People Before Profit blog

Keystone XL pipeline protest draws thousands

Thu, 01 May 2014 11:34:00 +0000

WASHINGTON, D.C. - In a six-day event here called "Reject and Protect", thousands of protesters marched against the Keystone XL pipeline between Apr. 22 and 27. The protests were launched by the Cowboy and Indian Alliance, a coalition of ranchers, farmers, and Native American communities whose land will be used for the pipeline. They are aimed at urging President Obama, and the U.S. State Department (which must approve projects that cross borders), to cancel the project.

The $5.4 billion project, which represents the dirtiest, least efficient kind of oil development, would pump dirty tarsands oil from Alberta, Canada through the U.S. to Texas refineries. The oil would then mostly be exported to world oil markets.

TransCanada Corporation, the Calgary-based company that wants to build the pipeline, has touted the project of being in "the national interest of America and a strong majority of Americans and Congress," according to CEO and President Russ Girling.

Despite Girling's claims, the project has been called "the carbon bomb," and its completion would likely take a giant step towards the two-degree rise in global temperatures that climate scientists identify as a cataclysmic turning point in human-caused climate change.

The event began on Earth Day (Apr. 22), as members of the Cowboy and Indian Alliance traversed downtown D.C. on horseback and set up camp with traditional teepees on the National Mall near the White House. The encampment included a wide range of events, including water ceremonies, music, sharing stories, documentary shows, and flash-mob round dancing. Saturday, however, was planned as the most important day of the week: On that day, about 5,000 protesters loudly said "No," to the proposed pipeline, and called on the president to "protect our sacred land and water."

A statement on the Reject and Protect website said, "In the American imagination, cowboys and Indians are still at odds. However, in reality, opposition to the Keystone XL tarsands pipeline has brought communities together like few causes in our history. Tribes, farmers, and ranchers are all people of the land, who consider it their duty as stewards to conserve the land and protect the water for future generations."

"We're here to show Obama, to show Washington D.C. the very faces of the people that the decision of the KXL pipeline represents," activist Dallas Goldtooth told a crowd on the mall, as cited by ABC. "These people represent families, they represent communities, they represent entire nations, so they're here to bring their stories here to say no to the Keystone XL pipeline and to all pipelines."

Canada's oil industry applied to build the pipeline several years ago, but it still needs to get the green light from Washington. Last week, the White House postponed the decision on Keystone XL. Lawsuits filed in Nebraska by both farmers and Native people must be settled before moving forward. Any state that the pipeline runs through can reject it.

TransCanada said it was "extremely disappointed and frustrated with yet another delay."

On the other hand, Jim Sconyers, president of the W. Va. Sierra Club, hailed the delay as a "victory for serious review of the environmental risks of carbon-based energy, and the need to aggressively change course toward renewables, before it's too late."

On May 17, The Sierra Club is organizing a National Day of Action to say No to KXL and "other dirty fuel projects," according to 350.org. The website says in the next few weeks "we will need to stand up again as big oil tries to keep pushing Keystone XL," adding, "With President Obama pushing back a decision on the pipeline for perhaps a year, the immediate next step is to keep Congress from moving it forward. Congressional votes on Keystone XL are likely coming up soon, and in states where senators are on the fence, folks are already gearing up to encourage them to vote no on the pipeline."

You can visit Bold Nebraska's PipelineFighters.org, to send a handwritten note to President Obama, urging him "to make his mark on history by rejecting Keystone XL."

Photo: Activists with the Cowboy and Indian Alliance set up tipis on the National Mall as part of a six-day climate change protest. (Gayle Becker)

Today in eco-history: Death and destruction in Bangladesh

Tue, 29 Apr 2014 16:53:00 +0000

On this day in 1991, a powerful tropical cyclone with winds over 150 mph hit Bangladesh. It was one of the deadliest on record. At least 138,000 people were killed by the storm and most food crops were washed away or destroyed.

The storm surge caused the embankment, as well as whole villages, to be swept away. For an additional three to four weeks after the storm had dissipated, mass land erosion resulted in more and more farmers losing their land, causing a rise in unemployment. In several areas up to 90 percent of crops had been washed away. The shrimp farms and salt industry were left devastated.

Fatalities: around 25,000 dead in Chittagong, 40,000 dead in Banshkali and 8,000 dead in Kutubdia . Most deaths were from drowning, with the highest mortality among children and the elderly.

Although cyclone shelters had been built after the 1970 Bhola cyclone, many had just a few hours of warning and did not know where to go for shelter. Others who knew about the storm refused to evacuate because they did not believe it would be as bad as forecast. Even so it is estimated over 2 million people did evacuate from the most dangerous areas, possibly mitigating the disaster substantially.

Image: The 1991 Bangladesh cyclone track. Wikimedia Commons.

Today in eco-history: Chernobyl disaster announced to public

Mon, 28 Apr 2014 12:27:00 +0000

On this day in 1986, continuing high levels of radiation emerging from the Chernobyl disaster led Soviet authorities to publically announce the accident. The nuclear catastrophe had occurred two days prior at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine. The resulting explosion caused nuclear particles to spread over much of the western USSR and Europe. It is considered the worst nuclear accident in history.

The effort to contain the contamination and prevent even larger-scale havoc was largely due to the brave efforts of over 500,000 workers. 31 people died immediately from the accident, and cancers and deformities from the radiation are still being accounted for. The people of the nearby city of Pripyat, which was not immediately evacuated following the explosion, perhaps suffered the most harshly. Today, Pripyat is abandoned, part of the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone.

Photo: The Chernobyl plant's nuclear reactor, destroyed after a series of explosions which occurred on Apr. 26. The disaster was officially announced publically on Apr. 28. AP

Support group members find help from those with similar circumstances

Fri, 25 Apr 2014 14:38:00 +0000

People attending support groups find help from others who share similar experiences or problems. Individuals have the chance to collectively share practical information, exchange coping strategies, as well as belonging to a community that understands them and their unique circumstances.

The late former U.S. Surgeon General, C. Everett Koop, MD brilliantly summed it up:

"My years as a medical practitioner, as well as my own first-hand experience, have taught me how important self-help groups are in assisting their members in dealing with problems, stress, hardship and pain...Today, the benefits of mutual aid are experienced by millions of people who turn to others with a similar problem to attempt to deal with their isolation, powerlessness, alienation, and the awful feeling that nobody understands."

