America and Nuclear: Obama’s Forgotten Track Record

Russ Baker As the New York Times reported the other day,

Mr. Obama is seeking tens of billions of dollars in government insurance for new nuclear construction, and the nuclear industry in the United States, all but paralyzed for decades after the Three Mile Island accident in 1979, was poised for a comeback.

Now, that is all in question as the world watches the unfolding crisis in Japan's nuclear reactors and the widespread terror it has spawned…..

Thinking about Obama and his recent efforts to promote nuclear energy as a viable substitute for fossil fuels, I recalled something I had read back in 2008. Even though it was on the front page of the New York Times back in those early days of the presidential campaign, it never caught on. Most people I ask don't remember this at all. Back then, it troubled me. And still does.

Here it is, from Feb. 3, 2008. Someone put such a bland headline on it that a lot of folks probably never found out what lay beneath the surface. [bold type is mine, for emphasis]

Nuclear Leaks and Response Tested Obama in Senate

By MIKE McINTIRE

When residents in Illinois voiced outrage two years ago upon learning that the Exelon Corporation had not disclosed radioactive leaks at one of its nuclear plants, the state's freshman senator, Barack Obama, took up their cause.

Mr. Obama scolded Exelon and federal regulators for inaction and introduced a bill to require all plant owners to notify state and local authorities immediately of even small leaks. He has boasted of it on the campaign trail, telling a crowd in Iowa in December that it was "the only nuclear legislation that I've passed."

"I just did that last year," he said, to murmurs of approval.

A close look at the path his legislation took tells a very different story. While he initially fought to advance his bill, even holding up a presidential nomination to try to force a hearing on it, Mr. Obama eventually rewrote it to reflect changes sought by Senate Republicans, Exelon and nuclear regulators.The new bill removed language mandating prompt reporting and simply offered guidance to regulators, whom it charged with addressing the issue of unreported leaks.

Those revisions propelled the bill through a crucial committee. But, contrary to Mr. Obama's comments in Iowa, it ultimately died amid parliamentary wrangling in the full Senate.

"Senator Obama's staff was sending us copies of the bill to review, and we could see it weakening with each successive draft," said Joe Cosgrove, a park district director in Will County, Ill., where low-level radioactive runoff had turned up in groundwater. "The teeth were just taken out of it."

The history of the bill shows Mr. Obama navigating a home-state controversy that pitted two important constituencies against each other and tested his skills as a legislative infighter. On one side were neighbors of several nuclear plants upset that low-level radioactive leaks had gone unreported for years; on the other was Exelon, the country's largest nuclear plant operator and one of Mr. Obama's largest sources of campaign money…..

Since 2003, executives and employees of Exelon, which is based in Illinois, have contributed at least $227,000 to Mr. Obama's campaigns for the United States Senate and for president. Two top Exelon officials, Frank M. Clark, executive vice president, and John W. Rogers Jr., a director, are among his largest fund-raisers.

Another Obama donor, John W. Rowe, chairman of Exelon, is also chairman of the Nuclear Energy Institute, the nuclear power industry's lobbying group, based in Washington. Exelon's support for Mr. Obama far exceeds its support for any other presidential candidate.

In addition, Mr. Obama's chief political strategist, David Axelrod, has worked as a consultant to Exelon….

Now, you may be pro-nuclear, or anti-nuclear, pro-Obama, anti-Obama or somewhere in the middle. But with the developments in Japan, the only thing safe is…. to start paying close attention to developments here at home.

Read full at whowhatwhy.com

Steepest Rise in Food Prices in 36 Years

Meanwhile in the world...
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Wholesale prices jumped last month by the most in nearly two years due to higher energy costs and the steepest rise in food prices in 36 years.

The Labor Department said Wednesday that the Producer Price Index rose a seasonally adjusted 1.6 percent in February -- double the previous month.

Food prices soared 3.9 percent last month, the biggest gain since November 1974. Most of that increase was due to a sharp rise in vegetable costs, which increased nearly 50 percent. That was the most in almost a year. Meat and dairy products also rose.

Energy prices rose 3.3 percent last month, led by a 3.7 percent increase in gasoline costs.- AP

Nuclear math Wikipedia

These numbers, from Wikipedia, may help:

• There are 442 nuclear plant units around the world.
• There are 139 in the U.S.
• There have been 99 nuclear plant accidents
• 56 of these have occurred in the U.S.
• There have been 57 since Chernobyl (1986) 

So, roughly speaking, based on these numbers, there is about a 20% chance of an accident (not necessarily a serious one) at a nuclear plant.

• There is a 40% in five chance of an accident (not necessairly serious) at an American nuclear plant.
• These numbers are extremely rough. For example, they don't take into account when the plants were built or distinguish between severity of accidents.
• But it does suggest that nuclear power lacks the level of safety many politicians and advocates have claimed on its behalf.

Further, current discussions seem to overlook this information about nuclear waste, as noted by Wikipedia:
...Nevada ranks fourth in the nation for current seismic activity. Analysis of the available data in 1996 indicates that, since 1976, there have been 621 seismic events of magnitude greater than 2.5 within a 50-mile radius of Yucca Mountain...

