Environmental, Health and Safety News: January 2007

Just the Facts... "IF" the general public was aware of how great our
existing Environmental & Welfare Protection regulations were, they would
understand that we would have "NO" current manmade global warming
problems.... "IF" individuals and corporations would have complied with
the regulations for the last two decades. It's not debatable... it is an inarguable, gut wrenching
fact. If you think "Inconvenient Truth" was alarming, my 20
year data report would give you a stroke. Seriously...

During this time I deploy my artificial intelligence
data mining protocols to ensure I am still accumulating the most
advanced resources available to "Protect People and the Planet".

So don't worry, Very soon I'll be back in force with my "Black Army"
;-)

Christopher Haase

Please Email me or leave a comment of link errors or
more information - Thanks!

Jan 30, 2007

Blog blackout - "Because black's the new green"...

Two four year blog veterans, "black-out" "time for change"

Stay tuned as ehs-bloggers "black out" across nation.

Mine is just "one of a Million"...

Thanks for helping "Protect, People and The Planet.

Chris... duty calls. "It is our responsibilities, not ourselves, that we should take seriously."

Time to do your duty? You have been drafted!

Universal National Service Act of 2007 - To require all persons in the United States between the ages of 18 and 42 to perform national service, either as a member of the uniformed services or in civilian service in furtherance of the national defense and homeland security...

Well this one caught me a little off guard (no pun intended : -)

Hey, if some people wont do the right thing for their planet, maybe they'll do it for their country.

Protection of People and the Planet is Patriotic... (That's a lot of P's)

Map of current emergencies around the world

"A real-time map plotting radio distress signals from the National Association of Radio-Distress Signaling and Info-communications." When you load the map, click an icon to find out what the problem is.

Think you have a lot of problems?

Want to really stress out?

Spend 5 minutes watching real-time conflict and you will crawl under you bed.

Hey I'm a gluten for punishment, so I signed up to have the problems of the world emailed to me.

Cool, distress spam... ;-)

Jan 29, 2007

"Greenwashing" a scandal that dazzles consumers with the blinding beauty that is GREEN

Hope for hypocrisy? … find it entertaining that "treehugger.com" recommended this post, as many of the "green" people lead "very" comfortable lives.

Greenwashing has a stifling effect. The market becomes distorted if the information provided is not true, transparent and fully encompassing, for it cannot represent consumers' true preferences.

GREEN - the holy grail of sustainability - that warm feeling you get when you do something 'good'. The power of 'green' is so tremendous that it has often been channeled into another symbol of hope: the good old green American $: a fast 'buck' or two billion wrapped up in a green blanket of hope.

As consumers have become increasingly aware of environmental and social issues, some brands have found it hard to resist exploiting and profiting from the emerging 'green market'. It is big business.

Greenwashing is not part of the environmental movement but a huge environmental problem that will continue to expand right up to the point that it 'no longer pays'. Consumers must, and will, make their choices based on accurate environmental information and education.

Please read full Greenwashing by Clownfish http://www.psfk.com/2007/01/greenwashing.html

Classic - Cheney smirks at suggestion to reduce foreign oil

Cheney smirks at Bush's suggestion we reduce our dependence on foreign oil

What
does the Vice President of the United States think about American's
getting off of oil? Not much, as you can see in this 40-second clip.

Colbert: It's Not The Global Heating...

Colbert makes a joke about Bush saying "climate
change."

Another great hugg
posted by

linton

Homer Test Drives The EV1 - Gotta love the Hugg!

This hugg posted by linton

NYT "latest fashion trends" drives significant carbon emissions

The truth of a Green Closet... The New York Times reports

rapid-cycling (i.e. eco-clothes) fashion trends, and the throwaway clothes culture they've enabled -- drives significant carbon emissions. Markets are tapping into the public's desire to make environmentally responsible choices making consumers' fixated on purchasing the "latest fashion trends" to be green.

Discarding the use of second hand clothing, or "buy more expensive and durable clothing that can be worn for years, to buy widely available "trend" garments. Article mentions how a shift in "consumption" habits could lessen this serious environmental threat.

