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Author Topic: Pollution  (Read 58248 times)

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AGelbert

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Re: Pollution
« Reply #630 on: December 15, 2017, 05:05:03 pm »

Men work on a natural gas valve at a fracking site in South Montrose, Pa. An analysis of more than 1.1 million Pennsylvania births finds that that babies born to mothers living within 1 kilometer of active “fracking” wells are 25% more likely to exhibit low birthweight.

Babies born to moms who lived near fracking wells faced host of health risks, study suggests

December 13, 2017

After combing through a decade's worth of Pennsylvania birth records, researchers have found that pregnant women living within two-thirds of a mile of a hydraulic fracturing well were 25% more likely to give birth to a worryingly small infant than were women who lived at least 10 miles outside that zone during pregnancy.

Over these babies' lifetimes, their low birth weights raise the likelihood they will suffer poorer health and lower achievement, including reduced earnings and educational attainment.

The authors of the new research estimated that, in 2012, about 29,000 of the close to 4 million annual births in the United States — roughly 0.7% of babies born each year — were to women who lived within about two-thirds of a mile of a hydraulic fracturing operation during their pregnancies.

The study was published Wednesday in the journal Science Advances.

Nationally, the advent and expansion of hydraulic fracturing operations have reduced gasoline prices, decreased some air pollution emissions and driven down U.S. dependence on foreign oil. But in areas surrounding the nation's roughly 1.2 million fracking wells, the extraction technique has increased pollution of air, soil, groundwater and surface water.

Many of the toxic chemicals used in the hydraulic fracturing process are known carcinogens. Toxic gases, including benzene, are released from the rock by fracking. And the high-pressure pumping of a slurry of chemicals into the ground is widely thought to release toxins and irritants into nearby air and water. The noise and pollution emitted by trucks and heavy machinery also may affect the health of people living nearby.

Research by some of the new study's authors — all economists — has detailed the powerful impact of fracking on local communities, where it boosted employment, household incomes and housing values. It also has made the extraction technique's local effects on human health a subject of heated debate and growing research.

Based on an analysis of more than 1.1 million births in Pennsylvania between 2004 and 2013, the new research found that babies born to mothers who lived within 1 kilometer (0.64 miles) of a fracking well weighed, on average, 1.38 ounces less than babies whose gestation occurred 3 kilometers or more from a fracking site.

The researchers compared the birth weights of babies born to mothers living within 1, 2 or 3 kilometers of fracking wells, both before and after the wells were active. In a bid to capture health influences specifically related to well proximity, the authors compared the birth weights of siblings born at different distances to wells — both close enough to be exposed to fracking in utero, and too far away.

The largest health impacts were found in infants born to mothers living the closest to active wells. Compared to those whose pregnant mothers lived about 10 miles or more away, these infants were 25% more likely to weigh less than 5 1/2 pounds and be classified as low birth weight, the authors found.

For babies whose mothers lived between 1 and 3 kilometers from a well, researchers found birth-weight effects, but they were greatly diminished — less than half those found among babies born to women living within 1 kilometer of a well.

The findings suggest that fracking's impacts on newborns' health "are highly local," the authors wrote.

"This study provides the strongest large-scale evidence of a link between the pollution that stems from hydraulic fracturing activities and our health, specifically the health of babies," said coauthor Michael Greenstone, an economist and director of the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago.

A representative of the oil and gas industry criticized the study for failing to take account of a wide range of factors that can contribute to low birth weight, as well as for measuring women's proximity to fracking wells instead of their exposure to actual pollutants.

"It's just one of many examples of research that has similar limitations," said Nicole Jacobs, Pennsylvania director for Energy in Depth, a research, education and lobbying arm of the Independent Petroleum Assn. of America.

Jacobs also cited Pennsylvania Health Department statistics showing that in the most heavily drilled counties in Pennsylvania's Marcellus Shale region, infant mortality rates not only have declined, but actually have improved more than overall state levels. To the extent that low birth weight drives infant mortality, such data would appear to contradict the findings reported Wednesday, Jacobs said.

Notwithstanding such limitations, the results add to a growing body of evidence suggesting that fracking exacts a toll on the health of populations living in close proximity to wells.

A study of Pennsylvania published in August 2016 found higher rates of migraine headaches, fatigue, and nasal and sinus symptoms in people who were at greater proximity to fracking operations. Another study, conducted in southwest Pennsylvania, where fracking wells are heavily concentrated, found an increase in cases of bladder cancer, but not of thyroid cancer or leukemia, that was steeper in counties where well density was highest.

In research that examined a Colorado registry of cancer cases, another study found that people aged 5 to 24 who were diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia were more likely to live in areas with a high concentration of oil and gas activity.

Other studies have focused on pregnancy outcomes and infant health. In one conducted in North Texas — where fracking wells abut diverse populations of urbanites — researchers found an increased risk of preterm birth, and a slight increase in fetal death, among pregnant women living close to greater concentrations of fracking wells. But it failed to find an association between a pregnant woman's proximity to fracking wells and her likelihood of giving birth to a child who was either small for its gestational age or who was born at term at less than 5½ pounds.

