Some comments and arguments that I made and want to share in response to a Gristmill reader’s argument that nuclear energy is our savior. Via Gristmill:

Nuclear energy is not a magic bullet

Nuclear energy is not our savior. In fact, I believe it is the lazy man's weapon to quench our energy needs and prevent environmental degradation. Environmentalists rightly approach nuclear energy with caution.

First, nuclear power plants are susceptible to droughts since large amounts of water are needed for cooling. Droughts can force nuclear plants to shut down.

(http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/01/24/6580/)

Additionally, nuclear energy relies on nonrenewable resources that must be extracted just like oil and storing nuclear waste is controversial and seems impossible. Electricity produced by nuclear reactors is expensive too.

(http://www.sanluisobispo.com/182/story/358384.html)

Energy from the sun and wind are not far behind. In fact, wind energy alone has the possibility of replacing the current output of energy from nuclear sources. However, I believe nuclear energy certainly should be part of a diverse energy portfolio but most importantly, we must modernize, rehabilitate, and upgrade the electricity transmission grid. We also must take a hard look at consumption and understand since we are bound by the Entropy Law that infinite growth is not possible. In fact, I believe the first two laws of thermodynamics should be preached ad nauseum.

(http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/briefings/wind_myths.pdf http://uk.reuters.com/article/oilRpt/idUKN124750402008051 ... and http://www.foet.org/books/entropy.html)

I believe nonrenewable resources must be conservatively or strategically consumed. For example, personal vehicles should be smaller. Whether crude oil or uranium, nonrenewable fuel sources should be consumed wisely and renewable sources should be the forefront of energy production when possible.

We need well thought holistic solutions not magic bullets.

http://www.conservationreport.com/

Recycling is natural and recycling is efficient so why not integrate a basic and efficient tool from nature to sustain our unnatural world.

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See more green advertisement

Freedom of expression can spawn beautiful and potent art in addition to speech. From Coloribus.com:

In this print campaign, JWT Sao Paulo shows that the newspaper makes deeper analyses of the financial market and informs readers on political and social events exercising influence on the world economy. On Dollar, Euro and Yen notes, some of the most important events of the last century.

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Mosquito fish (Gambusia sp.) are small live bearing freshwater fish that are native to Southern and Eastern parts of the United States in addition to the Gulf of Mexico. Since the little fish is hardy it has become established in many parts of the world via biological pest control programs. Mosquito fish as their name suggests feed on aquatic mosquito larvae. Mosquitoes (family Culicidae) can be problematic because most female mosquitoes of many species feed on blood therefore making them potent disease vectors. Mosquitoes spread diseases such as the West Nile Virus in addition to dengue and yellow fevers and the malaria parasite.

Currently the mosquito fish are being used to control mosquito populations across the United States in urban areas. A side effect from the housing bubble and a lackluster economy are foreclosures and neglected swimming pools that become prime mosquito hatcheries since swimming pools are not natural ecosystems lacking sufficient predators. Additionally, introduced mosquito fish have been blamed for the extinction of some species and threatening amphibian populations. From the WSJ.com:

The problem: swimming pools of abandoned homes have turned into mosquito breeding grounds.

"They are real heroes," says Josefa Cabada, a technician at the Contra Costa Mosquito & Vector Control District, a government agency. "I've never seen a mosquito in a pool with mosquito fish."

The mosquito fish is well suited for a prolonged housing slump. Hardy creatures with big appetites, they can survive in oxygen-depleted swimming pools for many months, eating up to 500 larvae a day and giving birth to 60 fry a month. That can save environmental crews from having to repeatedly spray pesticides in the pools while the houses grind through the foreclosure process.

Some local agencies, increasingly worried about mosquito-borne diseases like the West Nile Virus, are taking to the air to find problem swimming pools. The Turlock Abatement District, near Modesto, Calif., last month hired a plane to fly over 55 square miles, snapping pictures of pools from about 5,000 feet. On the ground, mosquito-control crews cross-referenced properties that had greenish-brown pools with a street map and a database of local foreclosed homes.

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Hat tip to Kevin.