'Fat police' Parents put on "abuse" list for making kids fat

Social workers are placing obese children on the child protection register alongside victims thought to be at risk of sexual or physical abuse. These children suffer from sleep apnoea and serious health complications from diabetes. Initially, social workers try to help the parents but, in some cases, the parents are the problem."

"Very obese children are taking up nations resources that should be used for legitimate purposes. Parents have got to be held accountable for overfeeding their children or letting their children become fat without taking action." The number of children aged under 11 who are obese more than doubled in just ten years! Full read here

Stop the global warming debate... Start the pandemic

In a chilling conclusion on global warming the United Nations is poised to release a report on climate change that is so grim and so vast in scope that scientists involved in the six-year study say it will end the debate on global warming. The report will say that it is a virtual certainty that humans have caused the change, meaning that the scientists are "99 percent" certain.

You are what you eat! 20 years of eating chemicals...

"If you're concerned about your health, you should probably avoid food products that make health claims. Why? Because a health claim on a food product is a good indication that it's not really food, and food is what you want to eat."

It was in the 1980s that food began disappearing from the American supermarket, gradually to be replaced by “nutrients,” ... chemical compounds and minerals in foods that nutritionists have deemed important to health, "with the promise of scientific certainty; eat more of the right ones, fewer of the wrong, and you would live longer and avoid chronic diseases. But as American food culture went down this dimly lighted path we see an alarming increase in chronic diseases linked to diet — including heart disease, cancer and diabetes.

“eat less” of a particular food has been deep-sixed; don’t look for it ever again in any official U.S. dietary pronouncement. Second, notice how distinctions between entities as different as fish and beef and chicken have collapsed; those three venerable foods, each representing an entirely different taxonomic class, are now lumped together as delivery systems for a single nutrient. Notice too how the new language exonerates the foods themselves; now the culprit is an obscure, invisible, tasteless — and politically unconnected — substance that may or may not lurk in them called “saturated fat.”

This thing is a "must read"! Snip's from an extensive (12 online pages!) essay in today's New York Times by UC Berkeley ... (source boing,boing)

Jan 26, 2007

Mercury Everywhere and "new plan" increases deadly spread

As widespread reports of Mercury found in all fish tested by researchers with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in the nation's streams, and that sampled more than 2,700 fish in over 10 other Western states Surface... Congress and a federal suit are challenging to replace the new US mercury plan that is a "emissions-trading scheme" - which has worked to curb other pollutants that spread far and wide - but, doesn't work for mercury, which accumulates locally as well as spreading over long distances.

Thank www.glrppr.org for breaking this!

Jan 25, 2007

EPA Set to Abandon 30 Years of Air Quality Control

Lead is one of the most harmful toxins on Earth and is especially hazardous for children. Incredibly, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is considering removing lead entirely from the list of pollutants it controls under the Clean Air Act. Tell the EPA that it must continue to use the best available science to protect the air we breathe from dangerous lead pollution.

Great Lake state calling it quits on environment protection?

While nearly every great lake territory is cutting, Wisconsin appears to be lifting critical "environmental protection" standards that protect wildlife and children's health. Any state lowering pollution standards will clearly have a negative impact on ALL surrounding territories.

Wisconsin rules require a 75 percent reduction in mercury emissions by 2015, but the DNR is considering changing that to a 70 percent reduction by 2018, to match federal regulations, Clean Wisconsin officials said. (read linked here)

More than two dozen organizations - including Clean Wisconsin, the Sierra Club and the Wisconsin Wildlife Federation - presented a petition to the state Department of Natural Resources asking for a rule that would require a 90 percent cut in mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants by 2012.

Illinois has already approved a rule requiring a 90 percent cut in mercury pollution at each power plant by 2012 and Minnesota has a similar plan, to be achieved by 2014.

Removing the regulations that made WI air cleaner?

Further punishment to the great lakes was announced Jan 22nd. by Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle announcing that, "he is directing the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to lift ozone attainment the S.E. region.
citing "the air we breathe in Eastern Wisconsin is cleaner today than it was a decade ago,"...