In the archives of General Psychiatry it was reported that a support group for persons in early stages of skin cancer can increase their chance of survival threefold over a five-year period. Two thirds of the patients who attended a group showed a 25 percent increase in natural cancer fighting cells. A Duke University study found that heart patients who lacked a spouse or confidant were three times more likely to die within five years of diagnosis than those who were married or had a close friend. Support groups can provide confidants or close friends.

The American Journal of Psychiatry reported that low-income substance abusers that attended post-treatment self-help groups showed lower rates of substance abuse after treatment.

Several studies have shown that psychiatric patients who belong to a support group need to be hospitalized less frequently and for shorter periods of time than persons who do not belong to a group. Stanford University reported that participation in Alcoholics Anonymous groups reduced related health care costs since members needed 45 percent less alcohol-related health care services over three years than those who only sought outpatient treatment.

With the implementation of the Affordable Care Act of 2010 and the expansion of Medicaid in some states the healthcare industry is starting to reevaluate how money is spent. In other words, the goal is to provide high-quality care and spending health care dollars more efficiently. Support groups enter into the picture as a proven way to manage an illness, share experiences and reduce recidivism.

The American and New Jersey Self-Help Group Clearinghouses has been helping people find national self-help headquarters, local self-help group clearinghouses, national and international resources, online, telephone and one-of-a-kind support groups, as well as other national networks since 1980. All of the services of the Clearinghouse, from workshops and trainings to information and referral are completely free of charge. All of the support groups listed are free. Some support groups ask for a donation to cover refreshments or space rental but that information is given to callers upfront.

The Clearinghouse continues to do outreach to Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs). ACOs are groups of doctors, hospitals, and other health care providers, who come together to give coordinated high quality care to their patients.

The Clearinghouse has, over the years, built and continually updates a rather extensive database of support groups for just about any type of stressful situation that affects people's well-being. Groups cover a wide range of life-situations such as addictions, bereavement, disabilities, behavioral and physical health, parenting, care giving, and much more. The Clearinghouse provides online free "how tos" on starting and running a local support group, a free downloadable library chocked full of suggestions on starting and maintaining local and online groups and more. There is also a list of sister Clearinghouses throughout the United States and all over the world (where such clearinghouses exist).

The Sourcebook, first published in 1986, was a collection of national self-help organizations, support groups, resources and lists of other state and international clearinghouses. Today the Sourcebook exists on the Internet. The Online Sourcebook is a keyword searchable database of over 1,100 national, international, online, and model self-help groups. The Online Sourcebook is made possible through a partnership with MentalHelp.Net, the world's oldest, and one of the most comprehensive online mental health guide. Several national organizations use the Clearinghouse's unique national database as part of their information services or educational products.

Individuals may call the Clearinghouse to find local support groups and national resources at 973-989-1122. Their hours of operation are Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. EST or one may visit the Clearinghouse's website at www.selfhelpgroups.org or write: The American and New Jersey Self-Help Group Clearinghouses, 375 E. McFarlan St., Dover, NJ 07801.

"Mutual support groups, involving little or no cost to participants, have a powerful effect on mental and physical health... The psychological and physical health importance of this diffuse community is striking." - K.P. Davison et al, "Who Talks?: The Social Psychology of Illness Support Groups" American Psychologist.

Today in eco-history: Dirty coal killed 45 Virginians

Thu, 24 Apr 2014 16:09:00 +0000

In the early morning hours of April 24, 1938 25 bodies were carried out of the Red Jacket Mine in Keen Mountain, Virgina, then down the mountain and into an identification center that was set up to account for the dead. It was believed, until that day that "only" 20 had been killed in the explosion that rocked the region two days earlier.

With the recovery of the 25 bodies on the 24th it became the worst disaster in the country in 1938 and one of the worst coal mining disasters in Virginia history.

People present said there was a deafening detonation and a huge column of smoke with several fires hundreds of feet in length spitting out of the openings in the mountain.

Subsequent investigation showed that a massive dust explosion killed the 25 instantly, like it killed all the others, at the time of the explosion and bringing the final death toll to 45.

The early were dangerous times for Viginia coal miners.

On June 13, 1932, 10 were killed in the Splashdam Mine in Dickinson County. Seventeen were killed in the Derby Mine in Wise County on August 6, 1934 with state of Virginia Labor Department records showing that 376 were killed in all kinds of mine accidents between 1929 and 1937.

The bodies of the men taken out of the Red Jacket Mine were so badly burned that they had to be identified by checking the numbers on the electric lamps they wore.

There were actually two explosions in short succession and that caused buildings to quake for miles around.

The blasts jarred cars travelling along the highway miles away.

The cause: Combustible coal dust exploding as the result of a spark that set it off.

In more recent times the Upper Big Branch mine disaster in West Virginia had a similar cause but this time it was because the company had ignored safety regulations put in place by federal agencies - regulations brought about by many years of struggle by the coal miners and their union, the United Mineworkers of America.

Many Americans tody hope for the day when clean, safe forms of energy will become the norm, replacing the fossil fuel industry altogether. Short of this, the miners continue their struggle for a better life for themselves and a safer one for their communities.

Photo: Despite years of regulation and improvements, workers are still dying from mine disasters, like the Upper Big Branch mine explosion - a memorial for which is in place in the picture above. Amy Sancetta/AP

Today in eco-history: Thoreau wrote "Wildness is the preservation of the world"

Wed, 23 Apr 2014 14:46:00 +0000

On this day in 1851 Henry David Thoreau posits in an address to the Concord Lyceum his famous thesis that "in Wildness is the preservation of the World."

According to enote.com Thoreau meant that in the wild one finds "independence and self-reliance, which were necessary in order for humans to keep on surviving and growing as a species. Thus, as he argues here, the wildness of nature actually contains the secret of the preservation of the world."

Thoreau was a leading abolitionist, advocate of civil disobedience, and environmentalist. He died in 1862.

