GlobalWarmingisReal contributor Anders Hellum-Alexander wraps-up the climate and environmental news headlines for the past week:
- The Australian Government is allowing Shell Oil Company to explore for oil near an environmental reserve. It would only take one spill to ruin an environment populated by endangered species.
- The Australian Government is also trying to impose a carbon tax on big polluters – $18 billion over the next nine years for the coal industry. The typical fight of environmentalism vs. employment rages. I am sure if conflicting parties decided to create a better future together a great plan could be created to reduce the use of dirty energy while creating new jobs for the displaced workers. Instead, we will just fight, human vs. human.
- For every story that the dirty energy industry or government officials use to reassure the public that drilling, transporting and refining dirty energy is safe there is a story of a spill, this time in Illinois.
- A new way of extracting coal is being brought online in China. In plain English they cook the coal in the ground and then harvest the gas. And once again this process is supposedly better for the environment and will produce “clean” burning fuel. What a load of BS! A similar project in Australia has already been shutdown due to groundwater contamination.
- New York State is trying to decide how it will proceed on extracting, or not, the large amount of natural gas in the form of underground shale. Once again, jobs and the environment are framed as conflicting interests. Religious communities are coming together to either say “leave the land alone” or “give us some of the profits.”
- Genetically Modified plants were handed a victory by the USDA, it’s a bit complicated but basically the USDA just doesn’t want to regulate GMOs.
- Check out this pathetic article on the cost difference between driving and biking to work in London based on this “Cycle to Work Calculator.” First, the calculator compares costs based on just adding a bike to your life. What about people that already have a bike, or replace one of their family cars with some bikes. But, the calculator does show extra calories burned, and as a person that bikes to work I know the true value of having a daily workout ingrained in my work routine.
- Construction and climate change are wiping out beaches in Italy and now rich people are finally starting to take notice to the destruction that their lifestyles create. Humans only start caring about the environment when they can no longer shield themselves from the symptoms of its destruction.
- A new type of wave energy hits the water in Scotland.
- The United States is heating up, and here are maps from NOAA to show it.
- The US Military is developing robots that can eat biofuel to fuel itself. We will be able to create a real DeLorean soon, like in the movie Back to the Future (minus the time traveling part).
- In an article from Tanzania the author wonders when solar power will become successful at home.
- A study of water use on the US west coast shows that while we are using less water per person over the last 20 years, we are still using more water in general. But, remember that most resources are used up in industrial processes. The companies from which you buy products impact your resource footprint more than just using less water at home. And remember, don’t buy paper products from Georgia Pacific if you care about our environment.
- Is Obama the Green President that he claims he is?
- The Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch is being studied further under the question “how much plastic is being eaten by fish?”
- The Atlantic weighs in on the debate over how much climate change is affecting our weather.