Jan 24, 2007

Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something." -Plato

"Ethanol biofuel craze" is likely to divert attention from better ways...

The Washington Post columnist Robert Samuelson, challenged by fivefold increase in the production of ethanol. "Naturally, corn farmers love this. They've been the program's main beneficiaries. Although ethanol displaces only tiny amounts of oil (slightly more than 1 percent)" "Further: Ethanol has only about two-thirds of the energy value of an equal volume of gasoline. When you do all the arithmetic, 60 billion gallons of ethanol displace just under 1 billion barrels of gasoline. If that merely offsets increases in oil use, it won't cut existing import dependence or greenhouse gases." Read full here

500 Miles on $9 - Ecar Battery breakthough

EEStor has announced a Electrical Energy Storage Unit that uses barium-nitrate powder and stores 10 times as much energy as a lead-acid battery, by weight.

The company says, will be able to recharge in less than 10 minutes and has a 200-mile driving range.

By some estimates, it would only require $9 worth of electricity for an EESU-powered vehicle to travel 500 miles, versus $60 worth of gasoline for a combustion-engine car. Link (Via boing, boing)

Hugg posted by linton
So what's the problem? BRING IT ON! "There's no way you're going to go to thousands of volts in a vehicle," he (Andrew F. Burke, a research engineer at the Institute of Transportation Studies at the University of California at Davis) declared. "Would you drive around in your car with 10,000 volts? People are concerned now with two or 300 volts when they talk about hybrid vehicles."

Also see Boing Boing Reader Comment On EEstor posted by linton

OSHA Worker Rights Blogger Shutting Down

Tomorrow night will be last post on Confined Space. He is no longer a voice maker, he will be an "action taker"! Starting next week, instead of just writing about what Congress and this administration needs to be doing to protect workers, he'll be able to directly affect some of those things. If you're around, stop by Confined Space (Wednesday) night to say an on-line say goodbye. On-line party from 9:00 to 11:00 pm EST. To take some time to reflect on the past four year.

Haase Comments:

People love to "talk", argue, debate and blame but few, take action,change or become part of a greater good. You have evolved Jordan and we wish you the best of luck! Thanks for all the critical information...

The posts I am thankful for by Jordan

Jan 23, 2007

NYT: Power From... GRANITE! (Thanks linton)

'The United States could generate as much electricity by 2050 as that flowing today from all of the country's nuclear power plants by developing technologies that tap heat locked in deep layers of granite, according to a new study commissioned by the Energy Department.' Posted on hugg by linton

Read full in New York Times

Ethanol just "a boondoggle," says institute

Ethanol won't actually help the world lose its appetite for oil, says a new article in the Milken Institute Review, written by right wing experts from Cato Institute. "We-can-do-anything American naiveté can cloud minds and distort markets," state the authors, which says there's no way ethanol production will ever come close to meeting the quantities being asked for by politicians. They also claim that the ethanol industry receives far higher subsidies that Big Oil. Read the sordid details.

Hugg posted by greendaddy

Jan 22, 2007

Hydrogen powered home offers future hope

Conventional-looking family home shows that a combination of solar and hydrogen power can generate all the electricity for heating and cooling his house year-round and run a full range of appliances including such power-guzzlers as a hot tub and a wide-screen TV without paying a penny in utility bills.

In the summer, the solar panels generate 60 percent more electricity than the super-insulated house needs. The excess is stored in the form of hydrogen which is used in the winter -- when the solar panels can't meet all the domestic demand -- to make electricity in the fuel cell. Strizki also uses the hydrogen to power his fuel-cell driven car, which, like the domestic power plant, is pollution-free.

But the $100,000 tag is still too high for the project to be widely replicated, said Marchant Wentworth of the Union of Concerned Scientists, an environmental group in Washington. To be commonly adopted, such installations would have to be able to sell excess power to the grid, generating a revenue stream that could be used to attract capital...

Read full Source: - Reuters Via Yahoo

Never bring up religion, politics or global warming at a company party...

"We had some interesting discussions about global warming this weekend. Yet I have a friend who still rejects the science of it. What part could they disagree with?"

My Response ...

