North Pole Is Now An Island: Massive Ice Melt

Well, it happened.  Chalk one up for the scientists.  The North Pole is now an island.  There were warnings that this might happen - years before originally ever thought.  You could sail a boat in open water all around the North Pole.  The Northeast and Northwestern passages are open.  What was once merely a pipe dream is now a reality.  You could sail from England to China through Canadian waters directly through the newly melted channels.  For the first time in the history of mankind, the North Pole could be circumnavigated.  Now tell me that global warming and the climate crisis is bullshit.  There is no way that man has not had a hand in this.  This is not the product of underground lava and hot springs.  The magnitude is too large.

An article from The Independent UK reads:
Four weeks ago, tourists had to be evacuated from Baffin Island’s Auyuittuq National Park because of flooding from thawing glaciers. Auyuittuq means “land that never melts”.

The article goes on to talk about how 9 - yes - 9 polar bears were seen stranded on floating ice - trying to swim 400 miles to land, yet Sarah Palin thinks that Global Warming science is unreliable and is suing the government about the polar bear being endangered.

Get this - they originally thought that global warming would catch up to us and this melting would not be seen until 2070 - over 60 years from now.  All of this is quite amazing to me - the rapid rate of decline in the polar ice cap.  Various water issues are going to come to the forefront in the near future.  Maybe the average joe will start to think about someone other than themselves and how the planet is not here for them to abuse.  I really feel that many people unknowingly abuse the planet.  They’ve never been taught otherwise.  It’s frustrating, but I guess that is one of the reasons I have this blog - to start talking about it.  Sure, I generally talk to those who are “in the know,” but I have to hope that others - who aren’t crazy green zealots like myself read this on occasion, too.

Here is a video from earlier this summer:

Source: The Independent UK

Sarah Palin, GOP VP Candidate

Palin is suing the Federal Government over the Endangered Species Act because protecting polar bears is hindering Alasksa’s ability to look for oil.  She also talks about how ANWAR is about the footprint of LAX - and we should explore it. 

Al Gore Speaks At DNC

Al Gore is my homeboy. Decent speech tonight, Al.  I’m not really a “what if” type of guy, but what if Al had been elected back in 2000 (well - the people elected him - the electoral college did not).  Where would we be today?  Al didn’t preach climate change all night, although it did come up.  He brought up a quote from Thomas Edison in 1931 that I found particularly interesting. 

Edison said to his friends Firestone and Henry Ford, “I’d put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a source of power! I hope we don’t have to wait until oil and coal run out before we tackle that.”  77 years later and look where we’re at. 

Al’s funniest line came when he was talking about McCain adopting the Bush policies.  “I believe in recycling, but that is ridiculous!”

Video: Biden On The Environment

on global warming…

on the Kyoto Protocol

on renewable energy (ignore the bottled water)

on public tranportation

LA Offers Curbside Composting

I wish our community offered this.  We compost as much as possible.  We have worms in our basement eating most of it and we bury some in the back pile, too.  I’d love to have the city compost it.  Just throw it in the waste and go.  They even give you a kitchen compost pail.  Other cities around the country already do this, too.  San Francisco, Portland, Minneapolis, soon Boulder.

Dead Zone Grows With Summer Flooding

Summer floodin’ had me a blast
Summer floodin’ happened so fast

Scientists say the dead zone at the delta of the Mississippi River has reached over 8,000 square miles.  The heavy summer flooding has brought all kinds of fertilizer and pesticides down river from Iowa and the rest of the corn belt.  Corn is a dirty crop and has an outreach far beyond its overly fertilized soil.  Check out the documentary, King Corn.  We wrote about it a few months ago and it has a lot of info on the affect corn has on the ecosystem.  Since corn farmers generally aren’t rotating crops, they have to soak the fields with ammonia and fertilizer to get the crop to grow year-after-year.  This is leaving this huge dead zone.  The lack of oxygen is killing all of the wildlife and the entire ecosystem.   Watch more at this CNN video below.

Google Invests In Enhanced Geothermal

Google.org announced that they are expanding their renewable effort of RE<Coal (renewable energy is less than coal).  They are investing $10.25 million in enhanced geothermal systems (EGS).  This is huge.  There is a lot of potential for geothermal energy and it’s not unique to any particular climate.  These advances in clean energy could provide to be very useful.  Instead of looking for hot pockets beneath the earth, EGS fractures rock and circulates water through them, producing steam.  The steam is then harnessed in a traditional turbine to create energy.  See the video below.

[from Google Press Release]
A recent MIT report on EGS estimates that just 2% of the heat below the continental United States between 3 and 10 kilometers, depths within the range of current drilling technology, is more than 2,500 times the country’s total annual energy use.