Photo: Wikimedia (CC)

People's World Google Hangout focuses on shutting down the Keystone XL

Tue, 22 Apr 2014 15:25:00 +0000

Part of the lead up to this week's demonstrations in Washington's against the XL Pipeline was an April 15 Google Hangout sponsored by the People's World. The event, one of a series of monthly hangouts put together by the Peoples World focused on the battle against the pipeline which many see as the most important environmental issue of recent times. EcoWatch founder and CEO Stefanie Spear, and Public Citizen Climate and Energy director Tyson Slocum were the featured panelists. The event was moderated by People's World labor editor John Wojcik and produced by writer Blake Deppe.

The State Department on Apr. 18 announced it would indefinitely delay the decision on Keystone XL - a small victory, but a victory all the same. But the question Spear had posed during the Hangout was troubling: "Could we win the Keystone XL battle but still lose the tarsands war?" she remarked. "The quick answer is yes. Even without the Keystone XL pipeline, the [oil industry] is still going to do everything it can to get the tarsands to a coastline to be able to export it. There are other pipelines underway that will lead the tarsands to the East Coast - through Montreal into New England. So we have a big battle on our hands." With or without Keystone XL, she said, "Somehow, some way, we need to get people motivated and ready to say no."

Meanwhile, Wojcik pointed out, groups like the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) spend a lot of money on dismantling environmental laws and setting up other laws on the state level that serve their interests. This makes one wonder how such corporate power can be fought.

According to Slocum, "We have to continue to build support at the grassroots level. It starts with your mayor, your city council, your state lawmaker, your governor, your representative, your senator, and the President - contacting all of them to say that we need to support a formal, binding resolution that would amend the Constitution to say that these corporations are not people. That is the only way we're going to get past these disastrous pro-corporate decisions. And we have to start investing aggressively in alternatives to oil, because we can talk about Keystone and the tarsands, but unless we've got a concrete plan, we're not going to make those things irrelevant."

"There is a lack of support and investment in alternative energy and transportation," Spear agreed. "We're living in a country that doesn't have a renewable portfolio standard. We don't have a [federal] energy bill that says we should generate X amount of power by a certain year. Because of that, so many states have said, 'Well, we're going to do it, since the federal government won't.' But those states are under attack from groups like ALEC."

In the midst of this struggle, corporations falsely tout natural gas development as a "clean energy alternative," further complicating the issue. "If we're talking about reducing environmental harm and carbon emissions," said Spear, natural gas operations like fracking are "not the solution. It's yet another wrong direction for us. I compare it to similar issues, like nuclear power; we have high-level radioactive fuel rods, and we still don't know what to do with them. With fracking, the water that comes up from deep underground is also radioactive, and again, we don't know what to do with it. One of the purported solutions, injecting it into underground wells, is causing earthquakes. Natural gas is an example of, yet again, continuing to rely on non-renewable fossil fuels instead of taking the right steps forward.

"This is why it's so important to vote," she continued, noting the need to vote in politicians that support renewable energy. And when you put the pressure on those politicians to do what needs to be done, she said, it can make a difference. "But again, it's a matter of getting more people involved in this movement and educating them on the issues."

The Hangout was concluded with a question-and-answer session. Topics discussed included retraining workers to work in the clean energy sector, including solar; addressing unions' concerns over potential jobs lost if the opposition to Keystone prevails; and the idea of an environmental dividend to help transition from polluting industries to green alternatives.

The entire event can be watched in the video below.

Actvists are urging, meanwhile, that people join the ongoing demonstrations in the nation's capital - actions involving a coalition of ranchers, farmers, native tribes, and others. The demonstrations there will continue through April 27.

Photo: People's World Google+ page.

On fourth anniversary of Gulf disaster EPA lets BP off the hook

Tue, 22 Apr 2014 12:30:00 +0000

Today is the fourth anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon explosion, which killed 11 workers and dumped more than 4.9 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico over a three month period in 2010. BP's critics say that the Deepwater Horizon disaster and other accidents were not just a run of bad luck, but the result of an ingrained corporate culture which routinely put profits above safety.

You wouldn't think that the London-based company that spilled the oil would get an anniversary gift from the federal government. But the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has just given BP a big one. The EPA ruled that the corporation could start bidding on lucrative new oil leases in the Gulf of Mexico after having been suspended from doing any new business with the government ever since the accident.

That suspension was lifted on March 13 less than a week before the yearly government auction for drilling rights. The company whose negligence was responsible for the worst marine oil-spill in history won 43 new leases in the Gulf that is still fouled by million of gallons of unrecovered crude.

The Deepwater Horizon disaster was not the first time that BP was found culpable in a major accident. In 2005 the company was deemed criminally liable for a refinery explosion in Texas City which killed 15 people. Yet again in 2006, a Justice Department investigation found that BP had willfully ignored evidence of serious corrosion in its pipeline, which led in Alaska to the largest oil spill ever in the Arctic.

BP's critics say this was not just a run of bad luck, but the result of an ingrained corporate culture which routinely put profits above safety. In an interview, Tyson Slocum of the public interest group Public Citizen said: "If ordinary people are found guilty in three felony cases, they will be imprisoned-suspension from contracts is a kind of corporate imprisonment."

However, under intense pressure from BP, which filed a lawsuit challenging the contract ban, and the British government, which filed a brief in the case criticizing the U.S. for its action, the company was just granted a get out of jail free card by the Obama administration.

Perhaps not coincidentally, the head of the EPA suspension and debarment office which ordered the original ban against the oil giant, "retired" just days after the administration caved to BP's demand to end their 5-year criminal probation period early.

After the Gulf oil spill, there were calls in the environmental community and in Congress to reform the outdated regulatory system. "The last time that regulations for offshore drilling were written," says Slocum "was 1978. Deepwater wells, like the Deepwater Horizon were introduced in 1994. So what you've got is regulations for the typewriter age applying to iPhones."

In the aftermath of the disaster, Congress passed a bill in the summer of 2010 which called for a comprehensive reorganization of the Offshore Oil Agency, and for tougher new environmental standards. But, under pressure from the American Petroleum Institute that bill died in the Senate.

The Obama administration then took matters into its own hands calling for a temporary moratorium on drilling. By executive decree, the President reintroduced many of the same rules that had been included in the ill-fated bill. These rules, however, do not have the force of law and can be reversed by future administrations.

Moreover, the central problem, according to Slocum, remains: "Remember, we all watched in horror over a period of two and a half months how one of the largest and most profitable multinationals on the planet with some of the smartest engineers in the world had absolutely no idea how to cap that well ... We still do not have clear certification that any driller-whether they be BP or Exxon or Shell-has the right equipment and the proven technology to stop a deepwater blowout."