"ALL The "global warming" reports are true in one aspect, "science shapes economics."

I think it's the whole "warming" thing people enjoy debating (as sooo many do) .01% of 1% or 1.3 % equals ?

Regardless, there is inarguable data since the 1930's of industrializations influence on the environment.

No scientist could dispute mans negative impact on the environment and climate (or they should pull their library card).

However, there are MAJOR factors in regards to "individual" daily activities compared to "major" sources contributions that are generally misrepresented in data that is released by the "popular media". Skewing "global warming" information one way or another to meet alternative directives.

The facts are that the vast majority of contributing sources and solutions of pollution are not in the popular media.

A more alarming fact is that people are talking about global warming in every forum and basing their purchases and votes on "whatever" solutions the popular media is presenting. Further pushing the "fear & greed" marketing model.

Facts (Just search my blog)

- We have known what the cleanest fuels are for decades…

- We have had 75 mpg vehicles for decades…

- We could run our home "off grid" for decades…

- We could power most U.S. cities off "free" sources

So, why have we not to done so… Simple answer - People love to argue, debate and blame but few want to change or an inconvenience to their daily lives.

Global Warming programs are a "trillion" dollar industry & possibly the best political and marketing tool used in our lifetime…. Given that alone, it will be here for at least the next election ;-)

Pollution and "climate change" didn't just sneak up on us... this is the result of 100 years of industrialization we are "reactively" creating a market of "pandemic & fear" for the audiences to invest billions of dollars in.

When just the utilizing the existing "Public Service Announcement" funding could drive every American to conserve, preserve, build and purchase sustainable enough to stop ALL individual increases in "green house" emissions.

The facts are always scarier and the sustainable solutions are always easier... just neither are that popular. The simple alternatives do not drive markets or consumerism.

Just "climate change" could change the world - mind power!

In the January 19 edition of the Wall Street Journal, Sharon Begley, author of Train Your Mind, Change Your Brain: How a New Science Reveals Our Extraordinary Power to Transform Ourselves, "We choose and sculpt how our ever-changing minds will work, we choose who we will be the next moment in a very real sense, and these choices are left embossed in physical form on our material selves."

This goes along with the concept that we "create our own reality" and that something does not really exist until it is observed... and "I" am the center of the universe ;-) Wow people think highly of "self".

Haase comments - While this is a nice "story", and many people believe thinking, talking and discussing climate change makes a hill of beans.

One fact reigns true, actions speak louder than words! Because, "All that is necessary for evil to succeed is that good men do nothing."

Simple math: Less debate + action = change

"We have too many high sounding words, and too few actions that correspond with them."

Emission trading windfall could generate billions for the largest polluters

While "short-term, impact on emissions is likely to be small." Schemes are allocated carbon dioxide permits that are traded in as emissions are generated. — the permits are currently worth around US$5 per tonne of carbon. To compensate for having to lose the assets when accounting for their emissions, the firms charge extra for products. In the case of the electricity sector, this is estimated to have generated an extra $1.5 billion in annual profits for British firms between 2005 and 2007. Read more here

Could Super rabbits to solve world food shortage crisis?

"German Gray Giant", could help millions that suffers widespread food shortages and where many people "struggle to feed themselves on a diet critically deficient in protein, fats and micronutrients." according to the United Nations.

"One rabbit provides a filling meal for eight people." and is possibly has the smallest ecological environmental footprint of most livestock.

Haase Comments - This topic has major "issues" with ecologists and environmentalists... there is NO perfect food source for the world that balances the uses of land, water and climate. It is equally complex to utilizes food sources that have the best nutritional values for the community and are least abusive to their habitat.

But EVERY ecologists and environmentalists knows the devastating footprint of live stock and need to ALWAYS study new sources to lower livestock water, food and environmental needs.

Being a "Haase" I know a little about raising rabbits. Giant bunnies over the diversity of soy, rice & chicken? I would need to see some hard data to buy into this...

Jan 21, 2007

"Bacon" polluting more than biggest U.S. city populations?

