Nov 7, 2007
Six farmworkers compensated for pesticide exposure, six cases dismissed
Six farmworkers who became sterile after working on a Nicaraguan banana plantation three decades ago were awarded a total $3.3 million from Dole Food Co. and Dow Chemical, after a judge agreed that the corporations "actively suppressed information about" the "reproductive toxicity" of now-banned pesticide DBCP. Six other plaintiffs with a similar claim had their cases dismissed, allowing a Dow lawyer to look on the bright side: "Dow Chemical is pleased that this jury concluded that six out of 12 plaintiffs were entitled to no recovery whatsoever." Dole's not-quite-so-diplomatic vice president declared his company will appeal: "Dole will not be intimidated by ugly accusations, fraudulent claims, junk science or threats from U.S. trial lawyers, and is prepared to fully litigate each and every case of workers over the last 30 years." Lucky for litigation lovers, four more similar suits against the two companies are pending. Source GRISTY news
New GOV Bill of lading Federal Docket Management System (FDMS)
DOT, DHS agencies to begin using FDMS
The DOT and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) United States Coast Guard (USCG) and Transportation Security Administration (TSA) began migrating from use of the Docket Management System (DMS) to the government-wide Federal Docket Management System (FDMS) at www.regulations.gov on October 1. The pending "migration" was announced in a Sept. 24, 2007, Federal Register Notice.
What Is FDMS? FDMS is a full-featured electronic docket management system that gives federal personnel and docket managers the ability to better manage their rulemakings, adjudications, and other docketed program activities. With this system, more than thirty federal departments and agencies can post documents, supporting materials, and public comments/submissions on the Internet and the public will have a one-stop site to search, view, and download documents, as well as to submit comments or other documents to the agency dockets.
Background: FDMS is a major component of the President's e-Rulemaking Initiative, which provides for easy access to the public dockets maintained by federal agencies, while streamlining and increasing efficiency of internal procedures for agencies that do not already have electronic internet-accessible systems. FDMS is designed so that the public has a single point of access to the public dockets across all of the federal government. FDMS offers a standard, online procedure for federal agencies to handle and process documents.
For more information: Renee V. Wright, Program Manager, Docket Operations, Office of Information Services, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington DC 20590; Telephone: (202) 493-0402; fax: (202) 493-2251; e-mail address: renee.wright@dot.gov.
PEAK water
The research group said global demand for water is expected to exceed supply in less than 20 years. SRI Consulting warns of water shortage...
Target is less PVC
Target to Make Less Toxic Toys and Children's Products Target announced yesterday a plan to become the latest retailer to reduce the amount of toxic materials in some of the products it sells: following a campaign by health and environmental groups, the nation's fifth-largest retailer said it would eliminate or reduce polyvinyl chloride (PVC) from a range of its products and packaging. Link via GreenBiz.com
As Predicted - The water wars started in 2007
| With the Southeast growing increasingly parched, Georgia, Florida, and Alabama are embroiled in a bitter row over access to Lake Lanier, the 38,000-acre reservoir that supplies the three states with much of their water. The streams feeding the lake have slowed to a trickle, but demand for water is higher than ever; the imbalance has led the lake's water levels to drop 15 feet, and some say it could dry up altogether in fewer than 90 days. In response, Georgia's Gov. Sonny Perdue has sought to slash the rate at which water is released to preserve supplies for the 55 percent of Georgians who rely on Lake Lanier for their drinking water. Rationing could be a disaster, though, for those further downstream: Georgia's leftovers irrigate crops and preserve fish stocks in Alabama and Florida, where local leaders say Georgia shouldn't be allowed to hog the supply. A million homes in the Atlanta area still have outdated plumbing rather than the low-flow fixtures required of new constructions; worse still, more than half of new suburban developments are still being built with wasteful septic tanks instead of sewers that would allow reprocessing of waste water. Meanwhile, years of under-investment have taken their toll: every day, almost a fifth of Atlanta's water leaks away without being used. Of course, Georgia's bad planning is merely one instance of a much wider problem. Across the country, developers are rushing to build houses, factories, farms and power plants, without considering the limited resources available to them. Even as droughts and wildfires sweep the country, there's little sign that things will change: This month, New Mexico's Gov. Bill Richardson suggested in all seriousness that water from the Great Lakes should be piped south to allow for even more rapid growth. It is sooooo on! |
Estimates of CO2 from fires in the United States: implications for carbon management
Estimates of CO2 from fires in the United States: implications for carbon management
Source: Carbon Management
From National Science Foundation press release:
- Large-scale fires in western and southeastern states can pump as much carbon dioxide into the atmosphere in a few weeks as the states' entire motor vehicle traffic in a year, according to newly published research by scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and the University of Colorado at Boulder.
