buzztail

Green Living: Avoiding Asbestos

2009-11-05T07:46:00.015-07:00

This is a guest post written by James O'Shea for the Mesothelioma and Asbestos Awareness Center.

Green Living: Avoiding Asbestos

Going green used to be considered expensive and a luxury for those who could afford the trend. Now it appears that we are learning that not only is adopting more environmentally conscious attitudes good for our economic situation, but also our….health? Yes, if we dig a bit deeper we can see that dirty industries and backwards policy is actually harming the health of the earth for our children and the health of her inhabitants today.

There are two levels of health consequences associated with dirty industry, both direct and indirect. The direct consequences are examples like increased asthma rates in areas with high smog indices. Chlorofluorocarbon release into the atmosphere has shown to decrease the filter of direct sunlight on the planet, resulting in more concentrated ultraviolet light reaching the surface of the earth. Perhaps it is no surprise then that in countries with depleted atmospheric gas, skin cancer rates are among the highest in the world.

The indirect health consequences are harder to see immediately, but closer examination reveals that these are, in fact, perhaps the most hazardous. Bi-products of dirty and backwards industries, such as coal and oil processing, include cancer causing substances like asbestos and benzene. A U.K. study conducted in 2002 indicated that coal and oil industry workers are at a much higher risk of developing mesothelioma and leukemia.

Can we really afford to continue on the path we were on before? Investment in clean industry means not a healthier planet for our children and grandchildren, but also a healthier place for us to live today.

--October 29, 2009 Written by James O’ Shea with the maacenter

Fight For Coal River Mountain

2009-11-03T07:45:00.007-07:00

A prime wind power site, and major battleground in the ongoing fight over mountaintop removal mining in West Virginia, is literally being blown apart with millions of tons of explosives each and every day. Find out more, and see what you can do, at iLoveMountains.org and Climate Ground Zero. They also have links to many other activist resources.

Day Of Action

2009-10-25T08:11:00.007-06:00

Yesterday was the International Day of Climate Action, a day when activists and citizens around the world got together to call attention to the number 350. 350 is the ceiling established by James Hansen for parts per million of C02 in the atmosphere. Beyond that the web that holds our biosphere, our life-support system, together could begin to collapse like a sand castle in a rainstorm. We are currently around 385ppm. Decisive and aggressive action is needed to bring that number down over the next few decades.

More often than not, protests don't amount to much. The participants, if they're covered in the media at all, are generally painted as destructive loonies out to disrupt the civil and normal order of things. Which is partially true -- there's no change if the norm isn't disrupted. But most such actions are ignored or downplayed, the participants marginalized, and they never get legs. This one was different.

There were roughly 5200 actions in over 180 countries around the world. In one action, thousands upon thousands of people, worldwide, simultaneously used various and creative ways to call attention to the 350 threshold. For a time yesterday it was the most talked about news story on the planet. It was on the front page of the NY Times and on every network and newswire. The media had no choice -- it was simply too big to ignore.

Kudos to Bill McKibben, 350.org, and all the other groups and individuals who organized this and opened many eyes to what we're facing and what we need to do in the upcoming years. Maybe it even reached those insulated and elite ones, the world leaders, who are gathering in Copenhagen in December, and will give added impetus to hammer out a gutsy agreement that will spell out the bold and aggressive action needed to deal with the growing menace of global warming. Time will tell.

You can see much more about yesterday's actions here at 350.org.

Action On Mountaintop Removal

2009-10-23T18:18:00.023-06:00

Here's a couple of quick updates and actions on the continuing fight to stop the destruction and havoc wreaked by mountaintop removal mining.

Nationwide Permit 21 (NWP-21) has been used for years as a way for coal companies to streamline the MTR permitting process, to get quick go-aheads on their projects by bypassing public comment or environmental impact reviews. The Army Corps of Engineers is planning to put a halt to NWP-21 to modify it and make it tougher to get quick ok's. The Corps has held hearings recently, but King Coal has done his best to disrupt and stifle comment at these hearings by those opposed to MTR. You can still make your voice heard -- Public comment is being taken until Monday October 26. That's three days from now.

The Clean Water Protection Act (HR1310) is moving through the House as we speak. This act would protect countless miles of mountain streams from being choked by mining waste. Members of Congress and the administration need to know you support this bill and want it on the President's desk to be signed by next summer. You can find out how to take action on HR1310 and NWP-21, and much more, at iLoveMountains.org.