"North Carolina's ten million hogs produce twice as much feces and urine as the populations of the cities of Los Angeles, New York and Chicago combined. Industrial farms, most with thousands of hogs each, store the waste in open-air pits, called lagoons. They spray the waste, untreated, as manure on adjacent fields."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Haase Comments - While the title and the "investigative piece" was an important topic... , I completely WASTED my morning watching the kungfu bunnies and cowscapes form Web Zen... Yikes!

Good comments on boing, boing

Jan 19, 2007

Just a reminder - this blog is done in a month...

After four years blogging, it is time for change:

"It is our responsibilities, not ourselves, that we should take seriously."

Help California ban Hazardous Ozone-Generating "Air Purifiers"

Fourteen percent of homes may be at risk. Two percent (2%) of California households own an air cleaner that intentionally emits ozone (ozone generator), while eight percent (8%) own an air cleaner that may emit ozone as a by-product. An estimated 828,000 Californians (about 282,000 households) may be exposed to potentially harmful levels of ozone from ozone generators. Get the facts & get involved!

Not all air-cleaning devices are appropriate for home use — some can be harmful to human health. The ARB recommends that ozone generators, air cleaners that intentionally produce ozone, not be used in the home. Ozone is a gas that can cause health problems, including respiratory tract irritation and breathing difficulty (Ozone and Health).

Links to fact sheets and articles of interest are provided below.

Intersex fish linked to common chemicals in your home

Chemicals known to change the sexual characteristics of fish and other animals have been found in West Virginia tributaries of the Potomac River, which runs through Washington, D.C. and surrounding areas, the U.S. Geological Survey said Wednesday.

An investigation into fish that had both male and female characteristics turned up a range of chemicals including pesticides, flame retardants, and personal-care products, the USGS said. They can cause birth defects and sexual abnormalities called intersex in species ranging from frogs to alligators and perhaps humans as well.

"All samples contained detectable levels of at least one known endocrine-disrupting compound, including samples from fish without intersex."

Endocrine disrupter's affect the animals' hormone systems. "Antibiotics were detected in municipal wastewater, aquaculture, and poultry-processing effluent, with the highest number of antibiotics and the greatest concentrations found in municipal effluent," the USGS wrote in the report, published at http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2006/1393/. Read full here

Haase comments - Please note the EPA and other scientists (even PBS) have reported this for YEARS... just search this blog. My data go back to 1996 solid evidence!
What we do not need is "new" studies... but, action. M

Bill to require political bloggers to register defeated

...Freedom cannot defend itself.

"The attempt to require political bloggers to register was REMOVED from the lobbying reform bill. The vote was 55 to 43 to defeat the provision. All 48 Republicans, as well as 7 Democrats, voted against requiring bloggers to register; all 43 votes in favor of keeping the registration provision were by Democrats."

List of rep's who saved your grass roots blog.

Jan 18, 2007

Rachel's Review of 'An Inconvenient Truth' is a Source of Hopelessness...

Rachel's - "when giving the opinion of the documentary, she said, "If that is true, then it's hopeless." "The earth is not dying. It is being killed, and the people killing it have names and addresses." In one sentence, Utah Phillips told us more about global warming than Al Gore has told us in a lifetime of writing and speaking, let alone in An Inconvenient Truth.

Look pasts the "names" ... this is an important read for "content"

Haase comments - Maybe it should be called "Rachel's radical doomy gloomy approach" ;-)

Do I believe it's hopeless? ask me you would be surprised what I think... We need to distance ourselves from the "popular", politics, media, opinions and look at the "lifetime" impact of hazardous chemicals and gross neglect and enforcement "required" environmental regulations and how they are "root" causes of our current "Eco-Crisis"... While the "global warming will ALWAYS be a "chicken or egg" debate... the end results of 30 years of neglect is inarguable, measurable, catastrophic and declining with every day "green washer" take the stage for there "cause of the week" on T.V. or in the press.

Climate Bloggers May Be Forced to Register or face criminal penalties

"In what sounds like a comedy sketch from Jon Stewart's Daily Show, but isn't, the U. S. Senate would impose criminal penalties, even jail time, on grassroots causes and citizens who criticize U.S. Congress.

