lao hong han passed along a poignant and chilling letter from a friend BP's Gulf Blowout And Our Future:
"Our son-in-law, Lee, earns his living as a fisherman in Key West. Has done so for 30 years. Today is his 52nd birthday and he is now, effectively, jobless for the rest of his life."
The intent of these restrictions would be believable if the same restrictions were placed on sportsfishers, but until this year, that hasn't happened. Instead, commercial fishers are restricted from catching, say, grouper in certain weeks because they're spawning, and they have to sit idle while sportsfishers pack them in, put them on ice, and take them home to their families and friends. ...
Lee has been scrambling for work -- any kind of work. Captaining boats, scraping barnacles off boat bottoms, anything to bring in money. He's a worker, always has been, and this is very hard for him. He's also become a local spokesman for the small fisher community because he's smart and articulate and a no-bullshitter. Since the oil blowout, he and his fellow small fishers and others in the Keys who are out of work because tourism is down have all taken haz/mat training at the local college, at a cost of $550 a head.
BP gave the college a grant to run the training, a few thousand dollars, and also the promise that those who completed the training would be reimbursed for their costs. Of course they're all hoping for work with BP to help clean up the oil when it hits -- which it will do eventually, and get swept into the Gulf Stream and get carried to other Caribbean countries, but also to the coasts of Europe and Africa. The dispersants, highly toxic to humans and all living creatures, will break up the oil into tiny drops making it less visible on beachers but infinitely harder to deal with. Like sending coal ash into the air.
I am put in mind of the lyrebird, which resides in the Indonesian rain forest. This bird is noted for its amazing capacity to imitate the sounds of the forest all around it, incorporating the sounds into its mating song. In recent years ornithologists have recorded the lyrebird's songs, which include the sounds of the bulldozers and chainsaws cutting down the very trees around it. That's how I see Lee and his fellow fishermen, working to save the ass of the industry that has spelled their doom.
= = =
Once, you had to search to find environmental diaries. In the past five days, there have been so many that they wouldn't all fit in the rescue box. So I had to put the rest in a comment.
[Green diary rescue appears Thursday and Sundays. Inclusion of a particular diary does not necessarily indicate my agreement with it. The diaries begin in the jump.]
Haole in Hawaii: Big Eels and Fish That Fly - A Hawai'ian Photo Diary.
Food, Agriculture & Gardening
miriam: Mystery of the Oil (with clues): " Questions: Is there any reason to hold elections when the true governing bodies in America are unelected corporations? "
Frankenoid: Saturday Morning Garden Blogging After Hours: "The wind is back today — I hope it doesn’t flatten the tree peonies."
American Pie: Worst Corporate Media Hack Job Ever?: "Reuters claimed a new study finds no health benefits from organic foods without considering the issues of pesticides, antibiotics/hormones, or environmental pollution. It's a disgrace- I should be able to skim headlines without presuming each might be a bald-faced lie."
Bev Bell: Environment and Food in Haiti: Two Crises, One Solution: "The solutions Jean-Baptiste and many other Haitians propose reside in part in one set of policies and programs which can restore land and other riches of nature, and another set which can protect small-scale, sustainable agricultural production from agribusiness."
Francis Thicke: Iowa Ag Sec.--Who's Afraid of Francis Thicke?: "Some farmers are afraid of me. I know this because a farmer named Jerry wrote a lette rto the Des Moines Register recently saying that they are scared. It would be a 'scary scenario for mainstream agriculture' if I got elected as Iowa Secretary of Agriculture, he said. Francis Thicke is a 'true believer in everything organic,' he shuddered."
beach babe in fl: Macca's Meatless Monday...Tofu On The Hill: "in this weekly series we have been discussing the benefits of a vegetarian diet including; better health pdf, food safety, global food crisis, animal rights, frugal living and the huge contribution of meat production to climate change/depletion of resources."
Sithembile Ndema, FANRPAN’s Natural Resources and Environment Programme Manager and Danielle Nierenberg for BorderJumpers: Acting It Out for Advocacy: "The Food and Natural Resource Policy Analysis Network’s (FANRPAN) Women Accessing Realigned Markets (WARM) project aims at strengthening the capacity of women farmers influence in agriculture policy development and programmes in Southern Africa. It doesn’t sound especially entertaining—but it has some innovative strategies for bridging the divide between women farmers, researchers, and policy makers. FANRPAN is using Theatre for Policy Advocacy to engage leaders, service providers, and policymakers; encourage community participation; and research the needs of women farmers. Essentially, theatre is being used to explain agricultural policy to people in rural areas, and to carry voices from the countryside back to government."
Danielle Nierenberg and Bernard Pollack for BorderJumpers: David Lobell on Finding Food Security in a Changing Climate. Interview with the assistant professor in Environmental Earth System Science at Stanford University.
BorderJumpers : John Jeavons and Jake Blehm on Building a Truly Sustainable Agriculture: Interview with John Jeavons, Executive Director of Ecology Action and Jake Blehm, Assistant Executive Director at Ecology Action in Willits, California.
