"Happy, Coulda Hada Eathday" - EarthDay Canceled due to poor economic choices

Imagine we have no money to protect our people or planet
Haase - (previous rant) While I do not often talk "eco-nomics" the threat has become as much as a national health issue as cancer and as much of a environmental issue as global warming. If you are as concerned as much as I am about understanding our current economic problem then the quotes below may be a good resource.
Without a nations "economic health" there is NO money for environmental, health or safety... to be more clear, all the the efforts you (EHS professionals) have worked on for decades to protect our nations resources will be for nothing. Imagine a nation where half our companies can no longer afford to protect workers, the public or their environment... it's easy if you try. 

'continued unregulated
economic and overrun government spending will dissolve any and all hopes for clean or sustainable energy in our future'....

In an ERA without basic health care or employment for over 10% of our nation we will have NO choices but to sacrifice necessary environmental, energy and just to protect the suffering.

UNLESS we make the right choices by investing in environmental and energy sectors that grow our jobs and GDP.
 

It is VERY possible, but I have observed no 'realistic ideas for actual change or anything remotely different from decades old environmental and energy programs that failed horribly.

The good news is that our environmental and energy solutions can also be our economic salvation IF done correctly... you can read all over this site.

Noel Gallagher - Hippes had 40's year to do something...

While it may sound harsh... Noel Gallagher makes some VALID points. "environmentalists: Greens are f***ing hippies with no place in the world. They've been telling us for the last 50 years not to use aerosols or the sky's going to fall in. Well - you're the scientists, do something about it. How do you suggest we get 50million Chinese not to have a fridge? Or get 700million Americans to stop using their big stupid cars. The only way its going to happen is if the sky falls in. Until is does, these Greens are wasting their time. I'm glad - because in 50 years time I'll be dead. » original news

 

Does this seem "extreme"?
or am I not being objective?
Pollution & Global warming was "end of world" news during the 60's and 70's... What happened to the generations of people who cared and loved? They left the future in the hands of politicians and green groups who told them what to buy and how to act "green" (green washing).
 

Sound familiar yet?
Just wait ... The ME gen got frustrated nothing happened and bought 5,000lb SUV's to drive to 3,000 sqft homes 40 miles from work in a subdivision with no forest or trees in sight... then got divorced,  doubling the "Eco-Impact".
 
Seriously look at history and what is in the news right now... will they still care in 5 years or stop after the next presidential election as they did in the past.

Mindset will continue towards a collapse due to debt denial

WashingtonPost "Poll shows Americans oppose entitlement cuts to deal with debt problem"
Despite growing concerns about the country’s long-term fiscal problems and an intensifying debate in Washington about how to deal with them, Americans strongly oppose some of the major remedies under consideration, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

On Monday, Standard & Poor’s, for the first time, shifted its outlook on U.S. creditworthiness to “negative” because of the nation’s accumulating debt. The announcement rattled investors and could increase pressure on both sides in Washington to work out a broader deal as part of the upcoming vote over increasing the government’s borrowing authority.
The president and congressional Republicans have set out sharply differing blueprints to deal with the looming problem. Obama has called for agreement on at least a framework by early summer, which roughly coincides with the deadline for raising the nation’s debt ceiling.

Really?
Individuals are given the idea they can get benefits and force someone else to pay for them... where did they get that idea?

Sure it is a "trickle down" mentality that in 2008 banks and government could help themselves because "they needed it more" and  individuals who bought "interest only and no money down mortgages" on Mc Mansions needed someone to pay the bank losses (thanks middle America).

At some point everyone needs help, but growing a society based on the understanding the people should help themselves to others money is what will ultimately be our demise.
But now it has become a cancerous disease in the mind of many that "we deserve it*". And we don't care who has to pay for it as long as it does not inconvenience our lifestyle, no matter how unsustainable it is.

Really?
Do a billion people deserve to live on a dirt floor drinking water from sewers if their lucky to have that?

Really?
Because we don't get to retire 3 years earlier, don't get new granite counter tops for your McMansion, don't get to go to private school, don't get to .... really?

If someone* can not afford something
THEY* CAN NOT AFFORD SOMETHING, why on earth would we put these people in a financial situation that they can NEVER get out of. Like their grandparent and forefathers... if they work hard, eventually they will be able to afford what they need.  But you can't always get what you want (see Mick Jagger quote ;-).

*While it sounds like I am talking about individuals, think about the "we" and "someone" being a nation.
 
OUR nation.
 
WE the people.
 
Think about it...

Plan to stop economic disaster cruise control

The Effects of Automatic Stabilizers on the Federal Budget
CBO report focuses on the automatic responses of revenues and outlays to developments in the economy—the automatic stabilizers—that reflect cyclical movements in real (inflation-adjusted) output and unemployment.
CBO estimates that automatic stabilizers are adding significantly to the budget deficit now but that their contribution will steadily fade over the next few years. In 2010, CBO estimates, automatic stabilizers added the equivalent of 2.4 percent of potential GDP to the deficit, an amount somewhat greater than the 2.1 percent added in 2009.