+ Full Paper (PDF; 295 KB) Source Laura B. lib.wmrc.uiuc.edu (Via Docuticker)
Germany Leads Way on Renewables, Sets 45% Target by 2030
In July, Germany's Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, and Nuclear Safety released a draft progress report on the country's Renewable Energy Sources Act. The Act, adopted in 2000, establishes an advanced "feed-in tariff" in Germany, enabling any company or individual who meets the technical and legal requirements to sell renewable electricity into the power grid for a guaranteed, long-term price for each kilowatt-hour sold. "The Renewable Energy Sources Act is the most important and successful instrument to promote the expansion of renewable energies in the electricity sector," the report notes. Read the full story from Worldwatch.
Toxic Trade: Globalization and the Safety of the American Consumer
As American consumers buy a sharply increased share of their goods from overseas, the American government has been cutting back its ability to regulate and inspect imports. Americans consumers are thus exposed to increasing numbers of products that were neither produced in America nor subject to American safety standards. The results put people at risk.
- Our report, "Toxic Trade: Globalization and the Safety of the American Consumer," documents these two trends. Government statistics show that imports have increased by 338 percent since 1974, the year the Consumer Product Safety Commission was created. Yet the budget for that agency today is less than half what is was in that year. In effect, we have been disarming our ability to protect ourselves, even as the need to do so has been soaring. Our report concludes that it is past time for a change. + Full Report (PDF; 200 KB)
Source: Project for America's Future VIA Laura B. lib.wmrc.uiuc.edu (Via Docuticker.)
EPA: Auto Mercury-recovery Programs Operational in All 50 States
Mercury air emissions will continue to decline thanks to a voluntary national program to remove mercury-containing switches from vehicles headed for scrap. In its first year, more than 635,000 switches already have been removed from end-of-life vehicles. Collectively, those switches represent 1,400 pounds of mercury — more than the average coal-fired power plant emits in a year.
These and other results are described in the National Vehicle Mercury Switch Recovery Program Annual Report: 2006-2007, EPA announced on Sept. 27. According to officials, the results build upon other recent actions designed to protect public health and the environment from the toxic effects of mercury, including EPA's first-ever regulation to control mercury emissions from power plants, which was issued in March 2005.
Read the full story in Environmental Protection.
David Dempsey - case not closed on frog deformities
Another environmental issue that has exceeded the media attention span is resurfacing:
The widespread idea that parasites are the natural cause of frog abnormalities has made the public complacent and has deflected research away from chemical contaminants, the more likely cause. Yet research now demonstrates that parasites don't trigger the majority of deformities, specifically shortened or missing legs. Nor can they cause misshapen jaws, missing or misplaced eyes, or spinal column defects. The suspect parasite, nicknamed "Rib" for Ribeiroia, is now known to cause only multiple or branched limbs in frogs.
Some history: In 1995, middle-school students found deformed frogs in a pond east of Henderson, Minn., and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency began an investigation. By fall 1996, my MPCA colleague and I had received more than 170 reports of deformed frogs in more than 50 counties. Our pictures of grotesquely misshapen frogs went everywhere in the media. TV news showed eager students collecting frogs and expressing their concerns. Everyone became alarmed.
