Posted by: JohnnyRook | September 26, 2008

Gore Again Calls for Civil Disobedience. Alright, Al, Lead On!

On Wednesday, Al Gore, speaking at the Clinton Global initiative, in New York reiterated his call for civil disobedience in order to stop the construction of new coal-fired power plants. For the importance of coal in global warming see Dr. Hansen’s letter to Nevada Governor Gibbons. (PDF)

“If you’re a young person looking at the future of this planet and looking at what is being done right now, and not done, I believe we have reached the stage where it is time for civil disobedience to prevent the construction of new coal plants that do not have carbon capture and sequestration,” Gore told the Clinton Global Initiative gathering to loud applause.

Al Gore

I’ve written often on the need for civil disobedience and direct action, most recently, two days ago: What Will it Take to Get Us Into the Streets? See also my favorable report on the UK court decision in the Kingsnorth case which legalized, within a limited context, the causing of damage to coal-fired power plants under the concept of “lawful excuse”.

No new coal

So, I’m glad to hear Gore again calling for the use of civil disobedience to stop our greatest enemy, coal, but I have to echo a couple of the criticisms that have surfaced each time he has issued such a call. First, he needs to stop calling only on “young people” to engage in civil disobedience, and start calling on “people in general” to engage in civil disobedience. While it does seem logical that young people ought to be especially motivated to engage in civil disobedience, as they will be the first generation to feel the full consequences of Climaticide in their lives, any calls to action must include everyone if they are to be taken seriously.

It is surprising that young people have not engaged more in civil disobedience if only ought out of a sense of self-preservation, but the rest of us (the non-young) have even more reason to act because we have a moral responsibility arising from the fact that during out lives, we have reaped the benefits of emitting greenhouse gases and polluting the commons of the atmosphere. In other words, we owe it to the young people (and to the poor and to future generations) to chain ourselves to the gates of any new coal fired power plants (there are currently about 28 under construction in the US) because, up until now, we have failed to take action to stop Climaticide. In other words, young people have a practical reason to engage in civil disobedience, but non-young people face a moral imperative to take action because we are the perpetrators and beneficiaries of the existing system.

The second. point leads directly from the first. It is not enough for Al Gore to call for young people to engage in civil disobedience, he must do so himself. He is morally obliged to do this not only because he, like most of us in the developed world, is one of the beneficiaries of the existing system, but because he needs to lead by example if his call to action is not to ring hollow. The battle against Climaticide must not be allowed to become a rich man’s war in which the young and poor make sacrifices for those who enjoy privilege and power.

I know that some people think that civil disobedience is of little value or even counterproductive. Such people argue that blogging or political activism are more valuable uses of our time, but such arguments are specious. First of all, these are not either or choices. Blogging, particularly blogging that gets the attention of the Traditional Media, is obviously of value (in the case of Climaticide, however, sometimes getting the attention of the blogosphere is just as challenging as getting the attention of the TM-witness all the ink, both virtual and real wasted on Sarah Palin-don’t flame me, some of it was useful but most of it was not) as is political activism, particularly when we have a candidate like Barack Obama, who shows signs of actually understanding the significance of Climaticide, but doing those things, and I do both, does not rule out being involved in direct action and civil disobedience.

The problem with blogging is that, on one when hand, when we are heard, we often end up simply preaching to the choir while on the other, many times we are not heard at all because many progressives although paying lip service to global warming do not feel motivated enough to make it what it deserves to be, the focus of their attention. Political activism, as I stated above, is very important because in the upcoming election we have real choices, but, and if you want proof of this you need look no further than the attempt to negotiate a deal on the Wall Street bailout, politicians are timid creatures at best and without firm and constant prodding from their constituents, they are unlikely to give us anything more than a ghost of the policies that we really need. Thus while I have hopes that an Obama administration will act on Climaticide, I am not confident that it will act forcefully enough without public support for radical change.

Part of the problem in generating public support comes from the fact that most people still do not understand the urgency of the dangers posed by climate change. They don’t understand because they don’t see any reason to be interested. Quite simply, the broad public is ignorant of the urgent danger Climaticide poses, and our discussion of those dangers in the Blogosphere is unlikely to motivate that public to action if it doesn’t even motivate us to action.

As Gore and others continue to point out, there is an powerful, organized effort to confuse people about global warming and to keep it from being discussed in the TM. As Gore said in the same speech last Wednesday:

“I believe for a carbon company to spend money convincing the stock-buying public that the risk from the global climate crisis is not that great represents a form of stock fraud because they are misrepresenting a material fact,” he said. “I hope these state attorney generals around the country will take some action on that.”

Fight Climate Change

I want to wretch every time I see the ads from the energy industry touting their clean, non-polluting technologies for coal, oil and gas extraction, including tar sands and oil shale, but these ads do highlight a fact: most people don’t understand the difference between conventional pollution and Greenhouse Gas pollution. But, if you don’t understand that distinction there is no way you can understand the immediate threat that Climaticide poses.

