environment: corporate irresponsibility Keystone XL Tar Sands
by Warren
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Year 2, Month 9, Day 21: I Love You. The Check Is In The Mail. I Promise Not To Leak Oil In Your Aquifer.
More specious pro-pipeline nonsense, this time reprinted in the September 16 issue of the Sacramento Bee:
Opponents object for two main reasons: First, they want to discourage the mining of oil sands. No question, tearing up boreal forests and ancient peat bogs to get at the petroleum within can’t help but degrade the land. The resulting semi-solid form of oil is dirtier than the smooth-flowing crude just below the Arabian desert. As with any fossil fuel, burning it pumps carbon and other pollutants into the atmosphere, and emissions from processing this particular form of fuel pose a problem as well. On the plus side, the technology used to exploit oil sands is improving from the old strip-mining techniques, curbing the environmental costs.
The other big worry is more of a scare tactic than a valid concern. Pipelines can leak. But to hear the anti-Keystone crowd tell it, you would think this one is about to be connected to kitchen sinks and lawn sprinklers from coast to coast. The fear-mongering about aquifers being polluted and wildlife habitat destroyed has no basis in reality. On the contrary, plans call for a state-of-the-art system, subject to rigorous inspections. America already has oil and gas pipelines crisscrossing the country and the Canadian border. This one, an expansion of a pipeline that already runs to downstate Illinois, will be built to a high safety standard.
Assholes. Sent September 17:
Advocates of the Keystone XL pipeline never state some of the crucial assumptions underlying their words. When we hear statements like “America is going to need that oil,” we should make a point of questioning them a little more assertively, and responding with some questions of our own.
Are millions of acres of boreal forests less important than our right to drive multi-ton vehicles to work — alone? Are poorly insulated homes more valuable than uncontaminated aquifers? Is the prospect of an irreversible climatic tipping point less scary than the thought of the world’s oil tycoons sacrificing a few profit points?
And we should remember BP’s excellent-looking plans for spill protection and remediation in the Gulf of Mexico, and ask: why should we believe TransCanada’s promise of a “state-of-the-art” pipeline, complete with a rigorous inspection schedule? Since when has the oil industry ever exemplified truthfulness, responsibility and good citizenship?
Warren Senders
environment: Africa agriculture World Bank
by Warren
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Year 2, Month 9, Day 20: We Do Not Think About Things We Do Not Think About!
The September 13 Boston Globe runs an AP article on climate change’s impact on Africa:
JOHANNESBURG—International climate change negotiators in Africa later this year will be looking back on the famine now sweeping eastern parts of the continent, and ahead to predictions that climate change will hurt Africa’s future food production, a World Bank expert said Tuesday.
“The challenges are overwhelming,” Andrew Steer, the World Bank’s special envoy on climate change, said in an interview with The Associated Press.
“Africa needs to triple food production by 2050,” he said. “At the same time, you’ve got climate change lowering average yields …. So, of course, we need something different.”
We live in the USA. We don’t need to think about these things.
Sent September 16:
US citizens, isolated by geography from many of the most immediately devastating effects of global warming, don’t take the climate crisis as seriously as it deserves. But Africa’s future on a climate-changed planet is deeply troubling to contemplate, and it offers us a glimpse of what the coming decades and centuries hold for all of us.
Increasingly extreme and unpredictable weather will impact American agriculture severely: the combination of unseasonal storms and giant factory farms spells food shortages and spiking prices. Our already crumbling infrastructure will also be subjected to enormously greater stresses; the days of taking our roads, water systems, power lines and other public works for granted are going to end very soon.
While Africa’s agony may seem far away, it offers a disturbing preview of coming attractions in a warming world. We must no longer avert our gaze as the climate crisis assumes profound humanitarian dimensions.
Warren Senders
environment: Al Gore corporate irresponsibility denialists media
by Warren
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Year 2, Month 9, Day 19: The Words Are There. Will We Use Them?
The New Brunswick Telegraph Journal brings up the necessity of actually, you know, talking about climate change:
In the meantime, the reality of climate change marches on. Globally, 2010 was tied with 2005 as the hottest year on record. In Canada, 2010 was the hottest year on record. Extreme weather events across the globe – from Pakistan to Russia to Brazil to the U.S. – have led to misery, destruction, food shortages and loss of life.
And, for the record, global temperature data is indeed accurate: Distinct meteorological organizations around the world have independently noted identical global-warming trends. The climate impacts of sun spots and volcanoes are slight compared to the impacts of CO2 from human combustion of fossil fuel. Ninety-seven per cent of the world’s leading climate scientists do agree that human activity is a major contributor to global warming.
