Archive for the 'Environment' Category

Philippe Cousteau Jr on our polluted oceans

Published on June 2, 2010 in Environment. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , .

Planet Green’s Chief Ocean correspondent Philippe Cousteau Jr. sat down with Bill Maher on Friday to discuss the seriousness of ocean pollution.

The Florida Keys, third longest barrier reef in the world, is a dead zone. Ninety percent of the big fish, the tuna, the sharks, and other things, are already gone in the oceans. There’s a dead zone in the Gulf Of Mexico every summer the size of New Jersey, where there’s not enough oxygen for things to live. So it’s not a question of ‘Can the oceans take any more?’ The oceans can’t take any more. They couldn’t take any more fifty years ago. The question is, when are we going to stop?

Watch the full interview here.

BP Oil Drilling Fail and the American people

Published on June 1, 2010 in Environment. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

Unsurprisingly, BP’s “Top Kill” maneuver, consisting of plugging the oil gusher with heavy mud and kill shots of shredded tires and golf balls, failed. And now the failed drilling zone is spilling an Exxon Valedez’s worth of oil in the Gulf of Mexico every three and a half days.

Unplugged, it will take 7 years for 2.1 billion gallons of oil to drain from pressurized undersea site. That’s roughly 3500 Olympic swimming pools’ worth of oil poured into the fragile Gulf Coast ecosystem. With nearly 4000 oil and gas platforms in the vicinity (as of 2005), we risk further devastation daily.  In 2008, Hurricane’s Katrina and Rita leveled 113 such platforms.

While we can hope repercussions for BP will be steep, the odds are that it, much like the banking system, is too big to fail. The EPA could do as little as provide a slap on the corporate wrists to, at the opposite end of the spectrum, pull the plug on its US operations and federal contracts, which account for 39% of the company’s oil and gas revenue annually.  Given BP has 22,000 oil and gas wells in the US, punishing BP would also be punishing local economies that rely the jobs BP creates and the disposable incomes that those jobs yield. Oil-coated greed does not scale well when a company reaches a size that allows it to act  as it pleases, knowing that there’s very little regulators can do to enforce compliance and punitive measures

Undoubtedly, the government has culpability in creating the situation.  When BP filed with the U.S. Minerals Management Service, their exploration plans offered assurances that the company could handle a spill 60 times larger than what is currently playing out in the Gulf, while neglecting to provide any details as to what could be done to staunch the flow  from a damaged well head.   Government regulators meant to be on the side of the American people should have asked for more detailed filings before further consideration and licenses were granted.    Which of the other platforms in the Gulf are ticking eco-bombs waiting to self-destruct, having been approved with such loose emergency plans in place?

There is one upside to this disaster.  As more photos (here, here and here) or the environmental impact of this spill makes their way online and into newscasts.   The importance of environmental stewardship is, once again, trending as an important environmental issue.  Per a new Gallup poll, Americans are realizing the cost of our oil dependency, even in the most superficial manner, and recognizing we actually need a planet to live on.

Unsurprisingly, as Mother Jones points out, self-identified Republicans still overwhelming support sourcing energy over keeping the planet a healthy enough place for the people living on it.

Hubris getting ahead of technology

Published on May 9, 2010 in Environment and Politics. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

You’d think that the felling of the Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf would be cause for rethinking off shore drilling.

Seafood is a $1.8 billion industry in Louisiana, with another $1 billion in retail sales  driven by recreational fishing.  If the estimates about possible environmental damage are proven conservative, Gulf Coast states are in for a world of financial pain, up to $4.3 billion in losses according to BBVA Compass Bank economist Nathaniel Karp:

Karp said Florida has the most at stake, facing potential losses of $3 billion alone, including $2.8 billion in tourism, $18 million in commercial fishing and $138 million in recreational fishing…

Louisiana could face economic losses of $948 million, including $880 million in tourism, according to Karp’s estimates. Louisiana’s commercial fishing business stands to lose $31 million, while its recreational fishing industry could lose $37 million, he projects.