Many of these studies have been faulted for methodological weaknesses, and their findings have been assailed by oil and gas industry groups.

Weill Cornell public health researcher Madelon L. Finkel, who has conducted some of the early research, acknowledges that the findings are preliminary. Cancer and many other outcomes can take decades to become evident, while the widespread practice of hydraulic fracturing is not quite a decade old, Finkel said.

Firming up conclusions on fracking's health effects, she added, will take years of further research. "But we're beginning to see a pattern: that living near these sites does elevate risk compared to living further away," said Finkel, who was not involved in the Science Advances study.

University of Pennsylvania neonatologist Dr. Rebecca Simmons praised the new study's design and the researchers' focus on low birth weight as a factor potentially affected by proximity to fracking wells.

"Birth weight is a proxy: it gives us an insight into what's going on in gestation, and we worry a lot when we see changes like this," said Simmons, who is deputy director of the Penn's Center of Excellence in Environmental Toxicology. "We know that babies born at low birth weight have a much, much higher risk of diseases such as coronary artery disease, hypertension, diabetes and obesity."

Simmons, who was not involved in the Science Advances study, acknowledged that many factors contribute to low birth weight, including poverty and poor nutrition. Increasingly, however, environmental factors are gaining their share of attention and research.

Coauthor Katherine Meckel, an assistant professor at UCLA, acknowledged that the study could not pinpoint the source of the environmental hazards that affect human health and birth weight.

"Until we can determine the source of this pollution and contain it, local lawmakers will be forced to continue to make the difficult decision of whether to allow fracking in order to boost their local economies — despite the health implications — or ban it altogether, missing out on the jobs and revenue it would bring," she said.


http://beta.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-fracking-infant-health-20171213-story.html
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Pollution
« Reply #631 on: December 20, 2017, 01:38:07 pm »
EcoWatch



Beauty and Despair Collide in These Murals of the Great Lakes

By onEarth
 
Dec. 06, 2017 11:32AM EST

By Clara Chaisson

With loons and trout alongside allegorical monsters, the fantastical murals at the center of artist Alexis Rockman's new exhibition don't just look like a dream sequence; they are a dream come true.

Alexis Rockman: The Great Lakes Cycle emerged out of a 2013 phone call with Rockman's longtime friend and collaborator Dana Friis-Hansen, director of the Grand Rapids Art Museum, where the series will make its debut on Jan. 27 2018. "[Dana] asked me if I had any dream projects up my sleeve," Rockman said. "I looked at the map and thought of the Great Lakes."


Pioneers, 2017. Oil and acrylic on wood panel, 72 x 144 inches. Alexis Rockman and Sperone Westwater, New York

Though he was born and raised in New York City, Rockman said Lakes Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie and Superior appeal to him because they are both natural wonders and human-made disaster zones. These massive freshwater lakes—the world's largest by surface area—formed from glacial movement and melting during the Pleistocene. They now hold 20 percent of the Earth's freshwater and provide drinking water for 40 million people, but threats ranging from massive algal blooms and industrial pollution to rapidly warming temperatures and voracious invasive species now plague these vital resources. "It's a perfect cocktail of awe, despair, and melancholy," Rockman said.


Rockman tells the lakes' story through five large-scale paintings, each measuring 6 by 12 feet, beginning with the Pleistocene, exploring the present day, and imagining the future (which includes opportunities for recovery and preservation). The exhibit also features six large watercolors and 28 field drawings made from organic materials collected from Great Lakes sites.


Spheres of Influence, 2016. Oil and alkyd on wood panel, 72 x 144 inches. Collection of Jonathan O'Hara and Sheila Skaff. Alexis Rockman

The paintings abound with Rockman's unique style, which combines his passion for natural history and landscape painting with a dark, hallucinatory flair. He refers to this particular blend of influences as "natural-history psychedelia." Director Ang Lee was so taken with Rockman's approach that he asked the artist to create visual inspiration for his 2012 film Life of Pi.


For his latest work, using an itinerary developed by the Grand Rapids museum, Rockman set out on a tour of eight U.S. states and Canadian provinces in the Great Lakes region. Along with extensive reading, his studies included fishing trips, a circumnavigation of Lake Michigan, and meetings with museum directors and biologists. Rockman had previously painted the lakes in the 1980s, becoming familiar with many of their woes, such as their infamous zebra mussel infestation. But his latest research introduced him to new horror shows, like tiny spiny water fleas that gunk up fishing gear and botulism outbreaks that paralyze and kill birds. The Great Lakes "are under incredible pressure from so many things, it's just mind-boggling," said Rockman.


Watershed, 2015. Oil and alkyd on wood panel, 72 x 144 inches. Collection of Jonathan O'Hara and Sheila Skaff. Alexis Rockman

Each painting in the series is accompanied by a map key that that identifies the species and references at play. "As I have worked on this project for the past five years, the environmental issues facing the lakes have become even more critical," Rockman said. "My expedition in the region, observations of the area, and conversations with experts have helped me tell a story that is, I hope, a compelling call for action on behalf of this natural treasure."


