The map, based on 18 months’ worth of satellite data, shows very high levels of NO2 above major European and North American cities and across much of north-east China. South-east Asia and Africa also have raised concentrations of the gas due to their burning of vegetation. “Ship tracks are visible in some locations,” says Steffen Beirle, one of the research team at the University of Heidelberg, Germany. “Look at the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean between the southern tip of India and Indonesia.” Although NO2 is formed naturally by lightning and by microbes in the ground, it is also released into the atmosphere from the burning of fossil fuels by power plants, heavy industry and vehicles. Large quantities of the gas can cause respiratory problems and lung damage, and can also contribute to harmful ozone forming near ground level.
Obama has commented on helping poor nations to develop clean technologies but as you can see, it is not the poor countries that harm the planet the most. It is the rich large countries doing all of the damage. We first need to look at home and prevent the devastation that has been ongoing. United States, China, and Europe need to change the way they live first before they can start criticizing other poorer nations that only amount to about 11% of emissions around the world. Our polar ice caps have lost nearly a third of its size from 1981 to 2003(NASA Data). Your plan is to reduce amounts of emissions by the year 2050. By your logic, we won’t have a polar ice cap left. There won’t be anything to save. The climates around the world are already beginning to shift. Melting glacial water changes the composition of the ocean and changes the weather patterns around the world. Yearly Warming Temperatures from NASA
http://politicalpete.com/
I believe the President is wrong in his effort to increase fuel efficiency in cars. He's beating a dead horse. When we entered the 20th Century, cars began displacing horse and wagon, despite limited access to fuel supplies. The time has come for electric to replace the use of fuel.
The President needs to challenge the industry to design a bottom mounted universal battery that can be easily replaced at Battery Service Stations, similar to Gas Stations. In this manner, we will not be limited to specific distances. When you start to run low, you stop and and get a quick change out for a fully charged one.
The car companies compete to develop more efficient electric cars and the battery companies compete to developa higher capacity battery. They start with family and commuter cars. Large scale production should reduce costs, though one has to wonder whether to believe their claims of costs are to be believed. Perhaps a new car company needs to be started, run by scientists.
The electric companies can work on making their proction more efficient and less polluting, while work continues on alternatives.
This company burns turkey litter at a power plant to produce electricity.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/06/science/earth/06manure.html
This company uses Turkey waste to produce oil.
http://www.greeninventions.info/Free-Energy-From-Trash.html
Blogs about Agricultural Waste being used for renewable energy.
http://esciencenews.com/dictionary/agricultural.waste
President Barack Obama's Plan for Renewable Energy.
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2009/02/update-house-passes-final-version-of-stimulus-package
"Obama wants to spend $150 billion over the next decade to create what it calls, "a clean energy future." It's plan would aim to diversify the nation's energy sources by encouraging more renewables, and it would reduce oil comsumption and cut carbon emissions from fossil fuels."
*excerpt from Technology Review - Friday April 10th, 2009 -Deciphering Big Oil's Retreat from Renewables.
Gas prices are low. So who cares about alternative energy. As long as we can put put gas in our cars for less than two bucks a gallon, who gives a damn about the environment or anything else?
Many have heard and felt that the above statement rings true for them. When you have only two dollars left in your savings account after bills are paid, who cares about what some tree hugging hippie has to say. Less money at the pump means more money in your pocket. That's real life when you have barely enough money to feed your family. That's real life when you own a small trucking company that will go bankrupt from rising fuel prices.
But we must learn to look beyond the here and now. I may sound like I am taking a jab at oil companies, but it must be said. When you depend on mainly one source of fuel, you are at the mercy of that one source. Our economy is heavily affected by what we and the transportation industry pays for fuel. Trucking can do all they can to keep the consumer from getting hit, but they can only do so much. It is the trucking company and owner operator that deliver the loads to the grocery and department stores. The trucking companies must eventually pass the cost to their customer which are your local grocery stores. Then the grocery and department stores pass the extra cost directly to the consumer. Wether gas is 10 cents or $10 a gallon, why take that chance?
Some analysts say oil will definitely go back up to $100 a barrel sometime next year. So you say, let's wait until it goes back up again, then maybe we'll know for sure that the governmnet will be so concerned that it will do something other than have a 10 year plan that will have little or no effect on the current situation.