And if the drip, drip, drip of information about this spill is anything to go by, the numbers may turn out to be much worse.  Christian Science Monitor reporting suggests upwards of 25,000 barrels of oil per day are spewing into the Gulf instead of the 5,000 barrel estimate being used in data crunching, a number which could skew upwards even further if the damaged piping is further compromised by the flow of gritty oil.   With that oil pocket rumored to be tens of millions of gallons full, an unplugged flow could spread for months.

Such projections take on more significance now that the first attempt to dome the spill failed this weekend.   It also still remains to be seen if the mushroom cloud of oil will reach the current that could pull the oil up the southeastern seaboard.

Our nation’s top experts are now suggesting “stuffing shredded tires, golf balls and other debris into the well’s failed blowout preventer,” while they work on a differently-shaped dome to repeat their attempts at sealing the leak.   Can we really justify offshore drilling if we aren’t truly capable of foreseeing and planning for the consequences that could cause permanent damage to delicate coastal ecosystems and our food chain? Can’t we admit that some technology is still beyond the scope of our knowledge?

Coastal citizens are realizing the stakes of such acts.   Support for offshore drilling in Florida (35%) has dropped precipitously (from 61% in 2008).

And yet politicians seem to be doubling down on their efforts to fill oil coffers, instead of promoting alternative energy sources that could yield new job sectors to partially replace the lost manufacturing jobs of this recession.  For instance, Virginia Governor Robert McDonnell, who seems to continue jerking further and further right since his election, is pushing to drill off the coast of his state as soon as possible.

Then there are the conservative talk heads like Bill Kristol, who suggests drilling CLOSER to shore would limit the danger of offshore drilling, and Sarah Palin who still considers drill, baby, drill to be prudent and necessary for energy independence.

Indeed, we need to create a platform for home grown energy, independent of the Middle East, but real leadership on energy would take us to the next generation of energy creation: one that demonstrates that those who grace the top of the food chain have the awareness that environmental stewardship is a necessary factor in moving society and the human race forward in a sustainable manner.

We’re not particularly good stewards of anything when we can’t even acknowledge the boundaries of what we know before aggressively drilling in the abyss.

Being green because you’re being watched

Published on April 26, 2010 in Environment and Shopping. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

In January, Washington DC implemented a 5 cent tax on each plastic bag distributed by retailers throughout the city.  During a one-week introduction to the new law, a number of grocery chains distributed reusable grocery bags to ensure their branded bags would be seen across the city in the coming months and also served as a way for lower income residents to pick up several of the cost-saving bags at no cost.

As a result of this law, plastic bag use plummeted from 22.5 million bags a month to just 3 million.  (Side note: the $150,000 and counting generated by this tax is earmarked to fund Anacostia River clean up.) People increasingly can be seen carrying tote bags of various sizes and shapes when running errands or grocery shopping.

The law brought about an almost instantaneous shift in behavior, which could be as much about peer pressure and status as it is about saving a nickel here and there. A paper in the March issue of the Journal of Personality & Social Psychology reported on a study of factors influencing more environmentally-aware purchasing behavior.  “Supporting the notion that altruism signals one’s willingness and ability to incur costs for others’ benefit, status motives increased desire for green products when shopping in public (but not private)…”

It’s not enough to be personally aware of the impact your greener actions have within your community, you’re more apt to make the more pro-environment decision when other people can see you.

Which makes me wonder about corporate America. Given the fundamental lack of transparency that leads to epic crises like the Wall Street melt down and the mine safety debacle in West Virginia, would the same forces at work on individuals work on corporations.  Could consumer demand of greater transparency across the providers of goods and services throughout every industry sector, yield more community-centric corporations that consider the social and environmental costs when making business decisions?

(Hat Tip David Berreby of Big Think)

Climate Positive Cities

Published on May 31, 2009 in Environment. 2 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

The US Green Building Council & The Clinton Climate Initiative are working together on the Climate Positive Cities Initiative.

