tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-45769382123463421612024-02-18T20:42:44.979-08:00Chris Searles Writes HereA serious blog considering today's impacts on our environment. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06472521017986748390noreply@blogger.comBlogger114125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4576938212346342161.post-16196009238563200792014-07-13T15:39:00.001-07:002014-07-14T11:42:33.206-07:00The Risk on "Climate"<div style="text-align: justify;">
Regardless of where you fit into the spectrum of concern about climate change, this might be a good time to clarify <b>the risk of doing nothing.</b> Consider:</div>
<br />
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;">"Global Warming is to blame" for the string of unprecedented extreme weather events worldwide since 2010 (<a href="http://americaswatchtower.com/2014/03/24/the-un-claims-global-warming-is-to-blame-for-cold-weather/" target="_blank">United Nations</a>, March 2014)</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">"Climate Change is here and getting worse" (<a href="http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/06/politics/white-house-climate-energy/index.html?hpt=hp_t2" target="_blank">Obama Administration</a>, May 2014)</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://s3.amazonaws.com/storage.nm-storage.com/fbcaustin/downloads/clarion_april30_2014.pdf" target="_blank">First Baptist Church Austin</a>'s article and display on the alarming uptick in wildlife extinction, since Industrialization (April 2014)</li>
</ul>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_b0tN1XcafujeBkWgJMoJzcoCeKUvv1Z0mu1q80YCkIuF47zh0Xn4LXIp7m4jqKcijUS4uEsJHrDKP0XRDt9L4QxPkVbie_Itt5zpYWdw7yX66MIC5t3K9KFLk82ERpzlUYSEci82zwE/s1600/images+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_b0tN1XcafujeBkWgJMoJzcoCeKUvv1Z0mu1q80YCkIuF47zh0Xn4LXIp7m4jqKcijUS4uEsJHrDKP0XRDt9L4QxPkVbie_Itt5zpYWdw7yX66MIC5t3K9KFLk82ERpzlUYSEci82zwE/s1600/images+copy.jpg" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div>
<u>Shifting Religious Views</u></div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
It's not just the <a href="http://www.ucc.org/news/GS2013-fossil-fuel-divestment-vote.html" target="_blank">UCCs</a> and the <a href="http://www.uua.org/news/pressroom/pressreleases/296102.shtml" target="_blank">Unitarians</a> making big changes because of climate change. Central Texas Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, and Unitarian faith leaders joined together to preach their concerns <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qb6P-VFp4WQ" target="_blank">last February</a>. In Austin, First Baptist's pastor had strong words about the need to heed climate science <a href="http://chrissearles.blogspot.com/2013/11/curiosity-is-gift-from-creator.html" target="_blank">last Fall</a>. Suzii Paynter, now Executive Coordinator at the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship in Atlanta, has been clear about her Evangelical views <a href="http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB119094053528242085" target="_blank">since 2007</a>. </div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The number of climate-concerned faith leaders and faith followers is growing too fast to keep up with. The intensity of concern is growing too. On <a href="http://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/human-life-and-dignity/environment/environmental-justice-program/upload/letter-to-epa-from-archbishop-wenski-on-carbon-emissions-standards-2014-05-29.pdf" target="_blank">May 29</a> of this year <b>The US Conference of Catholic Bishops</b> sent a letter to the EPA urging the Obama Administration to "<b>protect</b> the health and welfare of <b>all people</b>... <b>from</b> <b>the impacts of climate change</b>."</div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<u>What's The Risk</u></div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
It's simple: climate change and unsustainable economic development threaten ALL LIFE. Climate Change and Unsustainable Economic Development threaten all life. Today's Climate Change and Unsustainable Economic Development threaten ALL LIFE on earth. <a href="http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20121101-a-looming-mass-extinction" target="_blank">The "risk" religious stewards are talking about is whether or not we Earthlings will lose 50% of the Earth's biodiversity before the end of this century</a>. This reckoning is driven by scientific observation.</div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Will 50% of the Earth's biodiversity become extinct within the next 85 years as climate <i>changes</i>? We're talking about extinctions of polar bears, wildflowers, wild birds... Extinction of: </div>
</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13.63636302947998px; line-height: 20.363636016845703px;">"</span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mammal" style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #0b0080; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13.63636302947998px; line-height: 20.363636016845703px; text-decoration: none;" title="Mammal">mammals</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13.63636302947998px; line-height: 20.363636016845703px;">, </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bird" style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #0b0080; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13.63636302947998px; line-height: 20.363636016845703px; text-decoration: none;" title="Bird">birds</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13.63636302947998px; line-height: 20.363636016845703px;">, </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amphibian" style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #0b0080; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13.63636302947998px; line-height: 20.363636016845703px; text-decoration: none;" title="Amphibian">amphibians</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13.63636302947998px; line-height: 20.363636016845703px;">, </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reptile" style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #0b0080; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13.63636302947998px; line-height: 20.363636016845703px; text-decoration: none;" title="Reptile">reptiles</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13.63636302947998px; line-height: 20.363636016845703px;"> and </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthropod" style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #0b0080; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13.63636302947998px; line-height: 20.363636016845703px; text-decoration: none;" title="Arthropod">arthropods</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13.63636302947998px; line-height: 20.363636016845703px;">. Although 875 extinctions occurring between 1500 and 2009 have been documented</span><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-1" style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holocene_extinction#cite_note-1" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none; white-space: nowrap;">[1]</a></sup><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13.63636302947998px; line-height: 20.363636016845703px;"> ...</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13.63636302947998px; line-height: 20.363636016845703px;"> the present rate of extinction may be up to 140,000 species per year</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13.63636302947998px; line-height: 20.363636016845703px;">.</span><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-2" style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holocene_extinction#cite_note-2" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none; white-space: nowrap;">[2]</a></sup><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13.63636302947998px; line-height: 20.363636016845703px;">" </span></div>
</blockquote>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Numerous scientists have projected that the integrated biological systems we ALL rely on to live (think <i>Food Chain</i>) will be completely <a href="http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/biodiversity/elements_of_biodiversity/extinction_crisis/" target="_blank">disrupted</a> before the end of this century. Most likely -- You'll be affected. I'll be affected. Your parents. Your kids. Your friends. "The least of these." We'll all be affected in the coming decade. Yes, this apocalypse sounds <i>too bad to be true</i>, but that's the science folks. This extinction rate driven by our too-rapidly-changing climate doesn't bode well for our own survival. At risk of stating the obvious, the only way to slow this trend is to reverse the <a href="http://climate.nasa.gov/effects/" target="_blank">impacts of climate change</a> and <a href="http://www.nwf.org/Wildlife/Threats-to-Wildlife/Habitat-Loss.aspx" target="_blank">unsustainable economic development</a>. </div>
</div>
<div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimG9ew5oMZG1qWK68TJAheB-CStxylMyvYCnVGI4K7AMnAk0Imd7-veLe_mWqgpNcxgEYlT2_8OgSoHBEg2NHzn1ic9Vc188b6nH0Mft0BzpsxYj5nLeaZvhZYLeYs0jcwAfhAKsg6Og8/s1600/Species_Red_List.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimG9ew5oMZG1qWK68TJAheB-CStxylMyvYCnVGI4K7AMnAk0Imd7-veLe_mWqgpNcxgEYlT2_8OgSoHBEg2NHzn1ic9Vc188b6nH0Mft0BzpsxYj5nLeaZvhZYLeYs0jcwAfhAKsg6Og8/s1600/Species_Red_List.gif" height="400" width="296" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">an example of observed changes, via the <br />International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)</span></div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<u>Conclusion</u></div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Here's one more thing to consider, the big picture from First Baptist Austin green education captain Linda Thompson's outstanding essay on extinction science (<a href="http://s3.amazonaws.com/storage.nm-storage.com/fbcaustin/downloads/clarion_april30_2014.pdf" target="_blank">link</a>): </div>
</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"<b>Five previous mass extinctions have occurred in life's history... </b>It is thought that glaciation ended the Ordovich epoch, catastrophic global warming </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(volcanoes)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> and ocean acidification ended the Permian epoch; the impact of a massive asteroid off the Yucatan Peninsula precipitated the end-Cretaceous extinction; possibly ocean acidification also played a major role in the Devonian and Triassic extinctions... The sixth or Anthropocene extinction (called Holocene by some) is not the consequence of some poorly understood external geological event, however. The Anthropocene is the consequence of a single earthly species: US."</span></div>
</blockquote>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2BCBNuCuXRPxFRb94YNilSQPqpxq3r3l85IUq4l0ID9Qe8xAIxHHJcef3iNnin_dA0wUq1hw5yYnD_rzbHg7tBFXUILZeh4YnH0oBqDUEtqTU41FC1KuTKoHnzBuOnNMflF8Vy9Jw5qE/s1600/drought-02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2BCBNuCuXRPxFRb94YNilSQPqpxq3r3l85IUq4l0ID9Qe8xAIxHHJcef3iNnin_dA0wUq1hw5yYnD_rzbHg7tBFXUILZeh4YnH0oBqDUEtqTU41FC1KuTKoHnzBuOnNMflF8Vy9Jw5qE/s1600/drought-02.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Stranded cow at the bottom of an empty stock tank near Austin, TX, July 2011. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://photoblog.statesman.com/dry-season-the-texas-drought-of-2011" target="_blank">Austin American Statesman photoblog</a></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv4PuyyDUV5eAR7j7m9wQ_73hBkrP7dnb1wQsYoo6SnXFHNGV_HNqYe9kPY8C9nQgc4dStvV5EY92K3SZK5G9wflid8rVg1zeUqvfXfapAIxi_LdEfexDctV0jKfW-P-346EUPMJmC_8w/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-07-14+at+1.40.20+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv4PuyyDUV5eAR7j7m9wQ_73hBkrP7dnb1wQsYoo6SnXFHNGV_HNqYe9kPY8C9nQgc4dStvV5EY92K3SZK5G9wflid8rVg1zeUqvfXfapAIxi_LdEfexDctV0jKfW-P-346EUPMJmC_8w/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-07-14+at+1.40.20+PM.png" height="291" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.treehugger.com/endangered-species/emperor-penguins-should-be-added-endangered-species-list-warn-biologists.html" target="_blank">Lead story</a> from Treehugger.com, July 14, 2014</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
###</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">To my Christian friends: </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">"The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it." -- <b>Genesis 2:15</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b></b><br />
###<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Notes</span></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: black; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="color: white;">1.</span> <span style="color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 18.327272415161133px;">"<a href="http://www.iucn.org/?4143/Extinction-crisis-continues-apace" target="_blank">Extinction Continues Apace</a>" </span><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 18.327272415161133px;">International Union for Conservation of Nature. 3 November 2009</span><span class="reference-accessdate" style="font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 18.327272415161133px;">. Retrieved 18 October 2012</span><span style="font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 18.327272415161133px;">.</span></span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: black; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 18.327272415161133px;">2. </span><span style="font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 18.327272415161133px;">S.L. Pimm, G.J. Russell, J.L. Gittleman and T.M. Brooks, </span></span><i style="color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 18.327272415161133px;"><a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/content/269/5222/347" target="_blank">The Future of Biodiversity</a></i><span style="color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 18.327272415161133px;">, </span><span style="color: white;">Science<span style="font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 18.327272415161133px;"> 269: 347–350 (1995)</span></span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06472521017986748390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4576938212346342161.post-20608976117372896682014-05-22T14:28:00.001-07:002014-05-22T14:36:12.024-07:00The Good News about Climate Change<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">
“The Good News About Climate Change”</div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">
Two weeks ago the <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://www.globalchange.gov/ncadac" target="_blank">US federal government released its 3rd report on climate change</a></span>, it was frightening to say the least — so I thought i’d take a few moments to share some “good news” about climate change. Here's what i found: </div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcCaPgLG8ozaO9pN5dyDeZPusBUSGMMAthBByXuQ3E38wPDI0c3m1g5JTUF4gO3iOCc7pIANBCrknrxdf-gXljqMSgHDe6KAhlc8g6k1fhRAoVRbuQEy8rIgkeBf_pvtbhMVvAqUIPJvA/s1600/images.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcCaPgLG8ozaO9pN5dyDeZPusBUSGMMAthBByXuQ3E38wPDI0c3m1g5JTUF4gO3iOCc7pIANBCrknrxdf-gXljqMSgHDe6KAhlc8g6k1fhRAoVRbuQEy8rIgkeBf_pvtbhMVvAqUIPJvA/s1600/images.jpeg" /></a><span style="font-size: x-large;">. </span></div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06472521017986748390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4576938212346342161.post-34772502740844051262013-11-01T11:24:00.001-07:002014-05-23T13:29:02.495-07:00"Curiosity is a Gift from the Creator"<!--[if !mso]>
<style>
v\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
o\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
w\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
.shape {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
</style>
<![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
<o:AllowPNG/>
</o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:View>Normal</w:View>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves>false</w:TrackMoves>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:DoNotPromoteQF/>
<w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther>
<w:LidThemeAsian>JA</w:LidThemeAsian>
<w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:SnapToGridInCell/>
<w:WrapTextWithPunct/>
<w:UseAsianBreakRules/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/>
<w:EnableOpenTypeKerning/>
<w:DontFlipMirrorIndents/>
<w:OverrideTableStyleHps/>
<w:UseFELayout/>
</w:Compatibility>
<m:mathPr>
<m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/>
<m:brkBin m:val="before"/>
<m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/>
<m:smallFrac m:val="off"/>
<m:dispDef/>
<m:lMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:rMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/>
<m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/>
<m:intLim m:val="subSup"/>
<m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/>
</m:mathPr></w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
DefSemiHidden="true" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99"
LatentStyleCount="276">
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Normal"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="heading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" Name="header"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" QFormat="true" Name="caption"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="59" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<!--StartFragment-->
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Don Searles caught my attention, <i>Did you hear Roger’s statement on climate change? </i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Not just because he’s my dad the Reverend, or because I was late to
church services (again) and had gotten caught, but because I’d never heard the right Rev. <b>Dr. Roger Paynter</b> speak about global warming before. Ever; especially during a sermon. Who does that? <i>What’d he say? </i>Dad heard – <i>Climate change is real and it’s being caused
by us. It’s our responsibility to respond to it, and even if we’re not causing
it – it’s our responsibility. </i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial;">Big and
bold, </span></b><span style="font-family: Arial;">for sure.<b> </b>The funny thing about growing up in <b>F</b>irst <b>B</b>aptist <b>C</b>hurch is
everything I learned about environmental care I learned from <b>the people of FBC</b>. When I was a kid it
wasn’t the Sunday School or the parables that molded my worldview, it was the
examples I saw lived by the adults in that church community. By example I
learned to be curious about doing the right thing, always. Ask questions, find
solutions, share. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9BbFT4TwVoyQpP1DjUR60aoT6Dfpl6yqDmW0tujeaowgm50mMCkXh-U0dI9-S_-sd5XodfyauXvD1WbqLtBkNYajwf5P1jZDZV9CYl-uJzdfWEXrefwWtnvjk-Vg6JQ4Nt33hMs6EQn8/s1600/IMG_1104_sm+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9BbFT4TwVoyQpP1DjUR60aoT6Dfpl6yqDmW0tujeaowgm50mMCkXh-U0dI9-S_-sd5XodfyauXvD1WbqLtBkNYajwf5P1jZDZV9CYl-uJzdfWEXrefwWtnvjk-Vg6JQ4Nt33hMs6EQn8/s320/IMG_1104_sm+copy.jpg" height="226" width="320" /></a></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://www.fbcaustin.org/" target="_blank">First Baptist Church, Austin</a>, founded 1847. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Christian eco author, family man and full time
Kentucky farmer, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wendell_Berry" target="_blank">Wendell Berry</a> recently told Bill Moyers, “We have to ask
what’s the right thing to do and go ahead and do it.” Probably the greatest
thing about First Baptist Austin, to me, is the embodiment of that value. In that light my
father’s recounting of how Rev. Roger Paynter sees climate change just makes sense.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">So here’s what Roger
actually said on Sunday, Sept. 29, 2013.** A declaration I can share pride in:
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Science and faith are not
enemies. Curiosity is a gift from the creator, not something to be afraid of…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“What speaks to me most is a
theology that we all need more of; a theology that all of life is sacred and
holy. All the earth is holy ground, though we’ve done our part to make it
unholy enough. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Just this week <a href="http://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar5/wg1/" target="_blank">the most comprehensive study yet</a> was released – demonstrating, from a consortium of the
strongest scientists we have in this world, that there <i>is</i> climate change and
despite what the head in the sand crowd wants to believe, it is mostly our
responsibility. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“God gave us this
extraordinary, amazing gift of Creation which is HOLY indeed, and we have consistently
misused it, not only with environmental abuse, but fouling it daily with hate
and bigotry and greed…”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: right;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">-- Rev. Dr. Roger Paynter, 9/29/13<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0in 0in 1.0pt 0in;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; padding: 0in; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJBSBY9IN6c96ndBWJj-D7Vv2QnnAG-TNd2zwqc4fxZgBBSTszVAxFE7bgdrKgNRUVg-A86xMJwQ2FxyFazPV6a0uKnad7KAlsV4OKlOZOA4dddBWdhdny69Oq7ulIICiIBkEI6fYCiHk/s1600/rogerpaynter09.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJBSBY9IN6c96ndBWJj-D7Vv2QnnAG-TNd2zwqc4fxZgBBSTszVAxFE7bgdrKgNRUVg-A86xMJwQ2FxyFazPV6a0uKnad7KAlsV4OKlOZOA4dddBWdhdny69Oq7ulIICiIBkEI6fYCiHk/s320/rogerpaynter09.jpg" height="320" width="247" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; padding: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Right Reverend Dr. Roger Paynter </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 1.0pt 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">The FBC Green Team is moving forward with some great
initiatives to reduce their facility’s carbon footprint this Fall. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;">**Visit </span><a href="http://fbcaustin.org/audio"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;">http://fbcaustin.org/audio</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;"> to hear Roger’s whole sermon.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;">** Visit </span><a href="http://vimeo.com/76122933"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;">http://vimeo.com/76122933</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;"> for Bill Moyers’ interview with Wendell Berry. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0in 0in 1.0pt 0in;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 1.0pt 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<!--EndFragment-->Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06472521017986748390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4576938212346342161.post-12887306209497126052012-12-31T08:34:00.001-08:002012-12-31T13:27:43.967-08:00Exterminating Nature<i><b>Exterminating Nature</b></i> <i>-- The dissolution of North America's last natural habitats -- and those who live in it. </i><span style="font-family: georgia,serif;"> </span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYHaZ0nTReKHJt1jajUBGlRwsWVxrhyphenhyphenLrxuUca-D77mz_N2mFtep8Zbx1eYpcTx8T-EPu4OfhnPihiETNM1-tPzoPJ0kn5l1DiVs4GzTJtjLpJ-OE2mDckXE3JrzQK49xvDf1QjOMg-2o/s1600/BOO_Wolves5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYHaZ0nTReKHJt1jajUBGlRwsWVxrhyphenhyphenLrxuUca-D77mz_N2mFtep8Zbx1eYpcTx8T-EPu4OfhnPihiETNM1-tPzoPJ0kn5l1DiVs4GzTJtjLpJ-OE2mDckXE3JrzQK49xvDf1QjOMg-2o/s1600/BOO_Wolves5.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Ernest"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: georgia,serif;">"Over
the past four centuries, gray wolf populations in North America have
been decimated by overwhelming increases in human population,
development of agriculture, and expansion of industrial forestry.
Moreover, hundreds of thousands of wolves have been trapped, poisoned,
shot from helicopters, and sterilized, among other modes of destruction.