Well who do I think I am? Do I think I can do a better job than the president of the United States? OK honey. Just pretend that my name is President Robin V. Williams. President Robin V. Williams will take a good chunk of those billions of dollars and invest it in companies that have already looked into alternative sources of energy and food production. Look at http://www.calcars.org, look at http://www.wheelabratortechnologies.com/ and look at http://www.solarcity.com . I will invest in programs that would offer paid training those who have lost there jobs in this economic mess and put those people to work in the type of companies that will make the future safer, our economy strong and our environment better. Billions of dollars will be invested in local transportation that has more frequent and efficient routes. Well, people hate to use mass transit, they say. Well, I don't mean to oversimplify this, but I believe more people will ride the bus if the bus came more than once an hour.
But there is a whole lot more out there than green cars and alternative energy for homes and businesses. Visit New Energy Earth's home page at http://www.newenergyearth.org for more information.
The Pickens Plan: For those who would like to become an active participant in a solution for our nations energy needs I urge you to join with T.Boone Pickens in his quest for a cleaner planet through alternative energy.
Also see Green Wave Energy: Green Wave was founded by Mark Holmes and was formulated for viable alternative energy solutions. Green Wave Energy is promoting state-of-the-art energy-saving products and services throughout the country.
Green Wave Energy understands alternative energy technology will become “main stream” when
Call 949.645.1701 for information on how Green Wave Energy can help you save the planet.
Alternative EnergySource: David Apperson
url: http://veterans.barackobama.com/page/community/tag/alternative-energy
RICHMOND, Ky. — Officials at Blue Grass Army Depot in central Kentucky have discovered a leak in an M55 rocket holding the nerve agent GB, or sarin.
Officials told the Lexington Herald-Leader that the leak Thursday happened in a rocket that holds sarin. The rockets are kept in airtight shipping and firing tubes, and crews periodically check them for leaks.
On Wednesday, workers began neutralizing 157 gallons of GB in a plan unrelated to the leak discovered Thursday. The plan, known as Operation Swift Solution, will destroy sarin that’s stored in three steel ton containers at the depot, near Richmond.
Crews detected the leak Thursday during an inspection. Blue Grass Chemical Activity spokesman Richard Sloan says the low-level sarin vapor was contained in the tube and didn’t escape into the igloo where the rockets are kept. He says such leaks happen two to five times a year.
SOURCE - http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/11/ap_sarinleak_111408/
Are Sarah Palin and John McCain on the same side?
When she refers to the old boys oil and gas club in Washington is she refering to George Bush, Dick Cheney, and John McCain? With the leader being George Bush?
It is a crisis. It's a toxic mess, really, on Main Street that's affecting Wall Street.
We need also to not get ourselves in debt. Let's do what our parents told us before we probably even got that first credit card. Don't live outside of our means. We need to make sure that as individuals we're taking personal responsibility through all of this.
It's not the American peoples fault that the economy is hurting like it is, but we have an opportunity to learn a heck of a lot of good lessons through this and say never again will we be taken advantage of.
Those people who say don't go into debt, they can barely pay to fill up their gas tank.
Blues and R&B legend, Roy Roberts (Otis Redding, Solomon Burke, Eddie Floyd, et al), wrote and recorded this song in support of Barack Obama. Serious music with REAL horns, stinging guitar licks, and a real message for change. (AND, you can even DANCE to it!) Hope you enjoy it - Please tell your friends that it's available on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-rg4CnagF8
I’m just an American MOM with
A few things to say
You can call it venting
I just think it needs to be heard by Election Day.
First, I want to say
I think it's an absolute shame
This Trivial Pursuit of the white house
By Palin and McCain
I’m a mother of three
who is saddened to say
how this economy
Affects us in every way
We work hard, but from taxes to gas
our expenses go up every day
Not to mention were "proud" college parents
with hefty tuition bill to pay
Obama’s economic strategy is sound
And one thing is clear and plain
He has a plan
Unlike John Mccain
While the Republicans
Wage a war of words and not deeds
It becomes more apparent that Barack Obama
Is what America needs
Barack showed compassion
Even for Sarcastic sarah and her daughter’s plight
His Version of Love thy neighbor
A perfect example of his Christian life
I’m sick and tired of this Mccain/Palin ticket
Sick of the same speeches being said
“First Dude”?, was that the name of Beevis
Or was it Butthead
I don’t want to be trivial
Or labeled contrite
I just believe America needs a real change
And only Obama/Biden can do that right
We have just a month or so
Before America makes it known
We really do want change in Washington
So,Republicans please go home!
