Welcome to the eKos Earthship, your one-stop-shop for green diaries and series.
Beneath the fold you will find announcements, today's eco-diary roundup and some cute animals of course.
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Tonight's editor: ellinorianne
Alternet has an amazing piece entitled, How Global Warming and Capitalism Are Deeply Intertwined by James Gustave Speth which is adapted from his book The Bridge at the Edge of the World: Capitalism, the Environment, and Crossing From Crisis to Sustainability (Yale). James Gustave Speth is co-founder of the Natural Resources Defense Council.
I think the theme is an important one because we have lived in a world where the value of the environment is very little until we've found a way to exploit and destroy and put a market value on those resources. The same can be said for human work, such as the work a mother does or a teacher (Sure they are paid, but as much as a hedge fund manager?)
Here are some excerpts:
The never-ending drive to grow the economy undermines families, jobs, communities, the environment, a sense of place and continuity, even national security--but we are told that, in the end, we will somehow be better off. America has not applied its growth dividend to meeting social and environmental needs. There is good evidence that increased incomes do not lead to greater satisfaction with life. In affluent countries we have what might be called uneconomic growth, to borrow Herman Daly's phrase, where, if one could total up all the costs of growth, they would outweigh the benefits.
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Parallel to transcending our growth fetish, we must move beyond our consumerism and hyperventilating lifestyles. In the modern environmental era, there has been too little focus on consumption. This is slowly changing, but most mainstream environmentalists have not wanted to suggest that the positions they advocate would require serious personal changes. This reluctance to challenge consumption has been a big mistake, given the mounting environmental and social costs of American "affluenza," extravagance and wastefulness.
The good news is that more and more people sense that there's a great misdirection of life's energy. In a survey 83 percent of Americans say society is not focused on the right priorities, 81 percent say America is too focused on shopping and spending, 88 percent say American society is too materialistic, 74 percent believe excessive materialism is causing harm to the environment. If these numbers are correct, there's a powerful base to build on.
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Environmentalists must join social progressives to address the crisis of inequality unraveling our social fabric and undermining democracy. It is a crisis of soaring executive pay, huge incomes and increasingly concentrated wealth for a small minority while poverty rates approach a thirty-year high, wages stagnate despite rising productivity, social mobility and opportunity decline, the number of people without health insurance soars, job insecurity increases, safety nets shrink and Americans have the longest working day of all the rich countries. In an America with such vast social insecurity, where half the families just get by, economic arguments, even misleading ones, trump environmental ones.
Environmentalists must also join those seeking to reform politics and strengthen democracy. America's gaping social and economic inequality poses a grave threat to democracy. We are seeing the emergence of a vicious circle: income disparities shift political access and influence to wealthy constituencies and large businesses, which further imperils the potential of the democratic process to act to correct the economic disparities. Corporations have been the principal economic actors for a long time; now they are the principal political actors as well. Neither environment nor society fares well under corporatocracy. Environmentalists need to embrace public financing of elections, lobbying regulation, nonpartisan Congressional redistricting and other reforms as a core of their agenda. Today's politics will never deliver environmental sustainability.
One area where fusion is beginning is the conversation between environmental and social justice activists on solutions, including green-collar ones, to the climate change threat. That's encouraging, but it's a small part of what's needed. Mostly, everyone is still in his or her silo. A sustained dialogue is urgently needed among the three communities, to build a common agenda for action and a shared commitment to build a new social movement for change in America. We are all communities of a shared fate. We will rise or fall together.
Study: LEED Homes are Not Necessarily Less Toxic
In a new study by Environment and Human Health, Inc. says that the current LEED system provides a false sense of security regarding the health and safety of its certified homes. A study conducted by the Connecticut based health-research non-profit released their results in LEED Certification: Where Energy Efficiency Collides with Human Health, "The purpose of this report is to evaluate the LEED program's standards that many assume protect human health from environmental hazards within the built environment."
The major point of this study is that, “A building may receive “platinum,” or the highest ranking in the LEED system, without any points being awarded in the category intended to protect human health.” The LEED program for “new construction and renovation” considers human health within its “indoor environmental quality”category, which is allotted 15 points out of a possible total point score of 110. Thus, human health concerns constitute only 13.6 percent of the total possible award.
The alarming trend that the study finds is that the final building structure comprises thousands of these chemicals, and many materials “off-gas”—or become airborne—and are inhaled by occupants. Chemicals often employed include respiratory stressors, neurotoxins, carcinogens, reproductive hazards, hormone mimics and developmental toxins. “Specifically, some of these chemicals include phthalates (used in floor and wall coverings), short-chain chlorinated paraffins (used in flame retardants), and per?uorinated chemicals (used in carpets and upholstery).” said Cambria Bold, writer for Re-Nest.
