Are we seriously still having this argument? Climate change is real, folks.

I'll admit it. I'm one of those people who on the whole ignores the midterm elections. I've never lived in a state where shake-ups could happen during a mid-term election and so I've become comfortable with the idea of just 'sit and watch' over the years. But this year's primaries have shot this complacent little ecologist right out of her chair and up on two feet with both arms flailing. Why? Because I suddenly noticed a consistent line being towed by several of the senatorial candidates.

In New Hampshire, all of the GOP potentials are in agreement that climate change due to humans has not been proven. New Mexico GOP candiadates think that "it's not real." In Alaska GOP/Tea Party candidate Joe Miller "hasn't heard about it." Wisconsin hopeful Ron Johnson "absolutely does not believe in the science of man-caused climate change." In fact the only GOP candidate supporting climate action is Mike Castle, from Delaware.

I'm equally frustrated with the candidates on every side who won't vocally speak out in support of the overwhelming scientific evidence that global warming is happening seemingly because it's just not a popular stance. By not advocating for climate change action, these candidates are complicitly contributing to the idea that climate change might not be real.

How can we still be having this argument? Have we landed back in 1992? Cause I really don't want to have to go through the horror of having to wear braces and headgear all over again. Seriously though, in case you're on the fence about this whole "global warming thing", here are a couple of models that I think help explain the problem.

Bike-Share programs...are Sinister!

So, I've become a cyclist of sorts the past few years. I love riding my bike in the city, or on trails. It's good exercise, it's fun, it's convenient, and it's good for the environment. There are a lot of us around, especially in cities, where it is often faster to bike somewhere than to take a subway, bus, or (people still do this from time to time) drive. Now, bike safety is sort of a problem - I've been hit by a bad driver, and it is not fun - but hopefully this will improve as we get more bike lanes, etc. And, less crazy bikers - you know, the people who decide to jut in and out of heavy and fast-moving traffic as if they were driving a car.

Anyway, as such, this story caught my eye and reminded me just how crazy some people are in this country, particularly people running for public office. I don't know if it's a secret requirement that you be one of the following before being allowed to run for office in America: a moron, massively corrupt, racist, filthy rich without ever having to work for it, all of the above. It sure seems like it these days, though. Anyway, one of the candidates for the office of Governor of Colorado, Democrat John Hickenlooper, has implemented a bike-share program as the Mayor of Denver that has been incredibly successful. People can rent bikes for pretty low prices, use them in the city when they need them, and drop them back off at a variety of locations. Seems pretty cool, right? Sure. If you hate America!

Muslims can Change our Energy Future

To me, the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is a reminder that people of faith have a special responsibility to protect the planet. I believe my faith or “Deen” of Islam is intrinsically connected to the environment. In Arabic, “Deen” is defined as a religion or a creed, a faith or a belief, a path or a way. Christianity is a Deen. Judaism is a Deen. Buddhism is a Deen. A “Green Deen” is the choice to practice one’s religion while affirming the synergies between faith and the environment.

My inspiration to write the book, “Green Deen: What Islam Teaches About Protecting the Planet,” comes from my desire to highlight the contributions of Islam and Muslims to the environmental movement. The book shares how the Islamic teachings of Oneness, trust, and justice can guide all of humanity to transform our pollution-based way of life to one that prioritizes the planet.

Oneness, or Tawhid, is the understanding that everything comes from God. We all emanate from the same source; therefore, harm to one person, one animal, one part of the planet, is a harm to all of creation. The millions of gallons of oil gushing into the Gulf of Mexico is an example of how interconnected we are. Animals are losing their lives, humans are losing their livelihood. The economic repercussions will be felt around the world. Had we truly understood that taking from the Earth is taking from ourselves, we might not have allowed big oil companies to drill with little oversight and regulation.