BorderJumpers: "Greening" Fisheries Could Calm Troubled Waters: "Yet, despite the important role of fisheries in maintaining economic and social well-being, "fisheries around the world are being plundered or exploited at unsustainable rates," said Achim Steiner, Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). Speaking about the preview release of the UNEP’s Green Economy Report: A Preview, Mr. Steiner argued that the current fishing industry "is a failure of management of what will prove to be monumental proportions unless addressed."
BorderJumpers: Using Livestock to Rebuild and Preserve Communities: "The key, however, to maintaining the pastoralist way of life, at least in Kenya, may also be the key to preserving the country’s livestock genetic biodiversity, as well as improving local food security."Governments need to recognize," says Jacob Wanyama, coordinator with the African LIFE Network in Kenya— an organization that works to improve the rights of pastoralist communities in Eastern Africa, "that pastoralists are the best keepers of genetic diversity."
Energy & Transportation
DoctorScience: Desert Solar Is Not Renewable Energy, by Chris Clarke: "The energy transformed into electric power may be renewable, but what of the other impacts the power generating stations may have? In desert wildlands especially, development of massive industrial power generating facilities involves damage to the landscape that may take centuries, or millennia, to heal — if it ever does."
BruceMcF: Thursday Night Express: High Speed Rail, Rapid Streetcars, and Democracy: "Trains are not airplanes, and it is appropriate for a large enough metro area to have multiple stations, including suburban stations. However, it is important that the major destination cities for a corridor include a station as convenient to downtown as possible. While the Ohio "3C" corridor is being built for Amtrak-speed train service, it is really the first phase of a 110mph rail service, connecting Cleveland and Columbus as well as Cincinnati and Columbus in two hours or less."
Jerome a Paris: Now he tells us: Bush hates oil, loves wind power: "Cheap, plentiful energy. Imagine if George W. Bush had been in a position to replicate such a dazzling success on a larger scale, to push for smart energy policies that provide for green, domestic, economic electricity...Oh, wait."
Buffalo50: Subpoena Dick Cheney's secret oil meetings: "A perfect step would be to demand that Dick Cheney testify before Congress regarding his secret energy policy meetings early in the Bush admnistration."
ivote2004: 's Solyndra Solar speech really worth reading: "For 30 years, I've been waiting for someone who "gets it" to inhabit the White House. Today is a happy day for me."
rperks: BP Gulf Spill Forces Us to Confront Our Oil Addiction: "The only real solution is to break our addiction to oil. If the President does nothing else other than force Americans to confront that reality, he’ll have done his job."
Christian Dem in NC: ACTION ALERT: Tell safety association to rescind award to Massey Energy: "Despite an appalling safety record and being responsible for the worst mine disaster in 40 years, Massey Energy was recently honored with a safety award. I'm not kidding."
rperks: Redford to : Lead America to a Clean Energy Future: "Without a doubt, the ongoing oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico is a painful reminder that the nation's energy system is broken. In response, long-time NRDC trustee Robert Redford has created a powerful new public service announcement calling on the administration to help get America off oil and jumpstart a clean energy future."
jamess: pivots to Clean Energy: "Perhaps the Administration, could even "convince" BP to contribute a "few Billion" ...to some of these very worthy CLEAN Energy Goals?"
Ellinorianne: UPDATE - Diving into the Oil - Finally Seeing under the Water: "And as Phillipe Cousteau put it, it is merely a 'snapshot' of what is happening all over the Gulf, as the oil keeps spewing from the rupture in the sea floor, the pipe that just keeps billowing out gallons and gallons of this toxic sludge. So this is the cost, coming to the surface, Welcome To Peak Oil - The Deeper You Drill, The More You Might Spill."
ilex: The Wrong Medicine Can Kill You: "Many here are calling for a big fat tax on energy as the way for America to move into a sustainable future. It sounds good on the face of it, but that kind of cure might do more harm than good. Sure, other countries have higher priced fuel and are doing just fine. The problem is that those countries also have a lot of other complementary conditions that don't exist here."
Lefty Coaster: Will Gulf disaster be eclipsed by a Tar Sands catastrophe in Canada?: "As most easily accessible oil is found and extracted, oil production becomes an increasingly dirty process, like production from the deep Gulf, or Canada's Tar Sands."
vets74: 10 Approaches Beget 0th Approaches at The Oil Drum: "The Oil Drum got on board with Grist's 10 approaches to cut oil use."
akmk: Response to Norway's Oil Rig Crisis, Despite Double Safeguards, Bears Similarity to "Top Kill": "While Americans watch anxiously at the efforts to plug the massive oil gusher in the Gulf of Mexico, another crisis is looming off Norwegian waters. A serious gas build-up on a rig off Norway has caused the evacuation of 90 oil-rig workers and led to efforts to plug the well-head similar to the "top kill" exercise going on in the Gulf of Mexico."
gmoke: How to Change US Energy in One Growing Season: "The people who attend farmers' markets are a core constituency for green technology and practical applications that save money, energy, and resources. They are likely to be early adopters who can spread those possibilities into the community. I've done energy demos at my local farmers' market and know that a renewable energy company sometimes participates in the year-long weekly market near Providence, RI. I wouldn't be surprised if there were more examples out there."
terryhallinan: Mighty River Does For Americans What We Can't: "New Zealand has apparently joined Iceland, Canada, Israel and Italy in doing for us what we can't do for ourselves. Mexico tops them all by sending us actual power from its geothermal wells. Wonder if they send any to Arizona?"
