Eco-Logical: A Group for Environmentalists

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Comment by Dallas the Phallus on March 9, 2009 at 12:22pm

Energy and Society: The Relationship Between Energy, Social Change,...

Preface

Anybody is pretty presumptuous who sets out to publish a revision of a book that has been on the market for twenty years. I am, but I think that a lot of people who didn’t read it the first time should have! And, I want to bring the evidence for the thesis up to date. I was glad to find how well the basic ideas had held up and how much of the evidence relevant to it supports it without much modification. Three of the chapters dealing with basic theory are reproduced almost without change. All the others have been rewritten so that modification could be made where it was necessary, and more recent proof introduced where it has permitted elaboration now backed by empirical evidence.

Energy will be a major revolutionary factor in human life in the future, as it has been in the past. All of us, who think they know things that may help to avoid the problems that changes in its sources and declines in its availability will create, owe it to our fellows to do our bit. So, presumptuous or not, I have done what I thought I should.

Editor's Note: This preface was found with the rest of the revised manuscript which was “discovered” in the Spring of 2008 by Robert Cottrell, son of Fred Cottrell. It was not signed or dated, It was a part of the working papers.

Comment by Dallas the Phallus on March 6, 2009 at 10:09am

TAKE ACTION

Our planet is warming at an alarming rate, but scientists say we can solve the climate crisis if we act quickly. That's why it's so important for President Obama to strengthen the target he has set for reducing global warming pollution by the year 2020.

Unfortunately, Obama's current proposal is to return to 1990 pollution levels by 2020. This would be a significant reduction, but not nearly enough, fast enough.

Let there be no mistake: if we fail to reduce pollution much more swiftly than the Obama administration is contemplating, we face the prospect of irreversible climate impacts that could devastate human civilization. In addition, the faster we cut emissions, the more jobs we can create by switching to a clean energy economy. That's why we're joining with our allies in asking you to take action today.

Help President Obama and congressional leaders strengthen their goals for reducing global warming pollution:

http://www.1sky.org/pollution-targets

Why hasn't Obama strengthened his target? After all, he has made global warming a top priority and said his decisions will be grounded in science. A recent speech from Obama's top climate negotiator provides the answer. Speaking about the 2020 target, the negotiator said: "At the same time we are being guided by the science and doing the math, we cannot forget that we are engaged in a political process and that politics … is the art of the possible."

Any climate targets will have to pass Congress. President Obama is concerned there isn't enough political support for the strong pollution reductions that are needed--that corporate lobbyists and Washington insiders are more likely to pay attention to policy details like a 2020 emission reduction than citizens and voters like us.

Let President Obama and congressional leaders know we'll provide the grassroots support that will make stronger pollution reduction targets possible.

On behalf of the 1Sky team,

Gillian Caldwell,
Campaign Director, 1Sky

Comment by Dallas the Phallus on March 5, 2009 at 2:40pm

I just posted a similar action alert from EarthJustice the other day. This one is from the Sierra Club.

A panel of federal judges has just ruled in favor of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in a controversial legal case focused on mountaintop removal coal mining. The ruling threatens to open the floodgates on a new wave of mountaintop removal coal mines. This would allow coal mining companies to blow up mountains and bury neighboring streams with coal mining waste without acting to minimize stream destruction or conducting adequate environmental reviews.

As a result, Appalachia could now be facing up to 100 new permits for mountaintop removal coal mining operations to bury streams, which would destroy huge swaths of the Appalachian Mountains.

Watch the video of Ashley Judd speaking out against mountaintop removal and then join her by asking the Obama Administration to ban mountaintop removal coal mining.

Learn more about mountaintop removal.

Check out our info brochure on mountaintop removal.

Comment by Dallas the Phallus on March 5, 2009 at 2:34pm

Right now, the Environmental Protection Agency is considering reversing a Bush administration decision that has prevented California and other states from taking action to reduce global warming pollution from cars.

This is a tremendous opportunity for real progress towards solving the climate crisis. And to help make this crucial decision, the EPA wants to hear from you. Will you submit a comment?

Tell the EPA to grant California a waiver to set motor vehicle global warming pollution control standards:

http://www.RepowerAmerica.org/epawaiver

This is a really big deal.

Comment by Dallas the Phallus on March 3, 2009 at 10:17am

Tell the President: Mountaintop Removal Mining is Destroying Appala...

They blew the top off West Virginia's Cherry Pond Mountain a few weeks ago, and pushed it into streambeds to get the coal. Appalling? Yes. But hundreds of thousands of acres of mountains and forests and more than 2,000 miles of streams have already been destroyed by this vicious form of strip mining.

What makes Cherry Pond different is the timing.

Cherry Pond is just the most recent victim of mountaintop removal mining. A panel of federal judges may turn dynamiters loose across Appalachia. On February 13, they ruled against Earthjustice and said: The Clean Water Act—as written—won't protect streams in this ancient mountain range.

About 100 mountaintop removal mining permits were on hold pending this case. The ruling potentially opens the floodgates for more destruction in Appalachia. These permits will destroy 432 valleys and 213 miles of streams in Kentucky and West Virginia alone. We need your help to change the rules and silence the explosions.