IMAGES of expensive and rare commodities: A truffle at right and below is ambergris in a bowl. Ambergris from the digestive tract of sperm whales is used in perfume and is as rare as Captain Ahab's white sperm whale.

Adding truffles to common ordinary popular junkfood results in a $120 burger, $100 Philly cheesesteak, $200 pizza and even chocolate costing $2,600 per pound! Truffles are expensive because of their low availability coupled with their high demand. Since truffles are rare treats, perhaps they should not be drowned within inferior food types.

Truffles look like globs of compacted organic dirt but have a unique and highly sought after taste. Actually, truffles are fungi that come from the soil and are found in association with certain species of deciduous trees. They are a specialized family of fungi since they are ectomycorrhizal. People can cultivate truffles by planting certain species of trees from certain areas. The resulting fungal fruit may be located by either swine or a trained canine.

Ambergris is another odd and unassuming looking but valuable commodity. The substance comes from the digestive system of sperm whales. Ambergris is used in the perfumery business and finding a sizeable piece of ambergris of superior quality on a beach is like winning the lottery.

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Photo source for attribution here and here. The author or licensor of either image does not endorse me or my work and their image is protected under an attribution license.

Have you ever wondered how McDonald's restaurants keep the palates of people happy the world over? In Taiwan there is the "Rice Burger" which is shown above. Go here to see how the Big Mac adapts to local appetites.

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Chilli a giant Friesian steer may be the United Kingdom’s tallest bovine and certainly one of the tallest in the world. Go here or click the image for more information.

Keith Olbermann passionately summarizes President Bush's genesis and subsequent handling or management of the Iraq War in the video below.

When asked about the blunders of the Iraq War President Bush is quick to pass the buck or responsibility to other folks. What this President and many of his cronies fear most is the American people electing a Democratic President such as Barack Obama this fall and a succeeding investigation for the truth. There has already been a laundry list of scams, shams and swindling.

President Bush to our country’s detriment probably practices impositionalism more than any other American president has before him. This management style is why many compare him to a dictator or quasi-dictator if you think dictator is too strong of a word.

Anyhow, I am proud that I did not vote for this man twice. I did not vote for him just because I am a democrat but he looked like damaged goods from the beginning. Furthermore, I am proud not to have supported the invasion of Iraq. Amazingly, all the evidence that the antiwar protesters cited turned out to be the truth. I was ridiculed by some of my fellow Americans for my hard stance against invading Iraq and was even called a terrorist and unpatriotic. Bulling is behavior that the Bush presidency feeds from and thrives. Nonetheless as the famed idiom states: you reap what you sow.

Is the presumptive Republican presidential nominee Senator John McCain (Ariz.) a steward of the environment? According to the League of Conservation Voters, his conservation or environmental scorecard is lacking for 2007. In fact, for 2007 Senator John McCain has a score of zero. However, democratic presidential candidates, Senators Obama and Clinton have fairly solid environmental scorecards that demonstrate much more activity than McCain for the year of 2007.

The party leaders' average score for democrats in the United States Senate was 91 but Senate republican leaders could only muster a 7. For the United States House of Representatives the party leaders' average score was 97 for the democrats and a mere 2 for the Republican Party leaders. Green conservatism does not seem to be fostering much passion to protect the environment.

Granted McCain has been vocal on climate change issues and has traveled the world to observe climate change evidence but his voting record illustrates somewhat of a paradox. Additionally, McCain does have a proposal to cut greenhouse gas emissions but it does not go as far as proposals brought forth by Senators Obama or Clinton.

Hilarious.

I would argue it is our fault since avoiding expedient, cheap, poor construction and planning in addition to halfhearted environmental and urban policy would avoid many deaths from natural disasters. Certainly, family planning and adequate emergency action plans are needed too.

Natural disasters will continue to become worse as governments and people ignorantly change the environment, do not become more serious about mitigating climate change, continue to build along the coastline or governments and people continue to build on ground that is susceptible to natural disasters like flooding and wildfires. Unadapted, populated areas are at high risk from natural disasters. The denser the population the more deaths that are likely to occur. It is an inescapable observable fact.

