U.S. Emissions dropped a startling 9% since 2007

Since 2007, emissions in the United States have dropped a startling 9%, ending an entire century of rising emissions. And while many will be quick to point to the recession and high gas prices as the main cause for the flagging emissions, other factors, like increased energy efficiency and much more power coming from renewable sources, have played a role as well.

Consider: last year, oil usage fell 5%. Coal usage fell 1% (a relatively big deal, considering more than half the nation gets its power from coal). And overall carbon emissions fell 3%.

H/T EPA-Hugger

EPA - Waste Reduction and Recycling Can Cut CO2 by 345 Million Tons Year

A new study by the EPA (pdf) shows that, if you consider the whole life-cycle, a huge chunk of greenhouse gas emissions (42%) are caused by the way people in the US "procure, produce, deliver and dispose of goods and services".

It concludes that waste reduction and recycling are very powerful tools to reduce CO2 emissions: According to the report's projections, if we were to reduce packaging in general by 50%, reduce non-packaging paper products by 50%, extend the life of computers by 25%, increase recycling of construction and demolition debris to 50%, and increase solid municipal waste composting and recycling to 50%, we could cut US CO2 emissions by about 354 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MMTCO2E). Each year.

Read the full story from a Hugger

Short video explains carbon offsets... are a big C.R.O.C.

Many living in 'the great glutenous energy binge lifestyle' have a hard time facing their own conscience after decades of using up enough resources for 1,000's and want to 'offset guilt' or infer to others they are... in this quest for reversal of self loathing, brilliant marketing researchers developed a program for energy and environmental abusers called 'carbon offsets'. This video personifies the benefit to society and environment ;-)

Waste into fuel - One man many plans

Alexis Belonio received a Rolex Award for Enterprise for a rice-husk-burning stove he designed. Belonio's stove is not complicated, either mechanically or conceptually: A columnar metal burner with the addition of a small intake fan at the base to tip the stoichiometry of combustion towards oxidation, giving a blue, clean, efficient flame that leaves little or no residue... more efficient use of rice husk biomass and greatly reduced pollution from the many rice-husk burners in use today. - Read more from MAKE

Steven Chu: Americans Are Like ‘Teenage Kids’ When It Comes to Energy

VIA Wall Street Journal Environmental Capital Blog

When it comes to greenhouse-gas emissions, Energy Secretary Steven Chu sees Americans as unruly teenagers and the Administration as the parent that will have to teach them a few lessons.

Energy Secretary Chu: A teaching moment (AP)

Speaking on the sidelines of a smart grid conference in Washington, Dr. Chu said he didn't think average folks had the know-how or will to to change their behavior enough to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions.

"The American public…just like your teenage kids, aren't acting in a way that they should act," Dr. Chu said. "The American public has to really understand in their core how important this issue is." (In that case, the Energy Department has a few renegade teens of its own.)

....Still, Secretary Chu said he didn't think that the public would throw the same political temper tantrum over climate legislation has has happened with the healthcare debate.

Asked if he expected a town-hall style pushback, Dr. Chu said he was optimistic the public would buy the administration's arguments that energy efficiency and caps on greenhouse-gas emissions will spark an economic rebound.

"I don't think so…maybe I'm optimistic, but there's very little debate" that a new green energy economy will bring economic prosperity, Mr. Chu told reporters.

Please read full with update at WSJ - Environmental Capital Blog

EPA Finds Huge Opportunity to Reduce Emissions Through Materials and Land Management Practices

US GHG emissions allocated to systems, and by materials and land management. The Land Sink, represented by the outer ring, offset the equivalent of 13% of total US anthropogenic emissions in 2006. The entire pie chart represents total US emissions in 2006; the inner portion of the pie chart represents net emissions. Greenfield development emissions are not included in the Inventory of US Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks, and are therefore depicted outside of the pie chart. Source: EPA. Click to enlarge.

GreenCarCongress - There is great potential to reduce US greenhouse gas emissions through materials and land management practices such as recycling, waste reduction, smart growth, and by reusing formerly contaminated sites including brownfields, according to a new report by the US Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response (OSWER).

The report uses a systems-based analysis—where each system represents and comprises all the parts of the economy working to fulfill a particular need—rather than the sector-based view consistent with international guidance that enables parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to compare the relative contribution of different emission sources and GHGs to climate change.

Based on this approach, the report finds that 42% of US greenhouse gas emissions are influenced by materials management policies. This includes the impacts from extracting raw materials, food processing, and manufacturing, transporting, and disposing of products. Another 16 to 20% of emissions are associated with land management policies. That includes emissions from passenger transportation, which represent the bulk of emissions in the land management system; construction; and from lost vegetation when greenfields are cleared for development.

In addition, the equivalent of 13% of US emissions is absorbed by soil and vegetation and can also be protected or enhanced through land management policies.