Entire Document:

pdf

 
NOTE:
The measured of the effects of the automatic stabilizers on budget outcomes at the federal and state and local levels. For the federal government, the deficit increases about 0.35 percent of GDP for each 1 percentage point deviation of actual GDP relative to potential GDP.  For state and local governments, the deficit increases by about 0.1 percent of GDP.  

OR the following equation:

 

The math is hard, but idea is easy to understand... don't fun4k4n spend what you don't have. 
Or our children will pay the price for your stupidity.

Trillions power nuclear economics:

George Washington refer the Washington Post on nuclear power economics: 

Nuclear power is a viable source for cheap energy only if it goes uninsured. 

Governments that use nuclear energy are torn between the benefit of low-cost electricity and the risk of a nuclear catastrophe, which could total trillions of dollars and even bankrupt a country.

The bottom line is that it’s a gamble: Governments are hoping to dodge a one-off disaster while they accumulate small gains over the long-term.

The cost of a worst-case nuclear accident at a plant in Germany, for example, has been estimated to total as much as €7.6 trillion ($11 trillion), while the mandatory reactor insurance is only €2.5 billion.

“The €2.5 billion will be just enough to buy the stamps for the letters of condolence,” said Olav Hohmeyer, an economist at the University of Flensburg who is also a member of the German government’s environmental advisory body.

The situation in the U.S., Japan, China, France and other countries is similar.

In financial terms, nuclear incidents can be so devastating that the cost of full insurance would be so high as to make nuclear energy more expensive than fossil fuels.

Ultimately, the decision to keep insurance on nuclear plants to a minimum is a way of supporting the industry.

“Capping the insurance was a clear decision to provide a non-negligible subsidy to the technology,” Klaus Toepfer, a former German environment minister and longtime head of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), said.

As previously noted:

In 1982, the House Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs received a secret report received from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission called "Calculation of Reactor Accident Consequences 2".

***
In that report and other reports by the NRC in the 1980s, it was estimated that there was a 50% chance of a nuclear meltdown within the next 20 years which would be so large that it would contaminate an area the size of the State of Pennsylvania, which would result in huge numbers of a fatalities, and which would cause damage in the hundreds of billions of dollars (in 1980s dollars).

Preface: I am not against nuclear power, solely the unsafe type we have today.

Hazard Free, Bright and Affordable LED Light Bulbs

A new company, Switch Lighting, just introduced some new lights that look promising.  The San Jose-based company has what it calls “the brightest warm light LED replacement available,” according to a news release, and we’ve been able to get access to a couple photos of the 75W bulb.  The Cradle to Cradle bulbs — 40W, 60W, and 75W equivalents — have a self-cooling design that maximizes brightness and requires fewer LEDs.

The 75W equivalent has 1150 lumens, 16 watts, 2750 Kelvins, 85 CRI, and a 20,000 hour average life.  It’s dimmable and free of hazardous materials.  In fact, all lamp components are reusable or recyclable, allowing for some kind of non-landfill application at the end of life.

Similarly, the 60W equivalent has 830 lumens, 13 watts, 2750 Kelvins, 85 CRI, and a 20,000 hour average life.

All of these bulbs offer instant-on functionality with the popular A19 shape, but the price is really where it’s at.  I’ve been told the price of the 60W version may come in at $20, or half the price of the competition, with the 75W bulb at or near that price as well.

Read more from JetsonGreen

Finally - Honeywell Launches Gearless Wind Turbine

After many years of waiting ...The much-anticipated Honeywell Wind Turbine from WindTronics officially launches today, one day prior to Earth Day.  This is a small wind 1,500 watt turbine that we’ve mentioned extensively – here’s a video of one spinning.  The launch is supported by a global network of distributors, partners, and retailers ready to sell the unique turbine from a starting price of $5,795, plus installation. I say this is a starting price because it depends on the connector.  The Honeywell Wind Turbine can be connected to the grid (Power One Aurora Grid Tie Inverter option), a building (SmartBox option), or a battery (Direct DC option)

The turbine spins at 0.5 mph and generates energy at two mph of wind. Honeywell Wind Turbine is rated at 1,500 watts in 31 mph winds, according to WindTronics materials. In terms of noise, an important factor tied to location, the turbine has “negligible” vibration and makes about 35 db of noise at 10 feet. 

The WT6500 Wind Turbine can be used in either the residential or commercial context, subject to local zoning and permits if required. To help people learn whether small wind like this makes sense, WindTronics developed a tool to estimate local wind speeds, utility prices, and rebate programs, which is available online at WindKnowledge.com. 

Read more at JetSonGreen

deficiency between intent and action — the Green Gap

OgilvyEarth, a sustainability consultancy, studied the mainstream consumer and posted some fascinating research.  Specifically, 82% of Americans have good green intentions, while only 16% of Americans are firmly dedicated to fulfilling those green intentions — leaving 66% in the middle, the “Middle Green,” wanting to do more but not getting it done.  This deficiency between intent and action — the Green Gap — is explained with some firm solutions in a 131-page reported called Mainstream Green.

