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Gulf fisherman: “There is no life out there”

by h7paisjnha Posted on October 21, 2013

Gulf fisherman: “There is no life out there”

By

jshyun

There are many ways of preparing oysters. BP has the recipe for destroying them.

If it’s true that oysters are aphrodisiacs, then BP has killed the mood.

Louisiana’s oyster season opened last week, but thanks to the mess that still lingers after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster, there aren’t many oysters around.

“We can’t find any production out there yet,” Brad Robin, a commercial fisherman and Louisiana Oyster Task Force member, told Al Jazeera. “There is no life out there.” Many of Louisiana’s oyster harvest areas are “dead or mostly dead,” he says.

In Mississippi, fishing boats that used to catch 30 sacks of oysters a day are returning to docks in the evenings with fewer than half a dozen sacks aboard.

It’s not just oysters. The entire fishing industry is being hit, with catches down and shrimp and shellfish being discovered with disgusting deformities. One seafood business owner told Al Jazeera that his revenue was down 85 percent compared with the period before the spill. From the article:

“I’ve seen a lot of change since the spill,” [Hernando Beach Seafood co-owner Kathy] Birren told Al Jazeera. “Our stone crab harvest has dropped off and not come back; the numbers are way lower. Typically you’ll see some good crabbing somewhere along the west coast of Florida, but this last year we’ve had problems everywhere.”

Birren said the problems are not just with the crabs. “We’ve also had our grouper fishing down since the spill,” she added. “We’ve seen fish with tar balls in their stomachs from as far down as the Florida Keys. We had a grouper with tar balls in its stomach last month. Overall, everything is down.”

According to Birren, many fishermen in her area are giving up. “People are dropping out of the fishing business, and selling out cheap because they have to. I’m in west-central Florida, but fishermen all the way down to Key West are struggling to make it. I look at my son’s future, as he’s just getting into the business, and we’re worried.”

Ecosystem recovery is a slow process. Ed Cake, an oceanographer and marine biologist, points out that oysters still have not returned to some of the areas affected by a 1979 oil well blowout in the Gulf.  He thinks recovery from the BP disaster will take decades.


Source
Gulf ecosystem in crisis after BP spill, Al Jazeera

John Upton is a science fan and green news boffin who tweets, posts articles to Facebook, and blogs about ecology. He welcomes reader questions, tips, and incoherent rants: johnupton@gmail.com.

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Gulf fisherman: “There is no life out there”

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Colorado frackers pump out cash to ward off ballot initiatives

by AnnaBest Posted on October 17, 2013

Colorado frackers pump out cash to ward off ballot initiatives

By

tpierce

Broomfield, Colo.

Flush with cash, the fracking industry is liberally throwing bills around as it battles anti-fracking groups pushing suspensions and outright bans on the practice in four Colorado cities.

Anti-fracking ballot measures have been put forth by residents of Fort Collins, Boulder, Lafayette, and Broomfield. (Similar initiatives are planned in Greeley and Loveland — and some activists are pushing for a statewide initiative.)

Opponents of fracking have raised about $16,000 in total as they fight for votes in those four cities, The Denver Post reports. That’s not bad for a grassroots effort, but it pales in comparison with fundraising by the pro-fracking sector, which is separately fighting a fracking ban in Longmont in court:

Groups opposing four anti-fracking measures have campaign contributions of $606,205 — 99.7 percent of which came from the Colorado Oil and Gas Association, reports filed Tuesday show. …

Most of the money that flowed to pro-industry groups has been spent with iKue Strategies, a Denver firm coordinating advertising and outreach. Former Republican state Rep. B.J. Nikkel is the firm’s adviser on the campaign.

She said the COGA-funded groups are defending people’s mineral rights and economic interests in the oil and gas industry.

“I would love to see us beat every one of these ballot initiates because they’re bad for the cities,” Nikkel said.

Try telling that to residents of a state where recent floods spread more than 60,000 gallons of petrochemical-laced fluids from fracking operations into yards, parks, and rivers.


Source
Colorado Oil and Gas Association spends $604,583 to defend fracking, The Denver Post

John Upton is a science fan and green news boffin who tweets, posts articles to Facebook, and blogs about ecology. He welcomes reader questions, tips, and incoherent rants: johnupton@gmail.com.

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Colorado frackers pump out cash to ward off ballot initiatives

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Big builders hoarding fracking rights beneath new homes

by huklx2 Posted on October 11, 2013

Big builders hoarding fracking rights beneath new homes

By

Shutterstock

What lies beneath? Whatever it is, it ain’t yours.

