tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-45550238197184039972024-03-20T04:50:24.189-07:00greenguysGreenHomeXpress is dedicated to helping everyone live smarter when it comes to the use of natural resources and energy. We believe that technology can and should be put to its best use by helping make our daily lives more efficient.
<a href="http://technorati.com/faves?sub=addfavbtn&add=http://greenhomexpress.blogspot.com"><img src="http://static.technorati.com/pix/fave/btn-fave2.png" alt="Add to Technorati Favorites"></a>greenguyshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08666308842571588441noreply@blogger.comBlogger46125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4555023819718403997.post-46682705958843804722009-10-19T13:16:00.000-07:002009-10-19T13:25:59.747-07:00Politics Disrupt Change<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvPzREPmfgq3haPQXcDFYWWGKuIJWpupGwYD9-Eu4s6J8HPLkO7jbi4LRopCA8m9I32Uf1njkOaFLEvjtVHZ-ymVrukffElmmVwRLy9rf_lelXtYn-JIIqeM8xQde0pMC6ZnfJo0G9lo5C/s1600-h/401(k)_corrupt_collusion_wa.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 282px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvPzREPmfgq3haPQXcDFYWWGKuIJWpupGwYD9-Eu4s6J8HPLkO7jbi4LRopCA8m9I32Uf1njkOaFLEvjtVHZ-ymVrukffElmmVwRLy9rf_lelXtYn-JIIqeM8xQde0pMC6ZnfJo0G9lo5C/s320/401(k)_corrupt_collusion_wa.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5394410004267053394" /></a><br /><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Arial"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:medium;">In Canada two film makers partially backed by the Conservative Fraser Institute exploited a low income family in Indiana. The film makers want the environmental war to be more of an cultural war between the rich elites and the poor working class families of “middle America” like the family in Indiana. Nothing could be further from the truth as we shall see during the next couple of decades. But we must change our coal and oil based economy over to a more environmentally and job friendly economy. </span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Arial"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">‘</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Arial"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The film makers tactics are similar to those used by the anti-Obama health care plan zealots. “Anything but the facts”, should be these group’s motto. Since the facts don’t support their position these groups are going to rely on fear and anger to divide our nation. Most liberal groups and Obama himself, as demonstrated in his speech to both houses of Congress, unfortunately cannot either rely on facts or arguments against the distortion of the truth. The representative who yelled “You Lie” became a superstar of the fanatic right. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Arial; min-height: 16.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Arial"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">If we really want change we will just have to do it by ourselves without the strong backing of the US Government. The Senators and Representatives won’t give the citizens of this country the appropriate legislation that will rip our country out of the hands of the current energy giants and health care companies. These legislators get paid by the very companies that refuse to change for the betterment of our society. During his last campaign Senator Max Baucas received more than a million dollars in campaign contributions from heath care companies. How can he write fair and appropriate legislation for the upcoming health care plan. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Arial; min-height: 16.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Arial"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The cap and trade bill is the most important legislation introduced so far that could change the course of our country’s self destructive path. But to imagine it will pass strong and intact is a fantasy. The same Senators who receive campaign contributions from health care companies also get money from the current coal and oil companies that control our energy production. These legislators only care about their jobs which they can maintain by campaign contributions are not loyal to their actual employers: Us! </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Arial; min-height: 16.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Arial"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">For the next couple of decades it will be up us to make the right decisions that create real change for our environment and our economy. We cannot wait for the legislators to cut the oil and coal umbilical cord. They are too afraid to venture out into the real world. </span></span></p><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Arial, serif;font-size:130%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:14px;"><a href="http://www.greenhomexpress.com/">greenhomexpress.com</a></span></span></div>greenguyshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08666308842571588441noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4555023819718403997.post-28222337921250985372009-10-14T18:10:00.000-07:002009-10-14T18:14:50.714-07:00What else don't we know?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQkhf6e6JPd5oRRzmvAAQdaTasuPm5ziIPLTBk4n_o9OvKjHrs4ugm3LVt666CKt0j3NHJN5jQzRDXJTc-6ui_-tZJShO6PhKOYMF181-ocMH4a__i8htJPR91zCA5sMorc_cg0Pgpi5-t/s1600-h/secret.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQkhf6e6JPd5oRRzmvAAQdaTasuPm5ziIPLTBk4n_o9OvKjHrs4ugm3LVt666CKt0j3NHJN5jQzRDXJTc-6ui_-tZJShO6PhKOYMF181-ocMH4a__i8htJPR91zCA5sMorc_cg0Pgpi5-t/s320/secret.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5392629002381722498" /></a><br /><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 18.0px Arial"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Too many layers of information hiding too many secrets does not benefit us but we still pay for it and seem powerless to change it. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 18.0px Arial; min-height: 21.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 18.0px Arial"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">A Bush era email sent by the EPA 2 years ago was just released to the public. For two years only a select group of people were allowed to read it. Did the information contained in this email contain information that could threaten our national security. I don’t think so. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 18.0px Arial; min-height: 21.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 18.0px 0.0px; font: 18.0px Arial"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The 2007 EPA document was prepared as part of the Bush administration's response to the Supreme Court's April 2007 decision in Massachusetts v. EPA. The office of Vice President Dick Cheney, the Office of Management and Budget, the Transportation Department, Exxon Mobil Corp. and others in the oil industry didn’t like what it said so it was buried. It concluded that greenhouse gas emissions from motor vehicles were endangering public welfare and needed to be regulated under the Clean Air Act. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 18.0px 0.0px; font: 18.0px Arial"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Luckily that information has been know for decades. And we also knew that during the last administration President Bush and Vice President Cheney would do whatever they could to stop any efforts made towards combating global warming so hiding this information didn’t change the course of history. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 18.0px 0.0px; font: 18.0px Arial"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">What if there are other pieces of information we don’t know about that are floating in cyberspace or hidden in some filing cabinet from the last administration or from any other administration that could possibly effect the course our country heads in the future. We have paid for all of this and it directly or indirectly affects our lives so lets see it. What’s with the closed door meeting and the classified documents. Were the Senators in the meetings on health care also discussing national security issues? Or were they discussing which industry or special interest group should benefit the most from treating the sick and injured. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 18.0px 0.0px; font: 18.0px Arial"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Unfortunately we will never know what actually happened in those meetings even though we paid for the “debates” and the final bill will greatly effect all of our lives. Instead of the networks broadcasting the endless stream of idiotic and demeaning shows filled with slickly produced commercials selling worthless products every evening they could provide some shows with crucially important information that could possibly change our lives for the better. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 18.0px 0.0px; font: 18.0px Arial"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Entertainment is a needed and soothing relief from the daily grind but is it just another layer of information keeping us from the important truths that will enormously effect our lives now and in the future. How about a sitcom staring Senator X and industry representative Y telling the truth? Now that would be funny and entertaining.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 18.0px 0.0px; font: 18.0px Arial"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><a href="http://www.greenhomexpress.com/">greenhomexpress.com</a></span></p>greenguyshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08666308842571588441noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4555023819718403997.post-326046926250449182009-10-09T09:38:00.000-07:002009-10-09T09:41:34.532-07:00Apple Leaves US Chamber of Commerce<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdG5QDOdYXpvLccUMOe9a0Dz6J-10sfU9sFOM-u2qRQj0iFLgEypzIZjOV-WipPLCbBhNir57nSPVUQ-LifQBXp8xLbAZ3sGTe8P8rXdJ42z-7w1Qpsshgsl-YRApXMom1JoqiI4Ke1aKp/s1600-h/apple-logo-green.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdG5QDOdYXpvLccUMOe9a0Dz6J-10sfU9sFOM-u2qRQj0iFLgEypzIZjOV-WipPLCbBhNir57nSPVUQ-LifQBXp8xLbAZ3sGTe8P8rXdJ42z-7w1Qpsshgsl-YRApXMom1JoqiI4Ke1aKp/s320/apple-logo-green.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5390641303074975394" /></a><br /><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Arial"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:16px;">Apple is the fourth major US corporation who has recently left due to differences regarding policies over climate change. Pacific Gas and Electricity, PNM Resources and Exelon have all left because they agree with Apple. </span><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 15.0px Arial; min-height: 17.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Arial"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Apple "supports regulating greenhouse gas emissions, and it is frustrating to find the chamber at odds with us in this effort," said Apple vice president Catherine Novelli, on Tuesday.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 15.0px Arial; min-height: 17.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 15.0px Arial"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">In response a spokesman for the Chamber said, "The US Chamber of Commerce continues to support strong federal legislation and a binding international agreement to reduce carbon emissions and address climate change."</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 15.0px Arial; min-height: 17.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 15.0px Arial"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">And he continues, "While we'll continue to represent the broad majority of our membership on this goal, we recognize that there are some companies who stand to gain more than others with the current options on the table," said chamber spokesman Eric Wohlschlegel. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 15.0px Arial; min-height: 17.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 15.0px Arial"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The most meaningful word in that first quote is “international”. What Mr. Wohlschlegel is really saying is that Apple’s products are manufactured overseas where greenhouse regulations are weak and thus overhead expenses are lower. So the US should still be able to pollute as much as it wants to in order to be competitive. An extremely anemic and amoral argument at best. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 15.0px Arial; min-height: 17.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 15.0px Arial"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The US Chamber of Commerce as a representative of the US should become the world’s role model for corporations in combating global warming. It is our responsibility to lead other nations to uphold strict environmental standards, the US needs to take a long terms approach to this issue. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 15.0px Arial; min-height: 17.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 15.0px Arial"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">It is not entirely true for The US Chamber to say our uncompetitiveness and therefore job loss would occur if the US followed stricter environmental rules. In the far east where most electronics are manufactured the cost of living is much less than it is here in the US and therefore the wages are much lower. Whether this is appropriate and whether companies like Apple take advantage of this situation has nothing to due with environmental laws and therefore for this discussion is misleading. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 15.0px Arial; min-height: 17.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 15.0px Arial"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Discussing health care relative to the cost of manufacturing would be much more appropriate. Specifically the automotive industry in this country demise was in a large part due to the US’s major competitors based in countries where their heath care is for the most part “socialized”. Just the mention of socialized health care would cause the US Chamber and its members to scream in utter agony.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 15.0px Arial; min-height: 17.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 15.0px Arial"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Not facing the real truths behind US corporations lack of competitiveness in the world market will only prolong the inevitable, we will lose millions of jobs but not because we follow strict environmental standards. Our inability to face facts and release old false ideals that for years have been upheld by our falsely supported economic system and ridiculously enormous military industrial complex will actually be our demise.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 15.0px Arial"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:16px;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 15.0px Arial"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:16px;"><a href="http://www.greenhomexpress.com/">greenhomexpress.com</a></span></p>greenguyshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08666308842571588441noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4555023819718403997.post-16361385465108667662009-10-02T09:52:00.000-07:002009-10-02T09:56:17.624-07:00Ganges River Dolphin<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBRPIBzPwQ2LWYlDsEY7J-oPhtD3rDVN1_Mp_yKutgqnnIadihmVk0ki3F3oxa97UeJOGqFMo1BJFR8BSpqi-XLCdDLKklTA1caGpIH-RqD-h584SPUz0E_pUlUW0WCKRzC5MBjrjHUQ5X/s1600-h/Dolphin_620950a.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 154px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBRPIBzPwQ2LWYlDsEY7J-oPhtD3rDVN1_Mp_yKutgqnnIadihmVk0ki3F3oxa97UeJOGqFMo1BJFR8BSpqi-XLCdDLKklTA1caGpIH-RqD-h584SPUz0E_pUlUW0WCKRzC5MBjrjHUQ5X/s320/Dolphin_620950a.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5388047422419591938" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 18.0px Helvetica"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The Ganges River Dolphin may not end up becoming extinct like its cousin the Yangtze River Dolphin. Maybe humanity has learned a valuable lesson, time will tell. The Yangtze River dolphin became extinct in 2007 due to agricultural and industrial poisons being dumped into the river. This dolphin earned the distinction of becoming the first aquatic mammal in 50 years to disappear from our planet, let hope the Ganges Dolphin is not the second. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 18.0px Helvetica; min-height: 22.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 18.0px Helvetica"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The Ganges dolphin, a cousin to the more well know saltwater bottle nose species, has a long thin snout, tubby belly and oversized fins. It is almost blind but has excellent sonar and can leap out of the water if in a joyful mood, something not seen lately. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 18.0px Helvetica; min-height: 22.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 12.0px 0.0px; line-height: 15.8px; font: 19.2px Arial"><span style="font: 18.0px Arial; letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">According to Conservationists at the World Wildlife Fund about 2,000 dolphins have been killed in India due to untreated sewage dumped into the river and being drown in fishing nets.</span></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> Near where the dolphins swim the Ganges contains 60,000 fecal coliform bacteria per 100 milliliters which is 120 times greater than the safe bathing limit and astronomically beyond the safe drinking water limit. The dolphins have not volunteered for the job and are really not being paid much attention to as the canary in the coal mine. This would partially explain why 1,000 children die each day of diarrhea sickness in India. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 12.0px 0.0px; line-height: 15.8px; font: 19.2px Arial"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">In one town on the river a change has been made with wonderful results. The river is now cleaner next to Raja Karna. Instead of poisonous chemical fertilizers the farmers are using home made organic compost. They also built a small but successful sewage treatment plant. So due to these simple and easy changes the population of the Ganges River dolphin has more than doubled from 20 to 55. A miracle, no, just simple common sense and a willingness to take a small step and think out of the box. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 12.0px 0.0px; line-height: 15.8px; font: 19.2px Arial"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">If the rest of the citizens in towns along the Ganges River could emulate the behavior of the farmers in Raja Karna then possibly a unique and as like all organic matter on this planet including humans, irreplaceable species could live for many more generations. No more extinctions. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 12.0px 0.0px; line-height: 15.8px; font: 19.2px Arial"><a href="http://www.greenhomexpress.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">greenhomexpress.com</span></a></p>greenguyshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08666308842571588441noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4555023819718403997.post-35341566185905596902009-09-29T17:10:00.000-07:002009-09-29T17:15:18.426-07:00The Real Cost of Going Green<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfyljsXpALrKDWOnVtgQtbzmqlYldG-HAZfueHU-hc8qVqyJ2WHT9VO8y_oPX7F68VUMY_PcvzuXuc1fvVJstbGDGiRUkqawTfZ-NpXmuEEajqswMR0ZIVbj-Uh0iBFne4paySsF1brhUC/s1600-h/Green_Dollar.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfyljsXpALrKDWOnVtgQtbzmqlYldG-HAZfueHU-hc8qVqyJ2WHT9VO8y_oPX7F68VUMY_PcvzuXuc1fvVJstbGDGiRUkqawTfZ-NpXmuEEajqswMR0ZIVbj-Uh0iBFne4paySsF1brhUC/s320/Green_Dollar.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5387047387581864882" /></a><br /><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The next extremely important step towards significantly reducing global warming and its effects will soon take place on the floor of the US Senate. They will debate and then vote on the cap-and-trade climate bill, the Waxman-Markey act. The House passed the bill late spring and now the senators, some of who still think that global warming is a hoax, will engage in a very contentious debate. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia; min-height: 16.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Unfortunately we had to witness and listen to this summer’s health care embarrassing circus like “debate” performed on the Senate Floor, in town hall meetings and blasted on talk radio. The President’s speech to both houses of Congress finally cooled off some of the nonfactual hate filled possibly racist rhetoric spewed continually in all possible venues. For the debate on “greening of America” the confused will switch their fear laden protests of governmental takeover and death panels to horrific job loss and economic collapse. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia; min-height: 16.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><a href="http://www.greenhomexpress.com/">greenhomexpress.com</a></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck will lead the hysteria despite having lost their war supporting the monopolistic medically ignorant grossly unfair health insurance companies. (Unfortunately I have first hand knowledge of this since my daughter is autistic; would be easier to get paid care if she had self induced heart problems due to poor eating habits than her externally caused or genetically based neurological disorder.) </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia; min-height: 16.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The real facts: We have a “energy efficiency gap”, the amount of our consumption of fossil fuels does not increase our standard of living. Some of us see the earth as a giant smorgasbord, leaving half our uneaten food, energy, on our plate and then throwing it in the landfill. We need to conserve more which automatically saves us more money. The Congressional Budget office said this bill will only cost the average family $160 per year in 2020, $.44 per day. Limbaugh and Beck keep citing a study that put the cost at $1767 per year. But no amount of searching on the internet can produce that study but it doesn’t exist. There is not going to be any world and/or US economic collapse, the facts just don’t support that catastrophic kind of thinking. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia; min-height: 16.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">When the economic argument proves fruitless the talk will most likely regress to the loss of personal freedom fears heard during the health care debate. I read a comment where one person thought he would be forced to drive a Prius and live in a tiny New York Style apartment, live like the Europeans. Aside from the fact that if everyone who owns a car did drive one that maintained at least 45 mpg the environmental crisis level would be much lower no one is going to loose their choices of how they want to live. The environmental costs will just directly be translated into the appropriate and fair economic costs. Massive fossil fuel producers won’t continue to avoid paying for the environmental damage and for related health care costs due to pollution and pass it on to the consumer. We will actually obtain more personal freedom from spending our money to better our lives and not the lives of the Board of Directors of XYZ oil company.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia; min-height: 16.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">If the Waxman-Markey Act does not pass or if the Senate dilutes the final law we will all lose. No one can hide from air and water pollution or the effects of global warming no matter how high their fence is or how far from the city you live. We will all suffer. </span></span></p><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:14px;"><br /></span></div>greenguyshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08666308842571588441noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4555023819718403997.post-47369568805411428282009-09-27T13:21:00.000-07:002009-09-27T13:28:29.324-07:00Subsidies for Oil & Other Fossil Fuels<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKyFyrJHNA4AzaC5aNUDvTzUcabHO7XeKr5rV5qrqI4JtRs6euo2kVSN4S3ACEsC-5NkSosmHr-8Zz2gWcieTL10q6hS5yYnflJuMpNrrdtkva7aPsXVObBsax22RdOGw7J0yk6eUhXDvn/s1600-h/global-issues-warming-400a042007.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKyFyrJHNA4AzaC5aNUDvTzUcabHO7XeKr5rV5qrqI4JtRs6euo2kVSN4S3ACEsC-5NkSosmHr-8Zz2gWcieTL10q6hS5yYnflJuMpNrrdtkva7aPsXVObBsax22RdOGw7J0yk6eUhXDvn/s320/global-issues-warming-400a042007.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386246467836397058" /></a><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap;font-family:'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">President Obama and all of the G20 nations including Russia, India and China agreed to phase out subsidies for oil and other fossil fuel producers. By 2020 the world’s largest and most profitable companies will no longer receive tax payer dollars to help them stay in the black. 11 more years of almost $300 billion per year split among them will no longer be available. $3.3 trillion is all they will get and not a cent more. The American Petroleum Institute is not happy about this and frankly either am I. "The Obama administration and Congress now face many difficult choices if they choose to comply with the G20 commitment to phase-out fossil fuel subsidies," the API said. Yes, the US and the other G20 countries have very difficult choices to make. They will now have to figure out how to spent $300 billion per year in possibly more appropriate places instead of giving it to super profitable companies. Companies who now easily keep us addicted to their environmentally damaging products because of the low prices available due to the subsidies. This situation is analogous to the tobacco companies complaining about cancer warnings they must put on their products. These industries can’t just make money, they need to have their cake and force everyone else to make it for them. “Eliminating such subsidies by 2020 would reduce greenhouse gas emissions blamed for global warming by 10 percent by 2050,” leaders said, citing data from the International Energy Agency and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. As I mentioned above I am also not happy about this, but obviously not for the same reasons. 10% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions is not enough. Somehow these vultures need to be forced to pay all of us back and do it without further economic and environmental damage. During the summer of 2008 when gas prices approached $5 per gallon the CEO of one of the largest Oil and Gas Companies said, “No one is being forced to buy our product”. He forgot to add that when we do purchase his product that we are being forced to pay them double, once at the pump and again when we pay our taxes. After decades of past administrations and congress giving in to these thieves President Obama and the current G20 finally have the fortitude to say no more even though subsidies should have never begun. So I say to the American Petroleum Industry and it’s fellow band of immoral greedy inscrutable miscreants complaining about the phasing out of subsidies, “this is only the beginning of your end”.