[Biofuel] Has BP Really Cleaned Up the Gulf Oil Spill?
Has BP Really Cleaned Up the Gulf Oil Spill? Officially, marine life is returning to normal in the Gulf of Mexico, but dead animals are still washing up on beaches - and one scientist believes the damage runs much deeper Published on Wednesday, April 13, 2011 by The Guardian/UK by Suzanne Goldenberg http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/04/13 Protesters Target BP Annual Meeting Published on Thursday, April 14, 2011 by The Guardian/UK by Tim Webb and Karen McVeigh http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/04/14-4 One Year After Gulf Oil Disaster, Significant Dangers Remain Unaddressed New Report Outlines 10 Much-needed Reforms to Protect People, Environment From Offshore Drilling April 14, 2011 CONTACT: Center for Biological Diversity Miyoko Sakashita, (415) 632-5308 http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2011/04/14-6 ___ 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] Keystone XL Tar Sands Oil Pipeline
http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2011/04/15-15 April 15, 2011 CONTACT: Friends of The Earth Alex Moore, [EMAIL PROTECTED], 202-222-0733 Matthew Cain, [EMAIL PROTECTED], 202-222-0751 State Department Releases Supplemental Environmental Analysis on Keystone XL Tar Sands Oil Pipeline Study improves upon first draft analysis by recognizing tar sands oil as more polluting than conventional oil New analysis is still deficient in key areas, and the public not given adequate opportunities to comment WASHINGTON - April 15 - The U.S. State Department today released a Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement (SDEIS) for the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, which would carry highly polluting tar sands oil from Canada across six U.S. states to refineries in Texas. The supplemental environmental analysis had been requested by communities that could be impacted by the pipeline, as well as by members of Congress, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA gave the State Department's first Draft Environmental Impact Statement its worst possible rating, category-3 inadequate, for lacking detailed information about key environmental concerns, including pipeline spills, impacts on global warming, and pollution of air and water. Alex Moore, Dirty Fuels Campaigner at Friends of the Earth, had the following statement: The State Department's first draft environmental analysis was so inadequate that it had no place to go but up in its second attempt. Unfortunately, the American public is still not getting a complete picture of the many serious dangers that this mega-pipeline would pose. On first reading, we are concerned that the State Department has still not done a serious and thorough analysis of significant dangers, including the safety of tar sands oil pipelines and the pollution caused by tar sands oil production. The State Department has taken an important step in categorically stating that tar sands oil has far higher greenhouse gas emissions than do other forms of oil used in the U.S.-this finding alone should lead the State Department to reject the permit for this pipeline. We are disturbed to see that the State Department is neither giving enough time for public comments nor has it scheduled any public hearings. This is not in line with President Obama's commitments to transparent and accountable government. The American people have a right to speak out about this risky dirty oil project. When releasing the SDEIS, the State Department indicated that it will accept public comments for only 45 days and did not announce any public hearings. In a letter sent to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on April 4, 2011, thirty-two local and national organizations, ranging from Friends of the Earth and the Sierra Club to the Nebraska Farmers Union and Dakota Rural Action, called on the State Department to hold a 120-day public comment period and public hearings in states along the pipeline's route. The Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Keystone XL pipeline is available here: http://www.keystonepipeline-xl.state.gov/clientsite/keystonexl.nsf/04_KX... The letter sent by 32 groups to Secretary Clinton demanding a longer comment period and hearings is available here: http://www.foe.org/sites/default/files/Letter-Clinton-public-comment-SEI... The following are excerpts from the SDEIS section stating that tar sands oil has far higher greenhouse gas emissions than other forms of oil used in the U.S.: Page 239: As shown in Figure 3.14.3-1, the NETL WTW GHG emission estimates from gasoline produced from WCSB oil sands-derived crude oils are 17 percent higher than that the GHG emission estimates for gasoline produced from the average mix of crude oils consumed in the United States in 2005, and are approximately 19, 13, and 16 percent higher than GHG emission estimates for Middle East Sour, Mexican Heavy (i.e., Mexican Maya), and Venezuelan20 crude oils, respectively (NETL 2009). Page 243: Despite the differences in study design and input assumptions, it is clear that WCSB crude oils, as would likely be transported through the proposed Project, are on average somewhat more GHG-intensive than the crudes they would displace in the U.S. refineries. [T]he life-cycle GHG emissions associated with transportation fuels produced in U.S. refineries would increase with increased imports of WCSB crude oils. ### Friends of the Earth is the U.S. voice of the world's largest grassroots environmental network, with member groups in 77 countries. Since 1969, Friends of the Earth has fought to create a more healthy, just world. ___ 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