Slocum says drillers need to be required by law to have equipment on hand to drill a relief well in case of a future blowout. And we also need to require companies to thoroughly test in advance critical equipment-like the faulty blowout protector which malfunctioned to cause the Deepwater Horizon accident.

However, we're unlikely to get these critical regulations anytime soon. The American Petroleum Institute has said that they will oppose any efforts to impose new regulations on offshore drilling. One of the wealthiest and most powerful lobbies in Washington, the American Petroleum Institute generally gets what it asks for.

This article is reposted from EcoWatch

Photo: This image provided by the U.S. Coast Guard shows fire boat response crews battling the blaze at the off shore oil rig Deepwater Horizon April 21, 2010. The explosion killed 11 workers and dumped more than 4.9 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico over a three month period in 2010. (AP Photo/US Coast Guard)

Today in eco-history: Wilderness explorer John Muir born

Mon, 21 Apr 2014 17:20:00 +0000

John Muir was born April 21, 1838 a Scottish-American naturalist and early advocate of preservation of wilderness in the United States. He was a founder of the Sierra Club, which is now one of the most important conservation organizations in the United States. His activism helped to preserve the Yosemite Valley, Sequoia National Parks and many other wilderness areas.

John Muir was born in Dunbar, East Lothian, Scotland. He was the third of eight children and at a very young age he took an interest in nature. One of his childhood activities was hunting for bird's nests. In 1849 his family moved to the United State and started a farm in Portage, Wisconsin. He attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison studying botany. He would later leave the University for Canada to avoid being drafted into the military.

Muir was a wilderness explorer and was the first Euro-American to explore Glacier Bay, which was later, renamed Muir Glacier. In 1882 John Muir co-founded the Sierra Club with Professor Henry Senger, a philologist at the University of California, Berkeley.

The Sierra Club immediately opposed efforts to reduce Yosemite National Park by half. They began to hold educational and scientific meetings around these issues. They were successful in a campaign to get Yosemite National Park transferred from state to federal control in 1906.

Muir wrote several books. The Sierra Club website provides the complete text of each book in HTML, organized by chapter, usually with the original illustrations. that are available in printed and digital editions.

Recent fires have threatened the beautiful areas the Muir loved. The U.S. Forest Service has made fire containment a high priority, as they are threatening the giant sequoia trees of Yosemite National Park. Sequoias (which include redwood trees) are ancient and endangered, and after recent human interference with their habitat, it would seem the Forest Service is on high alert in the case of new dangers to the trees.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons, public domain.

We are dead: Climate change and Guy McPherson

Fri, 18 Apr 2014 15:12:00 +0000

KINGSTON, R.I. - Climate change is the sickness of our civilization, and the prognosis is bleak. For a while, Dr. Guy McPherson, professor emeritus of natural resources and ecology & evolutionary biology at the University of Arizona, was relatively optimistic. There was a time when he believed that, if modern industrial society were to suddenly cease to operate, the planet could be saved. Not any more, he says. Planet Earth is now in hospice, nearing the end.

Waiting to hear him speak, the atmosphere in the East Auditorium at the University of Rhode Island is festive, almost jubilant. Everyone is smiling and gregariously introducing themselves to me. Though most of us aren't scientists, there is an unconscious letting down of our guard: we are among our own. No matter the origin of our disparate backgrounds, we all believe that climate change is real, and that human beings are the primary cause. There is electricity in the air and everyone is excited.

I make the rounds and meet Patricia Hval, the humble curator of the Babcock-Smith House Museum in Westerly, R.I. Though not a URI faculty member, she is responsible for McPherson's presence here tonight. She had originally invited him to speak in Westerly but couldn't find a venue, so she organized a URI event along with Dr. Peter Nightingale, whom I finally meet in the flesh after some email correspondence.

Peter is a slight, elderly Dutchman with quick vibrant movements and an infectious smile - like so many others tonight (including our speaker) he exudes charisma. He is a physicist, and though he doesn't agree with McPherson's specific prognosis, his views on climate change are uncompromising. In our telephone conversations, he voices frustration at the meager efforts of world governments to curb carbon emissions. He makes an apt analogy with Dick Cheney's "one percent doctrine": If there is even a 1 percent chance of a terrorist attack, then the United States must do everything in its power to stop it. Why then, Nightingale asks, is the same logic not applied to climate change, which has a statistically predictable trajectory and the potential to kill many more people than any other threat?

Nightingale opens up the lecture with a song on his ukulele. The anthem is called "Fight For Fossil Free!" and we all have lyric sheets. Soon I am singing along with everyone else in the packed auditorium. The energy of the crowd is palpable. McPherson steps up to the podium and makes his case. He'd an odd duck, splendidly dressed, and it's hard to take your eyes off him. He is dressed in well worn leather dress shoes, '90s Carhart pants and a slick blazer, and has perhaps the goofiest haircut I've ever seen in my life. There is something strangely dashing about him, a streak of Indiana Jones. He is positively arresting.

Guy McPherson believes that life on Earth will more or less be extinct by the year 2060, and the evidence he presents is compelling and well sourced. Of the creatures that may live, mankind is not among them. We'll run out of food and water. We'll be swept away by typhoons, and freeze in winter storms of unusual intensity. We'll dry in the sun, and our mummified remains will break apart in sandstorms, our disintegrated body matter swirling around like dervishes of dust. Now, Guy didn't actually use any of these morbid descriptions, but that is where my mind went after hearing the overwhelming amount of factual information that he presented. If he's a flake, as some have accused him of being, then he is the most learned and exhaustively conclusive flake I've ever met.

We've known for a very long time that climate change is real, and that it has been specifically caused by the burning of fossil fuels. The first scientific paper linking the two was released in 1847. That's right, I said 1847. Media blackouts, apparently, are nothing new.

McPherson believes that the effects of climate change are exponentially progressive and irreversible based on two factors: the lag of the effect of carbon emissions, which is about 40 years, and consequently the creation of self-reinforcing feedback loops. So what does that all mean? Well, it means that we are reaping the fruits of 1970s carbon emissions.

But surely emissions have decreased, right? No. Not even close. Worse, there is no sign that emissions are even slowing down, much less reversing.