Tell President Obama to prevent this irreversible destruction and work quickly to undo changes in Clean Water Act rules that allow industries to bury streams and other waters under their wastes by calling it "fill" material.

Mountaintop removal mining destroys entire forests and threatens nearby communities with floods and poisoned drinking water. It's been described by locals as "strip mining on steroids." No one should ever again have to hear the sound of a mountain torn apart by mountaintop removal mining, with coal companies bent on quick profit whatever the cost.

Thirty-six years ago, a coal slurry impoundment dam in Logan County, West Virginia burst, sending 132 million gallons of black water into Buffalo Creek Hollow, killing 125 people, injuring 1,121 and leaving over 4,000 people homeless. The tragedy made abundantly clear the dangers of allowing coal companies to sacrifice Appalachian headwater streams as garbage dumps for their industrial waste.

But the court says current law does not stop them. So, please, join with us. Ask President Obama to undo rule changes to the Clean Water Act and end the Bush administration's attack on our mountain communities. Act quickly—because once the mountaintops and headwater streams are gone, they're gone for good.

Sign now

Comment by Dallas the Phallus on February 28, 2009 at 7:03pm

Water Footprinting

Water is necessary for all life on Earth. It’s also necessary to produce the goods and products we consume. Just how much water goes into making your hamburger or the jeans you’re wearing? It’s called a “water footprint” and as global water supplies dwindle, some are trying to raise awareness about the water cost of our daily consumption. Host Bruce Gellerman talks with Derk Kuiper, executive director of the Water Footprint Network. He also speaks with Michael Kobori of Levi-Strauss to find out what his company is doing to curb its water use.

Listen to or read the interview here.

Comment by Dallas the Phallus on February 27, 2009 at 5:22pm

Environmental Studies Enrollment Soars

With his emphasis on renewable energy and green jobs, President Barack Obama has picked an issue that resonates with his core supporters — young people.

Comment by Dallas the Phallus on February 27, 2009 at 1:56pm

Marketplace: Sustainability

These are usually pretty good spots on NPR. If you don't listen to them, you should take the time to check them out online.

Also check out The Greenwash Brigade.

Comment by Dallas the Phallus on February 27, 2009 at 12:25pm

The Climate Change Lobby

The number of lobbyists seeking to influence federal policy on climate change has grown more than 300 percent in five years, with a slew of new interests from Main Street to Wall Street adding to the challenge of addressing global warming, according to a new Center for Public Integrity report, The Climate Change Lobby. The report provides a first-of-its-kind look at the universe of special interests shaping debate in the United States and how it has sharply expanded between 2003 — when Congress previously voted on climate change — and 2008.

Among the report’s findings:

More than 770 companies and organizations hired some 2,340 lobbyists to work on climate change and spent at least $90 million lobbying in 2008. The American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity — a group of 48 companies — topped the list of those solely focused on the issue, spending $9.95 million.

In 2003, 70 percent of the interests weighing in on climate were energy companies and manufacturers. But by 2008, those sectors made up only 45 percent of the total, despite their strong growth, because so many new interests had joined in the fray.

Finance, insurance and investment firms, with virtually no presence in the climate debate on Capitol Hill in 2003, last year had as many lobbyists as alternative energy firms — about 130. Their interest is in shaping the rules of a market-based “cap-and-trade” system.

The Climate Change Lobby features a fully searchable database of climate lobbyists, using disclosure reports filed with the U.S.
Senate’s Office of Public Records, as well as brief profiles of some of the most prominent lobbyists. Learn more about this latest project and share it with others.

Comment by Dallas the Phallus on February 26, 2009 at 5:34pm

ThisIsReality.com

About the Reality Campaign
In reality, there is no such thing as "clean" coal in America today. Coal cannot be called 'clean' until its CO2 emissions are captured and stored safely.

Let's be clear: there are no US homes, factories, shopping centers or churches powered by coal plants that capture and store their global warming pollution.

Today, coal power plants emit carbon dioxide (CO2), the pollutant causing the climate crisis. A third of the America's carbon pollution now comes from about 600 coal-fired power plants. And of the more than 70 proposed new coal power plants, barely a handful have plans to capture and store their CO2 emissions. If these dirty plants are allowed to be built, this will mean an additional 200 million tons of global warming pollution will be emitted in America each year. Until coal power plants no longer release CO2 to the atmosphere, coal will remain a major contributor to the climate crisis.

Scientists indicate that we can avoid the worst climate impacts if we turn CO2 emissions around in the next few years. The Chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Dr. Rajendra Pachauri, in 2007, said, "If there's no action before 2012, that's too late. What we do in the next two to three years will determine our future. This is the defining moment." For coal to maintain a role in America's energy mix, the industry must act quickly to stop emitting CO2.

The Reality Coalition is a project of the Alliance for Climate Protection, Sierra Club, National Wildlife Federation, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the League of Conservation Voters, and tells the truth about coal today — it isn't clean. We are challenging the coal industry to come clean — in its advertising and in its operations. You can learn more about the reality of "clean" coal here or take action and help stop misleading coal campaigns.




Video link on Youtube.com.

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