How we manage our materials and land—two of OSWER's three core areas—has a significant impact on US GHG emissions and sinks. People produce GHG emissions through a wide array of activities and across multiple locations, including the goods and services we consume, the homes in which we live, the buildings where we work, the transportation of ourselves and our goods from place to place, and the materials we discard. Meanwhile, energy consumption, materials use, municipal waste generation, and land development rates have all outpaced population growth over the last several decades in the United States, contributing to the impact of these activities. There are significant opportunities to reduce or avoid GHG emissions by improving our nation's materials and land management practices; these approaches complement and support end-of-pipe controls, sector-based and other mitigation strategies.

—"Opportunities to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions through Materials and Land Management Practices"

Continue reading at GreenCarCongress

EPA Report Opportunities to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions through Materials and Land Management Practices

Wisconsin Clean Water Message for China

Wisconsin's leaders have been independently touring China to talk about the economics of water engineering... cited that country's massive need for fresh water as he touted the potential to export water technology from Milwaukee-area companies.

"At every level, from the national and provincial level, we have had good discussions on the potential for water technology,"

"Only 40% of the water in China is usable. They have a huge need to clean water and use water efficiently and return water safely back into their waterways."

By coincidence.... Doyle was in China at the same time that A.O. Smith finalized its $77 million acquisition of Tianlong Holding Co. Ltd., which the Milwaukee company calls "the leading residential and commercial water purification company" in the world's most populous nation.

Doyle met Monday with the mayor of Shanghai and "spoke to him specifically about water."

Read full from JSonline

WI - Kohls deemed greenest retailer in the U.S.

Kohl's Corp. is the greenest retailer in the U.S. according to Newsweek magazine's new rankings published this week. The Menomonee Falls-based department store chain was ranked as the 18th most environmentally sensitive company in the country. Kohl's was cited for its solar power program, which is the largest of any retailer globally; and for pursuing green building certification.  read full at JSonline

Foodsafety.gov, federal government's new comprehensive resource for food safety.

Foodsafety.gov is self-dubbed as "your gateway to federal food safety information." The website is divided in to five self-explanatory sections: keep food safe, food poisoning, inspections and compliance, news and events, and multimedia and educational materials. Though the latter three sections are likely to be viewed for research purposes (or severe boredom at the office), the guides on how to keep food safe and what to do in cases of potential food poisoning are both informative and practical.

The "Keep food safe" section provides information on the all-important question, "Do you think that's still good?" Here readers can find up to date information on food recalls and alerts, basic food preparation and cooking guides, and food safety charts. It also provides information for specific groups of people, including pregnant women and those with chronic diseases, food safety in an emergency, and food safety tips by events and seasons (as in "Do you think that fruitcake is still good?").

Interestingly, the site does not advise people to seek medical attention in case of illness or food poisoning until after it provides information on how to report a problem. A piece of advice: if sick with a potential foodborne illness, seek medical attention before contacting the government.

Thanks to a handy foodsafety.gov widget, you can also turn your own website into a food safety mecca. Just download the widget full of food safety alerts and tips.

Foodsafety.gov is a comprehensive, informative food safety website. However, as with many government informational websites, there comes a point when one wonders if the government has lost all confidence in people's ability to use common sense. Case in point: for "Clean Hands Week," the website is featuring a segment on "how to wash your hands right." Also, an FDA link from foodsafety.gov advises "Never taste food to determine its safety!"... unless, of course, one wants to test the validity of the theory of natural selection.

Read full from source OhMyGov

E. Coli Can Be Used To Clean Up Nuclear Waste

"Researchers have found that E. coli can be used to recover uranium from tainted waters and can even be used to clean up nuclear waste. Using the bacteria along with inositol phosphate, the bacteria breaks down the phosphate — also called phytic acid — to free the phosphate molecules. The phosphate then binds to the uranium forming a uranium-phosphate precipitate on the cells of the bacteria. Those cells can then be harvested to recover the uranium."

What has made this 14-year-old process economically feasible is the use of inositol phosphate, which is a cheap waste material from the production feedstock from plant material.- Read full from Slashdot

U.S. Tax Breaks Subsidize Foreign Oil Production

Source: via - DocUticker

The largest U.S subsidies to fossil fuels are attributed to tax breaks that aid foreign oil production, according to research to be released on Friday by the Environmental Law Institute ... reviewed fossil fuel and energy subsidies for Fiscal Years 2002-2008, reveals that the lion's share of energy subsidies supported energy sources that emit high levels of greenhouse gases.

The research demonstrates that the federal government provided substantially larger subsidies to fossil fuels than to renewables. Fossil fuels benefited from approximately $72 billion over the seven-year period, while subsidies for renewable fuels totaled only $29 billion. More than half the subsidies for renewables—$16.8 billion—are attributable to corn-based ethanol, the climate effects of which are hotly disputed. Of the fossil fuel subsidies, $70.2 billion went to traditional sources—such as coal and oil...