...The MPCA ceased investigating deformed frogs in 2001, and no one that I know of is looking at frogs for deformities, let alone analyzing pollutants in frog habitats. So how are the frogs? Does anyone know? http://www.startribune.com/commentary/story/1533108.html
(source: daviddempsey)
Nov 6, 2007
Guardian's look at 50 ways to save the planet
The top 20 British Environment Agency ways to save the planet.
1 Dramatically improve the energy efficiency of electrical goods
2 Religious leaders to make the environment a priority for their followers
3 Encourage the widespread use of solar power throughout the world
4 Secure a meaningful post-Kyoto treaty on reducing the emissions that contribute to global warming
5 Encourage households to generate much more of their own power
6 Introduce tax incentives to "buy green"
7 Tackle the rapid growth in aviation emissions
8 Wean ourselves off dependency on petroleum
9 Encourage individuals to buy less non-essential "stuff "
10 Dramatically improve public transport
11 Aim for a "zero waste" culture
12 Install "smart energy" meters in all homes
13 Introduce a measure of economic success that includes the environment
14 Fully harness Britain's huge potential for generating renewable energy
15 Seek alternative, less damaging sources for biofuels
16 Bury carbon dioxide from power stations underground
17 Encourage hydrogen fuel cell technology in cars
18 Implement government policies to control global population growth
19 Reach international agreement on preserving rainforests
20 Create better incentives to improve energy efficiency in the home
NBC on how to squeeze more "green" from GREEN
Read the full story in the Chicago Tribune. (File under "GreenWashing" )
"30 Rock" is one of more than a dozen NBC shows that devote at least part of their episodes to green themes through Sunday, in the first full week of November sweeps.
So Michigan still has a chance to lead in renewables
MI-Gov. "If we're going to position ourselves as a leader, we've got to set a standard that requires a certain percentage of our energy to be from renewable sources like wind."
http://www.wnducom/news/headlines/11033546.html
http://www.wnducom/news/headlines/11033546.html
Dempsey - It's not leadership if you're following in the footsteps of 25 other states.
What is leadership is if you do so without relying on garbage and hydropower as part of the 25%, and if you slam the door on new coal plants while investing heavily in energy efficiency.
So Michigan still has a chance to lead..."
Read more By David Dempsey
Here come Five Nuclear Plants - Yikes
Filed under "told ya so"...
REUTERS - Entergy Corp, the second-largest US nuclear power generator, said on Monday it would spin off five nuclear plants into a new company in a bid to capitalize on the greenhouse-gas-friendly technology.The new company, which would be 50 percent owned by Entergy, would have nearly 5,000 megawatts of generating capacity, located largely in the US Northeast, which has some of the highest power prices in the country.
After the spin-off planned for the third quarter of 2008, Entergy would consist of five electric utility subsidiaries across four states and the stake in the new unit.The US nuclear industry is seeing a resurgence in interest, driven largely by expectations that the federal government will create new rules limiting carbon dioxide emissions that are blamed for global warming.
Entergy said the new company would target earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of US$2 billion by 2012 based on an average power price of about US$95 per megawatt hour. That would leave the business US$500 million to US$1 billion annually for acquisitions or share repurchases.
Entergy .... Net income was US$461.2 million, or US$2.30 per share, up from US$388.9 million, or US$1.83 per share, a year earlier.
The earnings-per-share gain of nearly 26 percent lagged the 27 percent the company forecast on Oct. 17.
NOW THAT IS SOME
GREEN :-(
fuel-cell car powered by hydrogen is a dream that only a million-dollar prototype can occupy.