Civil disobedience is a vehicle for educating the public about the basic facts of global warming, but to be successful it must be frequent (it helps if its massive too, but frequent is more important) so that people are forced to think about it. It doesn’t matter if their initial reaction is rejection; if act of civil disobedience follows act of civil disobedience, people will be forced to pay attention. One can dismiss the arrest of a few people once, but the arrest of relatively large numbers of people repeatedly will focus attention on the issue that underlies the direct action. As that happens more people will become aware of the grave and urgent dangers we face and will themselves lend their support and pressure their politicians.

The barrage must be constant. Vice-President Gore needs to lead protesters in chaining themselves to the gates and equipment of Dominion Virginia Power’s proposed new coal-fired power plant in Wise County, VA. After he posts bail, he and other activists need to chain themselves to the gates of another proposed plant, or take over the offices of the American Coal Council, (by the way, notice that Gore’s statement and similar ones from James Hansen, get first page attention on the ACC site-despite their misleading and deceptive advrertising, the boys at the ACC understand what is at stake)or those of the advertising agencies that produce their propaganda, or those of the national media that run their lying ads.

People won’t protest if they don’t feel a pressing need to do so. Right now, those of us who understand how pressing that need is, need to use civil disobedience and direct non-violent action to make certain that our fellow citizens understand as well. Will you lead us Mr. Vice-President? There are thousands of us waiting for you to pick up the gauntlet of leadership. And in Wise County, there are some folks who decided that they didn’t have time to wait.

h/t to Rainforest Action Network for the video

Crossposted at Daily Kos

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Posted in Activism, Climaticide, energy, environment, ethics, global warming, Politics | Tags: , , , , , ,

Posted by: JohnnyRook | September 24, 2008

What Will it Take to Get Us Into the Streets?

In yesterday’s Washington Post, David Segal asks, Where Have All the Protests Gone? He notes that despite the widespread dissatisfaction of the Bush years and the recent Wall Street crisis, few people feel motivated

At the same time, the Independent reported that the clathrate gun may be starting to fire. This is news that should have millions of people protesting outside government and corporate offices but won’t:

The Methane Time Bomb

The first evidence that millions of tons of a greenhouse gas 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide is being released into the atmosphere from beneath the Arctic seabed has been discovered by scientists.

The Independent has been passed details of preliminary findings suggesting that massive deposits of sub-sea methane are bubbling to the surface as the Arctic region becomes warmer and its ice retreats.

methane clathrate

Underground stores of methane are important because scientists believe their sudden release has in the past been responsible for rapid increases in global temperatures, dramatic changes to the climate, and even the mass extinction of species. Scientists aboard a research ship that has sailed the entire length of Russia’s northern coast have discovered intense concentrations of methane – sometimes at up to 100 times background levels – over several areas covering thousands of square miles of the Siberian continental shelf.

Would You Take to the Streets if You Had a Clathrate Gun Pointed at Your Head?

So, why aren’t people protesting in the streets about events that irrevocably threaten to alter the climate in ways so disastrous that millions will die and civilization as we know it will become impossible?

Segal, of the Post, posits that the protest movements of the 60’s were driven foremost by the specter of the draft hanging over young men’s heads (it’s not an accident that the Bush Administration has studiously avoided instituting a draft despite its recruitment woes).

Paris 1968

He goes on to quote other experts who think that protest energy today might be siphoned off by the Internet, or that young people have chosen to focus on political campaigns, i.e. working within the system.

“I think the Internet has become a channel for all kinds of countercultural expression, including discontent and critique,” said Miles Orvell, a professor of American studies at Temple University. “But it might have this paradoxical effect. It enlarges the conversation, but it can also produce a kind of passivity. It’s like, ‘I’ve said it and that’s all I need to do.’ A lot of young people seem to use the Internet as a surrogate community, and to that extent, it might diminish participation in the visible sphere.”

But there are those who say that most political agitation today isn’t on the Web or on campuses. The action now, according to Daniel May, who once worked for the Service Employees International Union, is all door to door. They’re raising money, they’re getting out the vote.

The Absent Counterculture

The most important difference between then and now, however, seems to be the fact that 60’s protesters rejected the prevailing mainstream culture. Protesters in the 60’s did not simply wish to reform the existing system, they wanted to overthrow it. This is radically different from today, where there is no counterculture because what was the counterculture has been co-opted and commercialized by corporate power. Even people who criticize the culture want the material rewards that it has to offer.

According to Todd Gitlin, a Columbia professor of journalism:

“There was a culture of confrontation back then,” he said. “You were either on the side of the authorities — not just the president, but the police and the suits — or you were an outlaw. You took psychedelic drugs and you protested and you drew a line between yourself and the prevailing culture.”

That line is getting harder to draw, Gitlin said, in part because the counterculture has been mainstreamed. Rebellion is no longer a clarion call; it’s a marketing pitch.
…

Look at rap. Gangsta rappers such as Jay-Z and Rick Ross are self-professed outlaws all right, but they don’t want to opt out. They want to buy in. Their aspirations are hard to distinguish from those of a hedge-fund cowboy — luxury cars, Cristal, yachts. They are unabashed fans of success just as it is defined by the latest crop of MBAs.

