Category Archives: burning behavior

State Journal Register – They publish a very good editorial calling for efforts to combat Global Warming

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I like this approach as an educational tool.

Our opinion: It’s foolish to do nothing about climate change

 

Published Tuesday, April 08, 2008

Last week, representatives from more than 160 countries started meeting in Bangkok to discuss an international climate treaty to replace the decade-old Kyoto Protocol. Again, the United States is shying away from a leadership role. Some of our concerns have merit — we can’t commit economic suicide while China goes sprinting by.“The primary concern is the so-called leakage issue,” U.S. negotiator Harlan Watson told The Associated Press. “If you take commitments and you have energy intensive industries, they might want to move to other countries which don’t have commitments.”

Signing on to an agreement that then sends our industry fleeing to countries that don’t commit to pollution control would make no sense. Yet arguably our grumbling isn’t getting us anywhere, either.

Which makes us wonder: If an asteroid was hurtling toward Earth would the Bush administration likewise sit on its hands? Would it argue that since the asteroid is a naturally occurring event there’s nothing man should do to prepare for, or mitigate, its impact?

Of course not.

So I wrote this letter trying to support their point, sigh….they did not publish it so I’m putting it up here.

:}

Editor

State Journal Register

One Copley Plaza

Springfield, IL 62701

 

Emailed – 04/14/08

 

Dear Editor:

 

Thanks for your recent Editorial supporting attempts to help prevent Global Warming. There is no need to apologize for supporting such efforts though, because when America stops doing things that make no economic sense, America makes money and produces jobs every time. We do 2 things that are creating Global Warming.

 

The first thing that we Americans do that is leading us to Global Warming is we “throw things away”. How much economic sense has that ever made? Think about it. We pay good money for stuff and then throw part of it away. We buy things in packaging and we throw it away. We buy food and we throw part of it away. We buy coal and then we throw part of it out the smoke stack. We buy gasoline and throw part of it out the tailpipe. So if we quit throwing things away we automatically make money and I might add create jobs to deal with all that stuff we now throw away.

 

The second thing we do that is leading us to global warming is we “burn stuff up”. Plain and simple, we strike a match and burn something up that we paid good money for. Why not just stack some paper money on the ground, pour a little gasoline on it and strike a match? We burn coal, uranium and natural gas to make electricity. There are many ways to generate electricity without burning things. Yet we persist. We burn gasoline to transport our things and ourselves. We know that there are other ways to do this, and yet we persist. If we stop burning things up, we would save money and create jobs. Conservation is not bad for any economy.

 

So the next time you throw something away or you “strike a match” look at your hand and ask yourself, “Do I really want to do that?” Join us at www.censys.org.

  

Doug Nicodemus

948 e. adams st.

riverton, IL  62561

629-7031

dougnic55@yahoo.com

McCain’s Gas Tax Proposal – So the time for us has just about ran out

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John McCain like every other Republican in America wants to avoid what their 30 years of dereliction of duty has wraught. Nixon, Regan and Bush (my version of lions and tigers and bears, oh my!) all increased our dependence on oil and easy Chinese money. Bush in particular ushered us to the brink of a world depression. Grover Norquist, who wants to take us back to the 1930s is about to succeed:

http://www.pbs.org/now/transcript/transcript_norquist.html

BILL MOYERS: If states refuse to raise taxes to fix some of those problems we’ve just seen, that certainly won’t bother my next guest. He’s a sworn opponent of all taxes. He’s also the most powerful man in Washington not to hold a public office.

Officially, Grover Norquist heads an organization called Americans for Tax Reform where for almost 20 years now he has crusaded for lower taxes and less government. Unofficially he’s been the linchpin in Washington for the conservative revolution that now controls the government. His weekly meetings of activists became the politburo of strategy where all stripes of conservatives bear their differences in order to bury their hatchet in Democrats. From the Christian coalition to log cabin Republicans to the National Rifle Association on whose board he sits, this Harvard graduate keeps the troops on mission and on message. His success prompted Senator Hillary Clinton to muse aloud, if only Democrats had a Grover Norquist. Welcome to NOW.

GROVER NORQUIST: Glad to be with you.

BILL MOYERS: Well, you do have it all. You have the White House, the Congress, the regulatory agencies, the courts more or less. The last time Democrats, liberal Democrats, held that kind of power, they made some mistakes like the war in Vietnam that they couldn’t sustain the support of at home, emphasized parochial interests at the expense of the sort of bedrock universal values of American society. What are the errors you think conservatives running everything could make?

GROVER NORQUIST: I think it’s very important to always make sure that you’re talking to the entire coalition and to as many Americans as possible; not to go chasing after one little group or another. The Democrats would bring new groups into their party and not notice that larger groups are going out the back door. And so what I try and do whenever I work on an issue or work with political leaders is make sure that when you’re talking about a new approach, how does that…how does the entire coalition view that new approach? Is there a better or different way to do it that irritates fewer people and that satisfies a larger constituency?

BILL MOYERS: And that’s what you did at your Wednesday morning meetings? Those meetings became famous, for all kinds of conservatives being in there hammering things out.

