[Biofuel] Shell Rebuked For 'Greenwash' Over Ad For Polluting Oil Project
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/08/14/10985/ Published on Thursday, August 14, 2008 by The Independent/UK Shell Rebuked For 'Greenwash' Over Ad For Polluting Oil Project by Martin Hickman The Anglo-Dutch energy giant Shell misled the public about the green credentials of a vastly polluting oil project in Canada, in an attempt to assure consumers of its good environmental record, a media watchdog will rule today. In an embarrassing rejection of Shell's greenwash, the Advertising Standards Authority said the company should not have used the word sustainable for its controversial tar sands project and a second scheme to build North America's biggest oil refinery. Both projects would lead to the emission of more greenhouse gases, the ASA said, ruling the advert had breached rules on substantiation, truthfulness and environmental claims. Carried by the Financial Times on 1 February to accompany Shell's financial results, the company claimed: We invest today's profits in tomorrow's solutions. The advert continued: A growing world needs more energy, but at the same time we need to find new ways of managing carbon emissions to limit climate change. Continued investment in technology is one of the key ways we are able to address this challenge, and continue to secure a profitable and sustainable future. Shell explained it was harnessing its technical expertise to unlock the potential of the vast Canadian oil sands deposits. The WWF (formerly the Worldwide Fund for Nature) complained that extracting low-grade bitumen from sand was highly inefficient and destroyed huge tracts of virgin forest. In its defence, Shell maintained that new technology was reducing pollution from the Athabasca Oil Sands Project in Alberta in which it owns a 60 per cent stake. Shell quoted a critical WWF report as rating its Muskeg River Mine one of the least damaging coal-tar sands projects because it sought to limit emissions of nitrogen oxide, sulphur dioxide and organic compounds. Making its ruling, the ASA quoted Canada's independent National Energy Board that oil sand developments had considerable social and economic impacts on water conservation, greenhouse gas emissions, land disturbance and waste management. David Norman, the WWF's director of campaigns, said: The ASA's decision to uphold WWF's complaint sends a strong signal to business and industry that greenwash is unacceptable. ___ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainablelorgbiofuel Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (70,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/
[Biofuel] Why Prince Charles is right about agribusiness
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/aug/13/gmcrops.food Why Prince Charles is right about agribusiness It's easy to scoff at the Prince's latest 'green' intervention, but if you really look at what he's saying, it's completely cogent * John Vidal * guardian.co.uk, Wednesday August 13 2008 16:00 BST Prince Charles' warnings that genetically modified crops and industrial agriculture will lead to ecological disaster appear only to be adding a dose of passion to the cooler analysis of world's leading agronomists, climate scientists and grassroots groups in developing countries, who have been saying much the same about farming and ecology for some time. When asked whether industrial scale food conglomerates are the way ahead, he said: What, all run by gigantic corporations? Is that really the answer? I think not. That would be the absolute destruction of everything. Anaylsis: Charles echoes Third World Network and Via Campesina, the world's two most authoritative farm analysis groups, and is aiming at global agribusinesses which dominate the food chain, and controls seed supplies, chemicals, and food processing as well as transport and retail sales. He also echoes Food Matters, a report from the No 10 Strategy Unit, which recognises that the agribusiness model of food production based on global competition has failed to deliver. Corporations [are] conducting a gigantic experiment with nature and the whole of humanity which has gone seriously wrong. Why else are we facing all these challenges, climate change and everything? Analysis: Charles links climate change and world hunger with the growth of agribusiness and its reliance on oil, large amounts of scarce water, and chemicals. The UN, the UK government and the EU recognise that industrial agriculture, including biofuel, soy and palm oil industries, have been responsible for large-scale deforestation, as well as hunger and a growth in carbon emissions, soil erosion and social problems. The UN's Food and Agricultural Organisation said in 2006: The [global] livestock business is among the most damaging sectors to the earth's increasingly scarce water resources. A nightmare vision ... in which millions of small farmers are driven off their land and into unsustainable unmanageable, degraded and dysfunctional conurbations of unmentionable awfulness. Analysis: According to UN Habitat, cities are growing by 180,000 people a day and the world's urban infrastructure is unable to cope. Roughly one billion people in Latin America, Asia, and Africa live in slums. The UK government's Commission for Africa said in 2005: These slums are filled with the unemployed and disaffected. Africa's cities are becoming a powder keg of ... instability and discontent. According to a major UN report in 2003, the greatest underlying reason for the growth in slums has been globalisation. We are missing the point. We should be discussing food security, not food production. that is what matters and that is what people will not understand. Analysis: Charles echoes the G8 world leaders who stated in Japan in July: We are deeply concerned that the steep rise in global food prices coupled with