Alexis Rockman: The Great Lakes Cycle will be on view at the Grand Rapids Art Museum from Jan. 27 through April 29, 2018, before traveling to Chicago, Cleveland and Minneapolis.


Forces of Change, 2017. Oil and acrylic on wood panel, 72 x 144 inches. Collection of Jonathan O'Hara and Sheila Skaff. Alexis Rockman

https://www.ecowatch.com/murals-great-lakes-2515369495.html

Agelbert NOTE: Capitalism is reaping what it's God of Profit over people and planet has sowed. It will get much worlse.


Psalm 49 King James Version (KJV)

1 Hear this, all ye people; give ear, all ye inhabitants of the world:

2 Both low and high, rich and poor, together.

3 My mouth shall speak of wisdom; and the meditation of my heart shall be of understanding.

4 I will incline mine ear to a parable: I will open my dark saying upon the harp.

5 Wherefore should I fear in the days of evil, when the iniquity of my heels shall compass me about?

6 They that trust in their wealth, and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches;

7 None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him:

8 (For the redemption of their soul is precious, and it ceaseth for ever:)

9 That he should still live for ever, and not see corruption.

10 For he seeth that wise men die, likewise the fool and the brutish person perish, and leave their wealth to others.

11 Their inward thought is, that their houses shall continue for ever, and their dwelling places to all generations; they call their lands after their own names.

12 Nevertheless man being in honour abideth not: he is like the beasts that perish.

13 This their way is their folly: yet their posterity approve their sayings. Selah.

14 Like sheep they are laid in the grave; death shall feed on them; and the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning; and their beauty shall consume in the grave from their dwelling.

15 But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave: for he shall receive me. Selah.

16 Be not thou afraid when one is made rich, when the glory of his house is increased;

17 For when he dieth he shall carry nothing away: his glory shall not descend after him.

18 Though while he lived he blessed his soul: and men will praise thee, when thou doest well to thyself.

19 He shall go to the generation of his fathers; they shall never see light.

20 Man that is in honour, and understandeth not, is like the beasts that perish.


 


He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Pollution
« Reply #632 on: December 28, 2017, 12:37:59 pm »
By Muhammad Fazri Bin Muhri / Shutterstock

North Sea Forties Pipeline Pumping at Half Capacity -Source

December 27, 2017 by Reuters

SNIPPET:

LONDON, Dec 27 (Reuters) – Britain’s biggest and most important oil pipeline, Forties, was ramping up throughput after repairs and was currently pumping at around half its normal rates, a trading source familiar with the operations said on Wednesday.

Forties normally pumps about 450,000 barrels per day.

Read more:

http://gcaptain.com/north-sea-forties-pipeline-pumping-at-half-capacity-source/
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Pollution
« Reply #633 on: January 03, 2018, 08:46:15 pm »




January 3, 2018

Quote
Trump Admin is Pro-Pollution, For All Intents and Purposes

Welcome to 2018! What do you intend to do this year? Anything new, or more of the same? If you’re in the Trump administration, odds are you intend to do exactly what you did all of last year: help polluters in any way possible.

The Washington Post ended 2017 with a look at how Scott Pruitt has reshaped the EPA into a more industry-friendly organization. One particular word stood out to us as emblematic of how Pruitt is treating the relationship between regulator and industry: intent.

Pre-Pruitt, EPA administrators from both parties knew industry would try to be as cheap as possible about their pollution problems. In the past, part of the agency’s responsibility to ensure public health was protected from bad actors cutting corners was to make sure polluters weren’t hiding pollution--for example, by having someone independent double-checking reported emissions. But Pruitt seems to believe that as long as industries promise not to pollute and don’t intend to pollute, well then by golly, we should just take their word for it.

The Post describes a Dec. 7th memo from Pruitt on pollution restrictions on a DTE Energy power plant, the subject of a court case Pruitt inherited from Obama’s EPA. The EPA had been asking to double-check the company’s emission projections. Pruitt reversed that position, saying instead that so long as the company expresses an “intent” to reduce pollution, the EPA will trust DTE at its word to reduce emissions. It seems suspiciously naive to believe a company would voluntarily spend money to reduce pollution with only a scouts’ honor level of enforcement.

Even when an industry has proven it can’t be trusted with the public’s health, the Trump administration keeps rolling back regulations. The administration began its rollback of key offshore drilling protections last week, instead choosing to trust the industry’s “recommended practices” for testing safety equipment. These “recommended practices” were in place before the Deepwater Horizon disaster that killed eleven and polluted the Gulf of Mexico. Clearly these practices aren’t perfect. Nor are the energy industry’s practices regarding migratory birds, but the Interior department’s lifting protections for those species, so long as it’s not industry’s intention to kill birds.

And then there’s Trump and his intentions. He campaigned on a promise to save the forgotten coal miners, and has even begun claiming victory. But as always, intentions and actions are a world apart. Not only are the coal industry and West Virginia far from “doing fantastically now,” as Trump claims, but in fact, there were more coal fatalities in West Virginia in 2017 than there were in all states in 2016. So of course, Trump’s celebrating by considering putting more miners’ lives at risk by repealing regulations inteded to protect miners from black lung disease.
 
