From Alaska to Argentina in an Electric Sports Car.

Racing Green Endurance hopes to spin the experience into an electric car startup.

http://twitter.com/GreenTechnology

Michael Kanellos: August 3, 2010

 http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/r…

We know that most paper nominated the American Robert Dudley to replace Tony Hayward at the helm of the sinking BP.
After all one third of the company’s oil and gas wells, refineries and other business interests are in the US, and no less then 40% of its shareholders are in the US – and you bet – the major known disaster they are part of is in the US. So, will an American at top help quiet down the anti-foreigner sentiment projected at Hayward?

But then the following article tells us that this is a case fit to push a woman to the top – if you wish – over the cliff – thus scoring points somehow in a lost situation. You see – women can advance and take over the job from failed men? Will this then hold up? Will it be a fitting American Woman of  Texas – or Alaska – may be?

Day 96 to the Macondo Blow-out: Tony Hayward Out at BP; Don’t Be Surprised If They Pick a Woman to Replace Him.

BY Anya Kamenetz July 26, 2010.

Tony Hayward is reported to be out as the CEO of BP, with a sweet 600,000-pound pension waiting for him (that’s $928K) as a “reward” for not only presiding over the Deepwater Horizon disaster, but performing like a whiny schoolboy in the weeks and months since. “I want my life back”? Congratulations, you’ve got it.

If history is any guide, BP may well choose a woman to replace him. During the recent financial crisis and recession, women emerged as the go-to turnaround leadership candidates for institutions and nations in trouble. Carol Bartz as CEO of the embattled Yahoo. Mary Schapiro as head of the beleaguered SEC. Elin Sigfusdottir and Birna Einarsdottir, appointed to run two (out of three) of Iceland’s nationalized banks (New Landsbanki and New Glitni), after the collapse of the country’s financial system and Johanna Sigurdardottir as the nation’s interim prime minister–both the first-ever female head of state in Iceland and the first openly gay head of state anywhere. Elizabeth Warren, currently the leading candidate to head the newly created Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and try to make sense of the hash of consumer financial protections. Even at BP itself, before Cynthia Warner left to head biofuels startup Sapphire Energy, she was made the head of a new health, safety, and security group in BP’s refining sector in response to the 2005 Texas City disaster (unfortunately, she apparently failed to have a lasting impact on the oil company with the worst safety and environmental record in the Big Six).

Michelle Ryan and Alex Haslam, two British social psychologists, say these kind of barbed opportunities are all too commonly offered to women. They call this phenomenon “the glass cliff.”

In 2008, the S&P 500 fell 38.5%, its worst year since 1937. But the average large company run by a woman was down four points more–42.7%. Women’s average tenure as CEOs tends to be lower and stock performance worse.

Ryan and Haslam’s studies have found the reason behind this: It’s not that women are categorically worse leaders, but that they are disproportionately hired as CEOs only at firms that have been struggling for years. High-flying companies almost never appointed women to top positions. Their controlled experiments confirm that professionals in the business, legal, and academic worlds are far more likely to choose a woman for a leadership role when the enterprise’s chances are dicey.

The glass cliff is a dangerous corollary to the glass ceiling. For many complex reasons, women–along with other outsiders like minorities–tend to be handed the chance to lead only when an enterprise is already on a downward spiral. If BP decides to go this way, you heard it here first.

Researchers Confirm Subsea Gulf Oil Plumes Are From BP Well

Friday 23 July 2010

by: Sara Kennedy  |  McClatchy Newspapers | Report

Sampling operations being conducted on the research vessel Brooks McCall, near the site of the oil breach at the Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico. (Photo: Dr. Oscar Garcia / Florida State University)

St. Petersburg, Fla. – Through a chemical fingerprinting process, University of South Florida researchers have definitively linked clouds of underwater oil in the northern Gulf of Mexico to BP’s runaway Deepwater Horizon well — the first direct scientific link between the subsurface oil clouds commonly known as “plumes” and the BP oil spill, USF officials said Friday.

Until now, scientists had circumstantial evidence, but lacked that definitive scientific link.

The announcement came on the same day that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced that its researchers have confirmed the existence of the subsea plumes at depths of 3,300 to 4,300 feet below the surface of the Gulf. NOAA said its detection equipment also implicated the BP well in the plumes’ creation.

Together, the two studies confirm what in the early days of the spill was denied by BP and viewed skeptically by NOAA’s chief — that much of the crude that gushed from the Deepwater Horizon well stayed beneath the surface of the water.

“What we have learned completely changes the idea of what an oil spill is,” said chemical oceanographer David Hollander, one of three USF researchers credited with the matching samples of oil taken from the water with samples from the BP well. “It has gone from a two-dimensional disaster to a three-dimensional catastrophe.”

The other scientists involved in making the link, USF said, were biological oceanographer Ernst Peebles and geological oceanographer David Naar.

The finding is important because oil that escaped from the mile-deep, blown-out well had been treated with dispersants, which broke the oil in the water column into tiny droplets, and therefore did not form an oil slick at the surface, said Richard H. Pierce, senior scientist and director of the Center for Ecotoxicology at Sarasota’s Mote Marine Laboratory.

“It’s more readily taken up and absorbed and ingested by marine animals,” he explained.

Although dispersed oil degrades more quickly over the long-run, in the short-term, it poses a more toxic threat to marine life, Pierce said.

“So, we’ve been very concerned, and it is critical USF has verified it,” he said.

The full report was not released Friday, but will be available sometime next week, USF spokeswoman Vickie Chachere said.

BP declined to comment on the USF discovery. “We have only seen media reports, and have not yet seen the report and underlying data,” BP spokesman Phil Cochrane said in an e-mail.

USF scientists found microscopic droplets of biodegraded oil at varying depths beneath the Gulf’s surface, the university said in a statement.

One layer was 100 feet thick; it was found 45 nautical miles north-northeast of the well site, officials said.

The researchers found the plumes after models created by a USF expert in ocean currents, Robert Weisberg, predicted subsurface oil from the Deepwater Horizon well would move toward the north-northeast, USF said.

“The clouds were found near the DeSoto Canyon, a critical area that interacts with Florida’s spawning grounds,” USF said.

The NOAA study made similar findings. According to the report, which was reviewed by 19 scientists known as the Joint Analysis Group, data collected by five research ships deployed in the Gulf from May 19 to June 19 showed oil suspended in the water between 1,000 and 1,300 meters — about 3,280 feet to 4,265 feet.

The NOAA scientists detected the oil by measuring its fluorescence — many of the droplets are too small to detect otherwise — and said that that measurement linked it to the BP well.

The report said the oil had been detected in heaviest concentrations near the BP well and that its concentrations dropped as the ships moved away from the well, but that not enough samples had been taken to determine the full “horizontal extent” of the plumes.

The report also said the impact of the oil on sealife had yet to be determined. Even at low concentrations, the report said, the oil “might be biologically meaningful” because of the length of time fish and other organisms would be exposed to it.

The report also said that scientists had detected lower levels of dissolved oxygen in the water at depths below 3,280 feet, but that they couldn’t determine why the levels were low with certainty. They said the levels were not so low as to be fatal to sealife.

Steven Murawski, chief scientist for NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service, said the data confirm that the subsea plumes of oil were the result of the Deepwater Horizon well.

“That’s a real smoking gun, as far as we’re concerned,” he said. “It really is a flow” from the well.

In May, when scientists first reported that they had discovered oil beneath the Gulf’s surface and blamed it on the Deepwater Horizon spill, they were denounced by both BP and NOAA chief Jane Lubchenco.

BP CEO Tony Hayward denied that such plumes existed and Lubchenco called the reports “misleading, premature and, in some cases, inaccurate.“

Do you like this? Click here to get Truthout stories sent to your inbox every day – free.

from Bob Edgar, Common Cause <CauseNet@commoncause.org> date Tue, Jul 13, 2010 subject Under the influence of Big Oil’s Big Money

Dear Pincas, It’s time for our leaders to stop legislating under the influence of big money. Take Action! Long before BP’s Deepwater Horizon well began belching oil into the Gulf of Mexico, BP and the rest of the energy industry had turned loose a gusher of cash in Washington, saturating Congress and federal regulators. According to new research released by Common Cause today, Big Energy has pumped more than $2.9 billion this decade into electing and lobbying federal officials: That’s about $5.5 million for each of the 535 seats in the House and Senate.[1] Meanwhile, the development of alternative energy sources proceeds slowly, and our nation’s reliance on energy produced overseas grows deeper. It’s plainly obvious that we need to break the financial ties between oil companies and elected officials that are supposed to regulate them. We can do that through the Fair Elections Now Act [2]. Please write to your members of Congress today and urge swift passage of Fair Elections! Fair Elections Now would give us government of, by and for the people – not of, by and for wealthy corporations. It would allow candidates to run competitive campaigns for office on a blend of Fair Elections Funds and small dollar contributions from in-state donors. Political leaders who are serious about helping America achieve energy independence need to declare their own political independence by scrapping a system that relies too heavily on special interest money to finance campaigns. Please write to your members of Congress today and tell them it’s time to end our dependence on Big Oil – not just for energy, but also for campaign cash. Sincerely, Bob Edgar and the rest of the team at Common Cause [1] New research: How Big Money from Energy Interests Greases Decision-making About America’s Energy Future. [2] All about the Fair Elections Now Act.

Weather Maps

Winds & Weather

El Nino and La Nina. What are El Nino and La Nina? El Nino – (El Nee-nyo) is the warming of water in the Pacific Ocean. La Nina – (Lah Nee-Nyah) is the cooling of water in the Pacific Ocean.

El Nino Weather	La Nina Weather
Rain and flooding along the Pacific coast Warm water disrupts food chain of fish, birds, and sea mammals Tornadoes and thunderstorms in southern US Fewer than normal hurricanes in the Atlantic	Snow and rain on the west coast Unusually cold weather in Alaska Unusually warm weather in the rest of the USA Drought in the southwest Higher than normal number of hurricanes in the Atlantic

Satellite Image of El Nino

• El Nino was first discovered hundreds of years ago by fishermen off the coast of Peru.
• El Nino means “Little Boy” and was named after the Christ child, because it usually starts around Christmas.
• El Nino is officially called ENSO – El Nino Southern Oscillation.
• La Nina means “Little Girl.” It is also called El Viejo, which means “old man,” or an ENSO cold event.
• La Nina occurs roughly half as often as El Nino
• El Nino and La Nina are the most powerful phenomenon on the earth and alter the climate across more than half the planet.
• El Nino may be caused by underwater volcanoes in the Pacific.

 http://library.thinkquest.org/5818/elnin…

================================

THE LATEST NEWS:

El Niño  Has Ended. Possibility of La Niña Watched Closely. —-  WMO-892

Geneva, 6 July 2010 (WMO) – Following the rapid dissipation of El Niño in early May 2010, cool-neutral to weak La Niña conditions have developed in the tropical Pacific. These conditions are more likely than not to strengthen into a basin-wide La Niña over the coming months, according to the El Niño/La Niña Update issued today by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

La Niña is characterized by unusually cool ocean temperatures in the eastern equatorial Pacific. It is the opposite condition of El Niño, which is characterized by unusually warm ocean temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific. Both events can disrupt the normal patterns of tropical precipitation and atmospheric circulation, and have widespread impacts on climate in many parts of the world.

By mid-June, the sea-surface temperatures had decreased to approximately 0.5 degrees Celsius below normal over the central and eastern equatorial Pacific, near the borderline of La Niña conditions. Further, below average sea temperatures exist beneath the surface of the central and eastern equatorial Pacific.  Forecast models continue to predict further decreases in the central and eastern Equatorial Pacific sea-surface temperature. In particular, most dynamical models strongly favour further La Niña development.

While it is likely that La Niña conditions will further develop in the next several months, the timing and magnitude of such an event in 2010 are as yet uncertain, with no indications at this time of a particularly strong event in terms of sea-surface temperatures.

WMO prepares El Niño/La Niña Updates in collaboration with the International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI), USA, by consulting climate prediction centres and experts around the world and facilitating the development of a consensus. WMO Members will continue to carefully monitor the situation in the tropical Pacific. The unusual climate patterns and extremes that occur in association with La Niña conditions also occur independently of La Niña, and therefore individual users of climate information should seek detailed interpretation for their locations and sectors. Over the coming months, the climate forecasting community will provide detailed interpretations of regional climate conditions through the National Meteorological and Hydrological Services.

