Category Archives: four-leggeds

Moving the pet coke

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Well, of course….they’re dumping pet coke in Chicago…and Whiting, Indiana….

“Petcoke tends to have higher metal content than coal – like nickel, vanadium and selenium,” added Geertsma. “Coal can have higher mercury content, so they’re both bad in terms of toxic heavy metals content.”

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The report says that Canadian exports of petcoke to the U.S. more than doubled between 2010 and 2012, and BP Whiting’s expansion will triple its petcoke production to 6,000 tons per day.

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And I got my answer to where the petcoke piles were moved to–Ohio.

 

Fukushima lawsuit

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The tragedy of Fukushima continues to reveal more illness.  Navy first responders have come forward with radiation related sickness.

Nuclear energy will never, ever be safe.  This accident proves that beyond a doubt.  Holy crap, I don’t think we’ve even begun to see all of the devastation.

More bad news for orcas

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This is a disturbing report on our stupidity and carelessness and its impacting ecology, and specifically the orcas.

Here’s a Puget Sound indigenous group trying to help the orcas.

Of course, thinking of the west coast, my mind wandered towards the impact of Fukushima.  A member of the mercury support group has stated that she felt much worse after moving to the west coast.  She left after a year.

From the article:

Barrett-Lennard says the southern resident orca pod, which is found in the Salish Sea between Vancouver Island and the B.C. mainland, has lost seven matriarchs over the past two years, and he’s noticed a lack of vocalizations from the normally chatty mammals.

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More here.  This is even more sobering in detail.  There is an animated video of the radiation trail towards the United States and Canada.  Be sure to click on the Laura James video –a picture says a thousand words.  It made me nauseous looking at all the dead and dying sea stars.

They also make note that it is happening in Maine and New Jersey, so they question the Fukushima connection…but perhaps the radiation didn’t stop at the West Coast, but has traveled inland, as they say?

They also make note that the moose population is dying off–so much so that Wisconsin called off its moose hunt this past year.  The deer population, as I’ve blogged about, is suffering and dying, too.  And nobody questions GMO’s and their possible impact on these animals.

 

Ripples of Blackfish

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Advocates for releasing Tilikum, and the other orcas in captivity have spoken out against Sea World.  The owners of Sea World just don’t get it–no matter how well you say you treat the orcas, you are still holding them captive against their will.

A prison cell with a luxury bed and carpeted floor is still a prison cell…

Free Tilikum and all the orcas back to their native waters where they belong.

Agent Orange Corn

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Dow and Monsanto seem to be in a race to see who can be the most sociopathic.  Because only a sociopath can bioengineer corn so that they can poison the earth more, no matter at the cost to the ecology, humans, and animals.

The Center for Food Safety has a petition up to somehow get the spineless FDA to stop this depraved idea.  Please sign it–you never know, they just might feel the pressure for once.

The benefits of Winter

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Okay, people, stop your whining about how c-c-c-c-cold it is and the snow…

So…I thought I’d list the benefits of Winter:

–The snow is ESSENTIAL for us not to have a drought.  A biology teacher once said that we needed at least two feet of snow each winter to avoid having a drought.  With the climate change weird weather, I would up that to three feet of snow.  Right now, we’ve almost gotten that, so we’re looking pretty good for next summer.

–The freezing weather kills a lot of bugs.

–Playing in the snow is fun.  The beauty is phenomenal.

–After a winter is through, we can appreciate Spring and warmer weather.  Would we appreciate it as much if we didn’t have the colder weather?

–Winter isn’t for sissies.  Like the butterfly struggling out of its cocoon, the struggle makes one stronger.

–The winter allows the plants to “sleep” and rest.  The snow protects the roots from the severe cold.  I dislike the “bad” part of this post, because it is always from a human’s perspective, instead of all of nature.  The broken branches or dead trees serve as homes to creatures, or as a base for other living plants that use the decaying matter as food.

Here’s a neat video with an amazing dead tree hosting several plants:

And here is a video on life beginning again after a devastating wildfire.

Related to the trees, I found this video on saving acorn seeds for planting:

(As a side note~ I just have to say that I’m digging the hairy arms.  I don’t know how it all got started, but men shaving their arms and chests bare is a turn off.  )

Also related to winter, I came across this ecotraction substitute to winter salting on roads.  Great idea.  I heard that they were using beet juice now in salt mixtures for the roads, and at first I thought that was better than the destructive effects of salt, but then I thought…they’re using food when people are hungry…yeah, can’t support that.  Beets are especially good for their detoxing effects.