rperks: Music Saves Mountains: Concert recap, photos and more!: "Was it all a dream? That's what I keep wondering about NRDC's Music Saves Mountains benefit councert last week, the biggest gathering of singers and songwriters to raise awareness of -- and to fight against -- mountaintop removal coal mining. Fortunately, I returned from Nashville with a souvenir Hatch show print that proves it actually took place -- not to mention the jaw-dropping press coverage detailing this special event."
rperks: BOOM GOES THE DYNAMITE: Watch New Mountaintop Removal TV Ad: "It's time for a national television commercial about mountaintop removalcoal mining. Fortunately, there is a commercial ready to roll out -- all that is needed is the money to purchase air time. You can help."
Bruce Nilles: Coal: Good News, and An Opportunity for More: "We urge you to join us in supporting EPA in its proposal to veto Spruce No. 1, one of the largest proposed mountaintop removal coal mines ever authorized in Appalachia. Take action right now to block this mine's permit."
TomDispatch: Tomgram: Subhankar Banerjee, Oil Follies in the Arctic: "Sometimes the future is filled with surprises. On other occasions, it can be painfully predictable. In the case of drilling for oil in the extreme reaches of America’s Arctic seas, the latter is the case. BP’s catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico, growing worse by the hour, is a living lesson in what will happen, sooner or later, if America’s Arctic waters are opened to the giant oil companies."
Senor Unoball: Updated: Salazar Delays Arctic Drilling!: "Shell had proposed exploratory drilling in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas; this drilling is now said to be on hold for at least a year. This is great news for environmentalists and those who care for the Arctic ecosystems!"
gchaucer2: Oil and Gas Exemptions in NEPA: "For decades the oil and gas industry have enjoyed exemptions from major environmental laws which would otherwise directly affect their operations and profits. All of the exemptions can't be laid at the doorstep of former Vice President Halliburton Cheney, but the one which had a profound impact on NEPA in 2005 most definitely is his manipulation."
matate99: Fusion Power - An update on the savior energy source: "The running joke is that we are always 20 years away from viable commercial fusion power, and there is quite a bit of truth to that. The estimates have always been saying so since the 60s. But trust me, physicists have been making progress on fusion power: learning how the plasma interacts (in a tokamak reactor) and how to control it, and how to blast the fuel with massive lasers with new and constantly developing optics. So in honor of Rachel's Geek Week I give you the status on Fusion Power! The savior of our energy problems!"
Mark A R Kleiman: : "Today's Congressional testimony shows that Massey Energy, the owner of the Upper Big Branch mine where 29 miners died, had a policy of maintaining illegally unsafe mines, and firing miners who dared to complain. It also kept those mines union-free by threatening to shut down any pit that voted to organize. We ought to do to Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship what the Republicans did to ACORN: make them an albatross around the opposition party's neck."
Cedwyn: Oregon Kossacks - Fight the Palomar LNG Pipeline & Save Mt. Hood: "Well, again I say "no." Not just "no," but "hell no." Hell no you may not lay your grubby paws on my beautiful mountain to set a redundant transmission network for no other purpose than to enrich NW Natural and TransCanada, you short-sighted, self-serving, sacrilegious fuckwads. No!"
theChild: NEXT! BP oil spill in alaska!. A spill on the Trans-Alaska Pipeline.
Quite Contrary: Another Oil Spill in Alaska.
Olympia: Alaska pipeline shut down following oil spill: "Inspectors say BP's Alaska pipeline needs attention."
rebel ga: Mountaintop Removal An American Tragedy - Blowing the Tops Off Mountains.
Eclectablog: Permit for new coal-burning plant in Michigan: DENIED!!!: "In a sea of bad, very bad and even worse news on the ecological/energy front, score one for the good guys. Last Friday, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment (MDNRE) denied a permit for the Wolverine Power Supply Cooperative, Inc. to build a new coal-fired power plant in Rogers City, Michigan. While the permit was NOT issued, the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) issued a bit of a smack-down to Wolverine Power instead."
greendem: Oil Action - Let's Not Kill the Arctic Too: "By July the administration needs to make a decision about whether it will allow Shell Oil to begin installing oil rigs off America's Arctic coast."
harveywasserman: Will an "Emergency" Military Vote Tomorrow Fund More Nukes?: "As oil continues to gush into the Gulf of Mexico, a shocking vote tomorrow (Thursday, May 27) may rush $9 billion worth of taxpayer guarantees into building three new nuclear power plants---two of them on that already tortured Gulf of Mexico."
bogmanoc: Postscript on W: Bush speaks at the Windpower conference in Dallas.
Sue Sturgis: Special investigation: Disaster in East Tennessee: "A special Facing South investigation. Shortly before 1 a.m. on Dec. 22, 2008, a dike holding back an 84-acre pond of wet coal ash at the Tennessee Valley Authority's Kingston plant near Harriman, Tenn. ruptured and collapsed following weeks of heavy rains. A billion gallons of muddy, gray coal ash loaded with arsenic, lead and other contaminants poured across the nearby Emory River to the neighborhood along Swan Pond Road."