For more information:

El Niño/La Niña Update, full report:

http://www.wmo.int/pages/prog/wcp/wcasp/enso_update_latest.html

WMO is the United Nations’ authoritative voice on weather, climate and water.

For more information please contact:

Ms Carine Richard-Van Maele, Chief, Communications and Public Affairs, WMO.  Tel: +41 (0) 22 730 8315, Fax: +41 (0) 22 730 8027.  E-mail: cvanmaele@wmo.int

Web site: http://www.wmo.int

On our website, Mr. John Hofmeister is well represented as far back as the beginning of 2007 – it can easily found by using our on-web search button. He was President of Shell Oil Company and as such was part of the Dick Cheney Energy Cabal – the secret group of Major Oil Executives that made National Policy for the US at the time of the Cheney/Bush Administration.

When he retired Mr. Hofmeister created the “Citizens for Affordable Energy” – and wrote a book on why we love to hate the oil business. To us it all smelled rat, and as coincidentally the BP oil-spill happened when he was ready to put the book on the market, Mr. Hofmeister – like an oil-bull thought to lead the defense of BP. We listened to him at the book release event that happened at the New York Foreign Policy Association, and it is all on our website.

Now we are ready to report that we saw on June 28th a milder Mr. John Hofmeister. Seemingly he realizes by now that not only BP is indefensible, but perhaps the whole oil-mantra may have hit bottom. “Yes, the oil spill is a crisis, but let’s not pretend that we can just stop drilling for oil without hurting our economy and getting it from somewhere else, says former Shell Oil executive John Hofmeister.”

On June 28th – a luncheon was organized at the Union League Club, New York City by MINE LLC and by The New Energy Fund.

* * * * *

www.minelle.com as in MINE LLC operates out of Denver and is run by Michelle Ashby, CEO – is mainly a fossil fuels and mining outlet.

www.newenergyfundLP.com is run by Mark Cox, CEO is involved in all forms of energy and emphasizes the alternatives – he has genuine interest in renewables.

“New Energy Fund is the earliest formed, pure play renewable energy hedge fund.  It has been managed by Mark Cox since 2003.  It is celebrating its 6th year of management of assets in the sector.  Despite market fluctuations, renewable energy is being installed at an increasing rate and represents a growth investment opportunity as long as the human energy paradigm is unsustainable.”

www.citizensforaffordableenergy.org is the Houston based oil-front run by Mr. Hofmeister.

After introducing the main actors, let me say that the about 50 people in the room were there because they would like to find good avenues for investment and were ready to listen. having seen the way the BP spill is developing, and there is no place to hide anymore, Mr. Hofmeister came through as a very mild shade of himself.

The Hofmeister line now is: What do we change, how are we going to do energy in the future? And he says that Americans always pick the right solution after they try everything else.

This time Hofmeister tried to endear himself by saying that he spent 25 years on the consumer side of the industry – the gas stations. Only then he moved to the producing side of the industry – so he had the learning experience he said.

I wondered what did that mean, is that how you get a company into trouble by putting onto the production of oil someone who knows to sell gasoline? Let’s have another look at BP I thought immediately. He said that he took over at first the ideas of his predecessor, Mark M. Moody-Stewart, to go into forestry, then solar, but saw that there are no solutions in solar yet as there will have to be developed new materials first – so it will not be the first companies that jump into solar that will make it in the future. Wind will be the first alternate energy source. The Kerry- Lieberman Bill has no provisions for transmission – so it will not work. If you want to succeed you must have transmission corridors. Biofuels can be good for the internal combustion engine – but we are better off getting rid of the internal combustion engine in favor of the Diesel engine.

It gets obvious – the resistance of the energy industry for doing something they did not do before. It will be nuclear, gas, oil, and coal – and they will fight like crazy to maintain your position and space. We get the public policy chaos. And so on …

When the Q&A time arrived I thought to bring up some things that appeared coincidentally that same day in the Financial Times in the Book review  that SheilaMcNulty, the Energy correspondent, had published that same day.

—————————————-

Why We Hate the Oil Companies: Straight Talk from an Energy Insider, by John Hofmeister, Palgrave Macmillan £17.99, $27

* * * * *

She also said: “America’s oil companies must work to educate and build relationships with consumers if they are to avoid being demonised.” and this rings a bell with what Hofmeister said. So PR will do it?

When John Hofmeister wrote this book, the former president of Royal Dutch Shell’s US business could have had no idea it would be published amid an oil spill gushing into the Gulf of Mexico. The title he chose could not have been more apt.

In an annual favourability poll by Gallup covering the 24 largest industries in the US, he notes, the industry has for the past seven years been rated 24 out of 24. That alone indicated a ready audience for Why We Hate the Oil Companies; after BP’s disaster it will be wider still.

Hofmeister begins with an anecdote about a meeting in 2007 with Microsoft executives about its plans to build at least six new information centres across the north-west. “We need new electricity equivalent to the output of a 350 megawatt power plant to support them,” Hofmeister recalls being told. “But we don’t know where we’re going to get that much new electricity in Washington or Oregon. Hydropower has peaked, there’s not enough natural gas, coal-burning plants cannot be built here for now, wind is too erratic and no nuclear plants are on the horizon in the time frame of our business growth. Do you have any suggestions about where electricity is going to come from in the future?’’

Microsoft would come up short. Hofmeister writes: “What was clear to me after this meeting was this: in the digital age, we are more power-hungry than ever. Our economic growth depends more than ever on electrons.’’

And yet, he argues, regulators continue to restrict access and limit production that could fuel the global economy. It is a misguided approach: all fuels will be needed and the world’s oil deposits could be relied upon for longer if used more cleanly and efficiently. But the industry has failed to engage and educate to make that case. If “Big Oil” encounters an administration that is unfavourable, it merely retreats to its bunker to wait for a friendlier one.

Hofmeister underlines the extent of public disdain by recounting a visit in 2006 to Pennsylvania, where he dropped in without warning on Shell stations. One manager was rude before finding out who Mr Hofmeister was and grew more so when the latter identified himself, saying: “You disgust me. You make billions, and I squeeze nickels to keep up with my bills.’’ The then Shell Oil president tried to engage, but the manager did not soften. “When the person wearing your logo sees your company as the problem,” Hofmeister reflects, “you know you are in trouble.’’

The issue, he says, is that oil companies do not see themselves as consumer products companies in the mould of Apple, which work to educate and build relationships. They see themselves as wholesale producers of high-volume products. The retail stations are not money makers and in many cases have been outsourced if not sold altogether. But they are where the public’s disdain for the industry is built – on high prices at the pump, first and foremost, but also on dirty restrooms and rude staff. “By the time a tanker’s load of gasoline is delivered to the retail station, the oil executive has moved on to think about the gasoline that will be delivered 10 to 25 years in the future.’’

These executives do not focus on the public, which, therefore, does not understand that while the raw profit numbers for oil companies are huge, earnings, measured in net income as a percentage of sales, are fairly modest, in the range of 6-8 per cent. This is a high-cost business; these numbers are fairly typical for manufacturing companies and well below the earnings of pharmaceutical, telecommunications and beverage companies.

Then there is the threat of disaster. “When the industry makes operational mistakes, they can be spectacular: refinery explosions, well blowouts, shipwrecks and oil spills. Equally spectacular is the industry’s poor handling of such incidents, to the point that they live on as case studies of what not to do in a crisis.’’

His solution? To create a Federal Energy Resources System, modelled on the Federal Reserve, to manage America’s energy and its energy-related environmental footprint. A group of governors with 14-year terms, he writes, could have the authority to make decisions that have been sorely needed for decades.

Would such a body have prevented the disaster in the gulf? Perhaps not, but it might well have seen the need for better regulation and accountability as the industry moved deeper and further offshore in search of new resources. Such oversight would certainly not hurt a regulatory system that has been rudderless for years.

——————————-

My question to him was based on what I marked above in color and predicated that I am asking him not about what he said at the lunch, but on what was said in the book review and is part of what he has in the book.

I asked him about his idea of creating the Federal Energy Resources System in the Dick Cheney fashion with obviously people that call out oil as a synonym to energy? Then I got after the notion that profits in the oil industry are the norm with Pharmaceutical, electronics industries and reminded him that while those industries work mad to innovate and thus make use of those profits inside the industry, the oil industry refused to make any changes and did not innovate – they simply divided the profits at piggish level.

With the attempt to answer those questions and with a follow up on the centralized way of thinking about the alternative ways of the new energy business, the lack of decentralized systems concept in what he said – I felt that the chair was quite right in finding that the time to end that meeting was just right. Mr. Hofmeister is a friendly, smiling man, but too friendly with the Cheney crowd for the country’s good.

Climate Change’s Unlikely Crusader – T. Boone Pickens.

 http://www.globalwhisperer.com/2010/06/c…

Oil Baron, Natural Gas Advocate and Corporate Raider T. Boone Pickens, is also the 117th richest person in America. His corporate acquisitions and takeovers have placed him into many industries, mostly relating to energy. A takeover of Gulf Oil, placed him on the cover of time magazine in March of 1985.

He was a huge financial supporter of President George W. Bush, as well as the Republican Party. He contributed to the Swift Vets and POWs for Truth, which ran an advertising campaign against Bush’s rival, John Kerry. He supported Rudy Giuliani’s presidential committee.

Then in 2008, a new side of T. Boone revealed itself. He announced that his company, Mesa Power had filed documents with the state of Texas announcing he would be adding 4 gigawatts of electricity to the state grid. He planned to buy 2,700 wind turbines placing them on up to 200,000 acres.

“We are now meeting with Panhandle landowners and negotiating wind lease and easement agreements,” said Pickens. “We are excited at how quickly the pieces are falling into place.”

T. Boone explained that the wind corridor that runs up through Texas and the U.S. should absolutely be utilize to provide a good chunk of the United States Power. The project would be the largest wind farm in the world.

He didn’t wait long to take action. In January of 2008 T. Boone estimated that the cost of the turbines would be in the $200-$300 million range. The first order of 6667 turbines was placed with General Electric in May of 2008. In July, the Texas Public Utilities Commission approved funding of $4.98 billion in electric transmission lines to connect the wind farms to the electric grid.

Then, with the credit crunch, the project began suffering setbacks.

“When we were looking at the project, we felt like we could do it with 30 percent equity and 70 percent debt,” The New York Times quoted Pickens saying on Wednesday. “The 70 percent debt is where we’re having a little slowdown.” “The 70 percent debt is where we’re having a little slowdown.”

“To put it plainly, T. Boone is out to save America,” – Carl Pope, executive director of the Sierra Club.

T. Boone insists this is only a setback, the Texas grid lines need to be laid, but the state has committed to the project.

The land the wind turbines will be located on also benefits local farmers.

The farmers who own the land could makes $500 a month for each wind turbine on his property. T. Boone estimates the entire project could cost as much as 10 billion. To compare, costs of this year’s Gulf Oil spill areapproaching 22 billion (Source).

T. Boone has since released his own energy plan, called Pickens Plan, which called for huge investments in Solar, Wind and Natural Gas. Then in May of 2010, T. Boone paired up with his previous rival, John Kerry. They worked together to incorporate many of the ideas of Picken’s Plan into Kerry’s climate legislation bill, which is expected to hit the floor this year.

T. Boone insists that if Kerry’s bill fails, the Picken’s Plan ideas will be moved into a different energy bill that can make through Congress. As it stands now, no republicans have stepped up to support the bill. Kerry hopes with T. Boone’s advocacy, it will gain some bi-partisan support.

“To put it plainly, T. Boone is out to save America,” said Carl Pope, executive director of the Sierra Club, after meeting with Pickens in 2008.

 http://www.offshorevaluation.org/

The Offshore Valuation is the first full economic valuation of Britain’s offshore renewable resource.

Ligeti’s “Le Grand Macabre” of gluttonous Breughelland, explains the Louisiana suffering and Washington’s long standing lack of care. Amazing indeed!

“Le Grand Macabre by Gyorgy Ligeti” landed in Breughelland right here at the New York Philharmonic Hall. Was it all about Fossil Fuel gluttony and Washington? Prescient Louisiana? We are flabbergasted because we realized we saw it all there and decided on presenting it to you – our readers – with the hope to reach out to even a larger circle of wise folks.