My last words for the Mccain crew
In case you’re little irate or mad
don’t take my words
And use in your next negative ad
Just remember the message was written
By an average American mama
It was not approved or endorsed
By Senator Obama!
I recently received a forwarded e-mail from a friend with the subject "Eight Years Later".Not much was written on this e-mail, but the two screen shots delivered a poignant message. I did not take this message at face value as I needed to find proof of its validity. You see, the screen shots shows to gasoline price signs. The one with the $0.89/gallon price has Clinton & Gore, and the second sign with the $4.03/gallon price has Bush & Chenney.So, I decided to do some light investigative (see below for information) work to find the price of gasoline during the Clinton/Gore and Bush/Chenney years. It’s amazing what power knowledge unlocks.And I can see these prices will continue to be at high levels under a Republican leadership…so why should we allow drilling if we’re not going to see the ROI until a decade later at best from what I’m hearing. Investing in alternate energy is the long term solution and an effective usage of our tax contributions.
http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/dnav/pet/hist/mg_tt_usW.htm (pretty much flat during the Clinton Administration)
http://www..economagic.com/em-cgi/data.exe/doewkly/day-mg_rco_us
Jan 25, 1993 @ $1.055/gallon
Jan 25, 1999 @ $0..913/gallon (note…in 1998 crude oil prices came down to $10/barrel)
Jan 24, 2000 @ $1.307/gallon (hmm...presidential election year...who controls the oil industry gears...)
Jan 22, 2001 @ $1.456/gallon (our incumbent president is sworn to office on Jan 20, 2001)
Jan 21, 2002 @ $1.081/gallon --- this is just a blip to pacify the common man...do they really think we are that naive
Jul 14, 2008 @ $4.054/gallon
Anyone who drives across the country (particularly in Southern California and Texas) can see idle oil wells everywhere. A rancher in North Dakato recently struck a rich oil deposit on his property - without exploratory drilling.
The reason the oil industry does not tap these existing resources is simply to keep prices high. Gas prices have dropped over the past few month - not because of newly drilled oil wells - but due to reduced gas spending (through the increased use of hybrids, or reduced travel).
Supply and demand - as the demand goes down, so do gas prices.
The push to open up ecologically sensitive sites like ANWR and the California/Florida coasts is to simply give more "free" lands to the oil industry. At best, this will simply increase our dependence on oil, and put more money into foreign hands. At worst, it diverts our focus/resources from the real solution: rebuilding our nation's infrastructure: roads, bridges and power grids - all of which generate jobs that cannot easily be exported overseas.
By creating a new, efficient and united power grid, we will enable the use of new power plants: geothermal, wave/tide/dams, solar (and even clean-burning coal and oil) - spurring market-driven competition, innovation, and electric cars - which in turn will create new jobs, increase exports, and strengthen our economy.
Just say no to the oil industry puppets: Bush/Palin. The Republican party has many strong/experienced women as governors and industry execs - their choice of Palin is quite transparent.
This is good... please pass it along:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDKRClVvFSQ
Keep the faith guys/gals ... GOT HOPE? ... YES WE CAN.
I think that the rich get richer and for the rest of us it's "Arbeit macht frei".
Here is a link to a current article with Sarah Palin's byline in an energy publication discussing the development of Alaskan oil and gas resources. It recommends building a second trans-Alaska pipeline with a trans-Canada extension for natural gas and doubling our reliance on the existing Trans-Alaska Pipeline System by drilling for oil in the ANWR. Her Alaskakin perspective leads her to promote it as a good idea for America but her discussion is devoid of any comparison to alternatives. She seems conversant enough with the issues to refer to some of the challenges involved but makes no mention of the very real national security risk of loosing even the oil now being delivered by the existing pipeline for an extended time.
http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/energycentral/energybiz0908/
Oil needs to be heated to 120 degF to be able to make the 800 mile trip from Prudhoe Bay to the Gulf of Alaska at Valdez where it is loaded into tankers for the trip to the US. When it was approved, the pipeline was supposed to be capable of restarting after being shut down for three weeks in the middle of winter. As built, it will not meet that requirement if the temperature is lower than +40 degF. In winter, when it goes to -40 degF, it will take less than four days for the cargo to congeal into an 800 mile (dare I say) lipstick that's unpumpable until the weather warms up. As things are, the pipeline transports 20% of the total US production of oil, the loss of which would cripple the west coast for long enough to severely undermine the whole economy.
