Watch this. Important summary of how workers and residents became sick from BP’s use of toxic dispersant.
via Crude oil is made 52x more toxic when combined with dispersant (VIDEO)
"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
© 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”
"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?"
What do you think? is this enough?
11 airlifted, two missing after Gulf platform explosion
WWL-TV: The Coast Guard says that 11 people have been airlifted out and two are missing after an explosion at a platform in the Gulf of Mexico, south of Grand Isle, Louisiana.
Captain Peter Gautier of the Coast Guard said the platform, run by Black Elk Energy, was not producing oil and no environmental threat is anticipated. A federal official says a team of environmental enforcement inspectors is flying to the scene.
Follow updates on breakingnews.com.
Not again. We’ll be following the story and posting the latest as we learn more.
"The AP reports that US production of oil and other liquid hydrocarbons is set to rise 7% this year, marking the fourth straight year of increased production—so much for the Republican notion that the Obama administration has been anything but supportive of the oil industry. It’s the biggest gain in a single year since the early 1950s."
— US May Overtake Saudi Arabia to Become World’s Top Oil Producer (Maybe) : TreeHugger
"Oil is more precious for us underground than as a fuel source. If we can get to the point where we can replace fossil fuels and use oil to produce other products that are useful, that would be very good for the world. I wish that may be in my lifetime, but I don’t think it will be."
There’s a reason that the Republican-controlled House of Representatives has picked up the nickname ‘the most anti-environment House in the history of the House.’ And here it is:
The House voted 223 times in support of a dirty-energy economy.
42 votes against clean energy and energy efficiency
54 votes for subsidies or other giveaways to the oil and gas industry, including votes to rush approval of Keystone XL
127 votes to cut or block health, safety, or environmental protections for the fossil fuel sector
Is this good for the country?
This poster needs a reboot now that we’ve heard Mitt Romney’s thoughts on Hitler’s dirty energy ideas.
When you liquify coal, you…
As Brian Merchant writes,
“There is simply no other politician I can think of that would ever dream of voluntarily and publicly casting Hitler’s ideas in a positive light, apropos of nothing. ‘Well, nation, Hitler had some good ideas’ is perhaps the single least effective rhetorical framing device in the world.”
Read the rest: Mitt Romney: Hitler’s Plan for Liquefied Coal is Good for America
(Poster via Posters from the Past that Can Guide Us in the Future)
Think we’ve seen the last of the effects of the BP Oil Spill? Think again.
Mutant Fish, Eyeless Shrimp & Clawless Crabs: Fallout from the BP Spill (Video)
Good news: we know how much carbon can be put into the atmosphere before we heat the climate by a dangerous 2°C .
Bad news: fossil fuel companies have 5 times that amount and they plan to burn it all.
Proven Fossil Fuel Reserves Contain 5x the Carbon We Can Burn Before Destroying Our Climate
This new video from Gasland’s Josh Fox is an excellent overview of the dangers of natural gas fracking.
More info here: The Sky Is Pink: There’s No Safe Cigarette & There’s No Safe Fracking
credit: Daniel Beltra/Greenpeace
Two years after the Deep Water Horizon drilling platform exploded, the true impact of the Gulf Oil Spill remains in question—and justice is elusive. In light of this, we look back at Photographer Daniel Beltra’s shocking visual journal of the disaster.
(via Daniel Beltrá’s Amazing Photos: See the BP Oil Spill Like Never Before : TreeHugger)
