Ecos*2: Ecology and Economics: Inseparable

A must see: Online CBS 60 Minutes: The BP Oil Blowout

2010-05-17T00:40:00.012-04:00

60 Minute Expose (click)

Some of the best investigative journalism ever. Mike Williams, the rig's chief electrical engineer survived under the most harrowing circumstances imaginable. He now tells What BP, Halliburton, and Transocean Executives never told the Senators this past Tuesday -- How BP (weeks behind schedule) in a rush to get the oil ignored critical advice to use safer procedures. For BP, Profits trumped safety, 11 workers lost their lives and what may become one of the worst ecological nightmares in history continues. We also learn that there is another BP time bomb in the Gulf -- the Atlantis Rig. Hopefully Mr. Williams will get to tell his story in Congress.

Oil slick BP Deepwater Horizon Wellhead: May 6 (Daniel Beltra, Reuters)

Too Deep to Fail = Too Deep to Drill

2010-05-16T13:33:00.087-04:00

Listening to the Senators grill BP's Lamar McKay (BP photo, left) and executives from Halliburton and Transocean last week, one thing became very clear -- no one really knows what is going on a mile below the surface. The gush rate may be 5000 or 100,000 barrels a day. According to an article in today's NY Times scientists have discovered enormous plumes deep in Gulf waters as big as 10 miles long, 3 miles wide and as thick as 300 feet thick -- indicating that the release rate may be much greater than BP's 5000 barrel per day estimate. Scientists fear that the submerged oil is likely to deplete dissolved oxygen critical to the survival of marine life.

And, as BP's repeated failed efforts demonstrate, its very difficult to figure out how to shut off the flow at this depth. As those on the hot seat testified they have virtually no experience with such disasters. According to a number of Internet sources there are very few wells pumping from depths greater than 5,000 feet.

Photo Source: Oilism

There are very few oil wells that pump oil from these depths. According to Shell's website, the company's Perdido Development (pictured below and pumping for a month) is the deepest installation in the world with a depth of 8000 feet below the Gulf surface some 200 miles from the Texas coast. Perdido is pumping natural gas as well as crude through separate pipe lines to the shore. Like the BP's operation, remotely controlled robots (designed to withstand the enormous pressures) will patrol the well head area on the sea bed. We can only wonder what would happen if disaster strikes Shell's new installation. (Perdido means lost in Spanish.) Shell plans to use the same floating rig to pump oil from other deep water locations (link above).

Photo Source: Shell Oil

It is clear that much tougher regulations and enforcement are in store for offshore oil ventures. However, given the magnitude and duration of ecological destruction and costs to fishing, tourism and residents along the coast additional constraints will be needed.

According to Shell's website the Perdido is a floating rig that can be transported to oil rich Gulf sources hundreds of miles from the current location. However, it would make sense to restrict Perdido's production until a complete investigation of the BP disaster and the Perdido installation (accident prevention, accident response and control measures and environmental impact assessments are completed.

In addition, there should be a complete moratorium on any new drilling in U.S. coastal waters until the federal government can assure that we won't have any repeats of the BP disaster.

PBS NEWS HOUR LEAKING OIL COUNTER

2010-05-14T11:24:00.000-04:00

PBS NEWS HOUR BP OIL LEAK COUNTER AND RELATED NEWS

Today's news on the Oil in the Gulf

2010-05-13T11:06:00.002-04:00

See Great Hightower Humor on Gov. Rick Perry and the Offshore Oil Debacle. (From Truthout May 13, 2010)

See Also

Criminal Charges Likely From Gulf Oil Spill, Legal Experts Say Wednesday 12 May 2010

by: Marisa Taylor | McClatchy Newspapers

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/05/12/94061/federal-laws-point-to-criminal.html

A report from Louisiana by Willie Fontenot: Big Oil Versus Democratic Rights and the Environment

2010-05-12T16:09:00.004-04:00

Editor's Note: Willie Fontenot, an environmental leader from Baton Rouge sent in the following alert along with some encouraging thoughts. His photo appears below and bio following the article.

While hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil from the BP's gusher into the Gulf, oil companies have been waging a nasty campaign to pass legislation that would close the Tulane Environmental Law Clinic and similar clinics around the state. The Bill is being pushed by the oil and chemical industry. There is an excellent article in today's The Times-Picayune by reporter James Gill: Here is the intro: "Although the bill was conceived as revenge against Tulane, its animus extends to every university law clinic in the state. Students at the clinics provide free legal services to the poor across the legal spectrum. Yet because Tulane has provoked the ire of polluting industries, all the other clinics would be forced to close, or operate under severe constraints. The bill would put the kibosh on four of Tulane's clinics, according to Law School dean Stephen Griffin.

It would forbid clinics to 'file a petition, motion or suit' against any government agency or to seek monetary damages for any client. Clinics, except in criminal cases, would not be allowed to raise "state constitutional challenges in state or federal court."

Willie Continues:Two months ago I would have given the bill a 90 percent chance of passing. Today the chances are probably below 10 percent. Just the number of people who responded to the article this morning is a pretty good example of how the public is taking a new look at everything that government does and does not do. The BP disaster has definitely changed many things. This morning on CNN they were doing a story which compared the EXXON Valdez disaster in Alaska 21 years ago and how the waters and wetlands of Alaska have not yet recovered from that oil spill. We now have something which is giving the news media an unusual opportunity they have not had in twenty years.

________

Willie Fontenot has been involved in environmental and social justice issues for forty years. He served in the Environmental Section of the Louisiana Attorney General’s office for twenty seven years. Over the last 40 years he has helped to organize more than 500 community groups throughout Louisiana and more than 30 other states on a wide variety of environmental and social justice issues and problems.

Gold at Record High Prices -- Cost to Ecosystems Skyrockets

2010-05-07T18:00:00.011-04:00

What does the high price of gold have to do with the fate of the Amazon Rain Forest?

