June 13, 2005
This has been bugging me
Now, I don't like cigarette smoke anyway; it makes me nauseous. But leaving that aside, why are smokers allowed to leave their nasty cigarette butts everywhere? I can't think of any other activity where such littering goes undiscussed.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 11:47 AM | Comments (5) | TrackBack
June 05, 2005
A flower named "Bucky"?
'Big Bucky' May Become the Largest Flower
I dunno, I think flowers should have girls' names.
Anyway, B.B. is a titan arum, also called a "corpse flower" due to its smell. Its latest bloom is coming up, and is expected to set the record for the world's largest flower. Apparently, things aren't going too well up at the University of Wisconsin-Madison:
"If we break the record," he said, "it's great for the country, the state and the city of Madison."
Yeah, the dollar's weak and our international standing's in the toilet, but we have the world's largest smelly flower! Take that, Europe!
(Thanks to Meryl.)
Posted by Mac Thomason at 09:11 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 23, 2005
Enforcing a rule?
EPA to start enforcing rule on landfills
What does the EPA think it's doing, enforcing a rule against landfill owners operating without the means to properly shut down their facilities? Or any rule? This is Bush's America!
Posted by Mac Thomason at 09:11 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 12, 2005
That's our military
CNN.com - EPA: Closed military bases on list of worst toxic sites - May 12, 2005
My impression (admittedly second- and third-hand) is that the military brass goes beyond being indifferent to environmental concerns. They're actively hostile. So the contamination (which in 10 of the 34 sites includes groundwater contamination) is no surprise.
This doesn't include bases that are still open. I can only imagine the stuff in the ground at the Anniston Army Depot.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 01:33 PM | Comments (0)
May 02, 2005
SODD
Local plants may be at risk from fungus
For "Sudden oak death disease", caused by the fungus Phytophthora ramorum. Hard to believe anything could be "sudden" with an oak tree, but there it is. It can also kill smaller plants, including popular flowering shrubs.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 02:00 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
February 18, 2005
No!
CNN.com - Scientists: Global warming is real - Feb 18, 2005
Who are you going to believe, these scientists, or the tireless crusaders for truth who work so hard to deny global warming for no reward except massive cash payouts from polluters?
I haven't posted this for awhile, but here are the stages of global warming denial, or any other denial of obvious environmental problems:
1. There is no such thing.
2. Okay, there is such a thing, but people aren't at fault.
3. Okay, people are to blame, but it's really a good thing.
4. Okay, it's a bad thing, but there was no way to avoid it.
5. We were against it all along, but regulators kept us from pursuing the market solution which was the only way to avoid it, so deregulate now before it's too late.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 10:36 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
November 08, 2004
But there's no such thing as global warming!
CNN.com - Study: Arctic warming at twice the global rate - Nov 8, 2004
Tech Central Station told me so!
Despite this, the world continues to get warmer and the polar icecaps continue to decay. For example, North Polar ice has shrunk by 15 or 20 percent the last thirty years, and by the end of this century might disappear in summer altogether. I think we should send the people who keep saying that there's no such thing to the Arctic to investigate. Thoroughly. Take their time, 15, 20 years.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 12:56 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
August 22, 2004
Bush environmental philosophy
CNN.com - Tree farmers enlisted to fight logging rule - Aug 20, 2004
It's very simple: they will do whatever is worse for the environment. I've mentioned this before. In this case, as in many others, there are economic cases to be made for both sides, but tree farmers don't outrate loggers because logging is worse for the environment than tree farming. The tree farmers are in higher-population states east of the Mississippi, the loggers in the giant empty Republican spaces in the West. Guess who wins out? It's a very simple rule.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 01:48 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 13, 2004
Hating nature second nature
Conservationists protest new Bush logging proposal
In their continuing efforts to destroy anything green that isn't money, the Bush Administration wants to kill the "roadless rule" and thus open the national forests to loggers. I can't imagine this is actually good for Bush's reelection prospects, considering the rule's popularity. But I suppose it's unlikely to be a big deal. In any event, the Administration thinks some things are more important than re-election, and huge giveaways to corporations are one of them.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 09:13 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
April 16, 2004
Born to eat wild
Weston restaurant owner charged with buying wild meat
The owner of the "Pacific Island" restaurant purchased wild ducks, white-tailed deer, bear and snook from undercover agents of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. I don't know what "snook" are but I'm guessing it's a fish which would mean that this goes in all three "pundit" categories.