2009, the onset of the the Second Great Depression Great Recession, set a new record for carbon released by humans into the atmosphere. This record has been consecutively broken every year since. This is where the self-reinforcing feedback loops come into play. There are many of them, but I'll start with one that I understand as a layman: the release of methane over cold regions.

Permafrost contains copious amounts of methane, which is now being released into the atmosphere as the permafrost melts. Though methane dissipates in the atmosphere at a faster pace than carbon, its heating effects are far greater. So as more methane is released, more permafrost melts, releasing more methane. .. get it? But the methane will just break up in the atmosphere and the crisis will be over, right? No. The warming will affect the whole planet, destroying natural heat sinks such as rainforests, leading to the release of even more methane.

McPherson shows us an authentic photo of Siberian children roasting marshmallows over a methane fissure in Siberia. It's a small crack in the Earth, and some industrious youngster has lit it on fire. But they no longer light the fissures on fire, because the cracks are now a kilometer wide. No major news agency reported it.

If the prognosis on Earth's condition is so grim, then why bother reporting it? McPherson uses the analogy of medical malpractice. If your doctor examines you and concludes that you have six months to live, McPherson asks, wouldn't you like to know the truth? Those in the scientific community and elsewhere who minimize the impending calamity and totality of climate change are committing malpractice by withholding this crucial and pertinent information from us. The Earth is in hospice, and the prognosis is grim.

I pray to God that he's wrong.

Photo: Poster announces a speaking appearance by Guy McPherson and a showing of a film about him. Guy McPherson's Facebook page

North Dakota oil boom comes with a price

Fri, 18 Apr 2014 14:23:00 +0000

Not too long ago we were all marveling at the "wonderful" oil boom in North Dakota with its increase in state wealth and population, exciting growth for small business and all that comes with a huge boom in natural resources.

But as we should know from our own history, all booms come at a price. They are paying that price now in North Dakota.

According to Think Progress, state officials recently found piles of garbage bags of radioactive material dumped in abandoned buildings.

The refusal of the oil industry to responsibly deal with its radioactive waste is so out of control that garbage dump operators are routinely screening waste for radioactive waste.

Again, according to Think Progress, the oil industry generates as much as 27 tons of radioactive material DAILY. Of course, North Dakota has no way to process these radioactive wages and the closest places are many miles away in Idaho, Colorado, Utah and Montana.

Of course, to dump in those places means transporting radioactive materials across hundreds of miles. That, of course, creates a whole new set of problems.

So every boom comes with a cost. There is no free or easy or simple way to generate enough energy today without turning in a major way to renewables.

We cannot get away from the need to invest in renewables and conservation. There is no fossil fuel magic bullet. We either take care of the earth and the quality of our lives or we squander the earth and the quality of our lives.

This is yet another decision that cannot be left to the whims of the market or unfettered capitalism or greed beyond greed.

Photo: Workers cleanup after a pipeline was found to have spilled 20,600 barrels of oil onto a wheat field, Sept. 29, near Tioga, North Dakota. Tom Stromme/AP

Today in eco-history: 1906 San Francisco earthquake

Fri, 18 Apr 2014 14:11:00 +0000

On this day in 1906 a severe earthquake struck San Francisco. The tremor and fires resulting from it destroyed 80 percent of the city. One observer described the initial upheavals as waves, "'The whole street was undulating. It was as if the waves of the ocean were coming towards me, billowing as they came.'"

Over 3000 people died, though the actual number remains unknown due to official ignoring of Chinatown causalities. Firefighters were unable to cope with raging fires due to broken water mains. Soldiers were ordered to shoot on sight anyone engaged in looting.

One quarter million people were made homeless by the quake. It is considered along with Hurricane Katrina one of the worst disasters in U.S. history. The catastrophe was caused by a rupture of the San Andreas fault.

Photo: Wikimedia (CC)

Today in eco-history: Volcanic eruption kills 90,000-plus

Thu, 17 Apr 2014 15:52:00 +0000

(history.com) - Heavy eruptions of the Tambora volcano in Indonesia are letting up by this day in 1815. The volcano, which began rumbling on Apr. 5, killed almost 100,000 people directly and indirectly. The eruption was the largest ever recorded and its effects were noted throughout the world.

Tambora is located on Sumbawa Island, on the eastern end of the Indonesian archipelago. There had been no signs of volcanic activity there for thousands of years prior to the 1815 eruption. On April 10, the first of a series of eruptions that month sent ash 20 miles into the atmosphere, covering the island with ash to a height of 1.5 meters.

Five days later, Tambora erupted violently once again. This time, so much ash was expelled that the sun was not seen for several days. Flaming hot debris thrown into the surrounding ocean caused explosions of steam. The debris also caused a moderate-sized tsunami. In all, so much rock and ash was thrown out of Tambora that the height of the volcano was reduced from 14,000 to 9,000 feet.

The worst explosions were heard hundreds of miles away. The eruptions of Tambora also affected the climate worldwide. Enough ash had been thrown into the atmosphere that global temperatures were reduced over the next year; it also caused spectacularly colored sunsets throughout the world. The eruption was blamed for snow and frost in New England during June and July that summer.

Ten thousand people were killed by the eruptions, most on Sumbawa Island. In subsequent months, more than 80,000 people died in the surrounding area from starvation due to the resulting crop failures and disease.

Photo: Satellite shot of Tambora volcano (Wikipedia)

ATU, Sierra Cub to band together in pro-mass transit campaign

Thu, 17 Apr 2014 12:19:00 +0000

WASHINGTON (PAI) - Calling themselves "natural partners," the Amalgamated Transit Union and the Sierra Club are banding together in a nationwide campaign for dedicated, long-term federal mass transit funding.

And while the drive is supposed to start on April 22 - Earth Day - and run through the end of May, it may get a test before that. That's because ATU will be out on the streets of Seattle and King County, Wash., this weekend and for the following two days, drumming up support for a pro-mass transit "Move King County Now" initiative to approve a slight sales tax increase there to fund the city bus system and close a deficit. The vote will be on April 22.

At risk if the measure doesn't pass: Ending 74 bus routes, cuts on 107 others, up to 500 lost union jobs, and 30,000 more cars on the city's roads, says ATU Local 587 President Paul Bachtel.

