Is this really what it has to take? (Our addiction to Oil)

The worst man-made natural disaster is expanding its reach of ecological Armageddon as you read this.  Scientists and government authorities have begun releasing to the public a “nightmare scenario” where the uncontrolled gush of the oil well manages to get picked up by the Gulf Stream and taken all the way up the East Coast and into the heart of the Atlantic Ocean.

For now, the oil is expected to wash ashore either today or tomorrow.  As that occurs, the extent of damage caused to marine animals and birds will begin to become apparent.  A scientist is quoted in the New York Daily News this morning saying, “The animals threatened most by the spill are bluefin tuna, sea turtles, brown pelicans, shrimp and sharks.”

Before this oil spill, the Gulf Coast was already in terrible ecological shape. This quote is from Elizabeth Carlisle at Tulane Univeristy:

  “ The Gulf of Mexico hypoxic zone is a seasonal phenomena occurring in the northern Gulf of Mexico, from the mouth of the Mississippi River to beyond the Texas border.  It is more commonly referred to as the Gulf of Mexico Dead Zone, because oxygen levels within the zone are too low to support marine life.  The Dead Zone was first recorded in the early 1970's. It originally occurred every two to three years, but now occurs annually.  In the summer of 1999 the Dead Zone reached its peak, encompassing 7,728 square miles.

    Hypoxic conditions arise when dissolved oxygen levels in the water fall below two milligrams per liter of water, too low to sustain animal life in the bottom strata of the ocean. The Dead Zone forms each spring as the Mississippi and Atchafalaya Rivers empty into the Gulf, bringing nutrient rich waters that form a layer of fresh water above the existing salt water. It lasts until late August or September when it is broken up by hurricanes or tropical storms.  The nutrients provide favorable conditions for excessive growth of algae that utilize the water’s oxygen supply for respiration and when decomposing. “

It would seem that we have been trying to destroy the waters of the Gulf Coast for years, and now, we have finally done it.

This disaster has occurred because of the sick addiction this country has for oil.  For decades, the call for alternative energy has gone without heed from federal and most local governments.  The general American public continues to guzzle oil without question en masse and unless gas prices hit 4 bucks a gallon or the entire gulf coast is covered in oil, not many even think to question it.

The closest our national debate ever turns to alternative energy is during election cycles.  Inevitably each candidate pledges to “end our addiction to foreign oil.”  During the last presidential election one of the flash quotes came from former Alaska governor Sarah Palin.  With a wink, she turned to the camera and said “ Drill Baby Drill.”

Mrs. Palin, kindly visit the gulf coast this week and continue a campaign for just that. 

No candidate should pledge to “end our addiction to foreign oil.”  They should make certain, as active legislators to end our addiction to oil.  To consider such a thing, after truly examining the extent to which oil is used in this country, seems absurd.  In terms of consumption, nothing we touch, eat or use on a daily basis in America has been clear of the touch of oil somewhere during its development.

Expect more of these disasters folks, and every time we eat at chain restaurants, buy factory farmed produce, shop at big box stores, and drive our cars needlessly we condone the practices that led to the current disaster and the future ones.

Our addiction to oil and the subsequent consequences of it are like the entirety of the United States, smoking a giant cigarette 24 hours a day and expecting to never get lung cancer. 

Today, and hopefully from now on (but I doubt it), Americans should see clearly the need for a new era of progressive alternative energy development in this country.  Americans should be prepared, to turn excess lights off, drive less, make the minor sacrifices that will lead to a genuine new century of American innovation and prosperity.

So often, you hear politicians speak of the ingenuity of Americans through history.  When was the last time we were a country of innovation?  Check the tag on your clothes right now, I’ll bet you 10 bucks it wasn’t made here, barely anything is. 

Now, consider the jobs created by wind farms in Washington (state),  Texas, Oregon, off the coasts in places where even President Obama want to erect more oil wells.  Consider the pride that would be felt by an individual going to work at a new job everyday that directly contributes to a healthy planet and a clean and self reliant America.

Alas, such a shift in thinking seems years away.  No truly progressive energy legislation is anywhere close to being passed in DC. Until such a time comes, batten down the hatches folks, this stuff is going to keep happening.  Don’t forget, it may not be an oil spill, but rising sea levels, increased frequency and severity of weather events, rise in disease occurrence, etc etc etc

This disaster, is this really what it has to take to shake this country out of its oil daze and wake up to the reality of such a destructive mass existence?

Sad thing is, I don’t think it will.