The reality of greenhouse gas emissions marches on too. Global emissions in 2010 were at their highest level ever.
It’s time to talk
In a recent interview, Al Gore reflected that the U.S. civil rights movement. It was finally won when everyday people dared to stand up against racism in everyday conversations. Gore suggests the same strategy is needed to overcome the proliferation of misinformation on climate change. Everyday people would pave the way for real action.
In other words, we need to talk.
Sent September 14:
The corporate climate-change denialist machinery has been going full tilt for well over a decade by now, casting doubt on the integrity of scientific experts with one manufactured non-scandal after another. Unfortunately, many people have fallen for their spurious claims, swallowing the petroleum industry’s position hook, line and sinker. Those so-called “skeptics” who are found everywhere from talk radio to online comment threads are as far from actual skepticism as it’s possible to get. They know the “truth”; factuality and evidence be damned.
Meanwhile, of course, the atmospheric CO2 count continues to climb, exacerbating the greenhouse effect that is making our planet heat up, which in turn is making the weather, um, livelier: heavier rains, deeper snows, drier droughts, more devastating storms. It’s true: if we fail to address climate change, we are ever likelier to fail as a species. Everybody’s doing something about the weather — but nobody’s talking about it.
Warren Senders
environment: corporate irresponsibility Tar Sands
by Warren
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Year 2, Month 9, Day 18: Same Ol’ Same Ol’
The Louisville KY Courier-Journal runs a guest OpEd by Curtis Morrison and Tyler Hess, who are shrill:
Deep below the bio-diverse boreal forest of Canada’s Albertan province, there lies a secret. A sleeping monster so daunting, sensible people wouldn’t imagine awaking him. Its ensuing wrath could bring unprecedented chaos. As one of many culpable predators, the monster’s prey could include much of life on Earth. in size, it lies largely unperturbed. Should President Obama awake it?
This monster is not Bigfoot. Actually observable and truly capable of widespread destruction, the monster we illustrate is the bitumen sludge contained in the Albertan tar sands. Extracting it would ultimately have consequences to our climate that should bring logical brains and compassionate hearts to a raging boil.
Sent September 6:
At a time when we should be trying to kick the fossil-fuel habit entirely, the Keystone XL’s backers would have us believe that the project is environmentally responsible and essential to our country’s energy economy. It is neither.
TransCanada and its subcontractors loudly trumpet their adherence to environmental protection standards exceeding current regulations. Given the oil industry’s long history of mendacity and malfeasance, I don’t find this reassuring. We’re told the tar sands oil will benefit America’s consumers — but a recent study from Oil Change International shows that Alberta’s crude is primarily destined for foreign markets.
And, ultimately, we must heed climatologist James Hansen’s words: burning the tar sands oil means “game over” for the climate of Earth — and for all of us who live on it. The pipeline is a spectacularly bad idea, promoted by unscrupulous and profit-driven people. The President should block the Keystone XL.
Warren Senders
environment: corporate irresponsibility Tar Sands
by Warren
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Year 2, Month 9, Day 17: But Think Of The Jobs Gained In Oncology!
The September 13 issue of the Mitchell, SD Daily Republic has a pro Tar-sands editorial, filled with the usual delusional advocacy:
EnSys Energy’s report notes that if the XL isn’t built, Canadian oil will still make it to Texas via trucks, trains and barges. That’s likely encouraging to refiners, but not to environmentalists, who say pipelines are dangerous and the oil that comes from tar sands is exceptionally dirty, possibly adding to global warming troubles.
We prefer that it reaches Texas refineries in whatever way best benefits South Dakotans.
Since the oil originates in Canada and is delivered to Texas, we don’t suspect trucking the oil through our state would generate jobs or tax dollars. It also could be detrimental to our roads.
Barge traffic isn’t realistic. The Missouri River’s dam system inhibits any such commerce in Montana and the Dakotas.
Shipping by train could be good for the state. Rail lines would need to be kept at a high level of maintenance or renovated completely. The trouble with rail transportation is that it, too, is potentially bad for the environment. Spills can happen, and the trains themselves release emissions into the atmosphere.
A $7 billion pipeline generates much economic impact in the form of construction dollars spent during the building process and also in tax revenue in the coming years.
Based on what we know so far, we prefer piping the oil from Canada to Texas.