    In June 2008, a major nuclear equipment supplier, Holtec International, criticized the Department of Energy's safety plan for handling containers of radioactive waste before they are buried at the proposed Yucca Mountain dump. The concern is that, in an earthquake, the unanchored casks of nuclear waste material awaiting burial at Yucca Mountain could be sent into a "chaotic melee of bouncing and rolling juggernauts"... TPR

Viable solar without the 'need for government subsidization'

"A University of Arizona engineering team led by Roger Angel has designed a new type of solar concentrator that uses half the area of solar (PV) cells used by other optical devices and delivers a light output/concentration that is over 1000 times more concentrated before it even hits the cells. This comes as a result of a broader goal to make solar energy cost competitive with fossil fuels (target = 1$/W) without the 'need for government subsidization.'" Read full here

Health warning on Daylight Savings

"According to experts on circadian rhythms, the hour shift in sleep schedule from Daylight Saving Time can have serious effects on some people's health, particularly in people with certain pre-existing health problems. One study found that men were more likely to commit suicide during the first few weeks of Daylight Saving Time (DST) than at any other time during the year, and another study showed that the number of serious heart attacks jumps 6% to 10% on the first three workdays after DST begins. Dr. Xiaoyong Yang, an assistant professor of comparative medicine and cellular and molecular physiology at Yale University, theorizes that shifts in biologic rhythms could trigger harmful inflammatory or metabolic changes at the cellular level, to which these individuals may be more susceptible." Read more at TIME

"If There Were a Reactor Meltdown or Major Leak at Fukushima, the Radioactive Cloud Would Likely be Blown Out ... Towards the US West Coast"

California is closely monitoring efforts to contain leaks from a quake-damaged Japanese nuclear plant, a spokesman said Saturday, as experts said radiation could be blown out across the Pacific.

"At present there is no danger to California. However we are monitoring the situation closely in conjunction with our federal partners," Michael Sicilia, spokesman for California Department of Public Health, told AFP.

"California does have radioactivity monitoring systems in place for air, water and the food supply and can enhance that monitoring if a danger exists," he added. Read full from Agence-France Presse

Note: It has now been confirmed by the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) that a meltdown triggered the Fukushima reactor explosion in Japan…

FDA Takesover Tylenol Manufacturing

CNN Money - The government takeover of Johnson & Johnson's Tylenol-making factories is a serious step that could further hurt sales of the company's well-known over-the-counter medicines.

On Thursday, the Food and Drug Administration and the Justice Department announced an agreement with J&J (JNJ, Fortune 500)'s McNeil PPC division that put its plants -- one in Las Piedras, Puerto Rico, one in Fort Washington, Pa., and one in Lancaster, Pa. -- under FDA supervision.

The agreement, known as a consent decree, is a very serious development for J&J. With the FDA's supervision, McNeil may be able to fix its problems on a specific timetable. "The consent decree removes much of the uncertainty regarding next steps for McNeil's recovery plan, without paying any upfront fine," Biegelsen said.

"In our view, it also significantly reduces, but does not eliminate entirely, the risk of a worst-case scenario of plant shut down in Puerto Rico."
Read more at CNN

TSA failed to take action when machines had missing or disabled safety features

Some Airport X-Ray Body Scanners Radiation Levels Are 10 Times Higher Than Expected 
"It is totally unacceptable to be bumbling such critical tasks," Chaffetz said. "These people are supposed to be protecting us against terrorists."

TSA's characterization of the maintenance mistakes "sounds like an excuse rather than the real facts."

"I'm tired of excuses," Chaffetz said. "The public has a right and deserves to know. It begs the question, 'What are they still not sharing with us?' These are things you cannot make mistakes with."

In the past, the TSA has failed to properly monitor and ensure the safety of X-ray devices used on luggage. A 2008 report by the worker safety arm of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that the TSA and its maintenance contractors had failed to detect when baggage X-ray machines emitted radiation beyond what regulations allowed. They also failed to take action when some machines had missing or disabled safety features, the report shows.

The TSA "has repeatedly assured me that the machines that emit radiation do not pose a health risk," Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said in a written statement Friday. "Nonetheless, if TSA contractors reporting on the radiation levels have done such a poor job, how can airline passengers and crew have confidence in the data used by the TSA to reassure the public?"

She said the records released Friday "included gross errors about radiation emissions. That is completely unacceptable when it comes to monitoring radiation."

Read on at USA Today

Afghanistan...our tolerance has run out.

An emotional Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Saturday told international troops to "stop their operations in our land", his strongest remarks yet over mistaken killings of civilians. Karzai's comments came after a week in which a relative of his was killed in a raid by foreign forces and he rejected an apology by the US commander of troops General David Petraeus for the deaths of nine children in a NATO strike.

