Some eco-advocates may not have heard about the We Are One actions that are taking place this weekend and especially on April 4. The Sierra Club has:
On Monday, April 4, thousands of members of the Sierra Club will participate in the massive "We Are One" Day of Action in 20 cities across the country. The Day of Action includes tens of thousands of members of labor unions, civil rights, environmental, faith, student, economic justice, LBGTQ, immigrant rights and community groups participating in rallies, marches and other public actions to commemorate the 43rd anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination, as he marched for economic and social justice for Memphis sanitation workers.
"Today, Dr. King’s vision of a just, equitable America is under attack by corporate polluters and their political allies across the nation," said Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune. "The Sierra Club is marching on April 4 in solidarity with the working families of America, and we are committed to protecting Americans' fundamental rights to bargain for good jobs and fair treatment, to breathe clean air and drink clean water."
On Monday, Sierra Club members and environmentalists will rally alongside of members of the labor and civil rights movements for our common vision of a healthy, safe, equitable and prosperous America. In states including Indiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Maine and Wisconsin, Sierra Club members will speak out against state legislation and budget cuts that harm our environment and working families.
In Memphis, Tennessee, dozens of activists with the Sierra Club Environmental Justice program will march in solidarity with union partners in the 43rd Annual Martin Luther King Commemorative March to the Memphis City Hall. Sierra Club members will also join a community BBQ hosted by AFSCME Local 1733 commemorating the death of Dr. King.
In Indiana, Sierra Club members and volunteers will rally at the Indianapolis Statehouse to renew Dr. King's commitment to collective bargaining and fair wages for all people. This will be followed by a media event of labor allies where Bowden Quinn, the Conservation Program Coordinator for the Hoosier Chapter, will speak on the common goals working families and environmentalists share. Sierra Club will also participate in a memorial to Dr. King and the work he did to aide working families.
In St. Paul, Minnesota, Sierra Club will march alongside labor union members as they walk to the State Capitol. Once there, Margaret Levin, the North Star Chapter Director, will speak about our common vision for a healthy and safe America. She also present a petition signed by over 10,000 Sierra Club members and 1,200 Minnesotans, showing their support of working families. …
In northeast Arizona, the Sierra Club is partnering with Native American grassroots organizations including the Black Mesa Water Coalition, Dine Citizens Against Ruining Our Environment (Dine CARE), To Nizhoni Ani and the Center for Biological Diversity to get to the bottom of the Peabody Coal Company’s destructive coal mining practices in Black Mesa. The group recently sued the Office of Surface Mining (OSM) in federal court for withholding records related to Peabody Western's coal mining operations - including a copy of a current, valid operation permit for Peabody's Black Mesa and Kayenta mines.
If you need more information about the Sierra Club's efforts in this arena, go here.
• • • • •
Green Diary Rescue appears every Saturday afternoon. Inclusion of a particular diary does not necessarily indicate my agreement with it. The rescue begins below and continues in the jump.
• • • • •
Detroit Mark took an uplifting look at the possibilities in the city of his namesake: Detroit Experiment: Putting the Concrete Blocks Down: "Imagine the City of Detroit 20 years on when the blight is mopped up and traded in for new blocks of urban farm land. It's something new. Project planners aren't talking about completely de-volving back to our earliest Pioneer roots by suggesting some land plots are used for agriculture. They're suggesting something that's never quite been done before on the scale and dynamic that's being suggested in Motown. Urban Farming." ...
But imagine seeing the city that twisted the iron and boiled the chrome that made the cars of the world go from smoke-belching industry monolith ... to a city dotted with rooftops and fruit crops in equal measure.
(Photo by Detroit Mark)
Green Policy, Green Philosophy & Green Activism
DebtorsPrison wrote about Authentic Eco-lodges: "Ah, ecotourism! Something to dream about: Adventuring in lush natural settings while conserving the environment and benefiting the locals...Aaugh, ecotourism! Something to argue about: Flying halfway around the world in some polluting aircraft to add stress to fragile ecosystems and gawk at the locals... There's truth in both arguments, but the sumptuously photographed book Authentic Ecolodges wants us to believe that you can have a comfortable and even pampered vacation in a fabulous wilderness location in places that are off the grid, locally owned, locally sourced and as environmentally low-impact as possible."
Why America Slept was Reverend Billy's version of the apocalypse: "There were hundreds of millions of Kindles and Nooks frozen in death, stuck on one page – 'Why America Slept.' You can say one thing about us, we were a species that scribbled, texted, hologrammed and burst a blood vessel of pixels in the final years. Every last atrocity was broadcast virally. By 2015, every consumer could make a major feature film with a gadget fitted to the hand."
Women working with mangrove seedlings in Char Kukri Mukri discussed the plight of some people already being affected by climate change in
"we are all passengers on the same lifeboat." ecojustice @ CBA: "'We are not taking into account that we are all passengers on the same lifeboat. The climate ark. The climate ark is a very insignificant place compared to the whole universe.' Dr. Hassan Mahmood, Minister of Environment & Forests, Bangladesh, addressing the 5th International Conference on Community Based Adaptation to Climate Change. Dhaka, Bangladesh. March 28, 2011."
In another installment of The Inoculation Project, hyperbolic pants explosion discussed Habitats & Life Cycles!: "Solid science education is the best inoculation against ignorance. The objective of this weekly project is to combat the anti-science push in conservative America by providing direct funding each week to math and science projects in red state classrooms."
Nulwee got personal in What I've Been Working On: "My relationship with Mother Earth is the most important and inviolate part of my identity as a person of indigenous descent. Whether dwelling in the homeland of my ancestors or Hawaii, the land of the kānaka ʻōiwi, the ʻāina (Hawaiian for earth) and my love for her is the same. I attempt to help heal the invasions, and usher renewal and return for the littlest things. If I volunteer to protect the old ways of the ingenious native Hawaiian aquaculture, it is still assisting that balance. More commonly, I assist in government wildlife conservation. Sometimes, I do this on my own in the wild, because my appetite proves too extreme for friends, casual hikers most of them."
Affinity4Democracy warned in The Accidental Terrorist that "Bottom Line [is that] the US government has been ineffective at protecting the US population from the hazards of radiation."
Green Communities & Sustainability
In two new installments of the Village Green Kaid at NRDC wrote about The emerging rebirth of Cherokee Street, St. Louis: "The Cherokee Street News is a great resource for learning about the neighborhood, as is a treasure trove of photos (some of which you see here) on the Cherokee Street Photos site. From afar, I have to admire both what the community appears to have to work with and the commitment of its residents to continue the progress."