Although our attention is focused on the disastrous BP Oil gusher in the Gulf, there is another eco-menace at work – it’s the price of gold. As the article in the side page (link) highlights, jittery investors in global stock markets are buying gold, the universal safe bet, driving the price of gold up to a near record high. The soaring price paid for gold is fueling a modern day gold rush -- much of it in ecologically sensitive areas.

Unfortunately, some of the best deposits are in ecologically critical rain forests. To make matters worse, gold mining is one of the most environmentally destructive processes ever invented.

“Gold mining, however, generates more waste per ounce than any other metal, and the mines' mind-bending disparities of scale show why: These gashes in the Earth are so massive they can be seen from space, yet the particles being mined in them are so microscopic that, in many cases, more than 200 could fit on the head of a pin. ….Extracting a single ounce of gold there—the amount in a typical wedding ring—requires the removal of more than 250 tons of rock and ore.” Source: Stock Block Web

In the Peruvian forest pictured above, mining is done using hydraulic mining of and uses toxic chemicals including cyanide and mercury to separate the gold from the deposits of mud and sand (found in river channels and flood plains). Mercury escaping from the process can form an organic form that biomagnifies in food chains. For an excellent article on the subject see: Mongabay Website

As the figure from Mongabay shows, gold mining can have a devastating impact on forests. This impact has been escalating dramatically over the past few years.

The figure in the sidebar (click title) demonstrates the strong inverse relationship between the value of gold and the value of stock markets.

Here is a question: How can the free market alone protect rain forests and other ecosystems from this kind of devastation. Post your thoughts?

APRIL 2010: 40TH ANNIVERSARY OF EARTH DAY

2010-04-29T23:21:00.010-04:00

An Economic and Political Perspective

Henry S. Cole, Ph.D.

The 40th anniversary of Earth Day happened last week. I participated in the first Earth Day as a young professor and environmental activist back in1970. We had high hopes. People were jumping on the eco-wagon like there was no tomorrow. Well here we are tomorrow, four decades later. And we've had a busy Earth Month.

President Obama announced his plans to open up more coastal waters to the oil industry,

n a stroke of bad timing for the President’s policy, one of BP’s big oil rigs exploded and sunk the Gulf of Mexico (on Earth Day). The resulting oil slick expanded rapidly week and threatens estuaries and fish and shrimp industries in four states. See ABC TV video. According to the Wall Street Journal, the rig had no remote shut-off switch used in other oil-producing nations U.S. regulators don’t require them. On Thursday, the head of the Coast Guard’s efforts, Mary Landry said that the situation is deteriorating and the spill may wind up being one of the worst in history.

The good news. After nine long years, the Interior Department finally approved a 130-turbine wind farm off the coast of Cape Cod providing a real boost to the

U.S.

offshore wind industry. See NY Times coverage; The U.S. has lots of offshore wind.

But there are other news in the making that may ultimately have a more important impact on the future of the environment. Consider the Senate the revelations emerging from the Senate subcommittee hearing on the impact of Goldman Sachs on the financial system and the broader economy. Thanks to financial experts like Simon Johnson (See Johnson and Kwak’s best-selling 13 Bankers and their Blog, Baseline Scenario) and this week’s Senate hearing (See the video), we can see how the reckless speculation and avarice of the Wall Street investment banks contributed the financial meltdown of 2008 and the worst recession since the Great Depression. According to a recent CNN Report: the Bailout Tracker our federal government has already spent 3 trillion dollars and committed 11 trillion dollars to bailout the “too-big-to-fails” (TBTFs). Now the Mega-banks are again making billions while the 15 million Americans are unemployed and millions have lost their homes.

The Wall Street fiasco is an outgrowth of the deregulation that started under President Reagan and continues to flourish. Environmental regulation and enforcement was especially hard hit under Reagan and George W. Bush.

Hopefully Congress will enact legislation strong enough to rein in the TBTFs that profit by betting against the rest of us. However, ultimately, the real solution is for Congress to ensure that no corporation is powerful enough to wreck havoc on our economy or on the environment.

The juxtaposition of these stories points to a monumental fork in the road – not just a choice between renewables and fossil fuels, but a deeper choice about the way that decisions are made and for whose benefit. It’s about whether mega-corporations or “We the People” will mold the future.

If permitted, large energy corporations will not only “drill, baby, drill,” but will attempt to squeeze oil from shales and tar sands regardless of the environmental consequences. Big Energy also wants a free hand to reopen uranium mines to fuel a new generation of nuclear power plants with big government subsidies regardless of the environmental and financial risks. Note that the President’s energy plan includes tens of billions of dollars in loan guarantees to entice reluctant banks to invest in nuclear power.

The CEO of one of these companies is likely to use the following strategy (1) use political power to regulatory concessions; (2) get big government subsidies (3) make big profits but saddle the tax paying public with the risks (4) suggest that your firm may leave town if you don’t get what you want. The latter is especially scary to a governor in an economically depressed state with high unemployment. So he or she instructs the head of the state environmental department and the Senator to go easy on the guy with the big smoke stack. Somehow the threat of losing another 500 jobs seems a bit more compelling than a few more cancers or a melting glacier on a far off mountain.

Finally, one should ask what if the trillions used for bailouts had been invested directly in the small, local businesses and community-oriented banks. What if we invested to help state and local governments solve their budget crises? Imagine if even a small part of the $$$ were invested to boost wind and solar industries and to restore damaged ecosystems. Then we might just be able to celebrate fully on the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day.

Please join the conversation with a post

We present President Obama the Flip Flop of the Year Award for his remarkable switch on offshore drilling.

2010-04-03T18:35:00.003-04:00

In response to our April Fools Day parody of President Obama's speech announcing a big expansion in offshore drilling, We received a reminder from an anonymous subscriber reminding us that Candidate Obama opposed basically the same plan when it was proposed by McCain and Palin as in "drill baby drill!" Here is a quote from candidate Obama's speech in Jacksonville, FL on June 8, 2008.