Trust, or Amana, is a promise to protect the planet and it comes with the gifts of speech, knowledge, and the freedom to make decisions over the land and the animals. God trusts us to be responsible with these gifts. Unfortunately, too many have taken this trust with God as a license to pillage and destroy. The oil spill serves as an example of what can happen when we violate this sacred trust.

Justice, or ‘Adl, starts with the recognition that people can have a negative impact on the planet. “Corruption has appeared on the land and in the sea because of what the hands of humans have wrought. This is in order that we give them a taste of the consequences of their misdeeds that perhaps they will turn to the path of right guidance.” (30:41) Scholars have interpreted corruption in this verse to mean pollution. In the case of the BP oil spill, we have taken from the Earth without just return; in fact, we’ve returned the epitome of injustice.

As Muslims, now is the time for us to stand up and choose a Green Deen and restore justice to the Gulf of Mexico. “O you who believe! Stand out firmly for justice, as witnesses to Allah, even as against yourselves, or your parents, or your kin, and whether it be (against) rich or poor: for Allah can best protect both. Follow not the lusts (of your hearts), lest you swerve, and if you distort justice or decline to do justice, verily Allah is well-acquainted with all that you do." (4:135)

CAMP along with other Muslim professionals and the Green Deen Team are supporting a variety of efforts to help the Gulf and to save the planet from more acts of injustice. The Sierra Club is organizing the Beyond Oil campaign to stop all offshore oil drilling. 1sky.org is urging Americans to defend the Clean Air Act. As Muslims, it is essential that we join the ranks of those who are fighting to change our energy future. Write to your congressman. Sign the petitions. Go to the rallies. Organize. It is our divine duty.

ibrahim abdul-matin is a green economy consultant, media personality on WNYC’s “The Takeaway,” and author of “Green Deen: What Islam Teaches About Protecting the Planet,” due in stores October, 2010. For more information, please visit www.greendeenbook.com.

(from www.camp-online.org, by ibrahim abdul-matin)

Enough is Enough. Time to Get Real BP (and that Means "Honest")

A Catalog of the Long-term Implications of the BP Gulf Spill

Enough time has passed at this point that as a national and global society we need to consider the worst case scenarios regarding the BP oil gusher. When the top energy adviser to the White House, Carol Browner, says in a live interview “This is probably the biggest environmental disaster we have ever faced in this country,” (CBS’s “Face the Nation”) and the situation is getting worse not better, it is necessary to consider the long-term implications of simply allowing a morally corrupt corporation remain in control of fixing the (ongoing) mess they have caused.

In a worst case scenario Browner explained , "There could be oil coming up 'til August [and…] we are prepared for the worst." The worst case scenario, of course, would be that the gushing well is not able to be capped at all and we will all be forced to wait until BP is able to finish drilling the two relief wells they began working on several weeks ago. As far as I know, however, that does not necessarily mean that the oil will stop leaking completely though either, merely that the pressure pushing it out will be relieved (hence, "relief well"). If I am misunderstanding the net result of this operation and an expert in the field can explain what I am missing, “There is No Spoon” would love to learn a thing or two in the comment section of this post.

Seriously though, have not we been trolled enough already by “Beyond Petroleum?" I think it is time that government resources be used more judiciously and the bill slapped on BP’s treasury desk. In fact, I couldn’t help but think about Bush’s Mission Accomplished fiasco--I mean speech—back in 2003 regarding the successful end of the US-Iraqi war (for those who don’t know, our men and women are still over there).

Please do not get me wrong, I am not so naïve as to think that during the first few weeks after the explosion, the execs at BP headquarters would have been so quick to tell the truth, (i.e. admitting that they didn’t have a clue and needed help from the US government as soon as possible). That is just not how the world works, as the Oil Giant’s biggest investors would be skinned alive if Virgil were to come loose so early in the crisis--don't forget how many politicians have money in oil either (a la Cheney and Co). They needed to buy time. Okay, fine. I get it. Yet, by May 10th we were on our 6th attempt at solving this issue having already been told that the big steel box thing-a-ma-bob contraption was going to work--then it wasn't going to work--uh, uh, yes it is--nope Terry farted again, it isn't. On to plan F comrades: let's stick a 4-inch pipe down the busted steel well pretend like that will siphon off enough oil to call it progress. After three days of failed attempts BP Says Latest Scheme to Halt US Oil Leak Working Well. In fact, if you watch the video on that BBC page you will very quickly be under the impression that all is solved and we can all go home for "it has succeeded," claims the reporter. “Significant amounts of oil [were] being siphoned via this mechanism.” The next day we learned that "BP, is finally getting a handle on stemming the tide of some of the leak. BP engineers have used a pipe fitted into the leaking well head and have been able to divert some of the oil up to the surface to a drill ship." At the time of reading this, I turned to my partner and asked, "Does that mean that if I turn a flashlight on at midnight it's suddenly almost dawn?" On May 19th we learned that the pipe had freezed up due to ice crystals and was no longer having an impact.

On May 26th BP’s effort to plug the hole with “junk and mud” was going as planned

Then it wasn't.

Then BP's Junk Shot wanted not.

Today, June 3, 2010, we learned that the company finally cut the pipe and is preparing to cap it. As a result the stock climbs 5% while the rest of the market goes up less than half a per cent.

For the record, I would not be nearly so hard on the Execs if “[they] really [were] doing everything in their power to fix this thing,” but they just aren’t.

So enough bitching and moaning on my part, I just wanted to refresh my memory a bit on what has gone on thus far so that I might begin to understand what we can expect from this ugliness moving forward.

First, BP will most definitely not go bankrupt. I expect the company will be much smaller in 5 years or so, but after 101 years of paying fines, British Petroleum has figured out how to work the system and then some.


Second, the nearest state to BP's gushing undersea well (42 miles away), Louisiana, has been the most impacted by the spill so far, and as we all know the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the horrible response of the then President is ongoing. Unfortunately Louisiana’s pains are about to get more acute as Governor Bobby Jindal said this week that "more than 100 miles (160 km) of Louisiana's 400-mile (644 km) coast had so far been impacted by the spilled oil. State officials have reported that “sheets of oil” are wrapping the precious wetlands and seeping into marine and bird nurseries, not to mention the oyster beds that serve as the economic motor for many small communities there. Sticky sludge stains cover the marsh cane that binds the wetlands together and promises to endanger the wildlife for quite some time.

In Mississippi and Alabama, “tar balls and surface sheen,” have been reported, while last week National Coast Guard officials spotted tar balls on some beaches in the Florida Keys, raising fears that the Loop Current, which sends water and wild life from the Gulf of Mexico through the Florida Straits may have already brought oil from the spill far to the southeast. Apparently, however, laboratory tests subsequently showed the tar balls were not from the BP spill. (Where else would they be from?) Perhaps what is more scary, however, is that Pensacola was reportedly struck by the rich black goo yesterday, drawing the possibility (illustrated in the simulation embedded in the previous post) that if not contained very soon, small bits—followed by heavy streams—of oil could find its way as far north as North Carolina.

DERIVATIVE IMPLICATIONS (more detailed analysis of the impact of the BP oil spill)

FISHERIES— Having declared a "fishery disaster” in the seafood-producing states of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama due to the oil spill, the US government has made these states eligible for federal funds to offset the impact on fisherman and their communities of the oil pollution in their fishing grounds.
Louisiana's $2.4 billion seafood industry supplies up to 40 percent of U.S. seafood supply and employs over 27,000 people.

The state provides more shrimp, oysters, crab and crawfish than any other state in the country and is the second-biggest U.S. seafood harvester. As of Friday, the NOAA extended the area closed to fishing in the Gulf of Mexico to 25 percent of Gulf U.S. federal waters—an area covering 60,683 square miles (up from 20 percent previously, with a warning that more closures should be expected. Mind you, all of these economic effects are for a single state, currently receiving a lot of attention. I can only imagine the more subtle effects of this crisis.