Time and again, we’re seeing that the Trump administration is going to trust industry’s professed intentions--even when it’s proven that the intentions aren’t good enough to protect the industry’s own employees. We should be smart enough to know better than do the same with the Trump administration’s intentions, and always keep an eye on the actions.

If the sudden reappearance of the Mooch has you genuinely questioning what Trump really thinks about climate change, after 99 tweets and after Paris and the Clean Power Plan pullouts and his administration’s pro-polluter agenda...well, there’s a bridge in Brooklyn we intend to sell you.
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Pollution
« Reply #634 on: January 03, 2018, 09:12:46 pm »
Russia Posts Highest-Ever Natural Gas Output in Expansion Drive

The Christophe de Margerie, the first of 15 icebreaking LNG carriers ordered for the Yamal LNG project to provide transport of LNG year-round in the Arctic, loads its first cargo at the Yamal LNG plant at the Port of Sabetta on the Yamal Peninsula, December 8, 2017. Photo: SCF Group


January 2, 2018 by Bloomberg

By Elena Mazneva and Jake Rudnitsky (Bloomberg) — Russia registered its highest-ever natural gas production last year amid plans to expand into China and boost sales of liquefied natural gas.

The nation’s output of the fuel jumped 7.9 percent to 690.5 billion cubic meters, according to data emailed Tuesday by the Russian Energy Ministry’s CDU-TEK unit. That beat the previous record, set in 2011, by 2.9 percent.

Russia, the world’s largest gas exporter, is working to boost output with plans to increase production of LNG with new plants in an area that stretches from the Baltic region to its Pacific coast. That will put the country up against the biggest producers of the super-chilled fuel, including Qatar, Australia and the U.S. Russia has resources to increase its LNG production almost 10 times by 2035, led by the privately-owned Novatek PJSC in the Arctic, according to the nation’s Energy Ministry.

Full article:

http://gcaptain.com/russia-posts-highest-ever-natural-gas-output-in-expansion-drive/

Agelbert NOTE: "Enjoy" that fossil fuel celebrated in political circles as the "BRIDGE FUEL" to a "clean energy future".


And don't forget to laugh in any person's face who claims that fossil fuel use is going down. Gallows humor is appropriate at this time of abysmal Russian AND U.S. stupidity. 
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Pollution
« Reply #635 on: January 03, 2018, 09:34:58 pm »




January 3, 2018

Even when an industry has proven it can’t be trusted with the public’s health, the Trump administration keeps rolling back regulations. The administration began its rollback of key offshore drilling protections last week, instead choosing to trust the industry’s “recommended practices” for testing safety equipment. These “recommended practices” were in place before the Deepwater Horizon disaster that killed eleven and polluted the Gulf of Mexico. Clearly these practices aren’t perfect. Nor are the energy industry’s practices regarding migratory birds, but the Interior department’s lifting protections for those species, so long as it’s not industry’s intention to kill birds.

And then there’s Trump and his intentions. He campaigned on a promise to save the forgotten coal miners, and has even begun claiming victory. But as always, intentions and actions are a world apart. Not only are the coal industry and West Virginia far from “doing fantastically now,” as Trump claims, but in fact, there were more coal fatalities in West Virginia in 2017 than there were in all states in 2016. So of course, Trump’s celebrating by considering putting more miners’ lives at risk by repealing regulations inteded to protect miners from black lung disease.
 
Time and again, we’re seeing that the Trump administration is going to trust industry’s professed intentions--even when it’s proven that the intentions aren’t good enough to protect the industry’s own employees. We should be smart enough to know better than do the same with the Trump administration’s intentions, and always keep an eye on the actions.

If the sudden reappearance of the Mooch has you genuinely questioning what Trump really thinks about climate change, after 99 tweets and after Paris and the Clean Power Plan pullouts and his administration’s pro-polluter agenda...well, there’s a bridge in Brooklyn we intend to sell you.


the sudden reappearance of the Mooch


Mooch?.....or Molloch?

He/she/it/they have a lot of names. Belial is one of them. Basically, I believe it is composed of a coterie of evil spirits who want to off we-the-critters of Earth by manipulating us into offing ourselves. It is working.

He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Pollution
« Reply #636 on: January 04, 2018, 09:23:25 pm »
17 Ways the Trump Administration Assaulted the Environment Over the Holidays  

New rules could affect everything from clean power to migratory birds, and they’re just a hint of what’s yet to come.

News  January 2, 2018 - by John R. Platt

While visions of sugarplums danced in some of our heads, the Trump administration had a different vision — of a country unbound by rules that protect people, places, wildlife and the climate. Over the past two weeks, the administration has proposed or finalized changes to how the government and the industries it regulates respond to climate change, migratory birds, clean energy, pesticides and toxic chemicals. Here’s a timeline:

Dec. 18: Announced a plan to possibly replace the Clean Power Plan, one of President Obama’s signature climate actions.