By the beginning of the twentieth century, wolves had nearly vanished
from the eastern United States, most of southern Canada, and the
Canadian Maritime provinces. By 1960, the wolf had been exterminated by
federal and state governments from all of the United States except
Alaska and northern Minnesota. The distribution of the gray wolf in
North America is now confined primarily to Alaska and Canada…</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<div class="rtecenter">
<span style="font-family: georgia,serif;">"In Canada, the gray wolf is still found throughout much of its historical range."</span> -- <i>Following the Last Wild Wolves, </i>McCallister, 2011</div>
</blockquote>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl8mQd3H_M84sHBJmSNZ_p-QhCQqloUi1xzsrh1TLa9WCHnAF_WUMf1OSpegA_3Z4WPaN3a8eY5c9VmRWVhYIS4WUkndjvqkqK8eIpoewW1wzvqPdvrP9Ax8iiyr69KX32KDECYMf2zd8/s1600/north_america_relief.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl8mQd3H_M84sHBJmSNZ_p-QhCQqloUi1xzsrh1TLa9WCHnAF_WUMf1OSpegA_3Z4WPaN3a8eY5c9VmRWVhYIS4WUkndjvqkqK8eIpoewW1wzvqPdvrP9Ax8iiyr69KX32KDECYMf2zd8/s320/north_america_relief.jpg" width="249" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10px;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">The former ranging area of the North American gray wolf. (<a data-cke-saved-href="http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/map/north_america_reliefmap.htm" href="http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/map/north_america_reliefmap.htm"><span style="color: blue;">Fullsize</span></a>)</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Am
i going off the deep end? As a tree-hugging environmentalist i have to
say: there's a silent war on nature, unintentional and ignorant. We
complicity pave over, pollute, and exhaust the resources and natural
habitats each member of Creation depends upon. After reading<i> <a data-cke-saved-href="http://www.dmpibooks.com/book/following-the-last-wild-wolves" href="http://www.dmpibooks.com/book/following-the-last-wild-wolves"><span style="color: blue;">Following The Last Wild Wolves</span></a></i>, by Ian McCallister, I feel i can't emphasize this point enough.<br />
<br />
<i>FTLWW</i>
gives the reader a sense of how nature really works (via infinite micro
and macro relationships) and how we've singularly remade this continent
over the last few hundred years by replacing nature with human society
and material endeavors. The book tracks McCallister's observations of
North America's iconic yet collossally few remaining gray wolves, as the
wolves hunt, birth, nurture, travel, hide, and protect their families
in a cycle that's older than the modern concept of time.<span style="font-family: georgia,serif;"> </span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: georgia,serif;">"Except
for humans and possibly the African lion, gray wolves once had the most
extensive range of any terrestrial mammal. They were found in a variety
of environments, from dense forest to open grassland and from the
Arctic tundra to extreme desert, avoiding only swamps and tropical rain
forests. Now wolves occur mostly in remote and undeveloped areas of the
world with sparse human populations.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: georgia,serif;">"On
the North American mainland, gray wolves were once found everywhere
expect the southeastern United States, California west of the Sierra
Nevada Range, and the tropical and subtropical regions of Mexico. The
species also occurred ... throughout the Arctic Archipelago and
Greenland." -- </span><i>Following the Last Wild Wolves, </i>McCallister, 2011</blockquote>
Not
so long ago gray wolves were everywhere on this continent. As apex
predators with impressive ranging skills, organizational abilities,
diets and intelligence, their presence is/was indicative of large,
healthy ecosystems teeming with challenges and opportunities for
wildlife. Today, the last remaining undisturbed North American gray
wolves are pretty much found only in the <a data-cke-saved-href="http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/regions/northamerica/canada/placesweprotect/great-bear-rainforest.xml" href="http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/regions/northamerica/canada/placesweprotect/great-bear-rainforest.xml"><span style="color: blue;">Great Bear Rainforest</span></a> of coastal British Columbia. This area, though beautiful, has remained inhospitable to commercialization thus far, but it's <a data-cke-saved-href="http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2011/08/canada-rainforest/barcott-text" href="http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2011/08/canada-rainforest/barcott-text"><span style="color: blue;">not safe from near term plunder</span></a>.<br />
<div class="rtecenter">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihi00wjsdQkEpWfC6TBD5NgNAIxOxGuvr8W13I8rqqHTcDko-61Zz-Y9iawOBzI58WbXOh0yVG9hTTcIbltLIWkk6zt9OT2ebAyrTxvnkdrxvr_oXgkC2FmfeB-jK75Us_rgxVhMm7zic/s1600/Screen+shot+2012-12-31+at+10.31.57+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihi00wjsdQkEpWfC6TBD5NgNAIxOxGuvr8W13I8rqqHTcDko-61Zz-Y9iawOBzI58WbXOh0yVG9hTTcIbltLIWkk6zt9OT2ebAyrTxvnkdrxvr_oXgkC2FmfeB-jK75Us_rgxVhMm7zic/s320/Screen+shot+2012-12-31+at+10.31.57+AM.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gray wolves, undisturbed.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrF47b7WBPxRsGq15o-f4xYQFqTKZ1tu5NHgeWpz1sSTyxrra7pKkYwHDnZSC38kM3pNh5UG8KaDGmsgrJHwVsBxGoFUkE6Hpw7T7JJuphzoIOco80suuv9TCjQNvZw1tziwjZuMl7-Kg/s1600/oil-tanker-routes-990.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrF47b7WBPxRsGq15o-f4xYQFqTKZ1tu5NHgeWpz1sSTyxrra7pKkYwHDnZSC38kM3pNh5UG8KaDGmsgrJHwVsBxGoFUkE6Hpw7T7JJuphzoIOco80suuv9TCjQNvZw1tziwjZuMl7-Kg/s320/oil-tanker-routes-990.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Proposed commercialization of Great Bear Rainforest. <b><br /></b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<b>How Do We End This War?</b><br />
<div class="rteindent1">
<br />
As
we begin a new year i'm drawn to grandscale armchairing. In the wake of
everyday personal problems, celebrity gossip, Congressional
can-kicking, audacious <a data-cke-saved-href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/itsallpolitics/2012/12/30/168216783/conservatives-invoke-naacp-case-in-fight-for-secret-donors" href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/itsallpolitics/2012/12/30/168216783/conservatives-invoke-naacp-case-in-fight-for-secret-donors"><span style="color: blue;">distractions</span></a>,
religious / non-profit / civic / PTA and other community failings, and
all the rest -- we're losing Nature. People are unaware. We're losing
that which sustains us. If <i><b>Following the Last Wild Wolves</b></i> is any indication, we should preserve and <i>leave be</i>
the last remaining wild places on earth before they're lost forever. We
owe ourselves, our children, and our spirits -- if you believe in
anything spiritual that is.<br />
<br />
Who has the authority to protect nature? <b>You.</b>
Stuff on your personal todo list 2013 should include: increasing your
commitment to carbon mitigation and divestment, water conservation,
waste reduction and reuse, and protection / restoration of natural
habitat.<br />
<br />
You must share your concerns about nature with those
around you, even if in the form of just sharing this short blog. You
must seek out ways to improve your relationship with the planet by
getting outdoors, shopping smarter, being more politically active,
leading a community group, changing your own habits for goodness sake,
making big investments or donations -- you must.<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: tahoma,geneva,sans-serif;"> </span></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: tahoma,geneva,sans-serif;">"Only
a fool would rather die than die without a tribe, but this is the last
chance to reverse your stance…" -- The Last Poets<a data-cke-saved-href="http://youtu.be/ttChy5e5J9k" href="http://youtu.be/ttChy5e5J9k"><span style="color: blue;"></span></a> - from <i>Delights of the Garden</i></span></span></blockquote>
<div class="rteindent1">
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06472521017986748390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4576938212346342161.post-74320740751456550572012-10-29T11:19:00.002-07:002012-10-29T11:31:54.026-07:00Factoids: "Hurricane Sandy"On the road today, reading the news from Pensacola over breakfast. Once again, the weather is making front page, lead-story, headline news. Here's what <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/search/hurricane%20sandy/" target="_blank">USA Today</a>'s Monday morning edition has to say about Hurricane Sandy:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><b><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_sandy">Sandy</a> is the biggest hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic</b>, more than twice the size of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Irene">Hurricane Irene</a>, with clouds extending some 2,000 miles from Canada to Florida.</li>
<li>The rain that is forecast to fall in some Mid-Atlantic state areas would be expected to occur once every 500 to 1,000 years.</li>
<li>Blizzard warnings have been issued for higher elevations of the Appalachians, and could bring as much as two feet of snow to VA, WV, KY, and NC. </li>
<li>Hundreds of thousands of Americans have been <i>ordered</i> to leave their homes for higher ground. </li>
<li>Sandy has already killed more than 60 people in the Caribbean. </li>
<li>Sandy could directly affect up to 60 Million Americans. </li>
<li>Forecasters expect this "<b>superstorm</b>" to be felt as far inland as Chicago and the Great Lakes; the National Weather Service is warning of waves 20 to 25 feet on Lake Michigan by Tuesday. </li>
<li>High winds currently extend more than 500 miles from Sandy's center. </li>
<li>Sandy's destructive potential is rated 5.8 on a scale of 0 to 6, by the NOAA.</li>
</ul>
<div>
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfiDE6iHdseCVSN-cD8FZMgm4wfn7p1xGpg1EfIcP1oihR69SfIks7rVYoha8Yf3mKa5haz0wV45wCunzuq9Nd184-nXPC_TnzbQVKSaE7OVzYqdEEIkFoakJRDun1NONK1Txevil5L7k/s1600/IMG_5439.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfiDE6iHdseCVSN-cD8FZMgm4wfn7p1xGpg1EfIcP1oihR69SfIks7rVYoha8Yf3mKa5haz0wV45wCunzuq9Nd184-nXPC_TnzbQVKSaE7OVzYqdEEIkFoakJRDun1NONK1Txevil5L7k/s320/IMG_5439.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2012's <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_sandy" target="_blank">Sandy</a> more than 2x the size of 2011's <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Irene" target="_blank">Irene</a>. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<br />
<h4>
<b>Sandy's Economics</b></h4>
Most commerce along the Eastern seaboard is shutdown until further notice. For example: </div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>All schools, freight carriers, mass transit, trains and subways are shutdown in heavily populated areas such as New York City, Washington D.C. and Phildelphia, until further notice. </li>
<li>The New York Stock Exchange has canceled trading for Monday and Tuesday. </li>
<li>Experts say flooding in New York's subway system cannot be prevented; subways stopped running Sunday morning. </li>
<li>More than 6,800 flights had been canceled by Sunday evening. </li>
<li>Meteorologist Mike Williams of AccuWeather said damage, including losses, could top $100 Billion, "far worse than <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Katrina">Katrina</a>."</li>
</ul>
<div>
<br /></div>
</div>
<div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEionzPTXB-7RuIPhvy4-UiUpfw3g3WJHp2kzZizzVKE_wDvVT7CTcjQEoABRplpGxLH5j3FypM9TPpoZ63uCeYpGT330ZrS8AqhC_976fctOuIlHYA9NlOqUANJ8nlqXo1QqA8WF0vMrxs/s1600/IMG_5440.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEionzPTXB-7RuIPhvy4-UiUpfw3g3WJHp2kzZizzVKE_wDvVT7CTcjQEoABRplpGxLH5j3FypM9TPpoZ63uCeYpGT330ZrS8AqhC_976fctOuIlHYA9NlOqUANJ8nlqXo1QqA8WF0vMrxs/s320/IMG_5440.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Page 3A, USA Today print edition, 10/29/12. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
For more basic info on Global Warming and what it's projected outcomes might be i recommend clicking around on Environmental Defense Fund's <a href="http://www.edf.org/climate/climate-facts-dangers-and-what-you-can-do?s_src=ggad.07.2012.control&gclid=CO_C9sToprMCFRRbnAodAHgAvw" target="_blank">info page</a> or digging deeper into any of several environmentalist's books; Lester Brown's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Eco-Economy-Building-Lester-R-Brown/dp/0393321932" target="_blank">Eco-Economy</a> comes to mind as a good starting place. Write me if you're interested in more book recommendations.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7AUC_ppCUTwZP3y7KkE-uuYcdONGor5ihjfWLblqxtULleEr2ZZg4miVqgptsG_vDSACoJLBUgLtM6OaoNuj6okPiFo0SfjD2hYxQymR_n96hso_Axfd1sfu8M4TzHgws8nD2ZANDiyQ/s1600/sandy00063-4_3_rx512_c680x510.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7AUC_ppCUTwZP3y7KkE-uuYcdONGor5ihjfWLblqxtULleEr2ZZg4miVqgptsG_vDSACoJLBUgLtM6OaoNuj6okPiFo0SfjD2hYxQymR_n96hso_Axfd1sfu8M4TzHgws8nD2ZANDiyQ/s200/sandy00063-4_3_rx512_c680x510.jpeg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Young people prepare for the storm surge; <br />
from <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/search/hurricane%20sandy%20photos/">USAToday.com</a>. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06472521017986748390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4576938212346342161.post-38925142266497493082012-10-16T08:15:00.002-07:002012-10-16T08:21:37.709-07:00Rolling Stones Capture the Moment, almostThe world's greatest rock band just released their <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rolling_Stones_discography#Singles" target="_blank">100 & something-th single</a>, their first new single in six years. The conceit? <i>Doom And Gloom.</i> The song takes on society's fall and the effects on modern media saturation on Mick's mood. Credited with having captured the spirit of the 60s <i>and</i> the 70s, <i>and</i> remaining on the cutting edge of live performance throughout the 80s, 90s, & 00s, Mick, Keith & Charlie (and Ron) get a whole new kind of dirty in this new sing along. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/rPFGWVKXxm0?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">"Put cha feet up on the couch and lock all the doo-oors."</span></span></div>
<br />
References to fracking for oil (?), and running out of water make this the first song where <a href="http://www.rollingstones.com/" target="_blank">The Stones</a> acknowledge the environment. One reasonable response to the litany of negativity that is this song, "Let's clean it up then, shall we?" But somehow with The Stones in charge one doesn't get the feeling that'll ever happen. <br />
<br />
A great diddy, except for the digital editing... C'mon Stones!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPXQTtfwR0qy21VZCfwN1qAf-g-aVuD7QI6wXxKnuehAL4J9Bk8oAk6l6GHHWNKRRtr8BaQwMGh8mtepmMEOf4wKy9h6mkYgmh83ZDO1eR-DJ4DWJXf6qh03C3A5iN5VDCgB3R01ePab4/s1600/Screen+shot+2012-10-16+at+10.20.35+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPXQTtfwR0qy21VZCfwN1qAf-g-aVuD7QI6wXxKnuehAL4J9Bk8oAk6l6GHHWNKRRtr8BaQwMGh8mtepmMEOf4wKy9h6mkYgmh83ZDO1eR-DJ4DWJXf6qh03C3A5iN5VDCgB3R01ePab4/s200/Screen+shot+2012-10-16+at+10.20.35+AM.png" width="193" /></a></div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06472521017986748390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4576938212346342161.post-34944350864610305992012-10-14T14:29:00.003-07:002012-10-14T14:31:05.115-07:00"Arctic Sea Ice in Free Fall""The North Pole is losing its ice cap. Comparing recent melt seasons with historical records spanning more than 1,400 years shows summer Arctic sea ice in free fall. Many scientists believe that the Arctic Ocean will be ice-free in the summertime within the next decade or two, and some say that this could occur as early as 2016. " -- Earth Policy Institute.<br />
<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmlbetFHiwUWHfysn5YAmTayrR1emAPsFLL4ToxYeOJ4r_equ8Jp-UPYm-2WBNj7uF241XICUkHqjVOypT9v0RJv5Gybd0viOv2ie1irLb-dtVBo5lIbr3AHfT3dlul-4DzNBxR6PCDgg/s1600/highlights31_longterm.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="257" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmlbetFHiwUWHfysn5YAmTayrR1emAPsFLL4ToxYeOJ4r_equ8Jp-UPYm-2WBNj7uF241XICUkHqjVOypT9v0RJv5Gybd0viOv2ie1irLb-dtVBo5lIbr3AHfT3dlul-4DzNBxR6PCDgg/s320/highlights31_longterm.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="p1">
<br />
<br />
<div class="p1">
See the rest of this report <a href="http://www.earth-policy.org/data_highlights/2012/highlights31" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="p1">
</div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06472521017986748390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4576938212346342161.post-20304053902569038032012-10-13T12:51:00.000-07:002012-10-14T14:28:01.330-07:00And Now for Something PositiveMy last long-form <a href="http://chrissearles.blogspot.com/2012/10/fossil-fuel-companies-you-win.html" target="_blank">blog</a> generated some great conversation over on LinkedIn (see that <a href="http://www.linkedin.com/groupItem?setLike=&gid=67451&item=172347383&type=member&commentID=99148752&nogb=true&trk=grp_email_like_post&csrfToken=ajax%3A0158129660163436361&ut=2lyp0JWkVZmRs1" target="_blank">here</a>). One gentleman in particular, <a href="http://www.linkedin.com/groups?viewMemberFeed=&gid=67451&memberID=33526569" target="_blank">Art Jones</a>, really laid out what i consider to be some meaningful goals for the environmental community, at least in concept. Let's call it <b>The 5% Campaign</b> and see where it goes.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7RmVCo0Bevy3fEluQIClh1-wikNSe3rhOkacudhILCuNc6AP-AJCbTChdewNbE_aqt5iuVy-sbQMzxelUvaHUkEZ0UF74tX_oUWnmkSHnhasCjSmAnGx7ixw-RY1JuBZQ3MijtQ-4Pqw/s1600/5%25Less%3F.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7RmVCo0Bevy3fEluQIClh1-wikNSe3rhOkacudhILCuNc6AP-AJCbTChdewNbE_aqt5iuVy-sbQMzxelUvaHUkEZ0UF74tX_oUWnmkSHnhasCjSmAnGx7ixw-RY1JuBZQ3MijtQ-4Pqw/s200/5%25Less%3F.jpg" width="198" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Are you part of America's 5% Minority?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Art says he's considering blogging, and has some papers drafted, "My goal, use our voice and (economic) power. Use what we are not fully
engaging today. Overcome our own tendency toward status quo... waiting for governments, corporations and the "other" guy." Sounds familiar and simple, but read on.<br />
<br />
Here is what i consider to be Art's core idea:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"What if 5% of the USA:<br />.reduced job commuting by 20% (one day a week, or one week a month).<br />.stopped using electric and gas clothes dryers.<br />.reduced their shower/baths by 1 per week.<br />.kept their car 2 years longer.<br />.bought computer and smart phone gear just a little less frequently. </span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">5% of the USA represents:<br />.10% of the Democrats?<br />.All the Sierra Club, Audubon, Green Peace, Earth Hour (and etc) folks? </span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It means a lot with a consistent 3 months running of a<br />1% drop in consumer oil consumption.<br />2-3% drop in water consumption.<br />1-2% drop in electric usage. </span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">How long have we voted and waited, voted and waited, voted and waited?<br />Where does this start?<br />It starts with adding the economic vote.<br />It starts with a friendly gesture not hostile to would be allies.<br />It starts by a core group being ans example, a witness.<br />OK. Off my soap box."</span></blockquote>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
###</div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p2">
I love this idea. OK, maybe the commuting thing won't work for a lot of people. Likewise, with the clothes dryer. But -- <b>what can we ALL we do; the 5% of Americans who really care? </b></div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p2">
5% of the American population is 15.6 million people. That's enough to matter to the media, to big business (as Art suggests elsewhere), and to our politicians. </div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p2">
I'm particularly fond of by Art's idea because he's suggesting <b>America's environmental groups come together</b>. <a href="http://www.austinpost.org/austin-news/green-20" target="_blank">I've written about the same thing</a>, first on a local basis, in several of my blogs. I believe it's time for a new environmentalism ("Green 2.0" was the term i used 18 months ago) that unites enviros, greenies, and professionals from across the spectrum of concerns, i.e.: </div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p2">
</div>
<ul>
<li>youth & young professionals </li>
<li>civic employees & scientific researchers</li>
<li>non-profit advocates & grassroots activists</li>
<li>green lifestylers & socially conscious consumers</li>
<li>vegans & chemically sensitives</li>
<li>conservationists & wildlife protectionists</li>
<li>health nuts & outdoors enthusiasts. </li>
</ul>
<br />But my goals, compared to Art's, have been all about the unification <i>itself</i>, and doing so so that we might declare our priorities and quantify our values to the American media... Good luck, right... Art's got something YOU can DO, that collectively would make an impact. Are you concerned about the environment? If so how about offering your ideas for reducing daily consumption by 5% (in "comments" below).<br />
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p2">
Maybe we've got something here: the cross-unification of the environmentally minded in order to reduce consumption impacts on the environment, a little bit at a time, all under one large campaign banner. Lord knows, we got <a href="http://www.earth-policy.org/data_highlights/2012/highlights31" target="_blank">problems</a>. </div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p2">
If 5 people comment that they think this is a good idea i'll put more thought into taking this further. </div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p2">
What would be meaningful, actionable, easy to maintain, and easy to sign onto? I've got a few ideas. Let me know yours. </div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip0ju_xAJpj0TEXHGYlU4OoW44ymNbIxalrGtqQjzIbo_h6F5ewzxIboLmQe9cmlOgm0ZlmxZRoUjUlAATeDaqh0vNnAPMEJx5BCRMxNa29B3shtv2ubvqPvamqUCThzRA5YEBwHCrXhk/s1600/Screen+shot+2012-10-13+at+8.49.57+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip0ju_xAJpj0TEXHGYlU4OoW44ymNbIxalrGtqQjzIbo_h6F5ewzxIboLmQe9cmlOgm0ZlmxZRoUjUlAATeDaqh0vNnAPMEJx5BCRMxNa29B3shtv2ubvqPvamqUCThzRA5YEBwHCrXhk/s1600/Screen+shot+2012-10-13+at+8.49.57+AM.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Art on LinkedIn. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="p2">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b>POSTLOG</b> </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">More of <a href="http://www.linkedin.com/groups?viewMemberFeed=&gid=67451&memberID=33526569" target="_blank">Art's comments here</a>. (Good stuff.) One good one, <span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">"I do not advocate a single bunk with a raw food diet without travel, entertainment or computer. I have my comfort too by which my prescribe my needs and claim a quality of life. A modest reduction per person done 30 million times impacts the corporation significantly. Can the Democrats muster 20% of its group to change? Can the environmental community commit to a lifestyle change from its contributors?" </span>Here's hoping my new friend Art Jones starts blogging soon. </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06472521017986748390noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4576938212346342161.post-16862013794920018042012-10-12T08:14:00.003-07:002012-10-12T08:23:31.570-07:00How Powerful is the TransCanada Pipeline?<div style="text-align: justify;">
This <a href="http://dallasmorningviewsblog.dallasnews.com/2012/10/eleanor-fairchild-for-dmn-texan-of-the-year.html/" target="_blank">Texas woman</a> is unable to stop the tar sands <a href="http://stateimpact.npr.org/texas/tag/keystone-xl-pipeline/" target="_blank">Pipeline</a>, a private enterprise, from crossing her lands.</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/WKqs7Fc45XM?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Shortly after this video was shot, she was arrested for <a href="http://www.salon.com/2012/10/08/texas_great_grandmother_arrested_for_trespassing_own_property/" target="_blank">trespassing</a> on her own property. Additionally, <a href="http://stateimpact.npr.org/texas/2012/10/11/new-york-times-reporters-detained-covering-keystone-xl-protests-in-east-texas/" target="_blank">two journalists were detained</a> and threatened with arrest yesterday, near the site. "Reporters were on the private land at the invitation of the landowner,
but were detained for trespassing," according to a spokesperson for the New York Times.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgCG-0etUbV3HF14I_hMM2E-eDdldXHb75ZkQB0lYbwUB8fBOBpa2irT5XsWZ_JBiBq1FgzZowMZDIT9J6hiz1e7BAflzuAfk4OMuDgm1sKqKiA7JICDokvu8ULL-5ujbskg6IXvnfXH0/s1600/files.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgCG-0etUbV3HF14I_hMM2E-eDdldXHb75ZkQB0lYbwUB8fBOBpa2irT5XsWZ_JBiBq1FgzZowMZDIT9J6hiz1e7BAflzuAfk4OMuDgm1sKqKiA7JICDokvu8ULL-5ujbskg6IXvnfXH0/s200/files.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mrs. Fairchild's recent mugshot.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<br /><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06472521017986748390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4576938212346342161.post-28739865256616806832012-10-04T00:19:00.001-07:002012-10-04T13:42:24.291-07:00Fossil Fuel Companies, "You Win!"I'm writing this as an environmentalist who’s trying to reckon with
our having lost on climate change. Something I know a lot about. I’ve
spent most of the last decade studying and working in earnest on issues
related to the Green Revolution and to winning the climate challenge.
Recently I’ve had to give up my torchbearer status as an eco-preneur /
activist / educator / etc. and return to playing music for a living.
(Not a bad thing. Cover photo shows <a data-cke-saved-href="http://alejandroescovedo.com/" href="http://alejandroescovedo.com/">us</a>
in Santa Barbara, last month.*) All along the way, I’ve endeavored to
work outside the enviro-bubble, spending a lot of time in churches,
schools, retail, non-profits, and local politics. With <a data-cke-saved-href="http://sxsweco.com/" href="http://sxsweco.com/">SXSW ECO</a> and <a data-cke-saved-href="http://texasvox.org/2012/10/02/bill-mckibben-speaking-in-austin-tx/" href="http://texasvox.org/2012/10/02/bill-mckibben-speaking-in-austin-tx/">Bill McKibben</a> in Austin this week -- which is truly great, I feel it’s important to share a few ideas.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtgX4UUfdDfQA5FWpC41v-jQfxzpKvuiVPyatwaoRCltZeF4H5uFSXWuJK_9XyWHJMinXB0mgMh4c1FEdaXZ0YHOI7ZARs3Rw9_rmmEGc9pDOzfh0_SSHNzlimDUT1i6TnrX2y7EARar8/s1600/SantaBarbara1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtgX4UUfdDfQA5FWpC41v-jQfxzpKvuiVPyatwaoRCltZeF4H5uFSXWuJK_9XyWHJMinXB0mgMh4c1FEdaXZ0YHOI7ZARs3Rw9_rmmEGc9pDOzfh0_SSHNzlimDUT1i6TnrX2y7EARar8/s320/SantaBarbara1.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">'nother day at the office.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b><br />From what i gather we've built ourselves an economy that can’t possibly stop burning fossil fuels. </b>Congratulations
fossil fuel companies. It’s official. You win. We cannot live without
you. Take my money (and my planet), please. From my uncompromisingly
environmentalist perspective, this means:<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: 16px;"><b>We cannot possibly<br />stop burning fossil fuels fast enough<br />to stop global warming. </b></span></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
OK. We lost. Worse, we can't stop global warming. <a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.google.com/search?q=global+warming+extreme+weather+events&aq=f&oq=global+warming+extreme+weather+events&sugexp=chrome,mod=3&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8" href="https://www.google.com/search?q=global+warming+extreme+weather+events&aq=f&oq=global+warming+extreme+weather+events&sugexp=chrome,mod=3&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8">Extreme weather year round then, right?</a><i> How extreme</i>
most of us would like to know. For reference sake, look no further than
earlier this year. By August of 2012 weather professionals were
declaring 2012 an extreme weather year "<a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.google.com/search?q=2012+weather+record+books&oq=2012+weather+record+books&sugexp=chrome,mod=3&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8" href="https://www.google.com/search?q=2012+weather+record+books&oq=2012+weather+record+books&sugexp=chrome,mod=3&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8">for the record books</a>."
It's our second such year in a row. Hmmm. Before 2011, there weren’t
any years like the last two. Hmmm, that's really odd isn't it? ... <a data-cke-saved-href="http://climatecommunication.org/new/articles/summer-of-extremes/overview/" href="http://climatecommunication.org/new/articles/summer-of-extremes/overview/" target="_blank">Here's a short list of crazy-ass 2012 summer weather events</a>.<br />
<br />
The
widespreadness of whacky weather lately pretty much confirms the whole
global warming "thing" (theory). Those pesky climate scientists with
their pesky computers and nerdy futuristic computer models have been
saying <a data-cke-saved-href="http://www.ipcc.ch/publications_and_data/publications_and_data_reports.shtml#.UG0k2xg7s7o" href="http://www.ipcc.ch/publications_and_data/publications_and_data_reports.shtml#.UG0k2xg7s7o" target="_blank">for at least the last 22 years</a> that human-forced global warming would bring <b>more frequent</b> <b>extreme weather events.</b> Noting <a data-cke-saved-href="http://www.weather.com/news/new-climate-change-study-20120805" href="http://www.weather.com/news/new-climate-change-study-20120805">the recent frequentness of "frequent extreme weather events"</a>
it’s pretty easy to infer that not only is global warming "on,” but
that continuous extreme weather events of varying types will soon
destabilize what we and (sorry for the drama) every other being on Earth
know of as daily life.</div>
<div>
<br />
Scientists say (in muted
tones) and environmentalists like me say (in alarmed, tea-reading-tones)
that the regular occurrence of destabilizing/radical weather events
will soon crash our planet’s biological systemz. If you've ever had your
phone or anything or anyone you count on crash, you know how much
system crashes can suck, even when they only last a few minutes. Think
about a system crash for a whole planet. (Our planet.)<br />
<br />
<i>Here’s an EyeWitness News Series i’d like to see:</i> Since <u>if
we keep burning fossil fuels we will destabilize a significant portion
of what is natural and normal about everyday life, and since we’re gonna
keep burning fossil fuels, how do we keep burning fossil fuels AND
maintain everyday, natural, normal life?</u> How do we keep going with a
fossil fuel focused economy and maintain normal life another 40 to 50
years as the green energy revolution slowly comes online?<br />
<br />
That's
the question for SXSW ECO conferencers, 2012. At last year's conference i
meekly asked a number of presenters, "Shouldn't we be working together,
as a greater environmental community, to put <span style="font-family: tahoma,geneva,sans-serif;">'Ecologizing Jobs Growth'</span> on the Obama reelection agenda?" I got nearly no response. I tried reaching out far and wide, too. Was my idea that <i>there is no rebuilding of the American economy</i> without a clear public eye on the future of our nation’s ecological sustainability, too big?<br />
<br />
Surely
my fellow greenies would agree that if we’re gonna put people back to
work in the USA -- the #1 issue of the 2012 campaign, we’re gonna have
to put 'em back to work via a jobs program that’s economically and
environmentally sustainable, no matter what industry we're talking
about. In fact, America needs regular assessment of the environmental
impact of its industries. The Western World needs to be constantly
questioning the impact of business as usual on its future.<br />
<br />
We
environmentalists need to rally around something bigger than the calls
for "green jobs!" or green investments or environmental protection. We
need to rally around defining our systemic view of a "sustainable,
thriving American economy" and we need to do so in ways that non
environmentalists will respect and understand. That’s what time it is.
Americans can’t be funneling billions of $$$ into environmentally
unsustainable growth. Those days are O-VER. We need to green our jobs,
all jobs, in addition to the eco work we have already begun.<br />
<br />
Anyway,
I think we missed a huge opportunity last year and I hope this year’s
ECO conference is more about “what needs to be done” than “check out
the latest cool new ideas and success stories / meet an eco celebrity /
get a job!” <i>Disclaimer:</i> I thought 2011's SXSW ECO was very well put together as a conference, and full of <i>great</i> people. It's just that the <a data-cke-saved-href="http://www.aga.org/Pages/default.aspx" href="http://www.aga.org/Pages/default.aspx" target="_blank">American Natural Gas Association</a><u> </u>was having their <a data-cke-saved-href="http://www.aga.org/our-issues/AdvocacyPriorities/Pages/default.aspx" href="http://www.aga.org/our-issues/AdvocacyPriorities/Pages/default.aspx">conference</a> in the ballroom next door, and they looked like they were going to <a data-cke-saved-href="http://www.eia.gov/forecasts/aeo/chapter_executive_summary.cfm#growth" href="http://www.eia.gov/forecasts/aeo/chapter_executive_summary.cfm#growth">get a lot more </a><a data-cke-saved-href="http://www.aga.org/our-issues/AdvocacyPriorities/Pages/default.aspx" href="http://www.aga.org/our-issues/AdvocacyPriorities/Pages/default.aspx">done</a>.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZhq0p_8YYhp-uVOQytRVIbfusiecGan9xC2Pghqiqfb8Jq9Iq-kl_kQFt_J6ehPrHEZlzpdL9svMOsccA3MN_ZrncAoA9cZEd-YBUjAk4PFEGPvv88xNF9ZcQ-7jGPiK2wfklWk8a10M/s1600/iphone-rotating-wheel-logo-icon-280x550.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZhq0p_8YYhp-uVOQytRVIbfusiecGan9xC2Pghqiqfb8Jq9Iq-kl_kQFt_J6ehPrHEZlzpdL9svMOsccA3MN_ZrncAoA9cZEd-YBUjAk4PFEGPvv88xNF9ZcQ-7jGPiK2wfklWk8a10M/s320/iphone-rotating-wheel-logo-icon-280x550.jpeg" width="162" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Are we headed for Eco reboot?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
For
the uninitiated, let me emphasize -- experts say the only way to reboot
our planet's biology is, to, you know, "give it a while." To Wait. Wait
while the environment's little wheel spins and spins and spins. Nobody
knows how long that'll take. Nobody has any idea how long it'll be
before daily and seasonal weather stabilizes, much less how long it'll
take for life as we knew it in the 20th century to return.<span style="font-size: 16px;"><b><br /> </b></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: 16px;"><b>Global Warming? </b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16px;"><b>Yes it'll be hotter. </b><br /><b>But the bigger problem is the </b><br /><b>more & more whacked out weather thing. </b></span></div>
<div>
<br />
In
that regard, Americans actually have the most to lose. As the seasons
change, or stop changing, as it were, and start acting out, the world’s
wealthiest middle class will carry the heaviest burden of existential
moral conflict as eco disasters become more prevalent (<i>"what do we Americans do to help the world’s poorest who suffer eco-hardship first?"</i>).