Get Going With Green: Presentation

Happy Earth Day!

Picken on pickens plan

I'm for any fuel, as long as it's American … including wind and solar, nuclear, natural gas, and coal.” Pickens is not the only billionaire pushing this crude on the unsuspecting public. Advertising, sports, media, and bison-burger mogul Ted Turner,... Full Article at AlterNet.org

Completion of the Department of Energy’s First Recovery Act-Funded Hydropower Project

Los Alamos County Completes Abiquiu Hydropower Project, Bringing New Clean Energy Resources to New Mexico
U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu issued the following statement on the completion and startup today of the Abiquiu Hydropower Project in New Mexico – the first hydropower project funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to be completed nationwide.

The project received a $4.5 million Recovery Act grant from the Department of Energy's (DOE's) Wind and Water Power Program, which was leveraged with $4.5 million from the private sector to fully fund the project. The low-flow turbine will increase renewable energy generation capacity by 22 %at the Abiquiu facility – from 13.8 megawatts to 16.8 megawatts. The new turbine will produce enough energy to power 1,100 homes annually and will supply clean energy to Los Alamos County, including DOE's Los Alamos National Laboratory. Hydropower projects at both new and existing facilities will play an important role in meeting President Obama's bold but ambitious goal of generating 80 % of America's electricity from clean energy sources by 2035.

Read more at EERE

It's about the water stupid

Water Changes Everything" by charity: water, a non-profit dedicated to bringing clean water to people in developing nations, outlines the terrible burden that scarce and unsafe water supplies place on the world's poorest populations, and the vast amount of good that could come from basic improvements in water supply and sanitation.

Unsafe water and lack of basic sanitation cause 80% of diseases and kill more people every year than all forms of violence, including war. Children are especially vulnerable, as their bodies aren't strong enough to fight diarrhea, dysentery and other illnesses.

90% of the 42,000 deaths that occur every week from unsafe water and unhygienic living conditions are to children under five years old. Many of these diseases are preventable. The UN predicts that one tenth of the global disease burden can be prevented simply by improving water supply and sanitation.

Is Sugar Toxic?

Gary Taubes in the NYTimes Magazine that evaluates claims from Dr. Robert Lustig's virally popular lecture on the negative effects of sugar on peoples' health. (YouTube video of the lecture.) Taubes discusses the science behind the claims and the odd willingness of people to accept Lustig's arguments without further inspection.

Quoting: "When I set out to interview public health authorities and researchers for this article, they would often initiate the interview with some variation of the comment 'surely you've spoken to Robert Lustig,' not because Lustig has done any of the key research on sugar himself, which he hasn't, but because he's willing to insist publicly and unambiguously, when most researchers are not, that sugar is a toxic substance that people abuse. In Lustig's view, sugar should be thought of, like cigarettes and alcohol, as something that's killing us. This brings us to the salient question: Can sugar possibly be as bad as Lustig says it is?" - SlashDot

Quick Regulatory Update

ACA's Transportation & Distribution Chairperson Testifies before House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
Testimony addressed the authority of PHMSA in the international arena which establishes the standards and requirements for the transport of dangerous goods, as well as the enhanced enforcement authority of the agency under the new "open and inspect" final rule. More

Safe Chemicals Act of 2011 Introduced in the Senate, ACA Issues Statement
The bill is strikingly similar to a version of the measure introduced in 2010 that would modernize of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), though it seems the 2011 version is even more exacting. More

ACA Representative Testifies on Extension of CFATS
While lawmakers in the House and Senate have proposed separate bills that would extend the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards, neither bill would require consideration of inherently safer technologies (IST). More

Federal Budget Deal Cuts EPA Budget by $1.6 Billion
The $1.6 billion cut to EPA's spending includes nearly $1 billion to its wastewater and drinking water infrastructure programs. More

House Committee Leaders Urge Withdrawal of IUR Rule
In February, ACA responded to the Obama Administration's outreach to the industry and their trade associations to identify regulatory impediments to business innovation and competitiveness. ACA specifically cited the draft final IUR as a dramatic departure from current practice as it expands the scope of the rule, requiring additional information on an increasingly broad array of chemical manufacturing activities. More

New Legislation to Ban Coal Tar-Based Coatings/Sealers for Driveways and Parking Lots
In general, it appears that companies are either moving away from or no longer utilizing coal tar in their driveway sealer products. More

Source: American Coatings Association -  MultiBrief Newsletter

Scale is everything to Hydrogen Powered cars...

Hydrogen Powered (RC) Car That Runs On Soda Can Rings
"A pair of Spanish engineers have recently unveiled the dAlH2Orean (see what they did there?), a R/C car that runs on aluminum. Dropping a few soda can tabs into a tank of sodium hydroxide produces enough hydrogen to power the little speedster for 40 minutes — at almost 20mph."

