Friday, July 01, 2011

Comment: The Clean Water Act: A legacy worth saving


In 1972 I was 13 years old and becoming much more cognizant of the fact that the Earth I had lived on up to that point was changing and not for the better. And this disturbed and concerned me greatly even at that young age as I felt a special connection to the environment as I still do. It is innate in me and as much a part of my existence as breathing. The trees, the air and especially the water at that time all told a story to me about who I was, where I came from and where I hoped to go as I became an adult. From the time I was a young girl my mother instilled in me respect for the Earth and taught me that what you put into her you get out. Unfortunately, I lost my mother to cancer at the age of 17 not nearly having the amount of time with her that I needed but the lessons she taught me about life, respecting others and respecting this planet in that short time have always stayed with me.

And at that time in history, those lessons were more important than ever to be learned. Just three years prior in July of 1969, the Cuyahoga River in Ohio became so contaminated with industrial waste and pollution that it literally caught on fire. Rivers from the Hudson to the Potomac to the Mississippi were little more than open sewers with untreated waste and industrial byproducts being dumped with little regulation. Public health alerts and fishkills were commonplace. Rivers burning, pictures of raw sewerage flowing in rivers, oil fires and fish floating dead in rivers was more than enough for the public to demand action and accountability for what had been done to our waterways by an out of control corporate assault for profit. Of course, the polluters fought against any type of regulation of their crimes against nature citing as usual that it would be financially cumbersome to act responsibly. But on October 18, 1972, the voices of the people were heard with the passage of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, commonly known as the Clean Water Act. The main goal of this act was to ensure to "restore and maintain the chemical, physical and biological integrity of our nation's waterways" and to make them cleaner by 1985. Other provisions were subsequently added to assure that once these goals were met that they would be adequately maintained.

Almost forty years after its passage there is much to be proud of regarding this act. It has been a success. Billions have been saved in dollars and in destruction and pollution to our waterways. More than one billion pounds per year of toxic pollutants have been removed from waterways. Point source pollution has been greatly reduced and the Cuyahoga is cleaner and actually making a profit. Of course, there are still great obstacles as we see this same irresponsible corporate mentality seeking to turn back the clock, but on the whole the Clean Water Act has been the one piece of legislation that has withstood the test of time... until now. The lifeblood of our country is now once again under attack by those in our Congress more beholding to the corporate entities that support them than the people they should be supporting.

A bill, H.R. 2018 also known as the "Clean Water Cooperative Federalism Act of 2011," would null and void decades of progress that have made our waterways cleaner and safer. The bill supported both by Rep Nick Rahall and Rep. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia(coal country) seeks to undo two key provisions of the Clean Water Act that would undermine the EPA's ability to hold states accountable for water quality standards. In other words, corporate entities (coal companies) holding sway over state governments would be the final arbiter on water standards even if evidence proves that doing so would be a threat to human and aquatic health. Again, even if evidence proves that doing so would be a threat to human and aquatic health. How unconscienable. How irresponsible. How morally bereft.

To see this total apathy towards the source of all life and the disrespect for all who have sacrificed so much to ensure a cleaner planet is reprehensible. And I admit that now forty years after I first learned of the Clean Water Act passing at the age of 13 after being scared for the future I am again and this time moreso as this important issue has not gotten the media coverage now that it did then. This is why the Internet and social media are so crucial in getting this type of information out to the public. Our media has been co opted by these same corporate entities seeking to escape culpability for their crimes against nature just to save a buck even at the expense of our health and that of our children.

So are you incensed yet? Do you want to do someting to let them know that you will not go back to rivers in flames and rivers and streams from coast to coast flowing with industrial and human waste, coal excrement, nuclear waste and anything else those who buy policy in DC deem too expensive to take responsibility for? We need the same loud voices that we heard in the 1970s. We need that urgency. We need that caring. Those voices, the voices of our young selves that stood in the streets crying for environmental justice must now be heard again. Those who perceive themselves as masters of our fate must be sent a message that it is we who are the masters of our fate. Our children deserve better than that. They deserve clean water! Please , speak out for our rivers. Our lifeblood. The soul of America. Remember Cuyahoga and say, never again!

