Creating a Sustainable Future

6 coal plants shutting down

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Sandeen) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 18:49:00 +0000

FirstEnergy Corp. said Thursday that new environmental regulations led to a decision to shut down six older, coal-fired power plants in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland.

The plants, which are in Cleveland, Ashtabula, Oregon and Eastlake in Ohio, Adrian, Pa. and Williamsport, Md., will be retired by Sept. 1.

Two other factors have made it easier for utilities to shut old coal plants in recent years. Power demand has been weakening in recent years because of the slow economy and energy efficiency programs. And natural gas prices, which have fallen to decade-low levels in recent weeks, have allowed utilities to switch from coal to natural gas without impacting customer bills. Meanwhile, demand from China and elsewhere has driven up the price of coal.

70 million people at risk of lung cancer

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Sandeen) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 18:49:00 +0000

Currently, 70 million Americans live in areas that are in violation of the health standards set by EPA. That's 70 million people routinely exposed to fine particles at levels that the EPA deems unsafe.

What are the resulting health effects?

According to the EPA, PM 2.5 causes irritation of the airways, coughing, and difficulty breathing, decreased lung function, aggravated asthma, chronic bronchitis, irregular heartbeat, nonfatal heart attacks, and premature death in people with heart or lung disease.

Now we can add lung cancer to that terrible list of environmental effects of air pollution.

A study published last month in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine examined the relationship between long-term fine particle pollution and deaths from lung cancer in 188,000 Americans.

The researchers, led by Michelle Turner of the University of Ottawa, followed their study subjects for 26 years, from 1982 to 2008. They found that PM 2.5 exposure, as measured by air monitoring systems, was significantly correlated with deaths from lung cancer. Turner and her colleagues are fairly certain that these lung cancers were not caused by cigarette smoking, a potent carcinogen and a common confounder in cancer studies, because they studied only those people who had never smoked.

EPA said this week that it needed more time to finish drafting new standards for fine particles from power plants. The agency is required by the Clean Air Act to set science-based standards every five years. It missed its October 2011 deadline and indicated in a court filing last week that the new standards would not be finalized until June, 2013. It's a disappointing delay.

Here's what you can do to help reduce your family's exposure to fine particle pollution:

Know your air. Find out whether the air you breathe is persistently polluted with fine particles here. Also, you can find out what is the quality of the air you are breathing right now at AirNow, a government website that provides real time air quality mapping.

Avoid exercising outdoors in air that is high in fine particle pollution. Don't let your kids exercise outside on such days either. Vigorous exercise brings more of the fine particles deep into the lungs.

Use less electricity. Power plants are one of the largest pollution sources in the US.

Drive less. Cars increase air pollution, including fine particle pollution.

Don't burn wood or trash. Such fires are a large source of fine particle pollution.

Clean up your school system's school buses. Old diesel buses can be a significant source of particle pollution. Make sure your school system is retrofitting old buses and has a strong anti-idling policy.

Keystone XL Permit Denied

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Sandeen) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 18:48:00 +0000

The State Department has recommended that President Obama deny the Keystone XL pipeline approval.

After reviewing the State Department report President Obama agreed with their recommendations and denied the permit.

Time to celebrate? Not so soon.

President Obama made the following comments in a statement today.

"This announcement is not a judgment on the merits of the pipeline, but the arbitrary nature of a deadline that prevented the State Department from gathering the information necessary to approve the project and protect the American people."

The State Department's statement concludes - "The Department's denial of the permit application does not preclude any subsequent permit application or applications for similar projects."

And TransCanada seems undeterred by this setback. "TransCanada remains fully committed to the construction of Keystone XL," Russ Girling, TransCanada's president and chief executive officer, said in a statement. "Plans are already underway on a number of fronts to largely maintain the construction schedule of the project."

So this fight will continue.

Here is everything you need to know about Keystone XL.

The Oil Goes to China, the Permanent Jobs Go to Canada, We Get the Spills, and the World Gets Warmer

Energy Efficiency could save $16 Trillion!

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Sandeen) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 18:47:00 +0000

Thinking Big on Efficiency Could Cut U.S. Energy Costs up to $16 Trillion & Create up to 1.9 Million Net Jobs by 2050

America is thinking too small when it comes to energy efficiency … according to a major new report from the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE).

The new report outlines three scenarios under which the U.S. could either continue on its current path or cut energy consumption by the year 2050 almost 60 percent, add nearly two million net jobs in 2050, and save energy consumers as much as $400 billion per year (the equivalent of $2600 per household annually).

Examples of potential large-scale energy efficiency savings identified by ACEEE include the following:

Electric Power. Our current system of generating and delivering electricity to U.S. homes and businesses is an anemic 31 percent energy efficient. That is, for every three units of coal or other fuel we use to generate the power, we manage to deliver less than one unit of electricity to our homes and businesses. What the U.S. wastes in the generation of electricity is more than Japan needs to power its entire economy. What is even more astonishing is that our current level of (in)efficiency is essentially unchanged in the half century since 1960, when President Dwight D. Eisenhower spent his last year in the White House.

Transportation. The fuel economy of conventional petroleum-fueled vehicles continues to grow while hybrid, electric, and fuel cell vehicles gain large shares, totaling nearly three-quarters of all new light-duty vehicles in 2050 in the report's middle scenario. Aviation, rail, and shipping energy use declines substantially in this scenario through a combination of technological and operational improvements. In the most aggressive scenario, there is a shift toward more compact development patterns, and greater investment in alternative modes of travel and other measures that reduce both passenger and freight vehicle miles traveled. This scenario also phases out conventional light-duty gasoline vehicles entirely, increases hybrid and fuel cell penetration for heavy-duty vehicles, and reduces aviation energy use by 70 percent.

Buildings. In residential and commercial buildings the evidence suggests potential reductions of space heating and cooling needs as the result of building shell improvements of up to 60 percent in existing buildings, and 70-90 percent in new buildings. The ACEEE scenarios also incorporate advanced heating and cooling systems (e.g., gas and ground-source air conditioners and heat pumps and condensing furnaces and boilers), decreased energy distribution losses, advanced solid-state lighting, and significantly more efficient appliances.