“430 Lex with the convertible top,” Big Tymers rap on “Still Fly,” a song that also name-checks Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Prada and Gucci.

Luxury product placement in a song from the mid- or late ’60s? No way. Music was ominous (Dylan’s “All Along the Watchtower”), sometimes sardonic (Creedence Clearwater’s “Fortunate Son”) and occasionally satiric (the Beatles’ “Piggies”). It reflected the gravity of the times or it looked forward to a utopian future that seemed distant but possible. There wasn’t a lot of rhapsodizing about money.

Breakdown of Faith in Institutions

Storming of the Bastille

From the French Revolution to the American Civil Rights Movement to Nepal’s recent transition from monarchy to republic it is a simple fact that people take to the streets only when their faith in the ability of existing institutions to solve their problems is exhausted.

Despite the many debacles of the Bush Administration from the Iraq and Afghan Wars, to the Katrina disaster, to tax cuts for the rich at the expense of the poor and the middle class, the failure to address Climaticide and now the sub-prime mortgage and Wall Street crises, Americans do not seem yet to feel that they have been pushed to the point of desperate measures. The threat is too distant, and most people still believe in the system. It may be that the Obama campaign, which has inspired hope for genuine reform of the existing system from within has temporarily saved the country from more public protests and direct confrontation between the the citizens and the government. Can it last?

Our financial problems are not going to be resolved easily. The combination of the Bush tax cuts, the cost of the Iraq and Afghan wars and now the Wall Street bailout are going to leave the country financially crippled. At the same time our most pressing problem, climate change, of which yesterdays news of methane releases is but one example of a cascade of new, ever worsening news, continues to threaten us with consequences graver than any we have ever faced with the possible exception of all-out nuclear war. The problem is that the consequences, although worse than any draft, still seem too abstract, too distant. Yet, the longer we take to deal with climate change, the more expensive it will be and the more disruptive to society.

Will an Obama administration act quickly and decisively enough to avoid disaster? That I think is unclear, although there is no doubt that a McCain administration will not. Yesterday’s statement by Joe Biden that “We’re not supporting clean coal … No coal plants here in America,” and the Obama campaign’s scramble to contradict him and reaffirm it’s support for “clean coal” are disconcerting to say the least.

We are not now protesting in the streets because we still believe in the system, which is based on the lie of infinite growth. Our hope is that we can reform the system by political means, stave off disaster and grow eternally richer. In the name of this lie, we have consumed on credit the patrimony of our children, our children’s children and many generations beyond. Part of that is due to the foolhardy way in which we structured our financial institutions. An even bigger part is the result of our voracious and mindless consumption of the planet’s resources, including the atmosphere’s ability to absorb greenhouse gases. Eventually, it will be impossible to deny the need for radical change.

For the time being we place our faith in reform and avoid confrontation in the streets. Yet if that reform fails we will take to the streets as people have throughout history. If that taking to the streets occurs only after the clathrate gun has gone off, or some other major tipping point has been reached, things I fear, may be particularly ugly indeed.

Crossposted at Daily Kos

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Posted in Activism, Bush Administration, Climaticide, Politics | Tags: , , , ,

Posted by: JohnnyRook | September 23, 2008

Matt Simmons on Peak Oil and McCain, the “Hypocrite”

The selections below are from an excellent article from Fortune Magazine senior editor, Brian O’Keefe via CNNmoney.com. I offer them here without further comment except to recommend highly that you read the original article in its entirety.

Exxon Desert Tanker

Matt Simmons is as perplexed as anyone that it has fallen to him to take on OPEC, Exxon, the Saudis, and all the other misguided defenders of conventional wisdom in the oil patch. Why should one investment banker with a penchant for research be required to point out what he regards as the obvious – that from here on out, oil supplies can’t meet demand, and if we don’t act soon to solve this crisis, World War III could be looming?

Why should a man who scorns most environmentalists have to argue that locally grown produce and wind power are the way of the future? Why should a lifelong Republican need to be the one to point out that his party’s new mantra – “Drill, baby, drill!” – won’t really fix anything and that his party’s presidential candidate is clueless about energy? That the spike in oil prices earlier this year wasn’t a temporary market anomaly and the recent retreat in prices is just a misleading calm before a calamitous storm? That we’re headed toward $500-a-barrel oil?

…

“John McCain is energy illiterate,” Simmons is saying. “He’s just witless about this stuff. As a lifelong Republican, I’m supporting Obama.” A dozen oil and gas men sitting around a conference table in Lafayette, La., chuckle nervously as he continues. “McCain says, ‘Oh, we’re going to wean ourselves off foreign oil in four years and build 45 nuclear plants by 2030.’ He doesn’t have a clue.”