<br /></span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap;font-family:'lucida grande';"><a href="http://www.greenhomexpress.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">greenhomexpress.com</span></a></span></div>greenguyshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08666308842571588441noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4555023819718403997.post-43264687161956377182009-09-25T17:38:00.000-07:002009-09-25T17:39:40.126-07:00Senate Allows EPA to Buy Polluted Town<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOJ86ooC36SZCloEPJS7fwKdSklL7eCViQztdDcg2AuZ_pvP4rawgbTqt9k_VMDYcETCu5mQWOXNLrQShs2RQ8LyJGIfQD6kh5hjanAcRK8avRwe5fbIadSqK-m7l4RpVpS1N0linz3F_f/s1600-h/Acid_rock_drainage_t960.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOJ86ooC36SZCloEPJS7fwKdSklL7eCViQztdDcg2AuZ_pvP4rawgbTqt9k_VMDYcETCu5mQWOXNLrQShs2RQ8LyJGIfQD6kh5hjanAcRK8avRwe5fbIadSqK-m7l4RpVpS1N0linz3F_f/s320/Acid_rock_drainage_t960.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5385569332890238162" /></a><br /><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">We, the US taxpayers, have just bought Treece, KS in the southeast corner of Cherokee County. It cost around 3 million dollars. Around 100 people still live there so each of them will get around $30,000. If each person in the US actually had to pay their fair share right now it would cost each of us about 1 cent. Since there wouldn’t be enough room for all 300 million of us to live there and since the town is too polluted for anyone to live in we don’t actually have to move. Lucky us. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">No so lucky for them. Most of them have lead poisoning. Lots of people in that part of Kansas probably also have lead poisoning. The vast majority of the lead and zinc mines closed over 30 years ago but the mess they left is still there. In 1983 the area was declared a superfund site. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">115 square miles containing enormous piles of what looks like gravel, except its not. Its called Chat, mountainous piles of dirt filled with lead, zinc and cadmium particles. These heavy metals become air born and land in school yards and backyards where kids play. Kids get the toxic metals on their clothing and hands and it works it way into their bodies: lead poisoning. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">To date about $90 million has been spent to clean up the mess left by the mining companies. The mining companies that haven’t disappeared and/or closed down and/or are hiding were forced to pay for about 10% of the cost. It will take another 15 years and $70 million to finish the clean up. So in total it will take almost 40 years and approximately $160 million dollars to make Cherokee County “safe’ to live in again. Who would actually want to live there? No me and I am guessing, but probably not you. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Please join me in raising our glasses of NON-plastic bottled water in a hopeful toast that our current plan for reducing the causes of and the effects of global warming does not mimic the previous plan used to clean up superfund sites. Because if it does we can kiss our planet good</span>bye.</span></p>greenguyshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08666308842571588441noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4555023819718403997.post-8494105641262714602009-09-22T17:08:00.000-07:002009-09-22T17:10:32.308-07:00Murder Charges for Toxic Dumping<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8FV4Runwq4zG0XBkGm9ztqiZ0cwwHfRBidpmk8K-_A0kjTCMmwOBrx5dHPtPUIJTOBtKGM8dT_tJ1ZEj0jHhHqmph7WReXWUzoiKDsoB3yr2InEvBp40cvV1g3ZekzwQ3HhvEBvj-iVfC/s1600-h/pg-04-toxic-AFP-Get_242829s.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 218px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8FV4Runwq4zG0XBkGm9ztqiZ0cwwHfRBidpmk8K-_A0kjTCMmwOBrx5dHPtPUIJTOBtKGM8dT_tJ1ZEj0jHhHqmph7WReXWUzoiKDsoB3yr2InEvBp40cvV1g3ZekzwQ3HhvEBvj-iVfC/s320/pg-04-toxic-AFP-Get_242829s.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384448569026134034" /></a><br /><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size:16px;">In 2006 Trafigura, an oil-trading company, dumped tons of toxic waste in one of the world's poorest countries, Ivory Coast. (The toxicity of the waste is under dispute not the dumping.) This month Greenpeace claimed that the dumping caused thousands to became ill and also caused miscarriages, birth defects and death. One of the world’s most well known environmental organizations wants Dutch courts to bring charges of murder, manslaughter, negligence and conspiracy against Trafigura. </span><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 10.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia; color:#333333;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Trafigura, which last year had sales of $73 Billion, approximated twice the GDP of the Ivory Coast, has already agreed to pay millions to settle a lawsuit brought by 30,000 Abidjan residents who suffered short term illnesses. But they deny that anyone suffered severe long term illnesses or death due to the dumping. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 10.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia; color:#333333;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The sludge which was dumped at 18 sites around Abidjan, including drains and lagoons, was the by-product of processing “dirty oil” bought at a Mexican refinery. The processing took place on board an oil tanker off the coast of Abidjan not in the EU because the EU has outlawed this environmentally unsafe practice. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 15.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia; color:#332409;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">In 2006, the year that Trafigura used the City of Abidjan in the Ivory Coast as their toilet, its poverty rate was 50%. The nation ranks 164 out of 177 countries ranked on the United Nations’ Human Development Index. The UNHDI rates the overall economic health of a country. Only 13 other countries received a worse rating than the Ivory Coast. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 15.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia; color:#332409;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">To admit that I find that it is unbelievable that this horrific crime can occur at the beginning of 21st century would probably put me in the “very naive” category. Sometimes deviant behavior seems plausible when an individual’s or a group’s life is threatened or when they desperately need food, or medical attention. But to commit a heinous act simply to add a relatively miniscule amount of profit to your bottom line is truly evil. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 15.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia; color:#332409;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">I don’t believe in nor has history shown that an “eye for an eye” prevents any further malevolent acts. Usually is actually escalates a conflict. So if the Board of Directors of Trafigura were forced to live out the rest of their lives in one of the lagoons in Abidjan filled with their toxic sludge most likely future atrocities would still occur. But the rest of us might feel just a bit better. </span></span></p>greenguyshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08666308842571588441noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4555023819718403997.post-23681613147113441332009-09-17T09:31:00.000-07:002009-09-17T09:35:39.909-07:00We are Frozen in Hatred<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGdleXCkTwjjrYIxAVeivPHhtrimctZDG-xS4K01G22XqgY9Z9dRnNCRqXgerz1u9tO_u_NBD6g8-sgPtN55xq4Jrt9NeoOMFJ4eWU_5aVS3x790T89-nfLEnDPcWQY55D_3pQGhgFRx3a/s1600-h/00209r.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 264px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGdleXCkTwjjrYIxAVeivPHhtrimctZDG-xS4K01G22XqgY9Z9dRnNCRqXgerz1u9tO_u_NBD6g8-sgPtN55xq4Jrt9NeoOMFJ4eWU_5aVS3x790T89-nfLEnDPcWQY55D_3pQGhgFRx3a/s320/00209r.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5382475928095471970" /></a><br /><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; line-height: 15.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">"Injecting race into the debate over critical issues facing American families doesn't create jobs, reform our health care system or reduce the growing deficit. It only divides Americans rather than uniting us to find solutions to challenges facing our nation," President Jimmy Carter said yesterday. Repair and protect our environment should be added to the list of critical issues that won’t be addressed if Americans can’t remove prejudices from their hearts. Absolutely nothing will be accomplished or what is accomplished will be so anemic it will not help anyone.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; line-height: 15.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia; min-height: 16.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; line-height: 15.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">This statement by President Carter relates to the blog I posted a couple of days ago concerning comments by Stanford Professor Paul Ehrlich. Professor Ehrlich declared in no uncertain terms that its our behavior not science that is holding us back from restoring our planet. We all know what is wrong and have the science to prove it but we just can’t seem to change our behavior from self-destructive and selfish to self sustainable and altruistic. Our egos and self righteousness destroy our ability to provide the common sense solutions to solve the urgently critical problems that face us. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; line-height: 15.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia; min-height: 16.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; line-height: 15.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The United States is now lead by an African American President. The election was fair and just. The votes were counted and no one disputes the election. (Some fringe elements pursue the insane notion that he is not a US citizen but to address that is akin to continue to look for WMDs in Iraq). We cannot allow the citizens of this country who are controlled by “Hate” deny the rest of us our right to a fair chance for excellent health care, a prosperous economy, good green jobs and a healthy environment. American cannot regress: A enormous step away from our shameful past of forcing some people to the back of the bus has been accomplished, we can never let it happen again. </span></span></p>greenguyshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08666308842571588441noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4555023819718403997.post-74819116052044752702009-09-13T21:03:00.000-07:002009-09-13T21:06:32.482-07:00Do the Right Thing for Those Who Follow<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGcFlwLFlwXi4VXhepLlQwlP6lKJcB8Xh6LVmYbSzCPvatsWhSStTpuAZF-GuQq5i4lAcYteB6o5B2HIf54r70MpqXzt-o-jvckOHz5BQTaIOkERWCDltJY-fPmTy_8CgfzTcy_2wgI-DM/s1600-h/baby.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGcFlwLFlwXi4VXhepLlQwlP6lKJcB8Xh6LVmYbSzCPvatsWhSStTpuAZF-GuQq5i4lAcYteB6o5B2HIf54r70MpqXzt-o-jvckOHz5BQTaIOkERWCDltJY-fPmTy_8CgfzTcy_2wgI-DM/s320/baby.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381169627476107874" /></a><br /><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 10.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Helvetica Neue; color:#242424;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">"Basically, absolutely nothing is happening," Stanford University ecologist Paul Ehrlich said. "We don't need more scientific evidence that we're screwing ourselves. We need to get beyond the cultural discussions we're having now."</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 10.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Helvetica Neue; color:#242424;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The problem, Ehrlich said, is clearly not a need for more natural science. Rather, it is the need for a better understanding of "human behaviors and how they can be altered to direct humanity toward a sustainable society before it is too late."</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 10.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Helvetica Neue; color:#242424;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">“We’re screwing ourselves”, “absolutely nothing is happening”, “direct humanity toward a sustainable society before it is too late." said the 77 year old distinguished professor at one of the most eminent universities in the world. He has received dozens of ecological and environmental awards. His bibliography spans 30 years and includes sophisticated analysis using all the ecosciences to examine the current state of the world relative to population and ecology. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 10.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Helvetica Neue; color:#242424;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Doesn’t really want to make you jump for joy, does it? </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 10.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Helvetica Neue; color:#242424;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Right to the point. No more debate is needed, we have all the proof we could ever want. The problem is our behavior. We, certainly including me, act like the dogs in Pavlov’s experiment. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 10.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Helvetica"><span style="font: 14.0px Helvetica Neue; letter-spacing: 0.0px color:#242424;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">“</span></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The phrase "Pavlov's dog" is often used to describe someone who merely reacts to a situation rather than using critical thinking.” Our use of “critical thinking” has been beaten out of us. Anyone and everyone who either wants our money, our vote and/or our soul has been after us since the day we were born. Relentless advertising; first from newspapers, TV, radio and now the net has been used to manipulate us regarding every decision we make. Unfortunately most of the “ends” of our manipulated “means” aren’t beneficial for the environment and thus eventually harmful to us. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 10.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Helvetica"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Do we understand why it was so easy to manipulate our behavior toward the “dark side”? According to Erhlich we don’t have the time to figure out why we went the wrong way. We need to immediately make a quick u-turn and help “direct humanity toward a sustainable society”. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 10.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Helvetica"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Here at the beginning of the second century of the industrial revolution we are now literally facing the cumulative poisons that have been injected into our land, water and air. Time to push all the self-destructive behaviors out of our souls and act in favor of those who will inherit this planet. The benefits our actions will not be felt by us, whether we ever understand why we acted as we did is no longer applicable. As procreative beings we owe to the ones who follow us to do the right thing.</span></span></p>greenguyshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08666308842571588441noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4555023819718403997.post-76086063224210286232009-09-11T17:19:00.000-07:002009-09-11T17:24:11.977-07:00“Roadway” Created in Arctic due to Global Warming<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqzf_hKqk4x1-lU3L-12drZCiMO0rITzKFkbZ_bSctrK3u0QJIgB3H1Xmorh33CWAGCfQolC_PGKi7bU54Q7-2rvjNzrsCiG9nIQspIZdn53E5_v2rPvps8m0V9Kgrr6ArspjjnaI0_szE/s1600-h/capt.33c10c7d37d54fce9522c7775c03a8d0.germany_arctic_passage_fra122.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 196px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqzf_hKqk4x1-lU3L-12drZCiMO0rITzKFkbZ_bSctrK3u0QJIgB3H1Xmorh33CWAGCfQolC_PGKi7bU54Q7-2rvjNzrsCiG9nIQspIZdn53E5_v2rPvps8m0V9Kgrr6ArspjjnaI0_szE/s320/capt.33c10c7d37d54fce9522c7775c03a8d0.germany_arctic_passage_fra122.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5380369579904833762" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The Northeast passage along Russia’s Arctic coast from North Korea to Siberia is now open. Calling all pollution spewing, tranquil disrupting, overwhelmingly enormous freighters, your ocean freeway through the previously quiet home of the endangered polar bear is now yours to destroy. Civilization has reached a new level, we all should be so very proud. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia; min-height: 16.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">To all the naysayers who believe Global Warming is just a hoax, absolute proof is now just an ocean freighter’s ride away. "We are seeing an expression of climate change here," said Mark Serreze, director of the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colo. "The Arctic is warming; we're losing the sea ice cover. The more frequent opening of that Northeast Passage is part of the process we're seeing." Ex-Vice President Cheney now that you are retired, hopefully forever, you might want to take a cruise along the Northeast passage. Maybe if you see first hand what your environmentally destructive policies have created you might change your mind about the existence of global warming. Though we won’t hold our breath. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia; min-height: 16.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The passage opening up this summer due to global warming could of easily been predicted if the United States took time during the last three years to pay more attention. I guess the past Administration was too busy fighting an “oil war” instead of doing what it could to reduce our use of oil. “For the last few years, including this year, navigator Roald Amundsen's famous Northwest Passage has been navigable. Then in 2007, the more crucial deep water channel called McClure Strait opened up and now the Northeast Passage”, Serreze said. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Arial; min-height: 15.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Arial"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Now that President Obama is running the show maybe his legislation will, at the very least, slow down the horrific effects of global warming. We need to do what we can to help speed up the process and keep the naysayers and foot draggers at bay. The selfish are a tenacious bunch so we have to be even more diligent than them unless we want the entire Arctic to become a “roadway’.</span></span></p>greenguyshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08666308842571588441noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4555023819718403997.post-53819291665031585222009-09-09T16:17:00.000-07:002009-09-09T16:21:39.320-07:00Hunting Polar Bears<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEz8seHojqRP1G3XES0ePVL3ywnTPmXUG69imFGEnIU-3agvB86BtzmUaMXpJGQd_kP-RWICiLNgRw34W6-co__qUu1MoTXMIH9gdjQ0mspgTzaQi_S98bA7LyHdEXugZKYNkDrsEFDsmK/s1600-h/Snow_On_Snout_Polar_Bear-1600x1200-799243.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEz8seHojqRP1G3XES0ePVL3ywnTPmXUG69imFGEnIU-3agvB86BtzmUaMXpJGQd_kP-RWICiLNgRw34W6-co__qUu1MoTXMIH9gdjQ0mspgTzaQi_S98bA7LyHdEXugZKYNkDrsEFDsmK/s320/Snow_On_Snout_Polar_Bear-1600x1200-799243.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379611826256646946" /></a><br /><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">This story was found in the folder marked: No Hope for Humanity. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia; min-height: 16.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Polar bears are classified as endangered species. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia; min-height: 16.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Polar bears are being killed due to man-made global warming. Polar bears are being killed due to man-made pesticides. Polar bears are being killed due to man-made high powered rifles so their heads can be cut off and put over someone’s fireplace.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia; min-height: 16.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia; color:#222222;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px ;color:#000000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">According to the UN </span></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">over the last 10 years nearly 9,000 polar bear specimens were exported for commercial purposes. These specimens included 2,849 skins, 108 skulls, and 1,249 claws. </span></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px ;color:#000000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> Under Canadian law the hunting of polar bears by tourists and the commercial trading of polar bear parts is legal. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia; min-height: 16.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Endangered species have different classifications and that is why Canada’s polar bear hunting laws and commercial trading of polar bear parts is not illegal.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia; min-height: 16.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">There are three different classifications: Appendix I, II and III. Polar bears are classified under appendix II but should be put at appendix I so the senseless and horrific hunting will stop. (Hunting for </span></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px ;color:#222222;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">sustainable subsistence by native peoples of polar bears</span></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> is not controlled and should not be controlled under these classifications).</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia; min-height: 16.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Please contact the US Fish and Wildlife Department and tell them to change the classification. Please tell them that hunting and trading body parts of any animal, let alone an endangered animal, is a bad idea. For some reason I think they probably already know this but apparently unless they are verbally assaulted with this information they won’t do anything about it.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia; min-height: 16.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Only about 25,000 polar bears left: May they procreate to their heart’s content and then die of old age.</span></span></p>greenguyshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08666308842571588441noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4555023819718403997.post-87911617421728143732009-09-08T17:58:00.000-07:002009-09-08T18:00:37.160-07:00Orangutans, 3000 die every year<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXKn77dhx0lXZXSKyjGPfq8PIMyHyBlllgPcYlbu9QOr2exN-YQXoYaxKHrCuD2g-HMhyphenhyphenWkO66cY-zOp8au6KYkgChk5UyYHo8DjW5lpficC0sFDRO0nvIw0ihyphenhyphenyBOAYlNv0TegdNUb0Qo/s1600-h/orangutan-pictures.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 282px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXKn77dhx0lXZXSKyjGPfq8PIMyHyBlllgPcYlbu9QOr2exN-YQXoYaxKHrCuD2g-HMhyphenhyphenWkO66cY-zOp8au6KYkgChk5UyYHo8DjW5lpficC0sFDRO0nvIw0ihyphenhyphenyBOAYlNv0TegdNUb0Qo/s320/orangutan-pictures.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379266281687060066" /></a><br /><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Helvetica"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">With only 50, 000 left it’s just 17 year until extinction. They have been around for about 10,000 years and up until about 20 years ago there was approximately 500,000 orangutans living in an area from Southeast Asia to Southern China. “We” directly or indirectly killed off 90% of the population due to, you guessed it, deforestation and other human activities. Now the remaining population lives in Borneo. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Helvetica; min-height: 17.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Helvetica"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Orangutans share 96.7% of our genes and are smart enough to use tools and teach learned behaviors to their offspring and other Orangutans. They are so human like It feels like loosing a member of our immediate family. Just to give you some specific examples the following are some homo sapiens characteristics that the Orangutans exhibit. They can make rain hats and leakproof roofs out of a leaf found in their natural habitat. Two different Orangutans learned 30-40 sign language signs both in captivity and in the open wilderness. Zoo Atlanta has a touch screen computer monitor where the orangutans play computer games. And finally a 2008 study showed that orangutans are the first non-human species documented to use 'calculated reciprocity' which involves weighing the costs and benefits of gift exchanges and keeping track of these over time.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Helvetica; min-height: 17.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Helvetica"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">But are their lives worth more than deforestation? We apparently decided they are not. Logging, mining, settlements and road construction take precedent over these extraordinary animals, second to none to humans in intelligence. Some might argue that in the case of intelligence relative to environmental issues Orangutans might even surpass humans.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Helvetica; min-height: 17.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Helvetica"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Indonesia, which includes Borneo, loses 4.5 million acres of forest every year due to deforestation. The Nature Conservancy is currently working with our Federal Government and local governments in Indonesia to stop illegal logging and protecting Orangutan habitats but the situation is dire. A previously unknown Orangutan nest was discovered that could could possibly add some needed numbers to the dwindling population but they still are a very endangered species.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Helvetica; min-height: 17.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Helvetica"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Carolyn Enquist, a scientist with the Nature Conservancy the excellent conservation organization mentioned above, studies the concept of adaptation for plant and animal populations who are effected by effects of global warming and processes that cause global warming. Unfortunately for some plants and animals global warming has already caused permanent damage, partial and/or complete extinction. Lets hope its not too late to save the remaining Orangutans and possibly help them increase their population.