"The combination of subsidies—or 'perverse incentives'— to develop fossil fuel energy sources, and a lack of sufficient incentives to develop renewable energy and promote energy efficiency, distorts energy policy in ways that have helped cause, and continue to exacerbate, our climate change problem," notes ELI Senior Attorney John Pendergrass. "With climate change and energy legislation pending on Capitol Hill, our research suggests that more attention needs to be given to the existing perverse incentives for 'dirty' fuels in the U.S. Tax Code."

The Foreign Tax Credit applies to the overseas production of oil through an obscure provision of the U.S. Tax Code, which allows energy companies to claim a tax credit for payments that would normally receive less-beneficial treatment under the tax code. Full Report (PDF)

Finalized EPA greenhouse gas reporting rule update

EPA's draft proposal (pdf) released in March would cover about 13,000 facilities from all sectors of the economy that account for 85 to 90 percent of U.S. emissions.

The proposal would require reporting from facilities with direct emissions equivalent to 25,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions per year or more -- a level EPA said would spare the "vast majority" of small businesses.

Industry data collection under the draft rule would begin in January 2010, with the first reports due to EPA in March 2011.

During EPA's public comment period on the proposal, a wide range of environmental and industry groups weighed in on the draft rule. Many environmental groups welcomed the proposal, saying it would establish a critical foundation for national policies to curb climate change (E&ENews PM, April 6).

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has pressed EPA to revise the proposal to allow companies to challenge the reliability of emissions data that would be made public under the rule (E&ENews PM, June 8).

Click here (pdf) to read the draft rule released in March. Read full from NewYorkTimes

Freedom from foreign oil might be a mirage

It doesn't matter whether you're Sarah Palin or Barack Obama, your preferred energy policy is hostage to OPEC's pricing power. Lots of Americans tend to sneer at OPEC and its members. However, they have effectively outmaneuvered U.S. politicians, from both parties, and policymakers for more than 30 years. ...there is also a darker side to falling oil prices.

The key for OPEC has been keeping the price of oil at a level that produces healthy profits, while discouraging investment in any kind of alternative from coal to lithium-ion batteries. A few shrewd traders in London and New York did managed to make some handsome profits during the 2007-2008 oil shock. But most of the profits wound up in Saudi Arabia or somewhere else like Venezuela. The Russians, the biggest producers outside OPEC, say nothing because they benefit from the same policies.

In fact, one of the key reasons Detroit's automakers are in shambles is the boom and bust in oil prices that effectively made it extremely difficult to prepare for an alternative future. Detroit's carmakers tried for a time during the 1980s and early 1990s. But — foolishly — they eventually gave up, having been seduced by the notion the world is awash in cheap oil. Of course, it wasn't. Inflated union contracts didn't cripple Detroit but shortsighted energy policies did and the same thing could happen again unless the U.S. as a nation adopts a more rational approach to energy policy.

I don't know if we've reached "Peak Oil" but the discussion is probably irrelevant. The larger fact is the U.S. economy will continue to face serious difficulties unless it finds a way around the OPEC blockade. Market economics, subsidies, tax credits and incentives and looser or tighter regulation all have proven irrelevant over the last three decades in tipping the energy balance.

Read full from Oakland Press

DOE awards $1 billion to domestic renewable energy production companies

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and Energy Secretary Steven Chu hosted a group of clean energy developers and manufacturers at the White House...announced $550 million in new awards through the Recovery Act's 1603 program, bringing the total to more than $1 billion awarded to date to companies committed to investing in domestic renewable energy production.

Said Secretary Chu: "These investments are crucial to ensuring America can compete and win in the race for the clean energy jobs of the future. With American workers and American innovation, we can and must lead the world when it comes to the new Industrial Revolution in clean energy."

Full story here at EERE News

Details of Australian aquifer geothermal project

"In Australia, there's a lot of money going to solar projects, carbon capture and storage and wind," he said. "And while we don't want to bag on any of our competitors, they are not base load renewables. They are intermittent technologies."

Greenearth Energy seeks government funding to move forward with demonstration stage of 140 MW project.

He said geothermal plants have the ability to produce emissions-free, base load renewable energy.

Most of the world's geothermal power comes from volcanic systems, or hydrothermal systems. But Australia does not have any active volcanoes.

Instead, Australia has aquifers—bodies of rock that exist deep in the earth, which are porous, sedimentary and contain water that's being heated by the earth's core. Greenearth's demonstration plant is expected to use a hot sedimentary aquifer geothermal reservoir.

