Tree Hugger Thread

[rstrong]

The plan to ship oil to China via a BC port has made the Canadian government anxious to show that it can handle an oil spill off the BC coast. To that end, it's suddenly, finally, draining the 600 tonnes of bunker oil from a sunken ship off the BC coast. The ship sank in 1946 and was discovered in 2003, and it's believed that the bulkheads could collapse at any time.

CBC: B.C. shipwreck's oil cleanup makes waves

Which brings us to what's off the coast of your neighborhood, the American eastern seaboard.

Check out this cheerful interactive map: Chemical Weapon Munitions Dumped at Sea

And a related story.

For example right off the North Carolina coast there's a dump site with 88,032 4.2in. mortars containing 286T of mustard gas. Mustard gas can be fatal. When exposed to seawater, it forms a concentrated, encrusted gel that lasts for at least five years, rolling around on the ocean floor, killing or contaminating sea life.

And in an unknown location, 142T of lewisite (a WWI chemical weapon), 20T of Phosgene, 16T of Sulfur Monochloride, and 225T of an unknown agent.

Off South Carolina there's a dump site with 1,507T of lewisite and 63T of HN (nitrogen mustard).

Also in one small area just off South Carolina there's sites with:

- An unspecified quantity of 4in mustard filled projectiles and M70 115lb bombs

- An unspecified quantity of German produced mustard and tabun bombs, along with quantities of U.S. produced mustard, lewisite, and CG bombs, as well as containers and projectiles

- Portions of 2 barge loads of GA bombs and mines

- 7T of mustard bombs, projectiles, mines, and bulk containers, along with ~1,200T of lewisite in bombs, bulk, projectiles, and mines

- 13T of mustard-filled projectiles originating

- 3 barge loads of phosgene contained in bombs, mines, and in bulk

- four railroad cars filled with mustard gas bombs and mines

- 23 barges full of German-produced nerve gas bombs and U.S. made lewisite bombs. A single barge carried up to 350T of munitions.

- 1,507 1T containers of lewisite and 63 1T containers of nitrogen mustard

Off Georgia there's a site with 39T of mustard gas, 3,207T of Lewisite, 14T of Phosgene, and 2 1,000lb bombs filled with 420lbs each of Tabun.

Off Florida there's one site alone that has 71T of sarin, 10.5lb of VX, 677T of mustard gas, and 6,490T of Lewisite.

There's a lot more sites to the north. At one dump site alone off Maryland - exact location unknown, and the dumping took place over years so it'll be spread out - there were dumps of:

- 2 1T containers of lewisite, 1 lewisite-filled cylinder, and radiological wastes amounting to 320T

- 378 4in mustard projectiles, 341 6in mustard projectiles, a 1T container of lewisite, 20 drums of cyanide, 421,757lb of radiological waste, and 5,252 white phosphorus munitions.

- 1,700 3in mustard projectiles, 456 1T containers CNB (chloroacetophenone and benzene), 74 1T containers of mustard, 10 M78 CK (blood agent) bombs and 800 55gal drums of radiological waste

And that's just some of the sites. All corroding for 50+ years in salt water, all going to release their contents over the coming years.

[rstrong]

On the other hand if you love the planet, remember to use and throw out as much paper as you possibly can. Every phone book in a landfill is 8 pounds of carbon sequestered, no?

[Cannonpointer]

Pretty slick deal for the atom smashers; I myself get a modest subsidy if I don't grow turnips, but I'm sure it's nothing like this here business.

I assume that subsidy comes from the more-than-happy-to-give piggy banks of children everywhere?

[Cannonpointer]

On the other hand if you love the planet, remember to use and throw out as much paper as you possibly can. Every phone book in a landfill is 8 pounds of carbon sequestered, no?

Lofl. I love successful contrarianism.

