Weather, Water, Energy 6-27-07

A UN official is pointing to the extreme weather in Europe, Asia, and Africa so far this year (see here, here, here, here, and here, for examples yesterday) as evidence that nations need to be preparing more seriously for more such events as the warming and its effects on weather increase. This will, of course, be seen as needless scare talk by the moderate idiots who will be written up next to the Bushnevs/Cheneyovs, idiot Australian PMs, and the Chinese as the folks responsible for the many failures of civilization to face what was directly in front of it. Yes, it’s scary, but the scariest part is our unwillingness to deal with reality. That’s never been a particularly successful plan in human history. . . . This can’t be good news. Japan and China arguing over drilling rights in the East China Sea. Energy and mineral wars. Water wars. Econ development wars. Hmm, maybe it is better to stick your head in the sand. . . . Could be that one method of carbon sequestration might also free up some methane for fuel. Wait, isn’t methane one of our problems? . . . Get your “voodoo” green marketing right here. . . . In our “Daily David Roberts at Grist,” we have notes of a survey of Americans’ “well educated and thought” choices for dealing with global warming (surprise, regulate corporations, don’t screw with our cars), Christie Whitman’s continued and evil self-rationalization for her actions at EPA after 9/11, and a link to James Howard Kuntsler’s latest apocalyptic rant, which is always worth the price of admission. . . . Waste Management Inc. is convinced it can turn the gases coming off its landfills into useable power for hundreds of thousands of folks. If the precedent gets set, other companies might fall in line and we could hit a daily double with more energy and better use of our garbage. . . . Finally, very important article in the Christian Science Monitor on the growing investment potential of water, its use and delivery, and the ethics of profiting off something essential to human life. Not that it will likely matter if we're actually fighting over it, but it's good to know people are giving it thought.