We did not add an additional word to the libretto, we just shortened it by condensing it in order to bring out the flavor we were seeking. You will see clearly the obvious premonitions that there will be an environmental catastrophe and that “Ministers” will push a monarch in an administration that has good intentions but is weak on actions.

“Le Grand Macabre” was heard and shown by the New York Philharmonic May 27 -29, 2010, thanks to a bravado by new Philharmonic Music Director, Mr. Alan Gilbert who coincidentally is the first native New Yorker to hold this post. Mr. Gilbert is a Harvard graduate and of the Curtis Institute and The Julliard Schools of Music. Before coming to the Philharmonic he was the chief conductor and artistic advisor of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra that made him conductor laureate at the end of his stay there. “Le Grand Macabre” comes at the end of Mr. Gilbert’s Inaugural Season at the New York Philharmonic. We hope that the Members of the Board will not reprimand him for this daring performance. It must be noted further that this Opera had the World Premiere of its original version in Stockholm, April 12, 1978, at the Royal Swedish Opera with Elgar Horwarth conducting. The revised and shortened version was first performed July 28, 1997 in Salzburg in a Peter Sellars production with Esa-Pekka Salonen Conducting.

It is based on on a Michel de Ghelderode play “La Balade du Grand Macabre” and the libretto resulted from a cooperation of Gyorgy Ligeti with Michael Menschke, as Ligeti decided he wanted to create an Opera from that original play. and what Ligeti was trying to answer was the question: “If you knew that the end of the world was imminent, that a comet was about to crash into our planet and obliterate it forever, how would you chose to spend your final hours?”

His answer was, supposedly, “People will spend their final moments doing pretty much whatever they have done before. They’ll jockey for power, they’ll revel in stupidity, they”ll pursue love, they”ll engage in posturing, they’ll get drunk. It is essentially an absurdist treatment in which Ligeti manages to make the unthinkable approachable by rendering it comical.” The notes say that Ligeti told a broadcast interviewer “The threat of collective death is always present – but we try to eliminate it from our consciousness and enjoy to the maximum the days that are left to us.”

The theatrical approach of the script as shaped by Ligeti belongs to the Absurdist school of Alfred Jarry and Eugene Ioneco – the latter also Romanian who lived in Paris like Ligeti. Characters from their plays could have just walked throug Ligeti’s work and cartoonist Saul Steinberg would have found himself at home there either. This is no coincidence and it is rooted in the survivalist background of someone who, born into a family in Transylvania and a history of suffering from Nazism and Stalinism, the self defense is absurdism.

The US audience did not exactly know what to make out either from the music, nor the content, but having this absurd element in it we found it great and are ready to forgive the critics that had hard time of finding their footing, or the busloads of folks that left at intermission. We loved it and had no difficulty seeing in it what we wanted to see in it. How can we miss it when it starts indeed with CAR HORNS! I saw my way from the first Car Horn Prelude – and did not miss the sequence. After all, the TVs these days are all about Louisiana and the ineptitude of Washington stretching back for generations – the Washington dominated by Oil & Car interests that made devil-deals that felled  land, water, and air.

Then who can miss the concept of BREUGHELLAND?

Just see Breughel’s Icarus http://faculty.smu.edu/tmayo/icarus.jpg for link to Ligheti, but there is more to it – Brueghel, Bruegel or Breughel (Dutch pronunciation: [?b?ø???l]) was the name of several Dutch/Flemish painters from the same family line.
To us the most interesting is Pieter Brueghel (1525-69), usually known as Pieter Brueghel the Elder to distinguish him from his elder son, was the first in this family of Flemish painters. You’ll often find his name spelled as Bruegel (Pieter spelled it like that from 1559 onwards), but just as well Breugel or Breughel – the latter as in our case here.

Pieter was born in Breda in the Duchy of Brabant, which is now part of The Netherlands but back then part of the Flanders.

His paintings are full of images of eating and feasting and being merry – plain gluttony and success. this is the image of a world that sees no limits – the world that later was built on the promisse of oil. And this is my point – Breughelland is to me gluttony-land – and this is the give away of this opera – to me – in my interpretation – these days of the Gulf of Mexico blow-out.
{Note: Flanders or Vlaanderen and the Netherlands (aka known as Holland) or Nederland share the same language. It’s called Flemish, or “Vlaams” in Belgium and Dutch, or “Nederlands” in The Netherlands. And the name Holland, although it’s often taken to mean the whole of the Netherlands, is really part of that country only, the area of the provinces called Zuid Holland and Noord Holland (South and North Holland). }

———————————

WORK IN PROGRESS.

——————————-

CAR HORN PRELUDE – SCENE ONE:

PIET THE POT:               O golden Breughelland,
that never knows a care,
fill all your children with delight!
O long lost paradise, where are you now?

NEKROTZAR – from the burial chamber, distant as from the underworld
Perish, but not for bliss!

PIET:                                 Oh my!
All these heavenly twists and turnings!
Such curvings!

AMANDO:                       Miserable scoundrel! That for the worm!

PIET:                                 Mercy, lord! I spoke no word!
It came from above, so who spoke?
The Almighty!

NEKROTZAR:                 Shut up!
And rejoice to be still alive!

PIET:                                You spoke of death, not punishment!
Hey, friend! You go too far!
Hey! Look out!

NEKROTZAR:                Piet the Pot, your time runs out;
so hear the bitter words of these tidings:
that all, all men on earth, must perish!

PIET:                                Any fool knows that!

NEKROTZAR:                 But no one knows the hour.

CHORUS OF SPIRITS – off-stage during Nekrotzar’s declamation:
Destruction soon draws nigh,
thou art in peril great,
for death will be thy fate.

NEKROTZAR                 The will of the Almighty

PIET:                                Oh, please,
spare the people of Breughelland!
Oh please, oh please!

PIET:                                Oh, Breughelland!

CHORUS OF SPIRITS: Destruction soon draws nigh,
though art in peril great,
for death will be thy fate!
Take warning now,
at midnight thou shalt die!

Nekrotzar – mounts Piet, who serves as a horse, with difficulty:
Make room! Room for the Great Macabre!
The end of time has come!
The world! The world will meet its doom!
Gee-up, horse!

—- —- —-

SECOND CAR HORN PRELUDE – SCENE TWO – DANCE:

ASTRADAMORS:         Oh my dreary nights, dark with bitterness!
I could strangle her!
Could choke her, could stab her,
could crush her or throttle her,

brain her or drown her or knife her or hang her,
murder, slay her, kill, behead her,
hang and slaughter, impale, butcher,
poison her drink and destroy her!
Immolate, massacre, put -

PIET:                               Friend Astradamors! it’s you?

ASTRADAMORS:         Friend Piet the Pot! It’s you?

NEKROTZAR:              Fire and death I bring,
burning and shriveling!

NEKROTZAR, PIET & ASTRADAMORS: Thousands of men will die
hearing my battle cry!

NEKROTZAR:             Yes I am but a loyal
and zealous destroyer!

PIET & ASTRADAMORS:                            Death is his employer!

NEKROTZAR:                   My duty here is past When all have breathed their last!

NEKROTZAR:                   Earthquakes will soon arrive, leave not a soul alive!

NEKROTZAR:                   I am powerful!
‘Neath me ye shall cower!

NEKROTZAR:             I am the slayer,
Satan’s purveyor!

PIET & ASTRADAMORS: For we shall expire!

NEKROTZAR, PIET & ASTRADAMOR: No living thing remains!

PIET: Cock-a-doodle-doo!

—– —– —–

SCENE THREE – DOORBELL PRELUDE:

WHITE MINISTER & BLACK MINISTER:  Tweedledum!

THE WHITE MINISTER UNROLLS A WHITE DOCUMENT WITH BLACK LETTERING AND GESTICULATES WILDLY WITH IT UNDER THE BLACK MINISTER’S NOSE:    Here Black party skunk, my resignation!

THE BLACK MINISTER UNROLLS A BLACK DOCUMENT WITH WHITE LETTERING AND GESTICULATES WITH IT UNDER THE WHITE MINISTER’S NOSE:         Here white party polecat, my resignation!

PRINCE GO-GO – appears in front of the curtain:  Gentlemen, I beg you!
You should put the interests of the nation . . .

WHITE MINISTER & BLACK MINISTER:              … above mere selfish egoism?
Prince Go-Go, if you insist!
Appeasement, appeasement!

GO-GO:                                                                           Yes!

WHITE MINISTER & BLACK MINISTER:            All right, then, Highness, the riding lesson!
Mount your steed!

THE TWO MINISTERS LIFT PRINCE GO-GO BY FORCE ON TO THE ROCKING-HORSE:  Gee-up!

GO-GO:                                          We’re feeling giddy!

WHITE MINISTER:                    Gallop!
But keep the reins loose!

BLACK MINISTER:                    Now keep the reins tight!

WHITE MINISTER:                   Cavalry charge …

WHITE MINISTER & BLACK MINISTER:        … as in war!

GO-GO:                             Never war!
Stop it! We surrender!

GO-GO:                            We make a protest!
It’s laid down in our constitution …

WHITE MINISTER & BLACK MINISTER:  Constitution?
Ha, ha …

GO-GO:                          Enough! Enough! Enough!
Forgive me! beg your pardon!

BLACK MINISTER PRODUCES A BLACK SCROLL WITH WHITE LETTERING: Now memorize this speech!

WHITE MINISTER PRODUCES WHITE SCROLL WITH BLACK LETTERING:    My speech – here! Black on white!

BLACK MINISTER:                        White on Black!

GO-GO:                                              Gentleman, I beg you!
Our dear nation!

WHITE MINISTER & BLACK MINISTER: Forgive me!

GO-GO:                                             What’s that?

BLACK MINISTER:                       Well, a … hm …
A decree raising the value-added tax
by one hundred-and-only percent.

GO-GO:                                            Not one cent!
Your tax, say, is much too high!

WHITE MINISTER & BLACK MINISTER:   Highness! I shall resign!

MYSTERIOUS ENTRANCE OF THE GEPOPO CHIEF:  Pssst!

GO-GO:    Ha! Head of my secret service! What a leisure!
You turn up just at the proper time!
Well, what new intelligence message do you
bring us now?

GEPOPO:                      Cococoding Zero, Zero:
highest security grade!

GEPOPO:                      Birds on the wing!

GEPOPO:                     Double-you see!
Snakes in the grass!
Rabble. rabble, rabble!
Riot, riot!
Unlawful assemblies!
Communal insurrection!
Mutinous masses!
Turbulence!
Panic! Panic!
Groundless! Groundless!
Phobia! Wide of the matk!
Right of the track!
Hypopochondria!

GO-GO:                        What did you say?

GEPOPO:                     Password – Go-Go-lash!
Demonstrations, ha!
Protest actions, ha!
Much discretion!
Close observations!
That’s all!
Not a squeak!
Confidential!
One more thing:
Bear in mind:
silence is golden!

THE PEOPLE OF BREUGHELLAND:  Our great leader!
Our great leader!
Our Great leader!
The people’s friend!

Go-Go:                                                          Come, now let me do it!

GO-GO, ON THE BALCONY, RECEIVES THE ACCLAIM OF THE PEOPLE. THEN HE TALKS TO THE PEOPLE. HIS VOICE REMAINS INAUDIBLE; ONLY HIS GESTURES CAN BE SEEN.

WHITE MINISTER & BLACK MINISTER:      I shall resign!

GO-GO:                                                                     To hell with your resignations!
You will stay!

GEPOPO:                                                                  Stern measures!

GO-GO!                                                                     Stern measures!

GEPOPO & GO-GO:                                               Stern measures!

WHITE MINISTER & BLACK MINISTER:      Stern measures?
How come?
Against what?

THE HANGMEN AND DETECTIVES PRESENT THE GEPOPO CHIEF WITH ANOTHER DISPATCH. HE READS IT.

THE PEOPLE OF BREUGHELLAND – mixed chorus, off stage:       Hear us, Prince, oh, hear us!
Dread and fright do sear us!
Great our alarm, yet fear no harm
if thou be ever near us!

GEPOPO:                                                            Kukuriku!  Kikeriki!
He’s coming!

GO-GO:                                                               Who’s coming?

GEPOPO:                                                            Coming!

GO-GO:                                                               What is this Macabre?

