What can we do to clean up our oceans? Well one surprising answer may be to open up our coastlines to more offshore oil drilling, according to Ben Lieberman, a Senior Policy Analyst at the Heritage Foundation.
By Willie SoonRegulatory actions being debated in Florida should raise bright red flags for Sunshine State residents, other US states, and even other countries. On May 24, the Environmental Assessment and Restoration Division of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) issued a seriously flawed draft report, proposing much stricter limits for mercury in Florida’s river, stream, lake and coastal waters. The FDEP claims the rules are based on sound science and will improve environmental quality and public health. However, my studies of mercury (Hg) and its biologically toxic form, methylmercury (MeHg), over the past ten years make it clear that [...]
By Justin Pulliam THE NEWS that Lord Monckton was to give his “Climate of Freedom” lecture at Union College in Schenectady, New York, had thrown the university’s environmentalists into a turmoil. The campus environmentalists set up a Facebook page announcing a counter-meeting of their own immediately following Monckton’s lecture. There is no debate about global warming, they announced. There is a consensus. The science is settled. Their meeting would be addressed by professors and PhDs, the “true” scientists, no less. Sparks, it seemed, were gonna fly. Traveling with Lord Monckton on the East Coast leg of his current whistle-stop tour of [...]
Determined to concentrate power in the hands of largely unaccountable bureaucrats in Washington, Obama administration officials have devised a new scheme to justify expanding the regulatory reach of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
By Duggan Flanakin (reviewer)The central theme of Deep Green Resistance, written by Aric McBay, Lierre Keith, and Derrick Jensen (author of Endgame), is simple. To save the planet, its wildlife and some of its people, the enlightened few must rise up in resistance – not to reform, but rather to totally tear down the corporate capitalist economic system, and even civilization itself as we know it. Jensen presents his thesis in the book's preface. "The dominant culture – civilization – is killing the planet, and it is long past time for those of us who care about life on earth to [...]
Starfish make for wonderful keepsakes, and one would find it difficult to believe they could be anything but harmless. But for conservationists concerned about declining coral reefs, there is a certain type of starfish, unlike Patrick of Spongebob SquarePants, that is anything but cutesy. This, according to Planet Ark News, which notes that outbreaks of the notorious “crown of thorns” starfish is wreaking havoc in Asia’s famous coral triangle where it feeds on the pithy rocks by spreading its stomach over them and then using its digestive enzymes to liquefy tissue. Fortunately, nature can manage such problems, since there [...]
Shortly after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, scientists found methane concentrations 100,000 times above normal levels and feared the worst for the area’s eco-system. Now it appears one of the biggest heroes in this disaster saga came in the form of one of the smallest living organisms known to man. As reported in Popular Science, a species of methane-munching bacteria known as methanotrophs began proliferating after the spill, and within a period of months began to tidy up the area. In fact, so proficient were the organisms that when scientists took measurements in October [...]
You’ve heard of snakes that can eat rodents, but how about ones that gobble up ocean waves? Well according to New Scientist magazine, a new, giant rubber snake, aptly named “Anaconda,” has recently been designed that can harness the power of wave energy and turn it into renewable electricity. The 8-yard long test snake allows water to pass through it and create bulges in its interior. When these bulges slide down the length of the snake’s body, they eventually reach turbines which are kept spinning to generate electricity. This prototype snake is just a baby version of what scientists [...]
Could a warming of the ocean lead to the destruction of our world’s coral reefs? Well such is the assertion of global warming advocates, but according to the Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide, such contentions regarding coral are pitted with many small holes. Among them is a recent study in India, where researchers examined coral reefs experiencing a significant warming trend. While they observed a nearly 50 percent bleaching of the reefs initially, within a couple years the corals began to quickly recover - and today the successive incarnations of coral reefs are even more resistant to [...]
I started watching a National Geographic programme on TV about how the climate had changed over the past centuries. I have always had great respect for National Geographic because its material has always been well researched and presented. The programme showed how the sea level rose dramatically 125,000 years ago. Geological records showed underwater corals that were frozen in time in rock formations that are now some metres above sea level. Professional geologists explained how science was able to show all this to be true. Up to this point, the programme was good. Then, suddenly, the programme switched to projecting sea [...]
By Bill BalgordBP and the Obama administration couldn’t have made a bigger mess of the Gulf, whether the latest cap holds or not. For 50 days, the administration left clean-up to the London-based company, while a U.S. president remained detached.BP, many of whose executives contributed to Obama’s presidential campaign, received a federal safety award in 2009, after a refinery fire killed several of its workers. The Department of Interior, lead agency for enforcing drilling permits, was missing-in-action as the doomed deepwater project moved forward.Could the infant spill have been handled differently in late April? A week was lost to indecision. Then [...]
By Alan CarubaThe Gulf of Mexico could turn into a giant dead zone if some means cannot be found to staunch the flow of oil and toxic gases emerging from the damaged well beneath the Deepwater Horizon. Industry insiders who understand the engineering of wells are beginning to speak openly among themselves of an unmitigated disaster.It is essential to understand that the oil business is like no other. Oil companies that drill too many dry holes go out of business. Oil is too often in places run by despots and gangsters that would make Hollywood villains seem tame by comparison. Oil [...]
By Timothy P. Carney, Washington ExaminerAs BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil rig was sinking on April 22, Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., was on the phone with allies in his push for climate legislation, telling them he would soon roll out the Senate climate bill with the support of the utility industry and three oil companies — including BP, according to the Washington Post.Kerry never got to have his photo op with BP chief executive Tony Hayward and other regulation-friendly corporate chieftains. Within days, Republican co-sponsor Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., repudiated the bill following a spat about immigration, and Democrats went back to the [...]
The giant oil spill off the Louisiana coast in the Gulf of Mexico is a bitter reminder that providing Americans with reliable and affordable energy is serious business. Investigations are underway to determine the cause of the April 20 explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig that killed eleven workers and raised fears of widespread ecological damage. Drilling for oil lying 5,000 feet below the surface, the Deepwater Horizon caught fire and collapsed, allowing an estimated 5,000 barrels of oil a day to spew into the sea. Disasters are rarely caused by one thing; instead, they are the cumulative result of [...]
The April 20 explosion of BP’s Deepwater Horizon platform was a tragedy on many levels. Not only were lives lost and people injured, but the impacts of the oil seepage continue to wreak havoc on marine animals, ecosystems and the livelihoods of area residents and local fisherman. In the wake of this tragedy, CFACT recently launched its emergency Gulf Cleanup Campaign to mobilize and educate citizens about what they can do to assist in habitat restoration, animal rescue and economic recovery.What is CFACT doing to protect the Gulf Coast?CFACT is mobilizing its broad network of citizen supporters to volunteer, educate others, [...]