An indecorous Republican shill

Link to news article from the NY Daily News (opens new window):http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2011/09/09/2011-09-09_president_obamas_jobs_speech_gop_rep_jeff_landry_of_louisiana_holds_sign_drillin.html?

Jeff Landry: There's no 'gray' area here... His pathetic little sign was indecorous...and disrespectful. (Check out unscientific poll results in the above-ref. story.)  

Republicans would be yelling for someone's head if the other party pulled this 'crap' on them.

Favor the resourceful individualism of America's days of yore? Consider making a personal commitment to greater energy independence - both yours and the country's. Blunt the oil barons' grip upon today's largely bought-and sold Congress -- at the same time : Drive a fuel efficient vehicle. Encourage others to do so as well. Overall, you are helping yourself and your country. (And the world. Except OPEC.).

Drilling is not a panacea (eh, Mr. Landry?)..... We know that oil is a fungible, worldwide commodity, subject to market vicissitudes no matter where it is extracted from. (Also, two words: Deepwater Horizon.)

Link to one of ex-CIA director James Woolsey's cogent statements re U.S. energy security (new window): http://articles.cnn.com/2011-05-06/politics/al.qaeda.energy_1_foreign-oil-bin-attack-oil-installations?_s=PM:POLITICS 

(Oil drilling platform, by Andrew Schmidt. This image is in the public domain.)

Read: BP's oil is not gone from the Gulf

The giant oil company would like you to think otherwise (link), but...

Link to 2/19/11 AP story by Seth Borenstein: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110220/ap_on_sc/us_sci_oil_spill_lingers

Deepwater Horizon oil spill at Chandeleur Islands LA
Author: Jeffrey Warren, Grass Roots Mapping project.
Source:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreywarren/4590976462/sizes/l/in/set-72157623910039211/

Your grand-children will want to know someday....

Who the cowards of our time are (were)....

Denying/filibustering/rationalizing away any meaningful action to address climate change.... (This time) during a record-setting U.S. east coast heat wave . (Plus the hottest first half of a year ever, worldwide.)

Oh, yeah: And a catastrophic oil well blowout in the Gulf.

Usual suspects: Paul Krugman, Nobel Prize winning columnist for the New York Times provides some guidance - re the "who" (above).  Link to 7/26/10 article: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/26/opinion/26krugman.html?

(Some of the top comments to the article are worth reading as well:) http://community.nytimes.com/comments/www.nytimes.com/2010/07/26/opinion/26krugman.html

From NASA, some likely future effects of climate change:

Global Climate Change: Future Trends

(Phenomena/Likelihood of trend)

-- Contraction of snow cover areas, increased thaw in permafrost regions, decrease in sea ice extent Virtually certain

-- Increased frequency of hot extremes, heat waves and heavy precipitation    Very likely to occur

-- Increase in tropical cyclone intensity      Likely to occur

-- Precipitation increases in high latitudes    Very likely to occur

-- Precipitation decreases in subtropical land regions     Very likely to occur

-- Decreased water resources in many semi-arid areas, including western U.S. and Mediterranean basin High confidence


(Definitions of likelihood ranges used to express the assessed probability of occurrence: virtually certain >99%, very likely >90%, likely >66%.


Source: Summary for Policymakers, IPCC Synthesis report, November 2007
http://www.ipcc.ch/)


Among other irresponsible acts, justify this (sample photo, below; just one example), as your grand-kids' world starts to look and feel more like Venus every year. (Not to mention other likely (mostly adverse) effects.)

Your kids and grand-kids will be looking back upon your legacy, and that of others...They will not be able to ignore global climate change.

Author : IFCAR ,"I  the copyright holder of this work, hereby release it into the public domain. This applies worldwide." 
 

Gulf oil disaster: Visualizing it

CNBC.com provides us with various depictions of what (approximately) 184 million gallons of blown-out (well) oil looks like/equates to:

(Link to article/slideshow) http://www.cnbc.com/id/38294088

Oil Spill - San Francisco

Date taken: 1971

Photographer: George Silk


Plus:

OMG: China oil pipelines explode; 70 sq. mile slick. (Link to early news story (msnbc.com)): http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38307431/ns/world_news-asiapacific/

The 85-day underwater oil gusher

BP has no credibility. (Another link with additional info. here.)

Maintain your skepticism about the (latest) temporary "fix" for the 85-day long Deepwater Horizon well blowout. (Story link here.)

(Note: The 85-day number (above) is an estimate, and assumes that oil began gushing about two days after the intial (4/20/10) rig explosion...Considering the huge volume of oil spilled, the exact number of days matters little.)

We shall see. Relief wells (a few weeks away) are the most likely "permanent" solution.


The largest-ever oil spill disaster in U.S. waters. The damage is done: Many of us will (make it a point to) never "forget"....

Google/LIFE image archive

Oil Spill - San Francisco

Date taken: 1971
Photographer: George Silk

Land of tricked-out mowers and blown-out oil wells

I always enjoy Wendy Bounds' well-written articles in The Wall Street Journal.