[Biofuel] UN Document Would Give 'Mother Earth' Same Rights as Humans
It's getting fashionable, good. IIRC Latin America was the first. - K Kenya Enshrines the Environment in Its Constitution -- This Should Be Our Future There's a misconception that all significant environmental progress begins in wealthy nations. January 3, 2011 by Jay Walljasper http://www.alternet.org/story/149401/vision%3A_kenya_enshrines_the_environment_in_its_constitution_--_this_should_be_our_future --0-- http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/04/13-2 Published on Wednesday, April 13, 2011 by Vancouver Sun UN Document Would Give 'Mother Earth' Same Rights as Humans UNITED NATIONS - Bolivia will this month table a draft United Nations treaty giving Mother Earth the same rights as humans - having just passed a domestic law that does the same for bugs, trees and all other natural things in the South American country. The bid aims to have the UN recognize the Earth as a living entity that humans have sought to dominate and exploit - to the point that the well-being and existence of many beings is now threatened. The wording may yet evolve, but the general structure is meant to mirror Bolivia's Law of the Rights of Mother Earth, which Bolivian President Evo Morales enacted in January. That document speaks of the country's natural resources as blessings, and grants the Earth a series of specific rights that include rights to life, water and clean air; the right to repair livelihoods affected by human activities; and the right to be free from pollution. It also establishes a Ministry of Mother Earth, and provides the planet with an ombudsman whose job is to hear nature's complaints as voiced by activist and other groups, including the state. If you want to have balance, and you think that the only (entities) who have rights are humans or companies, then how can you reach balance? Pablo Salon, Bolivia's ambassador to the UN, told Postmedia News. But if you recognize that nature too has rights, and (if you provide) legal forms to protect and preserve those rights, then you can achieve balance. The application of the law appears destined to pose new challenges for companies operating in the country, which is rich in natural resources, including natural gas and lithium, but remains one of the poorest in Latin America. But while Salon said his country just seeks to achieve harmony with nature, he signalled that mining and other companies may come under greater scrutiny. We're not saying, for example, you cannot eat meat because you know you are going to go against the rights of a cow, he said. But when human activity develops at a certain scale that you (cause to) disappear a species, then you are really altering the vital cycles of nature or of Mother Earth. Of course, you need a mine to extract iron or zinc, but there are limits. Bolivia is a country with a large indigenous population, whose traditional belief systems took on greater resonance following the election of Morales, Latin America's first indigenous president. In a 2008 pamphlet his entourage distributed at the UN as he attended a summit there, 10 commandments are set out as Bolivia's plan to save the planet - beginning with the need to end capitalism. Reflecting indigenous traditional beliefs, the proposed global treaty says humans have caused severe destruction . . . that is offensive to the many faiths, wisdom traditions and indigenous cultures for whom Mother Earth is sacred. It also says that Mother Earth has the right to exist, to persist and to continue the vital cycles, structures, functions and processes that sustain all human beings. In indigenous Andean culture, the Earth deity known as Pachamama is the centre of all life, and humans are considered equal to all other entities. The UN debate begins two days before the UN's recognition April 22 of the second International Mother Earth Day - another Morales-led initiative. Canadian activist Maude Barlow is among global environmentalists backing the drive with a book the group will launch in New York during the UN debate: Nature Has Rights. It's going to have huge resonance around the world, Barlow said of the campaign. It's going to start first with these southern countries trying to protect their land and their people from exploitation, but I think it will be grabbed onto by communities in our countries, for example, fighting the tarsands in Alberta. Ecuador, which also has a large indigenous population, has enshrined similar aims in its Constitution - but the Bolivian law is said to be stronger. Ecuador is among countries that have already been supportive of the Bolivian initiative, along with Nicaragua, Venezuela, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Antigua and Barbuda. © 2011 Postmedia News ___ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainablelorgbiofuel Biofuel at Journey to Forever:
[Biofuel] The Planet Strikes Back
Human rapaciousness, Gaia the avenger? Mr Clare thinks it's humans that are doing this? We? Us? Our? Maybe Gaia won't make the distinction, but Mr Clare should, IMHO. - K --0-- http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/04/14-4 The Planet Strikes Back Why We Underestimate the Earth and Overestimate Ourselves by Michael T. Klare Published on Thursday, April 14, 2011 by TomDispatch.com In his 2010 book, Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet, environmental scholar and activist Bill McKibben writes of a planet so devastated by global warming that it's no longer recognizable as the Earth we once inhabited. This is a planet, he predicts, of melting poles and dying forests and a heaving, corrosive sea, raked by winds, strafed by storms, scorched by heat. Altered as it is from the world in which human civilization was born and thrived, it needs a new name -- so he gave it that extra a in Eaarth. The Eaarth that McKibben describes is a victim, a casualty of humankind's unrestrained consumption of resources and its heedless emissions of climate-altering greenhouse gases. True, this Eaarth will cause pain and suffering to humans as sea levels rise and croplands wither, but as he portrays it, it is essentially a victim of human rapaciousness. With all due respect to McKibben's vision, let me offer another perspective on his (and our) Eaarth: as a powerful actor in its own right and as an avenger, rather than simply victim. It's not enough to think of Eaarth as an impotent casualty of humanity's predations. It is also a complex organic system with many potent defenses against alien intervention -- defenses it is already wielding to devastating effect when it comes to human societies. And keep this in mind: we are only at the beginning of this process. To grasp our present situation, however, it's necessary to distinguish between naturally recurring planetary disturbances and the planetary responses to human intervention. Both need a fresh look, so let's start with what Earth has always been capable of before we turn to the responses of Eaarth, the avenger. Overestimating Ourselves Our planet is a complex natural system, and like all such systems, it is continually evolving. As that happens -- as continents drift apart, as mountain ranges rise and fall, as climate patterns shift -- earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamis, typhoons, prolonged droughts, and other natural disturbances recur, even if on an irregular and unpredictable basis. Our predecessors on the planet were deeply aware of this reality. After all, ancient civilizations were repeatedly shaken, and in some cases shattered, by such disturbances. For example, it is widely believed that the ancient Minoan civilization of the eastern Mediterranean collapsed following a powerful volcanic eruption on the island of Thera (also called Santorini) in the mid-second millennium BCE. Archaeological evidence suggests that many other ancient civilizations were weakened or destroyed by intense earthquake activity. In Apocalypse: Earthquakes, Archaeology, and the Wrath of God, Stanford geophysicist Amos Nur and his co-author Dawn Burgess argue that Troy, Mycenae, ancient Jericho, Tenochtitlan, and the Hittite empire may have fallen in this manner. Faced with recurring threats of earthquakes and volcanoes, many ancient religions personified the forces of nature as gods and goddesses and called for elaborate human rituals and sacrificial offerings to appease these powerful deities. The ancient Greek sea-god Poseidon (Neptune to the Romans), also called Earth-Shaker, was thought to cause earthquakes when provoked or angry. In more recent times, thinkers have tended to scoff at such primitive notions and the gestures that went with them, suggesting instead that science and technology -- the fruits of civilization -- offer more than enough help to allow us to triumph over the Earth's destructive forces. This shift in consciousness has been impressively documented in Clive Ponting's 2007 volume, A New Green History of the World. Quoting from influential thinkers of the post-Medieval world, he shows how Europeans acquired a powerful conviction that humanity should and would rule nature, not the other way around. The seventeenth century French mathematician René Descartes, for example, wrote of employing science and human knowledge so that we can render ourselves the masters and possessors of nature. It's possible that this growing sense of human control over nature was enhanced by a period of a few hundred years in which there may have been less than the usual number of civilization-threatening natural disturbances. Over those centuries, modern Europe and North America, the two centers of the Industrial Revolution, experienced nothing like the Thera eruption of the Minoan era -- or, for that matter, anything akin to the double whammy of the 9.0 earthquake and 50-foot-high tsunami that
Re: [Biofuel] Has BP Really Cleaned Up the Gulf Oil Spill?