The defendant says that he didn't feed any of this to his patrons, and that it was only used to feed his employees. Uh-huh.
(Offensive and overly intrusive registration required. Better use email address mac at warliberal dot com, password warliberal.)
Posted by Mac Thomason at 11:30 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
April 05, 2004
I don't get people sometimes
I mean, does someone take a look at a lake and think, "You know, what that needs is some water hyacinths from my home aquarium"? In Lay Lake, south of Birmingham, the infestation started only a year ago but has spread throughout the lake's 48-mile length.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 08:06 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
March 19, 2004
Oh, it's all our fault, is it?
N. Carolina petitions 13 states to clean air
The North Carolina AG says that pollutants from 13 other states -- including Alabama -- are the reason his state can't meet clean air rules. Hmmm. Or maybe it's the choking miasma of cigarette smoke?
Posted by Mac Thomason at 09:05 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 18, 2004
Dummy
CNN.com - Student charged with firebombing SUVs - Mar 17, 2004
William Cottrell is accused of firebombing or vandalizing 125 SUVs in the LA area. He gave responsibility to the Earth Liberation Front, though who knows if he's really a member. But firebombing is dumb. You know how many toxins are released into the environment when you firebomb an SUV? The obvious strategy is to drain the oil and gas and then dump it into the ocean as an artificial reef.
Any relation to Walt Disney's brother-in-law William Cottrell? Maybe Eisner is responsible for this as well.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 09:12 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 14, 2004
Alive, alive-o?
Alabama has the world's densest population of freshwater mollusks. Unfortunately, a lot of those mollusks have gone extinct or are getting there. Alabama has a lot of rivers, hence all the mollusks, but also hence a lot of dams. Most of the state's snail and mussel species are now confined to creeks and streams because the rivers aren't friendly to them anymore. Biologists are trying to save them now, but typically the state's efforts lag behind those in other parts of the country.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 01:41 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
February 02, 2004
He probably has a pretty good idea already
Davis to learn why most landfills go to poor or minority towns
Artur Davis, whom I prefer to think of as my congressman because I sure didn't vote for Spencer Bachus, plans to launch an environmental justice initiative this spring. That's one of the things you do when you're in the minority party opposite Tom DeLay, I guess. I assume the right wing will accuse him of attacking industry and being a chicken little, but I don't see them signing up to have toxic landfills in their neighborhoods.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 08:23 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 16, 2004
It's the sort of thing they'd do
Dees runs for seat on environmental group's board
Morris Dees is running for a seat on the Sierra Club's governing board. He says he's doing this to help prevent the group from being taken over by right-wing anti-immigrationists who would use it to promote their own agenda. Former Sierra Club presidents seem to agree; I don't know the details but it really is the sort of thing anti-immigration groups would try.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 08:40 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
December 04, 2003
This has nothing to do with global warming!
Tropical storm brewing in the Caribbean
So it (to be named "Odette") would be the first Atlantic tropical storm to develop in December since 1984. It's just going to hit the Caribbean, probably, not the US. Nothing to worry about. Here, have a gallon of unleaded on us.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 01:08 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 04, 2003
Neat
Ford Plans to Manufacture Hybrid SUV for Next Summer
It wouldn't do much to mitigate safety concerns. But an SUV that gets 35 to 40 MPG in city driving? Sounds good to me.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 10:24 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
September 29, 2003
Sarcasm sequencer set to high
Orangutans Could Go Extinct in 20 Years
Yes, soon humanity will be safe from dangerous, fruit-eating orangutans, all thanks to the loggers who illegally forest in protected areas. What with their primitive tool-making and language skills, orangs could be a huge threat in several million years. Better to take care of them now.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 02:26 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Yes, but was it a joke?