Industry. In the industrial sector, energy efficiency opportunities reduce 2050 energy use by up to half, coming less from equipment efficiency and more from optimization of complex systems. The ACEEE analysis focuses on process optimization in the middle scenario, but also anticipates even greater optimization of entire supply chains in the most aggressive scenario, allowing for more efficient use of feedstocks and elimination of wasted production.

http://bit.ly/wkv4LO

Defending Climate Change at School

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Sandeen) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 18:47:00 +0000

The National Center for Science Education has been defending the teaching of evolution since before Edwards vs. Aguillard, the 1987 Supreme Court decision that declared the teaching of creationism an unconstitutional promotion of religion.

With times changing, the NCSE is changing with them. Today, it's announcing that its support of students and educators will be broadened to include climate change.

"It's been a growing realization of ours that, just as teachers get hammered for teaching evolution, they also are getting hammered for teaching global warming and other climate change topics. They'll start talking about global warming and a student's hand will shoot up, 'teacher, my dad says global warming is a hoax.' We've had accounts where students would get up and walk out of the room."

The NCSE also heard about school boards that enacted policies that would dictate how things would be handled in the classrooms, and noticed the legislation we mentioned above. Scott said that all these events left the NCSE staff thinking "we really should look into this."

What they found were some clear parallels between evolution and climate science. Just as the controversy over evolution takes place within the public and not among scientists, Scott said, "There's not a debate going on within the science community about whether the climate is getting warm and whether people have a great deal to do with this." There were also parallels in terms of motivation. "The basis for antievolution is ideological," Scott said, pointing to its religious nature. "There's also an idealogical basis for anti-global warming, it just happens to be a political and economic ideology."

Eugenie C. Scott, the group's executive director, cited a rise in "creationist-like tactics being used in the attack on climate education."

Dr. Scott said national surveys of science teachers indicated that "one-third or more of their teachers have experienced some kind of push-back on the teaching of climate change" — everything from demands by education board members that climate change skeptics debate a climate scientist in class to objections by parents to the screening of "An Inconvenient Truth," Al Gore's Oscar-winning documentary about global climate change.

She said she anticipated that more such incidents would become known now that teachers have a central place to report them.

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/01/climate-change-education/

http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/17/helping-teachers-stand-up-for-science/?partner=rss&emc=rss

Renewable Energy Standards

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Sandeen) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 18:46:00 +0000

When your local utility buys more renewable energy to power your lights and computers, what more do you get besides the power? You get cleaner air, fewer respiratory health problems, and lower health-care costs.

You get local jobs building and maintaining green power plants and a better foothold in the fast-growing, multi-billion dollar global renewable energy industry.

If you use the power to charge the new plug-in electric vehicles now available, you reduce our imports of foreign oil and increase our energy security.

And finally, you reduce the greenhouse gases that are leading to the severe, threatening weather events spurred by global climate change.

http://bit.ly/yHpsjP

Business Council says "Keystone makes no sense for America"

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Sandeen) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 18:46:00 +0000

"Keystone makes no economic sense for America," American Sustainable Business Council says Keystone pipeline benefits are embellished

A coalition of businesses is the first such group to denounce the Canada-to-Texas Keystone XL oil pipeline and is urging President Obama to reject the project and turn the nation's focus to alternative and renewable energy.

The American Sustainable Business Council disputes Keystone's job numbers and energy security claims that most other business organizations tout when discussing the project.

"Once we take into account the true cost of oil including subsidies, environmental damage and military costs, oil is far more expensive than the alternatives. The best thing we can do for the American economy, and for American businesses as a whole, is to wean ourselves from oil as quickly as possible."

- http://bit.ly/zVSFLR

Thoughts from Martin Luther King, Jr.

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Sandeen) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 18:45:00 +0000

"On some positions, Cowardice asks the question, "Is it safe?" Expediency asks the question, "Is it politic?" And Vanity comes along and asks the question, "Is it popular?" But Conscience asks the question "Is it right?" And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must do it because Conscience tells him it is right."

- Martin Luther King, Jr.

National standards on mercury pollution from power plants

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Sandeen) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 02:46:00 +0000

7 All-time heat records set in 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Sandeen) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 03:55:00 +0000

Here, then, are the most most notable extreme temperatures globally in 2011, courtesy of weather records researcher Maximiliano Herrera:

Hottest temperature in the world in 2011: 53.3°C (127.9°F) in Mitrabah, Kuwait, August 3
Coldest temperature in the world in 2011: -80.2°C (-112.4°F) at Dome Fuji, Antarctica, September 18
Hottest temperature in the Southern Hemisphere: 49.4°C (120.9°F) at Roebourne, Australia, on December 21
Coldest temperature in the Northern Hemisphere: -67.2°C (-89°F) at Summit, Greenland, March 18. This is also the coldest March temperature ever recorded in the Northern Hemisphere.
Hottest undisputed 24-hour minimum temperature in world history: A minimum temperature of 41.7°C (107°F) measured at Khasab Airport in Oman on June 27

Germany installs solar at half US cost

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Sandeen) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 03:54:00 +0000

Germany installed 4 times more solar than the US in 2011 at roughly half the price.

Here's a chart showing solar installation costs in Germany.

-http://bit.ly/zvVytR

Interactive greenhouse gas emission map

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Sandeen) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 03:53:00 +0000

The Environmental Protection Agency has released an interactive online tool for identifying major sources of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. The database and map allow residents and governments to learn about the biggest polluters in their neighborhoods and get the broad picture as well.

Salazar protects Grand Canyon

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Sandeen) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 03:52:00 +0000

Top 5 Winners and Losers of Secretary Salazar's Decision to Protect 1 Million Acres Around the Grand Canyon

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar released a final determination to withdraw 1 million acres around the Grand Canyon from new mining claims for 20 years. Here are the top 5 winners and losers.