And, for April Fool's Day, how House leaders surprised people with national land use bill: "The America the Beautiful Act would require all 50 states to supervise land use plans created by their municipalities to ensure that priority for new residential and commercial land development be given to areas falling within the boundaries of existing cities and towns. In a companion statement, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said, 'The era of strip malls and junky subdivisions desecrating the beautiful blue grass fields of Kentucky is over. Especially with gas prices again hovering over four bucks a gallon, Americans are tired of having to drive ten miles just to take their kids to school.'"
Mr Horrible showed us some models for everywhere in "We are green and self-sufficient": "'In Italy, one municipality in eight is electrically self-sufficient thanks to solar, wind, biomass, and geothermal sources. In Lecce, more energy is produced from solar than in Freiburg, the capital of German solar energy. Renewable energy is present in at least 94% of Italian municipalities. Accused of being too expensive, marginal, and complex, sources of green power have published 'Communi Rinnovabili 2011' that shows how alternative energy in Italy has become commercially viable.'" Link.
ALifeLessFrightening wrote another diary in the Living Simply series, which is "a group to explore and share sustainable, simple living ideas among fellow progressives. For the urban, rural, or wannabe homesteader, this is a place to share information to simplify everyday life. Sustainable skills such as gardening, food production and storage, do-it-yourself projects for the home or farm, and backyard chickens and other livestock, as well as eco-conscious philosophies such as cooperative living, eco-cities, the Slow Food movement, and being a mindful consumer are but a few potential topics of interest here."
Energy
Giles Goat Boy was pleased because a Bulls**t-Fueled Power Plant Opens In Dane County, WI: "I hope I don't outsmart myself with this double-reverse April Fools Day diary. Reading my headline, one might assume that this diary is a joke. It's not. Dane County, Wisconsin farmers and local officials held a ceremony yesterday to mark the start of operation of a manure digester that will generate electricity. Thursday, Dane County officials were joined by farmers and utility officials and others to flip a ceremonial switch and power up the state's first cooperative manure digester."
A report on British Petroleum's Gulf activities spurred rb137 to write Deepwater Horizon Post Mortem Blowout: " On March 20, the Department of the Interior released the final Deepwater Horizon autopsy report, Forensic Examination of Deepwater Horizon Blowout Preventor. You can view the entire document here, in this very large .pdf file. This report is full of great photos and illustrations, so it's worth the time to download it and look. All illustrations in this section are taken from the report linked here. "
jamess cheered a breakthrough in Finally! Using Salts to trap and store Solar Energy, leveraging the Physics of Latent Heat: " 'Thermal Energy Storage using inorganic molten salt mixtures.' Umm ... What took them so long? I learned about the Phase-State-Change Energy effect -- way back in my 10th Grade Physics class, many, many years ago. It's just Physics ... and it is an Energy Resource, that could end up 'Trapping Sunlight in a Bottle.'... tucked away safely for that inevitable 'rainy day'..."
Jerome a Paris explained some intricacies of the business he plies in Financing energy infrastructure: "I had the opportunity to make a presentation outlining some of the points I've made here on many occasions (the importance of the cost of capital, the difference between profitable and cheap, and the fact that 'market-based' policies are not technology neutral) and as these themes are not specific to Europe but also largely apply to the USA I'm copying the slides below the fold with some accompanying comments."
citisven gave us a European viewpoint in The Irrational Fear of Nukes - A German Perspective: "As the rescue efforts at the Fukushima plant continue to stumble and fumble along, the discussion about nuclear energy has been in full swing around the globe. The week after the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, the Swiss government suspended plans to replace and build new nuclear plants pending a safety review. In Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel announced a three month moratorium on last year’s decision to extend the life of the country's 17 nuclear power stations and ordered a temporary shutdown of several of its older plants. Even China, with some 26 nuclear reactors under construction a country far from skittish when it comes to generously placing its energy eggs into the nuclear basket, suspended approval for all new nuclear power plants until the government can issue revised safety rules."
Drowning America in a tar pit is how DWG sees the feeding of a certain habit: "British Columbian news magazine The Tyee covers the tar sands oil political fight in a series by Geoff Dembicki called "War Over Oil Sands." It reveals why America is on the verge of embracing a fuel source that benefits Canada and oil companies, but scuttles our climate, affordable clean energy, and low carbon energy job creation needs."
Educate your local reps about wind power before the wackiness starts, Muskegon Critic urged: "Last week, Tuesday and Wednesday, I traveled from Muskegon, Michigan to Boston, Mmaassaacchhuusseettss (I'm never sure which letters are doubles in that name so I'm just playing it safe and going with ALL of them). I went to an offshore wind activists forum funded by an organization called the Civil Society Institute. There were about a dozen of us, representatives of offshore wind activist groups from around the Great Lakes and East Coast. The Civil Society Institute brought us all together so the 12 or so of us could talk shop about our various experiences working to promote offshore wind projects in our area."
DWG bemoaned how the United States is Falling behind in the clean energy race: "We are number one in military spending, but our investment in clean energy is lagging far behind China and Germany. A new report from the Pew Foundation lays out the numbers in a report entitled, 'Who's Winning the Clean Energy Race? 2010 Edition.' 'The Americas region is a distant third in the race for clean energy investment, attracting $65.8 billion overall in 2010. Investments in the United States rebounded 51 percent over 2009 levels to reach $34 billion, but the United States continued to slide down the top 10 list, falling from second to third. Given uncertainties surrounding key policies and incentives, the United States' competitive position in the clean energy sector is at risk.'"
And also Punked Enbridge and its dirty little pipeline: "Activist group The Yes Men have gotten under the skin of another bastion of corporate irresponsibility. The target this time is Enbridge, one of two companies that bring tar sands oil to global markets. Enbridge's latest brainchild is the 731-mile Northern Gateway pipeline from Alberta to a new marine terminal in Kitimat, British Columbia. The dual pipeline system will cross rivers and other sensitive ecosystems, bringing tar sands oil to the port while importing natural gas condensates to Alberta. "
yuriwho braved the flames in I am pro-Nuclear: "We can face it head on or we can bury our heads in the sand and pretend that wind or solar power can provide the energy we use today. It's all BS. Our only chance to lower CO2 worldwide right now is Nuclear power. We can conserve, we can reduce our habit, however it's clear. ... we are addicted to cheap energy.I want to keep the patient alive. To do that we need cheap energy with no emissions."
Erich Pica discussed the other side of that perspective in Don't Jump to Conclusions About Nuclear Reactors: Look at the Facts and Say No: "Nuclear proponents' claims that the industry is clean and safe miss the mark. It takes tons of fossil fuels to mine and transport uranium, leading to about 250,000 tons of CO2 each year during a 1,250 MW plant's lifetime. And, studies show that uranium miners in the American Southwest were exposed to radon 220, a radioactive gas, and as many as one in five developed lung cancer."