CNN.com - Icy reception for Putin's climate joke - Sep. 29, 2003
Pooty-poot went before the delegates at a UN environmental conference and joked that global warming would be good for Russia, because they could spend less money on "fur coats and other warm things". The delegates didn't like it.
The thing is, it's a joke, but there's a grain of truth to it. Not the fur coats bit, but most of Russia is very cold and much of it is tundra. If the icecaps melt it would be very bad for St. Petersburg, but if it warms up everywhere it would be very good for Siberia. Russia would gain a lot more arable land than it lost.
I should point out that while global warming would be a short-term -- as in, everyone now living's lifetime -- disaster, long-term it would probably be good for humanity, if the species survives. (And I've little doubt it will. We're tough.) An awful lot of the Earth's land surface is locked up in ice much or all of the year. Florida will be underwater, but America's loss will be Canada's gain. Of course, it will make things even worse in Africa, like everything does.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 02:12 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 22, 2003
There's No Such Thing As Global Warming! (TM)
Right?
CNN.com - Report: Giant Arctic ice shelf breaks up - Sep. 22, 2003
The Arctic's largest ice shelf -- a 3,000-year-old feature -- has broken up, releasing a freshwater lake into the sea. The climate in that area has gotten warmer (0.4 degrees C a year) in recent years, but it has nothing to do with the greenhouse effect. Just don't worry about it. Here, have some oil.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 05:48 PM | Comments (7) | TrackBack
September 12, 2003
Well, that sucks
CNN.com - Report: Antarctic ozone hole sets record - Sep. 12, 2003
The hope was that we'd turned a corner after last year, when the hole shrunk, and that the efforts to prevent ozone destruction were finally bearing fruit. Now scientists are hoping that depletion is at least near its peak.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 12:51 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
September 09, 2003
LA LA LA LA! We're not listening!
Test of Fairhope water shows contamination
Testing by the Alabama Department of Environmental Management showed coliform bacteria (meaning, I assume though it's not stated, E. coli) in the southern Alabama city's water supply. But city officials are saying that ADEM must have made a mistake because there couldn't possibly be any bacteria in their water supply.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 08:39 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 26, 2003
Let's face it
Animal rights extremists are just plain stupid:
About 10,000 Mink Released From Fur Farm
The Animal Liberation Front claimed responsibility for the raid on a farm near Seattle. So they just released a bunch of farm-raised animals into the wild to starve. (Most of them [the minks, not the ALFies] have since been rounded up.)
Look, I don't like the wearing of fur. I'm an environmentalist. I believe animals should be treated humanely. This doesn't accomplish anything except wind up with a bunch of dead animals, except on the occasions when they release animals outside their range and mess up the ecosystem.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 03:29 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Be sure to write it down
IP to share info on rare species
International Paper struck an agreement over the weekend with NatureServe, a group I don't know much about. But it's kind of neat. IP will survey its land holdings (it owns 9 million acres in the U.S., including 1.2 million in Alabama) for animal and plant species. It's part of the Sustainable Forest Initiative, which I heartily endorse.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 09:02 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 19, 2003
What grows up
1,000-Year-Old Giant Sequoia Falls
So you get in your Jeep Cherokee in Florida, drive it all the way across the country. You sight-see, you finally get all the way to California's Sequoia National Park. You get out of the Jeep, you look around, hike to a waterfall. Suddenly, you hear a huge crash, "like a sonic boom". And you see a 1000-year old tree fall down... on top of your car.
The lesson, as always, is that Mother Nature is a bitch. Or that you shouldn't park your car under a 200-foot tree that's sustained fire damage and is already half dead.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 12:19 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
August 11, 2003
The Shamelessness continues
Bush Picks Utah Gov. Leavitt to Head EPA
Highlights of Governor Leavitt's environmental policies:
-- Wants to give more regulatory power to the states and less to the Federal government. As a citizen of a state where the Department of Environmental Management only does anything because EPA makes it, I say bad idea.
-- Approved a highway extension through wetlands near the Great Salt Lake, only to be blocked by the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals.