Last, but not least, President Obama nominated Joseph Pizarchik, a state regulator from Pennsylvania, to head up the federal Office of Surface Mining. Pizarchik is known to be great friends with King Coal, and has an ugly environmental record in his home state. Horrible choice. But, from a Friends of the Earth email:

"Fortunately, while it initially looked like Pizarchik's nomination might sail through the Senate, grassroots groups' opposition is being heard. Some senators, including Bernie Sanders (D-VT) and Robert Menendez (D-NJ), submitted statements of opposition when the nomination was considered by a Senate committee. And late last week we received word that an anonymous senator has placed a procedural "hold" on his nomination, allowing us more time to make our case. Please support community activists in Appalachia and add to this momentum by sending your senators a message today."

You can read more in this FOE news release about Pizarchik, and you can use this form to tell your Senators to oppose his nomination.

Mountaintop removal won't grind to an immediate halt from any of this, but we can slow down the mass destruction until we can get it stopped. Let's roll up our sleeves and get at it.

10/24: Action update from iLoveMountains. Blasting has begun on Coal River Mountain, one of the key battles in the MTR fight.

And Then There's This

2009-10-20T20:23:00.005-06:00

BrandObama has given the go-ahead to Shell Oil to begin exploratory oil and gas drilling in the Beaufort Sea, even after courts struck down earlier BushCo plans for such projects last year. Persistence pays. The Big Oil lobby wins another.

To steal from Pete Seeger, "oh when will they ever learn." Better yet, will they? Will those we trust to make decisions ever learn?

Why Even Go To Copenhagen...

2009-10-20T17:49:00.022-06:00

...if this is the best we can come up with?

As a follow up to what I posted yesterday regarding global warming, here's a report from Greenpeace on the woeful inadequacies in the climate bills thrashing around in both houses of Congress. They're little more than industry friendly concoctions that are being handed over to corporate interests, particularly King Coal, on a silver platter. If the Prez accepts this, he may as well cancel his plans for the climate summit in December and simply announce to the rest of the world that no, the US government doesn't care to and isn't prepared to deal aggressively with climate change. If he goes to Copenhagen with this bill in hand, he's likely to get run out of town at the end of a sharp spear. And yes -- there is action at the end of the report that you can take asking -- nay, demanding -- that he push for legislation with some teeth. Mr. Obama, you can and must do so.

I sweat blood at times trying to find words. The right words. Strong words. Words that convey my feeling that we need to do whatever it takes to break away from our growth for growth's sake mentality, that we need to find a way to structure our societies in ways that fit nature's physical limits, and that those limits aren't negotiable. Well, I found some of those words, and no, they're not my own. They're much better. They're in an article by Chris Hedges about an interview he had with activist Derrick Jensen. Here's a brief snippet:

"We can join Bill McKibben on Oct. 24 in nationwide protests over rising carbon emissions. We can cut our consumption of fossil fuels. We can use less water. We can banish plastic bags. We can install compact fluorescent light bulbs. We can compost in our backyard. But unless we dismantle the corporate state, all those actions will be just as ineffective as the Ghost Dance shirts donned by native American warriors to protect themselves from the bullets of white soldiers at Wounded Knee."

Amen. You can read the rest right here.

About That Global Warming Thing

2009-10-19T16:53:00.026-06:00

Global warming has, to some extent, wound up at the back of the bus lately due to a focus on economic and health-care issues. But it hasn't completely disappeared. Saturday October 24 is scheduled as a global day of action on climate change, and then of course there is that upcoming summit in Copenhagen. We'll see if the world's leaders mean it when they talk about tackling global warming or if it's mostly lip service. I don't have high hopes.

I'm not going to waste time arguing whether or not climate change is real or not, or what's causing it. It's real enough. It's said by many of those who don't out and out deny warming but refuse to accept a human role in it that we're seeing a natural cyclical fluctuation in global temperatures, there isn't a 'damn thing' we can do about it, and we'll have to adapt. Well, that's all likely true up to a point -- we could well be, and probably are in a natural cycle, there's nothing we can do about those, and we -- we as in life on earth -- will have to adapt. But it's also true that we are contributing to those changes and accelerating them in a massive way. We are pumping millions of tons of greenhouse gases, primarily CO2, into the atmosphere 24/7. CO2 is known to trap heat. There's no question about that. It also dissipates at a snail's pace. The parts per million in the atmosphere are approaching extreme levels that may trigger tipping points we can't even imagine yet. Changes are happening faster than was projected even a couple of short years ago. Our growing emissions are something we can do a 'damn thing' about if we'll get off our asses and do it.