GROVER NORQUIST: And we now have 27 versions of that at the state capital level, including one in New York City. So we’re taking the model of the “leave us alone” coalition from the national level to the state level as well.

BILL MOYERS: “Leave us alone?”

GROVER NORQUIST: Um-hmm. Look, the center right coalition in American politics today is best understood as a coalition of groups and individuals that on the issue that brings them to politics what they want from the government is to be left alone. Taxpayers, don’t raise my taxes. Property owners, don’t restrict or limit my property. Home schoolers, let me educate my own kids. Gun owners, don’t restrict my Second Amendment rights. All communities of faith, Evangelical Christians, conservative Catholics, Mormons, Muslims, Orthodox Jews, people want to practice their own religion and be left alone to raise their own kids.

BILL MOYERS: Do you have any sympathy for those states we just saw a few moments ago? Under the president’s plan, those states do not expect any direct aid from Uncle Sam. Do you have any advice for them?

GROVER NORQUIST: Sure, two things. The most important thing for President Bush and the federal government to do is to create a pro-growth economic policy because its economic growth that brings in more revenue for states and local governments. At the state level what they really have to do is take a long run view and limit the growth of spending, put limits on how much you spend. And then California, the state owns a whole bunch of land and other things that it could sell off it doesn’t need, and it needs to figure out which of those government jobs need to be in government, and what can be privatized or contracted out.

BILL MOYERS: You’re on record as saying, my goal is to cut government in half in 25 years, to get it down to the size where we can drown it in the bath tub. Is that a true statement?

And the Holy Satanic trilogy of George Mason University, Southern Methodist University and the University of Chicago have supplied all the intellectual fire power. SMU is where George Bush, jr. will try to lock up his presidential papers and avoid jail,

:}

Oh but I digress…One of the finest posters at The Oil Drum JoulesBurn who Blogs at:

http://satelliteoerthedesert.blogspot.com/

Had this little cutey today:

http://www.theoildrum.com/node/3855#more

McCain’s Gas Pains: Gas “Tax Holidays” A Good Idea?

Posted by JoulesBurn on April 15, 2008 – 7:45pm
Topic: Policy/Politics
Tags: gas prices, John McCain, politics (list all tags)

For immediate release from John McCain’s campaign:

John McCain, who just hours earlier proposed a “tax holiday” in which the 18 cent federal tax on gasoline would be suspended during the summer driving season, has reconsidered and has instead proposed that the U.S. gallon be redefined to be equal in volume to the current U.S. quart. “This will immediately lower the price at the pump by 75%, providing visible relief to millions of Americans”, quipped McCain. “I rejected the idea of setting it equal to the liter, for obvious reasons”.When questioners suggested that this move wouldn’t actually change how much consumers spend to fill their tanks, McCain responded “Well, neither would my previous proposal”.

In unrelated election news, the McCain campaign announced that P.T. Barnum has been posthumously appointed as their policy director. Also, Hillary Clinton has proposed a suspension of the law of gravity, at least during the summer flying season, to help the beleaguered airline industry. Barack Obama reportedly had no comment on these suggestions, other than to say that Americans are definitely “atwitter” about gas prices.

We interrupt this vacation from reality with the following observations…(under the fold…)

  • As gasoline is a commodity for which prices are determined by supply and demand, lowering the price without increasing the supply will likely increase demand (usage). Prices will rise again to compensate.
  • The 18.4 cents per gallon that is now flowing into the US treasury, and which is then spent building roads, bridges, and mass transit, will instead flow to oil companies — particularly those in foreign countries, since the US imports over half of its oil.
  • Targeting the current gasoline tax instead for the development of alternative transportation and ways of using energy more efficiently will provide more lasting solutions to the current energy and economic crises than short-term attempts to fix the problem.

Juche – a simple name for a nasty idea. Kim Il Sungism

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Jodie Foster, Pregnant Man, Iran, Prince Philip, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, American Idol, Obama, China, Beyonce, Rolling Stones. (sorry for the deception but please read below)

Normally I wouldn’t bother to cover this but since it’s on the list I felt I needed to “dis” it as much as I could. I even took the time to get Buzzes top searches for the week to punch it up a bit. I even checked every category Energy Tough Love has to publicize this human indignity. The list of “Religions” that I used to start this meditation on the relationship between Religion and the Environment placed Juche well down on the list but with 18 million adherents that still alot of folks. I had never heard of it before and I even asked a couple of people if they had heard of it. Imagine my suprise when I typed it into a search engine and up popped this Prick who claimed he was god:

www.dictatorofthemonth.com

kim.jpg

During his lifetime he forced millions of people in North Korea to worship him. Can you imagine anything more degrading or disgusting then a man who points a loaded gun at your head and demands that you treat him like a god. You must pray to him. Oh most Divine Leader. Makes me want to puke. But then he is followed by this buffoon:

www.beconfused.com

jong.jpg

Now they are “worshiping” something no better than a trained monkey. If they had an ENVIRONMENTAL group in North Korea, I wish them the best of luck but I ain’t gonna publish it. I ain’t even gona type it into a search engine. If anybody ever deserved to get a nuke shoved up his poop shoot. This would be it.