…

McCain’s midsummer move to begin campaigning on a platform of more offshore drilling has only hardened Simmons’s position. “What a hypocrite,” says Simmons, who supported McCain’s rival Mitt Romney in the primary – no surprise given Simmons’s history with the Romney family. “Here’s a man who for at least the past 15 years has strenuously, I mean strenuously, opposed offshore drilling. And now it’s ‘drill, drill, drill.’ And he doesn’t have any idea that we don’t have any drilling rigs. Or that we don’t have any idea of exactly where to drill.” (As for McCain’s running mate, Sarah Palin, Simmons says: “She’s a very colorful person, but I don’t think there’s a scrap of evidence that she knows anything about energy.”)

…

As for some other currently voguish sources of fuel coming to the rescue, he’s dismissive. Oil shale? “Buck Rogers stuff. It just can’t work.” Ethanol? “It’s a joke. The numbers just don’t add up.”

Simmons believes that a radical change in the way we live is inevitable. “We should basically be going back to creating a village economy, so that we really reduce the energy intensity of how we live,” he says. “We need bigtime conservation, not feel-good conservation. Make things where they’re used. You’ll end long-distance commuting, and we have the tools to do that now with webcams. Grow food locally. Grow food in your backyard. If they’re not commuting, people will have time to do that.

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Posted in Bush Administration, energy, environment, sustaninable energy | Tags: , , ,

Posted by: JohnnyRook | September 22, 2008

Grade Obama’s and McCain’s Answers to Science Questions

Sciencedebate2008 logo

Not long ago I wrote about the Science Debate web site: Obama Gets an A in Science. McCain Says His Dog Ate His Homework where a grassroots effort grew into a broad-based movement involving nearly all of the nation’s major scientific research institutions and many of its major research universities to get the presidential contestants to answer a series of questions on science policy.

The 34,000 questions submitted by those who joined Science Debate were pared down to 14 and submitted to both candidates. Obama promptly answered the questions, while McCain promised that he would at some future date. McCain has finally answered the questions. Now Science Debate is asking people to read, comment on and grade the candidates’ answers.

Below is a screenshot of the Science Debate web site with question number 2 on Climate Science, the candidates answers, and the grading choices. You can read the candidate’s answers, leave comments, and grade their answers by clicking here.

SD-1
Photobucket

Learn more about the candidate’s answers, leave comments, and grade their answers by clicking here.

Crossposted at Daily Kos

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Posted in climate science, Climaticide, energy, environment, global warming, health, Politics | Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Posted by: JohnnyRook | September 20, 2008

If You Don’t Like this Crisis, You’re Really Going to Hate the Next One

I’ve spent most of my day in a hospital bed getting chemotherapy and trying to tease out the news on MSNBC through a haze of tranquilizers and pain meds, so I beg your forbearance if I go wildly astray here. But I don’t think I have. What I learned from the pundits and the economic specialists through my (and their fog) were 3 true things and 2 false ones.

1) Some pretty smart people saw this Wall Street crisis coming and tried to bring it to other peoples’ attention but were ignored.

2) They were ignored by other people because so many people were doing so well within the existing system that they couldn’t see it realistically and honestly.

3) Now that the floodgates have broken open everyone can see the problem.

4) We have all contributed to the crisis and are all responsible for it.

5) It is time to stop pointing fingers and solve this issue in a bipartisan way.

These thoughts made me wonder: “What would the climate crisis have to look like for us collectively as a people to overcome “the inertia of stage 2 and breakthrough to stage 3 where everyone can see the problem?

Pretty terrible, I’m afraid.

Analyzing the Stages

Points 1, 2, and 3 I believe are largely true. Point 4 is false unless some large caveats are added (A person who took out a sub-prime loan because they wanted to own a home bears less responsibility than the broker who lied to them about the terms of the loan, or the insurer who guaranteed the loan knowing that they didn’t have the resources to pay up if there were large scale defaults, or the free-market ideologue who continually pressed for deregulation because the invisible hand of the market never errs (these are the people who believe that capitalism is not only better than socialism, but that it’s better than democracy too–such people are, theoretical anarchists rejecting government in all forms in favor of a system based entirely on short range, unregulated economic interests, unless of course they can manipulate government to their own short-range benefit, at which moments they are simply hypocrites, liars and crooks)

Point 5 and (point 4) are right wing talking points meant to use “patriotism” or “maturity” as a cover to avoid assigning blame where it is due. Somebody shot our dog, but lets not point fingers at John McCain and the rest of the pro-dog-shooting right-wing ideologues who have been advocating the deregulation of dog-shooting for years now as the solution to all problems. Instead let’s all pitch in, bury the body as quickly as possible, and move on.