GEPOPO:                                                            Coming! Coming!
Look there! There! There! There!
He’s getting in! He’s getting in! He’s getting in!
He’s in!
The guard! The Guard! The guard!
Call the guard!

THE GEPOPO CHIEF AND HIS ATTENDANTS FLEE IN PANIC. INSTEAD OF THE EXPECTED DISASTER, ASTRADAMORS SUDDENLY STORMS ON TO THE STAGE.

ASTRADAMORS:                                           Hurray, hurray!

GO-GO:                                                             Hurray, hurray!
My two Ministers have fled!

ASTRADAMORS:                                            My Prince!

GO-GO:                                                              My worthy sage!

GO-GO & ASTRADAMORS:                         Huzza, huzza!
For all is now in order!
Huzza!
Huzzarazazaza!

THE PEOPLE OF BREUGHELLAND – mixed chorus in the stalls:          Oh! Prince Hear us!

GO-GO:                                                             But tell me, my good friend, I pray:

what is this cloak you wear today?

ASTRADAMORS:                                       A funeral kind of mantilla,
ready for the Dies illa!

THE PEOPLE OF BREUGHELLAND:    Prince! Hear what we say!

GO-GO: Quiet down there!

THE PEOPLE OF BREUGHELLAND: Prince! Help us!
Please save us!

GO-GO: Yes, yes, I’m coming …
What do you want dear people?

Wailing siren: Prince Go-Go is completely intimidated; clings to Astradamors.
Help! Help me! Save me!

ASTRADAMORS: Under the table, quick, and not a sound!

Grandiose entrance of Nekrotzar with scythe and trumpet, riding on Piet’s back, together with his fiendish entourage.

THE PEOPLE OF BREUGHELLAND: Hear us!

NEKROTZAR: For the day of wrath and retribution has come!

THE PEOPLE OF BREUGHELLAND: O mighty Macabre!
Have pity!
Strike us not dead!

NEKROTZAR: Now will searing, scorching heat!
glow and burn as from a thousand suns,
and the waters of the oceans turn into vapor,
and loudly the mountains split asunder,
and the bodies of men will be singed,
and all will be turned into charred corpses
and shrink like shriveled heads!

THE PEOPLE OF BREUGHELLAND: But me, me, me, let me go on living:
pity take on me, me, me!
No, me, me, just me!
Punish all the rest,
but not me, me me;
do not kill me!
Not me! Not me! Not me!

ASTRADAMORS: There is no need to fear:
there is still some time to spare …

PIET & ASTRADAMORS;                     To our great and singular macabre colleague
Nekro, alias Tsar,
the inexorable reaper-man!

NEKROTZAR:                                       To arms now! Rise!
Time to set to work on my holy task!
But first let me sip this chalice
fill’d with human blood!
And may the pressed-out juices of my victims
serve to strengthen and sustain me
before, alas, my necessary deed begins!
Up!

PIET & ASTRADAMORS – fill Nekrotzar’s glass again:       He drinks! Hurrah!
Cheers, Nekro!
Bottoms up!

NEKROTZAR:                                       Blood tastes good!

NEROTZAR:                                          More there!
Ah yes … What was I saying?
Ah! … I’m weak and old …
My flesh is cold, so cold!
So much have I destroyed,
the world so oft made void!
Sodom, Gomorrah rent!
The great deluge sent! …
… Caligula!
Thoderich!
Genghis Khan!
Ivan the Terrible!
Napole-poleon Bonaparte!

Prince Go-Go, Piet & Astradamors, fully drunk, carry Nekrotzar with great difficulty to the rocking-horse and seat him on it.

NEKROTZAR:                                      The command comes from on high that sun,
moon, and stars
shall now be extinguished!

Suddenly semi-darkness: pale, celestial light.

Yes, it’s done! It’s done! All is done! …

– — – — – –

SCENE FOUR (EPILOGUE)

In the lovely country of Breugelland, Piet and Astradamors are floating freely above the ground, they are dreaming that they are in heaven.

PIET:                                                     Ghost Astradamors, are you dead?
See we are floating to Paradise:

ASTRADAMORS:                               We’re floating higher.

GO-GO:                                                 Is no one there?
Anyone there?
Are they all dad?

All of them, every single one dead?
Only me alive? I alone? Forgotten?

RUFFIACK, SCHOBIACK & SCHABERNACK:    Ha, we are three soldiers,
risen from the grave,
sharing all the booty
which the good God gave!

RUFFIACK:                                      Halt! A civilian!

GO-GO:                                            Oh, but no, gentleman all,
we are Prince Go-Go, the prople’s friend,
your sov’reign!

SCHABERNACK:                            You’re dead too, baby! Understand?

GO-GO:                                            You can call me baby” if you want to
At times like this we all should be good
comrades, right?
We’ll give you high decorations, silver and gold,
and relieve you of the oficial duti -

NEKROTZAR:                                Your highnes still alive?
Have I not just laid to waste the entire
goddamned world?
My scythe! My trumpet! Horse! Come!

GO-GO:                                            Later, my friend …

suddenly addressing the three ruffians –    And you! Attention! Stomach in, chest out!
to Nekrotzar:                                               –    Tell me now: who are you?

NEKROTZAR:                                  Which … where is my grave?

MESCALINA:                                   Ashtaroth! Behemoth!

NEKROTZAR:                                  Damnation!

MESCALINA:                                   Beelzebub!

NEKROTZAR:                                  Oh, save me!

Mescalina has caught Nekrotzar; she holds him firmly and about to plunge the spit into his chest.

GO-GO:                                              You there! Seize hold of that fury!

The three ruffians suddenly fling themselves on Mescalina.
to Schabernack -                             Hey you! You run and fetch a rope!

Schabernack reappears. He is dragging behind him the two Ministers, tied up with a long rope.

BLACK MINISTER & WHITE MINISTER:         Innocent! Innocuous! Virtuous! Decorous!
Altruist! Humanist! Humanitarian!
Mercy!

MESCALINA:                               Highness! These I know too!
And am ready to expose them!

WHITE MINISTER:                   Highness, it was she who thought up those infamous taxes!

MESCALINA:                               Oh ho, sweetheart, and who was it
wanted to overthrow the Prince?

BLACK MINISTER:                    Highness, the Inquisition was her idea!

MESCALINA:                               Oh, ho, dearie, and who wanted to be a tyrant and -

WHITE MINISTER:                    Who invented mass graves?

MESCALINA, BLACK MINISTER & WHITE MINISTER:  Who?

MESCALINA:                                He! You! They!

WHITE MINISTER:                    She! You! They!

BLACK MINISTER:                    You! She! They!

GO-GO:                                          Soldiers! Do your Stuff!

——————————

If no hint was clear, just think of President Obama, The Democrats, The Republicans, BP but not just BP – it is all oil and car and other power brokers. It is about fire and water and earthquakes and tremors, the military, the farmers, the engineers, the scientists – it is about you and me.

from Kreisky Forum <kreiskyforum@kreisky.org> date Tue, Jun 1, 2010 at 9:35 AM subject Einladung zu James K. Galbraith, The Necessary Future of Social Democracy, Montag, 14. Juni

Reihe: GENIAL DAGEGEN/ kuratiert von Robert Misik

Monday, June 14, 2010, 7.00 p.m.

JAMES K. GALBRAITH

Lloyd M. Bentsen Chair in Government and Business Relations and Professor of Economics

Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, University of Texas

THE NECESSARY FUTURE OF SOCIAL DEMOCRACY

Moderator:

Robert Misik, journalist and author

Welcome address:

Franz Vranitzky, former Chancellor

Bruno Kreisky Forum for international Dialogue | Armbrustergasse 15 | 1190 Wien

R.s.v.p.: Tel.: 3188260/20 | Fax: 318 82 60/10 | e-mail: einladung.kreiskyforum@kreisky.org

James K. Galbraith is currently the Lloyd M. Bentsen Chair in Government and Business Relations and Professor of Economics at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin. He holds degrees from Harvard (B.A. magna cum laude, 1974) and Yale (Ph.D. in economics, 1981).

He studied economics as a Marshall Scholar at King’s College, Cambridge in 1974-1975, and then served in several positions on the staff of the U.S. Congress, including as the Executive Director of the Joint Economic Committee. He was a guest scholar at the Brookings Institution in 1985 before joining the faculty at the University of Texas. From 1995 to 1997 he directed the LBJ School’s Ph.D. Program in Public Policy.  He held a Fulbright Distinguished Visiting Lectureship in China in the summer of 2001 and was named a Carnegie Scholar in 2003.

His recent research has focused on the measurement and understanding of inequality in the world economy, and leads an informal research group called the University of Texas Inequality Project with several of the school’s distinguished graduate students.

Dr. Galbraith maintains several outside connections, including serving as a Senior Scholar of the Levy Economics Institute and as Chair of the Board of Economists for Peace and Security. He writes a column for Mother Jones, and occasional commentary in many other publications, including The Texas Observer, The American Prospect, and The Nation. He is an occasional commentator for Public Radio International’s Marketplace.

Galbraith’s new book is The Predator State: How Conservatives Abandoned the Free Market and Why Liberals Should Too (2008). He is also author of Balancing Acts: Technology, Finance and the American Future (1989) and Created Unequal: The Crisis in American Pay (1998). Inequality and Industrial Change: A Global View (Cambridge University Press, 2001), is coedited with Maureen Berner and features contributions from six LBJ School Ph.D. students. He has co-authored two textbooks, The Economic Problem with the late Robert L. Heilbroner and Macroeconomics with William Darity, Jr.

Karin Mendel
Bruno Kreisky Forum for International Dialogue
1190 Vienna, Armbrustergasse 15
Tel: +43-(0)1-3188260
Fax: +43-(0)1-3188260/10
www.kreisky-forum.org

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was created under President Richard Nixon. Since then it was all downhill. BP has now started to reeducate President Obama.

Our Deepwater wake-up call: Let’s rethink the trade-off between economic development and environmental protection.

- – - – - -

In June 1969, the stretch of the Cuyahoga River that runs through Cleveland was so polluted that it caught fire. Time magazine described the Cuyahoga this way: “Chocolate-brown, oily, bubbling with subsurface gases, it oozes rather than flows.”

The spectacle of a river in flames helped galvanize the environmental movement, and the following year, with Richard Nixon as president, the Environmental Protection Agency was established. In 1972, Congress passed the landmark Clean Water Act. Today, the Cuyahoga is clean enough to support more than 40 species of fish.

We still don’t know the full extent of the environmental disaster unfolding in the Gulf of Mexico — the impact on avian and aquatic life, on fisheries, on tourism, on the delicate ecology of coastal marshes and barrier islands. We do know, though, that it is the worst oil spill in our nation’s history, far surpassing the Exxon Valdez incident. And maybe the shocking images from the gulf of dead fish, oiled pelicans and shores lapped by viscous “brown mousse” will refocus attention on the need to preserve the environment, not just exploit it.

“Drill, baby, drill” isn’t just the bizarrely inappropriate chant that we remember from the Republican National Convention two years ago. It’s a pretty good indication of where the national ethos has drifted. Environmental regulation is seen as a bureaucratic imposition — not as an insurance policy against potential catastrophe, and certainly not as a moral imperative.

Yes, many Americans feel good about going through the motions of environmentalism. We’ve made a religion of recycling, which is an important change. We turn off the lights when we leave the room — and we’re even beginning to use fluorescent bulbs. Some of us, though not enough, understand the long-term threat posed by climate change; a subset of those who see the danger are even willing to make lifestyle changes to try to avert a worst-case outcome.

But where the rubber hits the road — in public policy — we’ve reverted to our pre-enlightenment ways. When there’s a perceived conflict between environmental stewardship and economic growth, the bottom line wins.

Barack Obama is, in many admirable ways, our most progressive president in decades. But as an environmentalist, let’s face it, he’s no Richard Nixon. Before the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded — allowing, by some estimates, as many as a million gallons of crude oil to gush into the Gulf of Mexico each day for more than a month — Obama had announced plans to permit new offshore drilling. “I don’t agree with the notion that we shouldn’t do anything,” Obama said at the time. “It turns out, by the way, that oil rigs today generally don’t cause spills. They are technologically very advanced.”

Obama has wisely backed away from that decision. The technology involved in deep-sea oil drilling turned out to be far more advanced than the technology needed to halt a spill if something goes wrong — essentially, like engineering a car to double its top speed without thinking to upgrade the brakes. This oversight apparently wasn’t noticed by anyone who had the power to correct it.