The water within the aquifers at Geelong is about 180 degrees Celsius and about 170 degrees Celsius when brought to the surface. From there, it could be used to drive a binary geothermal power station, Miller said. "We specifically target areas where these aquifer systems exist at depth," he said. Read full Via - CleanTech


Or look here for more information about geothermal projects in Australia ;-)

Are we investing our future in 'hope or science' Fusion or Futile...

M. Simon has a concise article published in this months ECN Magazine discussing the path and future of fusion.

Like all evolving energy sectors, fusion has its 'billion dollar' problems and idealistic vision projects... but Simon directs readers to the number of low cost experiments going on that could get us to viable fusion in two to ten years. Including his favorite Polywell Fusion which is funded by the US Navy.

And another approachs that claim to make electricity for less than 1/2 cent a KWh.

Why do we need to keep 'the dream of fusion alive and well funded'?
Unlike fission, there is no limit on the amount of the fusion that can occur... and when we have given up hope on harnessing limitless energy we have given up hope on a limitless future. See full at ECN Magazine

Australia's largest export - Carbon... it's a little dirty downunder

Australia is the world's largest coal exporter and was the fifth largest LNG exporter in 2007

Coal is Australia's largest hydrocarbon export earner, followed by crude oil and LNG. Hydrocarbon exports accounted for 18 percent of total export revenues in the June 2007-June 2008 period.Australia has significant petroleum, natural gas and coal reserves and is one of the few countries belonging to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) that is a significant net hydrocarbon exporter, exporting about two-thirds of its total energy production.

Australia is the world's largest coal exporter and the fifth largest exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in 2007, after Qatar, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Algeria. Australia's prospects for expanding these energy exports in the future are promising as Asian demand for both coal and LNG is rising.

While Australia also exports crude oil and refined petroleum products, it is a net importer of oil. (EIA)

After reports state that Australia has overtaken the US as biggest polluter...Austalia's contribution to global carbon emissions are overall low but the 'hidden' carbon emissions they export may be one of the worlds largest carbon sources.

"Australia has about five times the per capita emissions of China for instance but China produces over 20 times the carbon emissions of Australia because China has such a huge population," University of Adelaide professor Barry Brook told public broadcaster ABC.

"We are only a nation of 20-odd million people, if any country is going to do anything about climate change for the world it has got to be places like the U.S., Europe and China," said Craig James, an economist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia in Sydney. "We can do a small part here in Australia, we can pull our weight and provide the contribution, but really when it comes to climate change, this is a global thing."

"So you can play around with these numbers all you want but ultimately what matters is the total global carbon budget," he said.

"And unless humanity as a whole can find solutions to that problem, then all of that petty bickering amongst nations about who's more or less responsible isn't really going to be very helpful."

The report was released ahead of a major UN summit in Copenhagen in December aiming to thrash out a new climate change treaty.

Australia, whose vast size and isolation make for high transport costs for goods and people, has committed to cutting greenhouse gas emissions by up to 25 percent by 2020 compared to 2000 levels.

However, emissions trading legislation was defeated in the Senate last month, leaving the target in doubt.... physorg.com

What is Australia doing to solve these massive problems?
Here are a few answers ;-)


* Image source EIA

FOIA Treasury Dept Documents, CEI Analysis Confirms Massive Tax on Energy

100's of Billions.... That is money taken either directly from household and business energy consumers, according to the Congressional Budget Office when it was headed by Obama's budget director, Peter Orszag. Those billions translate into between one and two thousand dollars per year for the average household. (See Orszag statement.)

Internal Treasury Department documents released this week confirm the Obama administration's expectations for a nationwide global warming "cap and trade" plan. The documents were obtained by CEI Senior Fellow Christopher Horner through a Freedom of Information Act request.

Internally, Treasury indicates it expects that the sort of plan that the president is calling for – a plan that either immediately auctions off carbon dioxide emission permits or sells nearly all after a few years of giving industry most of its permits for free – would bring from $100-200 billion per year in revenue for the government. Read full FOIA documents from the U.S. Treasury

Source: Competitive Enterprise Institute
(Via Shirl Kennedy DocuTicker ;-)

Three Proposed Federal Water Changes - Magna, Calleguas, Oregon

H.R. 2265, Magna Water District Water Reuse and Groundwater Recharge Act of 2009
H.R. 2522, A bill to raise the ceiling on the federal share of the cost of the Calleguas Municipal Water District recycling Project, and for other purposes
H.R. 2741, A bill to amend the Reclamation Wastewater and Groundwater Study and Facilities Act to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to participate in the city of Hermiston, Oregon, Water recycling and reuse project

Obama Seeks National Oversight of Great Lakes Waters

(NY) The New York Times - The Obama administration called Thursday for a comprehensive national system for regulating the use of federal waters along the nation’s marine and Great Lakes shores, now administered by a hodgepodge of federal, state or other agencies with often-conflicting goals.