It's been a long time coming, but Ballard Power is finally reading the tea leaves and realizing that the dream of a fuel-cell car powered by hydrogen is a dream that only a million-dollar prototype can occupy. The Vancouver-based fuel cell company, an industry pioneer and leader, confirmed today that it was in talks with part owners Daimler AG and Ford Motor Co. about, well, it didn't say exactly. But we know it's generally about "strategic alternatives," and it's likely about selling off the auto unit so that Ballard can focus on forklifts and power generation. Read more from clean break.
Source: odograph.com (filed under Told ya so ;-)
MARTIN J SCHREIBER ASSOCIATE'S - Thanks for visiting
Nice to see your staff visited my blog on Nov. 5th. keeping Wisconsin on top of important public affairs.
I think we have a few people within our readership who could use your services ;-)
To contact the Martin Schreiber Staff, please visit their Website Linked here: www.martinschreiber.com
Or find out which Martin Schreiber staff member can help you:
(click name below for bio)
Nov 5, 2007
Environmentally Preferable Purchasing team has redesigned EPA's EPP Web site!
Environmentally Preferable Purchasing team has redesigned EPA's EPP Web site!
The redesign provides clear and easy access to policy and guidance for federal purchasers; information on specific products and services; tools and calculators; publications and case studies; and related Web links. In order to ease navigation and provide the most up to date information, different parts of the EPP Web site were added, revised, moved, and archived. If you are having trouble finding an EPP resource on the redesigned site, please check the index on the EPP home page: http://www.epa.gov/epp/
The redesign provides clear and easy access to policy and guidance for federal purchasers; information on specific products and services; tools and calculators; publications and case studies; and related Web links. In order to ease navigation and provide the most up to date information, different parts of the EPP Web site were added, revised, moved, and archived. If you are having trouble finding an EPP resource on the redesigned site, please check the index on the EPP home page: http://www.epa.gov/epp/
Source: www.glrppr.org / www.great-lakes.net
NBC stunt intended to "green up" image for sale of news media arm...
I must say I loved the comments from Mark McElroy on Joel's latest post covering NBC Universal's Green Week".
Comments on "NBC GreenWashing":
Hi Joel:
This will, indeed, be interesting to follow. So many questions to answer. Like how can a company that utterly relies on unsustainble consumerism, via advertising revenues, possibly undertake a sustainable course? Will they forswear all advertising that encourages consumers to consume unsustainably, or producers to produce unsustainably?And what about their social footprint? If NBC cares so deeply about their social impacts, why are they restricting their efforts to only environmental (aka, "green") issues? Has anyone explained the meaning of sustainability to them -- as in that there are multiple non-financial bottom lines, not just environmental ones?And last, exactly what approach will GreenOrder be taking to perform that comprehensive "environmental footprint" (oops, there's that missing social dimension again)? How do we know that what GreenOrder will be doing will have anything to do with actually assessing the sustainability of NBC, and not just evaluating its recycling or energy usage habits? Is there real rigor going on here, or is it just the usual attempts by a company to bask in the halo effect of green superficialism?Indeed, is there any generally accepted definition of "green" out there, or do we all get to define it in anyway we like? So far every definition or usage of the term "green" that I've ever seen arguably has nothing to do with sustainability, and instead actually undermines it as if it does. So which part of that, and the prospect of another big company like NBC adding fuel to it, are we supposed to feel good about? Perhaps NBC could do us all a big favor this week and answer that question.Regards,
EPA's ENVIRO-TIP's OF THE MONTH
Go Green! November 2007
ENVIRO-TIP OF THE MONTH
eCycle - take your old computers or other electronics to a local recycling center. This helps keep lead, cadmium, and other substances out of the landfill. Find eCycling centers near you.
http://www.epa.gov/ecycling/live.htm
ENVIRO-TIP OF THE MONTH
eCycle - take your old computers or other electronics to a local recycling center. This helps keep lead, cadmium, and other substances out of the landfill. Find eCycling centers near you.