Why are these initiatives never possible when politicians are still in office?

AddThis Social Bookmark Button

VOD: Koala survives Australian Bush Fire

Published on February 11, 2009 in Environment. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .

I’m sure you’ve probably already seen a news piece about Sam the Koala.  She’s been receiving international attention for her rescue by volunteer fire fighter David Tree and her friendship with another burnt koala.

I’ve bottle-fed an orphaned baby kangaroo and can say, on an ordinary day, such a brush with wildlife is unforgettable.  To find animals that survived a horrendous fire and to have a shared moment is extraordinary.

The story gets better from there.

Sam arrived at Southern Ash Wildlife Shelter, run by Colleen Wood, where she made the acquaintance of Bob, another rescued koala.

“They keep putting their arms around each other and giving each other hugs. They really have made friends and it is quite beautiful to see after all this. It’s been horrific,” said Wood . . .

Tree, a volunteer with the Country Fire Authority Victoria, has visited Sam since her rescue and was delighted to see she had bonded with Bob.

“They’ve really taken a shine to each other as they are both burned and share the same burned smell,” he said. . .

Wood said the koalas would be released back into nature once a suitable habitat is found.

There are a couple of cute pictures if you click through to the article.

It just goes to show you can find beauty even in the wake of utter devestation.

AddThis Social Bookmark Button

Penises are shrinking and other reproductive consequences of trashing the planet

Published on December 9, 2008 in Business and Environment. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , .

sad globe

photo by 9583071@N02

Penises are shrinking.

Over the weekend  ChemTrust, an organization that works to publicize how manufactured chemicals and hormones “undermine humans and wildlife by effecting their health, behaviour, intelligence and ability to reproduce,” released a report reviewing over 250 studies looking at the sexual health ramifications of a variety of species after prolonged exposure to chemicals and synthesized hormones in the wild and lab environments. The conclusion: male gonads and offspring are under fire, threatening the survival of  a large portion of the animal kingdom over time.

In study after study, from birds to amphibians to wild cats to polar bears,  reproduction is threatened by the chemicals humans spray over the terrain.  Animals living in highly polluted and very agrarian regions are especially prone to reproductive effects.  Males increasingly have a wide range of symptoms, including hermaphroditic tissues, shorter penises, smaller testicles, and deformities that effect the ability to impregnate females.

Fertility is on the decline, with lower sperm counts and slowed development in the womb, leading to sickly offspring that nurse on contaminated milk.  As chemicals build up in the body, mating rituals are changing, and in some species, less fit males are more effective at landing a mate that ones less effected by pollution.

Why should you care? You are what you eat.

Famed food writer Michael Pollan has been making rounds discussing the problem of corn.  The American diet is full of corn. It’s in foods you don’t give a second thought to.

Take a typical fast food meal. Corn is the sweetener in the soda. It’s in the corn-fed beef Big Mac patty, and in the high-fructose syrup in the bun, and in the secret sauce. Slim Jims are full of corn syrup, dextrose, cornstarch, and a great many additives. The “four different fuels” in a Lunchables meal, are all essentially corn-based. The chicken nugget—including feed for the chicken, fillers, binders, coating, and dipping sauce—is all corn. The french fries are made from potatoes, but odds are they’re fried in corn oil, the source of 50 percent of their calories. Even the salads at McDonald’s are full of high-fructose corn syrup and thickeners made from corn.

Of the 37 ingredients in chicken nuggets, something like 30 are made, directly or indirectly, from corn.

In a parallel argument, we’re eating animals in the food chain that are beginning the suffer from the damage done by pollution.  Forget that we’re stuffing animals with corn feed.  We’re eating ones whose tissues are riddled the hormones and chemicals that are rendering animals sterile and fertility challenged.  Not only are we exposed to the same toxins every day via the air and our toiletries, hair dyes, pesticides and cleaning solvents, we’re also consuming them via our food supply.