The recommendation, outlined in an interim report by a panel appointed in June by President Obama, said regulators should consider marine regions as a whole when issuing rules rather than, say, regulating fishing one species at a time...

“The oceans sustain life on earth,”

“In turn, we must commit to sustaining the oceans.”

Fishing and other shore-related tourism in those counties adds tens billions of dollars and millions of jobs to the economy, even as many coastal areas suffer overdevelopment, overfishing, habitat loss, pollution and other environmental woes.

“Sometimes we have competing economic, ecological, recreation or other interests,” Rear Adm. Sally Brice-O’Hara of the Coast Guard said at the news conference. “We welcome a comprehensive national approach.” ...read more from The New York Times

Source: Great Lakes Echo

True Health Care Reform: 10 Missing Pieces

...Focusing only on how people can get access to costly disease treatment, without having the more important discussion about how lifestyle changes can be implemented to prevent these diseases in the first place, is like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. We will simply be perpetuating a flawed and costly healthcare model. For the sake of not only our personal health, but also for the financial health of the nation, we must address the causes that underlie the prevalence of chronic disease that we are experiencing. Unless we address why people are getting sick or the underlying mechanisms of their illnesses, our system will lack a solid foundation. Unless we change our disease care model to a true health care system, we are bound to both overpay and underachieve in the long run.

I don't claim to have all the answers and some of these suggestions may seem unrealistic given our current system, but to fix health care in this country we need radical change. Dr. Frank Lipman

In addition to my strong belief that any civilized society should guarantee healthcare for all its citizens without exception, here are 10 recommendations that I feel should be an essential part of any health care reform.

1) Invest in educating the public in self care

2) Motivate people by rewarding lifestyle changes that foster health.

3) Educate Doctors and other Healthcare Practitioners in nutrition, exercise, stress reduction techniques and natural remedies.

4) Reimburse doctors for their time in preventing and managing chronic diseases.

5) Practice the Precautionary Principle.

6) Protect our food supply and encourage healthy eating

7) Feed our children healthily and educate them responsibly.

8) Subsidize healthy foods like fruits and vegetables.

9) Remove corporate influence from healthcare.

10) Give everyone freedom of choice

My favorites from Dr. Lipman's post:

We have an outrageously expensive medical system. Our costs are more than double that of any other country.

75% of our medical costs are spent on treating these chronic diseases.

According to The Washington Post, 1.4 million dollars a day is being spent by healthcare interests to get what they want in the new health bill.

Hundreds of billions of dollars are wasted by doctors when they request unnecessary tests, over prescribe drugs (often with harmful effects), and perform unnecessary surgeries. Many of these services are reimbursed because of lobbyists and clinical practice guidelines established through industry influence or custom, not because the reasons for doing them are scientifically sound.

Most of the billions of dollars in subsidies go to huge agribusinesses that produce feed crops, such as corn and soy. By funding these crops, the government supports the production of factory farmed meats and dairy products. Corn is also made into high fructose corn syrup. All of these contribute to our growing rates of obesity and chronic disease. Fruit and vegetable farmers, on the other hand, receive less than 1 percent of government subsidies. Switch these subsidies around.

Solutions:

Practice Precautionary Principle - Before chemicals or other engineered substances that may impair body functions and cause diseases are put into our food, water, soil, air, cosmetics and home products, they need to be proven safe. At the moment, our attitude to these chemicals is that they are innocent until proven guilty. They should be assumed guilty until proven innocent.

Stop direct-to-consumer drug advertising and radically limit the more than $30 billion that is spent by the pharmaceutical industry on marketing drugs to physicians.

Ban the advertising and marketing of junk food, sodas and fast food to children...$13 billion is spent annually on it. We should not be convincing children--or adults--to buy products that harm them.

The most effective way to increase the health of the nation and to cut healthcare costs in the long term is if we all take responsibility for our own health and learn prevention.

Encourage and reward people who take responsibility for their own health.

Read full at HuffingtonPost

Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-frank-lipman/true-health-care-reform-1_b_266734.html

We operate under a "prove harm" approach, must prove cause-and-effect relationship...

Embracing the Precautionary Principle (Via - RPR)
One might think that when it comes to toxins and children, our government would take a precautionary approach, responding to early signs of harm. The European Union operates using a precautionary framework. But, we, in the United States do not.

We operate under a "prove harm" approach, in which science must prove beyond a shadow of a doubt a cause-and-effect relationship between a chemical and harm to necessitate regulatory action. Meanwhile, the health of our children rests in the balance. Crazy, right?

