The 277 Policies for Which Biden Need Not Ask Permission

The 277 Policies for Which Biden Need Not Ask Permission: As president, Joe Biden could take action on hundreds of policies without having to go through Congress. The Biden-Sanders unity task force provides a road map.

Sixth Great Mass Extinction Event Begins ...

From everything I've read about Climate Change, 

I believe that we are definitely on a trend into the scary part of the unknown. Watching the planet and its inhabitants evolve over time ... my lifetime ... is of great interest to me. 

If I am anything, I am a student of my own life. How I perceive and interact in this world determines who I am. I typically spend several hours a day reading about all kinds of eclectic topics. Environmental news is attractive because I know my very existence as a human may depend on it ... you know, be aware of your surroundings.  

I am currently living in central California, which is smack-dab in the middle of a drought. It's 108 degrees today. We are reclaiming the desert at an alarming rate.

Having this blog is part of my process. I might have told you before, but this little blog is like a file cabinet for me. I throw stuff in here to keep for awhile. Reference material. Things that amuse me or strike a chord. 

Which brings me to this Sixth Great Mass-Extinction Event that is kicking off this year. 

I remain an optimist and am betting on the human race to wake up and begin to make better choices toward sustainability if not survival. 

I have no idea what will happen over a great amount of time. I am 69 years old, so how many years do I have? Maybe one of the grandkids will find this interesting ... an old relic from the past. Who knows?  

Read about it here. 

"This Is A Nightmare, " says Phillippe Cousteau, Jr. As He And Sam Champion From ABC News Dive In The Oily Gulf Waters

Today on Good Morning America Sam Champion and Phillippe Cousteau, Jr. donned hazmat suits and diving gear to get a closeup view of the oil plumes that are forming in the Gulf of Mexico. This is what BP doesn't want us to see.

Dispersants And The Gulf Oil Spill

National Geographic News has an excellent article on the use of chemical dispersants used by BP oil after the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig on April 20, 2010 and the subsequent massive oil spill that is moving toward shore in the Gulf of Mexico.

Gulf Oil Spill Turns To Chemicals
By Ker Than
April 30, 2010

Breaking oil into droplets
Oil dispersants have been available to combat spills since the mid-1980s. They are detergent-like chemicals that break up oil slicks on the surface of the water into smaller droplets, which can then be broken down by bacteria in the water and by other natural processes. Dispersants also help prevent the oil droplets from coalescing to form other slicks.

According to the U.S. National Research Council, oil spill dispersants do not actually reduce the total amount of oil entering the environment. Rather, they change the chemical and physical properties of the oil, making it more likely to mix into the water column than to contaminate the shoreline.

The NRC report says that evaluating the environmental trade-offs associated with dispersant use is “one of the most difficult decisions that oil spill responders and natural resources managers face during a spill.” The reason is the increased oil exposure for fish, as well as for corals and creatures that live in the lowest level of the water, such as oysters, the report said.

"Dispersant only alters the destination of the toxic compounds in the oil," redirecting its impact from feathered and fur-bearing animals on shore to organisms in the water column itself and on the seafloor, Richard Charter, senior policy adviser for marine programs at the conservation group Defenders of Wildlife, said in an email.

"No good answers to a mess this big, only degrees of damage to various life-forms," Charter said.
I'll be updating this as I learn more.