availability problems in a number of developing countries is threatening global food security. The UN declared in May: Securing world food security may be one of the biggest challenges we face in this century. And if they think its somehow going to work because they are going to have one form of clever genetic engineering after another then again count me out, because that will be guaranteed to cause the biggest disaster environmentally of all time. Analysis: The UN International Assessment of Agriculture (IAASTD), carried out by 400 leading agronomists and scientists with the help of the World Bank found no conclusive evidence that GM crops increase crop yields or that they were the single answer to global hunger. The report, endorsed by 60 countries including the UK this year, stated that science and technology must be combined with traditional knowledge, working with communities on localised farming solutions. Small farmers ... would be the victims of gigantic corporations taking over the mass production of food. Analysis: The FAO, the World Bank and nearly all international development groups argue strongly that peasant farmers must be helped to produce more food. The World Bank, the UK's National Farmers' Union and the EU all recognise that the growth of agribusiness is linked to a worldwide decrease in the number of small farms. I have been to the Punjab where you have seen the disasters that have taken place ... Analysis: The Punjab in India was the centre of the Green Revolution which introduced hybrid seeds, intensive irrigation and chemical fertlisers and pesticides in the 1960s and 70s. According to Reith lecturer and Indian ecologist Vandana Shiva: Today every farmer is in debt
[Biofuel] Back to nature: the cheeky new way to save the planet
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/green-living/back-to-nature-the-cheeky-new-way-to-save-the-planet-894198.html Back to nature: the cheeky new way to save the planet Want to help the environment? Then get your kit off, say the 'eco-nudists' By Michael Hewitt Thursday, 14 August 2008 The link between playing nude volleyball and stopping the Ward Hunt Ice Shelf melting to the size of an ice cube may seem a bit tenuous. But a growing number of naturists contend that, not only are they in the vanguard of the environmentalist movement, but their lifestyle might even help to reverse anthropogenic global warming. Econudes.org was founded two years ago by naturists dissatisfied with the passive, Health Efficiency, beach ball-bopping image of nudism. Clothes, and all the ancillary industries involved in their manufacture, transportation and upkeep, are a major cause of climate change, they say. Eliminate them, and you eliminate a significant threat to mankind. Get your kit off and save the planet is the message. But are they talking out of their evenly tanned backsides? Is this simply a case of nudists jumping on the green bandwagon, alongside low-carbon sex toys, biodegradable landmines and David Cameron's wind turbine? Suzanne Piper, editor of Naturist Life magazine, says it's nothing of the sort. If anything, we predate the green movement, so you could argue that the greens are actually jumping on our bandwagon. Back in the early Seventies, for example, naturism was defined as 'a way of life in harmony with nature, characterised by self-respect, respect for others and for the environment'. Even before then, in the 19th century, naturists always stressed their eco-credentials. Last week, protesters from the Camp for Climate Action staged a naked protest at the Department for Business, Enterprise Regulatory Reform in London. Earlier this summer, a thousand nude cyclists crossed the capital to protest against oil dependency and the car culture. And nude hiker Steve Gough, in a trek punctuated by arrests for indecent exposure, walked from Land's End to John O'Groats to highlight both climate change and public perceptions of nudity. So, what is it with naturists and climate change? Perhaps they regard themselves as the canary in the coalmine. If global temperatures are rising and the ozone layer is being depleted by a mixture of fluorocarbons and astronauts' hairspray, naturists will notice the adverse effects of solar radiation far sooner than textiles, as they call the clothed. Conversely, if we're headed for another ice age, naturists will also presage this when their bits get frostbite and start dropping off. Thus far, scientific studies are inconclusive. Climatic anthropologists have observed no significant migration of the world's estimated 30 million naturists much further north than the 52nd parallel, suggesting that, Arctic ice-melt notwithstanding, temperatures are still too chilly to risk baring all. Nor, for that matter, have there been any naturists found dead from hypothermia on St-Tropez nudist beaches. So the jury is still out. Meanwhile, a curious fallout from the climate debate has been a schism within the naturist movement. One renegade group is Nudists Opposing Winter (www.welove globalwarming. org): I, for one, will enjoy the balmy climate that encourages nudity, says its founder, Pantsless James, so we actively support pro-global warming places and companies. No longer will nudists be forced into the fetish of clothes wearing. It frees up everybody to go clothing-free, the way God intended. The downside of doing it God's way, however, is that Pantsless could be sowing the seeds of his own group's destruction. According to econudes.org, a fully naturist lifestyle might actually reverse climate change. First, by eschewing clothes, you're using fewer resources. According to carboncommentary.com, the energy used in the manufacture of just one woollen pullover would power the average Western household for 20 hours. Then factor in the 9lb or so of carbon released cleaning that pullover. Finally, assume three pullovers per person (significantly more for Val Doonican, perhaps) and, say, two billion pullover-wearers worldwide. Now remove all that from the climatic equation and you've probably saved somewhere such as Vanuatu from being submerged by rising sea levels. Then there's air-conditioning and heating. In winter, you might think naturists would consume more energy heating their homes. In fact, because they're more sensitive to rising electricity bills than everyone else, so the eco-nudists' argument goes, they tend to compensate by making their homes more fuel-efficient and better insulated, thus negating much, if not all, of this. In summer, especially in hot climes, it's a different matter. Naked, you expend less energy keeping cool. Indeed, if you're communing with nature daily, you may not use any as