Dallas SD 1936

Unfortunately, we are faced with another crisis far more serious than the current banking and financial crisis, but which has in common with it all of the points made above, only on a scale orders of magnitude greater. I’m talking about Climaticide, the climate crisis, global warming etc., whatever you choose to call it.

baked earth-drought

The climate crisis is occurring all around us at this very moment: the temperature of the planet is rising dramatically, in some places, such as the Arctic, by 8 or 9 degree’s Celsius, Hurricanes are growing more intense, droughts are longer and covering a broader range of territory, floods are more common and more intense, agricultural areas are being decimated by changes in drought and rainfall patterns which are hitting some of the world’s most vulnerable peoples, as temperature zones change, plants and animals that cannot move as fast as the shifting ecosystem go extinct (polar bears, picas, innumerable species of insects, frogs and birds), while disease vectors change as creatures such as mosquitoes move into newly hospitable ecosystems. Sea level rise leads to salt water infiltration into coastal fresh water aquifers while very low lying islands disappear destroying ancient cultures and forcing the evacuation of entire peoples.

I can write all that and still be no farther than points 1 and 2 on the original list of how collapse occurs. Many people knew the truth of what I’ve written above, but found it too inconvenient to to do anything about it. “What are you saying, Bear Stearns looks bad?” “Hey, I’m still making money.” “Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in trouble?” “No, problem, the Feds have it under control?” “They’re taking the necessary steps.” “Lehman Brothers looking bad.” “Aw, who needs them anyway?” “AIG is going under?” “Now, wait a minute; that’s important.” And now you say the entire banking structure needs a massive bailout?” “Holy Shit! The ships going down! What do we do?” “Don’t panic. We’ll throw out all our deregulation slogans for a while, and get the taxpayers to give us a massive bailout, even if they might be a bit short after all those tax cuts for the rich and the cost of the Iraq War. It’ll be tough but we’ll muddle through.”

So what does step 3 look like for the climate crisis, at that point when we can no longer bullshit ourselves that the problem can be put off for another day? Well it’s a lot uglier than this current financial crisis, because the consequences are so much more severe and so much more implacable. One can imagine numerous scenarios, but I’ll just provide one that might get our attention:

Kingsnorth

The Climate Crisis of 2030.

It’s 2030 and the world has basically continued with business as usual, emitting more CO2 and CH4 from coal-fired power plants, industrial smokestacks, the tail pipes of a tripled number of motor vehicles, increased deforestation in the Amazon and Indonesia as well as in temperate forests. As CO2 has rise, Arctic sea ice has melted away completely in summer (no one has seen a polar bear in the wild for 5 years), providing a albedo and methane feedback that further increase global surface temperature. The Greenland Ice Sheet has melted enough to raise global sea-level by a meter creating 10’s of millions of refugees in Bangladesh and China who have no place to flee to. Parts of Florida are underwater. Increased movement of the West Antarctic ice shelf is adding a few inches more to the sea-level rise. Sub-Saharan Africa and Australia endure almost continual drought. Lima, Peru announces that the entire city of 6 million will have to be evacuated because the mountain-fed glaciers that fed the streams supplying the city with water are gone. Southern Spain now looks like the Sahara. Areas of traditional heavy rainfall endure even worse storms. Once-in-a-100-years storms now occur every 10 years. The Center for Disease Control reports the first outbreaks of malaria in Minnesota. A huge chunk of the border-fence between the US and Mexico has been brought down by a crowd estimated by Mexican and US authorities at nearly half a million people. Casualties in the clashes that ensued left over 5,000 dead and perhaps another 16,000 wounded. Phoenix set a new temperature record of 125F.

Typhoon Odessa

Meanwhile, providing the coups de grace, 2 huge hurricanes are making landfall today, one a category 5 has hit Miami dead center. Casualties are relatively small, only a couple of thousand people because of the success of the evacuations, but the downtown area is as flat as Nebraska. The second is a category 6 (more intense hurricanes resulting from higher sea-surface temperatures have led to the creation of this new category) packs winds of 180mph and makes landfall where New Orleans used to be before being destroyed beyond all possibility of reconstruction by Hurricane Faisal in 2015. Experts say that it’s path will carry it far up the Mississippi River with minimal loss of intensity and flooding beyond anything ever witnessed in the area during historical times. Memphis is not expected to survive.

This time by the time we get to Stage 3, it’s going to be too late.

Do you think that might be enough to get us to stage 3, where the problem can no longer be avoided? I think so. The problem is that by this point there isn’t a lot that we can do to undo what has already happened. We will have now passed so many tipping points and set off so many feedbacks that the system is now effectively beyond our control. If we adopt crash programs, far more draconian and far more expensive than they would have been in 2008, we may be able slow down the melting of the ice and the concomitant sea level rise, but then again we may not. It may be that the best we can do is adapt, withdrawing from areas too harsh for human civilization, losing most of our ties to other cultures, as each of the earth’s peoples struggles to survive on its own or in loose and rapidly shifting alliances. It will be a miserable, stunted existence, a new Dark Age, likely to last much longer than the first one.

Refugees

I don’t think there will be too much hesitancy to assign responsibility in this Terrible New World. Quite the contrary, I should imagine. People will be quick to point their fingers at us, and ask in outrage “What were you thinking?” Most of us will, I suspect, have no answer to make. As to bipartisanship, that will be the ultimate understatement. In this future world those who do not hang together will hang separately, and perhaps literally.