"I would like to ask NATO and the US with honour and humbleness and not with arrogance to stop their operations in our land," Karzai said in Pashto as he visited the dead children's relatives in Kunar province, eastern Afghanistan. "We are very tolerant people but now our tolerance has run out."
Yahoo News

Pray for Japan - Gary Varvel

Eco-Farming Could Double crop yields in three to 10 years

Reuters UN Report cites insect-trapping plants in Kenya and Bangladesh's use of ducks in paddy fields, and resulting rise in crop yields
A move by farmers in developing countries to ecological agriculture, away from chemical fertilisers and pesticides, could double food production within a decade, a UN report says.

Insect-trapping plants in Kenya and ducks eating weeds in Bangladesh's rice paddies are among examples of recommendations for feeding the world's 7 million people, which the UN says will become about 9 billion by 2050.

rganic farming technique - simple insect trap

So amazingly simple, but effective, a light and water trap for insects in the field. Obviously only...

"Agriculture is at a crossroads," says the study by Olivier de Schutter, the UN special reporter on the right to food, in a drive to depress record food prices and avoid the costly oil-dependent model of industrial farming.

So far, eco-farming projects in 57 nations demonstrated average crop yield gains of 80 per cent by tapping natural methods for enhancing soil and protecting against pests, it says.

Recent projects in 20 African countries resulted in a doubling of crop yields within three to 10 years. Those lessons could be widely mimicked elsewhere, it adds.

"Sound ecological farming can signficantly boost production and in the long term be more effective than conventional farming," De Schutter said of steps such as more use of natural compost or high-canopy trees to shade coffee groves.

It is also believed "agroecology" could make farms more resilient to extreme weather conditions associated with climate change, including floods, droughts and a rise in sea levels that the report said was already making fresh water near some coasts too salty for use in irrigation.

Benefits would be greatest in "regions where too few efforts have been put in to agriculture, particularly sub-Saharan Africa," he said. "There are also a number of very promising experiences in parts of Latin America and parts of Asia.

"The cost of food production has been very closely following the cost of oil," he said.
Upheavals in Egypt and Tunisia have been partly linked to discontent at soaring food prices. Oil prices were around $115 a barrel on Tuesday.

"If food prices are not kept under control and populations are unable to feed themselves ... we will increasingly have states being disrupted and failed states developing," De Schutter said.

Please read full from Reuters

 

HighSpeed Rail... the Rich folks' railroads

The HS2 rail project is expensive, environmentally damaging, and badly thought through
 
Caroline Lucas, Guardian, UK - The government has finally launched its long awaited consultation on the high speed rail link between London and Birmingham known as HS2. This is a brand new railway line that is designed to run at 250mph …

The whole project is characterized by rhetoric about economic growth, reducing the north-south divide and making the nation more prosperous. This does not at all reflect the reality. In fact, it is an expensive, environmentally damaging, and badly thought through transport project.

The project relies on the notion that the time savings for high income passengers would translate into huge economic gains and, in some mysterious way, propagate prosperity and happiness along the viaducts, through the tunnels and along the swathe of concrete, overhead wires, access roads and electrical gear that would race though Buckinghamshire and Warwickshire…
 
HS2 sits alongside an assumption that long distance car travel will increase by 44% by 2033 and air travel by 178% by the same year. The new line will produce an 8% shift away from air and the same away from roads….

We want excellent rural public transport so that there is a real choice between the car and its alternatives. We want a transport system driven by social justice and fairness, providing high quality choices to all income groups and all localities. HS2 is a rich person's railway with an assumption that 30% of its passengers will earn more than £70,000 a year and, as such, seems to me to be a socially regressive project.

Link Source UNDERNEWS by TPR

Cancer survival rate improves

New York Times - About one in every 20 adults in the United States has survived cancer, including nearly one-fifth of all people over 65, according to new federal data.

The numbers, released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Cancer Institute, indicated that the number of cancer survivors increased by about 20 percent in just six years, to 11.7 million in 2007, the latest year for which figures were analyzed, from 9.8 million in 2001. In 1971, the number of cancer survivors was three million.

"There's still a concept that cancer is a death sentence," said Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control. But, he said, "for many people with cancer there's a need for them and their families and caregivers to recognize that this is a stage. They can live a long and healthy life."

About 65 percent of cancer survivors have lived at least five years since receiving their diagnosis, 40 percent have lived 10 years or more, and nearly 10 percent have lived 25 years or longer.

The implications, Dr. Frieden said, are that many cancers are treatable and that it is just as important for people who have had cancer not to assume that they will necessarily die early.

Read more at New York Times

Handouts Make Up One-Third of U.S. Wages

Government payouts—including Social Security, Medicare and unemployment insurance—make up more than a third of total wages and salaries of the U.S. population, a record figure that will only increase if action isn't taken before the majority of Baby Boomers enter retirement.

Even as the economy has recovered, social welfare benefits make up 35 percent of wages and salaries this year, up from 21 percent in 2000 and 10 percent in 1960, according to TrimTabs Investment Research using Bureau of Economic Analysis data.

"The U.S. economy has become alarmingly dependent on government stimulus," The economist gives the country two stark choices. In order to get welfare back to its pre-recession ratio of 26 percent of pay, "either wages and salaries would have to increase $2.3 trillion, or 35 percent, to $8.8 trillion, or social welfare benefits would have to decline $500 billion, or 23 percent, to $1.7 trillion," she said. Read more at CNBC

Gasoline Cost to Jump $700 for Average Household

U.S. drivers will pay another 10 cents a gallon for gasoline before the latest jump in wholesale costs is fully passed on at the pump, and yearly motor fuel costs will rise 28 percent from last year, the Energy Department said on Wednesday.

The average U.S. household will spend about $700 more for gasoline in 2011 than it spent last year, bringing total motor fuel expenses up 28 percent to $3,235, based on an annual pump price of $3.61 a gallon, the department's Energy Information Administration said. Read full at Reuters

Politcs in one graph

smbc-comics.com

Geothermal Capacity Could More than Double by 2020: Pike Research

EERE News - Increasing global investment in geothermal power could result in a 134% increase in total geothermal capacity between 2010 and 2020, according to a report released on March 7 by Pike Research. Under a high-growth scenario, the amount could grow from 10.7 gigawatts (GW) to 25.1 GW in a decade, according to Pike Research estimates. Under a more conservative business-as-usual forecast scenario from the clean tech firm, geothermal power capacity would increase 34% to 14.3 GW by 2020. Among the reasons cited are improved access to resource data, more efficient drilling, and better financing.

The report noted that current installed capacity of 10.7 GW is spread across 26 countries with a combined output of approximately 67 terawatt hours of electricity. Currently, the United States is the global geothermal leader with 3.1 GW of installed capacity, and seven countries represent 88% of the world market. While conventional geothermal resources account for nearly all online capacity today, Pike Resource said that enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) and co-produced wells both offer opportunities for expansion outside of rift zones or volcanically active regions throughout the world. Pike Research's high-growth forecast scenario assumes a number of factors including a continued increase and persistent volatility in the price of oil, tightening carbon regulations, and improved access to capital. See the Pike Research press release and the report's executive summary

Global Clean Energy Up 30% in 2010 from 2009: Bloomberg Report

Clean energy investment worldwide during 2010 totaled $243 billion, a rise of 30% from 2009 and surpassed all previous levels since records began in 2004, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance. The financial research group released the tally on March 2 when it announced the winners of its 2010 league tables of leading investors and financial service providers in clean energy and the carbon markets. The numbers showed promise for future growth, a Bloomberg New Energy Finance executive said.

The 2010 Clean Energy League Tables are based on results from Bloomberg New Energy Finance's database of financial transactions in clean energy and carbon markets. The tables provide a quantitative benchmark for clean energy investors, project financiers, investment banks, funds, carbon off‐takers, and law firms. See the Bloomberg New Energy Finance press release and the League Table Results Book

DOE, to Boost Clean Energy and Energy Security

EERE News - Building on their previous cooperation, DOE and the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) announced on March 2 new steps between the two departments to strengthen national security through the continued development of advanced clean energy technologies. Furthering last summer's memorandum of understanding (MOU), the new steps leverage better the expertise and resources of both departments in everything from advanced vehicles to energy storage.

The Office of DOD's Chief Technology Officer—known as the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering or ASDR&E—aims to exploit early technology breakthroughs funded through DOE's Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy (ARPA-E). Using ARPA-E's technical expertise in grid-scale energy storage, batteries for electric vehicles, and power electronic, ASDR&E plans to develop an energy storage device that will provide future defense systems with long-duration storage suitable for a variety of applications, including military bases and vehicles and eventually commercial grids. Cost effective energy storage is also of interest to DOD's

Installations and Environment office, which will work with ARPA-E to assess technology requirements for storage across military installations. On-site renewable electricity generation combined with grid-scale storage would allow defense installations to maintain critical functions in the event of grid disruption and to enhance installations' efforts to develop micro-grids for energy security. The joint efforts will be initiated during the 2012 fiscal year. See the DOE press release.

Fix a Leak Week a good time to save money, water

WDNR--  Every Drop Counts 

Did you know that an American home can waste, on average, more than 10,000 gallons of water every year due to running toilets, dripping faucets, and other household leaks?

Nationwide, more than 1 trillion gallons of water leak from U.S. homes each year. That's why WaterSense reminds Americans to check their plumbing fixtures and irrigation systems each year during Fix a Leak Week.

More than 1 trillion gallons of water are wasted in U.S. homes each year from easy-to-fix leaks. That's why the DNR, Public Service Commission [exit DNR] and Division of Safety and Buildings [exit DNR] are participating in Fix a Leak Week [exit DNR], March 14 -20, 2011. Join us!

• Find and fix leaks in your home!
• The average household's leaks can account for more than 10,000 gallons of water wasted every year - enough to wash nearly 10 months' worth of laundry!

What can I do?

