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  2. Another Week in the Ecological Crisis, June 8, 2014

Another Week in the Ecological Crisis, June 8, 2014

By illconsidered on June 9, 2014.

This weekly posting is brought to you courtesy of H. E. Taylor. Happy reading, I hope you enjoy this week's Global Warming news roundup

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Another Week in the Ecological Crisis

Information is not Knowledge...Knowledge is not Wisdom

June 8, 2014

co2now gfx skeptisci app gfx

Here's a wee chuckle for ye:

This week in snark:

The TransCanada West-East [aka Energy East] pipeline has passed the first stage:

The battle over the Northern Gateway pipeline rages on:

There is wrangling over the NEB trying to restrict the Kinder Morgan expansion hearings:

TransCanada is proposing the Merrick Mainline Pipeline Project to feed a Kitimat LNG plant:

What's the state of the West Coast salmon fishery?

Meanwhile in BC:

Meanwhile in that Mechanical Mordor known as the tar sands:

Also in Alberta:

In Ontario, the June 12th election draws near:

And on the American political front:

The Keystone XL wheel grinds slowly. And it grinds woe:

Leaks and spills:

Jeez! It's getting hard to keep all the spills and leaks straight. You need a map. Let's see...:

  1. In the Gulf of Mexico, BP and company had the Deepwater Horizon oil spill
  2. The Atwater Village leak in Los Angeles

The BP disaster continues to twist US politics. See also:

An Atwater Village strip club in Los Angeles was anointed with 10,000 gallons of crude oil:

The GOP War on Women continues. See also:

The NorthWest fossil fuel export debate remains heated:

Looking ahead to the 2014 & 2016 elections:

The actions of the Obama administration are being watched closely:

As for what is going on in Congress:

The movement toward a long term ecologically viable economics is glacial:

And in the Transition movement:

  • 2014/06/05: Resilience: Resilient Response to Extreme Weather Births Transition-Ham Radio "Practice Networks"

    What comes after Capitalism?

    • 2014/06/04: CPunch: Climate Change and Capitalism -- The Externalities of Global Warming
    • 2014/06/03: CCurrents: Eco-Capitalism: Can It Work?
    • 2014/06/03: RT: Venezuela, capitalism & climate change
      The problem of global climate change is distressing almost everyone. While a small minority may deny its existence, or question reports on its causes among the scientific community, it is universally recognized as a serious cause for concern. The super-hurricanes over the last decade are closely linked to rising temperatures of sea water, and this is just a small taste of what may lie ahead. Something must be done, the question is what? The responses of governments around the world to the environmental crisis, and its catastrophic weather events, have varied. Various treaties have been signed. Various international conferences have been convened to discuss the issue. A great deal of research has been conducted, and many different plans for changing the relationship of humans to the ecosystem have been proposed. The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela has just announced its plan to fight climate change. Claudia Salerno, Vice Minister for North America at the Venezuelan Mission to the United Nations, explained her country's proposals fight climate change at a special meeting with the press May 30. She summed up the plan saying: "Venezuela's contribution is to change the system, not the climate." As Salerno laid out the details of the plan, it became clear that the Venezuelan government is aware of what so many environmentalists in the United States cannot bring themselves to say. The failure of governments around the world to address the unfolding ecological crisis is caused by one thing: profits. The changes that desperately must be made to human civilization to stop the climate crisis all cut into the ability of billionaires to make money. They require that restrictions and regulations be implemented. "Our economies are damaging the environment," Salerno declared.

    IPAT [Impact = Population * Affluence * Technology] raised its head once again:

    Apocalypso anyone?

    Another Day in the battle - live to fight again:

    How are we going to deal with this mess?

    How do the corporate media measure up?

    Here is something for your library:

    And for your film & video enjoyment:

    As for podcasts:

    Meanwhile among the 'Sue the Bastards!' contingent:

    The Mann defamation suit saga rolls on:

    It looks like these BP trials over the Gulf oil spill are going to take a long while:

    Developing a new energy infrastructure is a fundamental challenge of the current generation:

    What do you have in energy comparisons and transitions?