</span></span></p>greenguyshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08666308842571588441noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4555023819718403997.post-64711916976468322392009-09-04T20:11:00.000-07:002009-09-04T20:15:12.736-07:00President Obama Can't Wait for Congress<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuCuYO5OwcEebycB5i0lGUGaQqUNaRZc4CJlk0QPpYCPObaPZZmppenZAWC151a9bpRlxXK38LrWx_dDtiqESmvphDQ2F0EP3fxnbO0KbBTU39hCpjYs4hzkyEL9deFJljVdYzA6zR4W7u/s1600-h/Air_.pollution_1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuCuYO5OwcEebycB5i0lGUGaQqUNaRZc4CJlk0QPpYCPObaPZZmppenZAWC151a9bpRlxXK38LrWx_dDtiqESmvphDQ2F0EP3fxnbO0KbBTU39hCpjYs4hzkyEL9deFJljVdYzA6zR4W7u/s320/Air_.pollution_1.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5377816618326796322" /></a><br /><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Helvetica"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Too many lobbyists representing hundreds of special interests groups fill the halls of our capital persuading our legislators to act in ways good for them but not for us. The Congress will never really legislate in favor of policies that are 100% environmentally beneficial unless there is something in it that helps with their next reelection. Global warming is too far advanced for President Obama to diplomatically persuade Congress to act quickly. He needs to light a bonfire underneath their seats or rush ahead and let them catch up.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Helvetica; min-height: 17.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Helvetica"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Proposing limits for greenhouse gas emissions and ambient air quality standard regulations are two specific examples where the EPA is moving like molasses in wintertime and should be moving like lighting. The problem, as previously stated, lies both with Congress’s special interest saturated legislative behavior and President Obama’s overly diplomatic relationship with Congress. We deserve action now not after environmental disasters become irreversible.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Helvetica; min-height: 17.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Helvetica"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Regulations limiting, not just proposing, greenhouse gas emissions need to be put into law now. Its not good enough for the EPA to simply declare that greenhouse gas emissions endanger public health and welfare. Industries that provide energy using “dirty sources” need limitations on the amount of greenhouse gasses they produce. They need regulations since they will not do this on their own.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Helvetica; min-height: 17.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Helvetica"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">In 1997 the EPA created ambient air quality standards for fine particulate matter, soot. Soot causes illnesses costing billions in health care expenditures and approximately 20,000 annual deaths. Its very simple, the less soot, the less illness. Most soot comes from coal fired power plants. Ambient air quality standards are not good enough, we need regulations to protect us. The EPA is literally giving these plants a license to murder. Another frustrating and seemingly malicious facet of this dilemma is allowing more new coal fired plants to be approved under these worthless standards as opposed to having them be approved under strict regulations. It appears as if the EPA is giving these “dirty” plants an unfair advantage over new green clean technology by allowing them to slide in without health protective regulations. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Helvetica; min-height: 17.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Helvetica"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">President Obama shouldn’t let the Congress empowered EPA to work directly against our health and directly for the seemingly impervious lobbyist protected “dirty” energy producers. Clean green technology doesn’t stand a chance if our country continues to be controlled by special interest groups that let the obscenely rich get richer and the rest of us get stuck with higher health care costs and irreversible lung cancer. We need to make the death of the Bush administration create a environmentally healthy “birth” for us. </span></span></p>greenguyshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08666308842571588441noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4555023819718403997.post-31816426468230018362009-09-02T12:33:00.000-07:002009-09-02T12:36:33.942-07:00Rainforest Still Disappearing<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKHjZNF66DmGCC-tYAcsMuoz9mxwWk47tK_qnxN6GJjteyMbF6HxaYR5N7OnhvKdhPB-rgj_yKmwj4FqMqsfihnbhGZXTzsrNO9DdsG5OrSeQ_hQewWEAvr3XBKAJ43_LswvvRetysTFuL/s1600-h/00189f9e.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 186px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKHjZNF66DmGCC-tYAcsMuoz9mxwWk47tK_qnxN6GJjteyMbF6HxaYR5N7OnhvKdhPB-rgj_yKmwj4FqMqsfihnbhGZXTzsrNO9DdsG5OrSeQ_hQewWEAvr3XBKAJ43_LswvvRetysTFuL/s320/00189f9e.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5376956269332527570" /></a><br /><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 20.0px 0.0px; line-height: 18.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The rainforest is still disappearing at a an alarming rate despite the massive efforts of many to reduce the rate of deforestation. In February, 2008, the Brazilian government announced that the rate of deforestation has increased not slowed down. During the last five months of 2007, more than 1,250 sq. miles,(an area equivalent to the size of the state of Rhode Island), was deforested. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 20.0px 0.0px; line-height: 18.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Unfortunately no one involved in the defense of the Amazon can even imagine deforestation being stopped; the only goal is reduce the slaughter of an area with 10% of the world’s carbon stores in our ecosystem. By continuing to remove the natural fauna one is continuing to release excess carbon into the atmosphere which accelerates global warming. Deforestation of the Amazon is also permanently damaging an area where the the largest collection of living plants and animal species in the world live. To date, at least 40,000 plant species, 3,000 fish, 1,294 birds, 427 mammals, 428 amphibians, and 378 reptiles have been scientifically classified in the region. The numbers are astounding and they just represent what scientists have named but not what actually exists. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 20.0px 0.0px; line-height: 18.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The main source of deforestation of the Amazon are human settlement and development of the land. 91% of the deforested land is used for cattle grazing and the rest is mostly used for farming. This occurs despite what environmentalist C.M. Peters stated in 1989, “One hectare in the Peruvian Amazon has been calculated to have a value of $6820 if intact forest is sustainably harvested for fruits, latex, and timber; $1000 if clear-cut for commercial timber (not sustainably harvested); or $148 if used as cattle pasture.” This valuation is in terms of what the worth is for the Peruvian Citizens, not for the corporations like Asia Pulp and Paper who have brutally deforested the land for years. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 20.0px 0.0px; line-height: 18.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia; color:#222222;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Reading through the history of Asia Pulp and Paper is analogous to reading the criminal history of a brutal and maliciously ambitious drug cartel. No outside force has been able to stop their continuous onslaught of the world’s most valuable and essential forests. The company has been involved in illegal logging in Cambodia and Indonesia and hasbroken agreements with 3 major environmental organizations. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 20.0px 0.0px; line-height: 18.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px ;color:#222222;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">According to the Asia Times Online, “</span></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Asia Pulp and Paper's business model is a tactically aggressive one: it turns huge profits by quickly stripping forests bare, exploiting age-old forests and indigenous peoples, and leaving town before the environmental consequences are felt. By the time communities and governments lodge complaints and lawsuits, APP has divested itself of local interests and assets.”</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 20.0px 0.0px; line-height: 18.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">They had agreements with Forest Steward Ship Council, the World Wide Fund for Nature and the Rainforest Alliance. All agreements were cancelled by the environmental organizations when APP, Asia Pulp and Paper, did not follow through with the original environmental policies stated in the agreements. It appears that APP was just using these organizations to hide behind. They agreed to change it behaviors but its deforestation of restricted lands was discovered and the agreements were dissolved. Boycotts of APP’s products were called for by various hotel associations. APP threatened with lawsuits but wasn’t aware of the public support for the boycotts. They were caught red-handed with their entire body in the cookie jar and still tried to weasel out of it. Even now on the homepage of their website it reads “Care for Tomorrow, we support actions for economic, social and environmental sustainability”. This situation being similar to members of the last US Administration telling the world that the Iraq war was started to protect our freedom when they originally told us it was to protect us from weapons of mass destruction and terrorism. A bold faced lie. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 20.0px 0.0px; line-height: 18.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Unfortunately in today’s amoral political and economic climate many do not care for the truth even if it causes horrific environmental or other types of damage: If it hurts their pocketbook and popularity they will say anything to protect themselves. Even though such maliciously powerful and desperate entities are loose in our world trying to deprive us of our environmental freedom we still have a mighty weapon in our possession that can stop them dead in their tracks: our wallets. If we don’t buy their poison they can’t sell it and if they can’t sell it they will not brutally strip our lands to get it.</span></span></p>greenguyshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08666308842571588441noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4555023819718403997.post-41247790208575467852009-08-28T13:53:00.000-07:002009-08-28T13:55:47.586-07:00African Lion disappearing in Kenya<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWP-1hdZcRfc9KTAMlquuK7sOZoTXYr9G8nG1QKqGwaaYgwSRbqbJa7G0FeepnFF4LHTjCI10_ox5iFxr4b_pRgQSuMzNNa9HrOW-ipHmXMg_wR4ssH4OW12adbbeE6hWclOKlL0CFCuyh/s1600-h/AfricanLion.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 310px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWP-1hdZcRfc9KTAMlquuK7sOZoTXYr9G8nG1QKqGwaaYgwSRbqbJa7G0FeepnFF4LHTjCI10_ox5iFxr4b_pRgQSuMzNNa9HrOW-ipHmXMg_wR4ssH4OW12adbbeE6hWclOKlL0CFCuyh/s320/AfricanLion.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5375121252013510978" /></a><br /><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 18.0px Georgia"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px">The most alarming fact of this wildlife population study is that the population decrease is happening just as fast inside the National Parks as outside the National Parks. The wildlife population declined 41% between 1977 t0 1997, and since then the rate of decline has not slowed. The study was commissioned by the Kenya Wildlife Service, which manages the Kenya National Parks. The Kenya Wildlife service said the drastic decline could leave Kenya without the African Lion by 2020, the lion being Kenya’s “symbol of national strength”. </span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 18.0px Georgia; min-height: 21.0px"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 18.0px Georgia"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px">Unfortunately the study has attracted little attention. Kenya is still dealing with the results of the 2007 presidential election. The conservation community has also been relatively quiet about the study since it’s really not new news since Kenya has always mismanaged it’s wildlife programs. There also have been other rarely read studies in the African Continent reporting their wildlife population is also on the decline in protected areas. Namibia, Botswana, and South Africa are the exceptions but if the trend continues the wildlife population in Africa will resemble the wildlife population in Europe; mostly invisible. </span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 18.0px Georgia; min-height: 21.0px"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 18.0px Georgia"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px">Aside from the mismanagement and political problems what else is causing the wildlife population to decrease? Overpopulation: the African Continent is expected to grow rapidly, it’s population could increase by more than a billion people by 2050. What to do about overpopulation is such a complex and controversial subject with many religious, race and geopolitical components I would rather not write about it now but just acknowledge it’s specific effect on the wildlife population in Africa. Part of the proof that overpopulation is one of the causes of wildlife population decline can be drawn from studying wildlife populations in southern Africa, especially Nambia. It has a low population density and a stable wildlife population. </span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 18.0px Georgia; min-height: 21.0px"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 18.0px Georgia"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px">One possible solution that has had some minor success in Kenya is community involvement. There has been wildlife population increases at the Shompole conservation area and tourist lodge which is managed by the Masai community. For this project the Kenyan government relinquished part of control of the area so the community could be directly involved and therefore would be directly rewarded for it’s efforts. This situation would be analogous to a US community project where the neighborhood works together to keep their business district clean and safe so it will reap the rewards of increased revenue and property values. </span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; line-height: 21.6px; font: 18.0px Georgia; min-height: 21.0px"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; line-height: 21.6px; font: 18.0px Georgia"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px">Unfortunately this type of successful community involvement in Kenya relative to safeguarding the wildlife population is rare. Placed in between a massive population explosion, poorly managed national parks, political unrest and poaching, ultimately the African Lion might only be seen in a zoo.