Profit roolz! Sent September 13:
Ignore the recent report from Oil Change International, which concluded that the oil flowing through the Keystone XL pipeline will be headed for overseas markets, not the American consumer. Ignore the global warming impact of burning all the tar sands crude oil — which NASA climatologist James Hansen calls “game over” for the climate. Ignore the millions of acres of Canadian forest ravaged. Oh, and don’t forget to ignore the fact that the oil industry’s assurances aren’t worth a hill of beans; their record of malfeasance, corruption and incompetence over the past century is second to none.
But don’t ignore the fact that pipelines always leak, releasing crude oil into the environment — killing wildlife, damaging agriculture and polluting ground water. Don’t ignore the fact that cleaning up aquifers could cost billions of dollars, and don’t ignore the disastrous public health consequences of crude oil entering the water supply. Please.
Warren Senders
environment Politics: Arctic ice melt denialists idiots Republican obstructionism
by Warren
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Year 2, Month 9, Day 16: There Is No Gravity — The Earth Sucks
The September 10 Christian Science Monitor notes the unsurprising but extremely scary decline in the Arctic ice cap:
While tropical cyclones, as well as record droughts, floods, and wildfires have kept several of the lower 48 states occupied this year, the Arctic appears to be elbowing its way on to 2011’s list of extremes.
On Thursday, the extent of summer sea ice in the Arctic Ocean fell to its lowest level for any Sept. 8 since satellites first began to monitor conditions there in 1979, according to researchers at the University of Bremen’s Institute of Environmental Physics.
Coming so close to the end of the melt season, the observation holds out the prospect that 2011 could replace 2007 as the toughest year for sea-ice survival at the top of the world.
I used it as a hook on which to hang a bashing of Republican idiocy. Sent September 12:
As Arctic ice dwindles ever more rapidly, the prospect of a climate-change denialist occupying the White House is unsettling at best and terrifying at worst. One wonders: what would convince Republicans that global warming is real, human-caused, and dangerous?
Apparently nothing will do the trick — not even unequivocal statements from Army intelligence or the CIA that climate change will be an exceptional security threat in the coming decades. Apparently, any expert opinions running counter to GOP shibboleths are immediately and contemptuously dismissed, no matter how authoritative their sources.
The ice cap’s precipitous decline is a grim omen for our planet’s future — and pretending it’s not happening is fatal foolishness. If our democracy is to successfully address the most severe threat our species has ever faced, Republicans must come to their senses and recognize the grim and frightening reality that climatologists in the Arctic measure, each and every day.
Warren Senders
environment Politics: Al Gore denialists idiots scientific consensus
by Warren
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Year 2, Month 9, Day 15: I’m Talking About YOU, Rush.
The September 11 issue of The Tennesseean runs a plug for Al Gore’s Climate Reality project:
Former Vice President Al Gore of Nashville leads a worldwide, live-streamed, climate change-focused event called “24 Hours of Reality” that begins Wednesday at 7 p.m., Central time, and ends with the last hour presentation at 7 p.m. Thursday, Eastern time. The first will be from Mexico City and in Spanish, followed by hour-long presentations — one after another — in different areas of the globe, moving west. Several are in English, as will be the final one in New York City. Broadcast by Ustream, it can be viewed at climaterealityproject.org.
It’s good to write something in support, rather than in opposition. Sent Sept. 11:
Al Gore’s clarity of purpose is one of America’s most important assets. The former VP’s upcoming “Climate Reality” campaign deserves our respect and attention. Unfortunately, the denialist contingent has chosen to reject sound scientific conclusions for a variety of specious reasons, most of which boil down to, “because we don’t want to believe it.”
Well, the evidence has been in for a long time. Despite a series of contrived and debunked non-scandals, the scientific consensus on global climate change is overwhelming: humans cause it, it’s happening right now, it will affect our lives very significantly, and we — all of us — need to take action rapidly if we are to avoid catastrophe. Mr. Gore’s prescience is all the more important for this reason — he’s been warning us about this for well over a decade, despite the mockery of the uninformed, the professionally ignorant, and the selfishly greedy.
Warren Senders
environment: Natural Gas
by Warren
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Year 2, Month 9, Day 14: If You Remember, Heroin Was Originally Sold As A Cure For Morphine Addiction. Heh heh heh.
The September 8 issue of the L.A. Times dispels some clouds of myth about the effectiveness of Natural Gas as a fuel source:
Switching from burning coal to natural gas won’t have an appreciable effect on global warming, at least not in the next few decades, a study suggests.
In fact, cutting worldwide coal burning by half and using natural gas instead would increase global temperatures over the next four decades by about one-tenth of a degree Fahrenheit, according to Tom Wigley, a senior research associate at the National Center for Atmospheric Research.
