But even with the subsidies and incentives it will cost you double. So you have to ask yourself, is buying the last roof I ever will purchase worth it.
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September 20, 2010 | |
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More tomorrow
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But even with the subsidies and incentives it will cost you double. So you have to ask yourself, is buying the last roof I ever will purchase worth it.
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September 20, 2010 | |
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More tomorrow
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It’s Jam Band Friday – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZJ-5-_f9-4
Next week I will try the cleanest places on the planet as a topic. But do not get your hopes up.
http://www.fastcompany.com/1687376/8-of-the-most-toxic-energy-projects-on-the-planet
BY Ariel SchwartzTue Sep 7, 2010
BP’s Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico served as a wake-up call for many of us who never before paid attention to the destructive energy projects happening all around the world. But while Deepwater Horizon may have attracted the lion’s share of media attention this past Spring and Summer, there are a number of other toxic projects still going on. Below, we look at some of the worst.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjZCtMg_j04
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Alberta Tar Sands
Alberta, Canada is home to the second biggest recoverable oil reserve in the world: the infamous Athabasca tar sands. But the massive deposit of heavy crude oil (aka bitumen) is under a staggering 54,000 square miles of boreal forest and peat bogs, which are slowly being destroyed by the open pit mining used to recover Alberta’s oil. These open pit mining projects also deposit toxic mercury, arsenic, cadmium, and lead into the Athabasca river system, creating “masses of toxic soup.” Suncor Energy, Syncrude Canada, Shell Canada, Marathon Oil, and Chevron are all pursuing projects in the Athabasca sands.
Three Gorges Dam
China’s Three Gorges Dam, a hydroelectric dam in the Yangtze river, is world’s largest electricity-generating plant. Completed in 2006, the dam has already produced 348.4 TWh of electricity since its inception. But the Dam has its drawbacks–construction displaced 1.2 million people (not the only Chinese water project to displace huge populations), increased the risk of landslides in the area, and made nearby Shanghai significantly more vulnerable to flooding.
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Please read this gut wrenching article. More next week.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZhfmBPl4Lc
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Its Jam Band Friday – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3I1bBcda4Ko
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Why is that. Because the WHOLE world is polluted. Most of these places didn’t even make the last two lists.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-05-19/americas-28-most-polluted-places/
Greenpeace marine biologist Paul Horsman shows globs of oil on a jetti at the mouth of the Mississippi River on May 17, 2010. (John Moore / Getty Images) As the EPA and BP fight over the Gulf oil spill cleanup, the Daily Beast crunches the numbers and ranks the most contaminated sites in the nation.
The BP oil rig explosion has led to untold millions in lost income for people who make their living from the Gulf, but toxic hazards are an everyday occurrence: The EPA estimates that there are 3,500 chemical spills each year, requiring $260 million to clean.
Above those, however, are the Superfund sites—places that have sustained major, long-term damage, necessitating years of cleanup. Established in 1980 after a series of toxic disasters, including the infamous Love Canal district of Niagara Falls, which turned the neighborhood into a virtual ghost town, Superfund has largely succeeded in centralizing hazardous waste cleanup and holding responsible parties financially accountable.
The BP fiasco—both a natural and human disaster—got us thinking: what are today’s most polluted toxic dumping grounds? To figure it out, we examined all available Superfund data from the Environmental Protection Agency. We filtered the results, focusing on sites that remain dangerous for human exposure and sites that have dangerous ground water. And then we ranked them using the following criteria:
· Toxicity per acre: The number of instances of each toxin, multiplied by the severity of each toxin, according to the Agency for Toxic Substances & Disease Registry, and divided by the acreage of the site.
· Toxicity per population: To determine potential human exposure we took the number of instances of each toxin, multiplied by the severity of each toxin, and divided by the population within one mile of the site. (The EPA gives a population range, and we used the higher number for this calculation.)