[rstrong]

I searched "Hinton, Alberta" at NPR, BBC, MSNBC, CNN, Faux, NYT, USA Today, LA Times, HuffPo and WaPo - nada. CBC has this brief 11/2 mention and nothing since. Apparently, only the Edmonton Journal cares.

A Google news search on [coal Hinton Alberta] returns numerous articles from different news services.

[rstrong]

I get the same results if I do a regular Google search, with quotes.

But if I do a Google news search on "coal Hinton Alberta", without quotes, I get numerous on-topic results. (The first link also has a sub-link to "all 21 news sources"- which links to actually just six on-topic stories.)

So, the three major Canadian networks cover it. (CBC, CTV, Global News.) Some local news sources cover it: (Edmonton Journal, Fort McMurray Today, Whitecourt Star, Hinton Parklander, St. Albert Gazette). And some "new media" cover it. (Huffington Post, ThinkProgress, GlobalPost, Beacon News, Bloomberg)

[rstrong]

I get the sources I listed in my previous post, when I click on the link in my previous post. And that's two weeks after the event, and at least 10 days after the early stories that show up in the search. Not bad for today's ferret-on-crack-attention-span media.

This is what happens when there's no juicy photos to take. The river a day after the event looks just like the river a day before.

Not long after the Exxon Valdez spill, a friend of mine went to Alaska to fill in for a couple weeks for a Girl Scouts office worker who was going on vacation. She quickly discovered that the office worker had paid for her trip and much more with donated money in the Scouts' bank account. It was a Really Big Deal, and An Announcement Had To Be Made.

Someone hooked them up with the public image firm that Exxon had finally brought in.

The first lesson they learned - which Exxon hadn't when their spill happened - is that you make your announcement, you tell ALL, and you answer ALL questions, **all at once.** You'll make the front pages the first day..... full stop. If you didn't tell all, and information slowly leaks out, you keep ending up in the news. But if you tell all, all at once, it's only news once. With no new information coming out, your story is stale and you disappear from the news.

This is why Wikipedia (originally) published the diplomatic cables in many batches over a long period of time. Released all at once they'd be front page news for a very short time. And there would only be so many space reserved on the front page for the story. Most tidbits from the cables would never be covered. But by releasing in many batches over time, there were new front page stories over and over again.

The same goes for the Guardian and the NSA files. Newly leaked information keeps the story at the forefront for months rather than being forgotten. It's the difference between people reacting in pearl-clutching horror, then trusting that someone in the government will take care of it, then forgetting it.... and people finally truly KNOWING that there's a problem and demanding a solution and not letting someone change the subject.

The Hinton spill was a big deal. But with no juicy photos. No visible effects. No-one hurt. And more importantly, no new developments. There WILL be new developments - legal ones - but that will take a while.

[rstrong]

CBC: Alberta coal mine spill heading to N.W.T.

[rstrong]

Thanks, that's the kind of reporting that I felt was missing. Seen any US coverage by the majors? I hope at least some of the media keeps paying attention, this is a very big deal.

Sorry; I just get basic cable, and even then only because it's free with my second internet line. I don't get any of the major US networks. I used to watch CNN regularly, but stopped years ago when it switched from news to tabloid trash.

[neoplacebo]

W.Va. gov declares emergency after chemical spill

This is just one of the ways the true cost of King Coal and our power bills are subsidized by others. Let us know the next time you hear of solar, wind, conservation or other green tech doing something so catastrophic.

Opps! Freedom Industries (the water polluting chemical brothers in WV) filed for bankruptcy this afternoon. I suppose they like freedom but aren't too fond of responsibility; at least as it applies to them.

[Mr.B]

Ohio grand jury indicts 9 Greenpeace activists

"While some people may be sympathetic to their message, this is definitely a crime,"

Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters said a county grand jury indicted each on felony counts of burglary and vandalism.
Deters said the charges carry a possible sentence of more than nine years in prison and $20,000 in fines with convictions.