Benefits Of The Clean Water Act



My musical inspiration at 13.

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Industry And Residents Square Off Over Water As Severe Drought In Texas Continues



Industry And Residents Square Off Over Water As Severe Drought In Texas Continues

With nearly 65 percent of Texas experiencing exceptional drought, water is becoming increasingly precious—and scarce—in a state that has to divide the resource between the growing appetites of farmers, city residents, and energy corporations.
A severe drought continues to wreak havoc in Texas and shows no sign of letting up, pitting stakeholders against each other as the dry spell threatens reservoirs and rivers.

The dry period began in October 2010, and, since then, only 2 inches of rain have fallen in southeastern Texas, Businessweek reported. Now, 65 percent of the state is categorized as having exceptional drought, and 88 percent is experiencing extreme drought conditions or worse, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.

Though Texas is no stranger to dry spells, this is the driest 7-month period in Texas history since record keeping began in the late 1800s. The worst drought is still considered to be the 10-year period from 1947-1957, with lake levels hitting an all time low in 1952. However, falling water levels could surpass even that record if no rains come. Currently, some lakes are dropping 35,000 acre-feet a week, The Texas Tribune reported.

City Residents vs. Farmers and Ranchers
With supplies running so low, city residents and businesses that depend on reservoir lakes for both their drinking water and livelihoods are worried that lakes will run dry if the agricultural industry downstream continues to consume large amounts, despite the drought. In Central Texas, Lake Buchanan and Lake Travis—which supply the city of Austin with water and support a thriving tourist industry—are only 59 percent full and continuing to drop, The Texas Tribune reported. Much of the water from the lakes is being used downstream by farmers who are trying to protect their rice, a water-intensive crop, from the effects of the drought.

The Lower Colorado River Authority, which manages the lakes and sells the water to both Austin and the rice farmers, allows farmers to buy the water at a cheaper price than the city because it retains the right to shut off supply in times of drought. However, while farmers have not had supplies cut, or even reduced, this year, Austin residents have been asked to conserve water, creating tensions between the two groups, according toThe Texas Tribune.

The drought is also dealing a heavy blow to cattle ranchers, who are sending large portions of their herds to slaughter because vegetation is so scarce.

“Because we’re not raising the amount of grass that we usually do, we’re having to destock these ranches,” rancher Pete Bonds told Reuters. “We are having to cut the numbers down and sell cows that we don’t want to. And since it is dry in a huge area, most of these cows are going to go to slaughter.” These include young female cows, called heifers, that are used to breed—putting a difficult barrier between the herd and its future.

Even if rains alleviate the current drought, the impacts will be lasting. Bonds told Reuters that it will take years for ranchers to recoup their losses, so many are giving up and selling their land to developers.

Farmers vs. Energy Executives
Texas energy corporations have resorted to buying water from farmers so they can support booming shale gas operations. The water is needed for hydraulic fracturing or “fracking,” the process of injecting water, chemicals, and sand at high pressure into sedimentary rock formations to free up the oil and natural gas trapped inside.

In 2009, there were 358 natural gas drilling rigs in Texas alone, and that number had increased to 709 rigs by 2010, according to the Natural Gas Supply Association. Each rig can drill multiple wells in a year and each well typically uses upwards of 19,000 cubic meters (5 million gallons) of water for “fracking.”

The Eagle Ford Shale formation, however, which angles across the state from the southwest to the northeast and is the location of many new shale gas wells, has an unusual geology that requires more water per well than in other locations. A single well in the Eagle Ford Shale can require up to 49,000 cubic meters (13 million gallons), Businessweek reported. To obtain this amount during the drought, companies have offered farmers as much as $US 0.70 per barrel of water—equivalent to 164 liters (42 gallons).