[Biofuel] U.S. Motorists Drove 4.7% Fewer Miles in June
U.S. Motorists Drove 4.7% Fewer Miles in June By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS August 13, 2008 http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/14/business/economy/14drive.html?ref=business WASHINGTON (AP) — As summer vacation season began, Americans got out of their cars, driving 12.2 billion fewer miles in June than in the same month a year ago. The 4.7 percent decline, which came while gas prices were peaking, was the biggest monthly driving drop in a downward trend that began in November, the Federal Highway Administration said Wednesday. “Clearly, more Americans chose to stay close to home in June than in previous years,” said Transportation Secretary Mary E. Peters. Over all, Americans drove 53.2 billion fewer miles November through June than they did over the same eight-month period a year ago, according to the highway agency’s latest monthly report on driving. That is a larger decline than the 49.3 billion fewer miles driven by Americans over the entire decade of the 1970s, a period of oil embargoes and gas lines, the agency said. Gas consumption was down, too. The highway administration said that motorists consumed 400 million fewer gallons of gasoline and 318 million fewer gallons of diesel fuel in the first quarter of 2008 than in the same period in 2007. Ms. Peters said the decline in driving would mean less money for highway repairs and construction projects. The Highway Trust Fund, which underwrites the projects, is financed by the federal tax of 18.4 cents a gallon on gasoline and 24.4 cents a gallon on diesel fuel. “We can’t afford to continue pinning our transportation network’s future to the gas tax,” Ms. Peters said. “Advances in higher fuel-efficiency vehicles and alternative fuels are making the gas tax an even less sustainable support for funding roads, bridges and transit systems.” ___ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainablelorgbiofuel Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (70,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/
[Biofuel] USA - Traffic Volume Trends
USA - Traffic Volume Trends Federal Highway Administration http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/ohim/tvtw/tvtpage.htm June 2008 Traffic Volume Trends - Travel on all roads and streets changed by -4.7 percent for June 2008 as compared with June 2007. May 2008 Traffic Volume Trends - Travel on all roads and streets changed by -3.7 percent for May 2008 as compared with May 2007. Apr 2008 Traffic Volume Trends - Travel on all roads and streets changed by -1.8 percent for April 2008 as compared with April 2007. Mar 2008 Traffic Volume Trends - Travel on all roads and streets changed by -4.3 percent for March 2008 as compared with March 2007. Feb 2008 Traffic Volume Trends - Travel on all roads and streets changed by -0.4 percent for February 2008 as compared with February 2007. Jan 2008 Traffic Volume Trends - Travel on all roads and streets changed by -1.7 percent for January 2008 as compared with January 2007. Dec 2007 Traffic Volume Trends - Travel on all roads and streets changed by -3.9 percent for December 2007 as compared with December 2006. Nov 2007 Traffic Volume Trends - Travel on all roads and streets changed by -0.5 percent for November 2007 as compared with November 2006. Oct 2007 Traffic Volume Trends - Travel on all roads and streets changed by 0.1 percent for October 2007 as compared with October 2006. Sep 2007 Traffic Volume Trends - Travel on all roads and streets changed by -0.9 percent for September 2007 as compared with September 2006. Aug 2007 Traffic Volume Trends - Travel on all roads and streets changed by 1.6 percent for August 2007 as compared with August 2006. Jul 2007 Traffic Volume Trends - Travel on all roads and streets changed by 0.4 percent for July 2007 as compared with July 2006. Jun 2007 Traffic Volume Trends - Travel on all roads and streets changed by -0.5 percent for June 2007 as compared with June 2006. May 2007 Traffic Volume Trends - Travel on all roads and streets changed by 0.9 percent for May 2007 as compared with May 2006. Apr 2007 Traffic Volume Trends - Travel on all roads and streets changed by -0.4 percent for April 2007 as compared with April 2006. Mar 2007 Traffic Volume Trends - Travel on all roads and streets changed by 0.3 percent for March 2007 as compared with March 2006. Feb 2007 Traffic Volume Trends - Travel on all roads and streets changed by -1.9 percent for February 2007 as compared with February 2006. Jan 2007 Traffic Volume Trends - Travel on all roads and streets changed by -0.7 percent for January 2007 as compared with January 2006. ___ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainablelorgbiofuel Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (70,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/ No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - http://www.avg.com Version: 8.0.138 / Virus Database: 270.5.12/1591 - Release Date: 8/4/2008 7:23 PM ___ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainablelorgbiofuel Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (70,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/
