EVs support and require the mindset that it's OK to expand mineral extraction at the expense of poor people in other countries to supply whatever 'we' want for out lifestyles. The following blurb is taken from Marx's book, but you may want to read Ian Morse's review of three recent books on this. Morse's Green Rocks newsletter focuses on the potential (and real) conflict … [Read more...] about How electric vehicles can actually undermine a sustainable future
extractive industries
Clean energy, batteries, & mining
Clean, renewable energy is essential for sustainability. The main problems with getting to 100% renewable energy are that solar and wind energy spend on weather and time of day, and this makes some sort of storage important. Improved and less expensive batteries are often touted as the solution to the intermittency of truly renewable energy. Unfortunately, the demand for … [Read more...] about Clean energy, batteries, & mining
What did you do when you knew?
it's 3:23 in the morningand I'm awakebecause my great great grandchildrenwon't let me sleepmy great great grandchildrenask me in dreamswhat did you do while the Planet was plundered?what did you do when the Earth was unravelling? surely you did somethingwhen the seasons started failing? as the mammals, reptiles, birds were all dying?…. did you fill the streets with … [Read more...] about What did you do when you knew?
american soil
by Eden Bailie there were only elements and planetary breaths, water cooling magma, birth, creation-eating-creation, fungi feeding from a purer deathno cathedrals for praise, only treetops, trees for everyonewith swaying leaf steeples reaching up and out to touch a creator’s fingertipand early-age worshippers led home in quiet night forests by shaman oaks. then theft, … [Read more...] about american soil
Is explosive crude oil traveling through your community?
Trainloads of crude oil from the Bakken shale in ND do pass through the Valley — and these trains travel through the center of Allentown, Bethlehem, and Easton, often right next to the Lehigh River. This raises major safety concerns and serious questions about how to protect people. The Wall Street Journal's map of rail shipments estimates 1–10 trains/wk on the Norfolk … [Read more...] about Is explosive crude oil traveling through your community?
Photos of recent crude oil derailments
Most trains reach their destinations safely, of course. Derailments are not common, but— but when a train carrying explosive crude or natural gas does derail and catch fire, the results can be disastrous, as the photos below show. December 2013 – Casselton, ND April 2014 – Lac-Mégantic, Quebec: November 2013 – Pickens County, Alabama: … [Read more...] about Photos of recent crude oil derailments
FYI: F**cking Pennsylvania
The headline actually refers to Fracking, which is obscene in more ways than the other F-word. Here are a few updates on the quantities of radioactive materials being released into our environment, a look at the corruption created by fracking and what could be done instead, and what you can do to reduce your fracking [& carbon] footprint. Take a few minutes to look at … [Read more...] about FYI: F**cking Pennsylvania
Greedheads & Natural Resources
What do coal, gold, & natural gas have in common? Or water, petroleum, & uranium? They are all natural resources that mining and other resource-extraction companies take from the ground and sell to others. It seems to be a common pattern for these 'extractive industries' to be ready and willing to harm people and the natural environment in their quests … [Read more...] about Greedheads & Natural Resources
‘Progress’, a poem by Lisa J. Parker
…on the human effects of coal mining and other resource extraction industries: Progress In a ton of black gold boring through the fatness of the Blue Ridge on the Clinchfield freight lines, three generations are trapped. The first generation talks in short bursts of emphysemic speech, trying to stand straight, coughing quietly while the second generation glorifies the … [Read more...] about ‘Progress’, a poem by Lisa J. Parker
Protecting the Interests of the People
by Karen Feridun When the residents of Lynn Township, Lehigh County discovered E.coli in their water wells, they approached their township supervisors, asking them to tell a local farmer to stop using fertilizer made from treated sewage sludge that goes by the greenwashed name biosolids. The fertilizer produced from the residue of the wastewater treatment process is a toxic … [Read more...] about Protecting the Interests of the People