Tree farts

Posted on August 10, 2012 by Steve Maley

Secret of the Hissing Trees

It’s been known since around the 1970’s that a relatively rare bacterial infection in trees responsible for the damaging rot known as wet wood can cause trees to emit methane, a greenhouse gas with 20 times the warming potential of carbon dioxide. Trees in wetland soils can also act as straws, sipping methane from soggy, oxygen-poor soil.

But scientists from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies believe that trees in upland forests infected with an almost ubiquitous fungus may also be a significant source of the potent greenhouse gas. Their findings appeared this week in Geophysical Review Letters.

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DMI exits wind tower business, lays off 384 workers, blames loss of PTC #rsrh

Posted on August 7, 2012 by Steve Maley

Wind tower manufacturer DMI Industries, Inc. will close its Tulsa plant in three months after its parent company decided to exit the wind energy business.

DMI will close the Tulsa plant in November and lay off 167 employees in Tulsa. Another DMI plant in West Fargo, N.D., has 217 employees and will close in October, according to a statement from the company.

“The wind industry’s present economics, substantially driven by the absence of a Production Tax Credit renewal by the U.S. Congress, the lack of a predictable national energy policy and low natural gas prices, has contributed to a dramatic decline in the demand for wind towers,” said a release from the company.

The PTC keeps the patient on life support. This is an acknowledgement that wind energy, absent constant governmental support, is non-competitive.

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Needed: Federal Dept. of Felines to regulate house cats. #rsrh

Posted on August 6, 2012 by Steve Maley

Study: Kitties kill 500 million birds, should be regulated

— WashingtonExaminer.com

“Pet kitties and their wild feral relatives kill a shocking 500 million birds and over 3 billion other animals according to new studies, prompting a leading Washington-based bird protection group to demand that local governments order their dog catchers to snag cats too.

“One disturbing new study is based on evidence from “KittyCams” strapped on to 60 outdoor pet cats in Athens, Ga. The results: They each averaged 2.1 “kills” a week. Just 13 percent were birds, the rest voles, lizards, chipmunks, frogs and small snakes.

“Based on the joint University of Georgia-National Geographic study of pet cats and another of feral cats from the University of Nebraska, the American Bird Conservancy said over 4 billion birds and animals are killed yearly by the felines, four-times the previous estimate. The group blames the extinction of some birds on the killer cats. “Cat predation is one of the reasons why one in three American bird species are in decline,” said George Fenwick of the conservancy.”

Plus, what about kitty litter pollution? Toxoplasmosis?

Yep, everyone should just get a dog.

H/T Dennism

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Cuba’s second well also a duster. #rsrh

Posted on August 6, 2012 by Steve Maley

2nd Cuban offshore oil well also a bust

HAVANA (AP) — A second deep-water exploratory well in the Gulf of Mexico has proved a bust,Cuba’s state oil company announced Monday, dealing another blow to the island’s dreams of petroleum riches.

The drilling operation carried out by PC Gulf, a subsidiary of Malaysia’s Petronas, and Gazpromneftof Russia, concluded July 31 off the western province of Pinar del Rio, Cuban state oil company Cubapetroleo said in a statement.

Analysis of the findings revealed an “active petroleum system that could extend to other parts of the four blocs (sic) contracted by PC Gulf and Gazpromneft, and even beyond their limits,” read the statement, which was published by Communist Party newspaper Granma.

“Nevertheless, at that point the rocks are very compact and do not have the capacity to deliver significant quantities of petroleum and gas,” it continued, “so it cannot be qualified as a commercial discovery.”

…

After Repsol opted out of a contract to sink a second well and Monday’s announcement of Petronas’ failed try, the massive semisubmersible now passes to Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA for an attempt near the island’s western tip.

Sonangol of Angola has an option to drill next, but after that the Scarabeo-9 is under contract to drill off Brazil with no word on when it might again be available to return to Cuban waters.

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Speaking of Rhinos and Telescopes, it’s the Non-Sequitur of the Year #WSJ #rsrh

Posted on August 6, 2012 by Steve Maley

In an article entitled “Fracking Debate Wracks South Africa” (WSJ 8/6/2012, page B1), a picture of a radio telescope array carries the following caption:

South Africa’s shale-gas reserves are estimated to be among the world’s largest, but the region is home to rhinos and a telescope project.

Well played.

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‘You Didn’t Earn That’: N. Korean Olympic Victors Credit Kim Jong Un #rsrh

Posted on August 4, 2012 by Steve Maley

Medal Speeches ‘Nearly Identical’

http://www.rfa.org/english/news/korea/speeches-08032012173520.html

The acceptance speeches by An Gum Ae, a judoka who won North Korea’s first gold medal, Om Yun Chol, a North Korean weightlifter who won gold setting a world record, and Kim Un Guk, another North Korean weightlifting world record setter, were almost identical.

“[I’m] really happy that I was able to give our leader, Kim Jong Un, joy with my gold medal,” said An when collecting her gold.

“Thanks to our Dear Leader’s love and support, I was able to win the gold medal,” said Om Yun Chol when receiving his hardware.