Wind power could match power supplied by nuclear sources in two decades according to a U.S. Energy Department report. Nonetheless, emotions still run high regarding some wind projects. Last month the Department of the Interior's Minerals Management Service said it received more than an extraordinary 40,000 comments regarding the future of Cape Wind. A final decision on Cape Wind is due around the end of this year or the beginning of 2009. In other wind news, Friends of the Earth Cymru recently released "a report tackling the myths that are blocking the development of wind power in Wales." The wind power myths that Friends of the Earth Cymru tackle include:

MYTH 1: Wind energy produces little power
MYTH 2: Wind turbines consume more energy than they generate
MYTH 3: Wind is intermittent and requires backup from polluting power station
MYTH 4: Wind energy is inefficient
MYTH 5: When the wind stops blowing the lights will go out
MYTH 6: Installing wind farms will not shut down conventional power stations
MYTH 7: Wind is being promoted at the expense of other renewable
MYTH 8: Wind power is expensive
MYTH 9: Wind turbines are taking over the countryside
MYTH 10: Wind farms are unpopular
MYTH 11: Wind farms deter tourists
MYTH 12: Wind turbines are noisy
MYTH 13: Wind turbines kill birds
MYTH 14: Wind energy is heavily subsidised
MYTH 15: We oppose wind but other renewable are fine
MYTH 16: Wind turbines can harm humans by catching fire or exploding
MYTH 17: Wind farms harm property prices
MYTH 18: Wind farms harm radio and tv reception
MYTH 19: Wind energy has failed in Denmark and Germany
MYTH 20: We need more energy conservation not wind energy

READ THE REPORT!!!

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Photo source for attribution. The author or licensor of this image does not endorse me or my work and their image is protected under an attribution license.

IMAGE: Mac Weakley with his 25.1-pound Floridian strain largemouth bass caught in Dixon Lake, California.

Dottie was a 25.1-pound monster largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) that did not make the record books because back in 2006 Mike Weakly the angler who hooked her did not hook her in the mouth. As a result, he released her back into Dixon Lake, which is a southern California reservoir amongst other southern California impoundments that are known for monster largemouth bass.

After her capture and release, Dottie proved a sensation and the Dixon Lake turned into a prime fishing attraction. Some anglers traveled from other countries for the chance to catch the freshwater beast and as a result make the record books. However, the chance to hook the monster has passed since she was recently found dead on the morning of May 9, 2008. Dottie was named after a "distinctive birthmark spot below her jawline" which helped in identifying the dead largemouth bass.

Largemouth bass are prized for their fight and the resulting excitement they produce when hooked, so hooking a 25-pounder would be sheer ecstasy or euphoria and certainly evoke a lifetime of nirvana. To give an idea of what catching a 25.1-pound largemouth bass would be like – I know anglers including myself that would be excited to hook anything over 7, 8 or 9-pounds. Any largemouth bass approaching just 15-pounds is uncommon especially on the east coast.

According to an ESPN article dated March 28, 2006, out of the top 25 largemouth bass hooked in Dixon Lake at the time, there had been “a 19.44-pounder, at No. 15; a 20.75-pounder (No. 9); and a 21.69-pounder (No. 4).” The monster status of the largemouth bass swimming in Dixon lake has been attributed to the stocking of rainbow trout which the bass fatten from, the voluntary practice of catch and release and fishing pressure which seems to be sustainable at the moment. A current and more in depth story can be found at the San Diego Union Tribune:

The fish with a worldwide reputation as the largest bass ever hooked was found floating yesterday morning on Escondido's Dixon Lake.

The Florida-strain largemouth bass, nicknamed Dottie for a distinctive birthmark spot below her jawline, had been dead about a day.

She measured 29½ inches long and weighed about 19 pounds. That was a far cry from the world-record 25 pounds, 1 ounce she weighed when caught – and then released – by Carlsbad angler Mac Weakley on March 20, 2006. Then she was bulging with eggs; this time she apparently died shortly after spawning.

NOTE: The current official world record largemouth bass is from 1932 and still stands. Images regarding the current official world record largemouth bass can be seen here.

