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Canada Trades in Kyoto Protocol For Some Sweet, Sweet Oil

Dec 122011

The Conservative government, not wanting to spoil the money pot that is Alberta's oil, has formally decided to pull out of the Kyoto Protocol.

Following through on earlier telegraphed threats, Canada has become the first nation that embraced the Kyoto Protocol to formally reverse its stance and reject adhering to it in the future. Environment Minister Peter Kent summed up the country’s new position, saying Kyoto “does not represent a way forward for Canada”.

“Kyoto, for Canada, is in the past, and as such we are invoking our legal right to withdraw from Kyoto,” Mr Kent said in Toronto.

He said he would be formally advising the United Nations of his country’s intention to withdraw.

He said the cost of meeting Canada’s obligations under Kyoto would cost $13.6bn (10.3bn euros; £8.7bn): “That’s $1,600 from every Canadian family – that’s the Kyoto cost to Canadians, that was the legacy of an incompetent liberal government”.

Petty politicking and name calling aside, much has changed for Canada since the 1997 landmark agreement. Canada’s economy, and main driver for potential economic growth (and carbon-based pollution), will continue to be the mass exploitation of the Athabasca oil sands which are mainly found in the province of Alberta (which happens to be the home of the Prime Minister, funny enough). Much more difficult and environmentally destructive to extract from the ground than traditional oil deposits (such as the ones found in the Middle East), the Canadian deposits did not become economically viable until oil prices breached and remained above $70/barrel US.

With oil trading a few dollars either side of $100/barrel and showing no signs of ever dropping in a meaningful way, it would appear the economic temptations have gotten the best of the Conservative government. To adhere to Kyoto would be to put a lid on this environmentally destructive, economically enriching pot of money.

Newsbyte: Egypt Votes, Canada To Leave Kyoto?, $100bn of Facebook?

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Nov 282011

In tonight’s edition:

Newsbyte: U.S. Poverty to 16%, Coal Ash-Dumping Ferry As A Landmark, Viacom’s CEO Gets $50m Pay Raise

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Nov 072011

In today’s issue of Newsbyte:

NOAA finds U.S. 0.5°f warmer than 10 years ago

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Jul 072011

Once every decade, NOAA revises the average temperatures across the nation, based on the latest decade’s worth of data. This becomes a part of National Weather Service data which is forwarded on and reported as your average high & low in your local newspaper or newscast.

The headline numbers from the NOAA are just another data point on the long line of indications that the weather is, in fact, getting warmer:

According to the 1981-2010 normals to be released by NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) on July 1, temperatures across the United States were on average, approximately 0.5 degree F warmer than the 1971-2000 time period.

Normals serve as a 30 year baseline average of important climate variables that are used to understand average climate conditions at any location and serve as a consistent point of reference. The new normals update the 30-year averages of climatological variables, including average temperature and precipitation for more than 7,500 locations across the United States. This once-a-decade update will replace the current 1971–2000 normals.

In the continental United States, every state’s annual maximum and minimum temperature increased on average. “The climate of the 2000s is about 1.5 degree F warmer than the 1970s, so we would expect the updated 30-year normals to be warmer,” said Thomas R. Karl, L.H.D., NCDC director.

With the number of record highs outpacing the number of record lows by a 2:1 margin, it’s not surprising to find that any given day is on average warmer than it was a mere ten years ago.

Changes in average high & low temperatures by state for the 1981 – 2010 period vs. 1971 – 2000. (Image: NOAA)

Global Warming Ain’t No Problem – The Bible Told Me So

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Nov 262010

Illinois representative, Republican, climate change denier, John Shimkus. He'd like to have a hand in our energy policy!

With the incoming class of Republicans set to begin their rule in the House of Representatives this coming January, battles for leadership of various positions and committees have already begun. Names have been put forward hoping to step into a larger, brighter spotlight – as is the norm in the world of politics. As each formally unknown (or better said, not-as-known) Congressperson steps forward, the evaluation of who they are and what they believe begins. One of the bigger standouts in this arena of committee leadership change comes from Illinois representative John Shimkus, who is aiming for the leadership of the Energy and Commerce committee.

As the title of the committee indicates, one of the realms that it has jurisdiction over is the nation’s energy policy. As an extension of that, it also has huge effects on our environmental policies, just by which policies and energy sources would be favored by it (coal vs. clean, for example). With the threat of Global Warming still incrementally playing out year by year across the world, and with so many things related to energy, consumption, and resources seemingly near dramatic tipping points, now would be the time for some decisive leadership to help ensure that America will be on the right paths to not only help itself from an energy standpoint, but also help the world in the fight against Global Warming.

Instead? Mr. Shimkus takes his cues on Global Warming from The Bible. Continue reading »

…and on the 89th day, the Gulf was wiped clean.

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Aug 092010

From all this oil to nothing in less than a month? Might just be too good to be true.

Something that may go on to become one of the more regrettable moves that the Obama Administration has made comes out of the absolute rush to bury the negative story that has become the Deepwater Horizon oil spill from the second that the cap of the spill held straight on through this day and beyond. The trumpeting has been loud and clear:

The White House announced Wednesday that a “vast majority” of the oil in the Gulf has dissipated or been collected, following the plugging of the BP Deepwater Horizon well — but environmental groups are skeptical.

As officials were monitoring a thus-far successful “static kill” of the undersea wellhead, the administration responded, ironically enough, with a leak to The New York Times: a new government analysis claiming that only 26 percent of the estimated 4.9 million-barrel spill still remains intact in the Gulf of Mexico.

The chorus from rational thinkers: Where did the oil go?