Political Bloggers May Be Forced to Register "Under Senate Bill S.1, political bloggers with a readership of over 500 who comment on policy matters or hope to incite 'grassroots' action amongst their readers would be forced to register with the Federal Government as lobbyists.

Wow, wow freedom of what? This floored me... Full read here

Jan 17, 2007

Massive consumption inflicts great suffering on the world's poor.

"People don't appreciate that their purchases have real environmental impacts," "They also don't think their individual actions make much of a difference, " said Tilford.

Not just in North America and Europe but China and India, not to mention other parts of Asia and Latin America. The world collectively overshot the Earth's capacity to support us in 1984, the report notes. In the 22 years since reaching that crucial tipping point, rates of consumption of resources have accelerated.

"And for those willing to be more conscious, they often don't have the knowledge or information to know what's better...

"It is very complicated for public to know what's from where or how products in the stores are made," noted Lester Brown of the Earth Policy Institute, a U.S. group focused on environmentally sustainable economy.

That over-consumption has reached such an absurd level that the average U.S. citizen, living in the world's richest nation, spends more than they earn every year.

"It is sometimes stunning that people will not make the most minimal effort to change," she said. We need to shift people to become environmentally and socially conscious consumers...

Please read the full article linked here

Dust Fingered as Culprit for bioaccumulative toxic chemicals in Americans

People living in North America have the highest levels of the persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic chemicals known as polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), and scientists have speculated for years about whether they could be coming from the dust in people's homes.

Kellyn Betts discusses the first definitive evidence that dust is a source and why the EPA's new Integrated Risk Information System evaluations of the PBDEs suggest that some children could be at risk from exposure to the dust found in North American homes.

Haase Comments - Sadly, this passes as "current" news when it has been thoroughly documented by EPA for decades???

What are PBDE's and where are they found?

Why do we use flame retardant chemicals?

Three types of PBDE formulations

PBDE's in the environment

The health effects of PBDE's

Limiting exposure to PBDE's

Reduce PBDE's in the environment

Growing concern that "climate concern" is little more than political posturing before an election.

There are MANY who have the same "political" apprehensions as I do.

Suzuki warns..."Green" can't be mere fad, .

Presentation & Webcast of Japanese Climate Change Program open to the public

The Chair of the Air Resources Board, has posted presentations and will be hosting a free "webcast" from leading scientists that will focus on the National Perspective of The Japanese Climate Change Program.

Comments on Webcast are open to the public.

HURRY - Wednesday, January 17, 2007 at 9:00 a.m. ( [Full announcement] )

Announcement & *Presentation can be viewed at:

Presentation 809 KB (pdf)
Seminar Information

Webcast Information: http://www.arb.ca.gov/app/calendar/cal_wbcst.php

Q & A (following the presentations your questions will be aired)

Webcast Viewers, e-mail your questions to: coastalrm@calepa.ca.gov

>Additional resources & Info linked here

Bush, Gore and Arnold in the Middle...

After my "Gore manbear" post, a colleague asked if I have "issues" with Al Gore?

My comment response was:
I post more good Gore than bad Gore (Search my post) .... and I have "less" of a problem with Gore than most politicians. I think we are always more critical of people we know and want to do better.

Bush, Gore and Arnold have two major similarities - Power & Persuasion

My "issues" are with the use of that Power & Persuasion and how it influences our environment. In the end the one with the most "wins"

Critical of people who have the greatest influence over our people and our
environment.... is there anything more important?

Personal disclaimer: Hey if I'm wrong it cost's you nothing. If their wrong, it cost you billions of dollars and thousands of lives.

Jan 16, 2007

Important EHS job opening - Hurry deadline Jan 17th!

I posted if you know anyone who may be interested in applying for this position.

Sorry for the short notice... Chris

Job Opportunity - Environmental, Health, and Safety Coordinator/Engineer

Bombardier Recreational Products Inc. , Sturtevant Wisconsin (www.brp.com)

Click here for Job details

Life saving machine that draws air in, and then spews out clean fresh water.