While smaller creatures are reacting noticeably first, it won’t be long before the high concentrations humans consume and absorb take effect.  Already, mothers pass a chemical cocktail onto their babies via breast milk that may grow to pass those same chemicals off to their offspring.   Nor does it help that “trace amounts of pharmaceuticals, including narcotics, birth control, antidepressants and other controlled substances, are in the drinking water and in U.S. rivers, lakes and streams,” in 80% of the water samples recently tested by the EPA.

When you begin to realize how impossible it is to avoid the chemicals and hormones corporations have spray our planet with, combined with the general apathy of much of the developed world,  the notion of a not-too- distant future of a sterile human race a la Children of Men seems less far fetched.

AddThis Social Bookmark Button

John McCain, Class Act, Part Deux

Published on August 30, 2008 in Environment and Politics. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .

Politico reports that in lieu of canceling the Republican National Convention while a Category 5 hurricane pounds New Orleans again, the show will go on less festively.  John McCain may deliver his passionate acceptance speech via satellite on Thursday from Gustav’s aftermath.

The self-imposed hits keep coming for McCain. He plans to deliver his acceptance speech from the same geographic region that was drowned in 2005 while Bush & Co. diddled.  Seriously?

Won’t all the networks be pulling up photos from 2005, like the one with Bush and McCain and a festive birthday cake on an Arizona tarmac on the very day Hurricane Katrina devestation occurred.   Probably not the reminder you want while you make your plea for votes  this November.  Republicans bungled Katrina and the city isn’t close to bouncing back. Not the mnemonic device you want affiliated with your Party’s talking points.

I can’t help but compare Eastern Europe, which has been leveled in one war after another, to New Orleans.   New Orleans will increasingly be the bulls eye for heightened hurricane seasons as a result of global warming.

PS.  Sarah Palin isn’t convinced global warming is a “man-made” phenomenon.

Part One

AddThis Social Bookmark Button

Not mommy material

Published on June 30, 2008 in Environment, Health and Society. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

Now that I’m on the downward slide towards thirty, I find that the topic of babies is starting to creep into conversations at networking functions attended by a preponderance of women.  Carrying on the family gene pool is a pretty black and white issue for most, and while women are more than willing to put off having kids in the name of building a career, most that I meet hope to have one or two of their own  some day.

My best friend got married a few years ago.  Cycling served as the common denominator for the couple; not only did they take long bike excursions on weekends, but both taught spinning at area gyms.  In the span of a year, they moved in together, got married, and she got pregnant.  Once Boy 1 was born, their lives were thrown into complete upheaval. Between day care, work commutes and extended family issues, it took 2 years before either of them set foot in a gym again, despite fitness being an integral part of their lives.  Now with Boy 2 in the picture,  my friend looks forward to federal holidays so that she can go to the gym, knowing her kids are attended to at day care.

While my friend wouldn’t trade her kids for her freedom, I’m not willing to make that sacrifice.  I spent my childhood trying to make other people happy, desperate to connect with another human being at some level with a high personal cost:  my passions got lost in the process.  Now that I’m finally figuring out who I am and what I want, I not willing to sideline those interests for anyone again, especially for someone that’s going to require 21+ years of financial (about a quarter of million dollars before college is factored in) and emotional support.  To some that seems selfish.

But I would argue having kids is also selfish.  The world population is growing to a capacity that the planet will not be able to sustain continued exponential growth, and Americans use a disproportionate amount of the planet’s natural resources.  Also, given that half of marriages end in divorce, I have to wonder how often a baby is used as a temporary band aid to obscure deeper issues v. the baby being the issue, since “parents have significantly lower marital satisfaction than nonparents”

Personally, I knew with certainty, on the most primal level, that there was no way I was having kids  after watching a “miracle of birth” video in middle school health class,   Helen Mirren recently echoed my sentiments.

“I swear it traumatised me to this day. I haven’t had children and now I can’t look at anything to do with childbirth. It absolutely disgusts me.”