Sikhism and the Environment? I got my doubts.

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I may be wrong but after yesterdays frustration I am coming to the realisation that maybe there is an enabling level of adherents. That is maybe there is a threshold of the number adherents to a religion reached before they take on “side issues”. But it also could be an access to technology issue. Maybe the ATR’s don’t have easy access to the web. Whatever the reason I found not one (bumpkis, nada, zero zilch) African Traditional Religious groups involved in Environmentalism. If I strike out today, I may be done with religion for now. 

Sikhism (IPA: /?si?k?z?m/ (help·info) or /?s?k-/ (info); Punjabi: ?????, sikkh?, IPA: [?s?kk?i?] (info)), founded on the teachings of Nanak and nine successive gurus in fifteenth century Northern India, is the fifth-largest religion in the world.[1] This system of religious philosophy and expression has been traditionally known as the Gurmat (literally the counsel of the gurus) or the Sikh Dharma. Sikhism originated from the word Sikh, which in turn comes from the Sanskrit root ?i?ya meaning “disciple” or “learner”, or ?ik?a meaning “instruction.”[2][3]

The principal belief of Sikhism is faith in V?higur?—represented using the sacred symbol of ?k ?a?k?r, the Universal God. Sikhism advocates the pursuit of salvation through disciplined, personal meditation on the name and message of God. A key distinctive feature of Sikhism is a non-anthropomorphic concept of God, to the extent that one can interpret God as the Universe itself. The followers of Sikhism are ordained to follow the teachings of the ten Sikh gurus, or enlightened leaders, as well as the holy scripture entitled the Gur? Granth S?hib, which includes selected works of many devotees from diverse socio-economic and religious backgrounds. The text was decreed by Gobind Singh, the tenth guru, as the final guru of the Khalsa Panth. Sikhism’s traditions and teachings are distinctively associated with the history, society and culture of the Punjab. Adherents of Sikhism are known as Sikhs (students or disciples) and number over 23 million across the world. Most Sikhs live in the state of Punjab in India and, prior to the country’s partition, millions of Sikhs lived in what is now known as the Punjab province of Pakistan

Then again maybe I was wrong. I found this neat site and it lists Jains and the B’hai as well so I will be at it for a couple of days at least.

http://www.arcworld.org/faiths.asp?pageID=57

 But first the Pretty Pictures

banner_main_image.jpg

Way to go Punjabians.!.

Realisation of Truth and Truthful Living for all.
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Do Traditional/Diaspora Religions of Africa Sponsor Environmental Groups?

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This such an overwhelming topic at one level that I feel inadequate. At another level, its a simple question? Are there any?

Africa is home to the first Human, the first Library, the first University and the first Art Gallery. Does African Tradional Religion currently involve itself with Environmentalism? 

http://www.afrikaworld.net/afrel/

 

 1. Introduction

In many African societies ancestral veneration is one of the central and basic traditional and even contemporary forms of cult. As is indicated by the title, this essay intends to expose briefly the main features of that type of veneration in black Africa, South of the Sahara.

2. Ancestral cult in Black Africa

African ancestral cult is deeply rooted in the African traditional worldview so much so that a proper and adequate understanding of that cult cannot be achieved without examining it in its intimate link with such worldview. Hence, before exposing the main features of ancestral veneration, it is useful to give first a brief survey of the African traditional worldview, in the light of which the former will and should be envisaged.

2.1 Brief Survey of African Traditional Worldview

As can be gathered from anthropological and ethnological data most of the elements found in the African worldview can be reduced to four main headings:

2.1.1 Dynamism and vitalism, comprising an existential, concrete and affective way of approach. Reality is seen and judged especially from its dynamic aspects closely related to life. The farther a being is from these elements, the more unreal and valueless it is conceived to be. Hence the emphasis on fecundity and life, and the identification between being and power or vital force. Indeed, the ideal of the African culture is coexistence with and the strengthening of vital force or vital relationship in the world and universe. Above all forces is God, who gives existence and increase of power to all others. Next come the dead of the tribe who, thanks to their transition into the other world, are endowed with special powers. The living form a hierarchy according to their power. The different manners of being are distinguished by their mode and degree of participation in the Supreme Force (God) and in superior forces of other “spiritual” beings.

The craving for power, safety, protection and life is the driving force in the African religion. This craving originates not so much from logical reflection, but from a feeling of incapacity and an obstinate desire to overcome it. Many individual needs are believed to be satisfied by dynamism and spiritism. Amulets and talisman are vehicles of vital energy. This ethic is based on the belief that every act and custom which strikes at the vital force, or at the growth and hierarchy of man is bad. What is ontologically and morally and juridically just is that which maintains and increases the vital energy received from the life-Giver, the Creator of force and the Fount from which all forces flow and are under His control.

http://afgen.com/vodoun.html

 

 Animals are sacred in African Religions, and are used (as in ancient Biblical, Hindu and Holy Koranic texts) as offerings to our gods and ancestors in both our healing, initiation, and atonement ceremonies.  Additionally, contrary to the Hollywood hype, animals are not the focus nor the center of our ceremonies.  They are merely consecrated offerings, made sacred for communal meals by the initiate, to share with their gods and ancestors.  The “rituals” surrounding this routine event are no more spectacular than the preparation of foods and farm animals for a family meal, or the Jewish ritual of kashrus (Kosher slaughtering) in making an animal sacred for offerings and consuming.  Animal offerings are a sacred, humane, and essential religious rite that has been in practice in many cultures all over the world for thousands of years, even up until the present.  