Sue Sturgis: Special investigation: Coal's dirty secret: " Coal ash is one of the country's biggest waste streams and is full of toxic substances, yet it remains virtually unregulated. Can Washington overcome the fierce opposition of energy interests to protect communities and the environment?"
Sue Sturgis: Power politics: Utilities vs. coal ash regulation: "After years of inaction, federal officials are mulling new regulations to confront the growing problem of coal ash. But energy companies have fought off regulation before, and they're fighting the new rules every step of the way."
Sue Sturgis: 'Dumpsites in Disguise': How some coal ash recycling threatens public health: "Coal ash isn't just dumped; it's increasingly being recycled into building materials and other uses. But in states like North Carolina, the failure to adequately regulate one so-called "beneficial use" of the toxic-filled waste is putting communities at risk."
Sue Sturgis What's next for coal ash?: "Disaster has pushed Washington to call for new standards for handling waste from coal-fired power plants. It's invited citizens to weigh in, but will their voices carry above lobbyists fighting tough regulations?"
Animals
Ellinorianne: Protecting the California Gray Whale - A Call to Action: "Tonight, the Dana Point City Council will call for further study and assessment of the California Gray Whale to find out if they are indeed thriving or barely making it. And the only organization dedicated to this whale, the California Gray Whale Coalition is not only pushing for study but for the Administration to demand that the Gray Whale be kept from whaling quotas."
Meteor Blades: EcoAdvocates: Where the Buffalo Don't Yet Roam: "...over the past 23 years, there has been a movement to repopulate the lightly populated areas of the West with vast new herds of genetically pure bison. That idea began with Deborah Epstein Popper and Frank J. Popper in a 1987 article in Planning, The Great Plains: From Dust to Dust."
Forests & the Great Outdoors
Ellinorianne: Help Save Back to Natives Restoration!: "Who does the work of Restoring Native Landscapes and maintaining them? It's done by Restoration Ecologists, non profits usually and the help of many agencies from local, State and Federal. All of these people work together to put together natural habitats that help keep biodiversity alive and well in our ecosystems and to help native and endangered species thrive. One of my local Ecological Restoration non-profits does so much amazing work, mostly with the help of volunteers and is in dire need of help. Because they must have insurance to cover those volunteers, they are asking people to help raise the money need to pay their annual premium. It's not a small sum."
LaughingPlanet: Great News: Indonesia Ends Its Deforestation: "Of course, the country will go on losing trees to illegal loggers, a constant struggle in this wild environment. But it is good to stop 100% of official logging for any period of time. The pledge to halt for at least two years is very encouraging. In addition to simple logging, the forests are in jeopardy because numerous and - fully legal - cash crops are encroaching upon the protected areas. Rubber, coffee, and other crops grown for export dominate the landscape."
Pollution & Hazardous Materials
Muskegon Critic: Algae Bloom Dead Zones in the Great Lakes: "Today I went down to the Big Lake on another beautiful day and found a thin, green film floating atop the water. Algae. Growing in the heat. It's a problem. A huge problem. And of course...of COURSE we only have ourselves to blame. Of course, right? So...let's talk phosphorous."
Green Cities & Green Economy
Kaid at NRDC: Village Green: Are Shop Windows Endangered as a Species?: "In LEED for Neighborhood Development, we tried to emphasize the importance of walkability with a streetscape that includes buildings with ground-level transparency."
Round-ups, Wrap-ups & Digests
eKos: eKos Earthship Monday: Cetaceans' Rights? Climate Change Super Computer and more..: " Should Dolphins and Whales Have 'Human Rights'?"
eKos: eKos Earthship Wednesday: "it's the climate, stupid!": "EU stops short of recommending 30% cut in emissions by 2020."
mark louis: Alternative Energy Round-Up: "There have been some pretty interesting developments on the hydrogen vehicle front." ROUNDUP
mark louis: Renewable Energy Round-Up: " Kia is planning to enter the hydrogen vehicle market in a big way."
Eco-Philosophy, Eco-Policy & Eco-Action
marvinborg: The Gulf Recovery, Jobs, Citizenship ACT: "It will take a couple of years, hundreds of thousands of people and billions in equipment to cleanup the Gulf, even if the hole is plugged today. Solve three problems in one go: - Clean the Gulf - Create jobs - Give undocumented migrants citizenship "
Fishgrease: Fishgrease: Booming The News Media: " We're being lied to, consistently, by BP, Our Government and in the most damaging fashion, by Our News Media. Before any of you jump my ass about making such an accusatory claim, irresponsibly, please let me admit that 'Lie' is a relative term."
CheckRaise: Bikers: Stop Ruining the Environment: "I commute 10 miles each way, so 20 miles a day. That’s a gallon of gas a day, which costs about $3. However, I’m not burning free energy. I’m burning calories. To ride 20 miles takes 800 to 1,000 calories. Next time you’re at the grocery story, try to buy 1,000 calories for around $3. Bottom line, you can’t do it. Calories are more expensive than gas. So, if you’re looking to save money riding based on gas alone, it’s not going to happen."