Since the US is so fond of medicalizing birth, consider the “condition.” If you were not pregnant, such a condition (considerable amount of weight gain;  requisite enhancement of calorie, nutrient and vitamin consumption to compensate for the condition; and a variety of other side effects like hemmorhoids and back pain, all before searing pain as the growth exited your body) would be diagnosed as a parasite.   Pregnancy is not a symbiotic relationship.

I acknowledge that for many women, they can overlook the 36-40 weeks of a medical condition, followed by the searing pain of childbirth (that will eventually fade from memory), because the outcome is a new life they get to nurture.   Me, I don’t want more responsibility than a puppy.

And I’m likely to be happier for it. Lorraine Ali of Newsweek reports:

In Daniel Gilbert’s 2006 book “Stumbling on Happiness,” the Harvard professor of psychology looks at several studies and concludes that marital satisfaction decreases dramatically after the birth of the first child—and increases only when the last child has left home. He also ascertains that parents are happier grocery shopping and even sleeping than spending time with their kids. Other data cited by 2008′s “Gross National Happiness” author, Arthur C. Brooks, finds that parents are about 7 percentage points less likely to report being happy than the childless.

For an interesting read on modern motherhood, I highly recommend Naomi Wolf’s Misconceptions: Truth, Lies, and the Unexpected on the Journey to Motherhood, which addresses the stereotypes and cultural limitations of contemporary pregnancy and motherhood in America.

I’m also looking forward to seeing the documentary, “The Business of Being Born.”

AddThis Social Bookmark Button

Inertia limits changes in traditional work week

Published on June 2, 2008 in Business, Environment and Society. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

Last month, David Green wrote about shorter work weeks as a possible key to higher productivity for Fast Company.

Naturally, most businesses blanch at the notion of giving up any competitive edge in a globalized economy. But it’s not as if moving to a four-day (or 32-hour) workweek would simply lop 20% off the economy. Cutting hours may actually raise per-hour productivity. France, home of the 35-hour week, creates more GDP per work hour than the United States ($37 versus $34, as of 2003). Norway spanks us too ($39), and Norwegians work 26% fewer hours a year than Americans. It’s a myth of modern hypercapitalism that an overworked, sleep-deprived, stressed-out workforce is a necessity. Studies have consistently shown that longer workweeks increase productivity only in the very short term. In a recent survey by Salary.com, workers copped to wasting about 20% of the average day Web surfing and gossiping.

At my last job, it became obvious that while cubicles may promote interactivity between staff members, it also leads to a lot of time being wasted because it’s hard to block out surrounding conversations, so you wind up doing more socializing that you intend to. Fortunately, I wound up assigned to a cubicle at the far end of the floor with little foot traffic. I don’t think management understood why I kept turning down cubicles in the fray (which was thought to be the good real estate) when they freed up; I spent too many hours at the office to begin with, being a social butterfly was not going to make my days shorter.

While there appears to be a compelling argument for a 4 day work week (improving work place efficiency, some life balance, and being aware of one’s environmental impact v. the badge of honor/shame if you log insane hours), inertia persists. But it seems our not-officially-in-a-recession economy may allow Americans to shorten the work week, if not eventually start taking back their time.

When Ohio’s Kent State University offered custodial staff the option of working four days a week instead of five to cut commuting costs, most jumped at the chance, part of a U.S. trend aimed at combating soaring gasoline prices.”We offered it to 94 employees and 78 have taken us up on it,” said university spokesman Scott Rainone.

The reason is simple: rising gas prices and a desire to retain good workers. . .

“In our office, we have people who travel anywhere from five or six miles to a couple who are on the road 45 to 50 minutes,” Rainone said. “As the price of gas rises, the level of grumbling rises.”

The cost of commuting is making the shift to telecommuting and compressed work weeks more palatable to employers who typically want bodies in the building. Employers are also looking to cut back on overhead expenses, which shared office space can do. Yes, the sharp increase in expenses makes getting your job done more expediently beneficial to both workers and management.

As always, feel good changes that benefit the environment, not as important as feel good changes that benefit the bottom line.

AddThis Social Bookmark Button