WINNERS

1. The 25 million people who get their drinking water from the Colorado River
The Colorado River is the lifeblood for residents of the southwest. It is one of the most important rivers in the nation, providing drinking water to 25 million Americans. Uranium mining could contaminate this precious water source, the legacy of which is in the water contamination across Arizona and the southwest and is felt most acutely by Native American tribes. Water authoritiesin Arizona, California, and Nevada have stated that "federal agencies with oversight over mineral exploration and mining operations in the Lower Colorado River Basin must use their authority to prevent any potential for deterioration of this critical water supply for millions of people."

2. American businesses
The outdoor recreation industry thrives on Americans' ability to get outside. In Arizona alone, the outdoor recreation economy annually supports 82,000 jobs, generates almost $350 million in state tax revenue, and stimulates about $5 billion in retail sales and services. Businesses like rafting companies, outfitters, and gear manufacturers all benefit tremendously from the Grand Canyon's unpolluted water, air, and landscapes. As Black Diamond Equipment CEO Peter Metcalf has stated, "The outdoor industry depends on public land so its consumers have a place to recreate using the products it sells."

3. Arizona workers
Tourists spending money in and around the Grand Canyon create jobs. Headwaters Economics found that Grand Canyon National Park supported over 6,000 jobs in 2009 and those tourists spent more than $400 million. Arizonans feel the direct, indirect, and induced impacts of this spending in places like Tusayan and Flagstaff, but also more broadly through hotels, flights, rental cars, and other expenditures. As Sherry Henry, director of the Arizona Office of Tourism said, "No other Arizona industry produces the same economic impact to the Grand Canyon State than our travel and tourism industry."

4. Sportsmen
Hunters and anglers have been some of the most outspoken proponents of protecting the Grand Canyon from the industrialization that mining would bring. A letter from nine sportsmen groups in July 2011 noted that "Uranium mining near Grand Canyon National Park is wholly unacceptablegiven the best science available and the potential impacts." The Arizona Game and Fish Commission has endorsed the mineral withdrawal. With these 1 million acres protected from new mining claims, sportsmen will not lose access to this prime fish and wildlife habitat.

5. American families
The Grand Canyon is one of America's most popular destinations. Almost 5 million people visit every year to take part in camping, hiking below the rim, viewing the sights from the window of a lodge, or otherwise taking in the canyon's natural magnificence. By stopping excess uranium mining on 1 million acres, all Americans and future generations will have an opportunity to visit the Grand Canyon in its untarnished state.

LOSERS

1. International atomic interests
A number of different mining companies have expressed interest in the uranium deposits around the Grand Canyon, many of which are foreign or multinational. Examples are Rosatom, Russia's state nuclear agency; Denison Mining, partially owned by Korea's state-owned electric utility; and Vane Minerals, a British company.

2. Reps. Jeff Flake, Paul Gosar, Trent Franks
Reps. Jeff Flake (R-AZ), Paul Gosar (R-AZ), and Trent Franks (R-AZ) have taken the lead in relentlessly attempting to block Secretary Salazar's temporary withdrawals and forcing the administration to open the Grand Canyon area to industrial development. Flake's effort over the summer to attach a policy rider on a budget bill to tie the Interior Department's hands was dubbed "the Flake earmark." Flake has already received $12,000 in campaign contributions from mining interests for his 2012 U.S. Senate campaign.

3. National Mining Association
The National Mining Association is one of the largest natural resources trade and lobbying groups in the nation. In 2011 it spent $3,580,266 lobbying Congress on various issues, and its non-coal-focused PAC has already spent $78,000 in campaign contributions for the 2012 cycle ($70,500 of which went to Republicans). A spokesman from the group in June stated that Secretary Salazar's 6-month withdrawal "sets a troublesome precedent."

4. Scientist Karen Wenrich
Republicans on the House Natural Resources Committee called a hearing in November 2011 tocontinue to push for uranium mining around the Grand Canyon. But it was revealed at the hearing by Grand Canyon champion Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) that the scientist whom they called to testify that there would be little impact from uranium mining on the Colorado River stood to make $225,000 from it. Securities and Exchange Commission filings show that Karen Wenrich, a retired United States Geological Survey scientist, entered into a deal to sell 61 uranium claims only if the mineral withdrawal did not go through.

5. Companies seeking to exploit the public's treasures for corporate profits
Under the 1872 Mining Law, mining companies are not required to pay royalties to the public for the mineral resources that they extract. Not only are taxpayers not properly compensated for their natural resources, but they are frequently left to foot the bill for environmental cleanup. Congress must pass legislation such as Rep. Ed Markey's H.R. 3446 to solve this problem. However, Secretary Salazar's withdrawal will stop additional companies from profiting off this antiquated system while endangering a national treasure.

Driest first week of January in U.S. recorded history.

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Sandeen) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 03:51:00 +0000

Flowers are sprouting in January in New Hampshire, the Sierra Mountains in California are nearly snow-free, and lakes in much of Michigan still have not frozen.

It's 2012, and the new year is ringing in another ridiculously wacky winter for the U.S. In Fargo, North Dakota [Thursday], the mercury soared to 55°F, breaking a 1908 record for warmest January day in recorded history. More than 99% of North Dakota had no snow on the ground this morning, and over 95% of the country that normally has snow at this time of year had below-average snow cover.

High temperatures in Nebraska yesterday were in the 60s, more than 30° above average. Storm activity has been almost nil over the past week over the entire U.S., with the jet stream bottled up far to the north in Canada. It has been remarkable to look at the radar display day after day and see virtually no echoes, and it is very likely that this has been the driest first week of January in U.S. recorded history.

Portions of northern New England, the Upper Midwest, and the mountains of the Western U.S. that are normally under a foot of more of snow by now have no snow, or just a dusting of less than an inch. Approximately half of the U.S. had temperatures at least 5°F above average during the month of December, with portions of North Dakota and Minnesota seeing temperatures 9°F above average. The strangely warm and dry start to winter is not limited to the U.S–all of continental Europe experienced well above-average temperatures during December.

http://bit.ly/xh7CQf

Electric Cars and Iran

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Sandeen) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 03:50:00 +0000

With Iran threatening to close the Strait of Hormuz, chokepoint for the passage of 17 percent of globally traded oil, this is a good time to introduce myself. This set of issues—oil addiction and the vehicle-centric, land-abusing society it engenders—has a lot to do with why I joined RMI as editorial director after a 30-year newspaper career.