It's us Americans, the world's wealthiest middle class, who will feel
the fall the hardest, too. From more expensive groceries and gasoline to
the end of the notion that there's gonna be a secure retirement
somewhere in your future. Most of us aren't used to being poor but we
will probably learn what that feels like before long.(1) If the climate
scientists' climate science projections are correct it's<i> us</i> vs. the weather from here on out. Crazy, right? Who will prevail? We shall see, but listen up--<br />
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
<b><a data-cke-saved-href="http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/global-warmings-terrifying-new-math-20120719" href="http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/global-warmings-terrifying-new-math-20120719" target="_blank">The global warming bomb is officially ticking</a>.</b></div>
<div>
<br />
Tomorrow's
"biological losses" will be extinctions. Throw in warming oceans and it
gets bizarre. You got the food chain breaking apart over here, the
monthly weather cycle freaking out over there, global warming effects
colliding and interacting and mingling and mutating and all hell
breaking loose over there. Professional research scientists, whether
academic- or government- or private enterprise-employed, who have run
the data, double-checked their work, and double-checked their
double-checked work, and studied each other's studies, and run the
studies again seem by consensus to believe our planet will lose as much
as HALF its biodiversity to extinctions over the next 90 years.(2) This
global warming thing is bigger than you or your kid's college or whether
or not the government raises taxes.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
## </div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: 16px;"><b>So what can YOU DO?</b></span>
I think we should be talking, en masse, to the fossil fuel companies,
the government, and the big investors plain and simple about "global
warming's terrifying new <a data-cke-saved-href="http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/global-warmings-terrifying-new-math-20120719" href="http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/global-warmings-terrifying-new-math-20120719" target="_blank">math</a>"
and asking what level of obligation these entities feel they should
provide to cover the costs of a rapidly unraveling biosphere. Let’s
enviros and greenies get together and start promoting cost benefit
assessments of the "corporate profit vs. ecological destruction"
dichotomy, that chestnut of an arguement we all care so much about.(3)
Let's start assessing the ecological impact of today's jobs and economic
choices and discussing those numbers with people who aren't
environmentalists. Let's do ecological impact assessments on every job
or at least every industry in America.<br />
<br />
Rather than rally around
the loser demand that fossil fuel companies stop being so evil (and that
they go out of business), let’s admit to ourselves that's <a data-cke-saved-href="http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/green/news/2012/02/07/11145/big-oils-banner-year/" href="http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/green/news/2012/02/07/11145/big-oils-banner-year/">not gonna happen</a>.
Fossil fuel companies will be what they are. And honestly, those
companies are full of great people, too. Let's focus on creating new
entities that will manage the <i>ecological</i> impacts of fossil fuels and climate change. Let's use <a data-cke-saved-href="http://www.ecosanity.org/blogsanity/compilation-obscene-fossil-fuel-industry-profits-perverse-government-subsidies-betrayal" href="http://www.ecosanity.org/blogsanity/compilation-obscene-fossil-fuel-industry-profits-perverse-government-subsidies-betrayal">Big Fossil Profits</a>
to solve Big Eco Problems. Let's call an Eco Congress. SXSW ECO is the
perfect place to issue this call. Let’s assume that those the people who
benefit the most from fossil fuel profits (this includes ourselves at a
small scale) will clean up their messes and factor the costs of
environmental damage into their thinking from here on out. Let's assume
it and let's explain it.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif2nJfhyphenhyphenN0As6nm6xb9TBS0EMgHMmPcT4D_1AGKGJb3Ktj8UxTYT-GoL_KYoUSa0Dxhxx9NGjB-titExOEjM49vuumcEgZeK8W16D3IZfVGvvi1f22XJwtU0qms5J4aGGOenDtXGrmT9M/s1600/CollapsedtreeLabels-simplified.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif2nJfhyphenhyphenN0As6nm6xb9TBS0EMgHMmPcT4D_1AGKGJb3Ktj8UxTYT-GoL_KYoUSa0Dxhxx9NGjB-titExOEjM49vuumcEgZeK8W16D3IZfVGvvi1f22XJwtU0qms5J4aGGOenDtXGrmT9M/s320/CollapsedtreeLabels-simplified.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Click to enlarge. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">(<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phylogenetic_tree" target="_blank">All the creatures on Earth</a>.)</span></div>
<br />
<div align="center">
<div class="rteleft" style="text-align: left;">
<b><br />The fossil fuel companies have won</b>,
no matter how you slice it. They'll be doing business long into the
future. Time to give up believing we can move them from being the 1st or
2nd most profitable business sector in the world to total nonexistence,
quickly, while simultaneously winning the day on climate change. Time
to get realistic. <b>Greenhouse Gas Emissions will keep pouring out past the point of safety, for years to come.</b> (<a data-cke-saved-href="http://chrissearles.blogspot.com/2012/08/shouldnt-we-capitalize-nature-like-we.html?utm_source=BP_recent" href="http://chrissearles.blogspot.com/2012/08/shouldnt-we-capitalize-nature-like-we.html?utm_source=BP_recent" target="_blank">See my summary on that if you like</a>). You already know why: <a data-cke-saved-href="http://chrissearles.blogspot.com/2012/02/how-rich-is-oil-gas-industry.html" href="http://chrissearles.blogspot.com/2012/02/how-rich-is-oil-gas-industry.html" target="_blank">the fossil fuel industry is 2nd only to the banking industry in global private sector wealth</a> according to the <a data-cke-saved-href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_corporations_by_market_capitalization" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_corporations_by_market_capitalization" target="_blank">Financial Times Global 500</a>, 2006 thru 2011. Globally speaking <a data-cke-saved-href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/energy/2012/06/pictures/120618-large-fossil-fuel-subsidies/" href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/energy/2012/06/pictures/120618-large-fossil-fuel-subsidies/" target="_blank">the fossil fuel industry has gobs of political power</a>, too. More effectively, they've got a big chunk of the world's future investments. <a data-cke-saved-href="http://www.mtvsz.hu/__worlds_largest_public_lender_almost_doubles_support_to_fossil_fuels_in_past_4_years" href="http://www.mtvsz.hu/__worlds_largest_public_lender_almost_doubles_support_to_fossil_fuels_in_past_4_years" target="_blank">Here's one example</a>.</div>
<div class="rteleft" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="rteleft" style="text-align: left;">
Since
the world's investors are still signing on to profit from the future
growth of the oil, gas, and coal industries, and since big, successful
investors really don't like to lose, and since <a data-cke-saved-href="http://chrissearles.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-5-most-interesting-things-about.html" href="http://chrissearles.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-5-most-interesting-things-about.html" target="_blank">we’re already behind the eight ball on climate change</a>, among other reasons, <b>it’s time to rethink the environmental movement. </b>SXSW
ECO is a great place to start. I hope some of the conversation at least
goes there. I hope our biggest challenges are properly addressed.</div>
<div class="rteleft" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div>
Your comments appreciated.<br />
<br />
<br />
###</div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: georgia,serif;"><span style="font-size: 10px;"><b>Notes</b><br />(1) </span><span style="font-size: 10px;">Do any environmentalists still believe their 401k is going to matter in 25 years? Will my generation ever retire?</span><br /><span style="font-size: 10px;">(2) Here's one <a data-cke-saved-href="http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2012/03/28/the-sixth-great-extinction-a-silent-extermination/" href="http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2012/03/28/the-sixth-great-extinction-a-silent-extermination/" target="_blank">summary</a>
of the view point that we have already begun our descent into "the 6th
Great Extinction" from National Geographic. Mind-bending isn't it?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: georgia,serif;"><span style="font-size: 10px;">(3)
It's not right for corporations (or the rich) to profit from the
destruction of Creation or our Biosphere. It's not right. That costs
money. Certainly someone(s) should pay if it's not just a coincidence
that the climate scientists' worse case scenarios are suddenly being
reflected in extreme weather events all over the world.</span></span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: 10px;">*I play drums with <a data-cke-saved-href="http://www.facebook.com/alejandroescovedo?ref=ts&fref=ts" href="http://www.facebook.com/alejandroescovedo?ref=ts&fref=ts">Alejandro Escovedo</a>. See a <a data-cke-saved-href="http://youtu.be/61FAvebnQC8" href="http://youtu.be/61FAvebnQC8">recent video</a> of us opening for John Prine. Currently, we're on the road with Heart. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: georgia,serif;"><i><span style="font-size: 10px;">Follow <a data-cke-saved-href="https://twitter.com/chrissearles" href="https://twitter.com/chrissearles">my tweets</a> or <a data-cke-saved-href="http://www.facebook.com/chris.searles.71" href="http://www.facebook.com/chris.searles.71">Facebook</a> posts. </span></i></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06472521017986748390noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4576938212346342161.post-37335207896261325832012-09-09T15:20:00.000-07:002012-09-09T19:01:11.682-07:00Default to: Love<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBj-dEx0k22kNKDP6SOLOMCIbt82-nT1EgbDaHVzoNLCeiLXItY-udMImVKtpMdkDCOHsshyIQNC4rM-KRlj44RvMSZF3I6JGGKEX6v6cBrjc7_9k1GMn678Ps6U-nbWebNPxoFO97obM/s1600/fruitful.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="345" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBj-dEx0k22kNKDP6SOLOMCIbt82-nT1EgbDaHVzoNLCeiLXItY-udMImVKtpMdkDCOHsshyIQNC4rM-KRlj44RvMSZF3I6JGGKEX6v6cBrjc7_9k1GMn678Ps6U-nbWebNPxoFO97obM/s400/fruitful.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Be fruitful and multiply and subdue the earth." <i>OKAY, NOW WHAT?</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
I attended the church <a href="http://fbcaustin.org/" target="_blank">I grew up in</a> this morning and was moved by this congregational reading:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We live as though Your power only belonged to the past; we do not trust You to do the miraculous work of healing or reconciliation or forgiveness. We know our desperate need for such things and we often come to You last, when all our need to control life's outcomes has been exhausted. Teach us to begin with deeper trust in You. Foster in us a desire to Listen more carefully to You, the Beloved, who desires only the best for us. Hear our prayer...</span></b></blockquote>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
Beautiful, eh? This was followed by the proclaiming of God's goodness and grace. But not 30 seconds after the congregation had shared all these deep thoughts the pastor told us of the next concern on the prayer agenda. One of the church's college kids had been emergency helicoptered from his campus in Nacogdoches to MD Anderson Hospital in Houston this weekend; all of a sudden and out of nowhere.</div>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
Here we were praying for a sort of abstract personal enlightenment, reminding ourselves of God's boundless benevolence and this kid in the real world and his family were suddenly, bizarrely, tearfully, waiting to find out how severe the cancer inhabiting his liver is, just one week into his new school year. It was a grave moment from the pulpit and the contrast struck me in several ways: 1) God, the great creator/architect/planner, ain't always good is he? I mean, i've been saying this in a variety of ways for years to close friends and family. Seriously folks -- such thoughts are an oversimplification. More on that below. 2) Replace "You" in the prayer above with "Love" and you just might have <b>an absolute </b>winner. 3) Personify "Love" and the prayer above resonates in the same way as some of Rumi's best writing. 4) I'm really fortunate to be in good health. Hopefully you are too.</div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
Obviously i'm not a religious scholar and i've avoided writing about religion my whole life, so i hope i do this in a responsible -- and brief -- way, first time out... As I contemplate global warming and the <a href="http://chrissearles.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-5-most-interesting-things-about.html" target="_blank">seemingly imminent demise of biology on Earth as we know it</a>, i also reflect on my Southern Baptist upbringing, its relentless doctrine that "God is good and gracious," and the American Christian church's continuous failing at embracing life's complicated experiences and challenges. The blessings, the curses, the rights, the wrongs, the distractions, the differing world views, the alienation, the crazies, the cruelty, the greed, the compassion, the generosity, the heroes, the decency, the depravity, and so on. As i think about the Christian church's historical inability to make lasting transformational changes that Jesus would be proud of on broad societal level (such as putting "the least of these" first) and as i strive to embrace life's paradoxes (good and bad, greater and lesser), i feel i've uncovered the central and most redeemable value of religious faith: the teaching of <b>trusting in and defaulting to Love. </b>Simple. </div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
Why is this childish thought so hard to learn, remember, and maintain? Centuries of religious/spiritual ritual, metaphor, aphorism, insight, pomp, circumstance and more have gone into trying to remind people of this essential value. But in a world of shrinking natural resources and swelling population, how else are we gonna get along if not by loving?</div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
Now, if you're reading this you're probably <i>not religious</i>. About 90% of my friends are atheist and 90% of my family is faithful. (That's never awkward!) Regardless of where you stand i ask simply that you keep my little epiphany in mind. As our planet becomes <a href="http://chrissearles.blogspot.com/2012/08/shouldnt-we-capitalize-nature-like-we.html?utm_source=BP_recent" target="_blank">more challenged than any of us can imagine</a> in the coming years (read: our lifetimes), default to the central value of The Faithful. Default to Love.</div>
</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6gMAH-su7SSLdxCAlBmBMv5H0cl5srKfzsyh_1vkp7iFK2jPP2BcMSJxgnvVL4r17k-hAT8V6cOIv7Gvur2TbnCzpVp4oPWHRLjvH_3Hy0g-8DxLZtsUdsdV6ol7TwBdHrdF1ugh5Sfg/s1600/28.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="219" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6gMAH-su7SSLdxCAlBmBMv5H0cl5srKfzsyh_1vkp7iFK2jPP2BcMSJxgnvVL4r17k-hAT8V6cOIv7Gvur2TbnCzpVp4oPWHRLjvH_3Hy0g-8DxLZtsUdsdV6ol7TwBdHrdF1ugh5Sfg/s320/28.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06472521017986748390noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4576938212346342161.post-14201132867761939282012-09-05T06:00:00.003-07:002012-09-05T07:07:26.660-07:00Austin TX DROUGHT Update<span style="font-size: large;">"Another higher than average temperature day"</span> - i just heard Albert Ramon, <a data-cke-saved-href="http://www.kvue.com/on-tv/bios/78339172.html" href="http://www.kvue.com/on-tv/bios/78339172.html"><span style="color: blue;">KVUE</span></a> weatherman, say. For those curious, yes we are still in serious drought. In fact, the LCRA's river summary<span style="color: blue;"> </span><a data-cke-saved-href="http://www.lcra.org/water/conditions/river_report.html" href="http://www.lcra.org/water/conditions/river_report.html"><span style="color: blue;">report</span></a> yesterday says Central Texas's primary drinking water source, <a data-cke-saved-href="http://stateimpact.npr.org/texas/tag/water-issues/" href="http://stateimpact.npr.org/texas/tag/water-issues/"><span style="color: blue;">The Highland Lakes</span></a>, are at 45% of capacity. From the LCRA report: <br />
<blockquote style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
"<b>Streamflow Conditions above the Highland Lakes: </b>In
the Texas Hill Country, flow in the streams and tributaries above the
Highland Lakes remains very low, and as a result the inflows to the
lakes will continue to be minimal… <b>Lake Conditions:</b> As
of 7:40 am (9/4/12), the level of Lake Buchanan is about 16.6 feet below
its historic September average. The level of Lake Travis is about 29.45
feet below its historic September average. The total combined storage
in the Highland Lakes two water storage reservoirs, Buchanan and Travis,
is at 894,000 acre-feet, or 45 percent of capacity." Read that full report <a data-cke-saved-href="http://www.lcra.org/water/conditions/river_report.html" href="http://www.lcra.org/water/conditions/river_report.html"><span style="color: blue;">here</span></a>.</blockquote>
Thank
goodness for the intermittent rains Austin has had this summer, but it
hasn't been enough to shore up the gap from 2011. Remember when Texas
was all <a data-cke-saved-href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tinder" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tinder"><span style="color: blue;">tinder</span></a>
last Summer? If you'd like reminding, most of Austin's news networks
did special reports on the Labor Day fires of 2011 this weekend, "one
year later." For example, check out<i> <a data-cke-saved-href="http://stateimpact.npr.org/texas/tag/forged-in-flames/" href="http://stateimpact.npr.org/texas/tag/forged-in-flames/"><span style="color: blue;">Forged in Flames</span></a></i> from KUT/StateImpact. <br />
<br />
<div class="rtecenter">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrn2pzw0lqNqRwCQxDevK-OY2a90LbLVykBpUUsA38u8c9y4Q9aysFZ3FUK80afWyV5H7nMON9I91Ces63xXkowAIUEcUVZFWoSXwv7yX7AjsbHwx4wjaGqY3HTmiYKcnhNEmXIgR3kC4/s1600/CenTX.Drought.8-28-12.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrn2pzw0lqNqRwCQxDevK-OY2a90LbLVykBpUUsA38u8c9y4Q9aysFZ3FUK80afWyV5H7nMON9I91Ces63xXkowAIUEcUVZFWoSXwv7yX7AjsbHwx4wjaGqY3HTmiYKcnhNEmXIgR3kC4/s320/CenTX.Drought.8-28-12.png" width="315" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image from the LCRA / U.S. Drought Monitor.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="rtecenter">
<br /></div>
<br />
According to the <a data-cke-saved-href="http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/DM_state.htm?TX,S" href="http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/DM_state.htm?TX,S"><span style="color: blue;">US Drought Monitor</span></a>,
Austin was hanging out between Stage 1 & Stage 2 drought conditions
at the end of August. About 39% of our state is in Stage 3 drought or
worse (there are 5 stages). This time last yeat 99% of the state was in
Stage 3 or worse. The US Drought Monitor updates its reporting every 7
days or so, and you can see those reports online; <a data-cke-saved-href="http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/" href="http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/"><span style="color: blue;">very easy to understand</span></a>.<br />
<br />
Texas rivers expert <a data-cke-saved-href="http://www.meadowscenter.txstate.edu/people/staff/sansom.html" href="http://www.meadowscenter.txstate.edu/people/staff/sansom.html"><span style="color: blue;">Andy Sansom</span></a> said in a presentation <a data-cke-saved-href="http://www.interfaithenvironment.org/monthly-meetings/september-2012.html" href="http://www.interfaithenvironment.org/monthly-meetings/september-2012.html"><span style="color: blue;">last night</span></a> he's
surprised we haven't had a major flooding event recently in the Austin
area, as average precipitation remains constant but our rain events are
grouping more and more into extreme storms, as is projected under
extreme climate change scenarios.<br />
<br />
According to the LCRA, <a data-cke-saved-href="http://www.lcra.org/water/drought/index.html" href="http://www.lcra.org/water/drought/index.html"><span style="color: blue;">September's rainfall forecast for CenTex is "to be below normal."</span></a> <br />
<br />
All
of the above info matches climate change modeling for our area. Many
eco pros, such as Sansom, are now openly talking about Austin's future
climate transforming into something more akin to San Angelo than Los
Angeles during the next few decades. for what it's worth, i think that
transformation will occur quicker than they're willing to acknowledge.<span style="color: blue;"> </span><a data-cke-saved-href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Angelo,_Texas" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Angelo,_Texas"><span style="color: blue;">San Angelo</span></a>
is a pretty little town about 4 hours west of Austin, which gets 20 to
21"" of rainfall per year. Austin's current avg. rainfall is 34.5".<br />
<br />
###<br />
<br />
<b>Look Out, It's "TMI" </b>Sansom
made several interesting opening remarks at last night's presentation:
<br />
<ol>
<li>That statewide, the Texas Legislature has already allocated more water
than is currently <i>in</i> our rivers, reservoirs, and other water
resources over the next several decades (again, note: precipitation
cycles and therefore water storage are changing dramatically, not in our
favor).</li>
<li>Texas's population is expected to double over the next
few decades, assuming there's enough water to go around. Water shortages
will of course have a negative impact on the current economic growth
model. </li>
<li>The Texas State Water <a data-cke-saved-href="http://www.twdb.state.tx.us/waterplanning/swp/" href="http://www.twdb.state.tx.us/waterplanning/swp/"><span style="color: blue;">Plan</span></a>
costs $53 Billion (whoah) and is not adequate for meeting future water
needs as it focuses on "building" our way out of a future crisis rather
than addressing current infrastructure shortfalls at the municipal and
working within natural water supply limitations</li>
<li>Texas's
municipal water delivery systems waste an average of 25% of total water
supply due to line loss; there are communities within 30 miles of Austin
losing 50% of total water supply to line loss today. (A significant
portion of Austin's plumbing is out of date.)</li>
<li>Without
termendously more significant land conservation efforts, statewide, much
of our natural water systems will continue to be comprised by property
rights and pollution; by contrast New York City did a smart thing when
it secured hundreds of acres of water rights about 100 years ago.</li>
</ol>
<br />
###<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06472521017986748390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4576938212346342161.post-45314943792732904582012-08-19T12:50:00.000-07:002012-09-14T10:10:43.219-07:00The Bad News<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">This call for talking about all the other hairy, scary problems making climate change less hopeful is an elaboration on the second idea from,"<a href="http://chrissearles.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-5-most-interesting-things-about.html" target="_blank">5 Most Interesting Things About The World's Biggest Problem</a>," my</i><i style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> blog exploring Bill McKibben's recent admission, "we're losing the fight, badly and quickly." That blog sets the stage for this one and takes a look at trying to explain climate change to a guitarist. (Don't try this at home.) That blog is the most popular i've yet written, <a href="http://chrissearles.blogspot.com/2012/08/shouldnt-we-capitalize-nature-like-we.html" target="_blank">take a look!</a> A</i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-style: italic;">lso reposted on </span><a href="http://planet3.org/2012/08/16/the-end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it/" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-style: italic;" target="_blank">Planet3.org</a><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>. </i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: justify;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">As far as climate change goes,</span> leaders in the climate science and environmentalist communities are beginning to acknowledge<span style="font-size: large;"> "we're losing badly and quickly."</span> Speaking </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: justify;">critically</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: justify;">, those statements seem a trifle conservative to me. Wouldn't ya know it. Always on the edge. What follows below is a brief about some of the things we enviros keep leaving out when considering greenhouse gas pollution.</span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: justify;"> Just a few things I've thought of... </i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: justify;">No matter how you slice it,</b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: justify;"> scientists -- you know the smart people who spend all day every day studying this stuff, are saying</span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: justify;"> .... dah dah daht, dah Daaah .... drum roll please ... the numbers are in! ... We've crossed all thresholds! ... There's no question about it! ... Ahhh S*** -- Here we goooooo ... </i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: justify;">But it comes out like: </span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Pause. "Ahem," pause. "Ladies and Gentlemen, GHGs are <b>greenhouse gasses</b>, and, ahem, the total amount of gasses -- that's <i>greenhouse</i> gasses -- the total amount of greenhouse<i> gasses</i> human society is projected to emit over the next few decades <i>VASTLY</i> <i>EXCEEDS</i> the amount of emissions any of us in the climate science community thinks our planet could possibly manage. I mean no question about it. We're going way past what any of us professionals over here believes is safe. And, uhm, believe it or not we're already IN crisis. Take that as you will, but It's too late to avoid that, so, uhm, just to be clear -- <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_science" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fff2cc;">our job is to study</span></a> the planet's weather systems over time; what controls the weather you know? We're, like, data monks. We just measure all day long. <i>Everyday </i>and this is what our numbers are telling us, so..." </span></blockquote>
</div>
</blockquote>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinvPYEZKCKFkzwQDrvo_NKqVClEIgIk2DRbnlqXpQd5ofDJUidb1NhSXlFsJ5-Fg8_h6HHnJVVCbWc1EcB6c4CDsyJ2GWs6XSBisFsiIU2PCtfTtA1zfuFQS_dfbYm9rsQknF29IdYmHE/s1600/0511-0801-1513-1653_Mad_Scientist_clipart_image.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinvPYEZKCKFkzwQDrvo_NKqVClEIgIk2DRbnlqXpQd5ofDJUidb1NhSXlFsJ5-Fg8_h6HHnJVVCbWc1EcB6c4CDsyJ2GWs6XSBisFsiIU2PCtfTtA1zfuFQS_dfbYm9rsQknF29IdYmHE/s200/0511-0801-1513-1653_Mad_Scientist_clipart_image.jpeg" width="200" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Is this your mental image of a "scientist" ?</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Anyway, that's <b>game over </b>for stopping climate change, ya'll. The bus stops here. But before we start the<b> </b>"Now What?" conversation maybe we should consider things that make this problem even worse. Here's 10 challenges <i>not</i> being talked about. </span></div>
</blockquote>
</div>
