As we ask more questions, and shine more light on the processes that enable our use of fossil fuels, the more we learn about the lives we have traded for the level of comfort that some of us enjoy. Since we no longer need this tradeoff to survive, we need to examine our relationship with these dangerous sources of energy.
W. Va. spill latest case of coal tainting US waters"From coal mining to the waste created when coal is burned for electricity, pollutants associated with coal have contaminated waterways, wells and lakes with far more insidious and longer-lasting contaminants than the chemical that spilled out of a tank farm on the banks of the Elk River.
Chief among them are discharges from coal-fired power plants that alone are responsible for 50 percent to 60 percent of all toxic pollution entering the nation's water, according to the Environmental Protection Agency."
Adding complexity to the issue, the current models - both state-run and corporate-run - avoid accountability. This story is not important because it "bashes" a corporation, but because it highlights that the corporate/government battle is over who caused the problem not over how to keep this from happening to the poorest and least powerful in our societies. The only way to accomplish that is to eliminate the use of fossil fuels for energy.
Ecuador: International support crucial in battle with Chevron
"In 2011, a court in the northeastern Ecuadorian Amazon province of Sucumbios found that Texaco, acquired by Chevron in 2001, dumped millions of gallons of crude residue and toxic waste water in the rainforest between 1964 and the early 1990s and thereby spoiled the lands and damaged the health of the local population."
Our limited ability to maintain safety when processing, distributing, and converting raw energy sources into useful form is dwarfed by our lack of understanding of the impact associated with changing the chemistry of our planet on a global scale. Even if one doubts the specific details of forecasts and predictions, it is foolhardy to assume that even in our skepticism that we know for sure.
The maddening cloud: When forecasting the future, scientists' blind spot is above them
"'Clouds are a big lever in the climate,' Bretherton tells me. Because they’re light in color, they’re reflective, taking 10 to 20 percent of the sunlight that reaches the Earth and reflecting it back into space. 'Just a 1 or 2 percent change in cloud cover is significant in terms of warming,' Bretherton says. 'Remove all the clouds and the climate would warm big time — a lot more than doubling the CO2 in the atmosphere.'"
The ultimate hubris comes from our thinking that after almost four billion years of refining life, that our species - whose survival comes primarily from our instinct to destroy our competition - somehow has the complete knowledge to reshape the world as is best for us. Hopefully, our evolution as a species includes survival for those who embrace a relationship with nature, and not those who believe our controlling of nature provides the optimal solution.
Preserving nature isn't about aesthetics, it's about necessity
"Our aesthetic and spiritual connection to nature and wilderness, and our desire to maintain the Holocene version of the planet, is something that sadly is no longer completely practical. Like it or not, we have already changed the planet in significant ways, and there is no simple way to go back. Furthermore, the planet will soon have 9 billion people with considerably more wealth and aspirations, dramatically increasing demands on natural resources and the planet."
However, when it comes to man-made systems, like our system of personal travel, we can make major strides in reducing impact and improving both service and efficiency. The waste associated with single occupant ownership and driving can be eliminated with great benefit to our economy and quality of life. I must also confess that the mention of my "everything transit card" at the end of the article might have influenced it's inclusion.
Down the road, car will take you out for a spin
"'Imagine if your phone had an app with a hundred bucks of transportation dollars on it,' Garcetti said, and you could use it to call for a driverless vehicle that works sort of like a mini-mass transit system. Or you could use it for a shared bike, or a bus, or a train."
Happy Friday!
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