Some American developers have begun quietly holding on to the rights to frack and mine beneath the cookie-cutter houses they sell — and many homebuyers don’t realize it.

From a big investigative report by Reuters:

[T]ens of thousands of families … have in recent years moved into new homes where their developers or homebuilders, with little or no prior disclosure, kept all the underlying mineral rights for themselves, a Reuters review of county property records in 25 states shows. …

This is happening in regions far beyond the traditional American oil patch, which has a long history of selling subsurface rights.

“All the smart developers are doing it,” says Lance Astrella, a Denver lawyer who represents mineral-rights owners, including homebuilders, in deals with energy companies.

Among the smart ones are private firms like Oakwood Homes in Colorado, the Groce Companies in North Carolina, Wynne/Jackson in Texas, and Shea Homes, which builds coast to coast. Publicly traded companies that engage in the practice include the Ryland Group, Pulte Homes and Beazer Homes, according to oil and gas attorneys and public land records.

The practice doesn’t just deny mineral rights to homeowners — it can strip away any power they might otherwise have to prevent fracking beneath their feet.

And if fracking does start, homeowners could have problems refinancing or selling their homes. As Grist recently reported, banks are becoming increasingly wary about offering mortgages for properties if there’s fracking happening beneath or even near them.


Source
U.S. builders hoard mineral rights under new homes, Reuters

John Upton is a science fan and green news boffin who tweets, posts articles to Facebook, and blogs about ecology. He welcomes reader questions, tips, and incoherent rants: johnupton@gmail.com.

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Former Republican EPA chiefs back Obama on climate change

by Cosetta Shallenberger Posted on August 2, 2013

Former Republican EPA chiefs back Obama on climate change

By John Upton

Shutterstock

What do Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, George Bush, and George W. Bush have in common?

Yes, OK, obviously they were all Republican presidents. But now there’s something else that ties them all together.

EPA administrators who worked for all of those presidents have come out in support of stronger actions on climate change, co-signing a powerful op-ed in The New York Times supporting Barack Obama’s climate plan and arguing that “the United States must move now on substantive steps to curb climate change.”

Here are some highlights from the op-ed, which was written by William D. Ruckelshaus, Lee M. Thomas, William K. Reilly, and Christine Todd Whitman:

The costs of inaction are undeniable. The lines of scientific evidence grow only stronger and more numerous. And the window of time remaining to act is growing smaller: delay could mean that warming becomes “locked in.”

A market-based approach, like a carbon tax, would be the best path to reducing greenhouse-gas emissions, but that is unachievable in the current political gridlock in Washington. Dealing with this political reality, President Obama’s June climate action plan lays out achievable actions that would deliver real progress. He will use his executive powers to require reductions in the amount of carbon dioxide emitted by the nation’s power plants and spur increased investment in clean energy technology, which is inarguably the path we must follow to ensure a strong economy along with a livable climate. …

Rather than argue against his proposals, our leaders in Congress should endorse them and start the overdue debate about what bigger steps are needed and how to achieve them — domestically and internationally. …

We can have both a strong economy and a livable climate. All parties know that we need both. The rest of the discussion is either detail, which we can resolve, or purposeful delay, which we should not tolerate.

Mr. Obama’s plan is just a start. More will be required. But we must continue efforts to reduce the climate-altering pollutants that threaten our planet. The only uncertainty about our warming world is how bad the changes will get, and how soon. What is most clear is that there is no time to waste.

The op-ed also states that there “is no longer any credible scientific debate about the basic facts” of global warming. But, then, nobody should need a bunch of former EPA chiefs to tell them that.

Source

A Republican Case for Climate Action, The New York Times

John Upton is a science fan and green news boffin who tweets, posts articles to Facebook, and blogs about ecology. He welcomes reader questions, tips, and incoherent rants: johnupton@gmail.com.

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Former Republican EPA chiefs back Obama on climate change

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Azomite (Granular) – Organic Natural Source of Minerals and Trace Elements for Outdoor and Indoor Plants – Azomite from Bloom Brothers (2 pound, Granulated)

by 0c4g78x Posted on March 15, 2013

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Obama confirms: No big moves on climate in the works

by Obeey99 Posted on February 15, 2013

Obama confirms: No big moves on climate in the works

By Philip Bump

The White House

Based on conversations with senior White House officials this week, we reported that the president’s State of the Union threat to act unilaterally on climate change didn’t appear to have any force behind it. The largest weapon Obama has to that effect is the power to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from existing power plants — something that officials suggested isn’t in the works.