<h2 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br />Baby we've lost. </span></h2>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Challenge #1 - <b style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">We've crossed all safety thresholds. </b><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">(See above.)</span></span><b style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="text-align: justify;"><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Challenge #2 - <b style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Our Future</b></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">: Burn. Melt. Repeat</b><b style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">. </span><br />"</b></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: justify;">We've" entered a period of unstoppable warming. <i>Everyone and everything</i>. The world's best computers tell us the amount of emissions "committed to" by the world's largest companies over the next 40 years will further intensify the colossal: wildfires, droughts, floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, and melting events we've been seeing a whole lot of, lately. Yes. More emissions will mean more fire and drought, <a href="http://chrissearles.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-5-most-interesting-things-about.html" target="_blank">among other things</a>. And yes, in case you were wondering -- the last two years of</span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: justify;"> giant wildfires </i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: justify;">and </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: justify;">no winter</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: justify;"> is <i>totally</i> related to what's predicted for us in a climate change world. (1) In fact, it's so weird, the last couple of years' of freakish weather all over the United States and around the world is right in line with what the climate science community was afraid would happen. The last couple of years synch-up with what the world's climate scientists have identified as our worst case scenario for global climate change. <span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> </span></span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">People, we've got a </span></span><i style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: justify;">fast moving climate cha<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">nge</span></i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: justify;">, <span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">here</span></span><i style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: justify;">.</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> Ta</span>ke no prisoners kind a climate change. Stuff's shuttin' down!</span> </span></blockquote>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCssEuLBlFSofHUeNprO3mMMDafNeg4SELFnUbj262ZMTPGOdYTFj6wBF8bAspeUwQbEDezwhpbRABiz3TtRLmqMmLBzghZ75jllA1zA6SQVSdYmH3QpswSjvOnMp5U5ud5sTLYEmwE4s/s1600/imgres.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCssEuLBlFSofHUeNprO3mMMDafNeg4SELFnUbj262ZMTPGOdYTFj6wBF8bAspeUwQbEDezwhpbRABiz3TtRLmqMmLBzghZ75jllA1zA6SQVSdYmH3QpswSjvOnMp5U5ud5sTLYEmwE4s/s200/imgres.jpeg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Who is this guy & why is he yelling?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: justify;">In other words and in all seriousness, when our planet takes on this many GHG emissions without mechanisms for rapid absorption, natural or otherwise, the climate scientists keep coming back and saying <b>their data says</b> you can bet on the destruction of our largest life-giving assets. Real. Soon. Like, in our lifetimes. Fresh waterways, oceans, forests, grasslands, mountain meadows, glaciers, mountain snow, mountain ice, </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: justify;">permafrost, soil</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: justify;"> (aka: Big Habitat). As these areas warm they'll decline and at the rate of warming we're currently experiencing they're expected to decline pretty fast; during the next few decades, i gather, from everything i read. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">But here's the real stinger. As these areas go they'll release <i>more</i> greenhouse gasses thus intensifying the whole situation. <i>Ouch</i></span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">!</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> Problem: worse. Burn-Melt-Add Gas-Repeat. What d'we do? </span><b style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Heat today = more heat tomorrow. </b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">(2)<br /></span></div>
<ul style="text-align: justify;">
<li><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxB-ENRYEuEZPJDIzUVVkWVSedZOyTAY4-7ykx9e__i2sVbepcsFKdOppe2i4ML6sxGu41TWrRokyaCsdFOtuSAxqt7ckf77n6MobBXU1JazWxv1JhAuqe2eAFigEDQGJ-1qJAa0YPyNY/s1600/nmexico_tm5_2011099_lrg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxB-ENRYEuEZPJDIzUVVkWVSedZOyTAY4-7ykx9e__i2sVbepcsFKdOppe2i4ML6sxGu41TWrRokyaCsdFOtuSAxqt7ckf77n6MobBXU1JazWxv1JhAuqe2eAFigEDQGJ-1qJAa0YPyNY/s320/nmexico_tm5_2011099_lrg.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">About <a href="http://kutnews.org/post/massive-mexican-wildfire-scorches-500000-acres" style="color: blue;" target="_blank">500,000 acres</a> burned in northern Mexico just months</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">before Texas lost 3,000,000 acres to wildfires, in 2011.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Challenge #3 -- <b style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Political Convo </b><b style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Isn't Realistic.</b><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />NASA super-boss, Dr. James Hansen (who's been running <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goddard_Institute_for_Space_Studies" target="_blank">NASA's Goddard Space Center</a> for 31 years) says, <i>"The
target that has been talked about in international negotiations for two
degrees (Celsius) of warming is actually a prescription for long-term
disaster."</i> (<a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/global-warmings-terrifying-new-math-20120719" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fff2cc;">Rolling Stone, July 19, 2012</span></a>)
Whoah. OK, then. So what you're saying is the leaders of the
international climate negotiations community are arguing over the wrong agreement. Their reduction target ain't high enough, or their bar ain't low enough, or something like that... Long story short, <i>if</i> they get an agreement signed it won't be enough. (3) </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">But check this out. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Challenge #4 -- </span><b style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Too Late for "Killing The Economy." </b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />Bill McKibben says in the same Rolling Stone article with James Hansen, <i>"Computer models calculate that even if we stopped
increasing CO<span style="font-size: x-small;">2</span> today, the temperature would likely still rise another 0.8
degrees Celsius."</i> </span> Now i realize this blog's already getting boring. Overly tedious perhaps. But listen, t<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">hat 'nother .8 degrees puts us up to about 80% of maximum allowable warming ... according to the outdated, international climate negotiators standard. What should the correct reduction standard be? Nobody knows it seems, but we know it should be lower. </span><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> </span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">That's good, right? At least we know it should be lower.</span> </span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Hmmn. Conclusion: if we stopped </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">burning everything today, stopped the economy</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i> </i>as we know it, we might avoid the outdated international negotiators standard, but that's not enough and that's not gonna happen is it? (see below) We're stuck with damaging, <a href="http://chrissearles.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-5-most-interesting-things-about.html" target="_blank">freakish whatever whenever weather, year round</a> for the next several decades. (4) </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">There's really no stopping the warming is there? </span> (Sorry, mom.)<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Challenge #5 --</span><b style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> Your Job Depends on GHGs.</b></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span><br />I'm gonna lean a little heavy on my armchair here, but suffice to say we all count on "job creators." Our beloved incomes, which make it possible to pay the bills on home and happiness are intrinsically/organically dependent on today's fossil-fueled jobs economy. Long story short, i couldn't <i>work</i> if it wasn't for fossil fuels. Our</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> global economy is defined by fossil fuels and fossil fuel markets. That's what we anti-global warming activists should be trying to change. What's "That" you say? Oh, nothing, it's just the power and omnipresence of fossil fuels, on a global basis; the underpinnings of civilization as we know it. </span><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">No big deal.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> Again, no matter how you slice it fossil fuels employ and feed pretty much everybody on the Earth </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">directly or indirectly and provide <u>the</u> fuel for economic growth.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> Whoops, let me just restate that:<i> fossil fuels provide fuel for our economies to achieve their intended purpose.</i> More on this in footnote (5). Do you want to give up your job?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">And Challenge #6 --</span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-weight: bold;"> Profit & Wealth</span></span><b style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">. </b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />Since worldwide political recognition of the impending climate crisis a decade or two ago global greenhouse gas emissions have continued to rise, around 3% a year, year over year. Capitalism, er uh, <b>profit</b>, the thing that goes so well with Democracy, the thing that's making humans more equal, the high tide that raises all boats, indeed thrives on growth. </span> I'll bet my bottom dollar y<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">ou, me and our friends can't stop the wealthy, aka the profit seekers, not on a worldwide basis. Or at least <i>we</i> can't stop the wealthy very<i> </i>quickly and speed counts. What's a reasonable amount of profit for one person or corporation to seek? Who knows. More to the point, you/me/we can't stop the people all over the world who want to <i>be</i> wealthy or become wealthy; the people who want to enhance their quality of life. Fossil fuels are their foundation. That's what fuels explosive growth. From a profit perspective fossil fuels are, as they say, "cheap, quick and dirty." Sound sexy? In a way, it's the human desire to own more than enough that defines today's climate change/GHG emissions/wealth confluence. I know first hand, i'm part of <a href="http://andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/2012/03/the-global-1.html" target="_blank">the global 1%</a> (6) -- or at least my lifestyle is. Solution?... hmmm, let's see... Can somebody powerful please make fighting climate change profitable? </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I often wonder why Exxon or Shell or BP with their superior wits, resources and forecasting, didn't go <a href="http://gigaom.com/cleantech/the-long-long-long-road-for-algae-fuel/" target="_blank">algae fuel</a> back in the 90's when the planet needed it.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> Today, fight</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">ing climate change means changing horses: no more gasoline, no more oil, no more coal, not even natural gas, everything dirty-fuel must go. Furthermore we the people would be best served by instituting <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Factor-Four-Doubling-Halving-Resource/dp/1853834068" target="_blank">tremendous resource and energy efficiency</a>. But that stuff's all bad fo</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">r today's profit leaders. Wealthy corporations, governments, NGOs, and </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">individuals (like myself)</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> don't want change. Good lord, we all know that -- <i>we're rich! </i>(7) </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Bi</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">ll McKibben, always insightful,</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">"Tackling climate change (is) like trying to build a movement against yourself – it's as if the gay-rights movement had to be constructed entirely from evangelical preachers, or the abolition movement from slaveholders."</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> </span></i></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Two questions: Is wealth overrated? Can the world's wealthiest people end their slaveholder relationship with GHGs?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
Challenge #7 -- </span><b style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Are We Really Counting All The Emissions?</b><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Reality Check. Seems to me there <i>have to be</i> more GHGs in the air than anyone's acknowledging. I worked in <i>Texas's</i> petrochemical industry for about three months earlier this year, helping small producers and polluters get permitted. Those were some days of mixed emotion. It feels great to make real money and use your brain, but you learn real quick that every well </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">(oil or gas), every industrial coating facility, every backup generator, </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">EMITS A LOT of greenhouse gasses. Particularly the wells. These things emit tons of greenhouse gasses (and other pollutants) way before the well's contents become marketable. In reality the well's "marketable product" is about the only thing getting measured during the many phases of fossil fuel identification, location, engagement, extraction, collection, transfer, refinement, transfer to market, retail, and combustion. I suspect we're in a deeper hole than we're acknowledging. As an environmentalist, all the conversation i hear about emissions is focused on tailpipes. Perhaps we should devote real attention to the off-gassing happening before combustion? </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: justify;">Where's the accounting for flares, leaks, and spills worldwide? </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: justify;">My gut says there are more greenhouse gasses emitted every day than we think. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiasMg7BBYXXavrjKXkiTPqCsDUxmyC7zyyP53PlOxENUjp2gyZR1K6lFgoJHbnXlTJuh-0dEtxkR0FUSqi9qOQpKv0y4LYOMNahiekP4JX7Rccs07ZHq6JlQxSzBdvasIO0WXZhz0AB4/s1600/bc-081112-CPCWellFireNov115-FULL.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiasMg7BBYXXavrjKXkiTPqCsDUxmyC7zyyP53PlOxENUjp2gyZR1K6lFgoJHbnXlTJuh-0dEtxkR0FUSqi9qOQpKv0y4LYOMNahiekP4JX7Rccs07ZHq6JlQxSzBdvasIO0WXZhz0AB4/s320/bc-081112-CPCWellFireNov115-FULL.jpeg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Gas & Oil wells spontaneously catch fire every year, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">they're, uh, <span style="color: blue;"><span style="color: black;"><a href="http://stateimpact.npr.org/pennsylvania/2012/01/09/texas-teams-lead-response-to-pennsylvania-well-fires/" target="_blank">very gaseous</a></span> </span>ya see. </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
</div>
<h2 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">There's more to this story. </span></h2>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"Oh God, there's more?" Again, these are just my ideas. We all should be thinking critically. <i>This is quite a deal</i> this global warming stuff, there's more to the conversation than reducing tail pipe emissions and industrial greenhouse gasses. We're up against people who work hard every day. We're up against ourselves and our neighbors, our friends, the super wealthy, the middle the poor, we're up against anyone </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">working to maintain wealth or get wealth.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> We're up against the<i> </i>ubiquitous human aim to "have more" and that aim's contemporaneous intertwining with the infrastructure of our modern civilization. Plus there's these problems: </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Challenge #8 --<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span><b style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Decompose. Repeat.</b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />Thanks to hotter, drier weather trash, natural debris, and other organic matter should decay faster. Will everything smell like a Manhattan summer all the time? I don't know, but seems to me that faster organic decomposition and continuation of the practice of incinerating trash will add more emissions; sort of a <i>Burn-Decompose-Add Gas-Repeat</i> dynamic. Maybe i'm crazy, but shouldn't these types of emissions be counted when emissions projections are made?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Challenge #9</span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> -- <b>Asphalt, Paints, Adhesives, Stains, Seals, Roof Shingles, Timber, Building Materials ... plus <i>HEAT!</i></b></span> I</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">t's </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">the same idea, except with industrial materials. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Will faster decomposition of industrial materials add a measurable amount of gasses to our total world GHG pollution? And, i'm gonna throw in a whacko idea -- the more radically it heats or cools outside, the more we'll run our A/Cs and heaters in our homes and vehicles, which of course adds more heat to the whole situation. And the more we use nuclear or fossil fueled power plants to offset the discomfort </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">in our homes and buildings </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">on extremely hot and cold days, the more these large scale kilowatt makers will add heat to the whole situation. Cycle cycle cycle. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSi7VyyvyPQXXQ7xYIZV-eqGaISEtr3_RgbdBQAKQMzrN0_HTDEVGUcZmFV2893E4zBfEjOpRLzJrSgetNgqF07TxPDTW673_ObmFNXxWgjfEx6_K_-_YQg9J13k8yoyuP1_j0t6S9kxk/s1600/WeDon'tHave-square.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSi7VyyvyPQXXQ7xYIZV-eqGaISEtr3_RgbdBQAKQMzrN0_HTDEVGUcZmFV2893E4zBfEjOpRLzJrSgetNgqF07TxPDTW673_ObmFNXxWgjfEx6_K_-_YQg9J13k8yoyuP1_j0t6S9kxk/s320/WeDon'tHave-square.jpg" width="318" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Challenge 10 -- <b><span style="font-size: large;">We Don't Have a Solution.</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span><br />Sadly even the best systemic fix yet, "Cap & Trade" ain't working. No country has really been able to get it in place. </span><a href="http://www.gwagner.com/" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fff2cc;">Gernot Wagner</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> writes "not even the French have been able to raise carbon taxes." And you know how much the French LOVE taxes. Taxes and freedom, that's all i ever hear the French talk about. But additionally, out of all the unabashedly socialist democrat Scandinavian countries (Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland) who implemented carbon taxes in the 1990s to create meaningful reductions, none have seen these programs have a strong enough effect on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. None of these Scandinavian programs are making a difference relative to the size of the problem they're helping to create.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">###</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">(1) I know there are dozens of other weather phenomena related to climate science projections last several years, most recently: hurricanes, tornadoes and flooding during convention season, hard drought in the grain states during summer, preceded by large wildfires, extreme heat and high temperatures, tornadoes, hurricanes, flooding and "no winter," preceded by hard drought in the SouthWest Summer/Fall 2011, including large wildfires, extreme heat and high temperatures, preceded by tornadoes, hurricanes, "mega-hurricane almost takes New York," and record rains, tornadoes and flooding in the Spring 2011, preceded by blizzards, extreme cold and low temperatures, and early freezes. That's 2012 to Jan. 1 2011. That's what happened ya'll. Right on schedule. Hitting the fan ... and still we don't notice. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">(2) </span><span style="font-size: x-small;">Almost everything in Nature stores carbon. </span><span style="font-size: x-small;">Our largest bodies of water and national parks and mountain ranges and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permafrost" target="_blank">permafrost</a> and giant glaciers are all giant GHG sinks. So for example <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45494959/ns/us_news-environment/t/thawing-permafrost-speeding-warming-experts-warn/#.UDBdKkQ7s7o" target="_blank">scientists say</a>, after much study and consideration, that melting permafrost will
contribute about 8% of the warming believed allowable, by 2050, by 2040.
Make sense? Melting permafrost will get us <i>at least </i>8% closer to what the smart researchers (the scientists) and their computers say is a<b> point of no return </b>on global warming. </span><span style="font-size: x-small;">Worse yet, a lot of the gasses in these natural sinks are more
robust than CO2. From the atmosphere's perspective, Methane for instance is sort of an "Energizer Bunny" of greenhouse gasses, meaning it's worse for us.
The result? Our atmosphere will have an even harder time managing natural GHG pollution than it has had managing industrialized GHG pollution. </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">(3) </span><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">C'est la vie. </span></span><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">In fact many climate scientists believe our recent 0.8 degrees C
warming has caused damage to a greater extent than their computer models
could project. These incindiary and scandalous professional climate scientists believe ANY more warming above what we've already incurred (0.8<span class="st">º</span>C = 1.44<span class="st">º F</span>)
and we will cause damage above and beyond what humans can handle. They think we're at the limit ALREADY. (i agree)</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">(4) </span><span style="font-size: x-small;">Even if we did decide to shut down what we know of as modern life and live a fossil fuel free existence there a numerous "radical," "far left," "profiting from climate science" Climate Scientists -- who also by the way must have a very sick sense of humor if you are to believe they're making this stuff up -- who believe<b> </b><i><b>any</b></i><b> additional warming</b> sends us to the superbowl of peril. Geez. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">(5) You probably know, the world's top 6 wealthiest consolidated industries (in order) are: Banking, Oil & Gas (Fossil Fuels), Tech, Automobile Makers, Construction, and Chemicals<i>. All fossil fuel / energy dependent.</i> Believe it or not Food and Real Estate don't rank that high, in terms of consolidated wealth. Now this may sound out of whack, but try shuttin' the world's wealthiest, most consolidated industries down --- that won't be easy, and if we did what would happen to our day jobs? Upping the ante, these consolidated industries are of course financing the future of wealth, too. Borrowing, as i understand it, against projected profits which are of course based on an assumption of fossil fuel production well into the future. Even worse, here's a factoid for ya, Bill McKibben says in the <a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/global-warmings-terrifying-new-math-20120719" target="_blank">recommended Rolling Stone article</a> that <b>today's Oil & Gas companies possess the equivalent of five times more emissions, in committed marketable product, than even our outdated climate negotiator's top line allows for.</b> The fossil fuel providers -- the Exxons, the Massey Coals, the PetroChinas, the utility providers --- are effectively the most powerful and entrenched companies in the world. And they plan to keep growing. Legal code and regulation are written around them; they sell to governments <i>and</i> consumers <i>and</i> militaries. They do well during peacetime and wartime. Everyone's their customer. Talk about "power." They've got this whole thing wired. "They" are planning on selling us 5xs more emissions than the climate negotiators believe our biological system can manage. Their future, our future, is emissions.<b> </b>Emissions = life as we know it.</span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">(6) I've got it good. I'm part of the global 1% living in the USA. My standard of living is wayyyyy better than most folks on Earth. My life depends on fossil fuels. My band couldn't be out on the road, having the time of our lives in Italy, Spain, the UK, the NorthEast, the MidWest, the West Coast, the SouthEast, Canada, France, Austria...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">(7)</span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;"> It doesn't matter whether you're homeless or Kim Kardashian or Bill McKibben or the Dalai Lama or the next President of the United States -- </span><b style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">none of us have been able to reduce emissions enough to mitigate the severity of what the climate science says is coming.</b><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;"> It's been six years since Glenn Beck started discrediting An Inconvenient </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inconvenient_Truth#Criticism" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;" target="_blank">Truth</a><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;">. What's changed? The bottom line is our lives depend on materialism and economic growth. Our lives drive the economy. The economy's foundation is in emissions. Collectively, we have negative impacts on nature's systems because of how we fuel our built system (civilization). </span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;">Who we are and what we buy defines our values and our relationship with everything (including the climate). </span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;">Our built system won't change until our values change, and right now we collectively undervalue the climate</span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;">. But before you blame yourself for the situation we're all in, blame all the higher ups who place cash and property before the common good. I mean, you're a higher up too </span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;">relative to the world's standard of living, </span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;">but</span><i style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"> don't blame the Hummer drivers</i><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;">. Blame the economically powerful people, individuals or corporations. Thems who you should challenge.</span><i style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"> </i><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;">The question we should be asking ourselves is, "</span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;">How much leverage does the thing i'm working on have on fixing the problem i'm fighting against?</span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;"> </span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;"> To change Capitalism, you'll have to challenge your own bad self, every second, to live inside a different set of values. You might have to become one of the global 99%. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06472521017986748390noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4576938212346342161.post-57811217885749246112012-08-12T08:51:00.001-07:002012-08-19T14:07:14.835-07:00The 5 most interesting things about the world's biggest problem<u>(written 7/24/12)</u>. Alternate title -- <i>"The End of the World as We Know It."</i> (Sorry.) Our <a href="http://alejandroescovedo.com/" target="_blank">10 week tour</a> is ending on a grand note. We ate a 12 course Italian meal last night (think fancy American wedding) and played a lovely little concert in the reconditioned attic of a mid 1700s rural Italian <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palace" target="_blank">palazzo</a> (think Thomas Jefferson). We lived like kings of yore, but the conversation keeps turning to climate change.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-UVE0gRUELA5U0mNBFNEegSS3JiBZ3KQ5wmjNaZe-a-ddrMYVkhQuZJ6bg7osFHW4dZ5_KB7zHE6zmyUsqsLLn44vK5cfWwRVcWAlkI4DJsDyqhX7yl1ioH_NdQNOiDzigWucKkI1NTs/s1600/Pavia.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-UVE0gRUELA5U0mNBFNEegSS3JiBZ3KQ5wmjNaZe-a-ddrMYVkhQuZJ6bg7osFHW4dZ5_KB7zHE6zmyUsqsLLn44vK5cfWwRVcWAlkI4DJsDyqhX7yl1ioH_NdQNOiDzigWucKkI1NTs/s320/Pavia.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Alejandro & i in front of a packed <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piazza" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">piazza</span></a> in Pavia (Italy). </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Everywhere we've been the weather is out of whack. Across the UK it was the rainiest summer anyone had ever seen. Spain, Italy -- it was either too wet, too hot, or too cold depending on the day (but never just right). Locals in western Canada told us of a 69F day last January (normally temps hover between -30 and 0 that time of the year). In late June a "non-tornado" ripped down trees and power lines from Chicago to Roanoke (across the USA). Our friends in D.C. were without power for <b>four</b> <b>days</b>. The eco press is publishing outlandish things like, "3,800 temperature records broken in the first week of July alone. Destructive wildfires in Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico and Nebraska. Over 50% of the country experiencing serious drought." And <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/05/midwest-heat-wave-2012_n_1744504.html?utm_hp_ref=green" target="_blank">more</a>. As the band's environmentalist i notice these things (we've also got a Vegan long distance runner, and a Buddhist mystic, not to mention a legendary rock songwriter) -- and when our conversations turn eco i try to keep my mouth shut. But on the subject of global warming <a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/global-warmings-terrifying-new-math-20120719" target="_blank">Rolling Stone</a> ran a groundbreaking article this week ... and Bingo, i've got a platform.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
"Chris! Did you see it? There's a big feature on global warming in Rolling Stone. It's lighting up Facebook! Things are really, really bad," says <a href="http://blanco.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">our guitarist</a> as we pull onto the cobble stone road in front of our five star Italian hotel.<br />
<br />
"I know, that's what I was trying to tell you ... yesterday," i reply.<br />
<br />
"Yeah, but for Rolling Stone to write about this --- it's, it's really big."</blockquote>