So far, farmers have been reluctant to sell too much water, especially when they are running low on supplies to quench their own thirsty fields.

Additionally, because of the severe drought in Texas, water supplies have become a big issue for opponents of a coal-fired power plant proposed for Matagorda County. On June 16, the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) delayed a vote to decide whether to sell more than 30 million cubic meters (8 billion gallons) of water per year to the owners of the planned White Stallion generating station.

More at the link.
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You can find drought updates here

So, industry doesn't give a damn if people have no food or water. Just give it to them to "frack" to also pollute what little there is. This is the critical mass we were warned about regarding our water resources. Depending on energy sources that rely on huge amounts of water in areas prone to drought and now more severe droughts is insanity.

Excerpt from article:

"Populations in Texas cities continue to explode, and, in the energy sector, water use is expected to increase to 10 times the current amount by 2020, Bloomberg reported, setting the stage for further debates over who gets to use what water—and when".
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Hmm, the Texas Water War? Because you know these companies looking to frack and use it for coal aren't going to relent. That leaves farmers taking great losses with prices increasing and the Colorado River no longer flows to the Gulf. Add to that if the Keystone XL pipeline is approved and constructed over the Ogalalla Aquifer. This is what happens when you take water for granted.


Texas needs solar and leadership, not prayers for rain Rick Perry.



East Africa, Central Texas. Not so different now.

China evacuates 500,000 as flooding breaks worst drought in 50 years

China Evacuates 500,000 From Severe Flooding

Water levels on 40 rivers, including the Yangtze, above safety limits as authorities warn of dykes and dams under pressure.

And what do you think all of this climate upheaval is doing to water resources and agriculture? Do you not see it at the markets already? The Biodistress-agriculture-prices link is essential to see in order to prepare for the future. And yet we keep emitting more and more CO2 and GHGS into the already oversaturated atmosphere as warming evaporates the oceans. We are affecting the hydrologic cycle and stretching the limits of the Earth's natural processes. Make no mistake about it, the science on this is correct and you need to demand that your leaders in government listen to that science. Lives are at stake.

Severe Rain Pounds North Nigeria City


Floods kill 24 as rains pound North Nigeria city

Twenty-four people died overnight when unusually heavy rains flooded a neighbourhood in Nigeria's largest northern city of Kano, a local government chief said on Thursday.

Dozens of others were injured, 300 displaced and about 100 houses destroyed in the densely populated Fagge neighbourhood of Kano when rains pounded and inundated the city while residents were asleep.

"For now we have confirmed the deaths of 24 people from the floods that occurred Tuesday night through Wednesday following torrential rain in the city," Fagge local government administrator, Abdulmalik Ismail Rogo told AFP.

Rogo said local elders had told him the "area has never witnessed such torrential rains in the past 30 years."

"Some of the victims were buried alive when their (house) roofs collapsed on them, while others were washed away by the floods and deposited along a major sewer in the area," he said.

Fagge is a low-income neighbourhood of Kano, one of the country's largest cities with a population of around 12 million people.

The country's emergency services unit said its team was assessing the flood, but had so far recorded six deaths -- most of them children aged between two and 14 years. It said 276 people were affected.

A Red Cross emergency coordinator said his volunteers had also registered six deaths and 150 people were wounded.

Nigeria experienced severe flooding last year that affected around half a million people in two-thirds of its 36 states and killed scores of others, according to the emergency agency. The agency, NEMA, has also predicted unprecedented heavy rainfall and severe flooding this rainy season that has just begun.

West Africa has seen increasing floodings in recent years due mainly to climate change, with 2.2 million people affected in 2010 alone and more than 500 killed, according to the African Centre of Meteorological Application for Development (ACMAD).