[Biofuel] Gas Prices Spur Mass Transit Use
NOTE: Jan. 18, 2006 Gas Prices Spur Mass Transit Use One Of Katrina's Legacies May Be Increased Public Transit Ridership WASHINGTON, Jan. 18, 2006 http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/01/18/national/main1217870.shtml More people rode subways, buses and trains last summer after gasoline prices spiked, and many continued to take mass transportation even after those prices fell, according to figures released Wednesday by the American Public Transportation Association. Average gas prices rose all summer after breaking $2 a gallon in late March, soaring to $3.07 during the week of Sept. 5, the aftermath of Katrina. When it spikes, that gets people's attention, said Mantill Williams, AAA spokesman. From July through September 2005, there were 3.3 percent more trips on public transportation than there were during the same period in 2004, according to APTA. The average price of a gallon of regular gasoline was $2.55 during those months, up from $1.85 a year before. In some places, such as Washington and Los Angeles, ridership grew dramatically: 9.1 percent more people used Washington Metro from July through September, and 9 percent more boarded Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority buses and trains than they had the previous summer. Though gasoline prices fell to $2.22 in November, they were still higher than they were a year ago — $1.93 a gallon in November 2004. The American Public Transportation Association said that more than 25 transit systems showed double-digit ridership increases from November 2004 to November 2005, including Dallas (14.9 percent), Houston (14.9 percent), Kansas City, Mo. (13 percent), Reno, Nev. (12.4 percent), Salt Lake City (17.7 percent), and Tulsa, Okla. (22 percent). It looks like the riders stuck, said William Millar, APTA president. Transit ridership goes up and down, depending on gas prices, weather and the economy. Alan Pisarski, a Washington-based national transportation policy analyst, said high gasoline prices will prompt some people to try mass transportation. A certain percentage of the population will say, 'Hey, it works for me,' Pisarski said. ___ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainablelorgbiofuel Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (70,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/
[Biofuel] Riders crowd public transit systems
NOTE: 3/12/2007 Riders crowd public transit systems By Barbara Hagenbaugh, USA TODAY 3/12/2007 http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/2007-03-12-transit-6-usat_N.htm WASHINGTON — Ridership on public transportation jumped to the highest level in nearly five decades in 2006 as high gas prices and expanded bus and train service enticed people to park their cars. More than 10 billion trips were taken on buses and rail lines last year, the American Public Transportation Association says in a report to be released today. That's up 2.9% from 2005 and the highest level since 1957. Ridership rose three consecutive years through 2006 and increased 28% in the 10 years since 1996. The rise in 2006 came as gasoline prices increased, coming within pennies of the all-time record, not adjusted for inflation, reached following Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Certainly, a lot of the growth last year was with the high gas prices, APTA President William Millar says. But Millar says a number of other factors, such as increased road congestion and improved transit service, were also likely in play. Ridership was up 4% in the fourth quarter from the same period a year earlier, even though gas prices had fallen from their earlier peaks, APTA says. Kim Little, 51, of Tulsa started taking the bus to work in May. While she expected it to be a temporary solution to higher gas prices, she has stuck with the bus. I just love it, I absolutely love it, says Little, who works in human resources for the city of Tulsa. Not only is she saving gas money, but taking the bus for her 13-mile trip to work has cut commuting stress. Plus, she's made some new friends: I've met some great people on the bus. That's been a fun, unexpected benefit. The increase in ridership has put some strains on local transit systems. Around the USA, systems say they are trying to find ways to reduce crowding: •Salt Lake City. The number of trips taken on Salt Lake City's light rail rose 14% in 2006 to a record. The rising demand led the Utah Transit Authority to buy 29 used rail cars from San Jose, Calif. Officials haven't had time even to paint the new cars that have gone into service. Instead, they plastered stickers over the old labeling to get the cars on the rails as soon as possible. They're not pretty, spokesman Justin Jones says. But it's a ride and people don't mind. •Washington. Ridership on Metrorail in the nation's capital rose 5.3% to a record in the 2006 fiscal year, which ended June 30. The transit system is buying new cars to meet passenger demand. •San Francisco. The number of trips on the Bay Area Rapid Transit train system also rose to a record last year. BART also has been increasing the number of cars, lengthening trains in the system. •Tulsa. Ridership rose 17% on local buses and 43% on park-and-ride bus service last year. Tulsa Transit has added a bus on one route and is considering adding a commuter rail line, spokeswoman Cynthia Staab says. ___ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainablelorgbiofuel Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (70,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/
[Biofuel] High prices forcing many to drive less, downsize, take mass transit