The joint drive with the Sierra Club "is important for our environment, important for our economy, important for cities across the U.S. and important for our quality of life," ATU International President Larry Hanley explained in an April 16 telephone press conference.

"Transportation accounts for the majority of our oil use," added Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune. "When we can get from one place to another by public transit, we can cut costs, cut carbon emissions that cause global warming, and grow jobs."

The union and the environmental group will enlist bus and subway riders and Sierra Club chapter members in events and demonstrations nationwide designed to pressure Congress to pass a 6-year highway-mass transit funding bill. The current 2-year bill has little money, and its funds, from the federal gas tax, may run out by July, one key lawmaker says.

The current bill, and authority to levy the gas tax, expires Sept. 30.

But the tea party wing of the House's ruling Republicans is dead set against any infrastructure spending, measures to improve the environment and measures aiding workers.

As a result, Hanley says the 6-year mass-transit-highway bill "is stuck like everything else" on Capitol Hill. That leaves ATU, the Sierra Club and their allies with an uphill battle.

That doesn't faze Hanley and Brune. "We need to get" customers and environmentalists "more active and more involved in fighting for mass transit," Hanley says.

"In the last 10 years, 90 percent of mass transit systems have had service cuts, fare hikes or both. Chicago alone had a 12 percent service cut." Half the country lacks access to good mass transit.

Meanwhile, transit ridership has reached levels unseen since 1957, before the opening of the Interstate Highway System took people out of buses and subways and into their cars. People stick to their cars even though an average bus rider saves $800 per month compared to using a car for commuting and cuts greenhouse gas emissions, and even though every billion dollars spent on mass transit creates 3,600 public jobs, Brune said.

Photo: Move King County Now Facebook page.

Canada expands outrageous grizzly trophy hunt

Wed, 16 Apr 2014 16:28:00 +0000

British Columbia's controversial annual spring grizzly bear hunt began on Apr. 1, with an estimated 1,800 hunting authorizations being issued - one of the highest numbers in recent years. Grizzlies, which are considered "threatened" by the U.S. Endangered Species Act, do not have the population numbers that black bears do, and activists including conservation groups, animal rights supporters, and First Nation tribe members have serious qualms about the hunting of these bears for pure sport.

This year's grizzly hunt lasts until the end of May, and is followed by an autumn hunt that takes place Oct. 1 through mid-November. On average, about 300 of these bears are killed by hunters per year, but that number might increase from an uptick in hunting authorizations. The Canadian province where the activity will take place is home to about a quarter of the remaining North American grizzly population.

Robert Johnson and Jason Moody, two brothers from the Heiltsuk First Nation, recalled commonly seeing a grizzly bear while working as field technicians in a coastal estuary, flanked by what was known as the Great Bear Rainforest. The young male bear, whom they nicknamed "Cheeky," would follow them around from a distance, often poking his head out at them and sticking out his tongue. The brothers were also there on the day that Cheeky was shot to death by a big-game trophy hunter. The bear's killer, Clayton Stoner, skinned Cheeky and took his hide. He chopped off Cheeky's head and paws.

Though the brothers arrived too late to stop the hunt, they did find Cheeky's mangled remains, which had been left there to rot. "I was devastated," said Moody. "I had hoped to save his life." He and his brother, he said, had developed quite a bond with the bear, who had a playful curiosity and friendliness. Johnson remarked that during their time there, "We started talking with Cheeky, telling him what we were doing there. We got to know him quite well, to the point we could go in our boat and get off and walk around in the area without having to worry about him."

Stoner kept the bear as a trophy, even balancing the animal's severed head on his knee and posing for a photo. Brothers Johnson and Moody, meanwhile, returned to their research camp near the estuary and wept for the loss of their friend.

This is merely a single example of what is increasingly being viewed across Canada as a moral atrocity, and British Columbia is now seriously debating the continuation of grizzly trophy hunts. Thirteen years ago in April, a moratorium on the hunt was enacted, but quickly overturned within months.

On Feb. 15, protesters gathered at the B.C. legislature buildings in the provincial capital of Victoria, demanding a permanent province wide ban on grizzly bear trophy hunting. And they posed their argument not merely in moral terms, but in economic terms as well, noting that over 11,000 tourists came to Canada to visit the bears in 2012, and contributed $9.54 million to the GDP. Trophy hunting, on the other hand, only generated $0.7 million that year.

Chelsea Turner, daughter of British Columbian wildlife filmmakers Jeff and Sue Turner, spoke at the demonstration, remarking, "I realized that when we go out on location to film this spring, it will be the same time the spring trophy hunt begins. It's just appalling to me. It breaks my heart to think that one day we're working with these bears and shooting them with our cameras, and the next day trophy hunters can show up and shoot them with their high-powered rifles. This is completely the wrong direction that we're moving in."

Biologist Paul Paquet of the Raincoast Conservation Foundation said grizzlies could be too few in numbers to risk a trophy hunt at this time. "The real numbers could be somewhere as low as 6,000 or as high as 18,000," he said. "We just don't know." But the real question he said, is, "is this ethical, to be hunting bears? That's really what's at issue. This is a trophy hunt, as opposed to a hunt for food."

And according to First Nation members, these big game hunters are not doing anything particularly brave, difficult, or admirable. The bears in the area are accustomed to seeing people, due to tourism, and thus do not fear guns - until it's too late. Doug Neasloss of the Kitasoo/Xai'xais Nation suggested it isn't so much a hunt as it is senseless slaughter. When asked whether a grizzly is hard to catch, Neasloss replied, "No. My grandmother could shoot a grizzly."

Photo: AP

Today in eco-history: Leonardo da Vinci born

Tue, 15 Apr 2014 15:49:00 +0000

On this day in 1453, Leonardo da Vinci was born in Vinci, Italy. A scientist, engineer, and artist who is often called the exemplary "Renaissance Man," he was reknowned not only for his paintings, but in the fields of civil engineering, chemistry, geology, geometry, hydrodynamics, physics, pyrotechnics, and zoology.

Some of these areas represented some of the first forays into issues with positive implications for the environment, such as his examination of the use of concentrated solar power. Indeed, da Vinci was the first and only person of his time to seriously study the matter, including making sketches and designing techniques for harnessing solar energy. In particular, he utilized solar energy to heat things by making "burning mirrors" - round mirrors that would concentrate the sun's light on a specific source. He wrote extensively about optics and burning mirrors, their mathematical calculation, and their manufacture.