A bit of anger could be detected in Michael Brune's Time for Humility: "Anyone who would commit us to a 'nuclear renaissance,' and assert that all of these factors can be accounted for over that stretch of time, has succumbed to either myopia or arrogance. We would be committing our children, our grandchildren, and all of our descendants, for as far into the future as our imaginations can conceive, to watch over an ever larger cache of lethal waste that must be protected from release, no matter the cost or the sacrifice, to safeguard human life."
LeftOfYou offered an expert's view of the subject in The Black Fox that Died Aborning: "First I'll disclose that I am a fully trained opponent of utility scale nuclear power plants located anywhere; beyond certain small applications such as nuclear medicine and naval propulsion, I oppose all large scale nuclear applications anywhere on the planet. My training began one fine Spring day as I was serving as a Lt(jg), stationed on a ship in Connecticut, off the ship while exercising submarine attacks in a land-based simulator, along with my McHale's Navy style colleagues, from our about to be scuttled, World War II, reserve destroyer, where I was waiting out the Viet Nam War."
Unhappy Anniversary, 32 Years Later was Joieau's history lesson on nuclear power: "Thirty-two years ago today the shiny new pressurized water reactor on an island in the Susquehanna River in south central Pennsylvania suffered a loss of coolant accident that led to a partial meltdown of the reactor core and released radioactive isotopes to blanket the peaceful countryside. It began at 4 a.m., about the time when dairy farmers were waking up and donning their boots and jackets to make their way through the early spring fog toward barns to milk the cows. There was a strange metallic taste in the air, some reported later."
In another installment of the Pique the Geek series, Translator explained How Nuclear Reactors Work. Part the Second.
slippytoad told us what he believes to be The Real Reason Gas Prices Rise: "'Dan Dicker, who has spent nearly three decades in the oil market, has a profoundly disturbing explanation of why the price of oil, and the gasoline that comes from the crude product, has risen so dramatically in recent months. It turns out, Dicker says, that the price has nothing to do with supply and demand for oil. It's the financial market for oil, filled with both professional speculators and amateur investors betting on poorly understood oil exchange-traded funds, who have ratcheted up the price of gas to such sky high levels.'"
Having been doing a lot of reading lately, A Siegel wrote another review for Energy BOOKSHELF: Mr Governor, your state is “Addicted to Energy”!: " Elton Sherwin’s Addicted to Energy is an eminently readable and accessible letter to the nation’s governor. This 300+ page “letter” lays out a set of key issues and check lists that provide any (sane) state government (Governor) a sensible starting point for transforming their state from inefficient fossil fuel status quo to a more prosperous climate-friendly future."
Susan Gardner covered the President's Saturday address in Obama discusses benefits of energy independence in weekly address: "President Obama pitched Americans in this morning's weekly address on reducing the country's dependence on foreign oil, citing rising gasoline prices and the fact that even with domestic exploration and drilling, we cannot possibly meet our current and future energy needs. He also highlighted incentives his administration is undertaking to encourage the auto industry to implement higher energy efficiency standards."
There were several diaries on the President's blueprint for energy security:
Benintn led Wednesday's LIVEBLOG: Obama at Georgetown to Address Energy Security.
Mets102 had much praise because, he wrote, President Obama Provides Leadership on Energy: "Today, the president once again proved exactly what the difference between him and any potential Republican opponents is. President Obama today called for us to reduce foreign oil imports by one-third and reduce our reliance on oil. Unlike Republicans with slogans like "Drill baby drill," and calling for additional drilling here in the United States, the president decided upon a realistic approach, recognizing additional drilling will do absolutely nothing to the solve the problem. "
Meanwhile, Vyan blasted a certain Alaskan for getting it backward in Obama Calls for Cutting Oil Dependency by 1/3rd - Palin Yaps Nonsense: Palin: "This administration is not a passive observer to the trends that have inflated oil prices to dangerous levels. His war on domestic oil and gas exploration and production has caused us pain at the pump, endangered our already sluggish economic recovery, and threatened our national security. Through a process of what candidate Obama once called “gradual adjustment,” American consumers have seen prices at the pump rise 67 percent since he took office."
K S LaVida took it to the parable level in The oil well and the carob tree: "Two news stories today together illustrate the problem. One is from the NY Times' Green blog:
Less than 50 Years of Oil Left, HSBC Warns. The second is President Obama's speech today about energy. You know the one by now, in which he triangulates about more domestic oil and gas production, more nukes, but hey, you liberals, a little conservation too. And biofuels, which are vexing in many ways. They reminded me of an old Talmudic story."
pollwatcher had a suggestion for the administration in Photons, Mr. President, not carbon and gamma rays!: "Mr. Obama's approach to energy issues is that we are running a marathon, and at the end of a long hard run we will win a medal and be victorious. My contention is that we are on a train track with a train speeding toward us and if we don't run like hell right now we are going to get splattered all over the countryside. We've been running a marathon since the 1st oil spike in the 1970's and with every Republican congress and administration we go back to the start line."
A Siegel said the President's speech outlined Energy DUMB, Politically Tone-Deaf policy: "The President’s Energy Security speech will highlight that we ‘see this movie every few years’ with an energy (oil) crisis (spiking of prices) that incentivizes politicians to come up with solutions for the politics of the moment when what we need to be is serious in the search for meaningful policy. Sadly, the four elements outlined by White House staff along with the overly limited target to reduce oil imports by one-third over a decade don’t meet this energy analyst’s definition of serious and meaningful policy."
He also suggested how to Win the Future with Real Solutions: "As some are wont to say, crises create opportunities. One good piece of news, amid all the serious concerns that that list above should create for all of us, is the reality that many Win-Win-Win-Win-Win-Win (Win to the Sixth) opportunities lie before us, if we choose to seize them."
RLMiller was not happy with the President's approach, as she pointed out in Energy security, my foot!: "Tomorrow, President Obama will be speaking on energy security. If his speech will be anything like prior speeches, he'll mention wind and solar in the same breath as natural gas, nuclear power, and clean coal as part of an "all of the above" strategy. If he's smart, he'll mention that the most secure energy is the energy not used, whether it's as simple as energy efficiency or as complex as a Strategic Coal Reserve, and the most secure energy to be used is the one that renews in perpetuity. Republicans demand an 'all of the above' energy strategy, ostensibly in the name of 'energy security' - American independence from foreign oil. But do they really want America to not have to depend on Mideast oil, or is their interest simply in maximizing private profits? A review of recent headlines suggests a pattern."
teacherken wasn't either, as he noted in Obama and energy - the lack of a real policy: " Normally I would write something about school, about students, about teaching. But this morning I read Derrick Jackson's column in the Boston Globe, It’s still oil and nuclear power for Obama, and found my mind occupied by thoughts flowing from reading it. The subtitle read "US sits idly by as other nations heavily invest in renewable power" and that perhaps explains why my mind is so occupied."
