writeaboutwarming

May 29, 2012 - The Memorial Day weekend was one for the record books.  Much of the interior U.S. sizzled.  Even worse, the heat was accompanied by unrelenting humidity.  Here in southwest Ohio, our temperatures were in the low 90's, with humidity hovering around 60 percent.  The weather was dangerous. Republicans are known for being ferociously opposed to regulation.  They represent much of the western United States, where Americans are likeliest to take the attitude "no one can tell me what to do."  That's patently ridiculous, of course.  We all have bosses; even the CEO's of major corporations report to a board of directors.  There's a reason for that.  When people aren't held accountable, some among them ultimately engage in whatever sort of behavior will benefit them the most, even if rules forbid that behavior.  They collectively give each other permission to ignore the rules, little bit by little bit.  What one dar...

July 19, 2010 – The oil well in the Gulf has been capped; there is no oil coming out at the well head. Pressure readings have been a source of concern, with some informed ob se rvers saying they wish they were higher. Low pressure readings signify leakage of the oil at locations other than the well (probably directly from the se a floor). High readings indicate that all the leaking oil is being held back by the cap. Though capping is not considered by anyone to be the ultimate solution, the cessation of oil pouring into the Gulf is an enormous relief to Gulf coast residents. The emotional toll on them has been huge, and a situation that, even marginally, more clo se ly re se mbles normal allows residents some breathing room. Meanwhile, the well remains under clo se ob se rvation. The digging of relief wells continues. Grist.org informs readers that BP is scurrying up and down the Gulf coast, offering jobs to marine scientists who, they hope, will be co-opted into...

July 2, 2010 – The Oil Drum is a chat room run by professionals in the oil well drilling industry. It should come as no surpri se that the se folks have a lot to say about the oil well disaster in the Gulf of Mexico . A great deal of what appears in the articles and comments has to do with the truthfulness of what BP and our government are telling us. There is, of cour se , a certain degree of contention among the various individuals logging in here. It can be interesting for the uninitiated as long as you don’t get too hung up on understanding the technicalities (from my point of view, who would want to? …). One lengthy article in particular, contributed by dougr on June 13, has cau se d me to think about an aspect of the problem I hadn’t even realized existed. The author points out that, just as the portion of the well that we can – or could - se e was destroyed, so too has the structural integrity of the well beneath the se a bed been se verely compromi se d. Isn...

June 14, 2010 - BP is now talking about capturing 50,000 barrels of oil a day. When did they admit that more than that was gushing out of the well? By mid-July, they say they’ll be diverting 80,000 barrels. Dear G-d in Heaven, how much oil is coming out of that thing? They don’t know, but they apparently know it’s more than that. These are the same people upon whom we are relying to drill 18,000 feet and hit the existing well in order to relieve pressure. You know, the same folks who said “there aren’t any plumes.” Heaven help us, they feel confident about being able to drill the relief wells accurately. That cannot possibly be a good sign. During his speech tomorrow night, President Obama is expected to call for BP to create an escrow account in the amount of $20 billion which would be used to pay for damage claims filed by businesses and individuals. He's also expected to recommend that an independent third party oversee the claims process. Now there’s an idea with merit, except ...

May 24, 2010 – Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced today that the government will ascertain the amount of oil gushing into the Gulf of Mexico by means of its own efforts. This is obviously in reaction to BP’s ongoing headscratching whenever the subject comes up. We already know it’s a whole heck of a lot. The question I want answered is, when will it stop? What in God’s name do we do if it never stops? If it cannot be stopped, what happens to BP? What happens to offshore drilling? How much will the American people sacrifice to stop another Deepwater Horizon from happening? Would they be willing to swap their SUV’s for Volt’s? Would they give up their cars for mass transit? Could they be talked into telecommuting? I think they’d be willing to give up a lot. Someone just has to ask them. That someone could take an enormous hit, politically. Then again, they just might earn the admiration and – oh, what IS the word? respect? - of the American people. ...

May 17, 2010 – I have to say I’m amazed the oil spill is still getting as much media coverage as it is. It began to slink off in the direction of No News is Good News, but has come back strong. The most worrisome part of the continuing coverage is the insistence, on the part of analysts outside the oil industry, that far more than 5,000 barrels of oil a day is leaking from the exploded well. See the New York Times of May 14 for further information. That, and Anita Burke’s contention that there is only a 40% chance that the well will ever be shut down. Listen to the Radio Ecoshock program of May 6 (“From the Deepwater Horizon”) to learn more. Speaking of which, Alex Smith’s latest program featured a discussion of the idea of Degrowth, i.e., negative economic and population growth. Be sure to catch this latest edition of the Radio Ecoshock Show. For a stellar introduction to the subject, read Wikipedia’s article. Being a librarian, I’m not always a Wikipedia fan, because students use ...

May 10, 2010 – The Gulf Oil Spill continues unabated. The attempt to lower a containment device down over the well failed because of hydrates crystallizing on the inside of the dome, around the opening. The dome has been moved off to one side, to make room for the next attempt at closing off the leak. Thus far, it is conservatively estimated that three and a half million gallons have leaked into the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. (The Exxon Valdez spilled 11 million.) On May 5, British Petroleum “officials” told a Congressional committee that the oil spill could grow by as much as ten times current estimates. No wonder they had that “deer in the headlights” look. No wonder they keep telling Americans they’ll pay all related costs. No wonder we won’t know the day has arrived when they refuse to do so; it will be months from now, and our attention will have been diverted elsewhere. When the Valdez’s hull split, it happened very far away, in Alaska. This oil spill is taking place ...

May 5, 2010 – Flooding in Rhode Island. Flooding in Boston. Flooding in Tennessee. Tornadoes in Mississippi and Tennessee. Once upon a time, this would have been considered a thoroughly miserable confluence of events. That, of course, was before British Petroleum decided to do for oil exploration what Goldman Sachs did for banking. Come to think of it, this darn business of Climate Collapse was taking too long, anyway. Who needs all that suspense? Let’s get it done with, once and for all! Think I’m kidding? Here’s an email that was sent to a friend of mine by her nephew-in-law. She thought it was important enough to share, and he has graciously agreed to let me post it. Don’t bother thinking “I’m glad I’m not him.” We’re ALL him. “HI all Thanks for the concerned letters and Facebook notes. The progression of the oil spill drama has gotten rather scary. We were first told the oil was only from the platform itself. At that point we thought we might be able to help in some way....

May 1, 2010 – Special Edition. The Gulf Oil Spill. 210,000 gallons a day. The height of migration. Dolphins coated in oil? It’s a certainty. Estuaries irretrievably lost? It’s looking that way. Untold numbers of fish killed. The height of migration. Senator Mary Landrieu declaring she will not turn her back on offshore drilling. The oil companies have Mary bought and paid for. What are Mary’s constituents saying to her? Check back in a few weeks ….. I am a bird watcher. My heart aches. My head pounds. My tears fall, unbidden. Louisiana. Mississippi. Alabama. Florida … ? When, oh when, will we realize that the changes are coming, whether we’re ready or not? We have traded our birthright for a mess of pottage. This, our Garden of Eden. How much more of it will we destroy outright? This is the last warning. We have been called to account. Governments can ignore citizens. The created cannot ignore their Creator. What exactly, I wonder, will be the breaking poi...