-- Called a "growth summit" that in turn called for "local-based, free market" approaches to preserving open space. Yeah, right. (I actually am in favor of a free market approach to saving the environment, but have noticed that what Republicans mean by that tends to be making everything voluntary.)
Yep, no difference between Bush and Gore.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 04:01 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack
August 07, 2003
It's common sense, really
Andrew Northup's new TechCentralStation column obliterates the blasphemous ravings of Galileo.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 03:36 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 30, 2003
Good news
Study: Upper ozone depletion declining
The study (done at UA-Huntsville) says that the global ban on CFCs in aerosols has done what it was intended to do, and the destruction of the ozone layer has declined. It will take decades to recover, but stopping the decline was the first step.
Should I point out that many of the people who say that There's No Such Thing As Global Warming (TM) were also the people who said that the CFC ban was unwarranted?
Posted by Mac Thomason at 08:28 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 29, 2003
So that's where they went!
News in Science - Global warming a 'weapon of mass destruction' - 29/07/2003
Speaking as a person who has no doubt that global warming is a real phenomenon, and finds it very likely that human agency is at least partially responsible... This sort of stuff does the cause more harm than good.
Of course, this is just rhetorical exaggeration, not the out-and-out lies, obfuscation, and plain old ignoring the evidence that marks the Bush Administration's environmental policies. Yep, no difference between Bush and Gore, Ralph.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 01:54 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 17, 2003
Big surprise
Study Finds Coral Decline in Caribbean
"Hey, just dump your toxic waste into the ocean. That's what it's there for. Who cares if we kill stuff, it's just fish."
In addition to the pollution, disease (which could be linked), overfishing, and storms probably played their part.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 04:33 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 05, 2003
The magic word!
Congress on track to slash federal conservation spending
"Conservation," that is. That's a red light to the Congressional Republicans. It wouldn't matter if it were conserving, say, the Lincoln Memorial, or the Reagan Library. Call it "conservation" and they want to cut it. Isn't it funny how "conservation" and "conservative" have so many letters in common?
Anyway, the conservation in question includes that of coastal land, which you probably know erodes a lot. I figure this will be the GOP's downfall. I mean, who owns coastal land? Rich Republicans, that's who. And what happens when those rich Republicans' beach houses fall into the ocean?
Posted by Mac Thomason at 05:44 AM | Comments (5) | TrackBack
June 30, 2003
Toxic Town
Longleaf pines near Anniston protected
Since it got erased yesterday, here's another story on the Mountain Longleaf Pine refuge -- formerly Fort McClellan. As the story points out, this being in Anniston is kind of ironic. Anniston is also the home to the the Army's chemical weapons disposal facility, and the town where Monsanto polluted the ground with PCBs.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 01:35 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 27, 2003
Damn you, vegetarians!
CNN.com - Soy bean hastening Amazon destruction - Jun. 27, 2003
The deforestation rate in the Amazon has jumped by as much as 40 percent. The primary culprits are soybean farms. Yes, tofu is dooming the rainforest. Save the world, eat a chicken.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 01:55 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 19, 2003
Typical Bushwa
Report by the E.P.A. Leaves Out Data on Climate Change
If something in a report doesn't match your Big Business-friendly ideology, just cut it down to a few obscure paragraphs. If the science makes you uncomfortable, ignore it. Why should they treat climatology any different than they treat economics?
Posted by Mac Thomason at 10:59 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
June 17, 2003
Infant trees
ajc.com | News | At age 4,600-plus, Methuselah the pine tree begets new offspring
The world's oldest tree -- to the surprise of the Forest Service -- has reproduced. A farmer had tried to clone the bristlecone pine tree called "Methuselah", approx. 4,600 years old, but it didn't work. So he planted some pine cones, and they sprouted. Gosh, why didn't someone think of that sooner? (Actually, it had reproduced in the 1970s, practically yesterday.)
Posted by Mac Thomason at 01:36 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 29, 2003
Party in the White House!
washingtonpost.com: Species Act 'Broken,' Interior Official Says
Congratulations to the Republican Party! Unable to overturn the Endangered Species Act because it's popular, they've simply refused to fund Fish & Wildlife, which will run out of money for the program in July.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 05:19 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 28, 2003
We haven't had an oil spill in weeks!
