Welcome to the eKos Earthship, your one-stop-shop for green diaries and series.
Beneath the fold you will find news and notes, community announcements, and our eco-diary roundup.
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Tonight's editors: patrick, boatsie, and Hopeful Skeptic
All views expressed by today's editor do not necessarily represent those of eKos or eKos listed diarists.
The Editor's Choice spotlight falls on DWG's excellent diary, "Environmental extremists" about to attack shale gas drilling in PA?.
One of the most clever smear campaigns ever devised was to equate environmental activism with terrorism. One testament to the success of that hyperbolic deception emerged recently in Pennsylvania, home to booming shale gas drilling operations in the Marcellus Formation. Abrahm Lustgarten at Propublica describes an intelligence briefing that went out to law enforcement officials in the state warning of possible acts of "environmental extremism."
Two MASSIVE fish kills in less than a week
The cause(s) are still under investigation, but it seems awfully suspicious that these fish kills seem to be getting worse since the oil spill.
They actual deaths of fish is very likely due to lack of oxygen. But the big question is what are the factors contributing to the low oxygen levels?
There is some indication that the tides and temperatures are to blame:
Department biologists found the fish kill in Bayou Chaland had nothing to do with the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, Olivia Watkins (a spokesperson for the Louisiana F&W Dept.) said. Watkins said the area is bounded on one side by a rock dam, with a shallow pass to the Gulf of Mexico on the other.
"When the tide is low, it becomes a pool," she said. "We had a low tide and all the fish got trapped" in water less than 2 feet deep. Hot water holds less oxygen than cold water, and heat speeds metabolisms so plants and animals need more oxygen. The fish suffocated because the water held too little oxygen to keep them alive, Watkins said. Such fish kills are common in Louisiana's shallow waters in late summer and early fall.
But there are indicators that this is a new level of horrible:
P.J. Hahn, coastal zone director for the parish, said the parish would like to see more testing of the area where the kill was reported to determine whether oil from the BP spill contributed to the kill, as well as earlier fish kill reported last week.
"These are pretty sizable kills,'' he said in an Associated Press story. "We have never seen large fish kills like this or the frequency of then prior to the spill.''
So, the problem clearly started with the massive amounts of fertilizer runoff into the Mississippi...and the warmer waters (partly thanks to global warming) are making these fish kills a relatively common occurrence.
And finally... we have BP oil-eating microbes that may be exacerbating the problem such that the frequency and size of these kills is unprecedented.
Welcome to the interconnected world of delicately balanced ecosystems, where small changes cause massive consequences.
La Via Campesina (International Peasant's Movement) denounces Gates Foundation purchase of Monsanto Company share
Glendive, Montana. La Via Campesina (www.viacampesina.org), a global peasant movement representing small farmers, landless workers, fisherfolk, rural women, youth and indigenous peoples, with 150 member organizations from 70 countries on five continents, has denounced the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust’s recent acquisition of Monsanto Company shares. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation was founded in 1994 by Microsoft founder William H. Gates, and today exerts a hegemonic influence on global agricultural development policy. The Foundation channels hundreds of millions of dollars into projects that encourage peasants and farmers to use Monsanto’s genetically-engineered (GE) seed and agrochemicals. In August the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust, which manages the $33.5 billion asset trust endowment that funds the Foundation’s philanthropic projects (and to which Bill & Melinda are trustees) disclosed that it purchased 500,000 shares of Monsanto shares for just over $23 million.(1)
According to Dena Hoff, a diversified family farmer in Glendive, Montana and North American coordinator of La Via Campesina, "The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust’s purchase of Monsanto shares indicates that the Gates Foundation’s interest in promoting the company’s seed is less about philanthropy than about profit-making. The Foundation is helping to open new markets for Monsanto, which is already the largest seed company in the world."
Earthship Shoutout to Portland's CityRepair
"City Repair is an organized group action that educates and inspires communities and individuals to creatively transform the places where they live. City Repair facilitates artistic and ecologically-oriented placemaking through projects that honor the interconnection of human communities and the natural world. The many projects of City Repair have been accomplished by a mostly volunteer staff and thousands of volunteer citizen activists.
City Repair began in Portland, Oregon with the idea that localization - of culture, of economy, of decision-making - is a necessary foundation of sustainability. By reclaiming urban spaces to create community-oriented places, we plant the seeds for greater neighborhood communication, empower our communities and nurture our local culture.
Our projects include the annual Village Building Convergence, where people gather at neighborhood sites throughout Portland to engage in intersection repair, natural building, and other forms of placemaking. We also host Earth Day, the Village Planting Convergence (also known as City Riparian), and operate a mobile tea house called the T-Horse. "
The FIREFLY COMMUNITY LANTERN WALK is a community-based event held to promote connection to natural cycles. The event seeks to create a space for Portland community members to gather together to acknowledge the passing from summer to autumn – to celebrate harvesttime and the shifting in balance of light.