"This is a proposal that would only worsen our addiction to oil and put off needed investments in clean, renewable energy. It's not the kind of change that the American people are looking for."

If this is hard to believe, go the linked website and read or see a video of his speech in 2008. He blasts offshore drilling.

You may be interested in several related stories that illustrate the problems with offshore drilling:

The Diane Rehm show, April 1, 2010. One issue discussed is the need for additional refining capacity (currently at 98 % capacity); what east coast city will want another oil refinery?

Local opposition to drilling, refining and transportation facilities is likely to be intense and to create bitter divides between opponents and supporters. Case in point:

Culver City challenges new oil drilling

A Texas company wants new wells in the Inglewood Oil Field, which lies along the city's border and already has 1,463 active, idle and abandoned wells. By Louis Sahagun, April 3, 2010

See also yesterday's article on the poor safety record of oil refineries: Study Shows US Refineries Have Bad Safety Record: Report shows US oil refineries have bad safety record as blast kills 4 in Washington state,

By SETH BORENSTEIN AP Science Writer,

WASHINGTON April 2, 2010 (AP)

President's April First Clarification on Offshore Drilling and Energy Policy

2010-04-01T11:55:00.001-04:00

Early this morning we received this advance copy of the opening comments that President Obama will give at a press briefing late this afternoon. I'm sure you'll feel relieved.

April 1, 2010: White House Rose Garden

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, everybody. Thank you so much for coming out on this beautiful day (Applause.) Please have a seat. My speech yesterday that announced the opening up our coastal waters to offshore drilling drew a great deal of heat. Today, I am here to clear up any confusion I may have caused. Yesterday’s speech was meant to be an April Fools Joke. As a candidate I promised to safeguard the environment, and I mean to do so. Unfortunately, the White House schedulers thought yesterday was April first. Apparently they thought that March only had 30 days.

Photo: The President's April Fools Speech mistakenly made on March 31. The speech was given in a hangar at Andrews Air Force (MD). The fighter jet is the Green Hornet, which will run on 50 % biofuels,

So today, I am proud to announce our real energy policy – no jokes about it. Let me say it loudly and unequivocally.

There will be no additional offshore drilling for oil during my administration. The risks are much greater than the benefits.
My announced multi-billion dollar loan guarantees for nuclear power was another bad joke. Lindsey, my good friend from S. Carolina, you wouldn’t want to mess up Myrtle Beach, would you?
Clean coal is another bad joke and is off the table. No more mountain-top mining. Senator Byrd – you’ll have all the wind power you want for those long ridges.
Gas mileage for vehicles – that wasn’t part of the April Fools Day fiasco -- they stay.

This energy policy decision is based on our needs in three critical areas: economics, the environment, and national security

Economics: Millions of jobs in our coastal states depend on tourism and fishery. No one will eat fish that tastes like a can of Mobil 5W30. And no one likes to sun themselves on a beach covered with oil goo. Then there is nuclear power. If the banks won’t provide the loans for nukes why should the tax payers? These things are expensive, take years to build and if there’s an accident who shells out the billions to clean up the mess? Sounds like too big to fail to me.

The Environment: Spending so much on coal, oil and nuclear simply encourages their use; we build the very parts of the economy that are most unsustainable. And in doing so we sap vital resources from wind and solar energy that contribute to the solution of our environmental problems. Let me say something else about nuclear power. As we all know, the high level wastes stay deadly for hundreds of centuries. I asked our Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to see if he could find a governor who wanted a permanent nuclear repository in their state. He told me he got a few unnamed takers, but only if we agreed to bail out their deficits for the next ten thousand years.

Then there is an issue that not many talk about. My good friends at the Southwest Research and Information Center have reminded me that hundreds of abandoned uranium mines have not been cleaned up and present health risks in many Navajo communities. In addition to this, Navajo communities now have to face proposed new uranium solution mining that threatens the only source of drinking water for 10,000 to 15,000 people living in the Eastern Navajo Agency in northwestern New Mexico. Besides my daughters made me watch Avatar. (See http://serc.carleton.edu/research_education/nativelands/navajo/environmental.html)

And on biofuels. Biofuels won’t work if they require huge government subsidies, and if they require massive application of fertilizers and pesticides that harm the environment – or if they promote the destruction of rain forests and other critical ecosystems.

National Security: Our generals keep telling us that our dependence on foreign sources of oil is a threat to our national security. I share their call for energy independence. We all want it. But let’s talk about real energy independence. Do we want to shift our dependence to large multi-national corporations who are only interested in big centralized solutions that suck capital out of our communities and our domestic economy? Surely it would be better to invest in energy solutions that spread the wealth to communities across the country. Solutions like energy efficiency which lowers costs for families and businesses; wind power – there are lots of family farms in windy places. The experts our telling us that our nation is beginning to lag behind in the development of renewables; we are losing out to Europe and China and we are losing out important opportunities to create millions of jobs. The bottom line: without energy security, there is no national security.

Thank you very much; I will now take your questions.

President: Yes, Sam

Sam Donaldson: Mr. President, Happy April Fools Day.

Please submit your questions and comments for the President by clicking on post! We will send them to the White House.

Join a Credit Union, good for your finances -- good for the economy

2010-02-28T21:23:00.009-05:00

What do these two pictures have in common? The “leaf litter,” the uppermost layer of soil, represents nature’s credit union. The fallen leaves in the photo represent a savings deposit made by nearby oak and tulip trees. A host of creatures turn the leaves into organic rich humus that replenishes the nutrient content, beneficial structure and the capacity of soil to hold water. These “savings” will payoff in subsequent growing seasons. This is just one of the many economic lessons that ecosystems have to offer. The lesson here – put your savings in something that helps to build the community, like the Wisconsin Credit Union shown in the second photo. The mega-banks on the other hand provide mega-profits to absentee investors and mega-bonuses to the executives.