Exxon Chairman Defends Environment Record
If he can defend Exxon's environmental record, Bush should try to hire him to replace Ari Fleischer.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 12:46 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Vermont under siege!
Invasive exotic plants still threaten Vermont
Plants there include Japanese barberry and glossy buckthorn, the latter of which sounds like a porn name. Says Windham County forester Bill Guenther:
"They just do not want to die. It's like some of these old movies where you keep pumping rounds into the King Kong monster and it keeps coming at you," he told the class. "That's how I feel about some of these plants."
If fire doesn't work, is he going to call for air support? Perhaps a small nuclear weapon will do the trick.
Who is to blame for the situation? Gardeners, but also that most notorious of ecological pests, the conservationist. According to the story, 25 percent of invasive plants were given out by conservation organizations as part of conservation efforts. Good going, guys.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 10:34 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Well, it's all your fault, isn't it?
Hillary Unhappy With Everest Conditions
Sir Edmund Hillary thinks that people climbing Mt. Everest are having too much fun, what with the beer and the partying and "all the other comforts". As I recall, some people were upset with Hillary because he used oxygen.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 08:32 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
May 27, 2003
ELF bastards strike again
Environmental Group Says It Burned Houses
The so-called "Earth Liberation Front" terrorist organization is taking responsibility for burning down two houses in Ann Arbor, MI in March. Other countries have religious and political terrorists. And so do we. I can't stand what these people are doing to the environmentalist movement.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 08:37 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 23, 2003
Jerks all over
Poachers Electrocute Two Rhinos in India
Of all the stupid things people believe, the rhino horn superstitions are certainly among the stupidest.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 03:11 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
May 21, 2003
Wait a minute
CNN.com - EPA chief Whitman submits resignation letter - May. 21, 2003
We still have an EPA? I thought Bush had them all shot.
Whitman's the closest thing to an environmentalist in the Administration. I don't know how much good she did in restraining their corporatist impulses, but this can't be good.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 09:45 AM | Comments (9) | TrackBack
April 24, 2003
Some rescue
CBS News | 90 Tigers Found Dead At Calif. Home | April 24, 2003 09:50:26
The man who runs "Tiger Rescue" had ninety dead tigers at his home. 58 were cubs stuffed in freezers and 30 dead adults were in the yard. Some of the latter had their legs tied together. Somehow, I don't buy the argument of a Tiger Rescue spokesman that they haven't done anything wrong.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 10:39 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
April 12, 2003
Those Dam Environmentalists!
Environmentalists win court fight on dam water rules
Fish need oxygen, too. All these dreaded environmentalists wanted was for Alabama Power's dams to be held to the same water quality standards (under the Clean Water Act) as everyone else. How terrible.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 11:55 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
April 11, 2003
On the bright side
Endangered status sought for pygmy rabbit
If the rabbit's range is restored, it shouldn't take long for the population to rebound.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 04:02 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Worse than Alabama?
Thomas rails against Fish and Wildlife policies
Is it possible? Wyoming, home state of Barbara "Stereotypes Are Wrong" Cubin, gets two US Senators even though its population is about that of any given block in Manhattan. (Anti-DC Statehood people -- you know who you are! -- What about Wyoming? Its population is far smaller than the District's.)
Anyway, their senior Senator wants to overturn the Endangered Species Act. That's not what he says, of course. He's sponsoring the "Endangered Species Listing and Delisting Process Reform Act of 2003" which would make it harder to get a species listed (the Bush Administration's already taken care of that) and easier to delist species.
Of course, he's only concerned about protecting endangered species: ''Sadly, over the last 30 years of the ESA, we've only recovered 14 out of 986 species. That record is unacceptable.'' The answer, therefore, is to keep that last number from getting any higher. That way, we're sure our percentage can't go down!
