Katrina & The Temporary Lift of Oil Polution Laws

I heard on the radio station, 740 am (I think) in houston this morning that the government decided that besides opening up their oil reserves, that they were going to lift oil polution laws so that oil companies could get back up to speed.

To me this is absolutly ridiculous, they are perpetuating the problem through global warming that caused the hurricaine in the first place. I think oil wise people just need to suck it up and cut back. They think this hurricain was bad, imagine what it will be in the years to come! Unless Louisiana bring in some super engineers to fix the architectual landscaping problems. With global warming I believe that this is going to get a lot worse before it gets better unless we make an effort to reverse it now.

Info on global warming:
http://www.undoit.org/what_is_gb.cfm?linkID=Menu-WII

 

Maybe no one cares, and that's scarey... I'm off to help save the world be back later. ;P)

 

While I could be wrong, I'd be surprised if these "temporary" lifts of pollution regulations turn out to actually be temporary. This looks to me like a nation turning to coal as the oil grows scarce.

 

The solution is finding a different source of energy plus the gas prices are going sky high, but this scare is just making the gas go faster since people are panicking and filling up the tanks on all their cars. In my town half of the gas stations are completely out of gas and the ones that do have gas have rediculously long lines of cars waiting to fill their tanks. This will also cause engine problems because at the bottom of the gas stations gas tanks there's this sludge type stuff and it's filled with impurities, if you're pumping that into your car it can ruin the engine.

 

People remember the 70s that's why

 

yeah, i cant wait to drive my coal-engine car...it'll look like a cross between a monstrous train engine and the car from the monopoly set....god damn i'm a genius, hold on, i need to run to the patent office....


{back} ok, now that said, im actually seriously considering buying one of those vespa scooter things. you know, the cracked out downs syndrome motorcycles?

seriously dude, they look stupid as all get out but they have an ungodly wonderful gas mileage, they go pretty fast if you get a good one, they're quiet, relatively earth friendly and i'd imagine that they're a lot easier to maintain and take care of than a car. can't drive them on ice or freeways, but for general around-town things three seasons out of the year, i'm sure it would be a wise investment. they're dirt cheap compared to other vehicles to purchase, too, not just to operate....i talked to a guy who got one brand new for like 3000USD, compared to the 7000USD my parent's paid for a USED car a couple years ago thats about to die any time now.

hey, i'd look like a dork....but i'd be a penny-pinching energy efficient dork!

 

It's at best irresponsible, and maybe heartless to use such a tragedy to further a political message. Hurricanes are a natural occurance, and theres no evidence to suggest they are becoming more frequent.

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/pastdec.shtml

The thesis that a warmer world will lead to more intense weather events is being conflicted with evidence it is not occuring. New Orleans knew this was going to happen one day, and the devestating effects of this hurricane are a reslut of more urbanization in the area where this storm hit, not in any increase in frequency in storms.

Furthermore, a month long relaxation in enviornmental restrictions affecting fuel price will not significantly increase CO2 emissions.

As you can tell by the graph on the site you listed, CO2 emissions only make up about a quarter of the nations CO2 emissions.



Furthermore, the restrictions being changed have as much to do with where the gas will be produced, then they have more to do with where the gas is produced.

Theres also no reason to believe that lower CO2 emissions would prevent the world from warming any further.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4539936

Undoit seems to be a pretty reasonable organization, and I'm glad they're supporting McCain/Lieberman which is a much more reasonable approach then Kyoto.

FUrthermore they say some questionable things, such as...

While it is true that we are starting to understand the mechanics of why atmospheric temperatures may not have risen since the 70's as a result of the error in the way we collected data, there is still no data there. This phenomenon certainly needs more research before we can understand the correalation of increased CO2 with atmospheric warming.

http://www.wired.com/news/planet/0,2782,68510,00.html?tw=rss.TOP

While what they're saying here is obviously true, they are taking a lot of softball questions. It may turn out that global warming we've seen over the past decades is much more a result of decreased pollution making the earth brighter, then simply global warming.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/upi/index.php?feed=Science&article=UPI-1-20050516-11161700-bc-climate-earthshine.xml

http://www.stanford.edu/~moore/health.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/1822561.stm

Global warming is still a very misunderstood phenomenon, and it's still a very contentious issue, and although its happening, the mechanics behind it still are pretty muddled. There are still legitamate Climatoligists who cast some serious doubts on the present understandings of global warming, such as Richard Lindzen.