Crossposted at Daily Kos

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Posted in climate change, Climaticide, environment, global warming, Politics | Tags: , , , , ,

Posted by: billlaurelmd | September 17, 2008

North Pole Today, 14 September 2008

Well, not quite today, but three days late is better than never.

First of all, a picture from the fisheye webcam monitored by NOAA:

NOAA North Pole webcam #3, 14 September 2008
Webcam #1 shows a bunch of water and ice on the lens, but indicates the temperature at 02:30 yesterday (9/15) was 32°F or 0°C.

It’s gotten cold over parts of the Arctic; we’re probably at the sea ice minimum for the year at this point, barring strong winds or a significant warming where there is already little ice.

The familiar picture of areal coverage of Arctic sea ice for this year, last year, and the climatology is shown below, from the National Snow and Ice Data Center.
14 September 2008 arctic sea ice extent (15% ice per 25 km**2)

Melting has slowed to a crawl. Note we’re past the time of minimum in the heavy gray line denoting climatology; just like last year, the melt season is late in ending.

So, how much more melt opportunity is there for this season? First, let’s look at the weather over the Arctic this morning (9/16):

Arctic weather, 06 UTC 16 Sept. 2008

The areas without ice are not cold enough yet, generally speaking, which can be seen when we look at the Northern Hemisphere sea ice concentration graphic (no comparison with last year this time) below. For those who cannot see the numbers, the coldest temperature I could find was minus 13°C (9°F). Yesterday there was a reading as cold as minus 17°C (2°F). Remember that the sun sets at the North Pole on 22 September, a week from yesterday.

NH Sea Ice Concentration, 9/14/08 Concentration legend 9/14 NH Sea Ice Climatology
NH sea ice concentration, 14 Sept. 2008 Photobucket NH sea ice concentration climatology, 14 Sept.

Clearly we’re well-below the climatology, but we’re used to that now, aren’t we?

The only areas I think are at risk of further sea ice loss are those shaded in red or orange. Ice will be forming in some regions where temperatures are below -4°C, though a glance at the weather versus where the ice is at present indicates no open water exists where the temperature is that cold. We’ll see what next week brings, but my educated guess is that we are near or at sea ice minimum for this melt year, and we *won’t* break last year’s record.

Stay tuned.

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Posted in climate change, climate science, Climaticide, environment, global warming | Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Posted by: patriotdaily | September 14, 2008

Palin Violated Law To Win Ballot Measure

Alaskans recently had a charged public debate over whether mining companies should be able to discharge toxic waste into drinking water supplies. The issue was submitted to the voters with a ballot measure. Polling by supporters showed public strongly favored the measure, even obtaining the support of persons who never supported environmental measures because this issue also affected the livelihood of fishermen. The tide then quickly changed days before the election when Palin violated state law by advocating for the defeat of the measure. Working within the rules of the system, a complaint was filed, and a state agency found that both the state regulators and Palin had violated the law. However, the damage was already done and the measure was defeated. A win by any means at any cost. Is this what lies ahead for our presidential election?

Palin opposed Ballot Measure 4, a Clean Water Initiative, which would prohibit large mines from discharging harmful quantities of toxic chemicals into salmon streams or drinking water supplies. Measure 4 was designed to prevent the largest open-pit gold/copper mine in North America by Pebble mining to be constructed upstream from Bristol Bay, which has the world’s largest wild sockeye salmon fishery. (This 8-minute video has incredible pictures.)

The Pebble mine would dwarf a mine in Utah that is 2 miles across, ¾ mile deep and visible from space. These open-pit mines are the “leading sources” and “worst offenders” of toxic releases.

The problem is that even if the copper tailings are not harmful to humans, it will end up killing the fish because even small levels of contamination affect their ability to smell, which they need to find mates, avoid predators, and find their way home to spawn.

Palin violated the law in order to defeat this clean water initiative. It is against the law in Alaska for a “governor to advocate for or against a ballot measure.” So, Palin claimed a “personal privilege” to discuss a “contentious” voter initiative a few days before the public voted:

“Let me take my governor’s hat off just for a minute here and tell you, personally, Prop 4 — I vote no on that. I have all the confidence in the world that (the Department of Environmental Conservation) and our (Department of Natural Resources) have great, very stringent regulations and policies already in place,” Palin said. “We’re going to make sure that mines operate only safely, soundly.”

Naturally, Palin’s violation of the law stirred up the debate and set the stage for the mining industry to distribute an ad with Palin’s picture and her words of opposition. Of course, Palin claimed meekly that she did not know that her buddies in the mining industry would use her words to campaign against the measure.

Her nod-and-wink endorsement was immediately seized by mining companies to create this ad, which ran in papers around the state as part of an $8 million media campaign–one of the most expensive ballot measure ad blitzes in Alaska history. Six days later, the Clean Water Initiative was voted down.

