The TRUTH will set you FREE.
Friday, February 21, 2014
mother nature network via STUMBLE UPON
Pete Seeger had a solar-powered electric truck named 'Truxie'
She was a 1988 Ford Ranger pickup, and it charged from a rooftop
solar installation in Beacon, New York, overlooking Seeger's beloved Hudson River.
solar installation in Beacon, New York, overlooking Seeger's beloved Hudson River.
Mon, Feb 03, 2014 at 5:04 PM
Pete with his Ford Ranger electric pickup. (Photo courtesy Ed Witkin)
It will take time to assess the legacy of Pete Seeger, who did an awful lot in his 94 years. He
popularized folk music through his membership in The Weavers, wrote a lot of classic songs
(recorded by The Byrds and others), and lead the way to an effective cleanup of the Hudson
River by founding the — still going strong — Clearwater organization.
popularized folk music through his membership in The Weavers, wrote a lot of classic songs
(recorded by The Byrds and others), and lead the way to an effective cleanup of the Hudson
River by founding the — still going strong — Clearwater organization.
Seeger saw the Hudson every morning from his perch on a mountainside in Beacon, New York.
He bought the place in 1949, and in 1961 he wrote, “Sailing up my dirty stream/Still I love it
and I’ll keep the dream/That some day, though maybe not this year/My Hudson River will once
again run clear.”
He bought the place in 1949, and in 1961 he wrote, “Sailing up my dirty stream/Still I love it
and I’ll keep the dream/That some day, though maybe not this year/My Hudson River will once
again run clear.”
How many people get to realize their dreams? According to the nonprofit Riverkeeper, water
quality is mostly “acceptable” today from Albany, New York to Elizabeth, New Jersey. The Hudson
is running, well, not exactly clear but a whole lot clearer than it was in 1976, when the state
environmental agency warned people not to eat the fish they caught. (General Electric started
using PCBs at its capacitor plant on the Hudson River in 1947, two years before Seeger moved in.)
quality is mostly “acceptable” today from Albany, New York to Elizabeth, New Jersey. The Hudson
is running, well, not exactly clear but a whole lot clearer than it was in 1976, when the state
environmental agency warned people not to eat the fish they caught. (General Electric started
using PCBs at its capacitor plant on the Hudson River in 1947, two years before Seeger moved in.)
The Clearwater’s river sloop—and the annual folk/activist festival on the river’s banks — brought
forward an outpouring of political, financial and moral support for restoring the Hudson. And I’m
happy to report that Pete Seeger didn’t just talk about the environment — he lived it, every day.
forward an outpouring of political, financial and moral support for restoring the Hudson. And I’m
happy to report that Pete Seeger didn’t just talk about the environment — he lived it, every day.
Pete Seeger on the roof with his solar panels. (Photo: Ed Witkin/Reprinted with permission of
Home Powermagazine)
Home Powermagazine)
Yes, Seeger drove an electric car, and charged it from his own solar system. According to the
folksy Home Power magazine, in 1991 Seeger was intrigued by Ed Witkin’s battery powered
1969 VW Microbus, which was used to provide electricity for one of the Clearwater stages.
Pete wanted his own electric vehicle, and Witkin helped him find a 1988 Ford Ranger, with
both four-wheel drive to handle his mountain and a 26.4-kilowatt-hour bank of lead-acid
batteries connected to a nine-inch Advanced DC motor.
folksy Home Power magazine, in 1991 Seeger was intrigued by Ed Witkin’s battery powered
1969 VW Microbus, which was used to provide electricity for one of the Clearwater stages.
Pete wanted his own electric vehicle, and Witkin helped him find a 1988 Ford Ranger, with
both four-wheel drive to handle his mountain and a 26.4-kilowatt-hour bank of lead-acid
batteries connected to a nine-inch Advanced DC motor.
That truck, which got named “Truxie,” is old-tech today, and (especially because it had to
go up those hills) had a range of only 10 to 20 miles. It suited Seeger’s needs, though, and
he used it a lot to haul the firewood he burned in his woodstove. He also connected his electric
chainsaw to the truck.
go up those hills) had a range of only 10 to 20 miles. It suited Seeger’s needs, though, and
he used it a lot to haul the firewood he burned in his woodstove. He also connected his electric
chainsaw to the truck.
Beacon is only a few miles from the Indian Point nuclear power station, and 10 miles from the
Central Hudson oil-fired plant. This irked Seeger, who didn’t want his electric car to get its
electrons from non-sustainable sources. That led to the rooftop solar system — 20 AstroPower
120-watt photovoltaic modules, 2,400 watts in total. The electricity not used by the Seegers,
or Truxie, went back to the grid and spun their meter backwards. Witkin estimated that the
solar system — not big by today’s standards — offset about 22 percent of the Seegers’ electricity consumption.