I had my own problems with the President's speech, and suggested an approach in If energy and climate change are matters of national security, why aren't we spending like it?: "What is being proposed to make us less foreign oil dependent is more domestic drilling despite the fact that the U.S. consumes 20 percent of world oil output but only has 2 percent of world reserves. Plus, continued reliance on environmentally disastrous (but heavily subsidized) corn ethanol as well as the prospect of alternative biofuels. Plus, more efficiency in oil-fueled vehicles. Plus, "clean coal" to make electricity to power the electric cars the President has said he wants a million of on the road within four years. Plus, more nukes just as soon as the quick-and-dirty comprehensive review of existing nukes "proves" nothing like what happened in Japan can happen here, and problems like waste disposal and overcrowded spent fuel pools are shunted aside. Plus, more vehicle efficiency. Plus, solar and wind."
In the Weekly Mulch, The Media Consortium opined that Obama Lacks Vision on Energy, Stomach to Defend EPA: "President Obama made an energy speech this week that had little new to offer, while on Capitol Hill, Republicans were pushing to relieve the government of its last options to limit carbon emissions. In the House Republicans have passed a bill that would keep the EPA from regulating carbon, and in the Senate, Majority Leader Harry Reid repeatedly pushed back a vote on the same issue."
jamess is behind the President's push to get rid of certain taxpayer giveaways, as he explained in Need Revenue? -- END the BIG OIL Subsidies!: "Good to see, that the President has identified, and CALLED OUT the Energy Elephant in the room -- and just where the Country SHOULD be picking up some of that 'shared' Revenue from -- that the Fiscal Hawks are clamoring for -- from 'Oil Company Subsidies' -- and recoup those BILLIONS that the Country so desperately needs."
Agriculture, Gardening & Food
Patric Juillet discussed Foods of the Supergods: "Ironically, due to a misstep, I am laid up in bed with a twisted ankle. Disliking lying about, I consulted my notes on superfoods to see if my ankle would benefit from a dose of goodness (answer is no, just rest & drink plenty of water), and one thing leading to another, I started thinking about my juvenile attempt to create more gods than we need and it led me to write another piece about foods which give the body the best and healthiest results. Yesterday, in timely fashion, I received an email alert from the University of Scranton, Pennsylvania, in which the result of a study on walnuts declared it the best food with the most antioxidant properties."
In the Free Food series,
wide eyed lib explained how to
Enhance Your Foraging with Botany: "After a few years of foraging, a little botany is going to inevitably creep in. Maybe you'll be talking to a fellow forager and discover that he uses the same common name for a completely unrelated plant. Or maybe you'll see a plant that looks almost like one of your foraging favorites and wonder if it's related. Or maybe while explaining the difference between a raspberry and a blackberry, you'll cringe to hear yourself say, 'Raspberries are hollow like thimbles because the thingie that connects the berry to the cane stays on the cane, and blackberries are solid because the thingie stays in the berry.' (True story. The thingie, by the way, is called a receptacle.)"
Patric Juillet taught us How to Grow Vegetables with Little Water: "Back in the eighties, in Sydney, I had the luck of renting an apartment on a rooftop. In fact the bricked space outside the quaint 2-bedroom was twice the size of our living quarters, and had 2 solid pergolas which could sit a party of 10 comfortably under both. The view wasn't bad either, the Opera House & and the (coat-hanger) bridge loomed in the distance. At the time I was running perhaps my most successful eatery and came into buying a fair amount of Bordeaux and Burgundy wines encased in sturdy pine boxes. Being a hundred feet or so closer to the sun gave me the idea of growing my own vegetables and herbs, and give my toddling son something to watch and amuse him."
In Macca's Meatless Monday, beach babe in fl gave us some recipes and had bad words for an American staple in Be My Burger: "The hamburger is considered the quintessential American fast food. It originally derived it's name from Hamburg, Germany, and arrived in the US by way of German immigrants in the late 18th century. It caught on as an inexpensive and early convenience food. Modern ground beef was made possible with the invention of meat choppers and the production was documented by Upton Sinclair in his novel The Jungle where he describes the unsanitary conditions and the horrors of mistreatment of workers in early meat packing facilities. Unfortunately not much has changed especially in the abuse of animals and the environment in modern CAFO's (factory farms) and the hamburger is now considered as one of the major culprits in the catastrophe of the American Diet."
In a series of diaries NourishingthePlanet explained various projects to improve every day life. There was Building a Methane Fueled Fire: "In this week’s episode, media intern Mara Schechter explains how biogas stoves take advantage of what is typically considered waste to provide a clean and safe source of energy. Biogas units use methane from manure to produce electricity, heat and fertilizer, emitting significantly less smoke and carbon monoxide than other sources of fuel and reducing the amount of time that women spend gathering firewood. "
And
Madagascar’s “Magic Rice”: "Rice is Madagascar’s main staple crop, eaten at nearly every meal. Dista rice, which is cultivated in the Toamasina province near Lake Alaotra, is named after the farmer who discovered it. The rice, a pale pink color, smells like cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg, is very nutritious and yields are double that of other varieties. Dista rice also shatters less when milled, helping reduce post harvest losses and increasing farmers income."
Also Reducing Pest Damage Without Damaging the Environment: "To address these problems, the Integrated Pest Management Collaborative Research Support Program (IPM CRSP), supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and managed by Virginia Tech’s Office of International Research, Education, and Development (OIRED), works with farmers and universities to reduce the damage caused by pests without harming people or the planet."
Plus A “Revolution of Greens” Needed to Curb Food Price Crisis: "Food prices have soared to record highs and are projected to increase further in the coming decade, pushing millions of people into hunger — and fueling political unrest around the world. But diversifying food production to include local and indigenous vegetables can help communities boost their self-sufficiency and protect vulnerable populations from price shocks."
Frankenoid was up early for Saturday Morning Garden Blogging Vol. 7.5: "The weekend forecast gives us a look at what's in store: with highs forecast to approach 80°, we may break the record highs for early April. With it being a La Niña year we're looking at a warm, dry April. At least the mountains have plenty of snow this year, so the reservoirs are full."
Air Pollution, Water Pollution, Waste & Hazardous Waste
Heather TaylorMiesle NRDC Action Fund pointed out that Clean Air Act Attacks Continue and Intensify: "A legislative storm is brewing in Washington right now. Three Senators have proposed amendments to the Senate’s SBIR/STTR Reauthorization Act of 2011 bill—commonly referred to as the 'Small Business Bill'—that could undermine the Clean Air Act. If you would like to curb global warming, prevent more asthma attacks, and preserve America’s best tool for making our air safer to breathe, I urge you to tell your lawmakers not to support these amendments."
Mary Anne Hitt urged us to pay attention to those attacks in Protect the Clean Air Act, Protect Americans: "Tomorrow, the Senate is expected to vote on several bills that will prevent EPA from doing its job. Many in the Senate are hearing more from big polluters than they are from people like Lane. These polluters have launched an all-out assault on clean air standards that would threaten the health of our children, leading to more asthma attacks and learning disabilities."