Is there a compelling reason to do so? You damn betcha there is. It can buy time. Maybe plenty of time. Whether the changes are cyclical or human caused or both, cutting our emissions big-time now, while we still have a small window of time to do it, might make all the difference in our ability to adapt. Humans no doubt can adapt, and probably have before, to natural fluctuations. They tend to happen more slowly. But to keep altering the atmosphere at the rate we're doing it could lead to rapid-fire changes that we won't have time to adjust to and won't have any defenses against. Should that happen, life on this planet, at least as we know it, could be screwed.

Copenhagen will be a strong indicator if 'Industrial Man' (homo sapiens industrialis) has the will and the wisdom to roll up his sleeves and tackle that.

Roadless Now

2009-10-02T18:12:00.014-06:00

I basically posted this 'cause I like the damn picture. But as long as I'm at it, I may as well mention that I found it while reading a news release from Earthjustice about bills in both the House and Senate addressing roadless areas. Don't know many details yet, but I do hope they address the glaring omissions in the recent reinstatement of the 2001 Roadless Rule that leave out 20 million acres in Idaho and the Tongass that were included in the original rule. I'll be watching, and if you have any updates pass them along.

Oh yeah, the poster is a graphic from the Earthjustice Roadless Now campaign. Check it out.

Update 10/05: Here's a press release from Oregon Wild on the Roadless Area Conservation Act of 2009 with links to both the House and Senate versions. Good news -- roadless areas in Colorado, Idaho, and the Tongass are included in these bills.

Keep It Wild

2009-09-28T17:59:00.007-06:00

I see Jon Tester is making a couple of stops here in Montana on the promotional tour for his land use bill. And it's apparently working. A lot of folks are willing to support this thing for a lot of reasons. It's being said that if it fails, it will signal that Montana doesn't want any more wilderness, and that it could be a long time, if ever, before we get any more designated wilderness in this state. Well, that could be, but what of it?

What we do have is a sizeable piece of public land, National Forest land, designated now as inventoried roadless land. Several million acres of it. With the recent reinstatement of the 2001 Roadless Rule -- two-thirds of it anyway -- that's probably the best place to keep those lands right now. They are de facto wilderness, undesignated but still wild, and will remain so unless this bill passes.

Tester's bill, with it's mandated timber provisions, would release the vast majority of those roadless areas for commercial exploitation. Should that happen, there goes the neighborhood. To leave them protected though undesignated makes a lot more sense. Then, if and when we realize the wisdom and the need of passing a real wilderness bill like NREPA, those lands will be available. To release them now to disappear into the hungry maw of greedy corporate interests would gut them and eliminate that possibility. That's not cool. That's not cool at all.

Bioregional Approach

2009-09-19T10:11:00.012-06:00

Seriously folks, the system we live in and labor under is broken, and all of our attempts to repair it and restore it to it's former glory are likely futile. We need a new approach. Bioregionalism is one such approach. It's the polar opposite of our one size fits all corporate global marketplace mentality. But what in the hell exactly is bioregionalism? Here's one look at it from the Bioregional Congress:

What is Bioregionalism?

Only around 30 years old, Bioregionalism – and the Bioregional movement – represent a comprehensive way of defining and understanding the places where we live, and of living there sustainably and respectfully through ecological design. The bioregional movement has helped spawn and support other movements and trends, such as the Green Party, Permaculture, Ecovillages, Ecological Restoration, Eco-Poetics and much more. At the same time, bioregionalism’s essence has been reality and common sense for native people living close to the land for thousands of years; even beyond human experience, bioregionalism is rooted in the ecological principles of all life. Bioregionalists are lifelong students of how to live in balance with our eco-communities. We recognize that we are part of the web of the life, and that all justice, freedom and peace must be grounded in this recognition.
Bioregionalism re-connects us into the living biosphere through the Places where we live. Bioregionalism acknowledges that we not only live in cities, towns, villages and countrysides; we also live in watersheds, ecosystems, and ecoregions. The awareness of those connections to the planet is vital to our own health and the health of the planet. By discovering our connections to the planet, we find a context for our lives to grow in. This context allows us to find ways to live sustainably in our settlements while at the same time provides us ways to nurture and restore the more-than-human community that surrounds us and which we are dependent on in so many ways.