http://www.epa.gov/ecycling/live.htm
-----------------------------------------------------
WHAT YOU CAN DO, WHAT YOU CAN USE
WHAT YOU CAN DO, WHAT YOU CAN USE
- Look for bathroom sink faucets bearing the WaterSense label
- Change a light, Change the world with energy-efficient light bulbs
- Shop for a 2008 vehicle based on new fuel economy test methods
- Use Energy Star "Home Advisor" for warm homes and cool savings
- Getting lead out of the home - prevent lead poisoning at home
- Yes, kids, there really is a Magic School Bus
- Schools - EPA calls for partnering on school chemical safety
ExtraGO GREEN! EPA News You Can Us
America Recycles Day - November 15
America Recycles Day is a partnership between government, industry, and environmental organizations to promote and encourage recycling nationwide. See also the National Recycling Coalition's site dedicated to this event: http://nrc-recycle.org/americarecycles.aspx
Contact Information:
Stephen Hawking on Sustainability
Yikes - One of the smartest men does not think we can survive ourselves
...We cannot remain looking inward at ourselves on a small and increasingly polluted and overcrowded planet. We need to look outward to the wider universe. This will take time and effort, but it will become easier as our technology improves. I therefore want to encourage public interest in space. I have never let my condition stop me. You only live once.
...We cannot remain looking inward at ourselves on a small and increasingly polluted and overcrowded planet. We need to look outward to the wider universe. This will take time and effort, but it will become easier as our technology improves. I therefore want to encourage public interest in space. I have never let my condition stop me. You only live once.
Want to know more about Stephen William Hawking
Born on 8 January 1942 (300 years after the death of Galileo) in Oxford, England. Professor Hawking has twelve honorary degrees, was awarded the CBE in 1982, and was made a Companion of Honor in 1989. He is the recipient of many awards, medals and prizes and is a Fellow of The Royal Society and a Member of the US National Academy of Sciences. Stephen Hawking - Life in the Universe
- Stephen Hawking in popular culture
- Stephen Hawking's Universe
- The Theory of Everything
- Stephen W Hawking - QA & Facts
- Stephen Hawking Trivia
- Stephen William Hawking Quick Facts
Wal-Mart Lee Scott, "Sustainability is here to stay."
Sustainability is here to stay. It is not a fad, it is not a marketing ploy. . . . It is in fact a part of what all of us are going to be doing with our businesses from here on out. It is not about higher margins and higher prices. It is about the elimination of waste. It is about making our businesses more effective. It is about transferring those benefits on to the consumer. And it is about taking chemicals and things we know aren't good for the environment and finding alternatives to those chemicals so we make products safer. High-minded words, to be sure. And they will likely rankle Wal-Mart's many detractors, for whom the words "Wal-Mart" and "sustainability," used together, are simply discordant. The doubters are not irrational. For years, Wal-Mart has been an aggressive, sometimes arrogant, leviathan, seemingly out of touch with progressive social and environmental ideas and ideals. In its single-minded pursuit for growth and dominance, it played rough -- with competitors, communities, suppliers, politicians, and anyone who got in its way, notably (or especially) activists. How can this sudden embrace of sustainability be anything other than a cynical ploy?
I'm pretty sure that it's not. In recent months, Wal-Mart has put itself out there in ways that few other companies have done. It is spreading the green gospel to its 1.3 million employees, teaching them how to live greener lives. It is inviting activists into its offices, and commanding suppliers to meet new, green goals, and parading its CEO in front of audiences and the press to talk the sustainability talk.
To the extent the cynics are right, it's that Wal-Mart's mission is to sell more stuff to more people in the pursuit of profitability and growth, an arguably unsustainable proposition. And that's a problem.
But along the way, the behemoth from Bentonville stands to move hundreds, perhaps thousands of suppliers toward a more sustainable path, and help to fuel consumer demand for things organic, nontoxic, and efficient, among other attributes. And, perhaps, engender everyday environmental habits among the citizenry in ways that even the most committed environmental activists have failed to do.
