While biofuels sounded good at first glance, if the Bush administration is pushing them, it’s reasonable to assume it’s not for the public good. According to two studies in the journal Science, the lifecycle carbon emissions resulting from the production of biofuels is greater then that for conventional fuels once land use change is taken into consideration.
The clearance of grassland releases 93 times the amount of greenhouse gas that would be saved by the fuel made annually on that land, said Joseph Fargione, lead author of the second paper, and a scientist at the Nature Conservancy. “So for the next 93 years you’re making climate change worse, just at the time when we need to be bringing down carbon emissions.”
One of the scenarios discussed in An Inconvenient Truth was the potential for Europe to cool as a consequence of climate change. Scientists hypothesized that the melting of the Greenland ice sheet could interrupt the flow of the North Atlantic Current. The current carries warm equatorial waters responsible for keeping Europe temperate. Predictions have changed. According to http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/15/science/earth/15cold.html, “‘The bottom line is that the atmosphere is warming up so much that a slowdown of the North Atlantic Current will never be able to cool Europe,’ said Helge Drange, a professor at the Nansen Environmental and Remote Sensing Center in Bergen, Norway.
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Wanting to find a gift for my mom, who’s in the hospital recovering from surgery, my sister suggested Organic Bouquet, which sells organically-grown cut flowers. My mom’s a plant lover and we wanted to get her something that wouldn’t die. Flowerpetal.com sells plants, and contributes to carbonfund.org, providing carbon offsets for all the plants flown around the world. They ship peace lilies, one of the few indoor plants that flowers in low light conditions. It’s also reportedly one of the best plants for indoor air pollution abatement.
While I’m not sure how effective carbon offsets are in mitigating climate change or in reshaping the economy, I can only hope it’s the thought that counts.
TXU, a Dallas based utility so big the letters in it’s name don’t signify anything, recently announced they were halting efforts to get permits for 8 out of 11 new coal-fired power plants proposed for Texas. This was a surprising turnabout, considering that TXU had received Governor Rick Perry’s help in an attempt to bypass the normal permitting process, until a judge put the kibosh on that executive order. Meanwhile, back in the boardroom, TPG, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, and Goldman Sachs Group called in the Environmental Defense and the Natural Resources Defense Council to bless the biggest buyout ever. Investors bought up TXU stock.
Despite the touch of green in the buyout deal, TXU left 3 new coal plants in the queue and, as Richard Whittaker points out in the Austin Chronicle, the motion to stay the permitting process for the other 8 plants is for six months, tops. I think TXU is approaching this like any good salesperson, asking an incredibly high price initially, and hoping to wear down the public until we’re happy to pay more then we really should. We can do better.
Press release from stopthecoalplant.org.
According to an article from the Independent, Lohachara, a formerly inhabited islet on the Sundarban delta in the Sundarban National Park in West Bengal, India, was wiped off the map due to climate change.
Scientists discovered that a 41-square mile ice shelf in Canada has broken off and fallen into the sea in a collapse violent enough to have been detected 150 miles away.
In what seems like another dramatic reversal of course, the Bush administration’s appointee at the Interior Department proposed listing polar bears as a threatened species in response to a lawsuit filed by three environmental groups. From scanning the headlines, it looks like the Bush administration was doing a good thing, but it looks to me like a shrewd public relations maneuver that won’t necessarily result in any immediate federal action. It’s playing off pretty well in the press, some reports make it look like the polar bear has already been listed.
Hopefully, if polar bears do get listed, corporate welfare federal funds won’t be provided to help fund Perry’s bid to mess with Texas by rushing 17 new coal plants into production within 4 years. There’s plenty yet to be done to stop the coal plants.
The Union of Concerned Scientists is an organization that promotes sensible solutions to social programs, pursuing science in the public interest. In an A to Z Guide to Political Interference in Science, they’ve organized a number of examples of how policy makers have distorted scientific findings into a Periodic Table of Scientific Abuses. As part of their going-it-alone strategy on forging a new reality, the White House has had a heavy hand in modifying the findings of key scientific studies, including rewrites on an EPA study on the state of the environment as reported in the New York Times.
As global climate change threatens life on earth, Governor Perry has fast tracked hearings for eight coal-burning power plants. With conservation and use of some of the best real estate for wind generation, Texas has other options. You can object to the fast track permitting by sending a fax and have your objections be made part of the official record by printing a hard copy of the fax and mailing it to:
Ms. LaDonna Castanuela, Chief Clerk
P.O. Box 13087
MC-105, TCEQ
Austin , Texas 78711-3087
It takes an economist to state the obvious and make it compelling for the ultra-rich—global climate change is bad for the global economy. From the BBC, this article states that
…if no action [against climate change] is taken:
- Floods from rising sea levels could displace up to 100 million people
- Melting glaciers could cause water shortages for 1 in 6 of the world’s population
- Wildlife will be harmed; at worst up to 40% of species could become extinct
- Droughts may create tens or even hundreds of millions of “climate refugees”
This would be bad for the economy.
Steve Martin once said, more or less, that he had learned enough philosophy to screw him up for the rest of his life. I feel that way about environmental studies. I’ve learned enough to know that, in a geologically short period of time, we’ve messed things up enough for it to take a very long time to repair.
We live on really great planet. I can’t think of another planet I’d rather live on. We owe it to ourselves and future generations to stop screwing it up before it’s too late.
Other links about the Stern report include http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200610/s1776304.htm and http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/10/britains_stern.php
I saw a post on BoingBoing mentioning that Captain Beefheart’s house was for sale. Trout Mask Replica was recorded there. To paraphrase Frank Zappa, it might be hard to listen to, but it’s better for you in the long run. BoingBoing linked to this blog post. Hobo Chang Ba!
Incidentally, Woodland Hills reached an all-time record high of 119 degrees F. July 22nd. You think it’s hot now? Wait until next year. And the year after that…