United States Debt Totals - Now imagine it gets worse

This is State NOT federal debt... 
#1 - Rhode Island: Debt 2010: $10.02 billion 
#2 - Massachusetts: Debt 2010: $79.06 billion
#3 - Alaska: Debt 2010: $6.76 billion
#4 - Connecticut: Debt 2010: $36.20 billion
#5 - Montana: Debt 2010: $5.54 billion
#6 - Vermont: Debt 2010: $4.14 billion
#7 - New Hampshire: Debt 2010: $8.36 billion
#8 - West Virginia: Debt 2010: $7.40 billion
#9 - New Jersey: Debt 2010: $57.18 billion
#10 - New Mexico: Debt 2010: $8.94 billion
#11 - Maine: Debt 2010: $5.30 billion
#12 - Delaware: Debt 2010: $6.47 billion
#13 - South Carolina: Debt 2010: $16.67 billion
#14 - Maryland: Debt 2010: $28.94 billion
#15 - Illinois: Debt 2010: $67.45 billion
#16 - Louisiana: Debt 2010: $18.69 billion
#17 - New York: Debt 2010: $123.04 billion
#18 - South Dakota: Debt 2010: $3.80 billion
#19 - Hawaii: Debt 2010: $6.18 billion
#20 - Pennsylvania: Debt 2010: $53.29 billion
#21 - Wisconsin: Debt 2010: $23.51 billion
#22 - Missouri: Debt 2010: $21.94 billion
#23 - Kentucky: Debt 2010: $14.25 billion
#24 - Indiana: Debt 2010: $23.39 billion
#25 - Washington: Debt 2010: $29.36 billion
#26 - Mississippi: Debt 2010: $7.43 billion
#27 - North Dakota: Debt 2010: $2.33 billion
#28 - Oklahoma: Debt 2010: $10.15 billion
#29 - Idaho: Debt 2010: $4.27 billion
#30 - Florida: Debt 2010: $55.88 billion
#31 - California: Debt 2010: $137.74 billion
#32 - Colorado: Debt 2010: $17.91 billion
#33 - Oregon: Debt 2010: $12.39 billion
#34 - Virginia: Debt 2010: $27.22 billion
#35 - Alabama: Debt 2010: $11.05 billion
#36 - Wyoming: Debt 2010: $1.69 billion
#37 - District of Columbia: Debt 2010: $5.72 billion
#38 - Ohio: Debt 2010: $29.44 billion
#39 - Iowa: Debt 2010: $8.38 billion
#40 - Utah: Debt 2010: $6.30 billion
#41 - North Carolina: Debt 2010: $23.35 billion
#42 - Kansas: Debt 2010: $6.25 billion

S&P delivers blow for US debt revised its US outlook to negative.

FT - Standard & Poor's issued a stark warning to Washington on Monday, cutting its outlook on US sovereign debt for the first time and throwing more fuel on the raging debate over America's swollen deficits.

The agency kept America's credit rating at triple A but, for the first time since it started rating US debt 70 years ago, cut its outlook from "stable" to "negative". 

A negative outlook means there is a one-third chance of a downgrade in the next two years.

S &P - We have affirmed our 'AAA/A-1+' sovereign credit rating on the United States of America.

• The economy of the U.S. is flexible and highly diversified, the country's effective monetary policies have supported output growth while containing inflationary pressures, and a consistent global preference for the U.S. dollar over all other currencies gives the country unique external liquidity.
• Because the U.S. has, relative to its 'AAA' peers, what we consider to be very large budget deficits and rising government indebtedness and the path to addressing these is not clear to us, we have revised our outlook on the long-term rating to negative from stable.
• We believe there is a material risk that U.S. policymakers might not reach an agreement on how to address medium- and long-term budgetary challenges by 2013; if an agreement is not reached and meaningful implementation does not begin by then, this would in our view render the U.S. fiscal profile meaningfully weaker than that of peer 'AAA' sovereigns.
  

On April 13, President Barack Obama laid out his Administration's medium-term fiscal consolidation plan, aimed at reducing the cumulative unified federal deficit by US$4 trillion in 12 years or less. A key component of the Administration's strategy is to work with Congressional leaders over the next two months to develop a commonly agreed upon program to reach this target. The President's proposals envision reducing the deficit via both spending cuts and revenue increases, and the adoption of a "debt failsafe" legislative mechanism that would trigger an across-the-board spending reduction if, by 2014, budget projections show that federal debt to GDP has not yet stabilized and is not expected to decline in the second half of the current decade.
Read all about it

Committee Democrats Release New Report Detailing Hydraulic Fracturing Products

The Hydraulic Fracturing Report contains the first comprehensive national inventory of chemicals used by hydraulic fracturing companies during the drilling process. 

From the report...
"With our river ways and drinking water at stake, it's an absolute necessity that the American public knows what is in these fracking chemicals," said Rep. Markey.  "This report is the most comprehensive look yet at the composition of the chemicals used in the fracking process, and should help the industry, the government, and the American public push for a safer way to extract natural gas."
 
