Archive for the ‘climate’ Category

Dredging Up The Past

January 11, 2017

The Delaware River Basin didn’t suffer terribly during the Obama administration, but it didn’t exactly thrive, either. Thanks, Obama?

President Barrack Obama always seemed to understand that water is life, yet freshwater protection has not always been the divining rod in his decisions. If that were so, he would have banned fracking in the Delaware River Basin when he had the chance.

Donald Trump is a threat to every last watershed in the country, as he and his shale-happy appointees have promised to extract every last penny from an expensive and grossly overestimated supply. They honestly don’t care if you can set your water on fire. And if the result should be more costly access to a diminishing supply of safe, clean drinking water, then they’ll probably try to profit off that, too.

So, while the mainstream media is having its long overdue existential crisis, ordinary bloggers are left to chronicle Obama’s legacy and its impact on our drinking water supply, and to find new ways to help protect our precious fresh water. Me, I like lists.

Seven Things Obama Did – And Didn’t Do – For The Delaware River Basin …

# 7   He Left It At Moratorium

Obama could have banned fracking in the Delaware River Basin in 2011, but he didn’t.

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Is Rick Perry High Energy, Or Just High?

December 17, 2016

Trump’s Pick for Energy Secretary Should Just Say No

Former Texas Governor Rick Perry didn’t simply fail to recall the name of the Department of Energy in a past presidential debate, he failed Science.

According to his Texas A&M University transcripts, as reported by Joe DePaolo in Trump’s Energy Secretary Choice Rick Perry Flunked A Chemistry Course In College, MediaITE, December 14, 2016, “In the spring of 1970, he flunked Organic Chemistry II. He also got a C in physics, and a number of other C’s and D’s.”

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Photo: Twitchy.com

Perry may be light on facts, but he’s also light on his feet. Suffice it to say, this sparkle-suited climate denier did better on Dancing with The Stars than he did in college. But how will he fare when faced with a determined, increasingly vocal scientific community? Based on Perry’s academic record, it looks like an experiment that’s bound to fail. Of course, academics are not always a true measure. Other factors in life might contribute to a person’s success or failure in performing a particular job.

In 13 Times It Sure Seemed Like Rick Perry Was High as a Kite on DrugsRaw Story, June 15, 2015, Katie Halper chronicles all the Perry ‘Oops’ moments captured on video. Watch them and decide for yourself.   (more…)

Saving Science

December 17, 2016

Suddenly, it’s a thing.

Perhaps climate science advocates are operating under an abundance of caution, but they’re willing to take that chance. Their goal is to protect painstakingly collected data and safeguard their work as they prepare to operate under an administration that is demonstrably hostile towards climate research.

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Cartoon by Sidney Harris

“It’s truly remarkable the quick attention that it’s received and the number of people that are volunteering to help,” says meteorologist Eric Holthaus, host of the @ourwarmregards podcast, in a December 14 interview with Audie Cornish on NPR.  

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Trump’s Generals Are Playing Russian Roulette, Too

December 17, 2016

Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and a few career climate change deniers are attempting to profit at the planet’s peril.

While Donald Trump and his crew have been busy waging war on science and screwing over Mother Earth for Mother Russia, the U.S. military has been, for years, openly shoring up our defenses against the effects of climate change, such as super-storms, droughts, and mass population displacement. They even put out a press release about it in 2014.

DoD Releases Report on Security Implications of Climate Change,  July 29, 2015.  

Fast forward to today. The first season of The Appointee Apprentice is nearly a wrap, and The Donald is still delivering an endless raft of distractions. Hey, this shitshow makes great TV! Trump’s palace intrigue, however, only serves to distract us from the fact that the characters he has appointed – Tillerson, Pruitt, Perry and Zinke – are all willfully intent on cooking the planet for the private gain of a few corporations. Their only interest, it seems, is to make a yuge buck, or ruble, as the case may be.

Let’s not forget what climate disruption means to Vladimir Putin.   (more…)

World Of Thanks

November 24, 2016

It’s not easy being green! I’m grateful for all the fractivists in the world, and to everyone who’s fighting to protect our planet and prevent climate disruption.

Future generations will be thankful, too. Peace and smiles!

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Cartoon by Dan Wasserman, The Boston Globe

182092_600Monte Wolverton, The Cagle Post

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