Models of da Vinci's designs are on display today at the Château du Clos Lucé, the place in Amboise, France where he resided between 1516 and 1519.

Photo: One of da Vinci's sketches featuring a machine for grinding convex lenses, which were used in early burning mirrors. Wikipedia (CC)

Galveston Bay: The biggest oil disaster you're not hearing about

Fri, 11 Apr 2014 16:03:00 +0000

When the Deepwater Horizon oil spill occurred in 2010, the story was mostly front and center at major news sources. The disaster's aftermath is still ongoing, and the nature of oil corporation BP's profit-driven carelessness rattles those in the environmental movement to this day. But the oil spill that occurred in Texas City, Texas, and which has largely affected Galveston Bay, has flown under the radar. Though smaller when it came to the amount of spillage, the incident may grow to be just as large in scope and damage, with everything and everyone from wildlife to workers currently paying the price.

The oil spread quickly

During foggy conditions on Mar. 23, a Liberian merchant ship named Summer Wind, owned by Greek company Cleopatra Shipping, collided with a barge owned by Houston-based Kirby Inland Marine Corp. The impact damaged both vessels and sent 170,000 gallons of a strong "bunker fuel oil" into the Houston Ship Channel. The particularly noxious oil, called RMG 380, split into various patches and traveled in two different directions - toward Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, both of which the channel is connected to.

Strong wind caused the oil to spread quickly and across a wider distance, and it has now affected a bird sanctuary, a wildlife refuge, and numerous pristine ecosystems. The sanctuary, Bolivar Flats, has been visited by many oil-covered birds, and the refuge, Matagorda Island, which is home to endangered species, has been affected.

More recently, large tar balls washed ashore in Mustang Island State Park, a popular camping and swimming spot near Corpus Christi and another sensitive area for wildlife. The area is a nesting ground for turtles and shore birds.

Over 300 birds and 29 dolphins found dead

Birds affected by the spill include ducks, herrings, herons, pelicans, sanderlings, loons, willets, and plovers, the latter of which are classified as threatened by the Endangered Species Act. Over 300 birds have been found dead after being exposed to the oil, while 500 more were covered in and sickened by the crude.

Richard Gibbons, Houston Audubon conservation director, said he and others are worried because they expected the number of oiled birds to dwindle as time went on. Instead, they're rapidly increasing, and that's likely indicative of the oil's long reach and lasting effect on wildlife. Furthermore, he believes the oil has spread all the way into the marshlands.

"I don't know where it is in the marsh, but some marsh birds have been oiled," he said. "Right now I'm looking at a ruddy turnstone [a type of bird] that looks like a black turnstone, covered head to toe. Part of the reason that this was a significant spill was not because of the amount of oil, but because of the proximity that it has to natural habitat and globally important wildlife sanctuaries."

Meanwhile, 29 dolphins have washed ashore, dead. Though annual dolphin deaths do occur, experts believe this particularly high number is likely due to exposure to the oil. The Texas Marine Mammal Stranding Network is handling the issue, and testing will be required to determine for certain the cause of death. However, two dolphins were confirmed to have been found covered in oil.

Heidi Whitehead, Texas state operations coordinator for the network, noted that even the dolphins that did not yet die from oil exposure are now at great risk. She remarked, "Even if the oil does not kill the dolphins immediately, it could cause health problems for the mammals in the long run. Long-term chronic effects can also happen. It's going to be something we're going to be investigating for a long time following this event."

At least two turtles have also been found dead.

Dire consequences for workers, human health, local economy

The ripple effect is also creating dire consequences for workers, human health, and the local economy. Attorney Brett Coon, who is representing an unnamed shrimp boat captain, said on Apr. 9 that shrimp caught in the area near the spill have come up soaked in oil. "He discovered a significant amount of oil on the captured shrimp," he noted. "A closer inspection revealed that his entire catch was covered with oil."

Around the same time, the Galveston County Health District issued a warning about eating fish caught in the immediate area of the spill. And restaurant owners have already taken a hit because of that.

Linda Speth, owner of Emery's Seafood, a local seafood eatery, said, "The sale is down, and the reason why is people are afraid of eating the shrimp because of the oil spill." Though her larger shrimp are from further out in the Gulf, she said, her smaller bay shrimp have been directly affected by the spill and exposed to the crude. Oysters have also been affected, and as a result, Speth has been forced to get these and other seafood from Louisiana. "That's caused prices to go up," she said. "You've got to truck it in. That costs money." And having it delivered from elsewhere also means that local shrimp and oyster catchers are being put out of work. "You're going to put local fishermen on welfare because they can't make a living," she explained.

A waitress at Stingaree Restaurant and Marina in nearby Crystal Beach, Texas added, "Since the oil spill, oyster fishing has been closed. Our popular Oyster Jubilee we served at $21.95 for one and $23.95 for two is currently off the menu." Normally, oyster season is from November through April, she said, but "we've missed it. We won't have oysters again until next November."

Doug Rader, chief oceans scientist for the Environmental Defense Fund, said, "The health of the local seafood populations is intimately tied to the health of Galveston Bay."

Greg Stunz, a biologist at the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies at Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi, suggested the situation with the shrimp is going to grow worse as they get closer to the shore. "Once they start using the marshes," he said, "that is the defining moment of when everything's got to be just right." Unfortunately, a shoreline covered in tar balls does not provide such conditions. "The marshes are their homes and grocery stores," he concluded. "And if your home's polluted, you're not going to survive."

Photo: A part of Galveston Bay covered in thick, black oil, some of which has spilled onto rocks near the shore. AP

Do we really know what to do about the environment?

Thu, 10 Apr 2014 12:51:00 +0000

I've been reading "The Conundrum," a book about how increased energy efficiency can hurt, rather than benefit, the environment. The author, David Owen, writes that increased efficiency reduces costs fostering greater production, purchasing and, thus, more carbon emissions. He claims, "in truth, though, we already know what we need to do .... We just don't like the answers."