Why should we join credit unions? We have started to shift our family and business finances to a credit union. Here’s why. Unlike banks, credit owners are owned by their members (savers and borrowers); as non-profits credit unions are exempt from taxes. As non-profits they can payer higher rates on savings and charge lower rates on loans than commercial banks. They also pay dividends to their members – members of the community. There are other advantages to cooperative financial institutions. Our family has its home mortgage with a non-profit lender, Colonial Farm Credit, a non-profit lender that provides loans for both farms and homes. Like a credit union, the FCT is owned by the members, in this case the borrowers. Not only do we get a good (constant) rate, but we get on the order of $2000 per year in dividends.

Credit Unions: good for small, local businesses, good for jobs: Henry S. Cole & Associates, Inc. (my company) has had a Bank of America Small Business Credit Card for more than a decade; we have paid our bills on time. Both the company and my family have numerous accounts with Bank of America. Despite the long term relationship, I recently received a letter from Bank of America stating that my company’s credit line was cut from $20,000 down to $1700 (just $200 over my balance). My company is not at all unique in this regard. The major banks have virtually stopped loaning to small businesses. A number of these banks including Bank of America received billions in a tax-payer funded bailout (politely called the Troubled Asset Fund or TARP). The major bank executives who received major bonuses must be laughing all the way to the bank. But small business owners are not welcome.

So how have credit unions faired during the financial crisis and recession?

The following graphs presented by Ronald Covey, President of St. Mary’s Bank Credit Union in his testimony to the House Small Business and Financial Services Committee this past week. He spoke on behalf of CUNA the Credit Union National Association. Not only have credit unions increased their lending to businesses, but have done so with less risk than banks for all sorts of loans. (Second graph bars show lost loans).

Congress needs to act: The potential role of credit unions in spurring economic recovery is limited by federal restrictions on the share of a credit union's available funds that can be loaned to businesses.

Major credit unions and their associations are

lobbying to lift the cap. Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.) introduced legislation in December that would lift the lending cap to 25 percent. A similar bill is pending in the House. Not surprisingly, banks against the lifting these important bills. The Obama Administration, despite its effort to increase loans to small businesses seems to be blind to the potential of credit unions to further expand its loans to job generating local businesses.
Bottom Line: Tell your members of Congress to support this bill .... and join a credit union!

Nature has a full employment economy - The U.S. economy -- eliminating livable-wage jobs by the millons

2010-02-21T19:07:00.001-05:00

The theme of this blog is learning from nature. Ecosystems (free from human onslaught) are basically resilient, full employment economies; they have many mechanisms which prevent the loss of resources including soil and nutrients. Roots hold the soil. The decomposition of fallen leaves releases organic matter and nutrients into the soil where they help nourish the plants in the forest and the animals and microorganisms which depend on plants for their food. The biosphere run entirely on solar power meets the basic needs of an amazingly diverse biota.
In sharp contrast, it becomes clearer and clearer that the dominant global economies including the U.S. are failing to provide for the basic needs of their people. Consider this quote from an excellent article in Today's NY Times by Peter Goodman, "The New Poor: Millions of Unemployed Face Years Without Jobs."
A New Scarcity of Jobs

"Some labor experts say the basic functioning of the American economy has changed in ways that make jobs scarce…Large companies are increasingly owned by institutional investors who crave swift profits, a feat often achieved by cutting payroll. The declining influence of unions has made it easier for employers to shift work to part-time and temporary employees. Factory work and even white-collar jobs have moved in recent years to low-cost countries in Asia and Latin America. Automation has helped manufacturing cut 5.6 million jobs since 2000 — the sort of jobs that once provided lower-skilled workers with middle-class paychecks.

“American business is about maximizing shareholder value,” said Allen Sinai, chief global economist at the research firm Decision Economics. “You basically don’t want workers. You hire less, and you try to find capital equipment to replace them.” Graph from NY Times, Feb. 21, 2010.

But the same drive for profit without regards to consequence is also displacing traditional peoples and their economies in many poor nations.

Consider the following:

"Indigenous people are being pushed off their lands to make way for an expansion of bio-fuel crops around the world, threatening to destroy their cultures by forcing them into big cities." The clearing of forests to make room for these new crops is jeopardizing the survival of the 60 million indigenous people who depend on these forests. "

Tauli-Corpuz, Chair of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues

One might be tempted to say that bio-fuels as a renewable resource will reduce carbon emissions and global warming. However,bio-fuels will require heavy inputs of fertilizer, and its hard to imagine that they will over the long-term match the ability of a forest to absorb carbon. In fact bio-fuels will drastically reduce bio-diversity and the resilience of forests. .

But, it get's worse. Agribusiness (e.g Monsanto et al.) pushing to expand cash crop monocultures, another trend that marginalizes and displaces large numbers of people. Without major structural change the globally dominant financial system these trends will continue to create needless poverty and suffering -- so that a small minority with untold wealth can continue their binge.

Whereas natural economies are restorative, the G-economies are based on massive extraction and disruption.

Why progress on the environment is endangered

2010-02-10T21:28:00.006-05:00

In nature there is no separation between the economics and the environment.

“It’s the economy stupid.” James Carville advised in 1992. When it comes to environmental issues such as global warming it would be wised to heed this savvy advice. Right now the environmental agenda has been shoved off the stove. Consider:

· The Climate Conference in Copenhagen ended with no real agreement on tangible steps to solve the problem. Getting Congress to ratify even small cuts in carbon emissions will be tough sledding for the Obama Administration.

· Even Democratic members of the Senate and House are sponsoring legislation to stop EPA from its attempt to regulate carbon emissions.

· Obama pledges $54 billion in loan guarantees to promote nuclear power. Imagine what this could do for wind and solar.

On the other hand, the political right and their corporate funders are waging ever aggressive campaigns to paint the climate change issue as a “green scare” or a “snow job.” In California, conservative forces have launched a ballot initiative that if passed would rescind California's landmark requirements to curb carbon emissions -- until unemployment is reduced from its current 12.5 percent to 5 percent. The message is anything but subtle -- environmental regulations are killing the economy. To make matters work Republicans will use this initiative to unseat Senator Barbara Boxer, a long time champion, of environmental issues and climate change legislation (She chairs the critical Senate Environment and Public Works Committee).