The Trans-Alaska pipeline is is commonly understood to be the single most potent terrorist target in the US. Built during less dangerous times, it was not hardened or even insulated sufficiently to recover from, much less withstand, a serious attack. Now the Governor of Alaska wants us to up the stakes by increasing the oil flow from a newly developed ANWR field and by building a 1,715 mile natural gas pipeline from the North Slope to the TransCanada hub in Alberta. And she wants to do it on the cheap like Rumsfeld:
"In order to protect the value of our resources, we must be sure that the cost of transportation is not made unnecessarily expensive."
It's nuts. Whatever you think of the T. Boone Pickens plan for converting commercial vehicles & trucks to natural gas, his map of all the natural gas fields in the continental US begs the question of why it's a good idea to invest billions to get the gas from Alaska by tripling the size of the pipeline bulls eye. Absent lower cost alternatives that abound, expensive and risky measures like these could be considered. As it is, undeveloped Alaskan resources should be considered more of a last resort than the first thing you'd turn to - the same as making war because it costs and risks too much. But sure enough, Big Oil has found another proxy and sure enough, The Washington Post reportes that 20% of white women just jumped ship and ran off to get on the Alaska bandwagon.
Deep Throat was right when he advised: "Follow the money." Even Alan Greenspan admitted that the Iraq adventure was primarily about oil. The oilers are not comfortable until they're running their agenda straight at us hard enough to generate so much cognitive dissonance that it hurts. I guess that undecided people vote for big oil supporters thinking they'll get some relief.
Apply Directly to the Wallet. Apply Directly to the Wallet. Apply ...
Sara's no different - Republican energy experts are mostly like white coated actors in drug adds telling us what's good for us. They do it because some of us are ditzy enough to believe them - like if rape is inevitable just roll over and enjoy it. I'm sorry, we're being violated. If she walks like a junky and she hawks like a junky and she's got her hand in our pocket and tells us it's OK because our gang is getting the money but we still run the risk of geting busted: she's a junky. It appears that her expertise is more in the nature of diverting our money to the Alaska drillers.
And in case you think any of it will trickle down (aside from paying for Alaska state government where citizens get a check instead of a tax bill), you've forgotten to follow the money: Exxon and BP are currently spending more of their windfall profits and government subsidies buying back common stock than they are on exploration while they leave existing offshore drilling leases untouched. When Senator McCain talks about giving oil companies even more leases to leave fallow as CHANGE, people who believe him are buying a bridge to nowhere that he doesn't own and for which they can't pay. With fingers crossed behind their backs, the Republican candidates are thinking: "Plus ca change! plus ca la meme chose".
For those of you who aren’t clear on the details, heres a "dumb down" explanation of the fannie mae and freddie mac takeover explanation. Its pretty straightforward, and before reading you should read up on what a bond is if you don’t already know.
Bond Definition: (read the first paragraph alone and you’ll understand.)
In a nutshell, the “real estate bubble" burst and the value of homes plummeted. This caused interest rates for loans from banks to soar, and those families that barely made payments were now facing mortgage defaults. Millions of people couldn’t afford the new mortgage payments, which *had* the cost of essential commodities not soared along with the cost of gasoline AND healthcare, millions of people would have had a few more dollars to pull out of their pockets for their homes. This rule is applied across the board to millions of homeowners. Well we all know that when you buy a home it’s a mutual risk between you and the bank. However all the risks the bank takes with millions of people is indirectly propagated to financial institutions like Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. They in turn will go out and sell bonds to raise the money for those loans to overseas and domestic investors.
Problem is that banks took in way too much risk, which indirectly eroded fannie and freddie with concerns over its financial integrity. Can a single company take in 5 trillion dollars of debt? This makes foreign and domestic investors alike think twice about buying bonds from fannie and Freddie. These concerns together with the 5 trillion dollars in debt started to slowly affect the influx of investors buying bonds from fannie and Freddie. This in turn forced fannie and Freddie to raise interest rates on the banks loans to still be able to raise money for future loans, which then in turn forced banks to raise interest rates on homeowner’s loans to still make a profit. That means they began pinching the people whom were already suffering from financial instability caused by the rising cost of living (gas, food, healthcare to name a few). End result, fannie and Freddie would have gone down the drain and the cost of living would have soared over night even further because banks would not have had a stream of cash flow to pay for the crucial roles they fill in our economy. Could this have been avoided? Sure, if we had someone who knows how to run the economy leading us.