</span></p>greenguyshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08666308842571588441noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4555023819718403997.post-33951495656122013202009-08-27T12:55:00.000-07:002009-08-27T13:01:16.153-07:00Beluga Whales dying of cancer<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_vf5QBOImiteZjWz2HxguvZLnqrU1c1yvpp4dy7hLUyvp7nH-EkMGcFKlogv86Q-Tsyre0mimsFxi5Ig3FVyD0ksrVQYStHWqZc3HTPvEh-EW8yD0o2N2LS2ESA1TMX4XIeLsJ5-f74M1/s1600-h/whale_beluga_submerged.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 227px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_vf5QBOImiteZjWz2HxguvZLnqrU1c1yvpp4dy7hLUyvp7nH-EkMGcFKlogv86Q-Tsyre0mimsFxi5Ig3FVyD0ksrVQYStHWqZc3HTPvEh-EW8yD0o2N2LS2ESA1TMX4XIeLsJ5-f74M1/s320/whale_beluga_submerged.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374735859167100674" /></a><br /><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 18.0px Georgia"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px">In the St. Lawrence Estuary in Quebec hundreds of Beluga Whales have died of intestinal cancer over the last 30 years. Aluminum smelters dumped their poison into the Estuary until 2004, then Canada finally shut them down. 5 years latter Cancer is still killing the Whales, “Cancer is the consequence of a lifetime of accumulating mutations,” said Daniel Martineau, a professor of pathology at the University of Montreal., who added that the deadly disease “is exactly what you would expect to find in animals that are eating from these sediments.” </span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 18.0px Georgia; min-height: 21.0px"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 18.0px Georgia"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px">The poison in the sediments where the whales feed is called POPs. POPs are a combination of various chemical waste products including PCBs that are a by-product of the manufacturing process of aluminum. The whales eat mussels that have absorbed the POPs in the sediment and the poison works it way into the Beluga’s intestinal tract after years of eating the mussels. “Often the POPs interact directly with an animal’s DNA by disrupting its structure and leading to mistakes in replication. These mistakes accumulate over the animal’s lifetime, leading to tumors and, possibly, death. In other cases, the chemicals attach to DNA and turn genes on or off. Pollutants can also contribute to cancers by distracting an animal’s immune system, allowing certain types of viruses to cause tumors.” Carol Meteyer, a wildlife pathologist with the National Wildlife Health Center in Madison, Wis.</span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 18.0px Georgia; min-height: 21.0px"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 18.0px Georgia"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px">Here is the really sad part. “Mothers dump their contaminant loads to their first born pups,” said Gina Ylitalo, a research chemist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Seattle, Washington, who led the study. So that is why it could take another 20 years or so for the cancer to die out. Unfortunately the cancer just doesn’t disappear after you shut off the poison faucet. </span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 18.0px Georgia; min-height: 21.0px"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 18.0px Georgia"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px">It is fairly rare for wild animals to be killed by cancer but the case of the Beluga whales in Quebec is not the only incident. Scientists have seen it in California sea lions along the central coast, North Sea flounders and in Ohio’s Black River catfish. Elevated levels of POPs were found in these mammals and fish; in the case of the sea lions it was 85% higher than in sea lions who did not have cancer.</span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 18.0px Georgia; min-height: 21.0px"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 18.0px Georgia"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px">The cancer found in the Belugas can be looked at as another example of the canary in the coal mines. Scientists say that the cancer patterns found in the Estuary could reveal cancer patterns found in human populations. When both people and mammals are living in an area where there is an abundance of cancer causing POPs cancer will most likely show up first in the mammals. This should set off an alarm for us to quickly move in and hopefully save some lives. Unfortunately not enough people are paying attention to helpless mammals. Usually people have to start dying in order for someone to pay attention. </span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 18.0px Georgia; min-height: 21.0px"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 18.0px Georgia"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px">I, obviously, am not saying it’s somehow OK for the mammals to be our canaries in the Estuary. But if in general, “society” was aware that aggressive monitoring of the planet’s animal’s health could possibly help safeguard their own maybe more attention would be paid to their well being. Sad scenario for sure but at this point we will continue to try for the best but take what we can get. </span></p>greenguyshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08666308842571588441noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4555023819718403997.post-65348056562955745752009-08-26T18:27:00.000-07:002009-08-26T18:31:03.948-07:00More problems for Polar Bears<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj812kgqZRZRS3V1DRUPyhPnVoz2M5xcykvbuWt_huM2uy1vCnL09noScGJkx5omIFdNOWte_aadmRqLTWPVWEKvBk3bxJkTkXrXa7QIlxa-BjA9urHTaj0Lgew_y5dT2eUn8gqJfkmFCd1/s1600-h/image_Mama_Polar_Bear_Cubs.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 258px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj812kgqZRZRS3V1DRUPyhPnVoz2M5xcykvbuWt_huM2uy1vCnL09noScGJkx5omIFdNOWte_aadmRqLTWPVWEKvBk3bxJkTkXrXa7QIlxa-BjA9urHTaj0Lgew_y5dT2eUn8gqJfkmFCd1/s320/image_Mama_Polar_Bear_Cubs.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374450019948849746" /></a><br /><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 18.0px Georgia"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Not only do they have to worry about their home dissolving right from under their paws but now they have to be careful what they eat. We really stuck it to them. They have been around for about 200,000 years with virtually no worries and suddenly they have more than their share. </span></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px ;color:#4f4f48;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Polar bears are the world's largest land predators. They top the food chain in the Arctic and the large males can weigh up to 1500 pounds so they really had no one to fear until global warming and life threatening man made chemicals showed up in their prey.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 18.0px Georgia; min-height: 21.0pxcolor:#4f4f48;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 18.0px Georgia"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px ;color:#4f4f48;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Due to warmer temperatures caused by global warming the Arctic ice is melting sooner in the spring so the bears are eating different foods. The </span></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">bears now eat more harbor and harp seals and fewer bearded seals than before. This shift in diet resulted in higher levels of PCBs and flame retardants in their tissues. These chemicals have been linked to negative impacts on their reproductive and immune systems. Also the bears are becoming thinner, have shorter life spans and give birth to less babies due to the shorter hunting season created by a shorter season of winter ice.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 18.0px Georgia; min-height: 21.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 18.0px Georgia"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">I am sure about now you are asking how in the world did flame retardants end up in the tissue of one of the most magnificent creatures on earth. Flame retardants do just what you think, they make it harder for something to burn. The problems occurs when products sprayed with flame retardants are not properly dealt with after their “useful life“. Hard to believe but some of the products end up in wastewater treatment plants instead of being reused or properly disposed of. Wastewater treatment plants dump their “treated” sewage in the ocean and the flame retardants, now on the loose, swim towards the nearest piece of plastic. Flame retardants and other similar dangerous chemicals don’t mix well with water so they are attracted to pieces of plastic. In fact the concentration of these chemicals is a thousand times greater on the plastic in the ocean then in the surrounding water. Then its up the food chain from the small fish eating these tiny chemical coated pieces of plastics to the polar bear. It’s amazing what disgusting and disheartening information you can find when you really look for it.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 18.0px Georgia; min-height: 21.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 18.0px Georgia"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">But when can do something right now to slow and stop this process. Reuse everything you possibly can and please, whenever humanly possible, don’t buy plastic products, especially plastic water bottles. </span></span></p>greenguyshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08666308842571588441noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4555023819718403997.post-58552989298233325052009-08-24T16:51:00.000-07:002009-08-24T16:54:02.105-07:00Do we know why?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA1V3XZs4epovOX2AIVW4fUdZ58zeMHjD9ycdCbftwpN0k9VWaZDaXko_4hulFMFW0iIamuy0ZpVA5UOwaYjoHvQIE6YsI8i9YwRnVU1-t4aCAYQ0_ViCblmGA0Q_zZk0wnoMzjuqbDimL/s1600-h/Water-pollution.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 213px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA1V3XZs4epovOX2AIVW4fUdZ58zeMHjD9ycdCbftwpN0k9VWaZDaXko_4hulFMFW0iIamuy0ZpVA5UOwaYjoHvQIE6YsI8i9YwRnVU1-t4aCAYQ0_ViCblmGA0Q_zZk0wnoMzjuqbDimL/s320/Water-pollution.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5373682846716961266" /></a><br /><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Previously I have written about the processes used by specific companies to simultaneously preform a task, i.e. kill weeds, create profits </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">and</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> cause environmental harm. I have never suggested these specific companies or industries maliciously cause environmental harm only that it is a secondary by-product of their company’s practices. In most cases they are surely aware of causing environmental harm but do not change their practices.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia; min-height: 16.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">I recently read a letter to the editor in the August 15th-21st 2009 issue of The Economist magazine. This letter profoundly states the case </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">not</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> for examining the tools used which can cause an inhumane outcome but to attempt to understand why people are so easily manipulated into engaging in processes which eventually result in their or someone else’s harm. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia; min-height: 16.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Here is the most relevant portion of the letter written by Dennis Sandole, Institute of Conflict Analysis and Resolution, George Mason University in response to an article about genocide in Rwanda. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia; min-height: 16.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">“The deepest conundrum is what makes groups of people, defined by religion, class, race or any other attribute, so vulnerable to political manipulation that they can be easily persuaded to commit diabolical acts against other groups. Until we solve that core problem, would-be manipulators will always find one medium or another, from the printed word to the latest form of e-communication, to demonize and proscribe the hated “other”.