Chesapeake Bay Acid Affected Oysters
The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. It lies off the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by Maryland and Virginia. In its waters are abundant marine life but the environment is changing. The shells of young oysters in Chesapeake Bay are not getting as thick as they've been in the past, and higher acidity levels seem to be to blame.
The bay is mostly known for its great seafood production, especially blue crabs, clams and oysters. The plentiful oyster harvests led to the development of the skipjack, the state boat of Maryland, which is the only remaining working boat type in the United States still under sail power.
Today, the body of water is less productive than it used to be, because of runoff from urban areas (mostly on the Western Shore) and farms (especially on the Eastern Shore), over harvesting, and invasion of foreign species. The bay still yields more fish and shellfish (about 45,000 tons annually) than any other estuary in the United States.
In 2008 BP BRAGGED About Its Technology To Measure Spills
The August 2008 issue of Frontiers, BP's technology and innovation magazine, includes a lengthy feature, titled "Listening to the Flow." The article boasts of the company's "expertise [in] flow measurement." Determining how much oil and gas is flowing out of a pipeline is "tricky to do," the article says. It explains that BP had developed a technology called sonar-based flow metering, in which the flow of hydrocarbons is measured using sonar sensors placed inside a pipe. This technology is "proving its worth in the company’s operations around the world," the article says, noting that BP "has pioneered the introduction of a new and very useful tool into the wider oil industry."
According to the article, BP tested its technology in 2004 on a wet gas pipeline in Alaska and had already introduced around 45 sonar meters to oil fields. The company's research and development program manager told the magazine that BP planned to use the devices on underwater wells, too.
Commercial whaling may make a come back, in that it will be legal and regulated but completely legitimized by the International Whaling Commission. Currently the Japanese whale under the guise of the loophole in the 1986 moratorium as scientific research and the left over whale meat is sold as food. But many have suspected that whale meat is sold out of the Country on the black market for big money. Now, there is proof.
Japanese Whalers Building Homes, Buying Cars With Illegally Sold Whale Meat: Former Whaler
Even before we arrived in the Antarctic Ocean," he says of a recent expedition, "the more experienced whalers would talk about taking whale meat home to sell. It was an open secret. Even officials from the Institute of Cetacean Research [a quasi-governmental body that organises Japan's whaling programme] on the ship knew what was happening, but they turned a blind eye to it."
Kujira, who worked aboard the Nisshin Maru mother ship, saw crew members helping themselves to prime cuts of whale meat and packing them into boxes they would mark with doodles or pseudonyms so they could identify them when the vessel reached port. "They never wrote their real names on the boxes," he said.
10 Rare and Endangered Animals Having a Bad Hair Day
For example: the Sulawesi Black-Crested Macaque, a monkey that lives in the rainforest. Stefano Unterthiner won the 2008 prize for Animal Portraits from the Natural History Museum for this photo of Troublemaker, a black-crested macaque that he said "would leap at me and kick off my back like a trampoline. It was part play, part confrontation, part attention-seeking, part curiosity."
Eco-series line-up:
(All times Eastern!)
