Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Why Won't GOPer Gulf Govs Deploy the National Guard?

by Captain Future

Hey, GOPer Gulf Coast governors: where are the National Guard troops President Obama authorized you to call up to help clean up and protect the Gulf? In this emergency that you blame the federal government for not addressing, what are you doing besides political showboating?



continued at Daily Kos....

BP Oil Disaster v 5.0: Water Retention

by vets74

"Death in the Gulf." BP and Halliburton committing ecocide.

This WineRev Model series focuses on the effects.

BP, the Coast Guard and corporate media are selling propaganda that the GoM Loop Current will clean things out:

LC

No-no-no.

TAMU deep water map

That first lavender offshore geostrophic cyclone can hold slowly rising oil for years. Then the pale yellow anticyclone circles north of the Loop Current.

Oil is going to be surfacing in the northern GoM and be at risk to hurricane for years. More below :::



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Heating Oil: The Oil Crisis in New York City

by Eddie C

This is not an area I'm very familiar with but apparently the complex where I live represents three of the 9,000 NYC buildings that play a large part in New York City air failing federal health standards by burning a very dirty heating oil.

A report from Environmental Defense Fund shows that just one percent of New York City's buildings, those burning the dirtiest grades of heating oil, produce more pollution than all the city's cars and trucks combined. The report "The Bottom of the Barrel: How the Dirtiest Heating Oil Pollutes Our Air and Harms Our Health," advocates phasing out the dirty oil by 2020.

The pollution produced by burning No. 4 or 6 oil—some 1,000 tons of it every year—threatens the health of all New Yorkers, creating a rain of toxic soot that aggravates asthma, increases the risk of cancer, exacerbates respiratory illnesses and can cause premature death.

Below the fold are some of the politics involved and the temporary solution my complex came up with.



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Gavin Newsom: Making the Environment His Personal and Political Mission

by Ella Arnold

San Francisco Mayor and California Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor Gavin Newsom is a man who stands up for what he believes in. His willingness to take bold political risks and his unwavering personal integrity have led him to constantly be ahead of the curve on many important social and economic issues, from marriage equality and universal health care to homelessness and education. But the environment is truly the sole issue where Mayor Newsom’s unrelenting desire to create revolutionary reform by staying true to his personal convictions is most apparent.



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Obama's FDA Quietly banning antibiotics in livestock production

by beach babe in fl

This is huge! Obama's FDA has begun to ban giving prophylactic antibiotics in livestock production.

Giving animals antibiotics in order to increase food production is a threat to public health and should be stopped, the FDA said

The federal agency says it has the power to ban the practice, but it's starting by issuing "draft guidance" in hopes the food industry will make voluntary changes. After a 60-day public comment period, the guidance will become FDA policy.



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On Doom & Hope: An Action Diary

by Maggie Pax

All the news coming out of the Gulf of Mexico is horrific. Now, in the past few days, I've been reading how various scientists are warning that we may have less than one hundred years before civilization collapses, before (perhaps) the extinction of humanity. If we let this happen, we don't deserve to call ourselves homo sapiens.  

But worse than the news about the gulf, worse than the collapse of our oil-based economy, worse than Republican victories in the fall, Worse Than Anything, is our apparently innate desire to deny the evidence, blame others, and moan that nothing can be done.

Bullshit!

It may be that damage to our planet cannot be reversed. Scotty may be right when he cries, "Captain, I canna break the laws of physics!" But sometimes, all you need is a bigger hammer.

Sometimes, a lot of little hammers will do even better.



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DOJ loses fight to jail climate activist

by Deep Harm

When climate activist Ted Glick and another protestor unfurled two banners inside the Hart Senate Office building, they didn't expect to be arrested.  The banners, urging Congress to create green jobs, simply re-stated a promise made by President Obama.  But, they were arrested, for disorderly conduct and displaying a banner in a federal building.
Moreover, when Glick's case came to trial, the Justice Department asked the judge to impose triple the maximum penalty of one year in jail for the two charges against him.  Supporters of Glick, sent approximately 250 letters to the judge, D.C. Superior Court Judge Frederick H. Weisberg.
Yesterday, Judge Weisberg rejected DOJ's draconian punishment and sentenced Glick to a suspended 30-day jail term, 40 hours of community service, $1,000 in fines, and one year of unsupervised probation.