Check for leaks:

• Check for dripping faucets, showerheads, and fixture connections.
• Check toilets for silent leaks. Put a few drops of food coloring into the tank, wait 15 minutes, and see if color appears in the bowl before you flush.
• Check irrigation systems and outdoor spigots too.
• Use your water meter to check your whole house. Read your water meter before and after a two-hour period when no water is being used. If the meter changes at all, you probably have a leak.

Twist and tighten pipe connections:

• Some leaks can be fixed by tightening connections.
• To save more water without a noticeable difference in flow, twist on a WaterSense  labeled faucet aerator.

U.S. Farmers Fear the Return of the Dust Bowl

For years the Ogallala Aquifer, the world's largest underground body of fresh water, has irrigated thousands of square miles of American farmland. Now it is running dry... But it was only in the 1940s, after the Dust Bowl (the result of a severe drought and excessive farming in the early 1930s), that the US Geological Survey worked out that the watering holes were clues to the Ogallala, now believed to be the world's largest body of fresh water. They were about to repeat the dreams of man from the days of Ancient Egypt and Judea to turn the desert green, only without the Nile or Jordan. With new technology the wells could reach the deepest water, and from the early 1950s the boom was on. Some of the descendants of Dust Bowl survivors became millionaire landowners.

'Since then,' says David Brauer of the US Agriculture Department agency, the Ogallala Research Service, 'we have drained enough water to half-fill Lake Erie of the Great Lakes.' Billions upon billions of gallons – or, as they prefer to measure it, acre-feet of water, each one equivalent to a football field flooded a foot deep – have been pumped. 'The problem,' he goes on, 'is that in a brief half-century we have drawn the Ogallala level down from an average of 240ft to about 80.'

 Read full at Telegraph

An answer to Wisconsin budget that doesn't need to involve sacrificing workers' rights.

How Wisconsin Could Turn Austerity into Prosperity: Own a Bank  
After three weeks of demonstrations in Wisconsin, protesters report no plans to back down. Fourteen Wisconsin Democratic lawmakers—who left the state so that a quorum to vote on the bill could not be reached—said Friday that they are not deterred by threats of possible arrest and of 1,500 layoffs if they don't return to work. President Obama has charged Wisconsin's Governor Scott Walker with attempting to bust the unions.
 

But Walker's defense is: "We're broke. Like nearly every state across the country, we don't have any more money." Broke Unless You Count the $67 Billion Pension Fund . . . A recent study by the Pew Center for the States showed that Wisconsin's pension fund is almost fully funded, meaning it can meet its commitments for years to come without drawing on outside sources. It requires a contribution of only $645 million annually to meet pension payouts. Zach Carter, writing in the Huffington Post, notes that the pension program could save another $195 million annually just by cutting out its Wall Street investment managers and managing the funds in-house.
 

Fortunately, there is another alternative. Wisconsin could draw down the fund by the small amount needed to meet pension obligations, and put the bulk of the remaining money to work creating jobs, helping local businesses, and increasing tax revenues for the state. It could do this by forming its own bank, following the lead of North Dakota, the only state to have its own bank—and the only state to escape the credit crisis.

This could be done without spending the pension fund money or lending it.
The funds would just be shifted from one form of investment to another (equity in a bank). When a bank makes a loan, neither the bank's own capital nor its customers' demand deposits are actually lent to borrowers. As observed on the Dallas Federal Reserve's website, "Banks actually create money when they lend it." They simply extend accounting-entry bank credit, which is extinguished when the loan is repaid. Creating this sort of credit-money is a privilege available only to banks—but states can tap into that privilege by owning a bank.

Why Give Wisconsin's Enormous Credit-generating Power Away?
Read full from Yes Magazine

For a healthy few, it's getting better all the time.

See them all at MJ

Gov. Walker: Obama Should Fix His Own Budget Crisis

Newsmax An TV exclusive interview, determined Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker on Friday began the legal notification process that could lead to 1,500 state employees losing their jobs in April.

He also said that President Barack Obama should stay out of his state's fiscal crisis and instead ought to focus on "the much, much graver budget crisis we have in our nation's capital, which he's failed to lead on."

The GOP governor said the jobs will be saved, however, if at least one of 14 AWOL Democratic state senators return to the state next week, which would allow the Wisconsin Senate the quorum it needs to pass Walker's "budget repair bill."

Don't worry folks I am sure Michael Moore will fix this whole thing by joining Saturday's protests at the Capitol in Madison, Wisconsin

Filmmaker Michael Moore will march with members of Madison Firefighters Local 311 to the Capitol Saturday and join a rally at the King Street entrance around 2 p.m. Moore will speak up for union rights and cheer on the protests at a rally organized by the Wisconsin Wave movement, which has been backed by Wisconsin labor, farm, community and grass roots groups.

Now that Mr. Moore has now has fixed healthcare and our economy by stating the obvious and blaming it all on society... Wisconsins problems should be a "no brainer" (done and done ; -)

The short history of e15 ethanol Gasoline: 10 Years - FAIL

The E15 debate... Tens years ago (some links may not work so "google it ;-)

Regardless of the "Pseudoscience" and misinformed media & marketers write articles about… There are people who have been monitoring this for decades and write real reports regarding viable options for sustainable fuel sources we can use NOW.