Dec. 18: Dropped climate change from the list of global threats affecting national security. (Oddly enough, Trump did this just five days after he signed off on next year’s military budget, which just so happens to call climate change a national security threat.)

Dec. 19: Hid language that would exempt the Federal Emergency Management Agency from following requirements set by the Endangered Species Act in an an $81 billion emergency supplemental funding bill.

Dec. 20: Indefinitely postponed the previously announced ban of three toxic chemicals, methylene chloride, N-methylpyrrolidone (NMP) and trichloroethylene (TCE).

Dec. 20: Signed an executive order requiring the “streamlining” of the leasing and permitting processes for exploration, production and refining of vaguely defined “critical minerals” (a list of which will be announced later by Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke).

Dec. 21: Halted two independent studies by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, one to improve the safety of offshore drilling platforms and another to look at the health risks of mountaintop-removal coal mining in central Appalachia.

Dec. 21: Revoked the Obama-era Resource Management Planning Rule (Planning 2.0 Rule), which advocated new technologies to improve transparency related to mining on public lands. A Federal Register filing said this rule “shall be treated as if it had never taken effect.”

Dec. 22: Signed the massive, unpopular Republican “tax reform” bill. The bill, which strongly benefits the richest Americans, contains numerous anti-environmental elements, including opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling.

Dec. 22: Ruled that “incidental” killings of 1,000 migratory bird species are, somehow, not illegal under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. The legal opinion is considered by many a giveaway to the energy industry — which applauded the change — and was written by a former Koch staffer turned Trump political appointee.

Dec. 22: Reversed a previous Obama-era Interior Department decision to withdraw permits for a proposed $2.8 billion copper mine in Minnesota. The mine lease is owned by the Chilean billionaire who also happens to own Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump’s rented D.C. mansion.

Dec. 27: Announced a plan to consider dramatically expanding the use of a neonicotinoid insecticide called thiamethoxam, which has been proven damaging or deadly to bees.

Dec. 27: Prioritized oil and gas leasing and development near and even inside greater sage-grouse habitat management areas, yet another Obama-era reversal.

Dec. 28: Declared the beaverpond marstonia snail extinct, the first such extinction under the Trump administration. (Obviously this is a failure of the administrations that preceded Trump, but the declaration still comes under his watch.)

Dec. 28: Announced a plan to repeal yet another Obama-era rule, this one governing fracking standards on federal and tribal lands. The rule, which never actually took effect, would have required companies to disclose chemicals used in their fracking fluids, set standards for well construction and required surface ponds holding fracking fluids to be covered.

Dec. 28: Trump sent yet another tweet mocking climate change during a period of record cold temperatures, a not-so-subtle hint about his legislative agenda and personal intractability on the subject.

Dec. 29: Proposed to remove or rewrite offshore-drilling safety regulations put in place by the Obama administration after the deadly Deepwater Horizon disaster, saying “it’s time for a paradigm shift” in regulations.

Now that the New Year has arrived, how many other changes will follow? In all likelihood, this is just the beginning. President Trump’s “Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions,” announced Dec. 14, contains hundreds of provisions affecting endangered species, energy development and just about every other major environmental issue. Those will all start to move forward in the months ahead.

John R. Platt   is the editor of The Revelator. An award-winning environmental journalist, his work has appeared in Scientific American, Audubon, Motherboard, and numerous other magazines and publications. His “Extinction Countdown” column has run continuously since 2004 and has covered news and science related to more than 1,000 endangered species. John lives on the outskirts of Portland, Ore., where he finds himself surrounded by animals and cartoonists.


http://twitter.com/johnrplatt
http://johnrplatt.com

Get The Revelator Newsletter

http://therevelator.org/trump-administration-environment-holidays/

He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Pollution
« Reply #637 on: January 12, 2018, 06:29:27 pm »
U.S. Senators From 12 States Seek Offshore Drilling Exemptions Like Florida’s 

January 11, 2018 by Reuters

SNIPPET:

“Just like Florida, our states are unique with vibrant coastal economies,” wrote the 22 senators, who include Jack Reed of Rhode Island, Cory Booker of New Jersey, and Kamala Harris of California. “Providing all of our states with the same exemption from dangerous offshore oil and gas drilling would ensure that vital industries from tourism to recreation to fishing are not needlessly placed in harm’s way,” they wrote.

Interior Department spokeswoman Heather Swift said Zinke intends to meet with every coastal governor affected by the agency’s proposed offshore drilling plan, a process that could take a year.

full article:
http://gcaptain.com/u-s-senators-from-12-states-seek-offshore-drilling-exemptions-like-floridas/

He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Pollution
« Reply #638 on: January 12, 2018, 08:22:29 pm »
EcoWatch

Exposed: Chevron's Secretive Drilling Site in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
By Jonathan Rosenblum  AlterNet

Jan. 11, 2018 10:09AM EST

Learn about the damage to Alaska's fauna and flora that Drilling causes, in addition to boosting catastrophic climate change by accelerating the melting of the permafrost:

https://www.ecowatch.com/arctic-national-wildlife-refuge-drilling-2524505765.html
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Pollution
« Reply #639 on: January 16, 2018, 04:49:55 pm »
40% of India’s Thermal Power Plants Are in Water-Scarce Areas, Threatening Shutdowns

by Tianyi Luo - January 16, 2018
         
New WRI research finds that 40 percent of the country’s thermal power plants are located in areas facing high water stress, a problem since these plants use water for cooling. Scarce water is already hampering electricity generation in these regions—14 of India’s 20 largest thermal utilities experienced at least one shutdown due to water shortages between 2013-2016, costing the companies $1.4 billion.