The conversation gets going once again. We spend 45 minutes comparing notes. I keep trying to explain that the thing about global warming is it's going to <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>make weather erratic</b></span>. Weather. All weather. Erratic. <i>Huh? What does that mean?</i> Expect total disruption of our seasons, i say. <i>What? </i>Expect spikes in hot and cold and wet and dry weather to be so extreme and irregular that we don't know what season it is anymore. And it'll be hotter, in general. That's the forecast for the coming decades. I think it's coming a lot sooner than most environmentalists are willing to admit. Understand this has all already started and that <a href="http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/" target="_blank">what's happening today</a> is in line (<a href="http://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=climate+models+predict+scary+future&hl=en&as_sdt=0&as_vis=1&oi=scholart&sa=X&ei=4DAoUPjNK-joiwKs-IGIDQ&ved=0CGIQgQMwAA" target="_blank">over and over and over again</a>) with the projections of numerous scientific climate models. We're already living in our worst case scenario, climate-stability-future-wise, and the train is not gonna stop, i say. <i>But what? But why? How do we stop it? What's the up side?</i> Those are questions for a follow up blog. I'm still concerned with the fact that none of the big picture stuff seems to make a lasting impression (when i say it). So i'm inspired to get my thoughts better organized. This blog quickly lays out what i think are the five most interesting things about global warming:<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLrE4WuXAept8g1ouIWRwOiFTDf5xLs9_PR08gQP-D4QBslbkY3Ky42HlC_w5OkRqoyfFP4EdzMz3PEGV398z8sEm2s8yRxHkbDiGMf60PGXFOugccYJfJArQneI1XiZJw87DQE6SZk9g/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLrE4WuXAept8g1ouIWRwOiFTDf5xLs9_PR08gQP-D4QBslbkY3Ky42HlC_w5OkRqoyfFP4EdzMz3PEGV398z8sEm2s8yRxHkbDiGMf60PGXFOugccYJfJArQneI1XiZJw87DQE6SZk9g/s1600/images.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">New York's Botanical Garden started blooming <a href="http://kunc.org/post/warm-winter-leads-early-blooms-northeast" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">in February</span></a> this year.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<b>#1st Most Interesting Thing -- <span style="font-size: large;">Weather Disruption.</span></b><br />
<br />
Inconsistent weather = unreliable seasons. Imagine living outdoors, i.e. being a plant, animal or otherwise and living year round under conditions that include extreme, irregular, and/or <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/drought-hits-midwest-hard/2012/08/11/799653f6-e3ed-11e1-98e7-89d659f9c106_gallery.html" target="_blank">sustained</a> spikes in any/all of the following: 1) hot and cold weather, 2) wet and dry spells (floods and droughts), and 3) powerful storm surges (hurricanes, blizzards, tornadoes)... Sounds tough, right? In Texas where i live, across America, and around the world we've started seeing a lot of this in the last couple of years. (Right on schedule.) "Just google it." Climate scientists's computer models consistently tell us disruptive weather trends will increase in the coming years as the planet rapidly warms thanks to a proliferation of greenhouse gasses. Those of us who live <i>indoors</i> can expect higher costs of living, more flight delays and more inconveniences over the next 10 years. After that...? Biologists tell us our planet's bio-diversity itself is suddenly on a steep decline and that this decline will intensify dramatically in the coming decades (think: your lifetime). Common sense tells us as life ends so does life as we know it, prices will go up, stuff will get scarce, some believe it'll become too hot to go outside, and so on (1), but anyway, that's <b>global warming in a nutshell --</b> <b>freakish whatever whenever weather, year round.</b><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIy9T9ayZnBK6p7ez_cCuALclquOEBiYZaOKlG-_3Z8fJHap9numpUlCrM89cU7_OqWzaYqNbjxd5R8CQPlRjK8jyXEufqu18CTd7fHtchhV5MPbRPFVvWhC32EVCcSvPLMOl8SX85o_s/s1600/MIDWEST_DROUGHT_06e67.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIy9T9ayZnBK6p7ez_cCuALclquOEBiYZaOKlG-_3Z8fJHap9numpUlCrM89cU7_OqWzaYqNbjxd5R8CQPlRjK8jyXEufqu18CTd7fHtchhV5MPbRPFVvWhC32EVCcSvPLMOl8SX85o_s/s200/MIDWEST_DROUGHT_06e67.jpeg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The MidWest <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/the-drought-of-2012/2012/07/16/gJQAFNfcpW_gallery.html#photo=1" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">drought</span></a> of 2012 may cost the <br />
US economy over $50B. <a href="http://www.noaa.gov/extreme2011/" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">2011</span></a> was no better . </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<b>#2nd Most Interesting Thing -- <span style="font-size: large;">Too Late To Stop It.</span></b><br />
<br />
The second most interesting thing about Global Warming is the fact that it's too late to stop it. As you'll read from the <a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/global-warmings-terrifying-new-math-20120719" target="_blank">Rolling Stone article</a> we're already over the limit emissions-wise, on track to a 11 degrees F increase in global average temps by 2100. And honestly what's so interesting about the Rolling Stone article to me is, it's the first admission by THE leader of the stop global warming movement, "we're losing the fight, badly and quickly." Other smart folks are saying <a href="http://grist.org/climate-change/2011-12-05-the-brutal-logic-of-climate-change/" target="_blank">the same</a>. But to me, most of these assessments are far too conservative. So i've written a short here <span style="color: red;"><a href="http://chrissearles.blogspot.com/2012/08/shouldnt-we-capitalize-nature-like-we.html" target="_blank">LINK</a></span> detailing some of the things that keep getting left out when considering our "almost-but-not-quite-finally hopeless position."<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<b>#3 Most Interesting Thing -- <span style="font-size: large;">Economic Lock In.</span></b><br />
<br />
The third most interesting thing about Global Warming is the fact that the only way out of this mess is to change our entire, global, economic system. This is why politicians, corporations, the news media, and some of us "suck" in a nutshell. To divorce fossil fuels from our daily electrified lives, our need for fast/long-range transportation and our reliance on the construction sector would mean destroying today's economy. (2) Nobody rich or in power is organizing for that. Global Warming, being driven by greenhouse gas emissions, is tied to the root of every aspect of modern life and wealth. "We must destroy the system to save the system. Or we can wait till the system is destroyed by natural causes." As my friend <a href="http://www.blogger.com/profile/14005184300997746683" target="_blank">Bobby D</a> (bass player with Alejandro) says, "either take it all down willingly (our economic system) or wait for nature to do it." Sadly i think he's right. But let's say we were going to try. We would need to: A) <b>stop using all fossil fuels</b> -- making electricity, transportation, food, and construction reliant on something other than fossil fuels, worldwide, yesterday; and B) <b>replant / reforest / restore / stop plundering</b> our planet's natural resources and biology as rapidly as possible, full tilt, no stop, faster and more comprehensively than Allied <a href="http://dailysoutherner.com/opinion/x1561302348/Remembering-the-Greatest-Generation" target="_blank">efforts</a> in the Great War. We need a globally coordinated Apollo mission. Good luck with these noble goals in a world driven by private enterprise and self-interest. We are a people living under the values of profit, property, comfort, and constant economic growth. From my perspective, as long as profit continues to be the dominant force guiding our macroeconomics and we remain unable to manage our emissions, climate change will intensify. (3) It's a paradox. What's worse, even if we were to pull together and pull this off we're too late (as stated above) and unfortunately, building a global Eden does not look to be in our human nature. Sorry fellow Gen Xers, <b>your retirement is likely to be more about survival than relaxation.</b><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg85B6mb2sJHKeHcBJVKauzuv8kDlfOLCt2pSH7C_Cq8SMhIz0_wczqkP8d2ks6K4xbIqhEDydl1Q1zeNtWst4nAYgarYnPs0Smlk8KahganwPySYcNFL7NnEZoINY_kurX7OQ_FIuZZWQ/s1600/url.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg85B6mb2sJHKeHcBJVKauzuv8kDlfOLCt2pSH7C_Cq8SMhIz0_wczqkP8d2ks6K4xbIqhEDydl1Q1zeNtWst4nAYgarYnPs0Smlk8KahganwPySYcNFL7NnEZoINY_kurX7OQ_FIuZZWQ/s200/url.jpeg" width="133" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="font-size: medium; text-align: start;">
<i>Ahhh</i>, retirement 2035.</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<b>#4 Most Interesting Thing -- <span style="font-size: large;">People.</span></b><br />
<br />
A fourth piece of the current irreconcilable puzzle is us. Stubborn, busy, anti-social, afraid... and confused. Fear kills progress. What do we have to be afraid of: not looking young? Calling a spade a spade? We're collectively afraid of honesty, clarity, saying we're sorry, saying we're smart, taking the blame, taking a position, admitting we messed up, changing our position, changing habits, and so much more. Them's us. So <b>who has time for the hard work of Democracy?</b> (read: consensus building) We're all just trying to get home after a hard day at work. Can't blame us for not having the capacity to deal with global warming! Who's job is it to deal with the fact that BIOLOGICALLY things are getting worse, and fast, on a global scale? Add to that void our collective confusion at the internet-based list of cataclysms facing our times. (Bobby says, "Every era has its end of the world is near." Our parents had nukes, before that communism, before that War, disease, famine, demons...) Today there are so many "ends" out there people are confused and global warming doesn't look all that convincing. On Dec 21 2012 the Mayan calendar will stop, the poles will invert, a meteor will strike the Earth. There's chemtrails, flouride, detention centers, aliens, nuclear meltdown, economic meltdown, technological meltdown, illegal immigrants, airborne contagions. As a species facing global challenges we seem to be: socially afraid, civically inactive, intellectually limited, personally distracted, politically and spiritually divided. (4)<br />
<br />
But for environmentalists who base their views in gathering multiple scientific data sets and adding 1 + 1 + 1, such as Lester Brown, Bill McKibben or Gary Hirschberg (or for environmentalists like me who read these guys) there is a list of disasters brewin' that have concrete measurements and warning signs. I tried to explain to Billy (our guitarist), there are probably 10 or more large scale environmental problems that given enough time could decimate what we currently call civilization. Stuff like: depleting soils, depleting aquifers, toxifying water, toxifying air, plastics in our oceans, the GMO-ification of our crops, and the toxicification of body care products. (Don't get me started.) But, if we put all these things on a list according to urgency, Global Warming wins by a mile. Global Warming / Climate Change represents the end of biology at global scale in our lifetimes. Bumm-er. Who wants to learn more about: rapid aquatic and atmospheric warming, rapid acidification of our oceans, rapid desertification of our croplands, towns and cities, and the dissolution of seasonal regularity.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8frYa5o3uO4BCpFGT8dPaJW9B-0FPcpoOv2uuMs0-D2Aw8JAbAdsVtaAPmwidSlV2ED8_vAeiOeIetvdE07XPMtCZJOSmqkDPc3XDbpCGCVdd-X3gLZbHD-pJGblBeagRda_MCwTx1r0/s1600/subject-people-silhouettes-thumb4806446.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8frYa5o3uO4BCpFGT8dPaJW9B-0FPcpoOv2uuMs0-D2Aw8JAbAdsVtaAPmwidSlV2ED8_vAeiOeIetvdE07XPMtCZJOSmqkDPc3XDbpCGCVdd-X3gLZbHD-pJGblBeagRda_MCwTx1r0/s200/subject-people-silhouettes-thumb4806446.jpeg" width="159" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<b>#5 Most Interesting Thing --<span style="font-size: large;"> Shoot and a Miss. </span></b><br />
<br />
This one relates directly to The Rolling Stone article and some of what was said above. Bill McKibben, author, hero, and as mentioned above rightfully revered leader of the stop global warming movement, mis-assesses the core of what's prevented meaningful change, i think, in the third paragraph of his <a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/global-warmings-terrifying-new-math-20120719" target="_blank">(highly recommended) article</a>. Mr. McKibben,<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Since I wrote one of the first books about global warming way back in 1989, and since I've spent the intervening decades working ineffectively to slow that warming, I can say with some confidence that we're losing the fight, badly and quickly -- losing it because most of all, we remain in denial about the peril human civilization is in."</blockquote>
Retreading here but how can ANYONE deny something they don't understand? We environmentalists are relying on a populist movement to change our politics and economics, but we're missing the point: <i>our population doesn't understand the problem.</i> I think we environmentalists tend to see everyone outside our movement (or "worldview" if you will) in a religious-y sort of way. "Are you a believer?" "Are you a follower?" "Well come get saved/enlightened/etc." It's <a href="http://youtu.be/-23kmhc3P8U" target="_blank">almost</a> "you're either with us or against us." But what if they don't know enough to care -- or just <i>don't</i> care? Then where's our strategy? Of course there are dozens of fine points as to why normal, non-environmentalist people aren't motivated or are against change, but the underlying problem in combatting global warming is the fact that people don't understand "the perils," don't believe them, and/or don't know what to do about them. Enviros, myself included, have failed in fully understanding the challenges we face in stopping global warming <i>AND</i> the people outside of our world view. Specifically, <b>we've failed to educate and inform those who's interests and priorities differ from our own.</b> What may be the greatest achivement of Gore's poorly-followed-up-on Inconvenient Truth is the fact that the movie gave people a sense of the perils. Not all people, but quite a few. (And it left so much out.) Perhaps broad scale education should have been our greatest environmentalist priority. Perhaps it still should be. Perhaps we enviros should throw our focus into better understanding the problem ourselves, its solutions, the people we're talking to, and starting our own coordinated media networks and large scale, ongoing media events. How else do you reach out to those "in denial," or at least unaware and create demand for the right solutions?<br />
<br />
<br />
###<br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">What You Can Do</span></b><br />
Now listen -- it's just too easy for me to criticize. And believe me, I've just spent 10 weeks in a van with the same 3 guys so I'm real clear on the value of criticism! It's what we do and i guess it's most of what i'm doing in this blog. (In a perfect world, wouldn't we all love to get paid for criticizing our imperfect world?) But here's my underlying point: i've tried faith in humanity, i've tried the belief that little changes will solve big problems, i've tried the idea that making green sexy will get green in place fast enough to mend the world, I've tried lobbying at City Hall, collaborating with local environmentalists, and speaking at churches -- and yet i'm not accredited, i'm just guy who's passionate about what he was taught in church as a kid. (5) It's all led to this for me: simply trying UNDERSTAND what's preventing us from embracing these complexities at scale, and sharing my hope that others will take these ideas, get involved, and develop solutions.<br />
<br />
Now that it's "too late" what do we do? That part's up to you. A few quick recommendations: 1) <b>Get Smart.</b> I recommend reading the cats listed above: <a href="http://www.earth-policy.org/" target="_blank">Lester Brown</a>, <a href="http://www.billmckibben.com/" target="_blank">Bill McKibben</a>, and <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gary-hirshberg" target="_blank">Gary Hirshberg</a> for some un-honey-coated expertise on the state of world ecology. Spend 15 minutes. 2) <b>Talk More. </b>Honestly, the world's biggest problems seem to generally be solvable with better communication and a little flexibility. Talk, listen, more. You are our best hope. 3) <b>Participate More. I</b>f you're trying to live in a world where everybody sees things the way you do then tattoo "I give up" on your forehead. (It ain't gonna happen.) We have problems BECAUSE of our differences; we have solutions because of our differences. It's worth embracing diversity simply to solve big problems, in my book. Working thru uncomfortable situations, chosing to vote, trying to change your government, or your environment, or the way you shop/eat/bathe/clean/party/work/celebrate/travel/earn/learn/etc. is all we got.<br />
<br />
Thanks for reading.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span><span style="font-size: x-small;">NOTES</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">(1) This means, unbelievably - and as stated above, that likely about half of the world's biology will cease to exist during the next 90 years. That'll make eating on a daily basis much more difficult. (Not to mention vacationing or furnishing your bedroom or decorating your office.) It's hard to imagine. Look around your surroundings and imagine all of it gone. The current scientific consensus is that dinosaurs went extinct 65.5 million years because an ice age destroyed 13% of the world's biology and thus their food chain disintegrated. What'll happen to us? As the dinosaurs of today (us, if you will) it's hard to imagine human centric civilizations continuing to thrive without growing and harvesting everything <b>indoors</b>: food, water, medicine, building materials. . . which could work. . . hey, there's a solution. . . could be "great for the economy" ...<i> (Newt? <a href="http://www.space.com/14411-newt-gingrich-moon-base-cost.html" target="_blank">Newt</a>?).</i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span><span style="font-size: x-small;">(2) According to my review of the Financial Times historical "most profitable companies" lists, the five most profitable industries in the world over the last 50 years are: Banking, Oil, Technology, Chemicals, and Construction. Tech's a close 6th. Shipping's in there too. How would each of these industries completely eliminate their fossil fuel use? How many people would need new jobs overnight if they did so? How would the world financial sector re-value the economy and make retooling and repowering profitable? How would governments be involved? ... Not to mention our human-driven economy is built on "<a href="http://www.wealthybarber.com/" target="_blank">spending</a>" (consumption) not saving. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span><span style="font-size: x-small;">(3) Environmentalists believe the solution to this is to make social equality and biological values as meaningful as profit. (Aren't they already?) In such an imagined world companies that make soil healthier, for example, would be more profitable </span><span style="font-size: x-small;">than so many of today whose business it is to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_degradation" target="_blank">deplete</a> our soils</span><span style="font-size: x-small;">. In short, it would appear we would need <b>an eco-centric economy</b> to a) survive this century and to b) eventually thrive again. I'll call such an economic vision "the Eden Solution," and again ask the practical question, how many jobs would have to repurposed for you to travel in a cleanly fueled vehicle that possibly returns significantly less profit to the Saudi crown or Exxon or Petro China? Or to charge your phone / listen to music / watch TV / enjoy a little ice cream and air conditioning / drink clean water / recycle all your garbage / browse the web from a 100% cleanly fueled electric grid? </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">(4) In our recent travels across most of Italy, Spain, France, Britain, Ireland, Scotland, Germany, the US, and Canada we stayed in everything from high-end five star hotels to Travelodges; hung out with everyone from super freaks and high paid professionals' drove over mountains, past coasts, across cities and thru countrysides -- and i can tell you... While Germany, Italy and Spain are doing lots to integrate solar and wind into their electric grids rapidly, general concern and understanding about ecological problems and what to do to improve the situation is LOW everywhere; too low to make a big difference. Yes, Europeans in these countries tend to do more with less, and at all levels of life -- but, these places are still not recycling, not composting, not going non-toxic, not looking critically at the scale and detail of changes needed (much less engaging in the activities truly needed) to avert catastrophic global climate change. What environmentalists in Europe appear to be doing WELL is implementing cleaner grid technology pretty fast and having recycling stations more commonly, but Europeans are still living in a wholly unsustainable paradigm just like we the Americans.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span><span style="font-size: x-small;">(5) Since 2005 I've run a small eco business, produced large eco festivals, given educational presentations to churches, public schools, women's groups, <i>rapt</i> audiences & more, helped start and maintain Austin's Interfaith Environmental Network, fought for cleaner energy and advocated at City Hall and at the local power utility, blogged extensively, considered politics, collaborated with Austin's environmental sector on some large scale projects, attended numerous eco conferences, independently run large local eco action groups and petitions, and more.</span><br />
<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06472521017986748390noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4576938212346342161.post-50611114525455114832012-07-26T04:59:00.001-07:002012-08-19T14:07:25.900-07:00In Praise of Italia<u>7/17/12</u>. <i>Italy, first impressions.</i> We've just entered Italia, via a van ride through the Swiss and German Alps (which was "mind-blowing" as Bobby says). Already we're talking about the ancient origins of humanity and human architecture. What is it about <b>Italy</b> that makes one think backwards? (Where did we come from?)<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJLTI20gindEZny53X33_n1rKX1isJ-OeoDy0PnjadGAO0rH3WaCfNA-aGrH1g0AwWCGu-CWg0vXrV7Lnbw5czN-dvH-wvq_TvYTg_3QzGEBQTda_tibJdoQOgcCX9SreY8rNZL5aVA0w/s1600/IMG_3576.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJLTI20gindEZny53X33_n1rKX1isJ-OeoDy0PnjadGAO0rH3WaCfNA-aGrH1g0AwWCGu-CWg0vXrV7Lnbw5czN-dvH-wvq_TvYTg_3QzGEBQTda_tibJdoQOgcCX9SreY8rNZL5aVA0w/s320/IMG_3576.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Italy's Alps. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<br />The Italians seem to have a penchant for building eye dazzling stuff. Crossing the German and Austrian countrysides during yesterday's all day drive, we saw four constantly: 1) "mind blowing" mountainsides, waterfalls, and greenery; 2) charming chateaus and country barns; 3) bright, tasteful, Bauhaus-style newly-built homes/buildings/stores/facilities; and 4) solar panels. The solar panels were <i>everywhere</i>, by the way. All of it beautiful, flawless, inspiring, "Prussian." <br />
<br />
But here we are, 15 minutes into Italy, at our first stop in front of a Shell station look-a-like, and the first thing I notice about "today's country" is how the locals look. I've never been here before so my eyes are wide open. People are darker, decidedly more handsome, and enviably more relaxed than anywhere we've yet been in Europe or the US. (Note, we left France just 26 hours ago.) As my character is essentially part time musician and part time agoraphobic, to me, relaxed = awesome. I like these Italians, they've mastered what i consider to be the hardest to maintain state of day to day living. <br />
<br />
People all across the pasty white countries we've previously traveled, the US, UK, and Germany respectively, are generally afraid of eye contact. UKers are plenty warm once you get them talking, but Americans and Germans less so. Here in Italy the weather's warm, it looks & feels like a normal summer (unlike everywhere else we've been), there's abundant water, and the temperature is a sunny breezy Italian Alps 72F. <br />
<br />
It's July 17. What's there to be uptight about?<br />
<br />
At the entrance of this gas station -- the front door mind you, of this little Italian service station are four small cafe tables, the kind you stand and lean on.<i> Spoiler alert -- that's the whole point of this blog. </i>Call me old-fashioned, but anytime there's a place to put your elbows down and prop up your boot you've got a winner. I'll even go so far as to say you've got the makings of a magic moment; a little time in the day; a moment with yourself or friends or your surroundings. What impresses me are the other elements of this casual outdoor setting. There's a large, plastic, sun friendly awning high above the standing area that diffuses the sun and blocks the rain. The walkway is wide enough to accommodate coming and going, plus four "leaning" tables and a few potted plants. Throw in the day's beautiful mountain weather and the area's ancient/rural architecture and you've got a workable situation, folks. Customers pass easily in and out while a single man, a group of ladies, a couple of truck drivers, several of my compadres, a young family, and etc. alternatingly stand and lean, enjoying their coffees, panninis, conversations, and cigarettes. <br />
<br />
I tell <a href="http://alejandroescovedo.com/" target="_blank">Escovedo</a> I love that the Italians have made it a priority to <u>stand</u> (and lean) outside. In America there is no anything outside. Nothing. Even avenue restaurants and hotels there's never any provide outdoor seating. Some bars, I guess. But what's the US got against outdoor seating, our standing? In all the other countries we've crossed people <i>sit</i> at lovely outdoor tables (including at their gas stations and rest stops), trying not to bother one another or be seen. <br />
<br />
And in Italy, they congregate; they lean; they relax; they move on. <br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtBnrj19H0WrLGPzv8_Oogrg4FxnWgE2eNixCWM_SrKPsJ-pxaeteXSYx8LEta5968cc7UeY9hUHt5IsFU4_68U3sp_U0OZaGL5HTI24SzCjf1S9B2QfZ3tvTTSmicwVuLR4bmwx9R6ZI/s1600/mp-cafe.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtBnrj19H0WrLGPzv8_Oogrg4FxnWgE2eNixCWM_SrKPsJ-pxaeteXSYx8LEta5968cc7UeY9hUHt5IsFU4_68U3sp_U0OZaGL5HTI24SzCjf1S9B2QfZ3tvTTSmicwVuLR4bmwx9R6ZI/s320/mp-cafe.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This kinda thing.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
Me gusta. All along this Euro tour: thru <b>Spain</b>, France, Britain, Ireland, Scotland, Britain again, France again, Germany, and Austria we've seen THE MOST impressive roadside rest stops known to humanity, at least compared to what we're used to as Americans. The Spanish sell the best local wines, meats, and cured specialities out of their gas stations. It's weird and enchanting. Imagine the most soulful gift shop in the world. No power sodas candy bars or cheap beer. Spanish highway convenience stores are pretty much junk free. Go there for high quality handmade meats, cheeses, breads, coffees, candies, souvenirs, and (God forbid) <u>service</u> -- not Krispy Kremes, fluorescent lights and pine tree air fresheners. From San Sebastian to Barcelona to Madrid these places had at least one gleaming kitchen churning out fresh quality of life marvels, at least one large, colorful, seating area, and at least one shining espresso machine and beer taps bar. Filling up looked a lot like a good night out to me. <br />
<br />
Not to mention these Spanish "gas cafes" are tastefully decorated with local history, flavor and character. Don't get me started on how clean and resource efficient their public restrooms are, or the absence of advertising -- everywhere, whether you're driving, standing at a urinal, checking out an end cap, or paying your bill. Espana's gas stations are all class and quality. Thus, I highly recommend driving across Spain. America's money-hungry culture is steroids to cynicism; Spanish artisanal pride and integrity is more fun. <br />
<br />
<b>French</b> road stops are pretty much the same as in Spain, but replace artisans with junk food and girlie magazines. Less charming, but still much more quality of life centric than any turnpike mini mall back home. In <b>The UK</b> gas stations are tremendously more garish, even worse than in the US, with gambling machines, mountains of junk food, acres of crap magazines and loads of worthless bullshit for sale. If you're feeling pervy or gossip-deprived British gas stops are a great choice, they place their bustiest soft porn and most outrageous tabloids handily at the front door of every shoppe for impulse purchasing. The patrons in British gas cafes are remarkably unhealthy-looking. "Fat, lethargic and pasty" some have said. Everything appears to be packaged and bleached: the meats, the breads, the veg, and the liquids. Britains might actually be leading the world for "unhealthiest diet." <br />
<br />
<b>Germany and Austria</b> are the wealthy nations combining all the above. Get yer lonely mags, brilliant food, packaged junk, and etc. inside the nicest most impressively designed place you've ever seen. (One of these stops made you pay to use the restroom.) Yesterday's Austrian gas cafe yesterday was MUCH NICER than any uptown Whole Foods or Dean & DeLuca. Incredibly smart interior and exterior design, buffet after buffet of fresh foodiness, quality light, seating, atmosphere, etc. -- and just outside in front of the shoppe were the same gas pumps you see at any Exxon. And the Alps. Beautiful. Weird. In a good way. <br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYv2-fNAQ2zYJgA72GK5RVpYtnHerz4QmAkYJwHmBBY8hl0vAno5U6kO8tj3BidtOIulA1uGonEJc-gCV71wdqRvbOBI3-3GviUQcRKP-Qklrz4NfbJH0ZoniOLsNQtFvSinRhyphenhyphenyjHKj4/s1600/IMG_2462.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYv2-fNAQ2zYJgA72GK5RVpYtnHerz4QmAkYJwHmBBY8hl0vAno5U6kO8tj3BidtOIulA1uGonEJc-gCV71wdqRvbOBI3-3GviUQcRKP-Qklrz4NfbJH0ZoniOLsNQtFvSinRhyphenhyphenyjHKj4/s320/IMG_2462.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here's a French gas cafe.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