WILDLIFE
As reported, Oil—in thick sheets, surface sheen and tar balls--has come ashore in Louisiana wildlife reserves like the Breton National Wildlife Refuge in the offshore Breton and Chandeleur Islands, and the Pass-a-Loutre refuge further to the south. Large amounts of methane gas has also been released from the source having an unseen/unknown impact. However, during the 43 days since the spill started, wildlife officials report that 491 birds, 227 turtles and 27 mammals, including dolphins, have been collected dead along the U.S. Gulf Coast, according to an update released on Sunday by the oil response unified command.

TOURISM
Tourism operators in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida-- from hotel owners to restaurateurs and boat charterers -- have reported cancellations as a result of the oil spill.

From HotelNewsnow.com we learn that “Tourism officials and hotel operators in Gulf of Mexico coastal regions say they are struggling with occupancy and reservations, but some areas are suffering more than others.”
[…]

We have had some cancellations. It is hitting the beachfront properties hard and the casinos have seen some impact … and the charter boat companies,” said Richard Forester, executive director of the Mississippi Gulf Coast Convention and Visitors Bureau in Biloxi. The timing is unfortunate, since many hotels and casinos had been experiencing an uptick in business earlier this year as the U.S. economy started to improve, he added.


SHIPPING

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said on Friday it has begun surveying a new ship anchorage site at the mouth of the Mississippi River for ships to undergo inspection and oil decontamination before entering ports. This is a subtle if significant development as we are beginning to see the outlier impacts of the BP spill moving forward.

U.S. authorities are anxious to sustain Gulf shipping operations as the Mississippi Delta is extremely vital to U.S. exports and imports. NOAA says the Lower Mississippi River ports export over 50 million metric tons of corn, soybeans and wheat per year, more than 55 percent of all U.S. grains inspected for shipment.

REAL-ESTATE
If the bursting of the housing and commercial real estate bubble wasn’t weighing on the real-estate already, it is hard to believe that anyone would desire to buy up oil-front property. This particular point might seem far off at the moment, but remember that the source of this oil is over 1 mile below the surface of the water. It will take time, even after the oil well is successfully and completely capped, for all the oil that comes out, to find its way to the surface.

OIL INDUSTRY
There is likely to be a significant impact to the oil industry moving forward for a number of reasons. The most obvious will be the immediate cost to BP to clean up the physical mess—estimated by Credit Suisse to be 37 Billion—but that does not include what it will take to repair their image after this colossal crisis. The expectations of these profit losses has not only brought down BP’s market value, but the entire oil industry as it is a major component of the S&P500 and nearly all energy indexes. Also weighing on the industry are expectations of new costly regulations that will be put in place to make sure this never happens again. The end result amidst a continuing debt crisis in Europe is more strain on an already weak recovery.

Happy Earth Day

It's hard (at least for me) to think about Earth Day without at least thinking about some of the issues we have created for our little blue planet.

So I offer, this presentation which summarizes the proposal published in Science back in 2006 by Pacala and Socolow based on their studies at Princeton University. While I do not agree with every recommendation suggested (I am strongly opposed to corn and soy-based ethanol) I do think it does a decent job of quantifying attainable solutions to curbing carbon emissions in the immediate future.

For those naysayers (Hi, Dad!) who do not think the retooling of a green America is feasible, I offer this point. At the start of the US involvement of World War II, the following wartime production goals were issued on January 6, 1942:

• 45,000 tanks
• 60,000 planes – (229,000 produced by 1945)
• 20,000 anti-aircraft guns
• 6 million tons of merchant shipping
• Production of Automobiles was banned for 3 Years

It took only five months to restructure the economy.
Recycling, particularly of metals, on a large scale was enforced.
Victory gardens and rationing encouraged less waste and locally grown produce.

If we could do that based on the technology of the 1940s, surely we are even more capable of greater innovations today.