Owen states that more energy efficient cars encourage driving, but we know it is better to drive less. More energy efficient appliances are cheaper, so we buy more and bigger appliances. He argues that we imagine we can "decouple" energy consumption from economic activity, but in reality we must engage in less economic activity since all economic activity requires energy. A healthy world demands less traveling, purchasing of disposable items and new electronic devices, or clothes in the latest styles. Owen writes that because we won't accept those behavioral changes, especially when few others are, we continue on, and content ourselves with doing it a little more efficiently.

This book is full of provocative ideas and important insights, but it is only a partial answer. First, who does "we" refer to? The author is a staff writer for the New Yorker magazine. If by "we" he means the typical New Yorker reader, he's probably not so far off. If he means people like me, politically liberal or left, economically comfortable, with advanced degrees and professional careers, he's still pretty close to the target.

But that "we" doesn't represent that many people; there are now more than seven billion of us on the planet. "We" does not refer to the 1.2 billion people the United Nations reports are inadequately fed. They don't lead energy-profligate lives, and it is morally repugnant for us, who do, not to take them into account. In fact, excess consumption is not a problem for the majority of the world's population. I don't know the exact percentage, but I suspect the author's "we" comprise no more than a few percent of the globe's people.

And while the affluent relative few should consume less, our rate of consumption is not at the root of the problem either. Whenever I see a massive C5-A cargo jet from the nearby Air National Guard base practicing maneuvers I grind my teeth because it is spewing more CO2 into the atmosphere in one afternoon than I will in my lifetime. The U.S. military-industrial complex "protects" our national interests all over the world. This enables our five percent of the world's population to use 40 percent of its annual energy output. Our military has a carbon footprint that dwarfs that of all New Yorker readers many times over. More than 50 of the world's 100 largest financial entities are not nations, but multinational corporations. Their relentless brainwashing to convince everyone to use as much of their products as possible contributes hugely to our environmental problems.

I don't mean to let myself off the hook. The comfortable among us need to take stock of our behavior, and cut back. If we don't, we are fiddling while Rome burns. But individuals opting out of hyper-consumption alone will not save us from environmental armageddon. We face an institutional challenge, so changing our economic and military system is essential to any solution.

This article originally appeared at the author's blog.

Image: One of the winners of the children's poster contest "Energy Saving and Energy Efficiency," held at the initiative of the European Union and the United Nations Development Program, April-May 2012, in Ukraine. United Nations Development Program (CC)

Today in eco-history: Civilian Conservation Corps created

Thu, 10 Apr 2014 11:47:00 +0000

On this day in 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). A federally funded organization, it put thousands of Americans to work during the Great Depression on large public work projects with environmental aspects and benefits. It became a shining example of the good that can come from uniting the labor and environmental movements.

Part of the New Deal plan for social and economic progress, it took a bold step toward making a commitment to environmental conservation. Open to unemployed, unmarried males between the ages of 18 and 26, the young workers were provided with shelter, clothing, and food as they took part in manual labor jobs related to the conservation and development of natural resources in rural lands owned by federal, state, and local governments.

Over the course of its existence, the CCC planted nearly three billion trees across the country, constructed more than 800 parks (and upgraded state parks), updated fire fighting methods for forested areas, built dams and other systems for flood control, and built public roadways and foot trails in remote areas.

The CCC was commonly nicknamed, "Roosevelt's Tree Army." When lobbying for its passage Roosevelt remarked, "The forests are the lungs of our land, which purify our air and give strength to our people."

The CCC lasted until 1942, when World War II and the draft caused the need for work relief to decline, and the program was closed.

Photo: CCC workers constructing a road, 1933. Wikipedia (CC)

Today in eco-history: Wild Kingdom host Jim Fowler born

Wed, 09 Apr 2014 14:50:00 +0000

Naturalist Jim Fowler was born today. Fowler was part of the groundbreaking wildlife television show called "Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom" from 1963-1988. He along with co-host and zoologist Marlin Perkins brought early wildlife education into the homes of millions with the show.

According to Georgia Encyclopedia:

James Fowler was born near Albany, Ga., on April 9, 1930. The son of a soil scientist, Fowler grew up on Mud Creek Plantation, the family farm near Albany, and in Falls Church, Virginia, where he frequented the nearby Four Mile Run stream. (As an adult, Fowler participated in efforts to revitalize the stream.) His childhood experiences in both places convinced him early in life to become a naturalist.

During the early 1950s he earned degrees in zoology and geology from Earlham College in Richmond, Ind., and then worked in Florida at a raptor sanctuary and in Africa as an animal trainer for a film production. Fowler began graduate work, taking on a research project in Brazil to study the harpy, the world's largest eagle, along the Amazon River. But when the opportunity for a television career developed, he gave up his academic ambitions.

Fowler appeared on NBC's "Today" show in 1961 to talk about harpy eagles. Marlin Perkins, the well-respected director of several major American zoos, saw Fowler on that show and invited him to co-host the pilot for "Wild Kingdom." The show debuted in January 1963 on NBC. "Wild Kingdom" was filmed at locations all over the world and featured Fowler and Perkins interacting with wild animals in their natural habitats. Over the next 23 years of original productions, the show engaged millions of viewers in the natural drama of the wild, winning more than forty major awards, including four Emmys.

Fowler's mission as a naturalist includes educating the public about wildlife species throughout the world and preserving the environments in which the animals live.

Quotes attributed to him include:

"The continued existence of wildlife and wilderness is important to the quality of life of humans. Our challenge for the future is that we realize we are very much a part of the earth's ecosystem, and we must learn to respect and live according to the basic biological laws of nature."

"Almost all of the social tragedies occurring around the world today are caused by ignoring the basic biological laws of nature ... The quicker we humans learn that saving open space and wildlife is critical to our welfare and quality of life, maybe we'll start thinking of doing something about it."

Fowler's approach to wildlife conservation and education has drawn criticism from some scientists and animal rights groups, who claim that his sensationalized interactions with wild animals, including bringing them into television studios, are harmful to the animals and misleading to the public. Fowler counters such objections with the argument that the public must connect directly with animals before it will respond to the plight of habitat loss and other forms of environmental degradation. According to Fowler, "We need to make arguments for saving wildlife by how it will benefit us."

Fowler continues to travel around the country educating people about wildlife conservation. He is married to Betsey Fowler, a wildlife artist, and has two children.

Photo: Jim Fowler holds a peregrine falcon at the National Bison Range near Missoula, Montana, in 1998 (via Georgia Encyclopedia).