Calls for Obama to somehow “take over” the emergency response ring hollow. Take it over with what? Hands-on intervention has never been government’s role in this kind of situation. BP and the other oil companies had the undersea robots and the deep-water experience. Other private companies owned and operated the skimmers that remove the oil from the surface. There is no huge government reserve of the booms that are needed to protect Louisiana’s beaches and marshlands; those are made by private firms and are being deployed by unemployed fishermen.

Obama has rethought his enthusiasm for offshore drilling. Now he, and the rest of us, should rethink the larger issue — the trade-off between economic development and environmental protection. In the long run, our natural resources are all we’ve got. Defending them must be a higher priority than our recent presidents, including Obama, have made it.

Energy policy is one of Obama’s priorities. He talks about “clean coal,” which I believe to be an oxymoron, and favors technologies — such as carbon capture and sequestration — that are new and untested. The environmental risks must be a central and paramount concern, not a mere afterthought. Let’s preclude the next Deepwater Horizon right now.

eugenerobinson@washpost.com

===================================

But the Washington Post, afraid of looking too progressive in a Sarah Palin dominated US political backwaters town, has balanced above excellent article with a second one that caters to the political sharks. Please read the two articles not just as a sandwich were our future is the filling. Read it rather as an effort to blunt the call for non-fossil future. In effect, this second article is nothing less then the Hofmeister defense of BP which we posted as our original article after we listened to this former CEO of Schell Oil Company on his launch at the US Foreign Policy Association on his start of a book-release campaign in defense of Big Oil.

- – - – -

Many reasons, but this one goes unmentioned: Environmental chic has driven us out there. As production from the shallower Gulf of Mexico wells declines, we go deep (1,000 feet and more) and ultra deep (5,000 feet and more), in part because environmentalists have succeeded in rendering the Pacific and nearly all the Atlantic coast off-limits to oil production. (President Obama’s tentative, selective opening of some Atlantic and offshore Alaska sites is now dead.) And of course, in the safest of all places, on land, we’ve had a 30-year ban on drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

So we go deep, ultra deep — to such a technological frontier that no precedent exists for the April 20 blowout in the Gulf of Mexico.

There will always be catastrophic oil spills. You make them as rare as humanly possible, but where would you rather have one: in the Gulf of Mexico, upon which thousands depend for their livelihood, or in the Arctic, where there are practically no people? All spills seriously damage wildlife. That’s a given. But why have we pushed the drilling from the barren to the populated, from the remote wilderness to a center of fishing, shipping, tourism and recreation?

Not that the environmentalists are the only ones to blame. Not by far. But it is odd that they’ve escaped any mention at all.

The other culprits are pretty obvious. It starts with BP, which seems not only to have had an amazing string of perfect-storm engineering lapses but no contingencies to deal with a catastrophic system failure.

————————————————————

John Hofmeister from Schell Oil, now of the Citizens for Affordable Energy, rides to the defense of BP.

The Houston “THE CULTUREMAP INTERVIEW” says for him:
Hating oil companies isn’t a solution: John Hofmeister wants to change the way Americans look at energy.
 http://culturemap.com/newsdetail/05-24-1…

———————————————————-
Fellow Citizens,
With inputs and advice from many of you we have temporarily taken down our former web pages to make it more readable, accessible and easier to navigate. We should be up and running in the very near future. We also are making it more fact-filled and fun to explore. It will also be more continuously updated with current, ready to use information, links to other organizations and materials, and blogs or inputs from other fellow citizens.

It will continue to focus on the importance of energy security, availability and of course affordability.
The Four Mores will continue to anchor our work.

We invite you to register, or re-register, to make sure that you will receive information and new insights as we grow and expand Citizens for Affordable Energy.

The new web site construction is taking place to make the most of the upcoming book launch, May 25, 2010, of Why We Hate the Oil Companies: Straight Talk from an Energy Insider so that Citizens for Affordable Energy takes full advantage of the attention the book will bring to the topic of our affordable energy and environmental future. Learn more by following this link: http://www.whywehatetheoilcompanies.com .

We apologize for any inconvenience and look forward to our upcoming re-launch. With your help we will ensure that affordable and sustainable energy strengthens our economy and supports our lifestyles.

Best wishes,

John Hofmeister
Founder and CEO
Citizens for Affordable Energy, Inc.
919 Milam Street, Suite 2070
Houston, TX 77002

———————————————————

The “4 Mores” of Oilman John Hoffmeister:

-
(1)  More energy from all sources, including hydrocarbons: oil, natural gas, liquefied natural gas, oil shale and clean coal; bio-fuels, solar, wind, hydrogen, hydro-power, geo-thermal and nuclear.

-
(2) More technology and innovation to efficiently utilize energy, including research and development, regulation and “technology push/market pull” approaches in transportation, land use, building design and construction, lighting, appliances, electronics, power production, transmission and distribution.

-
(3) More environmental Protection, including treatment and management of gaseous wastes, analogous to physical and liquid wastes, utilizing regulatory mechanisms, e.g. cap and trade, or other incentives to promote balanced, affordable and sustainable energy solutions.

-
(4) More physical and legal infrastructure, to ensure efficient and environmentally sound distribution and delivery of both traditional and alternative forms of energy.

-
 http://citizensforaffordableenergy.org/4…

 http://www.citizensforaffordableenergy.o…

————————————————————–

Why We Hate Oil Companies: Straight Talk from an Energy Insider.

THE US FOREIGN POLICY ASSOCIATION

at Barclays Capital 745 Seventh Avenue, 32nd Floor (between 49th & 50th Streets)
May 25, 2010 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM

The  book launch of :

“Why We Hate Oil Companies: Straight Talk from an Energy Insider,” the newest book by Mr. John Hofmeister, former President of Shell Oil Company and Founder and Chief Executive of Citizens for Affordable Energy.

———

Some of the Hoffmeister main points are:

In regard to the solution to an oil spill, he says that some years back in Saudi Arabia, the problem was dealt with by bringing super tankers to clean it up – you just suck up the mess and then separate the oil from the water – you bet at these quantities and at this depth. He jocked that there are no tankers available – they must all be full with oil waiting for a better price.

“I’m trying to put it forward as much as I can. I’m trying to give it the attention it deserves. For the main purpose of getting a thumbs up or a thumbs down on ‘Should we do this?’ It’s been done before, not in this part of the world. But you know we certainly ought to consider it. BP ought to be listening. The Coast Guard ought to be listening to see whether this can actually be an idea that works.”

He also said that actually BP never intended to operate that well. They have enough oil now and wanted just to find the oil and cap the well for future use. I asked Hoffmeister later – if they intended to close it, why can they not close it now maybe they do not have the technology indeed? His answer was that we do not know – they did not yet apply the capping technology – it is only to be tried later this week. So the obvious is – why was Hoffmeister so sure that they never intended to tap the oil now and had the knowledge to close a working well at -5,ooo feet? Is he serious or tries just to sell a book?

Nevertheless, there was one point I tend to agree with him – that is in the elaborate display of his feelings that foreign companies Shell and BP were dealt at a disadvantage when compared to Purely US based multinationals. Yes – I can see this in that cattle of worms of the oil industry and their Washington stand-ins, and in his case, leading up to the Palin State of Alaska.

He said It is ironic that the book is published now and the title was chosen more than 18 months ago  . . . and so the irony of today. But any day, as we know, there could be an incident in a risk-based industry — whether it’s the airlines, coal mining, whether it’s truckers driving down the highway, we live in a risk-based society.

The book will help more and more Americans understand the energy issue, he contends,  which is being addressed by Citizens for Affordable Energy, the foundation that Karen (his wife) and I started. And that foundation is intended to give everyday Americans a comfortable working knowledge of energy and what it takes to have affordable energy and available energy through the 21st century and well beyond. And so we’ll keep working on communicating that to everyday Americans.

Today, the American public suffers from misinformation, disinformation and lack of information, a lot of it perpetrated by their elected officials. They need to know as much if not more than their elected officials so they can’t get snookered into the election process of supporting someone who is working in their personal interests but not in the interests of society.

And what is this future? In a nut-shell – let the oil companies supply oil as long as it is available and work on extending energy production by other means when it becomes needed as measured by the economy. first stops will be Canada’s tar sands, Colorado oil shales, Venezuela heavy crudes, coal liquids and gases – not a word about the environment. That one is the domain of read-hot environmental mosquitos …

He believes the government is needed in order to serve the oil industry:

” Well, I think there are several controversial stories in the book which will cause a reaction. I primarily deal with, in terms of controversy, the ugliness of political partisanship and how it is frustrating the good will of this nation and it is setting this nation back in terms of its relations with other nations. It’s an embarrassment. And we should all be ashamed that our elected officials are such partisans.

Secondly, the selfish interests of both the special interests and the industry will probably be taken exception to. But most of all, I attack the structural disfunction of the executive branch, the legislative branch, and the judicial branch of our national government. Our founders may have been brilliant but they did not appreciate or understand what it would take for 21st century energy to be set forward in public policy. And the mechanisms, the structures, the processes we have in government today cannot get the job done. I’m sure that will be debated by many people.

My solution will also be controversial because at a time when many people are challenging the credibility of the Fed, (the Federal Reserve Bank)  I’m proposing that a Fed-like solution is the only way that we will get our energy future sorted out. I call it the Federal Energy Resources Board and if we’re unwilling to put energy under the auspices and the governance of an independent regulatory commission, the likelihood that we will fall into an energy abyss in this nation is simply guaranteed.”

—–

He is not afraid of government that is good for the industry – even though he did not get his way easily in the last years at Schell – specially under Presidents Bush and Obama. He thinks that the folks at the MMS feel it a privilege to work in their office because they have Presidential appointments – be they Democrats or Republicans. Even that as a Dutch Company they were checked many-fold above their competitors. (Very generous indeed.)

The present mishap will show a lot of smoke but no fire – take it straight from the insider, he said.

He needed in Alaska 60 ice free days because they could not build on ice, but was interferred with, so they did not have the needed 60 days and the leases expire in 5 or 10 years – so leases were lost by the slow bureaucracy.

He kept saying that hydrocarbons, wether oil or coal, are dangerous and we must learn to live with risk, he said.

He expects that no new drilling will happen before the end of 2012, and then only when the price is right!

He sees money from the oil industry flow to the Democratic Party. Is this an accepted fact? On foreign relations – itis not just about oil – it brought us close to war – people cannot judge. He sees an unemployed and uninvolved electorate not going to vote1 He saw a Houston election for Mayor in 2009 with only 16% participation. He wants people more aware and going out to fight for the energy cause.

Q from the audience: How can the electorate push the oil industry to do the right thing?

He wants a 50 years transition. The 10-25 years are the medium term. By 2060 we will have diminished the dependence on oil and coal he says. Until then we will have used one trillion barrels each of the Athabasca oil sands, the US oil shales and the Venezuelan heavies. Colorado could provide us with 300 million bbl/day.

Solar and wind will come in starting 30 years from now. First solar not wind.

Coal is economic now wit a 25 Cents subsidy per MWh – but now it takes a $23.30 cents subsidy to get the equivalent power from solar, he said. Then, on top, he threw at the novices – coal is 35% efficient but solar is only 8% efficient – but he is an optimist – “molecular material” will be created by science to support solar.

Hydrogen is an underestimated material – Natural Gas is another material for the future. {the future? where has he been in the last three decades? If anyone – it was the oil industry that slowed down the NG industry – they were, and some still do simply flare it and burn it away.} Then he quipped – he knows fission – fusion has great promise – and always will.

Credits for the following go to a tip I got from a friend, Bob Larick, at a presentation by Ambassador Federico Alberto Cuello Camilo to the UN University on topics of Environment and Migration on the Hispaniola Island where man made disasters in Haiti augment the fact that a fault goes through the island, and poses a natural danger to both States – Haiti and the Dominican Republic. While we cannot but be defensive when it comes to nature, we must nevertheless make sure we do not compound on those potential disasters. This friend gave me the example of the MUD VOLCANO OF INDONESIA.

————————–
 http://www.eturbonews.com/15181/sidoarjo…

DO WE SEE HERE AN INDONESIA GOVERNMENT COVER-UP?

OK – LET IT BECOME A SITE FOR TOURISM — BUT LET IT BE ALSO A SITE FOR LEARNING.