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia; min-height: 16.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Now to apply this complex, challenging and important question to the subject of environmental harm. “Groups of People” from the quote would apply to both the manipulators and the manipulated. People not involved in the production or sale of products harmful to the environment are the manipulated. And so people involved in the sale and production of products harmful to the environments would be the manipulators. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia; min-height: 16.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Why is the possible? According to Dennis Sandole it is not due the extraordinary communication tools available to the manipulators. It is an “attribute” commonly found in the character of each group of people which allows them to either manipulate or be manipulated. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia; min-height: 16.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">I would love to hear your answers to this question as I agreed whole heartly with Mr. Sandole. Many regulations are passed and many warning are given but to date most people seem to maintain their current behavior. In the meantime I can do some research to discover what psychologists and sociologists think of the destructive and self-destructive behavior portrayed by the manipulators and the manipulated. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia; min-height: 16.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">For now I will and I hope you will more thoroughly remove yourself from either group. This should begin to undo the destructive actions of all of our behaviors and hopefully lead to a cleaner and thus less harmful environment.</span></span></p>greenguyshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08666308842571588441noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4555023819718403997.post-70152178934653635692009-08-21T13:13:00.000-07:002009-08-21T18:09:32.827-07:00Frog are great indicators of environmental health<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhknFZ5D_vwBJH2qUJfPGopMhXw7vm_zfLnlshzIEXWTcDLLX387c6XrFx_DmFyx9ftXoE73cM9TfAFPaw-Kp6ZPW5CSqlzngWykfT6r-PEPC7oJNTrLj2M9G6RRLqRsNdqtyxBFscyXJTf/s1600-h/Red-eyed+Tree+Frog.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhknFZ5D_vwBJH2qUJfPGopMhXw7vm_zfLnlshzIEXWTcDLLX387c6XrFx_DmFyx9ftXoE73cM9TfAFPaw-Kp6ZPW5CSqlzngWykfT6r-PEPC7oJNTrLj2M9G6RRLqRsNdqtyxBFscyXJTf/s320/Red-eyed+Tree+Frog.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5372589046901101346" /></a><br /><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia; color:#040404;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Thanks to a wonderful suggestion from a member of the greenhomexpress facebook fan club, I checked out the site amphibianark.org. Even if you have ranidaphobia, fear of frogs, you still can certainly appreciate the contribution they make to our ecosystem and as indicators of the planet's environmental health. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia; min-height: 16.0pxcolor:#040404;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia; color:#040404;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">First some fascinating and terrifying frog (amphibian) facts: 50% of the approximately 6000 species are threatened with extinction. 165 species are already extinct. 500 species will become extinct in the near future, too late to save them. And the really sad news: it appears with current efforts and spending levels only about 50 species can be saved. So, if we stay on course it should only take us about 100 years to wipe out about 90% of a species that has been around for about 400 million years. Astonishing!</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia; min-height: 16.0pxcolor:#040404;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia; color:#040404;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">In the following paragraph I will briefly describe how frogs are vital components of our ecosystem. Just to be clear, this is for informational purposes only since I personally believe that if something exists on our planet and we did not create it, i.e. build it, pour it out of a test tube, etc, then it belongs here regardless of what we understand about it. Actually, I will quote amphibianark.org since they do such a great job of explaining it. “Amphibians feed primarily on insects and other invertebrates. It was estimated that a single population of ~1,000 cricket frogs (Acris crepitans) could consume almost five million invertebrates in one year. Clearly they serve as significant predators of small invertebrates, as abundant prey for larger predators, and as a vital link in the food web between the two. In areas of the world where amphibians have declined, there has been an increase in invertebrate pests that damage crops and that carry human diseases.”</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia; min-height: 16.0pxcolor:#040404;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia; color:#040404;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">How we, humans, benefit directly from amphibians: They provide vital bio-medicines. Some of the categories of medicines that amphibians have contributed to are analgesics, antibiotics, stimulants for heart attach victims, antidepressants, medicines for stroke, seizure, Alzheimer’s, cancer and HIV infections.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia; min-height: 16.0pxcolor:#040404;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia; color:#160616;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">How we should benefit from amphibians: They have been compared to canaries in the coal mines. They have very thin skins and are susceptible to environmental contaminants. Amphibians might be able to warn us if certain unsafe environmental conditions exist. Some environmental and scientific organizations do this now, i.e. The Natural Defenses Resource Council, but it is clear that all of us need to pay more attention. For example, Atrazine can chemically sterilize tadpoles at levels well below the EPA maximum allowable level for drinking water. And Atrazine has been found in more than 1 million American’s drinking water above the maximum amount set by the EPA. So the obvious conclusion is since Atrazine is sterilizing amphibians and it’s in our drinking water, Atrazine might be sterilizing us. So we should pay very close attention to the amphibian population.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia; min-height: 16.0pxcolor:#160616;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia; color:#160616;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">There are many time consuming and expensive processes we can become involved in to help rectify this horrible situation. But, as always, the simplest and quickest involves being extraordinarily environmentally careful when spending your hard earned money. Please make sure you are not allowing your health and the health of your loved ones to be controlled by a company that thinks its expendable.</span></span></p><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(22, 6, 22); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(22, 6, 22); "><a href="http://www.greenhomexpress.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">greenhomexpress.com</span></a></span></div>greenguyshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08666308842571588441noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4555023819718403997.post-46190348273000270012009-08-20T11:27:00.000-07:002009-08-20T13:14:55.195-07:00More on Atrazine, the very bad and the sinful<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOimCbckPJRvvSBAqcOtr-lWk402egJLH42ZW6aENv7Bo2QTzJiqW6qawYoqxURxPGzC365h3pW8M3QPMTlR57SdnqVPzVZriPAtpKfwRRYTHWwcMsIVBcv21Ex64slEGEAvSAZVz5SR-l/s1600-h/ails8_large.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 210px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOimCbckPJRvvSBAqcOtr-lWk402egJLH42ZW6aENv7Bo2QTzJiqW6qawYoqxURxPGzC365h3pW8M3QPMTlR57SdnqVPzVZriPAtpKfwRRYTHWwcMsIVBcv21Ex64slEGEAvSAZVz5SR-l/s320/ails8_large.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5372142034792664434" /></a><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Back on August 5th I wrote about Atrazine, the herbicide that is used in 80 countries including the US but is banned in the EU. In 2004 the EU banned it's use because studies showed that Atrazine could interfere with human reproductive processes. Our EPA said the data was insufficient to </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family:Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">determine if atrazine could cause reproductive problems in humans. </span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family:Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family:Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The Very Bad</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family:Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family:Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">A new study was just released and it said "The common and highly-used herbicide atrazine can act within the brain to disrupt the cascade of hormone signals needed to initiate ovulation." "Collectively, the results of this study – along with a prior study by the same research group – demonstrate that exposure to atrazine in adults can disrupt the surge of hormones needed to trigger ovulation in rats. This mechanism is similar in rats and humans, suggesting that disruption in humans is at least possible." Environmental Health News, August 20th, 2009. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family:Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family:Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The other news out of the study was that as soon as the rats were no longer exposed to Atrazine the disruption of the surge of hormones stopped. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family:Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family:Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The Sinful</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family:Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family:Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Now armed with that final piece of information, why isn't Syngenta, the company that manufactures Atrazine, removing Atrazine from the marketplace and siting this study saying that there isn't any long term permanent health problems? Essentially they could take the money and run. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family:Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family:Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Lets say we can climb into the heads of the Board of Directors of Syngenta and imagine what they are thinking. My guess, being the cynical environmental watchdog, is that they are thinking along the following lines.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family:Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">They might be thinking they can roll the dice and think the dice are fixed. They can still manufacture Atrazine, make lots of profits and wait until another study proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that their product does interfere with the human reproductive system. (I am not saying in general terms that I think capitalism is bad, I am saying making money </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">and</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> putting people's lives at risk is bad.) And if people complain about the long term effects they can site this current study. If you believe this might be their reasoning I would suggest to you that the only conclusion is that they are indeed sinful.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family:Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family:Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The simple truth: Syngenta is manufacturing a chemical that is used to kill organic matter. It is a weed killer. Logically if it kills organic matter there is that possibility that it could kill us. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family:Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family:Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">We don't need it, plenty of farmers grow food without herbicides and we don't want it, let them roll the dice with their own lives.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family:Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family:Arial;"><a href="http://www.greenhomexpress.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">greenhomexpress.com</span></a></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family:Arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family:Arial;"><br /></span></div>greenguyshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08666308842571588441noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4555023819718403997.post-56995944112366682072009-08-19T11:15:00.000-07:002009-08-19T13:12:16.685-07:00Only Buy Surfboards Made in the US<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKukIT-4v0bPl-ELLXf0dtOlImW4hVMQ8ztRi6lCSMR662vs-nQMCz6Ts2hY5mABpTJcikVJ6Ga8ncDFRjmvQMBm_7DmHV0U8hSC82Q5xVbQJdz8wynwasKCjfi_xGi7UcFjaCeqslz_nb/s1600-h/surfing-01302858b.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 210px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKukIT-4v0bPl-ELLXf0dtOlImW4hVMQ8ztRi6lCSMR662vs-nQMCz6Ts2hY5mABpTJcikVJ6Ga8ncDFRjmvQMBm_7DmHV0U8hSC82Q5xVbQJdz8wynwasKCjfi_xGi7UcFjaCeqslz_nb/s320/surfing-01302858b.