The conservatives are winning right now because: (1) they are connecting with working and middle class anger and fears on economic security (2) they have framed the issue – the first step in a winning strategy.

The Democrats have not helped. With command of the White House, Senate and House, they have not taken serious steps to regulate the financial industry (now more consolidated and too-big-to-fail than ever). They have not prevented foreclosures for millions of families. The Administration’s Geithnerist strategy (appeasement) toward the credit-stingy, profit-hungry mega-banks is not very likely to win the favor of angry people who see their economic well being going down the drain while bank executives enjoy ten billion dollar + bonuses. Unless the Administration acts visibly and aggressively to create jobs and regulate the financial industry, the right will continue to win in their efforts to take back the Congress and derail efforts to protect the environment.It's our job to remind the President of his promises and to awaken the people's movement that elected him.

"Let's be reasonable

The Friday Funnies: Skeptic calls global warming giant snow job

2010-02-05T15:59:00.004-05:00

-- February 5 - 2010 Minneapolis -- As a monster snowstorm moved in on the Washington, DC area, Dr. Heinrip Schplochmann, a maverick climatologist pointed to storm as proof that the climate warming theory is all wrong. Schplochmann, head of the climate department at Endrun University in Muskeegamissing, MN told reporters that this year's record snow falls along the east coast shows that conventional wisdom relating global warming to man's impact is all wrong. "With all the hot air coming out of the capital you would expect to see palm trees -- but you don't -- it looks more like Minnesota." He displayed records showing that North America has seen cooler not warmer temperatures in recent years. He also passed out hacked emails in which several renowned global warming experts discussed their upcoming ski trip. "The slopes are booming," said Schplochmann.
NOAA Radar

Huffington Post: President Obama trudges to work.

Asked to comment, internationally recognized NASA scientist, Dr. James Hansen, said that an enormous body of peer reviewed studies clearly shows that the globe as a whole is warming. "An outgrowth of warmer sea temperatures may be more intense storms." He added that Schplochmann's reports have not been peer reviewed "and he is funded by a narrow self interests that don't want to see carbon regulated."

Schplochmann denied that his funding sources were narrow and told reporters that he had received major grants not only from major oil companies but from coal and tar sands interests as well. "I even got funding from the nuclear industry -- and they support global warming theory."

In a related development the fundamentalist preacher the Reverend Vernon T. MacEntyre said "the Lord is sending a powerful message to Washington to stop its sinful ways." He noted that God is also giving a boost to Republicans efforts to close down the Capitol. MacEntyre warned, "this is just the first and not the worst."

Notably, Pat Robertson, had no comment and declined to answer reporter's questions. A spokesman said he was taking a break after the firestorm that followed his remarks saying the recent earthquake In Haiti was God's punishment for the voodoo deal that Haitians made with the Devil.

Robertson, Dallas News

When the balancing act rocks the boat

2010-01-30T17:17:00.011-05:00

When every solution seems to have big negatives it’s a sign that the system is out of whack, we need to look at the bigger, long term picture and think systemically.

Last week Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner told angry Congressman Committee that in deciding to bailout AIG, policy makers faced a “tragic choice” – do nothing or allow the entire financial system to collapse. Geithner, however, acknowledged that the bailout “sets the stage and sows the seeds of a future crisis.”

When President Obama recently said he reduce the deficit by cutting hundreds of billions from federal programs to cut the deficit, Republicans were quick to label the announcement as “too little too late.” On the other Democrats argued that cutbacks would thwart efforts to stimulate jobs and economic growth.

When EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson announced that the Agency would regulate carbon emissions to battle global warming environmentalists cheered while the fossil fuel industry and energy state Democrat and Republican members of Congress warned that the move would hurt the already battered economy and cause further job losses.

In all three cases, predicting the outcome of a policy initiative is difficult. That’s typical of complex systems where “systemic instability reins” and where a push or jolt in any direction can have unforeseen results that extend into the realms of economics, politics, the environment and national security. Such systems lack resilience – the ability to absorb and recover from shocks and to adapt to changes. One way to look at this is to imagine yourself in a canoe and one of your companions jumps up excitedly because he feels a bite on his line. The canoe starts to tip and you shift your weight to compensate; the canoe starts to rock and then a gust of wind reinforces your action and ……!!! Canoes are not so stable. People have known this for a long time. Well before the tech age they have come up some very effective solutions. One is pictured below.

Photo of canoe with an outrigger on one side of the canoe. If the canoe tips toward the outrigger, the outriggers buoyancy opposes the downward tipping. If the canoe tips away from the outrigger, the outrigger rises above the water but is pulled back by gravity. The young lads from the Island Kingdom of Tonga.

Tonga

is located in the South Pacific. Photo by Tau O’lunga http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Tauʻolunga

So the question is how to build resilience into systems so that the boat doesn’t sink when “things happen.” Here is one example;

Denmark

has a big safety net; if you lose your job you get unemployment for four years (not months, years). So if you lose your job, you don’t lose your house. It’s not such a big deal. But other policies allow employers to fire workers with fewer restrictions; this allows companies to cut back readily during a downturn, but to higher back from a qualified pool of workers when business picks up. These two policies together work like the outrigger and contribute to the resilience of the system. Perhaps this “outrigger” has helped the country weather the global storm better than most. Forbes Magazine recently labeled the

Denmark

as the Number One Best Country for Business.(March 18, 2009).

According to Forbes, “Because of high GDP per capita, welfare benefits, a low Gini index, and political stability, the Danish living standards are among the highest in the world.”

http://www.forbes.com/lists/2009/6/bizcountries09-best-countries-for-business_Denmark_CHI001.html

The Danish mixed (welfare state + capitalism) is based on much higher tax rates. Currently raising taxes and so-called “entitlements” in the

U.S.

would be difficult. However, if we continue to see recession and high or higher unemployment rates the currents may shift.

