Nota Bene

This blog has been permanently moved to www.enviromentalog.com
I am officially a domain name owner. Please visit me there!

Responsible Drilling?

I hate to beat a dead horse but check out this tweet from Sarah Palin this weekend:
Copenhgen=arrogance of man2think we can change nature's ways.MUST b good stewards of God's earth,but arrogant&naive2say man overpwers nature
Earth saw clmate chnge4 ions;will cont 2 c chnges.R duty2responsbly devlop resorces4humankind/not pollute&destroy;but cant alter naturl chng
I do not know where to even start with this tweet. First, an ion is a charged particle, I think she meant eons! Second, I don't think anyone attending the Copenhagen conference claimed that man dominated nature. Third, science has proven that there has always been climate change but it has been greatly accelerated since the Industrial Revolution.
It really boggles my mind that people not only don't believe in climate change but think they can continue to rape the earth without consequence. She claims that you need to responsibly develop resources. If I am not mistaken this is the same woman who had a chant of "Drill, Baby Drill" all along her campaign trail. How does one responsibly drill for oil without disturbing the earth and creating pollution?



This video makes me sick to my stomach!

What's Missing at Copenhagen? Answer: A Lot

Is it just me or was the hype leading up to Copenhagen much bigger than the actual reporting of the event itself? I see an article here or there but I was expecting it to make much bigger headlines. (Thanks a lot, Tiger Woods) The word is that everyone is waiting for Obama to arrive and hear what he has planned for the US. An interesting article by Andy Revkin on NYTimes.com points out that a major piece missing from the talks is that of population growth. In graduate school we talked about population growth as a major factor influencing global warming and climate change. The current world population is about 6 billion and is expected to grow to about 9 billion. Our population is getting bigger at a faster rate and becoming more urban. People are moving from the country to the cities and using more resources. Of course this means more energy, food and water are required. Revkin points out that population is not discussed at the climate talks because of moral and religious implications of population control. However, China did point out that their one-child policies do help to cut down on consumption and emissions. (well I should hope they have a plan as they are one of the most populous and consumptive countries) Many poor countries that lack population control measures will be hardest hit by climate change and all of its ramifications like water shortages. I will be watching the reports that emerge from Copenhagen and will be curious to see what if any plans are hatched to address such a problem.

We Might As Well Face It- We Are Addicted To Coal

A few weeks ago two of us bloggers went to hear RFK Jr. speak at an event hosted by the NRDC. Let me just say up front- this man is my hero. He does everything I want to do! He is a lawyer but he fights against big polluters and advocates on the behalf of communities. He even sued Smithfield Foods- the pork company that was fodder for many of my grad school papers. He is a senior attorney for the NRDC, chief prosecuting attorney for Riverkeeper, and President of Waterkeeper Alliance. A little known fact- he is also an expert falconer. It would be hard to sum up everything he said. For that, I highly recommend his book Crimes Against Nature: How George W. Bush and His Corporate Pals are Plundering the Country and Hijacking Our Democracy.
However, I will provide you some highlights of the night. First of all this talk was a welcome change from the Net Impact conference. That conference was highlighted by the financial gains that can be had by going green- something I just could not get on board with. One of the first things Mr. Kennedy said was that we need to protect our environment for ourselves and for good health! Amen! An investment in our environment is an investment in our future, our children and our health.
During the Bush years this country was run on "pollution based prosperity". I had some idea that the Bush administration was sprinkled with execs from the oil and energy industry, but after reading Kennedy's book I am appalled by the ridiculous cronyism that took place in the last 8 years. The people in charge of monitoring environmental policies are the ones breaking them everyday.
America suffers from a horrible disease- carbon addiction. We just cannot quit it. There are many other ways to provide energy to our country but we are ruled by the carbon class. The oil and energy companies are so in bed with the government and are major drivers behind energy and environmental policy. The government gives $1.3 trillion to oil subsidies. WHAT??? Perhaps that money would be more useful for organic food subsidies or wind turbine subsidies. Kennedy said that every nation that has decarbonized has experienced instant prosperity.
Mr. Kennedy wasn't saying anything new that we all haven't heard before. We must must must must wean ourselves from carbon. He provided some other little factoids that I find very persuasive:
1. We spend about $1 million a year on every soldier fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. If we ended the wars we could spend that money on solar, wind and geothermal energy.
2. We cannot have high speed rail in this country because all of the tracks are warped due to coal cargo trains.
3. We use 1,000 gigawatts of energy per day and 500 of those are carbon based.
4. $135 billion is spent on health care due to exposure to particulate matter and ozone.
I think as we head into Copenhagen these are all interesting things to think about... I thank Mr. Kennedy for reigniting my passion and reminding me why I switched careers in the first place.

Tap To It!

Last night I participated in a NYC tap water taste test given by ambassadors of Riverkeeper. I had to drink both NYC tap water and an unnamed bottled water. I then had to guess which was the NYC tap water. Surprise- I got it wrong!! I am a big advocate of NYC water so I think it only fitting that I could not tell the difference between the tap water and the expensive bottled water. I brought the cup to my face and stuck my nose in it and smelled it a la Paul Giamatti in Sideways. Unfortunately, that technique did not work. I was stumped. I stood there and watched numerous people fail this taste test. But I think what's missing here is that not only does NYC water taste better it is most probably cleaner than the bottled water. As I wrote in a previous post the NYC water system is very intricate and a lot of time, money and effort is invested to make sure it is clean and healthy to drink. I also think that NYC water has magical powers. Have you ever tried a bagel outside New York? Disgusting.

25 Years of No Progress

Today is the 25th anniversary of the Bhopal, India disaster. On December 3, 1984, a plant, owned by Union Carbide, that manufactured pesticides leaked methyl isocyanate gas. It is often cited as the worst industrial disaster in history. Approximately 8,000 people died and many people were sickened with illnesses that would plague them for the rest of their lives. The soil and the groundwater are still contaminated by the deadly chemicals that leaked from the plant. The residents of Bhopal are still battling illness and disability caused by this accident. Many people who were exposed to the deadly gas have passed on defects to their children and even grandchildren. There are still lawsuits pending against Union Carbide (now Dow Chemical) because there are approximately 390 tons of toxic chemicals still on the site, leaching into the ground. Oddly enough, the pesticides at the plant were being produced to aid Indian farmers with the Green Revolution, brought to India by innovators like Norman Borlaug. In a previous post I praised Borlaug and his work but many times something that seems like a sound plan has many unforeseen consequences.