Democrats Ramshield: To Pres. & Members of Congress Given the Gulf Environmental Emergency - Please Nationalize BP!: "This action diary asks you to write to the your members of Congress to request that they immediately take action given the environmental emergency in the Gulf to nationalize British Petroleum and to conduct a full and fair investigation, which would bring all culpable parties to justice."
Democrats Ramshield: Should U.S. BP operations be Nationalized Given the World's Worst Environmental Disaster in the Gulf: "Does anybody out there reading this think that BP has any hope in hell of plugging this leak? Does anybody out there reading this think that has any hope in hell of being re-elected if he doesn't immediately stop the embodiment of the world's worst environmental disaster now taking place in the Gulf. If you want to elect a Republican as the next President of the United States then please feel free to sit back do nothing but if you want to re-elect please consider contacting your member of Congress on this important issue today."
Heather TaylorMiesle NRDC Action Fund: What the hell were THEY doing?: "Sometimes I think America is the proverbial child-star-gone-bad of nations: we have a crippling addiction, but we still won't go to rehab."
jamesboyce: Collective Failure. Singular Opportunity.: "My friend Peter Daou wrote a remarkable post, The Great Shame: America's Pathetic Response To The Gulf Catastrophe earlier this week ...One thing that struck me is this passage: This isn't Katrina II, it's worse. As the oil keeps gushing and the damage keeps growing, we are squandering a rare chance to turn the tide against those whose laziness and greed and ignorance is imperiling every living thing on our wonderful and beautiful -- and wounded --- planet.Words are a necessary precursor to deeds, anger is an essential ingredient for social change. Speaking up and speaking out is the difference between apathy and action.'"
J Orygun: We Need A Dept of Cleaning Up: " So what do we do when the oil hits the water? We need treat it like the invasion of a foreign enemy, 'cuz that's what it is. We need a government agency that is ready to go to work the day the next spill happens. We need a fire department for oil spills. We clearly don't have one."
Dcoronata : Alright, I've had enough of this. Politics and philosophy.: "Okay, hindsight is always 20/20, but the fact is in order to have everything ready for this sort of disaster, you have to rely on the government to educate, train, equip, warehouse, and transport all of the necessary people and tools. But since you've said the government is incapable of doing this, and 'we have to cut the cost of government,' well then, this too shows considerable philosophical schizophrenia."
A Siegel: Do we have a new 9/11 and Katrina in terms of an opportunity for national transformation?: "When it comes to a chance to change the nation for the better, this is 's 9/11 and Katrina rolled into one. 9/11 was an opportunity to mobilize Americans to end our addiction to oil. Katrina was an opportunity to turn the nation toward a sustainable path forward as a model for America and the Globe. has the opportunity to take action where George W Bush didn't..." .
bob zimway: Chaos at Chevron Shareholder Meeting: "Activists at the True Costs of Chevron Network, who organized the protest through Global Exchange are rallying today at Chevron's shareholder meeting, trying to bring the message of this environmental crime to the stakeholders."
water willow: Helping in the Gulf; preparing for and preventing future oil spills, hemorrhages and catastrophes: "Yet I know from experience that no matter how 'removed' from a situation I may think I be (not that I feel removed from this), I still have some responsibility and "control" over it, at least as relates to how I inform and shape my life in the light of what I am learning."
VotingTeamster: The Republicans are Right, Let's Nationalize the Oil Industry: "I say that President and Congress should do what the Republicans are asking and nationalize the oil industry. That's what they do in Norway and they've never had a major accident because the government enforces the strictest safety standards - regardless of profit motive."
davej: "Government Doesn't Have The Resources To Stop It": "People want to know, 'Why doesn't the government push BP aside and take over?' The answer is, 'Government doesn't have the resources to stop it.'"
eb23: Sponsored by BP; The Gulf of Mexico. FYYFF!: "So my girl and i got to play tourist last week at home here in New Orleans. We went to the Aquarium of the Americas. It was beautiful. It was fun. And it was also sad. But the thing that ticked me off the most was this image."
Cook for Good: Beefing about the Gulf? Don't eat more oil than you need: "It's easy to feel helpless while watching oil gush into the Gulf, spread to the wetlands, and ensnare wildlife. While most of us can't do anything about that disaster, we can make a difference by limiting the oil we use, starting with our food choices. Reduce demand for oil and watch the prices drop and the requests for drilling permits lose their urgency."
Dave925: This is what should happen to BP: "1. All of BP's assets within the United States, its possessions and territories are hereby frozen and seized."
angelajean: What Are You Doing to Lessen Demand for US Oil? Watch FUEL.: "It's been a while since I first saw the film FUEL. My boys and I were so impressed we watched it twice in one week and then went back a third time to take more people. It's a film with solutions. It's not a feel good film - if you have kids younger than 11 or so, you may not want them to see it. My youngest, 10 years old when he saw the movie, was engaged throughout, had tons of questions, and was already aware of the most bothersome clips in the film. You see, his Dad is military and had already gone to the Middle East. My son already understood the connection between our oil addiction and his dad's deployment. But not all kids are ready for this conversation, so be prepared."
hester: BP & Big OIL vs us (little people): What we can do: "[T]he catastrophe unfolding painful moment by painful moment in the Gulf, the cluelessness of some of the congresscritters and others in DC and the feeling of impotence most of us feel about the whole situation, there are things we can do. A lot of things."