It’s an issue that’s only poised to worsen unless the country takes action—70 percent of India’s thermal power plants will face high water stress by 2030 thanks to climate change and increased demands from other sectors.

Billions of Tons of Freshwater, Consumed

Thermal power—power that relies on fuels like coal, natural gas and nuclear energy—provides India with 83 percent of its total electricity. While these power plants fail to disclose how much water they’re using in their operations, WRI developed a new methodology using satellite images and other data to calculate their water use.

What's the Difference Between Water Withdrawal and Consumption?
Water withdrawal: The total amount of water that is diverted from a water source (e.g. surface water, groundwater) for use.

Water consumption: The portion of water that is not returned to the original source after being withdrawn.

Much of the water withdrawn by plants is returned to the lakes and ponds from which it came, but a lot is also consumed, and not returned to its original source. We found that almost 90 percent of India’s thermal power generation depends on freshwater for cooling, and the industry is only growing thirstier. Thanks to increased energy demand and the growing popularity of freshwater-recirculating plants, which consume the most water of any thermal plant, freshwater consumption from Indian thermal utilities grew by 43 percent from 2011-2016, from 1.5 to 2.1 billion cubic meters a year.

To put this in perspective, India’s total domestic water consumption in 2010 was about 7.5 billion cubic meters, according to the Aqueduct Global Water Risk Atlas. That means power plants drank about 20 percent as much water as India’s 1.3 billion citizens use for washing dishes, bathing, drinking and more.


40 Percent of Thirsty Plants Are in Water-Stressed Areas

More than a third of India’s freshwater-dependent plants are located in areas of high or extremely high water stress. These plants have, on average, a 21 percent lower utilization rate than their counterparts located in low or medium water-stress regions—lack of water simply prevents them from running at full capacity. Even when controlling the comparison analysis by unit age, fuel type and plant capacity, the observation was always the same: Plants in low- and medium-stress areas are more able to realize their power output potential than those in high water-stress areas.

Scarce Water Dries Up Revenue

There are practical and financial implications of power plants’ thirst. Between 2013 and 2016, India’s thermal plants failed to meet their daily electricity generation targets 61 percent of the time due to forced power plant outages. The reasons ranged from equipment failure to fuel shortages. Water shortages were the fifth-largest reason for all forced outages—the largest environmental reason.

In 2016 alone, water shortages cost India about 14 terawatt-hours of potential thermal power generation, canceling out more than 20 percent of the growth in the country’s total electricity generation from 2015.

The Way Forward

Quote
As India develops, water competition will continue to grow and climate change will likely disrupt predictable water supply. Thermal utilities will become even more vulnerable to water shortages, power outages and lost revenue.

But there’s a better path forward: Upgrading cooling systems, improving plant efficiency, and ultimately shifting toward water-free renewables like solar photovoltaics and wind can all curb water risks to power generation.

It’s worth noting that the government of India already has plans in place that give reason for hope, such as the notification on power plant water withdrawal limits and the “40/60” renewable energy development plan. If these ambitious policies are enacted and enforced, our estimates show that India will save 12.4 billion cubic meters of freshwater from being withdrawn by power plants. That’s a year’s worth of showers for 120 million people – more than live in the Philippines.

But change won’t happen overnight. Even with proactive policies in place, the key lies in their implementation. In the coming years, the Indian government, utility companies and international investors all have a role to play in making the power sector more resilient to water risks.

LEARN MORE:
Read the full paper, Parched Power: Water Demands, Risks and Opportunities for India's Power Plants

http://www.wri.org/blog/2018/01/40-indias-thermal-power-plants-are-water-scarce-areas-threatening-shutdowns

Agelbert NOTE: Thermal power plants are a ruinously polluting, as well as wasteful, way to generate electricity. The totally inexcusable massive waste of fresh water is just one more COST the fossil fuelers refuse to compute in their happy talk Energy Return on Energy Invested (ERoEI) baloney formulas. I'm glad that India is finally starting to realize that Renewable Energy sourced power (see below for water demand of Renewable versus Thermal) is the only sane way to generate electricity.

He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Pollution
« Reply #640 on: January 24, 2018, 05:24:07 pm »
Ninth U.S. city suesbig oil 🦍firms over climate change

#ENERGY JANUARY 23, 2018 / 2:24 PM

Sebastien Malo

NEW YORK, Jan 23 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - A California city has filed a lawsuit against 29 oil companies seeking damages to pay for the costs of rising sea levels it blames on climate change, the ninth U.S. community to take the fossil fuel industry to court.