Children absorb more toxins relative to body weight than adults, and their developing brains, organs, nervous systems and immune systems may be more vulnerable to toxins. Studies increasingly show how toxic chemicals harm the body even at low doses, as in parts per trillion, and the more often a child is exposed to chemicals, the greater the chance of harm. Government regulations and manufacturers of synthetic chemicals, however, determine exposure-threshold levels based on a healthy adult male who weighs 160 pounds. As rates of childhood cancer, asthma, neurological disorders, endocrine and hormonal disorders and birth defects increase, environmental-justice advocates recognize there is no better time than now to protect our children's health.

Adults have an obligation to protect children from toxins. The U.S. Toxic Substances Control Act lists about 75,000 chemicals currently in use. Our country produces or imports 42 billion pounds of chemicals daily and global production is expected to double every 25 years. Not all toxic chemicals are obvious, though, as many are odorless and colorless, making our ability to protect children even more challenging.

Children spend nearly one-third of their lives at school... We must eliminate the widespread use of toxic chemicals. Science supports us and policies increasingly support us—of course, more work is needed here—and we must ensure that adopted practices meet the spirit and intent of eliminating our reliance on toxic chemicals.

We must refuse to become partners in "greenwashing" and creating standards or practices that mislead, and fall short of addressing public concern, expectation and protection, especially, when the outcome impacts the health of future generations.

Read more by Robina Suwol, (California Safe Schools)

Foreign oil dependence means perpetual recession...

"The US has experienced six recessions since 1972. At least five of these were associated with oil prices. In every case, when oil consumption in the US reached 4% percent of GDP, the U.S. went into recession. Right now, 4% of GDP is US$80 a barrel oil. So my current view is that if the oil price exceeds US$80, then expect the U.S. to fall back into recession,"

Kopits is a poster boy on all the "peak oil" websites and doomsayer blogs, and his metric on the link between recessions and oil price is interesting. If Kopits is correct, so much for "green shoots". They will be trampled under foot over and over again unless there is a sudden spike upwards in GDP growth disproportionally more so than oil price increases.Here is the roller-coaster cycle he points out: Higher oil prices mean recessions, recessions mean less consumption then lower oil prices which leads to less exploration and supply which leads to higher oil prices and recession again.

Kopits  - "If I dispassionately just look at the numbers, the oil supply has not improved that much since the 4th quarter of 2004. And I don't see anything on the horizon that makes it appear that we're going to break out into a really new level of production that's far different than what we have today."

Kopits - "Consumption will tend to grow faster in developing economies for two reasons. First, by their nature, developing economies should grow faster than mature ones, and this has been generally true of east Asia and strikingly so in the case of China. So faster economic growth means faster growth in demand for oil. ...we would expect Chinese oil demand to stabilize at around 50 mbpd around 2032-2035." (China currently 8 million per day, US 20 million, Japan 5 million).

Kopits - "If you have a flat—or heaven help us, declining—supply of oil, then the emerging and fast-growing economies will have no choice but to start bidding away the oil from the advanced or slow-growing economies. That is consistent with what we've seen in the data starting in about 2006. For China to grow, it will have to take away the oil of Japan, the US and Europe, just as it has in the last three years."

Read full from National Post

In related GPD news update... after Geithner asked senate to pass a debt-limit increase to $13.029 trillion earlier this year (as concerns mount over the nation's record debt, ballooning budget deficit and reliance on foreign investors ;-( in historical perspective, the long-term average of debt to GDP ratio has been around 40%.) The only time in U.S. history the ratio was higher than it is currently was during World War II, and it quickly fell after the war ended.

"It's always difficult for anyone to vote for an increase in the debt limit," said Jim Horney, director of federal fiscal policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. "But by the time you get to the point of needing to raise the debt limit, you've already spent the money."... the White House Budget Office forecasts the debt to increase to 77% of GDP by fiscal 2019.

 "I believe it will be 100% of GDP by 2019, because I believe their budget underestimates spending by $4 trillion," said Riedl.

---

Haase - To fix the budget, my suggestion would be to provide ALL energy from U.S. sources to save 2 trillion a month and sell NAFTA countries excess  energy reserve we produce to make another 2 trillion a month... Budget fixed ;-)

Fixing energy is your generations problem

"It's not my problem. I can make it to the finish line … and my standard of living's not going to change, but for you and the generations to come, you better get it fixed," Pickens said.  - Via TOD

Ouch, talk about running from a grenade you dropped in the lap of your mother...

Over 50% of OSHA's Region V offices attain VPP recognition

OSHA's Region V continues to lead by example as its Cincinnati, Ohio, Area Office becomes the latest agency participant earning Voluntary Protection Programs approval.

With this addition, more than 50 percent of the Region's area offices have attained recognition.

A team of Special Government Employees, led by a Defense Logistics Agency representative, conducted the extensive on-site evaluation last spring.

Source: OSHA

Kanye West review of my blog...

While my EHS newsletter has received high reviews and national recognition as the EHS new authority...