"It is deeply disturbing to discover the content and quantity of toxic chemicals, like benzene and lead, being injected into the ground without the knowledge of the communities whose health could be affected," said Rep. DeGette. "Of particular concern to me is that we learned that over the four-year period studied, over one and a half million gallons of carcinogens were injected into the ground in Colorado. Many companies were also unable to even identify some of the chemicals they were using in their own activities, unfortunately underscoring that voluntary industry disclosure is not enough to ensure the economic benefits of natural gas production do not come at the cost of our families' health."
 
During the last Congress, the Committee launched an investigation into the practice of hydraulic fracturing in the United States, asking the leading oil and gas service companies to disclose information on the products used in this process between 2005 and 2009. 
 
The Democratic Committee staff analyzed the data provided by the companies about their practices, finding that:

•  The 14 leading oil and gas service companies used more than 780 million gallons of hydraulic fracturing products, not including water added at the well site. Overall, the companies used more than 2,500 hydraulic fracturing products containing 750 different chemicals and other components.
•  The components used in the hydraulic fracturing products ranged from generally harmless and common substances, such as salt and citric acid, to extremely toxic substances, such as benzene and lead. Some companies even used instant coffee and walnut hulls in their fracturing fluids.
•  Between 2005 and 2009, the oil and gas service companies used hydraulic fracturing products containing 29 chemicals that are known or possible human carcinogens, regulated under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) for their risks to human health, or listed as hazardous air pollutants under the Clean Air Act.
•  The BTEX compounds – benzene, toluene, xylene, and ethylbenzene – are SDWA contaminants and hazardous air pollutants. Benzene also is a known human carcinogen. The hydraulic fracturing companies injected 11.4 million gallons of products containing at least one BTEX chemical over the five-year period.
•  Methanol, which was used in 342 hydraulic fracturing products, was the most widely used chemical between 2005 and 2009. The substance is a hazardous air pollutant and is on the candidate list for potential regulation under SDWA. Isopropyl alcohol, 2-butoxyethanol, and ethylene glycol were the other most widely used chemicals.
• Many of the hydraulic fracturing fluids contain chemical components that are listed as "proprietary" or "trade secret." The companies used 94 million gallons of 279 products that contained at least one chemical or component that the manufacturers deemed proprietary or a trade secret. In many instances, the oil and gas service companies were unable to identify these "proprietary" chemicals, suggesting that the companies are injecting fluids containing chemicals that they themselves cannot identify.

Please read full at energycommerce.house.gov

Germany to close all nuclear plants

Germany is speeding up plans to close all of its nuclear reactors as criticism over the government's nuclear plans has grown since the Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster in Japan.

Chancellor Angela Merkel invited the 16 German state premiers to the capital Berlin to discuss the country's energy policy, a Press TV correspondent in Berlin reported Friday.

"We plan to phase out our nuclear energy and go for renewable energy," Merkel said to the premiers.
Germany has shut down eight of its oldest nuclear reactors for a 90-day security assessment after the March 11 earthquake in Japan brought about the massive nuclear crisis in the Asian country.

Germany's upper house, dominated by the opposition Social Democrats, called for the immediate closure of the eight reactors.

The latest polls indicate that 76 percent of Germans prefer all 17 nuclear reactors in the country to be decommissioned.

Nuclear power accounts for about a quarter of Germany's energy supply.

Read full here

iPad eliminating thousands of American jobs.

"on an anti-technology rant on Friday on the floor of Congress, blaming the iPad for eliminating thousands of American jobs. '
Why do you need to go to Borders anymore?' asked Jackson.
'Why do you need to go to Barnes & Noble?

Buy an iPad, download your book, download your newspaper, download your magazine.'

'What becomes of publishing companies and publishing company jobs?
And what becomes of bookstores and librarians and all of the jobs associated with paper?
Well, in the not too distant future, such jobs simply will not exist.
Steve Jobs is doing pretty well. He's created the iPad.
Certainly, it has made life more efficient for Americans, but the iPad is produced in China.
 
It is not produced here in the United States."

 
Big U.S. Firms Shift Millions of Jobs and Billion$$$ AbroadU.S. multinational corporations, the big brand-name companies that employ a fifth of all American workers, have been hiring abroad while cutting back at home, sharpening the debate over globalization's effect on the U.S. economy. 
The companies cut their work forces in the U.S. by 2.9 million during the 2000s while increasing employment overseas by 2.4 million, new data from the U.S. Commerce Department show. That's a big switch from the 1990s, when they added jobs everywhere: 4.4 million in the U.S. and 2.7 million abroad. In all, U.S. multinationals employed 21.1 million people at home in 2009 and 10.3 million elsewhere, including increasing numbers of higher-skilled foreign workers.

Endangered sea turtles dying in high numbers along Mississippi Gulf shore

MSN - Mario Tama / Getty Images

A dead sea turtle is carried out of the surf by Donald Tillman April 14, in Waveland, Mississippi. Local turtle activists Donald and Shirley Tillman say they have discovered 19 dead sea turtles in Mississippi in the month of April alone and suspect they are dying due to the effects of the BP oil spill. Endangered sea turtles and dolphins are still dying in high numbers in Mississippi, which continues to be impacted by tar balls and weathered oil. There have been 67 reported sea turtle deaths through April 11. April 20th marks the one-year anniversary of the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history.