At this point in the post I was going to address the concerns of those who feel that the climate crisis is exaggerated, unreasonable or otherwise imaginary...(Hi, again, Dad!) but I don't think that focusing on the gloom and doom is the best way to move forward, so instead, I offer some resources for those who are interested in resizing their carbon footprint.

The Lazy Environmentalist http://www.lazyenvironmentalist.com/books/ is a great resource for finding cheap ways to make easy, environmentally friendly choices.

Carbon Footprint Calculator: http://www.nature.org/initiatives/climatechange/calculator/

Home Energy Saver: http://hes.lbl.gov/ The Home Energy Saver was the first Internet-based tool for calculating energy use in residential buildings. I used this site recently to complete a home energy audit of my parents' house.

Department of Energy:
Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy – Do It Yourself Audit
http://www.eere.energy.gov/consumer/your_home/energy_audits/index.cfm/mytopic=11160
Information for Apartments
http://www.eere.energy.gov/consumer/your_home/apartments/index.cfm/mytopic=10010

Energy Savers: Tips for saving energy at home: http://www1.eere.energy.gov/consumer/tips/home_energy.html

Energy Guide: Smart Energy Choices http://www.energyguide.com/ A tool to help analyze your energy consumption.

Energy Information Administration: http://www.eia.doe.gov/
EIA is the Nation’s premier source of unbiased energy data, analysis and forecasting. EIA provides this information to promote sound policy making, efficient energy markets, and public understanding about energy and its interaction with the economy and the environment. By law, EIA’s products are prepared independently of Administration policy considerations. EIA neither formulates nor advocates any policy conclusions. This isan excellent resource to look at national energy data and economic or event-driven issues that may impact theenergy market.


Happy Earth Day, Everyone!

Getting to the Roots of Somali Piracy

Over the weekend I reluctantly listened to the news as they discussed Somali Pirates and the container ship Maersk Alabama. Yesterday's decision by the US Navy seals to kill three Pirates further saddened me. While I've heard people quickly jump behind the American crew and ship, most of this has occurred without context. This isn't to suggest that if you read these links, watch these videos, etc. that you will or should support the Pirates, but I am pretty sure it will help you better generally understand some of the dynamics that the Somali people live under. It will help you better understand who is involved and why this is not just a traditional "stand off." Like most current events, when you scratch the surface, history bleeds through. I encourage you to check them all out.

First up, video interviews with K'Naan by Davey D. K'Naan is a phenomenal voice for Somalian struggle with his first two albums: The Dust Foot Philosopher and Troubadour. Remember when Chuck D said rap was Black America's CNN, K'Naan has taken that to heart in his discussion of his life and his people's lives.





Second up, an article that recently appeared in GQ magazine (yeah, Gentleman's Quarterly) by Jeffrey Gettlemen of the NY Times. The article is one of most context sensitive mainstream press article on the situation, though it has its limitations.

Third up, Black Agenda Report was one of the first analyses of the Pirates that went beyond "Pirates after booty"/"maritime terrorist" approach of mainstream media. The deeper you dig, the more you see the manipulation of political powers for the good of few and the pain of the majority. Here is a piece from December on Sadia Ali Aden on some of the US involvement in the struggles happening there.

Keep informing yourself and keep on believing in the value of human life. As K'Naan said T.I.A.

Shout out to K'Naan and Davey D's twitter feeds where I got a lot of this and you can find much more... see people twitter can be useful for more than telling us what you ate today or your complaints about the weather ;)

Think the Whales are Saved? Think Again.

Save the whales? Didn't we do this already? This is a question I've heard quite a bit lately. The truth is that although some whale species have increased in numbers due to the conservation efforts of the 70s and 80s, most species are still threatened and many are at the brink of extinction. The issue is current. One of the final acts of the Bush administration was to kick-off the process of effectively ending the international moratorium on commercial whaling by pulling together a "small working group" and drafting text that extends "scientific whaling rights" into international waters. I recently had the pleasure of attending a presentation by Jake Levenson of the International Fund for Animal Welfare that helped summarize the current and continued threats to whales worldwide.