Robert Kennedy is the worst kind of asshole... this was a horrific anamoly.

If you're really intrested in this, maybe you should go off and get a degree in Meteorology before you rush off to the crusade.

 

Nesta: there's a fuel cell motorcycle about to hit the streets here - 50mph, can go for four hours on a charge. Completely quiet.

 

hey hey, that sounds pretty cool.....thing is i've never ridden ANY kind of motorcycle or one of those scooter things or anything....just my car and my old normal bicycle before that....i'd have to learn, but i'm sure its not TOO tough

 

ya know I just really hate how people are always talking about the gas's prices, like it's the only problem. GGRrr. I brought the temporaty oil law lifts to my father's attention the other day and all his concerns were toward the high prices. It is soo not about that! I talked to him for a while about actual problem and now he understands and want's to go as far as move us away from the coast (texas gulf)... then he tried to turn it around & "pretend"(for lack of a better word) that he was telling me... Sure I'm happy with the result, but figure him out though...

Plus i had a thought, if gas were a good thing wouldn't it be plentiful and easier to find?

 

Even if you don't think global warming is happening, I think reducing emissions is a good thing regardless - even taking into account the "shiney earth" theory - basically these substances should not be in the atmosphere because it's not how mother nature designed it to work! The economic impact the US are so worried about should be taken in the context that if everybody signs up for it, then this impact applies to all of the industrialised countries - so nobody is particulary "disadvantaged".

Re: coal... you can make oil from coal - it's what the Germans were doing in WW2 due to large shortages of oil.

Re: temporary reduction of oil pollution laws - I don't see this would make any difference at all in the grand scheme of things, provided it is only temporary... we have after all been heavily polluting the planet for decades now so I don't see that it's a particulary irresponsible move.

 

So I guess your saying YOU have a degree in meteorology, Right? You simply must be, because then AND ONLY then will your mentioning MY not having a degree in said field have added any other merit to your statment (in fact would have rendered your statment void seeing as how all true statments come from the mouths of degree holders.. and ONLY degree holders). Unless what you were doing was merely shameful demonizing. GRR

However there has been a direct corolation with the temperature increases every year along side the constant increased consumption of fossil energy.
(to notice that you just have to go outside... remember... outside?). Grr..

Furthermore, excuse the hell out of me for trying to make OUR planet better for sustaining life (which is not a constant, mind you)... In conclusion, Respect mother nature, or she'll kick your butt.

 

I'm not the one making climatology my contention for posting a thread about ecology, and I referenced everything I said from reliable sources.

I'm not insulting your intelligence, I'm simply saying that if you're really intrested in this, you might benifit from a formal education in a very complex field.

There is a corelation with greenhouse gasses and increased global temperature, but the increase isnt very direct and the specific mechanisms behind the greenhouse effect are still very controversial.

We simply don't know how much CO2 in the atmosphere it takes to warm the planet, or how fast CO2 is removed from the atmosphere. There are many other factors besides the greenhouse effect that can also be responsible for global climate change, as I pointed out, the brighting of the planet due to reduced SO2 and other forms of smog.

I'm obviously not saying that global warming isn't happening... I'm just saying the mechanics beihind it are still very opwn to debate, and to suggest a three reduction in our oil standards will further complicate climate issues is absurd.

according to the source you posted, there has been about .8 degree temperature deviation in the past 30 years. Most people couldn't notice a .8 degree temperature change in 30 seconds, no matter how many meditation sessions they had with mystic cyote in the forest.

I think you should go play in the bright happy sunshine for a couple hours.

Everyone wants to make our planet better for sustaining life, I'm just maintaing if you want to make climate change your means for assuring a happy future for our children, you should look into the science of climatology more.

Nature doesn't have feelings. Mother nature will kick our butts regardless. I'm sure there we're many passionate envionrmentalists whos homes were destroyed in Katrina. Nature doesn't punish or reward, its a system in itself that has no regard for us because its much greater then us.

 

I guess.... it just sound to me like an excuse to skip out on doing your part.