Deters said property damage, including broken window locks, totaled some $17,000. He also said 24 police officers and two companies of firefighters were diverted to the protest, and that they were unable to open windows to get to protesters "hanging from some type of rope or wires between the two P&G buildings" for some 90 minutes.

VIDEO

[neoplacebo]

Ohio grand jury indicts 9 Greenpeace activists

"While some people may be sympathetic to their message, this is definitely a crime,"

Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters said a county grand jury indicted each on felony counts of burglary and vandalism.
Deters said the charges carry a possible sentence of more than nine years in prison and $20,000 in fines with convictions.

Deters said property damage, including broken window locks, totaled some $17,000. He also said 24 police officers and two companies of firefighters were diverted to the protest, and that they were unable to open windows to get to protesters "hanging from some type of rope or wires between the two P&G buildings" for some 90 minutes.

VIDEO

Yeah, those Greenpeace boys are always getting into something to irritate and agitate; it's what they do. Local legal officials typically like to quote statutes with regard to maximum prison time and fines when discussing any particular "crime." It makes them feel like they're doing a good job. Hell, I bet you could get nine years and twenty thousand for saying something like "excuse me while I whip this out" while in court for a traffic violation and consummating the act, which would be an undeniably strong protest. ok

[Mr.B]

"According to Greenpeace, "Japan has officially cancelled all plans to hunt whales in the Southern Ocean in 2014."

Excellent."

"But...but....but...we're a Research Ship!"

Ditto.

[rstrong]

Oklahoma Moves To Discourage Solar and Wind Power

Oklahoma's legislature has passed a bill allowing utilities to charge a higher base rate to customers who generate solar and wind energy and send their excess power back into the grid.

[Boatrocker]

For the last 20 years I've done a lot of new and upgrade work for utilities- all over the eastern US and primarily in the SE. Utility companies lie and misrepresent almost as much as FOX. There is nothing inherently "American" about them, certainly not their Mafiosi-style methods. I doubt there is a large "American" corporation left with any real, quantifiable sense of civic duty or national interest.

[rstrong]

If you want to an unabashedly and deservedly pro-American book by a Canadian, read Mowat's book "My Discovery of America."

The discovery starts with him on his way to a book event in the US - "An Evening With Farley Mowat" - and discovering that the INS had barred him from entering the country. Far from toeing the government line, he received overwhelming and some times wonderfully subversive support from Americans.

The event wasn't canceled; it continued as "An Evening Without Farley Mowat."

[rstrong]

I didn't know the environmental loopholes for fracking were this bad...

Wikipedia: Energy Policy Act of 2005

This bill exempted fluids used in the natural gas extraction process of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) from protections under the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Safe Drinking Water Act, and CERCLA. It created a loophole that exempts companies drilling for natural gas from disclosing the chemicals involved in fracking operations that would normally be required under federal clean water laws — see exemptions for hydraulic fracturing under United States federal law. The loophole is commonly known as the "Halliburton loophole" since former Halliburton CEO Dick Cheney was reportedly instrumental in its passage.

As with domestic spying, torture, the banking fraud that led to the 2008 collapse etc. the natural response is: "We're not accusing you of breaking the law. We're just really shocked that you didn't have to."

North Carolina Republicans: “Reveal Fracking Chemicals, Go To Jail”

In a move that reeks of desperation (or perhaps it’s just a show for their owners?), three Republican state senators in North Carolina recently introduced a bill to the state legislature that would make the disclosure of fracking chemicals a felony offense.
[...]
The bill also allows companies that own the chemical information to require emergency responders to sign a confidentiality agreement. And it’s not clear what the penalty would be for a healthcare worker or fire chief who spoke about their experiences with chemical accidents to colleagues.

[Mr.B]

Some people just don't know the difference...maybe this is a clue?

http://www.ebaumsworld.com/media/embed/84124299

[billy.pilgrim]

fracking is another cheney crime against humanity

[Wneglia]

Drove by the Edneyville Solar Farm this afternoon. Pretty cool.