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Bill O'Reilly must be an extremely charming boss or colleague. My favorite part is at 00:30 when he stands up to do the suit shake to regain his composure but then sits back down and drops uncontrollable f-bombs. He does not appear to be much of a Sting fan either. In my opinion, it is less stressful on the liberal side of the fence. Having to walk that tight narrow conservative path everyday must be so excruciating. Can you imagine the daily tension of having to appear perfect and not hypocritical? Via David Haz Blog:

See more funny videos at CollegeHumor

IMAGES: The image at right shows a female North Atlantic right whale giving birth. The bottom right image shows the mother lifting her calf out of the ocean to help it get its first breath.

Photographs showing a critically endangered North Atlantic right whale giving birth to her calf have been released. New England Aquarium researcher Monica Zani took the first ever photographs.

The North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis) remains threatened from ship strikes and commercial fishing gear. Documents have recently revealed that the White House was instrumental in delaying the protection of the critically endangered whales. According to the Boston Globe "efforts to protect the endangered right whale from being killed by commercial ships have languished for more than a year in part because of White House objections [and] documents show Vice President Dick Cheney's office and White House economists have questioned the conclusions of marine scientists." Too bad the Bush Administration nor their economists understand that natural resources must be conserved in order to maintain a sustainable world economy. Where is the conservative in conservatism? Liberals have grasped what it means to be conservative when protecting the environment better than the Bush Administration and many other conservatives have.

In New Zealand, scientists had the opportunity to dissect a pygmy right whale after it was found dead and stranded “at Spirit's Bay in the country's far north.” The opportunity to conduct a necropsy of the specimen drew excitement amongst the marine mammal community since this is only the second specimen to be examined. As a result, little is known of the species and data is badly needed.

Pygmy right whales are the smallest of the baleen whales and are considered oddities. For example, asymmetry is rare in nature but this species exhibits asymmetry. According to Joy Reidenberg, of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York "the larynx has a sac on it, like all baleen whales, but the sac is off to one side, and that raises a couple of very interesting functional and evolutionary questions, such as how they generate sounds." The pygmy right whale has little in common with larger species of right whales but may be more closely related to other whales.

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There is an excellent analysis at TIME illustrating Clinton's mistakes.

FYI

Here is some e-waste recycling information pertaining to California that was sent to me via ASL Recycling. ASL Recycling is helping to build the e-waste recycling infrastructure in California:


ASL Recycling Brings E-waste Recycling to More Cities

90 free and convenient GREENspot e-waste drop-off locations: most Bay Area residents need drive no more than 5 miles to safely dispose of their old TVs and other electronics

SAN JOSE, Calif.—May 6, 2008—ASL Recycling’s GREENetwork continued to grow during April with the addition of 19 GREENspot e-waste drop-off locations, bringing the total number in Northern California to 90. Now most residents can find a free place to dispose of their obsolete electronics close to their home—in most cases within five miles. As consumer awareness of these free and convenient neighborhood locations builds—especially since the GREENetwork’s Earth Day campaign to encourage people to find their GREENspot location last month—hundreds of residents are visiting a neighborhood GREENspot location, resulting in almost four million pounds of e-waste being diverted away from local landfills so far, this year.

Unlike other recyclable waste, there is no ‘blue bin’ equivalent for curbside collection of e-waste, and so, until recently, most people didn’t know what to do with it. ASL Recycling is changing that by establishing a statewide network of GREENspot e-waste drop-off locations, and by orchestrating locally focused public awareness campaigns. Californians can visit www.aslgreenspot.com to find a nearby e-waste drop-off location.

“We want to make it as easy to recycle an old gadget as it is to buy a new one,” said Carey Levine, vice president of sales and marketing at ASL Recycling. “What we hear from consumers is that they want to do the right thing and dispose of their e-waste responsibly, but they’re concerned about their personal data or how the e-waste is being recycled. When you select a GREENspot you can be sure that you’re working with a reputable e-waste collector.”