This week, as an old headline about oil insecurity reappears, I feel mounting frustration about a newer storyline being adopted in my former industry: the supposedly faltering launch of mass-produced electric cars.

These stories, of course, are related, but the media, politicians and the public either don't see the connection or don't want to.

Let me step back for a moment to personal history.

Gasoline topped 40 cents a gallon in my hometown on the day I got my driver's license in January 1974, in the midst of the Arab oil embargo. Over the next few years, I saw a clear connection between U.S. oil dependency and my struggle to gain traction in the economy as oil price spikes drove inflation. The experience led me to study political science and journalism in college and to buy the most fuel-efficient vehicles I could afford.

As a student reporter, probably then driving a Ford Maverick, I first heard of the Strait of Hormuz in about 1979, when I covered a speech by Gerald Ford in which he warned that as Iran's stability quavered, we would soon learn about the strategic waterway and its vulnerability.

In the intervening decades, despite Amory Lovins changing the energy discussion, despite a range of uneven conservation and efficiency efforts and a loophole-filled set of rules that improved automotive fuel economy, quite obviously not enough has changed. We are again hearing about the Strait of Hormuz as a potential threat to our economic security as Iran reacts to sanctions imposed because of its nuclear program.

Our oil dependency gives erratic leaders money to do things like repress their people, finance terrorism and pursue nuclear weapons. It gives them outsized power to influence the U.S. economy and the very lives of Americans whom we keep sending to war in oil-rich hot spots.

Our national leaders are stuck and our narrative is stuck.

The entirely predictable response to Iran's threat will be calls for military action and increased domestic oil production.

These decades-old ideas, which have not yet made us secure and leave us to depend on the continued stability of Saudi Arabia, of course do nothing to address the environmental and economic risks of continued fossil fuel dependency. We urgently need a new storyline, such as the Reinventing Fire vision of freeing the U.S. from fossil fuels by 2050, with business leading the way.

Now, the U.S. burns 13 million barrels of oil a day at a cost of $2 billion. That oil dependence also incurs hidden costs totaling roughly $1.5 trillion a year, or 12 percent of GDP.

The only way to avoid these costs is to stop using oil, and RMI research shows a huge potential prize for doing so—the transportation sector alone holds a $3.8 trillion opportunity from oil not needed.

Key to this is the adoption of electric vehicles built with ultrastrong, ultralight materials that enable powertrain reductions and fuel efficiency of up to 240 mpg equivalent.

These approaches, while not easy, offer far lower risks to national security, the economy, the environment and public health.

The benefits transcend party lines—and get us unstuck.

Which brings us to one new story the media are telling that is counterproductive to solving our oil addiction: That the launch of the first mass-market electric cars, the Chevrolet Volt and Nissan Leaf, is fizzling. Under the headline "Are electric cars losing their spark?" USA Today this month focused on Chevy Volt fires that came only in tests and on Volt and Leaf sales falling below projections this year, reaching probably about 17,000 between the two. In naming the Volt one of the big product flops of the year, Yahoo Finance made much the same arguments.

This narrative simply lacks context. Gas-powered vehicles catch fire nearly 200,000 times a year—on the road, not in labs [chart here]. Toyota, which has now sold more than 1 million hybrids in the U.S., sold only about 5,800 of its Prius hybrid to U.S. customers in 2000, the first year it was offered here. Selling 17,000 EVs in the first year may not be so bad.

To be sure, pricy EVs face obstacles to consumer acceptance. So did the car. The Literary Digest (not to be confused with the USA Today of its time), proclaimed in 1899, "The ordinary 'horseless carriage' is at present a luxury for the wealthy; and although its price will probably fall in the future, it will never, of course, come into as common use as the bicycle."

I want to stop buying gas. The patriotic alternatives, with no loss of comfort, safety or convenience, are on the road.

So I see an EV in my future, just as I see EVs becoming as common as hybrids within a few years. But Iran's latest threat reminds us that we need to go further faster, for example while the Saudi royal family is able to maintain power without direct U.S. military intervention, even as repressive regimes around it collapse.

For my part, I have more faith in a U.S. energy future in which resources from above the ground power homes, industry and EVs than I do in the long-term stability of Saudi Arabia.

Randy Essex is Editorial Director of the Rocky Mountain Institute. This piece was originally published at RMI.

Cruise Ships - Dinosaur of the Year

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Sandeen) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 03:50:00 +0000

According to NABU, cruise ships emit particle pollution that equals the amount released by five million cars driving the same distance as the cruise ship tears through the ocean. The organization said the luxury cruise ship industry has made no investments to move away from heavy fossil fuel oil or to install filters to reduce the pollution they dump into the oceans. It added that the 15 largest cruise ships emit as much sulfur dioxide pollution annually as all 760 million cars in the world. Not much glamour or luxury in that, is there?

http://bit.ly/yJkBVD

Keystone XL Whistleblower - We shouldn't build this pipeline

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Sandeen) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 03:49:00 +0000

A whistleblower is claiming that the company overseeing the development of the proposed Keystone XL project, TransCanada, also has a track record of undercutting quality at the expense of the environment — further calling into question the decision by Congress to prevent a new federal environmental impact study for Keystone XL.

Mike Klink is a former inspector for Bechtel, one of the major contractors working on TransCanada's original Keystone pipeline, completed in 2010. Klink says he raised numerous concerns about shoddy materials and poor craftsmanship during construction of the pipeline, which brings tar sands crude from Canada to Midwestern refineries in the U.S. Instead of actually addressing the problems, Klink claims he was fired by Bechtel in retaliation. He filed a complaint with the Department of Labor in March of 2010, and made his story public last fall.