Let's call this an open thread -- if you have any thoughts, ideas, links, perspectives, or opinions on bioregionalism feel free to chime in and start something. Here are a couple of links for starters:

Planet Drum
Bioregional Congress
Cascadia Wildlands

We need real change, not the patch and paint policies we're getting, so have at it...

Mary Travers 1936-2009

2009-09-16T19:47:00.011-06:00

I just ran across the news.

2009-09-12T10:58:00.012-06:00

Closed for remodeling

Well, not really, but I'm going to take a short time out for a little bit of housecleaning and remodeling and rebuilding here at old buzztail. Gotta do that once in a while. Change is good.

It's not that things are going to change drastically around here. They're not. It will look pretty much the same. The main thrust of this blog will remain the same, though hopefully a little more fine tuned. The longer I live, the less faith I have in our current social/political/economic system. I have serious doubts whether those we choose to represent us in our government are capable of steering us in the right direction. Like the Titanic, we've hit an iceberg, and we're trying to repair the damage with a case of duct tape and a new coat of paint.

Our priorities are ass-backwards. We're intent on continuing to grow an ever expanding economy, and we seem to think we can continue to put band-aids on the problems caused by that. It's time to put the earth first. We need to protect great areas of wild earth. We need to protect the health and well being of our life support system. Then we can rethink our economies and build them to fit within the limits. Anything less is suicidal. Bioregionalism holds possibilities for starters, as do localized, small-scale economies and energy projects and food growing systems. Massive change is a tall order to be sure, and a frightening one, but necessary. Quite frankly I don't know where to start, hence the break here at this blog. If anyone has any ideas I'm all ears.

The usual enviro activism will continue and links to other Montana blogs will remain in the sidebar. I will add others links that interest me as I find them.

pj

Too Disgusting For Words

2009-09-08T20:15:00.005-06:00

I was going to write a post about this, but after sitting here for awhile chewing on it I realized it ain't gonna happen. I simply don't have the words in me to begin to convey the depths of my disgust. Maybe another time. Maybe not.

I will say this. I've never voted for a Republican. From this day forward I'll never vote for another Democrat either. I promise. Enough is enough. And that's that. Jeezus...

To The Hunt

2009-09-08T18:21:00.004-06:00

Archery season is here again, and in what's quickly becoming an annual thing for me, I'll wish you bowhunters the best season ever. Salut.

What are you looking at?

A Travel Video

2009-09-05T09:55:00.002-06:00

About Those Tar Sands

2009-09-05T08:40:00.013-06:00

There's nothing nice to say about the Alberta tar sands oil project. How can we continue to condone, and demand the oil from, a project that pumps millions of gallons of toxic waste into the water supplies, sickens and kills an alarming percentage of the area's birds and wildlife and people, emits from three to five times the greenhouse gases of conventional oil drilling, burns enough natural gas in it's process to heat millions of homes, and will ultimately strip mine an area of boreal forest the size of Florida to scoop out the tarry sludge? Short answer. We can't.

The project is still gaining steam though with big players like BP and Royal Dutch Shell expanding their presence in it with major funding by the Royal Bank of Scotland among other investment firms. SoS Clinton's endorsement of the Alberta Clipper pipeline gives the green light to pump the crude to US refineries. First Nations and environmental groups are continuing to fight, and have filed a lawsuit through Earthjustice to put a stop to it. Opponents of the tar sands aren't going to roll over without a fight, and this promises to be a big one.

You can find more facts about the tar sands here at ForestEthics. They also link to actions that are being taken. Earthjustice issued a press release about the lawsuit, and the Indigenous Environmental Network is posting about action they are taking to put a stop to the madness. Read 'em and do what you can to help.

National Wilderness Month

2009-09-04T19:00:00.008-06:00

It was 45 years ago this month that LBJ signed the Wilderness Act of 1964 into being. Now, to commemorate that, President Obama has declared September to be National Wilderness Month. Nice gesture, but is it a glimpse of a commitment to protect more wilderness, or is it merely words? Being the cranky old bastard I am, I suspect the latter.

The prez also called on all Americans to appreciate, learn more about, and do what we can to protect our precious wild lands. So, Mr. Obama. What say you put some muscle behind those words and throw your support to NREPA? Hell, you are the president after all...

Clinton Says Yes To Alberta Clipper

2009-08-22T10:55:00.008-06:00

Well she did it. SoS Clinton granted a presidential permit to allow the trans-border Alberta Clipper pipeline to enter the US. Not surprising. It's the kind of decision we can expect from DC regardless of who is sitting in the power seats. But still...