NOTE: May 18, 2007 High prices forcing many to drive less, downsize, take mass transit By Larry Copeland USA TODAY May 18, 2007 http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20070518/a_transit18.art.htm Benjamin Coenen of Milwaukee bought a Chevrolet Blazer in high school to tow fishing boats and trek to his deer-hunting stand. I loved it, says Coenen, 20. It was awesome for my hunting and fishing and my love of the outdoors. Coenen, a sophomore at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, recently had to sell his prized vehicle. When he landed an internship that came with a commute to the suburbs, he could no longer afford the Blazer. I couldn't do it anymore, he says. It was costing me $60 to fill up my gas tank, and I was having to do it every four days. Many Americans are making such difficult choices as they get used to $3-a-gallon gasoline. Transportation is the second-largest expenditure for U.S. households; it accounts for 18% of all annual spending, behind housing at 33%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Many are altering their habits — at least temporarily — to stay within that 18%. People just adjust, once you realize there's not a single thing you can do, except make fewer trips (and) keep your tires properly inflated, says Wayne Hochwarter, a Florida State University management professor who polled 1,000 workers in the Southeast last month on gas prices. You can't go to the Exxon station and barter the price of gas. So they're doing what they can: •They're driving less. Since 2005, Americans have driven 8 billion to 9 billion fewer miles per month than they would have if pre-2005 trends had continued, according to a USA TODAY analysis of federal data. •They're downsizing vehicles, skipping vacations and combining errands. One-third of those polled by USA TODAY this month say they have shortened or canceled a planned car vacation. •They're getting on the bus or train, many for the first time. Public transit is an attractive option in more places than 15 years ago. Transportation has long been a major expenditure for households. It averaged 15% of annual expenditures in 1960, behind housing and food, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which annually surveys spending habits. People in charge of household budgets are changing behavior to keep from exceeding what they usually spend on transportation. Most people now are multicar families, says Alan Pisarski, a transportation consultant. The first thing that happens when gas prices go way up is people shift to the car that is most fuel-efficient. Many have few options. People told me they were really interested in changing vehicles, getting something with better gas mileage, Hochwarter says. But maybe they have a 5- (or) 6-year-old pickup and they can't get much for it. Despite increasing ridership on public transportation, many financially stressed drivers still don't have access and must make hard transportation choices. Coenen, the Wisconsin outdoorsman, drives a Volkswagen now. He laments: I used my truck for so many things. Now I don't have that option anymore. ___ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainablelorgbiofuel Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (70,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/
[Biofuel] Gas prices rattle Americans
NOTE: May 8, 2008 Gas prices rattle Americans By Judy Keen and Paul Overberg, USA TODAY May 8, 2008 http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/energy/2008-05-08-gasprices_N.htm Record high gas prices are prompting Americans to drive less for the first time in nearly three decades, squeezing family budgets and causing major shifts in driving habits, federal data and a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll show. As prices near — or in some places top — $4 a gallon, most Americans say they are cutting back on other household spending, seriously considering buying more fuel-efficient cars and consolidating their daily errands to save fuel. Americans worry that steep gas costs are here to stay: eight in 10 say they doubt today's high prices are temporary, the poll finds. It's the first time such a large majority sees pricey gas as a long-term problem. The $4 mark, compounded by a sagging economy, could be a tipping point that spurs people to make permanent lifestyle changes to reduce dependence on foreign oil and help the environment, says Steve Reich, a program director at the Center for Urban Transportation Research at the University of South Florida. This is a more significant shift in behavior than I've seen through other fluctuations in gasoline prices, he says. People are starting to understand that this resource … is not something to be taken for granted or wasted. The average price of a gallon of gas nationwide is $3.65 — the highest ever, adjusted for inflation. California's average: $3.90 a gallon. The federal Energy Information Administration (EIA) expects a $3.66 per-gallon average this summer. The pinch is reshaping the way Americans use their cars: • February was the fourth consecutive month in which miles driven in the USA fell, an analysis of Federal Highway Administration data show. There hasn't been a similar decline since 1979, when shortages created long lines at pumps. In the 12 months ending in February, the latest month for which data are available, miles driven fell 0.4% from a year earlier. The last drop of that scale was in 1980-81. The decline, while small, is significant because the U.S. population and number of households, drivers and vehicles grow by 1% to 2% a year. A gallon of gas has gone up 59 cents since February, suggesting the trend seems likely to continue. The EIA expects demand for gas to shrink 0.4% this summer from 2007 and fall 0.3% for the year. It would be the first dip in annual consumption since 1991. • In 2004 and 2005, about one-third of Americans said they cut spending because of rising gas prices. In the new poll, 60% say they are trimming other expenses. Half