Kim Un Guk provided, perhaps, a tad more insight on how he was able to enter the record books.

“Our supreme Dear Leader, Kim Jong Un, encouraged us, the athletes, and is waiting for the results of the games,” he said.

“That’s the secret of setting the world record.”

Rim Jong Sim, who took gold in weightlifting on Aug. 1, simply expressed her happiness in pleasing Kim, but several foreign reporters at the ceremony burst into laughter before they even heard the translation, once they recognized the “Dear Leader’s” name in her speech.

Journalists have stopped interviewing the North Koreans, according to one British reporter from Reuters news agency who said that no matter what questions the athletes were asked, the answers were “always the same.”

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Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA): Captain Ahab or Doctor Evil?

Posted on August 2, 2012 by Steve Maley

Rep. Ed Markey of Massachusetts, ranking member of the House Natural Resources Committee, has an obsession. Markey’s Great White Whale is called the Deepwater Royalty Relief Act of 1995 (details below the fold).

In Markey’s mind, several deepwater Gulf of Mexico operators have gotten over on the government to the tune of several billion dollars in unpaid oil and gas royalties. The operators counter that they’re honoring to the letter of the leases that were granted in 1997 and 1998 to encourage exploration during a period of low oil prices.

The courts have blocked Interior from unwinding DWRRA. Congress has tried and failed to take away the benefits of DWRRA. A new tax to penalize the recalcitrant companies has been a centerpiece of President Obama’s budget proposals since he took office. Markey can’t let it go.

Now he has a new angle. In a letter to Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, Markey suggests blocking the $15.1 billion acquisition of Canada’s Nexen Inc. by the state-owned China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) until Nexen pays back royalties on DWRRA tracts. Treasury gets involved becasue 10% of Nexen’s assets are in the Gulf of Mexico.

Here’s the part where Markey channels his internal Doctor Evil:

In response to this potential merger and the loss of taxpayer money to the Chinese government’s benefit, Rep. Markey today sent a letter to Secretary Tim Geithner highlighting the fact that Nexen has already drilled (sic) 32 million barrels of oil and 34 million cubic feet of gas for free without paying a dime to American taxpayers in royalties and that this giveaway could transfer directly to the Chinese government-owned company if the merger goes forward as planned.

Thirty-four million cubic feet of natural gas?! Why, at today’s prices, the government’s share of that would be worth almost $15,000.00!! (Actually, of course, the correct figure is 34 billion cubic feet. What’s a factor of 1,000 among friends?)
Continue reading →

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The Dead Tree Media Doubles Down

Posted on August 1, 2012 by Steve Maley

From the Lafayette, LA Daily Advertiser:

“Because of an equipment malfunction, some of our home-delivery customers did not receive today’s newspapers. We apologize for this inconvenience. Those subscribers who were affected will receive the Wednesday edition Thursday morning with their regular newspaper delivery.”

Just in time for Friday recycling.

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Times (sic) Picayune (sic) #rsrh #RSG12

Posted on July 31, 2012 by Steve Maley

http://blog.nola.com/politics/print.html?entry=/2012/07/gov_jindal_off_to_attend_repub.html

Gov. Jindal off to attend Republican governors functions, other out-of-state meetings through Saturday

“BATON ROUGE — It was wheels up again Tuesday for Gov. Bobby Jindal, who began a five-day trip out of state to attend Republican Party functions. Jindal spokeswoman Shannon Bates said late Tuesday that Jindal was on his way to Aspen, Colo., to attend Republican Governors Association functions through Thursday.

bobby-jindal-mobile-may2012.jpg

“On Friday, she said, he is scheduled to travel to Washington, D.C., to attend other RGA functions, before heading for Jacksonville, Fla., to address the “Red State Gathering,” a three-state meeting (sic) at the Omi (sic) Hotel in Jacksonville.”

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Delicious Irony: Anti-Fracking Chefs Cook With #NatGas. #rsrh

Posted on July 31, 2012 by Steve Maley

http://energytomorrow.org/blog/cooking-with-gas-and-loathing-it/#/type/all

“New York Daily News columnist Bill Hammond writes that the “Taste of the Marcellus” event last week was hosted by a group called Chefs for the Marcellus, to showcase the kinds of foods they say could be jeopardized if New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo OKs hydraulic fracturing in that state’s portion of the Marcellus Shale. Hammond:

“Guests were treated to eggplant-stuffed okra, smoked lamb belly with fermented tofu and whipped ricotta jewel on toast — along with wines from the Finger Lakes and beers from Cooperstown’s Ommegang brewery. The only thing more delicious than the menu was the irony, because many if not most of those dishes were cooked over the bright blue flame of natural gas. That’s right, the Chefs for the Marcellus saw nothing wrong with using the very same fuel they portray as a dire threat to the upstate countryside.”

“He writes that even stuff that wasn’t simmered or seared over a gas flame was chilled in refrigerators running on electricity, much of which no doubt was generated at natural gas-fired power plants. Same thing for the restaurant AC that kept the guests comfortable. Every cubic foot of gas used, he notes, came from a hole in the ground – a quarter of it (based on national averages) from the same hydraulic fracturing process the group opposes.”

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