Then there's <b>Italy</b>. Unassuming, self-possessed, simple. Back in the van and on the highway I see, right away Italians like visual stimulation (while driving) more than any of the other nations we've visited. There's a high coolness factor out here. Italians, I'm guessing, enjoy the visceral satisfaction that comes from looking at something truly cool. Not just well designed, not just colorful or sexy -- cool. Where the English excel at warm and cozy (the English countryside is my favorite place on Earth by the way), and the Germans construction and clarity, and the Spanish love shape and color and modernity, the Italians bring it all together, then take it higher. <br />
<br />
We're driving long, undulating highways with Matrixy-looking sound barriers, pointy things sticking off the sides of stainless steel industrial complexes, rhombus-inspired office buildings, centuries of hand-laid brick and ancient, romantic castles. Everything feels sort of lassez-blue-jeans-and-sandals-with-a-clean-collared-shirt. It's sensual and soft, less cluttered but not too orderly, with strong lines, pale bright colors. It's magical and … relaxed. The Italian language looks better when driving, too. "Versamento Pedaggi In Cassa Continua" -- no idea what that means, but it beats "Aus fahrt." We are driving into a land of poetry. <br />
<br />
<br />
###<br />
<br />
Post script: <br />
Italian people are wonderful too. After 9 days traveling and playing all over Italy, in its small cities and country villages, I now have two favorite places on earth. <br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtQZecKk6jpiQ-B57TmW4r5wuU1JTdwNbvvUXViWfPxXeKUqGGyRV9i9rOa54IWAeolzni70WgK0UNWgsHPwhMDn-Ba10KblkE4l26pwFgIisRq-QNEdWSr4tEHwQiopfsi8zDR0ls1Xc/s1600/IMG_4087.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtQZecKk6jpiQ-B57TmW4r5wuU1JTdwNbvvUXViWfPxXeKUqGGyRV9i9rOa54IWAeolzni70WgK0UNWgsHPwhMDn-Ba10KblkE4l26pwFgIisRq-QNEdWSr4tEHwQiopfsi8zDR0ls1Xc/s320/IMG_4087.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The band walking to dinner in Crema, Italia.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06472521017986748390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4576938212346342161.post-69637863378298693092012-05-25T16:00:00.001-07:002012-05-26T15:01:08.510-07:00Illinois, the enlightened state?We've driven thru Illinois twice in the last two days and WOW. First of all Chicago's downtown is in mid renaissance, bee-u-tiful, glorious, premodern, proud, and green green green for a big city.<br />
<br />
But state lines? And rest stops? <br />
<br />
It just feels different. The people up and down I-294 seem to all agree: achieving a high quality of life is a community act, reliant on a healthy relationship between convenience (aka. modern life) and nature.<br />
<br />
After traveling in Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, New York, Texas, and Indiana (very different states) during the last five days I can authoritatively tell you: Illinois is the ONLY state with recycling bins in public spaces.<br />
<br />
More impressive... <br />
<br />
They've got "useful" green signage posted around their rest stops. Doink?! Aren't those places typically the epicenter of America's most Cinnabonned commercialism?<br />
<br />
In Illinois, the mainstreamers seem to have the right idea; call rest stops an "Oasis," which I think is what we're all looking for. Don't get me wrong, Illinois rest stops are still mostly fast-food and plastic bottles (that's the market "speaking"), but it's nice to see a government promoting sustainable behavior.<br />
<br />
Photos of Chicago and one of Illinois' Oasis:<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2tUqJf9KtKDzjQe-UMTs4cH3wsyMnuLYcJP6VbWgxx-F1K0CNShLlp8rEeMK7Gz_eEsVFMZkdxBop_kAu6vsuhZ3sE1VqWffMOVjfGnsT2d-Kdxnj1hbjeFu7syFGzrL-BVutfGdskKg/s640/blogger-image--1716655270.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2tUqJf9KtKDzjQe-UMTs4cH3wsyMnuLYcJP6VbWgxx-F1K0CNShLlp8rEeMK7Gz_eEsVFMZkdxBop_kAu6vsuhZ3sE1VqWffMOVjfGnsT2d-Kdxnj1hbjeFu7syFGzrL-BVutfGdskKg/s320/blogger-image--1716655270.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just an everyday rest stop. </td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0IFfg_PjfLpnDY9Zw51g_wW1pPHpEWuhwwZIDc6mMW-ll6_wSVXALPeRT45ftRFpuDgZ4lIHQkcDKUhM3C28KOv1R3Kw7_4uprr-sK5mIRw2QMJ2EwT4tw93FdYuYgal25c3LA_hM6jA/s640/blogger-image--793946294.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0IFfg_PjfLpnDY9Zw51g_wW1pPHpEWuhwwZIDc6mMW-ll6_wSVXALPeRT45ftRFpuDgZ4lIHQkcDKUhM3C28KOv1R3Kw7_4uprr-sK5mIRw2QMJ2EwT4tw93FdYuYgal25c3LA_hM6jA/s320/blogger-image--793946294.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of Illinois' better signs...<br />
showing the life cycle impacts of hand towels.</td></tr></tbody></table><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0XzAAFUkbzNdY7VGbXUcu8Reuir7f8LfFTXRIYEarljFh1oM137N6FMCeZ4_KWfPAlavXgdRXKE54lFkhN1K38eYBkKoxigBsipyQvUhtxYZLXw6IFwBiuldQZvzLCnYR3jQCkwfp6RI/s640/blogger-image--981781313.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0XzAAFUkbzNdY7VGbXUcu8Reuir7f8LfFTXRIYEarljFh1oM137N6FMCeZ4_KWfPAlavXgdRXKE54lFkhN1K38eYBkKoxigBsipyQvUhtxYZLXw6IFwBiuldQZvzLCnYR3jQCkwfp6RI/s320/blogger-image--981781313.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Handy recycling bins and no fail litter bins abound,<br />
in Illinois.</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1EaL2osAVnf771Cogr2k7IcO_9WtVosT70tozMwN31O-bpnMUFtyslVvPHmB8F9xTCmI5fM_kDMVPV-mgnDPvMWWnsREHVShNR3vD_XDKxpqp91Q3EV9aY825ggEErE04WHaFz32QCxc/s640/blogger-image--1943815416.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1EaL2osAVnf771Cogr2k7IcO_9WtVosT70tozMwN31O-bpnMUFtyslVvPHmB8F9xTCmI5fM_kDMVPV-mgnDPvMWWnsREHVShNR3vD_XDKxpqp91Q3EV9aY825ggEErE04WHaFz32QCxc/s320/blogger-image--1943815416.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chicago's beautifully restored classic architecture. </td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg3SfTS82FL973pHypGujxZPPMZeiGP1b_fDKeVD3dm3q40XefYU6GpJrHBFsnOPgoIDIJ6T9fXGxxDf9x4Nd2DmFUAngJiIjdv-xB9Cc5pENt0X9z3Glrs-8ByXoLatoffEduBbA2nWs/s640/blogger-image-1666683716.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg3SfTS82FL973pHypGujxZPPMZeiGP1b_fDKeVD3dm3q40XefYU6GpJrHBFsnOPgoIDIJ6T9fXGxxDf9x4Nd2DmFUAngJiIjdv-xB9Cc5pENt0X9z3Glrs-8ByXoLatoffEduBbA2nWs/s320/blogger-image-1666683716.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB5IyRMs2W7UjG0ueJHkjAGnSoLPOehgWgABSGoQpZkh9cIKVEzZEiKX82AfEbYpVj341gDiNqNwXBGu_N5HnN1jYVx1nnkGrwsHLRvdgFLYEjt3lx4INT2WcNRiVELFV-Hjdm5Be2GLs/s640/blogger-image-1766328482.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB5IyRMs2W7UjG0ueJHkjAGnSoLPOehgWgABSGoQpZkh9cIKVEzZEiKX82AfEbYpVj341gDiNqNwXBGu_N5HnN1jYVx1nnkGrwsHLRvdgFLYEjt3lx4INT2WcNRiVELFV-Hjdm5Be2GLs/s320/blogger-image-1766328482.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And tree lined streets. </td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh44i7DM752xxh1tk3Z9OHejhxNQdTtBGrvwhMkXoNVUJDWjQdgjZdaL_ptKk_Mr0RIRZGe8HyuhSGQWl0DPGXDFUa09h1fHNvIiHps9__SCFx6IE3v5rrc0hk2QEEH43W5ek-L9rScGh0/s640/blogger-image--343218971.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh44i7DM752xxh1tk3Z9OHejhxNQdTtBGrvwhMkXoNVUJDWjQdgjZdaL_ptKk_Mr0RIRZGe8HyuhSGQWl0DPGXDFUa09h1fHNvIiHps9__SCFx6IE3v5rrc0hk2QEEH43W5ek-L9rScGh0/s320/blogger-image--343218971.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not to mention this great "beach front" park <br />
along Lake Michigan. </td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSCWyzLln-0BS81zel7RoHzc6udPVq7fIPzHhdhCex4kdvH0SDUJZ4q3MDmIOxXT96Mzl6ZdjUas0g2mf1M-lK4kzJLiMYfyOBQ1M0hNm12BLoQdt4NYUF8X3dYwK4vWCuugeB_F2uOY4/s640/blogger-image-1475396341.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSCWyzLln-0BS81zel7RoHzc6udPVq7fIPzHhdhCex4kdvH0SDUJZ4q3MDmIOxXT96Mzl6ZdjUas0g2mf1M-lK4kzJLiMYfyOBQ1M0hNm12BLoQdt4NYUF8X3dYwK4vWCuugeB_F2uOY4/s320/blogger-image-1475396341.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-K85rF9d-1UkKR3wea005DwGoQlB4EymjWQnbBs0VY_cWOe2bPpgcfc1ufX-tSw80z6s-GU3QognbgCTOHi9v4BY4pXfDEDnsV7lpn8U95pL8SnML-m6KFd9UJ4LfTe6uL5vctQveUL4/s640/blogger-image--1667870574.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-K85rF9d-1UkKR3wea005DwGoQlB4EymjWQnbBs0VY_cWOe2bPpgcfc1ufX-tSw80z6s-GU3QognbgCTOHi9v4BY4pXfDEDnsV7lpn8U95pL8SnML-m6KFd9UJ4LfTe6uL5vctQveUL4/s320/blogger-image--1667870574.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Prius cabs. </td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfH89cH7jAwOsXnvJ5WpQXORGRoBUfzmkMnCLRekZgK76ojOq8_q2XoNm-P4nMNEvyhT-o_VoOM58cAGFLSTBG3vgFBhliFEgJSBRxu2YKB-t5bcJRUbwMKeRzVvHoJ2cIj3lsBAvqo10/s640/blogger-image-913099381.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfH89cH7jAwOsXnvJ5WpQXORGRoBUfzmkMnCLRekZgK76ojOq8_q2XoNm-P4nMNEvyhT-o_VoOM58cAGFLSTBG3vgFBhliFEgJSBRxu2YKB-t5bcJRUbwMKeRzVvHoJ2cIj3lsBAvqo10/s320/blogger-image-913099381.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And more. </td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06472521017986748390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4576938212346342161.post-27762319530998757812012-05-23T08:41:00.001-07:002012-05-25T20:25:32.013-07:00Beautiful Iowa RoadsidesHere we are, traveling across the country. The Alejandro tour begins. <br />
<br />
Today's a drive from Des Moines to Chicago. Yesterday we flew from NY to Des Moines. Day before? Austin to NY.<br />
<br />
My priorities so far have been packing light and playing better. But in a more perfect world i'd be doing all this travel carbon free, recycling water bottles and other junk one picks up touring, subsisting on organic veggie proteins, looking great in all organic fashion and etc.<br />
<br />
My bandmates and I do have the nontoxic body care thing pretty well together, and we're grown men--so wasting towels, trashing rooms, and such like is out the question. In the grand scheme those little actions hardly help the planet enough, but they do mean we have a lot of respect for the people taking care of us. And I'm finding that may be one of the qualities most missing from our Western culture. <br />
<br />
Humility. Respect.<br />
<br />
Al comes from a family of 12 kids, his father a Mexican immigrant, his mom 1st gen Mexican-American. <br />
<br />
Bobby, bass player, hails from Alabama. I'm the product of a democrat baptist minister and a life-long school teacher. We know we're not any more special or deserving than anyone else. We're on the road for at least the next 10 weeks working hard, enjoying ourselves, and trying to share that with other people. <br />
<br />
Maybe that and a little enlightened honesty is the best any of us can ever do. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiik6vd0JQ8aQRr9IHnaLde4JYhI7LqctkHrZWjm9a8c0Dvbt6qBBs1AXHtaSyt4gLdQlmruC8eqg_hZJH94km5RvqgalhzlVnMP-5w59sBuHKlaS36aHaKsEO3_d1aCK_7dTK6eC4ht5k/s640/blogger-image-347630910.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiik6vd0JQ8aQRr9IHnaLde4JYhI7LqctkHrZWjm9a8c0Dvbt6qBBs1AXHtaSyt4gLdQlmruC8eqg_hZJH94km5RvqgalhzlVnMP-5w59sBuHKlaS36aHaKsEO3_d1aCK_7dTK6eC4ht5k/s640/blogger-image-347630910.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEEIiIoLtT5LRz3c66RlBWEnGCL_2RF-yukNv-RiundHxVHGXOX23j5fzqe7ywgZV9OKzvbX5lkylhevtbSvaK3MGbuVADMoGBE6GLWs5BEUwF4sN4HCWdZXCNian75011XRAqlTnfUSY/s640/blogger-image--1487368136.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEEIiIoLtT5LRz3c66RlBWEnGCL_2RF-yukNv-RiundHxVHGXOX23j5fzqe7ywgZV9OKzvbX5lkylhevtbSvaK3MGbuVADMoGBE6GLWs5BEUwF4sN4HCWdZXCNian75011XRAqlTnfUSY/s640/blogger-image--1487368136.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzOEhJhyK_jPnZFaEqyozWHckADegT6b-dRaXnVe1C2KQE1l_uHEz96pXmRemjAkhoNXpKllpr2UoZaxhk2rywvCjgCaY5rWOhORjjvFahW89oKZAUu11w0p3En-2h5t8VLujC82I8ntc/s640/blogger-image--1639416203.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzOEhJhyK_jPnZFaEqyozWHckADegT6b-dRaXnVe1C2KQE1l_uHEz96pXmRemjAkhoNXpKllpr2UoZaxhk2rywvCjgCaY5rWOhORjjvFahW89oKZAUu11w0p3En-2h5t8VLujC82I8ntc/s640/blogger-image--1639416203.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOTWw4poeiAuqucDL3dfbynUmRLX-BbFn8dS_21s44OQ57DKqWFbF_p0rCQAcJkp4pC9B2Ng6kHEd7J5jsXsPPG5fZ9CZbySDhiHcgrwN2xiJ5P9ogPlSnZ7RH350O87XuN692gGzVlj4/s640/blogger-image-813895257.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOTWw4poeiAuqucDL3dfbynUmRLX-BbFn8dS_21s44OQ57DKqWFbF_p0rCQAcJkp4pC9B2Ng6kHEd7J5jsXsPPG5fZ9CZbySDhiHcgrwN2xiJ5P9ogPlSnZ7RH350O87XuN692gGzVlj4/s640/blogger-image-813895257.jpg" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06472521017986748390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4576938212346342161.post-82870131919445305352012-05-04T08:40:00.001-07:002012-05-04T09:53:05.343-07:00Paul Revere's Solutions<div style="text-align: justify;">
In<span style="color: blue;"> <a href="http://chrissearles.blogspot.com/2012/05/paul-revere-of-ecology.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">part one of this post</span></a></span> I went on at length about catastrophic eco problems society is just. not. dealing. with. That blog begins with Walter Cronkite, who in many ways led the American eco awakening of the 1960's and 70's, and suggests things are getting worse, not better, on a global scale. Like most people I'd rather push all this under the rug. </div>
<div class="p2">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="p1">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The following is one man's attempt at elucidating "<b>what you can do</b>" to help fix a legacy of eco/industrial conflict. In short, everything comes down to making smarter political and purchasing decisions. At best, everything comes down to being better educated and more active. But at length -- we all know the primary issue is human nature and how difficult it is to change a person's priorities. It's important to acknowledge that. 2012 is not a time of informed, united, willful, rapid change for the common good -- which is what we need. </div>
</div>
<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7XEl9HrxKD5Slf5O4eTF9s6XTXNpZ3J3pvywrL-NtGxiYw7_nZc0YT7sAl4e_lUE0G6h4GT9atgss2j_JYhNYceXUCJr-VQy4H4QnhDw4Iiz6Ru_Dnfu_sIlsdKBFpj6QYZECLMFobEA/s1600/photo.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7XEl9HrxKD5Slf5O4eTF9s6XTXNpZ3J3pvywrL-NtGxiYw7_nZc0YT7sAl4e_lUE0G6h4GT9atgss2j_JYhNYceXUCJr-VQy4H4QnhDw4Iiz6Ru_Dnfu_sIlsdKBFpj6QYZECLMFobEA/s320/photo.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sticker from my back windshield. One example of a good decision: <br />
I drive a 2003 VW Jetta. No mods, it runs on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodiesel" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">B100</span></a>. This method of <br />
fueling (biodiesel) drives cleaner than any hybrid. I pay about 10%<br />
more, but get 38 mpg. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="p5">
<br /></div>
<div class="p2">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Nevertheless, if all of us knew exactly <i>what to do</i> about today's macro eco challenges (climate change, food depletion, natural resource and habitat depletion, toxicity, and excess waste), we might see people across the various social spectrums of wealth and influence making better investments. Talking with my friend Jim Holland who runs EcoWise yesterday, he said, "The are no green architects. There are no green contractors." What he means is ... to him, after 23 years of struggling to sell green building supplies in Austin, TX (a city that's home the world's <a href="https://my.austinenergy.com/wps/portal/aegb/aegb/home/%21ut/p/c5/04_SB8K8xLLM9MSSzPy8xBz9CP0os3gLAwMDZydDRwP3EG8XA09nywBD55AwYyM_Y6B8pFm8AQ7gaEBAdzjIPjwqDCHyeMz388jPTdUvyI0wyDJxVAQAElUVkA%21%21/dl3/d3/L2dBISEvZ0FBIS9nQSEh/" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">first</span></a> green building program and today has four competing green supply stores), it seems the people who hire architects and contractors (the building owners) are more concerned about price and trend than "sustainability." </div>
</div>
<div class="p2">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="p1">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I agree. Obviously there's a market building, but not at mass scale. "<i>Sustainable</i>" -- normal people are just not that into you. </div>
</div>
<div class="p2">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="p1">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Anyway -- a few years ago I collaborated on a project for Christians, <span style="color: blue;">"<a href="http://coremediagroup.org/IntroducingTheJourneyofEnvironmentalStewardship.htm" target="_blank">The Journey of Environmental Stewardship</a>."</span> Me and a friend divided solutions to the world's big environmental issues into five target categories: 1) <b>Natural Resources</b>, 2) <b>Biodiversity</b>, 3) <b>Toxics</b>, 4) <b>Waste</b>, and 5) <b>Emissions</b>. This project has proven super effective as a lecture to local audiences. Here is a synopsis of what you can do, regarding the most significant of those categories. </div>
</div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Emissions </i>Solutions:<i> </i></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
First, civilization must stop using fossil fuels at the macro level. Ouch. Not gonna be easy. Not only is peak oil "so 2007," as the Oil & Gas Industry ramps up <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/26/business/energy-environment/new-technologies-redraw-the-worlds-energy-picture.html?_r=2&pagewanted=all" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">megalithic production</span></a> in Canada, Russia, the <span style="color: black;">EU</span>, <span style="color: black;">South America</span>, West Africa, North Dakota, Texas, Australia, etc. -- but <span class="s2"><a href="http://chrissearles.blogspot.com/2011/10/few-reasons-to-oppose-tar-sands.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">the oil is getting dirtier</span></a></span>. And since Industry cares more about how profitable the oil is than how dirty the oil is, <i>and</i> since Industry has the money, power, smarts, and infrastructure to focus on increasing the next 50 years of oil profits 365 days a year -- we the inhabitants of Earth have to think big, first. </div>
</div>
<div class="p2">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="p1">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Big. The best I can come up with is in line with Gernot Wagner's <a href="http://www.gwagner.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">work</span></a>. We need to change governmental economic policies and the global economy itself. Perhaps that begins with a shift in personal values. (Not gonna be easy.) I don't have a lot of faith here, but if we were to transition the world's 2nd <a href="http://chrissearles.blogspot.com/2012/02/how-rich-is-oil-gas-industry.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">wealthiest industry</span></a>, Oil & Gas, and the world's "most powerful" industry, Electricity, away from creating and utilizing products that pollute rapidly (fossil fuels), we would stop making today's worst eco problems worse. </div>
</div>
<div class="p1">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="p1">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Such transition would mean calling on private companies and governments to ditch dirty fuels, take the hit, and go 100% clean. It would mean calling on the world's megalithic fossil fuel companies to provide us with clean affordable replacement fuels -- today. Now listen, with <a href="http://chrissearles.blogspot.com/2012/02/top-five-oil-companies-made-1-trillion.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">$1 Trillion in American oil profits during the last ten years</span></a> alone, couldn't the bright minds at Exxon, Shell, BP, Chevron, and Conoco could get us some clean auto fuels? </div>
</div>
<div class="p1">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="p1">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Anyway, no doubt we'd all have to share the financial burden for transition. But consider Paul Revere's (Cronkite's) alternative - the end of human survival. Additionally, we wealthy Westerners would do well to open our pocketbooks and help finance clean fuel and electricity infrastructure in needy countries. Is it even possible that Westerners could unite to help the third world "go green"? Is it even possible for people to think and act globally? Holistically? We've certainly taken a lot. Can we be convinced it's time to give back?</div>
</div>
<div class="p2">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="p1">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Second, we must implement technologies (natural or industrial) that reduce the greenhouse gas overload already in our atmosphere. I have no idea what this means, but Newt Gingrich talks about it in his 2007 book, <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=GvxcvOhkKJ4C&pg=PA96&lpg=PA96&dq=newt+gingrich+greenhouse+gas+absorption&source=bl&ots=Ha3886waKV&sig=g6cthcdhGOSS61pFrRjHroM5T4U&hl=en&sa=X&ei=-k6hT6bALIPq2AXvzNncCQ&ved=0CCMQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false"><span class="s1"><span style="color: blue;">A Contract With the Earth</span></span></a>. I know, God forbid, <i>Newt</i>, but good ideas come from all over. In his "green" book, Gingrich suggests that the only really serious way to stave off global warming is to invest heavily in technologies that eliminate excess greenhouse gasses already present in the troposphere. IMHO, this is an important idea. <b>Come to think of it,</b> <b>maybe</b> (safely) <b>deploying this kind of technology should be our first priority. </b></div>
</div>
<div class="p1">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCXl3Wnj-H2KtsUioNLt2RxWZBqb3-3y1dwlsHc-k43sIKlC77_KgqvJIEN8a-ppJX32a0bVCRr2Cqs3wJ6YElKIYlSzB-aRtcnS8bxlWSKDXqfRO9FNqdseQRGISxWWRvoNRotdX0OT0/s1600/imgres-1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCXl3Wnj-H2KtsUioNLt2RxWZBqb3-3y1dwlsHc-k43sIKlC77_KgqvJIEN8a-ppJX32a0bVCRr2Cqs3wJ6YElKIYlSzB-aRtcnS8bxlWSKDXqfRO9FNqdseQRGISxWWRvoNRotdX0OT0/s1600/imgres-1.jpeg" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoqygC0Fts2624RPMgA3b__BuUkjoWicPNWzSErEhqHp3EcwZlCYeqfHtvtqqiPuHc3S1uwf9gv1l7_GvpXdc5wY1JfsEChT5kRYkWun8l4gipHcJg2ra0Gevd6HB3xGGigvriDiTFmS0/s1600/imgres.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoqygC0Fts2624RPMgA3b__BuUkjoWicPNWzSErEhqHp3EcwZlCYeqfHtvtqqiPuHc3S1uwf9gv1l7_GvpXdc5wY1JfsEChT5kRYkWun8l4gipHcJg2ra0Gevd6HB3xGGigvriDiTFmS0/s1600/imgres.jpeg" /></a></div>
<div class="p1">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="p2">
<b></b></div>
<div class="p1">
In addition to technological solutions that help restore balance, we must get serious about the natural ones. In short, our protection and restoration of high quality natural habitat has become a critical aspect of preserving overall biological well-being. Forests, grasslands, and healthy oceans are greenhouse gas sinks, air purifiers, heat mitigators, and more. Without natural, green sponges at scale, society will have more even uncontrolled heat and pollution to deal with . . . which is of course <a href="http://chrissearles.blogspot.com/2012/04/on-earth-day-2012.html?utm_source=BP_recent" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">what the climate science projects</span></a>: more heat, more pollution, more extreme weather, etc. </div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-size: large;">So how do you fit in, today? </span></div>
<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Such macro projects, geez. Too big, too complicated, too depressing. <b>1) Be more politically active.</b> Whether it's through armchair blogging (ahem) or weeks of Occupying (<i>wow</i>) or <a href="http://theleaderlessrevolution.com/" style="color: blue;" target="_blank">something in between</a> - humanity needs your mild, informed, honest voice on today's environmental issues. <b>2) Talk. </b>People hate to be smart at parties, among friends, or with their neighbors -- but man, we Americans are SO divided today. We must share more information. Common purpose is what enacting these solutions is all about. <b>3) Spend your money. </b>You can change your transportation like I did (see above) -- and drive a 100% biodiesel fueled vehicle for <i>marginally</i> more money. You should: purchase "carbon offsets" when you fly. You should: eat local, this does enormously good things for eliminating emissions. You should: make sure you're using green electricity everywhere -- at home, work, school, church, accommodations, etc. <span style="color: #38761d;">Greening-up: politics, transportation, food, electricity, and your social life is the basis of a fair and inclusive, low emissions economy. </span></div>
</div>
<div class="p2">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="p1">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
##</div>
</div>
<div class="p1">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="p1">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The transformation required to save Cronkite's "Earth" (read: ourselves) is a trillions-dollars-large problem. According to the data we're way behind on starting a transition that should have begun decades ago. But be sure of one thing, the people and entities making wages -- honest or dishonorable wages, from dirty fossil fuels stand to lose and gain essentially the same as the rest of us. The Gain: a chance at building a global economy capable of supporting humanity for a long, long time. </div>
</div>
<div class="p3">
<br /></div>
<div class="p3">
<br /></div>
<div class="p3">
###</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06472521017986748390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4576938212346342161.post-47867198566600331432012-05-02T08:21:00.001-07:002012-05-04T09:13:07.026-07:00The Paul Revere of Ecology<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="text-align: justify;">The Austin Chronicle titled it's 2012 Earth Day cover story, "</span><b style="text-align: justify;">Earth: Fun While It Lasted.</b><span style="text-align: justify;">" </span><span style="text-align: justify;">Great article,</span><span style="text-align: justify;"> </span><span class="s1" style="color: blue; text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.austinchronicle.com/news/2012-04-20/can-the-earth-be-saved/" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">check it out</span></a></span><span style="text-align: justify;">, written by Rice University history professor David Brinkley. But Brinkley never actually addresses the headline.* Instead he spends two pages talking about America's most revered newscaster. </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1gRVYIwQGrw9JNKgdWBFcFX3F0YmhVl440QyvHqcjiy_jidt47_gzbiUcrnSnX34zFuH-gZGx0A6_zqjTCibi3kQCrPLGhBQqNoD6Ok85iPpeCyJWCnlCyIrC51sSMyJcuceLR_cXdnw/s1600/Walter+Cronkite.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1gRVYIwQGrw9JNKgdWBFcFX3F0YmhVl440QyvHqcjiy_jidt47_gzbiUcrnSnX34zFuH-gZGx0A6_zqjTCibi3kQCrPLGhBQqNoD6Ok85iPpeCyJWCnlCyIrC51sSMyJcuceLR_cXdnw/s320/Walter+Cronkite.jpeg" width="269" /></a></div>
<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<div class="p2">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Cronkite" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Walter Cronkite</span></a></b> became America's first mainstream champion of environmental sanity way back in January 1970 (under the Nixon Admin) when he began a broadcasting his series, <i>"<span class="s1">Can The Earth Be Saved?</span>"</i> During April of that year, he devoted a significant amount of CBS air time to covering -- and legitimizing, America's first Earth Day. </div>
</div>
<div class="p2">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<object class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://0.gvt0.com/vi/6HUtM_LTyIw/0.jpg" height="266" width="320"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/6HUtM_LTyIw&fs=1&source=uds" />
<param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" />
<embed width="320" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/6HUtM_LTyIw&fs=1&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed></object></div>
<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Cronkite, who'd grown up sailing Texas's Galveston Bay and spent his working life sailing the waters of the North East, saw coastal areas being transformed and damaged by 20th century oil production. An avid bird watcher and nature lover, Cronkite was further "changed" by seminal 60's & 70's eco books <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silent_Spring" style="color: blue; font-style: italic;" target="_blank">Silent Spring</a><i style="color: blue;"> </i>and<i style="color: blue;"> </i><i><span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://retrobookshop.com/theclosingcirclenaturemanandtechnologybybarrycommoner.aspx" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">The Closing Circle: Nature, Man, and Technology</span></a>. </span></i>Cronkite's sense that our planet, and those who depend on her, is fragile was heightened by the Apollo mission's historic 1968 photo "Earth Rise." Effectively the first photo of our global domicile, Earthrise caused eco epiphanies <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2008/nov/30/apollo-8-mission" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">around the world</span></a>. </div>
</div>
<div class="p1">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlUcA00MuKTLhDzfgRFveJbWhhdoCgsjCUp1QejQtWanEXrFGcblAXuowXamoJ-DflgJQL5t1SIPCtYRMdBHFpg_OUfW1b5XXdWcGb_xgbhkVP9RA2i1NhWT9-zGmVvtw-Ss1HFFRNXt8/s1600/pols_feature1-1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlUcA00MuKTLhDzfgRFveJbWhhdoCgsjCUp1QejQtWanEXrFGcblAXuowXamoJ-DflgJQL5t1SIPCtYRMdBHFpg_OUfW1b5XXdWcGb_xgbhkVP9RA2i1NhWT9-zGmVvtw-Ss1HFFRNXt8/s320/pols_feature1-1.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">"<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthrise" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Earthrise</span></a>" (1968)</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
During the 70's Cronkite dove deep into his eco concerns -- pushing CBS to keep environmental issues in the news, villainizing Chevron and other large polluters in publications, and "devoting extensive time and energy to the task of educating the nation." It was during this period he was dubbed the Paul Revere of Ecology. Amazingly -- and from the beginning, Cronkite warned, "Every year American power plants pour more than 800 million tons of carbon dioxide into the skies. Some scientists suspect that carbon dioxide can turn the planet into a kind of greenhouse, sealing in heat so that temperatures gradually rise until the polar icecaps melt and a new deluge covers the lands of the earth."</div>