19 new GREENspot e-waste drop-off locations opened in April; total now at 90

This month, 19 new GREENspot e-waste drop-off locations were established in Northern California, bringing the total to 91 statewide. The new locations added to the GREENetwork in April are:

Envirohaul	1252 Diamond Way	Concord
Data Doctors	109 Town and Country Drive	Danville
Grandmothers Who Help	1037 B Street	Hayward
RJR Recycling	1771 San Felipe Road	Hollister
Cartridge World	2265 Las Positas Road	Livermore
Murillo Electronics	113 South Lake Street	Madera
Cartridge World	80 Ranch Drive (McCarthy Ranch)	Milpitas
Recycling for Mother Earth	770 Garner Street	Modesto
Turner Moving and Storage	765 Skyport Court	Napa
Santa Rosa Moving and Storage	5650 State Farm Drive	Rohnert Park
Modern Pacific	219 Lawrence Avenue	S. San Francisco
Elk Grove Waste Management	7451 Reese Road	Sacramento
HOPE Services	546 Burnken Avenue	Salinas
Breathe California	1469 Park Avenue	San Jose
CityTeam Ministries Family Services	1297 North 13th Street	San Jose
Peninsula Debris Box	1724 Leslie Street	San Mateo
HOPE Services	1663 Catalina Street	Sand City
Computer Zone	314 Laurel Street	Santa Cruz
Computer Zone	1329 Mission Street	Santa Cruz

What to recycle, and why
E-waste accepted at GREENspot drop-off locations includes TVs, cell phones, audio-video components, computer equipment, microwave ovens, electronic equipment from offices and labs, and more. These items are potentially toxic to the environment and by choosing to recycle them, Californians can help divert e-waste from landfills. All GREENspot drop-off locations feed their e-waste to ASL Recycling's state-approved plants, which use an environmentally friendly e-waste recycling process .

Where to recycle e-waste

A complete list of ASL GREENspot drop-off locations is available here .

E-waste and the law
E-waste, which includes TVs, monitors, computers, cell phones, and other old electronics, is the fastest-growing category of solid waste in the United States. California is leading the nation with its Electronic Waste Recycling Act, the state's e-waste recycling legislation. The state's Department of Toxic Substance Control has stated that video display devices are hazardous waste and are covered by the Electronic Waste Recycling Act. This means it is illegal to discard the following devices in household and business trash:
- Cathode ray tube (CRT) devices (including televisions and computer monitors)
- LCD desktop monitors
- Laptop computers with LCD displays
- LCD televisions
- Plasma televisions
- Portable DVD players with LCD displays
- Gaming Devices and consoles

Many other electronic devices, though not covered by the Electronic Waste Recycling Act, could be considered hazardous waste and should not be discarded in the regular trash.

About ASL Recycling and the GREENetwork
ASL Recycling is dedicated to providing consumers and businesses with the easiest, most accessible, and most trusted e-waste recycling program in the country. Every month, ASL Recycling prevents hundreds of tons of e-waste from being dumped into local landfills by collecting old electronics and preparing it for recycling. All material received at ASL's state-of-the-art plant is dismantled: hard drives are crushed, materials are sorted and then sent to smelters that transform e-waste into salable goods. To become part of the GREENetwork, visit http://www.aslgreenetwork.com .

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Media contact: Tim Cox | ZingPR -- 650-369-7784 -- tim@zingpr.com

I obtain a lot of traffic to The Conservation Report from people searching the words or phrases:

“Oil spill”
“Exxon Valdez”
“Pictures of the Exxon Valdez oil spill”
“Exxon Valdez oil spill effects”

I have had very few images from Exxon Valdez but I have written about the subject here. To help these folks researching the Exxon Valdez oil spill I have provided the following images from www.photolib.noaa.gov:

The Exxon Valdez oil spill:
Image ID: line1526, NOAA's America's Coastlines Collection
Location: Prince William Sound area, Alaska
Credit: EXXON VALDEZ Oil Spill Trustee Council

The Exxon Valdez oil spill cleanup:
Image ID: line1527, NOAA's America's Coastlines Collection
Location: Prince William Sound area, Alaska
Credit: EXXON VALDEZ Oil Spill Trustee Council