Here is a link to her balanced, 6/14/10 article describing proliferation of "super" (lawn) mowers in parts of the U.S. (example: Ridiculousburg, Ohio, (zip) EIEIO):
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704575304575296833523847028.html

(Old photo: Google/LIFE archives)

"Pres. of Wesleyan Univ. taking his family for a ride on the mower.

Location:	Middletown, CT, US
Date taken:	December 1968
Photographer:	Bob Gomel"

For me, this on-line comment (as appended to the article, emphasis added) sums up the ongoing, general disconnect nicely. I.e., between the Gulf ("corner-cutting", mile-deep, exploratory oil well) disaster and many Americans' "environmental" behavior:  

"I guess (individual named in article) and all the other folks purchasing these ridiculous machines haven't yet grasped the link between their lawn obsession and the Gulf oil spill. This disaster in the Gulf is our collective responsibility and we should all be ashamed of the way we have allowed ourselves to get "addicted to oil", (as W said).
Go ahead, buy a super mower, buy a pickup truck that is twice as much truck as you need, mow your 12 acres of grass, then relax with a frosty beer and turn on a video of the oil spill."

-- Dave Fisher (WSJ commenter)

Bonus: Another applicable one? (Different commenter re same article:)

"Small minds on big machines. How appropriate."

Oil disaster: Anger? Yes. Changed behavior? Unlikely.

Three links. One underlying theme: 

-- Image (above) from 6/3/10 article: "Oil Currents Likely to Carry Oil Along Atlantic Coast" ,The University Corporation for Atmospheric Research.
"The modeling results are captured in a series of dramatic animations produced by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and collaborators." 
The University Corporation for Atmospheric Research manages the National Center for Atmospheric Research under sponsorship by the National Science Foundation.

-- Recent Gallup organization poll results for survey on increased drilling for oil and gas off U.S. coasts. (Side note: When will someone ask a poll question that separates offshore gas drilling from oil drilling?) Link to poll results: http://www.gallup.com/poll/137885/Americans-Divided-Increased-Coastal-Oil-Drilling.aspx
6/10 update: Some encouraging poll results via this linked 6/9/09 MSNBC/Washington Post article. But how long will the expressed sentiment really last? And will it translate into personal action? (Link) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37598363/

-- Another recent survey showing U.S. consumers "at the bottom" (i.e., dead last) in environmental behavior (link): http://blogs.consumerreports.org/home/2010/06/greendex-2010-environmental-survey-national-geographic-society-globescan-consumer-behavior.html

Ask yourself: Why are they "punching" mile-deep exploratory oil wells in the ocean? (Or trying to in ANWR...) Could a primary reason be....so Mom and Dad can sit up high in thier matching Escalades??  Be sure to (try to) justify that "responsible" behavior to your kids/grand-kids. (As they find news stories about long-lasting environmental damage in the Gulf of Mexico. Link to a current article: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37535767/from/RSS/)
(BTW, a hybrid Escalade is no solution...)

This file is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 waiver.

The author of this work has dedicated it to the public by waiving all of his or her rights to the work under copyright law and all related or neighboring legal rights he or she had in the work, to the extent allowable by law. 

6/10 update: (Certain) Hummer, Tahoe, Yukon, Escalade drivers (etc.): HAHAHAHAHA (link): http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100608/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gm_recall 

These over-sized things (smaller version shown) take a lot of energy to heat/cool/maintain:

photographer, John Delano


Read more here. Increased offshore oil drilling will not lower your U.S. gasoline prices. Ocean oil drilling is not "safe". Rampant consumerism promotes risky offshore oil exploration/extraction.

Gulf spill: Another IXTOC 1 disaster?

 (Competing with the oh-so-important "Halle Berry Splits with Boyfriend" story:)

Link to pertinent article: http://www.helium.com/items/1819703-environmental-effects-of-the-deepwater-horizon-oil-rig-disaster-in-the-gulf-of-mexico

As can be seen (above), it took nine months to cap the 1979 IXTOC 1 blowout....(IXTOC was an even deeper well, though).

4/30/10 satellite photo of growing "spill":

http://www.incidentnews.gov/attachments/8220/526479/COSMO_SAR_30Apr10_2351UTC_CSTARS.jpg

Update: Link to a Washington Post article from 5/1 providing better details about potential environmental impacts. Unfortunately, a "mega-disaster" in the making....http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36881232/from/RSS/

Oil Spill - San Francisco

Date taken:	1971
Photographer:	George Silk

Another 5/1 update: Spill triples in size. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100501/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gulf_oil_spill 

It's very early, but some volunteer efforts to help with spill-related clean-up, etc. are beginning to form. Not associated with this blog. But here is one link: http://members.greenpeace.org/blog/greenpeaceusa_blog/2010/04/30/volunteer_info_for_gulf_oil_spill  

5/1/10 story link: More ways to help (no affiliation with this website/blog): http://fieldnotes.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2010/05/01/2291388.aspx