Oil Spill, Court Case Linger

Nearly 20 years later, Alaska is still feeling the effects of the Exxon Valdez oil spill.

From The L.A. Times:

When the Exxon Valdez spilled its oil in March 1989, the world saw images of blackened seabirds and otters and seals, of bloated whale carcasses and once-pristine beaches covered with crude. Hardly anything was said about the herring.

No one at the time understood the fish's central place in the ecosystem, nor did anyone know the herring's demise would lead to years of hardship for the people here.

(more)

Exxon Mobil has fought a $2.5 billion judgment against it all the way to the Supreme Court, which will hear the case this week. Not a very popular company in Alaska.

UPDATE: I'm trying to confirm that the picture in this post is the actual Exxon Valdez. I found the picture on Flickr here and there's no info other than the title--Exxon Valdez. I did find this article from 2002, which explains the fate of the Exxon Valdez. After a name change to SeaRiver Mediterranean, the Valdez was permanently retired in September 2002, "Too expensive to sail on, it was pulled from service late last month and anchored off some forgotten coastline in East Asia, perhaps to die."

Crossposted at Ice Station Tango.

TAGS: Environment, Oil Companies, Supreme Court, Alaska

Water, Part II: Bottled Water Blowback

Welcome to Part II.

Who buys bottled water in the U.S.?

California is by far the biggest guzzler of bottled water, representing about 24 percent of the national market -- twice the consumption level of any other state...Nearly 70 percent of Californians drink bottled water, which nationwide is a $6 billion industry. And by the end of this year, bottled water will have moved past milk, coffee and beer to become the second most popular beverage behind soft drinks, according to the Beverage Marketing Corp.

Bottled water is a problem. Not a little one, a big one. And lately, the coolest most hip, most now, most all the rage restaurants are banning it. That's right. They are banning a commodity they formerly sold for profit. Think about it. In a capitalistic system, it takes a bit of something to motivate a company to do that.

Maybe you are already onto this new wave that refuses to be surfed by empty water bottles.

Here's the trouble with bottled water, broken down in a way that plastic water bottles may never be:

1. The bottled water industry is under-regulated.
2. Private companies are selling public resources for up to 5,000% profit.
   
3. Much of the water is simply drawn from the tap, and minimally processed, if at all.
4. The drain on water threatens the public management of our water supply.
   
5. The bottles flood landfills with plastic waste.
6. Chemicals leach out of the plastic and pollute the soil and water.

That's right, corporations profiting from tons of plastic, decomposing, seeping toxic substances into the soil, poisoning the water table...

Here's how the mayor of Salt Lake City describes the bottled water situation:

Bottled water "very clearly reflects the wasteful and reckless consumerism in this country," said Salt Lake City's Anderson in a conference call with reporters this month. "You really have to wonder at the utter stupidity and the irresponsibility sometimes of American consumers. These false needs are provided, and too often we just fall in line with what Madison Avenue comes up with to market these unnecessary products."

Some bottled facts:

• Much of the bottled water sold is the same as "tap water."
• Water costs bottlers almost nothing.
• 4 large corporations control much of the bottled water industry.
  
• Companies that pump water from ground water, streams, and the tap pay almost nothing in fees.
• A liter of bottled water purchased in a store costs up to 5,000 times what tap water costs.
• Water bottles feed the mass of plastic debris twice the size of Texas floating off the CA coast.
  
• The health hype is just hype.
  

Water Bottled, originally uploaded by Ooodit.

Bungle-
—Synonyms 1. mismanage, muddle, spoil, ruin; foul up.

• Bottled water is a big, bad bungle.

Blowback-
—By its original definition, blowback is the backwards escape of unexploded gunpowder when firing a handgun. In diplomatic terms, it is an unpredicted, negative response against a nation in regards to a diplomatic action that country has undertaken.

• I need to drink a lot of water throughout the day. I carry water with me everywhere I go. I put a filter on my tap when I moved in, and have been filling the same two Nalgene bottles for years. But I will confess to you now, I did these things to save money, not because I had been thinking about the blowback from bottled water.

Here's the bottom line for me:

A few large private companies have marketed public resources as a private commodity that is good for one's health, with the direct consequence of causing irreparable damage to our water supply, thereby threatening our collective Health. Irony.

In other words, bottled water blowback really bites.

For more, see SBT's fine post from February, The Uncool Quaff.

spin the bottle, originally uploaded by ShazzMack.

Without water the symphony fails:

Let the music play...

(P.S. A nice post on the topic of Part I, Shrinking Supply, and current legislation at "Down with Tyrrany".)