WHY NOT ESTABLISH A SCHOOL FOR OIL INDUSTRY EXECUTIVES AND GOVERNMENT PEOPLE FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD – RIGHT THERE IN SIDOARJA, INDONESIA – SO RESPONSIBILITY CAN BE TAUGHT THERE. WE SUGGEST THAT THE WORLD REINSURANCE INDUSTRY SPONSOR THE SCHOOL!

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mud_volcano

MUD VOLCANOES:

“A mud volcano may be the result of a piercement structure created by a pressurized mud diapir which breaches the Earth’s surface or ocean bottom. Temperatures may be as low as the freezing point of ejected materials, particularly when venting is associated with the creation of hydrocarbon clathrate hydrate deposits.

Mud volcanoes are often associated with petroleum deposits and tectonic subduction zones and orogenic belts; hydrocarbon gases are often erupted. They are also often associated with lava volcanoes; in the case of such close proximity, mud volcanoes emit incombustible gases including helium, whereas lone mud volcanoes are more likely to emit methane.

A drilling accident offshore of Brunei in 1979 caused a mud volcano which took 20 relief wells and nearly 30 years to stop the eruption.

Drilling or an earthquake may have resulted in the Sidoarjo mud flow on May 29, 2006, in the Porong subdistrict of East Java, Indonesia. The mud covered about 440 hectares, or 1,087 acres (4.40 km²), and inundated four villages, homes, roads, rice fields, and factories and displaced about 24,000 people, killing 14. The gas exploration company was operated by PT Lapindo Brantas. In 2008, it was termed the world’s largest mud volcano and is beginning to show signs of catastrophic collapse, according to geologists who have been monitoring it and the surrounding area. A catastrophic collapse could sag the vent and surrounding area by up to 150 meters in the next decade. In March 2008, the scientists observed drops of up to 3 meters in one night. Most of the subsidence in the area around the volcano is more gradual, at around 0.1 cm per day. Now named Lusi, the mud volcano appears to be a hydrocarbon/hydrothermal hybrid. Lusi is actually a contraction of Lumpur Sidoarjo, where lumpur is the Indonesian word for “mud”".

——————

In Azerbaijan, eruptions are driven from a deep mud reservoir which is connected to the surface even during dormant periods, when seeping water still shows a deep origin. Seeps have temperatures up to 2–3 °C above the ambient temperature.^[1]

Approximately 1,100 mud volcanoes have been identified on land and in shallow water. It has been estimated that well over 10,000 may exist on continental slopes and abyssal plains.

Features:

• Gryphon: steep-sided cone shorter than 3 meters that extrudes mud
• Mud cone: high cone shorter than 10 meters that extrudes mud and rock fragments
• Scoria cone: cone formed by heating of mud deposits during fires
• Salse: water-dominated pools with gas seeps
• Spring: water-dominated outlets smaller than 0.5 meters
• Mud shield and many other kinds of features

Emissions:

Most liquid and solid material is released during eruptions, but various seeps occur during dormant periods.

First order estimates of mud volcano emissions have recently been made (1 Tg = 1 million metric tonnes).

• 2002: L.I. Dimitrov estimated that 10.2–12.6 Tg/yr of methane is released from onshore and shallow offshore mud volcanoes.
• 2002: Etiope and Klusman estimated at least 1–2 and as much as 10–20 Tg/yr of methane may be emitted from onshore mud volcanoes.
• 2003: Etiope, in an estimate based on 120 mud volcanoes: “The emission results to be conservatively between 5 and 9 Tg/yr, that is 3–6% of the natural methane sources officially considered in the atmospheric methane budget. The total geologic source, including MVs (this work), seepage from seafloor (Kvenvolden et al., 2001), microseepage in hydrocarbon-prone areas and geothermal sources (Etiope and Klusman, 2002), would amount to 35–45 Tg/yr.”^[2]
• 2003: analysis by Milkov et al. suggests that the global gas flux may be as high as 33 Tg/yr (15.9 Tg/yr during quiescent periods plus 17.1 Tg/yr during eruptions). Six teragrams per year of greenhouse gases are from onshore and shallow offshore mud volcanoes. Deep-water sources may emit 27 Tg/yr. Total may be 9% of fossil CH₄ missing in the modern atmospheric CH₄ budget, and 12% in the preindustrial budget.^[3]
• 2003: Alexei Milkov estimated approximately 30.5 Tg/yr of gases (mainly methane and CO₂) may escape from mud volcanoes to the atmosphere and the ocean.^[4]
• 2003: Achim J. Kopf estimated 1.97×10¹¹ to 1.23×10¹⁴ m³ of methane is released by all mud volcanoes per year, of which 4.66×10⁷ to 3.28×10¹¹ m³ is from surface volcanoes.^[5] That converts to 141–88,000 Tg/yr from all mud volcanoes, of which 0.033–235 Tg is from surface volcanoes.

Locations

Europe and Asia

Mud volcanoes are generally few in Europe, but dozens can be found on the Taman Peninsula of Russia and the Kerch Peninsula of southeastern Ukraine. In Italy, they are common in the northern front of the Apennines and in Sicily. Another relatively accessible place where mud volcanoes can be found in Europe are the Berca Mud Volcanoes near Berca in Buz?u County, Romania, close to the Carpathian Mountains.

Many mud volcanoes exist on the shores of the Black Sea and Caspian Sea. Tectonic forces and large sedimentary deposits around the latter have created several fields of mud volcanoes, many of them emitting methane and other hydrocarbons. Features over 200 meters high exist in Azerbaijan, with large eruptions sometimes producing flames of similar scale (see below). Iran and Pakistan also possess mud volcanoes in the Makran range of mountains in the south of the two countries. In fact, the world’s largest and highest volcano is located in Balochistan, Pakistan.^[6]

China has a number of mud volcanoes in Xinjiang province. There are also mud volcanoes at the Arakan Coast in Myanmar (Burma). There are two active mud volcanoes in South Taiwan, and several inactive ones.

The island of Baratang, part of the Great Andaman archipelago in the Andaman Islands, Indian Ocean, has several sites of mud volcanic activity. There was a significant eruption event in 2003.

A drilling accident offshore of Brunei in 1979 caused a mud volcano which took 20 relief wells and nearly 30 years to stop the eruption.

Drilling or an earthquake may have resulted in the Sidoarjo mud flow on May 29, 2006, in the Porong subdistrict of East JavaIndonesia. The mud covered about 440 hectares, or 1,087 acres (4.40 km²), and inundated four villages, homes, roads, rice fields, and factories and displaced about 24,000 people, killing 14. The gas exploration company was operated by PT Lapindo Brantas. In 2008, it was termed the world’s largest mud volcano and is beginning to show signs of catastrophic collapse, according to geologists who have been monitoring it and the surrounding area. A catastrophic collapse could sag the vent and surrounding area by up to 150 meters in the next decade. In March 2008, the scientists observed drops of up to 3 meters in one night. Most of the subsidence in the area around the volcano is more gradual, at around 0.1 cm per day. Now named Lusi, the mud volcano appears to be a hydrocarbon/hydrothermal hybrid. Lusi is actually a contraction of Lumpur Sidoarjo, where lumpur is the Indonesian word for “mud”.

In Pakistan there are more than 80 active mud volcanoes, all of them in Baluchistan province; there are about 10 locations having clusters of mud volcanoes. In the west, in Gwadar District, the mud volcanoes are very small and mostly sit in the south of Jabal-e-Mehdi toward Sur Bandar. Many more exist in the north-east of Ormara. The remainder are in Lasbela District and are scattered between south of Gorangatti on Koh Hinglaj to Koh Kuk in the North of Miani Hor in the Hangol Valley. In this region, the heights of mud volcanoes range between 800 to 1550 feet. The most famous is Chandaragup. The biggest crater found is about 450 feet in diameter. Most mud volcanoes in this region are situated in out-of-reach areas having very difficult terrain. Dormant mud volcanoes stand like columns of mud in many other areas.

Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan and its Caspian coastline are home to nearly 400 mud volcanoes, more than half the total throughout the continents. In 2001, one mud volcano 15 kilometers from Baku made world headlines when it suddenly started ejecting flames 15 meters high.^[7]

North and South America

Mud volcanoes of the North American continent include:

• A field of small (<2 meters high) fault controlled cold mud volcanoes is located on California’s Mendocino Coast, near Glen Blair/Fort Bragg. The fine grained clay is occasionally harvested by local potters.^[8]
• Shrub and Klawasi mud volcanoes in the Copper River basin by the Wrangell Mountains, Alaska, USA. Emissions are mostly CO₂ and nitrogen; the volcanoes are associated with magmatic processes.
• An unnamed mud volcano 30 m high and with a top about 100 m wide, 24 km off Redondo Beach, California, and 800 m under the surface of the Pacific Ocean.
• A field of small (<3 meters) mud volcanoes in the Salton Sea geothermal area near the town of Niland, California. Emissions are mostly CO₂.
• Smooth Ridge mud volcano in 1,000 m of water near Monterey Canyon, California.
• Kaglulik mud volcano, 43 m under the surface of the Beaufort Sea, near the northern boundary of Alaska and Canada. Petroleum deposits are believed to exist in the area.
• Maquinna mud volcano, located 16-18 kilometers west of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada.
• There are many mud volcanoes in Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean, near oil reserves in southern parts of the island of Trinidad. As of August 15, 2007, the mud volcano titled the Moruga Bouffle was said to being spitting up methane gas which shows signs that it is definitely active. There are also several other mud volcanoes in the tropical island which include:
  • the Devils Woodyard mud volcano near Hindustan
    

    

    One of the Devil’s Woodyard Volcano (Hindustan, Trinidad & Tobago)

  • the Moruga Bouffe mud volcano near Moruga
  • the Piparo mud volcano
  • the Chatham mud volcano located underwater in the Columbus Channel; this mud volcano periodically produces a short-lived island.

South American mud volcanoes include:

• Venezuela. The eastern part of Venezuela contains several mud volcanoes, all of them, as in Trinidad, having an origin related to oil deposits. The image shows the Volcán de lodo de Yagrumito, about 6 km from Maturín, Venezuela. Its mud contains, water, biogenic gas, a certain amount of hydrocarbons and an important quantity of salt. Cows from the savanna often gather around to lick the dried mud for its salt content, which is an integral part of their diet needed to produce milk.

• Colombia. Volcan El Totumo [1], which marks the division between Bolivar and Atlantico in Colombia. This volcano is approximately 50 feet (15 m) high and can accommodate 10 to 15 people on its crater; many tourists and locals visit this volcano due to the medicinal benefits of the mud; the volcano is located next to a cienaga, or lake. This volcano is currently under a legal fight between the Bolivar and Atlantico Departamentos because of its tourist value.

Yellowstone’s “Mud Volcano”

The name of Yellowstone National Park‘s “Mud Volcano” feature and the surrounding area is misleading; it consists of hot springs, mud pots and fumaroles, rather than a true mud volcano. Depending upon the precise definition of the term mud volcano, the Yellowstone formation could be considered a hydrothermal mud volcano cluster. The feature is much less active than in its first recorded description, although the area is quite dynamic. Yellowstone is an active geothermal area with a magma chamber near the surface, and active gases are chiefly steam, carbon dioxide, and hydrogen sulfide.^[9]

The mud volcano in Yellowstone was previously a mound, until suddenly, it tore itself apart into the formation seen today.^[10]

UNEP leads 27 countries of the Wider Caribbean on  “land-based pollution” at an International Maritime Organization (IMO) meeting in Panama City based on the ISTAC of Kingston, Jamaica (Interim Scientific, Technical and Advisory Committee to the Cartagena Convention. Will they touch nevertheless the menacing Deep-Water Oil-Well Blow-Out?

from: James Sniffen <sniffenj@un.org>

UNEP/CEP PRESS RELEASE: REGIONAL GOVERNMENT POLLUTION EXPERTS MEET IN PANAMA.

Panama City, 24th May, 2010:

Over 50 pollution control experts from 27 countries of the Wider Caribbean
gather today (Monday 24th May) in Panama City at the invitation of the
United Nations Environment Programme’s Caribbean Environment Programme
(UNEP CEP) and the International Maritime Organization (IMO).