Central Hudson oil-fired plant. This irked Seeger, who didn’t want his electric car to get its
electrons from non-sustainable sources. That led to the rooftop solar system — 20 AstroPower
120-watt photovoltaic modules, 2,400 watts in total. The electricity not used by the Seegers,
or Truxie, went back to the grid and spun their meter backwards. Witkin estimated that the
solar system — not big by today’s standards — offset about 22 percent of the Seegers’ electricity consumption.
“Pete Seeger wasn’t technically all that savvy, but he totally defined himself as an environmentalist,
and he used that electric truck all the time,” Witkin, who lives in North Carolina, told me.
“Sometimes he’d use it to make maple syrup, or to power the PA at events with music. It’s still
up there at his house.” Witkin said Seeger was still using Truxie as late as last November.
and he used that electric truck all the time,” Witkin, who lives in North Carolina, told me.
“Sometimes he’d use it to make maple syrup, or to power the PA at events with music. It’s still
up there at his house.” Witkin said Seeger was still using Truxie as late as last November.
Seeger lived his principles. When I was at E/The Environmental Magazine, he used to send us passionate letters to the editor with crushed flowers in them. Let’s hope Truxie finds a good home. And those solar panels go on putting renewable energy back into the grid.
The TRUTH will set you FREE.
Thursday, February 20, 2014
New 'Pompeii' movie
FROM : MOTHER NATURE NETWORK
New 'Pompeii' movie begs the question: Could Mount Vesuvius erupt again?
A professor of Roman archeology and a volcanologist weigh in on deadly volcanoes, the new film and the surprising evidence that some people may have survived the epic event.
Tue, Feb 18, 2014 at 7:48 AM
Photo: Sony Pictures
In the summer of 79 A.D., Mount Vesuvius erupted, obliterating the seaside resort of Pompeii.
Volcanic ash covered everything, preserving evidence of the disaster for nearly two millennia.
The story endures too, in accounts by eyewitness Pliny the Younger, who viewed the eruption
from a nearby town, and in books, TV movies and films inspired by the catastrophe.
Volcanic ash covered everything, preserving evidence of the disaster for nearly two millennia.
The story endures too, in accounts by eyewitness Pliny the Younger, who viewed the eruption
from a nearby town, and in books, TV movies and films inspired by the catastrophe.
Director Paul W.S. Anderson’s “Pompeii” (opening Feb. 21) is the latest in the genre, focusing
on a fictional love story to recount the explosive event, while endeavoring to recreate an ancient
world as precisely as possible. His CGI Vesuvius erupts spectacularly, but how accurate is it?
Is “Pompeii” true to history? And could this kind of cataclysmic eruption happen again there — or
elsewhere on Earth? For answers, we turned to two experts, Sarah K. Yeomans, professor of
Roman archeology at West Virginia University, and Dr. Rosaly Lopes-Gaultier, volcanologist and
senior research scientist and manager of the Planetary Science Section at the Jet Propulsion
Laboratory.
on a fictional love story to recount the explosive event, while endeavoring to recreate an ancient
world as precisely as possible. His CGI Vesuvius erupts spectacularly, but how accurate is it?
Is “Pompeii” true to history? And could this kind of cataclysmic eruption happen again there — or
elsewhere on Earth? For answers, we turned to two experts, Sarah K. Yeomans, professor of
Roman archeology at West Virginia University, and Dr. Rosaly Lopes-Gaultier, volcanologist and
senior research scientist and manager of the Planetary Science Section at the Jet Propulsion
Laboratory.
Yeomans, who has taken students to Pompeii many times over the last decade, characterizes the
ruins there as uniquely “flash frozen in time. When we visit this site we get a real sense of how
Romans lived and the things that were important to them. It’s the best insight we have into this
ancient culture,” she says, which coupled with a morbid curiosity about devastating disasters, is
what makes it so eternally fascinating.
ruins there as uniquely “flash frozen in time. When we visit this site we get a real sense of how
Romans lived and the things that were important to them. It’s the best insight we have into this
ancient culture,” she says, which coupled with a morbid curiosity about devastating disasters, is
what makes it so eternally fascinating.
“One of the things I really enjoyed was the way Paul Anderson reconstructed the site. He clearly
has been there, had done the photography. For example the streets of Pompeii had [raised]
stones that people would walk across to avoid mud, sludge and water,” she points out. “The way
he reconstructed the houses was really well done, right down to graffiti inscribes on the walls.”
The latter was often political or sexual in nature, but the phallic images had a purpose, “what
we call an apotropaic function,” Yeomans explains. “They would put images of the phallus next
to the doorways. It was a symbol to ward off evil and bad luck. Not all of them did this, but it
does account for some of the ubiquity of phallic images.”
has been there, had done the photography. For example the streets of Pompeii had [raised]
stones that people would walk across to avoid mud, sludge and water,” she points out. “The way
he reconstructed the houses was really well done, right down to graffiti inscribes on the walls.”