The Exxon Valdez oil spill cleanup:
Image ID: line1529, NOAA's America's Coastlines Collection
Location: Prince William Sound area, Alaska
Credit: EXXON VALDEZ Oil Spill Trustee Council

The Exxon Valdez oil spill cleanup:
Image ID: line1532, NOAA's America's Coastlines Collection
Location: Prince William Sound area, Alaska
Credit: EXXON VALDEZ Oil Spill Trustee Council

The Exxon Valdez oil spill cleanup:
Image ID: line1533, NOAA's America's Coastlines Collection
Location: Prince William Sound area, Alaska
Credit: EXXON VALDEZ Oil Spill Trustee Council

The Exxon Valdez oil spill cleanup:
Image ID: line1535, NOAA's America's Coastlines Collection
Location: Prince William Sound area, Alaska
Credit: EXXON VALDEZ Oil Spill Trustee Council

Given the date of the Exxon Valdez oil spill (March 24, 1989) these harlequin ducks (Histrionicus histrionicus) are probably immature or female ducks and not male ducks that acquired eclipse plumage:
Image ID: line1537, NOAA's America's Coastlines Collection
Location: Prince William Sound area, Alaska
Credit: EXXON VALDEZ Oil Spill Trustee Council

A Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) being checked:
Image ID: line1538, NOAA's America's Coastlines Collection
Location: Prince William Sound area, Alaska
Credit: EXXON VALDEZ Oil Spill Trustee Council

Harbor seal(?) coated with oil:
Image ID: line1540, NOAA's America's Coastlines Collection
Location: Prince William Sound area, Alaska
Credit: EXXON VALDEZ Oil Spill Trustee Council

Given the bill shape I believe these are loons of some type and not guillemots but I could be wrong because they seem too small to be loons. They are definitely not ducks or cormorants:
Photo courtesy of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council

On the Net: Exxon Valdez Oil Spill: Could It Happen Again?
On the Net: Habitat Assessment: Lingering Exxon Valdez Oil
On the Net: Habitat Assessment: Pacific Herring and Oil
On the Net: Habitat Assessment: Differing Perspectives on Effects of Oil Spill

An excellent ad illustrating how CO₂ that is anthropogenically released into the atmosphere via unnatural sources threatens the balance of the natural carbon cycle.

Fascinating. More here.


An illustration on how earthworms "do it":



Hat tip to Kevin.

As gas prices increase so does the use of public transportation amongst Americans. The increase is occurring in both places where commuters have largely been drivers like Charlotte, Houston and Nashville and in areas where commuters have traditionally used public transportation like Boston and New York City. Certainly, the nontraditional cities will have to expand their public transportation infrastructure. From the New York Times:

“In almost every transit system I talk to, we’re seeing very high rates of growth the last few months,” said William W. Millar, president of the American Public Transportation Association.

“It’s very clear that a significant portion of the increase in transit use is directly caused by people who are looking for alternatives to paying $3.50 a gallon for gas.”

Some cities with long-established public transit systems, like New York and Boston, have seen increases in ridership of 5 percent or more so far this year. But the biggest surges — of 10 to 15 percent or more over last year — are occurring in many metropolitan areas in the South and West where the driving culture is strongest and bus and rail lines are more limited.

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Photo source for attribution. The author or licensor of this image does not endorse me or my work and their image is protected under an attribution license.

On the Net: APTA: American Public Transportation Association

While reading my criminal procedure assignment I came across a very applicable quote in Mapp v. Ohio quoting Mr. Justice Brandeis in Olmstead v. United States. The quote speaks to the danger of our government ignoring and manipulating law. The Bush Administration continues to circumvent, ignore, manipulate or override environmental laws and precedent that obstructs their agenda or cause.

Our Government is the potent, the omnipresent teacher. For good or for ill, it teaches the whole people by its example….If the Government becomes a lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for law; it invites every man to become a law unto himself; it invites anarchy.

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Louisiana SPCA CEO Anna Zorrilla noted that “sometimes, when a puppy is born, the amniotic fluid mixes with the placenta and dyes the coat of the puppy and it almost always happens to very light colored puppies.”


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