The World According to Monsanto -- See the Video

2010-01-23T07:40:00.000-05:00

On March 11, 2008 French television (ARTE – French-German cultural TV channel) aired The World according to Monsanto by French journalist and film maker Marie-Monique Robin. If you are not already alarmed by Monsanto’s game plan to monopolize global food production with its “trans-genetic” crops, you will be after you’ve watched this documentary. It’s the same thing the big banks are doing – but this is our food. The video takes us on a long journey first through Monsanto’s “seedy” past as a chemical giant which covered up the dangers of its chemical products including PCBs and more recently its herbicide Roundup. The film then follows the company’s metamorphosis as a bio-tech firm specializing in genetically engineered mutations. In its last segments, we can follow Monsanto’s strategy to create a food system requiring Monsanto seeds and Monsanto Round Up – and its not just corn and soy beans.

The documentary features some compelling interviews and scenes of small farmers in Mexico and India who are fighting to survive the multiple economic pressures and poisons imposed by the onslaught of chemically-based monocultures. The only problem with the film is its length; it needs the hand of a good editor – either watch in sections or have lots of (non-GMO) popcorn and (non-high fructose corn syrup) soda on hand. You can watch the film on your computer by going to

http://twilightearth.com/environment-archive-2/the-world-according-to-monsanto-full-documentary/

After you’ve watch join the Pesticide Action Network’s (PAN) efforts to have the U.S. Department of Justice take forceful action against Monsanto’s monopolistic practices. http://www.panna.org/resources/panups/panup_20100122

The Friday Funnies: Incredible new advances in energy saving biotechnology

2010-01-22T18:53:00.011-05:00

Our first pick is this new D-20 Remote Sensing Home Alarm System: This system works on a biological technology proven to provide an effective alarm and deterring wannabe intruders. The system is ecologically sensitive and requires no electricity nor batteries containing toxic metals. For a complete discussion go to: http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/care.htm
(Photo of Lady R. Cole, Canine, HeronThereFarms)

Second pick of the week: The Evapo-tech 200 (TM) is highly efficient and completely solar powered.

The fresh air and sunlight imparts a delightful fragrance to the clothes. No chemical fabric softners or lint collectors needed.
The Evapo-tech (TM) comes 2 varieties; the Spin-Tracker 5.0 (TM)   above right and the Fence Sitter 800 (TM) left.

The current pick of green venture capital firms is a biotechnology first developed by
Ovis aries, Inc. This biotech start-up dropped its patent on
an ultra-ancient non-synthetic fiber known as 370 F-22 (TM).
CEO Melinda Ewe (photo below) announced the move at the recent Fiber and Fabric 2009 EXPO (TM) at New York's Sheepshead Bay Ram-Mada.
Ms. Ewe said that the firm's decision "is based on our desire to boost interest and sales of our technology." Ovis stocks shot up 22 percent following the announcement.

The fiber is woven, knitted or crocheted into mittens, stockings, sweaters (modeled here by crochet artist Claudia Raskin, HeronThere Farms). The amazing insulating properties of the fabric can cut down the wearer's family heating bill and carbon footprint.

Melinda Ewe, CEO, Ovis aries, Inc.

Photo by Andreas Cappell

Learning from Nature's Economic Success

2010-01-14T19:55:00.005-05:00

Why do the problems we face, from economic meltdowns to ecological destruction seem so intractable? Why do so many of measures taken to solve problems seem to be ineffective or even counterproductive? What might work better? Let’s look through a different lens; Ecosystems, from forests to prairies to coral reefs, are not simply beautiful, they are first and foremost economic systems – systems that represent the most successful, enduring economies on earth.

A pound of forest soil contains thousands of bacterial species but also fungi, worms, beetles – gainfully employed, competitive, yet mutually contributing to the forest’s overall health. Ecosystems have no credit card debt, no inflation, and no federal deficits. Nothing is too big to fail and there are no government bailouts. Despite numerous cataclysms – ice ages and asteroid collisions life has evolved, adapted and thrived for 3.8 billion years.

Yet, rather than learning from nature we are assailing it with ferocity; the dominant economies are depleting fisheries, destroying forests, creating dead zones in coastal waters and uprooting traditional societies whose economies are closely aligned with nature. We are changing climate in ways that will create future displacements and economic havoc.

The presentation examines the elements of resilience and health in ecosystems and contrasts them with increasing systemic vulnerability found in the dominant human economies.

What we need is a restructuring of human economies in ways that capitalize on: (a) the resilient and resource efficient organizational arrangements found in nature and (b) mutually beneficial partnerships with natural systems.

The presentation draws on several positive examples – some by MOFFA entrepreneurs. So large a transformation from today’s economics to the economics of resilient health cannot happen overnight; however it is essential that we point our compasses for the right direction.

Why Color Me In! Has a good way to help African communities: Donate Now

2010-01-14T15:13:00.004-05:00

Last week I posted an article on Color Me In! The organization that helps village groups by providing micro-loans paid back by planting trees (rather than in cash). Some profitable local enterprises have formed with some of them using profits to start community assistance programs. Here is why the program is good.

Local groups decide what projects they want to borrow for -- know best what can boost the community and its economy -- and what fits well with the local needs/markets and culture.
These investment provide business opportunities, jobs and incomes -- this is what is needed to prevent people from migrating to shanty towns where conditions are unlivable.
The tree planting is ecologically beneficial -- preventing soil erosion, and sequestering carbon.
The profits can be used to provide for additional community needs.

These are the reasons I have and will continue to contribute to ColorMeIn! Please Join me by using going to: Color Me In!

Paying back micro-loans by planting trees

2010-01-09T14:19:00.004-05:00

Color Me In! is a non-profit organization that provides micro-loans for small business development in Zambia. The loan program has a unique feature – the local groups that borrow pay back the loans by planting trees!