Participants are asked to bring a lantern or lights to carry along the route. Creativity is encouraged! There will be a ReWare event on September 19th focussed on making lanterns- see Reware events page at http://cityrepair.org/... for more information.
Lighted bikes would be grand! Bicyclists are encouraged to start out first and be a vanguard for the procession.
Help Pakistan
Greg (Three Cups of Tea, Stones Into Schools) Mortenson's non-profit (CAI) recommends supporting a local (Pakistani) group to which donations will likely have a large, immediate, and lasting impact-
Human Development Foundation
http://www.hdf.com
(800) 705 1310
From their page about the flooding:
HDF is committed to work towards relief and reconstruction efforts in flood affected HDF program areas including Mardan and Tandoo Muhammad Khan. HDF already has the existing infrastructure and a team of trained employees and volunteers in place. Currently there is need for basic necessities like tents, blankets, cooking sets, utility containers, soap and bedding as well as, basic healthcare.
More details and videos at their site and their YouTube channel.
• • • • • •
Other groups that deserve support as well.
Doctors without Borders (MSF):
DONATE
The Red Cross:
DONATE
OXFAM:
OXFAM's Pakistan page:
With an estimated 6 million people in need of humanitarian assistance, I am concerned that so far the international community hasn’t responded with the speed or on the scale warranted by a disaster of this magnitude.
DONATE
• • • • • •
From the US State dept.
How You Can Help:
Text "SWAT" to 50555; $10 goes to fund for flood victims
Annoucement: by boatsie. Countdown to 10.10.10.
"It’s time for us to roll up our sleeves and get to work on building the clean energy future that will generate economic opportunity and provide a better, safer, healthier world for our children. On October 10, I encourage everyone to do his / her part to be part of the solution to the climate challenge." Ban Ki Moon, Secretary General of the United Nations
If you haven't yet signed up for a 10.10.10 event near you, time's a'wasting. Daily Kos is partnering with the 350 and 10.10 Global coalition to promote Global Day of Action workpaties on 10.10.10. (See Ecoadvocates series by 10:10 Global Guest Bloggers)
Sign up for an event near you!
Calculate your carbon footprint and download your personal checklist with easy tips on small changes you can make in your lifestyle to reach the desired 10% decrease in one year.
What Can I Do 10.10.10 Resources
Have any exceptional events you'd like to showcase on 10:10 global? Mention them below and I'll include them on the 10:10 global blog!
(All times Eastern!)
eKos diaries from Friday, September 17, 2010 |
Diary | Author | Time (Eastern) | Tags |
Facebook ... unFriend unfriendly Coal | A Siegel | 2:57:12 PM | ekos, facebook, coal, it centers, data centers |
BP and the Gov't: Setting Precedent, Reforming Image* | scorpiorising | 7:53:16 AM | ekos, Rescued, BP, NOAA, EPA |
BP Catastrophe Liveblog Mothership: 115 | Gulf Watchers | 6:00:00 AM | Recommended, Oilpocalypse, BP, Deepwater Horizon, Gulf of Mexico, LMRP |
eKos diaries from Thursday, September 16, 2010 |
Diary | Author | Time (Eastern) | Tags |
"Environmental extremists" about to attack shale gas drilling in PA? | DWG | 6:42:21 PM | natural gas drilling, dirty energy, Marcellus Shale Formation, Propublica, Abrahm Lustgarten |
Double Trouble: Chevron's Ecuador Gameplan Slowly Unravels | njmagel | 5:34:00 PM | climate, chevron, activism, ecuador, rainforest |
Domestic surveillance program exposed as corporate tool | Deep Harm | 4:02:10 PM | Recommended, domestic surveillance, activists, spying, corporatocracy, eKos |
Join more than 100 candidates in the Green New Deal Coalition | greenferret | 12:54:34 PM | ekos, Environment, labor, unions, activism |
An Egregious Case of Journalistic Distortion | NRDCActionFund | 12:14:00 PM | nrdc action fund, clean energy, climate change, ekos |
Threat Remains Despite VA Coal Plant Delay | Bruce Nilles | 11:34:05 AM | eKos, coal ash, coal, Sierra Club, EPA |
Energy COOL Live Event: Progressive Automotive X-Prize | A Siegel | 10:45:15 AM | ekos, progressive automotive x-prize, x-prize, automotive, energy |
Introducing Nourishing the Planet TV! | NourishingthePlanet | 10:15:59 AM | Ekos, Nourishing the Planet, TV, NtP TV, Innovations |
Dear Republicans: Climate Change is Just Not That Into You | Steven D | 7:22:51 AM | Climate Change, Global Warming, Arctic Sea Ice, Polar Bears, Walruses |
BP Catastrophe Liveblog Mothership: 114 | Gulf Watchers | 6:00:25 AM | Recommended, Oilpocalypse, BP, Deepwater Horizon, Gulf of Mexico, LMRP |
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