The latter was often political or sexual in nature, but the phallic images had a purpose, “what
we call an apotropaic function,” Yeomans explains. “They would put images of the phallus next
to the doorways. It was a symbol to ward off evil and bad luck. Not all of them did this, but it
does account for some of the ubiquity of phallic images.”
Visually, Yeomans believes the film “did a nice job with the layout of the city, with respect to where the amphitheater is and respect to other buildings,” and she appreciated its portrayal of the Pompeiian resentment of Rome, which had annexed it 150 years before. But she sees artistic license at play in the depiction of the volcanic eruption. “There was never a lava flow and these firebombs you see launching out of the volcano. That did not happen in this particular type of eruption. But it’s a movie, not a documentary,” she adds.
What killed most the population was a combination of heat and ash. “The most deadly phase of the
eruption is what’s called a pyroclastic flow — basically super-heated mud that comes racing down at
about 80 mph and that kills people pretty much immediately. Most of the people died of heat shock,”
says Yeomans. "Nevertheless, there were a few who lived.”
“There is plenty of evidence that people did survive. We have inscriptions in other towns that were made by survivors of Pompeii who had relocated. We know that many people left when the earthquakes began. There are tunnels in Pompeii, evidence that people may have come back to tunnel down and retrieve some of their possessions.”
Yeomans, who “fell in love with Roman archaeology in my junior year in college” while studying abroad in the Roman ruins-laden region of southern France, says that Pompeii’s ruins are in a vulnerable state due to excavation and tourist traffic, “a pretty large concern at the moment. There have been several recent collapses of houses at the site. They’ve really slowed down on the granting of excavation permits and limit tourist traffic. There’s a great deal of the site that tourists are not allowed access to. The focus is on conserving what’s been excavated.”
Will a volcano catch us by surprise?
Also of concern is the possibility, however remote, that Mount Vesuvius — an active volcano — might erupt again. If it did, “It would be equally as dangerous and would affect many more people because now the area is much more populated. We have better technology for evacuation and detection now, though,” Yeomans points out. “Volcanoes are not going to catch us by surprise.” She explains that earthquakes precede volcanic eruptions, “which is what happened with Vesuvius in AD 79. The region is volcanic, and the Romans were used to seismic activity, but there’s no evidence to suggest that they connected the two. They didn’t realize that it was a warning sign of a coming eruption.”
According to Lopes-Gaultier, “Vesuvius has not erupted since 1944, and that was not a violent eruption. Not all eruptions of Vesuvius are as violent as the 79 A.D. eruption was; most are not. It could erupt again. The most violent eruptions of Vesuvius tend to occur after the volcano has rested for several hundred years. Vesuvius is very well monitored, so we will have some warning.”
Dr. Rosaly Lopes-Gaultier in Vanuatu (Photo courtesy NASA/JPL)
Globally, “There are many other volcanoes in the world that have the potential to have violent eruptions such as the 79 A.D. one. Mount St. Helens in 1980 was a violent explosive eruption,” she offers as an example. “There are about 600 volcanoes on land considered active, meaning they have been active in historic times and we think they are likely to erupt again. There are many underwater volcanoes along the spreading ridges. As for volcanoes in the U.S., Kilauea erupts often — and it has been active for decades — but not in a violent, explosive way. The most hazardous volcano in the U.S. is considered to be Mount Rainier. This means it could erupt in the near future and has the potential to be very dangerous — it could erupt in an explosive way like St. Helens in 1980. What makes it more dangerous is that it has glaciers at the top, and even a not-very-violent eruption could cause ice to melt, creating mudflows, which are very destructive.”
Lopes-Gaultier, who holds a degree in astronomy from the University of London, got into volcanology via a planetary geology course (when the professor missed class to cover a Mount Etna eruption; “I thought that sounded really exciting, and decided that I wanted to do that too.”) She says that in analyzing hazardous volcanoes, modern scientists “look at frequency of eruptions in the past, and how likely one is to happen again in the next few decades.”
For example, Yellowstone National Park is a hotbed of volcanic activity. “Yellowstone has had enormous eruptions in the past, it is the largest volcanic caldera on Earth. Calderas are formed by collapse following very violent eruptions. Yellowstone's violent eruptions last occurred hundreds of thousands of years ago. Although its eruptions could potentially be far more devastating than Mount Rainier's, they are less likely to happen in the near future,” she says. Consider yourself reassured. Or forewarned.
The TRUTH will set you FREE.