More at the link
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Increased flooding in West Africa and increased droughts in East Africa. This indeed is being exacerbated by climate change. This is damn important and yet it gets no play in the MSM. Wonder why? Because the media is owned by the fossil fuel industry. You aren't supposed to connect those dots or see the reality. You will see it here. Pakistan, Australia, Columbia, Sri Lanka, Bolivia, Peru, Brazil, Thailand, Germany, Poland, the U.S...and other areas around the world all experiencing these same monsoon type rains/floods along with severe droughts more frequently. But remember, don't connect the dots.

East Africa: Severe drought due to climate change killing animals and a way of life


East Africa: "It's The Drought"


Climate change is causing devastating droughts across East Africa - leading to an end of the pastoral way of life.


Many tribes across East Africa are having to leave their pastoral way of life for urban poverty because of severe droughts [Andrew Wander/Save the Children]

Whether you ask about the carcasses of livestock baked white in the sun, the gaggle of people crowding around the district commissioner's door, or the wards of malnourished children lying listlessly in hospital beds, the explanation given is always the same.

"It's because of the drought", they say.

The failure of rains across arid parts of East Africa has brought misery to millions of people, affecting almost every aspect of life.

In this dry, dusty part of the world, every drop that falls helps people scrape a living from the land. If the rains don't come for a season people go hungry. If they fail twice in a row, as they have in Kenya's impoverished north eastern province, they begin to starve.

At the hospital in Wajir town, the paediatric ward is full of young mothers clutching the tiny, wasted forms of their children.

Doctors estimate admissions for severe malnutrition in children have risen by at least 25 per cent in recent months, and fear that the dozens of referrals they have seen could be the tip of a large and deadly iceberg.

"Some parents are reluctant to bring their children to the hospital because it is such a long journey, or they don't recognise the symptoms of malnutrition. Some think they can cure the problem by praying - they don't realise the children need treatment. Children could be dying because of this and we wouldn't know about it," says Dr Moses Menza, the chief medical officer at the hospital.

He is talking at the bedside of two-year old Bashara, the daughter of nomadic cattle grazers who wander the desert four hours to the west of Wajir town. There is no need for Menza to explain what is wrong with her; her sunken features and twig-like limbs tell their own desperate tale.

Bashara is here with her grandmother, Amina Mohamed; her parents left her in the village and drove their animals to more fertile ground as the drought began to bite. She should have been safer there than out on the plains, but when the livestock began to die, the villagers found themselves with nothing to feed their families.

As always, it was growing children like Bashara who were hit hardest.

"The animals are the way we earn money and how we get food," Amina says, as she waves the flies off the starving child's tiny face. "Now they have died we have nothing to eat and nothing to sell. We have no milk any more, so we cannot feed the children."

Save the Children has treated thousands of drought-affected children for malnutrition in Kenya alone, and believes that across the region, in neighbouring Somalia and Ethiopia, more than millions of children could be at risk over the next three months.

"When these people lose their livestock, they lose their source of food, their livelihood and their savings in a single stroke," said Matt Croucher, Save the Children's regional emergency manager for East Africa.

"We can only imagine the desperation such families feel at not being able to give their children enough to eat and drink to stay healthy. They need help now, before this crisis turns into a catastrophe."

Changing climate

East Africans are no strangers to drought conditions. Traditionally, the rains here have failed around once a decade, giving communities time to build up emergency stocks and to restore the condition of their livestock on the good years. But for the past decade, droughts have been coming more regularly.

The people here reckon the rains fail one year in every two now; consecutive failings, like this one, have the potential to totally destroy the herds upon which they rely.

With their prime assets gone, they lose both their source of food, and their sole source of income. Their nomadic lifestyle prevents them from growing crops; the animals they graze are their only means to survive. Now it appears that climate change is robbing them of that livelihood.

A study by the US Geological Survey, published earlier this year, linked the increased frequency of drought in East Africa with global warming, suggesting that there is more than bad luck behind the latest wave of hunger sweeping the region.