Taming the FOX: So NOW we got Republican interest in big government: "I am amazed at the bald-faced nerve of the Republican party and its Media lapdogs to ask why EPA isnt on top of all the actions of BP that is harming the ecosystems in Lousiana."
jimstaro: Technologically Advanced at One Thing: "MAKING MONEY!!!! And that's ALL, that's what the whole business economy is geared to and who pays when they aren't regulated and that creates huge problems, like the criminal enterprises many have become, everyone does but them and their investors!"
chapter1: Peak Oil + Lemon Socialism = Oilpocolypses: "Drilling in mile-deep waters is necessary (if we are to continue to maintain supply in the face of Peak Oil) and it is expensive. Most of the expense is due to mitigating risk. So BP and friends keep profit for themselves, while ignoring risk-- i.e., shifting it to society. In this case, the costs were paid by all of us, especially shrimp fishermen, folks dependent on Gulf tourism, etc."
dbeall: Oil - So frustrating, the solution is so simple: "1. Gasoline at $10 a gallon. Increase Gas tax by $1 every year for ever. 3. Remove religion from Politics. God bless Humanity – May God Help America. 4. Regain moral authority by acting like decent human beings.( has started this process) 5. Reform US Democracy. (Public funding and create a non partisan oversight, redistricting. What the tea baggers do not understand that the problem with "Government" is in it's corruption. Corruption is caused by money."
Dr Teeth: Perception is No Longer Reality: "Some forty miles of the coast of Louisiana and some 5,000 feet under the warm currents of the Gulf of Mexico a message is being sent to land dwelling linguistically capable primates. The message is being carried by a hive of robotic servants via radio waves penetrating the dark and cold depths."
JRandomPoster: What Our Leaders Can Do: "I'm quite cognizant of the fact that there are no known good solutions at this point in time. But there are actions that can be taken to lead us both towards a solution to the ongoing crisis, towards prevention of further drilling incidents, and towards breaking our addiction to the wasteful use of our energy and resources that can be taken, and taken now. "
Mogolori: Musings on Political Memory and Large-Scale Crises: "The moral of this story is -- the way executive office-holders respond to and mitigate natural calamities, both man-made and climatological, serve as almost primal indicators to citizens of their capacity to govern. In democracies, voters will punish office-holders who demonstrate indecision, inattention, ineffectiveness and duplicity in response to a crisis."
Jill Richardson: Cuba Diaries: My Trip to Peak Oil: "With oil filling up the Gulf, I figured a diary about a country that got itself (mostly) off oil is a good idea. When the USSR collapsed, Cuba ran out of most of its oil nearly overnight. For the first four years, Cubans starved. Without agrochemicals and imports, they couldn't feed themselves. Then, out of necessity, they developed a system of agroecology and urban agriculture. Today, Cuba's one of the world's meccas of sustainable agriculture. I've just returned from spending 10 days there, visiting urban farms and gardens. The U.S. has a lot we could learn from Cuba."
James Paton Walsh: New Orleans, canary in a coal mine: " Here in Louisiana, I often feel that we are not really a part of the USA. I hear that in Alaska everybody gets a check from the government that represents a portion of the profits of the oil companies. In Louisiana we get kicked in the nuts by BP. It's as if we are a third world country that is accidentally attached to the mainland USA."
wbramh: BP - When Chaos Becomes Policy: "The BP oil disaster is a classic example of "The Butterfly Effect," a mathematics concept associated with "Chaos Theory." The Butterfly Effect suggests that the smallest of variables in any equation will cause wildly different results. When you ignore the probability of variables in complex real-world constructs, you invite failure - or worse, disaster."
windje: The One Percent Doctrine: "Dick Cheney's operating philosophy was to consider an event with a one percent probability of occurring as certainty when evaluating the policy/response of the administration. The one place we need that kind of thinking is when we drill for oil, especially underwater."
Lawguy101: The Unholy Alliance between Government and Business: "Bob Herbert's column Friday hit the nail on the head as to both the problem of the administration's tepid response to the BP oil disaster and why the response has been so lackadaisical."
bay of arizona: CBS: Americans oppose more offshore drilling: "45 percent said they were in favor of more offshore drilling in the new poll, while 46 percent said the associated costs and risks are too great. There is a significant political divide over this question, with most Republicans saying they favor further drilling, while most Democrats and independents did not."
Pontiuth Pilate: Deepwater's spilling half a percent of USA daily gas usage - can we boom our atmosphere now please?: "Now consider what DECADES of spilling TWO HUNDRED TIMES this flow of gas into the world, is doing to planet Earth.You can't fucking boom the AIR.."
miriam: Mystery of the Oil (with clues): " Questions: Is there any reason to hold elections when the true governing bodies in America are unelected corporations?"
Growthbuster: Everything You Wanted to Know About GrowthBusters: "Want a detailed explanation of my film, Hooked on Growth – why I’m making it, why we need it, what I hope to accomplish, how the film will be seen? Then drop in for a few beers with Steve! I’m the guest on the popular podcast, Two Beers With Steve. "
Politicians
TheRealAlasandra: About that Oil Spill ........Leak........Whatever you want to call it: "Rumor has it Haley Barbour was considering running for President. Considering his handling of the oil spill "no big deal according to him" I doubt he could get elected dog catcher. At least not by anyone who actually cares about our environment."
