Pick your enviro-doom: drown or die of thirst {eKos Earthship Friday}

by eKos

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

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

Peruse the eKos Library to find previously listed diaries. You can also follow eKos on Twitter.

Tonight's editor: Hopeful Skeptic

For continuing info on the BP Gulf catastrophe: Most recent Gulf-Watchers AUV

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

continued at Daily Kos....

Another slap on the wrist for big polluter BP

by DWG

Industrial serial killer BP knows well the benefits of lax regulation and laughable penalties for breaking the law. Yesterday, they received another wag of the finger for repeatedly endangering the health of thousands of Americans.

The crimes:

... two fires that occurred at the refinery on March 30, 2004 and July 28, 2005, and a leak that occurred on August 10, 2005. During the three incidents, each of which resulted in the surrounding Texas City community to shelter-in-place, thousands of pounds of flammable and toxic air pollutants were released. The settlement also resolves allegations that BP failed to identify all regulated hazardous air pollutants used at the refinery in plans submitted to EPA.

The punishment:

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Justice Department announced today that BP Products North America Inc. has agreed to pay a $15 million penalty to resolve federal Clean Air Act violations at its Texas City, Texas petroleum refinery.

continued at Daily Kos....

Gulf Watchers Block Party, on Account of...

by Yasuragi

That's there because Phil S 33, a man in a million, made it Our Song -- the Gulf Watchers' theme.  He sent me that link and asked me to post it somewhere in this diary.

I'm doing better: I'm breaking all the rules and embedding it.

Do as I do, not as I say... no, wait!  Do as I say, not as I do... Don't do that!

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Bay Area Kossacks: Drop by My House in the Solar Tour Tomorrow

by dotcommodity

One thing I did right, at the beginning of this year was to finally go solar with a residential solar PPA and to sign up to be in the ASES Nationwide Solar Tour which is tomorrow, Saturday Oct 2nd.

If you are in the SF Bay Area, come on by to my house and see how easy it is in California now to do the right thing and send clean power to green-up the grid for the next 30-40 years.

And if you are too far away to come by our house, find the American Solar Energy Association Solar Home Tourin your neighborhood!

In nine states now, solar in some utility districts is free or cheaper than utility energy, thanks to The Recovery Act, in combination with laws in some states that now allow solar companies that offer solar leases or solar PPAs that compete directly with utilities, by selling power by the kilowatt-hour.

continued at Daily Kos....

Glancing at temerature records ... hot and getting hotter

by A Siegel

Upfront. A single day, in a single nation doesn't prove (or disprove) climate change science / The Theory of Global Warming.  Got it.

However, ....

29 September 2010, United States of America, temperature records

Total Number of Records for September 29, 2010 (out of 5,341 stations with at least 30 years of data)

Highest Max Temperature:  139 new record + 54 tied with existing record = Total: 193=

Lowest Max Temperature: New: 1 + Tied: 0 = Total: 1

Highest Minimum Temperature: New: 40 + Tied: 22 = Total:  62

Lowest Minimum Temperature: New: 1 + Tied: 2 = Total: 3

Across the nation, 255 records legitimately associated with warming and 4 associated with cooling.

continued at Daily Kos....

Global WarNing

by LaughingPlanet

Famously, one year ago Barney Frank asked a constituent, "On what planet do you spend most of your time?"

A redux of this query is in order.

"On what planet do you plan on spending your time once you are done destroying this one?"

Ignore this at your own peril.

Nothing - NOTHING - is more important than having a planet on which to live.

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Using Dirt to Make Water Clean

by NourishingthePlanet

Crossposted from the Worldwatch Institute's Nourishing the Planet.

In 2004 Peter Njodzeka founded the Life and Water Development Group Cameroon (LWDGC) with a rather simple goal. " I wanted to see the people in my area have clean water," he said. "And we kept expanding. That’s how it started."

continued at Daily Kos....

National Parks and American Indians: Mesa Verde

by Ojibwa

Nearly a thousand years ago, Ancestral Puebloans (sometimes called Anasazi) began to construct pueblos in caves and under the rock hangings of the canyon cliffs in southern Colorado. Three hundred years later, these pueblos were abandoned because of a prolonged drought. Then in 1888, rancher Richard Wetherill and his brother-in-law Charlie Mason came across the ruins of an enormous village in the cliffs of Cliff Canyon. They named the village Cliff Palace. In exploring the area, they discovered two more large ruins which they named Spruce Tree House and Square Tower House.

continued at Daily Kos....

Republicans Hate Clean Air, Water and Think You're Stupid

by Steven D

Republicans say they want to restore America.  But restore it to what?  They don't want to cut carbon emissions or limit Big Oil and Big Coal's continued dirty and dangerous drilling and mining practices.  No, they want to expand them.

We will fight to increase access to domestic energy sources and oppose attempts to impose a national "cap-and-trade" energy tax.

Republicans don't even want the EPA to require companies to make their industrial boilers release less toxic emissions of dioxin, mercury, carbon monoxide and other known health risks into our air by updating to the latest technology.  The excuse they offer for allowing the continuous release of these poisons into our atmosphere reveals a massive display of arrogance and hypocrisy:

(cont.)

continued at Daily Kos....

Gulf Watchers Morning Edition - BP Catastrophe AUV #399

by Gulf Watchers

You are in the current BP Catastrophe Morning Edition - AUV #399. ROV#398 is here.

The digest of diaries is here.

Please RECOMMEND THIS DIARY, the motherships have been discontinued.

Bookmark this link to find the latest Gulf Watchers diaries.

Please be kind to kossacks with bandwidth issues. Please do not post images or videos. Again, many thanks for this.

PLEASE visit Pam LaPier's diary 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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A Morning Muse: What do you think of this? Warning.

by LaFeminista

Warning some may find this distressing

.

When I watch some people treating the planet with no respect at all the red button has some attractions.

10% does not take much effort, just like putting your litter in a trash can instead of throwing it in the river/lake/field.

continued at Daily Kos....