Faced with a changing climate increasing numbers of pastoralists are leaving the land, settling in permanent communities on the edge of towns like Wajir. A way of life that has persisted for thousands of years is slowly dying out.

Those who leave will find little in the way of work in the towns. That pastoralists are willing to opt for grinding urban poverty over the only work they have ever known is a testament to how bad the situation has become.

For those who remain, the next few months will be critical.


More at the link.

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The failing rains...This is the main concern behind climate change in East Africa. The rains are successively failing with temperatures increasing. Malnutrition then increases as does water scarcity and disease. In the past even though this area was susceptible to drought, it was not as sustained/severe as this and at least farmers got enough rains even small to grow grass and crops. This is now changing and is important because if this keeps up this land will be unsustainable for life.This is also the crux behind migration due to climate changes and being prepared. Governments on the whole have done an entirely inadequate job of placing the attention on this that needs be. In fact many governments in these countries are actually selling off more land to foreign countries to be cleared to grow biofuel crops and crops used as animal feed, thus decreasing land needed for food and forests and increasing the exceleration of climate change. This is for sure a viscious cycle with many lives at stake.

Drought linked to warming of Indian Ocean due to human behavior

"Clean Water Cooperative Federalism Act of 2011" seeks to gut the Clean Water Act


Leave The Clean Water Act Alone


When the Clean Water Act was passed in 1972, the need was desperately apparent. Rivers were catching on fire. Pollution choked waterways. Most rivers and streams weren't safe to swim in. For some reason, Rep. Nick Rahall is supporting an effort by the coal industry and other major polluters to turn the page back to those days.

Enforcement of the Clean Water Act has kept billions of pounds of toxic chemicals and other pollutants out of America's waterways.

A bill quietly working its way through Congress, H.B. 2018, the "Clean Water Cooperative Federalism Act of 2011," would undo decades of progress and render the Clean Water Act all but useless.

The bill -- supported by both Rahall and Rep. Shelley Moore Capito -- strikes at two vital provisions of the Clean Water Act. First, it would strip the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency of the ability to make states improve deficient water quality standards. The EPA could no longer withdraw approval of state programs, limit financial assistance or object to specific permits because of inadequate water quality standards enforced by the state.

An analysis of the legislation by the EPA says, the bill would prohibit the agency from revising water quality standards without buy-in from the state "even in the face of significant scientific information demonstrating threats to human health or aquatic life."

Second, the bill essentially allows a state to overrule a determination by EPA scientists that a dredge and fill permit could harm municipal water supplies, fishing, wildlife or recreation areas.

This bill would turn the Clean Water Act on its head, giving states the right to allow less stringent protection of the nation's waterways.

Together, these two provisions would lead to a race to the bottom in places like West Virginia where industry holds substantial sway over state regulatory agencies. The entire point of the Clean Water Act is to ensure a nationwide clean water standard because the waters of this nation are a shared resource.

more at the link
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Rahall Congressional Website

Moore-Capito Congressional Website

Waterways don't end at state borders. Passage of this would be lethal for the health of people in this country, particularly in areas where coal mining is going on. Their offices need to be bombarded.



This is a short segment from a 1972 documentary entitled, 'The Gifts' which was narrated by actor Lorne Greene. This is what they wish to bring us back to. I don't care if you are a Republican or a Democrat you cannot look at this and tell me you support this. Where has our collective morality as a nation gone? Where our environment is concerned there should be no such thing as partisan politics. I will be posting a commentary about this on the blog as you all know how close to my heart this is and also sending it on to them as well. I have seen the strides the Clean Water Act has made. I am not about to sacrifice the present and future health of our children and environment to these selfish raiths for one more day. They must know how so very wrong this is.

Congressional Bill Eases Restrictions On Pesticide Spraying Near Waterways


Congressional Bill Eases Restrictions On Pesticide Spraying Near Waterways
Pesticide spraying near streams to expand under Congressional bill
source: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/greenspace/2011/06/house-bill-senate-agriculture-committee-p...