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The Food Forest Part II - Strategies for Urban Green Infrastructure

by environmentalist

"The ultimate goal of farming is not the growing of crops, but the cultivation and perfection of human beings." ~Masanobu Fukuoka

Imagine strolling out of the hot summer sun and into the moist, cool and dappled sunlight of a mature forest.  At eye level you are surrounded by fruits and nuts of all variety.  At your waist are bushes heavily laden with currents and berries.  There might even be tomatoes and artichokes growing.  The ground is blanketed in wild herbs and grasses and topped in native flowers in full bloom.  The air is full of sweet smells, the call of birds and the chirping and squirrels.  The forest is alive with butterflies and other insects.  Oddly enough, you are in the middle of a large city walking down the sidewalk towards the entrance of a public building.  Better yet...maybe you’re on the grounds of a public park....or a public school...or your own backyard....

This is the food forest.



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"Gotta feed the grease monkey on your back" {Earthship Wednesday}

by eKos

eKosLogo

Welcome to the eKos Earthship, your one-stop-shop for green diaries and series.

Tonight's editor: LaughingPlanet

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While the most useless branch of gov't in history Senate is on hiatus, the gusher in the gulf continues to be more persistent, destructive, and  annoying than the gopher in the golf. Perhaps a similar "solution" will be enacted someday.

Also, more green tea leaves will be read about the current status of s3516, the climate bill being formed in the Senate.

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Beneath the fold you will find news and notes, community announcements, and our eco-diary roundup.

All views expressed by today's editor do not necessarily represent those of eKos or eKos listed diarists.



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Quietly, the Obama EPA Snuffs Out Coal Plants

by I said GOOD DAY sir

A lot of attention has been paid in recent months to congressional (non-)attempts to pass a climate and energy bill. The process has taken a relatively predictable path of inaction and watering down, leading to a lot of teeth-gnashing, especially on my part.

But I want to call your attention to something extraordinary that the Obama administration is doing: they are killing off old coal-fired power plants and preventing the development of new ones largely without a fight!

Yesterday, as a lot of you know, a new version of the Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR) was re-promulgated as the Clean Air Transport Rule. This is the most significant and impactful rule covering coal-fired plants ever written, largely because of the position it puts these plants in.



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The Future Of Water In California

by Richard Lyon

When it comes to water Californians have attempted to have it all. We want a long dry season of mild temperatures under cloudless skies. We want parks and landscaping that looks like an English country estate. We want fisheries and a scenic natural environment and agriculture that puts food on the table at a reasonable price. Keeping all those balls in the air is becoming an increasingly impossible task.



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Yet another panel exonerates climate e-mailers

by Keith Pickering

Last December, the University of East Anglia's opened two investigations of the "scandal" arising from hacked e-mails from their Climatic Research Unit (CRU). The Oxburgh panel released its findings in April, exonerating the science at the CRU. Today, the Russell panel released its findings, a nearly complete exoneration of the scientists involved.



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Climate Change Has Changed Me

by grannycarol

I'll admit it.  I'm not much of an environmentalist.  Oh, I accept the science of global warming and I understand the seriousness of the situation.  I do my part to recycle.  I bring my own bags to the store, I avoid buying wasteful packaging, and, as a preschool teacher, re-use as much as I can in my classroom.

But climate change has never really been a passion, until now.



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Independent Review of 'Climategate': NO Dishonesty

by Gangster Octopus

And yet another independent review of the so-called 'Climategate' scandal clears the Academics at East Anglia University Climate Research Unit (CRU).

CNN: 'Climategate' Not Dishonest

An independent report released Wednesday into the leaked "Climategate" e-mails found no evidence to question the "rigor and honesty" of scientists involved.