No need to go into the bloody details of tar sands extraction. It's an ongoing environmental catastrophe that has been covered extensively. The important thing now is that court challenges are being prepared to reverse this decision. Enviro and native groups are doing that through Earthjustice.

For starters you can find out more at Earthjustice and at Indigenous Environmental Network. I will update with actions we can all take as they become available. Stay tuned.

Trapper Peak

2009-08-20T07:14:00.006-06:00

Trapper Peak
Bitterroot Mountains, Montana

Untitled

2009-08-14T21:01:00.007-06:00

No words tonight. Just this.

Healthcare Dollars At Work

2009-08-06T19:11:00.006-06:00

From Brave New Films:

The Last Thing I Feel Like Doing...

2009-08-05T17:52:00.005-06:00

Call this the post I put up when the last thing I feel like doing is posting to this goddamn blog. I'll do it anyway. I'll be climbing the walls if I don't keep myself busy. I need to get my head into a few things to regain some sense of normalcy. If you don't like personal blog posts, read something else. There's plenty out there.

The unthinkable happened yesterday. My daughter left for California with her mother. The move has more or less been in the works for a few years now, and I've known all along that if and when it happened it would be hard. I had no idea it would be this hard. Jeezus.

Then again, it opens up other choices. I've always felt, as least as long as I've lived here, that nothing could uproot me from Montana. Nothing. Then one day my daughter moves and I'm immediately entertaining thoughts of heading out there right behind her. It may be partly a self-preservation thing, but who knows?

It's not just my daughter. My older son is in California too, San Francisco, and now my little girl will be in the LA area. I also hear tell that California has a fair share of wild country. Well, I need to play with that idea. I'd love to be close to both kids -- there's much to be said for being close to your tribe, and what little I've seen of the High Sierra except for photographs looked mighty fine to me. Maybe I'll need to load my pack, throw it in the back of the car, and join them out there. Crazy thought? Maybe. But I've done crazier things, and by god I'm still here alive and kicking. Hmm....

A Dreaded Change

2009-08-01T14:20:00.007-06:00

I don't usually post much personal stuff here, but once in a while I need to. This is one of those times.

My dear daughter, who has lived with me here for the last three or four years, is suddenly going to be gone. She is moving to live with her mother in California. I say suddenly, though I've known ever since my ex moved out there that this was part of the plan and that it would probably happen sooner or later. I've been dreading the thought. Well, the time has come -- it's happening sometime within the next two or three days, and I'm a wreck.

I know all the reasons and they're good ones. They need mom/daughter time together. I know that. Mom misses her daughter as much as I'm going to. Being apart has been hard on them both. My little girl has grown into a young teenage woman with all the changes and issues young women go through as they grow up. She needs Mom to help guide her through all of that. I'm not much help with all the girl stuff. As hard as I may try, I'm pretty useless at it. She needs Mom. It'll be exciting for her, there will be new experiences and opportunities, and she'll be in good hands. My head knows all that. It's my heart that feels like it's being ripped out.

Watching her grow from a little girl into the bright, talented person she's becoming has been incredible. Watching her interests, and skills, grow -- particularly in music and writing and photography and video making -- has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. I need to make sure she has the opportunity to continue to pursue those wherever she may be. I need to continue my feeble attempts to make this world a healthy and sane place for her too. This site will continue, and what I do will probably expand into other avenues.

This post may stand here for a while. I'll give my daughter a good send off, and I'll give myself a few days to pout and feel sorry for myself. I'm going to be a blubbering mess for awhile, I know that because I already am and she hasn't even left yet, so I may not post much. Then again, I may hit the keyboard with a vengeance to fill the hole this is going to leave. In any event I shall return. I may be more incoherent than usual, but I'll return. This blog really isn't much, but continue it I must. It's the least I can do -- I need to find ways to do more.

Thanks for listening.

Clipper Decision Could Come Soon

2009-07-30T21:38:00.004-06:00

Secretary of State Clinton could be making her decision whether to grant a Presidential permit or not regarding the Alberta Clipper pipeline in the next few days. Here's another link to action you can take urging her to say no to a cross-border pipeline that would bring one of the world's dirtiest substances to the US.

Hat tip to Avaaz.org.

The Wild Grizzly

2009-07-26T16:36:00.026-06:00