Since toxicity per acre is a more concrete statistic than potential human exposure (one can live near a toxic site and avoid contact), we weighted the former three times the impact of the latter. An important note: The human exposure element does not measure exposure levels, but rather indicates that the EPA believes there is a reasonable expectation that people may be exposed to contamination—exactly what the Superfund teams spend their time trying to alleviate.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2maAPVOZlkc&feature=fvw
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Acres: 2
Population: 10,000
Toxic chemicals: 34
History: From 1949 to 1991 Fletcher’s Paint Works operated a retail store and storage facility in this small New Hampshire town along the Souhegan River. In 1982 New Hampshire officials found leaking and open drums of paint chemicals in the storage area. Soil and groundwater around the site was later found contaminated with arsenic, lead, PCBs, and a slew of other nasty chemicals. The nearby Keyes Municipal Water Supply Well was shut down in the early 1980s after it was found contaminated by volatile organic compounds—gases emitted from paint and other household supplies. Cleanup began in 1988 and continues today. The EPA has tested homes in the area for gases seeping from soil into basements, with no health risks found in the homes and another round of testing due for June 2010. The main concern now is that fish in the Souhegan contain PCBs, and that the EPA has found evidence of people fishing in the river.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtCJp1h45gA&feature=related
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#2, Haverford, Pennsylvania:
Havertown PCP
Acres: 15
Population: 50,000
Toxic chemicals: 59
History: Getting rid of toxic waste used to be so simple. National Wood Preservers, which treated wood on the site from 1947 to 1963, would take their liquid waste lined with pentachlorophenols (PCPs) to a well, and dump it down. Or they would toss the PCP-laden liquid onto the ground. A nearby stream was contaminated, though residents living within a mile of the site don’t use it for drinking water. In 1992 the EPA removed 97,000 tons of liquid waste, and 60 tons of sludge from the site. The EPA is armed with $4.2 million from the Recovery Act to finish the final cleanup phase, which includes removing contaminated soil from residential property and public spaces.
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There is 2. For the rest read the article. HAPPY LABOR DAY everyone. More next week.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VX0cMoOiIMQ&feature=related
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As they say in the article, make sure it is not a dip in an open sewer. I have had this experience. It was one of the reasons I left Tampa never to return. They built their sewage ponds right next to the ocean and when there was a bad storm…it would all wash into the water. Yuck.
Careful! The beach you’re rushing off to this weekend might actually be a sewer.
Human and animal waste, among other sewage overflow, contaminate the beachwaters of virtually every sandy retreat in the country.
There were over 20,000 closing and advisory days last year at ocean, bay and Great Lake beaches because of high levels of bacteria and pollutants in the waters, according to the annual beachwater quality report – Testing The Waters – released today by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).
The agency also provides 5-star rating guide for 200 of the nation’s most popular beaches, based on beachwater quality, monitoring frequency, and public notification of contamination. Beachgoers who swim in polluted waters are at risk of contracting from various types of skin rashes and infections to meningitis and hepatitis.
Coastal cities can implement various green strategies such as green rooftops and permeable sidewalks to reduce and eliminate stromwater runoff, which overflows the sewage systems and dump polluted water in the oceans and lake.
This popular New York beach, where boaters also often anchor, has failed many of the twice-weekly tests for the last three years. Bacteria-infested water is not the only problem here: Advisories telling you about the high levels of pollutants in the water are almost never posted online or at the beach.
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More Tomorrow.
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I am not sure if I agree with the list below, but if you can only pick 9 when there are that many in the Old Soviet Union alone. Well then:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/31/photos-most-polluted-plac_n_693008.html
9 Of The Most Polluted Places In The World (PHOTOS)
Huffington Post | Barbara Fenig First Posted: 08-31-10 08:26 AM | Updated: 09- 1-10 01:55 AM
From the highways of Los Angeles to the Citarum River of Bandung, Indonesia, earth’s most polluted city of Linfen, China to the streets of London, the world is laden with man-made pollution. Chemical, air, water and oil pollution ruin the environment, cause premature deaths, spoil the world’s resources and worsen climate change.
As the world’s population soars to nearly 7 billion, we here at HuffPost Green decided to take a virtual tour of some of the world’s most polluted places. Check out our slideshow of nine of the most polluted places in the world. Find out which city’s death rate surpasses its birth rate by 260 percent. Or which city has 50,000 people die prematurely each year due to man-made air pollution. As always, we want to hear from you. Tell us what you think in the comments.
Linfen, China is the most polluted city on earth. According to Mother Nature Network, if one puts laundry out to dry, it will turn black before finishing drying. Located in China’s coal belt, spending one day in Linfen is equivalent to smoking three packs of cigarettes. 3 million people are affected by Linfen‘s coal and particulates pollution, which is residue from automobile and industrial emission
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Only one of nine. Please go see the rest. More tomorrow
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“As state and federal officials continue to open Gulf waters to fishing, we have to again point to evidence that the ‘all clear’ is being sounded way too early,” said Mr. Smith, who represents the United Commercial Fishermen’s Association, the Louisiana Environmental Action Network, public entities in the Gulf Coast, as well as private property and business owners. “One of the cautionary notes is that our experts have documented that toxic chemicals remain in the water and food chain – and pose a significant health risk. Those studies have shown that PAHs (polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons) are present in shrimp from the impacted area. And the PAHs in off-shore Florida are at levels 43 times the levels of shrimp from inland, low-impact inland areas sampled in Louisiana. In our estimation, it may take eight months before the toxic soup has had substantial enough biodegradation to announce an ‘all clear’ on seafood.”
