Environment Memo

As the report says, As of last week, all that remained of the lake was a small pond a few feet deep, Cruz said. There were thousands of dead fish, he said, but no sign of life. … …  may not be a sign of the End Times, but probably is the end of a [...]

Calling it “radioactive water” at Fukushima really does readers a disservice, because not only is it incorrect, it omits important implications of the problem. Water is H2O, right, as we all know (I hope).  So H2O is only radioactive if one of the hydrogens or the oxygen atom is a radioisotope. What we have at [...]

So, it’s official, there was a melt-down at Fukishima, although they are mincing words: Japanese authorities have admitted the possibility that the fuel suffered “melt-through” … Some are calling a “melt-down” something different than what I’m used to, as in the wikipedia entry: Nuclear meltdown is an informal term for a severe nuclear reactor accident [...]

Food shortages are going to be a serious problem, as food prices rise.

TEPCO (Tokyo Electric Power Company) shares plummet. Why didn’t I short it?

Found on Mars (but probably not a shelter).

Mapnificent covers 17 cities in the US, and some overseas. It Shows you areas you can reach with public transport in a given time. Knowing how long it will take to get somewhere takes the guesswork out of using public transportation. You can learn whether to bring a lunch or a book, for example.

Don’t mess with New York. Now, under the National Environmental Policy Act, NEPA, an Environmental Impact Statement is required where federal funds are involved. As reported by Courthouse News New York State sued five federal agencies in Federal Court, claiming that plans for “natural gas hydrofracking” in the Delaware River Basin could ruin pristine waters [...]

On hydrofracking in the Marcellus Shale and elsewhere, regarding foot-dragging on revealing what chemicals are being injected into the subsurface, Gary Luquette, president of North America exploration and production for Chevron, said it was time for industry to stop dragging its feet on disclosure. “We have used this ‘intellectual property’ issue as a convenient excuse [...]

Japanese institutions are being asked to set their thermostats to 82 degrees Fahrenheit. That’s not too bad if it takes out a lot of the humidity. The idea is tied to getting the salarymen and others to wear less clothing, including such items as Kariyushi shirts, made only in Okinawa and intended to promote tourism [...]

There are concerns that a 150 MW wind plant in Florida might slice and dice a few birds. (Although it seems the blades move slower than earlier designs, giving the birds a chance to get out of the way, I suppose.) The obvious solution is to build, say, 10 of the 100 turbines, and see [...]

If they missed this one, what else don’t they understand? More on that in a minute. The NYTimes reports that last week the head of a major radio company [CBS] felt compelled to instruct its programmers to start identifying more of the songs played on the air, by title and artist name. The head of [...]

It’s what the vast majority of the German public wants, and now the government of Germany is responding. Germany plans to shut down all its nuclear power plants by 2022. As Reuters reports, the government said it planned to cut power use by 10 percent by 2020 and further expand the use of renewables such [...]

Rural areas in Japan were basically bought off to allow nuclear power plants in their back yards. It’s difficult to explain otherwise how Japan would go nuclear after WWII.

Reminds me of what they used to say about nuclear power plants. The Titanic slipped into the sea on May 31, 1911. I’m sure I’m not the only one to point out the ironies here. The ship was unsinkable, being as how