Of course, what he wants is for more land to be open for various economic uses. So he's upset at the use of the ESA to set aside land for protected species. What Senator Thomas fails to understand -- or refuses to acknowledge for shadowy Republican reasons -- is that you can't save plants and animals without somewhere for them to live. And you can't have a population of just a few hundred individuals and expect it to survive.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 03:57 PM | Comments (6) | TrackBack
April 08, 2003
Mooooooo
Birth of Cloned Endangered Cattle Praised
Banteng update... Most people working with endangered species seem excited with the possibilities opened by the banteng cloning announced today. They're quick to add that this isn't a panacea and that habitats must be preserved. And I know there are some hardcore anti-science types in the environmental movement who think this is a nightmare. And then there's this person:
"Look at Iraq," said Betsy Dresser, director of the Audubon Institute Center for Research of Endangered Species in New Orleans. "Nobody mentions it, but I'm sure wildlife is disappearing there."
You know, Bets, I've looked at Iraq, and I'm pretty sure that any species capable of surviving there after 6000 years of civilization isn't going to be put off by a few bombs. Saddam draining the swamps was a much greater environmental calamity than anything in this war.
Researchers in China, meanwhile, are working with rabbits as surrogates for cloned pandas, which are about the size of a stick of butter when they're born.
Rabbits? What if the pandas pick up habits from them? We could be overrun with pandas, eating all our bamboo!
Posted by Mac Thomason at 03:23 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
Science rocks
Scientists create healthy clone of endangered species
"Human ingenuity has damaged the Earth, and human ingenuity will save it." -- Me, I think.
A clone of a Javan "banteng" -- a cowlike creature native to Asian jungles -- has been born in Iowa of all places. It was carried to term by a cow and is the result of a collaboration between the San Diego Zoo, Advanced Cell Technology of Worcester, Mass., and a "high-tech cattle reproduction company" in Iowa.
There are only 3000 to 5000 banteng left in existence. The clone is a of a male animal that died before it could reproduce; this could reintroduce its genes into the population. Of course, the possibilities go beyond endangered species. There's always the possibility of bringing back extinct species, in particular species killed off by man. I'd love to see a mammoth.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 10:20 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
March 11, 2003
Question
Tree Sitters Ordered Down From Perches
If the treesitters don't come down, do you think the judge will send cops to bring them down or will she say the loggers can go ahead and chop the trees down with sitters in place?
Posted by Mac Thomason at 09:43 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
February 24, 2003
Yuck
Cities sued over sewage discharge
The mayor of the city of Lanett says that the city attorney is "reviewing the lawsuit to understand the reasoning". Well, the reasoning is that you're dumping sewage into the river, idiot. Even the Alabama Department of Environmental Management knows it, and they normally can't tell raw sewage from hot fudge. People drink that water.
Lanett and another city, Attalla, are under sanctions from ADEM, but typically it's practically nothing -- a $1,200 fine for Attalla, one of $2,500 for Lanett. Lanett's supposed to have been working on this since April, 2001. I guess the Sierra Club and the American Canoe Association got tired of waiting for you to do something.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 09:11 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 23, 2003
Deer snipers
Marksmen may cull Oak Mountain deer
The state is thinking of bringing in "trained marksmen" to cull deer in heavily-used Oak Mountain State Park. The plant life in the park is taking a lot of abuse from deer, which are crowding in to escape urban sprawl. On the other hand, there are a heck of a lot of people in that park on any given day, and that just seems like an accident waiting to happen.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 02:55 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 21, 2003
No evidence of terrorism
Explosion Sparks Massive Fire at Refinery on Staten Island
But everybody's thinking it anyway. You can't not. One person is reported injured, and went to the hospital... They say that the smoke probably won't reach a residential area, so there's no cause for alarm on that end. However, I have to think it's at least unpleasant to be near.
Oh, and oil prices went up $1 a barrel. More.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 12:47 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
February 20, 2003
Assholes
Original Wild California Condor Shot Dead
One of the first condors brought in from the wild for a captive breeding program (released in 2000) was found dead last week. There's no reason for this sort of crap to happen. No sport, no profit motive, nothing except some jackass wants to blow something away and takes a shot at an endangered species. Next time, play Russian roulette, you cretin.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 03:30 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 14, 2003
Hooray for the spending bill!