For example, because all aspects of African ritual and religious practice has been routinely demonized and maligned, few realize that their ritual practices are no different than (for example) the animal offerings used in tantric yoga.

 

http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/brill/exch/2006/00000035/00000002/art00003

 

HOW ENVIRONMENTAL IS AFRICAN TRADITIONAL RELIGION?

Author: Nisbert Tarringa

“…about the Shona religion of Zimbabwe…At a theoretical level a romantic view of Shona attitudes to nature, it is possible to conclude the Shona traditional religion is necessarily environmentally friendly. The strong belief in ancestral spirits (midzimu) pan-vitalism, kinship, taboo and totems have the potential to bear testimony to this…I argue that the ecological attitudes of the African Traditional Religion more based on fear or respect of ancestral spirits than on respect for nature itself”

But what about actual organizations or web sites?

 

http://library.stanford.edu/africa/eco.html

 

This site lists 170 literature or organizations that do conservation work in all of Africa, and I am sure that there are a lot more organizations out there that this site does not list

.

This web site starts with a prayer but it is Christian in nature:

 

http://waado.org/Environment/EnvironmentPage.html

 

After 6 hours of looking the closest I could get was something like this:

 

http://www.awish.net/Africa/ecogarden.htm

 

 

eco_garden3.jpg

 

Eco-Garden Kenya

 

 

 Project Summary

Eco-garden is a community based organization dedicated to educate the people of Kenya by mobilizing and working with communities to sustainably use, manage, and conserve natural resources for the benefits of current and future generations. Eco-garden integrates food production and gardening within the principles of nature in ways which preserve the holistic functions of ecosystems and the existence of biological diversity

Environmental conservation and organic gardening projects are facilitated specifically to provide technical knowledge to community groups developing on-farm and on-site conservation practices by sustainably using natural resources such that they will be available for both wildlife and human generations in the future. Eco-garden has taken the challenge to educate these communities about the values of their remaining natural resources (wildlife, fertile soil, patchy indigenous forests, and wetlands). The project targets farmers, women and youth groups, and young farmers’ clubs in both primary schools and high schools. Because the transfer of knowledge and information from government agencies (Ministry of Agriculture) has collapsed, farmers are left on their own, and no environmental conservation classes are offered in schools. Therefore, by working with school kids, Eco-garden hopes the students will pass the information to their parents. Lastly, the project aims to educate and encourage local groups to provide future training to community members through hands-on practical approaches and participatory planning.

eco_garden1.jpg

May Your Journeys Be Smooth 

Primal/Indigenous Religious Environmental Groups – Why do I think I am in over my head?

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primal-indigenous: 300 million

Let me start by saying that this is a real tough topic because most religions of this type make no distinction between a person and a place. Thus they could be inherently environmental BUT. There is a strain of this way of thinking that argues that Skyscrapers are just as natural an extention of Gaia as are termite colonies. So beware:

http://staff.jccc.net/thoare/primal.htm

Some Basic Concepts in Primal Religion

Some Basic Concepts

  • Unity of experience: The primal world is not fragmented but remains whole as a symbolic paradigm of the sacred. There is no perceived division between the physical and the spiritual. The physical can indeed be a channel for the spiritual, as opposed to something “corrupt” that stands in opposition to it. In contrast, recall my use of the expression “the divorce of Mom and Dad” in regard to Western religious consciousness. Divine worship, therefore, would not be regarded as an activity to be separated or isolated from other activities. Life as lived is a sacred “activity” in and of itself. One worships as one breathes.
  • Place (“Not available for export”): What is the difference between “space” and “place?” Place is space with a line drawn around it. The physical location of the community is the spiritual pivot of the universe. The primal consciousness is identified with the earth in this particular place. In other words, one’s physical place is one’s spiritual base (consider the Native American crisis of relocation, e.g., the Cherokee nation). Compare this with the Western emphasis upon “history as destiny.”
  • Orality (“Tell me a story”); Where should story dwell? Where do ancestors live? In the soul or in a text? There are advantages and disadvantages to each. Whoever said “Sticks and stones will break my bones but names will never hurt me” did not know what he was talking about. Words have life and breath. Stories may change and evolve, but they are always relational events (“And then what happened?!”). Texts, on the other hand, preserve story, tradition, information, etc. as a constant. But how often do we go read them? We often seem content simply to know they are over there safe and sound (i.e., in the library).
  • Time: in relationship to the characteristics articulated above, time is better thought of as “timelessness.” In the West or in technological cultures, time is linear. This implies that time and history are “going somewhere,” i.e., in fulfillment of a destiny or purposefulness. Primal time is not linear but eternal. “Eternal” does not mean “forever,” as the idea of forever is in itself linear (i.e., going on and on). Eternity simply “is.” This “isness” or beingness is the stable, unchanging backdrop within which the gods and ancestors simply “are.” It is encountered in any number of ways, such as dreams, shamanic ecstasy, mask performance, etc. Primal people may indeed speak of “the Past,” but this should be understood not as chronological but causal: the past is not “back then” but closer to the original Source of things. This relates once again to the primacy of “place” as something eternal and central.
  • Ritual enactment: each of the above ideas is present in what one enacts. Rituals and rites of passage are rehearsals or performances of the original creative act. Creation, therefore, is not a chronological event that took place “back then,” but an ever-presentness. Ritual enactment keeps one in touch with that presentness as an eternal reality.
  • Related closely to ritual enactment is the concept of liminality. From the Latin limen, meaning “threshhold” or “entryway,” liminality refers to the ritual state of transition in a rite of passage, wherein the initiand is in a condition (or non-condition) of ambiguity or “between two worlds.” He or she is in the midst of the process of leaving something old and becoming something new. Compare this to, for example, the contemporary process of engagement and marriage. The period of time between “Will you marry me?” and “I do” can last for months, and it is often filled with confusion and chaos. The partners-to-be are not married yet, but they are not single, either. They are in a liminal state of ambiguity in which they are, in a sense, non-persons, until they re-emerge on the other side as husband and wife. This is why a bride is traditionally “carried over the threshhold” on her wedding day. A similar custom is that in which both partners jump over a pole, such as a broom handle, that is extended out in front of the couple at about ankle height.