But we again ignore critical problems that are causing human health and environment just to make a short buck.

E15 - gasohol (reformulated gas) is now proven by the same agencies who promoted it to be a "serious" environmental and health risk.... hear it from them below:

In Wisconsin The DNR issued a report in that said E-10 will lead to poor air quality in Wisconsin. The report predicted manufacturers and electric utilities would be saddled with more environmental regulations to offset ethanol pollution and E-10 could result in ozone health advisories that cover more counties. "A government report published back in September 2005 stated that even 10% ethanol fuel will lead to poor air quality... The report predicted manufacturers and electric utilities would be saddled with more environmental regulations to offset ethanol pollution and E-10 could result in ozone health advisories that cover more counties." E-85 would simply open a pandora's box of further environmental complications. Click here to read full DNR report here

Then why does Wisconsin require it????

The Wisconsin Department of Administration (DOA) shall require all state employees to utilize gasohol (any motor fuel containing at least 10% alcohol) or alternative fuel for the operation of all state-owned or state-leased motor vehicles whenever such utilization is feasible. The DOA encourages state employees to use gasohol or alternative fuels in such vehicles. The DOA also encourages the use of gasohol and alternative fuels by officers and employees who use personal motor vehicles on state business and by residents of Wisconsin in general. (Reference Wisconsin Statutes, Chapter 16, Section 16.045)

Read more problems with Ethanol as a fuel here Filed under Ethanol Hoax

• Reformulated Gasoline: Five Years Later
• Ethanol vs Biodiesel vs Gasoline 
• Ethanol gets up to $6.8B in subsidies
• Ethanol Fool; fleeced or famine
• Ethanol - Americas Big Fat Loser
• Ethanol E85 not UL approved
• Ethanol gimmick
• Ethanol to rob 100's million's of worlds fresh water
• Why gas prices are soooo high.... really.
• `Green' Companies Might Cost You Your Green
• neither-party-cares-about-middle-class
• EPA Called Upon To Suspend Costly Gasoline Regulation Causing Harmful Urban Pollution

HISTORY gasohol (http://www.encyclopedia.com)

gasoline extender made from a mixture of gasoline (90%) and ethanol (10%; often obtained by fermenting agricultural crops or crop wastes) or gasoline (97%) and methanol , or wood alcohol (3%). Gasohol has higher octane, or antiknock, properties than gasoline and burns more slowly, coolly, and completely, resulting in reduced emissions of some pollutants, but it also vaporizes more readily, potentially aggravating ozone pollution in warm weather. Ethanol-based gasohol is expensive and energy intensive to produce, and can damage rubber seals and diaphragms and certain finishes if the ethanol is present in higher concentrations. Since 1998, however, many American automobiles have been equipped to enable them to run on E85, a mixture of 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline. Methanol-based gasohol is also expensive to produce and is toxic and corrosive, and its emissions produce cancer-causing formaldehyde. 

Sobering, honest, words. are we living in closed loop?

Question - Who said it? 

U.S. President's speech delivered to the entire nation:
"Energy will be the immediate test of our ability to unite this nation…From now on, every new addition to our demand for energy will be met from our own production and our own conservation."

 

"To give us energy security, I am asking for the most massive peacetime commitment of funds and resources in our nation's history to develop America's own alternative sources of fuel—from coal, from oil shale, from plant products for gasohol, from unconventional gas, from the Sun."

 

"We will protect our environment. But when this nation critically needs a refinery or a pipeline, we will build it."

 

"You know, we can do it. We have the natural resources. We have more oil in our shale alone than several Saudi Arabia's. We have more coal than any nation on earth."

 

Answer - Carter: The Crisis of Confidence Speech to the Nation - July 15, 1979

• Sobering, Carter argued that Americans were living a lifestyle of worshipping "self-indulgence and consumption." 
• Honest, He was then replaced by Ronald Reagan who, in his 1981 inaugural address, told Americans that "Government is not the solution, it's the problem."
• Just words...,  the U.S. is facing the same energy crisis of the 70's and hearing that, if we just build enough solar and wind farms we can solve the crisis.

 

"If history teaches anything," said Reagan, "it teaches self-delusion in the face of unpleasant facts is folly."

 

History learn from it or become it - Haase

"The Green Thing", It skips a generation

Dan Sorkin ...at the store, the cashier told the older woman that plastic bags weren't good for the environment. The woman apologized to her and explained, "We didn't have the green thing back in my day."

But that old lady is right, they didn't have the green thing back in her day.
Back then, they returned their milk bottles, Coke bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, using the same bottles over and over. So they really were recycled.