NO EVIDENCE

Wow, well this should really close the book on this, because we all no that global warming deniers and wingnuts, when presented with objective analysis are quick to accept the truth.

Kumbaya, my friends.



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Beach cleanup, the media, and a study in contrast

by Darryl House

Ok, not so much a study but a fairly trivial illustration that I hope sparks discussion.

There is a lot of outrage lately over a perceived notion that the press is being unfairly targeted by the Coast Guard's BP's recent announcement of the establishment of safety zones around sensitive areas such as booms, skimmer operation zones, and the spill site.

I'm skeptical that the press has been targeted. Many of the people visiting, or attempting to visit, those sites are spectators, not legitimate reporters of any stripe.

I count uncredentialed documentarians among the legitimate media representatives, by the way, they are a vital component of information collection and dissemination.

Access by tourists and the simply curious needs to be limited, for what I hope are obvious reasons.

But that is only a part of the focus of this diary, just a foundation on which my opinions are built.



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A Bill That Reduces the Deficit & Creates Jobs

by mark louis

Too good to be true right?  Well, that bill does exist.  And not only does the bill create 200 thousand jobs per year for the next decade & cut the deficit by $19 billion over the next decade, it also cuts greenhouse gas emissions.  This bill is the American Power Act, and it has no chance of passing.



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DeepWater Could Have Been Avoided

by hcc in VA

Per the WSJ, if the Obama Administation had not vigorously appealed a federal appeals court in D.C. decision to quash the permits for deep water drilling, including specifically that of the DeepWater, this disaster would NOT have happened.  In hindsight, the Court nailed it by ruling that  

the government was unprepared for a major spill at sea, relying on an "irrational" environmental analysis of the risks of offshore drilling.

But instead of accepting this decision, the administration appealed to the Court to reverse it based largely on loss of royalty revenues!  I'm sorry, but if this is not Bushian at it's core, what is?  
More below the fold...



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Despite the BP Disaster, Big Oil Has Its Eye on the Arctic

by RogerShuler

Cross Posted at Legal Schnauzer

With an environmental catastrophe evolving in the Gulf of Mexico, you might think big-oil companies would be restrained in their thinking about future exploration. You also might think that the Obama administration would be hyper vigilant about any future oil drilling in vulnerable ecosystems.

According to a new report inRolling Stone, you would be wrong--on both counts.

Believe or not, Rolling Stone reports, BP could start drilling in the Arctic Ocean this fall, certainly in 2011.



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Independence Day Along Gulf (w/ photos)

by Duino

I spent Independence Day driving along the Gulf Coast, from San Destin, Fla. to Gulf Shores, Ala. I thought I'd share some images from the trip.

San Destin, Fla.-

There weren't any noticeable tar balls along the stretch of beach I went to. The owner of a umbrella shack who services the resort said that he and his employees spend an hour or so each morning cleaning up tar balls that the high tide has washed in overnight. He also said that his business was down 50 percent since the first tar balls to hit San Destin were reported by the media. He said he walked right into Pompano Joe's, a popular beach-side seafood joint in Destin, for lunch earlier that day, and there was no wait, adding that usually you'd have to sit for an hour before you could get a table.



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CRU climate scientists 'did not withold data'

by chefdan

This is the THIRD review of the data and emails that climate scientists had hacked.  This review, like the first two, found that the researchers did not suppress or manipulate their data.



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BP Catastrophe Liveblog Mothership: 43

by Gulf watchers

The current ROV DIARY:Daily Kos Gulf Watchers ROV #180 - BP's Gulf Catastrophe - gchaucer2
Rules of the Road

  • We take volunteers for subsequent diaries in the sub diaries or ROV's as we have playfully coined them.
  • Please rec this mothership diary, not the ROVs.
  • Please be kind to fellow kossacks who may have limited bandwidth and refrain from posting images or videos.

PLEASE visit Crashing Vor and Pam LaPier's diaries to find out how you can help the Gulf now and in the future. We don't have to be idle! And thanks to Crashing Vor and Pam LaPier for working on this!



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