Klink, who says he's speaking as an engineer and not an environmentalist, has just published a scathing op-ed in the Lincoln Journal Star criticizing Keystone XL, a proposed extension of the current tar sands pipeline network that would bring crude down to refineries in the Gulf Coast, crossing a major aquifer along the way:

As an inspector, my job was to monitor the construction of the first Keystone pipeline. I oversaw construction at the pump stations that have been such a problem on that line, which has already spilled more than a dozen times. I am coming forward because my kids encouraged me to tell the truth about what was done and covered up.
When I last raised concerns about corners being cut, I lost my job — but people along the Keystone XL pathway have a lot more to lose if this project moves forward with the same shoddy work.

A recent environmental impact statement — outsourced by the State Department to another major TransCanada contractor — found that there would be "limited adverse environmental impacts" associated with the 1,700-mile Keystone XL pipeline. Opponents of the pipeline cried foul, saying it was yet another major conflict of interest between the State Department and TransCanada.

Klink's assertions about poor management of the first Keystone pipeline provide yet more ammunition for critics of the pipeline:

What did I see? Cheap foreign steel that cracked when workers tried to weld it, foundations for pump stations that you would never consider using in your own home, fudged safety tests, Bechtel staffers explaining away leaks during pressure tests as "not too bad," shortcuts on the steel and rebar that are essential for safe pipeline operation and siting of facilities on completely inappropriate spots like wetlands.
I shared these concerns with my bosses, who communicated them to the bigwigs at TransCanada, but nothing changed. TransCanada didn't appear to care. That is why I was not surprised to hear about the big spill in Ludden, N.D., where a 60-foot plume of crude spewed tens of thousands of gallons of toxic tar sands oil and fouled neighboring fields.
TransCanada says that the performance has been OK. Fourteen spills is not so bad. And that the pump stations don't really count. That is all bunk. This thing shouldn't be leaking like a sieve in its first year — what do you think happens decades from now after moving billions of barrels of the most corrosive oil on the planet?
Let's be clear — I am an engineer; I am not telling you we shouldn't build pipelines. We just should not build this one.

http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/01/03/396520/pipeline-inspector-whistleblower-keystone-xl-pipeline-disasterq/

Tar Sands Expansion

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Sandeen) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 03:48:00 +0000

Extraction of Alberta's energy-intensive tar sands has expanded steadily in recent years, with about 232 square miles now exposed by mining operations at the Athabasca River site. Tar sands production is expected to double over the next decade, which could mean the destruction of 740,000 acres of boreal forest and a 30% increase in carbon emissions from Canada's oil and gas sector.

New satellite images show the dramatic expansion that has taken place from 2001 through 2011.(Photos by Robert Simmon, NASA/Landsat/USGS.)

So what's the actual impact on the ground? Here's what happens when you turn a carbon sink like the Boreal Forest into a carbon-spewing pit of tar sands. (Photos from VisionShare and Co-op Financial Services via Flickr. Note: These are not the same patch of land.)

Oil hits Nigerian Coast

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Sandeen) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 03:47:00 +0000

Accusations fly as Shell denies oil washing up on the coast comes from the biggest spill in more than 13 years. http://reut.rs/rpb6xA

Top 10 Global Weather Events of 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Sandeen) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 03:46:00 +0000

32 extreme weather events caused cost at least $1 billion worldwide. http://bit.ly/s7gJf2

A remarkable blitz of extreme weather events during 2011 caused a total of 32 weather disasters costing at least $1 billion worldwide. Five nations experienced their most expensive weather-related natural disasters on record during 2011--Thailand, Australia, Colombia, Sri Lanka, and Cambodia. According to insurance broker AON Benfield'sNovember Catastrophe Report, the U.S. was hit by no less than seventeen punishing multi-billion dollar extreme weather disasters in 2011; NOAA's National Climatic Data Center official total is lower--twelve--but is likely to grow in number as additional damage statistics are tallied. Brazil experienced its deadliest weather-related natural disaster--a flash flood that killed 902 people in January, and the Philippines had its second deadliest flood ever, when Tropical Storm Washi killed over 1200 people in December.

1) East Africa drought and famine: over 30,000 dead
The deadliest weather disaster of 2011 was a quiet one that got few headlines--the East African drought in Somalia, Kenya, and Ethiopia. On July 20, the United Nations officially declared famine in two regions of southern Somalia, the first time a famine has been declared by the UN in nearly thirty years. Almost 30,000 children under the age of five were believed to have died of malnutrition in Somalia this summer, and the total death toll of this great drought is doubtless much higher. East Africa has two rainy seasons--a main "long rains" of March - June, and the "short rains" of October - November. The "short rains" failed in the fall of 2010, and when the main "long rains" in spring 2011 also failed, it brought one of the worst droughts in recorded history. The 2010 - 2011 drought was rated along with the droughts of 1983 - 1984 and 1999 - 2000 as one of the three most significant droughts of the past 60 years. It was the driest 12-month period on record at some locations in East Africa. Damage assessments from the drought are not yet available, but it would not be a surprise if the drought of 2011 was the costliest weather-related natural disaster on record for Somalia, Ethiopia, and Kenya.

December 20 post: Deadliest weather disaster of 2011: the East African drought

Figure 1. Children fetch water at a tap installed by the International Rescue Committee (IRC) in the village of Darssalam in central Somalia. Image credit: IRC.

2) Thailand flooding: most expensive natural disaster in Thai history
Heavy monsoon and tropical cyclone rains from July through October, enhanced by La Niña conditions, led to unprecedented flooding that killed 657 people and caused Thailand's most expensive natural disaster in history. Damages are now estimated at $45 billion by re-insurance company AON Benfield. This is 18% of the country's GDP. Hurricane Katrina cost the U.S. about 0.7% of its GDP, so the Thailand floods can be thought of as a disaster 25 times worse than Katrina for that country. Thailand's previous most expensive natural disaster was the $1.3 billion price tag of the November 27, 1993 flood, according to the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED). The floodwaters this year have hit 83% of Thailand's provinces, affected 9.8 million people, and damaged four million structures and approximately 25% of the nation's rice crop. Thailand is the world's largest exporter of rice, accounting for 30% of the global total, and the flood has helped trigger an increase in world rice prices in late 2011.