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Harvard Comes Shining through again. But then this is what you would expect from the place where Ralph Waldo Emerson taught. First the pretty picture:  

http://environment.harvard.edu/religion/religion/indigenous/links.html

ayers_rock.jpg

Alaska Native Knowledge Network
Centre for Indigenous Environmental Resources
First Nations Environmental Network
Honor the Earth
Indian Trust Management Information
Indigenous Agricultural and Environmental Knowledge Systems
Indigenous Environmental Network
Intertribal Environmental Council
National Environmental Coalition of Native Americans
National Laws and International Agreements Affecting Indigenous and Local Knowledge (article)
National Tribal Environmental Council
Native American Fish and Wildlife Society
Native Americans and the Environment
Native Web Resources
Pluralism Project
World’s Indigenous Women’s Foundation

Alpha Institute Indigenous/Environmental Links
Acre Amazon Link
Center for Indigenous Environmental Resources
Center for World Indigenous Studies
Elders and Graduate Level Educators
Taiga Rescue Network
Pictish Nation
Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO)

Akwesasne (Mohawk) Task Force on the Environment
Cherokee Nation
Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma
Comunidades Indigenas de los Altos de Chiapas
Dine CARE (Navajo environmental organization)
Mohawk Nation Council of Chiefs
Muscogee Creek Nation
Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation
Oneida Indian Nation
Operation Amazonia Nativa
Organization of the Indigenous Peoples from Tarauacá and Jordão (Amazon)
Zapitistas

Constitution of Iroquois Nation

Lakota Links Page

University of Texas: Lanic (Indigenous Peoples in Latin America) Resources
Native American Indian Resources
Resources on Aztec and Mayan Law
Traditional Ecological Knowledge Database

And This Note Before We Leave China for the Primal – Indigenous Religions, whatever the heck that is?

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primal-indigenous: 300 million

http://www.eeo.com.cn/ens/Observer/2008/02/29/92990.html

 AGRICULTURE

The Day China Runs Dry

By Rui Bingyou

Published: 2008-02-29

China’s massive but dwindling aquifers would be on track to run virtually dry if over-pumping continued, said Lester Brown, prominent US environmental policy advocate. At that point, its grain production would dive, severely exacerbating any food price increases that had already accumulated. Without rationally priced water, Brown predicted this scenario and a severe global food shortages as inevitable.At once an ecologist, author, farmer, and activist, Brown was one of the earliest pioneers of the modern environmental movement. He had worked in various capacities for the US Department of Agriculture, ultimately becoming the director of the International Agriculture Development Service in 1966. In 1974 he founded World Watch, a non-profit devoted to global environmental issues, and in 2001, the Earth Policy Institute.In 1995, Brown wrote a book entitled “Who Will Feed China?”, prompting worldwide attention and fierce debates in China on its role in affecting global food security.As part of the EO focus series on China’s rising food prises, Brown discussed with us the greater ecological significance in agricultural production.The key, he said, would be water.

The Peak Oil People Are Unsure – Is this their halcyon dream or their worst nightmare?

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The cost of oil is hovering around $110 per barrel and Gold is at $1000 a troy ounce.

http://www.peakoil.com/

http://www.theoildrum.com/

And this is the AP’s take on it:

http://www.ap.org/

OPEC blames U.S. for

–

 fueling record oil prices


 

By WILLIAM J. KOLE

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS____________

VIENNA, Austria — OPEC on Wednesday accused the U.S. of economic “mismanagement”

that it said is pushing oil prices

to record highs and rebuffed calls to boost output, laying the blame on the Bush administration.