500 Gallons of life saving clean fresh water a day!
FEMA have already bought two, and the US Army is said to be on the verge of
buying many...
Aqua Sciences Inc, says the upfront
cost can be justified by a $0.25 per gallon production cost. The makers are
working on a consumer model, but it won't be out for awhile. But, in the future
"Every off-grid home should have one."

Aqua Sciences, is the first to put a
product on the market that can operate in harsh arid climates. The cost to
transport water to the troops, runs $30 a gallon. The cost, including the
machines from
Aqua Sciences, will be reduced to 30
cents a gallon!

The
water-harvesting technology was originally the brainchild of the Pentagon's

Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), which sought ways to
ensure sustainable water supplies for U.S. combat troops deployed in arid
regions like Iraq. > Read more about the tech of it from
- www.off-grid.net

Jan 15, 2007

The Climates Voice - "I've Seen The Promised Land. I May Not Get There With You"

Al Gore vs. Martin Luther King– Powerful climate change requires a powerful voice…

While I respect anyone dedicated to “real” change for protecting the earth and its people, I often sense Al Gore campaigns will never be taken as serious as they are. Just imagine how powerful Mr. King would have been on Environmental & Climate issues.

Close your eyes during Martin Luther King's speech and feel the power… on the other hand watch any Al Gore speech and feel the power of fatigue…

Martin Luther King's Last Speech The Day Before He Died, Declaring Prophetically:
"I've Seen The Promised Land. I May Not Get There With You"

Al Gore's very serious, very, very, very...

Seriously the climate needs a more “powerful” voice to convey the message.

Who will it be? Al? Arnold? You?

Immortally preserved in my mind and soul, Martin Luther King will be missed

today and always. Chris

Jan 12, 2007

Feed the hungry and reducing solid waste through food recovery

Waste not, want not - Food waste is not only unfortunate in terms of the lost opportunity to feed hungry Americans but also in terms of the negative effects on our environment. The nation spends an estimated $1 billion a year to dispose of excess food. That is a waste of both food and money, however not all food is appropriate for human consumption. Livestock farmers use some excess as animal feed. Renderers and other businesses recycle many forms of excess food into other products. Food scraps can be composted to create a valuable fertilizer.

In the United States, we not only produce an abundance of food, we waste an enormous amount of it. More than one quarter of America's food, or about 96 billion pounds of food a year, goes to waste--in fields, commercial kitchens, manufacturing plants, markets, schools, and restaurants. While not all of this excess food is edible, much of it is and could be going to those who need it.

Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, visit www.epa.gov/epaoswer/non-hw/reduce/wastenot.htm

Putting trash to good use to sustain the earth's natural systems...

7.6 tons of materials were donated from inside a 8,000 square-foot building to non-profit organizations and community members.

Groups such as Habitat for Humanity, the Milwaukee Ballet, Theaterworks, Wildspace Dance Company and Lisbon Avenue Neighborhood Development (LAND) were invited by WasteCap Wisconsin to walk through the building and select the materials they wanted. Materials up for grabs included mirrors, cabinets, crown molding, doors, and signs.

"We were thrilled to be called," said Jeri Kavanaugh, director of Habitat ReStore. "I knew the building, and knew it was going to be really cool. It's a piece of history."

Habitat ReStore is a retail outlet featuring recycled home furnishings, and the donated reuse items Habitat for Humanity received from the Brico Fund project will be sold in the new ReStore opening in the building formerly occupied by Sam's Club on Hawley Rd. this September. Proceeds from Restore go to funding Habitat's programs.

To read the full article, visit www.wastecapwi.org/trashtogooduse

Region 5 tips for electronic waste reuse, recycling

Electronic waste reuse, recycling in Wisconsin

Chances are you bought or received some new, high-tech electronic equipment over the past year or during the holidays. Even newer, higher-tech gear is being introduced this week at the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

Electronic waste reuse, recycling in Michigan

What happens when changes in technology render your gadget obsolete? It becomes "e-scrap," one of the planet's fastest growing environmental concerns. E-scrap contains heavy metals and other toxins that can be hazardous to human health and the environment. For example, monitors and TVs can contain between two and eight pounds of lead and smaller amounts of other contaminants like cadmium and mercury.