</div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
So where are we now? </div>
<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
We're in crisis. We're past Cronkite's point of no return. Read <a href="http://chrissearles.blogspot.com/2012/04/on-earth-day-2012.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">my most recent post</span></a> about what life under global warming is expected be like, i.e. extreme weather and extreme losses. Cronkite's worst environmental fears and the future he thought broadcasting could help prevent, is indeed upon us. </div>
</div>
<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Not only is climate change changing the way we live, but <span style="color: #134f5c;">toxicity</span> has increased immeasurably since the first Earth Day. Some say today's human beings have over 200 industrial chemicals in their body tissues, as compared to 100 years ago when it's estimated people had about seven. Additionally, there's all-too-familiar evidence that humans continue toxifying the earth's incredibly limited amounts of freshwater via fracking, pollution, prescription drug use...</div>
</div>
<div class="p1">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="p1">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Possibly even worse -- global <span style="color: #134f5c;">food</span> and natural <span style="color: #134f5c;">habitat</span> are in decline. Thanks to both warming oceans and thoughtless commercial practices our fisheries and coral reefs are disappearing. (Disappearing!) Grain yields are shrinking as temperatures rise and droughts increase in frequency. Forests, grasslands, waters, and healthy soils are being "repurposed" for commercial tourism, manufacturing, residential living, and etc., everywhere. In just the last 150 years the Earth's total forests have shrunk by nearly 50 percent. <br />
<br />
Adding yet another big picture concern -- humans are using up <span style="color: #134f5c;">natural resources</span> faster than they can be regenerated. And let's not forget the eco issue of "<span style="color: #134f5c;">waste</span>." Huge expanses of floating plastic now cover thousand-mile areas in our oceans, landfills have million year half lives, radioactive leaks continue to threaten, and yet the plastics keep on a' comin'. It's crazy time for environmental issues, yet it's business as usual in our daily lives: business, media, religion, politics, education, tech, banking... </div>
</div>
<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<b>So what do we do?</b> (If we care enough to do anything)<br />
<span style="text-align: justify;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="text-align: justify;">I can't just lay out a bunch of doomy gloomy stuff and not offer a few solutions. See<span style="color: blue;"> </span></span><span style="color: blue;"><i style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_627409436">Part Two: "Paul Revere's Solutions"</a></i><span style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://chrissearles.blogspot.com/2012/05/paul-reveres-soultions.html" target="_blank"> here</a>. </span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
###</div>
<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">*Professor Brinkley's new book, <a href="http://www.harpercollins.com/books/Cronkite-Douglas-Brinkley/?isbn=9780061374265" target="_blank">Cronkite</a>, comes out this month. </span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06472521017986748390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4576938212346342161.post-24693608516398888432012-04-18T23:41:00.002-07:002012-04-20T13:51:29.223-07:00On Earth Day (2012)<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="text-align: justify;">In 2006 i produced Austin's largest </span><a href="https://www.google.com/search?sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=the+sustainable+shopper's+ball#hl=en&sclient=psy-ab&q=the+sustainable+shopper's+ball+earth+day&oq=the+sustainable+shopper's+ball+earth+day&aq=f&aqi=q-w1&aql=1&gs_nf=1&gs_l=serp.3..33i21.8275.9296.0.9715.10.9.0.0.0.0.449.2948.4-7.7.0.pfwc.1.a0NKKHG1y6E&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_cp.r_qf.,cf.osb&fp=e790b5a8625b1eb2&biw=1184&bih=684" style="text-align: justify;" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Earth Day festival</span></a><span style="text-align: justify;"> to date, </span><a href="https://www.google.com/search?sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=the+sustainable+shopper's+ball" style="text-align: justify;" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">The Sustainable Shopper's Ball</span></a><span style="text-align: justify;">. It was a grand event and an awesome team effort. The event was all dressed in pop-up tent tops, located outdoors with vendors, entertainers, speakers, food, music, activities, sculpture, lectures... Roughly 5,000 people: shopped local green businesses, learned from local green nonprofits, listened to the </span><a href="http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P3-1040093651.html" style="text-align: justify;" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">mayor</span></a><span style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: blue;"> </span>and other speakers, watched jugglers and tap dancers and kid's entertainers, rocked to a solar-powered </span><a href="http://www.jamesmcmurtry.com/" style="text-align: justify;" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">James McMurtry</span></a><span style="text-align: justify;">, walked their dogs, </span><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ericsee/sets/72057594099008137/" style="text-align: justify;" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">y mas</span></a><span style="text-align: justify;">. It was six hours of inclusive, green paradise. Those of us working on the event were celebrating the dawning of a new culture, one invented by our X & Y generations and the internet, one that looked forward to the end of the G.W. Bush era, embraced the idea that global warming was urgent and actionable, and believed that the necessity of building a better world would soon win the day. </span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: justify;">
We thought light bulbs, local farmers and green architecture were most of what was needed to fix the world's enormous environmental problems. We just needed to increase enthusiasm so more people would start buying the right stuff and "preferring" a greener, sustainable world. I coined the term -- at least I thought I did because so few people seemed to understand it, "sustainable consumerism" based on the idea that consumers have more influence over business than any other force in society, and therefore, indirectly, consumers control the markets, politics, and media of our Western civilization. </div>
<div class="p2" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: justify;">
So now, six years later, i ask where do we stand? </div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: justify;">
In 2006 we knew time was of the essence. We told ourselves we had just a few years before the battle to save humanity (and biology as we know it) from the impacts of a rapidly changing climate system would be lost. This kind of doomy-gloomy conversation was vindicated in a terrifying way when in <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/18/world/europe/18iht-climate.2.8378031.html?_r=1" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">November of 2007</span></a> the top professional in the world of climate science, <b>Dr.</b> <b>Rajendra Pachauri</b>, chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said,<b> </b></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px; text-align: left;">"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."</span> </b></div>
</blockquote>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: justify;">
In this regard every influential business and politician fell short. None of the world's local, state, or national leaders stepped up to the plate or heeded the repeated calls to "act now" issued by the international climate science community. Personal politics, profit, willful & unintended ignorance, and personal fear got in the way of making 2007 our collective turning point. Fairly said, neither the leadership nor the 'public will' were there for meaningful change and creative activists like me and my team of Sustain-a-Ballers were not well enough informed or endowed to change the game. It wasn't lightbulbs and higher values we needed, it was <a href="http://www.gwagner.com/planet/" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">big-scale, rapid shifts</span></a> in economic policy. "Sustainable Consumerism" and all the rest was on the right track but what our planet really needed on Earth Day 2006 was a smarter, wiser perspective from the grassroots. So please allow me to share a few 2012 ideas. And allow me to first substantiate the urgency of changing the way our economy is wired.<br />
<br />
~~</div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #783f04;">More Extreme Weather.</span> </div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: justify;">
<i>There was more extreme weather last weekend. </i>The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration called 2011 "one for the record books." But, wait, that was before <a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/Photo-Galleries/In-Pictures/Extreme-weather-2012" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">this year</span></a>. A snapshot of terrible weather events over the last 3.5 months in the USA: "<a href="http://www.usatoday.com/weather/climate/story/2012-03-01/warm-winter/53321862/1" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">no winter, 2012</span></a>," "<a href="http://chrissearles.blogspot.com/2012/03/worst-tornado-outbreak-in-us-history.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">worst week of tornadoes ever</span></a>," "<a href="http://chrissearles.blogspot.com/2012/04/dallas.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Dallas endures terrifying tornado outbreak</span></a>," and last weekend <a href="http://www.buzzfeed.com/donnad/freak-storm-drops-4-feet-of-hail-in-texas" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">four feet of hail</span></a> in North Texas plus <a href="http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/terrifying-photos-of-the-mid-april-tornado-outbrea" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">yet another deadly tornado outbreak</span></a>. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhulpqcUA30OVl_zGlWgq_R4tILyBBCeBxEdodSPeDB_cqiS9QJuIoI0nB211K9Pgc1GcES7nAVDMooDjZ-ndj97Ve4KEx8g9D5D2Gv40ajNBhqqmk8yQSROwwjOLtWxFIcs3rkvyn8HUc/s1600/enhanced-buzz-5388-1334527904-0.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhulpqcUA30OVl_zGlWgq_R4tILyBBCeBxEdodSPeDB_cqiS9QJuIoI0nB211K9Pgc1GcES7nAVDMooDjZ-ndj97Ve4KEx8g9D5D2Gv40ajNBhqqmk8yQSROwwjOLtWxFIcs3rkvyn8HUc/s320/enhanced-buzz-5388-1334527904-0.jpeg" width="218" /></a></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: justify;">
Oddly enough, heat waves, drought, tornadoes, cold snaps, heavy rains, and etc. -- these events match or exceed the worst case scenarios projected again and again by the world's <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intergovernmental_Panel_on_Climate_Change" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">"liberal" climate science modelers</span></a>. Climate science 101 says extreme events will increase in frequency, scope, and intensity as the planet warms due to greenhouse gas pollution. Expect this and future decades to worsen to the point where seasonal patterns become completely disrupted unless we stop burning fossil fuels and start restoring forests, grasslands, oceans, and other heat managing ecosystems. </div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="p1">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #783f04;">Extreme Losses.</span> </div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Folks are now saying the Amazon Rain Forest, aka the earth's lungs, is primed for <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2012/04/15/460400/warming-atlantic-primes-the-amazon-for-fire/" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">fire</span></a>. (<a href="http://chrissearles.blogspot.com/2012/01/texas-2011-drought-93-billion-tree.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Texas</span></a> lost over 100 Million trees in 2011.) NASA is concerned about the manner and rate at which the Polar Ice Cap is <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/thick-melt.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">melting</span></a>. (The same goes for polar glaciers, mountain glaciers, and ice in Antarctica.) Warmer oceans have killed 80% of the corals in the Caribbean, globally 1% of coral reefs are <a href="http://www.skepticalscience.com/coral-bleaching.htm" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">bleaching</span></a> every year. Many believe half of all plants, animals, and birds will be <a href="http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2012/03/28/the-sixth-great-extinction-a-silent-extermination/" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">extinct</span></a> by 2100 if we don't eliminate our greenhouse gas emissions. James Cameron calls climate change <span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://grist.org/climate-change/on-titanic-anniversary-james-cameron-says-climate-change-is-our-menacing-iceberg/" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">today's</span></a> <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2012/04/13/463957/the-titanic-at-100-years-were-still-ignoring-warnings-this-time-its-climate-change-says-director-james-cameron/" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Titanic</span></a></span>. Effectively we are all endangered species, "if you believe the science." And if you don't... everything's fine. </div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="p2" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #783f04;">Big Oily World. </span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: justify;">
I don't have anything personally against Big Oil, (Natural) Gas or the good people who work in the Oil & Gas industry, but just look at some of these 2012 soundbites:</div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/apr/12/lloyds-london-warns-risks-arctic-oil-drilling" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">"Drilling of Arctic will Destroy Arctic," says Lloyd's of London</span></a></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2012/03/27/452407/march-27th-news-bp-oil-spill-caused-a-graveyard-of-corals/" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">BP Oil Spill Caused Graveyard of Corals</span></a></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2012/04/06/459711/shale-shocked-increase-midcontinent-earthquakes-almost-certainly-manmade-usgs-report/" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">USGS: "Remarkable Increase in US Earthquakes Almost Certainly Linked to Oil & Gas Drilling"</span></a></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2012/03/29/454853/senators-who-voted-to-protect-oil-tax-breaks-received-23582500-from-big-oil/" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Senators Who Voted to Protect $24 Billion in Big Oil Tax Breaks Recv'd $23 Million (from Big Oil)</span></a></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://chrissearles.blogspot.com/2012/02/how-rich-is-oil-gas-industry.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Big Oil = 1st or 2nd wealthiest industry on the planet</span></a></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/02/15/425926/gas-prices-rising-demand-1997/" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Oil Prices Rising Despite Lowest Demand Since 1997</span></a></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://grist.org/oil/big-oils-banner-year-higher-prices-record-profits-less-oil/" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Today's Oil Industry Provides Higher Prices, Record Profits, Less Oil</span></a></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://chrissearles.blogspot.com/2012/02/rising-oil-prices-blamed-on-speculators.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Rising Oil Prices Blamed on Market Speculators (Not Necessity)</span></a></li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
And consider this -- In the Alberta Tar Sands alone, the Big Oil Industry is looking at <span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://chrissearles.blogspot.com/2011/10/economy-vs-environment-tar-sands.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">2 Trillion Barrels</span></a> </span>of marketable product. If sold at $100 a barrel the Alberta tar sands would create about $200 Trillion dollars revenue, that's roughly <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nominal)" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">13x larger than total US GDP</span></a> last year. (The US is still the world's largest economy, producing more than twice the GDP of #2 China in 2011.) Meanwhile natural gas and domestic <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/energy/story/2011-12-16/us-oil-boom/52053236/1" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">oil</span></a> production are already booming in the USA. Times are good for oil and natural gas <a href="http://chrissearles.blogspot.com/2012/02/more-evidence-of-boom-time-for-us-oil.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">producers</span></a> across the country; particularly in <a href="http://stateimpact.npr.org/texas/2012/03/26/how-texans-are-chasing-millions-in-oil-gas-royalties/" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Texas</span></a> and <a href="https://www.google.com/search?sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=north+dakota+oil+boom" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">North Dakota</span></a>. Unless drastic changes are made in the way we fuel our economy, we've a got big, oily, gassy future. How can we avoid it? These jobs pay great.</div>
<div>
<span style="text-align: justify;"><br /></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5Gncw2gijrDDN8032AtN5lm80NxnaPPSkors7y3cy5RlTUu2SKbz9I09w-rPCLx6mI6jHlODrWf_ZlVwM5bJ-bph2wPgARUv_qV_Fel_GvYYUBY6W9PS46za7y6BMxFUgYnqUSklvhGw/s1600/Gas-Price-Cartoon.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5Gncw2gijrDDN8032AtN5lm80NxnaPPSkors7y3cy5RlTUu2SKbz9I09w-rPCLx6mI6jHlODrWf_ZlVwM5bJ-bph2wPgARUv_qV_Fel_GvYYUBY6W9PS46za7y6BMxFUgYnqUSklvhGw/s320/Gas-Price-Cartoon.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Things not changing... </span></div>
</div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9pnZFf0oh12QwEaM1RQ0PPvsHEX0shO6N-hp_XKf0LZivpaeifU2DZxJ-jvSj0cHArsx4cny2tR5tb8W4myWTtMSD-EC_d5jVJURWapWrOdl0AH48-8TDAJgMf7OVP-_IsPKrk9Wdtu4/s1600/big-oil-gas-prices-carton-598x426.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9pnZFf0oh12QwEaM1RQ0PPvsHEX0shO6N-hp_XKf0LZivpaeifU2DZxJ-jvSj0cHArsx4cny2tR5tb8W4myWTtMSD-EC_d5jVJURWapWrOdl0AH48-8TDAJgMf7OVP-_IsPKrk9Wdtu4/s320/big-oil-gas-prices-carton-598x426.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>
</div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large; text-align: justify;"><b>Solutions</b>. </span><br />
<span style="text-align: justify;">Even as our country's net emissions are <a href="http://www.environmentalleader.com/2012/04/17/expanding-economy-hot-summer-push-u-s-emissions-up-3-2-in-2010/" target="_blank">increasing</a> (<a href="http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/emissions/downloads12/US-GHG-Inventory-2012-ES.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">pdf</span></a>) and as other environmental concerns (too numerous to list) reach the critical point, such as <a href="http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1914078,00.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">fishery depletion</span></a>, there are always things to be encouraged about. Impressively, Obama has been consistently calling for an end to Big Oil tax breaks since his January State of the Union <a href="http://chrissearles.blogspot.com/2012/02/images-from-obamas-historic-stop-oil.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">address</span></a> even going so far as to call <a href="http://priceofoil.org/2012/04/05/obama-says-romney-is-candidate-of-big-oil/?" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Romney the "Candidate of Big Oil"</span></a> earlier this month. </span><span style="text-align: justify;">But we the people need more big picture action. Any reasonably open-minded person who takes a look at today's climate science projections sees nothing but disaster in the near term. Let's try and avoid that shall we? </span></div>
<div class="p2" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: justify;">
Ethically speaking, some have <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2012/04/15/462803/caldeira-only-ethical-path-is-to-stop-using-the-atmosphere-as-a-waste-dump-for-greenhouse-gas-pollution/" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">said</span></a> it's time to stop using the atmosphere as a waste dump for greenhouse gasses. I like that, nice and simple. Solutions? Gernot Wagner says it best when he says <a href="http://www.gwagner.com/blog/innovation-is-not-enough-why-polluters-must-pay/" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: blue;">polluters must pay</span></b></a>. And Frances Beinecke when she says <b><a href="http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/fbeinecke/obama_administration_must_say.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">regulations must be authentic</span></a></b>.<br />
<br />
Obama's government is working on this. The EPA's new pollution standards would reduce <a href="http://www.farmanddairy.com/news/epa-issues-air-pollution-standards-for-oil-and-natural-gas-production/36587.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">95 percent </span></a>of harmful emissions from Oil & Gas wells, even as the President calls for increased production, and reduce emissions from our nation's <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gene-karpinski/epa-pollution_b_1397802.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">dirtiest</span></a> power plants (coal plants). These proposed standards were largely driven by public outcry, by the way. Where do I sign up to show my support? How do I support this and more?<br />
<br />
More solutions. On a personal level, each of us needs to <b>spend our money </b>on the businesses and products that promote greenhouse gas-free transportation, electricity, packaging, farming, plastics, chemicals, and etc., as well as ecological restoration. Stop funding the problems through your daily life and invest in solutions to the issues you care about. (Hopefully that's saving the world.) This is a familiar refrain and it will always be true, vote with your dollars.<br />
<br />
Finally, <b>respond to the opposition:</b> educate yourself on a little <a href="http://chrissearles.blogspot.com/2012/02/born-to-be-hypocrites.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">social psych</span></a>, listen carefully to a person's worldview and share critical information. Be patient, courageous, respectful and social. This Earth Day - sure, there's progress but we're WAY behind. I'm glad to see more and more people of religious faith getting engaged. Glad to see "environmentally friendly" becoming more and more of a mainstream value. But we need to move much, much faster. I ask you to think about that this Earth Day and continue celebrating.<br />
<br />
<br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06472521017986748390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4576938212346342161.post-36910026040942884382012-04-17T05:29:00.000-07:002012-04-17T10:27:12.978-07:00Getting My Attention<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhXWPXuRXUwi4wySNPromoH1ONFGCmR-CwsqecJYU3J_OW6ByTRZcKWZp2O-pWmPQvTYhoJY9YxK6wcDMQzZPH8txtyy3ASqnndVq01Y5Vo8EbDFSWXyin4nmyXYvzyKcd5F1q7q3qggw/s1600/Screen+shot+2012-04-17+at+6.51.07+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="96" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhXWPXuRXUwi4wySNPromoH1ONFGCmR-CwsqecJYU3J_OW6ByTRZcKWZp2O-pWmPQvTYhoJY9YxK6wcDMQzZPH8txtyy3ASqnndVq01Y5Vo8EbDFSWXyin4nmyXYvzyKcd5F1q7q3qggw/s200/Screen+shot+2012-04-17+at+6.51.07+AM.png" width="200" /></a></div>
<a href="http://www.buzzfeed.com/babymantis/the-best-taxonomy-humor-1opu%20" target="_blank">17 Nerdy Examples of Taxonomy Humor</a>. This one reminds me of two things, one - "Yeah, nerds are cool." two - "The world is full of fascinating creatures we struggle to identify." <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgefRLr5YbirKBY-NmpV5EkrnnbcH8ttK4LvoSixPCUb3E-S2nbVfy9JiP8yp_pShEkacrz72DiiexhbWGQHXZO6IPVneSylEAyqQyVVjDO8c72OPoSUFDyBXnjDOd7Gs35LHPVI5fJlGA/s1600/Screen+shot+2012-04-17+at+6.54.03+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="177" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgefRLr5YbirKBY-NmpV5EkrnnbcH8ttK4LvoSixPCUb3E-S2nbVfy9JiP8yp_pShEkacrz72DiiexhbWGQHXZO6IPVneSylEAyqQyVVjDO8c72OPoSUFDyBXnjDOd7Gs35LHPVI5fJlGA/s200/Screen+shot+2012-04-17+at+6.54.03+AM.png" width="200" /></a></div>
<a href="http://priceofoil.org/2012/04/11/the-13-billion-bill-for-elgin-gas-spill/" target="_blank">The $13 Billion Bill for the Elgin Gas Spill</a>. When was this covered? Total's Elgin Gas platform in the North Sea has been estimated to be leaking about 200,000 cubic meters of natural gas a day, "enough to supply more than 100 average homes with natural gas for an entire year." This environmental atrocity could cost oil companies associated with the spill somewhere around $13 billion. My girlfriend, "<i>How does this not make the news?</i> At least I know Kim's with Kanye."<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY-MNYyVhGqcPzBV8-ieumisI6iECC1vkg1zfoKfcQYCDkGV3MgAVaoP-lTIbzX9oPvYaYs4mVUUIJLYt9F3d-GdViFvfOYM4gu2iLTqyhmKgYs_GH2RZTeNzgf7MsKVsAxcxLCKJ0l_s/s1600/300px-Texas-rivers-map.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="189" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY-MNYyVhGqcPzBV8-ieumisI6iECC1vkg1zfoKfcQYCDkGV3MgAVaoP-lTIbzX9oPvYaYs4mVUUIJLYt9F3d-GdViFvfOYM4gu2iLTqyhmKgYs_GH2RZTeNzgf7MsKVsAxcxLCKJ0l_s/s200/300px-Texas-rivers-map.gif" width="200" /></a></div>
<a href="http://environmenttexas.org/news/txe/146-million-pounds-toxic-chemicals-dumped-texas%E2%80%99-waterways" target="_blank">This Can't Be Good -- 14 Million LBS of Toxic Chemicals Dumped into TX Waterways</a>. "Texas waterways are a polluter’s paradise right now." According to Environment Texas, "Industrial facilities dumped 14.6 million pounds of toxic chemicals into Texas’ waterways in 2011, making Texas’ waterways the fourth worst in the nation." I find this particularly interesting as Texans struggles to manage <a href="http://chrissearles.blogspot.com/2011/10/check-back-in-5-years-notes-from-tx.html" target="_blank">five more years (minimum)</a> of drought. Major rivers such as the Brazos and the Colorado contain known cancer-causing and reproductive toxicants. Thirsty?<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_5yGECWl5Q-N0YReG-3UWJayL8d-TNbjYVN5iNULURGeSPqZyjjJHV7yr9eib70Mc87x5j5BWPB7rAUuZJY5ElvbNlFBAWXzddMuEZy9FlJLTcnkf-yJ19-UUzw7GxVqcDAB_GqV4QRY/s1600/oil.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="141" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_5yGECWl5Q-N0YReG-3UWJayL8d-TNbjYVN5iNULURGeSPqZyjjJHV7yr9eib70Mc87x5j5BWPB7rAUuZJY5ElvbNlFBAWXzddMuEZy9FlJLTcnkf-yJ19-UUzw7GxVqcDAB_GqV4QRY/s200/oil.jpg" width="200" /></a><a href="http://mjperry.blogspot.com/2012/04/north-dakota-now-produces-more-oil-than.html" target="_blank">North Dakota Now Produces More Crude than the US Imports from Nigeria or Colombia</a>. On April 10 the EIA reported American importation of Nigerian crude oil had halved. Noted economist/blogger, MJ Perry, "domestic production in just the one state of North Dakota now exceeds imports from Nigeria for the first time. EIA crude oil import data shows that North Dakota has been consistently producing more oil than imports from Colombia every month since last June." It's boom time for American oil and<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_gas#Natural_gas" target="_blank"> natural gas</a> drilling.<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVXkCQ8k9BsQVt8iVR58FL8kI1de8PS8zDBDdhDC4tWP8Y0KeA_aX0X5NwKyAHhJLsr_FSkqud7iVd1DEGC7LZCcEcTCyLntK6IPLhSS8KVKSP_eieZWwCMy1OG-IzNTvq8YPZeyYJwWo/s1600/gaswells1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="138" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVXkCQ8k9BsQVt8iVR58FL8kI1de8PS8zDBDdhDC4tWP8Y0KeA_aX0X5NwKyAHhJLsr_FSkqud7iVd1DEGC7LZCcEcTCyLntK6IPLhSS8KVKSP_eieZWwCMy1OG-IzNTvq8YPZeyYJwWo/s200/gaswells1.jpg" width="200" /></a><a href="http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2012/04/06/459711/shale-shocked-increase-midcontinent-earthquakes-almost-certainly-manmade-usgs-report/" target="_blank">USGS Scientists, "Remarkable Increase in U.S. Earthquakes Almost Certainly linked to Oil & Gas Drilling"</a>. Another downside of fossil fuels -- "A U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) team has found that a sharp jump in earthquakes in America’s heartland appears to be linked to oil and natural gas drilling operations." The USGS report links dozens and dozens and dozens of earthquakes to fracking, as do British a shale gas developer and the great state of Ohio... Boom time, for sure.<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZfuvtucCUi8SFxK3nTnx9CSfEpe2bC0ms41KllekYRcl41WTZS67PE2rNkPHHMjMS5W7zUIzS_rEc4LQ1FmizSZ1YedFtmm__hr8et1yoB8MSmEyzPl_9RG1TFSMF3NgaqUPhiPaKi2o/s1600/oil-spill-map.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZfuvtucCUi8SFxK3nTnx9CSfEpe2bC0ms41KllekYRcl41WTZS67PE2rNkPHHMjMS5W7zUIzS_rEc4LQ1FmizSZ1YedFtmm__hr8et1yoB8MSmEyzPl_9RG1TFSMF3NgaqUPhiPaKi2o/s200/oil-spill-map.jpg" width="200" /></a> <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2012/03/27/452407/march-27th-news-bp-oil-spill-caused-a-graveyard-of-corals/" target="_blank">BP Oil Spill Caused ‘Graveyard of Corals'</a>.
