Josh Fox, the filmmaker behind Gasland and Gasland II is the guest on Andrew Sullivan’s Ask Me Anything series this week. Yesterday, he discussedhow he got involved in this fight. Today, he has a great answer to the question of whether natural gas is a necessary evil.
"Cynthia Giles, the E.P.A. assistant administrator for enforcement and compliance, said that the State Department had failed to adequately support its two fundamental conclusions supporting the project — that the climate change effects of building the pipeline would be negligible, and that Canada would develop the oil sands regardless of whether the $7 billion pipeline is built."
— The latest on Keystone XL: EPA criticizes State, while activists rally opposition
Two weeks ago today, Exxon Mobil’s Pegasus pipeline carrying diluted bitumen from Canada ruptured catastrophically, creating a 22-foot long gash that unleashed hundreds of thousands of gallons of oil and toxic chemical diluents into the Central Arkansas town of Mayflower. Since then, the local media has faced strong intimidation from Exxon, local residents have become sick from the toxic fumes, a severe thunderstorm threatened cleanupefforts and led officials to release contaminated water into Lake Conway and the Attorney General of Arkansas has launched an investigation, as a number of lawsuits have been filed on behalf of residents.
via Exxon pipeline rupture is 22 feet long, indicating immense pressure, possible criminal negligence
A manmade disaster was made even worse by nature Wednesday night, as asevere thunderstorm hit Mayflower, Arkansas spreading the Exxon Mobil oil spill to the yards of homes along the cove and the main body of Lake Conway. For nearly two weeks, Exxon has maintained that oil has not reached Lake Conway, despite clear evidence both from aerial video and on-the-ground guerrilla reporting that showed oil had spread throughout a cove and wetlands, which are connected through ground water and drainage culverts to the main body of the lake. Images captured Wednesday night should put any doubt to rest that the main body of Lake Conway is now contaminated with oil.
Citizen journalists, Jak and Lauren, reporting for Tar Sands Blockade, braved the severe weather Wednesday, which included hail, lighting and chance of tornados, to report on what was happening to the site of the oil spill.
MORE: at TreeHugger
"Researchers now say that the Alberta tar sands contain 360 to 510 billion tons of carbon — more than double that of all oil burned in human history. While only a fraction is considered economically recoverable right now, we humans are genius at finding new and better ways to dig junk out of the ground. Digging begets more digging. Once the big spigot is open, TransCanada will have every incentive to milk the massive tar sands basin for all it is worth."
— James Hansen retiring from NASA to focus on climate change, stop Keystone XL pipeline.
© KARK
Despite spilling tens, if not hundreds of thousands of gallons of oil and chemicals into an Arkansas neighborhood, thanks to a loophole in a law from 1980, ExxonMobil will not be paying into a federal oil spill cleanup fund because the oil they spilled is not the right type of oil. It is a twisted example of the legal technicalities and lax regulations that all too often favor oil companies, but a coalition of environmental groups are working to close the loophole.
via Exxon won’t pay into cleanup fund because oil spilled in Arkansas isn’t “oil”
I am celebrating Earth Hour this year not because it saves a whole lot of energy; I will admit that one hour doesn’t make a whole lot of difference and that driving to an Earth Hour event across town might be counterproductive. I am celebrating Earth Hour to stand up against negativity. To stand with millions around the world in a visible demonstration that we actually care about the planet, about climate change, about the future.
via I am tired of the damn trolls. This year I am turning out the lights for Earth Hour and you should too, Saturday night at 8:30
"Environmental debates are often framed with an Us Versus Them dynamic. If we are to achieve our goal of protecting the environment for future generations, we should strive not to let the debate be seen as a fight between environmentalists versus fossil fuel workers, but rather a fight between moral or immoral choices."
Roads Cover 4.8 square miles of Manhattan
Howler and Yoon, winners of the Audi Urban Future Award image a NYC where roads become soccer fields and solar panels.
(via think-progress)
"As Lloyd has noted on TreeHugger before, stopping the Keystone pipeline won’t keep the tar sands in the ground or the carbon they will produce out of the atmosphere. Trans Canada could build a pipeline to the west or continue shipping the oil by rail, but as KC makes clear, to not speak out against this pipeline is to concede defeat. And when the stakes are a ruined atmosphere or a chance at preventing catastrophe, what choice do we have?"
"But for the sake of our children and our future, we must do more to combat climate change. Yes, it’s true that no single event makes a trend. But the fact is, the 12 hottest years on record have all come in the last 15. Heat waves, droughts, wildfires, and floods – all are now more frequent and intense. We can choose to believe that Superstorm Sandy, and the most severe drought in decades, and the worst wildfires some states have ever seen were all just a freak coincidence. Or we can choose to believe in the overwhelming judgment of science – and act before it’s too late."
— President Obama addresses climate, energy, infrastructure in State of the Union. Read the rest of his speech here. Twitter reactions here.
"We are working’ 5 days in 4’ week because how we live as individuals has consequences for everyone else. The way we live now has created many problems: scarcity of resources, scarcity of jobs, climate change, wealth discrepancies and many wasted lives. These are all escalating problems which are not being addressed by the institutions of power: Governments, Banks, the Multinationals have too many vested interests in the current system to be the agents of change."
The Design Stories of 2012 That Will Resonate in 2013
Here’s a look at some of the big ideas we talked about in 2012 and how they will progress in 2013.
The votes are in and Sandra Steingraber is TreeHugger’s 2012 Person of the Year!