To advance EGS, Google.org announced funding for two companies and a university:

• AltaRock Energy, Inc.: $6.25 million investment to develop innovative technologies to achieve significant cost reductions and improved performance in EGS projects. For more information, please visit http://www.altarockenergy.com/.
• Potter Drilling, Inc.: $4 million investment in two tranches, to develop new approaches to lower the cost and expand the range of deep hard rock drilling, a critical element to large-scale deployment of EGS. For more information, please visit http://www.potterdrilling.com/.
• Southern Methodist University Geothermal Lab: $489,521 grant to improve understanding of the size and distribution of geothermal energy resources and to update geothermal mapping of North America. For more information, please visit http://www.smu.edu/geothermal/.

Source: Google Press Release

The GreenDimes Killer?

*NOTE:   I wanted to let my readers know that I was in a surly mood when I wrote this - obviously.  I explained a little more in the comments section.  I encourage you to read the comments from myself, readers, and from ProQuo directly.

There’s a new player in the junk mail war.  It’s called ProQuo.  You’ll recognize it by it’s generic Web 2.0 look and feel.  The buttons are big with a shine to them.  The icons are big and cartoon-like.  The fonts are all web 2.0ish.  It has fancy text quotes with giant quotation marks.  Just add “Beta” below your logo and you’re all set.  So what is it?  It’s a free junk mail removal service.  Yes - I said free.  “How could that be?  GreenDimes is like $20 for life, right?,” you say.  Well - there is a catch. 

So you setup an account and login.  You’re all excited because your snail mail box is going to be free of junk mail.  Then you start clicking around thinking “how the heck can they provide this service for free?  This is amazing.”  Let me look at the tabs…Junk Mail - okay - I can get rid of junk mail.  Catalogs - sweet - I can get off of catalog lists.  Credit cards - wait - why is there a credit cards tab? 

Let’s click on catalogs.  “Choose whether you want the catalog or not, and we’ll submit your request.”  Oh - I’m starting to catch on.  They make money by getting you to sign up for catalogs.  ”That catalog cover looks so interesting - I should sign up - this is so easy.”  Wait a minute…aren’t catalogs considered junk mail and contributing to these forests that are being cut down? SHHHH - don’t tell anyone - they think they’re being “green.”

What is this credit cards tab all about?  Do they want my credit card information?  I thought this was free. Big bold letters appear across my screen - “Find the Credit Card that is Right for You!”  Huh?  Credit card companies send a lot of junk mail - why do I want that again?  Oh - okay - this is why: “We Analyze the Fine Print - The right card for you may be based on factors you don’t even know about.”  They analyze the fine print!  I don’t have to read!  Wow - thanks ProQuo.  You’re my hero.  Can I sign up for a credit card now?  Maybe I’m being too facetious.    ProQuo does offer opt-outs on credit card mail - oops - my bad -they send you to yet another third-party site to do that. 

ProQuo may stop mail for you - for free.  Just be aware of their ulterior motives.  If you cut down on some of your junk mail - it’s still a step in the right direction.  I’m just not convinced.  I’m biased.  I’ve been a GreenDimes member for awhile now.  Personally, I think it is worth every penny I spent for it.  I originally signed up when it was an annual subscription, but now it’s lifetime.

Cleaner, Greener ESL Light Bulbs

ESL doesn’t always equal English as a Second Language.  This time it is the second coming of the CFL.  It’s cleaner than a CFL and it doesn’t have to be a crazy spiral shape that makes you crave ice cream everytime you look at it. ESL actually = Electron Stimulated Luminescence.  They don’t use mercury and should be priced pretty close to a CFL.  Supposedly, they give off the same ambiance as a regular old school incandescent bulb - and are dimmable.  Pretty rockstar.  Look for them next year.

Source: Green Daily

Jack Johnson Has Environmental Demands

If you want Double J to perform - you’re going to have to meet some serious demands.  No- he’s not a pompous ass that wants only red M&M’s. 

From USA Today:
His musical success has afforded him the ability to stipulate the conditions under which he’ll perform. Johnson’s contracts require that event organizers compost and recycle at least 50% of the waste generated at the show and purchase carbon-dioxide offsets covering the energy his show uses.

To reach out to fans, he has created a social networking site, allatonce.org, where people can talk about green initiatives, trade greening tips and organize carpools to concerts. As an incentive, visitors get free downloads from Johnson and other musicians.

“You’ve got to get them while they’re young,” he jokes.

Johnson continues his green campaign at Virgin Fest, where he joins an eclectic group of headliners: Nine Inch Nails, Foo Fighters, Kanye West and Bob Dylan. His allatonce.org will set up camp at the festival’s Green Spot, an area where non-profit groups connect with concertgoers. “It takes time to see the effects of environmental activism, but it’s the right thing to do.”

Source: Ecorazzi, USA Today

Jack Johnson and Friends at Kokua Fest 2008
Dave Matthews / Mason Jennings / more