U.S. Increases Military Spending $700 billion, after cutting social programs

WTF - Clinic touts smoking as cure cancer, autism and emphysema

Indonesia's Griya Balur Clinic touts smoking as cure for cancer ...

As smokers grow six-fold in 40 years in Indonesia
Griya Balur would be shut down in many parts of the world, but not in Indonesia, one of the developing-country new frontiers for big tobacco as it seeks to replace its dwindling profits in the health-conscious West.

Long traditions of tobacco use combined with poor regulation and the billions of dollars that flow into government coffers from the tobacco industry mean places like Griya Balur go unchallenged.
Read full here

Seriously folks, Indonesia where:
Economic Costs Attributable to Tobacco*
Indonesia: $842,000,000
Percent of Youth in Homes with Smokers
Indonesia: 66.8
Percent of Males Who Smoke Cigarettes
Indonesia: 62.1
Size of Health Warnings on Cigarettes
Indonesia: 0

A $Trillion Dollar Hole with Burden Shift on World's Poorest Countries...

The global economy lost a staggering amount due to tobacco use.  These economic costs come as a result of lost productivity, misused resources, missed opportunities for taxation, and premature death.

• Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death, taking 5 million life's each year.
• Smoking-related fires are also the leading cause of fire related deaths,
• One survey found that 60% of Chinese adults did not know that smoking can cause lung cancer while 96% were unaware it can cause heart disease.
• At least a quarter of all deaths from heart diseases and about three-quarters of world's chronic bronchitis are related to smoking.
• Smoking-related diseases cost the United States more than $150 billion a year.
• 46 million Americans (20.6 percent) are current cigarette smokers are costing the nation $96 billion in health care costs annually.
• Because 25 percent of smokers die and many more become ill during their most productive years, income loss devastates families and communities.
• Cigarettes are the world's most widely smuggled legal consumer product. In 2006, about 600 billion smuggled cigarettes made it to the market, representing an enormous missed tax opportunity for governments, as well as a missed opportunity to prevent many people from starting to smoke and encourage others to quit.
• Tobacco replaces potential food production on almost 4 million hectares of the world's agricultural land, equal to all of the world's orange groves or banana plantations.
• In developing countries, smokers spend disproportionate sums of money relative to their incomes that could otherwise be spent on food, healthcare, and other necessities.

In related FAIL: a two-year-old boy is a chain smoker parents ca$h in.

Man who help "redistribute" 100'$ of billions of dollars from taxpayers into the pockets of wallstreet runs for the hills..

Warm fuzzy movie starting co-creator of TARP program who escaped off grid.. 
Off-Grid News George Clooney's next Directing gig may be a based-on-a-true-story about a former Treasury Department official Neel Kashkari , who leaves Wall Street to live off the grid in Northern California.  He moves into a cabin in Nevada County with his wife, living an outdoor life, and says things like "All this is bigger than $700 billion."

"The $700 Billion Man" in the Washington Post by Laura Blumenfeld about Kashkari, who went from the stress of literally running TARP Washington to a cabin in Nevada County's Grass Valley.

"I wasn't prepared for their hostility," Kashkari told the Post.  By then he had disbursed more than $400 billion, invested in 540 banks, implemented a $50 billion foreclosure prevention plan. He also made People magazine's "Sexiest Men Alive" issue.

See SlideShow of the "$700Billion Dollar Mans Retreat Here" and how is is now living in a dream environment for many of our readers.

Global Food Crisis "Top Ten" Problems

There are about 3 billion people around the globe that live on the equivalent of 2 dollars a day or less and the world was already on the verge of economic disaster before this year even began.

1. Due to U.S. ethanol subsidies, almost a third of all corn grown in the United States is now used for fuel.  This is putting a lot of stress on the price of corn.
2. According to the United Nations, the global price of food reached a new all-time high in February.
3. According to the World Bank, the global price of food has risen 36% over the past 12 months.
4. The commodity price of wheat has approximately doubled since last summer.
5. The commodity price of corn has also about doubled since last summer.
6. The commodity price of soybeans is up about 50% since last June.
7. The commodity price of orange juice has doubled since 2009.
8. Due to a lack of water, some countries in the Middle East find themselves forced to almost totally rely on other nations for basic food staples.  For example, it is being projected that there will be no more wheat production in Saudi Arabia by the year 2012.
9. Water tables all over the globe are being depleted at an alarming rate due to "overpumping".  According to the World Bank, there are 130 million people in China and 175 million people in India that are being fed with grain with water that is being pumped out of aquifers faster than it can be replaced. 
   
10. In the United States, the systematic depletion of the Ogallala Aquifer could eventually turn "America's Breadbasket" back into the "Dust Bowl".

So what happens to these nations economy once that water is gone?

*(not so) Cute picture included in 2011 clause

The Gulf Oil Spill Is NOT Old News

Wall Street Journal notes today: "The BP oil spill has caused far more serious impact on the environment than the Fukushima accident" ....the number of dolphins and whales killed by the spill appears to be many times higher than officials previously believed. Dead turtles are washing up in Mississippi.