As Scott put it last week:
It's a messy affair, this sustainability thing. And Wal-Mart has made more than its share of the mess. But maybe, just maybe, that same company, in its dogged pursuit of productivity and profits, can create more than its share of the solution, too.
China's coal pollutes the U.S.
It takes five to 10 days for the pollution from China's coal-fired plants to make its way to the United States, like a slow-moving storm. It shows up as mercury in the bass and trout caught in Oregon's Willamette River. It increases cloud cover and raises ozone levels. And along the way, it contributes to acid rain in Japan and South Korea and health problems everywhere from Taiyuan to the United States. This is the dark side of the world's growing use of coal. Read full from mongabay.com
"I visited these power plants and there is no concept of pollution control," he said. "They sort of had a laugh and asked, 'Why would you expect us to install pollution control equipment?"'
China is home to 20 of the world's 30 most polluted cities, according to a World Bank report.
Health costs related to air pollution total $68 billion a year, nearly 4% of the country's economic output, the report said. And acid rain has contaminated a third of the country, Sheng Huaren, a senior Chinese parliamentary official, said last year. It is said to destroy some $4 billion worth of crops every year.
"I visited these power plants and there is no concept of pollution control," he said. "They sort of had a laugh and asked, 'Why would you expect us to install pollution control equipment?"'
China is home to 20 of the world's 30 most polluted cities, according to a World Bank report.
Health costs related to air pollution total $68 billion a year, nearly 4% of the country's economic output, the report said. And acid rain has contaminated a third of the country, Sheng Huaren, a senior Chinese parliamentary official, said last year. It is said to destroy some $4 billion worth of crops every year.
Residents seal their windows to keep out the dirty air. Parents are warned not to let their toddlers play outside, for fear of being covered in coal dust. Fruits and vegetables must be washed in detergent.
"I'm worried about my children," said a woman who lives in the shadow of a power plant and fertilizer factory. She would only give her surname, Zhang. "We worry about everything. If you get sick seriously, you will die."
Many complain of chronic sore throats, bronchitis, lung cancer and pulmonary fibrosis. One study, by researchers at Norway's Center for International Climate and Environmental Research, found Taiyuan's pollution increased death rates by 15% and chronic respiratory ailments by 40 to 50%.
"I feel terrible and I'm coughing all the time," said William Li, a retired engineer from Taiyuan. His father died of lung cancer and his son has tracheitis, an upper respiratory condition. "The coal, it produces electric power that we send to other provinces. But we are left with the pollution."
Nov 4, 2007
Setting OSHA Straight on Injuries vs. Illness
Yesterday's edition of OSHA's "Quick Takes" e-news memo featured an item entitled "BLS Reports Workplace Injury and Illness Overall Rate Lowest on Record." Peter Infante, former Director of the Office of Standards Review for OSHA's Health Standards Program, was not so quick to cheer at this, though. He fired off a response to OSHA, and gave us permission to post it here:
Dear OSHA Official:
Could someone please inform the Secretary of Labor, Elaine Chao, that the reporting of injuries and illness data do not include "illnesses." The data are essentially injury data. Illnesses such as non-malignant lung diseases, cancers and heart diseases that are related to the job would only be rarely, if ever recorded. Hence, occupational sources for these diseases are not included in the data that the BLS collects in order to determine injury and illness rates for US workers. Even in the case of mesothelioma, which can only be related to asbestos exposure, the latent period for the disease is so long that workers are unlikely to be employed on the job where the exposure occurred at the time of their diagnosis, so even an undispituable "exposure and disease connection" as this one is not recorded as a workplace cancer. The case is likely the same for all diseases with a long latency period. Actually in practice, any occupational disease that is not the result of an acute illness is unlikely to be reported and the acute illnesses also are rarely recorded and hence not reported on the DOL forms used by the BLS for gathering the data used in its report.