The attacks are not just coming from the right, Lefty Coaster wrote in Democrats offer to Gut EPA & Federal Regulations to get Budget Deal: "This is very discouraging news, and may set a pattern for how Senate Democrats working with the White House deal with House Republicans."
Radiation: It's What's For Dinner was Into The Woods look at how "The Bush-minions' blitz to lower the standards by 'updating' was fended off — evidently in large part due to the efforts of PEER (Public Employees for Environmental Safety). (I have to say, that name alone would probably make Scott Walker's brain melt down to a molten slag and escape out his nose.)But bad regulatory proposals don't die, and like demons in a tv watched by a little blonde girl, they're baaa-aack."
footholder wondered if Can We get the truth out of our corporate government about the safety of the Gulf Coast Seafood?: "Here is a major issue like the safety of the seafood coming out the gulf and off the gulf current up the east coast and the government has taken the position there is no concern about what you can’t see or smell ,therefore it must be OK to eat. This is criminal neglect and threaten the health of an entire region of our great country."
rhondawinter reminded us about a long-standing eco-crime in More Illegally Dumped Radioactive Waste Found on Somalia’s Coast: "For decades members of organized crime syndicates and other western companies have been freely dumping tons of radioactive nuclear waste into the unregulated shores off Somalia’s coastline, poisoning the seas and devastating the local population. Somalia has not had a functioning government for many years; the scores of rusty leaking hazardous waste tanks that have been washing up on their shores prove just how many criminals have been exploiting the nation’s inability to protect their own waters."
Climate Change & The Natural World
Will Midwest Floods Be a Farm Catastrophe? was RuralRoute's worry: "Yup, we're looking at around a billion dollars in potential economic losses from this late flood. A couple hundred thousand folks live in the valley, and around 20% of them rely on agriculture and food processing for their livelihood. So we're looking at billions of dollars in economic losses due to this flood in the Red River Valley alone, even if no cities are flooded. On a worldwide scale, with wheat inventories low, we're looking at an economic tusumi if the Red River valley, one of the worlds major granaries, is taken out of production by this year's prolonged flooding..."
The prolific A Siegel peered in on A Cornucopia of Military Energy/Climate Mtngs in DC this week: "The cup runneth over in the Washington, DC, area when it comes to meaningful events for discussing the military and energy/climate issues. In addition to three events discussed last this week in TCO, energy, climate, and the military — a brief framing discussion, this Wednesday and Thursday the Association of Climate Change Officers (ACCO) will be hosting a conference entitled 'Defense, National Security, and Climate Change.'"
jamess went a bit tongue-in-cheek on the same subject in Someone better Tell the Pentagon that 'Climate Change' is only a Theory: "You don't get to be General by being Dumb -- I would suspect the Generals and Admirals that "signed off" on this Action Report, all have a healthy respect for Science and the Scientific method: Climate Change and National Security: Pentagon Says Global Warming Is Real and Is Planning for the Worst"
citisven alerted us to a UN report: Cities are Climate Change battleground: "Here's the basic premise: Urban areas are set to become the battleground in the global effort to curb climate change, the UN has warned. The assessment by UN-Habitat said that the world's cities were responsible for about 70% of emissions, yet only occupied 2% of the planet's land cover. While cities were energy intensive, the study also said that effective urban planning could deliver huge savings. The authors warned of a 'deadly collision between climate change and urbanisation' if no action was taken."
Steven D criticized a progressive approach and offered advice on a shift in Evil Lies Thrive When Climate Activists Are Silent: "When Al Gore was actively promoting awareness of the Inconvenient truth of climate change, by 2008 nearly two thirds of Americans when polled on the question said they worried "a great deal or a fair amount" about the effects of climate change. Yet, since that time, many Democrats and green activists have taken the advice of Frank Luntz and other 'advisers' played down tell the truth about climate change and the science that supports it. Instead they focused on how green tech would create jobs and reduce dependence on foreign oil. They neglected their core message that we have a serious crisis on our hands, one that requires immediate action."
In case you were curious, Lefty Coaster answered the question in You know how cold it was last Winter?: "Not living in the Northeast I didn't have to deal with the blizzard after after blizzard the pummeled the region over the last winter. I usually don't pay much attention to weather news stories in other areas of the country unless its something unusual, and the winter in the northeast was so unusual I had to take notice. Now climate researchers at Cal. Tech. have made a breakthrough that explains what's going on to cause the unusual string of big blizzards."
Animals
FishOutofWater lamented the Massive Cetacean Mortality in Gulf since BP Blowout, now Turtles are Dying too: "Cold water has been proposed as a possible cause of death of dead baby dolphins at a rate of 5 times normal this February and March, but cold water cannot explain the high cetacean death rate that has been going on continuously since the BP blowout in the Gulf. The toxic effects of the oil and dispersants are the most probable cause."
Muskegon Critic talked about another mortality crash in 95% Drop in Great Lakes Fish Biomass Since 1990s.: "Alls I know is I'm sitting here eating some withered lettuce and reading about a decline in algae on the Great Lakes...and that's lead to a 95% decrease in fish biomass in the Great Lakes since the 1990s. And yes, you read that number right...a 95% decrease in fish biomass in the Great Lakes since the 1990s."
jim in IA took note of another toll of the March 11 disaster in his diary, Angry Birds vs Tsunami: "'The March 11, 2011 tsunami took just 5 hours to travel the 2400 miles to Midway Atoll. There, it dealt a devastating blow to the island wildlife. These islands are home to 21 species of seabirds, over three million birds in total. At the time of the tsunami, four species were nesting on the islands. There were 482,909 pairs of Laysan albatross, 28,581 pairs of black-footed albatross, and 1 pair of the endangered short-tailed albatross. There were also nesting Bonin petrels but because they nest in burrows in the sand, it was hard to determine their numbers.' Four successive waves about 5 feet high washed over the reefs and nesting areas. Storms in January and February also devastated the bird populations. The storms and tsunami killed 22% of all albatross chicks hatched this year. "
In another round of the Dawn Chorus, lineatus was there in the Nick of Time
Boathouse with storm approaching...quaoar excoriated the Worst zoo in the world: "The guy who runs this place acknowledges that his animals are thin but says he doesn't have enough money to buy food and says his critics should pony up the money to help him. That takes some serous gall."
Senor Unoball made his plea in Begging is for the Birds: "A birdathon is real simple. Next month I will be part of a team that will go out for half a day and count all the bird species we see, and I need you to donate to this cause. You can either give a set amount, or a specific amount per species seen. That is, you could give a flat fee of, say, $25, or you could give a dollar, or more, per species. Our group hopes to see more than 30 different species."
