See, we told you fracking was going to be a big deal one of these days..........

We notice it is very difficult nowadays to find unbiased and scientifically based articles on the environment and environmental news. However, we will continue striving to find balanced content.

We mentioned the subject of the "Haliburton Loophole" granted by Congress in 2005 to Dick Cheney and his friends years ago (well, months ago, see below), bringing to your attention the potentially hazardous chemical mix used in the fluids injected into the shale fields by the fracking method of harvesting natural gas. A professor at Cornell University has opined that this method of production releases methane, potentially more of a global warmer than the fluorocarbons. We say "opined" because his colleagues disagree with him.....

Now there are radically different positions on the regulation of coal and oil-fired power plants. One side says that the regulations are akin to the second coming, and to hell with the costs to us. The other side says the plants will be closed, the grid will be overloaded, and we will go back to the dark ages. Come on, let's be reasonable. There is only so much cost the average American family can bear to still afford electricity, yet we cannot afford to keep polluting our air with CO2, mercury, acid gas, selenium, cyanide and lead. There is a middle ground.

Grow up!!!! Both sides, put on your adult panties and seize the day, or at least face the day and the realities of it............. The question that comes to mind is why can't the methane from the shale wells be harvested? According to the rebuttal report, it is.....The other question that comes to mind is what is the tipping point to make our abundant coal a viable fuel, where consumers can afford the cost.....We provide links to various viewpoints and information sources below...... 

Here is another reason for exploding energy prices, coming EPA regulation of that nasty old abundant and cheap coal..............
Harvesting oil and natural gas from our shale deposits by fracking just got easier and more environmentally friendly...............But see if you can spot the typo........
Here is an article on a Fed website about the possibilities of clean coal, including a brand new plant, higher efficiencies, using it as a gas, and all of the improvements that have occurred over the past decades that environazis can't acknowledge- and will never recognize........
Economics of retrofitting coal plants 101 The dissertation has a cost analysis of air pollution control technology for a 3600 MW coal plant in South Africa. The capital costs were less than half of the benefits in reduced pollution., ; 102 Wikepedia article about the average costs for only sulfur dioxide removal; 103 regarding the evaluation of upgrading old plants versus building new ones ; 104, where even China is getting in; 105, where the real problem is identified as CO2.........................
A summation of these articles amounts to this: The technology is here, it is cost prohibitive, but the costs will come down and coal will remain a major source of fuel.

Here is another idea, burn it underground. Some fields are so deep they cannot be effectively mined. This process, already proven on a small scale, is virtually carbon neutral, as the waste gas stays underground also........Really? What about that movie, when they opened a sealed cave, and unleashed the forces.........well, never mind......

Congress recently enacted, then postponed, a manufacturing ban on incandescent lightbulbs. Here is an article on choices in the new energy efficient field of bulbs. Don't forget, the old ones are a cheap source of heat!

Here is a new idea to cool power plants and keep them from harming the ocean while doing it....................

This article about the possibilities and developments in both EV and Fuel Cell technologies for vehicles also decries the bitterness between the two camps we point out above..........................

Archives:

Old Industrial Sites Dot Our Nation.........

How effective is EPA? Here is a story about industrial sites abandoned in Indianapolis, Indiana. The conditions described are common to many major metropolitan areas in the United States. I can remember as a young inspector in Kansas City, Missouri being sent out to evaluate abandoned factories and warehouses for potential developers and entrepreneurs to see if it would be cost effective for them to utilize even part of  the huge sites. Sometimes the inspection was to investigate complaints about the buildings needing to be condemned. There were always drums of unknown products at these sites, just rusting away. It seems as if current regulations just allow these companies to walk away without any consequences..........................  

Asbestos, the continuing killer..............

By now most of us are familiar with the advantage of developed nations over undeveloped ones (also called third world nations) regarding the use of coal and carbon emissions. The argument is that the countries just now developing economically cannot afford scrubbers and "expensive" environmental regulations on hazardous/waste disposal and polluting emissions. Well, what about developed nations that sell poisonous products to these countries? These nations are selling products to undeveloped nations such as asbestos they spend millions each year to remove and eradicate from their own buildings. There are actually only two, Russia and Canada. Russia exports about 40% of the world production, Canada 10%. China is the second biggest producer besides Russia, but China is still considered a developing country. Here is the Wikepedia article about the current state of asbestos. In the Unites States, asbestos has not been mined since 2002. In 1989 EPA tried to ban it, but this was overturned in 1991 so that now small amounts of asbestos are still contained within products we buy today. The Canadian mine company outlined in this article actually ceased production in 2002 because of a slump in word demand, but as you can see, that is now SO over with..........................

The Haliburton Loophole once again rises from the surface of the cesspool........

Several weeks ago we featured a NY Times opinion piece about the Haliburton Loophole, a gift from Congress to the Bush Administration, specifically Dick Cheney, that exempted the process of hydraulic fracturing, essentially invented by Haliburton (though is is a carryover from the methods of hydraulic mining practiced for centuries), from EPA regulation under the Safe Drinking Water Act.

While we are essentially against governmental regulations of free enterprise, it is obvious in the case of the environment that we all have to be protected, and it is also obvious that the companies and corporations seeking to make a profit have a less than stellar record of cleaning up their own messes. There is also something about the 1872 Mining Act where companies don't have to pay us, the taxpayer, anything for minerals they take from the ground that is inherently crapola in this day and age.