U.S. Meat Widely Contaminated with Drug-Resistant Bacteria

Los Angeles Times - Meat in the U.S. may be widely contaminated with strains of drug-resistant bacteria, researchers reported Friday after testing 136 samples of beef, chicken, pork and turkey purchased at grocery stores.

Nearly half of the samples — 47% — contained strains of Staphylococcus aureus, the type of bacteria that most commonly causes staph infections. Of those bacteria, 52% were resistant to at least three classes of antibiotics, according to a study published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases.

DNA testing suggested the animals were the source of contamination. Environmental health scientist Lance Price, the study's leader, said the animals most likely harbored these drug-resistant pathogens because antibiotics routinely are fed to livestock to promote growth and prevent disease in crowded pens on large farms.

"These findings really point to serious problems with the way food animals are raised in the U.S. today,"

The End of the Space Age, Speed and Prosperity

Wall Street Journal that laments the state of man's quest of aerial speed: we're going backwards
With the end of the Space Shuttle program, man is losing its fastest carrier of human beings.
'The shuttles' retirement follows the grounding over recent years of other ultra-fast people carriers, including the supersonic Concorde and the speedier SR-71 Blackbird spy plane.
With nothing ready to replace them, our species is decelerating—perhaps for the first time in history,' the article notes. Astronauts are interviewed, and their sadness and disappointment is apparent. In the '60s and '70s, it was assumed that Mach 2+ airline travel would one day be cheap and commonplace.
And now it seems that we, and our children, will fly no faster than our grandparents did in 707s." /.

HAASE - Maybe with all of our problems we should be focusing our problems on saving ourselves instead of spreading our issues around the universe.

Is there intelligent life among the stars?
I hope so, lets try to find some here first ;-)

Ohhh my... Mysterious Cosmic Blast Keeps on Going

Astronomers have witnessed a cosmic explosion so strange they don't even know what to call it.
Gas from the star falling into the black hole could have triggered the gravitational monster to emit a jet of X-rays and gamma rays that by chance happens to point directly at Earth.   - Wired

GE venture buys into ultracapacitor storage

CNET-  Ultracapacitor maker Ioxus today said it has raised $21 million from a handful of large industrial companies, a vote of confidence in this relatively young energy-storage technology.

The lead investor was Energy Technology Ventures, a joint venture of General Electric, utility NRG Energy, and fuel company ConocoPhillips. Another investment group involved was Aster Capital, which represents transportation and power companies Alstom, Schneider Electric, and Rhodia.

Like batteries, ultracapacitors store energy but they have different properties that make them well suited for certain applications, such as powering motors for electric windows in a car or to adjust the pitch of wind turbine blades.

Ultracapacitors can discharge a lot of power in quick bursts, but can't store as much overall energy as batteries. They also can be charged very quickly and last for many charge cycles. Improvements in performance and more familiarity among industrial designers are nudging the technology into different areas...

Read on at CNET

U.S. Coal exports to China $2.4 Bil expected to jump 70% in 2011

(Reuters) - Coal exports from the United States are expected to jump 70 percent in 2011 because of a supply squeeze in Asia-Pacific, while a weak dollar has made U.S. cargoes more attractive, top U.S. coal exporter Xcoal Energy & Resources said.

Total coal exports to Asia from the U.S. are expected to reach 20.1 million tonnes this year after impressive growth of 250 percent in 2010 over 2009, Xcoal Chief Executive Ernie Thrasher told an industry conference in Beijing on Tuesday.

As China's thermal coal prices rose to a three-month high of 790 yuan ($120.92) per tonne

EIA - Total U.S. coal exports for 2009 were 59.1 million short tons, about the same level as in 2007 and a decrease of 22.4 million short tons from the 2008 level, or 27.5 percent.

Want to save the U.S. economy?
Stop wasting your coal and sell it...2011 Exports could be over 7 Billion in income for U.S.

Economic Survival vs. Economic Security

The "poverty line" is an income, set by the federal government, used to measure whether one is in or out of poverty.  But this line, of course, is both sociological and political.  What is poverty in the U.S?

NY Tomes - .. we've all seen how often we have emergencies that we are unprepared for," especially during the recession. Layoffs or other health crises "can definitely begin to draw us into poverty."

According to the report, a single worker needs an income of $30,012 a year — or just above $14 an hour — to cover basic expenses and save for retirement and emergencies. That is close to three times the 2010 national poverty level of $10,830 for a single person, and nearly twice the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour.

A single worker with two young children needs an annual income of $57,756, or just over $27 an hour, to attain economic stability, and a family with two working parents and two young children needs to earn $67,920 a year, or about $16 an hour per worker.

That compares with the national poverty level of $22,050 for a family of four. The most recent data from the Census Bureau found that 14.3 percent of Americans were living below the poverty line in 2009.

Wider Opportunities and its consulting partners saw a need for an index that would indicate how much families need to earn if, for example, they want to save for their children's college education or for a down payment on a home.