---

This post is part of a series on Water:

• Water, Part I: Shrinking Supply
• Water, Part II: Bottled Water Blowback

Water Bottle, originally uploaded by Terry Bain.

NOTE: Post updated with floating plastic blob link from tireiron chef, and reusable water bottles link, inspired by Quaker Dave. /Tipping hat...

TAGS: Water, Scarcity, Environmentalism, Bottled Water, Green, Natural Resources, Blowback, Bittersweet Symphony, Pollution

Undo the Undoing

I want you to do something for me. I want you to think about these ideas. I want you to feel these emotions. I want you to experience this tension of intention and harvest on the horizon. Indulge me...

Once there were some people who thought about things.
They thought about things like what the future might be like for their children.
They started important conversations like this one:





Their children also were thinkers.
They thought about what their future might be like, too.
They thought about things like this, though they didn't always say it out loud:

The people sang a beautiful melody with haunting words:

Yes there comes a booming sound
It used to come from underground
Now it emanates
From a kind of welfare state
Of the soul
Yeah baby of the soul

And of the sweet sweet soul
Let's be certain
Of the deliberate monologue
As sure as if it will fall
Across you
Unto you
Will most certainly leave the doing undone

Come on undone

And we are doing
And we are screwing
Up our lives today
What's that we chanted
It's this we planted
C'mon progeny
~"Up with People", by Lambchop

That's right,
They knew what they were doing.
They kept singing the same songs, however.

₪

Are you listening to the things the children aren't saying out loud...yet?
Are the children singing songs to themselves?
If you wrote your own lyrics, what story would your song tell?
What song is the Bush administration singing? (Answer.)
And if government officials fail to provide protection, doesn't that make them enemies of our collective future?

I am struck by the juxtaposition of these two conversations.
Or are they really two monologues?

Here's what I think...

Having the foresight to think about the future is worth a lot;
paying attention to what matters most is priceless.

And, of course, there is the little matter of aligning the doing with the thinking.

---

P.S. Here is the original "Shift Happens You-Tube" (Pssst, SBT)

TAGS: Bush, Environment, Ecology, Global Warming, Demographic Shift, Shift Happens, Did you Know?, Greenpeace, Future of the Planet, Earth Activism, Intergenerational Conflict

Water, Part I: Shrinking Supply

The symbolism of water has always been meaningful to me, and the topic of water has always been important. Water has been weighing heavy on my mind lately, and the fires blazing in California only heighten my sense of reverence and concern.

Behold my reverence:

Lyrics here.

With special reverence every March.

Now my concern...

The Drinkable Water Supply is Shrinking

Albert Szent-Gyorgyi, a Hungarian Nobel Prize winner has said:

"Water is life's matter and matrix, mother and medium. There is no life without water."

Well, if that is the case, then "Life" is in trouble. Go ahead and make that a capital "T", because we are running out right quick. Four big reasons:

1. Pollution
2. Rising global temperatures
3. Population growth
4. Poor resource management
   

Locally, the California Department of Water Resources predicts that by 2020, that's 13 years folks, the state will face a freshwater shortfall nearly as great as, "the amount that all of its cities and town together are consuming today."

But across the country, in places like super wet Seattle, as well as arid Tucson, demand is greater than supply. I looked at a global water shortage map to get a sense of the big picture, and the countries that are experiencing physical or economic water scarcity make up, essentially, the entire Southern Hemisphere, with extreme shortage near the equator, and about 3 tiny exceptions in South America. Worldwide, the water crisis is most extreme in:

• Mexico
• China
• Africa
• The Middle East

In Northern China, the water level is dropping 1 meter per year due to over-pumping. In India, where more than 1 billion of Earth's 6 billion people reside, aquifers are being overpumped, and soil is becoming saltier. The frightening thing is that irrigation, the greatest source of water consumption, was responsible for increasing food production in India that now supports its still expanding population.

Some Facts

• Water demand is doubling every 20 years.
• Right now, 1.3 billion people don't have access to clean water.
• Right now, 2.5 billion people (40% of Earth's pop.) don't have access to safe sewer and sanitation.
• Right now, in Africa, 5 million people die each year for lack of safe drinking water.
• 80 Countries have have water shortages that threaten health.
• The biggest drain on our water resources is agriculture, which consumes 70% of worldwide water use.
• Neoliberal values contribute to our water problems by letting corporations privatized what once belonged to the public.
• The population is expected to grow from 6 billion to 9 billion by 2050, according to the UN.
• In fewer than 20 years the demand for fresh water will exceed capacity by over 50%.
• The World Health Organization estimates that at any one time, up to half of the human population suffers from one of 6 main illnesses associated with water shortage (diarrhea, schistosomiasis, trachoma, ascaris, guinea worm, and hookworm).
  