Oil prices surged after the OPEC announcement and the re­lease of a U.S. government report

showing a surprise

drop in crude oil stockpiles. Light, sweet crude for April delivery jumped $5 to

settle at a record $104.52 per bar­rel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The 13-nation Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries said it would maintain current

production levels because crude supplies are plentiful and demand is expected to weaken

during the second quarter.

OPEC President Chakib Khelil said the global market is being af­fected by what he called

“the mis­management

of the U.S. econo­my,” and that America’s problems were a key factor in the cartel’s

decision to hold off on any action.

“If the prices are high, definite­ly they are not due to a lack of crude. They are due to

what’s happening

in the U.S.,” Khelil said. “There is sufficient supply. There’s plenty of oil there.”

Khelil’s comments came one day after President Bush lashed out at the organization,

warning Tuesday:

“I think it’s a mistake to have your biggest customers’ economies slowing down as a

re­sult of higher energy prices.”

White House spokesman Dana Perino said Wednesday that Bush

was “disappointed” OPEC didn’t do more to rein in prices, which some say are pushing

the U.S. economy into recession.

Analyst John Hall, of John Hall Associates in London, said OPEC probably should have

added oil to the market as Bush had asked.

“But in this time of intense geopolitical tension, it would be difficult for Saudi (Arabia) or

any other producer to

acquiesce sim­ply because President Bush had asked them to,” he said. “In the short

term, any true respite for the

 consumer is still out of reach.”

The Net result is without dispute, Gasoline Prices Skyrocketed:

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/energy/2007-04-19-world-gas_N.htm

Gas prices on April 17 or 18 2007. Data for EU countries were provided by the AA Motoring Trust. Prices are listed in U.S. dollars
United Kingdom

$8.37

Netherlands

$7.52

Norway

$7.33

Belgium

$6.95

Denmark

$6.95

Germany

$6.72

Portugal

$6.65

Finland

$6.57

France

$6.50

Sweden

$6.50

Hungary

$5.63

Poland

$5.63

Slovakia

$5.59

Austria

$5.40

Ireland

$5.40

Slovenia

$5.36

Switzerland

$5.17

Spain

$5.14

Czech Republic

$5.10

Greece

$4.91

Italy

$4.80

Lithuania

$4.72

Latvia

$4.61

Estonia

$4.30

Luxembourg

$4.27

Japan

$4.16

United States

$2.88

Kazakhstan

$2.75

Russia

$2.68

Mexico

$2.38

China

$2.19

Nigeria

$1.92

Saudi Arabia

$0.45

Venezuela

$0.19

Joel Lou from the EPA cites these prices for Europe as of March, 2008

http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/international/gas1.html

(U.S. Dollars per Gallon)

Date Belgium France Germany Italy Netherlands UK US
3/10/2008 8.37 7.95 8.24 8.07 8.91 8.10 3.44

Did the Saudi’s really blame our Mortgage Fraud Scandal and Economic Collapse for the high price of Oil? No matter what, however, our shattered Economy and resulting dollar devaluation will do nothing but drive up the price of oil further. 

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Dan Piraro Likes Me! (Think: heh mikey, he likes it)

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Like in the old Commercials. Anyway Dan periodically gives me permission to post his elegant visual social commentaries (other wise know as editorial cartoons) here at Energy Tough Love. So I try to return the favor and Publish ‘stuff” he thinks is important. To that end: 

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Hey, friends of Bizarro,

I’m part of a very cool comedy show in New York City in a couple of weeks. Come out if you can make it, it’s for a good cause and will be funny funny and more funny.

 

See below or go here:?http://woodstockfas.org/newsletter/mar2008.html


Your kooky pal,

Dan


P.S. Want off my small, private, never-to-be-shared list? Hit “reply” then put “unsubscribe” in the subject line.

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Louis CK was the star of HBO‘s series “Lucky Louie” and numerous HBO and Comedy Central specials lck ?
Janeane Garofalo has been a standup comedian since 1985 & has appeared in umpteen movies & shows. jg ?
Dave Attell has a scheduling conflict but hopes to make it. We’ll know for sure very soon. dave ?
Gary Gulman appeared on NBC‘s Last Comic Standing and recently his own Comedy Central special. gary ?
Will Franken shows “manic brilliance” according to The Daily News, and the Times accuses him of possessing an “erudite wit.” will ?
Dan Piraro creator of the cartoon “Bizarro” and a standup comedian in his own right will emcee. dan ?

We’re seriously jazzed that Janeane Garofalo has joined the lineup for our KOMEDY FOR KARMA fundraiser.

Tickets are selling quickly: order yours now or regret it for the rest of your life.

WHEN: Monday, March 24th at 8pm sharp (doors 7:30)

WHERE: Gotham Comedy Club – 208 W 23rd b/w 7th & 8th Aves.

$50 General Admission

$100 VIP Reserved Seating

$60 General Admission at the door the day of the event

>BUY TICKETS HERE<

The ticket price is partially tax-deductible.

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Mark your calendars

The farm visiting season begins April 5th and lasts through October.