We will be birding from this tug, the Sea DiveVeganMilitia told the story of the mouse living in my stove.: "I bought a live trap last weekend and caught one. In the early frosty morning, I took it out to the collapsed chicken coop covered with brambles and explained to it "I'm giving you a chance. You probably won't survive this: You may freeze, you may die of fright, you may get eaten, but this is all I can do for you. I can't have a mouse living in my stove." So either it is so clever that it's spiting me by returning to my stove, or the one I caught wasn't the one living in my stove in the first place."
Public Land, Forests & The Great Outdoors
RLMiller sounded hopeful in A huge new national park in Maine?: "Restore.org has been advocating a Maine North Woods National Park for some time, as have I. (Note that Restore's vision of 3.2 million acres, larger than Yellowstone, is substantially larger than the 100,000 acres Quimby proposes donating.) The National Park Service favors the idea: 'The Park Service is intrigued by Quimby's idea, especially since it believes the Northeast is underserved. The last time a large national park was created was in Alaska in the 1980s during the Carter administration. 'The National Park Service would like to see additional opportunities for preserving these beautiful places and creating recreational opportunities in the Northeast," said spokesman David Barna. 'The proposal would be exciting for the National Park Service to evaluate.'"
In another installment of a stunning series, craigkg helped us discover Dry Tortugas National Park: "The Dry Tortugas National Park is one of the most geographically isolated national parks in the country lying 68 miles west of Key West, Florida in the Gulf of Mexico. It consists of 101 square miles, most of it a protected marine sanctuary. It has a total land area of just 143 acres (0.224 sq miles) on 7 islands though the island group has had as many at 11 islands and several intermittent shoals occasionally rise a few inches above sea level. The islands have the shape and configuration of an atoll and were formed by sedimentation on coral reefs, but the group is not considered to be a true atoll."
Panorama of one of the bastions taken from the moat wall. |
Transportation
We got more understanding of the importance of riding of the rails in the latest Sunday Train written by BruceMcF , American Greatness and High Speed Rail: "[W]e need to find ways to do better lifestyle on less resource base per task. Express High Speed Passenger Rail is no silver bullet along those lines, but it is a very shiny silver BB. In 100-mile to 500-mile corridors where population growth under business as usual will demand massive unsustainable investment in new intercity highway capacity, Express High Speed Rail is less expensive than the status quo. And where the massive hidden subsidies and cross subsidies for operating the status quo threatens to choke our economy, Express High Speed Rail in its strongest potential corridors will generate substantial operating surpluses."
In The Green Dragon Stranded Wind took a look at how he says China is "going to grind us into the dirt on renewable energy and conservation." Among other things, he wrote, there is this: "How many miles of high speed rail did America install last year? Zero. We’ve got exactly 456 miles of what we call high speed rail — the Acela averages a smoking 68 miles per hour and qualifies for high speed because it exceeds 120 miles per hour in some places. China? They decided they needed high-speed rail in 2007 and they install the equivalent of the Acela’s miles every three months. They’ve got over 6,000 miles now and they’ll have 16,000 when the system is complete. Rail doesn’t qualify as high speed in China until it averages 120 miles per hour. One six hundred mile run has an average speed of 190 miles per hour. They’ve got the world’s first operating maglev train, too — with a 270 mile-per-hour top speed."
Round-ups, Wrap-ups, Live Blogs & Summaries
Gulf Watchers #492 by Lorinda Pike: Feinberg Gets A Raise; Dolphin Deaths Silenced - BP Catastrophe: "Feinberg gets a raise. Gag order imposed on reporting dolphin deaths. The American Petroleum Institute claims the Obama administration is blocking oil and gas production, even as another drilling permit is issued. Norwegian producer gets sixth permit issued. More tests on the BOP may be performed. Chevron spokesman says permitting process is not really a 'black hole.' Number of drilling rigs in US increases. Rosneft tries to save BP Arctic drilling alliance. BP declares force majeure on Libyan refiner. "
Gulf Watchers #493 by Phil S 33: Same old BP.
Gulf Watchers #494 by peraspera: DOJ Cornering BP for Prison Orange - BP Catastrophe.
Gulf Watchers #495 by Lorinda Pike: They Want It All and They Want It Now.
Mark Sumner added three more editions to The Daily Bucket series: How to Add a Map in Your Diary Edition: "Remember yesterday when I said that the end of my Daily Kos Day Hike had been marked by the arrival of a really impressive thunder-snow? Well, that turned into a really, really impressive thunder-show that not only rattled the rafters but left something like 8" of fresh, moist whiteness on the ground."
And The Daily Bucket: Eh, it's Monday, Edition: "The warm ground around here has pretty well eliminated all signs of the weekend's heavy thunder-show. With sunshine and temperatures in the 40s, we're back to being something that passes for a (coolish) version of spring. The snow certainly didn't seem to slow down the plants, as red buds are now brightening up the woods and signs of green are appearing everywhere."
As well as The Daily Bucket: I Spy Edition: "The Discovery Channel's SciSpy app is intended to do just what we're doing here – record casual encounters with creatures and plants. In essence, the app is a photo capture and categorizer, with predefined categories for things like "bugs in the backyard" and 'at the birdfeeder.' Collected images end up cataloged on Discovery's site, along with times and locations. The result is a searchable archive of nature images."
Et Cetera
In a detailed explanation, citisven told us how a Green Prime Minister swept into office in German state of Baden Württemberg: "This is personal. I was born and raised in Stuttgart, the capital of Baden-Württemberg. I was in high school when the Greens first got over 5% of the vote and made it into the state parliament (Landtag) in 1980. My political science teacher at the time, Winfried Herrman, got voted into the Landtag as a member of the Green Party from 1984-88 and is currently a member of the Green Party faction in the German Bundestag (parliament). But it's been 58 years, longer than I've been alive, since the conservative CDU was not in power in Baden-Württemberg. You know, sort of like Republicans in power for 58 years, though admittedly not as crazy."