A bill allowing pesticide manufacturers and users to avoid the Clean Water Act permitting process passed in the Senate Agriculture Committee today.

If passed in the Senate, bill H.R. 872 lets farmers spray pesticides near public waters without having to meet Clean Water Act permitting requirements.

A 2007 EPA rule allowing all pesticides listed in the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) to be exempted from Clean Water Act permitting requirements was reversed by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in 2009.

The amendment, on its way to the Senate floor, reinstates the exemptions, effectively skirting the legal battles over whether pesticide residue is a chemical waste that can be regulated as a pollutant under the Act.

Growers, ranchers and others have highlighted the regulation as an example of unnecessary federal bureaucracy, while environmentalists supported it as a hedge against over-use of chemicals that may be perilous to aquatic life and to drinking water.

“The Committee sided with the pesticide industry and against our health and the health of our waters by eliminating all Clean Water Act protections of our rivers, lakes and streams against pesticide pollution,” said Natural Resources Defense Council staff attorney Mae Wu.

FIFRA is a federal pesticide law used by the Environment Protection Agency to evaluate whether the pesticide a manufacturer wants to sell is safe. A manufacturer cannot sell or use a pesticide until the EPA registers it. Manufacturers, such DOW, Monsanto and DuPont, have to prove their pesticide will not cause “unreasonable adverse effects on the environment.” The EPA takes these results into account before giving the OK. The Clean Water Act is more specific, requiring a pesticide user intending to spray into or near a body of water to apply for a permit. The permit requires the pesticide user to consider alternatives before spraying.

The Clean Water Act aims to minimize pesticide use, whereas FIFRA allows companies to use the maximum amount of a pesticide that would not cause unreasonable and adverse effects. Under FIFRA, if the EPA OKs a pesticide, and that pesticide is used near water, no Clean Water Act permit has to be issued.

“FIFRA is weak when holding companies accountable,” said Mae Wu. “With the Clean Water Act, if you violate a permit, spray pesticides near water and unintentionally kill a species , then you can be sued.”

Wu said if H.R. 872 passes, “companies can do whatever they want” and no longer will have to answer to Clean Water Act requirements. Monsanto and DuPont officials were not immediately available for comment. Bob Stallman, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation, said in a press release in March that H.R. 872 would eliminate “another regulatory hoop” for people who apply legally registered pesticides.

More at the link
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With this entry and one other you will see what is now taking place in our bought and sold US Congress. A concerted attack on the Clean Water Act to strip away all restrictions for corporations to pollute our waterways. This is an egregious admittance that our government no longer works for the people and their best interests and health, nor does it care for the health of our water resources.

This will only change when we demand it. I am adding the names of the committee members here and ask you to please contact them if you care about what toxic substances are being released into your waterways. Reports state that this year's Gulf of Mexico dead zone will be the largest. We are not the only species affected by these laws.

Debbie Stabenow, Michigan
Chairwoman

Pat Roberts, Kansas
Ranking Member
Patrick J. Leahy, Vermont

Richard G. Lugar, Indiana

Tom Harkin, Iowa

Thad Cochran, Mississippi

Kent Conrad, North Dakota

Mitch McConnell, Kentucky

Max Baucus, Montana

Saxby Chambliss, Georgia

E. Benjamin Nelson, Nebraska

Mike Johanns, Nebraska

Sherrod Brown, Ohio

John Boozman, Arkansas*

Robert Casey, Jr., Pennsylvania

Charles Grassley, Iowa

Amy Klobuchar, Minnesota

John Thune, South Dakota

Michael Bennet, Colorado

John Hoeven, North Dakota*

Kirsten Gillibrand, New York



Agriculture Committee Site

I'm writing to the members of the committee.

Another World Water Day Gone

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