TEPCO is running the show at Fukushima. BP ran the show during their disaster too. What happened to the Gummints? BP told EPA where to go when EPA told them to stop using Corexit. And TEPCO is being as transparent as BP was. Please note Ralph Nader's prophecies of doom at the hands of a global monopolies has come to pass. I'm here in Phx waiting for my Geiger counter kit to arrive. For I'm a former New Orleanian and we are going to have to save ourselves. Catherine Austin Fitts said The Federal Government no longer exists. There is just a group of corporations that tell Congress where to allocate resources. JQ Cave Creek, AZ First Solari Member. On Sat, 2011-04-16 at 14:36 +0200, Keith Addison wrote: Has BP Really Cleaned Up the Gulf Oil Spill? Officially, marine life is returning to normal in the Gulf of Mexico, but dead animals are still washing up on beaches - and one scientist believes the damage runs much deeper Published on Wednesday, April 13, 2011 by The Guardian/UK by Suzanne Goldenberg http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/04/13 Protesters Target BP Annual Meeting Published on Thursday, April 14, 2011 by The Guardian/UK by Tim Webb and Karen McVeigh http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/04/14-4 One Year After Gulf Oil Disaster, Significant Dangers Remain Unaddressed New Report Outlines 10 Much-needed Reforms to Protect People, Environment From Offshore Drilling April 14, 2011 CONTACT: Center for Biological Diversity Miyoko Sakashita, (415) 632-5308 http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2011/04/14-6 ___ 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/20110416/dc53ace5/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] The Planet Strikes Back
rather amateurish, imho. esp. for an academic. maybe he's writing down to a mass audience? On Apr 16, 2011 8:36 AM, Keith Addison [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Human rapaciousness, Gaia the avenger? Mr Clare thinks it's humans that are doing this? We? Us? Our? Maybe Gaia won't make the distinction, but Mr Clare should, IMHO. - K --0-- http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/04/14-4 The Planet Strikes Back Why We Underestimate the Earth and Overestimate Ourselves by Michael T. Klare Published on Thursday, April 14, 2011 by TomDispatch.com In his 2010 book, Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet, environmental scholar and activist Bill McKibben writes of a planet so devastated by global warming that it's no longer recognizable as the Earth we once inhabited. This is a planet, he predicts, of melting poles and dying forests and a heaving, corrosive sea, raked by winds, strafed by storms, scorched by heat. Altered as it is from the world in which human civilization was born and thrived, it needs a new name -- so he gave it that extra a in Eaarth. The Eaarth that McKibben describes is a victim, a casualty of humankind's unrestrained consumption of resources and its heedless emissions of climate-altering greenhouse gases. True, this Eaarth will cause pain and suffering to humans as sea levels rise and croplands wither, but as he portrays it, it is essentially a victim of human rapaciousness. With all due respect to McKibben's vision, let me offer another perspective on his (and our) Eaarth: as a powerful actor in its own right and as an avenger, rather than simply victim. It's not enough to think of Eaarth as an impotent casualty of humanity's predations. It is also a complex organic system with many potent defenses against alien intervention -- defenses it is already wielding to devastating effect when it comes to human societies. And keep this in mind: we are only at the beginning of this process. To grasp our present situation, however, it's necessary to distinguish between naturally recurring planetary disturbances and the planetary responses to human intervention. Both need a fresh look, so let's start with what Earth has always been capable of before we turn to the responses of Eaarth, the avenger. Overestimating Ourselves Our planet is a complex natural system, and like all such systems, it is continually evolving. As that happens -- as continents drift apart, as mountain ranges rise and fall, as climate patterns shift -- earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamis, typhoons, prolonged droughts, and other natural disturbances recur, even if on an irregular and unpredictable basis. Our predecessors on the planet were deeply aware of this reality. After all, ancient civilizations were repeatedly shaken, and in some cases shattered, by such disturbances. For example, it is widely believed that the ancient Minoan civilization of the eastern Mediterranean collapsed following a powerful volcanic eruption on the island of Thera (also called Santorini) in the mid-second millennium BCE. Archaeological evidence suggests that many other ancient civilizations were weakened or destroyed by intense earthquake activity. In Apocalypse: Earthquakes, Archaeology, and the Wrath of God, Stanford geophysicist Amos Nur and his co-author Dawn Burgess argue that Troy, Mycenae, ancient Jericho, Tenochtitlan, and the Hittite empire may have fallen in this manner. Faced with recurring threats of earthquakes and volcanoes, many ancient religions personified the forces of nature as gods and goddesses and called for elaborate human rituals and sacrificial offerings to appease these powerful deities. The ancient Greek sea-god Poseidon (Neptune to the Romans), also called Earth-Shaker, was thought to cause earthquakes when provoked or angry. In more recent times, thinkers have tended to scoff at such primitive notions and the gestures that went with them, suggesting instead that science and technology -- the fruits of civilization -- offer more than enough help to allow us to triumph over the Earth's destructive forces. This shift in consciousness has been impressively documented in Clive Ponting's 2007 volume, A New Green History of the World. Quoting from influential thinkers of the post-Medieval world, he shows how Europeans acquired a powerful conviction that humanity should and would rule nature, not the other way around. The seventeenth century French mathematician René Descartes, for example, wrote of employing science and human knowledge so that we canŠ render ourselves the masters and possessors of nature. It's possible that this growing sense of human control over nature was enhanced by a period of a few hundred years in which there may have been less than the usual number of civilization-threatening natural disturbances. Over those centuries, modern Europe and North America, the two centers of the Industrial Revolution, experienced nothing