The San Francisco suburb of Richmond filed a civil case in a California court on Monday against the energy giant Chevron, its biggest employer, and other oil companies for planet-warming carbon dioxide emissions dating back to 1965.

Defendants 🦍 have known for nearly 50 years that greenhouse gas pollution from their fossil fuel products has a significant impact on the Earth’s climate and sea levels,” the complaint said.

Defendants 🦍 concealed the dangers, sought to undermine public support for greenhouse gas regulation, and engaged in massive campaigns to promote the ever-increasing use of their products at ever greater volumes.”

New York City announced earlier this month that it filed a multibillion dollar lawsuit against five top oil 🦖 companies, citing their “contributions to global warming,” following similar lawsuits filed last year by California cities.

A Chevron spokesman 🦍 questioned the benefits that could come from Richmond’s lawsuit, filed on Monday.

“Reducing greenhouse gas emissions is a global issue that requires global engagement,” said Braden Reddall 🐉 in emailed comments.

Chevron employs nearly 3,500 people at its Richmond refinery, municipal data shows.

Richmond is “uniquely vulnerable” because it is surrounded by water on three sides, with 32 miles (52 km) of shoreline and is one of the poorest communities in the Bay area, the mayor’s office said in a statement.

“Taxpayers of this low-income city should not have to pay for the damages that these companies are causing,” Alex Knox, Richmond mayor’s chief of staff, said in emailed comments.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s 🦀 move to pull out of the global Paris climate change accord and roll back environmental regulations means campaigners are increasingly resorting to litigation.

Legal scrutiny of oil companies is growing in the United States, said Michael Gerrard, an environmental expert at Columbia Law School.

Quote
"Each new lawsuit is incrementally more pressure on the oil companies,"
he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by phone. (Reporting by Sebastien Malo @sebastienmalo, Editing by Katy Migiro. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's rights, trafficking, property rights, climate change and resilience. Visit news.trust.org)

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

https://uk.reuters.com/article/usa-climatechange-lawsuit/ninth-u-s-city-sues-big-oil-firms-over-climate-change-idUKL2N1PI0XA


The Fossil Fuelers DID THE Clean Energy  Inventions suppressing, Climate Trashing, human health depleting CRIME,   but since they have ALWAYS BEEN liars and conscience free crooks, they are trying to AVOID   DOING THE TIME or     PAYING THE FINE!     Don't let them get away with it! Pass it on!   

He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Pollution
« Reply #641 on: January 27, 2018, 06:03:12 pm »
Agelbert NOTE: This pre-2012 video predicted how polluted the ground water would become in thousands of communities all over the USA from Fracking. Now, the fossil fuel 🦖 owned fox in the EPA hen house (Pruitt ) is doing everything he can to prevent the polluters from being prosecuted for all the damage now visiting US community water sources.   


Delightful Animated Short on Fracking
 


So Simple A Child Can Understand

"Things always find a way to happen ... A pen leaking. Your shoelace coming untied. Toxic chemicals in your drinking water. What?!"

This short animation is a great addition to the more lengthy and serious videos, explaining why the process of hydro-fracking is highly toxic and dangerous.

Retro hip, sharp and funny - it hits the nail on the head when it come to getting across the basic message.

"Oil and gas companies drill into the ground. They take good water, mix it up with not so good stuff and shoot it into the wells to force out the gas. By 2010 they'll be drilling 32,000 wells a year."

So simple a child can understand. Let's spread the message so enough grown-ups do too!

--Bibi Farber

This video was produced by Earthjustice.org

Earthjustice.orgwww.nextworldtv.com/videos/anti-fracking/delightful-animated-short-on-fracking-.html
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Pollution
« Reply #642 on: January 29, 2018, 10:33:51 pm »


Chris Hedges (Jan 26, 2018) - On The Fall Of America

9,556 views


Published on Jan 25, 2018
Quote

"The fossil fuel industry swallows up $5.3 trillion a year worldwide in hidden costs to keep burning fossil fuels, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
 
This money, the IMF noted, is in addition to the $492 billion in direct subsidies offered by governments around the world through write-offs and write-downs and land-use loopholes.

In a sane world these subsidies would be invested to free us from the deadly effects of carbon emissions caused by fossil fuels, but we do not live in a sane world. "  -- Chris Hedges

He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Pollution
« Reply #643 on: February 01, 2018, 03:07:37 pm »
EcoWatch

5 Million Gallons of Freshwater Used to Frack 🐉 Just One Well

By Lorraine Chow

Jan. 31, 2018 02:31PM EST

A lot has been said about the toxic slurry of fracking fluids and its impact on water quality, but what about the millions of gallons of water that's sucked up by the drilling process and its impact on water quantity?

A new study highlights how the five million gallons of freshwater used to fracture just one gas well in the U.S.—or more than enough to fill seven Olympic-size swimming pools—has depleted water levels in up to 51 percent of streams in Arkansas, as Motherboard reported from the research.

