Re-Gain

Our region got an experience- a thunder storm on steroids moving at violent speed.    It is called a derecho (duh-RAY'-choh), a straight line wind storm that sweeps over a large area at high speed.  Working outside for over 40 years I have seen some hot filthy air and weather.  I gather this may have some reason why latter we got slammed by hurricane winds.  Last night I felt like a tornado was coming.  This storm created havoc in for tens of millions of Americans after its Friday evening June 29 th impact. Coming from the Midwest, it produced tornado-like damage packing wind gusts of up to 90 mph.  You can go to http://www.spc.noaa.gov/misc/AbtDerechos/derechofacts.htm to see the graphic pictures of the gust front of "arcus cloud of a derecho front.  These storms stretched 750 miles from Chicago to the Atlantic Ocean, causing at least 900 reports of wind damage as well as numerous fatalities and injuries. My experience with the after...

Steve Coll’s recent book about Exxon Mobil, “Private Empire,” exemplifies the lobbying might of big oil. As so sadly how we may be robbing Peter to pay Paul.  The company’s profits were $21.3 billion first half of last year shows how money talks in DC.   Such a special interest hires some 20 additional former senators, representatives, legislative aides and others to influence decisions. When a corporation operates in over 200 nations how do you separate it from our own foreign policy? This firm would rank among the top 30 countries if revenue were counted as gross domestic product Americans’ belief in climate change also was reframed as a hoax by Exxon Mobil executives. This book documents the undemocratic power of wealth determining our future carbon economy.  Also how our environmental leaders are sleep at the wheel. ExxonMobil used the argument of lessening poverty in the third world instead of addressing global climate change as the most pressing env...

I am always amazed how we talk of economy however pay little attention exactly how we account for stuff. For examples hydraulic frac­tur­ing or "fracking" for natural gas is becoming popular however we still in the dark about its by-products and how they impact our environment. We do understand the price of gas yet we know nothing about their true environmental cost. Few Americans have any idea the value of conservation since we have invested little in profiting from pollution prevention by advocating waste reduction. Years ago World Resources Materials Flow report ( DONALD ROGICH, AMY CASSARA, IDDO WERNICK, MARTA MIRANDA 2008,WRI:ISBN 978-1-56973-682-1 http://materials.wri.org .) tracked the ebb and flow of how stuff goes through our economy and out into the environment. For example of these 169 materials are toxic substances— such as arsenic, cadmium, lead, mercury, and others—whose life cycle, reflect the strengths and weaknesses in our national regulatory policies ...