November 14 post: Thailand's flood gradually subsiding; climate change increasing Thai flood risk

Figure 2. An SH-60F Sea Hawk helicopter assigned to Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron (HS) 14, flies around the Bangkok area with members of the humanitarian assessment survey team and the Royal Thai Armed Forces to assess the damage caused by the 2011 floods. Image credit: Petty Officer 1st Class Jennifer Villalovos

3) Queensland, Australia flooding: most expensive natural disaster in Australian history
Heavy rains from December 2010 through January 2011, enhanced by La Niña conditions and record-warm ocean temperatures, led to unprecedented rains and flooding that killed 35 people and did $30 billion in damage. This was 3.2% of Australia's GDP, and five times more costly than the nation's previous most expensive natural disaster in history, the 1981 drought ($6 billion.) Rainfall in Queensland and all of eastern Australia in December 2010 was the greatest on record, and the year 2010 was the rainiest year on record for Queensland.

January 21 post: 2011: Year of the Flood

Figure 3. Still frame from a remarkable 6-minute YouTube video showing the sad fate of a row of parked cars when a flash flood in Toowoomba, Queensland sweeps away dozens of the cars. A note to the wise: Two minutes into the video, we see a man enter the flash flood to save his car. He is successful, but his actions were extremely risky--most flash flood deaths occur when cars with people inside get swept away.

4) Columbia floods: most expensive natural disaster in Colombia's history
Heavy rains in Colombia reached their peak in late April, triggering floods that killed 116 and did $5.85 billion in damage (2% of their GDP), making it the most damaging natural disaster in Colombia's history. Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos warned: "There are going to be a lot of needy people, there has never been a tragedy of this scale in our history." Colombia's previous most expensive weather disaster occurred just last year, when the heaviest rains in 42 years of record keeping occurred. Floods and landslides killed 528, did $1 billion in damage, and left 2.2 million homeless in 2010. Colombia's most expensive natural disaster prior to 2011 was the $1.9 billion in damage from the January 25, 1999 earthquake, according to CRED.

5) Tropical Storm Washi: second deadliest weather disaster in Philippine history
Tropical Storm Washi hit the southern Philippine island of Mindanao as a tropical storm with 45 - 55 mph winds, crossing the island in about eighteen hours on December 16. Washi was unusually wet, as the storm was able to tap a large stream of tropical moisture extending far to the east, and drew moisture from an area where sea surface temperatures were nearly 1°C above average--one of the top five warmest values on record. Washi's rains fell on regions where the natural forest had been illegally logged or converted to pineapple plantations, and the heavy rains were able to run off quickly on the relatively barren soils and create devastating flash floods. Since the storm hit in the middle of the night, and affected an unprepared population that had no flood warning system in place, the death toll was tragically high. At least 1249 people perished, and 79 people are still listed as missing. The only deadlier storm ever to hit the Philippines was Tropical Storm Thelma on November 5, 1991, which killed 5956 people.

December 19 post: Tropical Storm Washi kills 632 in the Philippines

Figure 5. MODIS true-color satellite image of Tropical Storm Washi at 01:45 UTC December 16, 2011, as it bore down on the Philippines. At the time, Washi had top sustatined winds of 50 mph. Image credit: NASA.

6) Brazil flash flood kills 902: deadliest natural disaster in Brazil's history
Brazil suffered its deadliest natural disaster in history on January 11, when torrential rains inundated a heavily populated, steep-sloped area about 40 miles north of Rio de Janeiro. Flash floods and mudslides from the heavy rains have claimed 902 lives, including at least 357 in Nova Friburgo and 323 in Teresópolis. Rainfall amounts of approximately 300 mm (12 inches) fell in just a few hours in the hardest-hit regions. Damage estimates are $1.2 billion, making it the most damaging storm in Brazil's history, and third most damaging natural disaster, behind the $2.3 billion and $1.7 billion price tags of the 1978 and 2004 droughts. The previous deadliest flood in Brazilian history was a January 23, 1967 flood that killed 785 people.

January 14 post: At least 611 dead in Brazilian floods: Brazil's deadliest natural disaster in history

Figure 6. Flooded stream in Teresópolis. Image credit: Wikipedia.

7) April 25 - 28 Super" tornado outbreak kills 321 in the U.S.
On April 25 - 28, 2011, a massive tornado outbreak clobbered the Midwest and Southeast U.S. with 343 tornadoes. Now called the April 2011 Super tornado outbreak, it was the largest and most damaging tornado outbreak in U.S. history. The tornadoes caused 321 deaths, with 240 of those occurring in Alabama. The deadliest tornado of the outbreak, an EF-5, hit northern Alabama, killing 78 people. Several major metropolitan areas were directly impacted by strong tornadoes including Tuscaloosa, Birmingham, and Huntsville in Alabama and Chattanooga, Tennessee, causing the estimated damage costs to soar. The outbreak caused more than $7.3 billion insured losses and total losses greater than $10.2 billion.

April 29 post: Over 300 dead in historic tornado outbreak; one violent EF-5 tornado confirmed

Figure 7. The Piggly Wiggly supermarket and Family Dollar store after the EF-5 Hackleburg, Alabama tornado on April 27. Image credit: NWS Birmingham, Alabama.

8) Southern U.S./Northern Mexico drought: $10 billion in damage, and rising
Drought and excessive heat created major impacts across Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona, southern Kansas, western Louisiana, and northern Mexico. Texas endured its driest 1-year period on record, and rainfall in much of northern Mexico was the lowest since record keeping began in 1941. Texas had the hottest summer ever recorded by a U.S. state, and Oklahoma had the hottest month (July) any U.S. state has ever recorded. The total direct losses to crops, livestock and timber are estimated at $10 billion, but are expected to continue to rise as the drought continues into 2012. Record fires across the region caused an additional $1 billion in damage.