Bill may boost logging in state's national forests
Come on in, chop down our federal forests! It's not like we were using them or anything! You're not sure you can make a profit if you pay 25 cents an acre? That's no problem! We'll pay you! Seriously! The Forest Service, under this bill, can hire commercial loggers to "improve property" by "thinning overgrown forests"!
Posted by Mac Thomason at 09:00 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 11, 2003
Ungrateful peasants
Citizens were -- amazingly! -- outraged at a plan to pave trails in Oak Mountain State Park. (South of Birmingham -- it's the primary state park destination for people in the city.) So the state parks director is backing off the idea. Actually, users are against any new construction at the park. Even a second golf course! Can you believe it?
Posted by Mac Thomason at 12:13 PM | Comments (0)
February 06, 2003
Invasive species, Cajun style
Foreign plants and animals threaten African wetlands
Louisiana crawfish, imported to be farmed, escaped to the wild and are devastating water lilies and other vegetation. But they're good eating!
Posted by Mac Thomason at 11:14 AM | Comments (0)
February 05, 2003
122 species messing with Texas
Invasive Species Impacting Texas Ecosystems
The Lone Star State has at least 122 species causing harm, including 67 terrestrial plants, 12 aquatic plants, 10 mammals, four birds, seven fishes, 11 insects, and 11 mollusks and crustaceans. I've mentioned hydrilla and nutria before, I know. There's a list of some others. They left out the Africanized killer bees, though. Maybe they don't count as a separate species.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 08:56 PM | Comments (3)
Groovy
UNEP Looks at Making Green "Cool"
The executive director of the UN Environment Program, ladies and gentlemen:
"People are simply not listening, so we need to make sustainable lifestyles fashionable and 'cool,' as the young people might say," Toepfer said. "Messages from governments, exhorting people to drive their cars less or admonishing them for buying products that cause environmental damage, appear not to be working."Studies suggest that just five percent of the public in northern hemisphere countries are embracing so called sustainable lifestyles and sustainable consumerism.
Toepfer said experts have concluded that the traditional messages from governments and green groups urging the public to adopt environmentally friendly lifestyles and purchasing habitats need to be overhauled. Many of these messages are too "guilt laden," he said, and instead of "turning people on" to the environment, are switching them off.
Words fail me. Does this guy think it's 1967? What's his plan, environmentalist messages on The Mod Squad?
Posted by Mac Thomason at 08:51 PM | Comments (4)
Should have been tartar sauce
ABCNEWS.com : Co. Polluted River With Salad Dressing
A company has been fined 15,000 Hong Kong dollars for dumping salad dressing into a river there. Apparently it was all over the floor and they decided that washing it into the river was the easiest thing to do.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 09:26 AM | Comments (0)
February 04, 2003
Good doggie
CNN.com - Feds consider easing protection for wolves - Feb. 4, 2003
The Fish and Wildlife Service wants to remove the grey wolf from the endangered species list and move it to "threatened" status. The wolf has made a strong comeback, but environmentalists are afraid that if protections are eased (or Federal protection utterly lifted and the animals' welfare left entirely to the states) that the population will drop again. That's a valid concern, but these are wolves we're talking about here. Honestly, you don't want them showing up in suburbs like deer. Allowing ranchers to kill wolves attacking their animals seems pretty sensible to me, though I'd prefer the Feds keep an eye out to make sure they don't go overboard.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 09:42 AM | Comments (0)
February 02, 2003
Hurry up
India, Out of Cheetahs, Seeks to Clone
Indian scientists have asked Iran to load them a couple of Asian cheetahs (extinct in India; only about 50 survive all in Iran) for cloning. Which is odd, in a way; you don't need the whole animal to clone. But I guess they'd need a mother, at least.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 01:11 AM | Comments (0)
January 16, 2003
Splat
State purchases Billy Goat Hole wetlands
Speaking as likely the only blogger to have ever fallen into the Billy Goat Hole wetlands, I approve.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 02:53 PM | Comments (0)
January 14, 2003
Surprise
washingtonpost.com: EPA to Allow Polluters to Buy Clean Water Credits
I like it. The best way to protect the environment is to give businesses a financial reason to not pollute. We've had the stick (fines), now we need the carrot (credits).