*Humpback whale. Photo © IFAW

Many people believe that the major threat to whale species was solved with the 1986 worldwide commercial whaling ban. However, an estimated 30,000 whales have been killed in the last two decades since the ban. Japan has increased its “scientific whaling” practices which are allowed under the treaty. Iceland also continues its whaling practices using this loophole. Whaling ships in Iceland often follow whale watching vessels to find easy targets. These hunting practices often involve the use of grenade tipped or explosive harpoons, which promise to provide an 'instantaneous' death but often take several hours to kill the animal. Multiple gunshots are often used to 'speed up' the process. Although this whaling is done in the name of scientific research, all of the scientific information that is gathered can now be obtained through humane practices. Additionally, meat and oil products from endangered whale species (by products from scientific whaling) can be found in markets in several countries.

Aside from the direct threats of commercial whaling efforts, whales face three major anthropogenic threats: sound pollution, vessel collisions and entanglement. Sound travels twenty-five times faster underwater than it does through air. For most marine life, sound is not only something that is heard, but also something that is felt. Whales have evolved to communicate across oceans, in order to find hunting grounds or potential mates. Ocean background noise levels have doubled every decade for the last 60 years, causing confusion, navigation issues and potentially inhibiting mating. The primary causes of increased ocean noise include oil exploration, oil related construction and drilling, military sonar and increased shipping activity. Mass strandings of whales can be linked to military sonar activity nearby.

Vessel collisions can result in immediate death or severe injury to the whales. Amputation of fins or gashes that do not result in death can leave the animals open to infection and impair swimming abilities. Four out of six of the right whale deaths recorded in 2006 are attributed to collisions with ships. The reason is simple. Shipping has increased dramatically in the past decade and shipping lanes directly overlap right whale habitat.

More than 300,000 cetaceans die annually due to entanglement. IFAW believes this number is an extremely conservative estimate because it is reported by fishermen and not every country provides reports. The organization believes that the number is closer to 900,000. Entanglement is the number one cause of extinction among whale species. It is a slow, painful death generally realized through starvation or exhaustion. When entanglement does not result in the death of a whale it can compromise their physical conditions, leaving the individual prone to infection or adversely impacting its behavior. Again, understanding the problem is simple. There is too much rope in the water. Whale + Rope = Panic. Distentanglement efforts can be logistically difficult, dangerous to both whales and humans and can cause additional trauma to the whale. Whales must be tracked and essentially trapped in order to cut away the lines attached to their bodies.

IFAW has implemented some innovative and technologically interesting solutions to many of these anthropogenic threats. For example along the eastern coast of the United States they have deployed 13 buoys along major shipping routs. The buoys are equipped with hydrophones that listen for whale calls and alert the shore and nearby ships of whale activity nearby. The system works much like the ones used by airplanes and radio-control towers to avoid collisions in the air. There are also efforts underway to develop remote controlled rope cutting devices to provide a less traumatic disentanglement process.

Here's what you can do to Save the Whales (again)...

Send a letter to your congressperson(s) through Stop Whaling Now: http://www.stopwhaling.org/c.foJNIZOyEnH/b.4489567/siteapps/advocacy/ActionItem.aspx?msource=DR080902001

Stop Iceland from Killing Protected Whales: http://www.ifaw.org/ifaw_united_states/get_involved/take_action/index.php#x

SHOW US YOUR TAIL! 

IFAW is collecting worldwide pictures of people showing their support for the whales. 

As enough pictures for a country are collected, they are published in book form and sent to the government leaders of those countries.

Post your picture here: http://tailsforwhales.org

*Twiggy Whale Tail Photo Courtesy of tailsforwhales.org
For more information on IFAW and who they are check out their site: http://www.ifaw.org