of households with incomes below $20,000 say they face severe hardships because of soaring gas prices. Three-fourths of households making $75,000 or more also are changing how they use their cars. Dawn Morris, a consultant in Dover, Del., is blunt about how gas prices are affecting her family. It's killing us, she says. She and her husband often stay home on weekends, and when she balances her checkbook, every third line it says gas: $20, $30, $50. • Americans' efforts to conserve gas are evident across the USA. At Don Jacobs Used Cars in Lexington, Ky., salesman Tony Morphis says customers are dumping gas guzzlers and ask first about gas mileage when they shop for replacements. Sonya Jensen, owner of Cat's Paw Marina in St. Augustine, Fla., says some boat owners are considering selling their watercraft. At Cycle Cave in Albuquerque, Hervey Hawk says customers are dragging 30- to 40-year-old bikes out of the garage and having them fixed so they can pedal to work. • In the poll, eight in 10 Americans say they use the most fuel-efficient car they own whenever possible. Three-fourths hunt for the cheapest gas available. Six in 10 share rides with friends or neighbors. Three-fourths say they are getting tuneups, turning off the air-conditioning or driving slower to improve mileage. Slower speeds might help save lives, says Dennis Hughes, safety chief for the Wisconsin Transportation Department. There have been fewer driving deaths each month since October compared with a year earlier. A harsh winter and record gas prices conspired to keep a lot of people off the road, or at least to slow down, he says. Most of those polled expect things to get worse: 54% say they expect gas prices to reach $6 a gallon in the next five years. For now, they are rethinking the ways they get around, where they buy a home and what they do for fun. ___ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainablelorgbiofuel Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (70,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/
[Biofuel] Wind whips up health fears
http://www.oregonlive.com/printer/printer.ssf?/base/news/1218250522129010.xmlcoll=7 Wind whips up health fears Hundreds of giant turbines in the Oregon desert will bring power, but residents nearby raise concerns about health effects and an end to their quiet way of life Sunday, August 10, 2008 RICHARD COCKLE The Oregonian Staff BOARDMAN -- Sherry Eaton pulled into the driveway of her rural, high-desert home to see one of several giant wind turbines being assembled a half-mile away. I started to cry, Eaton, 57, recalled of her first sight of the Willow Creek Wind Project in late July. They're going to be hanging over the back of our house, and now there's the medical thing. The medical thing is new research suggesting that living close to wind turbines, as Eaton and her 60-year old husband, Mike, soon will be doing, can cause sleep disorders, difficulty with equilibrium, headaches, childhood night terrors and other health problems. Dozens of wind turbines are taking shape along Oregon 74, a designated Oregon Scenic Byway, near the home the Eatons have shared for 19 years. Dr. Nina Pierpont of Malone, N.Y., coined the phrase wind turbine syndrome for what she says happens to some people living near wind energy farms. She has made the phrase part of the title of a book she's written called Wind Turbine Syndrome: A Report on the Natural Experiment. It is scheduled for publication next month by K-Selected Press, of Santa Fe, N.M. In contrast to those who consider wind turbines clean, green and an ideal source of renewable energy, Pierpont says living or working too close to them has a downside. Her research says wind turbines should never be built closer than two miles from homes. Pierpont, 53, is a 1991 graduate of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and has a doctorate in population biology from Princeton University. Her interest was piqued by a wind farm being built near her upstate New York home, and she studied 10 families living near wind turbines built since 2004 in Canada, England, Ireland, Italy and the United States. Effect on inner ear Pierpont's findings suggest that low-frequency noise and vibration generated by wind machines can have an effect on the inner ear, triggering headaches; difficulty sleeping; tinnitus, or ringing in the ears; learning and mood disorders; panic attacks; irritability; disruption of equilibrium, concentration and memory; and childhood behavior problems. Concerns also are coming out of Europe about low-frequency noise from newly built wind turbines. For example, British physician Amanda Harry, in a February 2007 article titled Wind Turbines, Noise and Health, wrote of 39 people, including residents of New Zealand and Australia, who suffered from the sounds emitted by wind turbines. According to Pierpont, eight of the 10 families in her study moved out of their homes. All these problems were resolved as soon as these people got away from the turbines, got in the car and drove away from the house, she said. Mike Logsdon, director of development for Invenergy, developer of the 48 wind turbines under construction in the Willow Creek Wind Project, said he's heard of Pierpont's findings, but his 5-year-old company doesn't find them credible. We've had a number of other wind farms over the country and residents living by them and never had any problems, Logsdon said. Invenergy has built and operates wind farms in Canada and Poland and in 12 states in the United States, Logsdon said. The company has 1,200 megawatts in production and is building 600 megawatts this year. The 72-megawatt Willow Creek Wind Project near the Eatons' home is scheduled to start producing electricity Jan. 1. If Pierpont's theories gain acceptance, decisions on where future wind energy farms are built could be affected. Last year, more than one-third of all