Yesterday, Politico asked the president directly what he’s planning to do about climate change:

Obama said in his State of the Union address that he is prepared to take action if Congress doesn’t act, but he didn’t detail what that action might look like. He hinted during the chat Thursday that it could resemble what his administration did to require higher fuel efficiency standards in automobiles.

“The same steps that we took with respect to energy efficiency on cars, we can take on buildings, we can take on appliances, we can make sure that new power plants that are being built are more efficient than the old ones, and we can continue to put research and our support behind clean energy that is going to continue to help us transition away from dirtier fuels,” he said.

As we noted on Wednesday, the administration’s action to increase fuel-efficiency standards for cars was a good one that will have a significant effect on greenhouse-gas and particulate pollution. But it is also a very different political fight than the one over emissions from existing power plants, and far less important.

In other words: Obama himself confirms that he’s not prepared to take drastic action in the absence of Congress doing anything. His threat, as we suggested two days ago, is empty.

Source

Obama acknowledges climate-change difficulties, Politico

Philip Bump writes about the news for Gristmill. He also uses Twitter a whole lot.

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Outgoing energy secretary denies lurid allegations from prominent news outlet

by Michalak876 Posted on February 7, 2013

Outgoing energy secretary denies lurid allegations from prominent news outlet

By Philip Bump

Earlier today, The Onion newspaper dropped a bombshell:

Sources have reported that following a long night of carousing at a series of D.C. watering holes, Energy Secretary Steven Chu awoke Thursday morning to find himself sleeping next to a giant solar panel he had met the previous evening. “Oh, Christ, what the hell did I do last night?” Chu is said to have muttered to himself while clutching his aching head and grimacing at the partially blanketed 18-square-foot photovoltaic solar module whose manufacturer he was reportedly unable to recall.

The newspaper, which hails itself as “America’s Finest News Source,” somehow acquired this image of the dalliance.

The Onion

The news follows last week’s announcement by Chu that he planned to resign his post. The secretary quickly took to Facebook to quelch rumors that his torrid affair was what prompted his exit. He writes:

I just want everyone to know that my decision not to serve a second term as Energy Secretary has absolutely nothing to do with the allegations made in this week’s edition of the Onion. While I’m not going to confirm or deny the charges specifically, I will say that clean, renewable solar power is a growing source of U.S. jobs and is becoming more and more affordable, so it’s no surprise that lots of Americans are falling in love with solar.

Our calls to the solar panel were not returned.

Source

I just want everyone to know…, Facebook
Hungover Energy Secretary Wakes Up Next To Solar Panel, The Onion

Philip Bump writes about the news for Gristmill. He also uses Twitter a whole lot.

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Pirates on Africa’s west coast have a new target: Oil

by dfonis5 Posted on January 31, 2013

Pirates on Africa’s west coast have a new target: Oil

By Philip Bump

The rate of piracy off the coast of Somalia in East Africa has dropped significantly over the past few years. The International Chamber of Commerce maintains a live map of attacks; the plurality at this point are off the coast of India. Earlier this month, a Somali pirate kingpin announced his retirement using that traditional pirate tool: the press conference.

ooocha

A rocket-propelled grenade fired by Somali pirates is buried in the side of a cruise ship.

At the same time, attacks along the western coast of Africa have increased. One key target? Oil. From Quartz:

The East Africa attacks were also sometimes on oil tankers, but with the goal of squeezing out large ransoms from the cargo-owners. The difference now is that the West Africa attacks are after the oil itself. On Jan. 21, for example, a tanker called ITRI was captured by pirates near Cote d’Ivoire; it has not been heard from since. Most of the oil attacks are off the coast of Nigeria, where pirates ply the Niger Delta.

The ICC’s tool provides more detail on that attack (which it places on the 16th).

Pirates boarded and hijacked the tanker and sailed her to an unknown location. They stole her cargo. The 16 crew members and tanker were released unharmed on the 22.01.2013. The vessel proceeded to Lagos port.

That the crew of the tanker was released suggests that personal ransoms aren’t the intent; that the vessel ended up in Lagos, Nigeria, suggests that the thieves intend to actually process the oil. As we noted last year, some $7 billion worth of oil is stolen in Nigeria each year. The country is home to black-market refineries of the sort that could handle the tanker’s cargo; the country’s government recently considered bombing them.

