Carbon Apocalypse

"If fossil fuel infrastructure is not rapidly changed, the world will 'lose for ever' the chance to avoid dangerous climate change." according to an article dated November 9, 2011 by Fiona Harvey in the Guardian. We're a year further on now and in that time the U.S has announced itself to be in possession of most of the carbon based energy reserves in the world. Prior to becoming 'Oil Rich', dependence on oil was considered a liability and national security concern. New ways of extraction by an environmentally irresponsible method called 'fracking' have revealed much more accessible natural gas than was available for extraction in the past. While at first glance this largess of newly discovered energy sources seems like wonderful news, in fact the new technologies present a far more serious problem than any geographical or economic enemy could ever present. This technology threatens to extinguish life on earth as we are used to it. Below is a short video about 'fracking'. You should be able to decide if such a business is suited for your community after watching. Whether or not the earth can continue as a living bio-system is the question now confronting the human race as the result of the new found wealth of carbon based resources. A polluted environment smells like wealth to one percent of the people in the world and the viable quality of drinking water is not an obstacle to these agents of carbon terror while they're on the way to the bank. The exploitation of these natural resources is aided and abetted by the U.S. government itself. It is a disquieting thought that our public servants think our water supply is not important enough to protect for the 99% of the people who use water as a part of their daily life. In a New York Times article by Ian Urbina dated March 29, 2012 it was revealed "EPA researchers concluded that some of the drillers' waste was hazardous and should be tightly controlled. But that's not what Congress heard. Some recommendations regarding oil and gas waste were eliminated in the final report handed to lawmakers in 1987." Read more: Along with 'fracking' which is already making life miserable for ordinary property owners, the Keystone Pipeline appears to be saying 'en garde' to the environment. I found the issues laid out for discussion at a PBS website. You can look at how it stacks up. Think Progress has put together some reasons not to choose an economic future dependent on "Oil Dollars" from the extraction of oil from tar sands in Canada. Take a look at them. Unfortunately the 99 percent who know better are not in the loop. They have no voice. They've been hung on a cross of carbon and left there for the birds to pick clean. Their voices have been muffled by the covert passing of dollars into the hands of congressional representatives who do what the dollars tell them to do. The people have no jobs and no money which means they cannot speak. They are trapped. They know they have no future to pass on to their children. They know in their hearts the world and their way of life is collapsing around them. They are scared. At this juncture you may benefit from the information in the following film, a penetrating social commentary titled "Slavery By Consent: Understanding The Human Farm". I do not subscribe to all the ideas in this, but many insights the film brings to view make me say 'Duh!' Why didn't I understand what was being done to me? Many people understand something bad has been done to them but for one reason or another do not make the necessary conclusions that will enable them to solve the problems, or even see what the problems are. You can watch the film by clicking this sentence. You'll find some thought provoking concepts. On the local scene mega carbon dollars are up for grabs for the LNG and Coal industries. The Columbia river has always been prized for its ability to facilitate transportation and trade. It looks Like 2013 will be different only in the projects considered. Historically beginning with furs and then fish these industries systematically reduced the natural resources to the point where common men and women have a hard time making a living. Robin Trower's designation 'Victims of the Fury',fits all to well as a description of the way things are. The current industries clamoring to ply their trade on it's banks have the capacity to cause further and even catastrophic harm to the environment and communities associated with them. The track record of the industries involved is not a record that allows confidence.

Their presence represents the potential to create harm that will eclipse the harm caused by the exploitation of fur and fish resources in the past. This is not to say a catastrophe is certain but it certainly does raise the odds that one will occur. Just upstream from Warrenton a half hour away by the highway, the citizens of Clatskanie are hoping they will not be victims of dirty coal. The politicians in charge do not have the same fears as the people they represent. Coal production and distribution can have serious problems for life and health. Official response to industrial negligence appears to be the same all over the world. There is an incident from Wales involving a school house with kids buried inside. The catastrophe resulted from improperly stored products of coal production which slid down onto the school snuffing their lives out. It is not only landslides which coal presents as dangers to those who agree to live side by side with it. But water pollution as well. The list of disasters involving coal production is quite lengthy. Here is a short list of mine disasters in West Virginia. There is little difficulty finding evidence of negative impact from the coal industries on the communities which host them. If you click here you can see how coal affects communities. In Warrenton a few miles from the sea another carbon based energy export industry wants to set up shop. I have shared thoughts on this prospect before, you can read those thoughts here. For your reading pleasure at this link is a list of accidents associated with LNG in a report by La’o Hamutuk Timor-Leste Institute for Reconstruction Monitoring and Analysis. Click here. Will these industries have a negative impact on the viability of the environment? They certainly have within them the potential of causing tremendous harm. The track record of industries situated along rivers is dismal regarding their effect on water quality. A case in point is the 'chemical corridor' along the Mississippi River. It is clear from this report that the public servants are cooperating in hiding the potential dangers from the people most likely to be harmed. From an article in UPI.Com at the link above Allen Johnson Jr writes: "In 1999, the chemical industry persuaded Congress to limit public access to the worst-case scenarios its plants were required to submit under federal "right-to-know" laws. "Filings by 50 Louisiana chemical companies, published in March, suggest a chilling potential for accidental catastrophes reminiscent of the 1984 Union Carbide chemical leak in Bhopal, India, that left more than 2,500 dead and 100,000 injured. In one Louisiana scenario, more than 900,000 people would be at risk from a chlorine gas leak at a publicly owned water purification plant in New Orleans, next door to a popular playground." Emphasis added. I first learned of the chemical corridor in the late 70's after it was determined that a chemical company had poisoned the community of Love Canal and transferred poisoned land to the community to build a school ground on. That's the kind of people you're dealing with and politicians seem to think these guys are the cats meow. They just love these industries up. The assault on the Love Canal community is still considered a tragedy and how it happened is recorded in a data base compiled by SUNY Buffalo. A lot of people got sick and died. because of the actions of these corporations in poisoning their living space. You can read how this was done to unsuspecting American families in the book "Laying waste: the poisoning of America by toxic chemicals" by Michael Harold Brown. It is an eye-opener. The track record of industries such as the ones that have their eye on the beautiful Columbia River is not to be envied it is to be feared and learned from. Read more: With that reality bearing down on the community I began to meditate on the future a Carbon Apocalypse will usher in. I expressed those meditations in artwork. You may purchase the artwork below by clicking on the images which will take you to my store at Zassle.com. Once there you can select different frame styles and sizes. You can also visit Art From Another Dimension where I have selected items for sale.

Carbon Apocalypse by Hermenutic Make custom prints online at zazzle.com

Other prints along environmental themes are available here. a Clear Running Water state of mind