• In her day, they walked up stairs, because they didn't have an escalator in every store and office building.
• They walked to the grocery store and didn't climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time they had to go two blocks.
• Back then, they washed the baby's diapers because they didn't have the throw-away kind.
• They dried clothes on a line, not in an energy gobbling machine burning up 220 volts – wind and solar power really did dry the clothes.
• Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing.
• Back then, they had one TV, or radio, in the house – not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a pizza dish,not a screen the size of the state of Montana. 
• In the kitchen, they blended and stirred by hand because they didn't have electric machines to do everything for you.
• When they packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, they used wadded up newspaper to cushion it, not styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap.
• Back then, they didn't fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn. They used a push mower that ran on human power.
• They exercised by working so they didn't need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity.
• They drank from a fountain when they were thirsty, instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time they had a drink of water. 
• They refilled pens with ink, instead of buying a new pen.
• They replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull.
• Back then, people took the streetcar and kids rode their bikes to school or rode the school bus, instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour taxi service. 
• They had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances.
  
• They didn't need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 2,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest pizza joint.
  

But she's right, they didn't have the green thing back then.

Queen of The Sun: What Are the Bees Telling Us?

organism “directed” to secrete ethanol and diesel wherever it finds CO2 and water

GAS3.0 - Joule Unlimited, has developed a genetically-modified organism (GMO) that can be "directed" to secrete usable forms of ethanol and diesel wherever it finds CO2 and water, using energy from the sun as a catalyst.  What's more, Joule's representatives are saying these renewable fuels can be created virtually "on demand" in both large and small scale quantities, and at extraction costs competitive with the cheapest fossil fuels. 

"We make some lofty claims, all of which we believe, all pf which we've validated, all of which we've shown to investors," said Joule chief executive Bill Sims.  "If we're half right, this revolutionizes the world's largest industry (oil)."

Using a process that seems very similar to photosynthesis to produce fuels usable in today's mass-produced vehicles is pretty exciting stuff – indeed, it's the very basis we've built "Gas 2.0″ around – but, of course, there are detractors.  Timothy Donohue, for example, is director of the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.  He says that Joule must demonstrate its technology on a broad scale, saying that "perhaps it can work, but the four letter word that's the biggest stumbling block is whether it will work," Donohue said. "There are really good ideas that fail during scale up."

Sims is well aware of the nay-sayer's views, dismissively stating that "there's always skeptics for breakthrough technologies."

In spite of detractors, Joule is thriving – having nearly doubled the number of its employees (to 70), scored 30 million dollars in "second round" private funding, and adding John Podesta (former White House Chief of Staff under Bill Clinton) to its board of directors.  To underscore its successes, Joule recently released a peer-reviewed paper that backs its claims.

More public proof of success or failure for Joule will come soon, as the company plans to break ground on a 10 acre "demonstration facility" later this year.  If it's successful, Sims believes the company can be selling its fuel commercially by 2013 …

Source:  Joule Unlimited, via the Associated Press, via Yahoo!

Scientists call for closer look at health impacts of chemicals

Washington Post - Groups representing 40,000 researchers and clinicians are urging federal agencies responsible for the safety of chemicals to examine the subtle impact a chemical might have on the human body rather than simply ask whether it is toxic.

"Although chemical testing and risk assessment have long been the domain of toxicologists, it is clear that the development of improved testing guidelines and better methods of assessing risks posed by common chemicals to which all Americans are exposed requires the expertise of a broad range of scientific and clinical disciplines," said the letter, which was signed by eight scientific societies.

Broader analysis is particularly needed for chemicals that disrupt the endocrine system, said Patricia Hunt, a molecular biologist at Washington State University who helped write the letter.

"We're talking about picking the best geneticists, endocrinologists, reproductive biologists to consider new ways of testing these chemicals for safety," Hunt said. "The old toxicology paradigm doesn't work anymore."

A well-known example would be bisphenol A, a chemical widely used in plastic goods for decades, Hunt said.

The chemical can leach from products into food and drink, and federal health officials say it is found in the urine of more than 90 percent of Americans.

The government has long said that BPA is safe, based on studies that show levels of BPA used in commercial products are not toxic - meaning they would not kill - humans.

Matt Damon on Obama no longer 'hope for audacity'.

I agree with Mr. Damon on many fronts... just wish we could have talked before he endorsed Obama (Rally with Matt Damon in Miami Beach)

Matt I think you fall into the Obama group that was looking forward to great change in the world that you were hopeful of... that now feel they "Agree With 80% Of What Obama Says & Disagree With 80% Of What He Does"

Matt I no longer 'hope for audacity' either. Your friend sounds like a good one to have.

Florida: Rejection of High-speed Money Stands

NY Times - Florida Governor rejects $2.4 billion in federal money to build a high-speed rail link between Tampa and Orlando ... wants no part of the project, calling it a "boondoggle."

As the proposed high-speed train line has so many stops that it would only cut the trip to around 54 minutes.

WashingtonTimes - Florida's Supreme Court on Friday dealt a serious blow to President Obama's $53 billion high-speed rail pet project. The seven jurists sided unanimously with Republican Gov. Rick Scott's right to forgo $2.4 billion in federal taxpayer-backed grants the Obama administration wanted to blow on an 84-mile train track linking Tampa and Orlando. More and more, Republican governors are rejecting this type of federal bribe in the name of fiscal responsibility.

