This is an interesting article about light pollution and the need for dark sky legislation.
Jeanne, of particular note is the need to keep dark sky reserves and to create new ones. This might be of particular interest to you.
https://phys.org/news/2023-02-pollution-humanity-ancient-starsbut.html
@lovendures, you and I are on the same light wavelength!
Here are two more articles on light pollution. The first is an opinion piece published last week in the Washington Post.
This really is a big deal!
A train with toxic chemicals derailed in East Palestine, Ohio on Friday February 3, over a week ago and it is only now hitting bigger news outlets. A NewsNation reporter was arrested for covering the story. The official story (propaganda) seems to be that things are fine, the air and water is safe, downplaying the situation but it seems like a severe incident that could have long lasting environmental implications.
Please feel free to move this post to a more appropriate thread - I wasn't sure where it belonged.
Video for the lazy. Note - this is a reddit link to a video so I can't vouch for exact sources but I felt like it gave me a good overview of what has been happening. https://www.reddit.com/r/WorkReform/comments/10zzvx6/the_corptocracy_is_trying_to_cover_up_the_east/
More credible new source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/02/12/east-palestine-ohio-derailment-residents/
Behind the Washington Post paywall - removed some text to stay under word limit:
... It was 9 p.m. on Feb. 3 when 50 cars of a 141-car Norfolk Southern train derailed, igniting a large blaze near the hazardous chemicals that kept firefighters away for days. The derailment, which caused no injuries, probably was caused by mechanical issues on one of the rail car axles, the National Transportation Safety Board has said.
The incident caused further alarm nearly 48 hours after the crash, when changing conditions in a rail car caused authorities to warn of a possible “major explosion.” Officials on Monday conducted a “controlled release” of vinyl chloride to prevent a blast, and on Wednesday they allowed residents to return.
Some nights, resident Eric Whitining told The Post, the air smells like an “over-chlorinated swimming pool” and his eyes burn. He returned to his house the day authorities lifted the evacuation order. He can’t move his family of five out of their home, so he says he has no choice but to stay put and follow authorities’ instructions.
...
Norfolk Southern set up a “family assistance center” and is reimbursing residents who’ve fled their homes, though Pucci declined to say how many people that has included or how long the help will continue.
The Environmental Protection Agency has said the main chemicals involved were vinyl chloride, its byproducts phosgene and hydrogen chloride, butyl acrylate, and others. But neither the EPA nor the NTSB has published a complete list of what the train was carrying.
Asked whether Norfolk Southern would release the list, Pucci referred The Post to the NTSB, which is investigating the derailment.
Reporter arrested after broadcast at Ohio governor’s news conference
“In any of these situations, EPA is going to monitor with what tools they have available to them, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that’s the best way to monitor,” said DeCarlo, the Johns Hopkins professor. “The handheld monitors that were being used are convenient to use, but they often do not have the necessary sensitivity or the chemical specificity to really assess whether there’s a risk.”
Judith Enck, a former EPA regional administrator, agreed. She said it was “unconscionable” that the EPA hadn’t publicly listed all the chemicals that were in the trains. The agency, she said, should launch a website that shows test results “in a way that is easy for the public to understand.”
The EPA gave its air-monitoring data to health agencies before allowing residents to come back, said Bassler, the agency’s spokesperson. Since the fire was put out, air monitoring has not detected concerning levels of hazardous chemicals, she said.
Nearly 450 homeowners have signed up to have the air in their homes screened, an option Norfolk Southern offered and the EPA is helping with. As of Friday night, 105 homes had been screened and no vinyl chloride or hydrogen chloride was detected in any of them, Bassler said.
Though vinyl chloride is a carcinogen, its worst effects have generally been documented after long-term or high-volume exposure, according to federal reports.
“Short-term exposure to low levels of substances associated with the derailment does not present a long-term health risk to residents,” Norfolk Southern said in an FAQ sheet for residents.
...
I came across this article today
bit worrying
Regards to all
#Stopwilliow
If you don't know what #Stopwilliow means (I didn't, and I can't believe I didn't because I tend to have built in radar for these things) it's time to learn.
Next week. the Biden administration will vote on an oil drilling venture in North Alaska which will create jobs. But at what price ?
It's called the ConocoPhillips Willow Project and we really have GEN Z for alerting the nation to this disastrous (my term) plan.
If anyone can stop an oil drilling venture slated to release 9.2 million metric tons of planet-warming carbon pollution a year, which by the federal government’s estimate is about the same as adding 2 million cars to the roads, not to mention the eventual destruction of wildlife and human habitat, these Gen Z kids can.
Well, the Biden Administration can but it's very unclear if they will. Our youth are the ones putting pressure on the Administration by shining some major light on the subject.
Through Tik Tok.
Alex Haraus, a content creator who travels around the country advocating on environmental issues, has been been posting anti-Willow @alex.haraus/video/7202547073080757550?_r=1&_t=8aLeE9Ps3eo" target="_blank" rel="noopener">videos on TikTok for his more than 600,000 followers and urging people to speak out against the project. He said he intentionally pronounces ConocoPhillips’ name wrong to drive up engagement on his videos and further spread the word.
“This is just what happens when you have millions of people that feel empowered to actually use their voice about something that they care about,” Haraus said about the viral trend.
