The environment thread

[Balta1701]

Hiding your own stretch of oiled marsh? Now that's how you run a photo op. Awesome.

Jockeying by Gulf Coast officials for limited oil spill-fighting resources and the construction of a massive chain of sand barriers to block oil offshore — a key priority of Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana — did little to protect the coastline and often hampered the more effective actions of federal responders to the 2010 oil spill, according to the final report by the presidential panel investigating the spill.

 

The report, released on Tuesday, also details new allegations that Mr. Jindal deliberately withheld the location of an area of oiled marsh from the Coast Guard that he used as a backdrop for television interviews.

 

“Coast Guard responders watched Governor Jindal — and the TV cameras following him — return to what appeared to be the same spot of oiled marsh day after day to complain about the inadequacy of the federal response, even though only a small amount of marsh was then oiled,” the report stated, citing an interview with a Coast Guard official. “When the Coast Guard sought to clean up that piece of affected marsh, Governor Jindal refused to confirm its location.”

[Balta1701]

China has the world's highest wind power capacity after adding 62 percent or 16 gigawatts (GW) in new capacity last year, the official Xinhua News Agency reported on Thursday.

 

The country's total installed wind power capacity reached 41.8 GW at the end of last year, the report said, citing Li Junfeng, secretary general of the Chinese Renewable Energy Industries Association.

 

Installed wind capacity in the United States increased by about 5 GW to 40.2 GW at the end of 2010, the report said, citing data from the Global Wind Energy Council.

 

The report did not say how much of Chinese capacity was able to access power transmission and distribution networks.

 

Wind power capacity connected to grid networks totaled 22.94 GW at the end of August last year, according to the China Electricity Council.

Link

[Balta1701]

In case this didn't get enough play for y'all...

The Arctic is to become the "new environmental battleground", campaigners warned yesterday after BP announced plans to drill in one of the last great unspoilt wildernesses on earth.

 

Greenpeace and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) have vowed to confront BP's American boss, Bob Dudley, over the agreement with the Russian state-owned oil giant Rosneft to explore the Kara Sea, north of Siberia. The British energy firm was branded the world's "environmental villain number one" by Friends of the Earth (FoE) yesterday in response to its move to exploit potential oil reserves in the remote waters.

 

Environmentalists are dismayed that BP, which announced the deal on Friday night, has decided to set up rigs in an area of great biodiversity and treacherous weather conditions. The region is one of the few remaining havens left for a number of endangered species, including polar bears, walruses and beluga whales. And while the waters of the Kara Sea are relatively unexplored, they are known to house key fish species such as halibut, capelin and Arctic cod.

Of course, the only reason why this level of arctic drilling is even possible is that the Arctic itself is rapidly melting.

[Balta1701]

Link

Aided by at least $43 million in assistance from the government of Massachusetts and an innovative solar energy technology, Evergreen Solar emerged in the last three years as the third-largest maker of solar panels in the United States.

 

But now the company is closing its main American factory, laying off the 800 workers by the end of March and shifting production to a joint venture with a Chinese company in central China. Evergreen cited the much higher government support available in China.

 

The factory closing in Devens, Mass., which Evergreen announced earlier this week, has set off political recriminations and finger-pointing in Massachusetts. And it comes just as President Hu Jintao of China is scheduled for a state visit next week to Washington, where the agenda is likely to include tensions between the United States and China over trade and energy policy.

[NorthSideSox72]

Link

I swear, this topic makes me angrier than virtually any other in the political landscape. We have this huge opportunity here, and we are missing it. We need something to lead us forward and actually result in not only job creation, but export creation. This would do both of those AND reduce pollution AND help national security. Its just so f***ing obvious.

 

[Balta1701]

Remember how Northeastern Australia is already under water?

 

 

H. Christ.

 

Described as the strongest cyclone ever to hit Australia.

[DBAHO]

Remember how Northeastern Australia is already under water?

 

 

H. Christ.

 

Described as the strongest cyclone ever to hit Australia.

Yep, it's a Category 5, as bad as Hurricane Katrina.

 

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/special-r...l-1225998348468

 

Saw a picture today, this cyclone would cover 2/3'rds of the USA's mainland if it was over there, just massive.

[BigSqwert]

I'm just waiting for the locusts at this point.

[Balta1701]

Yep, it's a Category 5, as bad as Hurricane Katrina.

FWIW, Katrina only came ashore as a category 2.

[DBAHO]

FWIW, Katrina only came ashore as a category 2.

That pretty much emphasises how much damage this cyclone could be capable of then.

[StrangeSox]

My boss's family lives in that area. They were worried a few weeks ago with the flooding, can't imagine now.

[Jenksismyhero]

First health care exemptions, now emissions exemptions. So basically the law only applies to those who aren't in Obama's pockets. Nice way of governing.

 

http://washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/beltwa...-exemption-febr

[NorthSideSox72]

First health care exemptions, now emissions exemptions. So basically the law only applies to those who aren't in Obama's pockets. Nice way of governing.

 

http://washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/beltwa...-exemption-febr

I'd call that a huge stretch, to say its related to GE. I think its more likely the exemption was more about political pressure to get an alt energy type facility online quickly, which doesn't necessarily make it better (just different). Good news is, that's a very narrow exemption, not nearly as bad as the health care stuff was. Bad news is that there were exemptions at all, I agree that shouldn't have to happen.

 

[StrangeSox]

It was grandfathering in an existing project, and it was probably taken into consideration that Avenal has filed suit against the EPA over this. It doesn't seem fair to me to impose new standards on applications that were already submitted and were waiting on approval. And relating it to GE, GE's CEO and his relationship with Obama because they're using some GE equipment is a bit more than a stretch.