Electronic waste reuse, recycling in Ohio

Electronic waste reuse, recycling in Indiana

Source: US EPA. VIA -Great Lakes Pollution Prevention Roundtable (GLRPPR)

Jan 11, 2007

U.S. disappearing at an average of 6,000 acres each day - 4 acres a minute

Landmark study to help determine future of U.S. forests

"Within a relatively short period of time, there will be a major shift – throughout the U.S. – in the ownership of privately owned forest," During the next five years, an estimated 10 percent of the family owned forest land will be transferred from one generation to the next.

The Forest Service national survey found a large percentage of the children have had little or no involvement in the management of the family forests and had no clear plan for what they would do with the property once their parents transferred ownership.

"With forest and open space in the U.S. disappearing at an average of 6,000 acres each day – 4 acres a minute – we're concerned that this lack of involvement could result in even higher rates of forest loss in the future,"

"A new challenge now faces Wisconsin and the nation," says Paul Delong administrator of the DNR Division of Forestry. "Who will be the next stewards of the state's forests? Will it be the children of current landowners? And will these offspring maintain the same commitment to the land as their parents?" (link to WDNR feature)

There is enough "off-peak" capacity for 84% of the U.S. to run plug-in hybrid electric vehicles...

Idle electric power grid could fuel most U.S. passenger vehicles right now!

Millions of Eco-Lemmings are running around buying inefficient hybrids & out of date fluorescents… while 84% of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles could power-up with little to no “extra grid impact”. Clearly this assessment needs to be looked at closer..

The Assessment finds that... Running the 220 million cars and light trucks in the U.S. fleet on electricity instead of gasoline would have no net adverse environmental effects, according to a new report from the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL).

Moreover, the current power grid already has enough "off-peak" electricity production and transmission capacity for 84% of these vehicles if they were plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs).

Full read here...

(Photo from www.pnl.gov)

Jan 10, 2007

Chemicals in water system & environment triggering precocious puberty

Precocious puberty traced to exposure to drugs in hormone-laden products. What's going on? Although scientists have yet to prove definitive causes, many suspect that hormone-mimicking chemicals, obesity and stress all contribute to precocious puberty. The chemicals, often called endocrine disruptors, are of particular concern because they're everywhere -- in food, water, personal-care products, some plastics and many consumer goods.

A growing body of evidence suggests that these and other endocrine-disrupting chemicals can interfere with sexual development...

Kids these days are reaching puberty up to a year earlier than in previous generations, with some children showing signs of sexual development as young as age 3 and boys showed signs of sexual development by age 8.. I

n extreme cases, girls are budding breasts before they've even learned to read. Researchers call this phenomenon "precocious puberty," which some say is on the rise.

Read full here

Haase Comments - While I have discussed the "disturbing topic" five years... the EPA has for 10... Now maybe someone will listen and take action with the NY times running this piece. While many only hope, a few take action...

Hope for Sustainable Solar Power

The fact is that today solar power is still more expensive than electricity from the grid, but concentrator technology has the potential to change this. Indeed, if manufacturers can meet the challenges of ramping up production and selling, distributing, and installing the systems, their prices could easily meet prices for electricity from the grid, says solar-industry analyst Michael Rogol, managing director of Photon Consulting, in Aachen, Germany.

But, thanks to advances in solar cells, which absorb light and convert it into electricity, and the mirror- or lens-based concentrator systems that focus light on them. The technology could soon make solar power as cheap as electricity from the grid. Please read full story here...

Further solar reads...

Concentrating light on a solar cell greatly increases its output.

Dishing out power with a solar engine Build a solar heater for $350

Best Solar-Power Commercial Ever?

Wireless Controlled Solar LED Lighting

Sharp Sees Solar Power Costs Halving By 2010

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$20000 solar system puts family "off the grid"

Schwarzenegger Lets the "Sun Shine In" (signs solar power bill)

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Energy - New bill to exend tax credits for solar

Scientists have invented a plastic solar cell that can turn the ...

Photo: (Credit: The Boeing Company)