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FOR MORE INFORMATION:
www.smithstag.com
www.gulfoildisasterrecovery.com
www.oilspillaction.com
www.leanweb.org
CONTACT:
S. Smith: (504) 593-9600 C. Brylski/H. Harper (504) 897-6110
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More tomorrow
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Testing Results Returning With High Levels
Report by: Wilma Subra
Results of sampling performed by the Lower Mississippi River Keeper in the Lower Atchafalaya Bay area on August 2, 2010
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Results of sampling performed by the Lower Mississippi River Keeper in the Mississippi River Delta on August 3, 2010
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Samples were also collected from the vegetated area (reed vegetation) behind the beach. The vegetated area contained oil sheens on the vegetation and on the water that collected in the sampling area. The soil/sediment samples contained Carbon Disulfide, 2-Butanone (MEK), Toluene, 0.4 to 1.16 % Hydrocarbons, and 20 to 40 PAHs (49 to 189 mg/kg). The PAHs in the soil/sediment strongly support that the soil/sediment is contaminated with crude oil from the Deepwater Horizon.
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It’s Jam Band Friday – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezHlu9rUAW0
So here is the governments thought for you renters out there.
http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=products.es_at_home_tips_renters10
Even if you rent an apartment, townhouse, or a home, you can make a big difference, too! These tips will show you how to be more energy efficient and save energy, money, and reduce the risks of global warming. If there are things you can’t change on your own, share these tips and encourage your landlord to help you make a change for the better.
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http://www.energysavers.gov/your_home/apartments/index.cfm/mytopic=10010
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Simple energy conservation measures can lower your utility bills while increasing the comfort of your apartment. Although your landlord or management company is ultimately responsible for your building’s energy efficiency, you make dozens of energy decisions every day.
Many ways for cutting electricity costs in houses also apply to apartments. See our section on reducing electricity use for ways to lower these costs.
Here are some ways to reduce your heating and cooling costs. They can also make your apartment more comfortable. You might need your landlord’s or management company’s permission for some of the suggestions.
If you have your own water heater in your apartment, see our section on energy-efficient water heating. If you don’t have your own water heater, you can still save energy by reducing your hot water use. You may need your landlord’s or management company’s permission for some of these energy conservation measures.
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More next week.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysiT0P6OtvU&feature=related
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I know it sounds sorta dumb but if you talk to the landlord about your interest in saving energy…you may find out that he shares your beliefs or is at least neutral about it. If on the other hand he makes rude comments or says something like, “I ain no treehugger”, then you need to drop it. If he seems neutral or somewhat interested. DO NOT ask him to DO anything right away. Follow the tips I have posted here and that are widely available on the web. Then you should causally mentions some of the things that you have done. Look for things that might interest him. Just as an example if you have access to the water heater and he pays the bills…tell him you turned it down and ask if he notice any savings….
http://e-conserve.blogspot.com/2009/04/renters-delight-low-energy-bill.html
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Join Dominion in sharing ideas about how to save energy and money while helping the environment. Learn more about energy conservation from our Energy Experts.
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Alison Kaufmann Energy Conservation Specialist |
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Tom Jewell Energy Conservation Coordina |
Even while renting, you have more control over your resources than you think.
Let us know what you do in your place to conserve and don’t forget to share this page with others.
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More tomorrow
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Everything is fine. No news is old news. Emergency over. Forgetaboutit. The modern news cycle and the short term memory public moves on. We need our gas. We need all our unnecessary commercial STUFF and we need to get back to school. So what if 10 percent of the nation is unemployed by the corporate capitalists. So what if Russia just burned and Pakistan just drowned. This in from LEAN.
Don’t forget: If there is oil out there we must find it.
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http://www.flickr.com/photos/lowermississippiriverkeeper/sets/72157624713485348/
LEAN member and New Orleans photographer Jerry Moran revisited Raccoon Island on August 8, 2010 to find more of the same death and destruction that he found on his visit on July 18, 2010.
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Of his July 18, 2010 trip to Raccoon Island Jerry wrote:
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Of his August 8, 2010 trip to Raccoon Island Jerry wrote:
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Visit SaveOurGulf.org to get more information about the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster from Waterkeeper organizations across the Gulf Coast and donate to Save Our Gulf!
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