This oil piracy is driven by the market. Lots of oil leaves Nigeria (often bound for U.S. refineries), and it and other countries along Africa’s west coast don’t have robust safety systems. When on-the-books oil companies can make $62 million a day in profits, it’s no surprise that lightly guarded oil tankers within a short distance of illegal refining facilities should prove a tempting target.

Source

These pirates are not after ransom, but oil, Quartz

Philip Bump writes about the news for Gristmill. He also uses Twitter a whole lot.

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Baseball person Derek Jeter to world leaders: Climate change is a thing

by gerdi Posted on January 23, 2013

Baseball person Derek Jeter to world leaders: Climate change is a thing

By Philip Bump

Here’s how you know that the World Economic Forum’s annual gathering in Davos, Switzerland, attracts all of the world’s best and brightest: This morning, an audience heard from Derek Jeter.

If you don’t know who Derek Jeter is, allow me to explain. Imagine a group of pirates, a vile, filthy band of lawbreakers and miscreants. Now imagine this group had a captain who seemed perfectly nice and was very good at being a captain, but he’s spent his life in service to an evil, repulsive entity. That’s Derek Jeter. He’s the captain and star of the New York Yankees.

keithallison

Jeter yells at someone, probably not about the climate.

But living in New York (until recently, in a $15.5 million apartment atop Trump World Tower) means that Jeter (despite his deep and abiding flaws) saw firsthand the devastation of Hurricane Sandy. From the Columbus Dispatch:

“It’s just something that’s gotten so much attention,” Jeter said of climate change. “Regardless of how you feel about it, it’s something that needs to be addressed because we’re seeing more and more natural disasters each year, it seems like. Something has to be causing it.”

But Jeter, himself a global icon as the captain of one of the most recognizable and successful sports franchises in the world, said he doesn’t try to interject into politics.

“I know my place,” Jeter said.

Jeter’s place is clearly among amoral, hypercompetitive overachievers.

The good captain is not alone in linking Sandy with climate change. A poll taken last December suggested that New Yorkers readily made that connection — with a concomitant increase in a desire to address the problem. Yesterday, we wondered if this would be the year that Davos attendees finally took real action on global warming; if a multi-millionaire athlete can help them do so, so be it.

In case you still don’t really get what Davos is all about, this might help explain: Baseball star Derek Jeter is at the convening — having been invited by Pepsi — where he talked about the climate. I’m not sure it can be summarized any better than that.

Source

Jeter concerned about climate change, Columbus Dispatch

Philip Bump writes about the news for Gristmill. He also uses Twitter a whole lot.

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U.S. renewable investment drops in 2012 – but still hits second-highest level ever

by vserko45 Posted on January 14, 2013

U.S. renewable investment drops in 2012 – but still hits second-highest level ever

By Philip Bump

This is one of those “good news/bad news” things. We’ll start with the bad news, from The Hill:

Green energy investment fell in 2012 globally after hitting record levels the year before, driven in part by reduced activity in the United States, according to new data from Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

The research firm reported Monday that overall investment was $269 billion, down from $302 billion in 2011 …

And now the good.

… but still the second highest level ever, according to its database. …

“We warned at the start of last year that investment in 2012 was likely to fall below 2011 levels, but rumors of the death of clean energy investment have been greatly exaggerated,” Michael Liebreich, the company’s CEO, said.

“Indeed, the most striking aspect of these figures is that the decline was not bigger, given the fierce headwinds the clean-energy sector faced in 2012 as a result of policy uncertainty, the ongoing European fiscal crisis and continuing sharp falls in technology costs,” he said.

One of the main drivers for the decline was the wind industry, which spent the latter half of the year being treated by D.C. the way a cat treats a mouse.

The U.S. experienced a steep, 32 percent drop amid fears that a popular wind energy tax credit would lapse (it ultimately was extended in the “fiscal cliff” deal), and as renewable power faced competition from low-cost natural gas.

The company said wind investment also fell in Spain, which enacted a moratorium on subsidies for projects that have not yet been approved; India, where wind incentives expired; and Italy.

Bloomberg

Click to embiggen.

The Energy Information Administration suggested in December that renewable costs will continue to drop in 2013, and, combined with state mandates for renewables, that could mean an increase in installation this year.

Which would be a “good news/good news” thing.

Source

Analysts: Global, US green energy investment slid in ‘12, The Hill

Philip Bump writes about the news for Gristmill. He also uses Twitter a whole lot.

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