Crashing Vor: Dear Sen. Landrieu: "Dear Sen. Landrieu: NPR reported yesterday that you were joining Sen. Murkowski in objecting to raising the cap of liability for oil polluters from $75 million. Your reported reason: actually being liable for cleaning up after themselves would put mom-and-pop oil companies out of the offshore drilling game. ... Your excuse for maintaining the liability cap would be laughable, were it not for your long history of siding with petroleum interests over the needs of your constituents."
Dr Teeth: Mary Landrieu, WTF???: "She said that when the President comes, he better have some money, and not just loans. In effect she is saying that Louisiana needs a federal emergency fund on top of the guaranteed BP money."
slinkerwink: Senator Sanders Takes Action On The Oil Spill!: "'Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) introduced legislation that goes far beyond temporary bans on additional offshore drilling permits. The Vermont Independent-Socialist is calling for the reinstatement of bans that expired in 2008, which would fully prohibit permits for "exploration, development, or production of oil or natural gas" on the Pacific and Atlantic coasts as well as sections of the Gulf. In short, the bill would have the effect of essentially forcing the country to go cold turkey on offshore oil consumption.'"
Spud1: Pingree: BP Should Help Us Build Our Clean Future: Maine Congresswoman Chellie Pingree is Vice Co-Chair of the House Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition writes "There is an incredible renewable energy resource off both coasts of this country--wind and tidal energy that can power our economy, create good paying jobs and reduce greenhouse gas pollution. It's time for us to start using it and if big oil companies like BP make that transition a little easier, then there is some justice in the world."
Troutfishing: OR Republican Candidate: Dump Oil & Nuke Waste At Sea: "Amidst growing national outrage as oil from BP's deep-sea oil well blowout spreads across the Gulf of Mexico and has just reached the delicate Louisiana coastline, what's noteworthy about Arthur B. Robinson, running on the GOP ticket this year for Oregon's 4th Congressional District, is his stated support for disposing of oil and nuclear waste at sea which, according to Robinson, is the safest place in the world to dispose of certain types of industrial waste material."
Bill Prendergast: Bachmann update: there isn't enough offshore drilling: "Michele Bachmann? Quote: "Lifting the ban on offshore drilling is the right thing to do. We have the resources in ANWR and offshore to cut the prices at the pump."
Avenging Angel: Sarah Palin's Supposed Energy Expertise Backfires. Again: "Sadly for Palin, for years the Republican Party has been drilling directly into the bank accounts of the American oil and gas industry."
wade norris: The BP Oil Disaster and why this endorsement matters-DK Greenroots: " In light of the BP Oil disaster - we can no longer allow environmental issues to be a 'secondary' campaign topic - especially when we find out that the oil spill may continue all summer. DK Greenroots, a bloc of Environmental bloggers here at Daily Kos have started a candidate fundraiser page on Act Blue. ... Their first endorsement is Andrew Romanoff, candidate for US Senate whose opponent was part of the Conservadem group that has blocked climate legislation."
Clough4Congress : WHO PAYS: "Why should you or I have to pay a dime to clean up this horrible mess? Because of politicians like Doc Hastings, that's why. Big Oil money fills Hastings’ election coffers, as does Coal industry money, with moments precisely like these in mind." POLITICIANS
Climate Change
FishOutofWater: Record Global Heating Causing Arctic Meltdown: "Global surface temperature records have been shattered every day since the second week of January. ...Sea ice areas which had recovered to near normal levels in March are now at record lows for the date. Arctic sea ice area is in free fall because an exceptionally large percentage of the ice area in March consisted of very thin first year ice."
Frank Palmer: The 4 consequences of rising atmospheric CO2.
The Book Bear: The Business of Climate Change: ""Business is the force of change," said Richard Branson, a British industrialist, best known for his Virgin brand of over 360 companies. "Business is essential to solving the climate crisis, because this is what business is best at: innovating, changing, addressing risks, searching for opportunities. There is no more vital task."
pragprogress: Climate Skeptics Win Debate at Oxford: "Last week, members of the historic Oxford Union Society, "the world’s premier debating society", held a debate on climate change policy, with skeptics carrying the day by a vote of 135 to 110."
LaFeminista: Stop Scaring The Children with Global Warming!: "Goddamned socialist fascist liberal pinko commies with their global heating thingy, just like the bogeyman scaring the children. This must stop!!"
The Gulf Gusher
Frenchy Lamour: Did BP Oil Hit the MS Sound Yesterday?: "It appears that BP's oil has entered Mississippi Sound."
niccolo caldararo: Interior: Fire Salazar, Clear Out ex-lobbyists and GOP: "But what is most disturbing is how he has simply been hands off in office allowing Bush era regulations to stand and in the current crisis over the BP drilling catastrophe, he has allowed BP to call the shots on everything from how to deal with the problem to access to information."
Translator: Doc's Prescription for Natural Resources 20100525: "Here is my simple plan to fix it, and it is unlike the horrible Secretary of the Interior's plan. By the way, he should be fired this second. Why chose him is beyond be. I am referring to Kenneth Salazar, a lover of exploiting corporations. First, the environmental regulatory functions of MMS should be transferred to a new, specific part of the Environmental Protection Agency."