"It's an index that asks how can a family have a little grasp at the middle class,"

View more at source socimages

UN document would give 'Mother Earth' same rights as humans???

UNITED NATIONS — Bolivia will this month table a draft United Nations treaty giving "Mother Earth" the same rights as humans — having just passed a domestic law that does the same for bugs, trees and all other natural things in the South American country.

The bid aims to have the UN recognize the Earth as a living entity that humans have sought to "dominate and exploit" — to the point that the "well-being and existence of many beings" is now threatened.

The wording may yet evolve, but the general structure is meant to mirror Bolivia's Law of the Rights of Mother Earth, which Bolivian President Evo Morales enacted in January.

That document speaks of the country's natural resources as "blessings," and grants the Earth a series of specific rights that include rights to life, water and clean air; the right to repair livelihoods affected by human activities; and the right to be free from pollution.

It also establishes a Ministry of Mother Earth, and provides the planet with an ombudsman whose job is to hear nature's complaints as voiced by activist and other groups, including the state.

"If you want to have balance, and you think that the only (entities) who have rights are humans or companies, then how can you reach balance?" Pablo Salon, Bolivia's ambassador to the UN, told Postmedia News. "But if you recognize that nature too has rights, and (if you provide) legal forms to protect and preserve those rights, then you can achieve balance."

The application of the law appears destined to pose new challenges for companies operating in the country, which is rich in natural resources, including natural gas and lithium, but remains one of the poorest in Latin America.

But while Salon said his country just seeks to achieve "harmony" with nature, he signalled that mining and other companies may come under greater scrutiny.

"We're not saying, for example, you cannot eat meat because you know you are going to go against the rights of a cow," he said. "But when human activity develops at a certain scale that you (cause to) disappear a species, then you are really altering the vital cycles of nature or of Mother Earth. Of course, you need a mine to extract iron or zinc, but there are limits."

Bolivia is a country with a large indigenous population, whose traditional belief systems took on greater resonance following the election of Morales, Latin America's first indigenous president.

In a 2008 pamphlet his entourage distributed at the UN as he attended a summit there, 10 "commandments" are set out as Bolivia's plan to "save the planet" — beginning with the need "to end capitalism."

Read full at Vancouver Sun

If Al Gore Can Outgrow the Ethanol Fad, Why Can’t Conservatives?

The Senate is expected to vote on S. 520, a bill to repeal the 45 cents per gallon volumetric ethanol excise tax credit (VEETC).

 The bill is co-sponsored by Sens. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) and Benjamin Cardin (D-Md.). Sens. Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Jim Webb (D-Va.) have also introduced S. 530, which would limit the VEETC to "advanced biofuels," thus ending the subsidy for conventional corn ethanol. S. 530 would also scale back the 54 cents per gallon ethanol import tariff commensurately with the reduction in the tax credit. 

The VEETC adds about $6 billion annually to the federal deficit. Unlike many other tax credits that reduce a household's or a business's tax liability, the VEETC is a "refundable" tax credit. That means the VEETC is literally paid for out of the U.S. general fund with checks written by the Treasury Department. The protective tariff, for its part, prevents lower-priced Brazilian ethanol from competing in U.S. markets. It increases the price of motor fuel at the pump. 

Now, you would think supporting S. 520 and S. 530 would be a no-brainer for conservative lawmakers. But some are reportedly getting cold feet. To remind them of their duty to put the general interest of consumers and taxpayers ahead of the special interest of King Corn, I offer the following observations.

Should taxpayers have to subsidize ethanol too?

The Ethanol Troika – RFS, VEETC, Protective Tariff – increases consumers' pain at the pump. Because the supply of ethanol, ramped up by the Troika, exceeds demand, ethanol today is cheaper than gasoline by volume. However, ethanol has one-third less energy than an equivalent volume of gasoline. Thus, consumers have to spend more for ethanol than gasoline to drive the same number of miles.

The American Automobile Association's Daily Fuel Gauge Report makes this crystal clear by publishing the mileage-adjusted price of E-85 (motor fuel blended with 85% ethanol)... on Fuel Economy Information on Flexible Fuel Vehicles, and then Go to a page comparing how much an average consumer would have to spend annually to fill up each of more than 100 flex-fuel vehicles with regular gasoline and E-85. In every case, the consumer pays about $40-$70 more to fill up with E-85. Only a few months ago, when gasoline prices were lower, E-85 customers had to spend $200-$300 more per year.

Obvious question for conservative lawmakers: If ethanol is such a great bargain for consumers, why do we need a law to make us buy it?

Read more from GlobalWarming.org

Bail out FAIL - The Deal to Sell GM to China

General Motors' Chinese partner, Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC) will take a controlling stake in GM by purchasing the equity sold to the U.S. and Canadian governments during the bailout.

"Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC) and General Motors (NYSE: GM) are announcing today that an agreement has been reached with the governments of the United States and Canada that will allow SAIC to purchase the shares of GM owned by the respective governments.

The sale is expected to be completed by this time next year pending approval from U.S., Canadian and Chinese government regulators." - Read full at MotorTrend