new power capacity in the United States, roughly 5,000 megawatts, was generated by wind turbines, said Joseph Beamon, spokesman for the U.S. Department of Energy in Washington, D.C. Demand will grow Meanwhile, a U.S. Department of Energy report said demand for electricity is likely to grow 40 percent in the next 22 years in the United States alone, with 20 percent of the nation's power generated by wind turbines, he said. The Eatons and their neighbors have more to worry about than the Willow Creek Project. Approval was given July 25 by the Oregon Facilities Siting Council for construction of as many as 400 more wind turbines in the nearby Shepherds Flat Wind Project spanning parts of Gilliam and Morrow counties. The planned 909-megawatt project by Caithness Energy of Chicago is expected to be the largest wind farm on Earth, generating enough peak energy to power 225,000 homes. Man, this whole country is going to be windmills, said a dismayed Denny Wade, 59, a railroad worker and neighbor of the Eatons. He and his wife, Lorrie, a 53-year-old schoolteacher in
[Biofuel] Smog-related deaths set to soar in Canada: report
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSN1343168720080813 Smog-related deaths set to soar in Canada: report Wed Aug 13, 2008 5:13pm EDT By Ashleigh Patterson TORONTO (Reuters) - Smog-related deaths are set to soar to more than 700,000 in Canada over the next two decades, the Canadian Medical Association said on Wednesday. Long- and short-term exposure to air pollution will kill at least 21,000 Canadians this year, the CMA said in landmark study into health costs of poor air quality. That is much higher than a government estimate of 5,900 premature deaths linked to pollution. This report shows that things don't seem to be getting better, Dr. Brian Day, the CMA's president, said in an interview. And in fact, in terms of the actual numbers, they seem to be getting worse, Day said. The CMA estimates the costs of health care and lost productivity from air pollution will top C$8 billion ($7.5 billion) in 2008 and climb to C$250 billion by 2031. Pollution-related illnesses such as asthma and cardiovascular disease will prompt more than 30,000 emergency-room visits and 620,000 doctor's visits this year, the report said. In addition, more than 80 percent of those who die due to poor air quality will be over the age of 65. Canada has one of the highest percentages of baby boomers in the world, and in the next two or three years the baby boomers will hit 65, Day said. The report paints a grim picture, but Day said he hopes the government will see it as a problem that can be reversed. Let's realize that we will get a return on our investment by investing even more in looking at reducing pollution, he said. Canada is not alone in experiencing the health effects of air pollution. At current pollution levels, an estimated 64,000 people die from causes attributed to particle air pollution each year in the United States, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council, a U.S. environmental group. Almost half of Europe's population may have been exposed to airborne concentrations of particle matter above the European Union limit, the European Environment Agency says. The substances have reduced the average life expectancy of Europeans by more than eight months, the agency says. The World Health Organization estimates at least 2 million people die each year prematurely from exposure to pollution. ($1=$1.06 Canadian) (Reporting by Ashleigh Patterson; editing by Peter Galloway) ___ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainablelorgbiofuel Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (70,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/
Re: [Biofuel] Wind whips up health fears
, was generated by wind turbines, said Joseph Beamon, spokesman for the U.S. Department of Energy in Washington, D.C. Demand will grow Meanwhile, a U.S. Department of Energy report said demand for electricity is likely to grow 40 percent in the next 22 years in the United States alone, with 20 percent of the nation's power generated by wind turbines, he said. The Eatons and their neighbors have more to worry about than the Willow Creek Project. Approval was given July 25 by the Oregon Facilities Siting Council for construction of as many as 400 more wind turbines in the nearby Shepherds Flat Wind Project spanning parts of Gilliam and Morrow counties. The planned 909-megawatt project by Caithness Energy of Chicago is expected to be the largest wind farm on Earth, generating enough peak energy to power 225,000 homes. Man, this whole country is going to be windmills, said a dismayed Denny Wade, 59, a railroad worker and neighbor of the Eatons. He and his wife, Lorrie, a 53-year-old schoolteacher in Hermiston, live three-quarters of a mile from one of Willow Creek's turbines. The Wades had planned to sell the home where they've lived for four years and build a retirement home on a knoll 200 yards away with a view of Mount Hood. Now, the view that it had is all windmills, Wade said. I didn't move out there to view windmills. But Denny Wade's larger concern is his vulnerability to migraine headaches. Although not everyone living near wind turbines experienced headaches, Pierpont's research suggests everyone with pre-existing migraines developed headaches by living near the wind generators. The Wades scrapped plans to build a new home and hope to sell their 42 acres and move, they said. Issues never raised Morrow County planner Carla McLane said potential health issues never were raised during the planning process in her county, and the opportunity to appeal has passed. The potential effects of turbines on the scenic values of Oregon 74 never were brought up in hearings he attended, said Terry Tallman, Morrow County Commission chairman. Generally, wind energy farms have been welcomed in this sparsely