Some Solutions

• Conserving water on a global scale
  
• Curbing pollution
• Slowing population growth
• Managing supply and demand better
  
• Repairing ageing water infrastructure
• Developing desalination technology
  

Using a market approach to water management is held as both a source and solution to the problem. Lacking neoliberal credentials, perspective, and values, I consider turning control of water management over to corporations, who exist for the sole purpose of making a profit, and whose rights to do so may override my own rights to healthy living conditions, as fueling and not solving the problem. (Sort of like the Santa Ana winds during a fire...) (More on "corporate personhood" here.)

Australia, which is facing severe water shortages in cities like Perth, which has had a 21% decline in rainfall in the last decade, is increasingly turning to desalination, causing some to predict that half of Perth's water may come from desalination technology in the coming 30 years. But, desalination is costly, both to initiate and operate. And some hold the United States, which once led the world in such research, accountable for abdicating the role of leading research and development to Saudi Arabia, Israel, and Japan. Nearly two-thirds (60%) of the roughly 11,000 desalination plants in existence are located in the Middle East.

Disaster Scenarios

Like population density and high agricultural demands, reduced water supply has a synergistic effect on the damage caused by other disasters, as demonstrated by the Indian Ocean tsunami and Kobe earthquake, and, as I fear, the current wildfire storm raging in Southern California. Should California experience an earthquake large enough to break water lines, densely populated areas are likely to experience widespread panic, as well as high rates of illness and death due to lack of access to fresh water. (And by the way, if you haven't seen Roman Polanski's Chinatown, see it. Great film about Los Angeles land and water conspiracies.)

The Future

A recent study reported by the Guardian has given us a glimpse into our possible future. Analysts have projected widespread conflict by 2015 (just 13 years) due to water shortage, including:

1. Civil unrest
2. Mass migration
3. Economic collapse

Based on these projections, three visions of the future were concluded:

1. "Misery and shortages in the Megacities and drought in Africa"
2. "China leads recycling rush as world moves to a new hydro economy"
3. "Water is the means of social control as floods and disease devastate world"
   

And in California, the desert still pretends to be an oasis...

Here beneath the moon tonight
So pale and fragile
Is that shining in the distance I see
Real or just imagined?
Imagined mirages of agua

What are you going to do about it?


(Part I of a Series.)

TAGS: Water Supply, Water, Shortage, Environmentalism, Natural Resources, Conservation

Weather Woes

It Really IS Floodin' Down in Texas

(I don't know if all the telephone lines are down.)

If you watch CNN, you would think that the big weather news is Hurricane Dean hitting Jamaica, or maybe the typhoon hitting China. Nice comfortable stories in that they don't effect anybody in the United States.

Surely you've heard about the flooding down in Texas, Oklahoma, and Minnesota that resulted in 13 deaths - but the big story weather-wise, at least in terms of death toll, isn't getting that much interest in the States.

From the BBC: A two-week heatwave in the southern and Midwestern US has resulted in the deaths of at least 43 people, many of whom were elderly, officials have said.

On Sunday, temperatures dropped to 94F (34C) in Memphis, Tennessee - the first time in 10 days they did not top 100F.

Alabama, Missouri, Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, South Carolina and Mississippi have also been affected.
...
Mr Wharton said the city's "heat index", a measure that factors in humidity to describe how hot the weather feels, had risen above 100F every day since 27 June.

Weather forecasters said the temperature would be around 96F (36C) on Monday and remain close to 100F (38C) for the rest of the week.

Why isn't this story getting as much airtime as the others? Maybe because it can't be so readily dramatized by the likes of Tucker Carlson (who so infamously put himself in the path of Hurricane Katrina's 100-mph. winds live on CNN a couple years ago.) Or maybe it's just old news, the same old same old. After all, "Last summer, a heatwave killed at least 143 people in California." (Story) And anyway, just because a story has happened before doesn't mean that it isn't news anymore. In fact, the sheer number of weather-related news stories in the last few years is a story in itself.