The gathering of experts for the 5th Meeting of the Interim Scientific, Technical and Advisory Committee (ISTAC) to the Protocol concerning pollution from land-based sources, commonly known as the LBS Protocol, will last for five days.  The CEP is the Secretariat for this Protocol and is based in Kingston, Jamaica.

The LBS Protocol is one of three agreements under the Convention for the
Protection and Development of the Marine Environment in the Wider Caribbean
Region (the Cartagena Convention).  It establishes regional guidelines and
standards for reducing the impact of pollution on the coastal and marine
environment, and on human health.   Over 80% of the pollution of the marine
environment of the Wider Caribbean is estimated to originate from land
based sources and activities.

Panama, the host country, is one of only six countries to have ratified the LBS Protocol.  The others are Trinidad and Tobago, Belize, Saint Lucia, France and the United States.  Discussions during the meeting will focus on measures to increase the region’s commitment to ratify the Protocol, and have it enter into force and become international law as soon as possible.

In support of regional cooperation, UNEP CEP is partnering with the IMO and their joint Regional Activity Centre for Oil Spills (RAC REMPEITC) to bring together experts from environmental agencies, maritime authorities and port administrations for this 5th LBS ISTAC.

Delegates are expected to identify practical measures to improve the implementation of marine environmental agreements including the IMO London Convention on the control of pollution from dumping of wastes at sea and the MARPOL Convention on the prevention of pollution of the marine environment by ships.

According to Nelson Andrade, Coordinator of UNEP CEP”   “It is vital that
Governments adopt a more integrated approach to reducing pollution from
land and marine based sources”.  He noted that the continued partnership
between UNEP and IMO will help to effectively implement the Cartagena
Convention and its three Protocols and to reduce marine contamination.

Meeting Participants are also expected to review recent achievements of the
UNEP CEP to reduce and control marine pollution and to endorse a new work
plan and budget for 2010-2011.

For additional information, please contact:

Christopher Corbin,Programme Officer,
Assessment and Management of Environment Pollution (AMEP),
Regional Co-ordinating Unit, UNEP CEP
Kingston, Jamaica
Telephone: (876) 922-9267 — Fax: (876) 922-9292
http://www.cep.unep.org; cjc@cep.unep.org;

About UNEP’s Caribbean Environment Programme (CEP) -  The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) established the Caribbean Environment Programme (CEP) in 1976 under the framework of its Regional Seas Programme.   It was based on the importance and value of the Wider Caribbean Region’s fragile and vulnerable coastal and marine ecosystems including an abundant and mainly endemic flora and fauna,

A Caribbean Action Plan was adopted by the Caribbean countries and led to the adoption, in 1983, of the only current regional, legally-binding agreement for the protection of the marine environment, the Cartagena Convention.  The Convention and its first Protocol (Oil Spill) entered into force in 1986.

Two other protocols were developed by the region – the Protocols on Special Protected Areas and Wildlife (SPAW) and the Control of Pollution from Land Based Sources (LBS) in 1990 and 1999 respectively.

The SPAW Protocol entered into force in 2000, whereas three ratifying countries are still needed for the LBS Protocol.

The Caribbean Regional Coordinating Unit (UNEP-CAR/RCU) serves as the Secretariat to the Cartagena Convention and is based in Kingston, Jamaica.

Each Protocol is served by a Regional Activity Centre.  These Centres are
based in the Netherlands Antilles (Regional Marine Pollution Emergency
Information and Training Center for the Wider Caribbean, RAC/REMPEITC) for
the Oil Spills Protocol, Guadeloupe (RAC/SPAW) for the SPAW Protocol, Cuba
(Centre of Engineering and Environmental Management of Coasts and Bays) and
Trinidad & Tobago (Institute of Marine Affairs) for the LBS Protocol.

NATION
Oil From Spill Moves Into Marshes, Gulf’s Loop Current.

by Doug Simpson, aol Contributor

(May 19) — Heavy oil has seeped into Louisiana’s delicate marshes and an oil sheen from BP’s leaking well has drifted into the Gulf of Mexico’s powerful loop current, federal scientists said today. Researchers said the sheen could flow to the Florida Straits and into the Atlantic Ocean.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said much of the oil sheen heading east would be dispersed in the roughly 10 days it would take to get to Florida. Or the oil could get caught in an eddy in the middle of the gulf and not get to the Florida Straits, NOAA said in a written statement today.

“Right now, any potential impact is perceived as light, and it’s days away” from Florida, said Coast Guard Rear Adm. Mary Landry, the government official overseeing the response to the BP spill.

The Coast Guard said that the tar balls retrieved Monday from Fort Zachary State Park in Key West, Fla., did not come from the gulf oil spill.

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal said the heavy oil oozing into his state’s marshes threatens “our way of life.”

“The oil is no longer just a projection or miles from our shore. The oil is here. It is in our shores and in our marsh,” Jindal said in a statement.

The Coast Guard said tar balls retrieved Monday from Fort Zachary State Park in Key West, Fla., did not come from the gulf oil spill. Tests at a Connecticut lab showed the tar balls were of a different type of oil than that spilling from the leaking well off Louisiana’s coast. The origin of the tar balls is unknown, the Coast Guard said.

It’s not uncommon for tar balls to wash up on the shores from tankers and cruise ships. Tar balls were also reported at Corpus Christi, Texas, though Landry said it’s “very, very unlikely” they came from the spill. She said those balls would also be tested.

Also today, BP reported improved containment of the oil that’s spewing from the site of the Deepwater Horizon drilling platform that exploded April 20, killing 11 men, and sank two days later. About 5.4 million gallons of oil have since spilled into the gulf, according to the official estimate. The company and the Coast Guard have said their estimate of the total daily leak, 5,000 gallons, is an approximation — one that scientists say could be far too low.

Doug Suttles, BP’s chief operating officer, said a tube inserted into the leaking pipe is now containing more than half of the flowing oil and funneling it to a vessel on the surface of the gulf. He said the piping device is containing about 3,000 gallons per day, up from 1,000 gallons Monday.

“It’s performing well. We’re very encouraged. We think this is a sustainable operation now,” Suttles said today at a news conference in Robert, La.

——
Full Oil Spill Coverage:

About half of the flow from the broken riser pipe is gas, roughly 14 million cubic feet per day, Suttles said. Gas that is funneled to the surface is separated from the oil, then burned off.

Suttles said BP hopes Sunday to begin its “top kill” operation, an attempt to clog the well by forcing heavy drilling mud material down the pipe, blocking the upward flow of oil and gas. If successful, that would be followed by a flow of cement to seal the well permanently.

Calm seas allowed for more burning of oil on the gulf’s surface, including one burn that lasted more than two hours, Suttles said.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar today said he’s planning to break the Minerals Management Service, which regulates the oil and gas industry, into three separate offices as a result of criticism from President Barack Obama and others that MMS is “too cozy” with the industry. Lawmakers in Washington have blamed MMS for failing to force BP and other energy companies to better prepare for a blown well like BP’s.

The reorganization is designed to eliminate a conflict of interest in MMS’s three missions. The agency issues leases and collects royalties from oil and gas derived from those leases. MMS also polices offshore drilling.

“The Minerals Management Service has three distinct and conflicting missions that — for the benefit of effective enforcement, energy development and revenue collection — must be divided,” Salazar said in a statement.

U.S. and Cuban officials are discussing response to the spill in wake of reports that oil in the loop current could take it to the Florida Keys and northern Cuba, State Department spokesman Gordon Duguid said. In a statement, Obama also thanked Mexican President Felipe Calderon for his country’s offers of assistance in dealing with the spill.

###

——————–
News Alert: Top Interior official overseeing offshore oil and gas drilling to retire.
Monday, May 17, 2010
——————–

Chris Oynes, the top Interior official who oversees offshore oil and gas drilling for the Minerals Management Service, announced Monday that he will retire on May 31, 2010. (Here we have the first insider to pay a price.)

Oynes, who oversaw oil and gas leasing in the Gulf of Mexico for 12 years before being promoted to MMS associate director for Offshore Energy and Minerals Management, has come under fire for being too close to the industry officials he regulated.

His announcement comes as Interior Secretary Ken Salazar unveiled a series of reforms on how the department will conduct onshore oil and gas drilling.

——=============—–

ON CBS – FACE THE NATION, Sunday, May 16, 2010 – Senator Charles Schumer of New York had the following to say:

Schumer: Gulf spill makes passing climate bill more difficult.

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico would make passage of a climate bill this year more difficult because the bill includes a compromise allowing for the expansion of offshore oil and gas exploration. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) described the spill as an “environmental disaster of gargantuan proportions,” and called for the administration’s response to be a “big part of the inquiry” into what happened. McConnell said “BP will pay for” the damage, but warned that raising the cap on damages too much would create a situation in which only large companies are able to extract oil and gas in the Gulf.


Schumer said that Kagan’s Supreme Court confirmation hearings “should not be a farce … they should talk about judicial ideology and philosophy.” He added that he hopes Kagan will be able to bring the court’s liberal and conservative factions together. McConnell said, “Republicans have treated Supreme Court nominees a lot better than Democrats have,” and added that he “can’t think of a single [Democratic] nominee treated like” Robert Bork, Clarence Thomas or Samuel Alito.

While noting that the question of where and how to try self-described 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was still open, Schumer said, “the chances of him being tried in New York are close to zero.”

After retiring Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.) endorsed tea party favorite Rand Paul, the son of Texas Congressman Ron Paul who ran in 2008 for the Presidency, as his replacement in Tuesday’s primary, while Senator McConnell endorsed Paul’s opponent Trey Grayson.  McConnell said he will attend a GOP unity rally at the state Capitol on Saturday. He said the tea party movement is “going to really help” Republicans in November. Schumer predicted that Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) will edge out his primary challenger, Rep. Joe Sestak (D-Pa.) “by a little.”

——————–

So, the hope is in cooperative programs with China and Indonesia – The Halting of Global Warming May Be Possible in a Business Context that is Transboundary. Pitty the loss of President Obama’s trip to Indonesia of two months ago, because of burning internal issues in Washington, at the time we said that President Obama could have revived the UNFCCC efforts by bringing in an Indonesian to head that Climate Change UN agency.

——————–

Back to the BP accident:

People are asking why the industry was not better prepared to react in case of an accident? members of Congress hold hearings and find out that the federal regulatory agencies for minerals management actually had on the books all sort of regulations but nobody bothered enforcing them. Here comes the oil industry that made sue Washington does not bother them – and as could have been expected – the agencies had little interest to interfere with the oil companies.

The New York Times talks of technologies that were supposed to be in place, bur had not changed much in 20 years – booms, skimmers and chemical dispersants. now remember how further the drilling technology has advanced in these 20 years, and how further out into the sea, and how these drilling sites moved to much deeper wells, and it starts looking like criminal lack of supervision. Professor Robert G. Bea of the U. of California at Berkeley, who studies offshore drilling described what goes on now a s”some equivalent of a fire drill with paper towels and buckets for cleanup.” He said that for years the Minerals Management Service argued that “blow-out preventers were practically foolproof.” November 2009, Walter D. Cruickshank, the Deputy Director of MMS told a hearing that the wells had a safety devices to shut off the flow in emergencies. What they did not preict was that the whole rig will collapse. Now the Marine Spill Response Corporation, formed after the 21990 Exxon Valdez disaster, and using equipment and technology from 1990 vintage, is in charge. They where never given budget for research said Steve Benz, the group’s President, though he contended that with C-130 planes they are ahead of the regulatory agency.

President Obama finally came out blasting the “Cosy” relationship with the oil and gas industry, saying that federal government failures were partly to blame for the oil spill. Mr. OBAMA SAID THAT THE DAYS IN WHICH WASHINGTON REGULATORS WOULD ROUTINELY GRANT DRILLING PERMITS BASED ON LITTLE MORE THAN VAGUE ASSURANCES OF SAFETY WERE OVER.

The hearings showed that the books carried requirements for permits from another agency that assesses threats to endangered species and the agency warned about the impact the drilling was likely to have on the gulf. The MMS allowed BP and dozens of other companies to drill in the Gulf of Mexico without getting first those permits. Also, doubts were expressed on Accuracy of Government’s Spill estimates – they were given as 5,000 barrels a day but are much larger – a huge plume  in the water is depriving oxygen from life in the gulf. Ian R. MacDonald, an oceanographer at Florida State University, who is a specialist in analysing oil slicks, made calculations and gave notice of intent to sue the agency over its non-compliance with the law -It seems the agency thinks its mission is to help the oil industry evade environmental laws,” he said. One thing seems for sure – MMS will have to be broken up into a regulatory agency and a separate fee collecting office for the royalties – as if that could help. Really how do you get it to obey the already existing regulations?