We, the destroyers so efficient

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Jul 222010

A tide of solid oil washes ashore in Dalian, China (image from The Big Picture)

The irresistible luxuries of a life comfortable, filled with needs for wants that mere decades ago we never knew we had, continue to lead us down a path of pillaging and environmental destruction. The pace is slower than water torture in our eyes, but geologically similar to driving full-speed toward a brick wall. Recent efforts of green movements translate to tapping the breaks, but a glance at the headlines show that the other foot is still slammed on the accelerator, to the floor.

Our latest example comes from China. The northeastern Chinese port of Dalian is the sight of an unfolding environmental disaster. Explosions in two pipelines at the port on the night of the 16th triggered a major fire at first, and a spill of oil into the sea after the fact. The initial details of the story immediately bring back memories of another explosion-leading-to-disaster, that being the Deepwater Horizon oil rig and the resulting Gulf of Mexico disaster. The Dalian spill is a paltry 170 square miles, whereas the Deepwater Horizon disaster is 2,500 square miles on the surface and an untold number of cubic miles when oil at varying ocean depths is taken into account.

Bad: Your PR efforts are more successful than your actual disaster response

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Jun 152010

We all will.

The Deepwater Horizon oil spill continues to rage under the Gulf of Mexico’s waters, with every effort that BP has made to stem the flow of the leak seemingly either failing miserably or falling far short of self-set expectations. The media coverage of this disaster has been relentless and ongoing – as it should be. Typically when “gulf” and “disaster” are mentioned in the same sentence, a hurricane has just struck somewhere. In some extraordinarily twisted sense, a hurricane would probably be better than what is happening to the Gulf right now. At least when a hurricane strikes there is a beginning, a middle, and an end. The coverage dies out over time because the initial disaster is over, the phases of work being done transfer to recovery and rebuild, and time marches on.

While the Deepwater Horizon oil spill will too have a beginning, a middle, and an end, the sad truth that we may not even be half way through the initial disaster – the spilling of the oil – warrants the coverage given, and the coverage that will continue to be given to it – even if it brings down a political party in elections to come this fall.

An interesting trend is also being exposed by the increased coverage, though: media blackouts. Apparently BP has the ability to usurp the laws of a country it isn’t even based in, and can do so with an all too small amount of backlash. It’s all a part of the only successful campaign they seem to be waging as of late – a PR war.

The Deepwater Horizon Legacy: Oil on the shore through 2031

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Jun 072010

A bird fights the heavy oil on the shores of Louisiana (from Boston.com's "The Big Picture")

Oil continues to spew into the Gulf, this screencap from 13:56 on June 6th – after BP CEO Tony Haywood said a "majority" of the oil was being captured.

The Transocean-built and BP-owned Deepwater Horizon oil spill has been gushing large amounts of oil into the Gulf of Mexico since its start on Earth Day, April 22nd. Worst-case scenario estimates state that the leak is spilling 100,000 barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico per day – up until recent days where the latest attempt to divert some of the oil to the surface in a controlled manner was yielding some results. According to the CEO of British Petroleum, Tony Hayward, the latest cap attempt is capturing 10,000 barrels of oil per day now – which represents up to 10% of the worst case scenario and 83% of the estimate put forward by the USGS – 12,000 barrels of oil per day. Mr. Hayward is understandably trying to push the positive narrative of this as hard as he can – since his very job may be on the line:

ON BARATARIA BAY, La. – A containment cap fitted onto a leaking well in the Gulf of Mexico is capturing 10,000 barrels of oil per day, BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward said Sunday.

Hayward, the subject of speculation that he may be forced out of his position due to the political fallout from the environmental disaster, also told the BBC that he had strong support from BP’s board.

“The containment cap is producing around 10,000 barrels of oil a day to the surface which is being processed on the surface,” he said.
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Asked what proportion that represented of the total oil leaking, Hayward said: “At the moment it’s difficult to say but we would expect it to be the majority, probably the vast majority of the oil.”

Whatever “there, I fixed it!” narrative Mr. Hayward may be interested in pushing, the legacy of his company and his company’s oil spill will live on far past his tenure, whether that meets its end by this disaster or any future event. Even if the oil stopped flowing tomorrow, the legacy of the Deepwater Horizon – in pure physical effects, nevermind those of social or policy – are sure to live on for decades. If America’s last major oil disaster – 1989′s Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska – is used as a measuring stick, the effects might still be visible on the shoreline straight through the start of the 2030s.

Balancing need for fuel with cost beyond the pump

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May 102010

Erring on the side of reality, this photo from Greenpeace quickly hit the nail on the head as to what the Deepwater Horizon incident really is

Of all days – Earth Day – and of all situations – during a celebration of their own safety record – the oil rig Deepwater Horizon punctured a pocket of methane gas thousands of feet below the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Within seconds the pocket of gas rushed up the pipes, straight past safety valves put in place to prevent such things, and expanding with the lowering of pressure as it approached the surface. Once there, it ignited, destroying the rig, killing eleven workers, and eventually slipped below the horizon of the Gulf of Mexico, leaving behind a steadily increasing pool of oil to float across the waters in whichever way prevailing winds and currents dictate.

As the proponents of such catchy schemes as “drill, baby! drill!” fell silent over the next few days, the search for answers began almost as quickly as the gallons gushed from the breaks in the well. Oddly enough apparently one of BP’s top priorities were to make sure that pot wasn’t involved:

Behind the table was a row of portable toilets. And as the crew members approached, each was handed a cup for a mandatory drug test. The search for an explanation would begin with them. That search continues.

As that ‘search’ goes on, I am sure that the company in charge of this mess – British Petroleum – will do its best to diligently find the cause and to do whatever they can to ignore the reality they set for their selves, the reality they lobbied for.

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