"After months of laboratory work, scientists say they can definitively
finger oil from BP’s blown-out well as the culprit for the slow death of
a once brightly colored deep-sea coral community in the Gulf of Mexico
that is now brown and dull." Here's a short <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFXiZc16rIw" target="_blank">video</a> from 2010. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coral" target="_blank">Coral</a> are the backbone of ocean biology. This week marks the second anniversary of the explosion at BP’s Deepwater Horizon drilling platform… More drilling, ya'll?<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_UhQ_cKZfOGmPJ4XV07TjgEun1mGQD7U5Q9yez_Z4V9zdDyKkZLYAf25wAH204iJNB_tWjBmu9XSxal0doRLpLfQI6Nz2CQ3UeBjhkGJIFzPLjVFEUeudy4h3hmlOEd9TLeuE49Xxrrk/s1600/1325692747-image-5-for-gulf-of-mexico-oil-spill-animals-covered-in-oil-gallery-934153484.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_UhQ_cKZfOGmPJ4XV07TjgEun1mGQD7U5Q9yez_Z4V9zdDyKkZLYAf25wAH204iJNB_tWjBmu9XSxal0doRLpLfQI6Nz2CQ3UeBjhkGJIFzPLjVFEUeudy4h3hmlOEd9TLeuE49Xxrrk/s320/1325692747-image-5-for-gulf-of-mexico-oil-spill-animals-covered-in-oil-gallery-934153484.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCMqzmdb0A8mbF4Av8U6cfQFJvi7n2rW03t3ytqTB_30k_D8Es72SmLOHrtAXOe7xZ9mFMd5YVC_uiisCrxsnTonTPT3gIaY0oeiw3GB9x08pmOk6YujjQ9gRiUBBqXjEziV7qqOFwhAA/s1600/1325692747-image-5-for-gulf-of-mexico-oil-spill-animals-covered-in-oil-gallery-934153484.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06472521017986748390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4576938212346342161.post-4060356455383220592012-04-04T11:46:00.001-07:002012-04-05T18:05:24.684-07:00Dallas<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;">
Thank God there are -- as of now, no reported deaths in the DFW area after yesterday's tornado outbreak. (I have friends there.) The devastation will surely take a toll on local economics, wildlife and ecosystems, however. The questions burning in my mind, how does this link to climate change? What's the history of tornadoes in the Dallas area? What size do tornadoes in this region tend to be? Are they often close to cities? What are scientists saying about the causes of yesterday's events, which threatened the lives of more than seven million Americans?</div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjag6G_1CjPmJkJeaNik8cIDUq32bg__uMVax5K-IgsafyFK-oGu_Qm-DYjCvi-OptTY1Kb1cwo68J9dorG0aTQThTfez0uY9xITRdVWEZGMJzNvwOU_019Vz0bzt-S8eCdLngjKKMGq1w/s1600/531888_3722595586664_1329085962_3548386_1749012079_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjag6G_1CjPmJkJeaNik8cIDUq32bg__uMVax5K-IgsafyFK-oGu_Qm-DYjCvi-OptTY1Kb1cwo68J9dorG0aTQThTfez0uY9xITRdVWEZGMJzNvwOU_019Vz0bzt-S8eCdLngjKKMGq1w/s320/531888_3722595586664_1329085962_3548386_1749012079_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnfi0xWgbD5LrpA4XMxveQAB39bIlZnx_GWnMlnClMDJYmZ896Bu3nIrDinBNNTxyw3wrbJE3AIAjLzn2v5ylTYpcfSBP3sQ4zSbr5D0tlF4bGk76-4lm1sX8bWIxsp7QRZwrxZujhQac/s1600/553550_3722594706642_1329085962_3548385_957419601_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnfi0xWgbD5LrpA4XMxveQAB39bIlZnx_GWnMlnClMDJYmZ896Bu3nIrDinBNNTxyw3wrbJE3AIAjLzn2v5ylTYpcfSBP3sQ4zSbr5D0tlF4bGk76-4lm1sX8bWIxsp7QRZwrxZujhQac/s320/553550_3722594706642_1329085962_3548385_957419601_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;">
Turns out the climate science story on this is grouped under the very broad headline, <b>"extreme weather events will increase as our climate system warms." </b>More about that in a moment. Historically speaking, tornadoes in the Dallas area are somewhat common (see image below). Dallas County has had 75 recorded tornadoes since 1953, with the total number of fatalities at less than 20 people. (Good news.) But these tornadoes have historically been <i>much</i> smaller than yesterday's, with damages generally ranging from as low as $2,000 to $5 million per event. There have of course been larger moments, a string of tornadoes in 1994 looks to have caused well over $500 million in damages for instance. </div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1KKir_CSZ9Sh2V_OdXVT6rmchv_xhCvZo10BhYUme1vCjRHGoQPdzqnpqWZLe1o0f6BHpuGfCUGi8xSPFlBPZkYvduTxshYjS2k_FwYlD7TwWcmT8ovA8Vm__R1A9QoPkKNMzAmoD4_k/s1600/Screen+shot+2012-04-04+at+11.59.20+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="252" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1KKir_CSZ9Sh2V_OdXVT6rmchv_xhCvZo10BhYUme1vCjRHGoQPdzqnpqWZLe1o0f6BHpuGfCUGi8xSPFlBPZkYvduTxshYjS2k_FwYlD7TwWcmT8ovA8Vm__R1A9QoPkKNMzAmoD4_k/s320/Screen+shot+2012-04-04+at+11.59.20+AM.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tornadoes in the Dallas area since 1953.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmoyuPvkoD09F5F4_y92n36TRcmCv-m2nTkr2toA1d9T2cC5bQvK-ko0SgxASKktpmRXutcL3Xp0g393v4YKiggjcyzXh9VHkXbY9euvqr1CGz02EP0GNmQxWvuS4sscIs08msQQegtPQ/s1600/Screen+shot+2012-04-04+at+11.59.40+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmoyuPvkoD09F5F4_y92n36TRcmCv-m2nTkr2toA1d9T2cC5bQvK-ko0SgxASKktpmRXutcL3Xp0g393v4YKiggjcyzXh9VHkXbY9euvqr1CGz02EP0GNmQxWvuS4sscIs08msQQegtPQ/s320/Screen+shot+2012-04-04+at+11.59.40+AM.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;">
All of this info comes from scanning <a href="http://www.tornadohistoryproject.com/tornado/Texas/Dallas" target="_blank">TornadoHistoryProject.com</a>, which takes its data from the <a href="http://www.spc.noaa.gov/wcm/#data" target="_blank">NOAA's National Weather Service</a>. I recommend checking out TornadoHistoryProject, it'll make understanding (Dallas and other cities) tornado history effortless. </div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;">
As an additional perspective, LiveScience.com <a href="http://www.livescience.com/19476-texas-tornadoes.html" target="_blank">reports</a> that yesterday's tornadoes "came 12 years after a historical bout of storms that raged through Fort Worth and Arlington March 28, 2000, injuring 80 and killing two." That would be just about the worse single event on record. But yesterday, April 4 2012, will prove historic in financial losses. The Red Cross <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/04/04/tornadoes-reported-near-dallas-fort-worth-area/" target="_blank">estimates</a> 650 homes were damaged. Baseball sized hail ripped from the sky <i>before</i> the tornado, damaging rooftops, automobiles, and over 100 commercial airplanes, among other things. And you've probably seen the video of 15-ton <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2012/04/03/us/texas-weather/index.html" target="_blank">trailers</a> at the Schneider National Trucking Company lot flying through the air like paper debris -- if not here it is (note commentators trying to make sense of what they're seeing). This gives a good sense of what other large scale damage might have taken place -- highways, bridges, waterways, cell towers, power lines, pipelines?...</div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/EwPEF0P2DQM?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
Had to share the Texas-sized hail, taken from <a href="http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/incredible-pictures-of-the-tornadoes-near-dallas" target="_blank">this gallery</a>: </div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSHhMj7qqYrsWDvE2IMdLXXVffmHQv-ZVMN61k0M4Dy9_AtP74hDtmT_fioKUtHuyTs3ImJN3SqcIyf6CPEhzUNcVRxNc5f4GkgWh61P5HIx5TOiaAMl_1Yi3ikQTG35G6iBZUDi_MAjQ/s1600/enhanced-buzz-13418-1333500240-18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSHhMj7qqYrsWDvE2IMdLXXVffmHQv-ZVMN61k0M4Dy9_AtP74hDtmT_fioKUtHuyTs3ImJN3SqcIyf6CPEhzUNcVRxNc5f4GkgWh61P5HIx5TOiaAMl_1Yi3ikQTG35G6iBZUDi_MAjQ/s320/enhanced-buzz-13418-1333500240-18.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6rlKevzbIe1pFBl8xHLDEGLxOih3IvPlrdJCkei21N5rYAhm_TErZmzx6HEwqwvuNxUzp35E0GmQ6nTReqhhdtbEgLG8HoxEHCoNrMazb6hnL7BhtTja8nR_IvXEaDQPmccGZddyBkJw/s1600/enhanced-buzz-2393-1333500202-8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6rlKevzbIe1pFBl8xHLDEGLxOih3IvPlrdJCkei21N5rYAhm_TErZmzx6HEwqwvuNxUzp35E0GmQ6nTReqhhdtbEgLG8HoxEHCoNrMazb6hnL7BhtTja8nR_IvXEaDQPmccGZddyBkJw/s320/enhanced-buzz-2393-1333500202-8.jpg" width="239" /></a></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;">
But the bigger story here might be that just a few days before Dallas's catastrophe the world's leading international panel of climate scientists <a href="http://ipcc.ch/news_and_events/news.shtml#.T3x_fo41d98" target="_blank">issued a report</a> saying <i>it's time to prepare for the worst.</i> They were talking about extreme weather. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (<a href="http://ipcc.ch/" target="_blank">IPCC</a>) released a 592 page report about the importance of adapting to unstoppable, severe climate change, which is causing an increase in the number and severity of weather events all over the world. Their report compiles research from over 18,000 scientific studies to justify its perspective and was subjected to three rounds of expert and governmental review "to ensure its findings are firmly based in scientific and technical information." In other words -- these guys aren't bloggers...!<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/2012/0328/Climate-change-report-time-to-start-preparing-for-the-worst" target="_blank">The Christian Science Monitor</a> (CSM), who appear to have read some of this lengthy document (I haven't) printed the following summation, "The report spends the majority of its nine chapters exploring ways ... to reduce the risk to people and property from weather extremes." The bad news: "Researchers have indicated that even if countries slammed the brakes on emissions today, the climate would continue to warm because carbon dioxide remains in the atmosphere for centuries. The gradual-but-relentless build-up of CO2 in the atmosphere since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution is an indication that humans are pumping it into the air faster than natural processes can remove the excess."</div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
More from CSM: </div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Teasing out trends in extreme weather and identifying global warming's fingerprint are challenging, acknowledges Thomas Stocker, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Bern in Switzerland and co-chair of the IPCC working group that reviews the state of climate science. By definition, extreme weather events are relatively rare and require observations – of consistent, high quality – over long periods of time... But enough data have been accumulating during the past 60 years at least to begin the process. <a href="http://www.ipcc-wg2.gov/SREX/" target="_blank">The report</a> examines observed trends for the nine weather and climate features it considered, the likelihood that global warming is evident in the trends, and projections of how those trends may play out through the end of the century... Some of the highest confidence levels across these three categories are for trends in extreme temperatures, with somewhat lower confidence levels for extreme precipitation... In 2008, tropical cyclone hit Myanmar, killing more than 138,000 people. A year earlier, a slightly stronger tropical cyclone hit Bangladesh, killing more than 3,400 people. Both countries fall into the “least developed” category. But the effects were far different... For such locations, “climate change can impose additional stresses on top of the stresses already occurring,” Field adds. “For areas already close to the borderline, additional stresses might make them uninhabitable.”"</blockquote>
</blockquote>
<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<b>So what do we do?</b> Well, damn sure we shouldn't make a terrible problem worse. If emissions are causing the problem then ... the "solution" as it were is 1) stopping emissions and 2) rebuilding our infrastructure to cope with and manage the likely escalation of extreme weather events, be they drought, blizzard, hurricane, tornado, hail, flood, fire, or otherwise. The primary limitations to accomplishing what needs to be done at scale seem to be not just inertia, but the fact that the vast majority of today's wealth is embedded in fossil fuels. How to change that? ... Please leave your suggestions below ... Meanwhile, extreme weather events keep coming. Here are a few recent ones from the CSM's <a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/Photo-Galleries/In-Pictures/Extreme-weather-2012" target="_blank">2012 USA extreme weather gallery</a>. </div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb9QvqjUe5rkVoo2raMNkzErYlsHxFMPtYyALtv_w5iYZcCTeJ0yn5z7akTho4cWTwQ_dwb_Wq-7WUf7wpjfrXDoSryyeQ43y8kWzXXq7gv1_vH4USGIEuCl3NWUnF4dBhy6byn2ViDPQ/s1600/3-19-12-Arizona-snowstorm_full_600x400.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb9QvqjUe5rkVoo2raMNkzErYlsHxFMPtYyALtv_w5iYZcCTeJ0yn5z7akTho4cWTwQ_dwb_Wq-7WUf7wpjfrXDoSryyeQ43y8kWzXXq7gv1_vH4USGIEuCl3NWUnF4dBhy6byn2ViDPQ/s320/3-19-12-Arizona-snowstorm_full_600x400.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Flagstaff, Arizona, March 18, 2012. <br />
Snow covers a house and its surroundings. <span style="font-size: xx-small;">REUTERS/Joshua Lott</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRKSkMfXZMaWCO5T27HmuVKMINTXFT0H1xBBaTxGKh2ugz6YtUGydtBc7IcoCMhMooHXOH_3iIdnELMhKEYHpkxUJRcJPe50kO0NGQ6uEdwvUgfFaKuK81nDw8XdSlqRUsaEJEO1c8ri4/s1600/0304-01_full_600x400.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRKSkMfXZMaWCO5T27HmuVKMINTXFT0H1xBBaTxGKh2ugz6YtUGydtBc7IcoCMhMooHXOH_3iIdnELMhKEYHpkxUJRcJPe50kO0NGQ6uEdwvUgfFaKuK81nDw8XdSlqRUsaEJEO1c8ri4/s320/0304-01_full_600x400.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Henryville, Indiana, March 4, 2012. <br />
A school bus, thrown through the front wall of Budroe's Restaurant, <br />
as tornadoes cut a swath from the Midwest to the Gulf of Mexico, <br />
killing at least 39 people. <span style="font-size: xx-small;">REUTERS/John Sommers II</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKTQi3uM_0xMokr-2FLfSNBeumIEmRbbRuvAi4588x9I0_eMi0gkskpFzRmbjOqqNKjgSHJMcGqtrUS2greires6UL2s59IriI9Z_kcyrrZpSq-OXLs42Yd0nw1K2tbVntj8WmWw8jVIU/s1600/01-ADD-0125.jpg_full_600x400.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKTQi3uM_0xMokr-2FLfSNBeumIEmRbbRuvAi4588x9I0_eMi0gkskpFzRmbjOqqNKjgSHJMcGqtrUS2greires6UL2s59IriI9Z_kcyrrZpSq-OXLs42Yd0nw1K2tbVntj8WmWw8jVIU/s320/01-ADD-0125.jpg_full_600x400.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fort Worth, Texas, January 25, 2012. <br />
Rescue Team checks vehicles as rainstorms and strong winds <br />
leave thousands without electricity. <span style="font-size: xx-small;">AP/Tom Fox</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
###</div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">See a <a href="http://www.wfaa.com/video/featured-videos/Severe-weather-blog-Tornado-warnings-issued-145963545.html" target="_blank">local news blog</a>, showcasing all the breaking news on the April 3rd tornadoes. </span><br />
<br />
<br />
<br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06472521017986748390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4576938212346342161.post-3671505931422615482012-04-01T16:03:00.001-07:002012-04-03T10:40:25.131-07:00On Springsteen & PatriotismI had the distinct pleasure of playing drums with Bruce Springsteen <a href="http://chrissearles.blogspot.com/2012/03/playing-drums-with-springsteen.html" target="_blank">a couple of weeks ago</a>. Austin's local paper ran a photo of us over and over again during the festival's five days (really nice). But more amazing -- <span style="font-size: small;">the local paper ran the photo again, 10 days later, next to a <a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/03/20/2704404/bruce-springsteen-and-the-state.html" target="_blank">syndicated review</a> for The Boss's new </span>album, <a href="http://www.brucespringsteen.net/albums/wrecking-ball" target="_blank">Wrecking Ball</a>. (?!)<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgXYktMCpzjOzFLSfaO-5bjsTAmCIbjSBce7qL2PfhUGZfqxI2FViVFVov-sWdBkK1qqKAv4vWCgu1vG15d3y3rtuxEckeBXOZofgjNyVan8fThARHvvWeUdcc0thdGhLmL8paTMVk9X0/s1600/IMG_0756.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgXYktMCpzjOzFLSfaO-5bjsTAmCIbjSBce7qL2PfhUGZfqxI2FViVFVov-sWdBkK1qqKAv4vWCgu1vG15d3y3rtuxEckeBXOZofgjNyVan8fThARHvvWeUdcc0thdGhLmL8paTMVk9X0/s320/IMG_0756.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
Coincidentally, that review's description of the record's overall spirit "encapsulates" some of my own most treasured values. Excerpts: <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">"These
first years of the millennium have been extraordinarily trying,
especially for a nation that had passed a quarter century in relative
peace. Then came terror. Then came wars. Then came economic meltdown.
And in the last we were galled to find that what had brought us to the
brink of ruin was greed, corruption, mendacity and predatory practices
of giant money houses and that we were now required to save them...</span></span>
</blockquote>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"It is from the heart of this disconnection, the chasm between the
America that is and the America that ought to be that Springsteen issues
his report... He finds depression, lamentation, and resignation... He
finds anger, too... there is also defiance...</blockquote>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"There is something quintessentially American in that. One recalls Gen.
McAuliffe's one-word rejection of a Nazi demand for surrender, 'Nuts!'
One recalls Franklin Roosevelt's standing up to 'fear itself...'</blockquote>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"That is what America is -- hope and defiance in the face of challenge
-- and there is something oddly patriotic in Springsteen's evocation of
that in these hard times. Not the easy patriotism of Lee Greenwood's
song and children waving sparklers on July 4th, but the hard and
determined patriotism of those who never stay down, never accept the gap
between the America that is and the one that ought to be. </blockquote>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"It is Springsteen's triumph to honor anger and lamentation, but also to
look beyond them. And to remind us that, though hard times come and
hard times go, hope and defiance still abide and sustain.</blockquote>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">"Bring on your wrecking ball."</span> <i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">~ <a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/03/20/2704404/bruce-springsteen-and-the-state.html" target="_blank">Leonard Pitts, Jr.</a> </span></i></blockquote>
</blockquote>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06472521017986748390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4576938212346342161.post-35924192981055761682012-04-01T15:18:00.001-07:002012-04-01T15:46:08.763-07:00Mark Ruffalo on Energy Policy<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxE6hMZdjpZRlKaIYERWS0G-6wj-a5HZZaQ2CM5qpkjiU7iMsiojku5OuGMbEBmM53ddVf5gLC0tziBSzK2ocWKqcaP-m7Y8lh-mRGR5pcPzqDW1UBOYXFdaO-0qGv38eqPxULbHkVsPc/s1600/colbert_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="155" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxE6hMZdjpZRlKaIYERWS0G-6wj-a5HZZaQ2CM5qpkjiU7iMsiojku5OuGMbEBmM53ddVf5gLC0tziBSzK2ocWKqcaP-m7Y8lh-mRGR5pcPzqDW1UBOYXFdaO-0qGv38eqPxULbHkVsPc/s320/colbert_2.jpg" width="320" /></a>Hats off to those rare celebrities committed to living their values. Actor, director <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0749263/" target="_blank">Mark Ruffalo</a> has formed a non-profit, <a href="http://waterdefense.org/">WaterDefense.org</a>, seeking to counter the media rhetoric on natural gas hydrofracking. I learned of this watching Ruffalo during a six minute <a href="http://www.comedycentral.com/" target="_blank">interview</a> with Stephen Colbert last week. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Ruffalo gets skewered more than once, but manages to squeeze in a few points, too:<span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><b><br /></b></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"We have hydrofracking, tar sands, mountain top removal, deep sea drilling. All of these things destroy water. In particular, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrofracking" target="_blank">hydrofracking</a>." ~ Ruffalo</blockquote>
</blockquote>
</div>
</blockquote>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbRt7dBL02qDUQJgP2i0Y0Mrp-2HK_StHda_jxbpH_vyKTFxfKPmcyzZQHK50dW2i3MQuL7ggm3NBEfz_FUuOwu9rqfmPAIJ9SrVw5FTVAGBC4CPTOcqeMI4KK74etI6t4RIvyBtdB5hg/s1600/logo.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbRt7dBL02qDUQJgP2i0Y0Mrp-2HK_StHda_jxbpH_vyKTFxfKPmcyzZQHK50dW2i3MQuL7ggm3NBEfz_FUuOwu9rqfmPAIJ9SrVw5FTVAGBC4CPTOcqeMI4KK74etI6t4RIvyBtdB5hg/s1600/logo.png" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
The organization's website states,<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Less than one tenth of one percent of all the water on earth is safe and
available for us to use. One in five people worldwide doesn’t have safe
drinking water. One in two don’t have water for sanitation... America has a choice between dirty fossil fuels that poison water and
clean energy that rebuilds our economy. Water Defense's mission is to
make sure America makes the right choice. Water Defense works to create a world where water is safe to
drink, a world where the oceans don't rise and the economy is powered by
clean, sustainable sources of energy like wind, water and solar."</blockquote>
</blockquote>
</div>
</blockquote>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdkb4Hue3O5bhw-VzWSlgE12hQiZI8upnW93MXzCOFgsY-N2rJ5YbsjPgfPL2ebUObw9bud6ep7yG7-TPf_4AZBgxvj6FtPjGd_nhDp_JeYl7dnMo_ncZejkfDOvykzVZvZUzHIni5OYI/s1600/Claire+Sandberg+Hydraulic+Fracturing+Prevention+KjCcmWidmgFl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdkb4Hue3O5bhw-VzWSlgE12hQiZI8upnW93MXzCOFgsY-N2rJ5YbsjPgfPL2ebUObw9bud6ep7yG7-TPf_4AZBgxvj6FtPjGd_nhDp_JeYl7dnMo_ncZejkfDOvykzVZvZUzHIni5OYI/s320/Claire+Sandberg+Hydraulic+Fracturing+Prevention+KjCcmWidmgFl.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
WaterDefense frames the energy debate around what today's fossil fuel based energy choices are doing to water supplies, in addition to climate and the economy. The group focuses on educating the public about this perspective and, in particular, halting natural gas fracking.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
Re: the economics -- in the Colbert interview Ruffalo claims the <a href="http://www.usgs.gov/" target="_blank">US Geological Survey</a>
just reduced America's 100 year supply estimate of natural gas, stating
it believes we have 20 years of natural gas at current consumption
rates. We are apparently <i>not</i> "the Saudi Arabia of Natural Gas." <span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">See Ruffalo try to debate Colbert and convince America it needs to fast track a clean energy future <a href="http://www.colbertnation.com/full-episodes/wed-march-28-2012-mark-ruffalo" target="_blank">here</a>. </span></i></span> </div>
<br />
WaterDefense's most recent video:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/fSFDNyhKcSY?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
###</div>
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06472521017986748390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4576938212346342161.post-46357913102462259022012-03-31T01:42:00.002-07:002012-03-31T11:21:55.613-07:00Consumer-Product Diversity Now Exceeds Biodiversity<i>had to reprint this---</i><br />
<br />
WASHINGTON, DC–According to an EPA study conducted in conjunction with
the U.N. Task Force On Global Developmental Impact, consumer-product
diversity now exceeds biodiversity.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXKrwi23tSYmiN00-OwWpGxHlAGWfBdEvE5NWJQskNcu-EIOZhsPhGbIBfxRXVdMYnfTQit7-XMhU4yqRlcTjd_nnJ6v8Qjnyi430k_wnlXfSAaKIjTsQ9ooq2smn7Pqz-S1Qp4lDu39M/s1600/onion_news1266_jpg_600x1000_q85.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXKrwi23tSYmiN00-OwWpGxHlAGWfBdEvE5NWJQskNcu-EIOZhsPhGbIBfxRXVdMYnfTQit7-XMhU4yqRlcTjd_nnJ6v8Qjnyi430k_wnlXfSAaKIjTsQ9ooq2smn7Pqz-S1Qp4lDu39M/s320/onion_news1266_jpg_600x1000_q85.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
According to the study, for the first time in history, the rich array
of consumer products available in malls and supermarkets surpasses the
number of living species populating the planet.
<br />
<br />
"Last year's introduction of Dentyne Ice Cinnamint gum, right on the
heels of the extinction of the Carolina tufted hen, put product
diversity on top for the first time," study chair Donald Hargrove said.
"Today, the Procter & Gamble subphylum alone outnumbers insects two
to one."
<br />
<br />
The sharp rise in consumer-product diversity–with more than 200
million new purchasing options generated since 1993–comes as welcome
news for those upset over the dwindling number of plant and animal
species... <i>read the rest of this article via</i> <a href="http://www.theonion.com/articles/consumerproduct-diversity-now-exceeds-biodiversity,1535/" target="_blank">The Onion</a>.<br />
<br />
..."Any healthy system needs diversification in order to flourish,"
University of Chicago biologist Jonathan Grogan said. "Any complex
system, whether we are talking about the Amazon Rainforest or the Mall
of America, needs a rich array of species/products if it is to survive..." <i>read the rest of this article, which is created by The Onion, via</i> <a href="http://www.theonion.com/articles/consumerproduct-diversity-now-exceeds-biodiversity,1535/" target="_blank">The Onion</a>.<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.theonion.com/static/onion/img/icons/terminator.gif" /> October 21, 1998 |
<a href="http://www.theonion.com/issue/3412/" title="The Onion: Issue 3412">ISSUE 34•12</a> <img src="http://www.theonion.com/static/onion/img/icons/terminator.gif" /><br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06472521017986748390noreply@blogger.com0