See Also:

The 6 worst case scenarios of the Gulf Coast oil spill
(That article is a doozy)

Presidental Reunion

Hello readers, a funny video today because I am socked full of schoolwork the week before Spring Break, so enjoy.

New posts about Bob Casey and green initiatives, and searching for spring in the Parkway, tomorrow.

Enjoy the vid.

Funny or Die's Presidential Reunion from Will Ferrell

Music For Action: Climate Change

(I was going to begin this blog post with a link to a recent Morning Call poll about “belief” in Climate Change. As the Morning Call is a newspaper, I expect to receive news and statistics without a bias from them. When I loaded the article in my browser, a large “Kick Harry Reid Out of Office” banner was displayed. I will not link to that article on account of the political ad shown with it, nor will I mention the poll.)

It snowed a lot this winter folks.

A couple stupid emails got sent and subsequently exposed.

The talking heads on Fox News and inside their Tea Party are ringing the conspiracy bells across every corner of America trying to alert the country to the elaborate liberal hoax that they knew has always existed.

Well, today I am going to ignore that rampant stupidity and instead offer a few questions to my readers before getting to an awesome awareness and involvement raising promotion.

Go with me for a second readers…

Let us assume that the notion that the human race is causing the earth to get warmer is in fact, bullpucky. Having established this, answer the following questions:

1. Do you want the atmosphere to be full of chemical pollutants that have been proven harmful to humans and in some cases carcinogenic?

2. Do you want the lakes, rivers and streams of America to be acidic in nature, devoid of life, full of parasitic bacteria and chemical/industrial waste and run-off?

3. Do you want the food you eat to be steroid and hormone filled? In addition, do you desire to continue to support agricultural practices that magnify the scenarios envisioned in questions 1 and 2?

4. Do you want the remaining open spaces in this country sacrificed to practices that will magnify the scenarios envisioned in questions 1 and 2?

5. Do you want to continue living in an unsustainable fashion that has directly affected and threatened parts of our food chain with never before seen parasites and fungi?

6. Do you want an economy of the future based on imported fossil fuels that are running out, or do you want an American economy leading the world in alternative energy and massive green job creation?

I could continue, but I think my point has become explicitly clear. Even if Global Warming is a liberal hoax (and really, what the hell would the point of that be?), the issues affecting the livability of Earth do not change.

In that spirit, the Senate is considering passing a new bipartisan (Thank you Senator Graham, R South Carolina) Climate Bill that will begin the process President Obama has envisioned will lead us out of the fossil fuel-imported economy of the Reagan/Bush eras and bring us into a cleaner, greener, future that will provide thousands of Americans with American jobs. Some Senators remain on the fence, and it is my opinion that in an election year, they are more likely to listen to their constituents than usual. Now is the time to send a letter, an email or make a phone call to get this thing passed.

To provide further incentive for involvement, a group of musicians has banded together to offer a free CD entitled “The Best of Bonaroo”, that you can download once you have emailed your senator through their website.

Do not fret hipster friends, the tracklist has more than jam band hippy stuff, check it out:
1. Wilco - Bull Black Nova
2. Pearl Jam - Animal
3. Jack Johnson - Inaudible Melodies
4. Dave Matthews Band - Pantala Naga Pampa >> Rapunzel
5. Death Cab for Cutie - Cath...
6. Ani DiFranco - Fuel
7. Phish - Kill Devil Falls
8. Gov't Mule - Banks of the Deep End
9. O.A.R. - Delicate Few
10. moe. - Not Coming Down
11. Raphael Saadiq - 100 Yard Dash
12. Bob Weir & RatDog - Throwing Stones
13. Disco Biscuts - And the Ladies...
14. The Decemberists - The Wanting Comes in Waves/Repaid
15. My Morning Jacket - Oh! Sweet Nuthin'
16. Guster - Happier
17. Phil Lesh and Friends - Box of Rain

The website for the CD and email is: www.musicforaction.org

DO IT!!

Please share this post with others, or just share the link to the site. Spread the word folks.

Saturday Guest Blog (sort of): Barack Obama

I am tired, and midterms are approaching. I'll let the President take this one:

Climate.gov Launches

I have to make a confession today. I am and have been for as long as I can remember, completely in love with the weather. My fascination began as a child scared to death of thunderstorms. I use to watch the weather channel as if it were Saturday morning cartoons. The best thing about the weather channel is that not only is the local forecast on every eight minutes, with constantly updating radar and satellite images but unlike Saturday morning cartoons, the weather channel is on everyday, every hour, every second.