More probably the US news services are silent on this because people in Big Oil don't like the media talking about something that can reasonably be attributed to man-driven global climate change. That and the fact that free speech is now limited to designated free speech zones by the government. (Apparently none of the big networks, or the cable channels are situated inside such zones.) But they are talking, at least outside of the USA - look at these two related stories from The Guardian:

Scientists Warn on Climate Tipping Points:
Some tipping points for climate change could be closer than previously thought. Scientists are predicting that the loss of the massive Greenland ice sheet may now be unstoppable and lead to catastrophic sea-level rises around the world.

In drawing together research on tipping points, where damage due to climate change occurs irreversibly and at an increasing rate, the researchers concluded that the risks were much greater than those predicted by the latest report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

If the Greenland ice sheet melted completely, for example, it would raise global sea levels by seven metres. According to the IPCC report, the melting should take about 1,000 years. But the study, by Tim Lenton of the University of East Anglia, showed the break-up could happen more quickly, in 300 years. Professor Lenton said: "We know that ice sheets in the last ice age collapsed faster than any current models can capture, so our models are known to be too sluggish."

But nobody, even in Britain seems concerned enough to actually do anything about it.

Too Much Effort to Adopt Greener Lifestyle
Millions of people across Britain think their behaviour does not contribute to climate change and find it too much effort to make green changes to their lifestyle, a government survey suggests.

About a quarter of people polled agreed with statements such as: "It takes too much effort to do things that are environmentally friendly" and "I don't believe my behaviour and everyday lifestyle contribute to climate change". About half the people disagreed with the statements.

Maybe someone should consider the effort it will take to evacuate London, New York City, Los Angeles, Seattle*, and all of Florida and move their inhabitants about 50 miles inland. Wasn't the loss of New Orleans enough of a wakeup call? I think maybe everyone should watch An Inconvenient Truth again. And maybe click the TAKE ACTION link.
* - (to name but a few. Almost ALL of the world's largest cities are at or near sea level.)

"What changed in the US with Hurricane Katrina was a feeling
that we'd entered a PERIOD OF CONSEQUENCES"
- Al Gore -

The only good consequence of this is that I get to post one of my all-time favorite live Stevie Ray Vaughan performances.

TAGS:
An Inconvenient Truth, Global Warming, Environment
DANGER WILL ROBINSON!!
Stevie Ray Vaughan

Still Mad After All These Years

For the record, I am still mad that President Bush cut and run from the Kyoto Protocol treaty to reduce global warming.

I'm mad that Bush cut and run from campaign promises about the environment:

By March 2001, the president had officially walked away from the Kyoto Protocol. He had jettisoned his campaign pledge to control CO{-2} emissions from power plants. The United States had pulled out of all debate and negotiations with the rest of the world on global warming.

I'm mad that he shelved plans to establish a biodiversity center.

I'm mad that the EPA exempted pesticides from the Clean Water Act.

I'm mad that the EPA’s new air quality standards endanger public health.

And, I'm mad that Bush named the retired chief of Exxon to chart America's course for cleaner energy use.

I'm mad the bees are disappearing.

Bill Maher on the Huffington Post:

Here's a quote from Albert Einstein: "if the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe, then man would have only four years of life left. No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more man." Well, guess what? The bees are disappearing...Sunday is Earth Day. Please educate someone about the birds and the bees, because without bees, humans become the canary in the coal mine, and we make bad canaries because we're already such sheep.

The polar bears are mad, too.

Hell, even the Republicans have gotten mad:

Russell Train, a Republican, was the EPA’s second chief under presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. But he said Bush’s record is so dismal he’s casting his presidential vote for Democrat John Kerry in November.

"It’s almost as if the motto of the administration in power today in Washington is not environmental protection, but polluter protection," he said. "I find this deeply disturbing."

He's been using public resources (our taxes) to fund junk science to support policies that make his corporate friends even wealthier, and I'm sick of it.

The Natural Resources Defense Council has compiled his environmental record through 2005. They conclude:

As for the Bush administration, it has shown again and again that it will cater to industries that put America's health and natural heritage at risk; there is little doubt that more attempts to undermine environmental enforcement and weaken key programs will be made.

In his own words:

"We need an energy bill that encourages consumption."

-President Bush, Sept. 23, 2002, Trenton, New Jersey, speech

And in the words of his minions:

"If we are saying that the loss of species in and of itself is inherently bad -- I don't think we know enough about how the world works to say that."

-Interior Department Assistant Secretary Craig Manson, appointed by President Bush to position overseeing the Endangered Species Act, Los Angeles Times, Nov. 12, 2003

Remember, we share one planet...

Biodiversity, not just a good idea; it's Life.

(Click the forward arrow to advance the slide show.)