Moreover, the state regulators also had a website which provided the voters with a “neutral” explanation of the measure that was comprised of negative statements about the proposed law that coincidentally constituted the same concerns voiced by the mining industry. This was important because as the debate became more heated, voters became confused, and might seek a nonpartisan assessment on the meaning and impact of the measure from a state agency charged with performing that function.

After Palin publicly stated her opposition, supporters of the measure filed a complaint accusing her and state regulators of improperly advocating for the measure. The Alaska Public Offices Commission (APOC) ordered the state to remove its “neutral” explanation of the measure, which the APOC found to be misleading. In fact, the APOC also “ordered state officials not to publicly advocate against the measure after Gov. Sarah Palin voiced her opposition to it.” The APOC later rescinded that order due to concerns over First Amendment.

The measure failed, which many attributed to a popular Governor voicing opposition in a highly contentious public debate:

Polls before her statement showed voters strongly in favor of the measure, but in the end nearly 60 percent of the public voted against it.

“Conventional wisdom around here is that [her statement] changed the tide on the proposition, from narrowly passing to being defeated,” said Van Tuyn.

In fact, the proponent polls showed that the measure would pass and then support “nose-dived” after Palin spoke out against the measure.

This is what we face with Palin and McBush: Two politicians who are willing to lie whenever they speak without feeling any shame or dishonor and a lipsticked pit bull Palin willing to even violate laws in order to win, knowing that Democrats will play within the system to challenge those violations. I’m not saying we should sink to their low levels, but surely we need a plan B?

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Posted in environment, Politics | Tags: , , , , ,

Posted by: patriotdaily | September 14, 2008

Take Action: Wind Farms Can Save Mountain

Do you prefer wind turbines to scarred mountaintops? A new study shows that some mountains in Appalachia are prime resources for wind energy. During the transitional stage from coal to clean energy, traditional subterranean mining can occur simultaneously with wind farms that provide sustainable environmental and economic benefits not possible with MTR.

For years, defensive strategies were used to oppose MTR mining. Now we have offensive measures. An environmental group commissioned a study by Wind Logics firm to determine viability of wind farms replacing MTR in Appalachia. Coal River Mountain Watch (CRMW) is working with a Coal River Wind campaign to achieve that goal.

There is a mountaintop that would make a great wind farm, but a mining company wants to raze the mountain with MTR, which will preclude wind farms forever. We only have days to stop this insanity, so we need your help.

Mountaintop removal mining has devastating environmental impacts: Decapitation of over 450 mountains or at least 800 square miles of mountains leveled; clear cutting of over 400,000 acres of rich, diverse temperate forest that serve as carbon sinks and lungs and this deforestation can add as much as 138 million tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, and the killing of at least 724 streams that have been buried by mining waste and at least 1,200 miles of headwater streams affected by MTR.

The study found that Coal River Mountain offers high-quality wind resources: 220 turbines could be located on the ridges, generating “1.16 million megawatt-hours per year: more than several of the state’s operating coal-fired plants.” In fact, this wind farm could “produce enough power for 150,000 homes.”

The problem is that MTR can not coexist with wind power. Computer modeling showed that MTR mining that decapitates hundreds of feet from the mountain changes the wind patterns and reduces the wind speed. Thus, if MTR is allowed, “no wind farm will be possible any time in the future.”

If we are serious about changing to alternative energy, then we need to stop MTR before it is too late. Now, Massey mining wants to blast away Coal River Mountain, filling 18 hollows or valleys with toxic mining debris and killing 6 headwater streams. And, Massey wants to start blasting today, before the mining company even has all required approvals.

Replacing MTR with wind power has the obvious environmental benefits of not destroying mountaintops, streams, and eco systems. In terms of climate change impacts, MTR mining of this mountain would yield 58 million tons of coal in a 14-year lifetime, causing the emission of 170 tons of CO2. If wind energy is used on this mountain, it will prevent the release of 104 million tons of CO2 over the same 14-year period.

There are numerous sustainable economic benefits from wind power that are not available with MTR: timber, hunting, fishing, local crafts, furniture making, harvesting of ginseng and other wild plants and tourism.

In addition, the study found that the mountain can only provide 14 years of coal and jobs while a wind farm can be operated indefinitely for wind energy. Moreover, only 1 in 16 tons of coal produced in West Virginia is used for in-state energy consumption with the remaining 15 tons exported to other states or abroad. While wind energy may be exported too, it does not have the same intrinsic social and environmental deficits.

The proposed wind farm would generate millions in revenue for the local communities:

The proposed wind farm would generate over $20 million per year in direct local spending during construction and $2 million per year during the operational period. It would create 200-plus construction related jobs over the first two years, and 40-50 permanent on-site operation and maintenance jobs that would last as long as the wind farm exists. The project would also provide a minimum of $400,000 in State Tax Revenues, and between $750,000 and $3,000,000 in County Tax Revenues annually. Also, this wind farm could potentially provide the city of Beckley and the whole of Raleigh County with clean wind energy.