Mariken also covered the subject in Japan's catastrophe may give Germany first Green governor: "The pro-business Free Democrats seem to be big losers in both Baden Wurtenberg where they got 5% of the votes, down from about 10% last election, and in Rhineland-Palatinate where they got less than 5% of the votes and fell out of parliament."
denig pointed out an important contest in Jobs, Start-ups & Cheap Patents: 'America's Next Top Energy Innovator': "Welcome to the 'America's Next Top Energy Innovator'. It's goal is to eliminate these barriers for Start-up Companies, giving them the opportunity to license groundbreaking technologies, developed by the 17 DOE National Laboratories. It aims to do this by offering patents for a fraction of the cost and minimal paperwork. Tuesday, March 29th, on its third stop of an eight-city tour, a bevy of White House officials, including Secretary of Energy Steven Chu and Karen G. Mills (head of the Small Business Administration), launched the program at a forum held at MIT. The forum is part of administration's 'Startup America' initiative, itself launched in January to promote entrepreneurship."
harveywasserman claimed that "Safe" Radiation is a Lethal TMI Lie: "There is no safe dose of radiation. We do not x-ray pregnant women. Any detectable fallout can kill. With erratic radiation spikes, major air and water emissions and at least three reactors and waste pools in serious danger at Fukushima, we must prepare for the worst. When you hear the terms "safe" and 'insignificant; in reference to radioactive fallout, ask yourself: 'Safe to whom'? 'Insignificant for which of us?'"
localroger dredged an old but important report from the archives in Nukes, and the story of an "Einstein": "'Have you ever heard of the Rasmussen Report?' he asked me.'Yeah, my Dad was a physicist and I studied engineering.' Einstein allowed as to how, while nobody knew it, he might have once been an actuary for the sort of consulting firm that did that kind of work. And he said that, around the time Rasmussen was compiling WASH-1400, he himself had been assigned to assemble a team and do a similar study. 'But there was a difference,' Einstein said. 'Rasmussen assumed that all the rules and safety procedures would be followed, and that only normal hardware failures might contribute to accident risk. I was asked to use an 'angry operator' model which assumed that, at any given time, one employee might for some reason not follow the rules.'"
Lorinda Pike wrote that BP May Be Facing Manslaughter Charges: "Shares in BP stock have fallen today as Reuters is reporting that BP executives could be facing manslaughter chargesin the deaths of eleven workers in the Deepwater Horizon blowout. Much higher fines for BP could also be attached if the charges stick."
Politicians, State & Local Governments
jamess gave us the skinny on The Ghost-writer in the Machine -- ALEC is 'Modeling' Legislation Near you: "The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is the Corporate-funded Front Group supplying local GOP State Legislatures with the Xerox Copies of dozens of 'recommend bills' -- to help them 'keep their day jobs."
Steven D wrote Tea Party Supports Indonesian Paper Co. - US Jobs? Not so much: "In this case the NYT article focuses on an Indonesian Paper company with an environmentally unsound track record that - surprise - a Tea Party organization is supporting against the interests of American companies and workers."
Mets102 discussed how politicians are Saying YES to Green Taxis After Supreme Court Says NO: " Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and Rep. Jerrold Nadler (Manhattan and Brooklyn) have introduced legislation allowing New York and other cities to require greater fuel efficiency from their taxi fleets. The legislation faces an uncertain future in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, and in fact is likely to head for defeat. "
cinnamongirlthree couldn't believe it whenthey came for the black walnut trees...: "Here in Minnesota last week, Republican Rep Steve Drazkowski proposed that the state log black walnut trees in two of our state parks to raise money. His bill passed two house committee votes last week, despite testimony from the state's Department Natural Resources opposing the plan."
PvtJarHead exposed hypocrisy in Scott Walker - Champion of High Speed Rail: "Less than four months after losing (REJECTING-Per John Peterson, Democurmudgeon) nearly all of an $810 million grant, Wisconsin is again seeking federal high-speed rail money - this time to upgrade the existing Milwaukee-to-Chicago passenger line. Gov. Scott Walker … will seek at least $150 million to add equipment and facilities for Amtrak's Hiawatha line. In a bizarre twist, some of the money that Walker is now seeking originally was allocated for the Milwaukee-to-Madison route he previously turned down. That money is available because a fellow Republican governor rejected it, as well."
msblucow plugged a congressional campaign in CA-36 Game changer? Howard Dean and CA League of Conservation Voters endorse Debra Bowen: "The main stream media in Southern California can't wait to write off Debra Bowen. As her main opponent, LA City Councilwoman Janice Hahn, racks up dozens of endorsements from politicians and business leaders, and thousands of dollars from the shipping and petroleum industries, our local media seems ready to call the race."
DWG pointed to what should have been an April Fool's joke but wasn't in Diaper Dave Vitter sells snake oil: "Vitter announced he and fellow Republicans will introduce a bill to force the administration to open drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in Alaska and the Arctic ocean, stop legal challenges to federal mineral leases, and approve the Keystone XL pipeline to import tar sands oil from Canada."
Muskegon Critic was furious about a New Bill Amendment Banning Offshore Wind Power in Michigan+: "By the way, if you're in Michigan PLEASE contact your Michigan representatives Right Now and telling them to reject House Bill amendment 4499. Last week, March 24th, Michigan State representative Ray Franz introduced House Bill 4499.It goes a little something like this: No offshore wind turbines. No offshore transmission lines for wind turbines. No wind or environmental assessment structures or buoys if they're for offshore wind power."
Cheered by citizen participation, Heather TaylorMiesle NRDC Action Fund told us that Rep. Upton heard from frustrated constituents: "Last week, Rep. Upton went on a listening tour of his district and faced hard questions from constituents about his efforts to undermine the Clean Air Act. It was great to see the outpouring of support for the Clean Air Act and public health -- but Rep. Upton's responses left much to be desired. One constituent summed up the situation very well:"
Fukushima Nukes
mahakali overdrive: 100,000 x radioactivity in #2: Japan Nuclear Disaster Mothership #13 (Updated).
Drewid: TEPCO Retracts Numbers, Causes Confusion:Japan Nuclear Disaster Mothership #14.
peraspera: ROV 28: Japan Nuclear Disaster; Radiation in #2 is 10 Million x Normal.
boatsie: ROV #29: Japan Nuclear Disaster: Officials Rolling Back Numbers.
rja: ROV #30: Japan Nuclear Disaster: Condensers in Turbine Buildings 2 and 3 are full.
Drewid: Trench Water Outside #2 exceeds 1Sv/Hr: Japan Nuclear Incident:ROV#31.
Drewid: Leaked radioactive water hampers cooling of plant:Japan Nuclear Incident: ROV #32.
middleagedhousewife: Temperature, Pressure Increasing in #1: ROV #33.
boatsie: japan: considering covering plant: rov #34.
louisev: ROV #35: Japan Nuclear Disaster - IAEA Says Cesium Levels Warrant Wider Evacuation.
middleagedhousewife: I-131 10,000 x Limit in Groundwater Near #1: Japan Nuclear Incident - ROV #36.
peraspera: TEPCO workers still without safety gear Japan Nuclear Incident - ROV #37,
kbman: Fukushima Status Update 3/30: "Units 2 and 3 are no longer able to hold steam pressure. Their water level has risen a few inches and the last reported temperatures were 143 C and 121 C at the lower Reactor Pressure Vessel head. It would be expected that their pressure would be comparable to the roughly 4 or 5 times atmospheric pressure in the unit 1 reactor vessel system. Instead they are showing near atmospheric pressure."
kbman: Fukushima Status Update 3/29: "From information at the Japanese Atomic Industrial Forum, it appears that they are considering flooding the primary containment at units 1-3. Related to the topic 'Water Injection to Containment Vessel' they list 1 and 3 as 'To be confirmed,' and unit 2 as 'to be decided (Seawater).' Over the past two days they have cut back the rate of water addition to the reactors to slow the rate of water being leaked to the environment. This has caused the temperatures to begin to rise again at all three units."
kbman: Fukushima Status Update 4/1 AM (full update): "For a few days it had been believed that they were riding a tough balance between providing enough cooling water to the cores to manage temperatures while trying to limit their flow rates to avoid leaking even more water into the problem areas. They are now reporting that TEPCO believes the bulk of the water in the trenches was caused by the tsunami, not leaks from the reactors or fuel pools."
freshrant: The Wrath of Kan & Tokyo Electric Power's Litany of Lies: "Such public displays of anger are uncommon by Japanese public officials. The wrath of Kan not only appears to be well warranted but also a convenient way to use his public image to deflect growing criticism of the incompetent, confusing, vague and often overly optimistic happy talk that typified the first two weeks of his own government's announcements about the Fukushima disaster."