According to the Washington Post:
White House officials suggested to environmental groups in recent days that they may pair approval for a controversial Arctic oil project with new conservation measures in Alaska, but have failed to convince activists the idea is an acceptable compromise, according to three people involved in or briefed on the calls.
I LOVE our younger generation. They are our world's future and they are beautiful people.
About the issue:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2023/03/01/willow-project-biden-conoco-phillips/
About the youth led movement and the issue generally:
https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/05/us/willow-project-tiktok-petition-movement-climate/index.html
In a rare move, I am posting the Change.org petition to Stop the Willow Project.
Why?
Because this is a big part of what our community is all about.
This is something we can ALL do to fight for our earth and have a positive impact regarding climate change. Our voices matter!!
If not now, when?
@lovendures Thank you, Lovendures for taking this forum to a level where we can actually gather constituency for causes that matter. I just signed. Thank you, dear friend.
The petition has over 795,101 signatures as of this post now. I have been watching the numbers increase, about 2 people every 5 seconds. I hope it gets to 1,000,000.
Despite many years of reading on all things related to climate change and by corollary, energy, I had never heard of this potential source of energy...hydrogen, yes, but not from this source. I sure hope this could work. From the NY Times:
@lovendures Signed! Might I ask those who care maybe sign this one too? https://www.change.org/p/savepinelog
This is what Australia is aiming for.
https://www.dcceew.gov.au/energy/hydrogen
Australia’s ambition is to become a renewable energy super power, decarbonise our economy and increase clean energy exports to contribute to regional and global decarbonisation. Australian-made hydrogen will be essential to making our ambition a reality.
As a fuel hydrogen produces no carbon emissions, only water.
We can use it:
- to blend with (or replace) natural gas for homes, industry and cooking
- for fuel cells to generate electricity to power cars, trucks, buses and trains
- to store energy and generate electricity for mining sites and remote communities
- as an industrial chemical feedstock for products such as ammonia, fertiliser and iron
- to trade clean energy with other countries.
Australia has an abundance of natural resources to make clean hydrogen for our own use and to supply the world.
Regards
Matildagirl
Several of you have spoken recently about seeing human ingenuity as a key component of solving the climate crisis (or, as Al Gore aptly calls it, the "fossil fuel crisis").
Here may be an example of that: MIT engineers have developed a low-cost energy storage system using the easily available materials cement and carbon black: https://news.mit.edu/2023/mit-engineers-create-supercapacitor-ancient-materials-0731
"The two materials, the researchers found, can be combined with water to make a supercapacitor — an alternative to batteries — that could provide storage of electrical energy. As an example, the MIT researchers who developed the system say that their supercapacitor could eventually be incorporated into the concrete foundation of a house, where it could store a full day’s worth of energy while adding little (or no) to the cost of the foundation and still providing the needed structural strength. The researchers also envision a concrete roadway that could provide contactless recharging for electric cars as they travel over that road."
@gbs Love this! Yes, this is exactly what I am feeling. Really cool possible applications for this technology.
What we read about in the news is only a fraction of what is being worked on. It is really exciting to think about what innovations might be right around the corner! And with urgency building with each passing day, hopefully some real, actionable and scalable solutions will come to fruition.
@gbs, @cc21 I had to do a little research to find this since it's been nearly a decade since I first saw it, but check out Solar (Freakin) Roadways.
@cindy Oh, yes! I remember this! So cool. Maybe as electric vehicles become more prevalent, this can take hold?
So, I ran across this graphic on a Facebook page and it struck me as quite hopeful. I wanted to share it here (and also in the Great Turning Part 7 thread), especially in light of all the concern about current events, climate change, etc. What struck me about it was that it very much reflects the 2014 vision that @jeanne-mayell has shared with us numerous time. Her vision included a description of how we would dip to this trough via the 2020 event (COVID) and ensuing difficulties, but that we would start the climb upwards and get to the top of the plateau, eventually.
I found this a very hopeful image and hope you all do, too. We are learning hard lessons, as a collective, but I truly feel that we will get to the top of the plateau.
I share the Facebook page just so folks can see the source. The artists name is on the image.
https://www.facebook.com/search/top?q=inspiralized (it seems to be a food/recipe site.)
@cc21 This graphic is soooo close to the vision I got in a graphic vision ten years ago that showed a steep downturn in late 2019 then total plunge in 2020 followed by a gradually climb back upwards over the next eight years and culminating in new heights in 2028 with two women holding hands and smiling at the top of a mountain, and flashing the victory sign. At first I thought I was being shown the financial markets, but as time passed, I realized it was the collective conscience and group angst. Over time I began to realize I was seeing the Collective Conscience and I saw the two women as a shift in the power towards matriarchy and likely the victors at the top of the mountain were the new female president and v.p.
@cc21 - we learn most from our failures. Although, I much prefer success, I know this is true. I've also learned over the years that behaviors that at one time led to success that can change over time and so we must learn and implement new behaviors. Spirit is often leading us to new lessons.
@jeanne-mayell I love what I still refer to as your "cocktail napkin" prediction so much and whenever it resurfaces here it helps me stay out of the dark places.
My only qualm with it is 2028 is so far away. Granted the last couple of years have flown for me thanks to a hectic work schedule, but I want out of this 2024 election and 2026 midterms thing. I'm tired of this plot and want to skip to the end! 🤣
Thank you for bringing this back up again today!