Toxic fumes blamed for deaths of 4 workers in Superior, Wis.
Workers dying from asphyxiation in a confined space is a senseless tragedy. When four men lose their lives in this way, with three of them dying in an attempt to rescue the other, it is a genuine disaster. Yesterday, four men died inside a 12-foot deep sewer line at the Lakehead Blacktop Demolition Landfill in the Village of Superior, Wisconsin. County Sheriff Tom Dalbec said:
“One of the workers was trying to repair a pump or clear a blockage in the sewer line last yesterday when he was overcome by hydrogen sulfide fumes. …First one goes down and is overcome by gas and drops or falls, and the second one looking down from above sees the first one, figures he can go down to rescue. Same thing happens to him, the third one same thing and fourth one same thing happens.’”
The AP reports that one of the victims was the landfill owner’s son.
Fourteen years ago, OSHA promised a rule to protect construction workers from this exact kind of danger. Where is that much needed safety standard?
Full story: http://www.c-n.com/apps/pbcs.dll/arti...
WI low lakes and drought from Cooling Towers? How Much Will It Cost Power Consumers
Sometimes it takes a row to elicit information that is useful outside of the orginal context. Take the example of Wisconsin Energy Corp.'s ongoing construction of a $2.3 billion coal-fired power plant in Oak Creek, on the shore of Lake Michigan, just south of Milwaukee. At issue is the water intake structure in Lake Michigan that would provide water to cool the plant. Environmental groups Clean Wisconsin and Sierra Club -- as well as Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan -- oppose the structure. They say it relies on ld technology that would cause more damage to Lake Michigan fish than a modern system requiring cooling towers. The dispute over the plant was kept alive earlier this year when a federal appeals court threw out an Environmental Protection Agency rule that Wisconsin regulators relied on in approving the water intake structure. Discussion of the project came after Wisconsin Energy announced third-quarter earnings rose 17 percent,Here's the money quote on how much extra might have to be spent for the 1,230-megawatt facility if open loop cooling water use is not permitted:-
Wisconsin Energy executives said plant construction would be delayed a year or more if the utility is required to spend $300 million to build cooling towers for the Oak Creek plant.In order of magnitude, that's a quarter of a million dollars per megawatt, additional expense. Gives an indication of the types of investments that may be needed in drought prone regions where rivers and lakes periodically dry up. Obviously, the evaporative cooling water would have to come in as either wastewater effluent or well water during those times of extreme drought.
Note: Duke Energy in North Carolina USA is getting close to this hypothetical situation. Have a look at this UPI story for details.
Via::RedOrbit Breaking News, "Power Plant Concerns Analysts; Wisconsin Energy Executives Quizzed on Permit Dispute" Image credit::Jason Booth Charters, Oak Creek Plant from Lake Michigan (content via treehugger)
Fat just cost less
Wow, this picture says a thousand words--a few times over. Most people will be reading the obvious text: Most people will be reading the obvious text: affordable, healthy fast food just ain't happenin'. But this graphic tells another story too. Ask yourself this: why is the government paying so much pork to the meat farmers? The answer is: they are not.
The subsidies which fatten the meat section in the pyramid on the left are primarily paid to producers of soy and corn products. This image vividly demonstrates the intense inefficiency of meat as a calorie source. It is this same inefficiency which has led to at least one calculation that eating meat contributes 21% of the carbon dioxide which can be attributed to human activity.
The choice to become a vegetarian beckons once again. A seemingly hard choice for the omnivore, but the lazy way out if you want to make a difference--because it is certainly easier than changing the politics of farm subsidies. If you cannot imagine a life without meat, at least take a tip from the food pyramid. The average American consumed 200 pounds of meat in 2005, almost 9 ounces per day. If you enter your age, height and weight at my pyramid, you can get a personal recommendation for meat consumption. A lot of people will find that they can do their health as well as the environment a favor by eating at least 50% less meat than they are eating today.