Now we find out that Congress (including Democrats) looked the other way when they had knowledge this was a polluting practice as they were passing this loophole! In the search for more natural gas (which is not a solution to clean energy; it comes from oil, it is a finite resource, and to even think it is some kind of permanent solution to our energy woes is pure folly. However, T. Boone Pickens thinks that it is a temporary way to get us off OPEC oil by at least 50%, so maybe temporary is not a bad word) in the Marcellus Shale fields, a massive gas deposit stretching from New York to Tennessee, new problems and concerns are surfacing............The companies involved in this blatant pollution are claiming the chemicals involved are proprietary and a trade secret, but unfortunately for them (and fortunately for us) there are vays...............

Here you can watch the catastrophic pipe failure at the Silver Eagle Refinery last November. The US Chemical Safety Board said it was due to faulty thickness testing. What do the oil companies do with those obscene profits, anyway? Strip clubs can only make so much money, you know........

From tragedy, hope springs anew:

In August of 1986 1,800 people and thousands of animals were killed instantly one evening by what turned out to be a deadly cloud of gas that had escaped from nearby Lake Nyos. Now efforts are being made to harvest the gas for energy.......

Urban wind:

Urban areas get design breaks from wind loads in the building codes due to the density and height of structures. This same condition can make wind turbines less effective. Enter the redesign of urban wind turbines......

No, No don't take me to that hospital! Take me to the County Hospital................

This sounds like a good idea, but can you imagine looking at plans and specifications on an IPad? During the entire project? Gee, I wonder why they make big project plans so large, and why they have the same floor plan but with different systems on each? For clarity, you say? Why, I can see everything on this little screen......................

Now this is a good idea, a device with an e-book on one side and a netbook on the other.... 

Imagine being able to read a book on one side of the screen that has links you can bring up for more detail on the other side of the screen for a video or other deeper and clearer explanation or an example of the subject matter.

But did they work on it after lunch?

Dodge Ram supposedly coming out with a hybrid truck.

America's Bhopal

Aftermath of Texas City....another gift from BP...............................

U.S. Oil Spill not as "over" as government claims:

Carcinogens, other chemicals found in 40-fold increase........

Old News:

Old Industrial Sites Dot Our Nation.........

How effective is EPA? Here is a story about industrial sites abandoned in Indianapolis, Indiana. The conditions described are common to many major metropolitan areas in the United States. I can remember as a young inspector in Kansas City, Missouri being sent out to evaluate abandoned factories and warehouses for potential developers and entrepreneurs to see if it would be cost effective for them to utilize even part of  the huge sites. Sometimes the inspection was to investigate complaints about the buildings needing to be condemned. There were always drums of unknown products at these sites, just rusting away. It seems as if current regulations just allow these companies to walk away without any consequences..........................  

Asbestos, the continuing killer..............

By now most of us are familiar with the advantage of developed nations over undeveloped ones (also called third world nations) regarding the use of coal and carbon emissions. The argument is that the countries just now developing economically cannot afford scrubbers and "expensive" environmental regulations on hazardous/waste disposal and polluting emissions. Well, what about developed nations that sell poisonous products to these countries? These nations are selling products to undeveloped nations such as asbestos they spend millions each year to remove and eradicate from their own buildings. There are actually only two, Russia and Canada. Russia exports about 40% of the world production, Canada 10%. China is the second biggest producer besides Russia, but China is still considered a developing country. Here is the Wikepedia article about the current state of asbestos. In the Unites States, asbestos has not been mined since 2002. In 1989 EPA tried to ban it, but this was overturned in 1991 so that now small amounts of asbestos are still contained within products we buy today. The Canadian mine company outlined in this article actually ceased production in 2002 because of a slump in word demand, but as you can see, that is now SO over with..........................

The Haliburton Loophole once again rises from the surface of the cesspool........

Several weeks ago we featured a NY Times opinion piece about the Haliburton Loophole, a gift from Congress to the Bush Administration, specifically Dick Cheney, that exempted the process of hydraulic fracturing, essentially invented by Haliburton (though is is a carryover from the methods of hydraulic mining practiced for centuries), from EPA regulation under the Safe Drinking Water Act.

While we are essentially against governmental regulations of free enterprise, it is obvious in the case of the environment that we all have to be protected, and it is also obvious that the companies and corporations seeking to make a profit have a less than stellar record of cleaning up their own messes. There is also something about the 1872 Mining Act where companies don't have to pay us, the taxpayer, anything for minerals they take from the ground that is inherently crapola in this day and age.

Now we find out that Congress (including Democrats) looked the other way when they had knowledge this was a polluting practice as they were passing this loophole! In the search for more natural gas (which is not a solution to clean energy; it comes from oil, it is a finite resource, and to even think it is some kind of permanent solution to our energy woes is pure folly. However, T. Boone Pickens thinks that it is a temporary way to get us off OPEC oil by at least 50%, so maybe temporary is not a bad word) in the Marcellus Shale fields, a massive gas deposit stretching from New York to Tennessee, new problems and concerns are surfacing............The companies involved in this blatant pollution are claiming the chemicals involved are proprietary and a trade secret, but unfortunately for them (and fortunately for us) there are vays...............

Here you can watch the catastrophic pipe failure at the Silver Eagle Refinery last November. The US Chemical Safety Board said it was due to faulty thickness testing. What do the oil companies do with those obscene profits, anyway? Strip clubs can only make so much money, you know........