I considered becoming a meteorologist for a long time but my life has taken me in other directions. Strangely enough, where I’ve ended up, is pretty darn weather related. The environment is in many ways a symphony, each organism an instrument, each cycle a movement and the composer that puts all the noise together into one sound is in fact, the weather.

Weather is also one of the major players in the hottest environmental issue of our time. That issue is naturally the political quagmire that is climate change. The issue has become an argument of belief against non belief and as I said this past Saturday, an argument devoid of reliable scientific information.

Yesterday, a good friend of mine who identifies himself as a Libertarian but votes with the Republican Party engaged me in one of our frequent political arguments. We began discussing climate change and he told me that he knew it wasn’t a real thing because every year the Jersey Shore looks the same when he visits. The sea levels were obviously not rising.

What my friend fails to realize and I do not believe the general American public realizes on a whole, is that the sea levels are indeed rising. The amount in feet isn’t epic (yet). It hasn’t affected the shores of developed countries. Rising sea levels have however had an impact in countries like Tuvalu, whose representatives walked out of talks in Copenhagen this past December because they sought a firm resolution on climate change. Their country is headed underwater, and it is already being noticed.

My friend also fails to realize that whatever beach he is visiting maintains its appearance against natural erosion of wind and water by constant maintenance at the expense of taxpayers. As seas levels rise incrementally such maintenance will become more and more costly, and eventually there won’t be anything to maintain.

President Obama is trying to change the way Americans think about climate change and it is a sad thing that we had to wait until 2010 for a president to do so. His administration has established a branch of the Commerce Department to deal solely with the issue of climate change. The first major result of this new branch of government is the new www.climate.gov.

This website shows years, in some cases from as far back as the late 1800’s, of climate data. The data is presented in an easy to read format that makes the science easy to understand for people that are unfamiliar with it. What www.climate.gov really does though is provide a resource to anyone interested in the changing processes of the planet. It gives all of us the opportunity to take a step back and see the bigger picture. It also shows us the microscopic picture of the particular climate in which we live.

Simply looking at sand dunes on a beach and making a decision about the entirety of our planet is silly.

The kid inside me that watched the weather channel for hours got very excited this afternoon upon discovering the new website. It is still in beta and is expected to go full service sometime in 2011. Check it out, take a spin. Take it in.

www.climate.gov

President Obama brings science back

The local debates and discussion that occur regarding our environmental and ecological health are the roots for the larger debate that takes place in the highest levels of government in Washington D.C. Sadly, in the last few years, the debate has moved away from scientific discussion and into a discourse rooted in political or religious viewpoints rather than fact and proven experimentation.

Recently, the Texas Board of Education took up the cause to repaint our Founding Fathers as practicing Evangelical Christians much like themselves and in doing so they seek to change the text of social studies books at our earliest levels of public education. This influential group also brought the evolution versus intelligent design debate to the forefront of national discussion a few years ago by demanding that intelligent design, a religious based belief system, be taught in a science class.

The anti science movement is at a blood roar in the conventions and meetings of the recently founded reactionary Tea Party. The queen of the Tea Party, Sarah Palin, famously derides science that supports the idea of climate change as “snake oil”. Palin has also advocating drilling in the Arctic National Refuge for oil rather than explore and develop alternative energy sources to waylay our dependence on foreign oil.

Palin and her Tea Party have thrown science out the window.

Regardless of the climate change debate, excess pollution is bad for the planet. It’s a fact folks and the outdated modes of the combustion of fossil fuels to create energy are harmful to the environment. That is the bottom line, global warming or not. We are not living, as a species, in a sustainable way. The fledging “green” movement is like pouring a glass of water on a tire fire and expecting the flames to be extinguished.

As a planet, earth is an entity of cycles. Everything on this plant is recycled over and over again, for god’s sake, the water in the oceans has always been the water on this planet. Whatever we touch, our fingerprint remains on it for thousands of years. Unfortunately, Sarah Palin can’t see past her shoes.

President Obama has been surprisingly environmentally sensible in his first year. Yesterday, the President directly spoke about the science of Climate Change and in doing so, became the first president to take a stand against the anti science language of the Evangelical Right.


The President has started something. His administration needs to continue a dialogue steeped in the language of science. Our planet and in turn, our species is in danger. Bats, fruitflies, honey bees, every year, every month some organism instrumental in the perpetuation of the biosphere is announced on the news as dying or threatened. The signs of our environmental ignorance are unmistakable and are all around us. The President has finally brought the issue to the White House, and now, it is time to change the dialogue across America and begin the consideration of a different future without the combustion of fossil fuels pushing us there.