
Tree planting remains one of the most cost-effective ways to address climate change, according to UNEP. Trees and forests play a vital role in regulating the climate since they absorb carbon dioxide. Deforestation, in turn, accounts for over 20 per cent of the carbon dioxide humans generate, rivalling the emissions from other sources.
Trees also play a crucial role in providing a range of products and services to rural and urban populations, including food, timber, fibre, medicines and energy as well as soil fertility, water and biodiversity conservation.
With slightly over 700 million trees planted to date, Turkey now attains second position in the list of top 10 countries in the Campaign's roll of honour. The leading country remains Ethiopia with 725 million trees planted, UNEP said. Mexico, with 472,404,266 trees planted to date, Kenya with 139,893,668 and Cuba with 137,476,771 round out the top five in the sylvan effort.
Meanwhile, an organization in Romania known as the PRAIS Foundation, in partnership with the Romanian Government and other partners, has confirmed that it has planted over 11 million trees through the national tree-planting movement 'Millions of People, Millions of Trees.'
In total, 3,071,704,993 trees have been planted around the world. So far, another 1,578,796,459 trees have been pledged and have yet to be planted.An effort to fight climate change through reforestation, seeded at the grassroots... more
-