That's the right move considering the "high-speed" promises don't hold up to scrutiny. Although the Florida trains were to have been capable of hitting 168 mph, project documents show the average nonstop speed would actually be 100 mph. That figure doesn't reflect the actual average, which would be much lower after taking into account the need to grind to a halt at each of the five stations along the proposed route. Driving would've been cheaper and faster for most travelers.

That's why projections of 2.4 million riders and $40-46 million in annual revenue were mostly fantasy. Yet even taken at face value, a 2002 pro-rail analysis by the Florida Transportation Association estimated operating costs, adjusted to 2010 dollars, would have put the program $10 million in the red each year. Mr. Scott didn't want to saddle Sunshine State taxpayers with these bills. Instead, he thought money would be more wisely spent widening I-95, I-4 and I-275.

Gov. John Kasich won his election in November with a promise to reject $1.2 billion for a high-speed rail project between Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati. Mr. Kasich noted that, according to project estimates, the 258-mile train journey would have taken 6.5 hours - 19th-century speeds for something sold as a 21st-century idea.

"It doesn't work, we don't know what it's going to cost, we don't know how we're going to operate it and we don't know who's going to get on the train,"

"When I'm governor, the 39-mile-an-hour 'high-speed' passenger train is dead." - Kasich

Climate change satellite second failure in a row drove losses to nearly $700 million.

NASA's Glory atmospheric research mission satellite crashed into the southern Pacific Ocean early today after a protective nose cone fairing failed to separate during launch aboard an Orbital Sciences Corp. Taurus XL rocket. The $424 million failure was the second in a row for the Orbital Sciences booster following the 2009 loss of another environmental satellite due to a similar nose cone malfunction.

"I think it's not an understatement to say tonight we're all pretty devastated," said Ronald Grabe

Tough track record for Taurus
This was the second failure in a row for a Taurus XL rocket. NASA's $273 million Orbiting Carbon Observatory was lost during launch Feb. 24, 2009, when it suffered a similar nose cone fairing failure.

For NASA, the second Taurus XL failure in a row drove losses to nearly $700 million.

"We've now got to go off, find out what that is, fix it and that is, in fact, what we will do. In the meantime, we've lost the Glory mission. It would have made important measurements for the understanding of Earth as a system and the impacts of climate change. However, [NASA] will continue to contribute and make significant contributions to the understanding of the Earth with its 13 existing missions and a cadre of aircraft, ground networks and data systems contributing to Earth science research."

The 1,200-pound solar-powered Glory spacecraft, also built by Orbital Sciences, was designed to precisely measure how much solar energy enters and leaves Earth's atmosphere and how small particles called aerosols, both manmade and natural, affect the global environment.

Read full at cNet

Where America stands .... behind

Only a few decades ago, the U.S. stood tall in such rankings. No more. There are some areas in which we are still clearly No. 1, but they're not ones we usually brag about. We have the most guns. We have the most crime among rich countries. And, of course, we have by far the largest amount of debt in the world. 

According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, our 15-year-olds rank 17th in the world in science and 25th in math. We rank 12th among developed countries in college graduation (down from No. 1 for decades). We come in 79th in elementary-school enrollment. Our infrastructure is ranked 23rd in the world, well behind that of every other major advanced economy.

American health numbers are stunning for a rich country: based on studies by the OECD and the World Health Organization, we're 27th in life expectancy, 18th in diabetes and first in obesity.  Read more from TIME

U.S. Citizenship requires a few wrong answers

Last month, I became an American citizen, a tremendous honor and no easy accomplishment, even for a Canadian...After years of steep filing fees and paperwork (including one letter from Homeland Security claiming that my fingerprints had "expired"), it all came down to a test. I passed, and, my fellow Americans, you could, too -- if you don't mind providing answers that you know are wrong. . . . Question 96 asks: Why does the flag have 13 stripes? The official answer: "because there were 13 original colonies." In fact, the flag has 13 stripes for the 13 original states.

Please read this great piece in full  "How I Passed My U.S. Citizenship Test: By Keeping the Right Answers to Myself"

RecycleMania - lifecycle assessmen value of utilizing recycled product.

As part of RecycleMania, and our focused efforts in SARUP, Lindsay James, LEED AP of InterfaceFLOR will be presenting in the AUP Commons on Monday, March 7th, at 7pm. 

Guest Speaker– Lindsay James, is the Manager of Strategic Sustainability at InterfaceFLOR, one of the leading edge businesses in sustainability.  Through lifecycle assessment, Lindsay will share with us the value of utilizing recycled product to make new carpet tiles.

Also in release below see all the events and programs that SARUP is partaking in to improve their recycling.  RecycleMania at SARUP is a cooperation of the Emerging Green Builders and the Office of Sustainability.

Please join us for this special presentation!
Monday March 7th • General Body Meeting, AUP Commons, 7:00 pm
Release here