Visit our “Visit” Page for some Visitorific info!

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Join us on Facebook!

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UPDATE ON OLIVIA
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Thanks for all the kind notes about Olivia, the ailing goat we reported on in the last newsletter. The great news is that she has really made a turn for the better!

Diagnosed with lymphoma last spring, this 13-year-old became too weak to stand when the cold weather hit in January. Her friends and sponsors came over to say goodbye as the day we had all been dreading seemed to be upon us.

After bringing her into our house (that’s right, co-founders Jenny & Doug, Olivia, a blind chicken, 3 dogs and 3 cats are all living happily under one roof) and beginning a new regimen of treatments, Olivia is back to her old self again! A cancer-fighting herbal remedy, a daily tray of wheatgrass (a suggestion of juicing enthusiast Kris Carr of Crazy Sexy Cancer fame), and lots of love and care are helping our old girl get back on track.

Now she’s up and walking around with a voracious appetite for anything you put in front of her. She spends hours outside (with her coat on) visiting her friends around the farm but it’s still too cold for her old bones to sleep out in the barn overnight.

Olivia is a perfect example of why we so desperately need our Animal Hospice Center (a temperature-controlled environment for sick animals). Please help us meet our goal of raising the last $60K by May of this year.

Our friend, talented artist J.T. Yost is helping us meet that goal by donating half the profits of the sale of his incredible Olivia print which he made for our last art benefit. Check out his website for pet portraits here: You’ll find Olivia’s image amongst many other very cool prints.

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IKNOW I KNOW I should resize the damn thing but you get the idea…Its a comedy show to raise money for an animal sanctuary…so go already. Also if you click on the link for Woodstock you can see the whole thing if you must. I mean look at the talent, geez.

AND if you like to see his new spiffy blog and get a schedule of his events (he has been gigging alot lately) and his latest witticisms (yes he actually has deep thoughts:<) 

You crazy kids,

Just posted a new blog about my comedy shows in Californy and our kooky Elvis impersonator re-wedding in Las Vegas last week. Hope you likey. Lots of pics and a short video! Wow!

Dan

P.S. As always, I never sell or share my private email list. If you want off, though, hit “reply” and put “unsubscribe” in the subject line. (sniff)

If you don’t want to read my blog, don’t go here:

http://bizarrocomic.blogspot.com/

 

 

<After all that genuflecting  here is the latest Bizarro “fair usage” from the great man…

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Thanks Dan….

Energy News – Why CES’ does not do many original blogs

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Just type in Energy News into any Search Engine like Yahoo, MSN or Google and you turn up thousands of pages. 5 entries off the first page are listed below:

http://www.forbes.com/energy/2006/11/27/china-india-energy-biz-energy-cx_pm_1127energy_slide.html

 China and India are Asia’s two largest emerging economies. Both have large populations, industrializing economies and rising living standards and energy consumption. This slide show compares energy production, consumption and efficiency of both countries head-to-head and the environmental issues both are confronting as a result of their growing energy use. The numbers are drawn form official statistics, the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development and the International Energy Agency and are the latest available full-year estimates. The energy intensity comparison is based on purchasing power parity conversion rates.

 Forbes of course pointing out that China and Indian will pretty much kill off our species. 

http://www.green-energy-news.com/arch/nrgs2008/20080016.html

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February 22, 2008 – Vol.12 No. 48

A SOLAR POWERED WORLD?

Arizona Public Service (APS) has announced plans to build a 280-megawatt concentrating solar power plant in the desert 70 miles southwest of Phoenix. The Solana Generating Station, if it were operating today, would be the single largest solar power plant on the planet. Solana, with its thermal energy storage, will be able to operate 24/7 providing power for 70,000 homes.

As big and impressive as it sounds it’s only a tiny fraction of what’s possible: According to the Trans-Mediterranean Renewable Energy Cooperation (TREC), the energy potential from sunlight striking the world’s deserts is 700 times that of the world’s primary energy demand today. Further, solar power generated in the world’s deserts could reach 90 percent of the world’s population. Australia, Asia, Africa, North and South America all have expansive deserts. By satellite measurement there are 13,500,000 square miles (35 million square kilometers) of hot, dry, sunlit desert on the planet.

Like the APS project, solar thermal power generation is the best option for the world’s deserts. Not only is it a time-tested technology that can provide low cost power, cooling water from the plants can be used for desalinization of sea water. (Energy from clean sources is a major global need right now. So is fresh water.)

Further, made of glass and steel there are no supply constraints to solar thermal power generation equipment as with purified silicon needed for photovoltaics.

The TREC concept, known as DESERTEC, is to build solar power plants in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and build power lines – a Euro-Supergrid – connecting the plants to Europe.

  http://www.alternative-energy-news.info/

Let’s see that would be Africa getting ripped off by Europe AGAIN!