The review Kanye West was no surprise

Read his full review here

P.S. Have a good weekend ;-)

Transcript of Conference on Waxman-Markey Bill

Yesterday at energytomorrow, API hosted bloggers for a conference call focusing on the status of upcoming energy legislation and API's current legislative priorities. API President and CEO Jack Gerard took questions from the bloggers, along with API experts John Felmy, Doug Morris and Kyle Isakower. Topics discussed included the Waxman-Markey bill and access to domestic reserves of oil and natural gas.

The bloggers on the call included: Byron King, Whiskey and Gunpowder, Gail Tverberg, The Oil Drum, Geoff Styles, Energy Outlook, Lew Waters, Right in a Left World, Nan Swift, FreedomTalks, Robert Rapier, R-Squared

Transcript hereSeptember 17 Blogger Call: Waxman-Markey Bill

40 Million Grant for NexGen give hope for nuclear future...

Department of Energy's (DOE's) Office of Nuclear Energy is seeking applications for conceptual design activities for the Next Generation Nuclear Plant (NGNP) Project.

 

The overall Project involves establishing a prototype high temperature gas-cooled nuclear reactor (HTGR) and an associated energy delivery system.

 

After studying a variety of options, DOE has determined that an HTGR facility with an outlet temperature of 750°C or greater would best meet the objectives of the Project. See announcement here

 

 

Why they consider this project important:

NextBigFuture Pebble Bed Reactors Status

Temperature Reactor (AHTR) by Per Peterson Mar 2009 [53 page pdf]

Ending Yucca discussions with 300 times more efficient reactors

The ONLY future that can sustain world nuclear fuel supplies for the 'next generation' are with LFTR and 4th gen (IBR) reactors. NO others should be considered as they would burn up their fuel reserves before the end of their service life.

– The EBR-II fast reactor worked flawlessly for many years (http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf98.html 31 years from 1963-1994)

These plants can also get rid of the waste from existing nuclear power plants! And unlike nuclear plants where there is only a finite amount of nuclear material available (I think about 100 years), these plants make their own fuel so they will last 100,000 years. Remember Einstein's famous E=mc²? The point is that if you do it right, a little bit of matter can make a lot of energy.

And would you believe the research was done more than 20 years ago in 1984 by a large group of US scientists at Argonne National Laboratory?

The Integral Fast Reactor (IFR) is a fourth generation nuclear design that provides a clean, inexhaustible source of power, cheap, with virtually no waste, inherently safe (if you remove the cooling, it shuts down rather than melts down), and the added benefit that it consumes the nuclear waste from other nuclear plants that we can't figure out how to get rid of.

The good news is that DOE is trying to restart IFR with the GNEP (Global Nuclear Energy Partnership) initiative. The GNEP, if it is allowed to proceed, will involve a commercial demonstration that will establish the degree of economic competitiveness of the recycling process.  General Electric thinks they can build an economically viable system and they already have a complete commercial design completed (S-PRISM). The Integral Fast Reactor (IFR) project: Q&A.

And if someone is wondering when and why the best next genration technolegy develope by the U.S. was stopped... they can look here

Also see TOD - On the hazards of ignorance of thermodynamics

China's shocking energy consumption to exceed Earth's capacity

China's energy usage could exceed 100 billion tons of standard coal in 2050, more than the Earth's capacity to sustain and far more than the 16.1 billion tons of standard coal the entire planet consumed in 2008.

... if China's energy usage structure remains unchanged, its emissions of greenhouse gases blamed for global warming would reach 17 billion tons a year by 2050. That would represent 60 percent of total global emissions and three times China's current production, it said. "If the current mode of economic development drags on, the scale of China's fossil fuel consumption will be shocking," said the study, titled "China's Low Carbon Development Pathways by 2050."- Washington Times

Status of our $30 Billion Nuclear Waste Fund

The world's most controversial mountain

... within 30 days of passage the President would have to either confirm that Yucca Mountain remains the "preferred choice" for high-level radioactive material disposal or begin to rebate "all funds currently in the Nuclear Waste Trust Fund" built up to pay for Yucca.

Nevada's Yucca Mountain was set to be the USA's ultimate disposal site for highly radioactive substances such as used nuclear fuel and military wastes. Companies producing nuclear power paid 0.1 cents per kWh of power generated in the the fund from 1982, with the total reaching a whopping $30 billion. However, the project faced stiff opposition and Obama's February budget ordered the Department of Energy (DoE)to "scale back" work to almost nothing "while the administration devises a new strategy toward nuclear waste disposal."

No such new strategy has been forthcoming, leading to anger among some politicians and commentators over the apparent waste of the $13.5 billion already been spent on the project. "No-one should be required to pay for an empty hole in the Nevada desert," said Graham, adding that Obama's "ill-advised" decision was political and not scientific. He concluded: "It is incumbent on the administration to come up with a disposal plan for this real problem facing our nation."  Read full from WNN

Where is it at now?