JOHN DONOVAN FEBRUARY 20, 2014 ARTICLES
Shell’s Nigeria & UK sales won’t be ‘big money’, Deutsche Bank says
Article by Jamie Ashcroft published by proactive investors on Feb 20, 2014
Deutsche Bank says it makes ‘strategic sense’ for Shell (LON:RDSB) to sell off assets in the UK and Nigeria, though its analysis doesn’t suggest they would be big money deals.
The German bank said, in a note to investors, that the noise around potential divestments is building and it is becoming clearer which assets will go under the hammer.
FULL ARTICLE
Shell sells Italian retail business to Kuwait Petroleum
Reuters article published LONDON Thu Feb 20, 2014 10:47am GMT
Feb 20 (Reuters) – Anglo-Dutch oil and gas major Shell said on Thursday it has agreed to sell its Italian retail and aviation business to Kuwait Petroleum International.
“The sale is consistent with Shell’s strategy to concentrate Shell’s downstream footprint on a smaller number of assets…
Woodside CEO Seeks Shell Exit Decision on $6.6 Billion Stake
Extract from Bloomberg News article by James Paton Feb 20, 2014 5:53 AM GMT
Woodside Petroleum Ltd. (WPL),Australia’s second-largest oil and gas producer, pressed Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA) to take action on its A$7.3 billion ($6.6 billion) stake in the company, saying investors want “certainty.”
Shell’s move to accelerate asset sales to free cash for new projects is seen as increasing the likelihood the Anglo-Dutch company will finally divest its remaining stake in Woodside. The company is trying to win investors’ confidence after its fourth-quarter profit fell to the lowest since 2009.
AIMS partners with Shell and INPEX to help protect against oil spills
Extract from article in GAS TODAY published Thu, 20 February 2014
The Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS), Shell Development Australia and INPEX subsidiary INPEX Operations Australia are set to develop comprehensive environmental baselines to monitor the health of waters off North Western Australia.
The partnership also incorporates comprehensive plans for monitoring the marine environment in the unlikely event of loss of containment from either Shell’s Prelude or INPEX’s Ichthys Project wells.
The TRUTH will set you FREE.
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
JOHN DONOVAN FEBRUARY 19, 2014 ARTICLES
Royal Dutch Shell Plc has sold its downstream Australian assets
Reuters Deals of the day – Mergers and acquisitions: Wed 19 Feb 2014
Feb 19 (Reuters) – The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported by 1100 GMT on Wednesday: Royal Dutch Shell Plc has sold its downstream Australian assets to Dutch-owned oil trader Vitol SA and the Abu Dhabi Investment Council for about A$2.4 billion ($2.2 billion), The Australian Financial Review reported.
House Of Reps Cancel $1.1bn Malabu Oil Deal
Daily Times of Nigeria article by Ugochukwu Onyeocha: 19 Feb 2014
The Nigerian House of Representatives on Tuesday in Abuja, ordered the immediate cancellation of the fraudulent sale of a lucrative oil bloc OPL 245 to oil firms, Shell and Agip, in a shady deal facilitated with the payment of $1.1 billion (about N165 billion) to a convicted former petroleum minister, Dan Etete.
Woodside may ditch Shell stake
Melbourne Herald Sun Article by John Dagge: 19 Feb 2014
WOODSIDE Petroleum says it has not consulted major shareholder Shell about its foray into Israel — an international push which analysts say complicates the oil giant’s relations with key Arabic customers. Woodside’s move to take a slice of Israel’s Leviathan field — one of the largest offshore gas finds of the past decade — has raised speculation Shell will look to offload its 23 per cent stake in the company to avoid conflicts with major oil producers. Key oil producers and Shell clients, such as Saudi Arabia, have a trading and investment boycott on Israel.
RELATED: Is Shell STILL anti-Semitic?: 3 April 2013
Shell refinery sale puts 500 jobs at risk in Victoria
THE GUARDIAN: Article by Martin Farrer: Wed 19 Feb 2014
Victoria faces another blow to its economy after Royal Dutch Shell reportedly sold Geelong refinery, putting 500 jobs at risk. The oil major sold the asset and its Australian petrol stations to Dutch-owned oil trader Vitol and the Abu Dhabi Investment Council for about $2.4bn, Fairfax Media reports. It is believed that Vitol, the world’s largest oil trader, has earmarked the 60-year-old refinery for closure…
Australia: Shell sells local assets for $2.4bn: report
THE AUSTRALIAN: FEBRUARY 19, 2014
ROYAL Dutch Shell has sold its downstream assets in Australia, including petrol stations and its Geelong refinery to Vitol for an estimated $2.4 billion, Fairfax Media reports. Last month, Shell sold stakes in a gas project in Western Australia for $1.14 billion as part of the oil company’s drive to improve its return on investment. It is understood Vitol, the world’s largest oil trader, plans to shut down Shell’s Geelong refinery…
The TRUTH will set you FREE.
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