Indeed – something is fishy with BP when the company, the rig owner – Transocean, and the drilling contractor – Halliburton of old fame, through accusations at each other, then the only immediate reaction in the US comes from Alaska interests that find Royal Dutch Shell of also potentially endangering the Alaska coast. We say here that these are coincidentally the two European companies that compete in the US for drilling sites with the US-based multinationals. Just going after these two companies and not even mentioning in the same context the US companies, might easily be interpreted a US oil-industry ploy to decrease competition. This is not a neat way of doing business either.

The CNN ireport – LIVING IN A TOXIC TOWN. CNN and Dr. Sanjay Gupta invite you to put on video what you know.
 http://www.ireport.com/ir-topic-stories….

Living in a toxic town

Many residents of Mossville, Louisiana, suspect their proximity to more than a dozen chemical plants may be responsible for what they say are high rates of cancer and other diseases in the area.

Is there a place near you where pollution is making people sick? CNN is investigating the environment’s effects on health as part of Dr. Sanjay Gupta’s Toxic Towns USA special. We want you to join us in the newsgathering process.

“Put yourself on video and document conditions in your area, or take photos of what’s around you. Tell us what industrial or chemical pollution may be contributing to health problems for you and those you love, and be sure not to put yourself in a dangerous situation,” CNN writes.

“Tell us about toxic towns near you and Dr. Gupta may report on your community.”

We write this after having witnessed the following:

Subtantialis Corporis Mixti
(Substantial Form of the Blended Body)

THE SYNERGIES EXHIBITION OF THE BASEL, ROTTERDAM AND STOCKHOLM CONVENTIONS.

on Friday, 7 May, 6:00 – 8:30 pm
Czech Center – 321 E. 73rd Street, New York, New York

The event is open to the public and will feature an informal talk by the
exhibition curator at 6:45pm accompanied by cocktail refreshment.

It was sponsored by The Czech Republic and organized by SAFE PLANET – the UN campaign for Responsibility on Hazardous Chemicals and Wastes on the occasion of the Eighteenth Session of the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD 18).

For more information, please see the attached flyer.

Michael Stanley-Jones
Joint Services of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions
UNEP, Geneva
+41 79 730-4495 (Press enquires)
SafePlanet@unep.org

=== ===  ===

The three conventions mentioned are:

- The Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous wastes and Their Disposal.    www.basel.int

- The Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International trade.    www.pic.int

- The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants.    www.pops.int

These are just three out of a dozen conventions – most of them dealing with specific chemicals – many with just single transition metals that are poisonous and harmful to humans and aspects of nature. The UN cannot regulate what is done in a particular country even when it impacts the whole world – but it can come up with conventions that try to regulate international trade – and sometimes plain dumping of hazardous materials somewhere outside the guilty country – we call this plain criminal activity that dumps these materials in the poorest region of a poor country.

UNEP Executive Director and UN-USG Ahim Steiner’s opening sentence for the exhibition’s catalog says: “The challenge of hazardous chemicals can appear invisible and remote to many of us. While science offers us the rationale and objective evidence of the risks, art connects the heart: In doing so it can move and mobilize each and all of us to act in new and transformative ways.”

Industrial interests tend to sweep these miseries under the rug – so to say – and people are left suffering terrible harm as a consequence. The UN may discuss this in its chambers, but unless people get the understanding why things happen to them, to their environment, or to something they care about – they will not act.

Chris Jordan, September 2009, photographed bodies of Albatross chicks that had dropped to their deaths on Midway Atoll, a remote marine sanctuary in the middle North Pacific. They had swallowed colorful bottle caps and cigarette lighters that their parents fed them because we threw them into the open sea.

Barbara Benish, from California but living now on in the Czech Republic close to the German border, takes to the plastic toy form of “Bruno” the dolphin of Bohemia discolored by chemicals like the real Dolphins of the polluted Mediterranean and compares them with the playing dolphins of the walls of 3,000 year old palaces of Knossos. Barbara is teaching environment to Czech children and to the children of the world. She was a university classmate of the organizer of this exhibition Michael Stanley-Jones whith whom she was in contact but did not see him for 25 years until last nights event. But Michael was not the curator of the show, that fell to a professional from Texas

Floyd Newsum shows a set of three panels that in the upper two halves are covered with an orange red to show the effect of global warming upon a young female figure, that happens to be African, that is depicted in the lower one third of the middle panel. Below these panels there are three objects, – a plastic football covered stuff that looks like pollution under the right side panel,  while under the left panel there is a model bath tub – the ocean – and in it a small plastic cut out in the shape of Texas – that is the size of Texas of a plastic-covered real life region in the middle of the Pacific.

The above  collage shocked me as I just saw in the Saturday New York Times – right there on front page – the spectacular red, orange and yellow colors of oil-in water – that is the play of light in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. How many poor girls in the US South will go hungry as their fisherman father will be out of work because we wanted that oil? I got my exhibit-update right there – the same day.

Lyn Randolph explores the Texas Gulf Coast in two large excellent paintings – “Endangered Species” in what seems an unexpected meeting of a female nude and Wooping Cranes – the woman seems to spy us and seems to be of the same endangered content as the birds. Here also we have very warm colored backgrounds but much more sharp colored center images.

Barbara Sprung and another Barbara Benish large paintings deal with vulnerable women that we have attacked by what we do to the environment – those are the turning-away wounded Venuses in our life. Their bodies might still look nice but were altered by chemicals.

Santiago Cardenas of Colombia does away with the body completely – he just shows a large coat on a hangar and an umbrella attached to a belt-loop.

Then a most surprising exhibit was by a delightful Pakistani lady that resides now in Indiana, Anila Quayyum Agha.

She showed a construct with letters that she named “My Forked Tongue.” and tried to convey the need for an international dialogue. She suspended letters in Urdu, Hindi and English and she told me it took 6 hours to mount the work here. She has dealt with political and gender issues in the land of her birth. Now she is Assistant Professor – Drawing- at the Herron School of Art and Design at the Indiana University in Indianapolis. I picked up a 40 page booklet of hers “Drawing the Invisible: Naratives of Gender, Community, and Home.” There is not a single depiction of the human body there – clearly something that has to do with her cultural background. She manages nevertheless, through color, painting, stitching, sewing, graphics… to convey the good side of humanity – what a refreshing experience after reading and hearing all the stuff about other Pakistanis in America! I spoke with her at somewhat at length and found easily that people that have a feel for humanity bind easily. This exhibit was a case in point.

The about 50 people present, many from the Czech community, but also with a sprinkling from the UN – like Matthias Kern, Programme Officer at the Basel Convention Geneva Based, Secretariat, had a good time listening to the curator, enjoying the good Czech Urquel Pilsener bier, and plainly chatting about the issues displayed. Barbara Benish was addressing everyone first in Czech language as that was a first good guess nevertheless. Luckily the Czech President Vaclav Klaus has not completely turned into his disciples the great majority of his nation. The spirit of Franz Kafka, Jaroslav Hašek, Karel Capek, Vaclav Havel is still alive.

This is a good piece on the engineering challenges presented in capping a spewing oil well 5,000 feet underwater.

‘Dome’ is a temporary method of containing gulf oil spill.

By Fred Tasker | The Miami Herald, Friday, May 7, 2010.

The 78-ton steel containment dome that crews lowered over the Deepwater Horizon site on Thursday night represents the best immediate chance to slow the oil spilling into the Gulf of Mexico from the blown-out well.

But even if it works — a big “if” that may not play out for days — it’s still a temporary measure subject to weather and other conditions.

“A dome might slow the leak, but it can’t stop it,” said Dr. Philip Johnson, a professor of petroleum engineering at the University of Alabama.

The only permanent solution is to drill relief wells to shut off the flow, Johnson and other experts say. And BP says that will take three months. Because of that, a half-dozen other methods — from burning the oil to dispersing it with chemicals, continue at full speed.

Workers lowered the four-story dome onto the seabed surface late Thursday night, but said it will be Sunday or Monday before they will know if it’s working.

Oil has been leaking in three places since the April 20 explosion. One small leak was capped Wednesday. The containment box will be lowered over a much bigger leak in a pipe that’s responsible for about 85 percent of the oil that’s coming out.

“This kind of system worked very effectively after Hurricane Katrina,” said Greg McCormack, director of the Petroleum Extension Service at the University of Texas. “But it was in much shallower waters, mostly less than 200 feet deep.”

At 5,000 feet it will be much harder.

“It’s pitch black down there. There are no divers. And there are all kinds of currents,” McCormack said.

If the box being lowered Thursday can contain the bigger leak, a second box being built may be used to stop the smaller leak at the blowout preventer.

Even with two domes in place, the method depends on piping the oil up to a ship, which will siphon it into smaller ships to be carried away. But, Johnson notes, “if a hurricane comes, you’re in trouble.” Hurricane season starts in June.

Relief wells are the best solution, the experts say.

“It’s the standard method when you’ve lost control of high-pressure wells,” said Greg Pollock, head of the oil spill division of the Texas General Land Office.

BP began drilling the first of two planned relief wells near the broken well on Sunday. Tony Hayward, BP’s group chief executive, estimates it will take three months to complete.

One other alternative BP engineers are considering is to try to plug the leaking well from the top instead of drilling a relief well to cap it from the bottom. That would take two to three weeks.

Three months to drill a relief well is “an optimistic estimate,” says Dr. Don Van Nieuwenhuise, geology professor at University of Houston who helped drill two relief wells for an earlier Gulf oil well blowout. The oil in the area beneath the BP well is trapped in shale under great pressure.

Drilling into it could create new leaks if not done carefully, he said.

Ever since the oil rig exploded, dozens of BP and Coast Guard ships have been cruising through the oil slick on the surface of the Gulf spraying dispersants into it. Dispersants are mixtures of solvents, surfactants and other compounds that break up the surface tension of the slick, making the oil more soluble in water.

Wave action pulls the oil apart into even smaller droplets, which remain suspended beneath the water or fall to the ocean floor. It helps protect onshore birds and animals, but wildlife experts fear its effects on fish and other animals living beneath the sea, according to the National Academics of Science.

In another novel attempt to reduce oil damage, BP workers on Wednesday injected about 3,000 gallons of dispersant directly into the leaking well on the seabed.

So far, Coast Guard and BP vessels have used 190,285 gallons of dispersant and have another 55,611 gallons available, according to the Deepwater Horizon Response Operation.

The use of dispersants has won only grudging approval from environmentalists and even petroleum engineers.

“Dispersants are chemicals. Chemicals aren’t good in the environment. It’s a trade-off,” McCormack said.

Meanwhile, BP, the U.S. Coast Guard and an army of volunteers are using several other strategies to stop damage from the gushing oil.

• Controlled burning: On Thursday, favorable weather conditions finally allowed cleanup crews to conduct a controlled burn of oil on the surface. An earlier successful burn took place April 28, destroying thousands of gallons of oil, but rough weather had frustrated several attempts since.

In a controlled burn, boats maneuver through the oil slick towing buoyant, fire-resistant booms to gather the oil into a thick, flammable pool. When a “boomful” of oil is gathered, it is towed away and ignited. When an oil slick burns, residue hardens and drops to the ocean floor. • Oil-skimming boats: BP and the Coast Guard have at least 35 ships in the Gulf skimming the oil from the surface and pumping it into barges.

“Rough seas can limit its effectiveness, but you have to use every method available,” Pollock said.

• Floating booms: These are miles-long, 20-inch-tall devices of vinyl fabric with a foam float stitched inside for buoyancy that can be stretched along the water. They can help contain oil slicks at sea, redirect them into planned areas for recovery or disposal and hold them back from environmentally sensitive areas.

The Deepwater Horizon Response Operation reports that 535,870 feet of booms had been deployed, with another 664,9891 feet available. They are being used offshore in the Gulf to redirect the oil slick, and near shore to protect shorelines at six locations including Pensacola. For days, rough seas have disrupted many of the booms, hurting their effectiveness.

Despite all the efforts, there are no guarantees.

Said Pollock: “I just hope things can happen quick.”