Strictly speaking, coal produces more global-warming gas per unit of energy than natural gas. But the tradeoff is complicated by the types of greenhouse gases and other pollutants associated with each of these carbon-based fossil fuels.
“From the CO2 perspective, gas is cleaner, but from the climate perspective, it gets complicated,” said Wigley.
Coal burning is notoriously dirty, producing sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, carbon dioxide, soot and ash, as well as other pollutants. None are too good for humans or the planet, but the sulfates can act to block incoming solar radiation, with a slight cooling effect. (Before anyone proposes burning more high-sulfur coal, the net effect of burning coal is still warming).
Meanwhile, “clean” natural gas, touted by the industry and T. Boone Pickens, can be a mess to produce. An unknown amount of methane — a potent greenhouse gas with far more heat-trapping potential than carbon dioxide — leaks in the process of producing natural gas.
Will our species get it together in time? Tune in next decade for the next episode of “Who The Hell Knows?” Sent September 10:
H.L. Mencken said it very well: “For every complex problem, there’s a simple solution…and it’s wrong.” For a while, natural gas seemed like an attractive alternative to coal and oil — something that would allow our civilization to make the transition away from fossil fuels without too much disruption, while simultaneously reducing the impact of irreversible climate change.
A simple solution — and, as the study from the National Center for Atmospheric Research makes clear, a wrong one. The complex problems of global heating require a complex solution: a mix of renewable energy sources, massive conservation efforts, and a comprehensive shift in our collective consumption habits. Mitigating the immanent effects of climate change is going to require more of us than simply switching to another source of fuel: we — all humanity — must change our ways of living if we are to survive and prosper in the coming centuries.
Warren Senders
environment Politics: EPA Republican obstructionism
by Warren
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Year 2, Month 9, Day 13: The Hunting Of The Snark
The Wednesday 7 San Francisco Chronicle discusses the Republican antipathy for environmental regulations:
The Republican prescription for job growth, shared by tonight’s presidential debaters and Republicans in Congress, is to dismantle regulations proposed by the Obama administration, especially the Environmental Protection Agency, claiming these are a key culprit in widespread unemployment.
The antiregulation campaign joins deficit reduction as the foundation of the Republican economic program.
The campaign is heavily backed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and small business groups that contend regulations are destroying jobs. It follows more than a year of intense verbal attacks launched by Republicans in the House against everything from the Endangered Species Act to new rules on light bulbs.
I enjoyed writing this letter. Sent Sept. 9 (2nd one today, putting me currently 4 days ahead of the game):
Our Republican friends have it exactly right: those pesky EPA regulations are definitely a drag on the economy. It’s just mindboggling to think of all they jobs they kill.
Preventing irresponsible corporations from releasing carcinogens into the environment in the first place is certain to trigger massive private sector unemployment. For example, pulmonary care doctors and respiratory specialists will have fewer opportunities if air pollution is more heavily regulated — and waste abatement experts would be out of work if there were sufficiently robust penalties for illegally dumping toxic chemicals. And think of how many jobs will be lost in the insurance industry alone!
It seems clear enough to me. If those regulations are lifted, America’s employment crisis will end almost immediately. After all, there’s nothing that spells “jobs” like cancer, asthma, and ecological devastation.
Warren Senders
environment Politics: Barack Obama EPA Tar Sands
by Warren
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Year 2, Month 9, Day 12: Who?
The President gave his September 8 speech on jobs, and it was a good one. There were even some en passant words about environmental regulation, as Daily Kos diarist roubs makes clear in this piece.
The Boston Globe ran an article on the speech, and I used that as the hook for a LTE as suggested in the DK piece (which it turns out was partially inspired by a diary I wrote a little while back). Cool.
Sent September 9:
President Obama’s jobs speech to Congress was noteworthy in many respects. Particularly noteworthy was his statement that America “shouldn’t be in a race to the bottom, where we try to offer the cheapest labor and the worst pollution standards.” Implicit in this sentence is the notion that short-term economic gains must not come at the expense of the environment; trading jobs for environmental degradation is unacceptable.
Well said, Mr. President! Respect for the planetary ecosystems that support us all is essential to a sustainable Ameican future — a vision that is impossible if polluters are given free rein.
Last week’s suspension of new EPA regulations on air pollution, and the possibility of administration approval for the environmentally devastating Keystone XL project, are indicators of an unfortunate disconnect within the administration when it comes to environmental issues. President Obama should heed his own words, and block the tar sands pipeline.
Warren Senders