Alternative Energy News

News » Energy | Biofuels | Environment | Hydrogen | Solar | Transportation | Wind

Alternative Energy News

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The Most Efficient Washing Machines Of 2008

March 10th, 2008 · 1 Comment

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At MetaEfficient, I evaluate appliances based on a number of factors, namely: energy efficiency, effectiveness, reliability, and price. This holds true for washing machines, because all of these factors need to be considered and weighed against each other (I’d also like to include lifecycle analysis, but  there’s no information available for washers). For raw efficiency data, one can turn to the Energy Star ratings, to work out which machines use the least amount of energy and water overall. Based on the Energy Star data, the most efficient washing machines for 2008 are made by LG Electronics and Kenmore.

Three LG washers received the best Energy Star ratings, and four Kenmore washers followed very close behind the LG machines. These ratings are based on the Modified Energy Factor (MEF) which is a way to compare the relative efficiency of different units of clothes washers (higher is better). The second factor is the Water Factor which is the number of gallons per cycle per cubic foot that a washing machine uses (lower is better). Here is a listing of the highest rated washing machines according the February 2008 update:

This site has a real cool video on its home page, but I could not get it to load up on our Blog. The article is from a sidebar. Please look at the video though. 

http://energy.sourceguides.com/news.shtml

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Environment: THE ENERGY CRUNCH AND THE PACIFIC ISLANDS

Rising fuel costs mean lost growth for some

Asterio Takesy


Few places have been hard hit by the recent rise in energy costs as the Pacific islands countries (PICs). While the impacts are felt around the world, islands societies are already on a financial razor’s edge—rising fuel costs being more than many can bear.Making matters worse is that an estimated 90 percent of total electricity generation and the fuel for the entire sea, land and air transport in our region comes directly from fossil fuels. In many of our members, fossil fuels represent a full 100 percent across the board.It is estimated that for every $10 increase in the price of a barrel of crude oil, national incomes for the Federated States of Micronesia and Kiribati reduce by over 4% and by at least 2% in Tonga, Tuvalu, Palau and the Solomon Islands. Considering the price of oil has increased by approximately $45 a barrel since 2002, this translates into at least five years of lost growth for some islands countries.Consider also the impact on the balance of trade. It is estimated that fuel imports are now triple the value of merchandise exports in Kiribati, Samoa and Federated States of Micronesia. In the case of Fiji, its combined export earnings in 2006 from three of the country’s major industries, gold, sugar and textiles, only accounted for two-thirds of the country’s total fuel import bill.

All this points to the continuing need for the development of renewable energy resources throughout the Pacific region (and the world). PICs have the highest renewable energy potential per capita in the world.

We are in the midst of the largest ocean on earth with its unlimited wave, tidal and ocean thermal energy. The tropical wind is always blowing and we are along the Pacific “Rim of Fire” with its potential for geothermal power generation. So why hasn’t adoption of renewables happened more quickly?

Let’s see the Islands of the Pacific have not moved ahead with renewables and alternative generation BECAUSE they are in the stranglehold of the Energy Corporation. Man what a surprise

 Again, the above is a side from:http://www.islandsbusiness.com

And finally (wipes brow, takes long drink of water and fans face): 

http://www.newenergytimes.com/news/2008/NET27.htm#FROMED

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EDITORIALS AND OPINION

1. Editorial: Will India Surprise the U.S. (Again)?

By Steven B. Krivit

A recent lecture tour by Michael McKubre of SRI International, Mahadeva Srinivasan, former associate director of the physics group at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre on low energy nuclear reaction research, and me found an interested and receptive audience at the center and other science institutions in India. 

But what’s happening in the U.S. and other more developed nations with LENR research? Rumors reaching New Energy Times suggest that people in the U.S. government are taking notice – but quietly. A few of them now have active LENR research programs.

Only one U.S. government group, the Navy’s SPAWAR San Diego (a different entity from the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C.), has published LENR papers (19) and does research openly. Some of the other government groups recently received internal funding to begin research, but they have been told not to publish.

Is this a good thing for science? For the U.S.? Probably not. On the other hand, the science community in India has come to terms with the fact that it missed out on 14 years of research on LENR. Will science leaders in the U.S. and other nations take notice of India’s newfound interest?

Glowing articles about the LENR revival in India have been published in Nature India and New Energy Times. However, no journal papers from India have been published recently.

In 1974, researchers at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre in Trombay, India, not-so-quietly unveiled a not-so-little secret: They had developed nuclear weapons technology. U.S. intelligence and the rest of the world was caught by surprise. Will India surprise the U.S. again with LENR?

 The U.S. may take a wait-and-see attitude with LENR research. The rest of the Western World also may wait. India is not likely to wait. Its people cannot afford to take precious food and burn it in their cars. Their hydro power is maxxed out. Their coal, while plentiful and providing 67 percent of India’s total electrical power, is low-grade and dirty.

Think pollution is bad in Los Angeles? You ain’t seen nothin’ if you haven’t been to a major city in India. They don’t have enough uranium for their current-generation fission reactors, and according to Rajagopala Chidambaram, principal scientific adviser to the government of India, it will take at least another 20 years to bring the next-generation reactors online to take advantage of India’s thorium reserves

Smart people in India understand science, technology, and innovation. And they have ambition and necessity, key ingredients for technological growth.

For those of you who had the patience to read this far Low Energy Nuclear Research has been know as Cold Fusion in the past.