The paper, published in the American Chemical Society's journal Environmental Science & Technology, also finds that high-volume, short duration water withdrawals used for fracking fluids creates water stress to aquatic organisms in Fayetteville Shale streams.

These streams—which also supply drinking water to thousands of people in the region—are home to 10 aquatic species that are declining at a concerning rate, according to a release on the study. Depending on the time of year, freshwater usage for fracking could potentially affect aquatic organisms in 7 to 51 percent of the catchments, the research team found. Even if 100 percent of the fracking wastewater were recycled, between 3 to 45 percent of catchments could still be affected.

In the summer especially, drawing out millions of gallons of water from a stream for fracking fluids likely has a significant impact on stream temperatures and stream flow, which affects aquatic insects, fish and bottom-dwelling mussels, the study said.

The purpose of the study is to flesh out the potential impact of fracking on streams around the Fayetteville Shale play, an active gas field in Arkansas where more than 5,000 gas wells were drilled using fracking techniques between 2004 and 2014.

But the task wasn't exactly simple. As Motherboard reported, the researchers "could not obtain detailed data on how much water was pumped from which stream and when."

"Little is known about how much water can be withdrawn from these streams without impacts on fish and other aquatic species," lead author Sally Entrekin, a biologist at University of Central Arkansas, told the publication.

"We don't know if there has been an impact on the streams because there isn't any site-specific monitoring," she added.

The researchers concluded that more accessible and precise withdrawal and streamflow data are critical moving forward to assess and mitigate water stress in streams that experience high-volume withdrawals.

https://www.ecowatch.com/fracking-water-use-2530261256.html

Agelbert NOTE: And you can be Damned Sure that Pruitt at the EPA  is going to guarantee that there ain't NEVAH going to be any site-specific monitoring.
« Last Edit: February 01, 2018, 05:09:12 pm by AGelbert »
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Pollution
« Reply #644 on: February 03, 2018, 03:20:38 pm »
Sanchi Oil Spill Drifts Toward Japan
February 2, 2018 by Reuters

The oil spill from a stricken Iranian tanker Sanchi that sank on Sunday is seen in the East China Sea, on January 16, 2018 in this photo provided by Japan’s 10th Regional Coast Guard. 10th Regional Coast Guard Headquarters/Handout via REUTERS

by Osamu Tsukimori (Reuters) – Clumps of oil have washed up on the shores of southern Japan and there are fears they may be leaking from an Iranian crude tanker that sank in the world’s worst such disaster in decades, the Japanese Coast Guard said on Friday.

Related Book: Deepwater Horizon Book: The Untold Story of the Gulf Oil Disaster by John Konrad

Black clumps have reached the shores of the island of Amami-Oshima, a coast guard official told Reuters by phone. Authorities are checking to see if it is from the Sanchi (IMO:9356608) tanker that sank in the East China Sea last month, after being alerted to its presence by the public.

The government had set up a special unit within Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s office to coordinate Japan’s response to the latest development, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters.

“The government, while working closely with local authorities, is looking into how broad the range (of oil clumps washed ashore) is and what has caused it,” Suga said.“We are doing all we can, including dispatching a Coast Guard unit” to remove the oil, he said.

Amami-Oshima is part of a chain of islands that includes Okinawa, an area famous for pristine beaches and reef systems. The Iranian tanker sank nearly three weeks ago, raising worries about damage to the marine ecosystem.

The bodies of two sailors were recovered from the ship while a third body was pulled from the sea near the vessel. The remaining 29 crew of the ship are presumed dead.

Earlier the Chinese government said the sunken tanker had created two oil slicks. The ship, which was carrying 136,000 tonnes or almost 1 million barrels of condensate – an ultra-light, highly flammable crude oil – sank after several explosions weakened the hull.

Japan’s environment ministry had said last month it saw little chance that the spill would reach Japanese shores.

Reporting by Osamu Tsukimori, Kiyoshi Takenaka; Writing by Aaron Sheldrick; Editing by Tom Hogue and Kenneth Maxwell. Reuters

http://gcaptain.com/sanchi-oil-spill-drifts-toward-japan/

Agelbert NOTE: As I have documented at this link about Ocean Going Oil Tankers and several other posts describing, in detail, the Modus Operandi of fossil fuel corporations' 🦖 profit-over-planet "business model 🦀", there can be no doubt that it is, not just unsustainable, but an existential threat to much of the biosphere.

The dirty energy corporations[size =18pt]🦖[/size] have never seriously addressed pollution issues. Instead, they mendaciously claim through vigorous public relations propaganda efforts that they respect the environment and are merely providing energy to "improve" our standard of living.

They ALWAYS work behind the scenes    , corrupting government, in order to socialize the costs of their pollution while they rob we-the-people through totally unjustified government subsidies.

The Fossil Fuelers DID THE Clean Energy  Inventions suppressing, Climate Trashing, human health depleting CRIME,   but since they have ALWAYS BEEN liars and conscience free crooks, they are trying to AVOID   DOING THE TIME or     PAYING THE FINE!     Don't let them get away with it! Pass it on!   
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

 

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