TAGS: Environment, Global Warming, Kyoto, EPA, Biodiversity, Earth Day, George Bush, Lying GOP Bastards


Cross-posted at Ice Station Tango.

The Uncool Quaff..

..Why You Should NOT Drink Bottled Water

News item from Canada via CBC.ca: Environmentalist David Suzuki has come out against the drinking of bottled water. I agree, having never bought into the idea that water from France or anywhere else is superior to what I can get from my kitchen faucet. "Key environmental issues with bottled water, Suzuki said, are waste and uncertainty over the long-term health effects created by plastic."

In Canada at least, the government holds municipal water supplies to a HIGHER standard than commercial bottlers - so from a quality standpoint, you're better off with the tap. If you don't like the taste, buy some form of activated charcoal filter. There are a few varieties - simple Brita™-type jugs that go into the door of the fridge, inline filters that fit over the tap, and filters that are installed permanently under the sink. These systems provide pure, tasty water at a fraction of the cost of bottled water.

If you actually think that bottled water is safer than tap water, you should probably read this report, based on a four year long study from the Natural Resources Defense Counsel. It's rather long, and I barely skimmed it, but I'll take its conclusion from the opening paragraph, "The petition and report find major gaps in bottled water regulation and conclude that bottled water is not necessarily safer than tap water." For a synopsis, consult this Wikipedia article. If you think the water in your particular municipality is unsafe, I echo Suzuki's suggestion, RAISE HELL ABOUT IT! Anyone who would pump unsafe water into your home ought to be in jail.

The US consumed 25.8 billion litres of bottled water in 2004, spending over nine billion dollars for the dubious privilege. As Suzuki points out,

"It's nuts to be shipping water all the way across the planet, and us — because we're so bloody wealthy — we're willing to pay for that water because it comes from France.. ..I don't believe for a minute that French water is better than Canadian water. I think that we've got to drink the water that comes out of our taps, and if we don't trust it, we ought to be raising hell about that.. ..Not only does bottled water lead to unbelievable pollution — with old bottles lying all over the place — but plastic has chemicals in it.. ..Plastics are ubiquitous. I don't believe that plastics are not involved in a great deal of the health problems that we face today."

So, the water you drink from a bottle pollutes in many ways; the initial environmental and energy costs of manufacturing the bottle, only to taint your water with plastics - then the added environmental cost of shipping and trucking it to somewhere near you, and ultimately the bottle ends up in some landfill somewhere. Meanwhile another $10 billion gets transferred into the pockets of faceless multinational corporations. I don't think it's worth it.

TAGS: David Suzuki, Water, Environment, Pollution,

WATCH THE SPIN!

Our BLUE-HOT planet... Lovely portrait, huh? Looks professional. Except, it’s getting kind of hot here under the lights...

“Global warming isn’t real,” they say. “Just something the Left invented to help them get their way...!”

“They are suppressing information that confirms global warming,” the Left says. “Just look at who is financing the global warming denial squad...!”

Whom to believe? I ask these questions: If global warming is a lie, exactly how does the Left benefit by promoting its existence? And, if global warming is real, just how does the Right benefit by denying its truth?

It can be argued that the Right is happy when big energy is happy because, well, politicians on the Right are either in bed with big energy or they are big energy. And if there is no groundwork and infrastructure in place when we reach peak oil, basically, big energy can set all the prices, call all the shots, and buy the means of production for just about everything. Or so Marx might say. Assuming there still is production.

Let’s consider the Left. If the Left is fabricating the global warming phenomenon, they benefit...how? (Pause here and think hard.) The Right, i.e., G(lobal) W(arming) Bush, says the Left invented the “myth” of global warming to gain power by spreading panic. Moreover, if suddenly there is money to be made in alternative fuel research and development, we might just invent more efficient systems of resource management. ¡Quel outrage! Call the competition police!

Ross Gelbspan sums it up nicely:

“Apologists for the administration have justified its climate policies by citing politically conservative principles -- the withdrawal of onerous regulations, a belief in unencumbered free markets, and the appeal of corporate voluntarism. In fact, the Bush climate policies have nothing to do with political conservatism. Rather, they represent corruption disguised as conservatism.”

The science is in; global warming is real. And I have a hard time understanding how a money trail as thick and green as this one could be tripped over while true believers chase the spin that somehow global warming is a fabricated myth. Who would buy such Fuzzy Science?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
About the administration's Planetary Spin, tell us how you really feel... And do share your favorite links supporting the reality of global warming, exposing the financial supporters of global warming deniers, and documenting other efforts to thwart fuel efficiency.