Posted by Mac Thomason at 02:12 PM | Comments (0)
January 11, 2003
Texas messed with
HoustonChronicle.com - Invasive weed entangles state officials in debate
Hydrilla is the weed in question. Bass fishermen like it, though.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 11:20 PM | Comments (1)
Thanks again, Ralph
EPA limits protections under Clean Water Act
The Bush EPA's latest escapade is something that even Reagan wouldn't do, a rollback of the Clean Water Act. Now "isolated" waters that aren't navigable stay in one state are no longer federally protected. In other words, dump your chemicals in that swamp -- that's what it's there for.
Orwell update: EPA officials say that this decision "reflected a commitment to protect the nation's wetlands".
Posted by Mac Thomason at 01:32 PM | Comments (4)
January 08, 2003
Running for President? Us?
McCain, Lieberman to introduce greenhouse gas bill
We're not talking about Kyoto-level reductions, I'm sure, since the Senate already voted 99-0 against it. I'm one of those who thinks that Kyoto was a mistake but that we need to work on ways to reduce greenhouse gases.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 08:34 AM | Comments (0)
January 02, 2003
Ook
Orangutans Said to Exhibit Hallmarks of Culture
You know, going to museums and the opera, eating in fine restaurants, looking down on gibbons...
Posted by Mac Thomason at 03:51 PM | Comments (1)
But TNSTAGW!
Global warming evidence is clearer
According to studies published in Nature, warmer conditions have caused numerous species to either move into new ranges or change their behavior. Hey, life is adaptable; that's why it still exists even in the harshest conditions and though so many climatic shifts.
But it's important not to forget what that adaptation entails. Lots of plants and animals will die. Lots of species will go extinct. And people whose livelyhoods are based upon those plants and animals will lose their jobs. Some may lose their lives.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 08:43 AM | Comments (1)
January 01, 2003
Cognitive dissonance
Controversial fishing practice ruled 'dolphin safe'
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has ruled that imported tuna can be sold as "dolphin-safe" if it's caught by netting dolphins. 2,000 dolphins a year die in nets cast by tuna fishermen each year. In other words, the NOAA says that you can call tuna dolphin-safe even if it isn't.
The major tuna sellers say they won't sell tuna caught by dolphin netters anyway.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 09:40 AM | Comments (0)
Go states!
washingtonpost.com: New Pollution Standards Prompt Suit
Nine northeastern states are suing the Federal government to stop the Bush Administration's cynical and energy-company-friendly rollback of New Source Review. I doubt it will do any good, but I hope so.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 04:10 AM | Comments (0)
December 28, 2002
Paranoia
NapaNews.com | State's Colorado River water to be diverted
Taking some water from the Colorado from California for other states makes sense. But why am I suspicious that politics -- that the inland states are Bush country and California Democratic -- has a lot to do with it?
Posted by Mac Thomason at 06:05 AM | Comments (3)
December 22, 2002
Mutiny on the Bounty
In Louisiana, Pesky Varmints Have a Bounty on Their Tails
Okay, so Louisiana has a bounty on the tails of nutria, North America's favorite invasive giant rodent. It's four bucks a tail. It seems to me that if you started a nutria farm you could do pretty well for yourself. I'm just saying.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 09:35 PM | Comments (0)
December 19, 2002
Thanks for clearing that up
Miscellaneous, Etc. translates the Canadian government's FAQ on the Kyoto agreement from Canadian to English:
Q2: How does the government intend to consult Canadians?· We will intensify consultations with the provincial and territorial governments as well as with stakeholders and the general public. These consultations will build on the broad-based National Climate Change process that has involved over 450+ experts from governments, industry and non-governmental organizations since its inception in early 1998.
The Government intends to intensify pressure on the provinces and territories first, then stakeholders, and eventually the general public. These consultations will build on the input gathered from the over 450 people who think that Kyoto is a good idea, clearly reflecting the opinions of the other 30 million liv