August 17 post: Texas heat wave smashes more records

Figure 8. Business was slow at the Lake Conroe, Texas jet ski rental in 2011, thanks to the great Texas drought of 2011. Image credit: wunderphotographer BEENE.

9) Pakistan floods: 2nd most expensive weather disaster in Pakistani history
Heavy rains during the July through September monsoon season triggered devastating flooding that killed 456 and did $2 billion in damage (1.1% of GDP) in Pakistan. It was the second most expensive weather-related disaster in Pakistan's history, behind the $9.5 billion price tag of the 2010 floods (5.5% of GDP.)

10 (tie) Hurricane Irene: most damaging tropical cyclone of 2011
The most damaging tropical cyclone on the globe during 2011 was Hurricane Irene, which plowed through the Bahama Islands as a Category 3 hurricane with 120 mph winds before striking North Carolina as a Category 1 hurricane with 85 mph winds on August 27. Most of Irene's damage occurred after it made landfall on Long Island, New York as a tropical storm with 65 mph winds, when torrential rainfall triggered extreme flooding in the Northeast U.S. More than 7 million homes and businesses lost power during the storm. Irene caused at least 45 deaths in the U.S., and ten in the Caribbean and Bahamas. Damage is estimated at $7.3 billion.

December 3 post: Hurricane Irene: New York City dodges a potential storm surge mega-disaster

Figure 9. GOES-East visible satellite image of Irene taken at 7:45 am EDT on Sunday, August 28, 2011. At the time, Irene was a tropical storm with 65 mph winds, making landfall on Long Island, New York. Image credit: NOAA Environmental Visualization laboratory.

10 (tie) May 22 - 27 Joplin, Missouri tornado outbreak
A violent EF-5 tornado carved a ½ – ¾ mile-wide path of devastation through Joplin, Missouri on May 22, killing 158, and causing $3 billion in damage. Huge sections of the town virtually obliterated, and damage from the tornado was so severe that pavement was ripped from the ground. It was the largest death toll from a U.S. tornado since 1947, seventh deadliest tornado in U.S. history, and the most expensive tornado in world history. The six-day outbreak spawned 180 tornadoes in the central and southern states, killed 177, and did $9.1 billion in damage.

May 23 post: Deadliest U.S. tornado since 1953 rips through Joplin, Missouri, killing 89

Video 1. Video of the Joplin, Missouri tornado of May 22, 2011, entering the southwest side of town. Filmed by TornadoVideos.net Basehunters team Colt Forney, Isaac Pato, Kevin Rolfs, and Scott Peake. The most remarkable audio I've ever heard of people surviving a direct hit by a violent tornado was posted to Youtube by someone who took shelter in the walk-in storage refrigerator at a gas station during the Joplin tornado. There isn't much video.

Honorable mentions:
1) Sri Lanka: Heaviest rains in nearly a century of record keeping triggered a 1-in-100 year flood in January that killed 43 and did $500 million in damage--the costliest weather-related disaster in Sri Lanka's history. Renewed rains February 1 - 10 caused flooding that killed 18 and cost an additional $450 million--the second most costly natural disaster in Sri Lanka's history.

2) Heavy rains in September and October in Cambodia triggered flooding that killed 250 and did $521 million in damage--by far the most expensive natural disaster in Cambodian history. The previous most expensive disaster was the $160 million cost of floods in July 2000.

3) El Salvador: Heavy rains from Tropical Depression 12-E in October triggered flooding that killed 140 in Central America and caused $900 million in damage to El Salvador (4.2% of GDP). This is the 2nd most expensive weather-related disaster in El Salvador's history, behind the $939 million price tag of their Nov. 7, 2009 flood.

4) China: June floods in China killed 239, doing $6.65 billion in damage, the 10th most damaging weather-related disaster in Chinese history.

5) China: September floods killed 101 and did $4.25 billion in damage.

6) U.S.: Greatest flood on the Lower Mississippi River on record caused $4 billion in damage.

7) China: A drought in Northern China during January through April cost $2.7 billion.

8) Denmark: Severe flooding on July 2 - 3 caused $1 billion in damage, the 3rd most expensive weather-related disaster in Danish history.

Other posts looking back at the remarkable weather events of 2011
2011: Year of the Tornado
Deadliest weather disaster of 2011:; the East African drought
Tropical Storm Lee's flood in Binghamton: was global warming the final straw?
Wettest year on record in Philadelphia; 2011 sets record for wet/dry extremes in U.S.
Hurricane Irene: New York City dodges a potential storm surge mega-disaster

Donations sought for the East Africa famine
Weather Underground has partnered with the International Rescue Committee (IRC) to help the Horn of Africa region during the ongoing famine. With the help of the Weather Underground community, we hope to raise $10,000 that will go toward helping the refugees survive the crisis. Weather Underground will match the community's donation dollar-for-dollar up to $10,000 for a total donation of $20,000. Please visit the East Africa famine donation page to help out. Ninety cents of every dollar donated goes directly to the people in need.

This will be my last post until Tuesday, as its time to gather with family and friends and celebrate the arrival of the new year. Happy New Year, everyone!

Jeff Masters

Ithaca goes Green

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Sandeen) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 03:38:00 +0000

The City of Ithaca, N.Y., will be purchasing Green-e Energy-certified renewable energy certificates for all its electricity. These RECs will offset about 4,896 metric tons of CO2 emissions annually from conventional electricity production.

The environmental benefit can be compared to not driving 12,000,000 miles in a car, or planting 1,460 acres of treesThe City of Ithaca, N.Y., will be purchasing Green-e Energy-certified renewable energy certificates for all its electricity. These RECs will offset about 4,896 metric tons of CO2 emissions annually from conventional electricity production.

The environmental benefit can be compared to not driving 12,000,000 miles in a car, or planting 1,460 acres of trees, according to the municipality.to buy all its electricity from renewable energy sources through Integrys Energy Services of New York. It will start this month.

Ithaca has sourced 5 percent of its energy from wind farms since 2006 and is targeting a carbon footprint 20 percent smaller than 2001 levels by 2016.The REC purchase was conducted through Municipal Electric and Gas Alliance Inc., a non-profit aggregation of power users.