Top Countries for U.S. Petroleum Imports '#2 and several others hate us'

EIA - Monthly data... shows that three countries exported more than 1.00 million barrels per day to the United States (see table below). The top five exporting countries accounted for 64 percent of United States crude oil imports in June while the top ten sources accounted for approximately 82 percent of all U.S. crude oil imports.

Crude Oil Imports (Top 15 Countries) (Thousand Barrels per Day)
Country	Jun-09	Jun-08
CANADA	2,001	1,942
VENEZUELA	1,119	1,085
MEXICO	1,099	1,124
SAUDI ARABIA	902	1,448
NIGERIA	769	943
ANGOLA	435	636
IRAQ	374	693
RUSSIA	305	228
COLOMBIA	286	177
BRAZIL	269	280
ALGERIA	232	269
KUWAIT	170	179
UNITED KINGDOM	154	73
ECUADOR	148	178
NORWAY	120	36

Awhile back I thought most liked the business... I/we were wrong as Chavez finds another reason to boost defense against U.S. "imperialism." and is now Seekin to Boost Oil Production With a $16 billion deal with China D - Ouch

Let not piss off Canada ;-)

Lack of Biofuel Production Regulation To Shrink Gulf 'Dead Zone'

ScienceDaily— Scientists in Pennsylvania report that boosting production of crops used to make biofuels could make a difficult task to shrink a vast, oxygen-depleted "dead zone" in the Gulf of Mexico more difficult. The zone, which reached the size of Massachusetts in 2008, forms in summer and threatens marine life and jobs in the region.

... the zone forms when fertilizers wash off farm fields throughout the Mississippi River basin and into the Gulf of Mexico. The fertilizers cause the growth of algae, which eventually depletes oxygen in the water and kills marine life. Government officials hope to reduce fertilizer runoff and shrink the zone to the size of Delaware by 2015. But that goal could be more difficult to reach due to federally-mandated efforts to increase annual biofuel production to 36 billion gallons by 2022, the study says.

The scientists studied the potential effects of increased biofuel production on the "dead zone," with a life-cycle analysis of nitrate fertilizer use on biofuel crops such as corn, soy, switch grass and stover (corn stems and leaves). They conclude that meeting the biofuel production goals will likely increase the depletion of oxygen compared to current levels in the Gulf due to more nutrient runoff.

 Read study abstract from Environmental Science & Technology,

EHS professional will be missed and remembered

Klein, Natalie H. "Lee," passed away at her home in Laguna Hills on 9/14/09 with her husband and friends present. She had held management positions with Cal-OSHA for many years before retirement and participated in the safety program with FEMA.

"Lee was an outstanding safety professional and phenomenal person. We will miss her bright smile, her warmth and her expertise."
ASSE Vice President Terry Norris on Natalie "Lee" Klein, who died Sept. 14.

If you would like to leave your public condolences, or share you thoughtful memories you can do so here

Cargo emissions down 12% - please not like this...

Up to 12% of the world's cargo ships are standing down, absent cargo or crews.
Will there be a commensurate reduction in shipping-related CO2 emissions? Will 2009 be the baseline year against which shipping companies could be required to accomplish reductions?
For details, see Ghost Fleet Moored Off Singapore: 12% Of Ocean Shipping Armada Stands Down

VIA TriplePundit

Hundreds of possible journeys for trash... none good.

NY Times - MIT - Massachusetts Institute of Technology is using battery-powered tags based on cellphone technology to track garbage through the waste disposal system over the next three months.

One purpose of the project, said Carlo Ratti, director of the lab, is to give people a concrete sense of their impact on the environment in a way that might lead them to change their habits.

"If you see where a plastic bottle ends up, a few miles down the road in a dump, you may want to get tap water or some other container for the water," Mr. Ratti said.

Collecting, transporting, storing and getting rid of garbage is a costly and often daunting task for cities... "From a logistics standpoint, it's a very complicated situation," Ms. Brown said.

"When you look at how waste is handled in different cities, it's like snowflakes. It's all different."

Other factors are also in play in the travel of recyclables like metal and plastic. Among them are price fluctuations that may make it cheaper for a company to ditch items than to recycle them, contamination that makes a can or paper useless, and human error in sorting or transporting material.

Does it all end up shredded and shipped to China, where who knows what happens to it?"

In New York... a recyclable plastic bottle picked up at Madison Avenue and 51st Street traveled 18.3 miles over four days to Kearny, N.J., and is still en route

Ultimately, she said, "we're looking for ways to recycle more and to do it all more efficiently."

Landsberg- "If I found out that it wasn't going where I think it does, if it is less recycled than I hoped," she said she "might think about buying less of it or doing without." "Maybe it is more about the reduce than the re-use,"

Read full from NY Times