Knights of Dusk: Breaking: fires MMS Agency Chief.
niccolo caldararo: Unbiased Data and the Oil "Spill" Answering BP & Shell: "From the beginning of the so-called BP oil "spill" in the Gulf of Mexico, BP has dominated not only the manipulation of the crisis, the physical attempts to cap the well, minimize the damage to the environment and the responsibility for the explosion, it has suppressed information and its interpretation."
Something the Dog Said: Watching The Interior Secretary Play Dodgeball In NRC: "Interior Secretary Ken Salazar would have made a dodge ball player. In his testimony this morning before the House Natural Resources Committee he engaged in all five of the rules of dodgeball, he dodged, ducked, dipped, dived and dodged. Maybe it is his history of being a Senator but the Secretary would not be pushed off message in regards to what is going on at MMS, the Deepwater Horizon leak or the Administrations intention to continue to try to develop the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS)."
Steve Bloom: Why is a Bush mole running the key Interior policy unit?: "There's been much recent discussion of the need -- and Ken Salazar's failure so far -- to clean Bush appointees out of the Interior Department. Things are famously very bad at the Minerals Management Service (MMS), but a former Cato Institute "scholar" laboring in obscurity high up in the central administration is in a position to do similar damage. The mole is Indur Goklany and, as his personal publications page shows, his views are no secret."
Cedwyn: FERC, LNG & Offshore Drilling: What you can do: "Remember when the topic of offshore drilling approval broke recently, pre-Deepwater Horizon, and how part of that equation was what prerogatives did states retain vis-à-vis granting authorization? Because states should have final say, right? I certainly think so. FERC (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) oftentimes, though, does not. This was the case recently in Oregon, where FERC authorized LNG projects over the wishes of well, just about everybody -- Oregonians, Governor Kulongoski, even Senator Wyden."
SgtRocky1: Interior - Oil collusion in Gulf Spill?: "I find that Sylvia Baca, was the Assistant Secretary for Land and Mineral Management at the department of the Interior, from 1995 to 2001. (source: U.S. department of Interior) After taking a job at BP, she held several key positions; Vice president for Social Investment Programs and Strategic Partnerships (source: zoominfo.com); Global HSSE & emergency response director (source: BP.com's 'steering a cleaner course'."
zapus: This is not the candy store of the oil and gas ki: "No matter what you think of Ken Salazar (he's taken a somewhat undeserved beating on this site, IMO), this was a sweet truth laid on a Repug nit-wit from Colorado Springs..."
slinkerwink: Good News On Government Response To Oil Spill: "President Barack , fighting to stay ahead of the political storm over the Gulf oil spill, is expected to announce on Thursday that the government will impose tougher safety requirements and more rigorous inspections on off-shore drilling operations."
slinkerwink: The Government Can Federalize The Oil Spill!: "'...there’s no doubt, at least in the language of relevant federal law; President not only has the authority, but the obligation — however politically risky that might be — to take ownership of efforts to stanch the flow.'
hannah: Shaheen: Dissolve MMS: "Senator Jeanne Shaheen, Democrat representing New Hampshire, has called on Secretary Salazar to revamp the Department of the Interior by getting rid of the Minerals Management Service."
Dragon5616: MMA inspector on meth says IG report: "'In at least one case, an inspector for the Minerals Management Service admitted using crystal methamphetamine and said he might have been under the influence of the drug the next day at work, according to the report by the acting inspector general of the Interior Department.'"
Cedwyn: Presser Liveblog - "MMS needs a topkill of its own" Edition: "In any event, this is a lot of good news on what has been one damn dreary subject. So squidgle on down into your chairs and grab the popcorn; I want to see President forget he's on a family news channel."
Debbie Williams: My Faith in God Died in the Gulf of Mexico: "There cannot possibly be a God that would allow creatures to be tortured like the wildlife in the Gulf of Mexico. If there were a God, he would miraculously guide them out of the muck to a safer haven. If there were a God, he would have protected their marshes. If there were a God, he would miraculously stop the oil gusher." ECOPHILO
Troutfishing: BP's Accidental Terrorism Brings "Silent Spring" To America: "Is British Petroleum's accidental terrorism, born from greed and incompetence, worse than the intentional terrorism that took down the two World Trade Center towers on September 11, 2001? In 1962 the Bald Eagles were vanishing, and Rachel Carson's book Silent Spring warned America about the dangers of DDT - helping spark the environmental movement. But the Deepwater Horizon oil well blowout needs no book."
AntonBursch: I blame Anti-Gov VOTERS for the Gulf Disaster: " BP will pay for this financially. will pay for this politically. The people who vote against government will get away with having caused horrific damage to the gulf coast. In fact they will blame and Democrats... even though they vote to keep them from doing anything to prevent this from happening."
Daisy Cutter: Find embarrassing quotes from offshore oil advocates before the Gulf spill.
erinsf : Erin's "Dire" read continued....Katrina?.
tampamatt: no joke: two gents in the Bayou solve oil cleanup problem- ingenious: "[B]asically it is hay yeah HAY that will clean the gulf."