 

NY Times article on the filing, which contains a link to the filing itself.

 

[iamshack]

It was grandfathering in an existing project, and it was probably taken into consideration that Avenal has filed suit against the EPA over this. It doesn't seem fair to me to impose new standards on applications that were already submitted and were waiting on approval. And relating it to GE, GE's CEO and his relationship with Obama because they're using some GE equipment is a bit more than a stretch.

 

NY Times article on the filing, which contains a link to the filing itself.

The vast majority of natural gas combined cycle plants are built using GE turbines. The other big player is Siemen's. This really has very little to do with it being GE. As for the environmental consequences, this really isn't anything to be alarmed about. Natural gas combined cycle plants are very clean compared to what much of the rest of the country will be generating electricity with, especially a brand new one. This plant will most likely be out of service well before we are in a position to no longer be using natural gas as a source of generating electricity.

 

As for GE's connections to this administration, GE has some very large contracts to deliver wind turbine rotors. Seems to me like there would be more shady business going on in that area than with combined cycle turbines.

[Balta1701]

Senate votes 81-17 in favor of preserving $22 billion in tax breaks for oil drilling.

The Senate voted late Wednesday against a proposal to end some oil industry tax breaks to pay for easing paperwork requirements for small business under President Barack Obama's health overhaul law.

 

Instead, the Senate passed an alternative, using unappropriated federal funds, to pay for the $22 billion estimated cost over 10 years of the small-business provision. It would drop a requirement that, starting next year, small businesses file IRS forms every time they make purchases of services or goods worth $600 or more.

 

The repeal measure passed 81-17. Opponents of ending tax breaks for oil companies, including Louisiana lawmakers, argued that now is not the time to impose taxes on an industry that is struggling to regain domestic offshore production after an embargo and what some industry officials call a continuing de facto embargo on offshore drilling.

[NorthSideSox72]

Senate votes 81-17 in favor of preserving $22 billion in tax breaks for oil drilling.

Idiots.

 

[BigSqwert]

Vice President Biden Announces Six Year Plan to Build National High-Speed Rail Network

[Balta1701]

Vice President Biden Announces Six Year Plan to Build National High-Speed Rail Network

$53 billion over six years to continue construction of a national high-speed and intercity passenger rail network.

 

Balta laughs at inadequacy of funding relative to the challenge.

 

Republicans laugh at the fact that they get to vote against it.

[Balta1701]

Thankfully, food crises never have large-scale geopolitical implications.

The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization issued an alert Tuesday that a severe drought was threatening the wheat crop in China, the world’s largest wheat producer, and was even resulting in shortages of drinking water for people and livestock.

 

The state-run news media in China warned Monday that the country’s major agricultural regions were facing their worst drought in 60 years and said Tuesday that Shandong Province, a cornerstone of Chinese grain production, was bracing for its worst drought in 200 years unless substantial precipitation came by the end of this month.

[NorthSideSox72]

Balta laughs at inadequacy of funding relative to the challenge.

 

Republicans laugh at the fact that they get to vote against it.

Its a start though, and its definitely a good place to invest infrastructure money into. Huge money and time savings long run, not to mention job creation, increase in tourism spending, etc.

 

But you are right, the GOP in the House will say no. 81 members of the Senate think the money is better spent on oil subsidies - that's how laughably shortsighted they (81 being multple parties) are.

 

 

[Balta1701]

This press release cleared with a Science article last week but I missed it...we're up to 2 "100 year" droughts in the Amazon in the last 5 years.

 

Droughts in the Amazon have severe lasting impacts on that ecosystem. The second one probably hit harder than the first because it was still recovering from the first.

New research shows that the 2010 Amazon drought may have been even more devastating to the region’s rainforests than the unusual 2005 drought, which was previously billed as a one-in-100 year event.

 

Analyses of rainfall across 5.3 million square kilometres of Amazonia during the 2010 dry season, published in Science, shows that the drought was more widespread and severe than in 2005.

 

The UK-Brazilian team also calculate that the carbon impact of the 2010 drought may eventually exceed the 5 billion tonnes of CO2 released following the 2005 event, as severe droughts kill rainforest trees. For context, the United States emitted 5.4 billion tonnes of CO2 from fossil fuel use in 2009.

 

The authors suggest that if extreme droughts like these become more frequent, the days of the Amazon rainforest acting as a natural buffer to man-made carbon emissions may be numbered.

 

Lead author Dr Simon Lewis, from the University of Leeds, said: "Having two events of this magnitude in such close succession is extremely unusual, but is unfortunately consistent with those climate models that project a grim future for Amazonia."

[mr_genius]

Senate votes 81-17 in favor of preserving $22 billion in tax breaks for oil drilling.

 

http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/...ers-and-losers/

 

tax rates per industry

 

[NorthSideSox72]

http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/...ers-and-losers/

 

tax rates per industry

 

Shows production of petro products to be in the lower rate half, paying effectively 11%. And its not an industry that needs early growth protections like the high tech, not-yet-mature fields around it.

 

[Balta1701]

Shows production of petro products to be in the lower rate half, paying effectively 11%. And its not an industry that needs early growth protections like the high tech, not-yet-mature fields around it.

The part that is taxed at the higher end is the integrated petroleum field...which is refining, not extraction. Integrated Petroleum processing is unlikely to qualify for a lot of credits anyway, because much of the equipment they're using has been built up over decades, and since global oil production hasn't really increased in 5 years, there's no reason to invest in additional refining capacity, just maintenance. And as our friend at BP have shown, maintenance at refineries isn't a high priority anyway.