How it works: Village clubs do not usually have access to funding for important projects to improve community life. The loans work like this: A women's group or farming club composes a business plan and budget. Color Me In! (CMI!) provides the loans which the local groups pay back by planting trees – one tree per 50 cents borrowed. This satisfies up to 75% of the debt. In lieu of paying back CMI in cash, the group can submit a proposal to reinvest that payment in additional community projects.

To maximize its impact, Color Me In! partners with a volunteer organization working in the communities it serves.

Multiple Benefits: The founder of Color Me In! Sarah Grant told us “CMI!’s green lending program not only helps develop local economics and protect vital natural resources, but also strengthens communities. For example, one women's club borrowed $1,000 from CMI! to begin a poultry enterprise. Subsequently it used a portion of its profits to provide $200 to a community-based organization that aids orphans and others with special needs. This organization, the Kaskota Social Care for the Vulnerable just opened its doors to its first 55 clients.”

Sarah Grant and her vision: Sarah Grant is a former Peace Corps Volunteer who served in Zambia. She told us that she once asked children in her village to draw what trees are used for. “I was shocked when drew coffins. CMI! wants to make sure that these children develop a very different views of trees and their lives.”

To learn more about Color Me In!, visit: www.colormein.org

When Economics Ignores Nature

2009-11-13T08:33:00.002-05:00

When Economics Ignores Nature

2009-11-13T07:38:00.002-05:00

Superweeds jam pesticide treadmill; Philippines seeks banana plantation spray ban

PANUPS

Pesticide Action Network

November 12, 2009

2009-11-12T13:13:00.027-05:00

Too Big to Fail? American chestnuts once towered over the Appalachian forests. Then in the early 1900s blight, accidentally imported on an Asian variety, devastated the American giants. As a youngster hiking in the Kittatinny Mountains of New Jersey, I saw their ghosts, huge gray-white trunks. The forest, however, did not collapse; other tree species sprang up to use newly available sunlight, water and nutrients. Nature’s biodiversity ensured that even the great chestnuts were not "too big to fail."

Arguably, ecosystems such as forests, prairies, and coral reefs represent the most successful, enduring economic systems on earth. A pound of forest soil contains thousands of bacterial species but also fungi, worms, beetles – gainfully employed, competitive, yet mutually contributing to the forest’s overall health. Ecosystems have no credit card debt, no inflation, no federal deficits and no bailouts. Despite numerous cataclysms – ice ages and asteroid collisions life has evolved, adapted and thrived for 3.8 billion years.

Rather than learning from nature we are assailing it ferociously – depleting fisheries, destroying forests, and uprooting traditional societies whose economies are closely aligned with nature. We are changing climate in ways that will create future displacements and economic havoc.

Resilience: Ecosystems (those escaping human onslaught) are remarkably resilient; they absorb and recover from shocks like droughts and fires. The enormous variety of life forms and their genetic diversity increases the odds that the system as a whole will survive disturbances and adapt to changes.

Our economic systems, including agriculture, have lost diversity. For example, a few large fruit companies dominate the export banana trade. They have cleared diverse tropical forests for large plantations – monocultures, uniform acre upon acre – all genetically identical banana trees. Without diversity there is little resistance to disease, and in 1950, a fungus eliminated the dominant export variety, Gros Michel. According to an NY Times feature by Dan Koeppel, a more virulent strain now threatens the current export, Cavendish. To protect the vulnerable crop, growers resort to heavy airborne fungicide applications with serious ecological and health consequences. Health effects of spraying

Finances have gone bananas. According to FDIC analysts, only about half of banks operating in the U.S. 20 years ago are still in business; smaller banks failed while mega-banks like Bank of America grew through acquisitions. Deregulation also allowed banks and financial firms to develop new investments including mortgage-backed securities and derivatives without the reserve capital needed to cover their shaky bets. Add the growing dominance of the financial sector (now dwarfs the profits of manufacturing), the high degree of interconnection between financial institutions, massive consumer debt, and trade imbalance and you have a recipe for systemic instability. No wonder the demise of the housing bubble triggered a cascade of collapse that spread rapidly to financial markets and broader economies around the world – despite massive government bailouts.

Nor has the apparent Wall Street "recovery" reached Main Street. Communities, families, small businesses and local banks continue to struggle as unemployment nears 10 %. As Nobel economist Joseph Stiglitz recently observed, the "too-big-to-fail" banks have grown even bigger since the crisis and Congress has yet to enact regulatory reforms needed to prevent further speculation or consolidation.

Win-Win or Winner Take All? Green plants, use photosynthesis to produce sugars (and oxygen) using solar energy, water and carbon dioxide. Plants are called primary producers because they create the biomass (natural wealth) that supplies entire food webs. The biomass distribution forms a pyramid – most biomass is held by green plants at the base; several tiers of secondary consumers (e.g. aphids, bugs that eat aphids, and birds that eat the bugs) hold less biomass. The predators at the top of the food chain e.g. hawks hold the smallest amount. The pyramidal shape occurs because consumers only retain a small percentage of the biomass eaten – most is lost to the atmosphere as carbon dioxide along with waste heat; thus at each higher tier there is less biomass.

The distribution of wealth in the U.S. resembles an inverted pyramid; according to the Federal Reserve the wealthiest 1% of U.S. families own 33.8% of the nation’s family wealth – more than ten times the wealth owned by those families on the bottom half of the distribution.

Both competition and cooperation are vital to ecosystems; competition drives evolutionary innovation, increasing efficiency and reproductive success. Yet some of the best competitors are stellar cooperators. Legumes like beans have roots which shelter Rhizobia; as these bacteria feed they convert atmospheric nitrogen to forms plants can use to synthesize proteins and DNA. The Rhizobia get a home and the legumes and ecosystem get usable forms of nitrogen. Whereas ecosystems exhibit "enlightened self-interest," our economy is trending towards a zero-sum-game with a few big winners and a majority of losers. The wealth gap inevitably breeds instability; the system literally tears at itself.

