Stop the Ecocide at it's source!
How one signature can change the course of history.
Ecocide, the destruction of ecosystems, has been proposed as an international crime against the peace along the lines of genocide and crimes against humanity. The law would be enforced by the United Nations. Heavy extraction, toxic dumping, mining and deforestation are the types of activities prohibited by the law. Perpetrators found guilty would not be fined, but forced to clean-up their mess and even improve it.
On the international level the law would result in national laws which would strongly discourage damaging and destructive activities while creating specific, legally binding duties and responsibilities. In fairly recent history we have witnessed many cases of ecocide.
Case Study I
The 11 March, 2011 Tรดhoku earthquake and tsunami which lead to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster resulted in thousands dead and the release of radioactive materials. Some materials were deliberately vented and discharged in an attempt to cool the damaged reactors. Other materials were released by uncontrolled events. Radioactive materials have been found in food and products grown up to 200 miles from the power plant. At present the plant is still releasing radioactive materials, but at a much lower level than the weeks after the earthquake.
Japan had a chance to exploit their 324 GW (gigawatts) of achievable renewable energy. Now, after the nuclear meltdown, the Japanese government is subsidizing renewable energy sources. In the next five years 10-20 billion yen ($13,042,900 - $26,085,800 US) will be spent on six floating wind turbines in the sea near Fukushima. Even the Germans have begun phasing out nuclear energy, favoring renewable energy. The negligence of upkeep of the plant would be considered ecocide.
Case Study II
Perhaps you may remember the 20 April, 2010 explosion on the drilling rig Deepwater Horizon? The event is considered the second largest environmental disaster in United States history next to the dust bowl. In the blast 11 workers were killed with more than two dozen others injured. Oil spewed into the ocean for months after the incident, accumulating to some 4.9 million barrels (likely an underestimate).
Both of these ecocides could have been avoided with more stringent safety precautions and appropriate preventative measures.
Keystone Pipelines
TransCanada Corporation, based out of Calgary, Alberta is a North American energy infrastructure developer and operator that owns 36,661 miles of pipeline and 10,500 MW (megawatts) of energy production. The corporation wishes to install two pipelines through the United States. One, the Keystones I is already under construction. But it is the second, Keystone XL, that is really causing controversy.
The 2,147 mile, 36 inch diameter pipeline would transport bitumen from the Alberta tarsands to refineries in Texas. Bitumen is a dirty, sludgy, tar-like material often intermixed with sand and clay. Extraction of the bitumen is very resource intensive as the bitumen must be heated so that it can be pumped and processed into a form which can be transported to refineries.
Initially the Keystone I pipeline will have a capacity of 435,000 barrels per day increasing to 590,000 barrels per day. The Keystone XL pipeline will increase this to 1.1 million barrels per day.
Because of the way the pipelines are organized midwesterners are expected to see a twenty cent per gallon hike in gas prices by 2013. This will result in an additional $2-3.9 billion dollars in annual revenue for Canadian producers.
Midwestern farmers will be hit the hardest as fuel costs will increase further, crippling their ability to compete with imported crops.
The majority of the bitumen piped to the Gulf Coast will not go to the US. Instead, the bitumen will be refined into diesel fuel and other products which will be exported to Europe and latin america.
The pipeline would cross several sensitive regions such as the sandhills in Nebraska, the Ogallala Aquifer and an active seismic zone. Spills in any of these zones would be catastrophic, crippling the midwestern economy, poisoning drinking water for two million americans and impairing $20 billion in agriculture.
The Big Picture
If there's one thing we've learned from the nuclear disaster and the Deepwater Horizon well spills is that we can't cut any corners. TransCanada has been accused of using thinner steel and pumping at higher pressures than normal, creating a recipe for disaster.
This is a really interesting situation as there are so many parties involved, each skewing the facts to suit their agenda. From competing oil companies in Saudi Arabia, Nigeria and Venezuela to environmentalist groups, investors and local governments, everyone has propaganda blood on their hands.
The technologies involved with the harvesting and processing of the bitumen are state of the art and fairly efficient compared to other methods of bitumen extraction. However, efficient is a relative term.
“176 cubic meters of natural gas are required to liquefy, extract, and purify each cubic meter of bitumen produced.” Eddy Isaacs, director of the Alberta Energy Research Institute.
What does this have to do with Americans?
America is in a unique position to say, “No, no more fossil fuels. We need to move forward, not continue this unsustainable path.” With a simple stamp President Barak Obama could send a revolutionary, Earth changing message around the globe. Or, he could place his John Hancock on the line and send the message that profit is to be sought above all else, including our children.
Will he stand up to his campaign promises to clean-up Washington and end the tyranny of oil?
So far 1253 brave people have been arrested in Washington D.C. for peacefully protesting the Keystone XL pipeline, including NASA's lead climatologist James Hansen and Bill McKibben, environmental activist and author. Letters from the Dali lama and Archbishop Tutu are but a few arriving daily asking President Obama to veto the bill. Protests are taking place across the continent as people from all walks of life are coming together to say “No.”
A mass protest is scheduled for Nov. 6, 2011 in Washington D.C.. The protest will encircle the Whitehouse and peacefully demand that the President veto the bill. The event is being arranged by www.tarsandaction.org.
Will we learn from the mistakes of our past? Will we act while we still can?
“What the US and China do over the next decade will determine the fate of the world.” Energy Secretary Steven Chu, Nobel Prize winning physicist who is leading President Obama's push for a clean-energy society.