In order to succeed, Coal River Mountain launched a national campaign to ask the public and organizations to pressure Governor Joe Manchin, who has voiced support for renewable energy, to match his words by obtaining a “stay of execution” from the MTR mining.

Yesterday, Gov. Manchin stated it would be inappropriate to interfere with Massey’s plans to start blasting now because Massey has the proper permits. However, the secretary of the State Dept. of Environmental Protection stated that any such blasting would be illegal because Massey does not have all the requisite permits.

Please sign the petition asking Gov. Manchin to rescind the permits granted by his administration.

Or, send an email asking that Gov. Manchin uphold the law. Despite Massey’s intention to violate the law by blasting now, the Governor does nothing. The problem is that Massey knows that “it’s easier to break laws today and pay small fines tomorrow than it is to wait for permits.”

Massey has obtained permits for MTR mining but a 2007 federal court decision has halted 4 US Army Corps of Engineer valley fill permits due to insufficient analysis of the environmental impacts of valley fills, which kill streams. The appeal of this decision is scheduled for September 23, so we still have time to stop this madness.

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Posted in Activism, climate change, Climaticide, environment, global warming | Tags: , , , , ,

Posted by: JohnnyRook | September 13, 2008

Sarah Palin Favors Aerial Hunting of Wolves

“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.”

Mohandas Gandhi
(1869-1948)

Posted without further comment.

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Posted in environment, Politics | Tags: , , , ,

Posted by: JohnnyRook | September 13, 2008

Sarah Palin, Deepak Chopra and the Booboisie

Sarah Palin has been a godsend to all those Americans whom H. L. Mencken denominated as the booboisie. An updated list of those covered by that rubric includes provincial, small-town chauvinists, racists of all stripes, xenophobes, war-mongering pseudo-patriots, anti-immigrationists, global-warming denialists, the defiantly ignorant, deprecators of science and learning, the religious fanatics and family-values bigots, in short, all those Americans who are made uncomfortable by Barack Obama, his race and intellectuality, (by the way race+intellectuality=uppitiness as any member of the booboisie knows implicitly) his idealism, urbanity and his inclusiveness.

She has been a godsend because she makes it possible for the booboisie to express its narrow-mindedness, intolerance, anger, resentment, militaristic patriotism, racism, and hostility to reason and science, without having to use the real, ugly words that make those positions explicit.

Instead of saying that one hates and fears the ¨racial mixing¨ that we saw at the Democratic National Convention, one can simply praise Sarah Palin´s ¨small town values¨. Rather than say that one thinks foreigners are effete, communistic, perverts, one claims that Sarah Palin is well informed on foreign policy because Alaska is ¨close to Russia¨. Rather than say that one thinks science is bullshit and scientists and scholars impractical, ivory-tower fools who can´t drive a nail or saw a board, one waxes poetic about Palin´s ability to dress a moose.

As Deepak Chopra has written recently:

Sometimes politics has the uncanny effect of mirroring the national psyche even when nobody intended to do that. This is perfectly illustrated by the rousing effect that Gov. Sarah Palin had on the Republican convention in Minneapolis this week.

…

She is the reverse of Barack Obama, in essence his shadow, deriding his idealism and exhorting people to obey their worst impulses. In psychological terms the shadow is that part of the psyche that hides out of sight, countering our aspirations, virtue, and vision with qualities we are ashamed to face: anger, fear, revenge, violence, selfishness, and suspicion of “the other.” For millions of Americans, Obama triggers those feelings, but they don’t want to express them. He is calling for us to reach for our higher selves, and frankly, that stirs up hidden reactions of an unsavory kind.

Palin reinforces the overall message of the reactionary right, which has been in play since 1980, that social justice is liberal-radical, that minorities and immigrants, being different from “us” pure American types, can be ignored, that progressivism takes too much effort and globalism is a foreign threat. The radical right marches under the banners of “I’m all right, Jack,” and “Why change? Everything’s OK as it is.” The irony, of course, is that Gov. Palin is a woman and a reactionary at the same time.

Chopra sees Palin´s nomination as a bringing out into the light of what up until now has been a stealth agenda.

So what comes next is a contest between the two forces of progress and inertia. Will the shadow win again, or has its furtive appeal become exhausted? No one can predict. The best thing about Gov. Palin is that she brought this conflict to light, which makes the upcoming debate honest. It would be a shame to elect another Reagan, whose smiling persona was a stalking horse for the reactionary forces that have brought us to the demoralized state we are in. We deserve to see what we are getting, without disguise.

I think Chopra may be right, but I don´t think that Palin´s presence in the electoral campaign makes the issues quite as automatically obvious as he states. To do that will require that Barack Obama and Joe Biden and other Democrats be relentless in exposing and making explicit the hypocrisy, bigotry, chauvinism, belligerent ignorance, intolerance and fear of change that lie behind expressions like ¨country first¨, ¨small-town values¨, ¨patriotism¨, ´family values¨ and ¨reform¨.

Stumble It!

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Posted in Ideology, Politics | Tags: , , , , , ,

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