Waste not: Nearly all nature’s wastes are biodegradable, recyclable, and non-toxic. Thus, countless insects, fungi and microbes can feed on fallen leaves, scat, dead creatures and other "wastes." The decomposed remnants, rich in minerals are "deposited" in the forest "soil bank" for future "investment." Our manufacturing system, however, requires massive amounts of energy, water and minerals and generates large amounts of waste and pollution at every step from mine to landfill. Only a tiny portion of the total wastes in this entire process is actually recycled. Many wastes, such as coal ash and radioactive materials, are hazardous.

Fair Trade: Ecosystems exchange resources with the biosphere. For example, water continuously cycles between oceans and continents, and nitrogen cycles between atmosphere and ecosystems. Ecosystems have mechanisms that prevent resource depletion. For example, root systems form retaining walls and mosses cover bare ground, minimizing soil erosion.

Local economies badly need such mechanisms. Large, nationally owned outlets may offer lower prices, but undercut locally-owned retail. Studies in U.S. cities show that "buying local" keeps a greater share of revenues circulating in the community than buying at the mall. Similarly, as companies relocate to low-wage countries, communities lose jobs. As local spending declines, businesses close, and revenue-short municipalities are forced to reduce services and layoff workers. Imagine if the trillions squandered in the financial casino had been invested in the small businesses which have created most new jobs in the U.S.

The role of governments: Although ecosystems do not have governments, they have many regulatory mechanisms. I once accompanied Canadian wildlife scientists as they tracked migratory caribou on the treeless tundra west of Hudson Bay. From our small aircraft we spotted an enormous rapidly moving herd. Patrolling the herd’s edge was a lone wolf hoping to catch a straggler. This predation helps to prevent overgrazing of the scant vegetative cover on which caribou feed. Overgrazing may temporarily boost the numbers of caribou and wolves. However, diminished vegetation ultimately threatens both predator and prey. Organisms also perform a number of regulatory functions; our bodies have an internal thermostat and an immune system to fight pathogens. Such governance contributes to the remarkable resilience of ecosystems.

The policies of G-20 governments, over recent decades, have created fragility rather than resilience. Rather that foster diversity and healthy market competition, deregulation, privatization, massive subsidies and tax breaks have mainly benefited large and powerful companies, e.g. big oil and agribusiness. The costs and risks of these policies including those associated with the "too-big-to-fails" are passed along to the public.

G-20 policies have been founded on the premise that GDP growth is tantamount to prosperity. However, as Stiglitz and others have argued, GDP fails to account for the negative impacts of growth including resource depletion, environmental degradation, and the displacement of jobs. Nor does GDP correlate with economic well being. Despite an era of positive GDP growth from the 1970’s until last year, the economic security of most American families has fallen while the wealthiest grew wealthier.

Governments begin to protect what no single entity can protect – the commons – the planet’s resources and the basic human services needed to sustain economies and civilization. Change will not come overnight. Eliminating large corporate subsidies, regulating the financial industry, and enforcing anti-trust laws will require heavy political lifting. Yet the rewards will be well worth the effort.

The seeds of change: There are many reasons to be hopeful – examples of enterprises and networks based on ecological models and partnerships with nature. Women in Asian villages use micro-loans to start community-based businesses consistent with local needs, natural resources and culture. Social entrepreneurs in India are helping subsistence farmers create local markets and stay on their land using low-cost, renewably-powered pumps and drip irrigation systems. In the U.S. local farms increasingly provide fresh and sustainably grown produce to nearby metropolitan markets. Entrepreneurs have organized "buy-local" campaigns in numerous U.S cities. The production of wind and solar power is growing exponentially.

The residents of Greensburg, Kansas provide an inspiring model of community-focused economic and eco-efficient restoration. The city, devastated by a tornado in 2007, embarked on a bold plan to rebuild the city sustainably. According to NY Times’ Keith Schneider, these efforts are bearing fruit; 100 recently built homes use 40% less energy than those replaced. The U.S. Green Building Council has given its highest ratings (Platinum LEED) to the new city hall and art center. The city plans to generate all its electrical needs with wind power and has opened an incubator for business start ups. Most importantly these efforts have energized the city with a vision of sustainability and a reason for young people to stay.

Henry S. Cole, Ph.D., an environmental earth scientist, is president of Henry S. Cole & Associates, Inc., a firm which provides scientific support to a variety of community and corporate clients

2008-10-03T13:06:00.001-04:00

Test

Ecos*2: Ecology and Economics: Inseparable

A must see: Online CBS 60 Minutes: The BP Oil Blowout

Too Deep to Fail = Too Deep to Drill

PBS NEWS HOUR LEAKING OIL COUNTER

Today's news on the Oil in the Gulf

Criminal Charges Likely From Gulf Oil Spill, Legal Experts Say Wednesday 12 May 2010

A report from Louisiana by Willie Fontenot: Big Oil Versus Democratic Rights and the Environment

Gold at Record High Prices -- Cost to Ecosystems Skyrockets

APRIL 2010: 40TH ANNIVERSARY OF EARTH DAY

We present President Obama the Flip Flop of the Year Award for his remarkable switch on offshore drilling.

President's April First Clarification on Offshore Drilling and Energy Policy

Join a Credit Union, good for your finances -- good for the economy

Nature has a full employment economy - The U.S. economy -- eliminating livable-wage jobs by the millons

Why progress on the environment is endangered

The Friday Funnies: Skeptic calls global warming giant snow job

When the balancing act rocks the boat

The World According to Monsanto -- See the Video

The Friday Funnies: Incredible new advances in energy saving biotechnology

Learning from Nature's Economic Success

Why Color Me In! Has a good way to help African communities: Donate Now

Paying back micro-loans by planting trees

When Economics Ignores Nature

When Economics Ignores Nature

Superweeds jam pesticide treadmill; Philippines seeks banana plantation spray ban

Pesticide Action Network

November 12, 2009

How to Fix the Economy: Nature Knows Best© Henry S. Cole, Ph.D.Copyright