Ocelopotamus: On Fukushima, Molasses, and Possibilities That Are Not Zero: " I suppose every historical disaster comes with it the opportunity to burn one or more memorable quotations into our collective mind. The Hindenburg gave us, 'Oh, the humanity!' More recently, the Iraq War presented us with 'Mission Accomplished,' Katrina introduced 'Heckuva job, Brownie" into the national discourse, and even the BP oil disaster may forever remind us of CEO Tony Hayward's plaintive "I'd like my life back.' And Fukushima? The story of its aftermath is still being written, but there's already one sentence that will be lodged in my brain, at least, for a while to come. … In discussing what might happen to the spent fuel rods if things didn't go well, a spokesman for Tepco — the Tokyo Electric Power Company — uttered the following memorable sentence: 'The possibility of re-criticality is not zero.'"
jamess: Fukushima Fallout: Land, Wind, and Sea, and more...: "For many years, Hisashi Tarukawa used to worry about the nuclear power plant 70 kilometres away from his farm in Sukagawa, Fukushima prefecture. The 64-year-old Fukushima native, who tended his ancestral land after graduating from the local agricultural high school, knew that some day radioactive substances would leak from the plant, contaminating his farm and destroying his livelihood.
[...]'When that happened, my father knew that it meant he would no longer be able to grow things here,' recalls Kazuya Tarukawa, 35, his son. 'He was strongly opposed to the plant and warned something like this would happen. He said his homeland might disappear,' the younger Mr Tarukawa says wistfully. For the older farmer, the thought was apparently too much to bear. On the morning of March 24, Mr Tarukawa committed suicide by hanging himself."
LeftOfYou: Nuclear Uncertainty. An Epistemological Conundrum: "The mysterious sequestration of Tokyo Electric Power Company's President, Masataka Shimizu, since a one-time press conference on March 13, has caused rumors of Shimizu's death, perhaps by suicide, to begin to circulate, according to the Washington Post. …What TEPCO says about Mr. Shimizu matters. If TEPCO won't answer the simple question of who the hell is in charge over there, then how can anyone trust any unconfirmed information obtained from any company source? Hence the epistemological conundrum. How do we know what we know about the containment of this crisis, given that all of the information about conditions inside the plant is coming from TEPCO personnel? "
skywriter: Letter from Fukushima worker: "As you know, most of the workers at 1F and 2F (Note — possible reference to Fukushima Plant No. 2, or Daini) are local residents and victims of the quake. There are many workers whose houses were washed away. I myself have had to stay in the disaster measurement headquarters the entire time ever since the earthquake occurred, and have been fighting alongside my colleagues without any sleep or rest. Personally, my entire hometown, Namie-machi, which is located along the coast, was washed away by the tsunami. My parents were washed away by the tsunami and I still don't know where they are."
akmk: Don't read this if you're looking for good news from Fukushima: "Darwinism is going to be put to the test over the next century or two. Those who can survive a planet with radioactive air, water, and food are going to be selected for future survival. ABC is reporting that it may be 100 years before the Fukushima fuel rods have cooled enough to be removed."
blue aardvark: Radioiodine - 131 from Japan detected in Chicago area: "Federal agencies are monitoring more than 100 similar reports all over the country. It is important to remember that I-131 is used medically. However Wiki also notes: 'The high energy beta radiation from I-131 causes it to be the most carcinogenic of the iodine isotopes, and it is thought to cause the majority of the excess in thyroid cancers seen after nuclear fission contamination (such as bomb fallout or severe nuclear reactor accidents like the Chernobyl disaster).'"
akmk: Caesium-137 and the Marine Food Chain: "Seems to be a bit of debate out there on whether or not caesium-137 will work its way up the food chain in the earth's oceans and affect humans who eat food from the sea, so here is a little more information."
Meteor Blades: Japanese P.M. raises doubts about the future of privately owned power companies like Tokyo Electric: " The wrecking of four of the Fukushima reactors by the March 11 tsunami has given new life to critics of the so-called "nuclear renaissance" that has generated a surge of orders for new electricity-generating reactors. How long-lasting this backlash may be is anyone's guess. It could depend on whether the situation worsens at one or more of the damaged power plants. Or on how many of the "atomic samurai" workers now exposing themselves to high levels of radiation soon die, as they seem to believe will be the case. "
Deep Harm: Physicist: Nuclear crisis may be close to "point of no return": ""Hidehiko Nishiyama, a government spokesman, acknowledged challenges but insisted the situation was stabilizing. Since then, CNN and ABC have reported plutonium found in soil outside the reactors. Physicist Michio Kaku tells ABC the plant may be reaching a "point of no return, where workers must be withdrawn, radiation levels soar, water levels drop and we have a full-scale, simultaneous meltdown at three nuclear reactors."
red8top: Studies confirm Nuclear threat - protest the denial: "To me, it has been NPR's coverage of this that seems most egregious. As far as I'm concerned, if that bright bastion of responsible coverage can participate so fully in this dumbing-down and washing clean the history of nuclear disasters, something is going very wrong."
FishOutofWater: Radioactive Water is Flowing Directly into the Ocean at Fukushima: "Extremely radioactive water, measured at 1000 milliseverts per hour in air above the water, is flowing from a damaged pit, servicing the number 2 reactor at Fukushima, through an 8 inch crack, directly into the ocean according to the deputy director of Japan's nuclear safety agency. Technicians are attempting to seal the crack with concrete."
nathguy: No Shills for Fukushima: That means you Margaret Harding: "Margaret Harding while doing all those Black Belt QA courses, never bothered looking if it made sense to leave fuel tanks outside instead of in hardened shelters. Margaret Harding never asked if the suppression pools were sized right, or if leaks
from the reactor may get out of primary containment and up in the Refueling deck. Margaret Harding never asked if the Labels should be in Japanese and English."