Nov 2, 2007
Free energy anyone? Seriously...
Free energy surrounds US - problem: "it's not as sexy like wind or solar."
HAASE: I have covered this topic for nearly a decade, but Orion Mag this month draws readers in to view the "free" energy" solutions surrounding the vast majority of cities who complain of high energy cost and have NO wind or solar options....The biggest sources of waste heat are some gas turbines used to generate power, but there are endless other examples. "Let's look at Florida," he says. "Here's a Maxwell House coffee roaster in Duval County. They're roasting beans, so all that heat has to go somewhere. About twelve megawatts' worth of potential electricity is going up the stack." Casten could take the equipment he sells, a "waste-heat recovery boiler," and stick it on top of the stack. "Basically, there's a network of tubes with water in them. The heat would hit one side of it, produce steam, and we'd use that to turn a turbine and generate electricity. It's like any other boiler, just without a flame, because the heat is already there."
Does that sound suspiciously pie-in-the-sky? Casten can drive a few miles from his Chicago office to an East Chicago plant run by Mittal Steel. A few years ago, a predecessor energy-recycling company installed this kind of equipment on the smokestacks of the plant's coke ovens. In 2004, this single steel plant generated roughly the same amount of clean energy as was produced by all of the grid-connected solar collectors throughout the world. Casten's company estimates that recycling waste heat from factories alone could produce 14 percent of the electric power the U.S. now uses. If you took much the same approach to electric generating stations you could, says Casten, conceivably produce the same amount of energy we use now with half the fossil fuel.
"BigPower"... in almost every state it's illegal for anyone but the utility to run wires across a public street. So if Casten's company generates more electricity from the smokestack of the coffee roaster than the factory can use itself, his company can't sell the surplus to the guy making coffee cans across the street. They have to sell it to the utility, which wants to pay the lowest price possible for it.
I wonder if our "city mayors" will be discussing these kind of options?
Also see my energy solution threads about "free" or no cost options surrounding our great nation:
How can you predict global warming if you can't predict rain?
CS- Quote:
"To those of us who are not climate scientists, it may come down to this: How can we be so certain what the climate will be like a century from now if you can't get a decent weather forecast more than two weeks ahead? In the end, isn't climate change just too complex?
True, weather forecasters are fallible, and there is no planet out there similar to Earth so we can truly gauge the effect human activity is having on our climate. But climate researchers are increasingly confident of their models and simulations. Besides, some argue, predicting the weather is tougher than predicting the climate, and scientists have been working on perfecting climate models for more than a century. Read the full story in the Christian Science Monitor."
Thanks to Laura B. lib.wmrc.uiuc.edu for link
Canadia wondering about whopping profit from selling the public's water...
There are Canadian minds, too, wondering about whopping profit from selling the public's water...
Economic catastrophe, even wars, will be caused by water shortages. The problem is population growth, farming, resource extraction and heavy industrial use. Also waste: Homeowners in North America water their lawns with drinking water.
Great News for Canada and the U.S.
This plays nicely into Canada's, and America's, hands. Canada has 1% of the world's population and 20% of its water, which includes our half of the Great Lakes. The U.S. has parched, growing areas like the southwest and midwest, but there is plenty of water in its northern tier. But on international markets, water may fetch a hefty price and eventually justify the cost of water pipelines to the coast and water ships.
The commoditization of water has partially happened. "Designer" or bottled water is already more expensive than oil.
http://communities.canada.com/financialpost/blogs/francis/archive/2007/10/24/water-exports-the-new-new-commodity.aspx
Nov 1, 2007
OSHA Quote of the day:
OSHA Quote of the day:
"As a large, national employer with a history of OSHA inspections and citations for hazards at other facilities, we are disappointed to find so many of the same or similar hazards at this facility."
Ken Atha, Fed-OSHA area director, about Cintas Corp.'s Mobile, Ala., plant
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