settled corner of the state, Tallman said. Tax revenues from the wind farms will be distributed to the counties, public schools, park and recreation districts and fire departments, he said. Everybody that I've talked to has been very happy, he said, adding that some on whose property the turbines are being built intend to retire on the income they receive. I think it's a good thing, Ron Wyscaver, 40, a neighbor of the Eatons and Wades, said of the wind turbines. Caithness first proposed a 105-megawatt Shepherds Flat Project in 2002, then applied to the state for the larger project two years ago, McLane said. The project was so large it went to the Energy Facilities Siting Council, where it received the go-ahead to start construction. Potential medial problems aside, wind turbines will wreck the tranquility that Mike and Sherry Eaton came to this remote place to find, Sherry Eaton said. She drives 90 miles a day to and from her job in Hermiston so they can live in the high-desert setting. When you come home from work, everything drains away from you because it's so quiet and peaceful, she said, adding that's about to end. Now we are going to have to listen to those windmills: Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! she said. Richard Cockle: 541-963-8890; [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainablelorgbiofuel Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (70,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/ -- next part -- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: /pipermail/attachments/20080815/268c045f/attachment.html ___ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainablelorgbiofuel Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (70,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/
Re: [Biofuel] Wind whips up health fears
Keith Addison wrote: http://www.oregonlive.com/printer/printer.ssf?/base/news/1218250522129010.xmlcoll=7 Wind whips up health fears snip Just watched some footage of a wind generator in Denmark that didn't hold up to a hurricane strength storm... it was very dramatic. The announcer is speaking German, but the footage tells quite a story for those who don't understand the language. www.spiegel.de/video/video-33749.html doug -- Contentment comes not from having more, but from wanting less. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * All generalizations are false. Including this one. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * This email is constructed entirely with OpenSource Software. ___ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainablelorgbiofuel Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (70,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/
Re: [Biofuel] Wind whips up health fears
Yeah... I've seen that one before. Looks like they lost the controls or the brake or something. I've seen smaller ones (like 8 foot diameter) get destroyed in high winds here in Colorado, 120mph gusts coming off the divide type stuff, but never the big ones. Usually they are placed in areas with more consistent, and less extreme, winds. Z On Fri, Aug 15, 2008 at 5:44 PM, doug swanson [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Keith Addison wrote: http://www.oregonlive.com/printer/printer.ssf?/base/news/1218250522129010.xmlcoll=7 Wind whips up health fears snip Just watched some footage of a wind generator in Denmark that didn't hold up to a hurricane strength storm... it was very dramatic. The announcer is speaking German, but the footage tells quite a story for those who don't understand the language. www.spiegel.de/video/video-33749.html doug -- Contentment comes not from having more, but from wanting less. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * All generalizations are false. Including this one. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * This email is constructed entirely with OpenSource Software. ___ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainablelorgbiofuel Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (70,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/ -- next part -- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: /pipermail/attachments/20080815/9ff8225c/attachment.html ___ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainablelorgbiofuel Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (70,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/
Re: [Biofuel] Wind whips up health fears
Zeke Yewdall wrote: Yeah... I've seen that one before. Looks like they lost the controls or the brake or something. I've seen smaller ones (like 8 foot diameter) get destroyed in high winds here in Colorado, 120mph gusts coming off the divide type stuff, but never the big ones. Usually they are placed in areas with more consistent, and less extreme, winds. Z Indeed, I have no doubt that placement is vital. I don't know that Denmark has a lot of options in that respect, compared to the variety of locales available in the USA. I suppose if they were locked down, or had some sort of governor in place that wouldn't let it go into destructive-flywheel-mode it might have held up. The commentator did mention that this is the second in a short period of time. Perhaps a design flaw or oversight, but it occurs to me that with the changes we're experiencing in climate, no one can know for sure what extremes will hit in any area on the planet within just the next 10 years or so. doug -- Contentment comes not from having more, but from wanting less. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * All generalizations are false. Including this one. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * This email is constructed entirely with OpenSource Software. ___ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainablelorgbiofuel Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (70,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/