    What's changing in energy investments?

    Hey! Let's contaminate the aquifers for thousands of years! It'll be a fracking gas!

    On the coal front:

    On the gas and oil front:

    And in pipeline news:

    Ships and boats and trains -- How to tranport the stuff?

      • 2014/06/06: CBC: U.S. railroads demand states keep oil shipment details secret -- Some states refuse to comply with requests
        U.S. railroads forced to turn over details of their volatile crude oil shipments are asking states to sign agreements not to disclose the information. But some states are refusing, saying Thursday that the information shouldn't be kept from the public. Federal officials last month ordered railroads to make the disclosures after a string of fiery tank-car accidents in North Dakota, Alabama, Virginia and Quebec, where 47 people died when a runaway oil train exploded in the town of Lac-Mégantic.

    A rush of American triumphalism pervades the energy independence PR campaign. Think it will last?

    Yes we have a peak oil sighting:

    Biofuel bickering abounds:

    The answer my friend...

    Meanwhile among the solar aficionados:

    The nuclear energy controversy continues:

    Nuclear waste storage requires _very_ long term thinking:

    Nuclear fusion has been 'Just 20 years away' for the past 50 years:

    Feed-In-Tariffs (Net Metering & Time-of-Use Tariffs) are being variously implemented around the world:

    Like a mirage, the dream of a Hydrogen Economy shimmers on the horizon:

    How are the utilities adjusting (or not)?

    And then there is the matter of efficiency & conservation:

    Automakers & lawyers, engineers & activists argue over the future of the car:

    This week in the Gee Whiz File:

    As for Energy Storage:

    Insurance and re-insurance companies are feeling the heat:

    What do we have in (weekly) lists?

    Anything in pithy (or piffling) quotes this week?

    The carbon lobby are up to the usual:

    Note: You may notice my denialist coverage flagging. I am finding it increasingly difficult to give any attention to these people.

    For your amusment and aggravation -- the Tol saga:

  • 2014/06/07: HotWhopper: Ridiculous Richard Tol sez 12,000 is a strange number...
  • 2014/06/06: SkS: Resources and links documenting Tol's 24 errors by John Cook
  • 2014/06/05: HotWhopper: Busted: How Ridiculous Richard Tol makes myriad bloopers and a big fool of himself and proves the 97% consensus
  • 2014/06/05: ERabett: Model Making, Mathturbation, and Bullshit Tests
  • 2014/06/05: ATTPh: Bravo, Richard Tol, Bravo!
  • 2014/06/05: RealSceptic: Richard Tol's 97% Scientific Consensus Gremlins
  • 2014/06/04: GPWayne: Arson Attack on Ivory Towers
  • 2014/06/04: ERabett: In the Spirit of Deep Climate
  • 2014/06/02: ERabett: Cooking Tol

    As for climate miscellanea:

    And here are a couple of sites you may find interesting and/or useful:

    Low Key Plug

    My first novel _Water_ was published in May 2007. An Introduction is available.
    My most recent novel _The Bottleneck Years_ is being serialized online atmy siteand on AFTIC at Table of Contents
    If you want further information, see A Gentle Introduction. If you want a copy, see The Deal.
    An overview of my writing is available here.

    A Simple Plea

    Webmasters, web coders and content providers have mercy on your low bandwidth brethren. Because I am on dial-up, I am a text surfer -- no images, no javascript and no flash. When you post a graphic, will you please use the alt text field ... and when you embed a youtube/vimeo/flash video, please add some minimal description. Thank you.

    <regards>

    -hetP.S. Recent postings can be found in the week archive and the ancient postings can be accessed here, which should open to this.

    I notice moyhu has set up a monster index to old AWoGWN on AFTIC.

    "We're all sitting ducks." -Michael Oppenheimer

    Last modified June 8, 2014

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