Today's eKos diaries:
Author | Diary | Time | Tags |
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Fishgrease | Fishgrease: Booming BP Execs | 06/14/10 12:05AM Eastern | Recommended, Gulf Oil Spill, BP, dkos booming school, deepwater horizon |
Liveblog | BP Catastrophe Liveblog Mothership: #20 | 06/14/10 02:10AM Eastern | Oilpocalypse, BP, Deepwater Horizon, Gulf of Mexico, LMRP |
StepLeftStepForward | Regulation, Litigation & "Canada's Deepwater Horizon" | 06/14/10 08:31AM Eastern | offshore drilling, death and destruction, Deepwater Horizon, Ocean Ranger, BP Gusherf*ck |
Crashing Vor | Mr. Sandman | 06/14/10 09:19AM Eastern | New Orleans, Louisiana, oil spill, Deepwater Horizon, sand berms |
Pam LaPier | An Ancient Tradition | 06/14/10 09:39AM Eastern | Gulf of Mexico, sea turtle, oil spill, ancient, eKos |
Leo W Gerard | Greed Explains the Disasters and the Lying Afterwards | 06/14/10 03:17PM Eastern | Recommended, United Steelworkers, USW, United Mine Workers of America, UMWA |
Richard Lyon | Economics Of Alternative Energy | 06/14/10 03:58PM Eastern | energy economics, renewable energy, eKos |
asterlil | Volunteer Boom Department | 06/14/10 04:09PM Eastern | oilpocalypse, oil spill, boom, eKos |
Jed Lewison | After prodding, BP delivers more aggressive oil capture plan | 06/14/10 04:20PM Eastern | BP, oil, eKos |
Unenergy | The Five Flawed Choices of the Oilpocalypse? | 06/14/10 05:19PM Eastern | Recommended, BP, Deepwater Horizon, Halliburton, Henry Waxman |
beach babe in fl | Macca's Meatless Monday...A Hard Rock Night | 06/14/10 06:02PM Eastern | eKos, vegetarian, vegan, green, meat production |
jamess | News, that BP would rather, you not Use. | 06/14/10 07:54PM Eastern | Recommended, National Wildlife Federation, NWF, Chris Pulaski, Doug Inkley |
icebergslim | U.S. Government, Stop BP from destroying the evidence | 06/14/10 09:21PM Eastern | bp, u.s. government, coast guard, marine life, rick ott |
Yesterday's eKos diaries:
Author | Diary | Time | Tags |
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RLMiller | Clean Energy: an Unimpressive Response to Disaster. | 06/13/10 07:22PM Eastern | Recommended, climate change, global warming, S. 1462, S. 3434 |
Edger | Oil Leaks From Gulf Seabed Cracks Around BP's Well Site? | 06/13/10 09:15PM Eastern | eKos, Blow Out Preventer, BOP, Viking Poseidon ROV1, Deepwater Horizon |
Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse | BP Restricts Media Access to Wildlife Rehab Centers | 06/13/10 10:24PM Eastern | Recommended, climate change news roundup, environment, climate change, BP |
dengre | Oil Spill: It's all about the pressure and how to control it... | 06/13/10 11:33PM Eastern | Recommended, Oil leak solutions, Containment cap, Oilpocalypse, BP |
Liveblog | BP Catastrophe Liveblog Mothership: #19 | 06/13/10 01:28AM Eastern | Oilpocalypse, BP, Deepwater Horizon, Gulf of Mexico, LMRP |
Crashing Vor | Jail Just One | 06/13/10 09:42AM Eastern | Recommended, New Orleans, Louisiana, Gulf of Mexico, oil spill |
jamess | Addicted to Oil, in Congress it's Business as Usual; Gates gives a Warning | 06/13/10 10:11AM Eastern | Addicted To Oil, Bill Gates, Lindsey Graham, Richard Lugar, George W. Bush |
Christian Dem in NC | White House plans to force BP to set aside money to pay damages | 06/13/10 12:29PM Eastern | Barack Obama, BP, BP oil spill, Recommended, Deepwater Horizon |
Vyan | BP Blocks Media Access to Cleanup Workers | 06/13/10 12:32PM Eastern | BP, Oil Spill, Media, Recommended, eKos |
icebergslim | Until White House Behavior Changes.... | 06/13/10 12:42PM Eastern | bp, barack obama, obama administration, gulf coast, eKos |
shpilk | Where's the mass protests? | 06/13/10 02:54PM Eastern | Bp, ekos, activism, corporatism, ecology |
slinkerwink | A Great Diary You Guys Missed | 06/13/10 03:02PM Eastern | BP, eKos, 2010, White House, oil spill |
MinistryOfTruth | Rand Paul OOPS: "It's not JUST me pandering to coal; people like having the flat land" | 06/13/10 05:18PM Eastern | KY-Sen, 2010 elections, Rand Paul, OOPS, idiot |
About eKos
The Idea
This project was inspired by the Earth Day @ DKos Blogathon. In case you missed it, we had 31 participating environmental diaries, all of which were linked to in the Mothership. During the event we had several requests for an eco-mothership diary series in the mould of the Earth Day effort.
The Mission
eKos is all about promoting community eco-diaries. Daily Kos already showcases several series, but sometimes the work of dedicated green diarists pass off the recent diary list hardly noticed. Our goal is to make these diaries more accessible. In the process we hope to build community and bring in a broader audience to the exceptional environmental writing here at DK.
How eKos Works
If you want a diary included in the list, please let us know by leaving a comment. We'll do our best to search out green diaries, but are bound to miss a few. For eKos to live up to it's full potential, eco-diarists should post a link to the Earthship, or place the widget at the end of their diary. This will provide readers with easy access to other recent environmental diaries.
Tag Rules
If you want to help out with tagging, here are a few simple rules to follow:
- If you see an eco-diary or front page story, tag it 'eKos'. and inform the diarist.
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eKos Rangers
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