Political winds change. As unprecidented weather extremes become the rule, and other events make climate change real for most rational people, those who fostered disinformation and propaganda in a effort to delay action may be held accountable.
Keystone XL Pipeline Project Dead
The abandonment of the project by its developer is good news. But the economic environment that made it attractive to big oil hasn’t changed much. Because the cost of oil is low thanks to many hidden subsidies and costs born by the public at large, there is still plenty of incentive to burn the fuel and delay switching to renewable non-polluting sources. So don’t go to sleep.
$20 Billion
US Taxpayers provide more than twenty billion dollars ($20B) is direct subsidies to the Fossil Fuel Industry year in and year out. That does not include an estimated six trillion ($6T) in indirect subsidies that represent the externalized costs of our use of fossil fuel products. Damage to property, people’s health, and the environment is permitted explicitly or implicitly by our failure to hold the industry accountable.
We may have grown accoustomed to this and accepted it in service of cheap gas, and “disposable” plastic items, but the reality of the impact isn’t mitigated by acceptance.
Renewable energy is competitively handicapped by these direct and indirect subsidies to the detriment of the public good and the wellbeing of all. Shouldn’t they end?
Bad for Horses Too!
Fracking waste contaminated water harms foals.
It Costs Big Bucks just to Leave it in the Ground
Pennsylvania collects very little when it permits private companies to tap the commonwealth’s fossil fuels. If the well owner goes bankrupt, who pays to close the well?
Well, Damn
[from NumLock News]
When an oil and gas extraction company goes belly up, they can leave behind wells that will seep methane and other hydrocarbons into the atmosphere for decades to come, if not longer. In the past five years, 207 such businesses failed in the United States, leaving the states holding the bag in terms of plugging the wells, and 190 more companies could file for bankruptcy by 2022. There are 3.2 million deserted oil and gas wells in the United States and 29 million globally. Until very recently scientists did not incorporate those abandoned wells into their greenhouse gas estimates, but that turned out to be a mistake, as post-abandonment the wells are leaking some of the worst emissions possible. A study of 88 abandoned wells in Pennsylvania found 90 percent leaked methane, a measurement of 43 wells in Texas found significant leaks in 28, and in the U.K. researchers found methane emissions in 30 percent of 102 wells checked. Plugging a well — clearing it of any obstructions and then filling it with cement — can cost $20,000 to $145,000, and for a modern shale well the cost can hit $300,000. If companies see the red ink of filling a well exceeds the black gold coming out of it, they can just abandon it in bankruptcy, leaving taxpayers holding the bag and a massive legal mess in their methane-choked wake.
It must be mighty tempting to those energy moguls to drain away all the liquid assets and then declare bankruptcy.
Nothing good comes of fracking.
This Should NOT be News
Elcon Withdraws!
Citing unfavorable business climate and COVID-19 Elcon has withdrawn its application for a toxic wastewater facility on the banks of the Delaware. Many of us voiced out protests repeatedly at hearings and public meetings. The siting of the facility was seriously flawed and the the application had many serious deficiencies.
We should remember that the permitting process exists to allow things to be done that are generally not allowed. Often private interests seek permits that are clearly not in public interest, and which, if granted, would degrade the quality of life and impose risks to the environment. We celebrate the decision to withdraw, it was an ill conceived project from its inception.
No Regard for Public Interest
Legislators are still serving private interests over public well-being. Spotlight PA is accountable high-integrity investigative reporting – I trust them to be honest and forthright. Our public servants, on the other hand, are too vulnerable to political winds, and the blandishments of the fossil energy lobby to be trusted, as these pages amply document. When your paycheck depends on not speaking with candor, nothing good happens.
“After all the evidence was heard … this was [the grand jury’s] conclusion — the giant fracking companies were given free passes by unprepared agencies, and the public was harmed,” said Jacklin Rhoads, a spokesperson for Shapiro.
– Spotlight PA
Chautauqua at Home
My family has deep roots in the original Chautauqua — my wife calls it summer camp for grownups. For many decades people have pilgrimaged to this small community for intellectual, spiritual, and physical renewal. Alas, COVID-19 forced cancellation of the program on Chautauqua Lake near Jamestown, New York.
But be of good cheer, it’s free and you can participate from home starting Monday.
| Don’t miss the Chautauqua Lecture Series …Climate Change: Prioritizing Our Global and Local ResponseHow we talk about climate change is rapidly shifting. But amid the ongoing political debates, how are we — and should we be — responding? All events are at 10:45 a.m. unless noted.Monday, June 29: Christine Todd Whitman, former administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, on “Government, Economics and Climate”Tuesday, June 30: Janis Searles Jones of Ocean Conservancy on “The Ocean and the Climate: How to Save Both”Wednesday, July 1: Katharine Wilkinson of Project Drawdown on “How to Reduce Greenhouse Gases”Thursday, July 2: Former UN official Amb. Christiana Figueres on “The State of Global Environmental Action”Please note a special start time of 11:30 a.m. for this programFriday, July 3: Geoffrey Kemp and Amb. Barbara K. Bodine discussing “The Geopolitics of Climate Change and the Environment” |
Government, Economics and the Climate – Climate Change: Prioritizing our Global and Local Response – CHQ Assembly
Christine Todd Whitman opens the week highlighting the role of government in combating climate change, what climate action looks like in economic terms and how Americans across the political spectrum can come together around collective action. Whitman, the first female governor of New Jersey, a…
Conversation over lunch or coffee is a big part of the Chautauqua Experience. At Pennswood, the community where I live, we are organizing Zoom/Conference Call discussion groups for those interested. If you want to participate in one of these, please use the contact form to let me know.
COVID-19 and Our Air
Polluters have been attacking scientists and science for years in much the same ways the tobacco industry did. The adverse health impacts of fossil fuel use are well documented and it’s no surprise that they exacerbate the consequences of COVID-19 infections. Now comes a Harvard study that is further evidence.
Here’s the Harvard paper:
