A third (33 percent) of the total amount of oil released in the Deepwater Horizon/BP spill was captured or mitigated by the Unified Command recovery operations, including burning, skimming, chemical dispersion and direct recovery from the wellhead, according to a federal science report released today.
From an estimated 4.9 million barrels released, about 75% has been dealt with, either naturally or by clean-uo efforts. So, a little over a million barrels still needs to be dealt with in the area, mostly by natural means.
While this is good news, it is still a lot of oil for the environment and ecosystems to deal with.
Daniel Gros, the Director of the Centre for European Policy Studies, has written a grim article in the Guardian, concluding that the influence of coal lobbies in the US senate is too strong for any significant action to be taken on climate change there and that the ramifications will be widespread. I thought it worth drawing attention to.
As long as corporations hold such influence, especially in the Senate, nothing will be done. It may take some thing extraordinary, such as what Moscow is dealing with, for these guys to take any action.
But then they probably figure that they will be paid off enough by the coal lobbies that they will never have to worry about consequences
The Tragedy od the Commons coupled with the corruption of the political process of free market capitalism will make it even harder for us to adapt.
Prior to this year, the hottest temperature in Moscow’s history was 37.2°C (99°F), set in August 1920. The Moscow Observatory has now matched or exceeded this 1920 all-time record five times in the past eleven days, including today….
… soil moisture in some portions of European Russia has dropped to levels one would expect only once every 500 years.
That’s meteorologist Jeff Masters writing about “One of the most remarkable weather events of my lifetime.” The impact of the decline in soil moisture, along with the epic heat and fires, has been devastating, causing Russia to ban wheat exports. Coupled with extreme weather around the globe, it has helped nearly double wheat prices since June.
Sharp and long-lasting declines in soil moisture over much of the planet’s habited landmass are a major prediction of climate science, something I’ve called “DUST-BOWL-IFICATION” (since readers pointed out to me that many deserts really aren’t so bad). Here’s what the recent scientific literature says we face in the second half of the century if we stay anywhere near our current emissions path:
Loss of soil moisture is a big deal, with lots of top soil blowing away. The record temperatures in MOscow are a demonstration of the extreme weather we can look forward to, possible as a new climate regime takes over.
And with large parts of Greenland glaciers calving off state-size pieces of ice, extreme climate events will continue for a long, long time.
The guys who thought this was a good idea say “… that it has saved the school district $20 million it would have otherwise had to pay to cover the pension shortfall, and they maintain that no one could have predicted the credit crisis of 2008 that elevated the deal’s costs.”
First, the school district has had to pay $25 million that it did not expect to and does not really have.
Second, lots of people predicted just exactly this sort of thing. But the guys who came up with this innovation are long gone, onto the play fields of the rich, while the school district and its people are left holding the bag.
I am almost at the point where putting the words innovation and financial together should automatically result in an extended prison sentence.
DENVER — Colorado Republican gubernatorial candidate Dan Maes says a Denver bike-sharing program could threaten residents` “personal freedoms” because it is part of an attempt to control U.S. cities.
Maes said last week that an international environmental group that promotes Denver`s B-Cycle program is part of a “greater strategy to rein in American cities under a United Nations treaty.”
As part of the B-Cycle program, 400 bicycles are available at numerous stations in Denver for people to use for a daily or monthly fee.
“This is bigger than it looks like on the surface, and it could threaten our personal freedoms,” Maes was quoted in the Denver Post as saying.
He apparently sees a dark conspiracy between Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper (who is running for governor), the United Nations, and an evil outfit called “ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability,” which brings 1,200 cities around the world to share information on creating more sustainable, livable communities. (THE HORROR!)
Whenever I read about something like this, I am reminded of a wonderful character in a movie who started out sounding reasonable with his views but then we saw how those views were completely supported by apparent insanity. Here is a nice clip that demonstrates that character, from Dr. Strangelove:
Our personal freedoms are threatened by a bicycle sharing program. He says it will lead to abortions and control of American cities by the UN.
Was the physical act of love a part of his revelation?