Heres a great CNN money article that explains how we got to where we are regarding Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.
I'm not sure if Obama's people read these blogs but I thought I'd post here in hopes that some level-headed folks might come across this.
Finding a substitude for petroleum based energy should be our #1 national priority in my opinion. The effects of high priced oil are so pervasive and damaging that we must divert our focus to solving this problem before the state of our economy and consequently our way of life suffers irreperable harm. Of course, the security implications of being beholden to middle eastern nations are obvious. (I often wonder if it is a cruel coincidence that nations most hostile to America happen to have the lionshare of the worlds oil reserves or if maybe it's not a coincidence at all and that those nations (Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Venezeula, etc) are breeding grounds for anti-western terrorists BECAUSE they have the oil and we've done everything in our power over the past century to exploit those oil supplies.) But I digress, I have an important point to make regarding the way the market prices a barrel of oil.
There has been much debate lately over the affect of speculators on the price of oil. Congress is debating regulation. As we all know, commodities index funds, hedge funds, and even mom and pop crude oil investors have poured billions if not trillions of investment dollars into commodities funds in the hopes of earning a return on their capital as global commodity prices rise. An important distinction that is often overlooked is that financial investors are investing in futures trades that they must sell before the future expires because they don't actually want to take delivery of that commodity. They aren't buying real oil. What would grandma and grandpa Jones do with 200 barrels of oil? Instead, investors sell their futures before the expiration date. Sometimes they roll their contracts into the next future date or just outright sell. Either way, the speculative futures prices must converge to the natural supply/demand price that the market dictates when those futures expire. In other words, only people (refiners, etc) who actually want to physically buy a barrel of oil will do so. (not the speculators) Of course, high oil futures prices does have a damaging effect on our economy because it is these future instruments that many oil-dependent corporations use to hedge the costs of their future energy needs. Airlines are a perfect example of an industry beaten down by the high cost of oil futures. Specifically, the volatility of the market has made it extremely difficult, and sometimes cost prohibitive to effectively hedge their needs leaving them exposed to the fluctuations of the "spot" market price of oil (refined fuel)
What does this mean? It means that the laws of supply and demand still dominate the market price for a barrel of oil and the price we pay for gas. Emprically, this can be proven by looking at the price of oil over the past few years and correlating price movements to demand trends and supply changes. Of course, global demand for oil is skyrocketing. As China, India, and other developing countries' demands for oil grows exponentially we find our selves in competition for a finite supply of oil. Global demand is growing so the supplier can charge a higher price for a fixed supply of oil. And what have the suppliers done? Lock down their supply. Iran and Libya have both pushed for lower supplies to keep pricing high and only Saudi Arabia has agreed to slightly increase production to ease pricing in the market. Even that has been reluctant and they are only selling their additional (and base) supplies at the price they chose. (not allowing for market based discounting) The bottom line is we are back where we started in the 70s with an essential oil monopoly who are setting the price of oil. See the links below for more information on this topic. I've found the Mosler Economics blog extremely informative.
As I mentioned at the outset, it is critical for us to reduce our dependency on oil. Drilling domestically is a medium to long term bandaid that will have no real effect on the price of oil and gas. Instead, we should be focusing our efforts on alternative energy sources. -And we should be considering the true effects of oil prices instead of looking for scapegoats in the form of speculators. (which are mostly our own pension funds, insurance companies, and endowment funds....)
General Blog with many oil/crude price discussions
http://www.moslereconomics.com/
T Boone Pickens is even on board!
http://www.pickensplan.com/index.php
Quotes from Saudi oil minister proving their ability to set pricing for oil.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aTH7s3F6bWo0&refer=home
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/BUSINESS/07/01/oil.saudi/index.html
There are many issues facing this nation, but to me, the economy, our security and our prosperity are all dependent on energy independence. Without energy independence our future is at risk.
I was called this weekend by the Obama campaign to answer a poll.
Among the questions was what is the most important issue in this campaign.
Energy independence was not even on the list!!!
Since I have no voice in this campaign and Energy dependence is not a priority here I will be donating my money and time to NON-Partisan groups determined to save this country and its future by insuring that out elected officials wake up and start addressing the issue of energy independence.
Europeans pay more tax on gas than Americans. +/- 75% (Europe) +/- 19% (USA)
If you take out the tax, Europeans actually pays less.
All of the oil drilled in Alaska goes overseas.
So increased drilling in Alaska will not benefit us at all.