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5371770275048005314" /></a><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(53, 53, 53); line-height: 25px; font-size:17px;"><p style=" line-height: 18px; font-weight: normal; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-decoration: none; margin-top: 0px; font-family:Georgia, Arial, Verdana, Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:16px;">If you buy a surfboard please either buy a used one or one made entirely in the US. </span><br /></p><p style=" line-height: 18px; font-weight: normal; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-decoration: none; margin-top: 0px; font-family:Georgia, Arial, Verdana, Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:16px;">Why?</span></p><p style=" line-height: 18px; font-weight: normal; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-decoration: none; margin-top: 0px; font-family:Georgia, Arial, Verdana, Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:16px;">The reasons and my story: I went shopping for a surfboard the other day. It has been at least a decade or so since I bought a surfboard, so I was very uneducated about what has occurred in the last couple of years. Just like all the other purchases we make this one originally seemed simple. Unfortunately, it turned very complicated very quickly. </span></p><p style=" line-height: 18px; font-weight: normal; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-decoration: none; margin-top: 0px; font-family:Georgia, Arial, Verdana, Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:16px;">First heres some important background information on surfboard manufacturing. Previous to December 5th 2005, virtually all surfboard foam was made by Clark Foam using polyurethane. TDI was the reactive agent used by Clark foam in making polyurethane. TDI is a <span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 20px; font-family:Arial;">Carcinogen. The EPA shut down the company after 45 years in business. The circumstances surrounding the closing of the plant are very controversial and an important topic to be addressed in another blog. So after December 5th 2005, if you bought a new surfboard, it was either made using another type of foam other than PU with TDI as a reactive agent or was not manufactured in the US. </span></span></p><p style=" line-height: 18px; font-weight: normal; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-decoration: none; margin-top: 0px; font-family:Georgia, Arial, Verdana, Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 20px;font-family:Arial;font-size:16px;">When I was talking to the salesperson at a local surf shop he pointed out that some of the surfboards were in fact made in China. </span></p><p style=" line-height: 18px; font-weight: normal; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-decoration: none; margin-top: 0px; font-family:Georgia, Arial, Verdana, Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 20px; font-family:Arial;font-size:16px;">The insane irony of this should now jump off the computer screen and smack you in the face. Why would the US allow the importation of surfboards made using TDI? But not let a manufacturer use TDI in the production of surfboards here in the US. Does this mean it's "OK" for workers outside the US to be exposed to cancer causing chemicals? No it is not "OK". So the US should ban the import of those surfboards. Very simple. But they don't. </span></p><p style=" line-height: 18px; font-weight: normal; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-decoration: none; margin-top: 0px; font-family:Georgia, Arial, Verdana, Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 20px;font-family:Arial;font-size:16px;">The surfboards made in China were, of course, much less expensive than the surfboards made in the US. But, as I have pointed out before in other blogs relative to other products, the price difference did not include the environmental costs. In this case not only are there environmental costs due to the carcinogen TDI but also due to the large carbon footprint caused by international transportation of this product. As I said, this <span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 18px; font-family:Georgia;">purchase originally seemed simple but turned very complicated.</span></span></p><p style=" line-height: 18px; font-weight: normal; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-decoration: none; margin-top: 0px; font-family:Georgia, Arial, Verdana, Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:16px;">I ended up buying a used surfboard made in the US after 2005.</span></p></span>greenguyshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08666308842571588441noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4555023819718403997.post-41785262674055677692009-08-18T12:46:00.000-07:002009-08-18T13:34:42.217-07:00Poisoning Dolphins<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgviIReZA1PdQiCHcAZZd8z7jFVX4nN_fowNLaGHtgw4wwDbHyUpw-E3qE1x3LXGeRjucVYkR9ZzY5Vtisa3BXYUIpptY3fM58S0Ar8OPWXrBgBPWzbFn_O5JINW-BrCWtP4Lm277P5Yzk0/s1600-h/bottlenose2.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 226px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgviIReZA1PdQiCHcAZZd8z7jFVX4nN_fowNLaGHtgw4wwDbHyUpw-E3qE1x3LXGeRjucVYkR9ZzY5Vtisa3BXYUIpptY3fM58S0Ar8OPWXrBgBPWzbFn_O5JINW-BrCWtP4Lm277P5Yzk0/s320/bottlenose2.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5371404756360699058" /></a><br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family:Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">“The fact that this chemical, (triclosan, a germ-killing chemical), is found in the environment and is being detected in a top level predator, (one-third of the bottlenose dolphins tested off South Carolina and almost one-quarter of those tested off Florida,) certainly warrants concern,” said Patricia Fair, a research physiologist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and lead author of the dolphin study, which was published online in the journal Environmental Pollution in May.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family:Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family:Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Triclosan is a germ-killing chemical found in hundreds of products, including liquid hand soaps, toothpaste and deodorants. The amount of Triclosan found in the dolphins has disrupted the hormones and growth and development of other animals that had similar amounts in their blood.<br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family:Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family:Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">And to those who say we need this chemical otherwise we won't rid ourselves of infectious bacteria. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family:Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family:Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">"In the first known comprehensive analysis of whether antibacterial soaps work better than plain soaps, Allison Aiello of the U-M School of Public Health and her team found that washing hands with an antibacterial soap was no more effective in preventing infectious illness than plain soap. Moreover, antibacterial soaps at formulations sold to the public do not remove any more bacteria from the hands during washing than plain soaps."</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">August 15th, 2007. U-M stand for University of Michigan. Notice the date, 2 years ago. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The obvious conclusion: We don't need antibacterial soaps or any other products that contain Triclosan. We are poisoning one of the most intelligent and precious animals on earth with something we don't need now nor have we ever needed. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">As I mentioned before the easiest way to stop this type of insanity is with your pocketbook. If we don't buy this poison then it will be impossible for someone to sell it. It will be too late if we wait for the EPA or other similar organizations to react, they wait until the damage is done. We can decide now.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Arial;"><a href="http://www.greenhomexpress.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">greenhomexpress.com</span></a></span></div><div><br /></div>greenguyshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08666308842571588441noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4555023819718403997.post-5554636356055298742009-08-05T20:28:00.001-07:002009-08-05T20:28:40.294-07:00More unfortunate news about pesticides<p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">Would rather write about something else since I posted a similar story this morning but the following news story just came out today.</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 5.0px 5.0px; font: 12.0px Arial"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px">“Rural residents who drink water from private wells are much more likely to have Parkinson’s disease, a finding that bolsters theories that farm pesticides may be partially to blame, according to a new California study.” Environmental Health News, August 5th, 2009</span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 5.0px 5.0px; font: 12.0px Arial; min-height: 14.0px"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 5.0px 5.0px; font: 12.0px Arial"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px">We really don’t have a choice, it either organically grown foods and environmentally safe products or we suffer the consequences. </span></p>greenguyshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08666308842571588441noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4555023819718403997.post-18049234680073811512009-08-05T09:55:00.000-07:002009-08-05T09:57:51.243-07:00What is a life worth?<p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Arial"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px">On August 3rd I wrote about industrial chemicals that are introduced into our environment even though that have </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px color: #666666">no known natural analogues. </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"> This means they are unlike any natural occurring chemicals, and their effect on us and the environment is unknown. Testing of these materials takes place, but it is rarely long term or comprehensive enough. So, we are at risk. </span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Arial; min-height: 16.0px"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Arial"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px">Here is a specific example of one that was let out of the lab too soon and is now used in 80 countries including the US but was banned by the EU in 2004. </span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Arial; color: #333333; min-height: 16.0px"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Arial"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px color: #333333">Atrazine is a herbicide that may cause a variety of cancers and harm human and animal reproductive and hormone systems. </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"> The word “may” in the previous sentence is a relatively small word with only three letters, but it is a very large word for Syngenta. It translates into billions of dollars for Syngenta, the manufacturer of Atrazine. Since no governmental or private scientific organization has proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that Atrazine is carcinogenic or harmful to reproductive systems Syngenta feels they have the right to produce it. </span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Arial; min-height: 16.0px"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Arial"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"> What about our rights? The EU felt the risk was too great 5 years ago so it banned Atrazine. This was not some arbitrary decision. Studies were done, results were examined, and finally a decision was made. This was a well thought out decision in favor of possibly saving lives. </span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Arial; min-height: 16.0px"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Arial"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px">Syngenta’s corporate goal is to increase crop productivity, a good thing. While possibly causing human and environmental harm while doing this, a bad thing. Simple solution: Stop doing the bad thing. Last year Syngenta’s sales were 11.6 Billion. So they make a little less and possibly save some lives; sounds like a more reasonable course of action then what they are doing now. </span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Arial; min-height: 16.0px"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Arial"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px">The irony in all of this is quite scary. Syngenta works to increase crop productivity to better feed an ever increasing world population. Also possibly decreasing world population by introducing a herbicide that could disrupt our reproductive systems. </span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Arial; min-height: 16.0px"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Arial"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px">In the meantime I’ll stick to organically produced products.</span></p><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px;"><a href="http://www.greenhomexpress.com">greenhomexpress.com</a></span></div>greenguyshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08666308842571588441noreply@blogger.com1