World Peace and other 4th grade Achievements

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Sandeen) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 19:22:00 +0000

This is well worth watching!

Some quotes from the 4th-graders:

"It's a game that makes you really think about what's going on in the world."

"There is no right or wrong answer. If you want the right answer, choose the one that helps everyone and then think about yourself."

"In this game, one person can't win. Everyone has to win."

TEPCO claims it is not responsible for radiation

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Sandeen) — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 13:44:00 +0000

TEPCO says it 'no longer owns' Fukushima fallout | The Australian http://bit.ly/sjP7ZJ

In defending a lawsuit from a Fukushima Prefecture golf club, lawyers said the radioactive cesium that had blighted the Sunfield Nihonmatsu golf course's fairways and greens was the club's problem.

TEPCO's lawyers argue the emissions are no longer its responsibility. "Radioactive materials (such as cesium) that scattered and fell from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant belong to individual landowners, not TEPCO," the utility told Tokyo District Court.

The court rejected TEPCO's argument, but ruled it was the responsibility of local, prefectural and national governments to clean it up.

The club believes it will cost $160 million to clean up the radioactive materials. Officials fear that the court ruling will bankrupt local governments.

The court ruling makes it clear who will pay for the cleanup. The taxpayers.

India's Solar Power Auctions

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Sandeen) — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 13:44:00 +0000

India's solar power auctions were far more successful than expected with electricity selling for about half the expected price.

The main reason for the change is the striking drop in the global price for solar panels and modules. Another interesting factor in the fall in prices is an auction process that India adopted to force solar power producers to compete with one another. In one recently concluded auction, for instance, the prices at which developers agreed to sell power to the government were nearly 30 percent lower than a year earlier. More than 100 companies bid in the auction, including many that have never built a solar power park before.

It almost didn't happen that way.

Initially, Indian policy makers intended to buy solar power for the grid at a fixed and subsidized price of 15.4 rupees (29 cents) for a kilowatt hour. "The sense was that we will not get up to 1,000 megawatts and there will not be too many offers," said Shyam Saran, a former Indian diplomat and energy policy maker.

But what the government found was that there was far more interest in providing solar power to India than it was willing to buy; 6,000 megawatts were offered when it was interested in buying just 1,000 megawatts. So it decided to set up a reverse auction in which developers would bid to sell power to a state-owned electric utility.

Two auctions have been held so far, and they have been far more successful at driving down costs than anybody had anticipated. The lowest winning bid in the most recent auction was 7.50 rupees and the average bid was 8.77 rupees, about half the fixed price at which the government was initially willing to buy power.

"The government is doing the right thing by following a trial and experiment approach," said Tobias Engelmeier, the managing director of Bridge to India, a research and consulting firm based in New Delhi.

Some good news for fish in 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Sandeen) — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 13:42:00 +0000

By far the biggest story of the year in fisheries management was the successful implementation of annual catch limits in our fisheries. This effectively ended overfishing in America. In March, National Marine Fisheries Service Administrator Eric Schwaab announced that his agency was on track to implement science-based catch limits on all 528 federally managed species of fish, thereby preventing overfishing—the act of catching more fish than science dictates can be sustainably harvested—from occurring in U.S. fisheries.

Of course, fisheries science remains an elusive discipline, and our estimates of fish stock populations are rife with variables. This means that as more data are collected, our perceptions of the health of fish populations may change, and we may realize that what we thought were sustainable harvest levels may have been overly optimistic.

Still, given that fisheries scientists don't have a crystal ball showing what the future holds for fish populations, operating within limits that reflect the best science we have still gives the United States worldwide bragging rights to say our fisheries are the most sustainably managed on the planet. And that's no small feat. So whether you're putting a piece of Alaskan salmon or Atlantic swordfish on your plate, you can end 2011 with the assurance that if it's U.S.-caught, it's sustainable.

The little fish that could

In November the Atlantic States Fishery Management Coalition—the interstate body charged with managing fishing that occurs primarily in state waters along the Atlantic coastal—voted 14-3 to reduce the catch limit for menhaden by 37 percent after scientific recommendations and more than 90,000 public comments urged them to take such action.

The 12-inch-long menhaden, a species that scientists and conservationists say is fundamental to the ocean food web as prey for larger species of fish, such as striped bass, and seabirds like osprey and bald eagles. Thus, catch in the menhaden fishery was not limited primarily to benefit the species itself but rather to benefit its predators.

This decision was a prime example of ecosystem-based management, a concept conservationists have been preaching for years: that we should manage a species according to its role in the ecosystem rather than simply looking at each as an individual. The menhaden decision was a step forward for such big-picture analysis.

A Strong Year for Spawning Salmon in Maine's Rivers

More than 3,100 salmon returned to the Penobscot River, the most since 1986, and nearly 200 ascended the Narraguagus River, up from the low two digits just a decade ago.

Dr. Kocik noted that salmon from eastern Canada also seemed to be making a comeback this year. "The one thing it definitely shows is how connected all of the salmon — not only in New England, but in Atlantic Canada — are," he said, "because they are having some pretty good returns this year as well."

Ever since the Maine salmon were listed under the federal Endangered Species Act, recovery efforts have been in high gear. Biologists have studied salmon habitat and migration routes, and stocked millions of juvenile salmon. Conservation groups protected lands along hundreds of miles of salmon rivers and fought for tighter regulations on salmon farms. In 2009, federal regulators expanded the listing to include salmon habitats in Maine's largest rivers — including the Penobscot, where a dam-removal project will soon allow salmon better access to miles of spawning habitat.

Andrew Goode, a vice president at the Atlantic Salmon Federation, a conservation group, said that the population had been gradually improving since it bottomed out around 2000, but that "this year was definitely off the charts."

http://nyti.ms/rtIEo5

The Farmer in the Dell

In June, NOAA announced a new aquaculture policy that recognized the need to develop this industry domestically in a manner that addresses environmental concerns.

http://bit.ly/v5Eqys